Restoring Life Foundation

Within my church during 2011 the scripture focus had been to “Pursue”, “Overtake” and “Recover All”, taken from 1 Samuel 30, my personal focus was on seeking wisdom from God taken from James 1:5 Amplified Bible (AMP) If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him.

When I prayed for wisdom at the beginning of 2011 l did not expect it to come clothed the way it did. I was looking for some deep meaningful insight into the complexities of life or some new great invention. I expected God to give me a nugget or nuggets of wisdom that would break the glass ceiling I felt was holding me back from progressing at the rate that I desired in  my calling and destiny. God has been faithful to me and has revealed to me things particularly about myself that I was not aware of.  This has been more than wisdom to me. 

The wisdom that I have received was at times painful, but in each and every way necessary. As I continue to pray from an awakened place, I seek the Lord now for continued wisdom and grace to handle what has been revealed and  especially  for divine insight and  truth about my life, relationships, ministry and future.

• As we have left 2011 behind and began 2012, what is God asking you to lay hold of and what is He asking you to let go?
  
• What lessons have you learnt about yourself, God and others?  What are you going to do differently in 2012 as a result of those lessons?
• What internal and external changes have occurred during 2011 that you need to ensure don’t go unnoticed but the lessons learned and  fully consolidated into your life?
•  What are you doing to maintain the ground you've taken in 2011 and what will you do to ensure that you take further ground in 2012? 
• Can you identify what the Lord has done for you in 2011, will you make sometime to thank Him and ask Him to envision you for 2012.

2012 can be your best year yet, if you “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take ( Proverbs 3:5-6).  My desire for you is this -  that you will know Christ the risen saviour in a deeper more authentic way during 2012.  That like Peter you will step outside the boat looking to Christ “The LORD who will work out his plans for your life (Psalm 138:8 ). Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).

To all our  family, friends, clients and colleagues God Bless you in 2012

From Adversity to Destiny

Last night I watched the channel 4 show “My beautiful Friends” which celebrates amazing people struggling to come to terms with their disfigurement. Katie Piper who was disfigured after having acid thrown into her face the champion of the show, epitomises so much of what our tag line represents. She like so many others is not allowing her circumstances to determine who they are or what they can accomplish. Pain, adversity and even disfigurement do not have to destroy a person’s life, but it can inspire and motivate yourself and others to rise against and above it.

Paul was a disciple who suffered much in his journey but he chose not to lose heart through it, in 2 Corinthians 4:16-17 he says, Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. Katie Piper disfigurement and her bravery in facing it head on has caused me to reflect on my own disability and the shame I carried for nearly four years after a number of eye operations went wrong.

The scarring on my face though minute in comparison to Katie’s kept me hidden under dark glasses from Dec 2002 when I had the most recent batch of eye surgery’s to replace an implant in my eye; until 2006 when God set me free from the shame. Reflecting on my own journey I discovered that I could relate to the childhood teasing which resulted in me being excluded from school on a number of occasions for responding to taunts with my fist.

I could also relate to the difficulty some of the people involved with the program experienced, just stepping through the door. For me facing the public without dark glasses expecting them to remark on my appearance or at least stare, was at times a huge hurdle I had to jump; once I escaped the prison in my mind, I found a greater level of freedom in many other areas of my life, through leaving the dark glasses at home.

Acceptance

At the heart of all this pain is that of acceptance and belonging, what was true for me in the playground of yesteryear is true today. We all just wanted to be loved and accepted and have a desire to belong. The great news about this is that Jesus died that we might all be part of His family, in Romans 8:14 says that if we allow God’s Spirit to guide our life we are sons. It was for this reason to restore us to God that Jesus became a man, that we might know God as Father. Not like our earthly father but, like the father we always needed.

God desires that you accept yourself as you really are, warts and all; others as they really are, and Him as He really is. It is from this place of total acceptance that deep and meaningful relationships can be birthed. Living in the shadow of others opinions and expectations of who or what we should be is soul destroying. Like Katie we all have a purpose, and our greatness is buried somewhere inside of that, sometimes the first step in finding that purpose is accepting that person in the mirror.

We are told that to become part of God’s family we just need to confess Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who is God in the flesh, turn away from doing our own thing and follow Him, His life and His ways. When we do that we gain everything that is eternally good for us and are free from the eternal consequences of sin.

Romans 10:9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved

God Accepts You

If you are struggling with self acceptance and would like to get to know God who came that you might know His love and acceptance why not contact a local church who can help to introduce you to the Father who loves you or say this prayer below:

Dear Father God,

I recognise that I need Jesus to save me, I accept that I have lived opposed to your ways which are best for me and that makes me a sinner. I turn away from my old life and turn to you. I accept Jesus as the one who made this possible for me and invite Him to be my saviour. I accept that when Jesus died on the cross He took everything I ever did wrong and paid the full price for my wrong doings. I accept your invitation to become Your Child and invite you to be my Father, please send your Holy Spirit to guide me into a deeper relationship with you.

In Jesus’ Name I pray

Amen

If you just said this prayer from your heart Welcome to God’s family. Please find a Christian church that can further help you with your growth.

Identity In Christ

If you are a Christian struggling with acceptance of yourself see the list below from Freedom In Christ Ministries; for personalised version of these scriptures and so much more see http://www.personalpromisebible.com/bibles/free-samples.html

• I am loved 1John 3:3

• I am accepted Ephesians 1:6

• I am a child of God John 1:12

• I am Jesus' friend John 15:14

• I am a joint heir with Jesus, sharing His inheritance with Him Romans 8:17

• I am united with God and one spirit with Him 1Corinthians 6:17

• I am a temple of God. His spirit and his life live in me 1 Corinthians 6:19

• I am a member of Christ's body. 1 Corinthians 12:27

• I am a Saint Ephesians 1:1

• I am redeemed and forgiven Colossians 1:14

• I am complete in Jesus Christ Colossians 2:10

• I am free from condemnation Romans 8:1

• I am a new creation because I am in Christ 2Corinthians 5:17

• I am chosen of God, holy and dearly loved Colossians 3:12

• I am established, anointed, and sealed by God 2Corinthians 1:21

• I do not have a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind 2Timothy 1:7

• I am God's co-worker 2Corinthians 6:1

• I am seated in heavenly places with Christ Eph 2:6

• I have direct access to God Ephesians 2:18

• I am chosen to bear fruit John 15:16

• I am one of God's living stones, being built up in Christ as a spiritual house 1 Peter 2:5

• I have been given exceedingly great and precious promises by God by which I share His nature 2 Peter 1:4

• I can always know the presence of God because He never leaves me Hebrews 13:5

• God works in me to help me do the things He wants me to do Philippians 2:13

• I can ask God for wisdom and He will give me what I need James 1:5