tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38509536432908288622024-03-14T03:35:47.986+00:00The Patchwork BlogRandom thoughts from an ex-parish evangelistLynda Alsfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260944221255162533noreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850953643290828862.post-9796887604063445012016-10-06T09:00:00.000+01:002016-10-06T09:00:11.067+01:00Brown paper packages tied up with string<div style="background-color: white; color: #6b6b6b; text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>This post first appeared on <a href="http://morethanwriters.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">More Than Writers</a> the blog of the <a href="http://www.christianwriters.org.uk/" target="_blank">Association of Christian Writers</a>, on September 16th 2016. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Lord has been speaking to me about resting in Him over the last few months. <span style="text-align: center;">Resting in God is something I know about in theory but am very poor at doing in practise. In practise resting in God means letting go of things. But I frequently don't want to let go of these things.</span></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now the rest of God is not a rest <span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">from</span> work—it’s a rest <span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">in</span> work. It’s partnering with God to do what He is calling you to do by His grace, and leaving the part you can’t do in His hands, trusting Him to do it.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i> </i><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>Joyce Meyer</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I remember going on a retreat to a convent many years ago. There was a nun leading some of the sessions. I don't remember her name but I do remember her talking about leaving things with God. She spoke about imagining that we had wrapped up our problems in brown paper packages (Are you now singing 'My Favourite Things' from The Sound of Music to yourself? I was when I wrote this). She told us to imagine ourselves leaving our brown paper packages at the foot of the cross with Jesus. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I am quite a visual person so I found this helpful. I even manage to take her advice sometimes. I leave my parcels at the foot of the cross, neat parcels of brown paper tied up with string, 'To God, Love Lynda xxx' written on the front. So far so good, you may be thinking. But, my problem is leaving them there. I go back to the parcels and start opening them again. I try to peep under the paper like a child with her Christmas presents under the tree. I keep looking at my parcels, wondering what God will do with them. I can't leave them alone. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At other times, I don't get around to wrapping my problems up for God. I leave them sitting around the lounge of my mind, wrapping paper in a pile, unused. I trip over the unwrapped problems, stubbing my toe on them, or worse. Life gets uncontrollable, with unwrapped problems littering my head, making life difficult. I may even spend time with God, telling him about my problems but I keep them firmly in my hands. I don't leave them with Him, at the foot of the cross. I walk away from my time with Him, parcels of problems still firmly in my arms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I find it so hard to leave my problems with God. But I want to change. God is speaking to me about resting in Him. He wants me to allow Him to take my burdens. He longs to take my burdens. I know I have a long way to go in this but I am on the way. I won't give up. I will keep going to God, brown paper packages in my arms and I will leave them at the foot of the cross even if I have to leave the same package many times, re-wrapped many times. They say practise makes perfect! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What about you? Are you able to leave your brown paper packages of problems at the foot of the cross? </span></div>
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Lynda Alsfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260944221255162533noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850953643290828862.post-75861695127739458832016-05-21T17:13:00.001+01:002016-05-21T17:14:37.076+01:00Being Loved<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I used to be desperate to be married, but to this day I remain single. Kind-hearted people would tell me 'God loves you'. They wanted me to know I was loved beyond measure by the God of the universe. My reaction was to think 'but He has to love me, He is God'. I wanted someone to choose to love me. I didn't see God's love as a choice somehow. <br /><br />I wanted someone to choose to love me with all my heart. I instinctively knew it was not good to refuse the love of God 'because He has to love you'. I could never work out why I thought like that though. Why did I think a man would be better than God?<br /><br />Today it came to me. I wanted any love I received to be because of me. I wanted to have earned the love I received by who I was. I was living a salvation by works, even though outwardly I professed a salvation by faith. I wanted to find a man who would love me because I had earned his love. I wanted to control who loved me and how deeply they loved me by my good behaviour. It was all about me being in control of another person's love - even when that other person is God.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have learned now to simply accept God's love and it took a major crisis of faith for me to learn this (you can read more about this time of my life in my book <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Never-Let-Go-Evangelist/dp/1471658392/">He Never Let Go</a>). I now see His love is better. It is better exactly because it doesn't depend on me. I don't have to earn it. I am loved no matter what I do. It depends on Him. It depends on the amazing grace of Father God in Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ who died for us. He is Love. He cannot help but love me as He is love. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I now see there is such freedom in this, such grace. I am loved and it doesn't depend on my earning it. Now I have learned to surrender more to the love of God it has led to the most wonderful by product. In my surrender to His love I have found freedom from food addiction (to read more about my freedom from food addiction read my book <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Being-Known-Lynda-Alsford-ebook/dp/B00CQRHI5A">Being Known</a>). That freedom tastes so good! Praise God.</span></div>
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So if you read this and you find yourself still wishing to find someone who will choose to love you, if you think that God's love is not enough because He has to love you, I want to ask you a question. Try to answer it as honestly as you can. Are you trying to earn love? Are you wanting to be in control of who loves you and who doesn't by how you behave? True love is not earned. It is given freely. If it has to be earned it is not true love. True love depends on the giver of the love not on the receiver of it. </div>
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My prayer today is that you will learn to yield completely to the love that God has to offer. It is the way to true freedom. </div>
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Lynda Alsfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260944221255162533noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850953643290828862.post-30137125330859109132015-12-14T22:10:00.001+00:002015-12-14T22:10:41.229+00:00When the rubber hits the road<div style="text-align: left;">
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I have been challenged over recent months to change the way I think, especially in the area of gratitude and what I think about myself. It is so easy to say 'Trust the Lord' or 'look at God not your situation'. I often listen to the song 'Turn your eyes upon Jesus'. I particularly enjoy the Hillsongs version. But I am going to be honest with you. I am not turning my eyes upon Jesus. Not really. Not most of the time. What I am actually doing is looking at my situation and outwardly saying I trust God. I often say I am going to trust God but I am not trusting Him. I say He is the centre of my life but then fill it with other things instead. I say I am grateful for all He does for me and then never thank Him. </div>
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I worry a lot. I have been especially anxious over recent months. There is always too much month left at the end of the money and bills seem overwhelming. But when I look back at what God has done for me before I find no basis for my worry. Jesus has never let me go without the things I need. During a time of unemployment, when I didn't have the money for my mortgage, I got a letter from my bank saying 'We mis-sold you PPI. Please fill in this form and we will repay you'. The amount I got was enough for the mortgage. I hadn't even considered applying for this as I didn't think I qualified for it. At the beginning of this year I was off sick for two and a half months following a knee replacement. Given I don't get full sick pay, and I am not eligible for mortgage relief from the government for 3 months of each claim, it was a worrying time. However, shortly after seeing my surgeon, I got a letter from the working tax credit department. They were back dating my claim and the payment was enough for 3 mortgage payments. I could go on but you will be relieved to know I will not. </div>
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So why do I not remember these things in a time of need? Yet again, I focus on the situation and start worrying. I allow anxious thoughts to go round and round my mind. I have read the Word of God so why do I not believe it? I mean really believe it. I say the words. I mentally assent to the truth but when the rubber hits the road...I worry instead of believing. I believe the first worrying thought that pops into my mind. </div>
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And it is not just in the area of provision. I say that as a Christian I should love everyone but then I come up against someone I find difficult to get along with for one reason or another. I find myself hating this person not loving them. I may not say this out loud but I am thinking it. This happened recently to me. I was feeling very angry and hateful towards someone with whom I am in regular contact. At first I wallowed in my negativity. I felt justified in it. This person was causing pain and upset to someone I really like and respect. But my attitude was not Christ-like. This is where the rubber hits the road as far as being a Christian goes. I speak of a God of love but can I love the unlovely as He does? I decided I needed to change my attitude. While still acknowledging that the person was in fact in the wrong in one area that was causing pain to others, I also realised that I needed to get along with them and see them as Jesus does.</div>
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I started by giving thanks for this person. It was really hard to do. It took every once of will power to say it to God. 'Lord I thank you for X'. I asked God to help me and then just did it- as an act of my will. The more I gave thanks for this person the more I found my attitude changing. Day by day I worked on this until I could pray for them with love. I am now able to get along with this person much more easily. I can pray that God will bring this person into His Kingdom and I mean it. But it was hard work. It was spiritual warfare. </div>
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Paul in Philippians 2:12 says the following . </div>
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<i>'Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear' (NLT)</i></blockquote>
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It is really hard work to change the way we think. In my experience it takes a combination of will power and the Holy Spirit. If I tell myself 'I can't help it', 'I can't change' then I will never change. If I tell myself 'I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength' (Philippians 4:13) and repeat the truth of it to myself again and again my heart will gradually change. If I thank God for the person I find so difficult He will change me by the power of the Holy Spirit. For me it goes to the heart of my faith. If the blood of Jesus is as powerful as I believe it is then I can work with God to change my thoughts.</div>
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The Christian life is not easy. Believing God above your circumstances is not easy (no prizes for spotting the massive understatement!). But boy is it rewarding. I feel so much more peace now I have learned to love this difficult person with the love that God has given me. The hate was so much more tiring. I am now working on my anxiety and worry. And I know I will be successful. For I know in whom I have believed. He died to set me free. This is real spiritual warfare. Allowing God to change our hearts.<br />
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What one thought can you ask God to help you begin to change?</div>
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Blessings to you all.<br />
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Lynda Alsfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260944221255162533noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850953643290828862.post-69662450137666161192015-10-18T21:12:00.001+01:002015-10-18T21:12:49.593+01:00Worshipping Father in spirit and truth<div>
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It may be a daft question but do you give God your problems? I meant do you really give them to Him? </div>
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Or do you do what I often do...struggle with my problem alone, try to work out the solution and then ask God to do that thing for me. All the while feeling stressed and under pressure to do the right thing. </div>
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I realised a while back that this is what I have a tendency to do. I don't always really give God my problems. I keep them all myself and then try to work it all out alone. If I can't work out the solution I sink into a depressed or stressed state that it takes a while to get away from again. </div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just recently, having realised this was what I was doing, I tried to consciously give God my problems. At first though, I thought, how do I do this? How do I actually give God my problems? I know He wants them but how to do I give them to Him?</span></div>
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Then I made a decision to start to pray as soon as I got home from work. I started going to my room, closing the door, putting on praise music and just pouring out my heart to Him about all that was worrying me. I asked Him to show me the way round my problem. I verbally dumped it all on Him, warts and all. Every thought, as it really first appeared in my mind, is what I poured out to God. </div>
