Inspiration
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WOMEN SAY:
Jean
Charlotte
Vicki
SPRING MAILING
Girls,
I just wanted to introduce the new Spring workshops: ON BEAUTY BODY & CLOTHES! and BEAUTIFUL YOU MAKEUP! (Details on workshops page).
This is all about feeling happy in your skin. You may read that and think: “Yeah right!” Statistics tell us that almost all women dislike their bodies. Surely it’s ‘normal’?
Well, it’s certainly the experience of most women to struggle, to some degree, with the way they feel about their appearance and to have wardrobe dramas on a regular basis but contrary to how it may seem, it isn’t actually ‘normal’. Because it isn’t the way God designed for things to be!
Six years ago, a girl sat between me and a mirror. I had just taken a styling course and she had eagerly agreed to let me practise on her. But it wasn’t quite as easy as I had hoped. I wanted to tell her what colours suited her but I could never properly see their effect on her face because she kept avoiding looking fully into the mirror. She didn’t want to have to look at herself.
I could relate to those feelings and as I encountered other clients, I saw increasingly just how many girls and women feel uncomfortable about themselves.
I was in a position where I could help them choose clothes that would flatter their colouring and shape. I had learnt ways that they could make themselves look slimmer, taller and younger through using clothes and makeup. But I knew that while they may be pleased with a makeover like that, I would be selling them short because it would never get to the heart of the problem and solve it.
So at this workshop, I want to tell you what I have discovered since then – about the only kind of makeover that I believe does get to the heart of the problem and solve it. It doesn’t matter whether being dissatisfied with your appearance has led to extreme unhappiness and behaviours like eating disorders or is no more than occasionally worrying: “Does my bum look big in this?” this workshop works!
I hope that you will come to know what it is to live ‘happy in your skin’!
Love,
Anna
xxxooxxx
CHRISTMAS 2009 MAILING
IT'S PARTY TIME! Celebrating our best friend's birthday and He is not exclusive - everyone has an invitation to abundant life. Everyone has a place reserved in the family. And no one is left out of receiving more gifts than they can count.
So don't stand around the edge of the party - fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16 AMP).
I love the way Kenneth Hagin talks about spending time in His Father's throne room of grace, how he is free to stand in God's presence as though sin had never been. God asks him what he wants and he says:
"Father, I just came in to visit with you for awhile. I just wanted to hang around the throne. I like to be near you, Father."
He hears God responding:
"Son, you don't know how that delights my heart. No earthly father ever desired the companionship and the fellowship of his children any more than I, the Heavenly Father, desire the fellowship and companionship of my children... I made man so I'd have someone to fellowship with. I made man for my companion. In fact,... I made man so I'd have someone to pal with."
(Growing Up Spiritually)
I hope that you are already enjoying Christmas! I know that for some of you, this may not be the easiest of times. But whatever you may be facing, here is a verse to encourage you to take any and every challenge to God - however small it seems because:
God is mighty, and yet despises no one nor regards anything as trivial; He is mighty in power of understanding and heart. (Job 36:5 AMP)
He SEES, He LISTENS, He UNDERSTANDS, He CARES and He is MIGHTY to DELIVER.
HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!
Lots of love,
Anna
OCTOBER 2009 MAILING
This month, I would like to thank Caroline King for writing such an inspiring and encouraging mailing. Do forward it to your friends!
Caroline writes...
God just loves it when we come back to Him because His desire is for us. In fact, He is stooping down in kindness towards us as I write!
A little bit of a turn, a stepping back even, just making the choice ....
It says that if you draw near to God He WILL draw near to you....
We can come back to Him with confidence knowing that we will recieve mercy and find grace to help us with whatever need we may have.... Sometimes we wait to draw near - trying to find some of the answer or sort ourselves out first.
When we get hung up about our mistakes we go back to what we know or are familiar with, or what we think is safe, even when we know it doesn't help and never has - like watching TV or chatting to a friend who will just agree with us. Sometimes we just refuse to turn because by then condemnation has convinced us that it is easier to stay away.
For me the busyness of being a Mum and coping with school holidays was a time that I really struggled. I found that I'd be more like Martha than Mary and would lose sight of what was most important. Then before I knew it I would feel that I had failed. I might have shouted or been impatient, or the children were seeming more demanding so I would feel that I just did not have the ability or time or space to come to Him. Everything and everybody seemed to crowd in and God felt like another demand and another job to do! By the end of the day I was just too shattered, too condemned to turn to God. Unbelief would crowd in telling me there would be no help in God and condemnation would shout out that I did not deserve it anyway so I would settle down in the failure and just watch TV. I stayed in that place of self pity and nothing got better.
As soon as I started to turn that is when He was able to help. When I made Him my priority and when I pinned all my hopes on to Him and LET HIM BE GOD. Answers would start to come, not in the order or way that I would ever expect but He would speak and reaffirm and love Me and all the dejection and pointlessness of life would fade into insignificance.
In the Bible, it tells us that when Peter rejected Jesus three times he then went fishing. He had run to that safe place, but it was a place of no comfort where the pain could fester and continue to bring a wedge between him and his Maker. Mary on the other hand continued to run to the feet of Jesus. She refused to go to those other places. She knew the best place and kept returning there. What are the places you run to?!
God wants us to turn,
to wait,
to draw near.
As you do, you will experience Him drawing near to you. He won't work to your agendas and He Probably won't come in the way you have been expecting BUT you do your bit and He will do HIS. He is waiting.
