Encouraging Women to Seek and Abide...

Morning musings…

It’s a while since I shared on here but today I thought I’d share a few thoughts I had this morning. (if you’d like to be added to my daily email list please email me savourofsalt@gmail.com )

Just sharing some thoughts I had with you today as I thought it might help someone.

I woke early this morning and lay in bed thinking back over yesterday.

It somehow felt unproductive. Although most of the time I’d been busy doing good things I’d also spent the little free time I had in the afternoon browsing the internet looking up different things I wanted to know, then spent some time on social media and as usual it left me feeling unfulfilled and dissatisfied.

As I thought back over yesterday, I thought again of the word God laid on my heart right back at the beginning of the year: ‘redeeming the time, because the days are evil.’ (I shared my thoughts on Jan 1st)

As I lay thinking about this, I thought I know that I need to redeem the time today, to buy it back from the world and give it to God but then I started to think why?

Why do I want to live for God? Is it because I feel that I ‘have to’? Because I don’t want these instructions in the New Testament to become a spiritual to do list and for me to become a slave to the law again, because Christ has set me free from that. But also I love Him so dearly and after all He gave up for me He deserves my time, He deserves my all.

Our why is far more important than what we actually do.

I know that none but Christ can satisfy yet still at times I grasp for those empty things that don’t fill me up but rather leave me feeling empty.

So why do I want to redeem the time, is it because ‘I have to’ or because ‘I get to’?

As I pondered it more I knew that it’s because I’ve proved that the only thing that truly satisfies is Jesus and I love Him and want to live my life for Him but the world distracts and tries to lure me away from spending time with my best Friend.

I want to redeem the time, I want to follow Jesus’ example even if it means denying self, I want to take up my cross however heavy it may feel at times and follow Him, not because I have to but because He died for me and now I get the joy and privilege of choosing to live each moment for Him.

Distractions come every day Friends and we get to choose whether we focus on the things that fill us or those that drain us.

We get to choose who we give out time to, the world or God.

By God’s grace, may love for our worthy, good and gracious God always be our motivation in all things including the decisions we make.

‘Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.’

Eph 5:16, Mark 8:34.

Tarry Ye…

Abide – just one little word and yet it contains so much of the secret to truly following Jesus!

‘Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.’

If we don’t abide in Jesus we won’t bear fruit, it really is that simple!

So what does abide mean? It’s the Greek word menō which is translated in several different ways. Here are some of the meanings and biblical uses of the word menō…

Abide, remain, tarry, not to depart, to continue to be present, to be held, to be kept continually, to remain as one, not to become another or different. Endure, continue, to maintain unbroken fellowship, Knit to Christ by the spirit we have received from Him. To cleave to or hold fast.

Does this describe our relationship with Christ?

The same Greek word is used by Matthew when recording the events in the garden of Gethsemane and it’s translated as ‘tarry ye.’

‘Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.’

Tarry ye, abide!

But the disciples couldn’t watch, they soon fell asleep. Jesus returns and says to Peter, ‘What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’

The spirit was willing but the flesh was weak and again they fell asleep while Jesus was crushed and in agony as He battled with the forces of darkness alone in that garden.

‘Watch and pray…’ They couldn’t watch without prayer because they needed God’s help and neither can we. Jesus asked them to abide with Him but we can’t abide alone, we need God’s help there too.

To abide, to tarry with Jesus we need to watch against temptation and to watch we need God’s help which comes through prayer.

We can only abide in Christ as we’re wholly dependent upon God to help us through the inward working of the Holy Spirit.

And this is what true abiding is. Not just the place each true Believer has in Christ positional but walking it out moment by moment, day by day.

Not just the physical drawing near as a duty, reading the Bible, going to services, empty prayers but the heart, mind and soul also drawing near and drawing grace from Christ!

It’s sweet communion with God, it’s heartfelt prayer, it’s praise, it’s being a living sacrifice, it’s complete dependence upon Jesus, it’s recognising our weakness and the sufficiency of His strength which is obtained through prayer.

We are no stronger than those disciples and they were no stronger than us.

And it’s been the same throughout the ages! It was the same with Abraham, Moses and Samuel. It was the same with Esther, Ruth and Naomi. It was the same with Daniel, Stephen and Paul. It was the same with Amy Carmichael, Hudson Taylor and George Müller.

