Positivity

Stay High

/ Dara / Leave a comment

High can be used to describe the feeling people get after smoking cannabis (weed). But I want to give a Quick disclaimer I’m not advising that everyone goes and gets high on drugs 😂😂 but there’s a different kind of High I want you to have perpetually.

Once again the words from Jonathan McReynold’s song: Stay High;

You can’t catch a bird while it’s flying in the air

No, you gotta wait till it comes to the ground

And you can’t stop a saint while they’re in full flight

No, the devil’s gotta wait till we come down

So I’ll Stay High,

I ain’t coming down for no reason, I’ll be reading my word,

I ain’t coming down for no satan, I’ll be praying to my Lord,

I ain’t coming down for no sinning, while I’m living for my God,

I ain’t coming down for nobody, no I’ll just Stay High

High High High

I really love the words to this song, I’ve inserted the full song below for you to listen to after.

An important phrase that stuck with me is “You can’t stop a Saint while they’re in full flight”,  later on in the song Jonathan says “We’ve all got targets on our backs”. As Christians endeavouring to live a life worthy enough to be called children of God, we acquire an enemy :  The devil.  The devil has set targets on our back and will not allow us to rest, the scripture reminds us to “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) 

Although Lions are believed to be the King of the jungle, they are by no means the best hunters. I’m sure at one point you’ve watched a nature programme in which a Lion is chasing after it’s prey. Lions tend to attack sick, young or straggling animals; their victims are the animals who are either alone or not alert. So what does this mean for you and me, Peter warns us to watch out for the devil when we are suffering, low, “down in the dumps”, or persecuted. If you are feeling alone, weak, helpless and cut off from other believers or if you are one of those people that are so focused on their troubles that you forget to watch out for danger you are especially vulnerable to the devil’s attacks. He will set a target on you as his next prey. During the times of suffering it is vital to seek other Christians for support. The Word says “Keep your eye on Christ, and resist the devil. Then he will flee from you”(James 4:7)

So back to the lyrics of the song. A bird cannot be caught while it is in the sky, the hunter needs to shoot it before it can be caught on ground. Similarly, as a christian being in a high position is essential to being out of Satan’s reach.  Of course it’s impossible for us as humans to be physically in the air but we can be in a High state. This state involves being positive, full of hope, it is a euphoric state induced not by alcohol or drugs but by keeping our focus on Christ.

There are 3 ways in which we can Stay High:

  1. Reading the Word
  2. Praying to our Lord
  3. Living for God

In the midst of our personal storms, we eventually come to the realisation that God is our only Salvation. The Psalmist reminds us that those who hope in the Lord will be strengthened and Isaiah tells us that our strength will be renewed. [We] shall sour on wings like eagles, {We will] run and not grow weary, [We will] walk and not feel faint ( 40:31)  Let’s put it all together now, In order to Stay High we need to remain strengthened because that’s how we will sour like eagles and remain out of satan’s reach.

Hope : a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen.

Waiting upon the Lord is expecting His promised strength to help us rise above life’s distractions and difficulties [aka Stay High]. Listening attentively to God by reading His Word helps us to be ready for times when He speaks to us, be patient when He asks us to wait and trust Him to fulfil the promises found in His Word. Satan only tries to distract us from this Hope in order to knock us down and out.

I pray that your strength shall be continually renewed as you hope in the Lord. May the Lord show himself onto you in a way he has never done before, and despite the distractions in life you will always remember to Stay High out of the Devil’s reach.

Stay Blessed and enjoy the song below,

Dara xx

P.S – Feel free to send in your prayer requests via this online form and I shall keep you in my prayers

If He did it before. He can do it Again 

/ Dara / 3 Comments

While thinking of what I wanted to share, I decided on this topic as it applies to everyone even myself. There are several times in our lives when many obstacles are thrown our way,  some new and others that we have experienced before. However, as it is in our human nature, fear grips us.  We may become very anxious and confused, which ultimately affects our ability to cope with the situations. I have learnt (and I am still trying to put into practice) that when obstacles do arise I should remember that God never changes and he’ll never abandon me. If he was able to help me in the past he is more  than able to do the same again.  

The secret to conquering the challenges and obstacles we are faced with is by staying POSITIVE. Being positive is powerful. And a big part of being positive is simply reminding yourself of your past successes. When David faced the giant, Goliath, he remembered that “When a lion or a bear came to steal a lamb from the flock, He would go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turned on him, he will catch it by the jaw and club it to death.” David then said “I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! The LORD who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!”  (‭1 Samuel‬ ‭17‬:‭34-37‬ ) David’s positivity helped him to gain courage in his current situation. So what we can learn from David, here, is that whenever you are faced with a new obstacle or find yourself in a battle against an obstacle ( your giant), believe that the same God that helped you to succeed in the past is going to  help you again. When you remember that you serve a living God, and think positively you will have the courage to  face your situation.  

God is not a genie in the bottle, that can only grant you 3 wishes, he is always listening and granting our many requests. The bible says “we are confident that He hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases Him. And since we know He hears us when we make our requests, we also know that He will give us what we ask for.” (‭1 John‬ ‭5‬:‭14-15‬ ) Some of us may fall under the trap of only asking God to help us when we have small problems, and then when we have the larger ones we try to handle them with our human ability. However I want to let you know that “Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit.” (‭Psalm‬ ‭147‬:‭5‬) , so do not try and limit Him. God is able to meet each and everyone’s need no matter the magnitude, He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us, and through Christ His promises are Yes and Amen. (1 Corinthians 1:20)

Do you have a problem today, that you feel is hopeless and that there is no way out? Do you know that the same God that performed miracles that we read about in the bible , is the same God that lives today? He can perform miracles in your life, all you need to have is faith in Him and His mighty power. In Exodus 14:21 we read of how  “Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.” How amazing and spectacular, would that have been to witness! As if that wasn’t enough, he does it again, in Joshua 3:15-16 the Israelites got  to Jordan “as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge, the water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam, which is near Zarethan. And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho.”

God parted the waters of the Red Sea, for the children of Israel, once and then he parted the waters of the Jordan River for them again. That situation you are facing right now may feel like a Red Sea situation; you can’t seem to move forwards, backwards, left or right. It may seem like there is no way out of your current storm or past your obstacle, however I want to let you that God can part the Red Sea in your life. If He was able to make a way, for the children of Israel, where there seemed to be no way, he can do the same in your life! He is the same God yesterday, today and Tomorrow in Malachi 3:6 he says  “I am the Lord. I change not”. You may not have the slightest clue of how God will do it, but be rest assured that He Will Do It Again. Remember James 1:17: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variation, neither shadow of turning.”

“Please be, encouraged, this is not the first storm you’ve been through
You’ve been through worse, you didn’t come this far just to lose
He knows your needs, so take no thoughts on what you lost,
God will restore!” – Tye Tribbet

 

Listen to this song and be encouraged:

Stay Blessed,

Dara x

Note; Feel free to send in your prayer requests on this link