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Philippians 4

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Tuesday 7th March 2017

Today’s exhortation – don’t fear fear

Nine times out of ten, our imaginations are much worse than the thing we’re afraid of. Occasionally it’s easier to ignore our fears and hope that by doing so, they may go away, but things aren’t always what they seem. Our fears can play tricks on us, making us afraid to change course or afraid to move on. Usually hidden behind our fears are second chances waiting to be seized. New possibilities and second chances at life, careers, relationships etc. These opportunities don’t come everyday so when they do, we must grab them. We can’t always wait for the perfect moment. The bible says, “If you wait until the wind and the weather are just right, you will never plant anything and never harvest anything.” (Ecclesiastes‬ ‭11:4‬)

Avoiding our debts and hoping they may go away is not the answer; staying in the job we hate because of fear of change does more harm than good or postponing going to the dentist or having that needed surgery because of fear of pain may make things worse. Behind our fears lay our victories and so unless we confront them, we won’t enjoy the fullness of who we are meant to be. It is written, “People are trapped by their fear of others; those who trust the Lord are secure.” (Proverbs‬ ‭29:25‬). Above all, remember this, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13). No more fear!Amen

Francis Hans-Jorie

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Thursday 2nd March 2016

Today’s exhortation – God’s got it

Monday tends to be a difficult day for some because of the uncertainty of what lies ahead for rest of the week. Some may be worrying about how they will make ends meet during the week and others may be stressed because it’s time to go back to work or to start looking for a job all over again. I’m here to tell you, God does not forsake His own! David testified about this saying, “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.” Psalm‬ ‭37‬:‭25‬). I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” (Psalm‬ ‭27‬:‭13). You will see God’s goodness this week!

Therefore, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6,7). Note that it says GUARD your hearts and mind. That’s because the circumstances will seek to steal our peace through fear and anxiety but the peace of God will stand as a guard to prevent that. Peace is our weapon of choice this week. We will trust God to come through regardless and that’s our peace. Have a joy end to the week and an amazing weekend. Amen

Francis Hans-Jorie

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“Do not be afraid”

Deuteronomy 31:8 8. And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.” amen??

Jesus wants you to know that in this life you do not need to be afraid of the battle or storms which rage, be they personal issues, marital, employment, issues with your children, sickness, mental health, addictions or loneliness. Whatever & I repeat, “whatever” the condition may be, He IS with you. He will deliver you. He not only is with you but He goes ahead of you. What we must do, is open our minds, eyes, hearts & ears to hear Him waiting expectantly. When we acknowledge His presence by our faith in Him & His omnipotent power, we are enveloped in a peace so tranquil, it could only be Jesus Himself; the Kingdom of Heaven, coming down on us. Just walk in His peace, the Heavens respond when we give thanks and obey His word. Philippians  4:6 tells us “Be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God..”

My mother Mrs Lewis, was “given a weekend” the doctors said, to “live”. In fact, the doctor’s words were “your mum is dying. Call all of your siblings to say goodbye (our dad had already fallen asleep some years back) and when I return on Monday, I expect to hear your mum has gone because she is critical. If she hasn’t died, she would certainly be in a vegetative state”; this was mans’ timing & prediction of death on Mum’s life. The doctor concluded with, “there is no hope”. Shocked at this unexpextant news, all we said was “we believe in God & we have faith & we will pray. Please do not put DNR on my Mum’s records as you did to our dad.” The doctor agreed. He had given up and seemed to mock when we said we will pray.

BUT The Living God stepped in & The God of The Impossible situation;The God of ALL flesh”;The God of Hope; took over. Instead of panicking, we called the saints to pray with us for a breakthrough, wherever they were. We, as a family, surrounded mummy, anointed her with oil & prayed, without ceasing from that Friday afternoon. Our key scripture was Psalms 20 “The Lord hear the in the day of trouble, the name of the God of Jacob defend the, send thee hell from thy sanctuary & strengthen us out of Zion”.

Can I tell you all, that a peace so comforting, engulfed us, soothed us & rested upon us? We knew God would keep mummy & us too even if she did fall asleep. I can’t tell you how but a blessed assurance rested in each one of our hearts. Many other patients asked us to pray with them too. There was a sense of calm throughout the ward. On Monday morning, mummy opened her eyes & asked “where am I?”; “I am thirsty”; “May I have a cup of tea, no sugar as I am diabetic, and some fried dumplings?”; “Where are my grandchildren?” She then began to name all six (at that time) in order of age. Coherent! Sequential! Lucid, Cognitive! Hungry & thirsty- BUT SO ALIVE! God showed His glory in Mum’s healing for all to see. Praise The Lord??

