Today Reminder - 31 July 2012 (Children)

My prayer for you for today is that you will feel the warmth of God’s love as He embraces you as His child, in Jesus name. 

1 John 3:1-3

See how very much our Father loves us, for He calls us His children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don't recognize that we are God's children because they don't know Him. Dear friends, we are already God's children, but He has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as He is pure.

Children - For He calls us His children. What an amazing thought to know that God calls us His children. When I look at the way I love my own children, that burning feeling deep inside your soul that loves unconditionally, I can maybe for a moment have a glimpse at the magnitude of God’s love. What will I not do for my kids? Out of love we desire only the best for our kids and I will rather give what I have to them, then to use it on myself. I would give my life in an instant for my kids. Jesus explained this love to His disciples when He talked to them about prayer in Luke 11.  "You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him." 

My dear friend, we are already children of God and God is our Father who loves us so much that out of His great love He sacrificed His only son to save us from sin. How much love is that? Do not for a moment think that God does not love you when He has done so much for you already. He desires only the best for us and that is to be with Him when Jesus returns, because then we will be like Him and see Him for who He really is.


Live to live eternally…

"And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Luke 11)

Have an awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder - 30 July 2012 (Acknowledges)

My prayer for you for today is that you will acknowledge Jesus through your life, in Jesus name.

1 John 2:23

Anyone who denies the Son doesn't have the Father, either. But anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

Acknowledges - But anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. Jesus made it so clear when He stated: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him!" (John 14). There are so many that tries to discredit Jesus as the son of God. Today I am giving you more confirmation that the only way to God is through Jesus Christ. We have seen the eye witness accounts of both Peter and John as they confirm Jesus as the son of God. Now we once more declare that Jesus is the only way to eternity. Many will come and try and deceive you and many have tried to deceive us. John writes about the antichrists and states that anyone who denies Jesus is in fact an antichrist. He brings this up to confirm once more that the end is near and that we should be careful and bring our lives in line with God’s will. 

My dear friend, but you have received the Holy Spirit, and He lives within you, so you don't need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what He teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as He has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ (verse 27).

Let the Holy Spirit be your guide in every step you take today so that you can regain faith and focus in Jesus Christ.

Live, laugh and be free!

Have an awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder - 27 July 2012 (I am writing)

My prayer for you for today is that will have a peaceful and blessed day and that all your battles will be won, in Jesus name.

1 John 2:12-13

I am writing to you who are God's children because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus. I am writing to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning. I am writing to you who are young in the faith because you have won your battle with the evil one.

I am writing - I am writing to you who are God's children. I have always loved the saying “Determination today leads to success tomorrow”. With the Olympic Games starting in just a few days I can’t help but to think of all the hard work in preparation and training that went into this. How people will exceed their own limitations and make the impossible seems so easily achievable, through dedication and perseverance. I imagine all the dreams of Olympic medals in the minds of so many athletes, and yet there can be only one winner. I think of how passion and love builds determination and that giving up is not an option. I can just imagine the anxiety and nervous fear that pulses through their veins as they eagerly await their events. 

My dear friend, I am writing to you who are God’s children living in victory for your sins are forgiven. I am writing to you so that you will rise up a champion for God determined and inspired. We are all athletes competing in the Olympic games of life, each one of us is slowly preparing for their individual event. Do not let fear hamper your performance, but know the secret to your success – you are not competing to defeat your rivals, you are competing to defeat your own self. If we overcome the limitations of our own mind we will become invincible champions. 

The secret to success is not in who or what you are, but in the essence of your faith driven by passion and determination. It is in knowing who God is and implementing that knowledge into your life. It is on this solid foundation that you will be steadfast and headstrong looking ahead with victory in your hands.

I am writing to you, because then you will become a gold medallist, a true champion…

Have an awesome day

Cheers

Today Reminder - 26 July 2012 (Obey)

My prayer for you for today is that you will obey God’s word so that you can completely live in Him and He in you, in Jesus name.

1 John 2:5-6

But those who obey God's word truly show how completely they love Him. That is how we know we are living in Him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.

Obey - But those who obey God's word truly show how completely they love Him. How do you show your love? Is it in what you say, or is it in what you do, or is it the way you show it or the way you talk about it? Whatever or whichever way you show your love, it is always visible. When we follow God and we call ourselves Christians we tend you love God in secret. It is almost a forbidden thing and we don’t show it let alone confess it publicly. We hide our religion and this is among fellow Christians and we are embarrassed or shy to talk about His great love. If you enjoy an artist’s music, you will listen to it and share it with your friends, if you like a movie star you will talk about their movies and probably have a picture or own one of their movies, yet when it comes to God we are silent.

My dear friends, if you truly love God, you will follow His word and you will shine with this inner joy that nobody will be able to dampen. You will show His presence in your life by the way you live and you will never be shy to talk about Him, in fact you should shout it out, sing it and dance it or however you want to show it – it must be visible.

Come with me today as we dance again in God’s presence in our lives and show His love in everything we do. Let’s obey His word and follow Him with renewed enthusiasm.

Live to love and love to know and know to share and share to save.

Have an awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder - 25 July 2012 (Second Chances)

My prayer for you for today is that God will cleanse you from all wickedness and forgive your sins, in Jesus name.

1 John 1:9-10

But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that His word has no place in our hearts.

Second chances - This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all (Verse 5). I just love this: God is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all. Our God is a God of second chances. When Jesus were confronted by the priests about the fact that He visits all the sinners and that He spends time with them, His answer was: "Healthy people don't need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners." (Mark 2) God is all light and there is no bad side to Him, He is love and more than we can ever imagine. You see the enemy will try and hurt you by accusing you of the things you did wrong or are doing wrong and he will try and make you negative about life. Where God is all about forgiving and standing up and trying again, the enemy is all about destroying and accusing. God will forgive a repenting heart and more than that God will use your repenting heart for His purpose. 

My dear friends, whatever it is, God will forgive it if you repent with a humble dependent heart. This life is not about giving up and sitting down, this life is about standing up and fighting back. It is about second chances and determination, making the best of what you have and accepting forgiveness and turning bad into good. Life is about taking on the impossible and seeing the victory long before you reach the end. 

Let us take our second chances and turn them into victory marches as we take on each new day will renewed determination. I am more than meets the eye, because in me dwells a living God. I am unstoppable and unbreakable as I hold on to Him, He is my solid ground.

Have an awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder - 24 July 2012 (Beginning)

My prayer for you for today is that your faith will be renewed and your heart filled with joy in Jesus Christ, in Jesus name.

1 John 1:1

We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw Him with our own eyes and touched Him with our own hands. He is the Word of life.

Beginning - He is the Word of life. Here we are once again looking at an eye witness account of Jesus as God and we receive more confirmation from John that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of God. This is the essence of our faith and here I have given you two eye witness accounts of His deity and confirmed that He is who He is. 

My dear friend, come with me today as we renew our faith in Jesus Christ. Come with me and let His light shine with renewed glory through our lives. Come with me a walk with renewed conviction and determination as we follow in His ways. Come with me today and live a new life filled with His presence. Come with me and let us give our hearts to Him making His presence known wherever we go. Come with me and dance with joy, because our saviour lives. Come with me as we stand united in fellowship.

We have no reason to fear nor do we have a reason for being sad and there is no reason to live in darkness. Jesus is alive and He has defeated all evil on the cross. Let us live, because in living we are His voice. Let us live, because we are free. Let us live, because of who we are in Him and He in us. 

There are no mountains and no waves, only Jesus. Live, because He is the Word of life.

This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen Him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that He is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then He was revealed to us. We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.

Have an awesome day

Cheers

Today Reminder - 23 July 2012 (Deliberately)

My prayer for you for today is that you will not be misled, but that you will remain focused and that you will continue to follow God with an undivided heart, in Jesus name.

2 Peter 3:3-5

Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, "What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created."  They deliberately forget that God made the heavens by the word of His command, and He brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water.

Deliberately - What happened to the promise? We live in modern times and people in our time are so easily influenced by ideas and weird believes. I think as Christians we mostly face an uphill battle, because those who do not believe will find ways to confront our religion and ask questions to try and discredit it. Peter knew this will happened and he knew the type of questions these people will ask, but Peter, most importantly, knew God’s heart.  In verse 8 he says “But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn't really being slow about His promise, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.” Peter writes again about our Lord’s return and he is faced with a difficult question when people will say that so much time has passed and He did not return. Christians will start to lose faith and return to their old ways, but Peter stops them here and reminds us that God does not function in our time. God is outside time and the end of time is as real as it ever was. God is being patient out of love and grace and does not want people to be lost, but to be saved instead.

