Like a cloak round the shoulders
You meant it for my harm
We have had a lot of chaos in our lives with Covid and world events. Being home has meant a lot of time to think. Sometimes this can be good but other times it can lead to depression.
Lately I have had too much time to think and it had given rise to depression at times. Often it lead to having the evil one throw darts at me, often in reminding me of sins and mistakes of the past.
Things have been better lately. Once I realised that the darts were coming from the evil one, I was able to take action.
We know that the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin with a way out: repentance and forgiveness. But the evil one condemns and accuses with no way to move forward out of the path of guilt and anxiety.
What the evil one was doing was trying to make me feel guilty and sad over past sins that have been forgiven and covered by the Blood of Jesus.
Remembering that Jesus has thrown those sins and mistakes into the Sea of Forgetfulness and remembers them no more, gave me the tool and the power to overcome these attacks.
An example of this would be me remembering some sin in my past that I would prefer to forget. The old anxiety pattern would start, making me miserable. So my conversation (vocal if I was alone) was to acknowledge with Satan that I was indeed guilty... but reminding him that Jesus has paid the price for that sin and has forgiven me!
Immediately, I would thank Jesus for His sacrifice and forgiveness and I would feel happy again. Satan cannot stand us to pray, praise and love Jesus!
What Satan meant for my harm became a reason to rejoice in my salvation!
Next time you are reminded of your past sin, remind him that you are redeemed and belong to Christ and start to praise Him. The devil will flee and what was meant for evil will be for your good.
© Glenys Robyn Hicks
But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Genesis 50:20
Maranatha!
- I believe we should be in prayer for those people suffering under authorities such as the Taliban and for all those Christians who are in danger.
- We need to intercede for the Ukrainians who are being invaded as we speak.
- We should be praying for those who are still unsaved.
- Keeping the faith can be difficult for some, especially as the world gets darker. We need to pray for ourselves too.
- We should bring our thoughts and minds under the control of the Holy Spirit by focussing on good things that are still here
- We must remember that Christ is in control, no matter how bad a situation becomes.
- We must bring everything we see, hear and read in to the light of the Word and we must remember that all these things, though disturbing, are temporary.
- We must maintain an attitude of gratitude for all things in our life and dwell on God's goodness.
- We simply must be a person of worship and praise.
- We must be in the Word.
- We must remember that Jesus has promised to take us Home before the Great Tribulation. Revelation 3:10 see below
"We Give You Thanks"
May we be truly grateful
For the bounty You have given us.
We thank you for the earth and rain,
The good harvest and the wholesome grain
That went into our daily bread
And kept the stock that kept us fed.
Thank you for the hands that cooked and baked,
And for the water that our thirst slaked.
Please accept our thanks as we honour You
For Your goodness in giving us this food.
© Glenys Robyn Hicks
Keep the faith by standing firm
We of all people are most misjudged and vilified by the world. When we stand up to society about matters that go against God such as same sex marriage, abortion and infanticide, we are told we are judgemental, unloving and biggotted.
What can we do? We can stand firm. Even if we can't stand physically, spiritually we stand firm. Our foundation is the Blood of Christ and His Word.
We live a life of faith and we aspire to be more Christ-like daily. We pray for ourselves, others and the world that it comes to a saving knowledge of God.
In our daily living, we stand firm in our convictions, no matter what the cost. This can be so difficult.
Shining our light in a dark world is never easy, but we must continue to shine. We must win the lost through our example, and our example should be Jesus.
Many have fallen away and backslidden. We must pray for them and pray daily for our own strength and commitment to Christ to stay firm.
It is imperative that we Christians, able bodied or not, stand firm. And we can. We have the Rock to cling to and the firm foundation of His Word. Will you keep the faith by standing firm?
© Glenys Robyn Hicks
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. Matthew 10:22
He's faithful and good
When my first child was born he was coming face upwards. The forceps damaged his eye which looked normal but was nearly sightless. I lived in constant fear that his good eye would be damaged.
His father didn't want him to be wrapped in cotton wool and we went every Saturday to watch our son play Australian Rules Football which can be quite rough. The whole time he played, I prayed. The fear was great as players fell all over him. I hated it.