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The amazing thing was that when I did that God started to change me. He kept the troubled feelings and gave me His peace instead. I realised it was because I was truly coming to Him, as I was. I was coming to Him in truth. </div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way." John 4:23</span></blockquote>
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In the above Scripture Jesus says Father God wants those who will worship Him in Spirit and truth. He wants us to be real, to be who we really are. It is the only way He can change us. Try it and see. </div>
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So, ask yourself, am I being real with God. Am I bringing my real self to Him? I can trust Him with my real self. He is more loving, more compassionate and more merciful that we can ever know. Pour out your heart to Him. You can trust Him. He is indeed your refuge. </div>
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Lynda Alsfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260944221255162533noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850953643290828862.post-84355361779277922762015-08-22T16:38:00.000+01:002015-08-22T16:38:35.596+01:00Remember what God has done for you<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was interviewed by Carol Graham of Never Ever Give Up Hope a few months ago. She was asking me about how Jesus never let me go despite a major crisis of faith, how He set me free from food addiction in the process. The interview went live this week. And Carol sent me the link. I listened to my interview for the first time and it almost brought me to tears. I speak about what happened to me but I don't sit and listen to myself say it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was amazing to go back and hear what God has done for me. I was swept up again into the emotions of the time and was reminded of what God said and what it felt like to be there. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Various Bible characters at times would leave an altar or a memorial of sorts in places where they had met God. It reminded them of what God had done for them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"</i><span style="background-color: #fdfeff; color: #001320; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;"><i>But then I recall all you have done, O LORD; I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago." </i>Psalm 77:11</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is sometimes good to go back over what God has done and remember his power, his love and mercy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What has God done for you that you have forgotten? Remember the deeds of the Lord that you have now forgotten. Encourage yourself in the Lord. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you want to hear what encouraged me so the other day then <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/he-never-let-her-go/id1014754680?i=349703360&mt=2" target="_blank">here is the link</a> to the interview on iTunes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remember what God has done. Count your blessings both past and present! </span><br />
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<br />Lynda Alsfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260944221255162533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850953643290828862.post-75384477512754060602015-08-19T07:30:00.000+01:002015-08-19T07:30:00.642+01:00Discovering our Father's Heart<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>This post first appeared as my regular contribution to the <a href="http://morethanwriters.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">More than Writers blog</a> of the <a href="http://www.christianwriters.org.uk/" target="_blank">Association of Christian Writers</a> on Sunday 16th August 2015</i></span></blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzGb9gVmRFlP1nhN6iFF-JT-ci5FYymN0To1zvOypFPQfcUZBsH5sAQc1GQPlIUZogxCjGKIGTneMFEFWtM62whBkOtL66sPIxZru6k5YMkcGqkqs3UN1B8rhs3v08FqE0uLZDH4QkiY5s/s1600/image_editor_1439582579039.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzGb9gVmRFlP1nhN6iFF-JT-ci5FYymN0To1zvOypFPQfcUZBsH5sAQc1GQPlIUZogxCjGKIGTneMFEFWtM62whBkOtL66sPIxZru6k5YMkcGqkqs3UN1B8rhs3v08FqE0uLZDH4QkiY5s/s200/image_editor_1439582579039.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One thing I have learned over the last few years, above all else, has transformed my life. It was one of the final things on my journey to freedom from food addiction and it helped me deal with the pain of unwanted long term singleness. This life changing teaching is discovering the Father Heart of God. For most of my Christian life I have identified closely with Jesus. He is my Saviour, my Friend, and my Lord. He died to save me and I am eternally grateful. However, I used to spend more time thanking Jesus for forgiving my sin than enjoying the outcome of my salvation. What do I mean by that? Is there is a difference you may ask?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I was training with Church Army, one assignment I had was to read the whole gospel of Mark in one sitting. It was an amazing experience, which took about two hours or so. I read about a man, Jesus, who had two main passions in his life: his love for people and his love for his Father in Heaven. His greatest desire was to bring the two together. He wanted them to know each other and love each other.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I knew Jesus but I didn't really know the love of the Father. I started reading around the subject of God’s Father Heart. With each book I read the Holy Spirit spoke clearer to me that what I really needed was the love of Father God. The final book I read in this part of my search was ‘I am your Father’ by Mark Stibbe. It really spoke powerfully to me. In it Stibbe talks about some of us having an orphan heart. As I read his description of an orphan heart I knew this was the state of my own heart. This was the emptiness I had been trying to fill with food. I started to pray that God would reveal his Father love to me. It was a prayer that my Papa God answered quickly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.eden.co.uk/shop/i-am-your-father-3196900.html"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-no-proof: yes; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span></a>One thing that really helped me to discover the Father Heart of God was listening to <a href="http://www.fathersloveletter.com/" target="_blank">‘The Father’s Love Letter’</a>. This is a letter written by Barry Adams based on truth from Scripture. Each line in this letter is taken from the Bible. I found it profoundly moving. I still do. You can read it or watch it <a href="http://www.fathersloveletter.com/">here</a>. It can be downloaded for free as a document, a video or audio file. A few years ago I played it frequently, sometimes on a loop for 30 minutes or more. On different days different phrases would touch me and reduce me to tears, but the truth of it began to sink into my heart.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus died to bring us to the Father, so we could experience his Father’s love for us. The ltter ends with these words <i>“I have always been Father, and will always be Father. My question is…Will you be my child?” </i>He is already our Father but will we be His child?</span></div>
Lynda Alsfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260944221255162533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850953643290828862.post-4035823678178348602015-07-18T07:00:00.000+01:002015-07-18T07:00:06.496+01:00Wrestling with God<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My post this month is inspired by having read a</span><a href="http://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/how-wrestling-with-god-will-change-you-forever.html" style="line-height: 1.38; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">post</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on </span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://crosswalk.com/">Crosswalk.com</a></span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/how-wrestling-with-god-will-change-you-forever.html" target="_blank">How Wrestling with God will change you forever </a>by Dena Johnson</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,. In it Dena talks about Jacob wrestling with God. She pointed out something I hadn’t noticed before (I love it when that happens don’t you?). She showed us how Jacob changed how he referred to God after his divine wrestling match. Before his encounter with God we read this,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Then Jacob prayed, </span><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">O </span><span style="color: black; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">God of my father Abraham, God of my</span><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> f</span><span style="color: black; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ather Isaac, </span><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">O </span><span style="color: black; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">LORD, </span><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">who </span><span style="color: black; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">said to me, 'Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,' </span><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Gen </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">32:9)</span><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After his encounter with God Jacob is given the name Israel and we read that, </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“There he erected an altar and called it </span><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">El-Elohe-Israel </span><span style="color: black; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[God, </span><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the </span><span style="color: black; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">God of Israel].” </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gen 33:</span><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">20 </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before his wrestling encounter Jacob describes God as the God of his father and grandfather, but afterwards</span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> he </span><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">speaks of </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">more personally by </span><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">referring to </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the God of Israel. Wrestling with God actually</span><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> brought Jacob </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">closer to </span><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Him. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And boy oh boy can I identify with that. Over the last 6 years I’ve struggled with God, as I went through all kinds of pain, doubt and loss. At the time I was going through it I didn’t imagine it would have the blessed outcome that it did. I felt like a failure. I was an evangelist with no faith, a food addict and my dreams were in pieces around my feet. Like Jacob I was alone, and like Jacob I fought with God for a blessing. But like Jacob I came out of my experiences with a far strong relationship with God.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">While writing my book, <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Never-Let-Lynda-Alsford-ebook/dp/B007M2DILM/" target="_blank">He Never Let Go,</a> about my experiences I realised that prior to this a lot of my faith was actually faith in the Church with God supporting this. Now my faith is in God with the Church supporting. I didn’t realise how much I was piggy-backing on other people’s faith until I found myself wrestling with God alone. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But I am so glad God trusted me with that experience. It has ultimately brought me much blessing. I have been freed from food addiction and am gradually getting back to some kind of ministry with my writing. Knowing that what I write helps others is a huge blessing. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Sign up for Seeking the Healer<br /> at <a href="http://www.lyndaalsford.com/">www.lyndaalsford.com</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">I recently started writing a regular email newsletter, Seeking the Healer, for those seeking freedom from addictive behaviours </span><span style="line-height: 22.0799999237061px; white-space: pre-wrap;">especially</span><span style="line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"> food addiction/compulsive overeating/binge eating disorder (see </span><a href="http://www.lyndaalsford.com/#/seeking-the-healer/4589782775" style="line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">previous editions </a><span style="line-height: 22.0799999237061px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.lyndaalsford.com/#/seeking-the-healer/4589782775" target="_blank">here</a></span><span style="line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">). In it I share some of the things that I have learned on my journey to freedom that will encourage you on your own journey to freedom. I've already been blessed by receiving emails from readers who have been helped and are engaging more with God in their search for freedom - the ultimate blessing for me. If you would like to receive the newsletter please <a href="http://eepurl.com/brml8P" target="_blank">sign up here</a>, or go to <a href="http://www.lyndaalsford.com/">www.lyndaalsford.com</a> where there is a sign up link on the home page. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>If you are wrestling with God, please don’t give up. The blessing you receive is so worth sticking with your divine wrestling match. Stick with God, He will never let go of you. He loves you.</b> </span></span></blockquote>
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Lynda Alsfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260944221255162533noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850953643290828862.post-58979536275520989832015-07-12T16:05:00.000+01:002015-07-12T16:05:08.857+01:00Don't give up<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are two video clips in today’s post. Do watch them as
they are both so encouraging. They show different aspects about being in a
race. 1 Corinthians 9:24ff and Hebrews 12:1-3 both show different aspects of
running in a race, and they liken it to our journey of faith. Read the Bible verses and watch the video. They speak for
themselves really. Let God speak to you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="chapternum"><b>Hebrews 12 </b></span><span class="text"><b><sup>1-3 </sup></b></span><span class="text">Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way,
all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip
down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins.