So if in your heart you know you have failed, this is no surprise to God. He does know and you can come to HIM with no solutions of your own as to how to fix it. He is waiting for you. Don't hide in the bustle of life, that programme, the failure, the condemnation. Just come. Hear Him calling you now Don't try to drum up the answers. Just come and you will be saved. Just come and wait...
SEPTEMBER 2009 MAILING
REST NOT STRESS
Hi girls,
Well, it's September. A time of year of different emotions - exciting new beginnings for some people but sadness holidays are over for others.
Summer's fading, days are shorter and the relaxed pace of August is being swapped for 'normal' life which can feel like a return to being BUSY! & STRESSED!
Jesus had a very busy, full life but He didn't get stressed. Just imagine never being anxious or having a single melt down! He lived the way He wants us to live - at REST!
In Matthew 11, He promises to give us 'rest' if we come to Him. He invites us:
"Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
(Matthew 11:28-30 MSG)
He invites us to come with Him, to follow Him, to listen to Him and to do things His way (Matthew 19, Psalm 81, John 10). We see in the Bible that His way of doing life was to be totally focused on fully achieving all His Father had purposed for Him to do. He relinquished all rights to do His own thing. He was 100% available to God 100% of the time. He wouldn't have got to the weekend and planned his 'me' time. He would have looked to God to tell Him what they were going to do together.
He spent a lot of time on His own with the Father and He listened to Him and obeyed Him as a way of life. He delighted to obey - He didn't put off doing what God wanted done. He didn't only partly do it or grumble about it. He loved God so much, He lived to please Him. He didn't burn out. Instead He said that it was His 'food' to do His Father's will (John 4:34).
Every word He spoke and every action He made was God's will. That sounds way beyond us but Jeus had put aside the function of deity which means that He was as human as we are and just as dependent on the Holy Spirit as us to receive direction and see God's power moving through Him.
God told me once that if I felt TOO busy because of all I had taken on, I wasn't in His will! It's not that He doesn't have big lives for us to live but He has allowed time for us to get done all He has for us to do with Him. He told me that He wants to be the architect of my hours and minutes. If we take our days before Him, He will direct us and He will do His work through us.
He will FEED His flock like a shepherd: He will GATHER the lambs in His arms, He will CARRY them in His bosom and will GENTLY LEAD those that have their young.
(Isaiah 40:11 AMP)
Holidays may be over but rather than tripping and panting our way through the next few months feeling we lack the stamina needed, let's wait on God, listen for His plan and then we'll RUN!
Even... young men shall feebly stumble and fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him]... shall run and not be weary.
(Isaiah 40:29-31 AMP)
Lots of love,
Anna xxxxxxxxxx
JULY 2009 MAILING
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
God has made so many good and beautiful things He gives to us with His love.
Beautiful beaches are certainly a gift but you don't have to go away anywhere to enjoy God and find His love this summer. Wherever you may be going, He wants you to be His travelling companion. So at home or away - STAY WITH HIM!
One day spent in your house, this beautiful place of worship,
beats thousands spent on Greek island beaches.
I'd rather scrub floors in the house of my God
than be honored as a guest in the palace of sin.
All sunshine and sovereign is God,
generous in gifts and glory.
He doesn't scrimp with his travelling companions. It's smooth sailing all the way with God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
(Psalm 84:10-12 MSG)
JUNE 2009 MAILING
Hi girls,
I recently heard an amazing testimony and because I know that you will all find it totally inspirational and encouraging Hannah-Kate has kindly let me send it to you this month. Read about the way that the most horrendous experiences of abuse, eating disorder, bereavement, rejection, self-harm, (and the list goes on), have been phenomenally turned around by GOD!
HANNAH-KATE'S TESTIMONY
"“Unless the Lord had given me help, I would have soon dwelt in the silence of death. When I said “My foot is slipping!” your love O Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.”Psalm 44 vs. 17-19
Although I was brought up into a Christian family, my story is one of those where to the outside world, we were perfect, the truth was that at home things were different. I’m the youngest of four and the fact that I was born with a cleft lip and palette made me believe I’d ruined my family. I spent many of my years in and out of hospitals and had 12 operations in order to make my disfigurement less noticeable.
I was lucky to have an auntie who came alongside my mother to support her in caring for me. I looked up to my aunt a great deal; she was one of those constantly courageous people, who always seemed to know what was best. I depended on her.
From the age of 3, I was sexually abused by a man in my church. He told me if I told anyone, snakes would eat me while I was asleep. So, from a young age, I learned to keep secrets. I was quiet as a child and lacked confidence as I started school and realised I was different to other children.
At the age of 8, my father got into a relationship with another woman, so my parents went their separate ways. It was around this time I first began thinking about death, I was too young to know about suicide, but I had a genuine desire to die.
When I was 12, I started looking for something and fell into a relationship with a guy 8 years older that I. It was secret and we both agreed it was better no-one knew because of the age gap between us. I was young and vulnerable and came to depend on him. Before long, he became possessive of me, telling me what I could wear, who I could see, where I could go etc etc. When I forgot something or hesitated against things he wanted me to do, I was punished. For the next four years I was given the belt, thrown into doors or simply left in a cupboard. I hated him, but I needed him, I thought this is just how men were, I didn’t know any different. As his power over me grew stronger, I was made to believe that I was nobody, nothing, worthless. I was told I had no voice and I couldn’t speak, so I stopped.
