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“With this news strengthen those who have tired hands, encourage those with weak knees,say to those with fearful hearts “be strong & do not fear” Isaiah 35:3

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‬‬”Laughter is the best medicine”, the saying goes...But King Solomon, ‘God’s wise man’ wrote the opposite: “Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us.” Ecclesiastes‬ ‭7:3‬ ‭(NLT) Laughter is a wonderful tool designed by God to help us to outwardly express delight and joy. Our laughter can sometimes be a welcome distraction from those things that fill our hearts with pain and sorrow. However it can also become a bit of a ‘bandage’; dealing with the bleeding of a deeper wound, but not the wound itself. The sorrow Solomon writes about is genuine, deep sadness, grief, or mourning, not a surly demeanour. If you are sad today, this is a season when Holy Spirit can soften, hone and shape your heart, as you draw close to Him in your sorrow. Let Him heal and refine the deepest places in your heart and bring lifelong change. “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18) Jill 💜 #drawingnear #grief #godcares

And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Luke 17:12-14 Just a thought to ponder this morning; when these ten turned and walked away to carry out Jesus’ instruction, they were still visibly leprous. It was after they stepped out in obedient faith that they were healed. I believe the Lord honoured their faith. Sometimes (more often than not!) we need to take that bold step of faith, even when it looks as though our outward circumstances have not changed. If the Lord has said it, believe it. Trust Him. Start walking in faith and see what He does!! Jill 💜 #faith #hisgracegirls

“Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road & explained the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32 After Jesus death 2 of His disciples were trudging along the road sharing their deep grief & confusion. The risen Jesus suddenly began walking with them, but they didn’t recognise Him. He asked them what was wrong & they poured their hearts out. “We had hoped…” WE HAD HOPED What were you hoping for? What dreams didn’t turn as expected, leaving you heavy-hearted, feeling distant from God? Have you been so caught up in your troubles that you didn’t recognise Jesus beside you? Even as Jesus explained the scriptures to the men they still they didn’t make the connection. When it came time to go their separate ways, assured by his company; a stirring of hope, they begged him to stay longer. They wanted his presence. He stayed.They sat down to a meal & it was when Jesus broke the bread that it hit them - it’s Jesus!! Then He vanished. The 2 friends marvelled at how they hadn’t recognised him. “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us?” Their eyes hadn’t recognised Jesus, but their hearts had - all along! & they’d ignored the “heartburn” at the time. Sometimes in our pain & problems we fail to recognise Jesus. We don’t see that He is right beside us, loving & encouraging us, just as he did the 2 distraught disciples. In our dark, difficult times His Holy Spirit, draws alongside, our Comforter, & Helper. We know He’s there but we ignore the heartburn. HOLY HEARTBURN How often, after the Lord has led you through yet another time when you felt no hope, have you looked back at marvelled that you hadn’t recognised Him; with you all along, working all things together for your good (Rom 8:28), never forsaking you (Deut 31:6) All disciples of Jesus have that heart-burn. It’s a knowing, down in the deepest part of your heart where you store truth: KNOWING that He is who He says He is. When you FEEL far from Him, dry, empty, hopeless; you KNOW that these are not true for you - living in you & causing your heart to burn, is the Spirit of the Living God! He’s the Alpha & Omega, same yesterday today & forever. He is Jesus. Emmanuel, God with us. Jill 💜

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Romans 8:37 It would be wonderful enough to be told that through Christ you are a conqueror; but Romans 8:37 tell us that we are MORE that conquerors! Whatever comes against you today, isn’t it good to know that you can rest in this knowledge? CHRIST-CONFIDENCE , NOT SELF CONFIDENCE! The phrase "more than conquerors" in this verse comes from the Greek words NIKAO, meaning ‘to overcome’, or ‘to conquer’, and HUPER, meaning ‘beyond’, ‘over and above’, or ‘to prevail completely over’. In joining these two words huper and nikao together, Paul makes an incredible power-statement about you and I. Jesus triumphed over sin, death, sickness and hell; leaving not one enemy unsubdued or undefeated, and because of His absolute victory we, as His disciples “prevail completely”. The fight has already been won! Romans 8:37 is not about self-confidence; it’s about being ‘Christ -confident’, To put it another way: in Jesus Christ, together with Him, you are a paramount victor, a phenomenal overcomer and a conquering force to be reckoned with!! And because you are Christ-Confident, you can rest assured that even though these things may happen to you that are listed in Romans 8:35,38,39, things such as trouble, calamity, persecution, hunger, destitution, danger, or the threat of death absolutely nothing can separate you from the love of God. These verses go on to affirm this by reminding us that not even angels, demons, our fears for today or worries about tomorrow, can separate us from God’s love! Jill 💜 #morethanaconqueror

“Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy” Psalm 34:5 We were sitting in a coffee shop enjoying our usual Saturday morning pot of tea & watching the world go by. Just across from where we sat, two young guys stopped & each took something out of their pockets. From where we were sitting I could clearly see that they were lottery scratch-cards. They pressed the cards against a shop window & started enthusiastically scratching them. The first guy turned back around, & his face said it all; it was the picture of abject misery & disappointment. He truly looked as though he had pinned all his hopes & dreams on the right numbers being on that card. The second guy was probably disappointed too but perhaps his temperament was more laid back, or maybe he just played his cards closer to his chest, his face less readable that his friend’s. Although his friend was talking to him, slapping him on the shoulder, trying to laugh it all off, the first man just couldn’t seem to stop staring at his card. It was as if he thought if he kept staring at it, the numbers would change. The face of that young man has stayed with me. I’m so thankful that, as God’s child, I don’t have to live my life according the ‘luck of the draw’. In times of fear, hardship, or uncertainty I can turn to God’s Word with intent, expectation & focus, & I know, with absolute certainty I will always find what I need. The Bible is not ‘just a book’, it is the living Word of God. Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.” God’s Word is constant, unchanging & life-giving. We will never, ever come away from an encounter with God with a countenance like that of that young man I saw. As Psalm 34:5 tells us, “those who look to him will be radiant with joy”. Jill 💜

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