Three Verses – The Series (Part Three)

The Role Of The Prophet (Part Two)

Luke 2 vs. 36 – 38

“Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. (or some translations say for four score and four years which is 84). She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.”

I continue in my study on the above three verses the introduction can be found here and the first part of The Role Of The Prophet can be found here

I would like to continue expanding the role of the prophet and will touch on a further two aspects Worship, Encouragement

Again where I have used “he” to describe the prophet I also mean “she” at the same time.

The Role Of The Prophet – Worship

The prophetic ministry often plays an important part in worship.

Paul said “Let two or three people prophesy, and let the others evaluate what is said. But if someone is prophesying and another person receives a revelation from the Lord, the one who is speaking must stop. In this way, all who prophesy will have a turn to speak, one after the other, so that everyone will learn and be encouraged. Remember that people who prophesy are in control of their spirit and can take turns. For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace, as in all the meetings of God’s holy people.”

(1 Corinthians 14:29-33)

Prophecy inspires God’s people to worship. During worship the bringing of prophecy leads to a real encouragement of God’s people, and we need to see more and more of this in our church families today.

The bible talks of professional worshippers and prophets, (professional in that they were called or set aside for these roles, recognised by the church for the gifting that they had) and were responsible for leading the worship in the house of God.

So if you have ever wondered if there was a Biblical “role” for the Worship Leader in yours or any church this provides some insight in that there were people set aside for that task and they performed a key role on behalf of God’s people:

“David and the army commanders then appointed men from the families of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun to proclaim God’s messages to the accompaniment of lyres, harps, and cymbals. Here is a list of their names and their work: From the sons of Asaph, there were Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah. They worked under the direction of their father, Asaph, who proclaimed God’s messages by the king’s orders. From the sons of Jeduthun, there were Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six in all. They worked under the direction of their father, Jeduthun, who proclaimed God’s messages to the accompaniment of the lyre, offering thanks and praise to the Lord. From the sons of Heman, there were Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shubael, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth. All these were the sons of Heman, the king’s seer, for God had honoured him with fourteen sons and three daughters. All these men were under the direction of their fathers as they made music at the house of the Lord. Their responsibilities included the playing of cymbals, harps, and lyres at the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman reported directly to the king. They and their families were all trained in making music before the Lord, and each of them—288 in all—was an accomplished musician. The musicians were appointed to their term of service by means of sacred lots, without regard to whether they were young or old, teacher or student”

(1 Chronicles 25 vs. 1 – 8)

The Role Of The Prophet - Encouragement

I mentioned prophecy as an encouragement in the section on “Worship”

Encouragement of the people of God is a really important aspect of the prophetic ministry.

“But one who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them. A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally, but one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church”

(1 Corinthians 14 vs. 3 & 4)

Prophets can build up and strengthen the church. Silas and Judas were two prophets who encouraged the church in Antioch.

“Then Judas and Silas, both being prophets, spoke at length to the believers, encouraging and strengthening their faith”

(Acts 15 vs.32).

The Bible gives a number of examples of prophets who encouraged the leaders of their nation to act boldly: here are just a couple:

“Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of God’s people began to obey the message from the Lord their God. When they heard the words of the prophet Haggai, whom the Lord their God had sent, the people feared the Lord. Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave the people this message from the Lord: “I am with you, says the Lord!” So the Lord sparked the enthusiasm of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the enthusiasm of Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the enthusiasm of the whole remnant of God’s people. They began to work on the house of their God, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, on September 21[c] of the second year of King Darius’s reign.”

(Haggai 1 vs. 12 – 15 NLT).

You see here that firstly the people feared the Lord – that is that they knew the honourable place that God should hold in all our lives, fear here meant reverence and awe and not frightened panic. Then we see the prophet encouraged the people of God by sharing what God had revealed to them in that “He was with them” and then as a result of Haggai’s words the people were enthusiastic, they were encouraged.

In Norfolk right now are we not an encouraged, enthusiastic and encouraged people because of the prophecy given over this county that revival will start with God’s church in Norfolk, and don’t get left behind that is happening NOW!

And we read of Haggai again in Ezra:

“At that time the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem. They prophesied in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jehozadak responded by starting again to rebuild the Temple of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them and helped them”

(Ezra 5 vs. 1 & 2).