When I was 15, my auntie got very sick with a brain tumour and died. I remember deciding that day that I hated God and wanted nothing to do with him. I hated her for leaving me and I hated myself for letting her die. Guilt brought its shadow over my life and I blamed myself as a murderer, telling myself that I’d let her die. I became extremely apologetic for everything; sorry was the only word I felt I could say.
I began searching again for that something; I changed very quickly into a person who was obsessed by the way she looked and defined by her partner. I wanted to impress him, to make him love me, I turned to an eating disorder to try and make me beautiful. Throwing up, up to 15 times a day, I was losing weight and for a while the satisfaction was great, but then as I lost more and more weight, I became obsessed, I couldn’t stop throwing up. I reached my lowest point and began self-harming and even attempting suicide.
I’d lost myself completely in my relationship with this guy and I was trapped in the hold of my eating disorder. I lived a secret life and lied and manipulated those I loved.
I knew deep down that I was not OK. I looked to doctors, counsellors, dieticians, nutritionists, psychiatrists for help; they all said the same thing, that “this girl is unreachable”. I was defined as “the girl who couldn’t speak”. I was given a warning that I could die within a year due to my eating habits. I needed help, but there was no-where left to turn. No-one could hear my voice.
Then… I heard about Mercy Ministries(www.mercyministries.co.uk). I’d heard it was a place of safety, so I applied. Although I couldn’t tell them anything about me, God allowed them to hear my voice. After finding out I was accepted, something sparked in me, a courage that I’d never had before to leave everything I’d ever known, to move to the other end of the country, to see if this last ray of hope could help me.
I arrived at Mercy, a fearful girl without a voice, afraid of anything and everyone. I expected to be judged and punished for being the way I was. But I wasn’t, I was loved and accepted for who I was. I was disciplined, but not punished.
Through the program, I found a real relationship with God, I learnt how to place boundaries in bad relationships, I learnt how to forgive, how to let go, I learnt to speak and I am proud to have my voice back. I learnt that it’s ok to be my own person and I’ve found my own personality, I found the real me. My life is no longer under a mask. I am free from all my old coping mechanisms and I’m no longer in the grip of an eating disorder. I haven’t made myself sick for over a year now. I know it’s a cliché but I really wouldn’t be here if God hadn’t placed Mercy Ministries in my path at that time in my life.
I just want to make it clear that I am not perfect, I still have my odd moments although they are very rare now, but the difference is that I have the something I was looking for, someone who I could depend on, someone who is always with me and can never let me down. I have God. When I’m down I just run to Him and his word and once again declare that I am free.
There are no chains strong enough to bind me to the darkness; it has no hold on me now that I know who I am in God. He really is worthy of all the glory, it’s all because of Him that I am who I am.
The verse I put at the beginning is a reminder to me of exactly what God did for me through Mercy Ministries. Need I say anymore?"
To find out more about MERCY MINISTRIES, go to www.mercyministries.co.uk / www.mercyministries.org. Mercy Ministries is a non profit organisation that provides a six month Christian programme, FREE OF CHARGE, for young women suffering from eating disorders, self harm, depression and the effect of abuse in all its forms.
I also recommend their RESOURCE - they are excellent books.
I heard Hannah talking at a TRAINING DAY run by Mercy Ministries. I would highly recommend these MPower Training Days (see www.mercyministries.co.uk):
"Every single day, young women are struggling with eating disorders, self-harm, depression and the effects of abuse in all its forms. These women are in our communities, in our churches, in our youth groups, and in our families. As a Christian Charity with over 25 years experience, we are passionate about the Church’s role in providing an answer to the needs of our society and we feel a responsibility to share our knowledge and expertise.
Hosted by experienced members of the Mercy Ministries UK team, we have developed MPower training events to educate, equip, empower and encourage others in order to maximise the church’s response to the broken and vulnerable through sessions focussed on raising awareness and sharing best practise."
MAY 2009 MAILING
Hi girls,
Thank you for all your questions. I have felt led to answer one in this mailing but I will respond to the rest personally in due course!
How did you know where you were headed in life? How could you tell what your "calling" was? Because that sort of phrasing is used a lot and leaves me feeling lost and unsure of what I'm doing in life!
As a little girl, I thought that life was all about having babies and wearing high heeled shoes! But that didn't last long. School was very focused around exams - the means to ultimately getting a career. I didn't know what I wanted that to be. I did numerous career tests and saw career counsellors to try and find out but no suggestion came up that felt right at all.
I believed that God had made me for some reason - for some perfect job fit that would suit the way He had made me and that would enable me to fulfill my potential. As I came to know Him better, this conviction grew and I looked more and more for His direction instead of to what a questionnaire or other people could tell me.
I found the whole thing enormously stressful and frustrating. God had made me. He had a 'good plan' (Jeremiah 29:11) so why didn't He just tell me what it was so I could get on with it?
I look back at that now and realise how very little I knew of God and the purpose of life. He never made me to slot me into a job. From the beginning, God's plan for humanity was that we might walk together with Him - to be His daughters and the bride of His Son.
God made me to know Him intimately. He made you to know Him intimately too. He has taken the most extreme measure in sacrificing His Son so that nothing has to stand in the way of this being possible.
Often we get saved and we pursue:
or
or
We fail to pursue GOD! Just for who He is. To let Him love us just for who we are.
