Ask the Holy Spirit

Psalm 46:1 (NKJV)

God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

Last week during the holidays, I wanted to mend some of the curtains in the house with the sewing machine. I fitted the electric motor, threaded the needle and everything appeared ready for me to begin. However, when I started sewing, the stitches were jagged and the thread was breaking intermittently. I tried everything to fix the issue and eventually gave up. 

Two days later I tried again, this time around I called my mum who is an experienced seamstress. In her usual manner she said “Ask the Holy Spirit”, I didn’t even think of that, I began to wonder, hmm it may take sometime for me to get feedback from Him (lol) and I needed to get this job done. Anyhow I prayed and asked the Holy Spirit to help me fix the issue with the sewing machine.

http://www.craftsbee.com

Few minutes later, He reminded me about using youtube – Eureka! I got my tablet and googled “thread keeps breaking on sewing machine” and voila I found out that I didn’t thread the machine properly.

So armed with the knowledge I sat down and re-threaded the machine and it worked. The stitches came out fine and I mended the curtains. I was ecstatic. It was also an opportunity to teach my daughter to always ask the Holy Spirit for help, she was happy that the sewing machine worked and we could mend the curtains!

Thank you Lord!

Counting My Blessings

Last week Thursday, I was driving to church in the evening for Choir rehearsals. It was a smooth ride all the way until about 2.5km to my destination. I was held up in traffic which is usually about 10 minutes delay, I switched off the car engine. When the traffic started moving, I turned on the ignition but there was no response I suspected the terminals of my battery was not properly fitted. I came out of the car, opened my bonnet and with the wheel spanner I tried to fit the terminals properly, started the car again same response. 

Frantically I called out to the driver beside me, asking if she had a jump starter, she didn’t have, asked about two other drivers also, none of them had. A passerby suggested that there was a car mechanic nearby and directed me to the place. The mechanic got a battery, fixed it my car and ran the car engine for a while replaced it with mine and the engine stopped running. Apparently, my car battery had completely discharged! The remedy was to get a new battery immediately; it was getting late 6:40pm in the evening. 

I called my husband and told him what was going on, described the location where I was held up and he told me there are battery shops close by, I asked around and got someone who brought a new battery, however we couldn’t fix the new battery because we had no spanner.

The seller went back to his shop to get a spanner. While I was waiting for him to return, another passerby offered to assist in fixing the new battery without a spanner (I wanted to learn something new), he opened the new battery pack and said “Madam, this is a 65 amps battery ask the seller when he returns to get a higher grade 75 amps battery”. When the seller arrived with the spanner, I told him I’ll prefer a 75amps battery, he agreed and went to get it.

At the end of the day, we got the car moving made a quick stop by an atm machine and paid off the seller, arrived choir rehearsals 20 minutes late.

In all these things I give thanks to God for His goodness. Counting my blessings in the space of 1 hour they are:

1. The car did not stop on the expressway
2. Someone offered to help move the car away from the main road to the side of the road
3. The car stopped at a place close to where I could get a new battery
4. The advice from a passerby on the best battery for the car
5. The Lord provided the resources to buy a new one
6. I got to church though late, but I didn’t miss the rehearsals
7. Safe journey back home
8. The privilege to share this testimony and many more …

Power to Become...

John 1:12(KJV)

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

We become sons of God by divine enablement not by our strength, but by choosing to yield to Him as the Holy Spirit transforms our nature. We are familiar with the transition of the butterfly from the egg stage to larva, to pupa and then the mature butterfly.

God intends for us to mature into sonship, not to remain as children tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. We must have a desire to grow in Him. The riches of God towards us was made accessible by Jesus dying on the cross and God wants us to experience these benefits to the fullest.

However we often choose to settle for less. The enemy of best is good; The Lord wants us to press into Him for more. It’s our birthright as the redeemed.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank you for the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for me. Create in me a hunger and desire to grow up in Christ and to yield to the power of your Spirit as He transforms me to becoming more like you.

What are you standing or building on?

Matthew 7:24
24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock


Last week, on my way to the car park after closing from work, I had difficulty walking properly with my pointed heeled shoes (lol), the ground was wet because it had rained earlier in the day. I also had to wait for another colleague who had offered to give me a ride home.
As I stood by the gate of the car park, the heels of my shoes sunk into the ground, until I found an area with stones.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com

Immediately, the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to the learning from my experience, standing on the word of God, every other ground is sinking sand. In life, whatever we have put our confidence in will be tested. It is very easy to put confidence in man until when the unexpected happens, unfortunately it would be too late for many of us to realise our folly. 

When the Lord gives us a promise, sometimes we have to wait for a while before the promise would be fulfilled. The period between receiving the promise and the fulfillment is usually a time of testing, but we have to continually believe and confess the word of God until the time of manifestation. We must not give up.

The wise and foolish man both built houses, one of them built upon the rock, the other on sand. When the test came the wise man’s house stood firm. Building our house on the rock refers to our hearing and obeying God’s word, putting our trust and confidence in him, living by the principles of the word of God.


Luke 6: 47- 49 (NKJV)
47 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.[h] 49 But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell.[i] And the ruin of that house was great.”

The right time to build is now! Do not wait until the time of testing or trials come, they definitely will.

Still Doing The Impossible

I'll be sharing posts from my husband's Monday devotion.
Be blessed...

Today I will be sharing with you on what I title, “Still Doing The Impossible.” I want to say boldly to you that God is still in the business of doing the “impossible” even in the midst of seemingly difficult situations as we can see today. If you take a look around, you will observe that people are complaining due to the harsh economic situation in the land. Like the saying goes, “Times are hard these days.” Being able to eat two square meals, not even three, has become a huge challenge for most families today. I was chatting with someone lately, and he said, “Our nation is technically broke”.  

A word dropped into my heart saying, “Heaven is not technically broke.”The negative confessions being spewed out into the atmosphere by people these days are really sickening and infectious. You can’t hang around negative people and expect positive outcome. You may have to change your companions after reading this article. I am writing you this message to let you know that irrespective of what you might be going through, God can still meet and surpass your needs. Philippians 4:19 puts it this way, “But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” There is no lack in heaven. God’s riches are inexhaustible. It is God’s desire that you prosper and live in abundance (3 John 1:2). But you can only access these riches by Faith. You see, faith is to God as fear is to the devil.

The two cannot mix. You cannot operate in fear and expect to receive from God. It is Impossible! “For without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb.11:6). Today you hear people saying there is famine in the land. Yes, if you look around, you can see the effect on people’s faces. But the word of God says, “In times of famine you shall be satisfied” (Psalm 37:19). The question is: Whose report do you believe?

Famine as the world says or abundance as the word of God says? Listen, if everything in your life fails, but your faith still stands, you have not failed. God is not interested in the size of your faith but in the direction of your faith. Why? You may have a believe (faith) that something good will not come your way. You can equally have the faith that good things are coming to you. They are both faith but in opposite directions. Both directions produces result – positive or negative, life or death, abundance or lack – the choice is yours.

When God says in His word, “Is anything hard for me” (Gen.18:14); it’s either you align with that word and see His saving power or go otherwise. Therefore, no matter how bad your case may be, your faith creates an atmosphere for God to do wonders in your life. Faith chokes Satan as fear shuts down the power of God to operate.

As you go this week, focus on God – not your problems – for He is bigger than anything that comes your way. Remember, “For with God nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37).

Against Deception…

Revelations 12:9 (NKJV)
So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Matthew 24:24-25 (NKJV)
24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand.

I’ve been reading the book of Revelations in recent times. I discovered that the power of the devil over humanity lies in deception, same way he deceived Eve in the garden of Eden.
As believers we are not to be caught unawares, because God has given us the tools to see through his antics by 

1. The Word of God
Hebrews 4:12  (KJV)  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 

2. The gifts of the Holy Spirit
1 Corinthians 12:10a (KJV) To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits

Ephesians 6:11 (NKJV)
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Wiles according to dictionary.com: 1.a trick, artifice, or stratagem meant to fool, trap, or entice; device. 2. artful or beguiling behavior. 3. deceitful cunning; trickery.

As we study the Word of God, we get to know our Father better and His expecations of us His children. The life of Jesus is a model for every believer, once we find ourselves thinking thoughts that do not line up with the word of God, we are threading on dangerous ground. Thought begets action.

Proverbs 4:23 (CEV)
23 Carefully guard your thoughts because they are the source of true life.

We also need to pray at all times, develop a lifestyle of prayer. 
Prayer helps in building up our inner man

Ephesians 6:18 (NKJV) 
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints

Jude 20 (NKJV) 
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit

Love God Passionately

Deut 6:5 (NKJV)
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

God wants us to love Him passionately as He also loves us passionately.
Passion according to learnersdictionary.com means a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something. Some of us are passionate about football, music, telemundos, etc.

When we are passionate about something, thoughts about the object of our passion fills our minds all the time. We create time and spend our energy on what we love passionately. When we are passionate about our Heavenly Father, He is also drawn to us and begins to reveal Himself to us in ways we never know. There’s no way we can spend time with God and not be changed. He is Wisdom, Knowledge, Power and the Source of all virtues.

James 4:8a (NKJV)
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

When Isaiah saw the Lord, he was changed he saw an area of his life that he didn’t know needed transformation prior to having that encounter with God.

Isaiah 6:1-7 (NKJV)
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”
4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 So I said:
“Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The Lord of hosts.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said:
“Behold, this has touched your lips;
Your iniquity is taken away,
And your sin purged.”

Prayer
Dear Lord, please help me love you passionately, become the centre of my affections. In Jesus Name. Amen.