Move forward

I love being old, as I have told so many, when I was little and did something wrong I got a ……… now I can be as naughty as I like and I can’t get into any trouble, but I give family and friends a laugh and they say ‘Oh Mother….’ 

I am writing this today before the funeral of a very close friend and we loved sharing life with Jesus and she daily had stories of what the Holy Spirit was saying to her.  How can I make the most of the rest of my life? I don't want to be stuck at the crisis point, the pain, the loss. I want whatever time Father has given me, and is written in my book (Psalm 139:16), to be spent with eternity in mind. I know I can't take any 'stuff' with me but I can take people as the fruit of my labour by the power of His Spirit. We sing ‘He is all I need’ but we don’t know whether we can mean it till He is all we have got. What a challenging place to be.

I can't use the time I have left the way the world does, 'eat drink and be merry for tomorrow I die'. 'Let God transform me into a new person by changing the way I think, then I will know God's will which is good and pleasing and perfect', Romans 12:2

I can put my feelings in a box and bury them as deep as possible, but I don’t want my body to react and come out with some horrible disease because I haven’t allowed God to heal me from the inside. Or when I come to another trauma situation again and all the old feelings come back to the surface and I feel completely overwhelmed. Jesus said, 'I have told you these things so that in Me you may have perfect peace.....' John 16:33. How? How?

Avoiding pain is not an option unless we want to lock our emotions up or harden our hearts, as that means we cannot love again in case we get hurt again. We can insulate ourselves from relationships but that is not Father's way. Praise Jesus and thank Him as He doesn't cut us off every time we hurt Him.

To be vulnerable in life means allowing ourselves to be hurt, but learning how to put mechanisms in place, with the help of the Holy Spirit, for healing to take place. We are the most blessed of people, as when we do go through trauma Jesus has put in place some stepping stones to allow us to choose how to navigate life on a daily basis and to prepare for future trauma with Him at the centre of our storm. 

see https://www.joyforlife.org/index.php/power-up/power-up-study-11

How hot is your fire?

Pentecost weekend, it was so exciting to celebrate the arrival of the Holy Spirit 2000+ years ago. Imagine if we had to live like the Jews back then following all the rules and regulations. Following the ten commandments would be tough, but when the leaders (Pharisees) added a whole load more it would have made life impossible. I would have constantly been saying 'sorry' and adding more sacrifices for blood on the scapegoat once a year. In the mean time I would have been weighed down with guilt and shame.

Living with the Holy Spirit alive in us can be so exciting, Romans 8:11. From the day we start our new life following Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to live in us and enables us to have the power to obey all He leads us to do. And to walk in love which we were not even trying to do before our life change, or should I say, our eternal destination change. We now have a completely different destination and the power to walk headlong in that direction.

Our responsibility though, is to keep the fire of the Holy Spirit in our heart burning. 

This will not happen if we don't focus on it. Like a fire in the hearth of our home, if we don't keep stocking it up and adding wood, controlling the draft, and making sure it is not overcome by rubbish ash, it will die out. This will take some work to return it to a place of heat, warmth, even cooking ability. The same with us, our excitement, passion for the things of God, can turn sour or cold. So let us take time out to pray, and cry out for the help of the Holy Spirit to 'fan into flame the spiritual gift God gave us' 2 Timothy 1:6. Get back into studying the Word for ourselves. And have a friend who is excited about Jesus and share with them. When we are on fire with the Holy Spirit then He is free to flow out of us and touch all those round us, then life is exciting again, encouraging, and full of His joy. 

So I am really keen to stop being lukewarm and return to my passion for Christ. Jesus Himself said 'Anyone who is thirsty may come to Me! Anyone who believes in Me may come and drink! For the scriptures declare, 'Rivers of Living Water with flow from his heart'. Sounds like a very exciting journey to me, walk in daily fellowship with the Holy Spirit and live like Jesus, nothing could be more exhilarating or exciting, life in all its fullness. 