Keep your eyes on</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="text"><i>Jesus</i></span><span class="text">, who both began and
finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight
of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up
with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="text"><i>there</i></span><span class="text">, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find
yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that
long litany of hostility he plowed through.</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="text"><i>That</i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="text">will shoot adrenaline into your
souls! The Message (MSG)</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I always imaged these verses were describing a negative crowd
of people, telling me how badly I was doing and to pull my socks up and do
better next time. But today at our Church the preacher was describing how they
are like this crowd cheering on Matt in his race. They are encouraging us. We
need each other to cheer us on our way. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>1 Corinthians 9:24-27</b><br /><i><b><sup>"</sup></b>Don’t you realize that in a race
everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! <b><sup>25 </sup></b>All
athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will
fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. <b><sup>26 </sup></b>So
I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. <b><sup>27 </sup></b>I
discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should.
Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be
disqualified."</i> <o:p></o:p>New Living Translation (NLT)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In this video if Heather had given up when she fell she
would not have won her race. It is tempting to be really hard on ourselves when
we fall and to tell ourselves that there is no point in carrying on – I might
as well give up (or am I the only one who thinks this…I suspect not). But in
reality the truth is that we all fall. But it is how we react to our fall that
makes the difference. We can lay there and feel sorry for ourselves, or we can
get back up and keep running the race, like Heather did despite falling over,
and like Matt did despite his physical limitations. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Maybe those of us who can be naturally stubborn like me can
have an advantage in this. My stubbornness means I will sometimes refuse to let
go of something. Seeking healing from food addiction is one such time. I was
determined that I would find a way to experience the freedom of Christ in this
area of my life. I didn’t stop running that race until I found what I was searching
for. There were times when I fell over but I got back up again. At times I didn’t
have people cheering me on around me but I sought out as much help as I could.
And I made it to the end of that part of the race. I have been free for 3 years
now. If Jesus freed me He will free you too. Just keep on keeping on in your race. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am now writing a regular newsletter to encourage people to Seek the Healer for help with their broken lives. I will share insights that helped me on my journey to freedom to help you on your own journey to freedom. If you would like to receive this newsletter </span><a href="http://eepurl.com/brml8P" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">please subscribe here</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Also there are two possibilities of meeting up in erpson. Firstly, in an informal way, probably in London this autumn, with a group of others who want to share with each other. This will be mostly women with overeating problems but no-one will be excluded. Secondly, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">there is the possiblity that I will be leading a Seeking the Healer retreat in Sussex during 2016. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Please contact me (leave a comment below) if either of these is something you wish to explore. Dates not yet confirmed but I hope to have the confirmed in the next few weeks or so. </span></div>
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Lynda Alsfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260944221255162533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850953643290828862.post-85307511245683355262015-06-26T19:24:00.001+01:002015-06-26T19:25:56.711+01:00Seeking the Giver not the GIft<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilN4uccJlSi9hg29SFc6nGY9BKTH8pOnDRkcdEZ3_mWSfoqG5XDA341OvpmowdLwCbGtRcQ0SmLQ8yi-AYpl33FjTighjilv2v1RzuZ3HQrJJM7AZEn_UiiMz8bnFnyP8kKYv6yU9Y2JA/s1600/bird+flying+seek+first.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilN4uccJlSi9hg29SFc6nGY9BKTH8pOnDRkcdEZ3_mWSfoqG5XDA341OvpmowdLwCbGtRcQ0SmLQ8yi-AYpl33FjTighjilv2v1RzuZ3HQrJJM7AZEn_UiiMz8bnFnyP8kKYv6yU9Y2JA/s320/bird+flying+seek+first.jpg" width="305" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Three years ago I found freedom from food addiction. A key part of finding that freedom was learning to allow my heavenly Father to fill the emotional emptiness I had previously tried to satisfy with food. I spent ages seeking my healing, rather than seeking the healer. My focus was in the wrong place. I was trying to sort out the symptoms (overeating, being overweight) not the root cause of the problem (an emotional & spiritual emptiness). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The food addiction was not my only problem though. I was also struggling hugely with singleness. I didn't want to be single and it caused great pain. Huge waves of pain. I always thought I would get married and have a family. I never anticipated being single and childless into my 50's. I am now much more accepting of this. For a while I have been wondering what enabled me to move past my pain. This week I realised that my seeking the Healer not the healing, seeking the Giver not the gift, also helped me to deal with my broken dreams. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I spent years trying come to terms with being single but in actual fact I now know that my main pain was not having children. The main problem was not the absence of a husband but the absence of a baby. I couldn't admit this to myself as it would be too painful to deal with, so I focussed on the lesser pain of singleness. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After a lot of ladies problems I ended up having a hysterectomy. Finally, I had to come to terms with not having my own children. I had to let go of that dream as it was never going to happen now. It was about this time, in the months after my surgery that I was searching to God more. I was desperately yearning for Him above all else and I now know that it was this that helped me deal with my broken dreams. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I spent ages asking God to give me the gift of marriage and children or to give me the gift of being content with singleness and childlessness. I was focussing on the wrong thing. I was looking at the problem not the One who could solve the problem. I was looking at the gift not the Giver. My search for God's love also helped me come to terms with my singleness and childlessness. </span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wt-huZ5HCKI/VYl1gsJ59jI/AAAAAAAARZM/utfDJargw_E/s1600/Seeking%2Bthe%2BHealer%2Bpixlr%2B3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wt-huZ5HCKI/VYl1gsJ59jI/AAAAAAAARZM/utfDJargw_E/s320/Seeking%2Bthe%2BHealer%2Bpixlr%2B3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I urge you to throw yourself into the arms of God. Seek Him above all else. I am now writing a regular newsletter to encourage people to seek the healer for help with their broken lives. I will share insights that helped me on my journey to freedom to help you on your own journey to freedom. If you would like to receive this newsletter <a href="http://eepurl.com/brml8P" target="_blank">please subscribe here</a>. </span></div>
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Lynda Alsfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260944221255162533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850953643290828862.post-34166691246734463732015-04-18T06:00:00.000+01:002015-04-18T06:00:00.533+01:00Why Write?<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">This post was first published on 16th April 2015 on the blog for the <a href="http://www.christianwriters.org.uk/" target="_blank">Association of Christian Writers</a>, </span><a href="http://morethanwriters.blogspot.co.uk/" style="background-color: white; color: #df4e12; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">More than Writers</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">, for which I am a regular contributor. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Amy Boucher Pye's post, <a href="http://morethanwriters.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/the-lord-is-my-publisher.html">The Lord is my Publisher</a>, on the <a href="http://morethanwriters.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">More Than Writers blog</a> of the <a href="http://www.christianwriters.org.uk/" target="_blank">Association of Christian Writers</a> got me thinking. To whom am I writing? I never planned to write a book, let alone write two of them. For me starting to write my first book was very much a cathartic and spiritual experience. I have written a spiritual journal for years as a way of helping me to work through my feelings and relationship with God. So when a friend, who knew what God had done for me, said "You should write a book" I decided to do just that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I poured out what had happened into my computer, as a way of giving it to God and it really helped me to make sense of it all. I learned more about my healing and began to wonder how God might use me in the process. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, I lacked courage to approach publishers with it and decided to self-publish. I have learned a lot of about self publishing over the last few years but the best thing I have learned is what a blessing it is when sharing your story helps someone else. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXFU-KQeVBzvHIQ21HfxTJrXo-95XRS4tQq2lm4zkrxGV004d5U4uz91ftKT_gbgdiMSA0tqBvDHqRZRnuzglvC17ym4u6IYEQQQUZfnngmSRvVUYTnU2Hs0TGS3gI98csODIOEIfO5Yk/s1600/both+books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXFU-KQeVBzvHIQ21HfxTJrXo-95XRS4tQq2lm4zkrxGV004d5U4uz91ftKT_gbgdiMSA0tqBvDHqRZRnuzglvC17ym4u6IYEQQQUZfnngmSRvVUYTnU2Hs0TGS3gI98csODIOEIfO5Yk/s1600/both+books.jpg" height="219" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have written and self-published two books now. The first, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Never-Let-Lynda-Alsford-ebook/dp/B007M2DILM">He Never Let Go: The true story of a prodigal evangelist</a></i>, describes how I lost and regained my faith whilst still working as an Evangelist in a lively church in West London. The second, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Being-Known-Lynda-Alsford-ebook/dp/B00CQRHI5A">Being Known: My journey to freedom from food addiction</a></i>, describes how God set me free from food addiction as a direct result of how much closer I came to Him during the events of the first book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first time I got an email from someone who had been greatly helped in their own journey of faith because of what I had written I sat at my computer and cried tears of joy. All the hard work was worth it if just one person had developed a deeper relationship with Father God as a result. Since then I have had more of these emails, tweets, posts and conversations. Yesterday, I had a conversation on Facebook messenger with someone who I didn't know but who had just bought my second book. This person told me they had a problem with food and went on to tell me that it was the first time they had told any one of this. I was so honoured that my book led me to that privileged position of witnessing that important step in that person's life. Each such communication blesses me more than I can say. I can still be moved to tears when I hear how God has used my writing to bring others to more freedom in their relationship with God. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If I am honest I have moments (sometimes long ones) when I start looking for worldly approval for my writing instead of being content to look to God and trust in His purposes for my writing. But then another person gives me feedback about how God has used my writing to bless them and once again I look to God and thank Him for the blessing of being able to bless others. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I recently heard that <a href="http://ellel.org/uk/about/ellel-glyndley-manor/">Ellel Glyndley Manor</a> in Sussex has put my second book, <i>Being Known,</i> on the list of recommended reading for their 'Steps to freedom from addiction' course. I was so blessed by this. Seeing others blessed by my story helps me to make sense of what I went through. I have been able to give God my pain and see Him bring new life out of the darkness. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Amy is right. The Lord is my publisher. And this is why I continue to write. I want to help others come closer to Jesus. I want to share what I've learned about God’s Father love and compassion. I am blessed indeed that He has chosen to use me. All glory to Him. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What's your motivation for the things you do?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Lynda Alsford</b> currently works a GP receptionist and writes in her spare time. She has self-published two books. <i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Never-Let-Lynda-Alsford-ebook/dp/B007M2DILM">He Never Let Go</a> </i>describes her journey through a major crisis of faith whilst working as an evangelist at a lively Church in Chiswick, West London. <i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Being-Known-Lynda-Alsford-ebook/dp/B00CQRHI5A">Being Known</a></i> describes how God set her free from food addiction. Both books are available in paperback and on kindle on <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=lynda%20alsford">Amazon.co.uk</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Lynda%20Alsford%20">Amazon.com</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Lynda loves living near the sea in Sussex, UK and can't stop taking photos of the sun setting into the sea. Find out more about her at <a href="http://www.lyndaalsford.com/">www.lyndaalsford.com</a> or at <a href="http://www.patch-work-blog.blogspot.co.uk/">www.patch-work-blog.blogspot.co.uk</a></span></div>
