Living in Love, living in God.

As humans we are unable to perform miracles, but God is able to do all things. (Mark 10:27)

So when the spirit of God is in us,this being God, for God is spirit ( John 4:24) his spirit or God in us performs miracles in order to help people in distress.

This isn't limited to certain people. God wants to use us all to help the helpless, God has all the power to help people who are in trouble or pain and wants to use us to help them out of their distress.

So how do we allow God to use us to help others? God is able to use us to help others when he is living in us.How does God live in us? Well firstly when we accept Jesus as our savior Jesus comes and makes his home in our hearts.

1 John 4:15

"All who confess that Jesus is the son of God have God living in them, and they live in God"

The bible also says the following about God's spirit living in us.

1 John 4:12

New International Version (NIV)

"12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."

When we Love another, we're actually living more and more in God,It becomes God's spirit in us living. why?

Cause:

1 John 4:8

New International Version (NIV)

8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

God is love, so when we live in love, we're living in God, and as we live in God, we can then be used by God to help others, just as Jesus helped people who were sick,poor etc.

When we live in love, it becomes God living and not our limited human nature.

Jesus asked, how would people know that we are Jesus's discples?

13:34-35New

International Version (NIV)

34 "A new command I give you: Love one another.

As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know

that you are my disciples, if you love one

another."

The above verse tells us that you know that someone is a follower of Jesus when they love other followers of christ.

Why is love such a good characteristic to discover if someone is a follower of Christ. Cause the devils children can also prophesy, than can heal, they can quote the bible, but one thing that they have no understanding of is love. Why? Cause love is Jesus.

Now what is love? How do we love each other? Love is not a feeling, its actions

In John 14, Jesus constantly talked about people would show that they loved him by obeying his commandments v21 & v 24. So love is not a feeling, it's doing something, actions show love.

Jesus said that we show that we love him by DOING what he says.

We show that we love him him when we obey him, and when we obey him he makes a home

in our hearts.

So love is doing and we show Jesus we love him by obeying him, so how do we show love to our fellow christian brothers and sisters?

1 Corinthians 13:4-13

New International Version (NIV)

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it k

eeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a r

eflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is loveSo let's go back to love, to Jesus and show who we belong to.

When we are patient, Kind, aren't jealous of another, we don't boast to others about our achievements, when we are honorable, selfless, not angered, forgiving, truthful to them, protect them, trust them, hope and persevere.

The bible says that's how we can show each other love and when we love, we are living in God, Then God Living in us is able to help those unable to help themselves.

Wise Words from Meagan Good on Singleness and Marriage

"One thing I would say to all woman is DON'T SETTLE CAUSE IT IS OUT THERE it does exist.GOD IS SO MUCH BIGGER & GREATER THAN WHAT OUR SMALL MINDS CAN THINK, what we think is impossible is absolutely possible, and I'm definitely living proof of that and my marriage is definetly living proof of that" Meagan Good

God created it

Psalm 24:1 (NIV) The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;

I find myself having negative emotions to certain things, well most people have had a negative view on things like marriage, eating meat,wealth etc but then I'm reminded that all these things were made of God. Just because man has pervesed the things of God, God had made them for good but we've used them for bad.

I was listening to this one pastor speak and he was saying that there's only one way of doing things and that's Gods way (holy,pure and righteously). When we do things in another way, they may succeed for a short while but sooner or later they will fail. When we do things God's way, we may face trial and tribulation for a short while, but soon we succeed.

Psalm 37 (NIV)

"1 Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong;
2 for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.
3 Trust in the Lord and do good;dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Take delight in the Lord,and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord;trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.

When people use evil ways to get the things that God has created, the above Psalm says this will happen"2 for like the grass they will soon wither, like

green plants they will soon die away. "Many times we see this happening to people and we then think that it was Gods creation that caused this (wealth or marriage), but in actual fact it was the way in which they obta

ined what God has created.

There are some of Gods blessings which we have to trust for Gods appointed time to receive them, but while the above psalm says we trust God to receive them, we don't just sit around and do nothing and say we're trusting God but then we are to "3 .... do

good" We are to be doing something good while we trust God.

So never stop desiring good things just because you've seen someone fail or get divorced, what ever it maybe was created by God and we'll receive it and it will be ours for a long time if go about pursuing them in Gods way.

The importance of gratitude

The stresses of life can weigh us down, when all we see are troubles we can become so hopeless, Was reading a devotional by Joseph Prince when he said that we should be grateful for the little we have and it will be multiplied.

He talked about how Jesus took that little boys bread loaves and fish, he gave it thanks and as a result it multiplied.
So b e grateful for the little you have, there are people in this world who are going through worse. People stuck in the middle of a war torn country who'd give anything to sleep without hearing gunshots.

One of the greatest miracles Jesus peformed was raising Lazaraus from the dead. When he did this he first gave thanks for God hearing him.

