Christmas for those who have loved and lost

What keeps Christians going when the world grows darker day by day and lives are fraught with suffering?

The Christian's fuel is the hope we have in Jesus Christ. We have this hope because Jesus died for the world's sins, was resurrected on the third day, and those who give their lives to him are safe and secure in this acceptance. We hold it close to our hearts.

But what happens when we 'lose' someone we loved? When grief feels so thick that it's almost hard to breathe? When festive seasons such as Christmas remind us of that loss even more?

Firstly, I want to emphasis this; it is okay not to be okay. It's okay to cry. Don't be so wrapped up in trying to not to upset others that you don't let yourself grieve properly. Even in the moments which are wrapped up with a pre-decided 'happy' label. I strongly believe in the release of emotions and being vulnerable before our saviour. 

Psalm 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts.

However I know that embracing vulnerability and who you are after loss can be easier said than done. Sometimes I feel so consumed by my grief that I can't utter a single word or move a muscle in my body. But I find strength in the unwavering fact that God knows and hears the cries of my heart.

One day, I was crying on the phone to one of my sisters in Christ, and as we spoke she had a vision of Jesus collecting my tears in a jar. I share this to demonstrate that He sees your tears! Your emotions  may tell you that you are alone, without hope, that He's turned His back on you - but your tears are not in vain!

Your sadness may grow stronger at Christmas - you may feel that 'loss' stronger than ever, but God's got you.

Psalm 18:16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.

And now, I remind you again, of that hope that your grief made you forget for a moment. 

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 

For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.

 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. 

And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

This Christmas, as you remember the hope of salvation that was found in Jesus' birth, which in turn birthed hope within us - remember the hope you also have in His second coming. I know sometimes we feel like Lazarus' sister Mary, who told Jesus "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." But He never left. What we feel is a loss, isn't a true loss at all. Yes, it is certainly a loss in our lives on earth, and it definitely hurts. But God's got you and them this Christmas. 

 Mankind was on an endless downward spiral until Jesus Christ came to earth. We don't have a God who can't relate and emphasis with our struggles. When Jesus saw Lazarus' body, he wept. He feels our pain and struggles. God's got you and your loved ones this Christmas.

I know that not everyone is a believer, and these words may not feel of any use to you. You may be hopeless, in the sense that you're hope isn't placed in Jesus, but I want you to know that you too, are not alone. This Christmas, surround yourself with positive people, who remind you of the love that him/her/them gave you. And I pray that God's love transcends your unbelief and heals your heart.

This is a prayer for all those who are grieving or have experienced some sort of loss:

Dear Jesus,

I believe that you are with me this Christmas. I hold on to the promise that you are with me even in the midst of my storm. My grief, tears and pain could and will never drown out your presence or voice. Touch my heart and give me a reason to smile this Christmas. Thank you for coming down to earth just so I could have hope, and that hope is present in all situations. 

Amen.

Courtney Carr x

He believes in us!

When the Israelites turned their back on Him yet again, in Judges 6, God wasn't ready to abandon them, even though He did allow them to suffer the consequences of their actions.

As a result of rejecting God, the Israelites faced harsh oppression from Midian. God tells them in Judges 6:10 "...you have not listened to me." This made me think of how many times we try and follow our own path, only to suffer the consequences and hear God say, "you have not listened to me." Doesn't this remind you of  the times when you've disobeyed your parents, and you've heard the disappointment in their voices?

A loving parent does not reject their child when they make a mistake and neither does God. Out of His love God raises up a mighty warrior.

Judges 6:12 "When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, 'The LORD is with you, mighty warrior."

Before Gideon even considered himself to be great, God saw the greatness within. There are many things that God has planted in our lives that we may not see yet, but that does not mean they are not there. Just because you don't think you are powerful, or strong, or an over comer, it doesn't mean that you don't possess those qualities deep within.

In Judges 6:13 Gideon responds to the angel, and he says something that I think we have all said when we've doubted God. 

"Pardon me, my lord," Gideon replied, "but if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, 'Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.'"

