HOW LOVELY IS YOUR DWELLING PLACE

SUNDAY....
Jesus said, "I will build my church" Matthew 16:18. The church is important to Jesus , he loved it so much that he gave his life for it Ephesians 5:25.
If we are have the mind of Christ, we will love the church, too, and give ourselves to it.

The Greek word for "church" is ekklesia, which means an assembly. In Acts 19:39, 41, it is used for a large group of townspeople. But among Christians, the word ekklesia came to have a special meaning: all who believe in Jesus Christ.

There is not better place for us to be than in the presence of God today , in fellowship with other believers. The church has been put in place by God as a place of worship, refuge renewing and fellowship for believers.
Position yourself in his presence today and soak in this living waters , renew your strength so you can be a strength and help for others this week to come. We cant do it on our own :)

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Psalm 21:6 For You make him most blessed forever; You make him joyful with gladness in Your presence.

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Psalm 36:7 How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.

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Psalm 36:8 They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights.

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Psalm 43:4 Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; And upon the lyre I shall praise You, O God, my God.

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Psalm 46:4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, The holy dwelling places of the Most High.

FRIENDS

PROVERBS 18;24 A man that has friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.
Today my thoughts have been about friends and how important they are to us. I have been recovering these last 3 weeks from surgery and have been totally blessed by the love and caring from my friends, it has been a very humbling experience.
Friends play such an important role for us, we can give to them and we can receive from them, we can love and be loved, share our deepest thoughts and hear their deepest thoughts, laugh and cry together, share joy and pain .
Most of we girls would have spent a great part of our lives looking for that elusive " Best friend ". We have an inbuilt desire within us to seek out that soul mate..best friend..life long buddy. The sad part is that for some of us we never seem to find that person, we begin our hunt in the primary school play ground and when we finally think we have found the one.... our hearts are broken when they tell you one lunch time to go away they have a new best friend now. But never to be deterred we try again and again all trough school and beyond.
Then heaven help us !!! we grow up marry have children and are thrust into the world of "the mothers play Group " trying to find a whole new circle of friends to fit into. I f we thought the school yard was hard , it was only a mere walk in the park compared to hormonal new mothers. Our task to fit into this frightening play ground begins at first light preparing our baby in his finest outfit , packing the nappy bag being sure that nothing is forgotten , preparing ourselves in our slimmest looking clothes so we look like the most together hottest mamma in the room. Then off we go ready to walk into the unknown hoping that we will connect with these mums and develop a life long kindred spirit with at least one of them.
I spent many years wasting my time on trying to be the person that I thought other people would want me to be in order to have them want to be my friend, the joke is however that all I really had to do was be who God created me to be and just simply be their friend. I did not need to jump through hoops trying to be the sort of person who would appeal to others.. I just had to be me and use my talents that God had placed in me to love the women around me and in turn they would love me back.
I cant tell you the amount I times that I have allowed myself to be put in the position of walking away from women feeling completely shattered and unworthy to hold the title of being their friend subjecting myself to inane comments, and allowing Satan to scream in my ear "just go home you stupid woman , who would ever want to be your friend " I was leading myself to the slaughter each and every time because I was listening to the wrong voice time and time again.
The funniest part of all this however is that all along from the day I was born I had my best friend right there with me every day jumping up and down before me saying "pick me !!! pick me!!! " God was there all along, a truly faithful friend handing me unconditional acceptance and love.
He was right there the days I was sitting at home in the depths of loneliness just waiting and hoping that I would look to him and share my deepest thoughts with him. He was waiting for me to place my hand in the warm safe palm of his and feel truly loved. He was there in my deepest times of rejection whispering in my ear " No Janelle don't listen to them listen to me, hear my words , my truth, my love for you, spend time with me and I will show you how much I love you ".
Thankfully I can tell you that person is not me today. I know who I am, I know who God created me to be, I know the gifts placed within me to love and nurture those around me, I have set aside time with my "best friend " for him to whisper in my ear truth and not lies.
I have been exceedingly blessed to have learnt the truth of friendship.
Take the time my friends to stop and ask God who you are ? who he wants you to be to the people around you ? Because therein lies your answer to being a true friend to others . You are bringing friendship to the table not coming empty handed wanting to take friendship from others. “The world of the generous gets larger and larger – the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller” (Proverbs 11:24).
Micah 7;5 says ; " Do not trust a neighbor; put no confidence in a friend. Even with her who lies in your embrace be careful of your words." The prophet saw no safety or comfort ,but in looking to the Lord, and waiting on God his salvation. When under trials, we should look continually to our Divine Redeemer, that we may have strength and grace to trust in him, and to be examples to those around us.
Charles Spurgeon said. " I trust my soul in thy kind hands "
Who are you trusting with your soul ? God is the only one who will not damage your tender
heart and be your true faithful life long friend.

