Words for Life Articles

On Wednesday 14th June 2017, the whole nation and the world at large woke up to the news of a tower block of public housing flats in North West London, on fire. This unfortunately finally resulted in a high number of casualties and fatalities. Not to mention the building itself.

As questions were being asked, possible reasons for the fire being discussed and analysed, radio and TV stations brought in experts to give analysis. Some politicians tried to score points, people were angry left and right, and accusing fingers pointed.

I have over the years observed many believers, who have been battered, abused, bound by fear, and demonic oppression. They have not been able to stand their ground and take authority over their situations. I have met believers who do not know that they were created to have dominion.

If you are a believer, you have been called to walk and operate in your God given authority. Paul in 2 Corinthians 10, tells us that even though we live on this earth we do not operate as citizens of this earth. The weapons God has given us, our armoury, is not of this earth. It is important to note that it is only a child of God who can have access to His heavenly armouries.

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know — Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.

The whole foundation of the Christian faith is hinged on the death and resurrection of Jesus. This truth can be found in Paul’s statement in 1st Corinthians 15:17

"And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!"

The empty tomb signifies the resurrection of Jesus, the fact that Jesus died and rose again. This means those of us who have repented and believed in Him, have been forgiven and our sins have been washed away.

I have over time been looking at the word GRACE in the Bible and discovered that the word GRACE has been mentioned almost 145 times in the Bible. 21 times in the Old Testament, and 124 times in the New Testament.

This word is first mentioned in Genesis 6:8 where we are told: “Noah finds favour in the eyes of the Lord." In some other translations, Genesis 6:8 says: “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.”

Welcome to the year 2017, the year of fruitfulness.

As I have prayed and pondered in my spirit, I am convinced that this is a year of fruitfulness for us as a Church and as individuals.

As a Church we have over the years sown and watered through prayer, giving and the word. We have been a blessing to many in our own little way.

Galatians 6: 7-10 “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

There are times in our lives as believers when we feel isolated, when we feel as though God is so far away and unreachable. We have prayed, we have believed God for everything, we have recounted His promises and declared all the promises in His word but nothing seems to change. We are at our wits end and want to give up.

In Psalm 115:12 “The Lord has been mindful of us; He will bless us;”

Proverbs 13:12
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life.”

Listening to the radio a few days ago I heard one of the most distressing news and I quote, “There’s been a huge jump in the number of children and young people seeking help for anxiety” and Brexit is one of the reasons. “Data from the NSPCC’s ChildLine service showed that it dealt with 11,706 counselling sessions where anxiety was mentioned in 2015/16 – a rate of nearly 1,000 a month”.