1Corinthians 1:9 AMP makes our calling clear - it is all about COMPANIONSHIP and PARTICIPATION.
Out of knowing God, having a love relationship, comes things to do alongside Him, together with Him, in partnership.
Lisa Bevere says that she has four children who were born out of intimacy with her husband but that "We were not intimate in order to have children. We have children because we have been intimate. Likewise, God wants our spiritual offspring to be the product of intimacy with Him."
Knowing that God wants me to be His - that's why He made me and saved me - is the single most important thing I have discovered about my 'calling'.
I have also learnt that God does have good plans - those paths, good works and good life that He has prearranged and made ready for each one of us to live (Ephesians 2:10 AMP). They are the things He has looked forward to enjoying especially with each of us. Divinely orchestrated appointments and opportunities await for us to reveal His love and goodness to the world. There is a scenario He has written for each of us and will be faithful to fulfill if we choose to seek Him to lead us and choose to cooperate with Him.
He wants to give us vision - to see from His perspective - what His dream is for our spiritual, physical, mental and emotional health. For our family and home life. For the relationships He has lined up for us. For our finances so we can be a blessing to others. For our work/ using the gifts He has given us.
So often we fail to know His vision because we haven't sought it and we don't have faith for what He reveals. But He wants us to glimpse what is prepared and have faith for it to come to pass.
It is in Christ we find out who we are and what we are living for.
(Ephesians 1:11 MSG)
For anyone who reads any of this and feels that it's too late for them, that they have missed out on too many years of what God has planned, know it's never too late! With God, the best is always yet to come (Proverbs 4:18). God will restore anything that has been wasted - even if we make bad decisions or other people or the enemy have done things that seem like they could rob us of our destiny, God always has a plan to remedy the situation and get us back on course. He can take it all, even our own sins and mistakes, and transform them to enhance our character and bring Him glory. (Isaiah 61:7, Joel 2:25, Romans 8:28, Micah 7:18)
It all begins with relationship. Joy Dawson asks an interesting and awful question: "Have you ever pondered the loneliness of God?" She says "He created us for friendship with Himself, yet we give Him relatively little time for intimacy!" We may be constantly seeking His guidance, reading our Bibles and interceding for others but "give Him little time for a love relationship."
I got to the point where my whole life ground to a halt and I began to pusue God in a way I never had before. On p.118 of Becoming You there is a method of spending time in God's presence that He led me to use. He tuned my ear into His voice and I began to get revelation about who God is, who I am and His dreams for my life. If you want more ideas and direction on spending time in His presence, email me: anna@annasymonds.com.
I have recently read this verse in The Message Bible: God took delight in making you into his very own. (1Samuel 12:22) I love thinking about that verse! This month, enjoy being His very own.
Lots of love,
Anna xxx
APRIL 2009 MAILING
Hi girls!
GOD OUR CHEERLEADER
Last month, we were thinking about being God's cheerleaders (see mailing below). It's not a one way thing though - God is actually our biggest cheerleader. He is the One we can rely on always to speak LIFE to us. To surround us with kind and wise words of blessing, hope and promise. He speaks to our potential, encouraging us and CHEERING US ON all the time...!!
THE WORLD'S WAY
God is cheering on humanity and we should be showing we're His daughters by doing likewise. But sadly we don't see very much true cheering on of one another.
There is an article in this month's Vogue entitled: 'Twisted Sisters - Griping about girlfriends, swiping at celebrities and being catty about colleagues... Why can't women be nice to each other?'. It talks about how horrible women are about each other, judging the appearance and lifestyles of celebrities, friends and random strangers and how the media legitimises this behaviour encouraging us to join in with the their criticising.
One woman is quoted: "The school gates can be particularly toxic, I can literally feel 100 pairs of eyes boring into my back, passing judgment on my appearance, my haircut, or my maternal competence... I know I'm no better than them. I'm guilty of doing the exact same thing: judging their weekend wardrobes, their coffee mornings, their smug sisterly camaraderie... At root, I think we're just envious of what the other has, but we can't admit it so we cloak our envy in spite."
A BETTER WAY
Perhaps you see this in yourself or women around you. Frequently, and often secretly, we are jealous rivals, jockeying for position, feeling inferior to other women and threatened by them, scared they'll get a better life than us and we'll miss out. But as God's girls, we should look so different from the world: a people showing a far better way. It is possible to lose all the discontentment:
"I want to know you, God..."
Through Jesus we are brought back into oneness with God. There is no greater thing we could receive. So there is no one and nothing to envy: we are truly living the ultimate dream - life in relationship with Him.
"I want to be ME - the amazing person you have made me to be..."
Each of us is unique - made by the creative genius. It is only as we get to know God that we can discover who we are and there should be no one we'd rather be! We don't have to feel threatened by anybody or inferior either. Our value is immense and it is equal to every other human being's - we were all, every single last one of us, worth the cross - worth Jesus dying for.
"I want to live the life you have for me to live..."
God has a tailor made, significant and worthwhile plan for each of our lives. He sees our enormous potential and He wants us to fulfill it. We can trust Him that His plan is far better than any we could invent and if we will actually walk with Him, we can see that plan happen.
So when we're content to become who we're made to be, we can act differently to the world's way and cheer each other on. Instead of wanting to rise above people and see them fail, we can actually want them to fulfill every bit of their potential, not to become who we think they should be but rather all God has made them to be. We can truly want what is best for them - to see God's will done in their lives as they fulfill His great purposes for them.