Personally, when I entered the biggest storm of my life, all I could think was, "If God is with me why am I suffering? How can He truly be good if He has allowed this to happen to me?". As time went on I truly realised that your circumstances are not a reflection of God's character. Just because I was suffering, it doesn't mean that God was up there, enjoying it. 

 Gideon had a warped mindset because his own father had served Baal ( (a foreign useless god)and set up Ashtoreth poles. Often we can misunderstand the moves of God when we focus on our circumstance. As humans, it's like we have a default setting to run from God or blame him when we face trouble - but we've got to go against that if we want to move forward. Our flesh never desires what's good for us.

The answer that Gideon receives is simple:

"Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?" (Judges 6: 14 NIV)

You have strength even if you don't realise it. You are more than enough! We need to stop seeing ourselves as weak or not 'strong enough'. In Christ you can go against the status quo. You can crush one million obstacles. Recognise WHO sent you - once you have confidence in who Jesus really is, you'll move with confidence. Go with what you have - go with that talent or gift, with the resources you already have, with the few people around you. You do not need more! Stop waiting for everyone around you to get with the program. 

Like many of us Gideon had a problem with self-image and confidence. He told God, "...how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family" (Judges 6: 15).  

You know what's amazing about God? He doesn't care about social status. He doesn't care about if you are 'high key', 'low key' or whether you're apart of the most popular clique. And what's more amazing is that, when we care about it and focus on it, God simply replies "I will be with you...".

Even when we are like Gideon, and rely on the physical to believe in him rather than live by faith, he doesn't give up on us. 

Judges 6: 17 -18 "...give me a sign that it's really you talking to me. Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you." 

You see, Gideon had been so used to serving a god that didn't have substance, he struggled to see that God was real and believed in him.When we are blind to who He is, God simply says to us, like he said to Gideon all those years ago, "I will wait until you return."

How loving is our God? He always waits for us to return and when we do, He welcomes us with loving arms. He didn't only wait like he promised, but he gave Gideon the strength to not not only defeat the Midians, but also the courage to go against his father and serve the true and living God.

As Christians, and even as general people, we all have moments like Gideon; we live in fear and doubt ourselves but most of all we sometimes doubt God. 

However, I want you to know that God does not doubt you. He believes in you. You possess so many strengths that you are unaware of, and even the things you consider to be your weaknesses or faults, God has already turned around for His glory. You are a mighty warrior even if you consider yourself the lowest of the low. 

Courtney Carr xx

Crossing Your Jordan

The Jordan river/ Image accredited to: https://www.flickr.com/photos/seetheholyland/4189367178

You're on the way to your destination - the road so far has been smooth and you've overcome many other barriers. 

But then you see the biggest river you've ever seen in your life - add the fact that you can't swim and you have a fear of water into the mix.

The Israelites' faced one of their biggest obstacles in Joshua chapter 3.  The river Jordan stood between them and their promised land. What's worse is that it was at flood stage. This is how life can feel sometimes (or a lot of the time). Your problems feel manageable, and you're full of confidence, until you hit that river/mountain or valley in your life. You feel as if you can't overcome or move forward, and what you want is just on the other side.

When it comes to crossing your Jordan, you have to keep a few things in mind.

1. In your own strength it will be impossible. 

When we rely on ourselves to move the things that only God can move, we tire ourselves out needlessly and are at risk of drowning in our problems. 

Joshua reminds the Israelites:

"...when you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move from out of your positions and follow it." (Joshua 3:3 NIV)

The Israelites were told to wait until they saw the presence of God. It's important to follow the direction of God and allow him to guide your footsteps, but you must also be patient in the waiting. If the Israelites had moved of their own accord, they would have most likely drowned as the Jordan was at flood stage.

2. The way God solves your problem may not be what you expect

"the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down the Sea of Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho." (Joshua 3:16 NIV)

God could have easily just parted the water in two, like he did when the Israelites crossed the Red Sea. He chose not to, because He was (and is) making a statement. 

First he cut off the water flowing upstream (the closest to the source). When God intervenes in your situation, He is able to get to the root of the problem.

Then he does something against the natural order and piles the water up in a heap, at a town which is ironically called Adam (Earth/man). He's demonstrating that His power is greater than man's. He was (and is) in control of the Jordan because He created it. It's almost like He was crying out "look humanity! See my glory!"

