Through noise there is peace

         The sound of traffic
           going to and fro,
         people talking as
           they walk by;
        the sound of noise
          all around.

    And yet, as I look
        towards heaven
    and see the sun set
     in the sky,
   there is a peace that
     enters within me.

   Thank You Lord.

He will carry you

Isaiah 46:3-4
Listen to me descendants of Jacob, all you who remain in
Israel.  I have cared for you since you were born.  Yes, I carried you before you were born.  I will be your God throughout your
lifetime- until your hair is white with age.  I made you, and I will care for you.  I will carry you along and save you.


 How comforting it is to know that God loves us, and that he
 cares for us.  He promises, '' I will carry you.'' and that
means every care and worry that life throws at us and in our lifetime.

If there is anything that is worrying you go before God and lay
 before him your worries.

   Heavenly Father, I want to unload my burdens on You
     today.  Help me to leave them with You.  I trust You with
  my past, present, and future.  Thank You for Your goodness
   to me.  Amen.

 Our work is to cast care; God's work is to take care.

Jesus died for our sins

  Isaiah 53:12
He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with
the transgressors, and He bore the sins of many.


                    Is God aloof from human pain,
                      that ravages our mortal frame?
                        Oh, no, Christ felt our agony,
                       when sin and death He overcame! (D. De Haan


Christ's empty tomb guarantees our victory over sin and death.




John 3:16
For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal
life.


Easter is approaching us, when children look forward to Easter Eggs. They might also decorate
hard boiled eggs and roll them down the hill, and many other activities connected to Easter.
But let us not forget the agony that Jesus went through for us.  He suffered on that cross when

he bore our sins, and he did it so that we might be saved.
                     

Acknowledge God in all you do.

Proverbs 3:6
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.


Has there ever been a time when you have had to make a big decision over something?
I am sure we have all been in that situation.  We've maybe pondered over it for days,
maybe weeks, then we finely make the decision.  But what happens if we realise maybe a
few days later that the decision we made had been the wrong decision?


Why did we make the wrong decision?  Answer: We didn't go before God in prayer.  We made
 the decision on our own merit.  Or we did go before God, but we closed our ears to his wise
instructions.


In Proverbs 3:6 we are instructed to seek his will in everything, not just in some things but everything.
And if we do this he will guide us and show us the true and right path to take.


In verse 5, we are told to trust him and not lean on our own understanding.  When we lean on
some one we are expected to be supported by strong arms so that we would not fall.
God has strong arms to support all of us, but we must trust him in everything.




  Psalm 32:10
Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; but he who trusts in the Lord, mercy
shall surround him.


May our choices today not result in regret, but rather be wise and God- honouring.


               In You, O Lord, we take delight,
                  our every need You can supply;
                   we long to do what's true and right.
                      So,Lord, on You we will rely ( D  De Haan)

  Present choices determine future rewards.

Your hand is in mine Lord

    Your hand is in mine, Lord,
        each step of the way.
     Your hand is in mine, Lord,
          as along the road we stray.


   You walk along beside me,
     and cover me with your 
        love.
    Your hand is in mine Lord,
       each step of the way.


   I need not fear, when you
      are near,
   when I walk along the way.
   I know that you will guide
     me, 

   each and every day,

God hears our prayers

Daniel 9:21
While I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel...reached me.




   I know not by what methods rare.  But this I
      know- God answers prayer;
      I leave my prayers with Him alone,
          whose will is wiser than my own.


 God's answers to our prayers may exceed our expectations.


Yes, God does hear our prayers, and yes He will answer them. But it is in His will and in
His time.  Always remember He knows exactly what is best for us.

I'm Special

John 15:15
 ''No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing, but I
 have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.


     I'm special because God has loved me, for He gave the best thing that He had to save me:
        His Son Jesus, crucified to take the blame, for all the bad things I have done.
             Thank You Jesus, thank You Lord for loving me so much; I know I don't deserve
                anything, help me feel Your love right now, to know deep in my heart that
                   I'm Your special friend.




 Isn't it wonderful that God loves us so much, that He calls us His friends.  We are special in His eyes.
  Each and everyone of us who have Jesus in their lives.  God has no favourites, and he loves everyone

of us the same.  Each one of us can say-  ' I'm Special.'

Dreams and one that changed my life.

Matthew 2:22

But because he (Joseph) heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea

in the place of his Father  Herod he was afraid to go there. And being divinely warned in a dream he withdrew to the region of Galilee.

Most of us at some point of our lives have had dreams.  If we look from the O.T.- N.T, we can see that throughout many people had dreams, and each of these dreams had a significant purpose.

God came to Abimelech (Genesis 20:3) in a dream at night warning him that he would be a dead man because he had taken Abraham's wife as his own.  Jacob dreamed that a ladder was set up on earth, and the top of it reached heaven; and angels of God were ascending and descending.  And God stood over Jacob saying...'I will give to you and to your descendants the land which you are lying....(Genesis 28:12-13).  Matthew 1:20, Joseph dreamed of an angel of the Lord appearing to him, telling him not to be afraid and to take Mary as his wife.  These are only three examples but there

are many more, and each dream was to change their lives.

Have you had a dream?  I don't mean a day dream, I mean a night dream that has changed everything good or bad.

I have and that dream brought me to God asking Him into my life and acknowledging Jesus as my Saviour.

My dream was so real, it was a battle between God and Satan and every so often a voice would say 'Jesus Christ is Lord.'  I remember trying to shake the dream off, but I couldn't not even the next day;

it kept on in my mind continually throughout the day.  At that time

I couldn't understand what was happening or what it meant, the battle I had dreamed the night before had been fierce.  I had no rest from that dream until I finely knew that God was calling me to Him.

That was a dream that changed my life, and I will always thank God

for that.

The feeling of loneliness

                      The feeling of loneliness is
                  often overwhelming,
                      like a tidal wave
                      sweeping over me.


                 I feel like I'm drowning
                         in the deep sorrow
                          of self.
                  Come my Lord  and
                     save me;
                   lift me in to your
                        loving arms.


                Let me feel your arms
                 around me.
                 then no more will
                   the feeling of loneliness

                     sweep over me.

Salvation

Daniel 12:2
Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some
to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.

How many times have you heard someone say, ''It'll be nice and warm in hell,or I'll see my friends down there?''  How foolish these people are.  The realities of hell are presented in the scriptures.
Daniel 12:22 is described as a place of ''shame and everlasting contempt.''  Luke 16:23 talks about ''torments''.  Matthew 8:12 describes ''weeping and gnashing of teeth.''  And Revelation says there will be ''no rest.''

         Don't choose to spend eternity,
          where pain will never dim;
        instead decide to trust in Christ
              and choose to follow Him.(Sper)

  The same Christ who talks about the glories of heaven also describes the horrors of hell.

Abandoned

Psalm22:1-2
 My God, my God why have you abandoned me?  Why are you so far away when I groan for help?  Everyday I call to you my God, but you do not answer.  Every night you hear my voice, but I find no relief.

Have you ever felt abandoned or let down?  I have.  I have been let down by people whom I thought cared, and I am sure most of us can relate to that.  David in Psalm22:1 felt that God had deserted
 him.  He called to God everyday, but God never answered his call.
 He must have felt let down in these particular moments.

Now let us reverse the situation, have you ever thought about the times when you have abandoned or let down others?  Early one morning I was thinking about those whom I felt had let me down.
But then God gave me a little poke, and then I started to think of
the times when I had let others down also.  But most importantly
the times when I had let God down,the times I had abandoned Him.

I felt ashamed, and that brought me to God, saying that I was sorry
for letting him down and for abandoning him, and also for the times I had let other people down.

We get so wrapped up about how other people have treated us that
we never think about the fact that we ourselves are just as guilty.
But one thing I do know, and that is God will never let us down.  He will never abandon us no matter the circumstances we go through.  He may not answer us when we want him to, but he will
in his own time not in ours.

Joshua 1:5
No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live.  For
I will be with you as I was with Moses.  I will not fail you or abandon you.

Joshua succeeded Moses as Israel's leader. And that meant leading
more than two million people into a strange new land and conquering it.  We may not be asked to lead millions of people to a new land, but each day we face tough situations, difficult people and temptations.  However God promises us that he will never
leave us or fail to help us.  We need to ask God to direct us, and

he will guide us through all situations.