Tag: Joy

~ Mountains, Mole Hills, and a Fence ~

 The Bible Clearly says that if you have Real, True Faith that is Alive and Living, then You will have the Power Move Mountains. 
In other words You can Conquer Your problems, You can Achieve Great things for God, You can Do the Will of God in Your Life.

   Mountain Moving Faith requires 'Firm' Action. 
It requires 'Positive Attitudes' along with 'Positive Decision Making' in All areas of 'Your Life'.

   Some people though 'Choose' to let their Faith 'Sit On The Fence'.

   They have the Attitude that they like what God has made for them with all of it's Blessings, Freedom, Joy, Peace and Love.
But they also like the look of the 'worlds way' with all of its Wants and Desires, where they just 'Do what They want', 'When They want', and they don't care about the 'Consequences'. They put Themselves and Other People before God.

 If You 'Sit On The Fence' wanting 'Both' God's Way and the worlds way,
then you will Waste your Life just 'Sat On a Fence'. 
You will Go Nowhere and Achieve Nothing that's Important.

'Fence Sitting Faith' doesn't even have the power to move a Mole Hill. 

How do you expect to Move Mountains, Solve Your problems, 
Achieve Your Dreams, Do Great things for God, 
and Overcome the demons of the devil
if You just 'Sit On The Fence' Choosing 'Both Ways'.

You Need to Make a Positive Decision 
~ Choosing 'Only' God's Way is the Only Positive Choice ~ 

Anything else will Not work.
But a Strong, Steadfast and Solid Faith produces 
Joy, Peace, Love and Freedom, that can Only come from God.

When You Choose 'Only' God, the Mountains Will Move.

~ Inside God's Kingdom ~

Living Life 'Inside' God's Kingdom is a Wonderful Way to Live.

Many people Do Live 'Inside' God's Kingdom and they Enjoy a Meaningful & Fulfilling Life.

But many people only Look at God's Kingdom from a 'Distance'. 

They Do Believe that it's a Wonderful Way to Live, and they say many Loving things about it.
They know that they want to Live 'Inside' God's Kingdom, but they Never actually 'Go In'. 

They just Look from a Distance. They get 'Distracted' by the 'worlds way' to Live, and by 'Other People'. They stay on the 'worlds' Wide Path, instead of taking the Narrow Gate 'Into' God's Kingdom.

There Really is a Big Difference in how You Experience 'Life' depending on whether You stay on the Path, or You go 'Inside' God's Kingdom.

A Great way to understand this is with a Path through a Forest.

My Wife & I have been on Many Wonderful walks in the Beautiful Scottish Highlands, and we Enjoy walking in the Forests.

For many years we walked on the 'Man Made' Paths through the Forests, and a lot of them were 'Flat, Wide' Paths that were easy to walk on.

For a long time we 'Thought' we were Experiencing the Forests in 'All Their Fullness'. We could See the Trees and Hear the Birds Singing, we breathed in the Fresh Air, and it was all Very Lovely.

But when we looked 'Into' the Trees, we could see that the Forests were 'Very Deep'. There was areas of the Forests that were 'Far Away' that we were Not Experiencing from the Path.

We were only Looking at it from a 'Distance'. 

The Forest was 'Welcoming' us, and our Hearts were Leading us to 'Go In'. 

We started to look for a way to 'Go In' to the Forest, as there were no Paths going 'Into' it. 
Usually the 'Man Made' paths that we had been walking on have got trenches at the sides to drain the water away, and the Forests are usually Mature Grown and have got Lots of Bushes, Shrubs, Bracken etc, growing at the sides of the Paths.

But every so often there will be a 'Narrow' gap through the Bushes, giving an Entrance Into the Forest.

I remember the first time I noticed a gap to 'Go In'. There was a Steep Banking at the side of the 'Man Made' Path we were on. It had Bushes & Shrubs all along it and a drainage trench between the Path and the Banking.

I saw a small gap in the Bushes just wide enough to go through.

I said to my Wife, “I'm Going In”. 

I jumped across the trench, up onto the banking and climbed up through the gap. I could see the 'Deep Forest'. 
So I steadied myself on the banking and held my arm out to Help my Wife jump across. She jumped up onto the banking and we 'Went In'. 

