I kept my faith though I was greatly afflicted

I have had a few dreams over the last week,  one was on Wednesday night.   I dreamt that Cain from the television soap Emmerdale was flirting with me.   Then I had gone to buy some food at a café and I could not find my money to pay for it.
 

We are told that the scriptures are discerned spiritually and Cain in the Bible represents one who comes to God with an offering of something grown from the earth.   I felt the Lord was pointing out to me not to  allow the carnal mind and its reasoning, which comes from earthly wisdom and knowledge, to seduce me away from the word of the Lord that I believe has been spoken to me regarding my healing, or I could be left poorer spiritually. 

I have recently had my gold keys and chain repaired at the jeweller's.  One key had fallen off, one of the three keys with hearts on alongside the keys which hold the name of Jesus on them.  The hearts to me had represented  Father, Son and Holy Spirit and, although they had all worn a little, I felt the one that had fallen off was representing the Holy Spirit to me because I have been in danger of not holding on to what has been enlightened to me by the Holy Spirit in the scriptures - God's promise to me of healing.  Fortunately the key had fallen off in the house so it was not lost completely.

 

The total cost of the repair was £116 and I was immediately reminded of Psalm 116, which is a Psalm of thanksgiving for deliverance from death.  One of the verses which has always spoken to me from this Psalm, and which I felt I was being reminded of as I continue waiting for the promise of my complete healing is verse 10. 'I kept my faith even when I said 'I am greatly afflicted'.

I knew straight away that all things were working together, and that the Lord was encouraging me through the Psalm to keep my faith by holding on to the enlightened word spoken to me, (even though I was greatly afflicted), and warning me through the  dream about Cain not to let thoughts and reasoning growing in  the carnal (earthly) mind rob me of God's promise.

 

  

Recently I bought a pair of trousers and a top while out in a nearby town with my husband, sister and brother in law.  When I got home I went to hang them in my wardrobe and noticed that the label on the trousers had these words on it:- FAITHFUL and TRUE. 

I knew these words were somewhere in the scriptures but was not sure where. I went into my workroom and turned my computer on to look for where these words are.
 

I found that they are written in Revelation ch. 19 v. 11:- 'Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.' 

As I read this verse I looked up from my computer at my white china horse that I had bought while on holiday in Czechoslovakia many years ago.

I believe absolutely nothing is coincidence, and that the Lord knew that I would buy those trousers with that label on, and would have the white horse placed on my shelf above my computer, which would both go together with the scripture in Revelation ch. 19.  (He sees the end from the beginning) 
 
I believe it is all to encourage me to trust wholly in the promise He has given me, that He is Faithful and True, and that  I must believe Him and the word that He gives me as guidance through this trial no matter what the eyes see and the carnal mind tries to argue, just as Abraham believed God no matter what the circumstance appeared to be.
Jesus says in John ch. 14 v. 15 'If you love Me you will keep my commandments. 


So I must endeavour to do what I believe He is telling me to do, and I can only say 'I will love Thee O Lord my strength,' as I make this little song that I wrote some years ago my prayer.

Help me Lord, I'm battle scarred and weary
Satan's hand is much too strong for me
but I know, if You will be my friend by my side,
my old foe will have to turn and flee

Change me Lord according to Your image,
bend me Lord according to Your will
You alone can make me what God wants me to be
take my fears and cause me to be still

For You alone have conquered
You've won the victory
and I can share these blessings
if You're living inside of me

So change me Lord according to Your image
bend me Lord according to Your will
You alone can make me what God wants me to be
take my fears  - and cause me to be still

March 9th

Just to add:- I went to church yesterday and the man who was taking the meeting read out a prophesy that had been written down.  It contained the words 'Faithful and true'.  I shall ask to read the whole prophesy next week, as I believe it is on-going confirmation for me.

 

Increase my faith in You Lord

This post is not written to judge, it is written to encourage those who may have had a word from the Lord concerning healing in the same way that I did.