My dear friend, “but the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.” Do not be misled by the people of this world, by those that choses to be lost. They will always try and find ways to bring our religion down and make their ways seem correct. If I am wrong and proven wrong and still I argue, I am but a fool to my own argument. 

The road to God is difficult and hard, but worth every struggling moment. Don’t give up dear friend, the return of the Lord will be unexpected.

Have an awesome day

Cheers

Today Reminder - 20 July 2012 (Control)

My prayer for you for today is that you will hold on to Jesus and let Him be the focus of your life, in Jesus name.

2 Peter 2:19-20

They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you. And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before.

Control - For you are a slave to whatever controls you. Peter talks about the wicked (False teachers) here in chapter two of his second book and makes it quite clear that they will do anything to lure you into their corrupted and sinful world. He refers back to how God threw the bad angels in hell and the time of Noah and Sodom and Gomorra. He says in verse 13: “Their destruction is their reward for the harm they have done. They love to indulge in evil pleasures in broad daylight. They are a disgrace and a stain among you. They delight in deception even as they eat with you in your fellowship meals.” What caught my attention in this chapter is the phrase “For you are a slave to whatever controls you”, this is quite an important statement. I always loved to say “Your home is where you heart is” and to think about this statement of Peter I recall that he and Paul often writes that they are slaves to God. 

My dear friend, what is controlling you? Are you easily influenced by the way people live their lives or by what they say? Would you change who you are to fit into a group? Would you allow bad influences into your life and think them to be fine just as long as you are accepted? 

In this life living for Jesus means that you will probably not fit in all the time, you will lose friends and you will be laughed at and people will condemn you. You will stand out and you will be the odd one out. You will be the target of bad influence and people will applaud your down fall. But in God’s eyes you will be a light shining in the darkness, a pillar of hope and a tower of strength. You will be alone in the eyes of the world but you will never be alone in the eyes of God. You will be the compass for those that are lost and thorn in the side for those that seek the destruction of all. You will be lifted up as you stand against all evil and triumph in God’s victory.

Your life will be God’s voice shouting in the darkness to lead people to the light, to lead people away from destruction. 

I am a slave for God and He’s way is my way.

Have an awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder - 19 July 2012 (Eye witness)

My prayer for you for today is that you will know you are worshipping a living God, in Jesus name.

2 Peter 1:16-18

For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw His majestic splendour with our own eyes when He received honour and glory from God the Father. The voice from the majestic glory of God said to Him, "This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy." We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

Eye witness - We saw His majestic splendour with our own eyes. Stumbling upon this verse this morning left goose bumps on my arms, Wow! Peter writes here in his second book about how we should live our lives growing in faith and he makes it clear that he will continue to remind people of these things and then he comes to this part where he talks about the second coming of our Lord and to highlight the importance of living holy lives he stops here and gives a brief eye witness account of his experience with Jesus. This is so powerful! This is Peter saying: “Look I saw Him resurrected and I saw Him being glorified and I saw His hands and feet and heard God’s voice confirming that Jesus is His beloved son.”

My dear friend, have you ever had a surprise for someone and you just can’t wait to give it to them. That amazing feeling of excitement that races through your mind as you wish time would just go faster. When I read Peter’s book I get that feeling. We have this amazing gift in Jesus Christ with this awesome confirmation of who He is and what He did and we should be bursting with excitement running around and sharing it. Why are we so short sighted? 

Jesus lives and He is alive, He is who He is and He is the son of God. Come with me today as we share this great gift and live our lives for His glory – Live because He lived, live free because He rose from the dead, live joyfully because He is the son of God, live without fear because He is alive. 

LIVE = Living In Victory Every day

Have an awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder - 18 July 2012 (Given)

My prayer for you for today is that you will live a godly life using the gifts and talents God has given you for His great glory, in Jesus name.

2 Peter 1:3

By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the one who called us to Himself by means of His marvellous glory and excellence.