Their greatness was not in themselves it was in their abiding in Christ it was in their dependence upon God that they had the victory over sin and it was when they went on in their own strength and wisdom that they fell.

The battle is only won as we watch and pray, as we tarry with Jesus and abide in Him.

‘Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.’

John15:4, Matt 26:41, James 4:7-8

The Time is Short…

Just snooze the clock

And snuggle right back down –

You can waste me

But you can’t stop me!

🕰

Scrolling Facebook,

Just a little catch up –

You can waste me

But you can’t stop me!

🕰

Browse the shops,

Only a quick wander –

You can waste me

But you can’t stop me!

🕰

Watching YouTube,

I just need to chill out –

You can waste me

But you can’t stop me!

🕰

Another day gone,

Little time with Jesus –

You can waste me

But you can’t stop me!

🕰

‘It is time to seek the Lord.’

Weariness

Many well known sayings come from Bible verses such as ‘you reap what you sow’ which comes from Jesus’ words…

‘Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.’

But there’s more, Paul goes on to say ‘And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.’

Firstly who are you sowing to? Self, the world and the devil or the Holy Spirit?

We are either servants of God or servants of self and Satan, we cannot faithfully serve both.

‘No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.’

Who are you living for Friend?

Denying self is hard and taking up your cross means self must be crucified but in truly following Jesus there’s immeasurable joy and peace!!

‘Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.’

Are you weary with trying to right? Are you weary of denying self and living for God.

Are you exhausted with living for God’s glory in the mundane day to day tasks.

Another nappy change, another meal to get, more laundry to do, that book to read for the tenth time to today.

Or that same task at work, another difficult lesson at college, another difficult client, that person that grates on your nerves that you just want to snap at etc!

Jesus said…

‘he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.’

Friends, there’s life in living for Jesus!!

But how do we not get weary with it?

By not doing it in your own strength or for yourself.

‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

Do you see?! When we walk with Jesus the burden becomes light because He carries it with us and the yoke isn’t hard, Jesus shares the weight of it and guides and steers us if we’ll just lean into and trust His will and not pull against it!

So Friends, ‘let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.’

Gal 6:7-9, Matt 6:24, 10:39, 11:28-30

When the Burden Feels too Heavy

There’s verses you feel as though you’ve known all your life then you read them again and God shows you something new: don’t you just love that?!

I’ve been thinking about these verses a lot the last few weeks after God opened my eyes to something obvious but that I’d never seen so clearly before…

‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

We’ve got a command to come then a promise followed by another command and another promise and then a reason why we should come.

It’s the last sentence, the reason why that I wanted to share about…

‘For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

Have you ever read that and thought my burden certainly doesn’t feel light?

Friends, if we’re weary and heavy laden Jesus has said come and receive this promised rest.

He’s said be joined with me and find rest so why is the hard sometimes still so hard?

If Jesus has promised then it’s true and if it’s not true in our lives then there’s a reason!

Friends, the yoke is only hard if we pull against it and the burden is only heavy if we try to bear it alone or pick up burdens that were never ours to carry!

Simple!

Have you come with your burden to Jesus?

Are you walking with Him or pulling against Him?!

If you’re struggling then ask God to open your eyes and then search your heart and see where you’re going your own way or not trusting because His yoke IS easy and His burden IS light!

Matt 11:28-30

Some New Year Thoughts

As I’ve contemplated the New Year these words have been running through my mind.

‘See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.’

Friends, as we enter this New Year we’re to walk carefully, wisely, redeeming the time.

Why?

Because the days are evil.

How are they evil?

We see sin all around us, man living for self and pleasure rather than for God.

But if we’re true believers, we have been called, as Paul says earlier in this letter, from darkness into light and as such we are to redeem the time.

What does it mean to redeem in this verse?

‘To rescue from loss.’

‘To make wise and sacred use of every opportunity for doing good,’

Friends, we are to redeem every moment of time, to rescue those precious minutes from being lost to the world and claim them for the glorify God.

Just as Christ redeemed us, just as he bought us back from slavery to sin with his blood so we must redeem the time buying back each opportunity we are given, taking each moment from self and living it for the glory of God.

‘And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.’

