Gods Own Masterpiece!
As it turns out, this is my first post of the year. It has been an eventful one so far. Towards the end of March I had to say goodbye to my Gracie. She had been my faithful companion for nearly 12 years but in the end, she was too frail and weak and as much as I wanted to hang on, we had to let her go. I still miss her soft caring eyes and her happy tail, but one thing I know - she lived a good life and turned out to be all the dog she could possibly be.
We also had some good news as we welcomed a new member into our family in May. God’s own little masterpiece, baby Riley joined us. She is such a sweet, happy baby and I am sure Father God pulls back the clouds every morning just to get a little glimpse of her.
Just after she was born, I remember reading a quote where someone said that these little babies are just on loan from God and that He cares for them infinitely more than their earthly parents ever could. There is therefore no need for earthly parents to worry about their babies as God sends His angels to take care of them every moment of every moment. This is how great His grace is, but we need to learn to have confidence in the fact that God can be trusted - that He is always for us and never against us.
Speaking about confidence, how do we get to a point where we can trust God with everything, even our precious babies? When we meet new people, it takes a while for us to get to know them. As you spend time with them and see their reactions to things, what their nature is, if they are reliable and trustworthy and on and on, you are able to form a picture of them - who they are, what you can expect from them. It is the same with God. If you only hear a single sermon once a week and hardly spend time reading His Word, if you think that God is only as He is portrayed in the Old Testament, then your view of Him will be skewed and off. It will be hard for you to trust Him or have any form of confidence in His character and goodness.
A while back one of my friends had to retire from her work. It was a really hard blow to her as she loved her work, yet her age determined that she could no longer work there. What was even harder was the financial position it left her in. She didn’t realize the impact this retirement would have on her monthly income. I told her that she can trust God to help her with her finances and also give her wisdom on possible other income streams. Her response shocked me. She said that she doesn’t know how to trust God like that, that her relationship with Him was not at such a personal level.
I want to ask you a question today - if something happens and you lose your stream of income, your ability to earn a living, would you be able to trust God that He would make a way to take care of you? Or what if you get a bad diagnosis from a doctor saying there is no human cure, and you only have a few months left to live. Be honest with yourself, would you be able to trust God to do the impossible and give you a healing miracle?
Most people would waver at these questions and perhaps rightly so. Trust like that doesn’t come overnight by wishing or even believing for it. If you have not taken the time to get to know God, to cultivate a relationship with Him where you can walk with and talk to Him daily, then the thought of putting your life in His hands can be daunting.
For years I would study the Word and meditate and confess scriptures daily. It was good for me and there is nothing wrong with it, but you know what I missed? I never really got to know the God that those scriptures were talking about - was He trustworthy, can I have confidence in Him? It is only recently that I started to see how God longs to have relationship with us and that He wants to be involved in every area of our lives. He wants to do life with us daily. There is nothing wrong with reading the Word, in fact it helps you understand who God is. But, if you only read the Bible and never talk to God about what you are reading and how to apply the truths to your life, then it is like sitting on the couch with a box full of love letters from your loved one. You are reading the letters with the one who wrote them sitting right next to you. You are cultivating a relationship with the letters when all the while the one who wrote them is in the room, longing for you to talk to him but you give him no attention.
The Bible is God’s thoughts and His plans for us, but our relationship with Him should be more than reading ink words on paper, as important as the Word of God is to us. The Bible has been given to us to reveal who He is, not to replace Him. It should be the doorway we go through to see Him for who He really is.
The last few months have been an eye opener to me. I have learned some of these truths, especially that God wants to be a part of my day. He wants me to be in constant contact, talking to Him all day. I also realized that He does things for me daily, but because I wasn’t tuned in, I missed them. Some things are small, others are bigger and are making my life easier, helping me with things that I cannot do for myself.
“God doesn’t do anything for me during the day though”, I hear you say. That is because you are not paying attention. It is important that you invite the Lord into your day every morning - into your conversations, your thoughts... He will gladly walk with you and help you, but only if you let Him. Once you invite Him into your day, be sensitive to see the things He will start doing for you - on your part, start acknowledging that grace is helping you. Give God’s grace the credit. In the beginning you might think that the things you are noticing are just coincidences or that it is just your lucky day, that you were at the right place at the right time... But the more you give Him credit for helping you, the more these things will start to happen, and the more real God will become in your daily living.
God’s grace is all around us - it is Him doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves. You see it in the fact that you wake up every morning and that your heart beats normally. That you have breath, that you have strength, that you are able to do and walk in the things that He placed in you - the talents, the abilities. Grace is like opening the curtain on spring-cleaning day and when the sun rushes in, you see the dust particles in the air - it is everywhere. Grace is also everywhere; you just need open eyes and a grateful heart to see and recognize it.