For more about walking with the Holy Spirit see https://www.joyforlife.org/index.php/living-with-jesus/living-with-jesus-study-5 

Then the JUDGEMENT

 When I wrote the two posts about 'Heaven here we come' little did I know of the horror that was coming. I got weaker and weaker, losing weight and had differing opinions from the doctors. I was admitted to hospital after Christmas for various investigations. My family were very supportive the only problem was that my son collapsed on January 2nd and he was in a different hospital. Heaven seemed very imminent for us both. I had hoped that I would be 'the woman of power for the hour' sharing the gospel with anyone who would listen in another bed. It wasn't like that at all, the sky felt like brass, I didn't know the power or the Presence of the Holy Spirit at all. I prayed for one other precious lady and the answer never came as I walked up and down the ward with her. 

The fear I had was tangible, so real. I couldn't imagine that if I was dying I was going to enter into the Presence of Jesus as when my faith was tested I was sadly lacking. Judgement seemed frightening.

Lovely people visited me and I shared my crisis of faith and was totally honest. They pointed me to some different giants of the faith who had messed up. When I came home starting to mend physically, I asked the Father how to mend my relationship with Him and He directed me to take up the 'Bible In One Year'. Slowly but surely as my body restored so did my spirit and Father had used the whole experience to help me recognise my total need for Him on an hour by hour basis. I no longer needed to walk in self-sufficiency, prayerless activities, and busyness to look good, but needed the Holy Spirit for everything. 

So I picked up my terror about the Judgement and went through some verses. I know that when we repent AND turn away from our sins, even habitual ones, He forgives them, 1John 1:9. 'He also doesn't treat us as our sins deserve, nor pay us back in full for our wrongs. ...... And as far as sunrise is from sunset He has separated us from our sins.' Psalm 103:12 Msg. This so encourages me but also there are verses, 'For we will all stand before the Judgement seat of God.......' Romans 14:10 - 12 of this passage 'So then, each of us will give a personal account of himself to God.'  This is where the problem comes, I know me and I don't feel so bad about what I did before I gave my life to Jesus, but I feel so much shame about the things I have done and said since I knew better. I know the Word says 'don't gossip' 'don't slander others'. 'I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it.' Romans 7:19. But on the other side of the scales Psalm 103:12 - 14 'He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. The Lord ..... is tender and compassionate to those who fear Him. For He knows how weak we are; He remembers we are only dust.' AND joy of joys 'I- yes, I alone - will blot out your sins for My own sake and will never think of them again' Isaiah 43:25. 

So we have to take the judgement seriously but keep it in balance according to the Word. We are accountable to God for every wrong we have done, but as we take responsibility for our thoughts and actions we have a clear way to the throne of God to confess them, not hide them, and receive all that Jesus has done to cover them and remove them just like the Lamb of God in the Old Testament. His grace is amazing but not an excuse to keep on sinning. So when I was in hospital I knew I had been walking in gluttony for years, yoyo dieting, and making food the idol of my life, but coming to the edge of life caused by my attitude to food has allowed me to focus on my responsibility to my Heavenly Father and to myself as the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and family. It truly has been life changing and the thought of me standing in front of the Judge of all the earth with all this sin has caused me to clean out the dirty larder of my soul. I have to ask the Holy Spirit when shopping, when going into the cupboard and fridge, and if I slip, turn away from that food, and be thankful.

When I stand before the judgement seat of Christ I want to know I am covered in His robe of righteousness that Jesus paid for with His Blood. But like Paul, I know it is a daily choice, and my motive now is far more 'no secrets' and I want to make choices that please Him not my dead flesh. There is so much to learn in His Word about the Judgement and our priority is to be ready at any time like the wise virgins in Matthew 25:6 'Look the bridegroom is coming'.   

'Now all glory to God, Who is able to keep us from falling away and will bring us with great joy into His glorious Presence without a single fault. All glory to Him Who alone is God, our Saviour through Jesus Christ our Lord. All Glory, majesty, power, and authority are His before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time!' Jude 1:24,25. ARE WE READY?