The prophets stayed with the people and continued to help them whilst Gods people rebuilt the temple.

We all need encouragement and encouragement that comes from God is the very best we can possibly hope for.

In the next post I will pick up on some more of the Role’s Of The Prophet

Continue sticking with me over the next few posts because it all builds to the importance and relevance of these three simple verses in Luke

God Bless

Three Verses – The Series (Part Two)

The Role Of The Prophet (Part One)

Luke 2 vs. 36 – 38

“Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. (or some translations say for four score and four years which is 84). She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.”

I continue in my study on the above three verses the introduction can be found here.

On this blog I would like to start expanding the role of the prophet and will touch on three aspects Prayer, Receiving The Word Of God and Suffering. Please note some is my own writing and some from articles I have read which I believe make a point very clearly so have not changes the text but attributed it to them. 

The role of the prophet was varied, and understanding the role of the Prophet as seen in scripture I believe has helped me and can help us when we think or talk about the gift of Prophecy within the Spiritual gifts laid out in 1 Corinthians 12 and it’s use within the three verses from Luke

Where I have used “he” to describe the prophet I also mean “she” at the same time.

A prophet is a spokesperson for God. The prophet challenges, warns, directs, encourages, intercedes, teaches and counsels God’s people. He brings the word of God to the people of God and calls the people to respond to that word. The prophetic ministry begins in the presence of the Lord.

When the prophet knows the heart and mind of the Lord, he speaks the word of the Lord to his people. He stands before the people, as one who has stood before God. Because his words come from the heart of God they are powerful and effective.

A prophet can undertake a huge variety of roles and often does. A prophet may carry out every one of the role on an occasional basis but most likely he will settle/move/focus in one or two of these roles. Prayer is the foundation of every aspect of ministry. As God is a God who creates each of us as unique individuals He also develops His prophets in the same way so that no two are identical but each of them should be a reflection of God’s creativity and calling.

The Role Of The Prophet – Prayer

An important even vital part of the prophet’s task is prayer. Because he knows the mind of the Lord, he is in a position to pray effectively. He has a clear picture of what God is doing, so he knows where prayer is needed most. The prophet watches over the word of the Lord and prays it into being. He must not rest until God has fulfilled his word (Isaiah 62:6).

Prayer is essential to the prophetic ministry. It came naturally to the prophets in the Bible and was the life-blood of their ministry. Prayer was and remains our/their principal means of communication with God and lays at the heart of our personal relationship with God

The Role Of The Prophet - Receiving the Word of the Lord

Another key role of the prophet is waiting in the presence of God to receive the word of God. This means listening and if we/they are trying to hear the word of the Lord then it will always require waiting. The task of the prophets is/was to know the will of God, so that they can convey it to the nation. Their ministry consisted in handling revelation, i.e. the knowledge that God has revealed to them. From the earliest times prophecy was conceived as being the activity of God, rather than the activity of man. This is true not only for the receiving of prophecy but also for it’s delivery. When the prophecy actually conveyed the word of the Lord to the people he was deemed to be under the power of God. The hand of the Lord was upon him, empowering and directing the delivery of the word (Clifford Hill - Prophecy, Past and Present with some small adjustments)

The Role Of The Prophet – Suffering

A prophet is often called to suffering. Deep dealing at the hand of God will often be needed to prepare the prophet for receiving the word of God. Sometimes he may actually have to experience beforehand, something of what his people will experience.

As an example Jeremiah spent many years in captivity before his people went into captivity. He was often rejected and ignored he was even accused of being a traitor. Another prophet Ezekiel had to lie on his side for 390 days to symbolise the judgement that would come upon his nation. This suffering made the prophets extremely aware of their human frailty (see Jeremiah 20:7-10 where Jeremiah pours out to God concerning the suffering he is under at that time).

But it also equipped the prophet to give what was often a very harsh message in a spirit of compassion. A true message is nullified if it is spoken in the wrong spirit. Suffering softens the prophet’s spirit, so that he can give the hardest word, in a spirit of love. Suffering contributed to Jeremiah’s compassion.

