Grace is built to last forever

"Another year", Hannah thought..

Gone by, without Niki."

The horror of his sudden death and its aftermath.

The agony of sorting out his things and putting life back in order again.

His absence filled the atmosphere and everywhere she looked 

His memory lingered there.

"At such a young age ,you took him, why God why? She often found herself asking

"Emily is barely nine,

What all she will have to face without a father to shield her, "she cried.

It was grace upon grace as family and friends moved in 

To make life easier for her and Emily.

"Why are you crying now, mother ?,

Are you thinking of father"?

"No, my child, father is with Jesus

It's you I'm worried about .

We cannot live off others it’s time, we managed our affairs .

I need to get us a job I have no idea where to look it’s been a long time since I worked.”.Hannah said.

"Ma , see what i found , showing her mum a verse written on the cover of a calendar.

It says 
Grace is built to last forever
In the heavens themselves you established your faithfullness. Ps.89:3 CJB

"Yes , so it does." Hannah muttered.

"Grace hasn’t left us mum,

In the New Year too we can experience God's grace.

She started watching Emily cutting the quote and sticking the verse on her mirror.

Suddenly, Hannah smiled how much like Nikki her little girl was

Always optimistic and positive .

Next day a bunch of ladies had dropped in from the church.

Pastor had sent word wanting to know if she was interested in

An opportunity to work as a counselor at a renowned university.

They have assured free accommodation and to take care of Emily's education.

Hannah and Emily looked at each other in shock

"Grace is built to last forever" they shouted, as they rushed to embrace  each other.

"I will take up the offer my dears. Please inform pastor"  Hannah told them.
After wiping away the tears of joy..
"Hannah said,forgive me father God for my unbelief and thank you, dear Emily,for your faith".
Pulling her daughter towards her , Hannah said, "come what may in the days to come, grace will see us through"!

Beyond the Wall

When we faced in a situation like Moses

A wall or the sea in front of us and an army behind us

With a mission to kill, destroy and annihilate

What do we do?

Sit and weep like the Israelites did.

“This is going to be my burial place!

Why god why did you have to bring us to this place to die”!

But what does God tell  them

God said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.” Ex. 14:15 NIV

To where? To the wall ...or in the Israeli's case the sea

When God leads the way He also tells us what to do

Follow the instruction to the "T"

God asked Moses to do one thing. “Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.” Ex. 14:16 NIV

What is it that God's asking you to do to unleash his mighty power to your situation?

Be assured while he is creating that dry path for you to walk on

Beyond the wall

He is covering you from all sides

“19 Next, the angel of God, who was going ahead of the camp of Isra’el, moved away and went behind them; and the column of cloud moved away from in front of them and stood behind them. 

CJB
”Ex. 14:19 He will hem us in from all sides so the enemy cannot touch us.

How great is our God.

Be Still or Move on. Remember He is the one who is fighting your battles for you.

Shalom

What You Say is What You Get

The young man stood in front of his pastor

With his head bent down.

“I tried my level best to get a job in this place, pastor

But it just doesn’t come through.

I need to go back home now as I cannot manage on my own here, any longer.”

“Do you believe that God is bigger than your problems?” pastor asked him

“Oh! Yes I do.” He replied.

“What is the key God has given you in the scriptures?”

Mark 11:23 KJV                

23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

“When you are faced in an overwhelming situation, continued pastor

And the problem is standing like a mountain in front of you 

What does God tell you to do, speak to that mountain (problem) first?

Decree / command it. Second.

Have no doubt in your heart, third.

Believe that those words which you have spoken will come to pass. Fourth, follow the instructions as given in the Word and come back and meet me, son.” Said pastor

 He shook hands with the young man and watched him slowly go

Looking up to heaven, pastor said

“Father God, I pray as it is written in your scriptures

“So is my word that goes out from my mouth —
it will not return to me unfulfilled;
but it will accomplish what I intend,
and cause to succeed what I sent it to do. Isaiah 55:11 CJB

In a weeks’ time the man was back

Beaming from ear to ear

“What happened?” Pastor asked, anticipating good news

“I kept speaking to my situation, even though my head and heart had a hard time believing

I had roamed this city a thousand times and I knew it was impossible to get a job with the current depression in the market.

But nevertheless, I just followed your instructions.

I ran into my old friend who took me to his boss

And he employed me...

“Can you believe it I got a job in six days?

Pastor held him by the shoulder

“Well done! My son, hope you have clearly understood now.

Meditate and apply God’s word in your life and watch the miracles which enfolds.”

Great is Thy faithfullness, O Lord!

Life it’s not easy, it’s often times so hard

Family and friends who claim to be our life support,

May or may not be around,

Some of the thoughts twirling in your head when you are sick and old could be

"Who is going to take care of me?"

"Who is going to hold my hand? 

When I'm sick and aging 

  And when strength leaves my bones"

“When my body and mind gives up on me

Oh my God! You will cry out what is going to become of me"!

“I want to go home you may shout

Back to my parents’ home, to be with them and my siblings if any of them are around, you may say".

"They have left to their heavenly abode and your siblings are all far away, someone would tell you

And the only home you have is the one you are living in.

And the only family you have 

Are the care takers who may or not be from your blood line?"

"What are you going to do then?"

It’s better to start preparing right now...

Never look around,

To your earthly mates,

To pop their heads in,

To find out if you are living or dead .

Or you may be horribly disappointed.

Train your eyes to look upwards,

The one who is called God the Almighty.