As we walked 'Into' the Forest, we both a got a Wonderful feeling Deep in our Souls. It's difficult to put into words how Amazing it was. 
My Wife described it as , “It felt like the Trees were giving us a Big Loving Hug”. 
I agree, it Really was Very Special.

The ground felt 'Soft & Spongy' under our feet as we Stood on 'God's Natural Ground', instead of on the Hard 'Man Made' Path.

It felt Very, Very Peaceful as we simply Stood in 'Gods' Creations'.

At that point we could still see the Path that we were stood on just moments before, but there was a 'Big Difference' in how we were now Experiencing the Forest. We were now 'Inside' it.

We continued walking further 'Into' the Forest. There were fallen branches to climb over, Tree trunks to walk in between, and big branches to duck under. 
But it was 'Massively' More Interesting than walking on the Flat 'Wide' Man Made Path.

Being 'In' the Forest was Much Better than just Looking at the Forest.

There was no Path to walk on showing us were to go. 
We were 'Free to Explore'. And God was Lovingly Guiding our Steps.

We spent a Long time 'Slowly' walking around 'In' the Forest and Enjoying the Beauty of God's Creations.

We came to an area 'Deep Inside' the Forest where the Trees opened out a bit and the Sunlight Shone through and 'Lit Up' the Lovely Green Moss that covered the ground.

We Paused, and just 'Stood Quietly'. 

We got a Wonderful sense that we were in a Place where no other human beings had been for Many, Many years.
It was Undisturbed by people. 
And Nature had been 'Growing & Living' in The Way God Created it to Be.

As we Stood there Quietly, we felt a 'Deep Connection' With God.

There was No 'worldly' Noises or Distractions. 

~ It was just us and God Together ~

It was a Truly Beautiful Moment.

Ever since then, whenever we go for a walk in the Forest, we try to go 'Inside' the Forest, and not just walk on the 'Man Made' Paths.

We Always treat the Forest & God's Beautiful Creations with a Lot of Respect, as we Love Nature Very Much, and more Importantly we Love God Very Much.

We've Enjoyed Many Wonderful Moments walking 'Peacefully & Quietly' In the Forests. 

Sometimes we've spent almost a full day walking around 'Inside' the Forests, and not seen or heard another person.

There are no Paths showing which way to go, and one of the times we were in the Forest it was getting late and we knew it would be going dark soon.
So we started heading back. But we didn't know which way to go.
There was quite a few areas with a Lot of fallen branches, and the ground was Very wet and soggy. It made it Very difficult to cross.

It was getting later and nobody knew we were in the Forest.
We tried a few different routes, but each time there was something blocking our way. We reached a point where we literally didn't know where to go.

So we simply Did the Best thing to Do in situations like that, 
we 'Asked God to Guide us'. 

We 'Listened & Followed' His Guidance, and it wasn't long before we were back in an area where we knew where we were again. 
We even had time to Enjoy a Good look around before it went dark.

There have been other times when we've been walking 'In' the forest, that we've gone so 'Deep' Into the Forest that we've 'Discovered' things that we've Never seen before.

We've Experienced Many Nature Blessings 'Deep Inside' the Forests that even some of the Professional Nature People have Never Experienced.

There are some things that can Only be 'Experienced & Discovered' by getting 'Far Away' from the modern 'worlds way' of Being.

God's Word says in (Jeremiah 33:3), that He will,
“Show You Great and Mighty Things which You Do Not Know”.

And He Will, He Really Will.

But You need to be Willing to 'Get Away' from the 'worlds way' for Him to Show You them.

For many years my Wife and I 'Thought' that we were Experiencing the 'Fullness of the Forest' as we walked 'Through' them on the 'Man Made' Paths.

We Believed that we were 'In' the Forest because the Path went 'Through' it.
And that's true to some extent.

But we could Only Go where the 'Man Made' Paths Took us.

There were 'Limits' to what we could 'Experience' from the Paths.

We could See & Hear things, and it was Lovely, but we were Not Experiencing the 'Fullness of the Forest'. 

