Supernaturally natural, Naturally supernatural

Like Oliver Twist, I want more. Some events over the past few months have made me realise how important it is a believer to always seek more. I believe a lot of us live below our potential because our eyes have not yet been opened to the abundance that is our inheritance in Christ. The title of this post is a phrase my pastor usually uses when he tries to explain to us that we are to be different. As believers, God has given us the Holy Spirit and through Him we should develop fruits and gifts that make us different. I've told God I'm tired of struggling and toiling. I'm not against hard work but sometimes I feel like how Peter and John must have felt after putting in all their effort through the night to catch fish and coming up with nothing. Having Jesus in your boat should definitely make the difference. This post is about renewing and developing a relationship with the Holy Spirit by putting a collection of verses I have and will be meditating in coming days on my journey to being supernaturally natural and naturally supernatural.

We need the Holy Spirit, we need discernment, we need wisdom, we need counsel, we need comfort, we need the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, we need you. We really need you. I need you. Holy Spirit, I need your counsel in every decision that I make, I need you as a business partner, I need you as a confidante, I need your fruit to be manifest in my life to enable me be mature in the things of God. I need your gifts to enable me fulfill my purpose. I need you to supervise me on the projects I am undertaking. I need you to reveal the hearts of the people around me, not to judge by what I see or what I hear but by what the Spirit says. Thank you Holy Spirit.

But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you. In regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to John 16:5-13

The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power,the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears Isaiah 11:2-3

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners Isaiah 61:1

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth Acts 1:8

And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. Joel 2:28-29

One last thought, what or who influences the decisions that you make? I believe in always making 'sensible' decisions but whose sense? Does it make sense in the natural or is Spirit sense? Sometimes going with the Spirit may make you seem 'senseless' in the natural but always go with the Spirit. Don't know who that was for but it definitely was for me. Selah.

Rest..

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Mark 11:28-30

This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, 'We will not walk in it.' Jeremiah 6:16


Shhh
Rest
Be calm
These are not human arms
That hold you in this love embrace
These hands don't get tired or weary
Never too busy or lack the strength or lose grip
I know that sometimes in the midst of the storm you forget
Who it is that you are in Covenant relationship with as you compare
The love I have for you with what you have experienced in the hands of men
Who at their very best are rarely able to give you the very best that you need
I am not a man and I cannot lie for I am TRUTH and within these arms find comfort
Within these arms, REST, for the battle is still raging and having done all, you must STAND
REST because there are those I shall send your way to whom you will be my arms and mouth
To say REST for as you have received comfort you must also comfort your brethren
Reminding them of the love I have for them that they are not alone
Tell them to know their God for they shall in turn do exploits
Greater works than they can think or imagine
And they in turn shall provide strength
For those who are weary
And bear burdens
They shall say
Be calm
Rest
Shh

Conversations with God are so interesting but we really need to set the atmosphere, not so much for Him to speak but for us to hear what He is saying. There is no comfort like that which comes from the Holy Spirit. He reaches so deep into you to places you never knew existed, binding broken pieces with the love of God. I tried to copy Kafo but I'm not sure that worked very well!! The point is to remember that there is a place you can go to find rest. Sometimes it means leaving a physical location but when you can't get to Barbados, get in the Spirit and find that place of rest in Him. He's always available.

Remain blessed and highly favoured. Irrespective of whatever point you are in the story of your life, remember its never over until The Storyteller writes The End.

Songs that inspire, Life is not hard

Thanks all for the condolence messages. My uncle has been buried and we are moving on by the grace of God. It's still unreal at the moment. This song came up on my iPod this afternoon. I didn't understand all the words and found the video with subtitles in English. I've also put the lyrics in English. I know the title may sound funny to someone who is going through something that feels like you're between a rock and a hard place but life is not hard when we put our hope and trust in the One who knows all and sees all. I'm learning now what it really means to put your hope in the Lord.

Daddy, give us the grace not to give up. To hold on to your promises for You who promised is faithful!

Remain blessed and highly favoured. Thanks Infinity for this song.



