But encourage one another daily…

as long as it is called “Today” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. (Hebrews 3:13)

Ok, so this is my first blog, my first venture onto the internet… but I really feel called to share my thoughts – and my writing, which I’ve been doing for years! So, excuse the rambling, but I’d better start somewhere!

It’s funny, we just have a rather dull break after what has been a searing heatwave of faintingly hot proportions that we’re just not used to in the UK! I do actually remember the drought of 1976, though I was quite young at the time (cough…)! And, of course, now it’s cloudy and windy, with bits of rain here and there, and it’s rather depressing! We want that blue sky back again! Last week it was getting so hard to live with the heat, day and night, that I prayed earnestly for rain to fall on this dry and thirsty land and I wondered if the physical climate matched the spiritual climate of these times.

I know for myself, I want to go deeper with the Lord, learn more, see more, do more, be more – and really walk with him and be used to minister to others. I am thirsty for more of the things of God and I see it in others around me too. But I also see fear.

I have to tell you, I’ve been talking about writing a blog or publishing some of my scribblings for years – literally – and, then I remembered, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…”  If I harden my heart because I’m afraid, where is my faith? Ok, so I haven’t got a clue about blogging, or how it all works, but HE does, and in all things God works together for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purposes. (Romans 8) So here I am!

I guess we all have a fear of being judged. I’ve just led my first away day at church and, although I was a bit nervous as I ploughed my way through pages of bible verses and notes that I’d scribbled down at various times, trying to pull it all together, I was very aware that what the Lord wanted me to talk about was the finished work of Jesus – hence the title of this blog. We know he said, “It is finished!” yet we always seem to want to add something to it ourselves – a bit like having the last word! There is NOTHING more that needs to be done – and he IS the last Word! Here is an excerpt from the third and final talk of the day.

A few weeks ago at the evening prayer meeting,  I had a picture of a warship. I was very conscious of the metallic solidity of the ship, grey paint, huge rivets.  It was very dark and stormy and although the men manning the guns had waterproofs on, they were soaked to the skin and utterly exhausted, but still they battled on. Then I had a picture of the Captain’s cabin.  It was at the heart of the ship and the noise of the battle could not be heard.  It was warm and dry and peaceful. I felt the Lord was saying, “Come to the Captain’s cabin. Be at rest, have food and drink, renew your strength.”

We are in a spiritual battle on a daily basis. The enemy doesn’t like it when we step out in faith, when we take ground for the kingdom, when we put Jesus first. He will have his minions place obstacles in our way, try to make us fearful, weak, sick and snatch away our faith. The only way we can not be beaten down and defeated, is to rest in Jesus, draw from him, have our wounds healed and our strength renewed. He IS our Captain in this daily battle.

He has strategies that the enemy couldn’t even imagine. Just think of it… Jesus is betrayed, tortured, killed and buried…  Bingo! Another victory for Satan.

Oh… wait… he’s alive…? ALIVE!!! And now they all KNOW that he’s God! Nooooo!!!

Not a good day for the powers of darkness, and now they refuse to admit defeat, but will exude every last drop of hatred towards mankind that they possibly can. And, as for his followers, well… there is a special team appointed to cause trouble!

But the battle is the Lord’s and what we have to do is stand. That doesn’t mean, stand still and do nothing, it means actively stand our ground. We stand on solid rock, our footing is firm, we are in our armour, we have the power of God through the Holy Spirit. If God is for us – who can be against us? That doesn’t mean it’s not tiring though. We can help each other by giving encouragement and praying. Back to Ephesians 6 verse 18 again…

^“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

So, I will be praying for you, dear readers, as I close this, my first entry into The Finished Work.