Unless the Lord builds the house.....

I hope you are doing well and have started to reclaim the territories you lost in previous years and gearing up to conquer some new grounds. Well this is the focus for MPUSH and for me in particular for 2014.  We cannot allow Satan to keep any of our "stuff" - TAKE IT BACK !!!

  

I would like to share some insights I received from reading Psalm 127. This Psalm is considered a family psalm, written for Solomon by his father  

David.  Solomon had a house to build, a city to watch over and children to raise.  In the midst of all this responsibility David encourages Solomon

 to look to the Lord for direction and depend on His providential care. David knew that as wise as Solomon was his wisdom was insufficient to bring success in all he had to do. I especially like verse 2 which shows us that regardless of how early we wake up or how late we go to bed, God is the one that allows us to have a restful sleep, not the amount of work we do.

  

As we hustle and bustle to get our house  and family in order let us always remember to include God in all our affairs, because without him we will fail or will have to work twice as hard.  Stay warm!

  

 In His Service,

Vilma

 

Spiritual Fasting

Many of us welcome the month of January to shed the many pounds that we accumulated over thanksgiving and Christmas. Some of us join the local gym and work out, and many will participate in various types of "Fasts" depending on how quickly they want to shed those pounds.

  Many Christians individually or collectively with their churches also participate in a Spiritual fast at the start of the New Year. For many of us it is the 21-day Daniel Fast.  There are approximately 99 verses in the bible that refer to "Fasting" and hence it must be of great importance.  Although God commanded fasting by the Israelites in the Old Testament, we do not see Him commanding fasting in the New Testament or as a matter of fact forbidding it. Many early Christians did however practice fasting and prayer as a part of their spiritual lives and so should we. Having said this we should not participate in a Fast just to say we did a fast, but we should do so with a purpose of gaining spiritual strength, a deeper understanding of God and a closer relationship with Him. Sometimes we need clarity from God concerning our next steps, sometimes we need a breakthrough concerning situations in our lives (our health, issues with our children, our marriages or our career).

When we fast it is not about the length of time fasting but it is the effectiveness of it. Although fasting is generally abstaining from food, you can also fast from other things that will require some sacrifice such as watching television.  If you have never fasted before and want to try it, you should start with a partial fast- such as abstaining for  a few hours and not an entire day.

  

 In His Service,

Vilma

 

Return to Sender?

I hope that 2014 started out well for you. I am confident that God has many blessings reserved and packaged for you and your family just waiting to be received. I trust that you will take hold of them and not allow them to sit with a return to sender stamp like what happens to our mail from the post office.
 I trust that you will take hold of them and not allow them to sit with a return to sender stamp like what happens to our mail from the post office.

Letters are returned to the sender for a number of reasons:

"Incomplete address" -I am convinced that will never be the reason for God's blessing to be returned because He knows exactly where we are at all times. This is keeping with Him being Omniscient.

"Addressee moved with no forwarding address"- God sends us His blessings to where He has told us to be. Most times we choose not to be obedient and we either stay when we are told to go or we go when we are told to stay.

"Addressee refused mail"- At times God has blessed us but because the blessing may not be what we thought it would be (size, color, value) we refuse t accept it. Do not make this mistake as this good be the entrance to greater things.

"Signature needed before leaving mail"-When God blesses us we need to acknowledge it as such and personally give Him thanks.  You cannot allow someone else to thank Him for you- it was yours. We need to endorse it by taking hold of it and allowing it to accomplish what it needs to.

 In His Service,

Vilma