Sometimes a situation will bring us to a point when we just fall to our knees and cry out ‘Lord I confess I need You’. One of my favourite worship songs is ‘Lord I need You’ by Chris Tomlin. I feel this song sums me up as a person and in particular my relationship with Christ, a personal relationship in which God is my only help. A relationship that starts with confession and one in which I continue to rely on God's grace and mercy. The song starts with the lyrics ‘Lord, I come I confess, bowing here I find my rest. And without You I fall apart, You’re the one that guides my heart.’ How true this is. When we first acknowledge that we need God in our lives it is often at the point when we are at our lowest. Sometimes a situation will bring us to a point when we just fall to our knees and cry out ‘Lord I confess I need You’. In our own strength we are imperfect and are always prone to fail and we mess up time and time again and as the song says ‘without God we fall apart’. The chorus goes on to say; ‘Lord I need You, oh I need You, every hour I need You, my one defence, my righteousness, oh God how I need You’. The Bible says in Psalm 18:2 ‘The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold’. These are strong words that tell us clearly of God's protection for His people and how he will deliver us out of troubles. The song continues ‘Where sin runs deep, Your grace is more, where grace is found is where You are. And where You are Lord I am free, holiness is Christ in me’. The deeper the sin, the more of God's grace is poured out. For you see when we accept God's grace we are totally forgiven, not just a bit forgiven but totally, and for some of us, as the song says we really need more of God's grace because the sin runs deep. There is a freedom from this sin only because of God's mercy and grace. Further lyrics of the song are ‘So teach my song to rise to You, when temptation comes my way, and when I cannot stand I'll fall on You, Jesus you my hope and stay’. These lyrics say a lot about our journey and show that as Christians we WILL face temptation as the enemy of our souls tries to lure us away with all manner of things. When we cannot stand any longer we should fall on Christ and He will lift us up. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says ‘He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness’. Amen
Author: Anonymous May God bless and enrich your life Please feel free to share this article and other articles on this site with friends, family and others
The dirt will return to dirt, but the spirit lives on forever in either the agony of hell or the glory of heaven. Are we only a handful of dust, which is dirt? As unflattering as that sounds, we are only dirt. Well, maybe a special kind of dirt. We are made from the elements of the ground, suspended in a molecular state, held together by gases, such as oxygen and hydrogen, which are also in a molecular state, formed by the magnetic fields of atoms, which they, themselves, are a magnetic field. What a miracle! To prove that is true, consider cremation of an animal. A two-hundred pound animal that is cremated will be reduced to a handful of dust, which is dirt. The rest of the body returns to gases. Wait a minute! There is something even more special than the dirt that we are made of - a soul. A soul was also created, along with the dirt. So, the soul and dirt act as one unit. Here is another thought - the most awesome aspect of a created human being is that man’s body was made from existing dirt that God formed and breathed life into; Genesis 2:7 ‘The time came when the Lord God formed a man’s body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. And man became a living person’; and someday the body will return to dirt; Genesis 3:19 ‘All your life you will sweat to master it (the soil), until your dying day. Then you will return to the ground from which you came. For you were made from the ground, and to the ground you will return.’ But, the soul that was created to occupy the body was created by a spirit that did not exist prior to the creation of the body. While the dirt will return to dirt, the spirit comes from nothing that has physical properties and will never die. Okay, so what is the point of what has been discussed? Well, no matter how important we think we are, no matter how rich or poor we are, no matter how much civil power we have, no matter about anything else, we were made from dirt; we are now dirt, and we will return to dirt. The bible refers to it as ‘dust’, which is dirt. The thing that separates one special piece of dirt from another special piece of dirt is the unique spirit that occupies each special peace of dirt. The dirt will return to dirt, but the spirit lives on forever in either the agony of hell or the glory of heaven. Do you know Jesus as your Savior so that your eternal spirit can live in heaven, or will your eternal spirit burn in hell?
Just as a note from one piece of dirt to another piece of dirt. Do not evaluate yourself over someone else. They may be a piece of dirt, but so are you. God breathed life into your special piece of dirt, so that you can find, joy, peace and fulfilment by serving Him. Psalm 103:13-14 ‘As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him for he knows how we are formed; he remembers that we are dust’. Yes, He loves you – the dirt and the spirit – ALL of you.
Author: David Leatherman May God bless and enrich your life Please feel free to share this article and other articles on this site with friends, family and others.