Not doing to earn God’s favour but doing because we love Him and as an overflow of that love, living for God and His glory.

‘For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen’.

What does that look like?

We’re doing a mundane task, maybe photocopying in the office or ironing, we can use those moments to meditate on God’s word or to pray for our colleagues or family.

What about in the tasks that take concentration? What is our why? Why are we doing it, how are we doing it?

Are we doing it grudgingly because we have to or to gain favour with others or are we doing it joyfully, cheerfully for God’s glory?

How? By God’s grace, with His help, through the power and wisdom of God that is in each true Believer through Christ Jesus, redeeming each moment, living each moment for Him!

We may make resolution as we begin a New Year but it’s only by God’s help that He will glorified through us in 2022.

We may resolve to lose weight and exercise more, a good resolve but what is our why?

So we look better, so we’re more attractive or so that God might be glorified in our life?

Do we want to be healthy so we can better serve God?

Friends are we walking in the light, redeeming the time?

Believe me, I’m far from perfect but by God’s grace may we each be helped to live moment by moment for the glory of God in 2022!!

Eph 5:15-16, Col 3:17, Rom 11:36, Eph 5:8

Sacrifice and Surrender = Joy and Peace

I started reading 1 Corinthians but didn’t get any further than this description of who Paul was writing to ‘to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints…’

‘Sanctified’.

‘Called to be saints!!’

So I dug a bit deeper, what exactly does it mean to be sanctified and a saint?

Sanctified – ‘to separate from profane things and dedicate to God’.

‘To purify internally by renewing of the soul’.

Saint – I’ve heard it described as a sinner sinner saved by grace but the meaning that stood out to me the most was the word consecrated!

Are we consecrated to God? Set apart from the world, exclusively His?

And how does this play out in our lives?

Is it looking set apart, dressing differently and avoiding the world?

No! It’s living through Christ for the glory of God!

If we truly love God this will affect the way we live, if we’re walking close to Him we’ll have no desire to dress or act in a way that grieves Him but that won’t be our focus!

We won’t want to be one with the World instead we’ll be reaching out to it with the love of Jesus as Jesus did with His love.

Loving the despised and rejected in our society just as Jesus did in His life.

Consecration is not set apart looking, it’s set apart doing!

It’s following in the footsteps of Jesus as he leads us!

It’s easy to put Jesus in the place of a servant, asking Him to do things for us and asking for His help when things get hard or we need direction.

And yes He’s both able and willing to help us but there should be so much more to our relationship with God than just getting the answers and help we want.

Relationships need love and love that is poured out in practical ways and that love going both ways.

The Christian life is a beautiful life of surrender and sacrifice of self for Christ and the glory of God.

It’s living for God and His glory through Christ and the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit who is in us as believers.

Growing in Grace = Growing in dependence on God

It’s walking in complete dependence upon God but not for our own will and way but for help to walk in His will and way.

That hole we’re so often try to fill with shopping, social media etc can only be filled with Jesus and by living for God, nothing else will satisfy for long!

It’s ‘no more Me just all Christ in me’!

It’s sacrifice and surrender which = joy and peace.

Friend, are you willingly, cheerfully living the surrendered, set apart life? Because it’s the only life where true happiness is found, the way where that peace that passes all understanding and that joy that transcends circumstances lights the darkest path!

Keep leaning in Friend and live by God’s enabling grace with open hands and heart, eyes fixed on Jesus!

1 Cor 1:2

David and Goliath, Faith in a mighty God.

I’m sure you all know the account of David and Goliath well. A giant challenging the Israel army and none brave enough to accept the challenge except a young shepherd boy!

But what made David brave enough to set aside Saul’s armour and go out against Goliath armed with just a sling and a few pebbles?

It wasn’t that he had more courage than these seasoned warriors in the Israelite army it where His faith was placed.

David didn’t go to fight Goliath alone, he went fully trusting that God would fight for him! He knew the battle wasn’t his but God’s!

What was David’s reply of faith when Goliath mocked him?…

‘Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.

This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give you into our hands.’

But David doesn’t stop there, his faith isn’t just empty words!

When Goliath stepped towards David he ‘hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.’

David didn’t just stand there, yes he trusted God but he also steps forward in faith!

