Tag: peace

Don’t Lose That Peace

In the fulness of time, I’d share my testimony. In the meantime, I can emphatically tell you that JEHOVAH is The Awesome God. You know what? It’s easy to give advice to one that is going through hard times. Talk is quite cheap! But when (not ‘if’) you are to face your own ordeals alone, you are left with whatever you believe in.

Good News (Pay attention now!)

Isaiah 59 vs 19b says,
‘WHEN the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him’

Encouraging, right? But watch how I’d use a single comma to ‘re-interprete’ that verse:

‘WHEN the enemy shall come in, like a flood the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him’

Isn’t that wonderful? The Spirit of the Lord coming like a Flood against our enemy! Look, the enemy would come. There’s nothing you can do about that. Didn’t he come to Jesus too? But whosoever you fix your attention is the one that would have the pole position in your mind. Your problems might be big. But put that in perspective behind the Almighty Father, and you’d see how infinitessimally small your problems actually are. He can, and would solve them!

Don’t lose your peace, friend. The battle isn’t yours. No! The battle is The Lord’s!

It Would Pass: A Poem

I look up suddenly and I shudder at the sight.

This is what I want to see:
I want to see the clear blue sky,
interspersed with the occassional fluffy white bodies of cloud,
floating weightlessly in the firmament of the heavens,
shielding my dark skin from the hot sun-rays

But I don’t see that!
I see a very black cloud of smoke in the skies
My mind decides an explosion has occurred mid-air

I fret and worry,
I’m anxious about everything but nothing

Then the miraculous happens without my permission:
A heavenly zephyr blows
the dark cloud of smoke
out of my sight

Hey! Isn’t this supposed to be a dark, scary cloud?
But, alas, it’s no dark cloud at all
Only a hot-air balloon painted black!

I really don’t care whatever it is,
My business is that it is
now gone for good

I see the clear blue skies again,
And the peace, which passes all my understanding
reigns supreme in my heart and mind.

God WEEDS!

Shocking title, eh? I bet some of you are thinking of a smoke-filled room with a Big Fellow getting High on pot and the like. If that was your line of thought, it goes a long way to tell how much our generation has watered down the meaning of the words in the English Language.

Well, to help you have a better perspective on my ‘shocking’ title, let’s examine the Words of Jesus in Matthew 15 verse 13:

”But He answered and said, ‘Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up’ ”

The mind of an individual is like a farmland. The farmland could either be overgrown with weeds of evil immoral thoughts and negative self-talk. On the other hand, the farmland could have the seeds of God’s Word flourishing and blossoming, producing Fruits in their thirties, sixties and hundreds.

Yes, the devil would come. Wanting to sell to us his wares of tares. Sometimes, we resist him and at other times, we buy his tares of worry, fear, negativity and evil thoughts. We sow them on the farmlands of our minds. And water them, till they grow out of our controls. Then, we see them for what they truly are. Weeds. Horrible, stubborn weeds.

But I have Good News for you. God WEEDS. He knows what the seed of His Words should produce in our minds. And when He sees anything contrary to the Fruits like peace, love, joy, faith and so on, He steps into action. He WEEDS out all that He hasn’t planted in our lives. He uproots them and burns them to ashes. He clears our farmland and then plants into us The Seed of His Words which is able to save our souls. He then waters us with His Spirit till we bear Fruits. He even prunes us and we bear more and more of His delightful fruits!

So, where are you today? Overgrowing with weeds of sin, worry, doubt, evil thoughts and fear? God is still in the business of WEEDING. Why don’t you cry out on to Him and let Him step into your situation right now?

**THE PLATINUM GIFT FEATURED ARTICLE: ‘Our Days Are Unique Gifts’ – By Natalie Scarberry**

‘May you arise each day with a
voice of blessing whispering in your heart
May you find harmony between
your soul and your life
May the mansion of your soul
never become a haunted place
May you know the eternal
longing that lies at the heart of time
May there be kindness in your
gate when you look within’
~ Edited compilation of Blessings by John O’ Donohue.

Our days are unique gifts, new creations of God’s ageless story, and in them is the perennial promise of resurrection. Of the 24 hours in each day, a garden in the early morning is one of the most magical places. While birds call to one another, and bees busily work, ‘fairies’ bless the flowers and sprinkle them with dew. As a result, plants glisten in the first dappled rays of light, while sweet aromas rise from the soil not yet blistered by the sun.

A new day is a blank slate that waits for the mark of each and every one of us. Upon the slate, we have the opportunity to record acts of kindness, deeds of grace, words of truth, utterances of beauty, and thoughts of joy. In order to make the slate worthy of the gift and the Giver, we must keep our eyes wide open so we don’t miss the beauty, the joy and the wonder in our Father’s world. We must be fully awake and aware of the world and the people around us. They are there for a reason. We must remember it is a priviledge to perform daily prayers and an honour to do what should be done in accomplishing God’s will. Finally, we must ”sing, sing, sing and make music with the Heavens” for it is right to come into His courts with singing and words of praise on our lips.

Listen, O Heavens, and I will speak; hear, O Earth, the words of my mouth. Let my teachings fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God!

*Feel free to check Natalie Scarberry’s great blog here:
www.sacredtouches.com

Selah

Eleven days after and my roomie still not helping matters,
Like clockwork that ticks and talks,
He counted every minute, but never did quite reach the hour,
Was bored by my bed, yet the loquacious bore,
Unforgivingly into me he bore,
But by Divine Providence, I was soon to be freed,
Drunken with euphoria, that which only peace can bring,
I drifted, ever slowly, into the treasure island of thoughts

Why are swayed and tossed to and fro,
By all that we let life throw at us,
With ourselves we struggle by ourselves, Hoping
To outdo ourselves in catching up with ourselves,
In a vicious cycle, satisfaction evades all, so search for more,
It’s a frantic race, and we are lost within it,
Then, we find ourselves, worrying,
Fittingly that we have nothing to worry about.

But have we considered ‘SELAH’?
Taking a break….to stop, think and meditate,
Stepping out of the frenzied rat race,
Pausing everything and playing it all in slow motion,
Stopping and searching for the security
Of that hidden treasure – the rivers of peace
Breaking forth from within and sweeping you off your feet,
Ah! Serenity and Tranquility.

Selah