Grace and Truth

…all the words of this life…

Category Archives: Random Ramblings


by 6 Comments

The Power of Praise

thIt was 3am. My three year-old son, Tom, had been coughing without reprieve for 8 solid hours.  The cough was deep and contained a strange rattling sound.  With each cough my heart was torn.  He had double pneumonia, croup, bronchitis and asthma all at once.

I had been praying, weeping, crying out to God for those 8 hours “Have mercy on my son Lord!”  At 3am I left my husband at Tom’s bedside and went to “get serious” with God.  I knelt down and prayed.

Immediately He said to me “No.  Praise Me.”

That was the last thing I felt like doing!  I was exhausted, heart-broken, anxious.  But it was a definite and clear command from the Lord, so I stood up and sang :

“Oh Lamb of God, sweet Lamb of God

I love the Holy Lamb of God

Oh wash me in His precious blood,

My Jesus Christ the Lamb of God!”

As I sang I saw the outline of a Man in front of me in the darkness and Tom’s coughing immediately stopped.  We slept soundly the rest of the night.

One thing I have learnt is that there is power in praise.

“Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord from the heavens!

Praise Him in the heights!

Praise Him all His angels;

Praise Him all His hosts!” Psalm 148:1, 2

 

Praise brings victoryjoyful4.jpg

Powerful enemies were coming against Israel (2 Chronicles 20).  Jehosophat and the people didn’t know what to do.  He proclaimed a fast and they cried out to God.  God told them not to fear, that they would not have to even fight – the battle was His not theirs.  By faith in God’s Word they sang and praised the Lord and the enemy was defeated:

“Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.” 21 After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his[c] holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:

“Give thanks to the Lord,     for his love endures forever.”

22 As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.”

This morning I was feeling discouraged and defeated myself in some of the areas my husband and I have been called to minister in.  But we decided to sing.  We sang that old chorus :

“Be strong and of good courage

Be not afraid neither be dismayed…

For the Lord thy God is with thee

Whereever you go…”

This afternoon I got a phone call – there has been victory in the very area I had felt discouraged over this morning!  Praise the Lord!

 

Praise is a powerful weapon in the Christian’s arsenal.

“Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.  Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand;….To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;” Psalm 149

The Holy Spirit has given me two dreams lately about the power of praise.  In both dreams I have come face to face with the devil and found that they only way to stand and to defeat him is through worshipping and praising the Lord Jesus Christ. I’ve sung and asked others to sing with me, anointed songs of the blood of the Lamb and the cross – and the enemy has been bound and defeated.

I saw this actually happen a couple of weeks ago in our women’s prayer group.  As we praised the Lord the anointing of the Spirit fell down upon us.  His power came so strongly upon us that we could not do much at all but shake and cry.  From that moment in each of the lives of those whom were present there has been victory in our lives in different areas.

 

Praise magnifies the Lord

“O magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.” Psalm 34:3

When we exalt the Lord in praise He is magnified.  We see Him for who He truly is – He is great, He is mighty, He is powerful.  He is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords.  He is not some dumb idol made with man’s hands! God cannot remain small in our eyes when we praise Him.  Suddenly our faith increases as we see the Lord for who He truly is and we know that NOTHING Is impossible.

 

Praise lifts our eyes from ourselves up to Him

“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1-3

When we praise the Lord we stop focusing on ourselves and our problems and focus on Him.  We “set our minds on things above, not on things below” and we are lifted in faith.  Truly the atmosphere of heaven is brought down to earth in praise of our Lord, we enter His presence and that is when our prayers are answered and our help comes.

 

Praise is a sacrifice

Praise is something we can offer to the Lord Jesus for all that He has done for us.  We can never praise Him enough for Who He is and for what He has done but we can offer Him the fruit of our lips.  Praise is a sacrifice of our time, of our pride, of even our own feelings and emotions.

“By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name….for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” Hebrews 13:15, 16

 

Praise breaks bondages

Paul and Silas were in prison, bound and chained for the sake of the gospel.  Sometimes we are too, persecuted, hurt by man’s words, bound by rejection and fear.

“Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.   And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.  And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.” Acts 16:24-26

The thing about praise is that it sets captives free.  When we praise we are set free from bondage.  And the amazing thing is, those who are around us are also set free.

 

“I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

3 O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.” Psalm 34:1-3


by 8 Comments

33 Christians Sentenced to Death in North Korea

 

North Korea B

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/6/kim-jong-un-calls-execution-33-christians/

33 of our brothers and sisters will be executed within the next few hours in North Korea.

Because they are Christians.  Like us.

“When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.” Revelation 6:9-11

OH LORD, save us from our complacency and luke-warmness.  Save us from our idols of comfort and convenience.  Save us from our obsession with self.  Save us from our Western mindset.  Save us from our dullness of heart.  Wake us up from our comfortable bed of luxury.  OH LORD save us!

Here we are – so wealthy in the West.  We have food, money, cars, houses, freedom, church buildings, light and sounds systems and, of course, smoke machines, and yet – we are spiritually bankrupt.

They are the rich ones in North Korea.  They are the ones for whom a crown of life awaits.  They are the ones whose underground churches are flourishing and the Holy Spirit is moving upon.  They are the ones who are awake. They are the ones who know Jesus and the “fellowship of His suffering”.  They are the ones who are watching for His return.

hebrews-13-3We are not separate from them.  We are all a part of Christ’s Body.  Let us pray from them and their families.  Let us pray for the persecuted Church.

