Hi there, welcome to a safe haven...a place where you cud just lean back and relax to spend a few moments to reflect on whether you have lit your candle today."Don't curse the darkness;instead, light a Candle" someone once said...We may not be able to do much to overcome the darkness around us;but let that not stop us from doing our lil bit to make this world a brighter place.Hence the blog ....His Lil Spark in the Dark!
“No, in all these things we are super conquerors, through the One
who has loved us.” Rom 8:37- CJ Bible
Hi friends,
Hope you are all doing fine. Just sharing some thoughts that
came to mind as I heard this amazing song. It talks about how His Love is our
battle cry!
No matter who we are and where we are at in life, we all face
our own Goliaths some time or other. Depending on our response we will move
forward, backward or remain stagnant where we are in our spiritual walk. Just
like in Video games as we pass one level, we go onto higher levels with greater
challenges, the same things happens in our spiritual life too. Once we overcome
something in our life, there will be another thing that the Holy Spirit reveals
to us and as long as we are obedient, we can reassure ourselves that our walk
will be progressive only. It is reality that though we will never be perfect
here in this life, we need to work towards becoming more and more like Jesus
with every passing day.
What is it then that motivates and empowers us? It can only be
the unchanging never failing love of our Lord Jesus that can cause us to go along
that narrow road that leads to eternal life. (Mathew 7:14 )On our own, we are no match for
the enemy but when Jesus's love is our battle cry, the Lord Himself will give us
the strategy and the strength we require to win every battle that we may have
to encounter.
Sharing the beautiful song that says it all perfectly!
Psalms 139:14 “I will praise thee; for I am fearfullyand wonderfully made: marvelousare thy works; andthat my soul knoweth right well.”
Hi friends,
Hope you are doing well. The other day I was listening to some
kids songs and stumbled across one which has always been a favorite of mine
right through my childhood. It’s a well-known song called ‘If I were a
butterfly’, which tells us about how God has made each human, animal, bird or
insect specially and if God wanted us in another form, he would have made us
like that but since he made us in a particular way, He expects us to be just
that in the best way we can. He never condemns us or looks
at us with disdain for our goof ups! Our Lord knows us so well and
actually enjoys each of us coming to Him in the most authentic and sincere way
we can, just as we are without any mask or formality. After all, He chose for
us to be made that way. Our Father is such a creative genius. He has created
all of us down to the last detail in such an extraordinary way.
Even
each of our thumbprints is one of a kind. When we pause and
think about the time that the Lord took in putting every detail of us into our
DNA, we can just sit back and wonder at the intricate details that our Lord
Almighty goes into. Even things we don’t know about ourselves, is well known to
Him bcoz after all He is the Master Craftsman. I am awestruck when I take in
the love of the Father in putting each one of us together The effort it takes to be an original in
this world of clones is sometimes more than we can realize.
In our journey of life, all of us
have had to encounter Rejection at some point or other. Then what makes the difference
is in our responses. The Father loved us so much He gave us His only begotten Son
to die for us and Jesus loved us so much that He willingly gave up His all for
us and The Blessed Holy Spirit loves us so much that He actually lives in us as
our Constant Companion, Best Friend, Wisest Adviser, all rolled into one. When
we really understand this and we realize how much we are actually loved by our
Heavenly Father we will quit unnecessarily worrying about how many reject us or the reason
why they do .We will also be careful not to reject ourselves or anyone else for
that matter. For when we do that, we in effect tell the Lord that we don’t like
what His hand has fashioned and how could the pot ever question the Potter? In
fact we realize that we are all integral parts of His Master plan just like
there are many pieces in a Jigsaw puzzle and each piece is important in order
to complete it similarly for the Father’s will to be fulfilled , each of us has
to do our individual parts. This awareness that we are part of a bigger picture makes
us more secure in His unconditional & unchangeable Love for us and fills us with appreciation for all He puts in our lives and we realize that there is a purpose for all that happens in our life. Much of which we will fully understand only later.But for now , we can trust our Good Father who can flip around any situation for our good! Rom 8:28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Jesus said:
“You’re
blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of
God and His rule. “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear
to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One dearest to you.“You’re
blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the
moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.“You’re
blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in
the best meal you’ll ever eat. “You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of
being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.“You’re
blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you
can see God in the outside world. “You’re blessed when you can show people how
to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you
really are, and your place in God’s family.“You’re
blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution
drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom. “Not only that—count yourselves
blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you
to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and
they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer,
even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in
good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of
trouble. Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning
that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how
will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the
garbage. Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out
the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public
with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you
don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a
light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine!
Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll
prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven. Here’s
another old saying that deserves a second look: ‘Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.’
Is that going to get us anywhere? Here’s what I propose: ‘Don’t hit back at
all.’ If someone strikes you, stand there and take it. If someone drags you
into court and sues for the shirt off your back, giftwrap your best coat and
make a present of it. And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the
occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live
generously. You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and
its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling
you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst.
When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for
then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is
what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to
everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is
love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say
hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner
does that. In a word, what I’m saying is, grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your
God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God
lives toward you. ” -(Mathew 5:1-16 )
“Count yourself
blessed every time someone cuts you down or throws you out, every time someone
smears or blackens your name to discredit me. What it means is that the truth
is too close for comfort and that that person is uncomfortable. You can be glad
when that happens—skip like a lamb, if you like!—for even though they don’t
like it, I do. . . and all heaven applauds. And know that you are in
good company; my preachers and witnesses have always been treated like this. - (Luke
6:22-23)
Often we wonder whether to do something or not. As long as you are sure it is the Lord speaking to you, I'd say go for it. If you don't you will grieve the Holy Spirit and that is the worst kind of suffering of all. Go ahead step out in faith , do what God is telling you to. But always be humble, simple and display Christ likeness in your behavior. As long as you are finely tuned with the Father's heart, you can never go wrong.
Let me share the songs that I love.
Remember always we are made to Worship our Maker, not people, not self ,not even the Ministry. With eyes on Jesus from start to finish, Christianity is a piece of cake!
Sing along....
Do not ever grieve the Spirit by focusing on anyone else. We just need to focus on Jesus and if we are right with Him, don't bother what anyone else thinks. Like I always said, I don't have all the answers coz I'm just like you, only that my hardships drew me to search and know Him more intimately than many of us, but that is for everyone else. That's the way the Father loves it for all His children to sit on His lap and hear His voice and look with His eyes. So go ahead swerve neither left nor right as long as you are in tune with the Father's heart, abandon yourself to Him like David did in the Bible and let His name be glorified !
Do keep us in your prayers,
Love n prayers,
Sparky laurie