We are each made to run our race in a certain lane and we are equipped for it by God. While we get on with our part, we can cheer everyone else on in theirs - not just other women but everyone:
Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we're at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind. Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment.
(Luke 6:35-38 MSG)
Happy Easter. Have a lovely weekend.
Lots of love,
Anna xxx
MARCH 2009 MAILING
Hi girls,
Are you God's cheerleader? Because that is something I believe He says He wants us to be!
What is a cheerleader? Someone who is on the side of a certain team - (with undistracted and undivided devotion even (1Corinthians 7:35 AMP)) who cheers to rally and lead the crowd in support of the team.
How could that be us? A people crazy about God perhaps, gushing about how amazing He is and making famous His goodness:
They shall pour forth [like a fountain] the fame of Your great and abundant goodness...
(Psalm 145:7)
Not long ago, God warned me that I was getting in His way! I was obstructing my life by allowing the fear of disappointment to make me negative. I wasn't standing cheering God on privately or publicly. I wasn't exactly saying:
"Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O mighty One,... And in Your majesty ride on triumphantly..." (Psalm 45:3-4 AMP)
Do you think you could be limiting God? Do you put up walls that hem you in?
Mark chapter 5 talks about people who fall at Jesus' feet. They beg Him earnestly. They just want to touch His robe. They marvel at what He says and does. They are utterly astonished by Him. Overcome with amazement.
The people in the next chapter are in complete contrast. They disapprove of Jesus. They don't honour or acknowledge His authority. They reason about Him and won't admit that there could be anything special to Him.
And there is a big difference in what happens in these two sets of people's lives. The people in chaper 5 receive amazing MIRACLES. In contrast, the people in chapter 6 receive nothing because Jesus 'was not able to do even one work of power' among them because of their attitudes.
In Matthew 21, we read about Jesus riding into Jerusalem. He is surrounded by cheerleaders. People honouring Him for who He is, spreading their garments on the road for Him to ride over. (It is following this that He enters the Temple and drives out people who are buying and selling there. Someone told me that they had read about this in a book where the author was saying that Jesus had been into the Temple many times before this but this is the one occasion He reacts in this way and that it is perhaps because His name has been so lifted up and He has been praised).
Over again, we are told that the person who waits expectantly for God is blessed:
And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]! (Isaiah 30:18 AMP)
Are you cheering God on? Because He wants to move in our lives and on this planet. So let's not hinder Him or limit Him by being afraid and unbelieving and letting negativity be a thief. Let's be faith filled, our eyes peeled for His arrival. He is on His way!
Lots of love,
Anna xxxxxx
FEBRUARY 2009 MAILING
Hi girls,
What a lot of snow we have had - and how incredible that each of those MANY flakes was unique! (For those of you not in the UK, and maybe sunning yourselves somewhere, we have just had the worst snow for 20 years)...
But whatever the weather outside, or whatever storms inside your life, God has you covered!
Psalm 147 (see below) talks about snow and it makes us think about how truly AMAZING our God is!
It tells us He is gracious and lovely. He is working out His purposes for mankind. He heals gently and tenderly all our emotional problems and pains. He enjoys his creation. He lovingly takes a pride in his work. He is great and powerful. His understanding is infinite. Fairness and justice belong to him. He deals with His people with such tenderness and gentleness. He transforms the negative to positive, the down to up.
He makes the earth work. He makes it full of life. He paints it with beauty. He looks after all the animals. He gives protection and procreation and looks after what matters to us – our children. He makes peace for us. He gives the finest to us. The best. He feeds us. He wants good things for us!!!
One word and the world responds. All the weather is His. The blanket of snow that is a duvet of protection. His cold is extreme. But then He can melt it all. He makes the wind blow and the waters flow which makes me think of His Spirit who fills us with His life. He speaks to us His people. How can we but cherish those words, give heed to them and ask for understanding if we lack it?
Our God is so beautiful. So good – doing good all the time. And His pleasure doesn’t come from the strength in what He’s made - the ability that He has created and placed in us but rather in our response to Him. FEARING him. Having deep respect and awe and looking to Him for His power and wisdom. Recognising His greatness and having a confident expectation of His loving kindness, His compassion and mercy. Looking at Him and going: "WOW!"
PSALM 147 AMP
PRAISE THE Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God, for He is gracious and lovely; praise is becoming and appropriate.
The Lord is building up Jerusalem; He is gathering together the exiles of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds [curing their pains and their sorrows].
He determines and counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by their names.
Great is our Lord and of great power; His understanding is inexhaustible and boundless.
The Lord lifts up the humble and downtrodden; He casts the wicked down to the ground.
Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praises with the harp or the lyre to our God!--
Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who prepares rain for the earth, Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.
He gives to the beast his food, and to the young ravens that for which they cry.
He delights not in the strength of the horse, nor does He take pleasure in the legs of a man.
The Lord takes pleasure in those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him, in those who hope in His mercy and loving-kindness.
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!
For He has strengthened and made hard the bars of your gates, and He has blessed your children within you.
He makes peace in your borders; He fills you with the finest of the wheat.
He sends forth His commandment to the earth; His word runs very swiftly.
HE GIVES [TO THE EARTH] SNOW LIKE [A BLANKET OF] WOOL; He scatters the hoarfrost like ashes.
He casts forth His ice like crumbs; who can stand before His cold?
He sends out His word, and melts [ice and snow]; He causes His wind to blow, and the waters flow.