See More https://www.joyforlife.org/index.php/menu-bible-studies/menu-revelation

https://www.joyforlife.org/index.php/menu-bouquets/menu-how-to-find-god

After Resurrection - Feed My lambs

 When I was first asked to do something for the women in my church in South Wales in 1993, I tried with my childish faith to ask the Father what was His plan for me. I knew I loved many of the women but I needed His plan. The first Bible verse that I got, that really jumped off the page to me, was the story of Jesus talking to Peter privately after He had risen from the dead, John 21:15-17. Peter had been warned by Jesus that he would betray His Lord but Peter adamantly denied he would do any such thing.

But after Jesus was viciously dragged away by the soldiers after Judas' kiss of betrayal, Peter in his usual impulsive way used his sword to cut off Malchus' ear, but Jesus healed it straight away, John 18:10,11. This resulted in Peter doing a runner. Then to add insult to injury he was seen by three different groups of people who accused Peter of being a Galilean  and a disciple of Jesus, John 18:25-27. He denied he knew Jesus, three times.

After the horrendous crucifixion, then the fantastic Resurrection, Peter and his friends had returned to what they knew, fishing. They never knew where Jesus would turn up next. Peter must have wondered even if  Jesus would have him back after his denial? This time Jesus turned up on the shore and told them where to fish. He then cooked breakfast for them. This was reminding them that although they had been through the worst trauma of their lives, lost their rabbi and they didn't yet understand what this new life was going to look like, He was still going to lead them every step of the way.

Jesus asks Peter 'do you love Me more than these?'

Such a loaded question, do you unconditionally love Me more than the fishing business? more than your work colleagues? Peter replies 'Yes Lord, You know that I love You.' Jesus says 'Feed My lambs' 
Jesus asks 'Simon son of John , do you love Me?' 'Yes Lord, you know that I love You.' 'Take care of My sheep.' 

The third time Jesus asked Peter the same question and Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him a third time, and Jesus said 'Feed My sheep.' It was important that Peter saw that Jesus was reinstating him after his three denials. He was commissioning him to do the work that Jesus had started, 'feed My lambs', the new believers. Also 'feed My sheep', the more long term followers. Peter was beginning to see the vision Father God had for his future. From the example of following Jesus for three years, he had a small idea of the life changing  message. He also knew when Jesus finally left the earth He would send the promised Holy Spirit to help complete the work of preaching the Gospel to the ends of the earth and making disciples of Jesus Christ.

And so 'Joy for Life' began to feed the sheep and encourage them to pass the life of Jesus on to their lambs. What a challenge to make disciples in our local area, in our city, country and to the ends of the earth. www.joyforlife.org

Heaven here we come Part 2

We have eternity planted by God in our heart, Ecclesiastes 3:11. All our lives, deep down in our hearts, we are looking for meaning and purpose. We have a God shaped hole that we may not recognise but  only He can fill.

When we are hurt in any way we build up a resistance to being hurt again and so can harden our hearts. This can make it harder to accept the Truth when we hear it. The wonderful part of this is, it is not our action to fill this great hole, Father God draws us by His Spirit in so many and various ways, we just need to respond. He never forces Himself on us, and thankfully He never gives up on us.

There are so many books and YouTubes around with stories of people who had Near Death Experiences which are so encouraging. But let us look at what the Word says and ask the Holy Spirit to open our eyes for Truth that we can hold onto by faith. When we hold onto any promises by faith, (trust, belief) this always pleases our Father, Hebrews 11:6 

I love Jesus's own words in John 14:1-3 “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in Me. 2 There is more than enough room in My Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with Me where I am.'

We dont really need more words than that, what a promise. But what about these thoughts  'He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.' Revelation 21:4.😭 So even if Heaven is not what we imagined, to have no more crying or pain and death will be .............. Words fail me.