Lyrics from www.niglyrics.com

Son of man, listen to me
the aged's word if it doesn't happen at the start
often happens at the end

VERSE 1
No matter how long
the travails of our lives shall come to an end
Men's heart fail for anxiety
because they know not what tommorow holds
God has made a promise
and His promises shall never fail
Its lack of faith
that makes men lose hope
Let the seas and ocean flee
the truth abides still
the source of all things is faith

CHORUS
Life is not hard
Life is not hard for those who believe life is not hard
Life is not hard
Life is not hard for those who believe life is not hard
Life is not hard
Life is not hard for those who believe life is not hard
Life is not hard
Life is not hard for those who believe life is not hard

VERSE 2
the patient always obtain the best
when a man lacks patience
he loses his vindication
Your thoughts towards me better be good my friend
that his thoughts towards you might be of good
In my life, death has suddenly become life
the patient always obtain the best
when a man lacks patience
he loses his vindication
Your thoughts towards me better be good my friend
that his thoughts towards you might be of good
In my life, death has suddenly become life

For Us who Believe

Happy Easter everyone! I've so missed blogging and I am grateful to be back. For me, sharing on this page is more than writing, its like fulfilling the purpose God created me for. Thank you Jesus. Someone sent a text message to me over the Easter break reminding me that as a believer, that just as the enemy never backs down on his attack I too should never back down on the attack as well. The Bible says if we faint in the day of adversity, it means our strength is small so rather than waiting for no adversity or asking that the cup be taken away we should always be praying for more strength.

Going through the Bible, especially the Pauline epistles (no, I'm still using the same Bible, just the books written by Paul) I realise how big a theme prayer is, there was hardly a letter Paul wrote where he did not include prayers for the saints. As believers, we need prayer, dare I say, more so than unbelievers. This is because our spirit man has been awakened, we have become born again and our spirits are in constant war with our flesh. As I go along, I pray to add more prayer points to this list but I have asked God for the grace to pray over these points regularly because they are so pertinent to the success of my Christian walk. These have been obtained from Paul's letters to the Ephesians and Colossians and full text can be found in the 1st chapters of both books.

For Us who believe

• Father enable me to be filled with the knowledge of your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding
• Father teach me to walk worthy of you, fully pleasing you
• Father help me to be fruitful in every GOOD WORK and increase in the knowledge of you
• Father enable me to be strengthened with all might according to your glorious power
• Father help me to learn to be patient and longsuffering with JOY
• Father enable me to give thanks unto you who has counted me worthy to partake in the inheritance of the saint
• Father I ask for the spirit of wisdom and revelation that enables me know you better
• Father enlighten the eyes of my heart in order that I may know the hope to which you have called me
• Father enable me to avail of the incomparable great power available to us who believe
• Father I ask that you strengthen me with power through your Spirit in my inner man that Christ may dwell in my heart through faith
• Father I pray and ask that I may be rooted and established in love
• Father I especially ask for your help and grace to DAILY put off the old self with its desires and be made NEW in the attitude of my mind, to put on a NEW SELF which has been created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness
• Father help me to get rid of ALL bitterness, anger, rage, brawling, slander and malice
• Father enable me to be like you, to be kind and compassionate, forgiving my brothers and sisters as you have forgiven me

Keep praying, these days the enemy is not resting. We should not be resting either. What I have learnt in the past few weeks is that not all battles should be fought alone. God has always brought our way people who can stand in the gap and intercede for us when we get so tired. No battle is fought with a single soldier. I think I had allowed pride to prevent me from reaching out but I'm learning, I'm growing and I know I'm winning.

Please keep my family in your prayers. My uncle passed away on Thursday morning aged 41. He had been sick but we all believed he was getting better and responding to treatment so its been quite a shock. The prayer is that we all are aware of God's peace and love. The morning he died my mother says she had a dream where she saw him looking so happy and well. She said he looked strong just as he had before he got sick. For some reason when she woke up she knew he was dead. I believe she saw him as he is now because I believe he has gone to a place of no more tears, no more crying, no more sickness and no more pain. Uncle C, we miss you. I believe you are resting in the bosom of the Lord.

Remain blessed and highly favoured.

And we still pray

Hi all,

I'm so sorry it's been so silent here. Thanks Mimi, Solomonsydelle and Patrina for checking up on me. I think iPray was for me, to build strength for what was coming next! There cannot be a testimony without a test but I thank God because in recent times I am learning about what He means when He says He is a FAITHFUL God. So, I'm kinda back.

I cried out to God for HELP; I cried out to God to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted.........Then I thought, "To this I will appeal: the years of the right hand of the Most High. I will REMEMBER the deeds of the Lord; yes I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will MEDITATE on ALL your WORKS and consider all your mighty deeds....You are the God who PERFORMS MIRACLES; you display your POWER among the people.

Selected verses from Psalm 77

I can so relate to the words of this psalmist, he may as well have been writing from the journal of my heart. After a recent event, I threw my hands up to God and asked Him if after a season of prayer, that was my own breakthrough! This is me with my finite vision asking Infinity if He knows what He's doing. I love God because He gives us room to ask questions, not to doubt His power but to reaffirm our faith. He said that the same power that was available to raise Lazarus from the dead was also available to heal him when he was sick but He is a God of purpose and He always knows what He is doing. I just need to learn to trust that.