He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes and His ordinances to Israel.
He has not dealt so with any [other] nation; they have not known (understood, appreciated, given heed to, and cherished) His ordinances. Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
Lots of love,
Anna xxxxoxxoxoxxx
JANUARY 2009 MAILING
Happy new year!
Are you SMILING at 2009 (Proverbs 31:25 NASB)? I really hope you are but I know from past experience how hard it can be to feel positive about anything sometimes let alone the future! But there should be a smile on your beautiful face by the end of this mailing, so read on...!
I wonder if you realise that God is really positive about the future! YOUR future! We often look to past experiences, what we hear on the news, or what someone has said, to tell us how life is likely to turn out, rather than to what GOD SAYS.
But we don't have to live defined by what's been done to us, said of us or by what we've done. But rather we can live a life defined by what's been done for us - by Jesus! The life promised and described in His Word.
Whose words control your life?
Jesus says that HIS words need to remain and dwell in us if we want to know freedom:
"If you abide in My word [hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them], you are truly My disciples. And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32 AMP)
We desperately need to build our lives on the truth of HIS words and stop letting fears of failure, disappointment and rejection imprison us as we speak words that negate our futures.
So I can tell you to make reading the WORD a priority this year. But that risks it being a cold, mechanical, dutiful, religious thing.
No, what we need is a whole new attitude to our Bibles. Read (and enjoy!) what E.W. Kenyon has to say about it:
The word is YOURS. It is as though there was no other person in the world but you, and this Revelation had been given especially to you; you can say, "It is mine. no one has a better right to it than I have. Every promise is mine. Every statement of fact is mine."
"He is my Father; I am His child. This is His message to me to help me in my earth walk."
A LOVER HAS WRITTEN YOU A LETTER. It is not written to anyone else. It is too sacred for any other eyes to see. That is your letter. That is YOUR LOVER WRITING TO YOU.
God is love and He has written to you the book called the Bible.
Jesus now has spoken a love message to you. He says, "If ye abide in me." If you are a New Creation, you certainly do abide in Him. His words abide in you just as that lover's words would abide in your heart.
You go over that lover's words again and again. He has asked you to become His companion for life. How sacred is that letter. It is love's own message to your heart. Love has spoken to YOU.
(E.W. Kenyon, In His Presence)
What if you thought of your Bible as a love letter? If you opened it and saw that:
His voice and speech are exceedingly sweet; yes, he is altogether lovely [the whole of him delights and is precious]. This is my beloved, and this is my friend. (Song of Solomon 5:16 AMP)
OR
His words are kisses, his kisses words.
Everything about him delights me, thrills me through and through!
That's my lover, that's my man. (Song of Solomon 5:16 MSG)
Your lover is saying so many things. Personal things. Intimate things. Things for your eyes and your heart only. He has answers in your circumstances. Instructions to guide you in ways that can only succeed.
Love says...
So whether you're smiling at 2009 or not, hear Love say:
"You are my [own] handiwork (my workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that you may do those good works which I predestined (planned beforehand) for you [taking paths which I prepared ahead of time], that you should walk in them [living the good life which I prearranged and made ready for you to live]." (Ephesians 2:10 AMP)
Snuggle up with Jesus as you open your Bible and hear Love tell you that He's excited about this year. There's no mistakes. He knew all along you'd be here in 2009. That's how He planned it. And He has things for you to do with Him. Could He be waiting for you to ask Him about them and delight to walk each step of His will with your hand in His?
Lots of love,
Anna
xxoxxxoxxoxxxox
CHRISTMAS 2008 MAILING
Girls,
As Christmas draws near, let's enjoy being a part of the greatest ever RESCUE STORY! And let's celebrate that moment when the Prince came into this world for us:
Whether or not your relatives were interested in your birth, the day you entered the world was a long anticipated day. By God! For thousands of years He had looked forward to that moment. Before He even made the world, He already had you in mind. And He loved you!
The moment came where He created the world and crafted Adam and Eve. They were alive spiritually, their spirits were one with God. They had a wonderful, intimate relationship with Him. They were happy and free. Until Eve listened to the serpent and acted on his suggestion that she was missing out. It was enough for her to reach out her hand for more. One forbidden fruit, broken humanity, millennia of shame.
Adam and Eve died spiritually. The connection their spirits had with God was broken. And that’s how you were born. Into a world that was beautiful but where danger lurked. Nothing could really make you feel secure. You wanted to be loved and to matter but a big question mark hung over your value and purpose. There was a gnawing feeling that there was something wrong and you were not enough.
But all along, God had known what would happen and instead of giving up on humanity, He had a rescue plan. Years before your birth, the Prince, His very own son, left the throne room of Heaven for this dark world. Satan was at His birth but His Heavenly Father’s hand was continuously on His life.
He suffered and was tempted in ways well known to us. But He pressed on. Nothing would stop Him doing the will of His Father. And the time came for His greatest challenge. He cried blood but was determined to pay the necessary price. He took every agonising blow with thoughts of you becoming His own.
He had come to give release to you, the captive daughter of His Father. And the day dawned when you realised it. In the midst of your shame, of the failure and foolishness that you felt, you saw that you had lived independently of God and this was NOT what God had created you for.
You came to see that the Prince had been sent by God so that through Him you could establish a real relationship with the King and know Him personally. So you accepted the Prince’s outstretched hand and you were made a new creation entirely, spiritually alive, your temple body the home of God Himself.
