Victim to Victory

Today's post is one of significant personal battle.  It's easy to encourage others to forgive and not hold onto hurts.  But when it happened to me, of such deep and overwhelming hurt, I had to go on a journey with GOD where I couldn't do anything for myself.  I relied on Him completely and worshipped Him in the heart of my pain; in the middle of being a victim GOD was my rock and my salvation.  He was my song.  Or so I thought.

The truth was that He was 'most of' my song.  Deep inside my heart was a hardened spot where I'd been hurt.  I thought it was small enough to be left alone, but it was not.

GOD spoke to me very profoundly and challenged me with this scripture from Jesus in Matthew 5:

"But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," (v44)

LESSONS FROM NOAH'S ARK

I was recently sent this email - there's nothing to add to it.  It's a fantastic list of Sunday School lessons for adults.

Noah's Ark : Everything I need to know, I learned from Noah's Ark .

1. Don't miss the boat.
2. Remember that we are all in the same boat!
3. Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.
4. Stay fit. When you're 60 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.
5. Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.
6. Build your future on high ground.
7. For safety's sake, travel in pairs.
8. Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.
9. When you're stressed, float awhile.
10. Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
11. No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting.

Have a blessed weekend and rest in the Grace of Jesus!

The Guilt Conversation

A walk through the halls of the Bank of Evil... with Gru. (Despicable Me)

Most of the time, we miss out on the abundance of GOD because we spend our energy in the guilt conversation.  We become our own joy-stealer, engaging in an internal mental debate that only brings us more hurt, discouragement and diminished self-worth. It weighs down heavily on us and is a burden that we were never meant to carry.

Why? Because guilt is not of GOD. Guilt is not productive and it does not bring about peace.

"God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again."

John 3:17

It starts when we try to rationalise the choices that we make that we know are not of GOD (aka sin). When we know something is not right, we are being convicted. When we start to argue against it, we enter the guilt conversation and we begin to feel guilty.  We become susceptible to feelings of worry, our patience wears thin and this is where we lose our joy!