Redeemed Time.

Beautiful people, some of you may not fully understand the power of what it is you hold in your hand when you pick up your bible; the wisdom, the knowledge, discernment, guidance, healing, forgiveness, prosperity, peace, love, joy, right down to management of weather and management of time.

Sometimes I let the rain fall and I dance and sing and laugh. Other times I say; "Not today. Peace be still," and I calm the storm. In the same way, I calm the storms of life, as I quietly meditate upon His word.

When it comes to time management, Justin Paul Abraham calls it; Eden time, or fallen time. Rich time, or poor time. You can work with time and it will bend to suit your need, but only if you honour time.

God tells us to redeem our time. Hebrews 5:15-16 "See that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Evil days are days of trial, tribulation and trouble. 

God's word speaks of making the most of our time and not wasting time. When we do that, time will be on our side. Life will be busy, but not rushed, productive and not wasted.

Evil time, or fallen time, is time spent in frustration with low energy; its time wasted. It’s where things constantly go wrong and where it takes longer to accomplish tasks than when in Eden time. Fallen time is where we feel tired at the end of the day.

In Eden time things flow, energy is high. Things fall into place easily and effortlessly and at the accomplishment of our task we still have great energy. We enter Eden time through thankfulness, praise and worship. In praise and worship, even jobs we dislike will become pleasurable and easy.

When you prioritise your time, making the most of every minute, somehow you gain time as time notices the honour you give it. Time then begins to work with you, rather than against you. You can bend time, manipulate circumstances, shorten boring moments and lengthen a pleasurable phase.

When you lose your wallet, you can call your bank. When someone steals from you, you have insurance and can replace what was stolen. When your time is stolen, who can you call? Time is your responsibility; you can waste it, or use it wisely.

The bible states in Ecclesiastes 8:5-6 “…a wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgement, because for every matter there is a time and a judgement...” We must discern time. We must study time and discern it’s best use.

What we honour, makes room in our lives for more of the same. If we honour the Trinity, honour the angels, honour money, honour our job, be it inside the home or outside; whatever it is we honour, we get more of, so we must honour time if we wish to make the most of it and attain a greater supply.

I know this to be true from first-hand account.

When juggling a full time job, I also wrote books. I spent hours in my bible, went for long bike rides, tended the home and garden well, cooked culinary delights every day and kept an eye on the share market. 

I love words and memorise new words every day. I studied the craft of writing, photography and leanrt a new language and yet still had time at the end of the day to relax in the spa with a good book. This is what honouring time can do for you. We're all busy, we just have to be busy at the things that count, things that move us forward in life.

In honouring time, say yes to all things of God. Say no to what doesn’t move you forward in life. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you where best to place your time. Paul wrote in Romans 7:15 “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.”

We have the power to change that statement. We don’t have to follow Paul’s lead on this. Ask Holy Spirit, then do what you aught. Be led by the spirit and not the flesh. The mark of maturity is in doing what you don’t feel like doing. The mark of maturity is dying to self and living for Christ.

Let’s live for the One who died for us. Let us remember Him in the taking of the sacraments; the bread of healing and the blood of life. Let us honour what’s important in our life.

Jesus Loves You.

It’s through the storms of life that we enter the kingdom of God. Without the storm, there’d be no need for God. For what is the point of a God when everything is running smoothly. If life were easy, there’d be no need for God, no need for us to call on Him and it’s only during our greatest time of need, that some of us will ever turn to God.

What we read will either move us toward success, or take us further away. If we read trash, it takes us nowhere. We need to raise our standard. We need to choose uplifting books, tv, movies, you tube. The bible is the greatest success book of all time, but most don’t know it.

We are what we read, but if we read without meditating, it’s the same as eating without digesting; you take in the food but you don’t absorb the nutrients. The secret of spiritual growth is meditation. The breadth of scripture is provided through reading, the depth, through meditating. The bible is like a kaleidoscope, with new colours and patterns emerging at every turn of the page.