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Lynda Alsfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260944221255162533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850953643290828862.post-45645070238075151702015-04-15T22:10:00.002+01:002015-04-15T22:10:40.739+01:00Pour out your heart to God<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I was not supposed to be here today. At least not here in my flat and certainly not writing a blog post. I was supposed to be in hospital, having a total knee replacement. </div>
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I was all ready. I had had the necessary blood test and I had begun to drink the unpleasant pre-op drinks. I woke up on Monday ready to fast and go to hospital. Then at 8.10a.m. came the call from the surgeon's secretary. He was unwell and off sick, so my operation was cancelled. I was devastated because I have been in increasing amounts of pain. </div>
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I couldn't wait to get a new knee and to be able to walk again for more than 20 minutes at the most. I have been gradually, and slowly losing weight and I wanted this to continue. The weight loss has come to a standstill virtually without being able to do exercise. </div>
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My first reaction to this bad news, having put the phone down, was to burst into tears. I then I called friends and family, talking through what I felt. I rang work to say I would now not be off sick but coming in as usual. </div>
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Then I got into the shower and while there I began to pray to my Father God in Heaven. I poured out my heart to Him. I told Him how I felt and asked Him to help me. </div>
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By the time I got to work I was calmer and by the end of the day I was fine again. I had another date for my operation and had worked through all the upset. </div>
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So why am I telling you this? It is because it took me until Tuesday to realise that I had not once thought about bingeing as a way to deal with those pesky upsetting emotions. I had worked through them all in a normal way without even a temptation to overeat. Four years ago my reaction would have been to binge before calling anyone, before praying and before being able to think through what I should do next. Food was my refuge. </div>
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I am once more so grateful to my Father in Heaven for setting me free from food addiction. I praise His name. He is indeed my refuge. </div>
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If He can set me free He can set anyone free. Trust Him, get to know Him and pour out your heart to Him. He is a much better way of dealing with difficult feelings than bingeing. I know for certain this is true. </div>
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Lynda Alsfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260944221255162533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850953643290828862.post-8190421430344571952015-04-12T16:29:00.003+01:002015-04-12T16:35:56.102+01:00Counting my blessings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Over the last few months I have been trying to count my blessings more. I have been trying to thank God for what He does for me more. I still have a long way to go but I am beginning to see the fruit of praising Him. The more I look to Him and praise Him for His work in my life the more I see it happening. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">God has been greatly blessing me recently. I started to get more pain in my knee than normal last autumn after increasing my level of exercise (from nonexistent to a little!). In the end I went to see my doctor and he refered me to the hospital. Within three and a half months I find myself on the eve of having a total knee replacement. My operation is at 12.30 tomorrow. I praise God for the speed with which it has happened and for helping me get a cancellation appointment for the surgery. I praise Him for giving me good friends and family to care for me afterwards. I praise Him for work letting me have the surgery at short notice. I managed to get a cancellation so it is extremely short notice for work. I praise Him for my friend Jackie, with whom I am staying after my surgery. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I have found that my level of trust is increasing as I take notice of all that God does for me. Taking note of all the good He does for me really does help me find more peace and trust. It gives me hope for the future. If He has done this for me today, He will keep looking after me in the future. King David writes about this in Psalm 103, the first few verses of which are here. </span></div>
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<span class="text Ps-103-1" id="en-NLT-15527" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Psalm 103</span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="text Ps-103-1" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-weight: bold; left: -4.4em; line-height: 22px; position: absolute; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">1 </span>Let all that I am praise the <span class="small-caps" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span>;</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span class="indent-1" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Ps-103-1" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;">with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.</span></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span class="text Ps-103-2" id="en-NLT-15528" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-weight: bold; left: -4.4em; line-height: 22px; position: absolute; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">2 </span>Let all that I am praise the <span class="small-caps" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span>;</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span class="indent-1" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Ps-103-2" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;">may I never forget the good things he does for me.</span></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span class="text Ps-103-3" id="en-NLT-15529" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-weight: bold; left: -4.4em; line-height: 22px; position: absolute; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">3 </span>He forgives all my sins</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span class="indent-1" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Ps-103-3" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;">and heals all my diseases.</span></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span class="text Ps-103-4" id="en-NLT-15530" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-weight: bold; left: -4.4em; line-height: 22px; position: absolute; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">4 </span>He redeems me from death</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span class="indent-1" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Ps-103-4" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;">and crowns me with love and tender mercies.</span></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span class="text Ps-103-5" id="en-NLT-15531" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-weight: bold; left: -4.4em; line-height: 22px; position: absolute; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">5 </span>He fills my life with good things.</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span class="indent-1" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Ps-103-5" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;">My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What do you thank Him for today? </span>Lynda Alsfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260944221255162533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850953643290828862.post-49336432040260738882015-04-06T17:03:00.000+01:002015-04-06T17:05:13.676+01:00Finding Peace Within Your Heart<div style="text-align: left;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Sunset at Telscombe Cliffs, </span>Peacehaven</td></tr>
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I used to work with a Baptist minister called David, who used to be a pig farmer before he went into the ministry. He told me he used to find peace most easily by standing at the farmyard gate. When he found himself ministering in south west London he learned to find the farmyard gate within his heart. I knew when he told me this that I had not found this kind of peace. </div>
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The truth is I had not found my equivalent of the farm yard gate externally so it made it more hard to find it within me. I have now though. Since moving to Peacehaven in Sussex, I have found that standing on the cliff top looking out to sea brings me to a place of peace. It is my version of the farmyard gate. </div>
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Now I have found that peace in an external place, I find I am learning to find it in my heart too. For years, I used to long for my own home and am blessed by living in my own flat now. But the longer I am there the more I realise that I experience peace more when I learn to look within, to the presence of God, bringing His peace with Him. </div>
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What brings me most peace is looking to Father God. It is putting my relationship with Him first, making it a priority in my life. He is the author of peace. He is the Prince of Peace. It is a long journey to learn to look to Him, to His presence within me instead of turning to external things.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunny day in Peacehaven</td></tr>
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We turn to places, people, things, drugs, food and drink to bring us the internal peace we long for but the presence of the Prince of Peace is what we really need. I wish it had not taken me so long to learn this.I had to learn to trust God with that deepest part of my heart. I had to learn to trust Him to be the peace I needed. As an act of my will I had to choose to seek God above other things. It is what helped me find the freedom of Christ in my food addiction. I learned to seek Him to deal with difficult emotions instead of overeating. </div>
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It was a series of small steps. I had to learn to toddle before I could walk properly, let along before I could run. But now I am trying to make the most of what I have learned and seeking to spend time with Jesus. I am learning to just be with Him, no agenda, to simply enjoy His presence. It is what feeds my heart. I am learning to find the cliff top in my heart. </div>
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What is your cliff top? What one small step can you take today to deepen your relationship with Jesus and bring that place within your heart? </div>
