Today Reminder – 31 July 2015 (Day 18 – Forward)

A reminder for today

The people will declare, "The LORD is the source of all my righteousness and strength." And all who were angry with him will come to him and be ashamed. (Isaiah 45:24)

Today is the last day of July and I realised that this year is flying past us. Time is a luxury we do not have, because before we know it, out time here will be done. For us to move forward from here on we need to embrace every moment and live for every breath we take. Time is not on our side and therefore we need to take every moment we get and live full in it, for we might not have that privilege tomorrow. 

Today I want to remind you that the LORD is the source of all my righteousness and strength. He is the very reason I live and the reason I can do what I do. He is my joy and my happiness and He carries me through the sad and hard times. He guides me when I am upset and speaks to me when I am angry. He places the right words on my lips when I need them and He fuels my determination when my storm rises above my expectations. 

He carries me when I am broken and restores me when I have fallen. He lifts me up when I am down and He pulls me out of my pit and restores my soul. He refreshes me when I am tired and holds me when I am scared. He is in me and in you my friend and He is the bond that we have over continental boundaries. He holds us in His hands and prepares us for the storms to come. 

Today I look to heaven and I cry out “Oh Lord fill me with all of you today, so that I will be compass that other will follow to you. Let me be your servant and let me show your great mercy for I have fallen and I have stood up and I have lost and I have won. Let me be your ambassador when people seek you in a world that needs you.”

You are my strength, Lord and with you I can do anything.

Have and awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder – 30 July 2015 (Day 17 – Forward)

A reminder for today

This is what the LORD says: "I will go before you, Cyrus, and level the mountains. I will smash down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness—secret riches. I will do this so you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name. (Isaiah 45:2-3)

I am the LORD, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name. My dear friend, God does not want us to be past driven dwellers. God is all about grace and victory and love. He is life and life in abundance and when I say in abundance I do not say in wealth I say abundance in love and joy and happiness. Life is not about what we do not have, it is all about what we do. I look at my two boys as we drove to school this morning and we sing along and laugh to the music. I love Johnny Cash and so we listened to “Ring of Fire” as we sang along and laughed. They are my true joy and all my happiness. When they are with me I have no limits and I see nothing as too much. 

It is in this content that we find life in abundance. It is when we share in our difficult times and laugh together in our hard times. So what I am trying to say is that we do not need much to live life in abundance. It is these little things that last forever and it is these little things that becomes pillars in our life that no storm can destroy.

Jesus must never form a small part of our lives. He should be the centre point of who we are and what we will become. I am not who I used to be, because of the life I had. But I will be better than I ever was, for Jesus is the foundation that I place in my heart. It is this heart, the core of which we are that I need to realign and turn towards Jesus.

Let Jesus be your treasure so that your heart can belong to Him completely. Then my friend we will see how God will smash the gates and give us hidden treasures that they eye cannot see, but it will change us forever. He will call us by our names so that we can change this world so that all of us will live a full and rich life filled with happiness.

Have and awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder – 29 July 2015 (Day 16 – Forward)

A reminder for today

This is what the LORD says—your Redeemer and Creator: "I am the LORD, who made all things.  I alone stretched out the heavens. Who was with me when I made the earth? (Isaiah 44:24)

Out of the darkness and into the light. I realised today that to move out of a painful or shameful past is not so easy. There is always something that reminds you of the mistakes you have made. I fear that I will step into that same person and make the same mistakes again. I find it really difficult to move forward. Everyone at my work now knows of what I have done and I can feel the looks and the stares as some of them seem to keep the memory of my past alive. So what happens is that everywhere I go I feel that same stare from other people as I assume they too know of my mistakes.

These types of thoughts are what the enemy uses to push us back into the darkness. It is the enemy’s way to keep us behind bars and to keep us away from the light. My friend sometimes we just need a little time to see. Sometimes our hurt blinds us and keeps us from the truth. 

