LETS NOT MISS THE SMALL THINGS

My beautiful dog Ruby clearly just lays about with not a care in the world , her future involves food, water, wood fires , walks and cuddles. Simple!!
How much time to we waste in our minds on trying to map out our own future and the outcomes of events ahead of us?
We so often get caught up in "trying to figure it out " When what we should be doing is taking our concerns to God in prayer and trusting that he has the best outcome for us.
We end up focusing too much of our time attempting to make a plan when in fact the plan has already been made for us.
It is such a simple message for us. lets not miss the small things !!!

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11.
We often do not know our own minds, but the Lord is never at an uncertainty. He will give us, not the expectations of our fears, or the expectations of our fancies, but the expectations of our faith; the end he has promised, which will be the best for us .

Psalm 40:5 Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders which You have done, And Your thoughts toward us; There is none to compare with You. If I would declare and speak of them, They would be too numerous to count.

Ask God today what his plan for us is and lets be prompted by the holy spirit not our own wayward thoughts

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

I was reading this today and just wanted to share it

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary It becomes children to be grateful. When we come to God as a Father, we must remember that he is Lord of heaven and earth, which obliges us to come to him with reverence as to the sovereign Lord of all; yet with confidence, as one able to defend us from evil, and to supply us with all good. Our blessed Lord added a remarkable declaration, that the Father had delivered into his hands all power, authority, and judgment. We are indebted to Christ for all the revelation we have of God the Father's will and love, ever since Adam sinned. Our Saviour has invited all that labour and are heavy-laden, to come unto him. In some senses all men are so. Worldly men burden themselves with fruitless cares for wealth and honours; the gay and the sensual labour in pursuit of pleasures; the slave of Satan and his own lusts, is the merest drudge on earth. Those who labour to establish their own righteousness also labour in vain. The convinced sinner is heavy-laden with guilt and terror; and the tempted and afflicted believer has labours and burdens. Christ invites all to come to him for rest to their souls. He alone gives this invitation; men come to him, when, feeling their guilt and misery, and believing his love and power to help, they seek him in fervent prayer. Thus it is the duty and interest of weary and heavy-laden sinners, to come to Jesus Christ. This is the gospel call; Whoever will, let him come. All who thus come will receive rest as Christ's gift, and obtain peace and comfort in their hearts. But in coming to him they must take his yoke, and submit to his authority. They must learn of him all things, as to their comfort and obedience. He accepts the willing servant, however imperfect the services. Here we may find rest for our souls, and here only. Nor need we fear his yoke. His commandments are holy, just, and good. It requires self-denial, and exposes to difficulties, but this is abundantly repaid, even in this world, by inward peace and joy. It is a yoke that is lined with love. So powerful are the assistances he gives us, so suitable the encouragements, and so strong the consolations to be found in the way of duty, that we may truly say, it is a yoke of pleasantness. The way of duty is the way of rest. The truths Christ teaches are such as we may venture our souls upon. Such is the Redeemer's mercy; and why should the labouring and burdened sinner seek for rest from any other quarter? Let us come to him daily, for deliverance from wrath and guilt, from sin and Satan, from all our cares, fears, and sorrows. But forced obedience, far from being easy and light, is a heavy burden. In vain do we draw near to Jesus with our lips, while the heart is far from him. Then come to Jesus to find rest for your souls.

BE A FOUNTAIN OF JOY AND LOVE

JESUS died at Easter on the cross so that we can live free joy filled lives, lets not ignore this and continue to live as we always have lets renew our heats every day and walk in the joy of our Lord, spreading our joy and hope like an infectious disease.
God wants us to be people who are his light not people who are down trodden and beaten by life all the time, we are called to live a victorious life.
Ephesians 4:22-24
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
I urge you , and at times myself what are we showing the world about Christianity. Is it that we just go to church on Sunday and there is no change in us or is it that we have an infectious joy about us and people just want to be near us .
I have the privilege of working alongside Sarah who has to be the smiliest person I have ever met, She is filled with love for God and it literally overflows from her heart for all to See I am sure God looks down at her and is well pleased

HANG ON FOR THE RIDE

Well what a month it has been in my life . There has been births the beginning of new life. Deaths, the end of a journey. Weddings, the start of a new chapter in life. There has been many triumphs and some times of defeat. There has been conflict, and resolution. There has been growth and awakening spiritually.

