Matt 9: 23-24
"When Jesus arrived at the official's home, he noticed the noisy crowds and heard the funeral music. He said "Go away, for the girl isn't dead: she's only asleep." But the crowd laughed at him."
Someone called Alex* dead when his father died and he couldn't afford to pay his fees.
Someone called Joy* dead after five years of marriage and no child.
Someone called Precious* dead after years of having her heart broken, and not finding the right man.
Someone may call you dead because you have been facing a particular problem or challenge for years now. Someone may call you dead because you are struggling. To be declared 'Dead' means to be trapped in a situation or circumstance, unable to get out.
However.........
Those who think you are 'dead' should hear what Jesus says concerning your situation "This Child isn't dead, he/she is only sleeping."
You are coming out of that situation a winner, God is giving you a story that men will marvel at!!!
He saves!
Prayer:
I thank you father because by your power and in the name of Jesus you are turning things around in my life. Every dry bone will live again. I will praise you and declare your marvelous works in my life in the land of the living in Jesus name.Amen.
His peace. My love.
Chichi
Thursday 8 September 2011
Wednesday 10 August 2011
MAMA
I thank God for my mother, a woman so full of wisdom and counsel. A woman who is just a phone call away, she knows when I just need a listening ear, she knows when I need to be encouraged or reminded of God's promises. She is someone I can speak my heart to, cryptically or bluntly and God constantly heals the bruises of my heart and spirit with her words.
I Love you mama, my bestfriend :)
I Love you mama, my bestfriend :)
Wednesday 29 June 2011
Thoughts in my head....
Life happens, and if you do not take note it passes you by really quickly. It is good to just sit in the moment or second and savour peace, joy, balance, silence, love, hope. I think we get over our good moments too quickly and we stay down lots longer. Life passes through us, it changes us affects us, influences us, breaks us and makes us but seldom do we pass through life. We live for our seleves and forget about the others, those who have not what we take for granted or deem as common. My level of grace won’t permit me to sit with a mentally unstable person because I have a sound mind but it will permit me to serve or make myself available in another form, perhaps cheer someone up who feels discouraged. Joy is about focusing on God, not things not people because things come and go, people come and go…. But my dear, God is always.
Life is something even movies do not communicate no matter how hard they try. Life is unexpected, it happens so fast. Good moments give way to the bad and the bad bows again to the good times. Like the sun and moon they switch, each serving its purpose in our lives, each showing us how great our God is as a helper and a deliverer. Jackie Kennedy Onasis said ‘life is a mixture of the good and bad, you can’t have one without the other.’ Dwell longer on moments of victories, consider the battles won in life before because good times will give way to the difficult times… but both seasons point us to our God.
His peace. My love
Chi chi
Life is something even movies do not communicate no matter how hard they try. Life is unexpected, it happens so fast. Good moments give way to the bad and the bad bows again to the good times. Like the sun and moon they switch, each serving its purpose in our lives, each showing us how great our God is as a helper and a deliverer. Jackie Kennedy Onasis said ‘life is a mixture of the good and bad, you can’t have one without the other.’ Dwell longer on moments of victories, consider the battles won in life before because good times will give way to the difficult times… but both seasons point us to our God.
His peace. My love
Chi chi
Thursday 28 April 2011
Its not you its HIM
Gal 1: 15, Paul says something that hit me so hard in my heart "... He called me through (his) grace."
Sometimes we forget that it has nothing to do with us, not really. I am not saved because I have an amazing voice that gives people a glimpse of heaven whenever I sing. I am not loved by God because I am perfect, and get it right every second of every moment. God did not call me because I was 'right'.... even the bible says while I was yet in SIN, he died (loved) for me.
Today lets remember this, God loves us not because of us but in spite of us, and he has called us to be his through grace... nothing else. Its all about GRACE people.... its always about GRACE.
Keep surviving on his grace.
Sometimes we forget that it has nothing to do with us, not really. I am not saved because I have an amazing voice that gives people a glimpse of heaven whenever I sing. I am not loved by God because I am perfect, and get it right every second of every moment. God did not call me because I was 'right'.... even the bible says while I was yet in SIN, he died (loved) for me.
Today lets remember this, God loves us not because of us but in spite of us, and he has called us to be his through grace... nothing else. Its all about GRACE people.... its always about GRACE.
Keep surviving on his grace.
Friday 24 September 2010
INTERLUDE
Interlude
"She stands on the shore awaiting her ship,
she has been stranded on this island for so long; it is time for a journey to continue but in a lot of ways begin.
She can hardly breathe as she sees her ship in sight, the end is near,she whispers to herself 'the end is near'
With a trembling heart and eager hands, with moist eyes and a multitude of emotions washing over her...
She watches as her ship gets closer, "It will be beautiful to begin again..."
"She stands on the shore awaiting her ship,
she has been stranded on this island for so long; it is time for a journey to continue but in a lot of ways begin.
She can hardly breathe as she sees her ship in sight, the end is near,she whispers to herself 'the end is near'
With a trembling heart and eager hands, with moist eyes and a multitude of emotions washing over her...
