Today Reminder - 31 October 2013 (Day 23 - Living in the Kingdom)

A reminder for today

Then King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to God in heaven. And the LORD sent an angel who destroyed the Assyrian army with all its commanders and officers. So Sennacherib was forced to return home in disgrace to his own land. (2 Chronicles 32:20-21)

How are you today my dear friend and how are you doing with all your challenges in the kingdom of God? As you know we are in the proses of moving into a new house that the Lord so graciously blessed us with. Today was our fourth due date that we were supposed to move in. Unfortunately our builder lied about a number of things in this meant that yesterday we found out that these last finishes were not ordered as he had said and so we are forced to wait another week. As I left there yesterday I realised how the devil has used a weakness in this man to not only disgrace him but to cause anger and unhappiness within us. It is interesting that on the very words I write to you each day the enemy challenges me. 

King Hezekiah cried out in prayer to the Lord and the Lord sent one angel to destroy the Assyrian army. One angel! This is such an awesome verse and something we most certainly can take with us today. This is what the Lord will do for us. The Lord will defeat the enemy and all our challenges sending them home in disgrace. 

My dear friend, the Lord wants to remind us today that we must not stop praying and we must not give up. He will deliver us from all that we face and we will be victorious over all our challenges. It is in our commitment and determination to serve the Lord that we will see the enemy fall and run away out of fear for the wrath of our Lord.

So I am ending October with these words: 

I look up to the mountains—does my help come from there? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth! He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps. The LORD himself watches over you! The LORD stands beside you as your protective shade. The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night. The LORD keeps you from all  harm and watches over your life. The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever. (Psalm 121)

Have and awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder - 30 October 2013 (Day 22 - Living in the Kingdom)

A reminder for today

He may have a great army, but they are merely men. We have the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles for us!" Hezekiah's words greatly encouraged the people. (2 Chronicles 32:8)

I guess just as there were battles in the old kingdoms, we have battles in the kingdom of God that happens every day. King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Judah and he had a very large army that has conquered many other nations. So obviously the people were afraid and intimidated by the accomplishments of this army that now invaded their own land. Hezekiah knew that the battle lies in God’s hands and that God will surely save His people and deliver them from the hands of the Assyrian army - We have the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles for us!

Now in the kingdom of God we run into challenges or circumstances that is just overwhelming and we would stare ourselves blind at this huge problem and not look for God to help overcome this mountain that lies ahead. Now I have written to you so often about challenges and problems and facing difficult circumstances. But did you know that the result of your victory over difficult issues can in turn encourage other. The way we deal with issues in our lives can show other how we trust God and allow God to fight this battle for us and this can open the eyes of other and show them that even in impossible odds we still faithfully trust God.

My dear friend, our sole purpose is to glorify the name of the Lord and when we stand in the midst of a storm and we still set our eyes and faith on Him to deliver us. Our successes will bring glory to God and ultimately change people. You see change starts with you. Why should we wait and see what someone else does when we can set the pace and start to make a difference. The enemy may have a huge army and they may seem to outnumber us as every corner, but in all their might there is no one and nothing that is even remotely as powerful as the God that we follow. Our King is the creator of heaven and earth, there is no other like Him. Why should we fear mere mortals or worldly problems when God can take it away in an instant? 

Come my friend and let us encourage other with the way we live and the way we follow our Lord and king so that they will long for the same relationship with the Lord and in that, they will defeat the enemy at every corner.

Have and awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder - 29 October 2013 (Day 21 - Living in the Kingdom)

A reminder for today

In all that he did in the service of the Temple of God and in his efforts to follow God's laws and commands, Hezekiah sought his God wholeheartedly. As a result, he was very successful. (2 Chronicles 31:21)

How are you today my dear friend? I do hope that your week is well on its way and that you are blessed in all that you do and that no challenge will hinder your progress. King Hezekiah’s father did terrible things and turned against the Lord and this made the Lord very angry. They were attacked and defeated a number of times until finally Hezekiah became king and he in turn did what was pleasing in the eyes of the Lord.

Living in the kingdom of the Lord we often see similar scenarios. People turn to God and then later we find that they turn away from God. I suppose it is often due to circumstances or influences that people will either turn to God or turn away from God. I guess it depends on our motives and our willingness to remain faithful to the Lord. Many want to be followers of the Lord but few actually and truly follow Him. 

I have told you before that living in the Kingdom of the Lord is no easy task. It is a way of life and we can so easily be misguided or we can be selfish in our ways and then lose direction towards our goal. I know life certainly is no easy task and living each day, with all that awaits us and all that wants us to fail, can be a huge burden to carry.

