Have you ever locked yourself out of your house or your car? Do you get that feeling of Oh, No! How stupid can I be?? Your day is halted, right there and nothing will move forward until you get a key! In Bible times prisoners were kept in chains with a great lock and key for a closure. Huge heavy chains that were too heavy to carry out to freedom. In the Carol, ‘O, Holy Night’, we hear, “Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother, and in His name all oppression shall cease.” Slavery has always been a part of the human story. Some say more so today than any other time with all the human trafficking that is experienced all over the world. But no key needed there! Chains will be broken by His NAME!! We can do all the social and political actions, and maybe make some difference, but it is going to take His NAME to finally break those chains and stop oppression. And who bears His NAME? CHRISTians bear his name, and only when the people in the church who claim the name of Christ change hearts and attitudes will those chains be broken.
I have had the privilege of international travel, and not only do I hear racial bigotry, but nationalistic bigotry from one country to another. I have seen a lady refused entrance to a hotel because of her nationality while they were checking in a man with a prostitute. I have heard from the mouths of fellow CHRISTians slurs against bordering neighbor countries. We should be different. We need to break those chains of superiority in our own hearts and look at others with the eyes if Christ. Caring, compassionate, loving eyes break chains, heal and show Christ. No key needed when Christ breaks the chain!! There is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain!
The thief (devil) comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. John 10:10
What part of that scripture are you living today. Have you allowed the thief to rob you of your peace/marriage/job/health etc. or are you living in the freedom that Jesus offers us if we surrender to HIM. Jesus gives us peace in all circumstances; He (Jesus) will never leave you or forsake you (that’s the TRUTH.
You (Lord) know me inside and out, You know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, How I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, the days of my life all prepared before I had even lived one day.
Psalm 139:15-16 (Message translation)
Have you ever asked God, “why did you make me this way”? Sometimes the things that we think are our worst faults, God will use too His greatest glory:
who in the world do you think you are to second-guess God? Do you for one moment suppose any of us knows enough to call God into question? Clay doesn’t talk back to the fingers that mould it, saying “why did you shape me like this”? Romans 9:20 (Message translation).
Jesus died so that we might enjoy our life in abundance and to the fullest until it overflows. You and I are not going to enjoy our life if we don’t enjoy ourselves. Today I choose to celebrate the unique way God has made me. How about you?
My husband’s cousin is married to a fellow from Puerto Rico and recently she got to visit her father in law there. He had lived through the hurricane of 2017 when there was great devastation, many deaths and much of the island went without electricity for months. She was touched by the spirit of the people to recover and signs that even creation was reviving on it’s own. She posted a picture on Facebook of a tree that had been broken by the winds down to the ground, but was sprouting new growth up to the sun.
Have you been hit by the strong winds of life that has stalled much of your spiritual growth? Have you by circumstance or personal choice let the forces around you deaden your heart towards the things of God? Are you letting the things that are socially acceptable yet against biblical truth bend you to their forces? After failing God miserably, David cries out to God in Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a pure heart, O, God and renew/revive a right spirit in me” Our God is a god of renewal and revival. He is the “sun” for our spirit that allows us to grow once again despite the storms of life. We can experience revival in our lives when we cry out for His “sun and water” to begin that new growth. Are you ready to begin new growth? Are you ready to be revived? Are you ready to cut away the dead clutter of your sin? Let the Saviour clean out all the dead leaves and branches of your life and be revived to really live again, in Him!!!
I call the GPS in my car “blind faith”. I put an address in it to a place I have never been before and then just follow the map and voice as “she” tells me where to turn and when I will arrive at my destination. This is amazing tool on our modern cars and phones that somehow through bouncing signals off of satellites or towers, knows where I am and where I need to go. Only a few times has she lead me wrong and I have ended up on a dirt road at a dead end in the mountains or some such. But even then it is usually just a little bit off. Sometimes I think I know better and take my own way and then she says to me, “recalculating, recalculating” as she gives me a new route from where I have gone away from the original directions. I have never been totally lost and have always made it to my destination.
How much more does the Lord want to lead us to our divine appointments that HE has charted out for us! He knows where we are and where we need to go. He knows the roads and routes that He wants us to take and the experiences along the way. And when we think we know better and go another way He is always willing to “recalculate” and get us out of our wayward messes and back on the path He has charted out for us. And unlike my GPS, He will never leave us stranded on a dirt road with no place to go. In John 12:26 Jesus said, ” If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also.” It is not satellites and towers that we need to guide us through life, but the supernatural grace of God that directs us.. Why is it harder to trust the God of all creation, than it is to trust a “techy” device? If you have strayed in life looking for your intended destinations, God will always steer you back to His path if you allow Him to “recalculate” and bring you to Himself. He knows where you are and where you need to go!
I dreamt about a sewing machine last night which is odd because I do not sew I have no clue how to use a pattern or a sewing machine. However I am and always have been very interested in fashion. So it is not surprising that the Holy Spirit should speak to me in this way.
In the natural, we have just entered into a new season. I believe God is saying spiritually we are entering a new season as well. The wind that is coming is very different to anything we have experienced so far. It is a pure clean wind, it is the wind of TRUTH.
Just as fashion changes from season to season in the natural so it is in the spirit. God has prepared a new garment for us to wear in this new season. It is up to us as individuals to ask God for the new garment, He will give it to us, but we must put it on and wear it boldly.
When the fashion trend changes in the natural, some people will immediately buy it and wear it, but others take a bit longer to get use to the new look and then there are those of us who say “ oh I would never wear that”.
