RESTORATION

There is no one alive who hasn't suffered Hurt, Pain, Humiliation and
Frustration.  
I don't know why I am writing about this today? Or maybe I do...
Yesterday I had the wonderful privilege of being visited by three special ladies.
First came my daughter Daniella, bouncing into the house with her usual vibrant self, coming to share with mum.

 Then I received a phone call from Lynn, 'would I like a visit?' She came bearing a meal and prayers.
Finally Dawn, another sweet lady came.... another two meals, and much sharing.

I can look back over the years and remember times of need when no one came.
When I felt alone and deserted.

As people read what I am writing, many could never imagine, what my past has been, or what I have come through... Much I have blanked out because of the pain.

We all have a story to tell. 
All of us walk through life hopefully learning lessons and gaining wisdom.
Becoming Better and not Bitter.
Wisdom only comes by realisation and understanding. 

Many feel in times of desolation that God is punishing, or that He is not there, He simply doesn't exist.
Yet if God did not allow us to have a free will of discovery we would never experience the trails we do..
We would never learn to pray or come before him..

"For when we are weak, He is strong."  2 Corinthians 12 :10.

We would never understand the joy of having restored, all the devil has taken from us.


"And I will restore to you, the years the locust hath eaten."
Joel 2:25

  Granddaughter Shiarn (Daniella's) running free with her chooks.


                                                       

Be Transformed

Nature is so natural....

                                                 Yellow crested cockatoo..

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world,
 but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--
His good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans" 12:2

I awoke this morning with the above verse.
And wondered why??
Am I too worldly?
I suppose in many ways, we all are to some extent.

Reading this verse through and contemplating further,
I can't help but realise, that even two thousand years ago,
this was an issue!!!

Man has never been content!
There is always a seeking for what is considered the best.
Or..
The most authentic!

I am no different to anyone else.
Last night I went to bed desiring certain changes in my life.
How selfish is that???
After all, if I trust in the Lord with all my heart, then I know, my life is how God Will's it to be.
If I want to complain in my heart,
then I am saying to God,
"I don't like the way you do things."

When I look deeply within myself,
 Am I wanting to conform to the ways of the world???
 Always have a tidy home and everything perfect.
OR
Can I allow myself to be transformed to the Perfect Will of God??

What is that Will??

2 Peter 3, says "God desires that none should perish."

He also desires we "build up treasure in Heaven, not on earth."

On our news last night they showed the fashions of the women attending the Oscar's.
The emphasis was on walking the red carpet, posing, camera's flashing, and who looked the best.
Such a lot of pomp and glamour.
And, just for one night?

What are your priorities?
Are you a God pleaser or a man pleaser??
I believe we all need to search our heart on this.

Who AM I ?

God tells me and you..

Jeremiah 1:5
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart."

Some of where I come from was Wales, UK.

(Left) great grandmother Charles (maternal) with her daughter and new husband, plus other family members.

I was the fourth child of five born to my Australian mother and English father.

My mother with her five children. I am in front on the right.

Looking at this photo today I realised all of our body language is tilted towards our mother. We were all very close to her.

Mum taught us a faith by example.

Our life revolved around God.

The country home we grew up in south western New South Wales.

My sister stands outside and I took this photo with her brownie camera.

This sister has always been my best encourager in my faith, she has never wavered.

 Our background can form us for better or worse.

I came from a strong Christian background and for this I am thankful.

However, ultimately it is up to us and our choices as to where we go in life.

Today it is popular to pass the blame for doing the wrong thing onto someone else.

When I grew up we made the best of our lives and if  it went wrong we shouldered our own responsibility.

There was no passing the buck.

I have made good choices and bad ones, the same as you.

Learning lessons is what has been important.

Growing in wisdom and maturity, knowing when you are wrong and admitting it, and asking and accepting forgiveness, makes for a healthy life. 

No one is perfect.. I certainly am not!!!

I get distressed sometimes when people judge.

They think I have the perfect life and it is all together,

 just because I laugh much of the time. 

Not So....!!