Gratitiude honestly can change one's lives, it shifts your view from what you don't have to what you have and this makes you see the things that God has given you instead of what you don't have.

People kill themselves when they don't see that things God has done, being grateful for the little. That's why continual thankfullness is an attitude we need to cultivate each day.

It's really changing my life.

Idols are joy thieves.

The first time I heard christian rap artist Lecrae was last year round about February, I remember it quite well. It was a Sunday morning and I was getting ready for church. His song "Change" was playing in the background while I was looking at myself in the mirror clipping my hair into place. I remember thinking, man this guy is preaching some life changing stuff.

Fast forward to now, end of July 2012. I've received so many blessings from God from the time I began praying from them in 2011 till now, but guess what? I was happier at the beginning of last year 2011 with nothing than I am now with more, why? Cause at that time I had nothing, when I was just another job seeking University graduate it was just me and God.

Now lets get this clear, I'm not saying that I was happy because I had nothing and could just focus on God. No, there are alot of people who have alot of material things but are great women & men of God who have an amazing relationship with God, that even though they are so wealthy their joy comes from the Lord.

So what happened to me? What took my joy away?

An Idol.

Yes I met this amazing guy, who put my heart on fire, treated me like I'd never been treated before. The nights I used to spend with God having my quite time, I'd spend chatting to my guy about how we're so mean't to be together, I'd end up falling asleep while chatting to him, so guess what? God got booted to the curb cause I'd found my new source of joy.

The relationship ended, it was hard, when he left my joy also went away with him. Now I look back and I realise that my relationship with my ex was an Idol. What's an Idol?

1 John 5:21

Amplified Bible (AMP)

"21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols (false gods)—[from anything and everything that would occupy the place in your heart due to God, from any sort of substitute for Him that would take first place in your life]. Amen (so let it be)."

My relationship was what my life revolved around instead of God. My joy didn't come from God any more, it came from a man. There's nothing wrong with your partner making you happy, but the source of our joy should be God.

The joy that comes from God is indescribable. The cool thing about it is that he's constant, he's always there, he'll never leave. I don't want my focus to be just the joy I get from him, I want to have the relationship I used to have with him,how it used to be before I allowed an Idol in my heart. Just thinking about Gods beautiful character made me sooooooooo fulled with joy. All I could think about was how awesome he is, those amazing miracles he did in the the bible, how he wanted us sooooooo badly that he came to earth, killed like a criminal when he was royalty just so he could re-unite us with him, I was like wow, he's so incredibly magnificent. Yes I'm working on our relationship again, cause I really do miss that, just being so in awe of his sovereignty.

So where does Lecraes song change come into all of this ? Well it's basically bout how we seek things of this world cause we want them to change us inside. Guess the change inside could be the joy that we all seek. He talks about how we look for it in money, clothes and cars and yet it brings no change, (no fulfilment, no joy).

A relationship with God is so essential, once we know God we can talk about his glory to other people. He gave up his son so we could have a relationship with him. We can be satisfied with God and need no other satisfaction. I remember writing that on my facebook "about me" section. I wrote "I'm that girl who finds satisfaction in Jesus and nothing else." I really did. Then I removed it at the end of the year 2011, cause I'd allowed our relationship to go down the drain.

Not all men are going to become an idol in your life and steal your Jesus joy,When your Godly husband comes, it'll be at a time when Both of you will have matured in Christ to a point where you both know how to prevent Idols from taking Gods place in your heart, and your maturity will allow both of you to lead each other to an even more intimate relationship with Jesus and not away from him.

Psalm 16:11 New King James Version (NKJV)

"11 You will show me the path of life;In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

What are you feeding your faith

2 Corinthians 5:7 "For we live by faith, not by sight."

We live by faith and not by sight. This means that we don't live by bread, or water only but the prime ingredient of our livelihood is our faith. So if faith is what we live by then without it we have no life.

If faith is so important than surely we should be doing certain things to make sure that it's alive and growing.

There are certain things which are good for our faith and some which are not.

Somethings which starve our faith are T.V programmes and music which goes against who God is. Ask yourself, how is this growing my faith in God or is it leading me away from God. The thing is we soon imitate and believe what we watch over and over again. Once we watch T.V programmes which teach us to put our faith in material things or that joy comes from material possessions or a husband than God, our faith in God is starved as we now allow material goods to take over God's place in our hearts.

1 John 5:21
Amplified Bible (AMP)
"21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols (false gods)—[from anything and everything that would occupy the place in your heart due to God, from any sort of substitute for Him that would take first place in your life]. Amen (so let it be)."

Our faith should be in God and not things. When we know,trust and believe in the greatness of God then we trust who he is, that he is so great that nothing is impossible for him, when we focus on his greatness, then we know that because he is so great he's able to answer our prayers and meet our needs easily.

