Proverbs

I love to read from Proverbs - there is so much wisdom in these words. Take these few verses as an example...

"A cheerful look brings joy to the heart;
good news makes for good health.

If you listen to constructive criticism,
you will be at home among the wise.

If you reject discipline, you only harm yourself;
but if you listen to correction, you grow in understanding.

Fear of the Lord teaches wisdom;
humility precedes honor." - Proverbs 15:30-33

If you are needing wisdom and advice, do yourself a favour and turn to Proverbs - you may be pleasantly surprised.

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

No chance

Sin has no chance against grace! Grace conquerors all.

"But sin doesn't have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it's sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that's the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life - a life that goes on and on and on, world without end." - Romans 5 (Message)

When we receive the grace of Jesus Christ we choose to be on the winning team.

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

"Just" pray

I am ashamed to admit that I showed how weak my faith is today. I was speaking with someone about the difficult situation they were facing and this is what I said:
"I don't know what else to do for you, but pray!"

I said this because I felt I had no good advice for this particular person and that I genuinely felt that only God could give them courage and wisdom. However, my lack of faith, is in the way I said, "I can just pray." It was almost as if this was the lesser option. Immediately as I said this the Holy Spirit prompted me - "Delme, remember how powerful prayer is!" I felt ashamed.

Prayer is not something we 'just' do when all else fails. Prayer is the power by which God transforms our lives and radically empowers us. Prayer invites the Spirit of God to work in the midst of our hopeless situations.

I urge us all to pray like something will happen. Be blessed.

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

Godly people

There is a famous quote from Marcus Aurelius:

"Waste no time arguing what a good person should be. Be one."

Often we spend lots of time arguing what a 'godly' person should look like, but we forget that the Lord has called us to be Christ-like. So, here is a challenge for the week...

Seek to be Christ-like before you start arguing why others aren't godly enough.
Just a thought.

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

Prayer for today

Here is an ancient prayer for you. These words may be hundreds of years old, but may they bless you.

"Lord, be with us this day,
Within us to purify us;
Above us to draw us up;
Beneath us to sustain us;
Before us to lead us;
Behind us to restrain us;
Around us to protect us."
(Patrick c389-461)

Have a good week.

Living in grace,
D3LM3

You can't do it alone

We live in a world where we are told to be self-reliant and independent. The trouble with living like this, all the time, is that when we need help we don't find it easy to ask for it. People are willing to come to our assistance and to help, but they never know that we are in need.

Taken to the ultimate extreme, our self-reliance teaches us never to ask God for help. Either we feel we can cope by ourselves or we may question whether God even wants to help us.

I believe that God desires to be by our side. What about you? Are you willing to ask for help?

2 Chronicles 14:11 - "Help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in you alone."

Lastly, I want to mention a few guys who have helped us at Wesley. These guys have helped to build our new website. Thanks to Tyron, Stuart, Quin, Mike, Mark and Tony. When you can't do something by yourself, it's awesome to be able to rely on great people.

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

Lifeprint

With this weekend focusing on Earth Hour, where we get a chance to analyse our carbon footprint, it is also a good time to ask ourselves another question:

"What Lifeprint am I leaving behind?"

I feel that the way we live our lives and express our faith leaves a 'Lifeprint' behind. So, what does it look like right now?
It's worth thinking about.

"Leave this world a little better than you found it." - Robert Baden-Powell's last message before he died in 1941

Living in Grace,
D3LM3