We know Jesus spoke in parables, but did you know more of the bible is written in parables than just the words written in red? If you want to unravel the mysteries of this great book, you need to meditate on the portions of the bible in which you have the least understanding. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what you need to know and He will show you.

Keep a notebook handy and write what comes to mind. Take notice of your thoughts before and after reading your bible, also what scriptures and you tube clips come to mind. Look up what you don’t understand and write it in your book. As you do this, you’ll see a message unfolding, a personal message, a message which will take you forward in life.

There’s peace on the other side of warfare. Whatever battle you’re in today, once the battle is done, you will experience peace, but only if you stick with it and don’t give up in the midst of the war.

Jesus isn’t mad with you. He loves you. It doesn’t matter if you’re not doing everything right. God doesn’t love you any less, just because you’re imperfect at times. All the great men of the bible ‘mucked something up,’ but that didn’t stop God’s greatest works being done through them.

Stand in faith throughout your conflict. Believe in God for whatever promise you’re waiting on. Believe in Him for the impossible you wish to see, for He is the miracle worker. More is available than you ever thought possible. God has more for you; all you need to do is believe.

Jesus loves you. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Jesus.

Man of War!

 

Both Exodus 15:3 and Isaiah 42:13 speak of the Man of War. Not the gentle loving God that we know, but Yahweh, the God of fierce protection over His people, showing another facet of His nature.

 

Exodus 15:3

The Lord is a man of war; The Lord is His name. (KJV)

The Lord is a warrior; Yahweh is His name. (NLT)

Jehovah is a man of war; Jehovah is His name. (ASV)

 

Isaiah 42:13; The Lord shall go forth like a mighty man; He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war.

 

The Lord is man of war; direct, bold, brawn in battle. The Lord is His name. The Lion of Judah; the symbol of bravery, nobility and strength.

Jehovah; God of all might, all power, establishing the Heavenly Father’s everlasting gospel on earth. More than a man; a man commanding, sturdy, victorious.

Exalt His name, celebrate His praise, give holiness to the Lord!

For the Lord is a man of war. He is a man of special fitness, an eminent warrior, a man of words, a tough man, a man of valour, with courage in the face of danger.

A warrior, engaged in war, inured to it. Overcoming powerful enemies, principalities, powers and satan himself. Overcoming the world and the great men of it. Overcoming the antichrist and the anti-Christian states.

Well versed in the art of war, qualified by wisdom, might and courage, subduing all people, making His own more than conquerors through Him.

Captain of the Lord’s host. Leader and Commander of the people. Generalissimo over armies on earth and in heaven. Prince and King: The Chief of them all.

The Lord is His name. Always overcoming, always constant in His promises. Jehovah, possessing the force to destroy His foes. The God who rules with unlimited might. The great Yahweh; The I Am That I Am.

This is the God that I serve! What about you?

 

The Stand Before The Dawn.

 

The Stand Before The Dawn.

I found something out today. It turns out, I’m doing some things right.

Apparently, if a Christian wakes between 3 and 5 am, they’re called the “Watchmen,” the one’s who stand last, just before the dawn.

That’s me. For those of you who know me well, you’ll know I’ve been waking at 4 most mornings, for years and years.

I’m told, between these hours we should try to remember our dreams.

That’s me too. If I don’t jot my dream down as soon as I wake, the devil snatches it away.

So, your dream is your instructions for the day from God. As you would know; dreams are symbolic and so we need to perceive, or interpret what God is saying within the context of our dream. We need to understand the biblical meaning behind numbers, colours and symbols.

And then, we need to pray according to the dream. (I’ve had dreams where family members get hurt and I’ve prayed angels around the situations, or a dissolving of what’s coming against my family). I didn’t know this was a ‘thing’ given to the Watchmen of the hour. That’s just something I do and a new revelation to me.