For many months now I have been waiting on the Lord to heal me completely from lumps in my body that have been there for over twenty five years.  Up until a few months ago the Lord kept me through the word He had given me all that time ago which was 'My grace is sufficient for you', and God has always been the strength in my weakness.  Then I believe He spoke to me very strongly through Psalm 103 regarding healing me 'from all my diseases'. Whereas before I felt like I was in a 'Paul's thorn in the flesh' situation, I now feel as if I am in a 'Job' situation.

Since then other physical ailments have attacked my body, making my joints painful, preventing me from walking long distances and causing problems for me when I am gardening.   Also, I let my reasoning cause some wavering in my complete trust in the Lord's promise, looking up possible causes of my symptoms on the internet and allowing man's knowledge to cause doubt in my mind, and started to dwell on the negative possibilities of what my future may hold.   Immediately I knew I had done wrong, (one of the first scriptures the Lord spoke to me many years ago was 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding'), but found it a little hard to take these thoughts captive, even though I have had much evidence of the Lord's healing power and the fact that He can bring about miracles.  However, I have had times over the last few months when I have constantly prayed and praised the Lord and the pain has disappeared completely for some time.

One night I had a dream that I lost the two emeralds in a ring I have.  The colour green has always reminded me of healing, possibly because Revelation ch.22 v.2 states that the leaves of the tree of life are for the healing of the nations, and I believe the Lord, knowing what the colour green reflects to me, used this in the dream to warn me of my wavering trust in Him and my allowing man's knowledge to cause doubt regarding His promise to heal me.  In the dream I searched for the missing emeralds and found lots of semi precious stones and even some that looked similar to the emeralds but were not the real thing.  This reminded me of my looking for (on the Internet) alternative remedies for my situation other than waiting on the Lord.

Many people may find my life very strange and wonder why I have not gone to the doctor over the last twenty odd years regarding this problem.  I just thought it was time that I shared the reason why, and a little more of my testimony.

I had initially come to be born again of the Holy Spirit in a church in Adelaide, Australia which operated much as the church did two thousand years ago, each individual being allowed to share what God had brought them to share, and using the gifts, including prophesy, that God had given them.  In this church I had seen many miraculous healings and had experienced one myself, having already experienced divine healing as a child through the prayer of faith operating in my father. 

When we came back from Australia to live in Lancashire I looked for a church to attend and prayed that the Lord would lead me to the right one.  Often I would pass a book shop, as I drove to the next town, that had a sign above it saying 'Jesus is Lord'.  This is what I would ask the Lord daily, that He would lead me to a church gathering where He was Lord, and where the people worshiped in Spirit and in truth. 

I was looking in the second hand column of the local newspaper one day and there was an advert that had been placed in the wrong section (or the right one really).  It was asking for anyone who believed that Jesus was their Lord to come and meet up and bring a musical instrument if they played one.  My son and I went to meet up with the three people and the gathering of five grew within a very short time, meeting in houses and eventually being supplied with a building.  During the two years that I lived in Lancashire the group grew to over one hundred people and the gifts of the Spirit, including prophesy and healing, operated in a wonderful way.  I saw many healings and miracles and prophetic revelations that only God could have brought about.


While living in Lancashire we came to live next door to a lady who had been told by a doctor seven years previous that she only had two months to live.  She told me that she went down on her knees and prayed to God.   I shared with her what God had done in my life regarding a miraculous healing and other healings, and she used to come into my house every morning after my husband had gone to work and our son had gone to school, and we used to have a lovely time of fellowship and prayer.  She lived for twenty two years after she had been told by the doctor that she had only two months to live.