There has been fellowship, love and friendship. There has been flat out hard work and flat out recovering from the work. There has been moments of sheer joy with my children, and moments of correction and guidance.

But one thing always remains the same throughout, and that is the Love and companionship of Jesus, he has been by my side every step of the way through thick and thin, guiding me, prompting me, loving me, standing with me, healing my heart, renewing my strength, talking with me, encouraging me. And best of all being my friend .

Along that journey my children have been watching and learning from me, my unbelieving friends and family have been watching and seeing how I handle things and My brothers and sisters in Christ have been cheering me on and encouraging me.


I would have my life no other way,


Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Hebrews 12 : 1-2

FREELY FREELY YOU HAVE RECIEVED

— Romans 5:20 God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.

How awesome is that, God,s Grace is far greater than any sin we can do or even think of doing , If sin increases so too does Gods grace. We have done nothing do earn his favour it is there as a free gift to each and every one of us.
We have no concept relay as to how much he loves us and how he delights in blessing us and giving us the desires of our heart. HE IS !!! The perfect father,
Our earthly parents sometimes fall short in our eyes of what we think parents should be, and so too do we when it comes to our own children. But God Will never fall short, His Love and grace surpasses all of our understanding.
It is a gift that is freely given and we are asked to freely receive, the price has been paid on the cross.
So step out today and walk in the freedom that Gods grace has given us , don't walk in the bondage that Satan tries to hold us in. We can live in freedom, uninhibited freedom, just like the silly monkey swinging in the breeze with not a care in the world.
God is the ultimate conqueror of evil with good
2 Peter 1: 3-4 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

BEST OF LUCK!! YOUR TIME STARTS NOW

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”- Psalm 139:23-24

The way a person lives can't help but demonstrate what we believe in.
Are we sold on what you believes in, or are we neither here nor there about it?
Do we believes in something, do we have an understanding and resolve of its greatness, or is it just a one among many beliefs that we can set aside when some new interest comes along?
God promises heaven to all of us who choose to believe in and love Jesus Christ.
The way we answer the following questions has a huge impact on the way we will live out our lives.
Do we believe heaven awesome?
Will God fulfill his promise to take us there?
Have we done enough to seal the deal ?
If we choose to believe in the greatness of the promises and in God's faithfulness to fulfill them, we will then choose to live differently.
The awesome greatness of God's promises call for faith that obeys and faith that looks beyond our inevitable death.
It is so easy to live for the here and now and not have a kingdom vision for our lives , eternity is such a hard concept to grasp, but in order to have all that God wants for us here on earth then we have to pursue God with passion in our hearts and love him far beyond our human parameters and understanding.
We have only a short time here in this world ,
Best of luck !!! your time starts now. Your time can start now even if you have messed up along the journey so far, however as Christians we don't need any luck Our God goes before us every step of the way forging a path for us to walk on.
Just walk and keep walking forward. Phillipians 3 :14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

GODS PERFECT PLAN

“[Praise to the LORD] O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.”- Isaiah 25:1
Sometimes you may feel that you just get lost in the crowd, like a pebble in the bottom of the stream, but God knows us each by name, he has marked every hair on our head and his plan for us is perfect. How do I know this, well read on.........

Two days before Christmas my Pastor Jenny asked me if I knew of some customers from Rapture that I could give a Christmas hamper to. Sure I said and left with 3 hampers in my boot. I gave away the first two and then as I was driving to work on Christmas eve my car began to play up, I drove right to my mechanic for him to take a look, during our conversations he told me of a close friend of his that I have met briefly before that she had been in hospital and was coming home that day. Well there was my answer for my final hamper.
That afternoon she came in my shop to thank me and was just blown away by our gift, I was so pleased to be able to tell her that it was not my gift but rather from our church put together by people who love God and wanted to bless others at Christmas.
By making my car play up God had put me in touch with a lady who desperately needed some people in her life to care for her at a difficult time as she had another operation coming up.
Since that day I have run into her so many times it almost seems ridiculous, well it would be if I did not know that God clearly has a plan for her. I am excited as to where God is taking this and how he plans to use me in this situation.
There is so much that goes on in our day to day lives that God has orchestrated and we may or may not be aware of it, but God clearly has a plan and if we allow ourselves to be used by him, by following his direction and promptings we will be directly used in his blessing of the people around us and working alongside God to show his light to the broken and unsaved.

Does God have a plan ? Most certainly.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

photo: Nethocote falls, NSW