What/Who is The Source of Joy?

God has been talking to me a lot at the moment about where does my Joy come from? 

Whatever we might receive in life, the novelty of it will fade out over time. Take a new car, for example. Don't you love the new-car smell? The leather and the freshness of the new car? You drive it at every possible chance you can even a few meters down the road to the shop, am I right?

 You then say to all your passengers there is a no eating and drinking rule in your car. And then a month goes by and you're late for work. You have to eat, and sure enough, you have your first spillage of some sort inside your car. So anytime after that you find yourself eating and drinking in the car. Some time passes, and you may get that first little dent in the door. Then the paint chips a little. And after a while, that new car is not so exciting anymore.

We could look at this example and see how we may apply it to everything in life. No matter how big, how cool, or how fast—whatever it is, everything loses its appeal after a length of time. So if we think happiness comes from what we have, we will find that we are always going to want something else to take its place, the latest phone, latest computer,  car model, anything.

But the Bible teaches that happiness—true happiness—comes from who we know. 

Look at the book of Habakkuk 3:17-18

"Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!"

So what would this look like now?  For me it's, Even when I wait for the right job opportunity, the right place to live, the right friendships for this season, no matter what happens I will rejoice in the Lord. I'm not saying it's going to be easy, but I'm trusting he will give me the strength. For it says in Philippians 4:13 - "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"

Our joy and contentment in life does not come from what we have. It comes from whom we know and through The Lord the Joy in him will be strength.

Nehemiah 8:10

Joy in Unlikely Places

But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed.

—Acts 16:25–26

When Paul and Silas were thrown into prison in Philippi, they prayed and sang hymns to God at midnight. And they brought the house down—literally. An earthquake struck and shook the prison to such an extent that the walls collapsed.

Their jailer was about to kill himself, because at that time, death was the penalty for guards and their families when a prisoner escaped. But Paul shouted, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here!"

Ultimately, that jailer came to believe in Jesus Christ, along with his entire household. And the next day, the city officials sent word to release Paul and Silas from prison.

This story in Acts 16 reminds us that as children of God we can rejoice in the most trying of circumstances. But sometimes the earthquake doesn't come in the middle of the night. Sometimes deliverance from our circumstances doesn't come.

Paul and Silas had to endure a beating, getting thrown into jail, and having their feet fastened into stocks before they were delivered. And although God delivered Daniel from hungry lions, he still had to spend the night in the lions' den.

Because of their unwillingness to bow before the golden image of the king, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into a fiery furnace that was heated seven times hotter than usual. But we read that while they were walking around in the furnace, someone was with them who was "like the Son of God." Many believe this was Christ Himself walking with them.

Sometimes when we pray for God's help, He will deliver us and heal us. He will provide for us. He will fix our problem. But at other times He will say, "I will be with you through this, so trust Me."

So whatever your going through, put your trust in him,

 

Summer time :)

I ended up having a crazy busy but amazing summer time, after spending a few more week with my amazing Egyptian family in Wales I headed to Manchester to spend my last weekend in my house, spent a day cleaning it out and packing up my stuff, I was sad to be leaving but excited about what God had in store for me next. After a day of cleaning I went out for a meal to Celebrate my birthday with my parents and a beautiful friend of mine Melody, this kind of marked just over a year since we met, I love this girl to bits, in just a year I feel we have built a strong friendship, always there for each other no matter where in the world I am, because let's face it, I don't stay anywhere for too long lol.

I then had the blessing of staying in a hotel for just under a week, which was amazing, a real nice birthday present from another great friend of mine, as I checked into the hotel it dawned on me this is the last weekend I'll spend in Manchester for a while, but I was expectant for what God was going to do at Audacious Conference which I had the pleasure of serving at with this amazing bunch.

To start off with I didn't really feel like I should be there and continued to go just because I was on team then I went to a session with John Cameron called spirituality. He looked at not looking at who you are and making it a limit to what Gods got for you. But see yourself the way God sees you and then he went on to say "God will put you where he wants to grow you to be who he wants you to be"

This reminded me of the strengths I have in God and being in Manchester was a season and he's moving me on to bigger and better things.

The next part of this crazy summer was Greenbelt, some friends asked if I was willing to help on their team as their numbers was short so I thought a week in the house or go do something different, so I decided to go the journey there was crazy and when we arrived I was already exhausted. But I plodded on and had an early night. When I woke up I went to the team meeting where we got given the people who we were Suppose to look after for the festival, I got paired with a lovely girl called Vicky, I was a little worried about going and not knowing anyone but straight away God opened a door so I wasn't alone, he does that you know give us whatever our heart desires.

I won't go into too much details but I had to look after some challenging people and this really tested my patience, to continue serving them with a smile on my face and say "yes I'll see what I can do" to every demand, but that evening God reminded me again, I don't need to demand for things as he already knows what I need, he knew in advance these people would be a trial For me and that's why he gave me someone to share the load with. It wasn't completely easy but it was easier to have someone work alongside me to share he load, this is how I kind of how I feel with life at the moment too, it's really tough at the moment but it's easier knowing I have people around me to support me.

Finally sorry for the long post guys...