I wanted to know more about faith and the gift of healing so I asked the Lord to teach me about sickness and healing.  Little did I know that I was at the beginning of a long journey. The following is just a small part of it:-

 

We had returned to Wales to live.  One evening I had eaten a fish meal and believe that a small bone from the fish lodged in my throat.  We had to cancel going out with friends that evening as the discomfort grew worse.  Over the next few days things deteriorated even more.  It felt as if an abscess had developed low down at the back of my throat, and the pain was almost unbearable.  At that time I had for some time been seeking the Lord about sickness and  healing, and faith.   I knew that faith came by hearing and hearing by the word of the Lord and I know that through His word He had been teaching me to trust in His divine power to heal, which I had already experienced many times.  He was also teaching me to trust in what He was telling me to do no matter what came along to test it.  I felt it had something to do with spiritual warfare.  

When I sought the Lord over this particular situation, He spoke to me through several scriptures that I kept opening to.  He kept showing me Isaiah 31 v.1 'Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD', verse 3 says 'the Egyptians are men, and not God, and their horses are flesh, and not spirit'.  I knew that 'Egypt' stands for the world in the Bible and felt as though the Lord was instructing me here not to rely on man and his physical ability, but to rely on God and His spiritual capability.  I also kept opening my Bible to 2 Chronicles ch. 16 v.12 which reads 'In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians', and also to where it says in Mark ch. 5 vs. 25 and 26:- Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years,  and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.'  I really felt that all these scriptures had been highlighted to me for the purpose of encouraging me to trust in the Lord and not in the world regarding my situation.  
After this revelation of scripture to me many lumps appeared in my body, under my arms, underneath my foot, in my leg and also on my arm.  There are lots of things I could share where some of these lumps have been removed, but it would take a long time to share these testimonies.  However, I have to say that these happenings have served to increase my faith in the Lord being in this, and why they had to happen at those particular times.
 

Some years ago, when our son and his first wife and two children were living in Scotland, the phone rang.  It was my daughter in law.  She had been to the doctor after finding a lump in her breast some time before, and she had phoned to ask me to pray for her.  I did pray for her and kept opening my Bible to the page where I felt a certain  scripture was being brought to my attention.  It was from Isaiah ch. 54, the first line in verse 17 'No weapon formed against you shall prosper' and I believed that this word of God was for my daughter in law to believe in, so I phoned her back and shared it with her.  As believers we are in a spiritual war and the weapon here being used by the enemy was fear of what might come from this lump, and I believe it eventually robbed her of her healing. A few days later she phoned me again and said that she and my son had visited  a church several miles away that they had never  attended before and a man she did not know came up to her and gave her a copy of a commentary on that very verse.  She could not believe it, he had known nothing about her or about our phone calls.  As time went by my daughter in law had surgery to remove her breast and some glands and after a couple of years, sadly, she passed away.    Some time later I was on holiday with our son and the children. I had forgotten to take my Bible with me so went to get my son's Bible which had a leather cover over it.  When I opened it a piece of paper with writing on it fell out from within the leather cover.  It was something that my daughter in law had written down and contained within it were words saying that no trace of cancer had been found in any tissue or gland that had been removed, with the question 'Was it God or was it the doctors?'    I believe absolutely that the cancer had been removed by God, but I also understand my daughter in law's fear that caused her to go to the medical profession for treatment. One morning when I began to draft this post I was thinking to myself 'The church has been given gifts by God and have been authorized to use these gifts.'  ( 1 Corinthians ch. 12 vs. 1-11 ), and we are given instruction as to what to do when we become sick. (James ch. 5 vs. 14 and 15 ).  We are told here that the Lord will restore him to health.  So why is not this happening? I was thinking of Pharaoh's magicians, of whom many were the physicians of the day, and how they were doing the same things as God was authorizing Moses and Aaron to do, and how the medical profession is doing things that appear to come alongside what God has authorized His church to do as far as healing is concerned.  They are even delving deep into human cloning, and are now trying to work on a three parent embryo.  What is this if it is not trying to be God, and is it coincidence that a staff and a serpent are involved in both? We have to be very careful that we do not allow doctors to become gods in our lives, and believe their word above what God has spoken to us,  putting man in the position of God in some areas of our lives. Are some people going the same way with the medical profession, unwittingly relying on it as the healing god?  Is it coincidence that the symbol that the medical profession uses is the staff of Asclepius?  The staff of Asclepius

In Greek mythology the Rod of Asclepius is a
serpent-entwined rod wielded by the Greek god Asclepius,
 the deity associated with healing and medicine. 
 The symbol has continued to be used in modern times,
where it is associated with medicine and health care,
yet frequently confused with the staff of the god Hermes,
the caduceus.
 

