Get a grip!

Beautiful family, rejoice with me!

It's another day, good morning, afternoon or evening. Depending on the time zone you are in. I greet you with Heavenly blessings of joy, laughter and a spark of fire in your bones.

Let's pray:

Heavenly Father, we bless you and love you, we receive your word, speak to us personally, let your Spirit open our eyes and calm every troubled heart, we receive a fresh pouring and flow, Amen.

Some of you may be familiar with the title, others may not be, depending on your cultural background these words may mean something else.

From where I come from its a term used to let someone do the following, control their emotions, get their thoughts together, to realign or refocus.

To come back to reality and not be carried away by negative possibilities, to keep or recover one's mind, to check ones behaviour especially when they are about to enter a wrong mental state.

In the story of Samson's birth, an angel visits his mother to tell her the good news of the birth of a son, she hasn't been able to give birth, in excitement she runs to tell her husband who prays to God for further instructions and God answers.

The angel then visits a second time and gives instructions about the child's growth.

Just a little side not, if God gives you a dream or desire ask him for the manual, instruction or architectural design connected to it.

Don't go asking people, they didn't give you the vision. The Holy Spirit will inform you on what to do.

Back to the story, the husband Manoah didn't realise he was speaking to an angel, a divine visitation, so he treated it normally and asked Him to dine with them.

Judges 13:16-22(NLT)

16 "I will stay," the angel of the Lord replied, "but I will not eat anything. However, you may prepare a burnt offering as a sacrifice to the Lord." (Manoah didn't realise it was the angel of the Lord).

17 Then Manoah asked the angel of the Lord, "What is your name? For when all this comes true, we want to honour you."

18 "Why do you ask my name?" the angel of the Lord replied. "It is too wonderful for you to understand."

19 Then Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered it on a rock as a sacrifice to the Lord. And as Manoah and his wife watched, the Lord did an amazing thing.

20 As the flames from the altar shot up towards the sky, the angel of the Lord ascended in the fire. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell with their faces to the ground.

21 The angel did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Manoah finally realised it was the angel of the Lord,

22 and he said to his wife, "We will certainly die, for we have seen God!"

Note 1:

All the symbols in this text points to only one strange visitor, Yes, Jesus, himself, this is a shadow of his appearance in the old testament.

He is in the form of man, He is the only one whose Name is too good to explain, who is the rock of our salvation, the lamb that was slain and offered himself us a living sacrifice.

Note 2:

When realisation hits Manoah, his mind and emotions get out of control and he begun to speak his fears. Here you can see an old system of thought that wants to sabotage the whole miracle.

This sometimes happens to us when we realise the weight or the cost of the dream, business, project, we have set our eyes on. Sometimes you don't have all the resources or connections needed, you feel burdened and you keep watching the clock or comparing with others.

Note 3:

Get a grip! This what Manoah's wife indirectly tells him in the next verse, this also is for you and I too.

Judges 13:23-24(NLT)

23 But his wife said, "If the Lord were going to kill us, he wouldn't have accepted our burnt offering and grain offering. He wouldn't have appeared to us and told us this wonderful thing and done these miracles."

24 When her son was born, she named him Samson. And the Lord blessed him as he grew up.

Today, let's partner with God, take inventory of what you have, present it to Him and partner with Him, this won't work by your strength, it's by His Power.

Let's pray:

Father we thank you for the word, help us get a grip every time the weight and reality of the situation causes us to be overworked and unstable. Give us your vision and help us to be like Samson's Mother, who believed, we receive your love, Amen.

Do you want to know Jesus, say with me:

Dear Jesus, come into my heart, I make you my Lord and Saviour, I repent of my sins, I believe you died on the cross to reconcile me back to God, I receive your love and new life, Amen.

Depend on him! Don't loose focus! Relax!