We only 'Truly Experienced' that when we went 'Deep Inside' the Forests.

~  ~  ~

In a similar way, that's what the 'Kingdom of God' is like.

Many people 'Think' they are Experiencing the 'Fullness of God'. 
But really they're only looking from a 'Distance'. 

They might read the Bible, say Prayers, watch Godly programs, maybe even go to Church, they might even Preach.

These things are all Very Good, and to an extent Yes they will be Experiencing God.

 But if it's done in the 'worlds way' of Doing things, if it's just 'Surface Level Faith' and especially if it's done for show, then they will Not be 'Experiencing' the 'Fullness of God'. 

There's 'Only One Way' to Experience the 'Fullness of God'. 

And that is by forming a 
'Direct Relationship with Jesus Christ', God's Son.

Jesus Himself said, “No one comes to the Father except through Me”. 
(John 14:6). 

Jesus is the Gate 'Into' God's Kingdom.

Many people 'Think' they're Following Jesus, but they're 'Following People'. 
You can't Follow Jesus Through 'Other People'. 
 It needs to be a Personal 'One on One' Relationship.

The Disciple's of Jesus each had their Own 'Personal' One on One Relationship with Jesus.

They didn't go Through the 'Other Disciples' to have their Relationship with Jesus.
They each had a Deep & Meaningful 'Direct' Relationship with Him.

And by Doing that, they 'Experienced the 'Kingdom of God'. 

When 'You' have a 'Direct One on One' Relationship with Jesus, then when You read the Bible, You will have a Better Understanding of the Character of God, and You'll gain more Wisdom from God's Word.

When 'You' are 'Fully Committed' to Jesus, then when You Pray, You will have a Better Connection to God, because 
Jesus 'Is' our 'Connection to God'. 

When Jesus is 'Your Solid Foundation', then if You watch Godly programs or go to Church, then Jesus will Help You 'Learn & Grow' in Your Faith.

He will also 'Shine His Light' so 'You' can see who are the 'True Followers' of Jesus, and who are the Fakes.

There are Many Wonderful Preachers and True Believers who Do Great things for God.
But unfortunately there are Many 'Deceivers' who Pretend to be Believers.

That's why it's so 'Important' to have a 'Direct' One on One Relationship with Jesus Himself.
Jesus will NEVER Deceive You.

So I Encourage 'You' to 'Step Off'  the 'People Path', and go 'Deep Inside' the 'Kingdom of God'.

It might Seem like You're 'Close to God' when You are around 'Other Believers'. And if they are 'True Believers' then to some extent, Yes You probably will be. But just Beware that there are 'Deceivers in Disguise'.

There's nothing wrong with spending Some of Your time with other 'True Believers'. 

But when 'You' are on the 'People Path', You can only go where the 
'Path' Takes You.
There are 'Limits' to How Much of God You will Experience from the 
'People Path'. 

Over the past 20 years I've seen 'Many' people spend so much of Their Time on the 'People Path' that they reach a point where they 'Truly Believe' that they 'Need' People.
But the 'Truth' is, they Only 'Need' God.

It's only when You 'Get Away' from the 'Noises & Distractions' of  'Other Peoples Ways', and You go 'Deep Inside' the Kingdom of God, where it's just 'You and God Together', that 'You' will then Experience the 
'True Wonders of God'.

You' will Experience a Freedom to Explore 'God's Way', that You have Never Experienced before.

“He Will Show 'You' Great & Mighty Things that You Do Not Know”. 

It's when You are 'Deep Inside' the Kingdom of God, that 'New Discoveries' are made.

God might even Reveal things about His Kingdom to 'You' Personally that nobody else has ever known. 
WOW, that's Exciting.

From my own Personal Experience, God has Revealed Wonderful things to me when I have been spending 'Quality Quiet Time' with God.

Try to find a Place and a Time when You can Regularly be Alone With God, away from All the 'worldly & people' Noises & Distractions.

The world is 'Loud' and 'In You Face'. 

But God is 'Quiet' and 'Gentle'. 

He communicates with us in a  “Still Small Voice”, 
(1 Kings 19:12).