I have had many signs accompanying His word over the years to encourage me to trust in Him.  One morning I awoke to a vision that the bed cover was as the sea and I was floating in an ocean.  When I later went downstairs the post man put a Kenneth Copeland Christian magazine through the door .  It had a picture of the exact replica of my vision on the front and the words 'Walk on water' at the top of the page.   I felt it was being emphasized to me that all things are possible if I keep my eyes on Jesus and not to do what caused Peter to sink - take my eyes off Jesus and look on the natural situation.

I have only ever seen miracles and healings through the prayer of faith in two churches, and these churches were operating as the church operated two thousand years ago with different parts of the body sharing what was revealed to them.   I am sure that there are lots of other church gatherings experiencing the gifts of the spirit but I really believe that much of the church is missing out, and I feel passionately to pray for a revival of these gifts operating within the church .  Perhaps there are others that feel this too.  May God grant us the desires of our heart here.

I know that we are all different and that each individual goes through their unique trials, but I believe absolutely that I have to try and overcome the spiritual enemy in my life and endeavour to continue to try to keep my eyes on the Lord in my situation.  The following is just one of the poems that I believe the Lord brought me to write, which came at an appropriate time within my trials.

How far will you follow Me
 
How far will you follow Me
along this narrow track
when the path becomes too lonely
will you think of turning back
Will you yearn for the things you left behind
when I called you to be apart
are there things that belong to your world of sin
lying dormant within your heart
 
How far will you follow Me
along this lonely road
When you suffer man's rejection
will it prove too great a load
Will you stand within my guiding light
no matter where it leads
and will you listen to my Father's voice saying
'Child, go plant the seeds'
 
Yes how far will you follow me
along the path to life
will the trials be too much for you
 - of sickness and strife
or will you hold on fast to faith
remembering what I have said
that faith in your Lord has a power
that can even raise the dead

  

 

Prayer, and faith in God's timeless Word

Several things have happened recently that have spoken to me spiritually of prayer and faith.

One night I had a dream in which I received three certificates after passing three exams necessary to become a barrister.   A barrister is an advocate, someone who puts a case on someone's behalf.  For some time I have felt very moved to intercessory prayer.  Before coming to live here I was always involved in prayer groups, sometimes only with one person, but always with Spiritually passionate believers.

A few days later I bought some dandelion tea   I like herbal teas and had never tried dandelion tea, so I went into town and bought some.  A new visitor called Sandi came over to my blog a couple of days later and I went over to view her blog.  I could not believe it!  Her blog is called 'Dandelion tea' and the post for that day was called 'Pray' and just had this verse in it.'

'If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.'

2 Chronicles 7:14

I really believe that the Lord is showing me the need for His people to pray at this time.

Then, shortly after, I was with my friend in the city where we go to distribute our leaflets.  I needed to go to the post office which was above Smith's book shop.  We entered the bookshop and came to where the steps and escalator led up to the post office.

A young man was limping to the escalator.  I said to my friend 'I don't think I can walk up the steps (thinking of my joint pain that has come upon me ever since I received the word from Psalm 103 about healing from all diseases, which I believe the Lord spoke to me regarding something I have had in my body for over twenty years).  So we took the escalator up to the post office.

   
 Some time later, we went into the Debenhams store to use the Ladies washroom.  We came to the escalator to find that only the one coming down was working.  The one going up to the first floor, where the ladies washroom was, had stopped working.  I felt straight away that there was something spiritual to this as it came to me that I had chosen not to go up the stairs in the bookshop, and had used the escalator, yet this escalator was not working and was just as a normal staircase would be. 