And the place itself is out of this world. All over the Bible are verses describing Heaven, but I get so excited when I focus on Revelation 21:1-27 and Revelation 22:1-21. Let us just feed our imagination with a few of these Truths. 'I am making everything new' 'It is finished. I am the Alpha and Omega - the beginning and the end.' Remember all He made at the very beginning, the amazing garden, sure He is planning a much more amazing Eden/ Heaven, when we all come together to worship Him and see Him face to face in all His Glory.

'All who are thirsty will drink from the springs of Life' There is also a river flowing from the Throne of God and the Lamb, as clear as crystal. It flows down the main street of Heaven and on each side grew a tree of Life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop every month and the leaves are used for healing the Nations.

One of the angels described in Revelation 21:10-23  took John in the Spirit up a great high mountain to show him the Holy City, Jerusalem, descending out of Heaven from God. It shone with the Glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone, as clear as crystal The city wall was broad and high, with twelve gates guarded by twelve Angels. The names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates. Then the walls of the city had twelve foundation stones and on each of them were written the Names of the twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. These foundation stones were inlaid with twelve precious stones. The City was pure gold as clear as glass.. Each gate was from one single pearl. There is no Temple in the City as the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the place of worship and their Glory illuminates the City and Jesus is the Light, so no night and no darkness at all., so all whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life (Revelation 3:5) will be able to enter.

Then there are the flowers, like the colours from the stones, the indescribable grandeur and yet miniscule beauty.

The Father God, Who with His Son Jesus Christ and the inspiration and Glory of the Holy Spirit created each person. He chose each individual before the creation of the earth, making each of us with different eyes and fingerprints, surely He would make our eternal home just as individual and unique, our very own part of Eden. In the Book of Song of Songs 2:10-13 where love is described in such beautiful detail and lots of the description describes nature full of colour and variety all from our Father's heart. How excited He must be to show us all that He has done and planned for us, when we arrive at our eternal home, Heaven

There are still lots of questions but I am so thankful that I can trust Him completely as He is God and I am not meant to understand all He has prepeared for me, but I can look forward to being quite overwhelmed by all that my Heavenly home will be like when I arrive. 

'For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don't look at the troubles we can see now, rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever' 2 Corinthians 4:17-18

We have so much to look forward to, let us pray for our family and friends and for a holy boldness to tell everyone about His amazing love for all who will listen💓💓.

Heaven here we come.Part One

My eldest daughter Sara and I are looking at a cruise together, on my 'bucket list', something I have always wanted to do and Dave never did. Sara's husband is not keen on this, unless he is captaining the yacht. I am researching on the web, asking companies for brochures, thinking about the size, destiny and comfort of the cruise liner, so much fun, full of dreams, divine appointments; ideas of comfort; trips on shore and good food. 

So we all know we are going to die, the only guarantee in life, and yet we don't have coffee shop chats about 'what will it be like? Where do you think you are going? 'Would you recommend it?' 'If you died tonight where do you think you will go?' It is the 'elephant' in the room. In the Bible it says, 'Look I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and no one will even think about the old ones anymore. Be glad; rejoice forever in My creation!' Isaiah 65:17

So how can I be ready for my forever life? It is not wise to not think through wherever I am going be? Seek out how I am going to get there? What will it be like? if it is a place, what will I be doing? or not doing? Who else will be there?

It says in Hebrews 2:14,15; that Jesus came to remove the fear of  death, and by being human He showed us that He has prepared the way.

I have been very fearful of dying, a bit like being pregnant and I know in order to have this precious baby I am trapped to having to go through the labour. So knowing that to go into an unknown eternity I have to let go of control of every person and place in this life, and trust Jesus.  I have set about in the last few months to find out what awaits me on the other side of death. The Bible has a lot to say about it and Jesus does not want us to be ignorant. In fact He would rather our minds were more focused on eternity than our everyday issues. Time is short, 'But let me say this, dear brothers and sisters: The time that remains is very short. So from now on, those with wives should not focus only on their marriage. Those who weep or who rejoice or who buy things should not be absorbed by their weeping or their joy or their possessions. Those who use the things of the world should not become attached to them. For this world as we know it will soon pass away'. 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 

I have also been enjoying a few books and YouTubes about Near Death Experiences, especially where research included believers in Jesus Christ and non believers there were so many reports in common. From their experiences many found Jesus for themselves. 