The Lord reminds us today that He is our Redeemer and Creator and that He made all things. He alone can pull us out of the darkness and into the light. So today I long for the marvellous light of Jesus as I realise that I need Him first and foremost in my life and that I need to place me first for a while so I can find me again.

I need to rebuild and repair a life time of mistakes and only Jesus can do that. Jesus is my only hope and I will open my heart for my shame is exposed so that I can feel His mercy as I move from darkness to light.

Have and awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder – 28 July 2015 (Day 15 – Forward)

A reminder for today

"Pay attention, O Jacob, for you are my servant, O Israel. I, the LORD, made you, and I will not forget you. I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free." (Isaiah 44:21-22)

I surrender again today as I stand here on my knees again. I have so many mistakes and I just seem to make more as I go along. Yesterday I was at my lowest point yet with no direction, lost and afraid. Today the Lord wakes me up with new strength and new hope. He pulls me out of my pit of despair and lifts me up as He embraces me holding me tight with all His grace and love.

I am a fallen warrior as I fear the outcome of my actions and the judgement that awaits me. So today the Lord reminds me I, the LORD, made you, and I will not forget you. I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.

We need to stand up and continue to move forward. It does not help to dwell on yesterday, it is important to focus on today. We fall so that we can learn and stand up again. We fall so that we can show His grace and mercy to a world that is consumed by hatred and idols. We fall so that we can be stronger when we face the next challenge.

Come with me today as we return to the Lord and seek Him in all that we are and in all that we do. Let His love capture us again so that we can be free. This storm will pass and we will remain standing regardless of the challenges that remains.

Be strong my friend.

Have and awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder – 27 July 2015 (Day 14 – Forward)

A reminder for today

"I am the First and the Last; there is no other God.” (Isaiah 44:6)

This weekend marked the end of me. I realised that I am just no good and that I cause more pain and heartache with every step. I thought that me and my ex-wife were doing fine and that I was making good progress until it all changed. It turned a good Saturday into a terrible one with an argument that seemed so unnecessary. I am wrong that I know and I am the cause of all this. It is all because of my mistakes. I will take full responsibility for the pain I caused and continue to cause. It boiled in me all weekend until I finally realised that they are better off without me and that I am the result of all of this. This on its own made me question so much about myself and finally Sunday evening I felt that I needed to go to church. 

The message was all for me. The pastor said that there are three things that makes every Christian fall and destroy most marriages. They are lust, possessions and position. I am guilty of all three, because I had more than one affair thus lust, I also chased position when I climbed the corporate ladder up into management and I was consumed by possessions when I desired a bigger car and bigger house even when we could not afford them. All of this placed a huge amount of stress on me and my marriage and finally it all collapsed and created a wall between us. There is only one God and we can never worship two. We can never divide our love, because we are not designed like that. Money and power means nothing to God, because God speaks and He created the universe. He does not need our gifts and our money, He needs us. He made us in His image and that means His mark is on us. This means that we are His and that He will do anything to keep His precious people, even give His Son so that we can be free.

I am not well today and I am in a terrible place. My heart feels empty and my emotions are a mess. 

"I cry out, 'Help!' but no one answers me. I protest, but there is no justice. God has blocked my way so I cannot move. He has plunged my path into darkness. He has stripped me of my honour and removed the crown from my head. He has demolished me on every side, and I am finished. He has uprooted my hope like a fallen tree. His fury burns against me; he counts me as an enemy. His troops advance. They build up roads to attack me. They camp all around my tent.” (Job 19:7-12)

"But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought! "How dare you go on persecuting me, saying, 'It's his own fault'? You should fear punishment yourselves, for your attitude deserves punishment. Then you will know that there is indeed a judgment." (Job 19:25-29)

Today I want to remind you that our Redeemer lives and no one can destroy you unless you allow it. He is fighting for you every moment of every day and you should not give up. I want to end with this quote from the movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: “All will be well in the end, if it is not well, then it is not the end yet”.

Have and awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers