Grace Came Down

You’re not finished yet. Photo Credit

I won't forget the things You've done For I know that this is just the beginning And You're not finished yet, You're not finished yet Until I see Your promise come God with all I am, I'll keep believing That You're not finished yet, You're not finished yet

Then the spirit lifted me up. Photo Credit

I believe that when God lifts us up, he raises us above our own limited expectations for our lives. I can spend months and months living with ideas of what i want my life to look like, and let that take over my entire heart, but when God intervenes to carry me out of whatever hole i’ve fallen face first into, He always does it with the mind to lift my heart and steer it away from my own plans, to show me that whatever he has in store is better. 

I shall be with you. Photo Credit

2017 has been full of ups and downs, but when i look back on the year the one thing that stands out to me is God’s divine protection. There are things I wished I had done that I’m thankful now I didn’t, there were doors that slammed shut that I wished had remained open. But hindsight is 20/20. Standing where I am right now, I know that all the things that didn’t happen the way I wanted them to didn’t happen because of God’s hand on my life.

“The clarity comes, paradoxically, by hindsight. I have found that when I am living out the life of faith, I have no certainty that God is with me and directing my life. Living can feel very confusing and sometimes disorienting. But as I look back on my life journey, I begin to see how God was at work in all that confusion, leading me forward into the man I have now become.

When that happens, I feel a sense of awe. The promise to Moses and to each one of us has proved true. God was with us. With hindsight, we see providence at work in a way we can never perceive as we look into the future.“ - Discerning God with Hindsight

And as I look forward to the new year, I hear one voice in the back of my head - just as i have been, just as i was through everything that happened this year, i shall be with you. 

No greater love than this. 

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 

You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. John 15:13-16 NKJV

Set Apart. Photo Credit

The bible says that we (children of God) are set apart, in the world but not of the world, called by God with a destiny in Christ, but what does being set apart really mean? 

Romans 12:2 says “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Here it says that we should be set apart from the world in the way our minds work, and wow, i think that that is powerful. Because isn’t that the basic, most innate part of us? - the mind controls how we react to different situations and problems, the mind controls the way we look at people, the mind is where you rationalize and debate and think, and any inward transformation that we wish to go through starts with the renewal of the mind. So being set apart means having a different mind from the world.

The Message version of the Bible puts the latter part of the verse like this -

“Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”

Maturity. I love that word. That’s the first thing that comes to mind when I think about being “set apart”. Most people, scholars, bible teachers and preachers will tell you that being set apart means to be holy, consecrated to God, clean, moral, focused on pleasing God. While all those things are good - great, in fact, I think that you don’t necessarily need to be all these things to think of yourself as being “set apart”, because let’s face it, no matter how hard we try, we are never going to measure up to God’s standards. So there must be a different way of looking at things.

To me being set apart simply means to have that “well-formed maturity” that the world does not have, and not just maturity that comes from ageing, but maturity that comes from understanding and knowing who God is.

For example, If someone gets on your nerves, a person of the world might react poorly, lash out, throw a tantrum, but someone who is set apart would know that God has forgiven them for much greater misdeeds, and it is God’s heart for us to love our neighbours, to forgive, and to treat everyone with grace. 

When things don’t go a certain way, a person of the world might despair and lose hope, but someone who is set apart would know that God makes everything work together for the good of those who love him, and nothing will crush their spirit. 

Faithful are You Father. Photo Credit

Faithful are You Father, to fulfill Your every promise The desires of my heart are made complete Cause Your favour follows me ~ 

I’ll give you everything I have, cause I was undeserving, and You chose me. 

I was asking the Lord for something to post about today, and he ultimately led me to this song - Your Favor, by Elevation Worship. The bridge so beautifully paints a picture of how God loves stretching out his hand to the weak and the underserving. He LOVES using the worthless nobodies to do his mightiest work because then there can be no question about the source of glory. When we feel like we cannot, and yet humbly give ourselves over to him to work through us, we become vessels for his goodness, and we shine so that everyone can see and behold the glory of God brought forth by the work he does through us. I don’t know about you, but I want to be used by God that way. Don’t you just love how he works?  

And above it all, the song reminded me of his faithfulness. He will fulfill his every promise, I need only be still. 

Grace Supplies, Love Gives, Faith Takes. Photo Credit

Firstly, I'm so so sorry I've been away for so long. In all honesty, i haven't been in a very spiritual place lately, and just didn't feel like posting. The thing i love about having this blog/account is that I don't feel any pressure to come back (and post from a place of strife) when I feel like taking some time off, and yet anytime I feel like it, I can come right back. I've taken breaks from this place a handful of times, but every time i come back, I wonder why I've stayed away for so long. Thanks to everyone who has stuck around, despite not having any new content for a long while. <3 

The quote that inspired me today is from one of my pastor's (Ps. Joseph Prince) sermon titles. A colleague of mine had me help her transfer her cd sermons into her phone today and just reading the title of this one sermon on the back of her cd case blessed me so incredibly and I immediately had a vision of how I wanted the post to look like, the kind of graphic I would use as a background, the way I'd lay out the text. 

This is such a simple quote, but it made me pause for a second -- "faith takes"? Wait a second. Does he mean from me? That doesn't sound right. But then a second later, I realised what my pastor was getting at. Faith takes -- from God. 

