Live a Life of Faithfulness

Today’s post is from HTB’s Bible in One Year daily devotional by Nicky Gumbel. It is on Faithfulness- a subject that God, my mentor and my close friends have really been prompting me on. I found this passage helpful and thought I would share. To read the full version, click here.

Myra Hindley was one of the most notorious murderers of the twentieth century.  Her crimes were almost unbelievably horrific.  Yet one person took it upon himself to visit her regularly whilst she was in prison.

Lord Longford (Frank Pakenham – 7th Earl of Longford), 1905–2001, was a controversial figure who spent much of his life visiting prisoners, including Myra Hindley.  Yet, no one can doubt his compassion and his faithfulness, both to God and to those he visited.

When he died former prisoners joined hundreds of mourners to say farewell to the man who had spent his life faithfully fighting for society’s outcasts.

He found inspiration in the words of Jesus from today’s passage.  On his deathbed he asked his wife, ‘You know what the most important quotation from the Bible is?’  His answer was: ‘I was in prison and you came to visit me’ (Matthew 25:36).  This quotation from Jesus was to be Lord Longford’s last words.

Life is not a competition which we have to win.  It is not supposed to be a rat race.  Life is a huge privilege and an opportunity.  God has trusted us with gifts and abilities, which he wants us to use.  He is faithful to us and he expects us to be faithful to him.

1.  Thank God for his faithfulness

Psalm 18:43-50

‘Be kind,’ said the philosopher Plato, ‘for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.’  The Bible gives us an even stronger reason always to be kind.  God is always kind to us.  In his faithfulness, he shows us ‘unfailing kindness’…

2.  Live a life of faithfulness

Matthew 25:14-46

We need to be faithful with whatever we have been given. It is no good wishing that we had been given more.  We are simply called to do the best we can with what we have.  As Mother Teresa said, ‘I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.’  To be faithful means to use the gifts and abilities that God has given us…

Jesus said, ‘Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me’ (v.40).  He tells us that faithfulness to him is shown in what we do for the most vulnerable and most needy in our world (vv.35–36,42–43). Jesus says, ‘Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me’ (v.40).  How we respond to Jesus has eternal consequences (vv.30, 46).

3.  Imitate Job’s faithfulness

Job 40:3-42:17

God has had a good plan for you from the moment you were conceived.  He also had a good plan for Job.  Right from the start he had planned Job’s restoration and blessing.

Job is remembered throughout history for his faithfulness.  The apostle James says, ‘You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about’ (James 5:11).

God does not give is trouble free lives.  He does not answer all our questions.  But he does reassure us that he is with us in our troubles.

Joyce Meyer writes, ‘If you do things God’s way, he will give you double for your trouble.’  ‘The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first’ (v.12).  As with David, God showed his kindness to him and his descendants (v.16).

Job is commended for his perseverance in the face of suffering (James 5:10–11).  Satan believed that suffering would cause Job to turn away from God.  Job’s perseverance demonstrated that Satan was wrong.  With brutal honesty at times, Job was nonetheless able to maintain his worship of God in good times and times of great trial.

His perseverance is an example to us of how to respond to suffering.  When we respond with faithful perseverance, Satan is defeated.  Job is a ‘type’ of Christ.  Through Jesus’ faithful perseverance in response to his suffering on the cross, Satan has been totally defeated, once and for all.

I hope this passage from the full devotional has blessed and encouraged you as much as it has for me.

Blessings!

Ronell x

Brian 'Head' Welch

Tonight at Alpha (re:generation church) Alicia spoke about who Jesus is and who we perceive Him to be. Alicia discussed how many see Him as a fictional character that people use as a crutch or for escapism. She then proceeded to show the following testimony by Brian ‘Head’ Welch (formerly from Korn) on the I Am Second site, discussing how real Jesus and God are in his own life and how the total, undeserved love and grace of God, reached in and saved his life. You can watch the clip here.

Blessings!

Ronell x

“Deny your weakness, and you will never realize God's strength in you.” {Joni Eareckson Tada}

ActionAid: Ready for Anything appeal

Today’s post is about ActionAid, a charity that is aiming for a world without poverty, by working with local people to fight hunger, seek justice for women and education for children, and cope with emergencies. You can find out more about what ActionAid does here.

Wherever there is poverty and injustice, in over 40 countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas, ActionAid is working to help people free themselves from poverty. Whether they are building a well, hiring a teacher, or lobbying a government, Action Aid makes sure that every pound they spend goes as far as possible. You can read more about the specific details of where ActionAid works and how it spends the money raised on their site.

Over 300 million people are affected by disasters every year. The poorest and most vulnerable people are the hardest hit. Lives are at risk, communities are wiped out and families lose everything. Now there is also an opportunity for you to double your donation! From TODAY until 3 May, the UK Govt will match donations to ActionAid pound by pound as part of our Ready for Anything appeal. The extra money will go towards our emergency work - helping the world’s poorest people to survive disasters.

Together we can ensure the world’s poorest people are Ready for Anything. Donate now and help us to stop disasters becoming tragedies.

Donate now! Visit www.actionaid.org.uk/rfa or text ‘DOUB13 £10’ to 70070 to give £10. Double the difference you can make at no extra cost to yourself!

Blessings!

Ronell x

“Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the LORD your God will bless you in everything you do.” {Deuteronomy 15:10}

Giving to the Needy

1 'Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 


2 'Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 


3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 


4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.  {Matthew 6:1-4}

I came across this passage in during my devotional time yesterday and it really struck me: often we can and do give to charity or help others to be seen to be charitable or generous, rather than just doing it from a place of love and wanting to do the right thing.