SOMETIMES GOD NEEDS TO SHOUT

C.S. Lewis said ; “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world”

Fifteen years ago I went to Koorong book store to buy a new bible, after over an hour of searching for just the right one for me from the amazing array of choice I gave up in frustration and decided to leave feeling rather dissatisfied .

As I turned to walk away a hard cover bible fell from the top shelf hitting me on the head and almost knocked me out. Clearly the obvious choice to me was I had to buy this one, if only for a funny story to tell.

I still have that bible and in the front cover where there is provision to fill in "who presented you with this bible " I have written "God, because he dropped it on my head."

Today I found myself back at the same store to purchase a bible for Lucy, I was not in a particularly good frame of mind as I had a cold and a thumper of a headache. I stood for 20 minutes looking at all the choices and found the one that was the perfect choice that Lucy would love , It was however in hardback and cost $40.00 which was twice the amount of money I had to spend so I decided to leave and have a look online and see if I could find something suitable, as I turned to walk away I was startled by a loud thump as a bible came crashing to the floor directly behind me. Now being the tidy person I am I picked it up without looking and placed it back on the shelf and again began to leave.

Tap tap .... I felt the Holy spirit tap me on my shoulder "Do you remember the last book that fell to the floor in this store ? "he said .... How blonde am I !!!! Yes I do I said to myself with a grin on my face and looking around at the same time to see if someone else dropped the book.

I picked the book up from the shelf and realized that I was holding a paper back copy of the bible that was perfect for Lucy but was out of my budget and this one was $20.00 exactly the amount that I had in my hand. I actually laughed out loud... two times... same store,,, two perfect bibles .... what are the odds ??? No there are no odds, just God getting my attention.

Isaiah 42:20 You see many things, but do not pay attention. Your ears are open, but not any hears.

Zechariah 7:11"But people refused to pay attention. They shrugged their shoulders at me and shut their ears so that they couldn't hear.

ANNIE MELINDA LANE

Today August 25th 1994 , 16 years ago
I was in my bed at The Anglis hospital holding Our Annie Melinda Lane who was only one hour into her journey through life.
I spent the day prior to this day cleaning my home, playing games with Steph whom was only 3 years old and Liam who was only 14 months old , taking my then 6 year Old Robert to school and home again. I was a busy mum to say the least. Well by 4 pm this day my home was spotless, my children had had all their needs attended to and dinner was cooked for my In Laws who were coming for dinner, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner together and home they went, only to return at midnight because Annie was on her way.........
How precious are the memories when I look back and recount every detail leading up to and the birth of my precious girl. That first look into her eyes I never forget, those precious Sapphire blue eyes flickering open and shut in an attempt to adjust to her new surroundings. Her tiny fingers reaching out for me. The very best of all was the overwhelming sense of joy as she crept and wriggled on top of my belly looking for my breast to suckle on and truly bond with me and know that without a doubt that I would love, care for and nurture her for all her days to come.
To have the privilege of watching Annie grow and mature over this past 16 years , to witness first hand her love for God, her love for her family and friends, her magnificent voice when she sings. The compassion that is stirred within her and her ability to take action when she sees a need. Her strong sense of justice for others are all part of her God given character that was placed in her tiny heart when God first formed her withing my womb. Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
Even when Annie was two and they thought she had Cystic fibrosis , God you were there loving her , guiding the surgeons hand and taking care of our worried broken hearts
How blessed Mike and I are as her parents to have had God along side with us every step of the way as Annie journeyed through life . I have read my fair share of parenting books but none come close tho the wisdom and insight that only the Holy spirit can give to you when it comes to raising our children .
Thank You God for the truth and wisdom in your Word , Thank you for trusting us with such a precious gift as Annie to raise in your ways .Proverbs 22 :6 Train up a child in the way he should go ; and when he is old he will never depart from it.
Annie the kingdom of Heaven is yours keep learning, keep loving, and keep looking forward. Mathew 19 :14 Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