Given - God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We often struggle living our lives as God wants us to live. We go through temptations and we allow daily circumstances to get the better of us and our emotions take over and eventually it all explodes. So all the good intentions that we wake up with are out by the door and in are all the bad. We can so easily get ourselves worked up over small things and we allow our emotions to get the better of us in so many unnecessary ways. 

My dear friend, through God’s power and grace He gave us all the tools that we need to live above all our issues and problems. God through His love has equipped you to overcome and live a godly life free from your emotions and free from anger and desire. It is us that choose to fall into the trap and allow things to get the better of us. You are more than that. With Jesus in your life you are bigger than the waves and the mountains, you are godly, because in you dwell a living God. Come with me today as we are more than our worries and issues and anger. Come with me as we allow God to lift us up and bring us to a place where we can be holy, because He is holy.

Live today, because yesterday is gone and tomorrow may not exist. Live full moments and do not allow this gift of living to be misused but rather let it bring glory to God.

Have an awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder - 17 July 2012 (Kindness)

My prayer for you for today is that God will restore, support and strengthen you as He places you on a firm foundation in Jesus name.

1 Peter 5:10-11

In His kindness God called you to share in His eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, He will restore, support, and strengthen you, and He will place you on a firm foundation. All power to Him forever! Amen.

Kindness - God called you to share in His eternal glory. I have often wondered about the time we have here on earth and I so often find myself being negative about life and all the bad that happens around us. Just as I get to a point where I feel strong and free from the worldly burdens, the enemy will launch a new attack. It is almost as if you cannot get to place or a stage where you can just chill for a while and bask in God’s grace. Every time we reach a new goal, there is mountain to climb. Life seems unfair in this as we struggle from one day to the next and to make it worse we are constantly reminded by the media how “cool” it is to live a Godless life when we see or hear what the rich and famous are up to. 

My dear friends, is it not so that when you are not on a diet you can walk past the sweets aisle and not give it one thought, but the minute you are on a diet you can almost taste those sweets and chocolates and the temptation suddenly appears to be unbearable. It is in this that the enemy has become relentless. He seeks out your weaknesses and he will focus all his attacks on them. What we must not forget and I plead once more with you to remember every minute of each day that life is a breath compared to eternity and that our time here is only a little while. When temptation is hampering your relationship with God, call out to Him and ask for strength and support to restore you. When the mountain lies ahead of you, remember that with faith we can move mountains, whoever and whatever they are. Keep your heading focussed on Jesus and rise with me today as we continue our struggle for a little while, keeping our heads up and our hearts filled with His love and strength. 

I will not fall nor will I lose the fight as I journey on through today, to live, to love and to overcome in God's kindness.

Have an awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder - 16 July 2012 (Roaring Lion)

My prayer for you for today is that you will stand strong against the enemy and know that you are not alone, in Jesus name.

1 Peter 5:8-9

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.

Roaring Lion - He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. It is probably one of the strongest comparisons ever made of the devil. Peter made it so clear here how he is. I believe that this statement made by Peter is one made in experience, an experience in seeing how the enemy tries to destroy our faith in every possible way, relentless and without shame. Peter starts this verse with “Stay Alert!” and in this he places all the focus on what he is about to say - Watch out for your great enemy, the devil.

My dear friends, this is no shallow warning. This is one made out of experience and knowledge of knowing and seeing how this enemy hunts and destroys wherever it goes. He will do everything in his power to get you alone, to make you vulnerable and to put you in a place where you are an easy target. He will do this through trouble, pain, hatred, temptation and anything else that he can find to pull you of your course – to make you slip and fall. Know this – our enemy uses the same tactics that he has used for centuries and we can destroy him using the same tactics as those before us. We must stand firm against him, strong in our faith and united in our goals. We must look forward to the prize that awaits us and seek God’s strength and power in every day and in every moment. We must live for God’s glory and remain humble as we live on fulfilling Jesus’s last request. 

"I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28)

Victory is in our hands as Jesus has already defeated the enemy on the cross. He has no power over you nor does he have any authority over you. You are free from this evil and nothing he says or do can take away the promise you have in Jesus Christ.

Have an awesome day dear friend of Jesus.

Cheers

Today Reminder - 13 July 2012 (Humble)

My prayer for you for today is that you will humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, in Jesus name.

1 Peter 5:5-7

In the same way, you younger men must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, serve each other in humility, for “God opposes the proud but favours the humble." So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time He will lift you up in honour. Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.