So we start to see some of the differing aspects of a role in scripture often simply titled the Prophet

In the next post I will pick up on some more of the Role’s Of The Prophet

Stick with me over the next few posts because it all builds to the importance and relevance of these three simple verses in Luke

God Bless

Three Verses – The Series (Introduction)

Part One - Introduction

Over the next few weeks I would like to share with you some things that I have learnt because of three verses I read in the Bible concerning a female character mentioned only in this one place and the significance of her story being included in the Bible.

However, before I share my thoughts on my learning’s about her, that passage and her place in the Bible, I first want to share what I have studied, or looked into, as a result of what the passage says. This is in order to provide background and focus on some of the important aspects that are not actually written in the three verses but are implied.

It was a friend of mine that suggested I break what I have been doing down into a “bite-size” series, as I shared with him that I had reached nearly 26 pages of text and I hadn’t finished writing what I had been learning. I had actually though about putting it out in one post.

And being someone who has finally learnt to listen and weigh up advice given to me and act upon it when it is obvious it’s sensible, this is why you now have this series.

Over the series I will be sharing the following:

The Prophet:

The Role Of The Prophet - Prayer

The Role Of The Prophet - Receiving the Word of the Lord

The Role Of The Prophet - Suffering

The Role Of The Prophet - Worship

The Role Of The Prophet - Encouragement

The Role Of The Prophet - Foretelling the Future

The Role Of The Prophet - Direction and Guidance

The Role Of The Prophet - Interpreting Dreams and Visions

The Role Of The Prophet - Correction and Admonition

The Role Of The Prophet - Exposing Rotten Leadership

The Role Of The Prophet - Announcing Judgments

The Role Of The Prophet - Warning of Danger

The Role Of The Prophet - Interpreting the Signs of the Times

The Role Of The Prophet - The Meaning of History.

The Role Of The Prophet - Testing of Prophecy

The Role Of The Prophet - Watchman

The Role Of The Prophet - Challenging the Nation

The Role Of The Prophet - Initiating God’s Action

The Role Of The Prophet - Explaining What Must Be Done

The Role Of The Prophet - Theology

The Role Of The Prophet - Healing the Sick

The Role Of The Prophet - Appointing and Anointing Leaders

The Role Of The Prophet - Advising Kings and Political Rulers

The Role Of The Prophet - Historian

Additional Teaching:

The Tribe Of Asher

What’s In A Name

Jewish Marriage Traditions

Then finally I will share my comments about the passage with you including my thoughts concerning its importance and significance.

The series will not necessarily be one subject per post as I have gleaned more information and made more comments on some than I have on others.

So this was just an introduction to what is to come. For me I was fascinated about what I have read and learnt. It opened my eyes to new understandings. It certainly proves that you are never too old to learn something especially where God is concerned.

So I will leave you this time with the three verses that I read – call it homework J :

Luke 2 vs. 36 – 38

“Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. (or some translations say for four score and four years which is 84). She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.”

God Bless You All

Fearfully And Wonderfully Made

You are fearfully and wonderfully made.

You are fearfully and wonderfully made.

You are fearfully and wonderfully made.

You have heard these words I would guess many times.

Do you believe them? Do you understand them? Do you realise what they truly mean?

We showed a video at our service yesterday morning entitled “Fearfully & Wonderfully Made”. If you haven’t seen it then here is a link to the You Tube site it is found on: The Video

It just has images and text on it. Here is the text that is on the video:

Fearfully And Wonderfully Made Text

By the time we are born the infant’s brain has more neurons than there are stars in the galaxy

The developing brain of a baby in it’s mothers womb grows on average 250,000 neurons per minute – that is on average 4,000 neurons per second of the 9 month pregnancy

Human bone is as strong as granite in supporting weight. A block of bone the size of a matchbox can support 9 tonnes – that is four times as much as concrete can support

The focusing muscles of the eyes move around 100,000 times a day. To give your leg muscles the same workout, you would need to walk 50 miles every day

In 30 minuets, the average body gives off enough heat (combined) to bring a half gallon of water to boil

The ears can discriminate 1,600 different frequencies

Blood journeys endlessly through 60,000 miles of blood vessels out from the heart and back in less than a minute