If we could come to a place in our lives where we want what we have rather than have what we want, then we are much more likely to be content. As part of my prayers each morning I always pray for people who have not yet been saved including those close to me. As I was in the process of doing this recently, God spoke to me through a thought He put into my mind about which made me think about life and how many unhappy people there are who never appear to be fulfilled. This then made me think about my own life and about what makes me feel happy even though like everyone else I am subject to the ups and downs of life. I sometimes get sad and frustrated and occasionally experience those days which we would rather not have, however on the whole I am happy and fulfilled and I would not swap my life for anyone else. God provides all of my needs and each morning I hand my life over to Him and I ask Him to use me as a vessel for His heavenly kingdom, to His glory and not mine. I am sure this is the reason that I feel fulfilled, because God fills that need in my soul that wants to be valued and loved, every single day. Praise God. Philippians 4:12-13 ‘I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength’ Modern society is hectic particularly in the developed World and there is no doubt that we live in a very materialistic age. People and especially the young are continually fed with commercial advertising that tells them that they must have the latest of everything, houses, computers, phones, cars, clothes, jobs etc. etc. etc. When the desired item is obtained it is not long before something bigger and ‘better’ or a new updated version comes along and this becomes the new ‘need’. This is a continuous cycle that will never fulfil the needs of the human soul because any fulfilment or happiness is only short lived. The problem is that these types of needs, and there is no other way of saying this, are selfish desires. God does not mind us having possessions or being successful in life as long we do not put them above Him. Matthew 6:33 ‘But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well’. He is almighty and everything we have in our lives and in our world have been provided and given by Him. It is all His, everything, and we should give thanks and praise to Him every single day for what He has provided in our lives, rather than spending our time desiring or being concerned about the things that we haven’t got. If we could come to a place in our lives where we want what we have rather than have what we want, then we are much more likely to be content. We should also remind ourselves that this life is a journey and our true reward will be found not on earth but in heaven; Matthew 6:19-21 ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also’ During my prayers God also spoke to me about how ‘giving’ makes me feel happy and fulfilled. Giving is not just about spending money and giving gifts but can equally as effective and rewarding by spending nothing. Just taking the time to help somebody is something that any of us can do and the only cost to us in many situations will be our time. Spending time with someone who is lonely or taking the time to show somebody some compassion are simple examples of how God can use us to demonstrate His love, using us as His vessel. These are the types of thing that will help to fill the void within the soul and the reason why is that they are from God not from ‘the self’. Therefore real happiness and fulfilment can be attained by giving with a willing heart, with no agenda for recognition or for our own earthly rewards, but a real desire to provide compassion and love, all of which are attributes of the heavenly kingdom. Matthew 6:1-4 ‘Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you’. When life is not going the way we would want or if we are in a particularly low place in our lives then why not try giving, for which will then receive the blessings of God; Deuteronomy 15:10 ‘Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to’. As stated above we do not need money or possessions to be able to give, simply time will suffice, but when we do, the blessings of God will come into our lives and changes will start to happen. Why not give it a try and remember that our Father gave everything for us. John 3:16 ‘For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life’ Praise God.
Author: Gary O’Neill May God bless and enrich your life Please feel free to share this article and other articles on this site with friends, family and others
We no longer have to go through the rituals of the Old Testament to get right with God. We just have to realise that Jesus sacrificed himself for our sins so that we can be forgiven and not be condemned for our sins. This is something that really jumped out at me the other day: I’ve recently been reading through the book of Numbers in the Old Testament and, being a bit OCD, I started at the beginning and I am reading right through to the end. To put it bluntly – it’s hard going! Sacrifice two of these, one of those and five of them, bring a drink offering for this and a grain offering for that. The more I read, the busier the Israelites seemed to be. They were a grumbling people who God was trying to put right before he led them into the Promised Land. They seem to have spent an amazing amount of time trying to get right with God and to keep themselves spiritually clean. Not only that, God also instructed his people to make a sanctuary for him so He could dwell among them and His directions were very detailed, precise and exact. Many of the skilled people were working hard to make the things that God asked of them. God was leading them on a very real journey and it was hard work! Things are very different now. We hit the New Testament and Jesus showed up. He came to take on our sins and be the ultimate sacrifice so that we are forgiven. We no longer have to go through the rituals of the Old Testament to get right with God. We just have to realise that Jesus sacrificed himself for our sins so that we can be forgiven and not be condemned for our sins. I suppose in a sense that makes things quite a bit more simple! Nowadays we are busy with other things in our lives such as work, kids / grandkids, hobbies, house work, commuting, the list goes on! When we finally have a moment free we want some ‘me time’. All these things we put first before trying to find time to spare for the Lord, our Saviour, the one who endured an agonising death on the cross for our sake! I’m just as guilty of not spending enough time in fellowship with my Saviour as anyone else, but how do we find time for God in our busy lives? We need to prioritise and take Jesus with us! What’s more important; spending time in prayer thanking God for all our provisions or doing the washing up? If the washing up is turning into a pile because we have been spending time with God then we should sing praises to God while we wash up! Read your bible, worship or pray on your commute to work (careful if you’re driving!) Be mindful of WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) Would He appreciate where your conversation is going? Do you have an opportunity to ask someone if you could pray for them. Take Jesus everywhere with you and let him be a part of what you are doing. Now you are spending time with God. James 4:8 ‘Come near to God and he will come near to you’.
Author: Samantha Tarplin May God bless and enrich your life Please feel free to share this article and other articles on this site with friends, family and others.