Having looked at post death experiences and the Word, I know without doubt I will be received by overwhelming LOVE, after all God gave His precious Son so I can be accepted and stand clean before Him. Forgiven of ALLI have done, even my good actions have had wrong motives.

We can have decided what is going to happen to us after we die and give it no more thought BUT is this the Truth? Imagine waking up on our new holiday and finding out 'this is not how I thought it was going to be' but there is nothing I can do to change the destination, I could have made my choice, when listening to friends talking; watching YouTubes; behaviour of church people; but maybe they were not telling me the truth, I have to make my own choice. After all if I dont want to spend time with the God of the Universe here, why would I want to spend time with Him in the next life. He never rejects us we reject Him.

This is Dave's last painting of the narrow gate, he didnt realise that his days were very short but obviously he was focusing on his Heavenly home and the narrow gate to get there, Matthew 7:13. This is such a massive and wonderful subject after all who doesn't want to go on the most amazing holiday, perfect destination, all inclusive, and surrounded by Love so if you are not sure, Jesus promises 'you will find Me if you seek Me with your whole heart' Jeremiah 29:13 and Luke 12:31

Check out if you have a paid ticket to the right destination go to "https://www.joyforlife.org/index.php/the-best-news"  

Enjoy the journey and see you there. 

If Only .........

Since Dave died I have had so many opportunities to say if only,  'If only I hadn't kept that grudge.' 'If only I had listened more when he tried to teach me on the computer.' 'If only I had found out where to fill the car engine with oil'.
'If only I hadn't made that comment'
'If only I hadn't posted that message'
'If only I had said sorry straight away or never made the comment in the first place'
'If only we had trusted Jesus more'.

When we lose a partner, a child, a friend from death or even a business, a house,..........  (fill in the space) there can be so many 'if onlys........' but it brings us to a massive place of regret, a regret we can do nothing about.

Imagine how many 'if onlys' Peter spoke and thought about coming up to Pentecost, Acts 2:14. He knew Jesus was the Messiah, the Father had shown that Truth to him and called him, Matthew 4:18. He saw the Transfiguration and wanted to tell Jesus what he could do for Him, Matthew 17:4. What about walking on water, imagine 'if only I hadn't looked down' Matthew 14:29.
If only I hadn't said I would never deny Him, 
If only I had slipped away and not tried to stick around the court house.
If only; .....  if only I had taken on board His warning to me,
If only I had been honest with Him and say I didn't understand,.....
If only He had made it all clearer, if only I had realised He didn't mean I was going to be important in His new Government.....

'If only' ........When Jesus was resurrected, He came straight to Peter to ask him if he really loved Him? John 21:15-18. What a challenge after the previous few days. Peter must have had so many 'If onlys' in his head. 'If only' I had been faithful to Him when I could; 'If only' I was there when He needed me the most..

.......
But now, none of this is helpful, positive or building Peter up, he now knows he is forgiven, Peter told Jesus three times that he loves Him more than anything or anybody. Peter knows too, he can look forward. Jesus has told all the disciples to go back to Jerusalem and wait to receive the power of the Holy Spirit, Acts 1:8

Peter now experienced the life transforming power of the Holy Spirit and will obey His leading day by day with no regrets - no 'if onlys' so he can walk as Jesus walked and do what Jesus did. His first sermon when laying hands on the man sitting at the Temple door, 3000 people were saved, Acts 3:1-8. No more speaking without thinking. He now has a heart full of compassion for the marginalised, even those who killed his Saviour.

I am learning to  give all my 'if onlys' to Jesus, lay them at His feet and recognise He dealt with them all, at the time when they happened, and there is no need to allow them to hold me back. Let us like Peter make a new start, walking in the power of the Holy Spirit, 'as without Him we can do nothing'.  Have a good day, and no more time wasted on 'if only.......'