In Christ’s Name, Amen

 

 

 

 

 


by 2 Comments

Hero of the Faith: Australian Missionary Arrested in Nth Korea

 

john short

This man needs prayer.  His name is John Short, an Aussie missionary caught with Christian literature in North Korea.  He faces potentially 15 years of hard labour.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/south-australian-man-detained-in-north-korea-on-suspicion-of-doing-missionary-work-20140219-hvd21.html


by Leave a comment

false freedom…

Very interesting to see where this generation’s “freedom” truly leads…

billrandles's avatarPastor Bill Randles Blog

“While promising them liberty , they themselves are the slaves of corruption, for by what a man is overcome, by that is he brought into bondage” 2 Peter 2

“Workers of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your shackles!” Karl Marx

“All the world over, so easy to see, that people everywhere just want to be free…”(The Young Rascals)

We live in an age of revolution. Everywhere on this planet people have been “breaking off the shackles” in one “liberation movement” after another in the quest for that elusive goal, which is freedom. The American revolution was followed by the French revolution, which in turn spawned successive waves of  bloody reversals of the so called ‘existing order’, which ripple up unto this present day.

But almost invariably, whenever the “order” is successfully overthrown by the latest “Liberation” movement, the old order is replaced by something even more…

View original post 836 more words


by Leave a comment

Bushfire

Today we drove through the Dadswell Bridge area which was on fire just two days ago.  I got out of the car and walked around a little.  Even though I was wearing thongs (flip flops) on my feet they are still stained black from the ash.

IMG_2968[1]

The trees were blackened, ash was in the air and the acrid smell was unbelievable.  Another bushfire about 20 kilometers (12miles) away was still raging out of control, and it made the sky appear pink.

IMG_2971[1]

The most eerie thing was the trees and stumps that were still smouldering and smoking as I watched them.

IMG_2970[1]

Fire-trucks, police and emergency vehicles were everywhere (we definitely felt secure at our hotel!) :/

IMG_2973[1]

(This follows on from my last post Where’s the Fire?)

 

 

 


by Leave a comment

Stand in the Ways and See – A Poetic Discourse on the Emergent Church

I am re-blogging an old poem of mine now because the Holy Spirit has prompted me to do this now. Hope you enjoy!

GraceandTruth's avatarGrace and Truth

cross-on-hill

There is something that’s arisen-

Emerging from the ground.

It breaks out

Through the

Post-modernist earth

But its roots go further down.
 

 

.

At first it’s only little,

As it starts its progress

Just a small inner circle-

Rolling towards the cliff edge         
 

 
                                                     .

It stops

For a moment

Before

It falls

Then:

Down

the

slope

of

Relevance

It tumbles                                                                                           .

 

 

Down, Down

And further down

It rolls, it goes, its spins,

Away from the cliff

Where the Truth

Has always been                                                                                          .

 

 

And so it rolls

And as it goes

It kicks up all the dust

And as the dust and dirt

Stick

To it

The circle grows ever vast                                                                 .

 

 

Voices herald the circle

As it picks up on its pace

And while it continues to hurtle

They cry:

“Look!

A new Christian way!”                                                                         .

 

 

View original post 426 more words


by Leave a comment

The Runners’ (G)race

girl leapingAs I run along the path, each step requires that I watch where I put my foot.

Gravel can be treacherous in its inconsistency and so I need to be constantly vigilant.

A moment’s lapse in concentration could mean for me an injury, a twisted ankle, and so I look down.  With each step I scan the ground for a larger-than-usual rock, a dip in the path, an unusual rise in the ground.

“Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet…”

My legs hurt. Sometimes they feel as heavy as lead.  Other times I can leap like a deer, raise my hands as I run and praise my Jesus.  But even so, I have to keep watching the ground.

Yesterday as I was running, Jesus showed me something.

???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

He showed me that while it is important to keep watching where my feet tread, not to lose concentration, to be constantly aware, it is also just as important to regularly look up.

I realized that this is something I do automatically when I run, simply because it is essential.  As I am running, watching the gravel in front of me, looking at where my feet are to hit the ground next, I also look up regularly ahead of me to the path I am running on.  I need to focus in the distance too

To know where I am going,

To see what is ahead,

To ensure I am still on the path.

To never look up at all, would mean my running off the path and into a tree, a bush or even the lake – it wouldn’t just mean a twisted ankle, I would be in serious trouble.

With the pathway having been cleared in front of me, I can see it stretching into the distance and I know I am heading in the right direction.

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path“

Then down again I look, at the ground, scanning for potentially dangerous obstacles, scan, scan.  Pound, pound goes my heart, crunch, crunch my runners on the gravel.  Then up again I look, the path ahead is still stretched out, I have not lost my way.

I am moving forward on the path laid out in front of me.pathway

It can be very hard.  It is definitely painful.  It requires endurance and discipline of mind and body.  It requires watching, being sober, being vigilant.

But there’s something else too – it also requires VISION.

It requires being able to see into the distance, even if it’s not quite all the way into the distance.

The pathway is ahead.  Look up sometimes.

As I ran I asked God for His vision for me, for us, for His work for the coming year.  I reminded Him that He said:

“Without a vision, the people perish.”

So help me Lord, help me to look up, help me to see as you see.  Give me Your vision for my life, especially for the coming year.

Be blessed in this festive season!


by Leave a comment

Ever Heard of Church Fatigue?

Is it normal to feel apathetic as a Christian?

Are you restless? Wondering why you are bored with church?

Where is the authentic Christianity that “turned the world upside down” of the early church?

I cannot recommend this series highly enough:

The Restless Church

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V-JQ7UUVg8

 

Blessings in CHrist!