She watches as her ship gets closer, "It will be beautiful to begin again..."
Tuesday 6 July 2010
"Give me the faith to walk in freedom and victory"
When the Soul Bleeds
Sharon Jaynes
Today's Truth
"Do you want to get well?" (John 5:6b NIV).
Friend to Friend
When we read the story of Jesus healing the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years, it is hard for us twenty-first century women to imagine such a condition lasting for so long. Medical science has progressed far beyond the rudimentary knowledge of Jesus' day. It is simply unthinkable today.
But I suggest there are still many women with chronic bleeding of a different sort. We bleed from the heart.
From the time Sarah was six-years-old, her father crept into her bedroom in the dark of night and violated her little body. Now, as an adult, her heart bleeds.
When Beth was walking to her dorm room from the college library, a man jumped from behind the bushes, and dragged her to a nearby shed and raped her at knife-point. Now, ten years later, her heart bleeds.
After twenty-years of marriage, Lucy accidentally stumbled upon an in-town hotel receipt in her husband's wallet. Suspecting the worse, she uncovered past e-mails, supposed meetings that never occurred and a trail of deceit. When presented with the evidence, her husband admitted having a three-year long affair. And her heart bleeds.
Margaret's routine physical reveals that she has AIDS. She had only been with one man her entire life - her husband. And her heart bleeds.
Laura was laid off from her job and her mother's words re-emerge like sewage leakage from an underground septic tank. "You're no good. You'll never amount to anything. You're a loser just like your father." And because of the lies, her heart bleeds.
Melissa holds her newborn little girl in her arms and coos her to sleep. Interrupting the sweetness of the wee hours of the morning, she hears her aborted child crying from the grave. Guilt presses down as the ever-present weight deflates her joy. And her heart bleeds.
Women - hoping the pain will go away; awakening each day with a memory that cuts a fresh wound. Women - longing to hear the words "Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."
The woman with the issue of blood was no different from you and me. While her apparent illness was physical, her inward suffering ruled her life. But in one radical moment, with one momentous decision, she reached out to Jesus and grabbed hold of her healing.
Mark used specific words to describe our friend with the issue of blood. She "suffered greatly" and she was "afflicted." These are the same words that were used of Jesus during his last days on earth (Mark 8:32, 9:12). The same words Isaiah spoke when he prophesied of Jesus' death (Isaiah 53:7). Jesus understood her suffering more than she knew. As the blood flowed from her body and rendered her unclean, Jesus knew the blood that would soon flow from his body to cleanse us all.
He wants to set us free from our suffering, but he will not push us out of the cell. He unlocks the jail cell, but we must walk out the door. We can choose to bleed. We can choose to remain in our suffering and pick at the scabs of the past, but hear me dear friend - it is a choice. Jesus said, "I have come that they might have life and have it to the full" (John 10:10). That's what he wants for each of us. But we have to embrace the truth and, like the woman with the twelve-year-bleeding, reach for our healing.
In John, chapter five, Jesus encounters a lame man sitting by a pool of water where the paralyzed, blind, and afflicted gathered. They believed that when the waters were stirred by supposed angels, the first one in the pool would be healed. For thirty-eight years this man sat in his sickness.
Then Jesus walked up to him and asked a strange question, "Do you want to get well?" (John 5:6b).
Perhaps it was not such a strange question after all. Many times we get used to being sick and wear it like a shroud. motionally we are the walking wounded - victims who pick as scabs - not allowing them to heal.
Jesus said to the woman, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." That is the same healing he offers to you and to me.
Let's Pray
Dear God, I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. I reach forward today, touch the hem of Your garment, and receive my healing. Yes, I want to get well. Give me the faith to walk in freedom and victory.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen.
Sharon Jaynes
Today's Truth
"Do you want to get well?" (John 5:6b NIV).
Friend to Friend
When we read the story of Jesus healing the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years, it is hard for us twenty-first century women to imagine such a condition lasting for so long. Medical science has progressed far beyond the rudimentary knowledge of Jesus' day. It is simply unthinkable today.
But I suggest there are still many women with chronic bleeding of a different sort. We bleed from the heart.
From the time Sarah was six-years-old, her father crept into her bedroom in the dark of night and violated her little body. Now, as an adult, her heart bleeds.
When Beth was walking to her dorm room from the college library, a man jumped from behind the bushes, and dragged her to a nearby shed and raped her at knife-point. Now, ten years later, her heart bleeds.
After twenty-years of marriage, Lucy accidentally stumbled upon an in-town hotel receipt in her husband's wallet. Suspecting the worse, she uncovered past e-mails, supposed meetings that never occurred and a trail of deceit. When presented with the evidence, her husband admitted having a three-year long affair. And her heart bleeds.
Margaret's routine physical reveals that she has AIDS. She had only been with one man her entire life - her husband. And her heart bleeds.
Laura was laid off from her job and her mother's words re-emerge like sewage leakage from an underground septic tank. "You're no good. You'll never amount to anything. You're a loser just like your father." And because of the lies, her heart bleeds.