Faith seldom means sitting back and watching God do all the work it often mean stepping out in that faith trusting God to work through and for us.

So David steps forward in faith and with just one God directed sling the stone flung from his slingshot and Goliath drops to the ground defeated!

It was an unequal fight, not because Goliath was a giant and David a small shepherd boy BUT because it was Almighty God, the creator of heaven and earth against this feeble man Goliath!

David went in the name of the Lord, he wasn’t fighting for himself, He wasn’t fighting for fame, he wasn’t fighting for king Saul, he wasn’t fighting for Israel, he was fighting for God and His honour and glory!!

Friends there are no giants too big when our desire is for the honour and glory of God!

Those mountains, those impossibilities, they’re totally unequal to our God and can melt away as easily as the giant Goliath fell before the little shepherd boy!

The God who holds each star in the sky, the God who faithfully makes the sun to rise and set each day, the God who directs each wave and commands each drop of rain is in perfect, loving control and Friend, with God NOTHING is impossible!

Yes hard things come but dear child of God ‘we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.’

So will you step out in faith like David and fight your Giant through Christ trusting that whatever the outcome God will use it for your good and His glory?

1 Samuel 17, Romans 8:28

Putting on the Armour of God

How are you going to be starting today Believer?

How will you be strong enough to fight temptation, doubt and fear?

Will you ‘be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.’?

Are you battle ready?

No soldier with an ounce of common sense goes into battle unarmed or without testing his weapons.

Physical soldiers fight earthly battles, battles for territory or principles.

We enter a far greater battle each day, the battle for our souls!

Friends, we fight in enemy territory against a formidable foe!

An enemy far stronger than we can ever defeat alone. Do you go into battle prepared because you can’t expect to win if you leave behind the weapons God has given you or forget the armour He’s given you to defend yourself with!

Friend, take a moment each morning to reflect on your armour, test each piece and use it to defend yourself.

First remember that belt of truth that surrounds you, tie it tight so your fears don’t flap about and hinder you.

Now don’t forget that breastplate of righteous, take time to reflect on the righteousness of Christ that covers you, remember that it protects your heart from the lies of the enemy and gives you access to God!

And then remember those sturdy shoes of gospel peace and truth, they help you to stand firm in your faith. Shoes to walk in and carry the gospel of peace with you wherever you go.

Then we get to the armour you have to pick up and wear or use each day.

The shield of faith, pick it up Friend and have it always ready to use when the fiery darts of unbelief and fear are fired at you.

Hold that ‘I believe’ firm between you and those poisoned darts, the lies, the what ifs and the imaginations!

Then protect your mind, protect that hope that you have in Christ by putting on the helmet of salvation remembering whose you are and who you serve.

Then pick up your sword, God’s word, the word He has preserved over thousands of years so that He can speak through it to YOU Friend!

This is your sword, Jesus used it and with an ‘it is written…’ fought off Satan and it has the same power for you today!

Did you pick it up before you started the day? Do you have those truths hidden in your heart ready to attack relation, doubt and fear?!

And finally how does Paul wrap these commands to Christ’s soldiers up?

We pray! We pray for ourselves and others…

‘Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;’

Friend, are you ready for battle today?

Eph 6:10-18

God Will Provide

Abraham didn’t know why God asked him to offer up his son Isaac. Abraham didn’t understand how God could fulfill His promise if he killed his son through whom God’s promise was to be fulfilled.

He didn’t understand why or how but he obeyed regardless!

It’s easy to forget that faithful obedience includes obeying when we don’t understand why or how.

Maybe the Lord has asked you to do something that feels impossible. Maybe you feel as though you haven’t the time or the strength or the means but God has Friend!

It was faith and grace that enabled Abraham to go forward wondering how he could fulfill God’s will and why God was asking him to do this.

It was faith and grace that caused Abraham to say ‘God will provide…’

And Friend the same grace is available to you in Christ if you’ll just grasp it by faith, however small that faith may be and go forward in cheerful obedience trusting that God will provide!

Can we not trust the One who died to save us?!

‘I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.’

Are you willing to sacrifice your will to God’s even when it doesn’t make sense trusting Him to provide along the way?

Friends, ‘he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.’

‘God will provide.’

Rom 12:1, 2 Cor 5:15, Gen 22:8