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Lynda Alsfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260944221255162533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850953643290828862.post-50580762364933669542015-03-20T08:00:00.000+00:002015-03-20T21:44:26.184+00:00Trusting God is an act of my will<div class="poetry top-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding-left: 2.6em; position: relative;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>This post was first published on Monday 16th March 2015 on the blog for the Association of Christian Writers, <a href="http://morethanwriters.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">More than Writers</a>, for which I am a regular contributor. </i></span></span></div>
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Trying to stop feeling fear</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizrib6Bp6xcOap5toXiQJ0_mrcubHOmOvnb_ZpCwcu0LoLYZrp29Bbu4-9ymWBushrMW2npVSSCi309sQ4-xqFcGkAqx8ppn7IM4yHcS7Zb7qxJcy_OI1shU-QLa_5ml2xm-woShBLVq9z/s1600/choose+to+trust.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizrib6Bp6xcOap5toXiQJ0_mrcubHOmOvnb_ZpCwcu0LoLYZrp29Bbu4-9ymWBushrMW2npVSSCi309sQ4-xqFcGkAqx8ppn7IM4yHcS7Zb7qxJcy_OI1shU-QLa_5ml2xm-woShBLVq9z/s1600/choose+to+trust.jpg" height="225" width="320" /></a>What does trusting God feel like? I used to think I wasn't trusting Him because I felt fearful in the face of difficulties. I thought I was a failure. I would read the Bible and pray, waiting for the fear to go and for the trust to arrive. I tried to metaphorically grit my teeth and work up a feeling of faith. But that never really worked. It simply left me feeling even worse, more of a failure and wondering what I had done wrong. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This week I read Psalm 55. I have read it before but this time it hit me right between the eyes. Especially verses 4 and 5 -<i> "My heart pounds in my chest...fear and trembling overwhelm me, and I can't stop shaking". </i>King David, Israel's greatest King, the man after God's own heart was shaking with fear due to the situation in which he found himself. He wanted to fly away from the situation. He wanted to run away. </span></div>
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Trust is a choice</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was a revelation to me. I knew the psalms were full of emotion but somehow the day I read this psalm that truth fell the 12 inches from my head into my heart. I read on to see what David would say next. Verses 16 -18, 22 contain these words, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">and the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> will rescue me.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"><i style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">and the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> hears my voice.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you had asked me before this week, I would have told you that trusting God is an act of our will but somehow this week that truth dropped down into my heart. My eyes were opened. I'm not letting God down by feeling fearful at first sight of any difficulties. He is waiting to see what I will do despite my fear. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He is waiting for me to chose faith, to choose trust. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And the amazing thing is that o</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">nce I have chosen to trust Him the fearful feelings often go, or at least they lessen. The mistake I made before was trying to stop the fear first and then to trust. It doesn't work that way. I know now I need to trust God as an act of my will whilst feeling scared. Then the fear often does go. Like the priests of Israel carrying the arc of the covenant across the River Jordan into the Promised Land. The river did not part until they had stepped into the water. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Are you facing a difficult situation? Do as a shaking, fearful David did. Chose to trust God as an act of your will, to give Him your situation whilst still feeling afraid and wait to see what God will do for you. </span></div>
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It is so easy to forget that we depend on Jesus, and the power of his Holy Spirit living within us to overcome the sin in our lives. Sometimes we start to be full of pride. We think we can do it on our own. Or worse we think we overcame the sin all by ourselves in the first place.</div>
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This last two weeks I have come as close to bingeing again as I have in the last two years - since God set me free from food addiction. Fortunately for me, I remembered the warning of St Paul from 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 about temptation and to be careful if we think we are strong - we could be headed for a fall. I realised where I was headed and sought the Lord again. I told Him straight what I was feeling. I told him exactly what I was thinking. I asked Him to help me. And He did. </div>
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And I didn't have to screw up my eyes and work up the strength not to binge again. The strength came when I looked to Father God and was totally honest with Him about what was going on. I came to Him as I was. </div>
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Sometimes it is not just ourselves we are lying to by saying we are strong when really it is God who is strong within us. It is God. We may not even know we are not being honest with God. We believe our own propaganda. We act in front of God as we wish we were rather than what we really are. We 'pretend' in the sight of God that we are strong and not tempted to sin again. But Father God is not fooled. He knows we are weak with human frailty "For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust." Psalm 103:14. Don't lie to God. He knows what is really going on deep down in our hearts. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWF-0trWRBjWtAB8ed4wiPRE3YcPdbmKw_k-YOOFfC9_vPOu4lQhOL67hpfkHOIFirKP8-HDzenCRElMvaCP0sOW9xt1PHX9vJlIKOoE4HgbSbclHWP5b-q10QpLSMVcO_QUN7goQivFw/s1600/Be+Loved.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWF-0trWRBjWtAB8ed4wiPRE3YcPdbmKw_k-YOOFfC9_vPOu4lQhOL67hpfkHOIFirKP8-HDzenCRElMvaCP0sOW9xt1PHX9vJlIKOoE4HgbSbclHWP5b-q10QpLSMVcO_QUN7goQivFw/s1600/Be+Loved.jpg" height="320" width="226" /></a>I have found that my greatest freedom comes when I come to God as I am, acknowledging all that is wrong with me. I come open handed and say I have nothing and need Him. I look to Him and allow Him to love me. It is all too easy to come to Him, tell Him we are sorry and then continue to try to break the sin in our own strength. For me the freedom comes when I surrender and yield myself to God - to allow His love to change me. His love changes us if we but allow Him to love us as we are. I spent many years trying to make myself worthy of His love. It doesn't work. You can not make yourself worthy of His love. You can only receive it. And it is in the receiving of His love that we are changed. </div>
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<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+103+&version=NLT">Psalm 103</a> is a good Psalm to read - read it and come close to the God who loves you all the way to the cross of calvary.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkGi35SYKezoZWBwSOa-cUi5FmIPVEgP03_qL5Qli9FicYqT7KMCrAa4GhZdpIyFLMmCl3z-ci8sVJlzGncCWr33SE3pWNLXs-hKOrs7QlWuz5ZIufzQ_0yTPJ2DBBEUaPuyeP-k3uM54/s1600/Without+vision.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkGi35SYKezoZWBwSOa-cUi5FmIPVEgP03_qL5Qli9FicYqT7KMCrAa4GhZdpIyFLMmCl3z-ci8sVJlzGncCWr33SE3pWNLXs-hKOrs7QlWuz5ZIufzQ_0yTPJ2DBBEUaPuyeP-k3uM54/s1600/Without+vision.jpg" height="320" width="231" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Keep your eyes on God, like a child <br />looking up at the heavens in wonder. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been thinking about vision recently. What does it mean to have vision? How does having vision affect my life? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to Dictionary.com Vision is <i>"the act or power of anticipating that which will or may come to be".</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i></i>One of the questions I have had since Jesus freed me from food addiction is 'Why me?' Why did I find freedom? I am not more worthy than anyone else who would seek it. I am loved by my heavenly Father but not more than anyone else than anyone else is loved by Him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think vision may be one reason. From early on in my search I could envisage a future where I was free one day. I read the Scriptures and in particular the Gospels and I saw in them the descriptions of how Jesus set people free when he was on earth. I kept telling myself that if he could do it then he could do it now. After all are we not told by the writer of the letter to the Hebrews (Chap13 v8) </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. "</span></i></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stubbornness</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was a part of me that did not want to let go of the vision of Jesus being a healer. My dad often told me I was bloody-minded and stubborn when I refused to change my ideas and views. Maybe it is this quality that kept me seeking the freedom of God. If he healed then he could heal now. If Jesus really was God incarnate then setting me free of food addiction was well within his capabilities! I didn't know how to find the freedom but I believed it was possible. I stubbornly kept on looking. I wasn't going to give up. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had vision. I could see that Jesus would do it one day and that made me keep on keeping on with my search when I was tempted to give up. I kept looking up to Jesus. I kept my eyes on Father God and who He is. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Keeping on despite failure</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, most of the time I did. I fell frequently and would start to look down at my own abilities and that was when I would fall over and fail. At one point I stopped looking at God completely. I stopped believing in Him for over a year. There were many reasons why that happened but once I came back to God I searched for Him. I put aside all else until I found Him. I was not prepared to let go of what I could see in my mind - that I would be free one day from the food addiction that had enslaved me. In the end freedom came when I searched for God, and God alone. My vision was for HIm alone and not what He could do for me. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeQvBM_bnLzr-XBFaJTs_RXiAQLpG3cS7I2PAFCYhPWRRUqOtclJLJzRBr2MRGxPWmMHdtEqBqSIFqMQ2AX_mYwu92W8g6mL4dwSAN3ulub_AUBkGYtpxKu8RoBD3EuWdpO-Cd-Kro7IY/s1600/Hab+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeQvBM_bnLzr-XBFaJTs_RXiAQLpG3cS7I2PAFCYhPWRRUqOtclJLJzRBr2MRGxPWmMHdtEqBqSIFqMQ2AX_mYwu92W8g6mL4dwSAN3ulub_AUBkGYtpxKu8RoBD3EuWdpO-Cd-Kro7IY/s1600/Hab+2.jpg" height="320" width="304" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Habakkuk had vision.</b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The verses in the picture at the top of the page from chapter 2 of Habakkuk tell of him watching and waiting for God to fulfil the vision. He kept waiting and watching. And like Habakkuk I kept watching and waiting (in between my many falls) for God to act. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Free at last</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God did set me free. One day I finally trusted God enough to surrender the food addiction to Him. I trusted Him enough to be the comfort to me that food had been previously. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I urge you to keep your eyes on God, on His Word. Keep your focus on Him and His relentless love. He loves you beyond what you can imagine. Keep looking up to Him. Keep seeking Him. Keep the vision alive in your mind and heart. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="woj" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;"><b><i>"</i></b></span><span class="woj" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; text-align: start;"><i>But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you</i>" Matthew 6:33</span></span></blockquote>
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In that last question I reveal a deep flaw in my thinking. And I have learned this before and still fall into the same trap. I am trying to be free from so many things. I am trying to be free from..<br />
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Fear of the future<br />
Fear of my own success.<br />
Fear of leaving behind the familiar.<br />
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But as Christian I believe that Christ already won freedom for me by his death on the cross. So why am I still trying to be free? Have I missed something? How come I am still fighting for something that He already did?<br />
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I already knew the answer to this in my head but now I am trying to let the answer sink further down into the depth of my being.<br />
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I realised today that I am STILL trying to earn my freedom, I am still trying to earn blessings from God. But that is not how it works. All I have to do is to believe in the freedom I already have. I am free in Christ. If only I would stop trying to be free in my own strength. If I only would stop trying to earn it.<br />
The verse to the left is one written by St Paul centuries ago. He was frustrated that the Galatian Church was trying earn their salvation. 2000 years later I am still doing the same thing!<br />
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God needs so much patience with me!<br />
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I am scared to have the freedom because I am scared that further down the line God will say I am not good enough to have it and take it away. But that is such a distortion of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.<br />
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I am trying to be free when I am already free. I have freedom in Christ. All I need to do is believe it!<br />
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It's as simple and hard as that! Simple but just so hard to do. Jesus told us that if we followed Him and His teaching we would know the truth and the truth would set us free. But so often we follow our own teaching.<br />
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I am a failure<br />
I can't stop doing this..<br />
I will always have this problem...<br />
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These are lies that come from the father of lies and do not come from God. We must start to believe the truth if we want it to take root in our lives.<br />
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Change your mind. Believe God's truth about yourself. I have started listening to the Father's Love Letter recently. Time and time again I listen to it and gradually it is sinking in.<br />
Watch it and take in the truth.<br />
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What do you do to help yourself believe the truth? Maybe you have tips that you can share?<br />
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<br />Lynda Alsfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260944221255162533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850953643290828862.post-4074108418102532772014-06-28T18:14:00.002+01:002014-06-28T18:14:42.065+01:00Who will help me?<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thoughts on Psalm 121 (KJV)</span></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKJhlXY5qzdzjp536RJ5y45fXRplKtAnmaRihrm6Ae8CWoyyGIwmZ1A_BKjoMqSyii2-HJH3xcosynuSZco9HFxYXvCTggykGrnmS9wD2MieAuLnaeNOrgyHFFu147JRgkEZStylk-HA8/s1600/girl+and+bear++3g.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="child, sky at night, gaze, wonder, God" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKJhlXY5qzdzjp536RJ5y45fXRplKtAnmaRihrm6Ae8CWoyyGIwmZ1A_BKjoMqSyii2-HJH3xcosynuSZco9HFxYXvCTggykGrnmS9wD2MieAuLnaeNOrgyHFFu147JRgkEZStylk-HA8/s1600/girl+and+bear++3g.jpg" height="400" title="Child at night" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I painted this after a time of prayer when<br /> a friend said she could see me as a little<br />girl gazing up in wonder at the sky at night. </span></td></tr>
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<i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.</i></div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>2 My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>5 The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is so easy to lose sight of the Lord when hard times come upon us. It is almost natural for us to turn to someone or something that we can see, smell, touch or hear. I find I often seek the Lord as a last resort, when my own resources have run out. It then becomes a prayer of desperation, rather than an attitude of trust. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How different my life would be if I could learn to do what we read in this Psalm. It speaks to me of total trust in a Father in heaven who is looking out for us. It speaks of a child-like trust, like that of a child looking up in wonder at the stars in the sky at night. This Psalm speaks to me of security and hope that God is in control of all that happens. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Verse 7 speaks of God preserving our souls. It is not just what happens here on earth, but what happens for all eternity that is at the heart of how God deals with us. It is also not just about Him preserving our souls but also the souls of all that look to Him. Looking into the sky at night reminds me to keep a divine perspective on things that happen to me, to trust as a child trust a good parent. </span></div>
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<i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: center;">"Father God I ask that you help me turn to you, to your infinite grace and compassion, not just in times of need, but daily, and minute by minute. I want to learn to lean totally on your help. "</i></div>
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Lynda Alsfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260944221255162533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850953643290828862.post-37235399241593272582014-06-06T19:11:00.000+01:002014-06-06T19:11:06.096+01:00GratitudeI have had a busy week this week and have been worn out. I am tired emotionally and physically. But I got a real lift this evening as I dragged my way around the supermarket to get something for my evening meal. Before God set me free from food addiction I would have been craving certain food types and would have gone straight for the chocolate or ice cream or cakes etc.<br />
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<a href="http://www.creative-culinary.com/wp-content/uploads/spinach-pear-mozzarella1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.creative-culinary.com/wp-content/uploads/spinach-pear-mozzarella1.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a> Today as I walked around I realised I was indeed craving something...a mozzarella and bacon salad. I did buy some of those ice creams on a stick covered in chocolate but didn't fancy one when I got home. I was yearning a large salad. Amazing. So amazing. I am FREE!!! I feel so grateful to God that I am no longer addicted to food. I am free! The way my life has turned around is incredible and I give Him thanks and praise indeed.<br />
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I watched a TV programme a while back called 'Weight loss ward' on ITV 1. It followed various patients from Sunderland who are being treated for obesity and food addiction. It really made me grateful as well for my freedom. I knew not long before I was set free that I was on my way to that kind of morbid obesity and an early death. I praise God indeed for His work in my life. If it wasn't for Him I would have gone on getting bigger and bigger and bigger.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1vpoif3KEDRtPpsVHi44G0HRYfgcm2fVih1s98YonG5dcYG597nwzdUThO3Hsuy0MqN4eHHep5mXZDnFkJdI5it7HarRVKvFK6TXOl-QP_IgqHLdfLOiCLtgaHhUZZXN3r7mtC3oqcdM/s1600/Leaving+the+tomb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1vpoif3KEDRtPpsVHi44G0HRYfgcm2fVih1s98YonG5dcYG597nwzdUThO3Hsuy0MqN4eHHep5mXZDnFkJdI5it7HarRVKvFK6TXOl-QP_IgqHLdfLOiCLtgaHhUZZXN3r7mtC3oqcdM/s1600/Leaving+the+tomb.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a>My freedom came when I surrendered every thing to God. When I allowed Him to be the comfort to me that food had been previously. It took years to trust Him enough, to look to Him and say 'You are my everything' and to mean that with all my heart. But it was doing this that set me on the road to freedom. I walked towards the light of Christ. I just looked to Him and no-one else. I got to a point where I said<i> "Lord, I just want to know you. If I am fat and a food addict for the rest of my life I don't care. I just want to know more of You."</i> And I meant it. That is what finally started me walking to the light instead of just talking about the light.<br />
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Look to Him, walk to the light and believe that He will bring freedom. Jesus died to enable you to be set free.<br />
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<br /><i>"The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it"</i> 1 Thessalonians 5:24 (NIVUK)</blockquote>
Lynda Alsfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260944221255162533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850953643290828862.post-22079823954525627162014-05-31T18:22:00.001+01:002014-05-31T18:32:47.711+01:00Barriers to intimacy with God<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-qP9pMbcV38k/U4oPb8ExddI/AAAAAAAAE5o/TvzEJJ9FGgc/s1600-h/477x477-blue%252520dribble%252520prodigal%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img align="right" alt="477x477-blue dribble prodigal" border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-XTnoxJMLjbU/U4oPcgwuOjI/AAAAAAAAE5w/IoCIo6bcK14/477x477-blue%252520dribble%252520prodigal_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" height="244" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 6px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="477x477-blue dribble prodigal" width="196" /></a>This post is a follow on from my post called </span><a href="http://patch-work-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/drinking-from-well-of-living-water.html"><span style="font-size: small;">Drinking from the Well of Living Water,</span></a><span style="font-size: small;"> a couple of weeks ago and is based on a sermon I preached at </span><a href="http://www.coastlandschurch.net/"><span style="font-size: small;">Coastlands Church</span></a><span style="font-size: small;"> on Sunday 25th May 2014. We have been in thinking in our church a lot about what it means to drink from the well of Living Water, about how we can deepen our relationship with Jesus and with God as Father. This is a subject dear to my heart as seeking that deeper intimacy with Father God is what set me free from food addiction. It was seeking Him alone, and putting everything else to one side that led me to experience the healing from my addiction.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">In my chats with people leading up to my sermon last week I began to ask myself what are the barriers to intimacy with God. These thoughts are the start of my thinking in this area. I started by reading about the woman at the well from <u><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+4%3A1-26&version=NKJV">John 4:1-26</a></u> ( Clicking that link will take you to the Biblegateway site where you can read the relevant passage.)</span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Looking at my own life I saw 3 areas of my life that were barriers to intimacy with God, two of which I see in the woman at the well’s story too. </span> <br />
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<strong><span style="color: #d16349; font-size: small;">The barrier of our beliefs</span></strong> </div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: small;">False beliefs about ourselves</span></strong> </div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The Samaritan woman came to the well when others were not around. Most women would have come earlier in the day. She was hiding from others. I was also hiding. I was hiding from God. When I was ashamed about my faults, my addictive overeating and my other many sins, I tended to take a step away from Him. Why did I do this? Was I scared? </span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I think I was fearful of being told off by God, of Him being harsh with me. Deep down, I wrongly thought I had to earn the right to have that deep intimate relationship with Him. Oh, I knew the truth on the surface of my thinking, but the more honest I was with what I was really thinking deep down, the more I realised I was hiding from Him in shame at my sin. This is the opposite of what the Gospel tells us to do.</span> <br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><strong>False beliefs about God</strong></span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">As a Samaritan the woman at the well had slightly ‘wrong’ theology. Samaritans were Jews, who some generations before, had intermarried with gentiles and over the years had started changing their beliefs away from true Judaism. Jesus challenged her about her beliefs in John 4:21-24. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">What about our theology, our own beliefs about God? What I said I believed with my mouth, and on the surface of my mind was so different from what I really thought deep down. Deep down there was something else going on. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Not only did I think I had to earn the right to have intimacy with Father but I also didn’t really know that He truly loved me.I understood it as a concept but not as a deep life-affirming, life-changing truth. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Do we know He loves us no matter what? Do we truly know the depth of His love for us. He sent His Son to die for us. That is how much He loves us. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #d16349; font-size: small;"><strong>The barrier of our sin</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Sin is a barrier between God and us. </span><span style="font-size: small;">Jesus challenged the woman at the well very gently about her sin. He was not harsh or judgemental with her. <span style="font-size: small;">She acknowledged it to Him, so it was no longer a barrier. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">1 John 1:<i>9</i>-10<i> “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us”</i></span></div>