That's why we should never compare ourselves to fellow christians, what they have or they don't have. Cause just maybe they haven't discovered for themselves that God is great, and how he can do all things and as a result their faith has been starved. Or they could just be hanging around negative people or watching negative t.v programmes, thus distracting their relationship with God which disables their faith.

Matthew 14:28-30New International Version (NIV)
28 "Lord, if it’s you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."29 "Come," he said.Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"

What happened when Peter shifted his gaze from Jesus to the wind? He became AFRAID. By looking at the wind he fed his fear instead of feeding faith. Then because his fear was fed, he sank.

How could he have fed his faith, by looking to Jesus, when he first got out of the boat and was walking TOWARD Jesus, he was fine, why? cause his focus was on Jesus, he was walking towards him to get to him, when his focus shifted, that's when he sank.

So what's shifting our focus from Jesus, is it negative people, T.V Programmes which cause us to covet other people's lives. Whatever it maybe, it needs to be cut out of your life because it's killing your faith in Jesus which is very essential cause we live by faith and not by sight.

What are faith feeders? The two that I know of are the bible and worship music.The bible amplifies God's powerful & wonderful characteristics in every book, It shows us the characters of God, a healer, a provider, a forgiver, a friend, a comforter, a mighty warrior, a conqueror and love.
Worship music, as we worship God we magnify him, we lift him higher and make him great cause that's who he truelly is.

So basically I needed to write this because I needed to hear this, hope this post has touched you.

Hebrews 12:2 KJV
"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith"

God knew it before I even prayed for it.

I have a small problem that I need to overcome. When I pray I always wonder how God is going to do it because what I'm praying for always seems so impossible. This I've realised is placing a limit on God and as a result my faith is hindered.

I'm reminded of a time when I was going through something emotionally, my heart was worn out and heavy from the burden it was carrying.One day I was reading this book where this one lady goes to a pastor for him to pray for her sick son however the pastor says, she's the one who needs healing. He then begins to pray for her about something she was going through emotionally and he starts saying things that only she knew of.

I was like wow, if only God could do the same for me, just bring someone to pray for my emotional healing.I then prayed and asked if he could do just that, bring someone who would pray for me so that my heart could be healed. This was on a saturday night. Then Sunday came and at church there was a guest pastor. He began preaching about what I was going through, he'd say things which were conversations I'd have with myself in my head about my problem. I was so shocked, amazed and overwhelmed by the greatness of God. I was sitting there, and I could hardly contain myself, God had answered me so quickly. He truelly is so amazing.

At the end of his sermon the pastor then made an alter call to pray for us, when he came to me he began to prophesy abour what I was going through, he told me that God was going to heal me emotionally and he told me some other things which were so uplifting.

God has healed me,my soul is at peace, I no longer go through those emotions I used to go through, those emotions have been completly lifted from my heart. I'm completly free from every negative stronghold of emotional negativity that held my mind captive.

When I think about this incident I realise that God knew way before I even began praying about it that he would he do it, he knew exactly how and when he'd do it. That saturday night he put it into my heart for me to pray for it because the very next day was the day I was going to receive my deliverance and healing.

This helps me realise that when I begin to pray, God has already set the plan in motion. It's not when I begin to pray that things start to happen. They've already happened. So there really is no need to wonder how he's going to do them, cause he's already done it all. All that's left is for me to ask for what he's already prepared ahead of time. We have to ask because God won't force his plans on us, he's given us the freewill of accepting them or not. We accept them through prayer. There are certain things happening in my life now which seemed so impossible at the time I was praying for them, but God has answered me, and these have manifested.

Just like how reading that ladies story motivated me to pray for what seemed impossible, I hope that you to will be moved to ask God for a miracle.

God is so big, he's so great, there's no limit to what he knows or what he will or can do.

Ephesians 2:10 (Amplified bible)
2:10 For we are God's [own] handiwork (His
workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good
works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He
prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which
He prearranged and made ready for us to live].

Words

I was going through a tough time, I was so down, shacken and emotionally drained. I began talking to my mother and told her what I was going through, I began to see the light in the darkness, simply from my mothers words.

Words seem so unimportant yet they are. We use them so carelessly not realising how much power we have just through them.

We can change someone's situation just through simple encourangement. We can make a young girls confidence by just telling them that they are beautiful inside and out.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones but words won't harm me." That's not true, words harm more than sticks and stones.

There are certain things you can think but there's no need to say because you could really be wipping someone emotionally.

Rather keep quite if you have nothing good to say. Also recently I needed a miracle from God, for something which seemed impossible, I would sometimes ask myself if I was being serious on thinking I would get it, my mother once again encouraged me that it would happen even though she knew that the odds were so against me, she didn't say this, she spoke positive words. Someone could have just been like "you know what lets just be realistic about this" but she didn't look at reality, she just spoke positively.And guess what? I ended up getting what I needed. Why? cause with God the impossible is possible.

Her words fed my faith!

I think going forth, I really need to watch my words, be kind, speak love & encouragement to other people cause we are feeding each others faith.