Melissa holds her newborn little girl in her arms and coos her to sleep. Interrupting the sweetness of the wee hours of the morning, she hears her aborted child crying from the grave. Guilt presses down as the ever-present weight deflates her joy. And her heart bleeds.
Women - hoping the pain will go away; awakening each day with a memory that cuts a fresh wound. Women - longing to hear the words "Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."
The woman with the issue of blood was no different from you and me. While her apparent illness was physical, her inward suffering ruled her life. But in one radical moment, with one momentous decision, she reached out to Jesus and grabbed hold of her healing.
Mark used specific words to describe our friend with the issue of blood. She "suffered greatly" and she was "afflicted." These are the same words that were used of Jesus during his last days on earth (Mark 8:32, 9:12). The same words Isaiah spoke when he prophesied of Jesus' death (Isaiah 53:7). Jesus understood her suffering more than she knew. As the blood flowed from her body and rendered her unclean, Jesus knew the blood that would soon flow from his body to cleanse us all.
He wants to set us free from our suffering, but he will not push us out of the cell. He unlocks the jail cell, but we must walk out the door. We can choose to bleed. We can choose to remain in our suffering and pick at the scabs of the past, but hear me dear friend - it is a choice. Jesus said, "I have come that they might have life and have it to the full" (John 10:10). That's what he wants for each of us. But we have to embrace the truth and, like the woman with the twelve-year-bleeding, reach for our healing.
In John, chapter five, Jesus encounters a lame man sitting by a pool of water where the paralyzed, blind, and afflicted gathered. They believed that when the waters were stirred by supposed angels, the first one in the pool would be healed. For thirty-eight years this man sat in his sickness.
Then Jesus walked up to him and asked a strange question, "Do you want to get well?" (John 5:6b).
Perhaps it was not such a strange question after all. Many times we get used to being sick and wear it like a shroud. motionally we are the walking wounded - victims who pick as scabs - not allowing them to heal.
Jesus said to the woman, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." That is the same healing he offers to you and to me.
Let's Pray
Dear God, I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. I reach forward today, touch the hem of Your garment, and receive my healing. Yes, I want to get well. Give me the faith to walk in freedom and victory.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen.
Wednesday 17 March 2010
The Slum-dog Millionaire Effect
Romans 8:28 (NLT): "And we know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God and are fitting into his plans.
Don't scream in shock but I watched the infamous Slum-dog Millionaire movie for the first time early this year! I asked you not to scream now :)
The narrative of the film is so moving, I was close to tears at some point; it is a powerful film to say the least. What I found particularly interesting was how all the horrible experiences the protagonist had gone through aided him in answeing all the questions and winning the game show Who wants to be Millionaire. If you have seen this movie you will understand what I have just said, if you haven't seen this movie, what I am about to say will still make sense.
The Bible verse quoted above is a famous one, a christian favorite. It is a verse that brings comfort in the midst of trouble, and brings peace in the midst of chaotic events; the assurance that things will work out eventually births within us peace even if it is just for a moment.
Why do bad things happen to good people? this is a question I have pondered on so many occasions, many times I was referring to someone else, other times I was referring to myself.
Why this? Why that?
The verse above says if we love God, and we are walking in line with his plan for our lives (seeking his will) then ALL things that happen to us will turn out for our good. The temptation is to ask How?
Back to the movie Slum-dog Millionaire How for example was the death of the protagonist mother going to give him an answer to a question on the game show?
You and I don't know how God is going to do turn that pain into laughter, turn that difficulty into a testimony, but his word says if we love him we can be sure that such alterations are possible.
So let us strengthen our faith, let us pray for God's kind of peace to fill our hearts because God's word to us is that 'The pain has a purpose'. It is all coming together.
His peace my love.
Don't scream in shock but I watched the infamous Slum-dog Millionaire movie for the first time early this year! I asked you not to scream now :)
The narrative of the film is so moving, I was close to tears at some point; it is a powerful film to say the least. What I found particularly interesting was how all the horrible experiences the protagonist had gone through aided him in answeing all the questions and winning the game show Who wants to be Millionaire. If you have seen this movie you will understand what I have just said, if you haven't seen this movie, what I am about to say will still make sense.
The Bible verse quoted above is a famous one, a christian favorite. It is a verse that brings comfort in the midst of trouble, and brings peace in the midst of chaotic events; the assurance that things will work out eventually births within us peace even if it is just for a moment.
Why do bad things happen to good people? this is a question I have pondered on so many occasions, many times I was referring to someone else, other times I was referring to myself.
Why this? Why that?
The verse above says if we love God, and we are walking in line with his plan for our lives (seeking his will) then ALL things that happen to us will turn out for our good. The temptation is to ask How?
Back to the movie Slum-dog Millionaire How for example was the death of the protagonist mother going to give him an answer to a question on the game show?
You and I don't know how God is going to do turn that pain into laughter, turn that difficulty into a testimony, but his word says if we love him we can be sure that such alterations are possible.
So let us strengthen our faith, let us pray for God's kind of peace to fill our hearts because God's word to us is that 'The pain has a purpose'. It is all coming together.
His peace my love.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)