Now, all that was before in our lives is gone. The origin of our birth is no longer relevant. The Prince has given us a crown and bestowed His own beauty and splendour upon us. And the things He says to us about the way He loves us are wild. But true! And we love Him back in a way we didn’t know we could love. Never again will we be alone. Just us. We are one with God now. The chosen of the Prince.
We have been rescued from the kingdom of darkness, the life of nightmare, and safely transferred into the kingdom of light. All the things God has looked forward to enjoying especially with each of us can now come to pass as we walk with Him.
Love you all! And have a wonderful Christmas. xxxx
SEPTEMBER 2008 MAILING
Hi princess,
I know that we've already thought about our value this year but I felt this month, God was wanting me to tell you about something that illustrates the truth of how beyond price we are to Him. This is an absolute favourite thing of mine. Since God revealed it to me, it is perhaps the thing more than anything else that gives me a rock of truth to stand on when the lies about things like inferiority or God not really caring start so I hope that it helps you too!!
You probably know that Jesus is described as the bridegroom and that we are His bride. Understanding a little about the ancient Jewish wedding ceremony, we see something of how amazing this is. The bride was usually chosen by the bridegroom's father, just like we have been chosen by God to be given to Jesus. The son would present a contract to the chosen girl and her father, that was his proposal. It showed his willingness to provide for this woman. The most important part of the contract was the BRIDE PRICE, the price the man was willing to pay to marry the woman. This was paid to her father, in exchange for his permission. The price was generally quite high. Sons were considered more valuable than daughters as they were able to be involved with jobs of heavy labour so the bride price was a compensation to the young woman's family for the cost of raising a daughter and it indicated the love the man had for the girl.
So, Jesus came to earth - the home of His bride to present His marriage contract, the new covenant - the forgiveness of our sins and all the other wonderful things that it includes. And the price He paid?
HIS LIFE
Blood shed and a body broken for us. We who had no value, who were of no use to God, who were not needed by Him at all. But we who were so badly wanted, so greatly loved, that this ultimate, ultimate, ultimate bridegroom, prince and love of our lives went beyond money, beyond price and paid with His life.
Could we ask for any more? Any more to make us certain that we are loved? Any more to make us certain that we are wanted? Any more to make us certain that we are desired? Any more to make us certain that we are beautiful? Any more to make us certain that God cares what happens to us? Any more...???
you were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for By Christ]
(ICorinthians 7:23 AMP)
In the Jewish tradition, the groom then went back to his father's house to prepare the bridal chamber for his bride until his father was satisfied that it was ready. And then, he would give the necessary permission for the son to go back and get the bride.
So girls, this month, let's live like the betrothed of Jesus, girls who are getting ready for Him to come back for them. These princesses whose eternal lives are sealed and signed. Royal daughters who have got Someone very, very special to smile about and share with all the world - because He did it for EVERY SINGLE PERSON we encounter.
Lots of love to you all,
Anna
JULY 2008 MAILING
Hi,
I hope that you are having a good summer so far.
JULY GUIDE TO AMAZING PRAYER
The Bible is absolutely full of stories of answered prayer. But real life for many of us isn't always the same. We can pray and see nothing happen. It can be disappointing at best and devastating to our faith at worst.
So this month, here's a little practical guide to praying out of your relationship with Jesus:
1.What to pray for? We can bring anything and everything to God in prayer but it's also good in a prayer time to say to Jesus: "What do you want me to pray about?" If we never do that, we can miss out on praying for the things that He really wants us to pray for. Jesus said more than once that everything He did and said was the Father's will - that must have included the prayers He prayed!
2.What is God's will? Rather than just pleading with God, we can take the issue and ask Him: "What is your will in this matter? What do you want to happen?"
3.What to do when we know God's will. When we have a sense of what God wants to do in a situation, we need to take hold of it and pray it into being, not put it in a drawer somewhere and see if it happens or not! Perhaps you have been given a word for your life by somebody else and been advised to put it away and see if it comes to pass. Why not get it out and actually ask God if it is His word to you or whether the person was mistaken. If He says that it is right, take hold of it and pray it into being.
4.Being aware of the opposition. God has a good plan for our lives and the enemy is viciously opposed. He doesn't want us to pray effectively - to bother to discover God's will or to persist in praying for it to come to pass. Spirits of doubt and unbelief attack to try to stop us standing on God's word and to ensure that we actually oppose His will with our negative words. So let's take victory over them and win with our praying.
5.How should we pray? When we know God's will in a situation, we need to get behind it with our whole hearts in prayer. Best to ask Jesus then for a strategy: "How do you want me to pray for this?" After all, the disciples asked Him to teach them to pray. He may tell you to fast in a certain way or bind particular opposition... God gives amazing battle strategies to people in the Bible like Gideon, Jehoshaphat and Joshua but always a unique plan to suit the specific battle. Joshua fights the same people twice but is given a different plan for each.
INSPIRATION - The Bible is full of it but Daniel was an amazing pray-er. He had a lifestyle of prayer and when he realised that the promised return of God's people, which had not been allowed for 70 years, was imminent, he didn't just hope it would happen - he battled in prayer. He says:
"I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer..."
(Daniel 9:2-3 NIV)
Lots of love,
Anna xxxx
JUNE 2008 MAILING
Hi Girls,
How are you? After the May mailing, I hope that you spent the last month realising just how beyond scale valuable you are! (For anyone who's new to the mailing list, send an email if you'd like the May mailing to catch up).
