Psalm 23 v 6 AMP

"Surely goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, And I shall dwell forever [throughout all my days] in the house and in the presence of the LORD."

I was reading a devotional that had some quotes that blew me away about the love of God. A love first demonstrated in the ultimate sacrifice and then it continues on and on as the Psalmist says in the verse above.

"When a shepherd leads the sheep, there are always guard dogs at the back, nipping at the sheep to keep them moving in the right direction"

"The Bible says that the guard dogs in your life are goodness and mercy. God gives you the things you don’t deserve — that is his goodness. And, he doesn’t give you the things you do deserve that’s his mercy."

Jesus is the shepherd and we are the sheep, oh how he loves us, to guide with goodness and mercy.

A love that doesn't leave, constant in everything, didn't stop at saving us but interested in the small and minute things of our lives SELAH.

I hope you feel the love and warm hug, that God is continually giving us in all the circumstances we find ourselves in.

Hope you are also blessed with the song and encouraged that He loves you yesterday, today, tomorrow and forevermore.

*Dependable*

Thank You for saving me

Thank You for loving me

Too much to leave

You're not just the God who saves

But You are the One that remains the same

Every high and low, You'll stay always

I can count on You

Your Love is not temporary

Up and down, in and out

When it starts, it won't stop

Your love will keep going

On and on and on

You are dependable, God

Thank You for saving me

Thank You for loving me (Too much)

Too much to leave

You're not just the God who saves (So much)

But You are the One that remains the same (Every)

Every high and low, You'll stay always (Always)

I can count on You

Oh, You are not Ordinary

Here today, then far away

You'll be there, when they're not

Your love just keeps going (Going)

Without end, limitless

You are dependable, God

It's more than OK to make a mistake!

In Matthew 25:14-30 Jesus tells a parable about a master who entrusted three servants with a set amount of money. The first two servants went off, traded and invested what they had been given, making the master a big profit. The third one however "went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money."

When the master find put about this he is furious with the servant and has him cast out. Why? The master got his money back, maybe a bit dirty, but he did get it back. He didn't technically lose anything. The reason he was so mad with the servant was that they didn't even try due to a fear of failure.

It can be like that with us and trying something new, learning to do something or following what God tells us to do. The what it's set in...

What if I get it wrong? What if I look silly? What if I fail?

These what if's can then stop us from moving forward, and make us bury our dreams, our victories and our potentials.

But here is a what if for us. What if we instead say...

So what if I get it wrong! So what if I look silly! So what if I fail!

So why is this important? Well, God wants us to get out there and push ourselves, he want us to try. Joseph Conrad said "If you don't make mistakes, you don't make anything." If we can get comfortable putting ourselves out there for God even though we might make a mistake, the sky is the limit to what we could achieve!

Finally when we make mistakes we learn. Thomas Edison supposedly said on making the light bulb "I never once failed in making a light bulb. I just found 99 ways to not make one." This is true from riding a bike to sharing a testimony. I can learn from when I don't quite get it right, to help me get it right next time.

Over the past few days and weeks, we have spent a lot of time with the people of Israel and there are a few things that I have been dwelling on I’d like to share one of them with you.

God gave them a LOT of rules, laws and statutes to follow... Being honest with you, a lot of these rules seemed pretty pointless, unnecessary and restrictive to me, but then I considered the fact that this massive group of people had no government, no justice system, no national health service and no scriptures or religious institutions.

You could say that they were a blank slate, apart from the fact that they weren’t... They had been living in slavery in Egypt and Egypt worshiped many “gods”, their governance and laws were wildly unfair (unfair is an understatement) towards the people of Israel. The people of Israel were beaten into submission and oppressed for many generations, so you can only imagine the level of anger, distrust, low self-worth and warped ideas of what was the “norm”.

This vast nation of people, needed direction and they needed boundaries, and so the laws that God gave them actually had the potential to provide security, freedom and prosperity!! We get little glimpses of this but more often we see their rebellion which didn’t do anyone any favours...

I will leave it there as I have said a lot!! But let’s allow the Holy Spirit to teach us and challenge us through this, as we may find some similarities between the people of Israel and our selves, in the way we relate to God!

Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

God has been teaching me a lot about peace recently - what it actually looks like in the day to day. It’s becoming more and more of a reality for me which I’m so grateful for and I’m recognising that it’s one of the greatest gifts we can receive from Jesus. It’s also something that, when we walk in it, immediately makes us stand out in the world. It’s powerful for us and others.

Three main things that God has been teaching me about peace are the following:

1. I can be confident in the decisions I make knowing that His grace is sufficient for me regardless of what that decision is. If we believe He is Lord, can we really ever run too far from His ways? Therefore, I can take this off my list of worries. I often become so unsettled questioning my decisions but, recently, I have been trying to make a decision and stick with it (even if it turns out to be not the best) because even in my failures and mistakes His grace and mercy will follow me all the days of my life (Psalm 23:6).

2. I can have confidence that, as long as I am submitted to Him, I will become more like Christ. He is doing a work in me that WILL come to completion. Another anxiety I can remove from my thoughts. (Philippians 1:6 & Psalm 139)

3. Jesus is the Prince of peace which means I can continually raise my expectations of what peace looks like. If I’m not sure if something gives me peace, it probably isn’t peace. His peace is so divine and so richly beautiful, I should never doubt when I have encountered it. Another anxiety I can remove from my thoughts.

Here is a little video of Bishop TD Jakes speaking on peace, I hope it encourages you as much as it has me - https://youtu.be/wMvtX_2nmw0

Another, slightly longer video, is by Bill Johnson. Also a great Word- highly recommended.

https://youtu.be/k7qlPG1aRC4

Blessings,

Lydia x