My Dear Friends

I am so very excited, my friend Andrew Halsall, a well known photographer have joined forces to finally put together our new devotional "A NEW SEASON A NEW SONG".  We will be using some of Andrews amazing photos and new devotional material.

If any of you want to contribute, please send me your contributions and of course you will get the credit for it.

So how are you all doing?  I was at Forerunners International again and Family Christian Church in Brisbane.  God was so incredible I ministered at the missions conference and at the first WAA (WOMANS APOSTOLIC ALLIANCE) conference.  What a day we had, a day of intimacy with God, good fellowship and some new friendships formed.  It was absolutly fabulous!!

It seems difficult to get back to every day life!  The Lord has been gracious and I noow have my own consulting room and am being blessed with enough work which helps me to travel and preach.

So for today I stand in the goodness of God and as the song says , "Dancing with my Father in the fields of grace"

Love you all

Sharmaine

Its so great to be back from Forerunners International Prophetic School but at the same time there is a space in my heart that craves the intimacy of worship and friendship that I experienced over the 10 days I was hosted there.
It is amazing to find the place where you come home.  It is a spiritual recognition that is not possible to explain.

Lynne Hamilton is a General and a spiritual giant, a compassionate, caring woman who does not "play games" as she has too much to accomplish and do.  I believe she has about 174 churches who relate to her and this is growing daily.  How very fortunate I am to be counted as an Apostle in the house.

So for today I am grateful to Forerunners and all the apostles and Prophets that I spent time with!

Whoop whoop the future is so exciting

Love you all
Sharmaine

I have been asked many times to re-post this, especially in light of the earthquakes and after shocks....so here it is.  May you be very blessed

El Cether-God My Hiding Place By Kevin Pauley

"You are my hiding place; You protect me from trouble. You surround me with joyful shouts of deliverance. Selah." Psalm 32:7

HCSBA young boy ran, ducking and dodging, trying desperately to avoid the hail of rocks that flew through the air. His persecutors yelled instructions to each other in their hunting language as they tried to head him off. He cried as he ran, though he despised himself for the weakness.

A couple of the rocks had landed hard, leaving bleeding gashes on his shoulders and head. He was used to running and hiding, and soon was able to elude his tormentors. He cut down one path that ran by a small ledge overlooking a creek.

Instead of continuing to run on the path, he jumped through a small opening in the vines and landed in the creek. He immediately doubled back and threw himself under the ledge. A small cave had been cut by centuries of water flow and he hid there with his hand clamped over his mouth so that his ragged breaths would not betray him.

Soon enough, his enemies' footsteps could be heard pounding along as they went right by his secret hiding place. That small cave is what I think of whenever I meditate on God's name, El Cether. It's pronounced "say-there" and means "hiding place."

David knew well what it meant to be pursued by enemies. He spent a lot of time in dark caves, eluding those who would do him harm, and it was a natural step to begin thinking of his God as El Cether (God My Hiding Place). But "cether" also means secret.

It is used when someone tries to secretly whisper into your ear or when someone tries to sin in secret. Jonathan advised David to meet him in a secret hiding place to determine King Saul's intent.

Abigail used the covering of a hill to meet David secretly in order to avoid a disastrous slaughter. God does not promise to keep all trouble from us. But He does promise to be our secret hiding place. That hiding place is found in our private devotional encounter with El Cether.

Our faith in His abiding strength and provision is both our hiding place and our shield from the darts of the enemy. Through His Word and His Spirit, He feeds and strengthens us in the midst of our conflict, often right in front of our enemies.

All we have to do is abide in His presence, clinging to His mighty hand as the world rages around us. Someday, we will hear His voice calling, "My dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the crevices of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely." The next thing you know we will be home-safe, warm and with no further need to hide.

So often we enjoy the things that we stagnate on...George and I have a favourite coffee shop, a favourite drive, I have a favourite outfit, favourite music etc

2 of the girls have moved, Leonie leaves for Auckland and Myra has moved back to their lifestyle block.