Stretched out end to end blood vessels and capillaries could wrap around the entire planet more than twice

The heart usually beats 70 times a minute and pumps 2,000 gallons of blood a day

The body contains 206 bones, of which more than half are located in the hands and feet

The legs and feet withstand up to 5,000 pounds of pressure per square inch when running

The hand is the apex of the body’s engineering design; 25 joints allowing 58 distinctly different motions, which makes the hand the most versatile instrument on Earth

Sperm and ovum unite to form a zygote, believed to contain the blueprint for a creature of 60 trillion cells in a package no bigger than the point of a pin

Put together our small and large intestines are around 8 meters long

When children are little, their skeletons re-new themselves every 2 years

You have over 230 moveable and semi-moveable joints in your body

50,000 of the cells in your body will die and be replaced with new cells; all while you have been reading this sentence

In 1 square inch of skin there lies 4 yards of nerve fibres, 1,300 nerve cells, 100 sweat glands, 3 million cells, and 3 yards of blood vessels

In one hour your heart works hard enough to produce the equivalent energy to raise almost 1 ton of weight 1 yard off the ground

There are 45 miles of nerves in the skin of a human being

The average human’s heart will beat 3,000 million times and will pump 48 million gallons of blood in their lifetime

You are Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

So why is it important to really know that we are fearfully and wonderfully made?

Well I shared a couple of scriptures before showing the video and would again share them here:

Psalm 139 vs. 13 – 16:

“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my

mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvellous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

Ephesians 2 vs. 10 (a):

“For we are God’s masterpiece”

Once we know we are valued in this way, that God took time over us even before we were born and the fact that He sees us as His masterpieces, then we can begin to understand our value to our Heavenly Father.

And if you ever question “why” you are here and “do I have a purpose” in this life, in my church, at my place of work, read this again, watch the video again. Look at the intricate details that have been woven into your creation, into the creation of you.

You are truly YOUnique!!

There is simply no one like you.

And God just wants to lavish His love upon you.

Don’t ever listen to the lie that says you are nothing, you are not worth it that God does not love you.

The Master thinks you are His masterpiece, loving you so much allowing His Son to die in yours and my place.

You are Fearfully & Wonderfully made

God Bless

WHO WILL YOU TALK TO TODAY?

Back in January I wrote a blog called “What Is Your Excuse” when I talked about making excuses for why we could or could not do something and in particular focused on that something being God’s call on our lives.

I wrote about God equipping the “called” and not calling the equipped. So no matter what excuse you and I make about not being capable of doing something God will always find a way of giving us the abilities to carry out what He has in store for us.

Well I would like to push this out a little further and look at who we interact with on a daily basis.

I think it is fairly significant if we first accept that we are imitators of Christ, our life’s pattern as Christians and we are called to be His ambassadors.

Allow me to expand on that in order for me in a short while to make us think a little.

What is an “ambassador”?

The Oxford English Dictionary definition is: “An accredited diplomat sent by a state as its permanent representative in a foreign country”.

Now in light of firstly reading that definition of the word “ambassador” let us think once again on the scripture from 2 Corinthians 5 and verses 18 – 21 but in particular I emphasise verse 20:

And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ”

So if you need to just read it again……………..

We are God’s accredited diplomats – we are His voice here on Earth – through US God makes His appeal to those that do not know Him!!

Are you slightly taken aback with that realisation?

Think about how we are being His ambassadors. Do we just take our roles as Christians on Earth for granted. When we are told to take a stand against oppression whether faith based or otherwise do we sit and believe someone else will do that it’s what they are “into”. When we as Christians are asked to do some very simple stuff like write to your MP to take a stand on the erosion of Christian values? I think too often we do.

So we need to turn that around. An ambassador is meant to speak on behalf of whom he or she represents. So let us just think about something really simple that will enable us to make a start. The title of this blog:

“Who will you talk to today”??

I said earlier Jesus was our life’s pattern as Christians. So what pattern did He show us?

Certainly He sat down with fellow Christians and discussed all sorts of things, in His conversations with the disciples He provided teaching and guidance. But if His pattern was to talk “amongst” His own, then all we would need to do is stay inside the walls of whatever building we use to gather together in or just amongst the circle of our “church” friends. If that is all we do then I think we are seriously missing something in what He taught and showed us.