If we don’t have a dream, or can’t remember our dream, we’re to meditate on God’s word. I have a daily to-do list and this is one of the things on my daily list. I recite verses in the bible, usually for an hour or half an hour in the morning, depending on my time availability.

I ponder on the dream. I write them down, if I have one. I meditation on God’s word if I don’t and all of this causes the information God has for me to enter my spirit man. My spirit retrieves that information. At this time, the soul has to bow, for the lesser always bows to the greater. This makes room for the spirit to retrieve information, which may have come that night, or may have come weeks or months earlier.

As the information is retrieved, we’re to sense, feel and use intuition, perception and an inward knowing. If we do this often enough, we’ll begin to know what’s happening to loved ones and those closest to us.

With that done, we decree and declare – another thing on my morning to-do list, which I run through every morning before getting up. The bible tells us to make declarations without ceasing and I’ll do this throughout the day as well, if I have free mental time.

Prayer is two-way communication. It’s you and God talking together. Declarations are you commanding your day; you, prophetically making declarations about the direction of your life and the life of your loved ones. Job 22:28 states; thou shall also decree a thing and it shall be established unto thee...

It’s in these times, and in these hours, you’ll get divine revelation, where new and creative ideas will flow.

The hours between 3 and 5 are the hours of the “Chosen.” I hesitate to call myself one of the ‘chosen,’ but that’s what the minister in the clip said.

I’d have to be the accidental watchman, the accidental chosen, as it’s all happened around me for years and I never knew this to be the case. I always thought I was getting up this early to have uninterrupted bible study. Although I get a lot out of my early morning time, I didn’t realise it was God’s prompting for my daily walk.

At this point in time, I’d almost have to add, I’m also the ‘accidental grey nomad.’ I never expected to have a caravan and be travelling around the countryside – even if it was a long-held dream. A caravan wasn’t something I ever expected to own. I really don’t know how I expected the traveling to unfold, in my dream of trading, writing and traveling. It just happened without me. Lol.

On all counts – prayer watchman, chosen and grey nomad – it had to be God, because it certainly wasn’t me.

The next day, I was looking for something else, when I came across Revelation 17:14 ….and those who are with Him are called the chosen and faithful. Plus, my bible reading today; Ephesians 1:4 He chose us. And even the following morning again, my bible study was on the word chosen. Confirmation, I believe, in the words written above.

 

 

 

Lambie's Little Secret.

This short story is dedicated to my wonderful, courageous, funny, surprising, creative and gorgeous granddaughters; Kristelle and Heidi.

I love you both, very, very much.

                 Lambie’s Little Secret.

Nana’s dog died! I threw myself onto my bed, snuggled into Lambie and drenched his fur with my tears.

Kai; a big, goofy, clumsy dog, who bit people, when given half a chance. Not everyone liked Nana’s dog, but I liked him. He pranced and bounced and looked so very much to enjoy his walks. And he liked to play on the trampoline with me.

“Oh Lambie,” I cried. I took great comfort from Lambie, whenever I was upset. Oh, I know Lambie is just a stuffed toy, or at least that’s what I thought. Until Lambie proved me wrong, on this particular day.

I sobbed; my snot mixing with my tears and running into Lambie’s soft fur. It was then I thought I heard a voice. “Shh, little one. It’s okay. Kai’s gone to a happy place. He’s not sick anymore.”

Listening, eyes wide with fright, my body tensed as I looked around to see who was in the room with me. No one was there! It was just me and Lambie. “Lambie? Did you talk?” I stammered in a whisper.

I’d always been afraid of the unknown phenomena that might occur in my bedroom. Mum says I have too much imagination for my own good.

“Lambie?” I questioned again. Silence. No more words were spoken. It must be my vivid imagination. I sighed with relief and felt myself relax.

I contemplated looking under the bed, just to be sure, but that was way too scary. Instead, I ran out of my room. “Mum! Mum!” I called loudly.

“I’m out the back," came a muffled reply.

