Praise in the Battle

by | Jan 17, 2024 | Newsletter

Hello to all of our friends and partners,

Cristie and I hope that you had a great Christmas and are expectant for an amazing New Year. We had a tornado on Christmas day in the evening (yes a tornado on the Gold Coast), that produced the worst damage of any storm that I have seen in this city that I was born in. I can praise God that we were completely protected. Our garden looks like it has not been touched when across the road, twenty metre high trees were torn out of the ground and behind us huge trees fell through the roofs of houses and were split in two as if they were made of paper. This reminded me that we live in a broken world that is not what God intended. We were designed to subdue the earth in union and communion with God, but we turned our back on God and now the bible says that creation itself groans as if in childbirth. This is why bad things can happen to good people, but I thank God that we have a living hope.

Romans 5:3  ‘And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;4  and perseverance, character; and character, hope.’

I never understood this scripture until I saw that another word for “glory” is to “boast”. I am not talking about a Muhummad Ali, “I am the greatest”, type of boast but a King David sort of boast when he was just a lowly shepherd boy facing a giant (1 Samuel 17). He boasted in the greatness of His God and that he had a covenant (God’s promises of blessings and favour) and that because God had delivered him in the past, He would do it again. I believe that the Lord tells us some things to boast about or praise Him for in the previous verse.

Romans 5:1  ‘Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.’

Praise God out loud that you are justified by faith and have peace with Him. He is not mad at you or holding your sin against you. Praise Him that you stand in a place of grace (unmerited favour) and that you rejoice in hope (earnest expectation) of the glory of God manifesting in your life. Verse 5 then tells us that we can praise God that the love of God (the supernatural agape of God) has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Ghost who was given to us. This is not just when we feel that we are weak but even more so when we feel strong so that our confidence and focus are not on our strength and ability but Gods. When the tornado started, I just praised God that I had a covenant with Him, because of Jesus, and began to stand in my authority that I had as a believer in Christ. I commanded the storm to leave and it did. Start praising God today that no matter what you are facing, that you are in Him and are qualified to partake of all of His promises. (Col 1:12)

Cristie and I leave in a couple of weeks for 3 months ministry in Europe. We really believe that this is a God appointed assignment and that Europe is ripe for revival. Please pray for us and if you feel that the Lord is directing you to sow towards this vital work then you can click the link at the bottom of the page.

We love you, pray for you and speak Gods promises over you.

 

Blessings,
Peter & Cristie

 

 

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