I was feeling really sad about all the "movement" when the Lord gently reminded me that the devotional I am writing is called "A NEW SEASON , A NEW SONG".  Well, yes, we need new songs, not that the old ones aren't anointed but we need NEW WINE!  Hallelujah, we need to breathe clean fresh air, we need to drink pure running water, NOT, stagnant water!

So today surrender yourself to the fresh "newness" of what God would pour into your life, surrender to the plan, because dearly beloved one we are constantly moving forward NOT camping!

What a mighty God we serve!

Love you every day

Sharmaine

A Good Chuckle

This was sent to me by a friend, it made me smile! Hoe you enjoy it!                               Have you ever told a White lie? You are going to love this, especially all of the Ladies who bake for church events:                               Alice Grayson was to bake a cake for the Baptist Church Ladies' Group in Tuscaloosa, but forgot to do it                               Until the last minute. She remembered it the morning of the bake sale and after rummaging through cabinets, found an angel                                food cake mix & quickly made it while drying her hair, dressing, and helping her son pack for scout camp.                               When she took the cake from the oven, the center had dropped flat and the cake was horribly disfigured and she exclaimed,                                    "Oh dear, there is not time to bake another cake!"                                   This cake was important to  Alice because she did so want to fit in at her new church, and in her newcommunity of friends.                               So, being inventive, she looked around the house for something to build up the center of the cake. She found it in the                                bathroom - aroll of toilet paper.                                      She plunked it in and then covered it with icing. Not only did the finished product look beautiful, it looked perfect.                                      And, before she left the house to drop the cake by the church and head for work, Alice woke her daughter and gave her some                                money and specific instructions to be at the bake sale the moment it opened at 9:30 and to buy the cake and bring it home.                               When the daughter arrived at the sale, she found the attractive, perfect cake had already been sold.                               Amanda grabbed her cell phone and called her Mom.                               Alice was horrified - she was beside herself! Everyone would know! What would they think? She would be ostracized, talked about,                               ridiculed!                               All night,  Alice lay awake in bed thinking about people pointing fingers at her and talking about her behind her back.                               The next day,  Alice promised herself she would try not to think about the cake and would attend the fancy luncheon/bridal shower at the                                home of a fellow church member and try to have a good time. She did not really want to attend because the hostess was a snob who more                                than once had looked down her nose at the fact that  Alice was a single parent and not from the founding families of  Tuscaloosa , but                                having already RSVP'd , she couldn't think of a believable excuse to stay home.                               The meal was elegant, the company was definitely upper crust old south and to Alice 's horror, the cake in question was presented                                for desert!                               Alice felt the blood drain from her body when she saw the cake! She started out of her chair to tell the hostess all about it, but                               before she could get to her feet, The Mayor's wife said, "what a beautiful cake!"                                   Alice , still stunned, sat back in her chair when she heard the hostess (who was a prominent church member) say,                                "Thank you, I baked it  myself."                               Alice smiled and thought to herself,                               "God is good."

New Year ....New Thoughts

Well precious friends here we are at a new road, new year, new decisions and new thought patterns or maybe not?

We start every new year with gusto, lists in our hand feeling so satisfied that we have chosen a higher way, a better way , that this year will be different to any other. We set ourselves impossible goals, impossible schemes and forget to place them all at the feet of the Dream Giver.

Oh no, I can hear you dispair "Is it wrong to have goals , to want to change? "

No my beloved it is RIGHT! "Well " I can just hear you think , "then how does that fit?"

You ask really good questions.

When we ponder our goals ponder them with Him, when we set our goals, consult Him our Abba first and see if they fit with His goals for you! This dearest friends is the pathway to success, so often we try and squeeze God into our plans , into our schedule only to find it becomes a minefield of challenges and then we bemoan our fate and ask why it did not work out!

So clear the junk out of your trunk, bury old "corpses" ( old stinking thinking, old habits) and smile, face the future knowing who you are and beloved have the best year ever no matter what.

Hugs

Sharmaine