NOT SO EASY BUT WELL WORTH IT

Loving your life can be much easier if you just follow a few basics that God  outlines for us in Proverbs 3 some will come easily and some may need a little work or perhaps change of attitude. But this I know,  you will be richly blessed  and love your life if you walk in his ways.

1,  Remember the word and keep it in your heart.

2. Be filled with love and faith, write it on your heart, then God and people you meet will know     you love God

3. Trust God not yourself

4. Talk with God always and ask him what to do.

5.  Your wisdom comes from God alone

6.  Give God the best of your wealth

7.   Be teachable and open to Gods rebuke

8.  Be discerning

9 .  Don't be fearful , the Lord is your confidence

10. Be giving today ; don't wait till tomorrow

11. Don't gossip

12. Don't be violent, bad temped or angry

13. Don't mock people or think you are better than others

14. Be humble in all that you do

15. Be graceful and show mercy and compassion to the people around you

PLACE THEIR HAND INTO THE PALM OF JESUS

How many of you remember being like me back in your younger days ? Sometimes I would watch girly movies about the transformation of the Ugly duckling into the beautiful swan and it would inspire the rescuer in me to want to do that to some of my peers . You know the young awkward girl with the glasses, daggy clothes, low self esteem, everyone picks on her, the boys laugh at her.... Or perhaps it was the girl from the broken home whose dad beats her up, she gives herself to every boy who wants a go, she smokes, she drinks, she is always in trouble with school or the law, her friends are in short supply ...... Even in my young age with plenty of troubles and brokenness myself I would get along side these girls and befriend them and try my best to rescue them and fix them, I would have them over and do make overs , I would go shop lifting with them to help them find a better wardrobe, I would go and stay over in their homes and meet their awful parents and talk with them for hours attempting to help them. But the reality was that to some degree I was just as broken myself, same same but different. I was in no position to help them although I had very good intentions I lacked the very core thing that they were lacking and that was God and his awesome gift of salvation. My Children are very much like me today, they all have the desire to seek out the broken and lonely and help to fix them. At dinner last night we were all talking about this very situation and their desire to rescue some of there peers. I shared with them my revelation I received when I was saved that it will not be by their strength that the rescue will be possible or sustaining it can only be by God. Zechariah 4:6 Not by might, Not by power, but by my spirit said the Lord.
We may think we can save these people but it is only God, It is our job to direct people to Jesus and only through their salvation and his love, grace, tenderness and mercy for them will they be free of the hold Satan has over them. It is a spiritual battle that needs to be won for them not a natural physical battle. Ephesians 6 :10 -12 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms
The life blood and freedom they will receive from Jesus will sustain them for their lives but your friendship may be fickle at times, you may get in a fight and have a falling out, they may move away.... so many factors that can change but Jesus is the only true Rock that will stand with them today and forever more, never wavering, never changing, always holding out his hand of redemption no matter how low they go. Revelation 22;13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
Keep seeking out these lost souls ,keep loving them , keep praying for them, keep being their friend but Most important of all is ; Keep taking them back to the cross for that is the only place that they can be made whole again.
He is fully God. Isaiah 43:10,11 states that besides the Lord GOD there is no Saviour. Jesus, however, is called "the mighty God" (Is. 9:6) and "our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus 2.13). It takes God to save sinners.

WHAT IS THAT WOMAN DOING RESTING!!!!

What do we do when we are told by God to stay, abide and rest. 

Now, why don't you stay here tonight, as the others did, and I'll find out what else the LORD may have to tell me." Numbers 22 :19

For those of you who know me you will know that REST is not one of my favourite words, however I am quickly discovering the power of resting.

God can do amazing things when we  Rest. Stop! Abide ! Remain ! Obey !.  There comes an incredible refreshing and understanding, a renewing of your mind when we can no longer run about and fill our brain with OUR to do list, OUR unfounded worries, OUR plan for our lives, OUR plan for our kids lives, or OUR plan for God in our life.

Sometimes , like I believe in my case, God will force our hand and make us stop so he doesn't have to shout in order for us to hear him. Now I am not saying that God brings sickness, but he certainly does use it to his advantage if need be to slow us down and abide in him.

God uses this time to whisper tender words into your heart, to show you things in his word that you have quickly skimmed over in the past while simultaneously  listening to your 6 year old read her school reader, making, 6 school lunches, spooning breakfast into the mouth of the uncooperative 2 year old , signing permission excursion forms, and sending a text message to confirm your two pm appointment.  How can we possibly hear clearly what God has to say in this environment.

I urge you don't keep running and giving God your left overs like I did, stop and drink from all that God has for you and just see how you whole perspective changes and how you crave his daily input in your life.

God cant fully use a burnt out , stressed out Mum. but he can use a holy spirit led warrior woman of God willing and able to hear what he wants us to do and then follow through and do it, bearing fruit in all that we do.

John 15 :4-8

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

OUR SECURITY BLANKET

How many of us remember our favourite snuggle thing when we were little, you know, that blanket that you carried until the final shred was too small to recognise what it started its life out as, or the teddy that now has been reduced to just a ear.
My little Meg has a patchwork blanket that I made for her when she was born and she still sleeps with the last remaining shred, when we traveled with her as a baby all we had to do was put this rug on the floor of an airport and lay her on it and she would drift off to sleep, it quickly became a prized item that would have had devastating results if it was ever lost, it actually held more value in our last minute bag checks than the passports.
I was thinking last night about how often do we hang on to something in our lives just like the blanket, we clutch it close to our heart at night when we go to bed, we hold it firmly in our hands when we are feeling sorry for ourselves. We keep it as a trophy, a reminder of our past, our hurts, our failures . We hang on to our treasure for dear life in fear of letting go.
We often use it as an excuse to not move forward or to break free of the things that bind us and keep us from the journey God intends for us.
In my case here I am in bed post operation and post severe anxiety that I have lived with for 3 years. I have many symptoms that have not returned since my operation and I am beginning to feel better physically and healing physically. But what about mentally, there is a choice there, I could chose to remain in the place I have been for 3 years, constantly behind the 8 ball with panic attacks, heart palpitations, exhaustion, psoriasis , or I can allow God the best surgeon of them all to heal me inside as well and mould me into the thriving warrior woman completely aligned to him and his purposes.
How easy would it be for me to hang onto my last shred of my blanket that has served me well, kept me protected, given me an excuse to not fully participate, allowed me to use it a crutch at times.
Is it scary to let go and move forward , yes most certainly, but will you experience freedom beyond your wildest dreams when you do let go. yes most certainly.
I know most of us, especially we over thinking women have shreds of security blanket that we are still holding onto, but it is time to let go of this false security and hang onto the only thing that will last GOD.
Ephesians 1:18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.
There is a new treasure out there to be had. Our Lord is faithful. we can become consistant and free. He loves because he is love. He sees the treasure in me because he put it there. Jesus is in me and I am in him.
We are known in Heaven, Our identity as God sees it, gives us an authority over any opposition. We need to rise up from our infirmities and no longer allow ourselves to be shaped by our past.
Acts 26:18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.'
Life in the spirit is simply just letting go of a life that no longer works.