Fashion trends in the natural come and go, they never really come up with anything new they just wait for a new generation and then they reinvent the old.
This new spiritual garment of TRUTH has always been, GODS WORD has never changed, it’s just been watered down over many generations. BUT NOW HE IS CALLING US BACK TO BOLDY WEAR THE GARMENT OF TRUTH…
It’s time to replace the old garments of doubt, unbelief, being lukewarm, lethargic, materialistic, believing the lies of the enemy, hopelessness and dry bones with the garment of TRUTH, which is means living TRUTH, speaking TRUTH.
Hebrews4:12-13 says “for the Word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrates even to diving soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account“.
Lord Jesus, give me and those who will read this blog the courage to ask for and wear your garment of TRUTH everyday for the rest of our lives, I ask in Jesus name. AMEN
Can you imagine a world where God’s TRUTH is what everybody is talking about and what everybody wants to wear and get involved in> Imagine a headline like this:- “JESUS IS ON TREND”
Sometimes life seemd to be a chain of setbacks and disappointments. We don’t achieve what we have been striving towards. We don’t get the job, get the promotion, are misunderstood, or fail at something even when we try our best. We feel like a failure and wonder what to do next. I have felt that, have you? Recently I was listening to a young person telling me about a failure they had experienced even after much prayer and preparation. They felt that God was leading them in a certain way, yet they could not achieve what was expected. I was able to share a truth that someone had shared with me. “God is not surprised at the outcome and God is not disappointed with you.”. Do we feel sometimes that we have let God down? That even when we pray and try our best that God thinks less of us when we falter? Good news!! If we are walking with the Lord, He is right beside us going through the same things and He is not let down ! He see us, through the blood of His own son, and we are precious to Him in Christ. He says “Come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest……….. Take my yoke on you and learn of me, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 He is yoked to us, beside us, carrying the load also. If our way is blocked in one direction, He will lead us to another path with His easy yoke and light burden. Exchange your personal disappointment with God’s abundant pleasure in you and be encouraged. God is not disappointed in you. You are His precious child!!
Watching a reality TV program called “look me in the eye” I saw that the two most powerful weapons that we have as human beings are “love” and “Forgiveness”. There is no force in the universe that that can fight against love and forgiveness. Whatever we are battling with in life is won by loving and forgiving.
The devil is scared of us finding out this simple truth, because every demonic influence has to submit to Love and Forgiveness.
Hatred has to surrender to love and forgiveness
Offences have to surrender to love and forgiveness
Hurts are healed through love and forgiveness
Anger melts away through love and forgiveness
Love and forgiveness gives us hope, fills our soul with peace and joy.
We are not created to carry offences, and be unforgiving. All of this can cause sickness in our bodies.
Love and forgiveness does not judge
Love and forgiveness builds trust
The Bible (Ephesians 6:12)says we do not fight flesh and blood, but principalities and powers of darkness. Love and forgiveness conquer all principalities and powers of darkness. That’s how easy it is to win a spiritual war. Love and forgive.
Walking in un-forgiveness, offences, hurts and judgement, gives the devil permission to attack us. By making a single choice of loving and forgiving, takes away his (devil) right to touch us.
Recently I enjoyed a cruise in the Caribbean with my husband. We arrived and departed from 5 different ports hundreds of miles from each other. We sailed each night and usually arrived at the ports right before dawn. Most mornings I was awake before sunrise and was able to see our arrival in the dim light of the new day. Each time the lights of the island would first be seen and then closer and closer until I could see the dock and the dock workers ready to help this huge ship, carrying over 4,000 people, steer into a certain place and tie up. I could hear the engines shut down to almost stop and gently the captain would maneuver the second largest cruise ship in the world gently up to the exact spot and stop right on our scheduled time and place. This is an amazing experience. I was so glad I could trust the captain and crew to get it right!!
But no matter how amazing a feat men can do, our Lord does greater. He is the Captain of our ship of life and anywhere we sail, He has already charted our departures and our arrivals, our schedules and our destinations. In three of the gospels, Matthew 8, Mark 4, and Luke 8, we are told the story of when Jesus just spoke to raging waves of the sea and the waves were calmed. Jesus knows how to handle the waves of our lives and guide us safely to where He wants us to be. And in the final trip of our life He will guide us safely home. Have you turned the ship of your life over to Jesus? Is He the captain who steers where you will go? I am so glad I can trust Him to get it right!!
It has been a while since I have written anything on our web page, but that does not mean that I am not thinking of you all, there is never a day when Daughters of the King is not in my thinking. One day towards the end of last year, I was walking along the beach talking to God, asking Him what the New year would bring. I had the distinct feeling that He said to me “Grethe, 2019 is the beginning of a new book, not a new chapter, but a new book. 2018 was the last chapter of that book. The words that came to my mind was “out with the old, in with the new”. I have been prayer thinking about that a lot and this morning when I was sitting outside having breakfast, I was thinking about all the amazing things that have happened at the last 12 DOK Conferences and I was saying to God, wow, Lord what a journey it has been and I was thanking Him for His faithfulness to us over the many years, when suddenly I heard Him whisper to me “wait there is more” and then I felt He said to me to read Isaiah Chapter 43, the verses that jumped out at me was “forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing….
When God said to me 2019 is the start of a new book, He did not mean a written book, I believe He meant that He is going to do a NEW thing, I believe if we have eyes and ears to see we can be part of this new book. Maybe, just maybe the title of this new book is REVIVAL. The theme for this years Daughters of the King Conference is “prepare for revival”. I cannot wait to see what the first chapter looks like. By the way have you registered for the conference yet?