I ran outside and with a breathless voice, I asked; “Did you say something?”

“No honey. I’ve just been out here, pegging washing,” replied Mum, without pausing in her work.

‘Humph, must have been my imagination,’ I thought to myself, as I started to bounce on the trampoline, too scared really to go back inside just yet.

I’d only been jumping on the trampoline for a few minutes, when Mum asked; “Kristelle, would you mind going inside and checking on Heidi? Let me know if she’s awake, okay?”

“Do I have to?” I asked, still a little afraid to go inside by myself, but feeling foolish in saying so, after all, I am 8 years old you know. Too old to be scared.

“Well, it wouldn’t hurt for you to do that. You can see I’m busy,” said Mum.

I sighed once again, as I got off the trampoline. Dragging my feet and going as slow as I dare, I dawdled back inside. As I did so, I repeated to myself over and over; “There’s nothing there, there’s nothing there, there’s nothing there.”

And of course, there was nothing there. Only Heidi, looking very cute, fast asleep in her cot. I was just being silly and excessively imaginative.

I kissed my baby sister gently, careful not to wake her and went to watch tv in the lounge room, still not ready to face my bedroom yet; just in case.

As the day wore on, I forgot all about the voice I heard in my room, that is, until I went to the bathroom, just before going to bed. Closing the door behind me, I had a shower and when I came out, I couldn’t open the door.

The lock had stuck fast! Frantically I turned the knob this way and that, as the voice from earlier in the day, replayed in my mind. “Shh little one. Shh little one.”

The mirror, steamy from the heat of the shower in the cool of the evening, showed everything in the room as a soft blur. I froze on the spot, as I thought I saw a movement behind me, in the reflection of the mirror through the steam. “Mum!” I yelled, terrified the ‘thing’ that spoke to me earlier, had now locked me in the bathroom with it.

I could hear Mum running up the hall. How I could hear, I don’t know, over the thump, thump, thump, of my own heart. My heart thumped so hard, I thought it was going to explode out of my chest.

The door opened and Mum said, “Goodness gracious, child, what’s wrong?”

I felt incredibly foolish and said something along the lines of not being able to open the door. I didn’t tell her of my fears though. How could I? I was 8 after all. I shouldn’t be scared of anything at my age. A nervous chill crept through my bones, as I considered that it was almost bed time and I’d have to go to my room soon. Another wave of fear followed this thought.

For a brief moment, I considered hopping into bed with Heidi. How silly is that? As if I’d fit in a cot.

“Come on, honey, bed time,” said Mum.

“Do I have to? Can’t I stay up a little longer?” I pleaded, playing for more time.

“5 more minutes, but that’s it. You have school tomorrow.” Mum replied. About this time, Heidi began to fuss and cry and Mum got up, heading off to check on her. I lay on the lounge and was soon asleep. Dad must have come home from work and carried me to bed, because I woke up in my room the next morning and it was light. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Nothing happened. No more was said in my room that morning and I headed off to school a little later, with a happy heart, or so I thought. My friends asked me if I was okay. My teacher said I was a little quiet today. She too asked if I was alright.

I didn’t tell them. All I said was I a was a bit sad, because my Nana’s dog had died.

It had now been some days since the voice had talked to me.

Christmas was around the corner and I was beginning to see Christmas lights going up along the streets and in homes and stores. I was becoming excited. I’d forgotten about the voice in my room until…..

“Kristelle, honey, could you keep an eye on Heidi? I’m just popping down to the laundry, to put a load of washing on” Mum said.

“Sure,” I said.

Mum put a thick rug on the floor and laid Heidi on the rug, then disappeared out the door of my room.

“Hello Heidi,” I said. Heidi looked at me and cooed, smiling up at me as she did so, little arms and legs swinging wildly, with no control.

I grabbed a book off the shelf and sat down next to my little sister and began to read. She cooed and gurgled and appeared to be enjoying herself.