What I do have is a strong unwavering faith.

A faith instilled in me from a child.

Some children choose to turn away. I choose to stay.

Genesis 8:1, And God Remembered.................(Us)!!

From eight to eighteen years of age. I grew up without a father.

This was no excuse for me to do the wrong thing.

I was not forgotten. Because God remembered.

You are not forgotten either.

God Always Remembers!!!

AMAZING "FIREPROOF" TESTIMONY

Eve would like to share her testimony of what the movie FIREPROOF did for her and her marriage.

Eve, (Not Crystal,) writes this.....................................................................

When you least expect it, miracles happen.

Friday night (22 Jan 2010) was just another regular Friday night. Nothing spectacular planned or anticipated. Months ago, a friend gave me a DVD called Fireproof. I've not really had any inclination to watch it, and while having nothing to do on Friday evening, everyone else fast asleep, nothing worth watching on TV, I decided to pop it into the machine. The first 30 minutes didn't really draw me in, but I stuck it out as I really had nothing better to do. Well. By the end of the movie I was sobbing like I haven't sobbed in years. The tears were literally streaming down my face, my body was shaking uncontrollably and my heart was filled with so much sadness that I honestly thought that I could die from the unbearable heartache.

I went outside, and with my eyes filled with tears, I turned my head to the heavens and asked God to heal me, to make me whole, to take my life and make it His. I asked Jesus to come into my heart and give me life. I honestly don't know how long I was sitting outside, it could have been minutes or hours, the duration is irrelevant, what I experienced was true GLORY.

It was as if I could feel the pain Jesus felt while he was hanging on the Cross, as if I shared the loneliness when His Father deserted Him so that he could bear the burden of all my sins. The pain was unreal, it was out of this world, it was something that my words will never be able to express. And then, it became warmer in my heart and soul than it had ever been. My entire being was filled with peace, love, happiness, forgiveness and above all, God's supernatural love.

I fell to my knees and worshipped God like I have never worshipped Him before.

I cannot explain what happened, or how, or why it happened. All I can do is to thank God that I now know that I will NEVER feel that type of loneliness or hurt ever again. All the glory to God!

I have realised now, that our war is not with each other, it is not here on earth, it is in the spiritual realm, and God is calling each one of us to fight for our right to the eternal life. God is saddened by the mediocrity that has become "religion" and "Christianity". God wants each one of us to experience His unconditional love - but, for that, we have to stop living for ourselves, and start living for Him.

When I testified in church this morning, I saw people's eyes filling with tears, I could see the hunger they have for that amazing love from our Heavenly Father and I prayed that each one of them could feel what I have been feeling since Friday night.

Thank you Heavenly Father for granting me the privilege of being your child. Thank you Lord Jesus for living in my heart. Thank you Holy Spirit for guiding me and teaching me.

I am now, more than ever, a willing student of God.
From Eve http://clayingodshands.blogspot.com/ 24 th January 2010
(With permission.)

Bible Giants Evidence

Fallen angels came to earth  and had sexual relations with women.
From their union, the children became Giants.
Ancient Canaan......

Canaan today is known as Israel, Lebanon and parts of Jordan.

The Bible tells us.

 Genesis 6:1-6 The Bible.

"And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them.
That the sons of God (fallen angels) saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God (fallen angels) came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown."

Numbers 13:33 The Bible.

"And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak,
which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers,
and so we were in their sight."

Some churches don't believe certain parts of the Bible.


TRUTH is FOUND!!!

Look at the size of these bones. Some were up to 15 feet tall.

SEEING IS BELIEVING. (I have always believed)

Only the Bible is Truth.

A Memory for Sepia Saturday

I love reading all the nostalgia on the Sepia Saturday posts so here is one of my own.

I vividly remember the day I turned five years old.

 It was three days before Christmas and my mother took me shopping on the bus to the nearest town, seven miles away.
I always thought it such a long way. Three buses ran every day accept Sunday. It took half an hour to get there. Having a birthday so close to Christmas meant it was lost in all the other preparations, but mother brought me a shop cake to share with the family that day. I felt so grown up and proud.

The new year of school begins in late January in Australia, following 6 weeks of Christmas holidays over the summer.  The photo above is of the school I attended.
It was only a two room two teacher school with approximately twenty students ranging in age from five to twelve years.
The building in the foreground of timber floors and walls with tin roof was all there was then.
It was raining the day I enrolled and kept up a steady downfall until the school yard was a flowing muddy mess from the deluge.
All the kindergarten children remained on the veranda talking shyly together as our mothers completed our registrations.
One of the boys, by the name of Peter, sidled up to me and whispered,
"It's the end of the world you know, we'll never see our home again." 
Of course I believed him, and began to cry, I felt so terrified.
My older sister came out with her class for recess and seeing my distress came to find out why?  
She hugged me listening patiently between the tears.
Gently she reminded me of Noah and the Ark and Gods promise of the rainbow to show He would never flood the earth again.
That Peter stood back smiling and as the years passed I realised what a tormentor that naughty child was.
Because it was a country school we wore no uniform and very few children wore shoes to school. They were kept for special times like Sunday School.

I attended an all Girls High School and am picture here on the left in school uniform. The girl behind me on the right was not in uniform that day?

The one thing I am eternally grateful for is learning about God's love at a very young age.

“I tell you the truth. You must accept the kingdom of God like a little child accepts things, or you will never enter it." (Mark 10:15)

  

Myth: A Christian Life is Easy.

I have always thought that, if whatever I am doing is right,
God will open the doors and it will be smooth sailing.
OR if everything is against me, then it is not right by God?
Yet when I read how the Apostle Paul suffered continually in his walk with Christ,
I see my understanding is wrong.

Faith is believing in what we cannot see, but also in knowing, God is with us.
Besides that, it is accepting Gods Will.
NOT demanding our own. He knows best!

I read the following by the Paul and it shows his suffering for his faith.
It also shows suffering brings out the heart of a true believer.

Will we remain strong no matter what?
Or will we cave in, complain and give up?

Read and apply this to yourself...NOT to someone else...
Be Honest!!

2 Corinthians 11:23-29 (New International Version)

"(Paul says)I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently,
been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.

Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.

Three times I was beaten with rods,

once I was stoned,

three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea,

I have been constantly on the move.

I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits,

in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles;

in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from
false brothers.

I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep;

I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food;
I have been cold and naked.

Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches."

Paul's conversion, When Jesus spoke to him on the road to Damascus.

It changed his life forever.  Has it TRULY changed yours?

Worry or Trust

Who sits at the wheel of a racing car?

I would say a professional driver!!!

Yet even some-one as experienced as that, can still crash!

How would you go sitting beside an expert?

Could you sit securely...fully trusting in their skill?

Or...when the ride became rocky,

when a smash looked eminent,

would you reach across and try to take the wheel?

If you did, do you think you might save the day?

Or, would you simply add to the confusion and make the situation worse???

Making you think?

When we try to grab the wheel of life and do it on our own,

can we be the cause of a disaster?

The results may be something you might always regret. 

This doesn't mean,...do nothing.

It means, stop worrying!!

Pray about it earnestly, THINK before acting,

 and let God do the directing. 

Looking at the word WORRY:

In the Old English the word is wyrgan

and in Old High German it is wurgen,

Both of these words mean, " to Strangle, to Choke"

The out-come of worry is anxiety and depression so in the end,
it may kill you.
The complete opposite is to read, trust and rely on what God's Word instructs..

Do Not Worry
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or drink; or about your body,
what you will wear.
Is not life more important than food,
and the body more important than clothes?
Look at the birds of the air;
they do not sow or reap or store away in barns,
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not much more valuable than they?
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
                (Matthew 6:25-27) God knows best! 
 
 
 

When a fisherman castes out his net,

He MUST let go..

Otherwise, he won't receive!

It is the same for us!!!

 
 
Cast your cares on the LORD

and he will sustain you;
he will never let the righteous fall.
(Psalm 55:22)