An ambassador was sent out to be a representative in a “foreign land”!

That means OUTSIDE of our church building or church family.

Let’s look at some of the people who Jesus spoke to during His time on Earth

(From the New Living Translation Study Bible):

Person:                                                                            Reference:

A despised tax collector                                                     Matthew 9

An insane hermit                                                                Mark 5

The Roman governor                                                        Mark 15

A young boy                                                                     Mark 9

An important religious leader                                              John 3

A homemaker                                                                    Luke 10

A legal expert                                                                    Matthew 22

A criminal                                                                           Luke 23

A church leader                                                                 Mark 5

A fisherman                                                                       Matthew 4

A King                                                                                Luke 23

A poor widow                                                                     Luke 7

A military officer                                                                 Luke 7

A group of children                                                            Mark 10

A prophet                                                                          Matthew 3

A woman who had committed adultery                              John 8

The Jewish high council                                                      Luke 22

A sick lady                                                                         Mark 5

A rich man                                                                         Mark 10

A blind beggar                                                                   Mark 10

Political leaders                                                                   Mark 12

A group of women                                                             Luke 8

A high priest                                                                      Matthew 26

An outcast who had leprosy                                               Luke 17

A government minister                                                      John 4

A traitor                                                                            John 13

A paralysed man                                                               Mark 2

An angry mob                                                                  John 18

A foreign lady                                                                    Mark 7

A doubter                                                                         John 20

An enemy who hated Him                                                 Acts 9

So look through that list and apply some modern day people to that list. I suggest:

The sick

The rich

The poor

Politicians

Religious leaders

Women

Men

Young

Old

Criminals

Those with psychological problems

Do you know I think that pretty much covers anyone and everyone in our society

So look down the list of those people you are likely to be interacting with. Ignore all of your friends within your “church” – they are not in a spiritual foreign land. Now who are you left with??

If you don’t have some of the above mix, then how on earth are you and I going to be God’s ambassadors???

My purpose and intention is to always try and be an encourager.

Sometimes I am lead to challenge myself and my fellow Christians.

So I will ask you one final time:

WHO WILL YOU TALK TO TODAY?

God Bless

TIME TO DE-CLUTTER

So how much junk and rubbish do you accumulate over a period of time? That can be a very short period too sometimes.

I so often say I will hang on to something “just in case” or “I may need it again one day”.

Well the last two weeks have made me realise that I need to drop that habit and only hang on to things that are of value (and I do not necessarily mean financially) and that will be of real use to me or my family now and in the future.

Two weeks ago my eldest son moved out of our home to set up a home of his own. This came with a whole range of mixed feelings for both Julie and I ranging from sadness at his departure and sharing joy and excitement that he is moving on and taking hold of his own life.

As a consequence of this we undertook a fairly radical change around within our house. We have six children in all, with Matt moving out that still left a household of seven. We live in a three bedroom semi detached house that has two reception rooms one of which has been converted into a bedroom, so that gives us four bedrooms. We have four girls (well ladies ranging from 14 – 22) and two boys (Matt having left now and Tom who is 18 – so grown man not so much a boy). The boys were sharing the room downstairs and the girls were also sharing two per room.

The decision was that EVERY room used as a bedroom would be swopped around, fully re-decorated and we would all move into a new bedroom, ending up with Tom in the smaller room on his own. And at the same time the seven of us would have to continue living eating sleeping and working. So a simple task!!!!

We have completed that process, every room has been re-decorated and everyone is now sleeping in a new bedroom as a result.

However, in mine and Julies old bedroom (which was the biggest one in the house) I had my office where I worked from whenever I was home based, which was on average two weeks out of four, the other two weeks was/is travelling around Europe. I had a large desk, two bookcases and two, two drawer filing cabinets. Within all of this I had retained all the vital and key paperwork over the past five years of being home based that I knew would be absolutely vital in the future and was absolutely key to me continuing my business role.