What He does  next is even more glorious. He completely cuts off the water going to the Dead Sea. It's a great reminder of the fact that God is the source of life, and wishes us to have it in abundance. God wasn't simply allowing the Israelites to cross, but he was showing them the glory and splendour waiting for them on the other side. God won't simply enable you to cross your Jordan, but He'll show you what great things He has in store.

3. You can't fail!

Remember, with God on your side, no matter how difficult it is to overcome your problem, you cannot and will not fail. He is the very definition of life. It's impossible for Him to fail you! God is more than able to fight for you, just like He did for the Israelites.

Courtney Carr x

The purpose of your wilderness season

Wilderness (noun): A wild, uninhabited and uncultivated region.

No life in sight?/ Accredited to: https://pixabay.com/en/desert-drought-dehydrated-clay-soil-279862/

The purpose of your wilderness season

The Israelites' wilderness season consisted of them wandering the desert regions for forty years, at God's command., They were a defiant and disobedient people, not realising that God's commands were to protect them and build them into a great nation - they were the fewest of all nations. They refused to walk in obedience with God so He allowed them to wander until the first generation of the Israelites had perished, allowing the children, Joshua and Caleb to enter the promised land. 

Sometimes God places us in a season of wilderness - uncertainty, perhaps instability, not yet reaching where we want to reach - for specific reasons.

• Testing 
• Learning lessons  
• Revival of our faith  

Deuteronomy 8:3 "He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD."

In this season He is:

• testing your obedience to Him. If you lose everything, will you still walk in His word? Or are you conditional?

• teaching you new things about Himself and you (Isaiah 43:19 "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?")

• teaching you to depend on Him and not yourself

• teaching you to not idolise the provision (bread) but to worship the provider (Him)

The wilderness does not mean that He has left you. He will never leave you nor forsake you.

Deuteronomy 8:4-5"Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you."

In this season He is:

• disciplining and shaping you, strengthening your spirit so you can resist your flesh

• teaching you to put His will above your own (you'll realise that your own will is self-centred and destructive)

• showing you how much He loves you

The wilderness season isn't punishment, it's to lead you to what God has for you.

Deuteronomy 8: 7 "For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land - a land with brooks, streams and deep springs gushing out into valleys and hills;"

• Today's generation often value speed over substance. We want to get rich or successful quick. It's all about speed. It's how we have been conditioned.

• God isn't concerned or bothered with time. He sees your value and in order for you to see it, He may have to place us in a situation where there is only Him to look at. 

• God wants you to remember Him when you are successful - Deuteronomy 8: 17- 18 "You may say to yourself, 'My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me. But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth..."

Don't be distraught when you feel uncertain or spiritually dry. It's difficult in that season but God has not forsaken you. God is continuously shaping and showing His love for you.

Jeremiah 18: 4 "But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him."

- Courtney Carr xx

Enduring in distress

 I am going through the hardest season of my life. I'm grieving for my mother. Yet I'm going through one of the best seasons of my life spiritually - I've never been as close to God as I am right now. I've come to trust him and depend on him completely.

​​SMLXL

You may be thinking - how?

It's been a journey - a hard, emotional journey that I am still on. What I've learnt the most is that through my grief, depressive moments and anger, God has had his hand on me the entire time. God has released his joy into my life and filled the empty space with himself.

I want to share this message with everyone. God will give you the strength to endure. At the end of endurance comes abundance. Let me prove it.

King Jehoshaphat (King of Judah) in 2 Chronicles 20

Verses 2-3 says: "Some people came and told Jehoshaphat, 'a vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Dead sea. It is already in Hazezon Tamar (that is, En Gedi). Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah.'"

• This situation looks like certain destruction for the king and the people of Judah. The army had made significant progress whilst Jehoshaphat had been unaware. We can all relate to this. We live our lives, going about our business, when situations that knock us for six  come our way. We're unprepared and sometimes let fear take over. 

• How does the King react? Yes, he is alarmed. He is emotionally responsive. Yet in his distress, he prays and fasts (withholds from eating food for a certain period). These are two pillars of the church, and any christian should use them as weapons. When faced with tough situations we should run to God and be attentive to his Spirit. "It's easier said than done" - I hear you say. Yet it is possible. If you take the time to quieten yourself before God in the good times, you'll have more strength to run to him in the bad times too.

• Next the King stands up,with God's presence, in front of his entire nation, and proclaims how mighty and powerful God is. He remembers God's past faithfulness. 

Verses 5-6: "Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the LORD in front of the new courtyard and said: 'LORD, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.'"

• He recognises that the victory will come in God's strength and not their own.

Verse 12: "Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you."

• In my situation, it's so difficult to know what to do. How do you handle grief? The truth is you don't - but God does. Whatever situation you're in - whether you feel helpless and alone, know that in God you'll find direction and protection. 

God's response

• When God sees this level of commitment, he sends His Spirit upon them, and speaks to them.

Verse 15b: "This is what the LORD says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's."

Verse 17: "You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions, stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged. Go out and face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.'"

• When you declare who God is, he declares who you are. Know that whatever problems you have to face - God will never leave you. Go out and hold your head high. Standing in God is fighting in itself. 

How should you respond when God speaks to you?

Verse 22: "As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated."

• Your deliverance comes through your praise. Yes, I know this is cliche and a well known phrase used in the pentecostal church - but I've found it to be true. In spite of your problems, you are truly strengthened through your storm when you refuse to believe Satan's lies about God and continuously praise. The enemy of Judah ended up slaughtering each other!

Verse 30 simply says: "And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side."

I pray that whoever reads this is granted great peace. Rely on God and not yourself. Remember his past faithfulness. It's okay to not be okay but remember to lean on God when it gets rough. If you can't, talk to someone who can support you and

guide you back to God. 

Remember that at the end of endurance comes a great abundance.

Sacrifice

In light of the Lent period and with the Easter weekend coming up, I thought I'd write a blog post on sacrifice.

​​

Sacrifice (noun), according to English Oxford Living Dictionaries, has three main meanings, but I'll be focusing on two. Sacrifice according to the Christian church is "Christ's offering of himself in the crucifixion." It's also defined as "an act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more important or worthy."

Christ was and will always be the greatest sacrifice in the world's history. He died on a cross and bore the weight of the past, present and future consequences of our sin. He was bruised for our inequities, with a crown of thorns placed on his head - his clothes stripped off. They spat on him. The King of kings and Lord of lords was humiliated for us - he put himself in the position to be killed by the very people he created.

What does this teach us about the principle of sacrifice?

• It isn't about who you are. Sometimes, we can become 'puffed up' with pride in life, and forget about the sacrifices that other people in our lives had to make, in order for us to be where we are now. Sometimes, Christians can have the same attitude and forget about Christ's great sacrifice, and the fact that it should cause us to be humble. Pride prevents us having a sacrificial attitude, because you cannot be humble enough to serve others and proud at the same time.
• Sacrifice is all about love. John 3:16 "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." We'll never be able to love like Christ loves us, because we can never reach that level of perfection, but I encourage you to think about these things. 

Living a life of sacrifice is about helping other people and putting them before yourself, which is completely opposite to what the modern world tells us to do. Sacrifice doesn't mean that you as an individual miss out on life, but it does mean that you see life through a more fulfilling and greater paradigm. Being a human does not mean you have to be a lone island - we were made to be united and help each other. 

Living a life of sacrifice rids you of the chains of selfish ambition. Ambition becomes selfish when you become ruthless and void of compassion. To be sacrificial does not mean you neglect yourself per say, but I do challenge you to ask yourself "how far would I be willing to go to help someone in need?". Sometimes we like to think we are sacrificial, but the truth is sacrifice is not just for people you know or love. How many of us would be willing to sacrifice something in order to help the people who have hurt us in the worst ways? Are you prepared to forget about yourself if Christ asks you to - to put your own plans aside to help others if he instructs you to? It's a difficult concept to consider, especially because we are humans.

Philippians 2:3-5 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus."

If we all had a sacrificial attitude, everyone's interests would be met. Life is so much more rewarding when you live it by mirroring Christ's attitude and actions.