Strength In The Wilderness

Jesus began His ministry at the age of 30, but before He began ministering He had to go through a time of testing.

"Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from

Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness." (Luke 4:1)

Whenever I hear this verse it's like I erase part of it - Jesus was led - taken - by the Spirit into the wilderness. It doesn't say if it was a physical wilderness either - it could have been a wilderness experience.

Jesus was taken into the wilderness perhaps for the express purpose of being tested.

It's interesting that for some reason even Jesus could not escape the strengthening, refining process of a testing trial.

Jesus was so full of God's Word that He stayed strong to the end.

He knew why He was there.

He didn't want to blow it.

He knew full well that He could create food and comfort for Himself with just one word.

For 40 days the devil came and taunted Him.

Perhaps with doubts about who He was?

Perhaps with taunts about His effectiveness?

"No-one will believe Your words...they know You're just a carpenter's son...from Nazareth of all places..."

Sound familiar?

But Jesus knew full well who He really was.

He knew that His earthly family's background didn't matter.

It made no difference that He came from the wrong end of town.

What mattered was WHO had sent Him - WHO had called Him - Jesus' focus was on His heavenly Father and the calling that had been placed on His life.

This is what I want you to get a revelation of - the testing Jesus went through was PART OF His ministry...not APART FROM His ministry.

If we are going to be used by God, testing times will come.

It's when heat and pressure are applied that the impurities are drawn out of gold.

It's in the heat and cold water that steel is moulded and then hardened.

Trials will come.

Tests are inevitable.

But the will of God will never take you where the grace of God cannot keep you.

Where is your focus?

On the problem...or on the Father?

Thanks for calling in,

XRebecca

Your Yesterday Doesn't Have to Determine Your Today

Morning all.
I just wanted to share something with you that the Lord revealed to me during my quiet time this morning.

Philippians 3:12-14

"I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us."

"Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead..."

Doesn't that sound great? Freeing? Exciting?

It does to me.

Do you realise what Paul is saying here?

Because of Christ within us we can live free of the past and be hopeful of what lies ahead of us in the future.

The past no longer has a hold on you, child of God. 

When I read this verse this morning I realised that so many of my thoughts and attitudes are based around events that happened in the past. My experiences - my past experiences - or, more accurately my perception of those past experiences have been shaping the way I live. That's not wrong or abnormal, in fact everybody does it, it's just that the negative memories hold me back, causing me to be ineffective and defeated. 

But do you see that those mindsets are just an illusion?

We are not ineffective! We are not defeated!

Romans 8:37 tells us that overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, and in 2 Peter 1:3 we are told that God has already given us everything we need for living a godly life.

You + God = VICTORY!

I know it's not just a matter of blocking out the past and being unwise - it's about deciding that the past doesn't have to determine your future.

Your yesterday doesn't have to determine your today.

When we allow the experiences of the past to affect us today we are taken hostage by DREAD.

Dread is a debilitating emotion based on fear and worry, and the reason why we dread (well, why I dread) is because we are calling on past experience.

We dread the dentist because of past experience.

We dread having awkward conversations with difficult people because of past conflict.

When I was pregnant with our second and third daughters I was over the moon except for the fact that I knew what I had to go through when it was time to give birth! I didn't have that dread with our first daughter's birth because I had no prior experience to call on.

Your future is so bright, don't tarnish it by prematurely deciding that there is no hope. 

Forget what negative lessons your past has taught you.

This is a fresh new day and God has great things planned for you!

Please come again soon.

A bientot,

XRebecca

As You Walk Along

Psalm 40:1-3

"I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, 

and He turned to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the pit of despair,

out of the mud and the mire.

He set my feet on solid ground and

steadied me as I walked along.

He has given me a new song to sing,

a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see what He has done and be amazed.

They will put their trust in the Lord." 

Here the Psalmist King David talks about waiting patiently and expectantly for the Lord to help: "He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire."

Have you been languishing in a pit of despair, feeling stuck in a pit of quicksand that is threatening to swallow you up?

Take heart my friend.

God will pull you out.

He will pull you out and place you on solid ground - He is safe, reliable and constant, our strength and hope.

Then David says, "...(God) steadied me as I walked along..." (verse 2b)

It is in the WALKING that we find strength and steadiness. As we walk - as we step out, one foot after the other - He will fill us with His strength.

But only as we step out in faith.

Hiding away from life doesn't help - it only causes you to sink deeper.

How do you know what the Lord will do if you just hide yourself away?

How do you know what can be achieved unless you get up and start "walking"?

Step by step.

One foot after the other.

Moment by moment He will lead you.

A bientot mes amis...

XRebecca

I was just thinking about what I wrote on my last post, and I sincerely hope I didn't come across as flippant or uncaring about the experiences you have gone through.

I'm always concerned that in the effort to encourage and build others up, ill-thought out words and nonchalance can cut deeply when somebody is enduring difficult circumstances.
It's so easy to revert to the old cliches that are still (appalingly enough) thrown around like,"It's all for a reason" or "Just dig in deeper to God". As well meaning as those comments are, they fail to cut the mustard.
People in crisis don't want to hear that they aren't doing enough, they want to know that someone cares for them, and wants to walk with them through this terrible time.
After all, love is a verb.

In my own life, I have had my share of pain.

I've never lost a child to cancer, or had my home destroyed by bush fire...but there have been times in my life where I felt that I just could not go on anymore.
Even as I write this I am crying because I remember it so vividly.

I have recently come off a course of medication I'd been taking to treat depression (my fourth episode - I've had it every 6 years for some reason!?) and I wanted to share something I wrote during the midst of this difficult time.

Don't  let me drown in the ocean of lethargy
I'm trying so hard not to sink.
But waving my arm to attract your attention
Is so much harder than you think.

It seems easier just to lay still
To not have any dreams at all
'Cause the higher you climb to achieve them
The further there is to fall.

There's so much that my heart longs to reach for
And much more I want to achieve
But how can I walk toward my goals
When I struggle each day just to breathe?

I know how it feels to want to give up, in fact during the darkest times I developed this habit of just stopping breathing. I would just...stop breathing for a while until I had to take a breath.
It seems so silly now but that's where my head was - I would cover my face and just stop breathing.

The point in me saying all this is that I want you to know that I've been there.
I still am in some ways, there are some issues I need to work through, and God in His wonderful grace is helping me deal with stuff bit by bit.

I don't know your situation - I don't know where you've come from or what you've been through - but I want you to have a think about this question. Here it is.

If you had the choice to turn back time, would you?

If you could go back and change the things that were done to you or by you...would you do it?
I know your immediate response would be "Yes of course I would you brainless twit!" - but I really want you to think about it.

How would your life be different now, if things were different then?
If you had the choice to turn back time, would you?

For me (and it took me a long time to verbalise this) I would say "No".

I will share specifics about my situation another time, but I know beyond any shadow of a doubt, that I would not be where I am now if my life had been untouched by pain.

My pain drove me to God.
It was through relying on Him to get me through each day as a young adult that I discovered God's living Word, the Bible, and through the scriptures God administered life-giving words of hope, peace, acceptance and freedom.
Through the years God has proved Himself faithful over and over again.

Genesis 50:20 rings true with me:

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good..."

Satan intends to wreak havoc on you and me, our marriages and our kids.

He is only out to steal, kill and destroy using whatever he can get his hands on. 

But when God is invited into that situation, things happen.

Good things.

God turns that situation around to bless you and all those involved, and ultimately draw you into a beautiful relationship with Himself.



Some things to think about perhaps?

A bientot,
X Rebecca