 

 

 

 

I climbed the stairs experiencing some pain in my joints.  However, when we reached the first floor, right in front of me was a stand with the word 'faith' written above it.  I could hardly believe what I was seeing, and knew that I was being told something but could not get the full meaning of what was being said to me. When we came back to go down to the ground floor somebody had placed a black shoe right in front of the word 'faith'.

The strange thing was that in order to write this post I had to go back to the shop and take these pictures, which I did last Friday.  This time there was a red shoe in front of the word 'faith', whereas the week before there had been a black shoe placed in front of the word 'faith'.  I felt the red shoe stood for a  warning and I believe I know what the warning is about and  what the Lord has been trying to point out to me.



I have been shown that the Lord will heal me and I assumed that I had the faith to believe that.  However, I believe that I have been shown that there is a great danger of me allowing the enemy to rob me of that faith by walking according to what my carnal mind is telling me and allowing it to block out what the Lord's word is telling me, and that is what I believe the red shoe hiding the word 'faith' is representing.

If I go back to when I was going to the post office, my mind was focusing on the lame man and the difficulty I would have walking up the steps.  There was actually a thought in my mind of me being like that man in the future.  Yet who was putting these thoughts into my mind? It was not God, for I have had the promise of healing.  This makes me more aware of how important it is to take every thought captive and bring it into obedience to Christ (who is the Word of God ).  The enemy is very cunning and I believe he tries to cause doubt in our minds when God has given us a promise through the rhema word, which He has with me.  James ch. 1 vs. 6-8 states :- '.  But he should ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind.  For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord,   since he is a man of two minds, unstable in all his ways.'

Matthew ch. 21 v. 22 states:- 'And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.'

I immediately took those deceiving thoughts captive and brought them into obedience to Christ, the Word of God contained in my promise.  Something else happened recently that reminded me of the surety of the word of God in our lives when we truly believe it.

We wanted to re paint our kitchen walls and when my husband looked in the garage to see what tins of paint we had there he came across a matt emulsion, the colour of which was called 'Timeless'.  We decided that would be just right for the kitchen walls. 

We are also thinking of changing the bathroom furniture and saw a nice wash basin and toilet, so we bought them to store in the house until we decided which shower cubicle we wanted.  We also picked some wash basin taps to match.  When I looked at the the delivery note to check the items, I noticed that the taps were also called 'Timeless'.  I thought this was strange as the paint and the taps had no manufacturer's connection at all.

Shortly after, I was in a Tesco store and picked up their free magazine.  When I got home I had a brief read of it and came across an article called 'Right here right now'.  It said underneath the heading:- 'Learning to be in the moment can improve nearly every area of your life,  here's how to reap the benefits of mindfulness.'  I realized as I read a bit more that it was an article about some kind of meditation, which I did not carry on reading but which brought to my mind how the Lord tells us to take no thought for tomorrow, that our times are in His hands, and I would encourage everyone who has been given that rhema word to walk in faith, not leaning on your own understanding or going by what you see.  We must not let the enemy rob us of that word which is 'timeless', the same today, yesterday and forever.  That word of God is like water that runs from timeless taps.  
With the mind of Christ we have peace, and all the promises of God are 'yes' in Him.

After writing this post yesterday I was lying in bed this morning and it came into my mind that Jesus said in Mark ch. 9 v.23 to the man who had doubt whether Jesus could heal his son 'Everything is possible to one who has faith.” So I said to the Lord the same words that the boy's father had said in verse 24:-  'I do believe, help my unbelief'.

 

Then I started to sing to myself a little song that came into my mind.:-

'Lord heal my body Lord take my pain
Lord make me whole and healthy again
For You are the Lord that healeth me
You've been sacrificed to set me free
 

Angel or demon?