Humble - God opposes the proud but favours the humble. It is so easy to be proud and to know that I have been so successful and I have all these achievements and I am just the greatest.  Oh boy, can we love ourselves. I guess huge success can easily propel our pride and place us in a position where we can idolise ourselves or whatever it is that we have achieved. Being proud of yourself is one thing, but letting self-pride take away God’s glory is not a good thing. God opposes the proud, God does not like a proud heart that holds no place for Him.

My dear friend it is so important that our own pride does not place us in a position of self-idolising. God favours a humble heart and in being humble the glory will be God’s.  All that we are and all that we do is because of His love and grace. God will lift you up in honour at the right time and it will be His doing, because in honouring you – He will be glorified.

 Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.

Have an awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder - 12 July 2012 (Strange)

My prayer for you for today is that you will remain standing through all the trials you face and that you will rejoice for the glory of God, in Jesus name.

1 Peter 4:12

Dear friends, don't be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.

Strange - don't be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through. It is amazing how many times Paul and Peter wrote about troubled times and difficulties and suffering for Jesus. They seem to be constantly encouraging and reminding us of the fact that it is not going to be easy and we will go through difficult times and we must remain focussed on Jesus. I love this verse from Peter as he says that we should not be surprised that we are going through trials and he goes on and say it is almost as if something strange is happening to you. Now I love that, because – yes I can relate. How weird is it when stuff goes wrong that it just keeps on coming. Like a snowball! When trouble comes, it always brings a few friends. And I have often thought, how strange that is. How many things can actually go wrong?

My dear friend, the hardest part in any situation or problem that you may face is facing it. It is the moment you realise the wave is upon you and you have nowhere to run. It is when you feel lost, broken and hurt fighting to stand as it all comes crushing down. It is in that vulnerable moment that you must turn to God with all your heart and grab His hand and humbly confirm your dependence on Him. It is in this moment that you must trust Him more with every passing second. It is in these trials that God will be glorified as we stand, holding on to Him as the storm slowly passes by.

So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for He will never fail you. (Verse 19)

Have a super duper awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder - 11 July 2012 (Gifts)

My prayer for today is that you will use the gifts God has given you to serve and glorify Him, in Jesus name.

1 Peter 4:10-11

God has given each of you a gift from His great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God Himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to Him forever and ever! Amen.

Gifts - God has given each of you a gift from His great variety of spiritual gifts. Each one of us is blessed with spiritual gifts and talents and these make us unique in our abilities. Yes each one of us is special in our own way. God designed you and made you according to His requirements and placed you where He needs you so that you can use the gifts He has given you for His advantage. There are so many of us that feel inadequate and useless and they believe that there is nothing they are good at. This is the enemy placing nonsense in their heads and leading them away from their abilities and clouding their minds with negativity. This is the beginning of a long road that leads to disaster. 

My dear friend you are special. You are more than meets the eye, you are a gifted and talented miracle. You have all the right stuff to do the great stuff. Let us forget all the things we think we are not good at and focus on the things we are great at. The gifts and abilities you have make you unique in God’s plan and without you God will have to use someone else when you are perfect for the task at hand. Neither Paul or Peter or even Jesus were movie stars, yet from their humble lives they made an incredible impact on our lives. Do not seek acceptance from this world, but seek acceptance from God. Do not live to please the world, but live to please God. You can only be you, but it is the God in you that makes you an awesome you.

You are more than you can ever imagine, so live today to be the “you” God intended you to be.

Have an awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder - 10 July 2012 (Love)

My prayer for you for today is that you will love to live and live to love, in Jesus name.

1 Peter 4:8

Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.

Love – Love is a beautiful song. Love brings us together, love overcomes all boundaries, love is in the moments we have, love is the patience we show, love is in the smile, love is strong and unbreakable, love is the great soother, love understands and love scolds, love is in the air and love is in the heart, love stretches over all continents and love is here, love travels and love is at home, love feels, love hurts, love sees no colour, love is eternal and love is forever, love seeks and love is unlimited, love holds and love hugs, love loves and love is God and God is love.

My dear friends let us love today where we will normally be upset, let us love where we would be angry and let us love even if we can’t. Love will overcome and clear all the worldly issues we have and love will set us free. As Jesus loved us so much to give up His life to set us free, let us love passionately today as we live because we are alive and in being alive we can love, live and be free. 

Love every moment that you live and live every moment that you love.

Have an awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder - 09 July 2012 (Insults)

My prayer for you for today is that you will bless each and every person you meet, in Jesus name.

1 Peter 3:9

Don't repay evil for evil. Don't retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and He will bless you for it.

Insults - Don't repay evil for evil. One of the hardest things to do is to bless someone when they insult you. Reading this scripture form Peter this morning I can’t help letting my mind once again return to the capture and crucifixion of Jesus.  He remained calm and accepted all the insults knowing that He did not do what He was accused of. When looking at myself I think I am not even close to that, I am quick to get angry and certainly will not let an insult pass me by without returning one. This is how this world has changed us, it is what we see as accepted by society and it is shown on television as the way to react. We are under constant influence from the world that we live in. It is so much easier to hate than to love.

My dear friend, Jesus is the example we must follow. He is the blueprint that we must implement in our own lives. I believe that love can change the world, I believe that a nice word in the place of an insult can change hearts, I believe that keeping calm when you would normally explode can turn the tides and calm the storm, I believe that all changes must start with me.

"If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.
The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and His ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns His face against those who do evil." (Verse 10-12)

Have an awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder - 06 July 2012 (Remember)

For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in His steps.
He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when He was insulted, nor threaten revenge when He suffered. He left His case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By His wounds you are healed.  Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls. (1 Peter 2:21-25)

I just felt today that we should bring glory to God. He is always there, always with us and loves us so dearly. Today I want to remind you of a man, a God who became a man. A man who lived a perfect live and a live that was seen as a threat and a threat that was captured and a captured that was crucified. 

He walked our journey and did it with so much compassion. We are so blessed by the fact that we know Him and so much more blessed that we can journey with Him. Peter briefly summarises Jesus here in chapter two, but I can just see this “Rock” of the church with tears in his eyes as he writes about the death of His God and close friend, but I see how those tears turn into joy on a hard face as he remembers the resurrection, as he remember how they found the empty grave and how Jesus appeared to them confirming His resurrection.

My dear friend, Jesus wants us to remember His victory on the cross. He wants you to remember it when life is difficult and when life is good. He wants us to remember that He carried our sins and that we should be dead to sin. He wants us to remember that we must not retaliate nor threaten but instead leave the judgment to God. He wants you to remember that He is the good shepherd and that you can always follow His voice. He will lead you from the pit to a life to live for. 

My dear friend, I pray that today you will find His love and grace again and that you will be dead to sin. I pray that all your questions and worries will have answers and that you will break free from whatever it is that holds you back. I pray for victory in your life and I pray that you will live more each day, and in living more you will become more.

Have an awesome day dear friend of Jesus

“Living a full life is not in living in abundance, but living in every second”

Cheers

Today Reminder - 05 July 2012 (Honourable)

My prayer for you for today is that you will overcome all evil, fear God and respect authority, in Jesus name.

1 Peter 2:15-17

It is God's will that your honourable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. For you are free, yet you are God's slaves, so don't use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. Respect everyone, and love your Christian brothers and sisters. Fear God, and respect the king.

Honourable - Respect everyone, and love your Christian brothers and sisters. I am once again in awe of the amazing and powerful word that the Holy Spirit brings to me every day. Peter writes here that it is God’s will that our lives will silence those who accuse us. The fact is that it is God’s will that we are where we are, and that we can live lives with so much to be thankful for. It is not what we say and what we are but how we live that glorified God and highlights Him in this dark world. We are free, yet we are slaves but the Master we follow is the one who freed us from our old selves and brought us closer to His heart. He is the giver of live, the maker of the universe and the King for all eternity. Peter makes it clear that we must not use our freedom to do evil, but it is in our freedom that we can defeat all evil with God that is always beside us. 

My dear friends, respect everyone, and love your Christian brothers and sisters. Fear God, and respect the king. Respect must be given in order to be received, and once more I plead with you to right size God. Respect people whoever they are and whatever they are, because in the end it is God’s will and God will use people for His glory – good and bad.

I am a slave of God living for His glory and seeking His presence in all that I am and in all that I do. I pray that we will shine brightly today as the light of Jesus shine from within us to the world we live in.

