Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him.’ 1 Peter 1:8 NIV

In his book, Talking Dogs, Sam Mason continues:‘

During the last couple of years of his life, Tigger, one of our dearly loved Italian greyhounds, gradually lost his sight. He’d developed cataracts. They robbed him of his vision, but they couldn’t steal his precious relationship with his masters. My wife Carol often referred to Tigger as her “lovey-dovey boy”.

He would stand (not sit!) on our laps, putting his paws on either side of our necks, then affectionately tuck his head under our chins. It was adorable. Blind though he was, Tigger’s desire for the ones he could no longer see was unaffected.

In spite of the cataracts that blurred our features, somehow, he still managed to look us in the face. His diminished capacities may have hampered his movements, but his love and trust towards his masters remained rock solid.

All of us who have placed our trust in the Lord possess handicaps… even spiritual ones. Do we use them as excuses for not pursuing God as intensely as we ought?

Do we allow these hindrances to ration our love for Him? Or do we, with God’s help, find the strength to reach past our limitations to experience the unbounded joy of His presence, and fulfil the calling He’s placed on our lives?

Yes, we may sometimes grope about in darkness every now and then, even stumbling and falling.

But we can trust the One who understands our seasons of blindness. We can open our hearts to His love and love Him back… sight unseen!’

Prayers & Inspirations

You are a Star

Don’t Look Back    

Recently the Lord spoke to me and said “you are a star”.

I started to meditate on Abraham and how the Lord said to him that his descendants “would be as many as the stars”.”

From one man were born as many as the stars of the sky” (Heb.1:12).

That means that there is one star for every person. It suddenly hit me that when Abraham looked into the sky that night that he was actually looking up at you and me, way into the future.

“Your eyes saw my substance as yet unformed, and in Your book they were written. The days fashioned for me when as yet there were none of them” (Ps. 139:16).

God knows what He has placed inside of you, so be the Star that you were born to be!             H.H.

Focus on what you have

Lessons From God’s Creatures

Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink and to enjoy the good of all his labour in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him: for it is his heritage.    Eccl. 5;18 NKJV

The scripture talks about how God has given us the power to enjoy what is allotted to us. That simply means another person doesn’t have the right to enjoy your life.  You may have more success, more money, more friends, and a better job, but if you put another person in your life, they're not going to enjoy it as you do. We are each uniquely designed to run our own race.

When we truly understand and embrace this we won't be tempted to compare or wish we had what someone else has. You won’t think, if only I had their talent…  No, if God wanted you to have that talent, He would have given it to you. Instead, take what you have and develop it. Make the most of it. Don't think, if only I had her looks my God gave you your looks….  That's not an accident. The life you have has been perfectly matched for you.

Now, you have to do your part and get excited about your life. Be excited about who you are - your looks, your talent, your ability, your personality. When you're passionate about who you are, it brings honour to God. That’s when God will breathe in your direction the seeds of greatness in you will take root and flourish.

This has been reprinted with kind permission from 'Wake up to Hope' by Joel & Victoria Osteen

‘His wife looked back behind him and she became a pillar of salt.’ Genesis 19:26 NKJV

Before destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, angels of the Lord rescued Lot and his family from the city. Then they said: ‘Run for your lives! Don’t look behind you, and don’t stop on the plain. Run for the hills, or you’ll be swept away.’ (Genesis 19:17 GWT)

But the record reads: ‘His wife looked back behind him and she became a pillar of salt.’There’s an important lesson here for each of us: resist the temptation to linger in the quicksand of past mistakes—either your own or other people’s. It can be hard to see ahead when horrendous things have happened to you in the past. But when you get bogged down in the past, you miss what God has for you in the present, and fail to see its connection to your future.

The good news is that it’s not too late to allow God to use you and move you forward on your journey. He can heal the wounds others have inflicted on you. He can make you wiser as a result of the poor decisions you made in the past.

It’s not too late to become who you might have been. God delights in transforming our weakness into strength. He can create treasure from what you’ve discarded as rubbish.

Even if you’ve backslidden and detoured from the path you know He wants you to follow, now is the time to return to His road‘

“I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”’ (Jeremiah 29:11 NLT)

So move forward—and don’t look back.

‘The Word for Today is published by Vision Christian Media. A free introductory copy can be obtained from Vision Christian Media; 1800 00 777 0 or admin@vision.org.au

‘The Word for Today is published by Vision Christian Media. A free introductory copy can be obtained from Vision Christian Media; 1800 00 777 0 or admin@vision.org.au

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