Some of the things that I started to notice was that I would get answers to issues, or that difficult situations that I have been battling with would be resolved without any effort. People would go out of their way to be nice to me and to give me feedback about things that I queried. We also have had multiple times when people would send us gifts for no reason. I would be ordering things online only for them to arrive days before the set delivery date. Specific people that I would send messages to, knowing that it always takes a reminder or two before I get a reply, would all of a sudden answer immediately. Things like this - once they start happening - it is amazing to think that God, the Creator of the universe, would want to help me with small, seemingly insignificant things and that He takes great delight in helping me.
The more these things were happening and me acknowledging them, the more I started to see that God sees my day-to-day struggles. In Him being responsive to me, I realized that He is walking with me whether I realize it or not. I started to see Him doing things for me even before I would ask. I was growing in my relationship with Him and it affected the way I saw Him as well as my confidence and faith in Him. Now when something difficult comes, I can feel my confidence rising that “He has got this” and that He is for me and wants to help me with big things but also the smaller, less important things. At the end of each day, I am now able to rehearse the good things that have happened because God’s grace was involved. Also, because my faith in Him started to increase, I was seeing more prayers answered. My life with God is becoming an adventure and it makes me want to spend more time with Him.
My challenge to you is to start paying attention and to capture the things that He does for you on a daily basis. I did and I am amazed at the many things that I now can look back on where He has helped me and blessed me.
At the beginning of this post I called baby Riley, God’s own masterpiece. But do you know that God calls you that too?
Eph 2:10 (NLT) - For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
We don't know the day or the hour of Jesus’ return, but we know it is sooner than we think. He wants to come back to a Bride that loves Him, that is expectantly waiting for His return - one who knows Him and not just knows about Him.
I shared this before in a previous post, but it is always a good reminder. I have heard one of my lecturers once say that the Lord asked her what she thinks He would want to say to her when she first gets to Heaven. She said that He might say “well done”, or “you did good”. She tried some other responses, but they were not right either. He then answered by saying: “I am so glad that you didn’t wait until Heaven to get to know me, but you allowed me to walk and talk with you daily”. This shows the longing of God’s heart, and thinking about it always brings a lump to my throat. I want Him to say that to me too, don't you?
End Time Update
In a few of my previous posts I gave an update about end time news and how it relates to the timing of the coming of the Lord. Since I last wrote, the 12-day war happened where Israel and the US attacked Iran in order to destroy or seriously delay their nuclear capabilities. Iran has always been openly antagonistic against Israel saying that "they will wipe them off the face of the earth". The significance of this is in the alliances that might be formed in the coming days and months as nations take sides. Depending on how this works out, it could usher in the coming of the Lord.
Also, a very recent thing that happened relating to the building of the 3rd temple, has great significance. If you have been following end time prophecy, you will know that prophecies indicate that the 3rd temple will be built during the first three years of the tribulation. In order for this temple to function as the Old Testament laws of Moses instructed, there are specific items that have to be present. Replicas of most of these items have been made or found and are ready to go into the temple once it is built.
Fortunately, they have found such heifers, and their ashes have been prepared according to temple specifications. On July 1, a group of Jews and Christians held a practice purification ceremony involving a red heifer sacrifice, simulating the required ceremony in preparation for a future Jewish temple in Jerusalem. This shows that the Jews are getting ready which in itself means that the coming of the Lord is near.
As Christians we are called to bless Israel and the Jews (Gen 12:3) and also to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Ps 122:6). The antisemitism that is currently on display in countries around the world, even in my own, is demonically inspired as Satan hates the Jews simply because they are God’s chosen people living in God's chosen land. May we continue to pray for protection of the Jewish nation, but also wisdom for their government to know how to protect them.
Salvation Prayer
If you have not made Jesus the Lord and Saviour of your life, then all it takes is commitment and a quick prayer. It is the most important decision you’ll ever make!
Rom 10:9-10, 13 - If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation… For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
By His grace, God has already done everything to provide salvation. Your part is simply to believe and receive.
Pray out loud:
Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Savior. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!
The very moment you commit your life to Jesus Christ, the truth of His Word instantly comes to pass in your spirit. If you prayed that prayer and meant it from your heart, there’s a brand-new you!
Find a church that believes and preaches the Word of God where signs and miracles follow the preaching and where the sermons leave you with hope and not despair. Get to know God - not just knowing about Him, but knowing Him. It will soon become the greatest joy of your life.
Resources
SALVATION:
If you have prayed the salvation prayer above, or if you want to know more or have someone help you, then contact Andrew Wommack Ministries. They have offices worldwide and would love to pray with you. They also have lots of free materials that can help you to grow in your walk with God.
https://www.awmi.net/contact-us/
END TIME PROPHECY INFORMATION:
www.tipofthespearministry.com/
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**I added bold format to text in some scripture references.
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