In recent times, I have struggled with doubt, wondering how God can take me from A to B. Thinking about the gap between where I am and where I 'supposedly' am supposed to be. Looking at unticked prayer requests and those requests that have been transferred from one prayer season to the other, remembering pressing needs that need 'urgent' attention. I tend to do that, to look at the storm and the waves, forgetting that Jesus is in the boat. God asked me to recall His mighty deeds of old.

No matter what happens, I am one that can say God has been good to me, God has been GREAT to me. He has blessed me, sometimes I don't even know how I'm able to deal with things that come my way but I know that it has nothing to do with me just my Heavenly Father, opening doors of favour and pouring abundant showers of blessing on me. God, I know you have been good to me! As I recall the faithfulness of the Lord, I am encouraged daily. God is calling me to a higher place, like my Pastor says, we should be 'supernaturally natural'. He means that as children of God, we are different. We should be different, we have access to unlimited power, we are the ones who should speak to the storm, we are the one who can move mountains into the sea, we are the ones who the power that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in. Halleluyah!

David said 'you are kings, but you act like mere men'. Lord, forgive me and help me. Open the eyes of my heart that I may see you. So, I must keep praying, like Elijah, I was overwhelmed by Jezebel and ran but now I have heard my God in the still small voice saying, ' I am here with you, I will never leave you or forsake you, obey my instructions and watch and see what I shall do in your life'. I just want to encourage anyone reading, please don't give up, no matter what it is. Don't give up on God, don't give up on His promises, don't give up on life, don't give up on your God given dream. At this point the walls of Jericho may look impenetrable, but keep obeying the Lord, keep your praise on.

The storms of life are INEVITABLE (I need to remember this!!!) meaning they are sure to happen, we need not be afraid for as I have come to learn, they come to reveal what we are building for what it is. The man who hears His commandments and OBEYS them is building with the storm in mind for after it all, He remains standing. Some buildings have recently been demolished in my life and I've asked God's help in rebuilding from the foundation, so that the next storm finds me well prepared because what I am building with God will stand the test of time.

Be encouraged, God has not forgotten about you. Keep praying, keep praising. It is well

To the One who is always Present
To the One who always understands
To the One who always provides
To the One who always shows mercy
To the One who is always faithful
To the One who always protects
I give praise, honour and adoration
Thank you for being The One

iPray: Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving and Praise

Praise the LORD.Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power;praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD. Psalm 150

Praising you
with every breath that I breathe
with every song that I sing
with every fibre of my being
with everything that is me
This is my prayer Lord

Thanking you
for who you are
for all that you do
for being OmniPotent
for your mercy and grace
I'm grateful Lord

Honouring you
because you are God
because you are above all
because there is none like you
because you deserve it
This is my prayer Lord

Adoring you
in the beauty of your holiness
in the splendour of your majesty
in the light of your glory
in the magnificence of your strength
It's an awesome privilege

Dear Daddy,

It's us again, saying a very big THANK YOU. Thank you Lord for 28 days where we were able to come before your throne of grace and pray. Thank you Lord for the gifts of prayer and intercession that we do not serve a god made of wood and stone but a LIVING God who reigns, rules and is interested in the affairs of His people. Thank you because you are a God who is both willing and able to do of His good pleasure. Thank you for being a source of every good and perfect gift.

Thank you for my brothers and sisters who were a part of this journey, who made it possible to happen, Father thank you because I know you have answered their prayers. Father, as they have prayed and interceded for others I thank you because you are meeting them at the point of their need.

Thank you for everything, Lord I ask for one more thing. I ask that in coming days, we remember that our God answers prayer, no matter what events come our way that we never forget the prayers we have made and we live in a sense of expectation. Thank you for the words you have spoken to us for they are spirit and they are life. We have breathe so we sing praises to you.

Please join me in giving thanks to the Lord today and ask God for the grace to live a thankful life.

I want to say a very BIG thank you to all the bloggers who joined me, guys this would not have happened without you. Thanks for responding to the call, thanks for everything. Your prayers sure have reached heaven and I know the answers are coming. We pray and He answers.

So thank you,

Cherub
ChiChi
Favoured Girl
Jaycee
Life of a stranger
Mimi
Patrina
Reverence
Rita
Simeone
WriteFreak
Tiera
Tisha

Also, thank you to everyone who joined us in prayer. God bless you. iPray doesn't end here, it's a lifestyle we all need to adopt. Pray, pray and pray even more.

So iPray, do you?