Worship

The Finish Line (New Wine Women’s Day Reflection 5)

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“It’s not where we start that matters…..it’s about where we finish.” A great quote from Christie Wimber, and so true. She shared that although Abraham had believed God’s promise for so long and not given up, Sarai decided to take matters into her own hands and told him to sleep with her maidservant. Ishmael was the product. At this point in the story Christie exclaimed “sometimes we live with the counterfeit so long that we begin to believe that it’s the real article”. How many times in our lives do we get to a point where we’ve waited so long for a promise to be fulfilled that we begin to settle for less? Settle for less than the Father’s amazing abundance. How many times do we try to force the promise to be fulfilled early, or in our own way? In this, we settle for the counterfeit. We grow impatient or frustrated and give up. We deceive ourselves into thinking that the counterfeit is enough.

 
I would like to suggest that it is not just WHERE we finish that matters (though that is essential), but also that it is so important TO finish.
If you have waited for a long time for something and you’re feeling weary, frustrated or impatient, I would like to encourage you…..Hang in there!  “Never stop expecting God to come through.” Worship Him and praise Him for how He’s working, even though you can’t see it and NEVER settle for less than the awesome blessing He has for YOU.

 
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him…… he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised Rom 4:18-21 para.

Hopeful vs. Hopeless

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Hopeful or hopeless? (New Wine Women’s Day Reflection 4)

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit Rom 15:13

Christie Wimber “The enemy can’t take away your promise so he’ll try to take away your hope. Live in the promise of what God has spoken”

How often does God speaks to us about something and we feel enthused and full of hope. He lifts our heart and our soul and we feel back on track. Then only a short while later we’re questioning ourselves…”Did God really say that?” “Was I just hearing what I want to hear?” “Maybe I heard wrong”. God’s Word does not dilute over time. His words last forever. If He makes a promise to you He will keep that promise.

It’s the enemy that wants you to question that Word, to doubt it ever happened, to worry, to lose heart. Here’s where we have to be strong and say to ourselves “Be still my soul and trust in God”. We need to make a choice to live in what we know He has shown us and when we’re struggling with doubt we need to worship and keep on thanking God for what He IS doing, because even if we can’t see anything yet, we can be sure He is DEFINITELY at work.

I love the picture that was going around on Facebook recently (above) with the two rabbits that are growing carrots. The one that has little growth on the top is all forlorn and the one with lots of green growth on top looks very pleased with himself. However, under the ground the carrot of the rabbit with little greenery on top is HUGE! He just can’t see it yet!

Take heart today and make a choice to put your hope in God, who will NEVER let you down.

 

Faith or Fear? (New Wine Women’s Day Reflection 3)

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Choose today to walk in faith or fear.

As Christy Wimber shared ” Faith is the capacity to trust God when there are no answers. God speaks a promise and we have to persevere through the problems to see it come to fruition. We have to make the choice to persevere.
We need to choose which to walk in
…faith or fear”.

I love the part in Disney’s Finding Nemo when the whale has told Dory and Marlin to go to the back of his mouth. Marlin is so worried because he has no idea what will happen and is holding onto the whale’s tongue for dear life! He’s afraid.  Fear disables us. It stops us from becoming all we can be. It stops us from progressing. Dory’s great advice to him is to “Let go!” As he does, he falls only for a second as he trusts and is blown to freedom through the whale’s blow hole. I imagine his stomach would be flipping as is ours when we take a leap of faith, but as we trust in the unfailing power of God the feeling of freedom is incredible and the peace which comes through it is irreplaceable.

God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind – 2Tim 1:17

Worship shifts our Focus (New Wine Women’s Day Reflection 1)

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After having the pleasure of being a part of the worship team on Saturday at the New Wine Women’s day in Harrogate, I thought I would start my blog with some reflections on what was a brilliant day of worship, teaching and healing (as well as 1600 women getting together and having a great time!).

Christie Wimber shared how when you worship, you place your focus on the Father, and you’re saying to Him, “I put my hope and my trust in you, and not in myself.”  Even when everything around you seems to be falling apart, it’s trusting that God is working and He knows what He is doing.  It’s funny how when things are straight forward, we find it easy to focus on God, yet when things are out of our control, instead of keeping our focus, we tend to scurry around like ants, who have just had their anthill stomped on.  Frantically trying to rebuild structure and regain control.  God must wonder what on earth we’re doing!  We have Him within us and beside us, waiting to be our strength and guide us through and yet we so often choose to focus on the problem.

Let’s make a conscious decision – in the chaos, when we feel anxious, in the mundane and in difficulty, to worship and praise our Father who is, as Christie Wimber shared, “ALWAYS working on our behalf”  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose” Rom 8:28