Have an awesome day dear friend of Jesus and live, because in living we overcome.

Cheers

Today Reminder - 04 July 2012 (Worldly)

My prayer for you for today is that you will steer clear from worldly desires and desire God’s will, in Jesus name.

1 Peter 2:11-12

Dear friends, I warn you as "temporary residents and foreigners" to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbours. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honourable behaviour, and they will give honour to God when He judges the world.

Worldly - keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Once again I love Peter’s statement calling us "temporary residents and foreigners", and I thought that we should think about this some more. I have been a foreigner in a foreign country and I think there is a little of that in the way we should live our lives here on earth. You see, while living in another country away from your friends and family, you have that constant longing to be with them. When we are here on earth I believe that our hearts should long to be with God. Then obviously there are nice things in the foreign country and as time goes by these things start to cause conflict inside you. Just as the things of this world will make you desire them and these desires causes conflict. It is easy then for the enemy to cause confusion and worldly things starts to take God’s place in our hearts.

My dear friend, I pray that you will see this world for what it really is. That you will come to realise your time here is temporary and that there awaits a great reward in the Lord Jesus. I pray that your hearts will not be corrupted by worldly desires but instead that your hearts will long for God as I long for Him every day.

May the Holy Spirit open your eyes and your heart so that you will look past evil and seek only God’s will.

So get rid of all evil behaviour. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord's kindness. (Verse 1-3)

Have an awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder - 03 July 2012 (Time)

My prayer for you for today is that you will live your new life in Jesus for His glory and that you will truly live each moment, in Jesus name.

1 Peter 1:23-25

For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. As the Scriptures say,
"People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower in the field. The grass withers and the flower fades. But the word of the Lord remains forever."
And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.

Time - People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower in the field. The grass withers and the flower fades. It is when you are faced with death I think one truly realizes how quickly life can pass you by. We are all running along in our rat race seeking the now and forgetting eternity. Life goes by as quickly as the grass withers and the flowers fade. We have so little time to tell the good news to those around us and to those we meet. I think the Holy Spirit gave me something of God’s heart today and that is that He does not want anyone to be lost. God wants all to be saved. We don’t have eternity to make up our minds, we have only this life. 

My dear friend, living for you leads to death, but living for God leads to life. Our time here is but a moment of the eternity that we will spend with God in heaven.  We can continue living our lives oblivious to the fate that awaits us or we can start living our lives. Yes, truly live, because we are saved. God did not put us here to be miserable- No! God placed us here to be full of joy as we rejoice for His great love. 

Live as if there is no tomorrow, love until your heart bursts, laugh until you cry, hug as if it is your last, give as if it is Christmas, share, smile, cry and live – yes live, because you are free.

Have an awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder - 02 July 2012 (Foreigners)

My prayer for you for today is that you will know God has no favourites and that He paid a ransom for you far greater than silver and gold, in Jesus name.

1 Peter 1:17-20

And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favourites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of Him during your time as "foreigners in the land." For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom He paid was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose Him as your ransom long before the world began, but He has now revealed Him to you in these last days

Foreigners - And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favourites. What an awesome statement and such an important thing to remember: God loves equally! I think that it is a difficult concept for us to grasp being emotional beings. We are easily influenced by our personal feelings and we can easily create favourites. God is not like that, He has no favourites and if this is how God loves then I think we should learn from this when we look at the people around us. God loves each one with the same amount of love and that is why He paid such a high price to save us from our empty lives. Peter then goes and adds a very important statement: So you must live in reverent fear of Him during your time as "foreigners in the land." He reminds us of who God is with the knowledge that He has no favourites, He will judge you according to what you did, living on this earth. The power to judge is in God’s hands and this must bring a new and respectful fear back in us. We must not forget who God is and what He has done for us. I love how Peter says that we are foreigners of this land. We are citizens of heaven living as foreigners in this land and this makes us ambassadors of Jesus, so we must be diplomatic in the way that we live, showing the love of God with every chance we get. 

My dear friend, once again, we must right size God. He is the creator of the universe! He spoke and the universe was formed. This is the God that we worship. We have but one life to live for Him and make sure that we live it correct. Do not waste time on the things of this world, but invest your time in the things of God. 

Have an awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers