Fear not!

SURROUNDED BY GOD’S FAVOUR!

(February 06, 2025) Norman and Margaret Moss share another precious meditation…

On the wall of my grandmother’s kitchen there was a large poster advertising Pears’ Soap. 

It was a picture of age and poverty. An extremely old couple in poor clothing sitting facing one another across an almost bare table. Yet their wrinkled faces conveyed happiness and love. Between them was a large mixing bowl full of soapy water, and the man was using his clay pipe to blow a large bubble. Other bubbles were floating to the ceiling  and the wife was watching him with loving delight.  

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THREE CHRISTMAS ‘FEAR NOTS’

(December 15, 2024) Robert and Maureen McQuillan encourage…

Believe it or not, 2024 is drawing to a close… yes, it will soon be Christmas, then New Year’s Eve and 2025 will be here!

We have a question for our readers (for ourselves too) based on the biblical Christmas story. But let’s start this way…

Fear
The most repeated command in the Bible is ‘Fear not!’ In fact, it’s been said that there are 365 ‘Fear nots’ in the Bible — one for every day of the year! In Facing the Future, author Lloyd Ogilvie even said that there are 366, one for every day of the year, including Leap Year! (Reference: SoulShepherding author Bill Gaultiere).

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THE SECRET OF PEACE

(November 08, 2024) Norman and Margaret Moss share another precious meditation…

It was in the early days of charismatic renewal way back in the early 1970s that I (Norman) awoke one Saturday morning to find that I had lost the sight in one eye. Consequently with both eyes open all my brain was registering was grey mist.

Bad News
Margaret drove me to A & E. There I was examined by two doctors who peered into my eye while holding a fascinated conversation with each other. At the end of it one of them slapped me on the back and said, ‘Bad luck old chap. You’ve lost the sight of that eye— you won’t get it back’ and immediately left the room followed by his colleague. Margaret and I were left sitting dumbfounded in the grey painted room!

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ENJOY PRAISING THE LORD THIS CHRISTMAS

(December 02, 2023) Norman and Margaret Moss reflect…

During my (Norman‘s) childhood we had two harmoniums in our home.

Longing to play them
Unfortunately, both were far gone playing-wise! The smaller one suffered from a pair of bellows which often leaked very badly requiring my grandfather to repair them with an abundance of glue which came strongly smelling and piping hot out of a glue pot.

When repaired the organ made quite a good sound, but the repairs didn’t last very long.

The other instrument had two keyboards and more stops. The main fault of this one was that if I pulled out one of the stops it would disable the instrument, requiring my father to drag the organ out of the alcove in which it was placed, so that he could struggle into the alcove in order to remove the back and repair it.

Needless to say, sometimes I forgot and pulled the stop out!

My father who was an accomplished organist could extract a wheezy music from both organs. I longed to play them… but the sounds I produced were execrable!

Witnesses
These instruments were witnesses to me of the great family celebrations at Christmas when we would get together round an instrument and sing in glorious harmonies at the top of their voices.

How generous it was of God to give us music. Tastes may vary and times change, but most of us enjoy singing… and just wait till we hear what heaven can do!

Whatever else you do at Christmas this year, be sure to sing His praises… and to enjoy doing so.

Christmas meditation
We were meditating on Revelation 4:11, ‘You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things and by your will they were created and have their being.’

We felt the Lord was saying –

‘It is by my will that you were created, created for my glory and blessing. Created to tell of me and of my kingdom. Created to bring about my kingdom on earth. What better use for your tongue than that your lips should sound forth my name and my honour. Therefore open your mouth and show forth my praise and my people will hear and come into my kingdom.

‘Fear not, for I am with you. There is no pride or insecurity in me that has need to be praised, nor is there any doubt that I am to receive glory, honour, and praise. Creation brings me praise because worship is declaring ultimate truth and bringing the worshippers into the harmony of heavens symphony. The truth is that I AM worthy, and that is unassailable and unthreatened truth. All that denies this is lie and deception. I AM perfect light, perfect holiness, perfect righteousness, justice and purity. I AM perfect love, kindness, compassion and mercy.

‘All my blessed attributes meet in the cross and resurrection. All were manifested in my incarnation, and shall be declared in my glorious return to the planet and the people whom I love. So rejoice and live in spontaneous praise and delightsome worship, for in this way you also come into the reality, which is filling all things,the glory and wonder of my magnificence and my worthiness of honour and majesty.’

The Lord bless and keep you this Christmas – and through the coming year! Praise His name!
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Norman and Margaret Moss pastored Queen’s Road Baptist Church, Wimbledon for over 30 years, experiencing charismatic renewal since the 1960s and bringing the congregation into renewal in the 70s when the church grew significantly. Their desire is still to encourage ministers, churches and groups that are hungry for more of the Holy Spirit and although ‘retired’ they preach and teach by Zoom, and also contribute to Dr. Ayodele Afuye’s Vessels of Virtues Fire Ministries. Link: charlesnmoss@gmail.com
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FEARFUL… OR BOLDLY TRUSTING GOD?

(September 30, 2023) Robert and Maureen McQuillan challenge…

It’s great to learn that many folk have moved on from the darkness that began hitting the world a few years ago (and still around)! People are joyfully holidaying, planning ahead, contemplating the future wisely and making decisions in respect of the like of travelling, jobs, careers, homes, suburbs, states, vehicles (electric, petrol or hybrid), schooling, churches, marriage…

One top decision is a major change of thinking – from fear to courage… ‘Flipping the Switch’ to use an old phrase, the sense of having a change of heart about many things.

We Christians can praise God for so much… salvation through His son, Jesus. And the gift of life – new life in Him. We have so much to look forward each new day because of Jesus…  God is our protector, provider and friend. It’s always great to zero in on prayer each morning, Bible reading, worshipping Him and committing the new day to our Lord.

Fearfulness
But… life is life and things can go wrong!

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YOUR MOURNING WILL TURN INTO JOY!

(November 18, 2022) S. Sam Selva Raj encourages troubled hearts…

During times of adversity, when we ask friends or doctors for counsel, they may console us by saying, ‘Don’t worry, everything will be all right.’  Comforting words… but we can receive even greater comfort from God!

But, when we experience times of sorrow, pain and affliction, and our problems multiply, we can lose hope.

  • We shouldn’t… but it can happen.
  • If we’re not clear about God’s leading in our lives, we can worry much.
  • Contemplating some sorrowful event, we could wrongly think, ‘Has this happened without God’s knowledge?’ 

We must remember that nothing happens in our lives without God knowing! If we trust Him, our present sorrow will surely be turned into joy!

So don’t be afraid!
Jesus spoke about sorrow and weeping in John 16, adding in verse 20, ‘… your sorrow will be turned into joy.’ He also promised in Matthew 5:4, ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.’

We might think that blessed people are those who enjoy all sorts of material comforts. But the Lord says that even those who mourn are blessed! He who knows everything, knows that He can turn our mourning into joy!

Sorrows may arise due to unemployment, sickness, lack of money, problems at work or in the family, worries about the future, and so on. Whatever our sorrow, the Lord says that all of us who pass through such difficult times are blessed and that we shall be comforted, difficult situations being turn into joyful ones.

Although promised this a long time ago, this is still relevant today! Henceforth be happy and rejoice. ‘Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time’ declares 1 Peter 5:6.

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MY ‘HEART’ MAY FAIL… BUT GOD IS MY STRENGTH!

(August 6, 2022) Brian Bell reflects on the ‘heart’ …

My thoughts turned recently to Asaph’s Psalm 73:26 which says, ‘My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart…’ 

Just as we also may do today, the psalmist was struggling with what we might call apparent ‘injustices’ of life.

My flesh
‘Fail’ seems to be in the sense ‘to falter in weakness’ and this suggests to me not simply a failing as in a sudden moment of pressure, or by reason of sustained pressure – think of an elastic band – but a weakness which is a tendency, having always been there and always will be.

‘Flesh’ in its literal sense refers to our physical bodies. I’ve known many people familiar with weaknesses of their physical body to a greater or lesser degree; some who were born with or acquired a disability, and more recently those with cancers which have destroyed their formerly healthy bodies.

Even those of us who may not presently be affected by a specific disability or illness and are fortunate to enjoy general good health, realise the experience of others is a sufficient testimony to the fact that our physical bodies can falter in weakness!

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DEADEND, DETOUR, DRYHOLE DILEMMAS

(June 9, 2022) Richard Winter reminds us that God has purposes for such dilemmas…

Do you identify with the following? You believe God is in charge of everything and that He’s leading you to heaven. But… just when you think life is going to be easy, it seems as though you’ve hit a dead end, or you seem to be taking a detour when you wanted to go right from your problem to your blessing!

You hit a dryhole, a dilemma.

Ring a bell? If so, remember that the Israelites had this problem too and they came through.

Israel was captive in Egypt and God was going to deliver them to the promised land. Oh they had the promise… but God’s deliverance was not the way they expected things to happen (Exodus 14:8-12)! They hit a dead end, encountered a detour! The reality is that God’s dead ends, detours and dryholes are not mistakes but –

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