The nurses & doctors were running all over the ward in disbelief, they ran to get the doctor who “pronounced death” over mummy. He was both dumbfounded and dare I say, embarrassed. He ordered three different opinions, a plethora of tests, he even questioned the CAT scans & examined mummy repeatedly. He called expert speech therapists who confirmed my mum had not lost her “swallow”, common in patients with the brain injury mum sustained. We explained to mummy why she was in hospital and what the doctors had said. She met the doctor and asked him “why were you ready to give up on life so easily?” In a strange twist, my mum outlived this doctor and some of his team too.

Everything is on record to this day, particularly this entry: “no logical medical explanation, patient should be deceased due to the type of stroke subarachnoid haemorrhage patient sustained..” Mummy, Mrs Lewis MBE, was deemed A living miracle. God showed His magnificence in a ward full of witnesses, medical staff, patience, visitors, & a doctor who didn’t believe, NOW considering that the God we serve, “might just be real!” God does ALL things well!

In all of that storm, our supernatural God, sent us His supernatural peace. Mummy lived for eleven strong years, shining the light of Christ through her, despite having left side paralysis. She always witnessed to anyone who was around her. She regularly held the ten additional grandchildren God blessed her eyes to see, skilfully & with ease, in one arm. She had her English & Corolia (herbal tea) in her cup & saucer (how dare you try & give her a beaker or mug!!?) held masterfully, in one hand. No sign of a “vegetative state”. She used her healing to encourage everyone she came into contact with & she constantly reminded us to “know God for ourselves“. Never once did she ask, “why me?” or complain that she was  immobile, though she did miss her role training new foster Carer’s with Hackney Social Services, cooking for their events & then deviating to Ridley Market to get her favourite treat ‘fresh fish & breadfruit’?. She was so very thankful for Gods mercy & love & she lived in the peace & promise, of Gods spoken Word.

The verse continues  in Phillippians 4:7 with “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts & minds through Christ Jesus” Gods peace will keep not only you, but your heart & mind , if we allow Him complete access & we keep focused on Him. The enemy always starts his attack on our minds, he is the sower of doubt & in the book of James chp1:6 we are told to ask believing God, not doubting because “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed”. Today, let us put on the whole armour of God, the helmet of salvation over our minds & ask for the mind of Jesus Christ to be in us. Remember, God Himself, will go before and defend you through absolutely anything!

Thank You Lord Jesus, for always loving us, for your mercy & kindness & never leaving us alone????

Please feel free to share your testimonies here and keep sending in your prayer requests. God richly bless you & your households this weekend,

Samantha?

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Reflection July 2016

Prayer, Trust, Wait and Repeat

Prayer

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.  But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

“This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

(Matthew 6: 5-14 NIV)

In the passage above from Matthew we see and read about Jesus teaching the Disciples how to pray- the prayer that is said in these verses is known to us as the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ and like me many of you probably learnt that prayer at school or at Sunday school when you were very young!

A question I have been asked time and again by friends who have no faith is ‘Why do you pray?’ An interesting question I think as people who have no faith or do not believe in God just don’t understand what prayer is all about! Importantly as people of faith we need to know the importance of prayer we need to understand why prayer is vital!

 

So I will ask you all the same question ‘Why do you pray?’

I could end this reflection there and await any replies….. But I want to share with you some thoughts on why I believe prayer is so important.

 

Firstly for me Prayer is not a ‘Shopping list’- We shouldn’t just be presenting God with a list of demands or requests- Whilst yes we can present our needs to the Lord prayer (Philippians 4:6) prayer is so much more than that!

 

We should pray because:

  • Prayer Builds our Relationship with the Lord.

I believe that prayer is vital because it is a key vehicle to building a loving relationship with Jesus Christ. It is important to consider that our Faith is one that encourages a relationship with God; to put it simply God wants to be in relationship with us!- And like all relationships in our lives communication is so important. So many family relationships falter due to the lack of communication- So firstly start to build a firm relationship with the Lord by communicating with him!

 

  • Prayer helps us to determine Gods will.