And that got me thinking about how our minds are quick to see demand. I see the word take and I think.. ugh, more taking from poor old me. What i fail to see is the supply. God's supply, which is simple. There are no rules, no prerequisites, no restrictions placed on you to do this and be that or have this or know that before you are allowed to reach out to take it. 

Grace supplies. Love gives. Faith takes. 

Wow. I LOVE IT. Don't you love it? 

Because it takes faith to receive God's supply. When you feel stretched and stressed out because of the demands placed upon you, faith in God will prompt you to reach out to take from Jesus, because you are conscious of his supply, of his abundant, never-ending supply, that he freely gave to you without demanding anything back.

Imagine you're at a party and there's a plate of cookies on the table laid out for guests to enjoy. You know the cookies are there, but the thing that makes you confident that you can reach out to take one is knowing that the host of the party wants you to have them, and doesn't expect anything back. Still, you probably wouldn't take a tupperware out of your purse and load the thing up with all the cookies on the plate, leaving none for your fellow guests, would you? You're conscious of the finite supply and don't want to seem rude. But imagine if you the host told you that she has baked more cookies than five parties can finish, and she really, really wants you to have not just one tupperware full, but as many as you can possibly take. Now you're conscious of the supply, you no longer feel abashed when you go to town and eat however many cookies you want. Yay! 

& It's a lot like that. God has a never-ending supply for your every need, but it takes faith to see it, and faith to boldly take from it. 

He is always supplying, always giving. The question shouldn't be whether or not God will come through this time. The question should be whether or not you are taking what he has already supplied and given because of his grace, and his never-ending love. 

It's really so so simple. I think that we'd all be happier people if we choose to immediately see His supply in every situation instead of getting stressed out by the demands placed upon us. 

--

And that was how God reminded me about his goodness today. Let him minister to you, even when He's the last thing on your mind. 

Like a Waterfall. Photo Credit 

Exciting news! I'm almost done with completing my first ever brush font, Acquaint Script. There are no words to describe how incredible it is that I've managed to do this. Those of you who have been around for awhile know about how I've tried learning how to do hand lettering and how amazing and faithful God has been to me through it all. This right here is such a awesome testimony of that faithfulness - that I, someone who just started to hand letter, managed to somehow create a font. Even as I look back at the process now, I feel bewildered because this makes no sense, but I know with absolute certainty that this wasn't me. It was Jesus. Jesus, 100%, all the way. 

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I've never felt so strongly about this verse as I do right now. 

So.. Here it is in action for the very first time! I'll let you guys know when it has launched online for real. :) & here's a little tiny tiny devo to meditate upon today: 

What love is this? 

I look to You I see the scars upon Your hands And hold the truth That when I can't You always can I'm standing here beneath the shadow of the cross, I'm overwhelmed that I keep finding open arms.

Restore.

I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.

You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame.

Oh how i need Your Grace, more than my words can say. Photo Credit

My favourite song on Elevation Worship's latest album, "Wake up the Wonder". This is such an anointed album, guys! These guys just keep making incredible music that inspires and lifts people up, and more importantly lifts up the name of Jesus amen? :) 

Because of Christmas Day. 

We can receive all these good things in Jesus' name because on that night, the little baby Jesus was born in a tiny, smelly manger. Today we remember His birthday, and we celebrate and rejoice and give thanks to God for his gift of love, that we so did not deserve. 

Reason for the Season.

Let's keep Jesus front and center this Christmas. As we exchange gifts with the people we love, let's all remember the greatest gift of all that God gave to us when he sent his only beloved son to die on the cross for our sins, a gift that was born out of a love so deep that he spared not his own son for our sakes. The reason we celebrate and rejoice this season is the very reason we can. It's all about Jesus. 

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17 (NIV) 

The bells of heaven rang for Him. Photo Credit

It was on a starry night when the hills were bright Earth lay sleeping, sleeping calm and still. Then in a cattle shed, in a manger bed, a boy was born, king of all the world. And all the angels sang for him, the bells of heaven rang for him for a boy was born, king of all the world.

—-

This is such a forgotten and lesser known Christmas hymn but it paints such a beautiful picture of the night of Jesus’s birth. So humbly he came, so quietly, while earth lay sleeping, unaware of the magnitude of the goings-on in that little manger. But while the earth lay in slumber, the heavens were singing, angels rang the bells, rejoicing because the day of salvation was here. And now every year we can join the angels in celebrating the greatest gift ever given, a gift in itself. Glory to God in the highest! 

The good news they proclaimed that day had to do with much more than Jesus’ birth. It anticipated His sinless life, which qualified Him to be God’s sacrificial lamb. It looked ahead to His crucifixion on our behalf and His resurrection, which signalled the Father’s acceptance of Christ’s payment for our sins. The announcement also encompassed the idea of His ascension into heaven (Psalm 110:1). And it envisioned the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit would indwell believers (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17), as well as the time Jesus would return as King. The angels rejoiced because the day of salvation was here (2 Corinthians 6:2). - Excerpt from http://www.jesus.org/birth-of-jesus/shepherds-and-angels/a-night-of-great-joy.html

Peace has come. Photo Credit

We're so amazed and we give you praise. Photo Credit