The Presents of God

Many years ago as a young woman, I had friends who had three beautiful little girls.They loved to draw and one of them gave me a drawing she had done. The picture was of a little girl with her hands raised in the air.Up above her were all these little beautifully wrapped presents. I asked her to tell me about her drawing and she replied "It's the presents of God."
That imagery has always stayed with me. It truly is a gift to be able to experience the Presence of God.
It is a gift to have a person give you their full attention and listen to you. It is wonderful to know that another is fully present and engaged with you.When a person zones out and becomes distracted while you are having a conversation,it makes you feel as though you are not valuable to them.
For God to fully give us His attention and grace us with His presence is too wonderful for me to comprehend and is beyond the scope of vocabulary to describe.
Now, I know He dwells within us and is always present and is with us wherever we go. However, there is His manifest Presence where the supernatural power of God comes into our midst and the weight of His Glory changes us. In that place in time  the Glory of Heaven shines through the portal right here on earth and into our lives and we are forever changed.
This is the Presence that changes addicts in one moment in time and sets them free instantaneously.This is where people who suffer debilitating diseases can be healed and given a new lease on life.
Sometimes people are healed miraculously and other times it is over a period of time as they continually encounter the healing Presence of Jesus.
This is the signs following power of the gospel. You can experience this at work , at home or at church.
You can then , in turn,  be graced to help people to be set free in  everyday life wherever you encounter those that need a helping hand or a healing touch.
This is the glory of God-the Light that shines in the darkness.
This is an exciting time in history. The Light has come and the Glory of the Lord is rising upon us and  His people are wanting to see more and more of the manifestations of this Glorious God to bring His Kingdom into our everyday lives .God's people are wanting the King to come and change their families and reconcile the members one with the other and also to God.We are longing for our communities to be changed and  for His will to be done in our nation.
This gospel is potent and life changing and is still delivering people from despair and grief and heartaches.The Kingdom of God is clearly being demonstrated in changed lives and God is still in the business of propelling people towards their destinies and into His Kingdom purposes.

Jesus my Refuge

Ever had a few days where the cares of this life wage war against your internal sense of balance?
You wake a little anxious running over the scenarios in your mind again and again.
Right there I made a choice!
 I need to take this to The Lord and seek Him for peace and rest.
I have put on the whole armour and having done all to stand- still standing.

 Yet, my mind is being bombarded. Time to renew the mind and start to focus on the Promise and not the  situation.
Now, I am not talking about denial but giving the situation less influence in my thoughts and focussing more on being in The Presence and letting Him quell my fears and change the neural pathways that are in a rut and needing to be re-routed!

Feeling peaceful and calm in my hiding place in Jesus, I can now remember what He has promised me in His Word and be definite about trusting Him and having faith in who  He is and His nature. 

He is unchanging. If He said it , He will do it.

 I can trust Him because over decades I have tasted and seen that He is good and He has delivered me from all my fears. Why would he stop doing that now?
Just one call to my King and He hears me and comes in His manifest Wrap-around Presence and my heart surrenders its  anxiety and ceases to strive and innately knows He is My Father and He will take care of things.
In His Presence , in my safe place, in the Secret cleft in the Rock,  I am secure and taken care of.
All through the day I go back and remind myself of these precious moments and I can soothe the troubled thoughts that try to come.
Brother Lawrence called it Practicing the Presence of Jesus in his iconic book of that title.
I call it  life changing. 

Nine tenths of education is encouragement.-Anatole France

Encouragement is a soothing,healing,beautifully nurturing word. It is a praise word and I just love it.
It is a noun that means "the action of giving someone support, confidence or hope.
What a word so pregnant with meaning and rich with possibilities.It is   able to lift a person out of the doldrums and give their day a different outcome.
Everyone can encourage someone else.They can be a family member, a person at work, a next door neighbour,a shopkeeper you see once a week or it can be someone you have never met that you sense may need  a little love. A kind gesture can leave the recipient with the sense that the world is not such a bad place after all.
For some,a smile can make a person's day.We have so many and it costs nothing to give one away.
I am loving the idea of suspended coffees that is becoming popular. You buy your coffee and pay for another in advance. You pay it forward.
The list of ways to encourage is endless. It is as limited as your imagination.
I enjoy dashing off little Facebook posts or text messages to people to give them a boost.It lets them know someone is thinking of them at least and maybe even praying for them and just plain standing with them in solidarity through the darkness of their situation.
There is a beautiful saying that says  " Everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind."
I try to remember that saying when people are mean,grumpy or thoughtless. Shake it off and refuse to let it shape your day. Instead, purpose to love that person anyway and pray for their day to get brighter.
I can look back over decades of my life and remember times that I was in need of cheering up and other times I was in plain emotional dire straits and always there was someone sent to me as a gift to give me hope, support and confidence that tomorrow would dawn a new day and I would not always feel this way.
Sometimes the encouragement came in a letter, text, email,card or a phone call out of the blue, random flowers or a gift or a visit from someone.
One of my favourite parts of scripture (out of context) is-" And it came to pass."
I visualise the situation continuing on its merry way as it is not welcome to stay because it's only passing through.
Every person has a role to play in the lives of others.Even in the most challenging of times for us , individually, we can have such a sense of wellbeing when we look out of our situation and become centred on others.To give someone support and love , in the midst of your own trials is precious. It is virtuous and helps us to gain perspective.Navel gazing is counter productive to our equilibrium.To turn our thoughts to others changes our focus and gets us back engaged in life.
I remember important times in my life when a teacher, mentor or friend gave me the encouragement to reach out for more and it helped me to discover the road less travelled. The narrow road that has led me to this beautiful life.
I had a lovely visit today from a friend.We had a cuppa and talked of life and hopes of future things.It was encouraging.
It was unexpected.
It was unscripted and totally organic.
It made my day.
I would have to write a whole week of blogs to cover the amount of kindnesses and love shown to me by people who expect nothing in return.You know who you are and I am grateful for your persistence to love me and support me and give me hope.You remind me of the words of this quote " A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words."