David's Tent, well I arrived back from Greenbelt and after one nights sleep in a proper bed I headed to David's Tent. For those of you who don't know what that is no it's not a tent that belongs to David it's an event of 72 hours of worship, I was so excited when I heard about this event and signed up straight away yet again to serve. This wasn't a great idea especially so soon after Greenbelt. Im not sure what to say about it really, I guess it just wasn't for, which was upsetting but every time I entered "the tent" you could see the presence of God was intense and people were really getting touched by him, but I just felt alone, and uncomfortable, it didn't feel like family and it felt wrong for me to be there, I loved serving on team and that was my highlight of the whole event being able to serve people. I would definitely  recommend you check it our for yourself as it was a good weekend for the majority of people and God was clearly touching a lot of people.

I loved being with a great bunch of people and have made some new friends too. I had the pleasure of spending some short but quality time with Tabitha, in picture below and I'm excited to hear what God does in and through her next.

So that's all for now more to report soon on the next part of my journey with him :)

Love & Blessings

Michelle xx

Praying without ceasing.

As British people we have this mentality of I want it and I want it Now, we are not willing to wait and allow time for it to happen. Sometimes it takes time for something to happen, recently I was healed from a brain tumor, through all the procedures I had the faith that God will heal the tumour but when it comes to a simple headache or pain in my side, my faith is at a different level and the expectation of healing isn't there. I ask myself why? A Tumour is so much worse than a simple headache so surely the faith should be stronger and it should be easier for me to believe that it can disappear and never return. 

Sometimes we just need to exercise the gifting God has given us. Let's take a look at the gospel of Mark, when Jesus prayed for the blind man, he didn't only pray once he prayed twice before the blind man had complete restoration of his sight again. 

"So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.

Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. " Mark 8:23-25

So when we pray once we may not get the answer straight away so we must pray continuously until we receive the answer. 

pray without ceasing, 1 Thessalonians 5:17

without ceasing," implying constancy (Colossians 4:2) and perseverance (Romans 12:12; Ephesians 

6:18; Luke 18:1). This is not a mere precept "capable of fulfillment in idea, rather than in fact" (Jowett); but it is an exhortation to live in a devotional frame of mind. It is impossible to be always on our bended knees, but we may be in the spirit of prayer when engaged in the duties of our earthly calling. Prayer may be without ceasing in the heart which is full of the presence of God, and evermore communicating with him. 

Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; Colossians 4:2

rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; Romans 12:12

praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. Ephesians 6:18

Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, Luke 18:1

The adventure continues.

I have just spent a week with friends in West Wales, first the plan was to just Check out a youth meeting on the Thursday evening, but God had other plans for me, theevening was amazing, i walked into a room with a variety of nations praising one God, wow what an experience, the worship was amazing, such a beautiful sense of Gods presence, it brought me to my knees. Reigniting my relationship with God. I have been feeling distant and alone but this past week God has been showing me that he was with me all the time.

After the Thursday evening I got to stay with a mixture of nations at a house In Llanelli, where both the Koreans and Egyptians made me feel so at home and welcome, this shows a true example of family. I spent some time that evening  sharing my testimony with some great people and as I shared with them I realised again how God has always been there for me and even though I didn't seem that way during those times of trial, it was in the storm he was carrying me and this made me think about the current storms of life I'm in and how God is here right with me.

After a great evening of sharing I then went to sleep. The next morning I spent sometime with God seeking direction on what I should do next. I met with some great people who had a passion to serve the youth of Llanelli, we brainstormed some ideas on how we could reach the next generation. It's great to see that there are people out there who haven't forgot about the youth, my passion is to reach them and it's great to meet like minded people. A man approached me and said that God was going to show me what he was calling me to and where the adventure was continuing, I then went for coffee with a few if my new friends and as we walked through the door! there was a sign, adventure continues featuring Kenya.

 

Wow so I guess the Lord does have a place for me in Kenya, I'm excited about the next part of my journey with him. I was nade to feel at home, their hospitality was humbling and the food was amazing.

 

 

On Saturday i got to spend some time with some friends doing evangilism on the streets, i havent done this for a while so to start with was a bit reluctant to do anything but after a while it feel like the good old days again, sharing with people that Jesus loves them.

 

I then went for a walk through Llanelli, I got to see some amazing views and spend some time with some friends who have become special to me, spending time with the Egyptians has been an honour and an eye opening experience, I have never been somewhere and felt so love and accepted without having to do anything, they are truly like a family to me.

 

 

In the evening I attended Pisgah it was amazing to catch up with everyone and visit Pisgah chapel for the first time, I only entered the entrance way and got hot by the presence of God, it was a completely different experience I have ever had, it was like being welcomed home, we had a beautiful time of worship outside and got to pray with some people to be healed.

On Sunday I went to visit a church in Swansea, I loved the way they were completely open for the spirit to move and during worship they ministered to all that needed healing. After church which by the way was another turning point for me as they prayed for the young people to not be ashamed of the gospel and stand up for what they believe in, it was here The Lord was talking to me about how he was going to reach the young people of Llanelli. I'm excited about what God has in store for them all.

After church I returned back to st elli where I got to spend some more quality time with the Egyptians and experienced an amazing prayer meeting where the worship was powerful and passionate prayers, even though there were only a few people in the room it felt like there more a lot more, they sang praise to God with all they have, I was humbled by this, especially when they took the time out to pray for me, for my health and direction, I have enjoyed spending time with the Egyptians and my relationship with Jesus has been reignited.

 

This week has made me realise that plans are not always going to go the way we expect them but if we put our trust in God and let him lead then everything will work out for the good of his name.

 

 

Love & Blessings

Michelle x