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!
"For we walk by faith and not by sight."-2 Corin 5:7
Hi friends,
Hope you are doing fine. I just came across this amazing Song by NEWSONG . Its called I AM A CHRISTIAN and encourages us to WALK ON no matter how lonesome or tiring it gets. He is walking before us , besides us and behind us. Since we are surrounded by our Lord there is nothing that can touch us without His knowledge and approval. We can be confident of this. Click below and enjoy this beautiful and encouraging song.
Hope you enjoyed it.Here's a promise for you"You shall walk in all the way that theLordyour God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess."- Deu 5:33
"Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!"- Isaiah 6:8
Hi friends, Hope this post finds you all hale and hearty. Just came across this lovely song that echoes all I want to say since a very young age. All I wanted was to be used by the Lord for the Glory of His wonderful name. But as we all do, sometimes I would list down the reasons why the Lord would'nt choose me but His word says that "He has called us by name and that He has chosen us for His Glory" and so all I want to say is Lord Use Me, Use me too....
USE ME TOO - Jonny Diaz
*(I've highlighted my favorite lines and made some notes in pink.)
Lyrics
A little boy faced a giant man With a few rocks and a sling in hand He wasn't ready, but he was willing *(How true that none of us will ever be fully ready!) He said a prayer and looked to the sky Wound it up and he let it fly- *(David did what he could and God did what David couldnt.) No one could believe Goliath falling
It's amazing what You do Oh the world would never choose *(His choice doesn't really make much sense from a worldly point of view.)
The small, the weak, with ready, willing, and open hands
That's who You seek to bring to life all Your biggest plans
All that I have is more than enough for You (*REVELATION ) Use me, use me too, too
Mary was just a small town girl When she had a child that would change the world Must have been so scared, but You were right there (* Our Faithful God is always there to help us carry out His purposes)
So no more listing the reasons why I am unqualified For You to use me, so come and use me
It's amazing what You do When we give it all to You-* (Surrender is all God wants)
The small, the weak, with ready, willing, and open hands That's who You seek to bring to life all Your biggest plans All that I have is more than enough for You Use me, use me too, too Use me, use me too, too
I will go where You lead I will not be afraid You are all that I need You have called me by name Use me too -*( The Anthem for marching on )
The small, the weak, with ready, willing, and open hands That's who You seek to bring to life all Your biggest plans All that I have is more than enough for You Use me, use me too, too Use me, use me too, too Use me, use me too, too Use me, use me too, too
Joshua
1:9 “This is my command- be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or
discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Hi friends, it’s been a while since I’ve posted. The
truth is that for some time unknown to myself I was battling discouragement.
Discouragement by definition is loss of confidence or enthusiasm ; (without
which it is impossible to produce anything creative.) The last week I had some
friends come over for some time of prayer and that was what helped me realize
that it was discouragement that was holding me back from being all that I am
and from becoming all that God wants me to become.
Why Discouragement ?
1)Lack of purpose - Often, long times of waiting to see a
dream fulfilled can cause us to doubt our purpose. The Bible reminds us
in Gal 6:9 “Let’s not get
tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of
blessing if we don’t give up.”I recently read of a story of a band of minstrels performing many years
ago in Europe. It was winter time and the snow was falling. Fewer and fewer
people came to watch their performances. One day, one of the troupe members got
discouraged and said to the others, “Why bother performing? No one comes to
watch us …let’s pack up and go home.” But an older member stood up and said
“No, we must keep to our purpose. It doesn’t matter if only one or two come.
Let’s perform better than ever before.” That night, they gathered their courage
and performed better than ever before. Very few people showed up to watch.
However after the show, one of the troupe members was handed a note …”I
thoroughly enjoyed your performance. Excellent job. I loved it!” …The note was
signed “Your king”. None of them
knew that their King had been watching them all that time unknown to anyone
else. Let us be encouraged by this story and remember to do
everything we do to the best of our ability and for our King, the KING of
KINGS.