God wants to have a Deep & Meaningful 'Close Relationship' with 'You', where You can Enjoy 'The Wonders of His Kingdom'. 

He wants 'You' to Personally Experience & Discover 
His 'Tender Love', His 'Gentle Peace', and His 'Wonderful Joy'. 

So 'Step Off' the Wide 'People Path',
and Step Deep 'Inside God's Kingdom'. 

God Will 'Welcome' You with a Big Loving Hug.

~ The Best Part of Life ~

If somebody was to ask You 'What's the Best Part of Your Life', 
~ what would You say ? 

~  ~  ~

Before I started my Wonderful Journey with Jesus, if somebody had asked me that question, I probably would have said something 'Meaningless' like some kind of 'worldly' Thing, that's Not at all the Best Part of Anything.

But at that time I would have 'Thought' that 'worldly' things were the Best.

It's only since I've been Following the 'Wonderful Way of Jesus' that I've realised what is actually the 'Best'.

A while ago My Wife did asked me that question,
 “What's the Best part of your Life” ?    

There was No doubt in my Mind, I knew Straight Away the answer which is,
 'My Relationship with God & Jesus'. 

That Truly is the Best Part of my Life.

It feels Very Special to have a Relationship with God, the 'Almighty Creator' of Everything. 
It's Fantastic to have a Relationship with God's 'Wonderful Loving Son' who Gave Up His Own Life to Save Mine, (and Yours).

It's a Wonderful Feeling knowing that God & Jesus want to have a Relationship with me.  
WOW, that's Special, that's what is Truly the 'Best'. 

'And they want to have a Relationship with You'.

We are All able to Enjoy a Relationship with God.
It was made Possible because of the Amazing and Loving Sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the Cross. A Sacrifice that 'Nobody Else' has Ever made.

The way to Enjoy a Relationship with God is 'Through Jesus'. 

And we need to have a Close Relationship with Jesus to be able to do that.  

I've Discovered that I'm able to Experience these Close & Meaningful Relationships by 'Being Open' to God & Jesus, and to God's Wonderful Way' to Live my Life. To put my 'Trust' in God, and Not in people.

Most Importantly I've realised that it needs to be 'Only' God's Way to Live.
'God's Way' and the 'worlds way' do Not mix.

So what is my Relationship with Jesus ?   Well it's a number of things,

~ He's my Best Friend, He's my Strength, a Wonderful Comforter, 
He's my Guiding Star, my Teacher, He's my Protector, my Support, 
He's my Encourager, my Hope. Jesus is my 'Light' in the world. 

All Relationships need to be 'Two Way'. I need to Do my Part,

~ I'm a Disciple of Jesus, His Student, I'm His Follower, His Apprentice, 
I'm God's Hands to do His Wonderful works here on earth,
I'm a Channel for God's Peace to others, I'm 'Fully Open' for 
Jesus to Live through me to Help Comfort & Love others. 

It's a Wonderful Relationship, and it's Freely Available to 'You'. 

God & Jesus Truly are 'The Best Part of my Life'.

So I ask 'You' the same question,

“What's The Best Part of Your Life” ?

~ Give It All To God ~

Sometimes when You and I are trying to 'Help' someone or 'Help' a cause, we can sometimes do it in a Way that ends up with the situation being worse. 

Even when we 'Truly Believe' in the cause we are trying to 'Help', it can sometimes have a negative effect. 

I recently tried to 'Help' a cause that I 'Very Strongly Believe' that God Guided me about.
But I went about some of it in the 'Wrong Way'.

I 'Sincerely Apologise' for the 'Wrong Way' that I did it.

I have asked God to 'Clearly Guide' me what 'He' would like me to Do.

It 'Clearly' came to me to,
'Give It All To God' and 'Walk Away'. 

There are times when we need to 'Stand Firm' in the causes that we 'Believe' in and are trying to 'Help'. 

But there are times when we simply need to 'Give It All To God', 
and 'Walk Away'. 

God can deal with Every situation a 
'Lot Better' than we can.

Ask God to give You 'Clear Guidance' of when to 
'Stand Firm', 
and when to 
'Give It All To God'.