“Isn’t she just the cutest little thing?” I heard from the other side of the room. The hair on the back of my neck stood up and I felt a chill move through my body.

Looking to where I thought the sound had come from, I saw only Lambie, sitting up on my bed. “Lambie, is that you?” I asked, tentatively. I wanted to cry. I was so scared. I’d forgotten all about the other day, when I thought Lambie had spoken to me.

I was annoyed with myself now; how could I forget such a thing?

“Of course it’s me, dear. Haven’t you heard; when you love a toy so very much, they come to life?” Lambie said in the sweetest voice, allaying my fears somewhat.

“No, I haven’t heard that,” I replied. I did love my Lambie. Lambie had been my very best friend since I was very little. Lambie went to the park with me, went for long car drives, played picnics and slept with me every night. I do so love my Lambie.

I never expected Lambie to talk to me. Not for real. Lambie had always spoken to me in my imagination, but never for real, until now.

Heidi had stopped squirming and it was as if she too, was listening.

I jumped up on my bed, grabbed Lambie and sat him next to Heidi, so Heidi could see what was going on.

“Hello Heidi,” Lambie said. “You and I are going to have so much fun, when you get a bit bigger.”

Heidi stared intently at Lambie and I said, “I don’t think she quite understands. She’s just a baby.”

“We had a lot of fun, didn’t we Kristelle, when you were growing up.” Lambie said.

“Yes, we did,” I replied, comfortable now, with the fact that a stuffed toy was talking to me.

“You’ll be getting too big to play with stuffed toys soon. I hope Heidi will play with me like you did,” said Lambie.

Just then Mum came to the door and Lambie went silent. I didn’t know whether to tell Mum or not, that Lambie was talking to me. I looked at Lambie and he gave me a wink and I felt it was like Lambie telling me; this is our little secret.

“Who were you talking to?” Mum asked.

“Oh no one. I was just reading to Heidi.” I replied, with my fingers crossed behind my back.

“That’s a lovely thing to do for your sister,” said Mum. “I’m so happy to see you two getting on well together.”

“Mum do you think it would be okay, for me to give Lambie to Heidi?” I asked. “I’m a bit big now, to have a stuffed toy, but Heidi might take Lambie for longs drives and play at the park with him and have picnics.”

“That would be lovely. I’m sure Heidi will like that,” replied Mum. “Let’s pop Heidi down for a sleep and Lambie can go too.”

As the years passed, it was fun to watch Heidi take Lambie for walks, drives and picnics. Lambie looks well-loved now and a tad ragged, but we don’t care. He’s still our special Lambie.

I never did hear Lambie speak again. Perhaps it was because I gave him away. Perhaps he spoke to Heidi, when they played together. I guess we’ll never know. But it does go to show; if you love a stuffed toy, very, very much, they’ll come to life.

                               The End!

           Written with much love, from Nana.

Epilogue:

I would like to conclude with; although just a tale there are elements of truth to this story, for Lambie is a toy much loved by my granddaughters. And while the stuffed toy could have been any other animal; an elephant, a unicorn, a teddy bear, it is no coincidence the animal depicted here was a lamb.

For it is the Lamb of God who speaks to us, through ways and means that may surprise us; after all, the God of the Bible spoke through a donkey (Numbers 22:28). Job 33:14 states; For God may speak in one way, or in another...

The Lamb of God speaks to us and we know this to be true, because it states in John 10:3 …the sheep hear His voice and He calls His own sheep by name…

Also, John 10:27 The sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me.

The prophetic, which has come through this story is real. It is God showing us, through Jesus Christ, anything is possible. Revelation 17:14 speaks of the war which comes against the Lamb and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is the Lord of lords.

And one final word - although this is just a story, a secret in a story is okay. In real life however, we must never keep secrets from Mum and Dad. And remember; it’s okay to be scared. Many children are. Just call on the name of Jesus and He will give you courage and help you overcome all your fears and trials in life, for you will hear Him, when you call to Him.