Isn’t it interesting when you know that you will no longer have space to keep things what you previously viewed as vital and important you realise is just an accumulation of “stuff” and in fact is just in the way. I spent two or three days working through all of the paperwork that I had, all of the old files I had kept, all the notes that I had written down. As I looked through each one I realised I did not “need” any of it. Slowly but surely it all disappeared and was destroyed and what was a huge expanse of bits and pieces was reduced to three folders now kept in one of the filing cabinets, which also now houses all of our household documents too. Books I have boxed and moved up into the loft out of the way, but they are on my list next to be worked through and passed onto charity for others to enjoy/use.

Everything I thought was important to me achieving and accomplishing my business role was actually the opposite, it was in the way, unnecessary and simply accumulated rubbish.

And it took me to thinking about our own lives spiritually.

We accumulate rubbish as we live out our day to day existence. And the more we gather in and the more we hang on to the less room we give to what really matters, to what God really has in store for us.

John 15 vs. 1 – 4 says this:

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me”.

I am no gardener – ask friends they will tell you – it’s just not my “thing”. But I do know that in order to produce a crop/fruit you have to clear away the rubbish surrounding the plant to let it grow, you sometimes need to prune in order to allow renewed growth to take place.

That is no different for our spiritual life.

Just thing about the “things” you have hung on to in your spiritual life that may well hinder you going forward………….I’m just going to list a few for you and me to consider:

·        Incorrect Friendships – if you are influenced by someone who is not a Christian, if you take and receive counsel from them maybe there needs to be a pruning. How are you going to be encouraged in your walk with Daddy God if people you take advice from do not event know who He is. This is not about having or not having non-Christian friendships, this is about deciding who you will allow to have influence over what you do

·        Retention of past hurts – hanging onto the feeling the pain of something or someone who has hurt you in some way, either recently or in the past. If you hang onto that pain and hurt then you will suppress the richness and joy that Daddy has for you. You need to find a way that you can let those feelings go, not that you can necessarily make your mind forget things that have happened but you CAN give them over to Daddy God so that even if you bring an incident to mind you have removed the anger and the pain that may go along with it. I have quoted this before (paraphrased a bit I know) “Hurt people hurt people, loved people love people” – we MUST be in the position where we can be people who love people

·        Accepting Lies – how many lies do you accept, and allow to settle on you? “God heals but He won’t heal me” “I’m not good enough” “I’m not wanted/needed” – what RUBBISH – we are all fearfully and wonderfully made so that means we are all wanted, we are HIS masterpieces – that’s pretty amazing (see my previous blog on “True Identity”). None of us are “good enough” to enter Heaven that’s a fact, and we can never be “good enough” – but we can through grace be saved and sanctified and as such through the death of Jesus we can enter Heaven. If you allow the enemy to say you are worthless then that is what you will believe and that is RUBBISH. If you and I were worthless why did God allow His only Son to die in our place? He did so because He loves and cares for us and because He believes we are worth it!! And whilst I cannot pretend to be God and cannot tell you why some people receive healing and others do not I can tell you God does heal and He can and will heal you and we need to know that and be convinced of that fact

These are just a few to prompt thinking.

We need to learn to do a little pruning in our lives. We need to cut off and remove dead wood/branches – those areas in our lives that are not bearing fruit, bitterness, unbelief, untruths and misaligned influences

Be sure to surround yourself with people of God who will help nurture and guide you and who will not be afraid to provide you with spiritual correction (and I do not mean simply moan at you at tell you that you are wrong – correction is not “telling off”).

For me I watch how people live their lives and how they walk their spiritual path not just what they say publicly – you have to walk out what it is you speak out otherwise you are a clanging gong making lots of noise and empty. As such when I am seeking counsel I have a list of people I will ask to engage with me on that and help me see what needs to be changed, what needs to be removed from my life, or introduced into it.

If we continue to clutter up our lives with the dirt from this world, with all the historical rubbish, we will not leave any room for God to work in and through us, we will just end up projecting ourselves to the world because we haven’t allowed any room for God to be in control of what we do.

So I have had a house de-clutter, and I have been working through a spiritual de-clutter for the past years or so.

I think we need to learn to have a regular and periodic de-clutter, an overhaul of our spiritual lives, on a regular basis, always ensuring that we get rid of the dross we can pick up from time to time and ensure we are always allowing God the room to work in our loves.

God Bless