2)Lack of positive reinforcements- All of us find ourselves in situations marked
by shortage of encouragement. At such times we must learn to encourage
ourselves just like David, a man after God’s own heart did in the Bible 1 Sam 30:1-6 . I have read of this account in David’s life called The Worst
Day in His life. He lost everything including his wives and his men also turned
against him fearing the lives of their sons and daughters and so began to think
of stoning him. But David encouraged himself in the Lord and asks the priest to
bring the ephod and then he asks the Lord what to do and the Lord tells him to
go after the enemy army and promises him that they would recover everything
that was taken from him. Sometimes the person we most expect to understand may
not be available or sometimes even able to understand us at such times we can
remember Jesus the perfect Lamb of God is always interceding for us at the
Father’s right hand for us. That will give us the courage to stand alone and
encourage ourselves in the Lord.
3)Lack of guidance- We may not feel like associating with people when we are
facing some kind of difficulty but the truth is that we need to first of all
ask God what needs to be done. He may direct us to a particular person /an
author /speaker to learn from. We read in 1 Cor 10:13 “No
trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others. And God is faithful: He
will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial
will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it.” This means
that we can learn from the right people.
HOW to Overcome Discouragement :
1)PRAYER- We should spend more time talking to God, whether or not we feel like. We could discuss our fears, doubts and struggles with Him. We must ask Him for forgiveness and guidance for the right steps to take.Psalms 37:23 “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.” Psalms 18:33 “He makes my feet like the feet of a deer and stations me upon heights.”
2) WORD OF GOD
– This is the best time to
dig deep into the Scriptures especially go back to those portions in your Bible
which God has spoken to you in the past. My favorite verses are Jer 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,
says the Lord. Plans to give you a hope and a future.”, Haggai 2:23 “… I will
make you like a signet ring on my finger, says the Lord for I have chosen you.I
, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies have spoken.”
3)PRAISE
& WORSHIP - Sing and Play Praise and Worship Music in the house/Car. Praise God for what He
has done for us .Give thanks with a grateful Heart. And Worship the Lord for who
HE is to us.“He alone is your God, the only one who is
worthy of your praise, the one who has done these mighty miracles that you have
seen with your own eyes.”- Deu 10:21 , “Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come
before him: worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.”-1 Chron
16:29
4)JOURNALING – We can start to write out our thoughts and ideas
that we get during Prayer times. We may also record any dreams or visions or
pictures the Lord may download to us. Answered prayers can be recorded and this
will give us hope for new prayer requests.
5) SHARE & CARE- “Freely you have received and so freely
give.”-Mathew 10:8 Whatever we have received from the Lord, we can share with others
…be it our testimony, intercession, volunteering, or financial aid , maybe even
cooking a meal, visiting someone in hospital, etc Use wisdom and prayer before
setting out , seek God about what can be done to go out and be a
blessing to someone else. When we focus on what God wants us to do for someone
else, we will feel fulfilled and happy to be used by Him and that would be
therapy for our discouraged soul. There is no greater joy than to be used of by
GOD to wipe another's tears or to bring a smile to another’s face.
Hi friends,
Hope you are all doing fine.This post is a thought that came to me sometime back when I came to know that an acquaintance of mine had suddenly expired quite unexpectedly. He was younger to me and quite an enthusiastic and bright youngster. At that time this song came to my mind as I began to think that none of us knows when we would go and so we should decide to live the best life that we could live. Just yesterday when I came to know about the death of an uncle again quite suddenly due to cardiac arrest, I decided to put my thoughts to paper as soon as possible. He too was a great family man and one who was quite protective and loving to his own. I have respect when I remember him. Be it 15, 35 or 79, death is no respector of persons. Instead of having an unhealthy fear about death, the Bible reminds us in 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 that we have victory over death IN JESUS CHRIST. " O death where is ur sting, O hades where is your victory?The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law.But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
We can never be fully prepared to die but we can focus on preparing to live fully. This song below tells us how we can make sure to live like that so that we will be remembered as someone who gave it all we had. Enjoy Live Like That by Sidewalk Prophets
Let's make a decision to live such a blessed life that when we leave we will be remembered as someone whose life made a difference to others.