</blockquote>
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<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-U4u2yd9BXKk/U4oPdpu24kI/AAAAAAAAE54/TDt-GhA6yrw/s1600-h/Christ%252520we%252520share%25252017%25255B6%25255D.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img align="left" alt="Christ we share 17" border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-mmU7QUUB3Qs/U4oPeH2YbeI/AAAAAAAAE58/vuKXdr9YO88/Christ%252520we%252520share%25252017_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="250" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; float: left; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Christ we share 17" width="164" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">When God challenges us on our behaviour and our sin, it isn't because He wants to be harsh with us. It is because He wants us to draw closer to Him. He loves us and wants us close to Him. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> This goes back to how we see ourselves, what we believe about ourselves. Do we think we are not good enough for intimacy with God? If so we have not truly grasped the truth of the Gospel at a deeper heart level. Jesus died to save us from our sin. He has already died, and risen again to life. His resurrection is the proof that God accepted his sacrifice for our sin. Our sin is no longer a problem if we confess it and take it to God. </span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #400080; font-size: small;"><b><u>Sin is only a barrier to intimacy with God if we don’t acknowledge or confess it</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d16349; font-size: small;"><strong><br /></strong></span>
<span style="color: #d16349; font-size: small;"><strong>Satan is a barrier</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Satan does not want you to be close to God and will distract you in any way he can. He will lie, cheat and deceive in any way he can to stop you truly believing the truth of the Gospel. </span></div>
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<blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: small;">1 Peter 5:6-9<em> “</em></span><em><span style="font-size: small;">So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honour. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. </span><span style="font-size: small;">Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.</span><span style="font-size: small;">”</span></em></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The devil knows your weak areas and will exploit them to get you away from God. But God has already defeated the devil through the cross of Christ. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I have found that looking to God is the best way to resist the devil. If I try to fight sin and satan in my own strength I often fail. The best way for me is to turn to God and come to him in honesty. To say “Lord, I am weak, I am tempted. Please help me”. I look into His face of love and find strength. When I think I have to beat the sin before looking at Jesus I am much more likely to fail as I am trying to do it in my own strength. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-size: small;">If we come to Father God in honesty about who we are, we will find His love welcoming us. He loves us and longs to show us His love. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #333333;">1 John 4:18 <em>“<sup></sup>Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.”</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-size: small;">He doesn't want to punish us. He already did that to Jesus. He wants to love us, to remove our sin and cleanse us. Trust Him. He loves you so much.</span></div>
Lynda Alsfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260944221255162533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850953643290828862.post-21809800066657681042014-05-23T22:04:00.003+01:002014-05-23T22:05:23.919+01:00Good News!!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-g8vcjXj_9Ws/U3-3CdYqGPI/AAAAAAAAD00/RwhSHzhDVMU/s1600-h/Psalm%252520113%25255B65%25255D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img align="left" alt="Psalm 113" border="0" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-NzVpZPfoC3k/U3-3DJApWWI/AAAAAAAAD08/GjUJRNeW3hI/Psalm%252520113_thumb%25255B62%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="216" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 11px 0px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Psalm 113" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the view from the clifftops near my home! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
When I wrote my post about <a href="http://patch-work-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/trusting-god-in-difficult-times.html" target="_blank">Trusting God in difficult times</a> at the beginning of this week, I didn't expect the hoped-for change in my circumstances to happen so soon.<br />
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But today at lunch time I was offered a regular 20 hours at my locum/part time job. I was delighted as it would give me an income equal to that of jobseekers amount. I was so pleased. <br />
But the good news didn’t end there. A couple of hours later due to a change that work had not entirely predicted, they offered me a full time post for at least 3 months, and hopefully longer! So I started this week feeling down about my prospect and I end it on a high with a full time job that I have already been doing part time and which I love. <br />
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It is such a weight off my shoulders. I didn't like being on jobseekers at all. Although through my part time work (which I declare to the jobcentre) I was earning a good deal of what I received it still was unpleasant having to go to the jobcentre to sign on. I wanted to work and support myself. <br />
I praise God that He has now enabled me to stay in this job. I am working as a receptionist at a GP surgery near to my home – I have a 3 minute walk to work in the morning! <br />
Mind you, I have learned so much about myself and about God in the last year that I can’t really regret it. I am a far more content person that I was and that is despite difficult circumstances. Maybe I am just beginning (I have a long long way to go) to understand what Paul meant in these verses from Philippians. <br />
<blockquote>
<em>“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. <sup> </sup>I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” </em>Philippians 4:12-13</blockquote>
And it feels good, very good. Lynda Alsfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260944221255162533noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850953643290828862.post-67270742289882888962014-05-20T21:50:00.000+01:002014-05-20T21:55:55.588+01:00Trusting God in difficult times<div align="justify">
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about trusting in God. Now a couple of weeks later I am even more aware how hard it can be to trust Him in difficult times. I am having a battle to trust God at the moment. I know I trust Him more than I have done before but at the same time I am still anxious at times about the future. </div>
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I am still without a full time job, and have to depend on state hand-outs to help me make ends meet. I want to support myself fully not rely on others. I find myself worrying at times about the situation. At other times I trust God and know totally that He will look after me. I have wonderful friends and family who would not see me in desperate want and I am so grateful for them. But still at times I worry and get anxious. I obviously don’t trust God as much as I could.</div>
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<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-BejeZHiSTSE/U3vAUeH_eSI/AAAAAAAADz8/nW0e-_dSRog/s1600-h/Sketch%252520hand%252520God%2525202%25255B36%25255D.jpg"><img align="left" alt="Sketch hand God 2" border="0" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-nutB5P4FgOQ/U3vAU2j-DSI/AAAAAAAAD0E/0zA_mVQF00Y/Sketch%252520hand%252520God%2525202_thumb%25255B33%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="155" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; float: left; margin: 4px 10px 5px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Sketch hand God 2" width="200" /></a>This has led me to think through why I don’t trust Him. I believe it all stems from not really knowing Him. Oh, I like to think I know Him. And indeed I know a lot about Him on an intellectual level. I’ve read His Word, repeatedly over the years. But there is a part of my heart that does not believe what I have read. I find myself wondering if God really will help me with getting the right job. Does He really have a plan for my life? Does He really love me as much as I think He does? I have a lot of ‘what if’ questions flying around my head.</div>
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<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-NpZXD6GajSM/U3vAViESL8I/AAAAAAAAD0M/OCbkrtFB308/s1600-h/Sketch%252520hand%252520God%2525206%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img align="right" alt="Sketch hand God 6" border="0" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-j0AnCP6WI6Q/U3vAWY45_jI/AAAAAAAAD0U/3fJwybGqBpo/Sketch%252520hand%252520God%2525206_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="145" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; float: right; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Sketch hand God 6" width="200" /></a>At times like this I have to make a choice. I can choose to believe what I read and what I know as an act of my will. I read back over things I have learned before. I look at things that inspire me. I look in my prayer journal and see again what I said about how God has spoken to me before. The first two pictures on this page are examples of when I started doodling in a previous time of difficulty. God spoke powerfully to me through both pictures. It is a little like what Joshua did in Joshua 4. They built a memorial with stones. </div>
<blockquote>
<em>“When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, <sup>2 </sup>‘Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, <sup>3 </sup>and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.’</em> <br />
<em><sup>4 </sup>So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, <sup>5 </sup>and said to them, ‘Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, <sup>6 </sup>to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, “What do these stones mean?” <sup>7 </sup>tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel for ever.’</em> <br />
<em><sup>8 </sup>So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. <sup>9 </sup>Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.”</em> Joshua 4:1-9 <br />
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<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-1nR9lFFrQEE/U3vAXMIzcyI/AAAAAAAAD0c/ylXZPYCu21A/s1600-h/Cropped%252520deb%252520pic%252520%2525281023x1024%252529%252520%252528799x800%252529%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img align="left" alt="Silhouette of young woman" border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-eFZmcl_JVBE/U3vAXTWenKI/AAAAAAAAD0k/iflssHzWMIQ/Cropped%252520deb%252520pic%252520%2525281023x1024%252529%252520%252528799x800%252529_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="182" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; float: left; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Silhouette of young woman" width="179" /></a>My pictures are like those stones. They help me remember how God helped me before and give me hope that He will help me once more. And then I remember that when God helped me before I stood and looked at Him. I didn’t look to the problem. I looked to His light and His love and gradually I see again with the eyes of my heart that God is in full control. <br />
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<em>For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. </em>Jeremiah 29:11 Lynda Alsfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260944221255162533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850953643290828862.post-9961783378916991702014-05-15T17:56:00.008+01:002014-05-15T22:13:50.559+01:00Drinking from the Well of Living Water<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo5GkrRxkP2j2t4Z08hsfoRCQ-xYOC__nexZyFAk7CDXRP5iHOTS5VtBSUuYAhTzySoZ_6PFr4MKNhdMxq9_KsMNgze3TNMxSx4lZTcjKl-15QihOBvmP_aea3xXzzznTvdxSzrap132U/s1600/water.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo5GkrRxkP2j2t4Z08hsfoRCQ-xYOC__nexZyFAk7CDXRP5iHOTS5VtBSUuYAhTzySoZ_6PFr4MKNhdMxq9_KsMNgze3TNMxSx4lZTcjKl-15QihOBvmP_aea3xXzzznTvdxSzrap132U/s1600/water.jpg" height="400" width="282" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We've been thinking about Living Water at our church recently. We've been seeking God's presence with us as a Church, and worship has been amazing. We're drawing closer together and close to God. But also we are starting to think about how we can drink the living water at home, at work and every minute of our lives, not just when we are in church. <br /><br />I am preaching on this subject on May 25th so it has been especially on my mind. It is also a subject I have thought a lot about over the years. During my training for <a href="http://www.churcharmy.org.uk/">Church Army</a> I spent a summer reading about prayer. Gradually, I had realised that it was a subject about which I was not taught much after I became a Christian. I was reading around the subject to try to learn more for myself but also I wanted to learn more about how to pass on what I know to others. <br /><br /><br />You see, I didn't realise for ages after coming to faith that other Christians often had what they called a 'Quiet Time', a time of spending time in prayer and Bible reading. No-one spent time teaching me about private prayer and it started to bother me. What bothers me most is that we are not discipling people on how to spend time with God in private when they come to faith. We teach them doctrine, we show them how to worship in Church, we teach them standards of living that are appropriate for a Christian but do we ever teach them how to sit in God's presence when alone at home in their rooms?<br /><br />For me it is the times with God on my own that refresh me as much as those in a group setting. being a Christian isn't about learning rules about how to do this or that. It is a relationship with a living person, with a God who is longing for intimacy with us. Jesus spoke of living water when speaking to the woman at the well in John 4.<br /><br /><i>"Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.’...Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’</i> " John 4:10, 13-14<br /><br />Sometimes I still feel as if I thirst for this living water. I am only now after 30 years of faith learning to surrender to Father God and develop a truly intimate relationship with Him. I am learning to drink this living water and am aware of it welling up within me. <br /><br /> We are all different and relate to God in different ways. I now want to explore how we express our personality in prayer, in our alone times with God. I want to explore different ways of praying and also learn more about how we can disciple those who come to faith more effectively in developing a relationship with God rather than a set of rules to follow. <br /><br /> I welcome any input or ideas about this subject. We can all learn so much from each other.</span><br /><div>
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Lynda Alsfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260944221255162533noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850953643290828862.post-74361960350255416822014-05-08T09:58:00.004+01:002014-05-08T09:58:47.955+01:00Trusting in GodIt's been a long while since I blogged anything. Two of my last three blog post were about how Father God was asking me to let go of pride, expectations and independance (<a href="http://patch-work-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/emotionally-blackmailing-god.html" target="_blank">Emotionally Blackmailing God</a> and <a href="http://patch-work-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/letting-go.html" target="_blank">Letting Go</a>). In the time I have been quiet here on the blog, God has really been teaching me this a lot.<br />
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<u>Going it alone</u><br />
I sunk into depression and anxiety over my future rather than trusting my heavenly Father. I think it was also a reaction to the difficulties of the previous two years. A lot of really tough stuff happened and I got emotionally exhausted, added to which I am in a time of long term unemployment so worries about the future got mixed in with it all.<br />
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I got to the point where I couldn't do it myself anymore. My mind and body were shutting down almost, crying out for rest. I was trying to be strong, trying to sort out my future, trying to serve Him in my own strength. The more I tried to do it alone, the more I failed and the more exhausted I became. As I failed my pride took a battering. I felt ashamed that I wasn't strong enough to cope. I expected huge amounts from myself and hated myself when I failed.<br />
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<u>Learning from our mistakes</u><br />
But God has really used this to teach me as I work through it. So often God will use our hard times if we let Him. God was trying to teach me to<br />
lay down my independence, my pride and expectations of Him and expectations of myself. I am now learning to let go of this, rather than just thinking about letting go. And the difference is amazing.<br />
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My whole outlook is changing. I am looking to God to tell me when to move forward and when to rest. At the moment He is saying rest, so I am resting in Him. In day to day life this means, trying to be aware of His presence all the time (I recommend Practising the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence to study more about this, which can be found to download for free on the internet), and every time I start berating myself to do better I stop those thoughts and remind myself that God loves me and has told me to wait and rest, to learn to simply be, not do.<br />
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<u>Letting Go for real</u><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6IR2FaxK0NA_7nECFZGduk1eSxFN7fm6fRNu6rxv573diGuBIn6PiknPL9pLNK9snmV0VkI1JIwPsORVQuOEi8jetXWsDoFWb4KUl2QYIB9snWKTXIgdlcqlJ69wflZRn9BRBI87eeWQ/s1600/Fotolia_8976817_XS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6IR2FaxK0NA_7nECFZGduk1eSxFN7fm6fRNu6rxv573diGuBIn6PiknPL9pLNK9snmV0VkI1JIwPsORVQuOEi8jetXWsDoFWb4KUl2QYIB9snWKTXIgdlcqlJ69wflZRn9BRBI87eeWQ/s1600/Fotolia_8976817_XS.jpg" height="200" width="132" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Surrender pride, independence & false expectations. <br />Jump into Father God's arms.<br />It is the way to peace and freedom. </td></tr>
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It also means not getting cross with myself when I fail to let go. It means learning to forgive myself for not being perfect, and for failing. It is all a part of letting go of pride and realising that I am still loved by God if I admit to being a sinner. In fact I am learning that the times I am closest to Father are when I am being truly honest about who and what I am. Coming to Him and saying 'Father God, have mercy on me, I am a sinner' and acknowledging all my faults to Him pleases Him. I am forgiven and can experience His touch once more.<br />
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<u>Freedom</u><br />
In fact the more I lay down the pride, expectations and independence the more close to God I am and the more freedom I experience. The more I try to go it alone the more captive I become. Surrendering all to Father, through Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit really does bring freedom, not just in name, but in experience too.<br />
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<br />Lynda Alsfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260944221255162533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850953643290828862.post-64834672594664701962013-09-10T18:26:00.000+01:002013-09-10T18:26:12.287+01:00Letting Go<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3eP7W-nH8vdTf57ov3kNKMthsq0cYIW5FYNYSHFmFmGW5hoU_WAlGqCipW3gx2UOaW6Lb4u1gqzhvlem66HDYZbjkL_Sr0HZs4lVYj2iUUs9YyTOJRzj4_kE9XFCPXlAUM_d9aYVXwuU/s1600/%2521cid_A3340604-D6E6-4EB0-B784-8B27DC0CD589%2540home.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3eP7W-nH8vdTf57ov3kNKMthsq0cYIW5FYNYSHFmFmGW5hoU_WAlGqCipW3gx2UOaW6Lb4u1gqzhvlem66HDYZbjkL_Sr0HZs4lVYj2iUUs9YyTOJRzj4_kE9XFCPXlAUM_d9aYVXwuU/s320/%2521cid_A3340604-D6E6-4EB0-B784-8B27DC0CD589%2540home.jpg" width="230" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Tregonings Ope</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;">www.colinsart.org.uk </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: left;">©Colin B</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In my post before last, <a href="http://patch-work-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/emotionally-blackmailing-god.html">Emotionally blackmailing God</a>, I shared about how Father God had asked me to surrender to Him three things if I were to learn how to trust. God spoke to me very clearly through the painting on the left, "Tregonings Ope" by Colin Brown (<a href="http://www.colinsart.org.uk/">www.colinsart.org.uk</a>). On my way to being out in the openness of trusting God with my life I had to place pride, expectations and independence into the rubbish bins on my way out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Letting go of pride and independence</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since then I have been working on letting go of these things. I have managed to let go partly I think but still have much more to learn. I'm realising just how independent I am. I want to do it all my way, have what I want when I want and how I want. I want to be in complete control. Boy, am I learning an awful lot about the kind of person I am. Pride takes over and I don't want to admit to myself what I am really like even though admitting the truth leads to freedom. Both my pride and my independence keep me thinking I can do it all alone, that I should do it all alone. It makes me angry that I have to accept help from others while I don't have enough money to live on. Although I have more to learn about letting go of pride and independence I feel I have made progress in the area. I am learning to depend on others more. I am learning not be proud. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Expectations or expectancy</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I looked at this subject nearly 3 years ago in a post called <a href="http://patch-work-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/expectations-or-expectancy.html" target="_blank">expectations or expectancy</a> and I find my thoughts coming back to the subject again now. Expectations carry with them a sense of burden. When I have expectations about myself, other people or God I am looking at that person always trying to judge whether they have met the requirements. I am looking at them with a judgemental eye. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I realise now as I type this that I have not dealt at all with my false expectations of God. This is one of the major things I am learning at the moment. I have false expectations about what my life should be like, what should happen to me and what God should do for me. I am so angry that God has not done for me what I want Him to. I put expectations onto God and then got angry when He didn't live up to them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I need is to have a sense of expectancy about what God will do. If I have a sense of expectancy about someone, myself and God included, I don't have a list of dos and don't that must be met. I am looking through the eyes of grace and allow the person to be all they can and all they are meant to be. I am looking to make the best of what happens. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Letting go</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So can I let go of my expectations of God. I am expecting Him to do things He never promised to do (i.e. give me what I want, when I want and how I want). Can I allow God to be God and to look to Him through the eyes of expectancy, trusting that whatever happens He will be true to who He is. Trusting that He is love, mercy and grace. Trusting that He will always be with me just as He promised. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is my prayer for myself over the coming weeks - that I may learn to let go of my expectations about God and looking to Him instead with the eyes of expectancy. For this is just how He looks at me. He looks at me with the eyes of expectancy not expectations, with eyes of infinite love and grace. </span></div>
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Lynda Alsfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260944221255162533noreply@blogger.com0