Eventually after the birth of his own third child, he had wet the baby's head too well and crashed into a lamp pole, damaging his good eye on the airbag. I was called to the hospital at 3am and had to drive him to Melbourne Ear Nose and Throat Hospital in the dark.
I had to stop every half an hour and fill his eye with drops to control the pressure in the eyeball. His eye chamber was full of blood, called an hyphema. Not a confidant driver, especially in busy cities and at night, I cried out to the LORD the whole way there and back home. It was so difficult with my son terrified of sitting there blind and it was my worst nightmare come true.
He stayed with us and I nursed him, administering drops of different kinds and making sure he never laid down because of the hyphema spreading if he did. I took him to opthamologists for weeks until the hyphema was absorbed. As it absorbed, the vision improved. Fourteen years later it is completely healed and has had no bad after effects.
This was absolutely one of the most horrid of times and testing of my trust in God and my faith. Yes- it was something I just had to do at the time, but I pray I will never go through that trial again. But God was faithful. And good.
We all live in glass houses
Ready for your crown?
Leave it there!
I honestly don't know how people cope without holding Jesus's Hand. The world often makes us anxious. We need to stay close to Jesus during a trial.
I have had horrid things happen in the family recently and I have learned now to give it to the the LORD and I have a mantra "Into Your Hands, Father!" I just tell Him I can't change whatever, only He can and I hand it to Him.
It is true that once you realise you can't do anything but pray for that person and situation, and surrender it to God, that it results in your own peace.
Often we try to fix a situation that is impossible- after all, that's what mothers and grandmothers do- but of course we can't usually.
It has taken me a lifetime to realise finally, that most times all that's required of us is to pray. I was feeling uneasy about blogging about anxiety as I have had people comment on my blogs about me being faithless etc and I have had to delete those comments. They are not edifying or helpful..
Then of course, the self condemnation one feels about suffering produces anxiety that we can't even suffer correctly and the next step is to fall into despair. You certainly don't want to go there.
Overcoming anxiety is difficult and it simply must be handled with prayer and faith. We must realise that we can't often fix things but God can.
Next time we find ourselves getting anxious about something, let us run to God and give it to Him to fix. But most importantly, instead of believing everything is our responsibility to fix, let us lay it at Jesus' Feet to fix- and then leave it there!
We are the Church!
Taken for granted
"So teach [us] to number our days, that we may apply [our] hearts unto wisdom" Psalm 90:12
Heinous acts
- (of a person or wrongful act, especially a crime) utterly odious or wicked.
"a battery of heinous crimes"
synonyms: odious, wicked, evil, atrocious, monstrous, disgraceful,
abominable, detestable, contemptible, reprehensible, despicable,
horrible, horrific, horrifying, terrible, awful, abhorrent, loathsome, outrageous,
shocking, shameful, hateful, hideous, unspeakable, unpardonable, unforgivable,
inexcusable, execrable, ghastly, iniquitous, villainous, nefarious, beneath contempt, beyond the pale;
© Glenys Robyn Hicks
Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Isaiah 44: 2
No longer taken for granted
"So teach [us] to number our days, that we may apply [our] hearts unto wisdom" Psalm 90:12
This too will pass
We don't want to live without it
Christ is there to carry us
We of all people are most misjudged and vilified by the world. When we stand up to society about matters that go against God such as same sex marriage, abortion and infanticide, we are told we are judgemental, unloving and biggotted.
What can we do? We can stand firm. Even if we can't stand physically, spiritually we stand firm. Our foundation is the Blood of Christ and His Word.
We live a life of faith and we aspire to be more Christ-like daily. We pray for ourselves, others and the world that it comes to a saving knowledge of God.
In our daily living, we stand firm in our convictions, no matter what the cost. This can be so difficult.
Shining our light in a dark world is never easy, but we must continue to shine. We must win the lost through our example, and our example should be Jesus.
Many have fallen away and backslidden. We must pray for them and pray daily for our own strength and commitment to Christ to stay firm.
It is imperative that we Christians, able bodied or not, stand firm. And we can. We have the Rock to cling to and the firm foundation of His Word.
© Glenys Robyn Hicks
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. Matthew 10:22