Therefore I would like to take today and just encourage you again. You see the Lord knows what you are going through and He knows what is waiting for you. He wants you to change your focus from the problems ahead and seek Him first wholeheartedly, just as Hezekiah did. As a result Hezekiah was very successful and this is our lesson. If we seek God first and allow Him to show us the way we will be successful in defeating the enemy and overcoming all the challenges that we face.

But there lies more within this. You see those that are sceptical about living in the Kingdom will always be the ones that want to see you fall so that they can use it as an excuse. They will look for a reason not to change their ways and to discredit our way of life. But if we remain humble and allow God to do what He planned to do, in His time, we will see their plans turned to shame as we bring glory to the Lord and ruin to the plans of the enemy to mislead other. We will see people turn from their ways and return to the Lord, just as Hezekiah saw when he called on the people in his time to return to God and change their ways. And the Lord will hear our prayers and give us strength to overcome and be successful. There was great joy in the city, for Jerusalem had not seen a celebration like this one since the days of Solomon, King David's son. Then the priests and Levites stood and blessed the people, and God heard their prayer from his holy dwelling in heaven. (2 Chronicles 30:26-27)

"'As surely as I live,' says the LORD, 'every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will confess and give praise to God.'" (Romans 14:11)

Have and awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder - 28 October 2013 (Day 20 - Living in the Kingdom)

A reminder for today

But when he had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall. He sinned against the LORD his God by entering the sanctuary of the LORD's Temple and personally burning incense on the incense altar. (2 Chronicles 26:16)

How are you my dear friend? I do hope you had a wonderful weekend and that all is well for the week ahead. We had an interesting weekend. Firstly we had to move out of our current house and then off course our new house is not finished yet. Now it is this moment that I guess we all have questions some times and so often we are not sure why things happen. Uzziah became very powerful because of God’s favour over His rule and this made him proud which finally led to his downfall.

When I look at all the things that have gone wrong over the last couple of weeks I realise that God wants us to remain humble and trust Him. Had we moved in we would have had a weekend without any power in our house, because there was a huge power failure in that area. Had we moved in we would have missed the opportunity to spend time with my brother and sister in law. We now know that God always has a purpose in all that He allows over our lives and I believe that we must remain humble within each of these challenges.

For the LORD delights in His people; He crowns the humble with victory. (Psalm 149:4)

Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. (Proverbs 11:2)

Come with me today my dear friend as we remain humble in our challenges and in our victories for the Lord delights in the humble and crowns them with victory. It is in our humility that the light of the Lord will shine and other will desire the same relationship with our King. 

Have and awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder - 25 October 2013 (Day 19 - Living in the Kingdom)

A reminder for today

He did what was pleasing in the LORD's sight, just as his father, Amaziah, had done. Uzziah sought God during the days of Zechariah, who taught him to fear God. And as long as the king sought guidance from the LORD, God gave him success. (2 Chronicles 26:4-5)

How are you today my dear friend? Are the storms raging on and the winds of challenges blowing through your life? This week we saw that the Lord will win our battles for us and that we need to have faith for with the Lord we will destroy lions. We need to pray for those around us so that their eyes are opened and we must remember that there is a purpose in everything that happens, we need to listen to God and follow His voice.

Today I want to add on to that with this amazing verse from Chronicles 26 - And as long as the king sought guidance from the LORD, God gave him success.

This is such a powerful verse and something that we can take with us through the weekend. Uzziah sought God and learned to fear God. I have written to you before that we must right-size God. God is not one of our friends, He is the creator of heaven and earth. He speaks and worlds are formed. This is the God that we worship and as long as we seek His guidance God will give us success. Now this is something we need to think about for a minute, because how many times do we seek our own guidance and allow people and circumstances to dictate our decisions when God so clearly says that He will give us success when we seek His guidance.

This is something that we must take seriously and we need to focus on the fact that we must seek God and seek His guidance. Many went to King Solomon for his wisdom, yet his wisdom came from God. So let us not seek wisdom from the world, but let us take God’s Word and seek our guidance from the creator of wisdom.

I look forward to talk to you again on Monday and I pray that the Lord will guide you through this weekend and carry you in His hands and that He will give you wisdom to make the right choices as you live to bring glory to His name. I pray that the Lord will bless you with rest and that He will renew your strength and prepare you for the week ahead. 

Thank you for living in His kingdom and fighting the battle with me. There is victory and success in each moment and we can change the world with every little victory.

Have and awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers