WAITING ON THE LORD
Sometimes God does not answer our prayers immediately - He wants us to learn to wait on Him. On His timing and on His
perfection.
He also does not always answer us in the way we want to be answered, but you can be sure it will always be the right answer for your particular situation, even though you may not think so at the time.
He is God. The Creator of all things. Our wishes and plans can never and will never be better than His plans.
I think that this is one of the greatest lessons we as Christians need to learn. The art of true surrender to our Lord and Saviour.
"For I know the plans that I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."
Are you, at this moment in time in a situation where you need a miracle. I am. Let us go through this journey and learn together. If you do not need it now save it for when you do.
Here are some verses from the Bible. It helps to memorize them so that they are already in you mind when you need them. If you find this difficult write them down and keep them close at hand to read in time of need.
TRUST HIM
"Thou dost keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusts in Thee."
"Trust Him at all times ye people, pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us."
Psalm 62:8
"My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from Him."
Psalm 62:5
"They that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength, they shall mount up on wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."
Isaiah 40:31
PRAY FOR HIS GUIDANCE
"Lead me and guide me, for You are the God of my salvation. On Thee do I wait all the day."
Psalm 25:5
BE HAPPY. Don't walk around with a long face.
"Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice."
Phillipians 4:4
SURRENDERING OUR WILL TO GOD'S WILL
Always remember that surrendering to God's will is not something you do for selfish reasons, so that you can be rewarded. You surrender so that you are empty of self and full of the Holy Spirit so that our Awesome God can use you in His service.
"Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him."
Job 2:9
This statement was made by Job when he was going through a terrible time of pain and suffering. He had lost all his children, not one, but all of them. He had lost his health and his wealth and had no support from family or friends.
Yet in all of this Job knew that God was allowing these things to happen to him. He knew that God as the Creator of heaven and earth has the power and the right to do this. God is the potter, we are the clay.
He did not understand God's plan, but what he did know is that God is trustworthy, loving, kind, and merciful.
The apostle Paul echos Job's statement of faith
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but that I will have sufficient courage so that now and always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death."
Phillipians 1:20
Through their experience we can see that we can trust God. He has a perfect plan for each one of us and even though we do not understand it, we have His promise that He will never leave us nor forsake us.
"I will never leave you nor forsake you."
Hebrews 13:5
This plan of Mine is not what you would work out
"for My ways are not your ways neither are My thoughts your thoughts for just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than yours."
Isaiah 55:8-9
God does not show us the end from the beginning.
There are many curves and twists in the road ahead and we cannot see beyond them, but if we wait upon the Lord and trust Him He will reveal to us what the next step is that we need to take. This will be through His written word, through sermons (church and television programs) and also through prayer and our Christian brothers and sisters.
Do not fear. God is always a step ahead of us leading us and guiding us. All we have to do is follow Him.
next post 14th September
CURRIED MUTTON/
CHUCK OR
STEWING BEEF
Ingredients:
500gr any of the above
1 large onion (peeled +chopped)
2 skinned tomatoes
1 desertspoon chopped garlic
1 large potato
1 tablespoon apricot jam
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 tablesoons curry powder
salt
METHOD:
Cook meat overnight on slow heat in slow cooker.
Next day, about 2 hours before serving, cut up + steam potato for 15 minutes + set aside.
Fry onion till transparent then add chopped tomatoes, curry powder, ground ginger salt and apricot jam. Stir well and add meat and steamed potatoes.
Continue cooking in slow cooker till needed. Serve with rice or mashed potatoes.
enjoy.
next post 12th September
TWENTY SIXTEEN PART TWENTY FIVE
Hello folks,
we are now at June 20th. It was my intention to start typing from home by now.
The end of August is looming and we need to pay the rent of R7000 per month.
I have now got my speed up to over 50 wpm. On good days it is 58 wpm. Now need to find a job. My eyes are also giving me a lot of trouble, thereby causing discomfort.
Approached Ruth for help in on how to get started as she is the one with the Tissa file and she has already gone through it all so she should know what I must do. Another blockage, she hands me the Tissa file and tells me to study it. I don't have time for this. I am exasperated. I need to make some money and fast. She doesn't even offer to help me.
Now looking through the file I find that I need earphones, a foot pedal and software. We don't have the money for this. Tissa does provide some of the software for free but now I am expected to find out where it is in this thick file and how to download it.
I have been doing my very best to help, but can no longer see my way clear to do it. It feels like all the effort is killing me.
Decided not to try anymore. Just sit back and wait on the Lord. He has been showing us all along that we are to wait on Him. And after all He has never ever let me down in the past.
More than likely I am trying to cope with something that is not His will. Everything I have done has been blocked in some way or another. Even my eyes have now become a problem.
This afternoon my room was full of bees. There were at least twenty of them and the windows have screens on them, it is amazing how they can get in. Ruth reported it to Amanda and Chris and it was discovered that they were migrating from the property next door. They sorted the problem out for us by blocking all the places where the bees could get in.
Supplies are running very low. Putting my trust in my heavenly Father.
"They that wait upon the Lord, will renew their strength, they shall mount up on wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."
Isaiah 40:31
next post 11th September
BLONDE JOKE
Eleven people are hanging onto a rope that is attached to an aeroplane. Ten of them are blonde, and one is a brunette. They all decide that one of them must let go because the rope is likely to break under the the weight of eleven people and all of them will die.
But they can't decide which one must go so finally the brunette says,
"I'll get off."
The blondes are all so happy by this statement, they all start clapping.. Problem solved.
Next post 10th September.
MY FAVORITE PSALMS
PART TWENTY FOUR
Give the king Thy judgments, O God, and Thy righteousness unto the king's son. He shall judge Thy people with righteousness and Thy poor with judgement.
The mountains shall bring peace to the people and the little hills by righteousness. He shall judge the poor of the people and He shall save the children of the needy and shall break in pieces the oppressor.
They shall fear Thee as long as the sun and the moon endure. Throughout all generations.
He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass; as showers that water the earth. In His days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also, from sea to sea, and from river to river to the ends of the earth.
They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before Him: and His enemies shall lick the dust.
The Kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
Yea, all kings shall bow down before Him, all nations shall serve Him. For He shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also and him who has no helper.
He shall spare the poor and the needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence; and precious shall their blood be in His sight.
And He shall live and unto Him shall be given the gold of Sheba; prayer also shall be made for Him continually; and daily shall He be praised.
There shall be a handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; and the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon; and they of
the city shall flourish like the grass of the earth.
His Name shall endure forever. His Name shall be continued as long as the sun; and men shall be blessed in Him ; all nations shall call Him blessed.
Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
Who only doeth wondrous things; and blessed be His glorious Name forever, and let the whole earth be filled with His glory.
Amen and amen.
next post 9th September
THE TRANSCENDENCY
OF GOD
God is entirely distinct from the universe. The universe is just another one of God's many creations.
Although, like all the others, it is a
masterpiece, it never was, nor is, nor ever will be God.
God created it, how then can it be God?
"Thus saith the Lord, 'the heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool; where is the house that you have built unto Me? Where is the place of My rest? For all of these things My hands have made.' "
Isaiah 66:1-2
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."
"God Who made the world and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth and dwelleth not in temples made with hands."
Acts 17: 24
Transcend means to exist above and independent from ; to rise above; surpass; succeed.
English dictionary ; Rising above, going further, triumphing over, being more, or extending beyond conventional limits.
From this definition, God is the Only Truly Transcendent Being. He made all things in the heavens and the earth and beneath the earth, yet He exists above and independent from them. All things are upheld by His mighty power. Yet He is upheld by Himself alone. The whole universe exists for Him and in Him.
When we use these terms in connection with God, we are acknowledging that He is completely beyond what we can imagine, understand or comprehend.
GOD'S THOUGHTS TRANSCEND OUR THOUGHTS AND OUR WAYS
" My thoughts are not your thoughts nor are My ways your ways. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than yours."
Isaiah 55: 8-9
God interacts with His people by making binding covenants with them. He demonstrates His love, faithfulness, justice and integrity, by constantly upholding His covenants. We all know the pain of broken promises - We don't have to worry about that with God - His promises are set in stone.
GOD'S WISDOM TRANSCENDS OUR WISDOM
The mind of the smartest genius who ever lived on this planet pales in comparison with the mind of God - man launches rockets! Invents technology, airplanes and such - but we cannot manufacture a single seed, or create life, or something as vast as a mountain range or an ocean. Nor would we have the discretion to restrain such power when necessary. God has done all of this and more.
"Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His councelor?"
Isaiah 40:13
"For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength."
1st Corinthians 25
"The wisdom granted to us as believers is not of this world, or this age, it is the timeless wisdom of an Eternal Being."
1st Corinthians 2: 6-8
GOD'S POWER TRANSCENDS OUR POWER
God's power is incomprehensible even to us who believe because it was this same power that raised Jesus from the dead, thereby defeating death itself.
Our God is so powerful that He holds the waters of the sea in His hand, He weighs the mountains of the earth in His scale,
"Looking at them
Jesus said to them
with people it is
impossible, but not with God; for all
things are possible
with God."
Mark 10:27 and
Matthew 19:26
"Were He to snatch away, who could restrain Him?
Who could say to Him, 'what are You
doing? ' "
Job 9:12
"I saw God moving across the dessert, His brilliant splendour fills the earth and sky. His glory fills the heavens and earth is full of His praise. What a wonderful God He is, from His hands flash rays of brilliant light, He rejoices at His awesome power, pestilence marches before Him and plague follows close behind. He stops. He stands still for a moment, gazing at the earth, then He stuns the nations, scattering the everlasting mountains and levelling the hills. His awesome power is just the same as always."
Habakuk 3: 17-19
We cannot ever hope to understand or fully comprehend our Mighty God. Ultimately when we fully grasp God's transcendency we bow in reverent fear and awe and worship.
He is so far beyond us that we cannot bring Him down to our level. Instead we bow and exalt Him. It staggers our minds that this Awesome Being could love us and yet He does. I will praise and worship Him forever.
next post 7th September
LENTIL SOUP
Ingredients
250gr pkt lentils
2 pieces shin
2 medium onions
2 large cloves garlic
1 can chopped tomatoes
6 cups water
2 teaspoons sugar
salt
pepper
Method:
Wash lentils and place in slow cooker, add meat and cover with the 7 cups water and cook on low overnight.
Add chopped onion and garlic, can of tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper and continue cooking for plus minus about 5 hours more. Add more water if the soup becomes too thick.
next post 5th September
WAITING ON THE LORD
Always remember that surrendering to God's will is not something you do for selfish reasons, so that you can be rewarded. You surrender so that you are empty of self and full of the Holy Spirit so that our Awesome God can use you in His service.
