Women’ s Breakfast Talk by Helen Oliver – 9th January 2014
Helen has kindly allowed us to copy her journal entry for today – thank you so much.
1. I am realising more and more that we are to surrender and rest, know that God is the one who works in us according to His great purposes (Gods will DO IT!!!) His “passionate commitment” to us will see us transformed and freed. He promises to lead us and guide us and reveal to us the things we cannot see and don’t understand. Psalm 139 concludes with these verses “Search me, O Lord, test me and know my anxious thoughts, see if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way of righteousness”. He does the searching, the testing, the knowing, the seeing and the leading!!! We can trust and rest in the knowledge that He will use all things (the good the bad and the ugly) and work them altogether for our good. He will do it.
So what are we called to do? How can we work with Him to see these wonderful truths fulfilled in our lives?
2. Praying: Firstly we are called not to “worry about anything but to pray about everything”. We are to talk to God about all things, all the time, we are to pray without ceasing – to get familiar with a wonderful, natural constant dialogue of pray, praise declaration of his truth/his word.
3. Thinking: Secondly we are called to take captive every thought that erects itself against Jesus and to make it obedient to Him. We must allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to us when our thoughts are negative or sinful and to strengthen us to take them captive and surrender them to Him. One of my most favourite verses, a verse that I must have declared hundreds of times is Isaiah 26 v 3 “God will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is stayed upon God, because he leans upon God, relies upon God and hopes confidently in God”. Charles Hodge is quoted as saying “The ultimate ground of faith and knowledge is confidence in God”. I firmly believe that we are to discipline our minds not to dwell on the negative things or the things that are worrying us or the troubles or problems that we are facing and maybe cannot see a way out of. Instead we are to fix our thoughts, “stay” our minds on Jesus, choosing to trust Him completely for freedom, peace, deliverance and victory. We are to lean our full weight upon Him to rely solely upon His ability and power to save and to Hope confidently in His love for us and His victory over all we face. We are to dwell instead on all that is true and honourable and right and pure and lovely and admirable. To think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise (Philippians 4 v8).
4. Praise: Thirdly we are called to praise God, the psalms are full of declarations of praise and thanks and love to our God. The psalmist David, even speaks to his own soul, telling it to declare God’s glory and praise. Praise invites God’s presence into our midst we are told that He “inhabits the praises of His people” and we are also told “In His presence is fullness of joy and that “where the Spirit of the Lord is there is FREEDOM”. Let’s get into the habit of praising all the time, in every circumstance!
5. Lastly as we enter another year, lets determine to count our blessings…… every one of them on a daily basis and dwell on the promises of God and on the good we see in each other and ourselves as God transforms us, instead of focusing on negative, in both our own lives and others that still needs work lets choose to believe that God is for us and not against us, that through Jesus’ death and resurrection we are more than conquerors in all things and that VICTORY is ours, through Jesus.
6. God’s Heart for St Andrews Women: Helen had a vision for St Andrews Women – she had a picture of a lake with a small wooden jetty on it; some of the women were on the shore, some were at the end of the jetty and God has spoken to her saying that it is time now to go deeper, to get our feet wet, to draw into intimacy with God, deepen our relationship and know the depths of his love for us.
We ended this morning with “Oceans Deep” from Sion Hill Song.
Thank you Helen – we were all moved by your words.
1. I am realising more and more that we are to surrender and rest, know that God is the one who works in us according to His great purposes (Gods will DO IT!!!) His “passionate commitment” to us will see us transformed and freed. He promises to lead us and guide us and reveal to us the things we cannot see and don’t understand. Psalm 139 concludes with these verses “Search me, O Lord, test me and know my anxious thoughts, see if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way of righteousness”. He does the searching, the testing, the knowing, the seeing and the leading!!! We can trust and rest in the knowledge that He will use all things (the good the bad and the ugly) and work them altogether for our good. He will do it.
So what are we called to do? How can we work with Him to see these wonderful truths fulfilled in our lives?
2. Praying: Firstly we are called not to “worry about anything but to pray about everything”. We are to talk to God about all things, all the time, we are to pray without ceasing – to get familiar with a wonderful, natural constant dialogue of pray, praise declaration of his truth/his word.
3. Thinking: Secondly we are called to take captive every thought that erects itself against Jesus and to make it obedient to Him. We must allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to us when our thoughts are negative or sinful and to strengthen us to take them captive and surrender them to Him. One of my most favourite verses, a verse that I must have declared hundreds of times is Isaiah 26 v 3 “God will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is stayed upon God, because he leans upon God, relies upon God and hopes confidently in God”. Charles Hodge is quoted as saying “The ultimate ground of faith and knowledge is confidence in God”. I firmly believe that we are to discipline our minds not to dwell on the negative things or the things that are worrying us or the troubles or problems that we are facing and maybe cannot see a way out of. Instead we are to fix our thoughts, “stay” our minds on Jesus, choosing to trust Him completely for freedom, peace, deliverance and victory. We are to lean our full weight upon Him to rely solely upon His ability and power to save and to Hope confidently in His love for us and His victory over all we face. We are to dwell instead on all that is true and honourable and right and pure and lovely and admirable. To think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise (Philippians 4 v8).
4. Praise: Thirdly we are called to praise God, the psalms are full of declarations of praise and thanks and love to our God. The psalmist David, even speaks to his own soul, telling it to declare God’s glory and praise. Praise invites God’s presence into our midst we are told that He “inhabits the praises of His people” and we are also told “In His presence is fullness of joy and that “where the Spirit of the Lord is there is FREEDOM”. Let’s get into the habit of praising all the time, in every circumstance!
5. Lastly as we enter another year, lets determine to count our blessings…… every one of them on a daily basis and dwell on the promises of God and on the good we see in each other and ourselves as God transforms us, instead of focusing on negative, in both our own lives and others that still needs work lets choose to believe that God is for us and not against us, that through Jesus’ death and resurrection we are more than conquerors in all things and that VICTORY is ours, through Jesus.
6. God’s Heart for St Andrews Women: Helen had a vision for St Andrews Women – she had a picture of a lake with a small wooden jetty on it; some of the women were on the shore, some were at the end of the jetty and God has spoken to her saying that it is time now to go deeper, to get our feet wet, to draw into intimacy with God, deepen our relationship and know the depths of his love for us.
We ended this morning with “Oceans Deep” from Sion Hill Song.
Thank you Helen – we were all moved by your words.