Sparkylaurie
Hi friends,
Hope you are all doing well. This week I'd like to share something someone reminded me. Often in life we are overwhelmed by a million and one demands pulling us in a thousand directions. How do we react at such times? In order to be really happy, we ought to go hand in hand with life. Often however, we find ourselves in this mad race trying to catch up with this crazy life....At such times, it is essential to remember to be like that unshakeable lighthouse that shines its light brightly no matter how dark the night,how stormy the sea,how unruly the turbulence. Another thing I was told was that though we have a fixed thought in our mind often we know what to do and may be even doing it, when suddenly there comes a situation or person, a distraction from what we are doing. Out of sympathy or out of empathy or out of mere necessity, we may get distracted, maybe frustrated and then irritated, unable to continue what we were doing coz of the demands that are beckoning to us in many forms and in many directions. We may then just cave in and give up.Talk about good intentions gone astray!
Often we may even unknowingly find our peaceful selves pulled into the chaos of another person and then wonder why we have lost our peace. We should not allow anyone or anything to steal our peace no matter what!
The best example for this would be in Mark 4:35-41 where we see how the peacefully sleeping Jesus was suddenly awakened (by His terror stricken disciples) to a ferocious storm. One look at the disciples fear- filled expressions and hearing their terrified cries should have upset him, but He was not one to allow the storm around him to enter into Him. Instead He just spoke to that which was not alright and set it right. The perfect picture of tranquility in the midst of the storm. He knew who He was (Identity) & whose He was (Sonship).That explains His calm reaction to the troublesome waves and howling wind that He saw and heard.
We ought to follow the perfect example of our Wonderful Lord. Is there a storm raging against you or someone you know and care about, remember , we talk to the storm and not allow the storm to tell us it's lies. We should keep a serene and calm disposition no matter what the people around us are doing or saying. Sometimes instead of circumstances, it may be the people who are trying to ruffle our feathers with slander or gossip but the real question is , how will we react to this even when we know that we are innocent? As long as we are doing the best we know that we can, we can rest assured that "He will not let us be tested beyond the limit that we can bear" -1 Corin 10:13
The best thing to do in such situations when chaos is calling out to you is to pause / just breathe and do the one thing needful- and that is to go to the Master's feet and sit like Mary did (in Luke 10:42) & draw wisdom & strength from Him to carry on.It is His promise that He will give us rest.
Sharing with you a song that tells us exactly this. Hope you enjoy it!
Hi friends,
This week I'd like to share a beautiful song that I came across. I think it in a peppy manner tells us exactly what Grace is.
What is Grace? It is unmerited favor.When we know for sure that it wasn't us that accomplished something, we know that we don't deserve one bit of the credit that comes, that is when we say it's His favor or His Grace and mercy alone.
We see in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that "His Grace is sufficient for us." That's the reason why we appear totally as if we got away with something sometimes, it may even appear unjust to some onlooker who may say ,how on earth did he get that??? that's when we say Grace got me. That's the reason we hum the tune long after the song is over,sing loud enough for the back row to hear, glide coz walking would not be enough, dance even if we don't know how to.We laugh till our sides ache and smile coz we know we got away with something not because we deserved it but bcoz He chose for us to have it!Strange and peculiar we may seem to them but that's alright....we are after all according to 1 Peter 2:9 "a chosen generation,a royal priesthood ,a holy nation,a peculiar people who should show forth the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvellous light."
Sharing the link to this awesome song GRACE GOT YOU by Mercy Me (with rapping by John Reuben)
https://youtu.be/Ngq_jNytypc
So next time things are tough, just remember that its only a matter of time...Grace has got us!
Have a wonderful week,
Sparkylaurie
Hi friends,
Hope you are doing fine. We are also doing fine by the Grace of God. I was just listening to this beautiful song by Casting Crowns. The world tells us one thing but the Lord tells us another. The real purpose of our lives is to glorify Him. No matter what happens in our life,we can be sure that the Lord is always near us and will protect us from all calamity that may surround us. I have heard a quote : " When you look inside, you will be stressed,when you look around, you will be distressed but when you look at Jesus,you will be blessed." So no matter what happens, just make sure that you have fixed your gaze upon JESUS, the One who is True & Faithful, our Gracious Redeemer & Restorer. He has proved His faithfulness to us time and again and so we can be sure that He will come through for us.
Always keep in mind the words of John the Baptist IN JOHN 3:30 "He must increase and we must decrease."
Sharing two beautiful songs which is based on this verse. Hope you enjoy them as they draw you closer to Him.