He has promised through his word

Deuteronomy 31:6 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

6 Be strong, be bold, don’t be afraid or frightened of them, for Adonai your God is going with you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

Isaiah 46:4 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

4 Till your old age I will be the same —
I will carry you until your hair is white.
I have made you, and I will bear you;
yes, I will carry and save you

And when your time on earth is done,

He will send his angels to escort you,
To  his presence and your loved ones in the heavenlies.

So live each day,

As if it’s your last.

And live each moment resting your cares on HIM!

The Joy of the Redeemed

“As usual pouring over books and making calculations.

 Can’t you make a decent living like the others in the village?

You study and study and nothing ever comes out of it.” John’s wife chided him.

My people are destroyed for want of knowledge Hosea 4:6 CJB “haven’t you read that verse, woman?

It will do you some good to read the bible sometime instead of nagging me all the time”. John said walked away in a huff.

She went to close the books and saw that one was the bible.

“How was he ever going to make a livelihood studying the bible? She spoke out aloud.

This man is never going to make it in life, we will always be like this stuck in our drab lives.” She shut all the books piled it up neatly and went about her work.

He returned a little while later dragging huge planks of wood in his cart.

Religiously for days on end he worked cutting plank tracks.

It took John and his men three days to reach the cart to the borders of the desert

They worked on the leveling the low lying dunes and

assembled two parallel plank tracks, each 25" wide, spiked them to wooden cross pieces underneath
“This makes a pretty decent road, doesn’t it," the men exclaimed excited after they finished work on a 12 feet section.

“It sure does!” John replied with a broad smile.

They then loaded their cart with rocks and tested how smoothly it ran over the section...

“Wow! …a plank road in the desert, this is great news”.

They could barely wait till they reached back home and told the entire village

They made a plan to make a highway in the desert  6 and half miles long to connect their village to the one across the desert.

“Can you imagine how trade will increase with this highway ?” one of them exclaimed.

Plans were soon drawn to raise the funds for the "desert high way."

“How on earth did you come up with this plan?” john’s wife asked him later on

“From the studying the bible of course…where else “.John replied.

CJB Isaiah 35:1-3

The desert and the dry land will be glad;

The ‘Aravah will rejoice and blossom like the lily.

2 It will burst into flower,

Will rejoice with joy and singing,

Will be given the glory of the L’vanon,

The splendor of Karmel and the Sharon.

They will see the glory of Adonai,

the splendor of our God.

CJB Isaiah 35:8-3

8 A highway will be there, a way,

called the Way of Holiness.

The unclean will not pass over it,

but it will be for those whom he guides —

fools will not stray along it.

9 No lion or other beast of prey

will be there, traveling on it.

They will not be found there,

but the redeemed will go there.

10 Those ransomed by Adonai will return

and come with singing to Tziyon,

on their heads will be everlasting joy.

They will acquire gladness and joy,

while sorrow and sighing will flee.

The Last Fight

It was a fight from the beginning

It was a fight from the start.

The womb was the first battleground the grave will be her last.

The first combat was with her twin and the last was with Alzheimer’s.

In-between the two there were umpteen wars with surgeries, heart disease, blood pressure and diabetes.

And not to miss half a lifetime with financial stress,

Widowhood, loneliness and depression.

She fought for survival, she fought for her life.

She fought for her children and their lot.

She discharged her duties the best that she could.

Enemies in her life were in plenty, who did all they could, to add to her misery.

She learnt there was no one, to hold on to, as a crutch,

She learnt there was only HER GOD and HIS matchless faithfulness. 

She learnt to LET GO all to his will.

He was there by her side to face life alone and he will be there by her side when she has to face her death alone.

Isaiah 46:3-4 CJB

“Listen to me, house of Ya‘akov,
all who remain of the house of Isra’el:
I have borne you from birth,
carried you since the womb.
4 Till your old age I will be the same —
I will carry you until your hair is white.
I have made you, and I will bear you;
yes, I will carry and save you.

He will be there with his angels when it’s her time to carry her HOME.

Because He Lives

The old lady came walking slowly to the church organ
And gently she began her song.
By the end of it , the whole church stood up and clapped their hands for a full ten minutes
This is how her song went

Because HE LIVES I lived  up to eighty whereas I should have ended my life at 18 as a hopeless teenager.

Because HE LIVES I have understood to stop looking at my problems even if I am buried under its load but to keep  my eyes on the Living God and keep believing his WORD.

Because HE LIVES my larger than life's dreams and aspirations  had  only one answer. God will make a way even if there seems to be  no way if it was his plan for my life.

Because HE LIVES every horrible situation in my life I swallowed it like a bitter pill. Because all things work for the good for those who love and serve the Lord. Romans 8:28

Because HE LIVES when many a times in life's journey when I felt the loss of a dear one I always comforted myself thinking of the one who will never leave me or forsake me. Deuteronomy 31:6

Because HE LIVES every financial problem every lack had a breakthrough. I acknowledged the creator of wealth and the master of the universe in every transaction I made.1 Chronicles 29:9-14

Because HE LIVES whenever I came close to the jaws of death I used to just shut my eyes and through it all I know he would be a there.

Because HE LIVES when obstacles stood in my path like a huge mountain instead of fretting  I knew it was always wise to pray.

Because HE LIVES I  had the courage to follow my destiny .God writes it into your soul the word says even before you were born. Jeremiah 1:5

Because HE LIVES I am ready to leave this earth and live with my lord in ETERNITY.