Be strong and courageous

A brief blog about being strong and courageous, be it we are leading ourselves or others, simply we just need faith and being confident in who we are in Christ.

Examples of courageous leadership are the stuff of legends and movies. In the film Brave Heart, the portrayal of William Wallace by Mel Gibson, Wallace’s stirring words to his fearful followers, quaking in the presence of the English army, “They may take away our lives, but they’ll never take away our freedom,” were coupled with a willingness to lead his men into battle. His courage inspired and fortified the resolve of his countrymen ultimately leading to a routing of the English forces.

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Your battle has been won.

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by your circumstances or wondered why you kept fighting the same struggle?

Jesus taught us life as a Christ-follower will be difficult. Our world is filled with broken people who do broken things. There will be trials.

When Adam and Eve decided to pursue something “good” apart from God, their decision allowed evil to enter the world. This means there is a spiritual battle that we cannot see, and it impacts our everyday lives.

When we give our lives to Jesus, we join His team—but this also means we become a target of the devil, our enemy. Every bad thing that happens to us is not necessarily a direct attack from Satan—sometimes it’s just a result of living in a fallen, broken world. But there is a spiritual element to every situation because the devil is always trying to draw the world away from God, and he is looking for people to destroy.

When struggles happen, the devil will try to get you to believe lies about God, your situation, yourself, or other people. He will try to get you to doubt your identity and your God-given authority. But God, who has victory over Satan, is always fighting for you.

Nothing can overcome God, and so when we rely on God—nothing can overcome us.

In every situation, we are more than conquerors because God deeply loves us. This is why we don’t have to be afraid of the spiritual fight—God has already won it. We need to remind ourselves of this truth so that way we can withstand the attacks from Satan when they come.

But attacks will end, because God will win.

So today, fill your mind with truth. Hold fast to your faith, and guard your heart. Walk in peace toward everyone, and memorize Scripture so that way you can wield it as a weapon against any spiritual attack that comes your way.

And know that no matter what you face—God is already fighting for you. He is in control, and He will never leave you. He will never let you fall as long as you keep clinging to Him.

When you belong to God, you have the power to subdue, crush, and overthrow anything the devil throws at you. God’s power makes you more than a conqueror.

A bit of wisdom from Proverbs

We are told elsewhere in Proverbs that wise words bring healing (see 12:18) and that the tongue contains “the power of life and death” (Proverbs 18:21). Here we see that a gentle answer defuses anger, wise words enhance knowledge and soothing words bring life. That’s a lot of power for a small part of the body, but the rest of Scripture and our own experience affirm the impact of words. We can wreak a lot of havoc with what we say — James compares our tongues to a spark that can start a forest fire (see James 3:5 – 6). But the opposite is also true: We can praise God and bless others with positive, encouraging, praiseworthy statements of truth.

Think of that. We can make a dramatic difference in people’s lives simply by asking God to minister to them, speaking a blessing over them, affirming their gifts, encouraging them about their God-given potential and more. We can heal past wounds, offer forgiveness and declare God’s love. Why would we be reluctant to wield that kind of power? Words of affirmation, blessing and encouragement cost us nothing, but they can accomplish great things.

When Your Partner Doesn’t Know Jesus

Our aim is to provide insights into Julie’s book. To help and encourage others who maybe in similar situations or simply to encourage others in their faith and personal journey.

About the book:

Julie Allen sensitively explores an issue that many believers are facing: coping with life as a Christian with an unsaved partner, praying that they will also come to faith.

Julie’s book is a true and open account of her journey, the issues she encountered, the obstacles in her path and how God led her and taught her throughout this journey, until victory was won.

Julie was already married to Michael when she found Jesus.  Her life was transformed, but her husband was untouched by the experience.  More than that, much tension, misunderstanding, and miscommunication ensued as they both sought to come to terms with the massive changes in their lives.

Julie walked closely with God and continually prayed about what she could do to help Michael encounter Jesus for himself. Rather than Michael having the immediate conversation Julie was hoping for, however, surprisingly God had a great deal to say about the example of Christian living she was modelling for her husband.

As a result, valuable kingdom principles were learnt that the author shares here.  This book will give valuable insight, inspiration and hope to everyone who longs to see a breakthrough for their partner.

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Are you useful?

Building on from my last post……

2 Peter 1:3 ~ 7 (AMP) ~ Character qualities to develop in life.

3 For His divine power has bestowed on us [absolutely] everything necessary for [a dynamic spiritual] life and godliness, through [a]true and personal knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.  4By means of these He has bestowed on us His precious and exceedingly great promises, so that through them you may escape [by flight] from the moral decay (rottenness and corruption) that is in the world because of covetousness (lust and greed), and become sharers (partakers) of the divine nature.   5For this very reason, adding your diligence [to the divine promises], employ every effort in exercising your faith to develop virtue (excellence, resolution, Christian energy), and in [exercising] virtue [develop] knowledge (intelligence),   6And in [exercising] knowledge [develop] self-control, and in [exercising] self-control [develop] steadfastness (patience, endurance), and in [exercising] steadfastness [develop] godliness (piety),   7And in [exercising] godliness [develop] brotherly affection, and in [exercising] brotherly affection [develop] Christian love.

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Living as children of the light.

I don’t know about you however, during these uncertain times when we have perhaps been challenged by the way we live, think, act and feel, asking myself am I  living as a child of the light?  Perhaps we have thought more about our priorities in life and want to reconfigure, maybe we have allowed fear and uncertainty to gain a grip.

Dare I say it, that for some we have not sought God or His word and allowed the world’s thoughts, behaviours or attitudes to gain a hold?  I am sure we have all been challenged; I have personally been challenged during this time of lockdown with covid-19.  There have been times when I know I have got a bit angry, frustrated and a bit selfish, nevertheless with God’s grace I am being challenged and changed.  How fabulous to have the Holy Spirit work within us, to bring us into alignment with His word and to walk as children of the light.

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