We forget that God knows our hearts and He knows our motives for doing what we do. If those motives are directed towards pleasing others, our good works will be like dirty rags, no matter how amazing they look to others (Isaiah 64:6). But when our hearts and intentions are pure and directed on living out God’s love and His will, even the smallest of things are counted as the most incredible sacrifice or gift.

So God is basically telling us that, if our motivation for giving to the needy is recognition from others, that will be the only commendation that we get- we will get no recognition for our ‘good works’ from Him. But if we are generous and charitable because we want to serve people who are in need because God commands it and showed us how to love through Jesus, regardless of who is watching, then He will reward and commend you for the work that you do.

This challenged me, as you can sometimes feel a natural ‘high’ from doing good things for others and then telling people about it- I don’t necessarily mean boasting, even just innocently- but if the ‘high’ comes from people’s reactions rather than from the act of being charitable, you need to examine your heart as to what your motivation is for giving to the needy.

The bottom line is this: you can have your reward on earth, or in heaven – I know which one I would prefer!

Blessings!

Ronell x

Some Home Truths

So the last week has been exciting, busy and eye opening for me. With some great stuff and some, well let’s just say not so great stuff! But all and all, I got some home truths from God and those around me about love, particularly loving others, and this hit me hard!

It was particularly difficult for me to hear how people (yes, unfortunately there was more than one) had felt mistreated by my short temper and harsh words this week and the guilt piled on! I could hardly recognise myself, but it was obviously coming from somewhere! (Matthew 12v34)

God spoke to me and also confirmed it through my best friend: how can I profess to be a Christian, a representative of THE God of LOVE, when I myself could not even love others?? After all, it is the second most important commandment after loving God! (Mark 12v30-31)

Then it hit me how hypocritical it was for me to be campaigning for the rights of people I don’t know, and my heart breaking for the suffering of those I don’t know, but I don’t even stop to consider the feelings and needs of those people who are right in front of me… ouch!

So my challenge to you (and first and foremost to myself!!) is to truly love those who are right in front of you. You know that person who annoys you beyond belief..? Or that selfish friend/sibling/parent that you feel used and frustrated by..? Or that lonely person you see on the bus every day..? Or what about the boy/girl who is a little different who you see sitting/eating alone every single day..? God sent His only Son to die for that person.. THAT is how much He loves them! (John 3v16) 

God asks us to show His character and the fruits of His Spirit and one of those is love. (Galatians 5v22-23) And before we can go out into the third world or help those far away that are in crisis, we must start at home, by actively loving those around us, even when it is uncomfortable for us.

So the question is this: Do you LOVE those people like God loves them? Do you actively SHOW love to those people even when it costs you something?

Don’t be condemned or discourage though! Like my very wise friend said to me: “it is not over.. you have time!” and God will guide you!

Blessings!

Ronell x

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser… I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” {John 15v1,5}

The Face of Human Trafficking

I received this email from Christine Caine about a girl who was once trapped in prostitution through human trafficking, but is now free thanks to the efforts of the A21 Campaign. I was really encouraged by it to see that a difference was being made, but at the same time, it really hit home that this was a real person who had suffered this terrible tragedy. It put a face to the numbers.

There IS a beautiful smile behind that face – a miracle in light of what she has suffered. See it here.

She was a prisoner, the property of human traffickers who stripped her of her freedom and identity. The only reason for her existence was to make money for her owner.

There is nothing pretty in the nightmare world of prostitution. Every day women and children like her cry out to be free; every night they cry tears of pain and sorrow. The despair and degradation are overwhelming, yet this girl was forced to smile while being with 40 men every day.

She was the face of human trafficking . . . the face of a sexual slave, but now she is a voice of freedom because someone like you cared to give and get involved with The A21 Campaign.

“I was forced to smile for them...

now I smile for me!”

Watch the video and see her smile for yourself!

Listen to a voice now free.  

Give to help reach others who deserve to hear a message of hope and love . . .  and know you are helping advance this cause for those who have no voice! No one can do everything, but everyone can do something! Please give your best today!

Christine Caine

Please watch the short video and donate generously if you are able to.

Blessings!

Ronell x

“6 I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand.
 I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” {Isaiah 42v6-7}

Joyce Meyer: Experience True Joy

I read this post from Joyce Meyer’s daily online devotional today and was really encouraged, so I thought I would share it:

There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love’s complete perfection]. 
—1 John 4:18

Under-confidence is a condition; it might even be considered a sickness. And just like many other sicknesses, under-confidence is caused by a deficiency of one thing (confidence) and too much of another—fear. I refer to fear as an emotional virus because it begins as a thought, then affects your emotions and behaviors—just like a flu virus might invade your body via a handshake or a sneeze and then make you feel miserable all over.

Fear is a dangerous virus, because a fearful person has no confidence and can never reach her potential in life. She won’t step out of her comfort zone to do anything—especially something new or different. Fear is a cruel ruler, and its subjects live in constant torment.

It breaks my heart when I see people living fearfully, because without confidence, people can never know and experience true joy. The Holy Spirit of God Himself is grieved, because He has been sent into our lives to help us fulfill our God-ordained destinies.

Lord, I am sick and tired of living in fear and all of its repercussions in my life. I welcome the Holy Spirit to come into my life and equip me to fulfill my destiny. Amen.

From the book The Confident Woman Devotional: 365 Daily Devotions by Joyce Meyer.

Blessings!

Ronell x