I came across some of my old diaries the other day.  I picked one up, written in 2009, and noticed a book mark in it.  When I opened to that specific page the writing there was about a dream I'd had, this is what was written:-

 

Tuesday 7th July

Had a dream this morning that I was in a church, I was praising the Lord with others.  I suddenly felt the Spirit on me and with a loud groan fell to the floor. I knew there were words going to come from my mouth, but I did not know what was going to be said.  Suddenly my mouth opened and I said very powerfully. 'The shutters have to come off this house, the light must come in.'  I spoke these words twice, and then I was aware of being filled with light on the inside.  I had my eyes closed. Then I felt this power leave me and I was just stood there in the church. Everyone had stopped praising and I was saying to people nearby ' I think they may want me to leave this church, that is what usually happens.' Penny, that I used to work with was there.  Someone came and asked to borrow my guitar and went off with it. Paula was close by and talking to a woman and saying to her ' There's nothing wrong with this church, everyone speaks nicely to one another.'  I felt as if Paula represented some Christians who are quite content with a church that does not want change and feels that things are ok if everyone appears happy on the surface.

I then went and asked someone if they wanted help with the dishes and tidied up a bit around the place

 

The dream spoke to me of how sometimes prophesy (the 'light' signifying that it is the word of God that has to come in) in a church gathering can sometimes 'shake the apple cart' a little when it speaks of correction, and be regarded sometimes as 'not from the Lord', however 'Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom's instruction.'  Proverbs ch. 29 v. 18 

We have recently purchased a new bed. We had a double one in the bedroom we used and decided we would put a king-size one in another bedroom and sleep in that room, which was warmer.  The first night we slept in it we realized how firm it was and found it difficult to sleep because my husband has a problem with his back and legs and for months I have had a problem with my hips and knees.  Then after about six weeks, although we were slowly getting used to it, we decided we would move back into the other room with the double bed in, which had a much softer mattress.  As soon as we lay on the bed  we thought how much nicer and more comfortable  this mattress was.  However, within about an hour, the pain in my hips grew stronger and eventually so bad that I could not sleep.  After a second night in the bed I told my husband I would have to go back to the firmer bed, and the next night we moved back to the other room.

                                                                                                                                                                          

 

As soon as I lay on the bed I realized that although it was a firm mattress the softness contained in the top special layer worked together with the firmness of the rest of the mattress to give both comfort and support.  We'd had to go back to what we thought was the better bed to realize that it was not. That night we both slept more than we had slept in a long time.

 

As I thought about it I realized that the experience with the beds was speaking spiritually to me.  We can think that our old fleshly way of life was far more comfortable than our new spiritual life until we try to return to it and realize that, just like the  comfort and support of the firmer bed, the love and guidance of the Lord will bring us more peace and support, and less pain in our lives as we persevere in our trials and put our trust in Him.  The manna from Heaven far exceeds the fish, cucumbers  and melons from Egypt (the world). 

The apostle Peter thought that he was doing the right thing when he tried to stop Jesus from going to the cross, he was concerned for the flesh and could not see the Spiritual benefit that would come from Jesus' suffering.  However, Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”Matthew ch. 16 v. 23.  Jesus recognized the spirit that was at work in the mind of Peter was not from God, but was from Satan.  So too, like Peter, can we be mindful of the things of the flesh instead of the things of God because it appears to be more comfortable.  We do not tempt God.  Jesus knew that going to the cross was what God had ordained Him to do, and if we know what the Lord is speaking to us then we must act on it.  Our carnal mind  will try to convince us not to obey if it looks uncomfortable to the flesh, but obeying the Word of God can only lead to good.

 

In my dream the friend that I had worked with and the friend called Paula metaphorically represented both the young and  the mature Christian, and we can all be fooled by Satan into thinking more of the welfare of the flesh than the welfare of the Spirit.

I was in a town where I meet up with my friend on Friday and there was a lady promoting perfumes who was asking us to dip into a bag and pick out two samples to try.  I drew out two of the same called 'ange ou demon'. 

I had a strong feeling that something spiritual was being referred to here.

When I got back home I looked up the meaning of the phrase on the internet and it was 'angel or demon'.   I believe the Lord is emphasising the necessity to test the spirits to see if they are from God.  Are the ones prophesying encouraging us to be mindful of the things of the flesh rather than the things of God?  

We are told that 'all may prophesy so that all may learn and all be encouraged' 1 Corinthians ch. 14 v. 31, and we should not judge those who prophesy by their age as even a young child may do so, as it states in Psalm ch.8 v.2a :- 'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength,'

If  the word prophesied convinces and convicts us of sinful things in our lives and we know that we must turn from it then we must act on that word.  If that word prophesied encourages us to continue walking according to the flesh and not according to the way that we know God would want us to walk, then we have to ask

 

'Is this an angel (messenger of God)  speaking, or is this a demon(messenger of Satan) speaking.?'

 

 

 

  

Catch up time

I am going to take a break from my blogging as I have many things to catch up on.  I love interacting on the blogs but I have realized that there are drawers full of unfinished writings and many other things in my workroom that need attending to, and I feel an urge to tackle them.  I will still pop over weekly to read what other bloggers have written, but unless I get on with other work (including my gardening), I will regret not having done it.

 

I came across some previous pics and poems that I have done and would like to put them up as an 'au revoir' until I am back blogging.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

God bless everyone and hope to be back blogging in the not too distant future.

 

 

 

 

Abraham believed God

I have always found the relationship between Abraham and God encouraging.  The main thing that I found encouraging about him was that he believed God when being tested in two very hard trials .  As I read of his experience regarding leaving his country  I could see that there was no questioning, or fear of the consequences, of what God was asking him to do, and no reasoning with the carnal mind to prevent him from doing what he was being told to do. 
This story of Abraham leaving his country was what I felt was being pointed out to  me many times before moving to this area.  

God accompanies His word with signs and there were little things that appeared to go with this at the time we were looking for a house to move to, with no real intention of coming this distance from the town we lived in.  I love the blackbird and, shortly before we moved, the man across the road from us cut down lots of trees in his garden that attracted many blackbirds that used to sing beautifully every morning. The blackbirds disappeared once the trees were cut down and I missed their song greatly.  

Just before we left, a new lady came to a ladies meeting I attended every week, she was called Meryl.  Our neighbour at the new property is called Meryl, the lady across the road is called Merle and the pastors wife at the new church I prayed about going to, who said to me when I first met her 'I feel like I have known you all my life.' is called Meryl.  These names mean 'blackbird', and there are lots of blackbirds in and around the garden of our present home.

In Genesis ch.22 God tested Abraham by instructing him to take his son to be sacrificed. Abraham obeyed God without question, but he knew that God had promised him that his descendants would come through Isaac. Genesis ch.6 vs.13-15 'For when God made promise to Abraham because He could swear by no greater, He swore by Himself, saying Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee,  And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. God let Abraham go so far and then said to him  'Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.'  Genesis ch.22 v..12 

This incident in particular has always encouraged me to believe that what we are promised by God when we are born again in Jesus is granted through our faith in Him and that I must not worry if hard trials come my way, but I must carry on trusting God for those promises.   One of the verses the Lord spoke to me very early on in my walk with Him was 'If you love Me, keep my commands.' John ch.14 v.15.' and I have learned, and am still learning, that there is no need to let fear and uncertainty cause me to allow my carnal mind to persuade me to do things according to my old worldly ways instead of Gods ways.

I have no need to worry about  material things if I put my trust in the Lord as Matthew ch.6 vs.31-33 says 'Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.' and I have to say that in all the thirty years that I have known the Lord He has provided for myself and my husband, and I have found that a person can be content with little or with much when the Lord is in their life.  Admittedly, many times I have found it hard and have made many mistakes while learning, but provided I keep my eyes upon Him and ask forgiveness when I get it wrong, then my peace is restored to me.

Proverbs ch.22 v.6 'Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.' reminds me of the fact that as I am growing in the Lord gradually being taught His ways, and mature in Him, His ways will become my ways.  We go from the milk to the strong meat, and He fully understands that we are flesh while guiding us on our journey, encouraging us to build one another up in the Spirit through the gifts He has given each one of us  'until we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.' Ephesians ch.4 v.13.  I was reminded of this scripture last week when I put a bunch of daffodils into a glass vase which has the shape of daffodils cut into it, all of us being made into the image of Him whom we are in.

Communication with God

This is a post that I put on my blog two years ago, and I just felt that I would like to share it again as my blog was very new then and some of you may not have read my testimony on this issue.

My friend and I felt that we had been neglecting our evangelism in the streets.  We have put poetry together with scripture in the form of leaflets to hand out to people and sometimes I take my guitar and we sing songs that we believe the Lord has brought us to write.  We decided that we would go on the Friday of that week into the town centre, and also take the guitar.  By the time Thursday had arrived I was feeling apprehensive about taking the guitar out with us and singing, partly because I was just getting over a cold, and partly because I hadn't sung in the street for a while.  So I prayed to the Lord and asked Him to show me whether I should take the guitar with me or not.  I was quite happy just to give out the leaflets.

That night I had a dream that I was given a sheet of paper.  At first glance the piece of paper appeared to be blank.  Then, as I tilted it, the light seemed to catch it and reveal a hidden message, almost as if there was another layer, beneath the top blank sheet, that could only be revealed when the light caught it a certain way.  I could barely make out what it said, but the harder I looked the clearer the message became.  It was simply the number 147.

The next morning I forgot all about having the dream, until I was seeking th Lord again about whether I should take my guitar out and sing that afternoon.  I had my Bible in front of me and suddenly the dream returned to my mind.  I felt led to read Psalm 147.  The first line said to sing praises, for a song of praise is seemly.  Verse seven also spoke about singing with a musical instrument.  Verse eleven says that the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him.  I decided that I was being told by the Lord to take the guitar and sing.  When I reached my friends house, she said she had also been reading Psalm 147 and believed we were were to sing as well as handing out the leaflets.  This we did and had a very good response from people on the street.
 

The next day I was working on my computer with an image manipulation package in which I can work with layers, a facility which gives me the ability to use several layers to build up a picture.  It enables me to totally block out a layer beneath the active layer without losing the information on that lower layer, it is simply obscured from my view.  What I see on my computer screen depends on which layer I choose to place on top as the active layer.  That same morning the postman had brought a letter from my bank which told me that there was a new way of getting help other than from the help desk at my branch.  There was a phone number to ring and if I peeled back a slip on a blank sheet of paper that was in the envelope, my code number, which I must use when I call, would be revealed.  As I peeled back the slip of paper my mind was cast back to my dream, and I realized that God was showing me something.

The blank sheet in my dream represented my carnal mind which was not really knowing what to do concerning the singing.  The other layer which appeared when the sheet of paper was tilted in the light was the enlightened word of the Holy Spirit directing me to the rhema word of God spoken to me in Psalm 147.

This incident showed me the importance of seeking God's will not only for direction as to what the Lord has called me to do, but also for seeking His word for guidance as to how my way of thinking must change according to His word spoken to me.  As with the layers facility on my computer program, the carnal mind has the ability to blank out the spiritual mind of Christ if I do not stay in communication with the Lord.  Just like the layers facility on my computer, what I see depends on which mind I keep active.  Also, the personal code number that I must use to get help from my bank represented the enlightened word of God being revealed to me, in my own life and ministry, through prayer.

 

After I finished writing this article I picked up one of my Christian daily devotional booklets to see what the day's reading was and this is what it said.  'God revealed Himself to Samuel through His word.'