Prayer gives us direct access to God- and allows us to listen in turn to what he has to say to us. We see in Scripture that Jesus made decisions that would change history after seeking the will of the father. In Luke 6 we read how Jesus chose the twelve:

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles:  Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,  Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot,  Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

We see here that Jesus spent the entire night praying about whom to choose! And looking back it was a huge and vital choice as these men would be charged with carrying the word of God to the world- Thousands of years later the choice of these men still has an impact on us all as Christians; but the choice was made after determining the will of God in prayer!

 

  • Prayer helps us to do Gods work on the earth.

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours

Mark 11:24

 

Prayer has been described as the ‘fuel behind the work’. Anything we do for the Lord must be backed up with prayer if we want it to succeed. Prayer can and does have a massive impact on people’s lives even if they don’t know you are praying for them. I have seen startling transformations of people situations or lives that I believe have come about because of people praying for the individuals involved and the situations- as it says in the scripture above ask for it in prayer, believe and it will happen! From speaking to friends and colleagues who have been going through some difficult or troubling times even those who have no faith have acknowledged that in their situation ‘Something just changed’ and it all turned out for good- That is I believe the power of prayer allowing the Lord to impact on people’s lives!

 

  • Prayer is an effective weapon!

Prayer is a major weapon in fighting the spiritual battle. Ephesians 6: 10-20 speaks to us about some of the armaments in the arsenal of God. It reminds us that our struggles are not against humans, but against powerful spiritual beings and forces in the “heavenly places” (the spiritual realm which directly influences the natural, material realm). The picture here is that of a war. Life as a Christian is not a playground; it’s a battlefield and we are all called to fight. While there is much beauty and love in the world, there is also a significant amount of hate and harm caused by people who are being influenced by the enemy- it is important to remember that the war for souls between God and Satan is fought with Christian co-combatants with Him.

We are instructed by Paul, an experienced soldier in this combat, to be appropriately clad and armed for our struggle. In this passage, he uses some of the most vivid imagery in the New Testament. Describing a Soldier of the day- we put on the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, loins girded with truth, feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel, shield of faith, sword of the Spirit (the Word of God).

 

Now, it seems we have a complete set of armour and weaponry. And if I were writing this passage, I would say, “Now get out there and fight the battle!”

 

But Paul does not say that. He waits until verse eighteen to get to the big guns of this arsenal of God -persistent prayer. He says: “With all prayer and petition pray… with all perseverance and prayer… and pray…”

 

In two verses, we are commanded to pray five different times. I think God is trying to make a point!! He is attempting to grab and focus our attention concerning prayer’s power in the defeat of Satan and his minions. We read in Corinthians 10:3-4:  “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.”

Prayer was and is a vital Weapon in the armoury of God and it has been seen time and again through history where prayer has changed the course of events.

During the unfolding disaster of Dunkirk his Majesty King George VI requested that Sunday, 26 May should be observed as a National Day of Prayer. In a stirring broadcast, he called the people of Britain and of the Empire to commit their cause to God. Together with members of the Cabinet, the King attended Westminster Abbey, whilst millions of his subjects in all parts of the Commonwealth and Empire flocked to the churches to join in prayer. Britain was given inspiring God centred leadership in those days, and her people responded immediately when this kind of initiative was taken. The whole nation was at prayer on that Sunday. The scene outside Westminster Abbey was remarkable—photographs show long queues of people who could not even get in, the Abbey was so crowded! So much so, that the following morning the Daily Sketch exclaimed, ‘Nothing like it has ever happened before.’  In its hour of deep distress a heart-cry from both monarch and people alike was going up to God in prayer. And that cry did not go unanswered. For very soon, at least three miracles were seen to happen-

  1. Hitler halted the German advance on Dunkirk
  2. A huge storm arose over land grounding the German Air force
  3. The Channel had its calmest conditions in a Century allowing the Small Ships to get across the Channel and rescue the Army!

Imagine the consequences of the nation not praying!?

 

In the world today it is even more vital to pray and although unlike Dunkirk we are not fighting a physical war- we are still at war! There is so much going on that not a day goes by without news of an attack or murder of hate fuelled crime. We need to lift up this world, this nation in prayer and fully engage in that spiritual battle- because if we don’t do it no one else will!

So I want to encourage you whatever situation you find yourself in, whatever battle you feel like you are fighting to give this a try- Prayer, Trust, Wait and Repeat……