We saw that each of us is equally valuable in the eyes of God. But there's so much more to our value than being part of a crowd called humanity.
I used to think I'd love to have lived when Jesus was on earth - to have been one of the people He personally called out of the crowd to follow Him. But the reality is that is exactly what He is still doing today. It couldn't be more personal. He sees you in that crowd of humanity and He calls your name - calling you out of the throng of people to come on this adventure of life with Him.
God values everything that goes into making you you. He made you FOR HIMSELF:
The people I formed FOR MYSELF, that they may set forth my praise.
(Isaiah 43:21 AMP)
Yes, that's right. You are totally God's taste. 100% His style. Just exactly what He likes. He never makes mistakes and He made in you something that He badly wanted. He can only have the companionship and partnership He desires to have with you with you.
You may think: "But surely that was messed up by the fall and things I've done and the way life has turned out."
That's exactly why He saved and rescued you FOR HIMSELF as well:
I will sow her FOR MYSELF anew in the land.
(Hosea 2:23 AMP)
All the mess has gone because of what Jesus has done and God doesn't see it. God has saved you for Himself to plant you anew in the amazing life He has planned - a delightful, excellent, full, prosperous, blessed life in God that exceeds all expectations. And He has put His Spirit in you to help you live that life to the full, fulfilling the unique potential God dreamt of when He first dreamt of you.
God says that Heaven is His throne and Earth is His footstall. It's quite some place to be sitting! But He wants more - He wants a place to rest and dwell - and for that to be in us! (Isaiah 66:1-3) He wants to be with us - to walk closely and talk intimately and work together with us. (Micah 6:8)
This truth is so amazing. It means that we not only have to start believing that we have immeasurable value overall but that every little thing about us has immeasurable value too.
Do you hear a well known worship leader perform and imagine that God prefers the sound they make to the sound you make? Only your worship can give God the pleasure yours was made to give.
Do you look at photos of yourself and see everything that is wrong with your smile? That is the smile God longs to see turned in His direction when you wake up each morning.
Do you look at your hands and wish they were different? They are the hands He wants to hold forever.
Do you think of your seemingly stupid ideas? They are the ideas He is never tired of hearing.
God made you for His pleasure. All of you. Think about yourself for a moment - all the things you despise. Go through the list and ask God what His opinion is and start agreeing with Him!!
And why not ask God: "If I've been made for you and saved and rescued for you, what does that really mean?" Let me know what He says - I always love getting your emails.
Let's make it a great June for God! Let's give Him the enjoyment He had in mind when He made and rescued us FOR HIMSELF.
Lots of love,
Anna xxxx
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MAY 2008 MAILING
£££p££££££p£ Priceless $££$p$$£$p$
Hi girls,
Welcome to the May mailing.
Lately, God has been talking to me about VALUE – about how much we’re worth.
That’s something you would have thought I knew. And of course I do – I mean I have been blessed to discover my real value from God and it has changed my life.
But knowing the truth doesn’t stop the enemy assaulting us – dropping thoughts and doubts in our minds. In fact, he is relentless in his assault to try to dislocate us from our true value once we know it.
£10, 2p, $1,000,000,000
A few weeks ago, I saw a speaker at church do a little illustration. You may have seen it done. She had a £10 note – asked us what it was worth (£10) and then screwed it up, trod on it, spat on it, asked us again what it was worth (£10!) and said that’s like us – nothing that can be done or said to us makes us lose any of our value.
And of course it’s true. On that Sunday morning, the enemy was ready with a thought to drop into my mind to make me question the truth about myself: “I might have always been worth the same amount but how much is that? Where in the value order do I come?”
Perhaps you’ve spent a lot of your life coping with circumstances and people’s comments and you’ve known some failure so you see an illustration like the £10 one and think: “So what? My value may not change but that doesn’t mean anything when it’s as low a value as mine is. I mean I’m like one of the 2p people.”
Your True Worth
But £10, 2p, $1,000,000,000. God says forget that. He wants His truth to cut in so our eyes will be opened and our lives changed. Because God says:
“You were worth the cross!”
If you look at the cross and wonder why Jesus was going to all that trouble for the sake of someone like you, you need to hear this: In God’s eyes and therefore in truth, you are so valuable, so highly prized and desired that Jesus paid a phenomenal – beyond value – price. You were worth God doing the most painful thing He could do because He couldn’t bear to live without you.
Rising Up
So that means every time the enemy tries to steal our truth like he was trying to do to me on that Sunday morning, we have to rise up, refuse to listen or agree with him and stay in agreement with God instead.
If you have a copy of Becoming You, there are lots of verses in it that you can use as your ammunition against him – asserting truth when he tries to tell you a lie.
Perhaps you’ve never actually made a decision to break the agreements you have made with the devil’s lies about your value. If you haven’t, then:
1.pray and find out what the lies are that God wants you to deal with.
2.reject them and declare them broken in Jesus’ name.
3.ask God to heal you from having lived believing those lies – the pain it has caused and the way it has led to you thinking, speaking and acting.
4.agree with God and live inside His truth.
Makes You Think
When God wows me with how loved I am by Him, it always turns my mind to other people. That bossy friend, ungrateful child, unhelpful solicitor, rude shop assistant… you know what? They were worth the cross too!
Have a happy May!
Love,
Anna xxx
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