Breakthrough Living
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Prayer Grows our Relationship with God
Photo courtesy of Aslak Sutherland and Pexels.com Hello, my SUMite friends. It’s a chilly winter’s day in Sydney. But the sun has come out after a morning of drizzle and cloud. I’ve been studying growing relationally with Lord through our prayer both individually and within a corporate church environment. One element struck me that I…
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God’s Heavenly Perspective
Ann here! I remember God showing me once, that during my SUM I would grow, grow and grow some more. I would grow until I was so tall and spindly that I would see everything with a heavenly perspective. He said, however, that I would cry a lot of tears as I grow. Oh yes,…
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Our Life Storyline
My friends, Ann here. Ok, so I've got this funny quirk. I do believe it's a quirk God gave me, but sometimes I think God gives us some crazy quirks. Do you have one, I wonder? Anyway… Mine's this: I take especially careful note of the things that happen in my days, and I record…
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Summertime Stillness!
Photo courtesy of asadphoto and Pexels.com I’m writing this post on a chilly winter’s afternoon here in Sydney. However, I know for most of us, it’s summer in the northern hemisphere and many of you will be enjoying long days and hopefully some down time. Those of us in the southern hemisphere, I trust are…
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Pray Instead of Complaining. A Guest Post by Lisa MacFarland
Pray Instead of Complaining The people started complaining to Moses, “Give us some water!”Moses replied, “Why are you complaining to me and trying to put the Lord to the test?” Exodus 17:2 (CEV) After reading Ann’s post recently about the “deliciousness of a wife”, I posted a comment about how easy it is to give…
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This Principle of Faith is a MUST for the Unequally Yoked
Hi Sum Nation. Lynn Donovan here. I’ve been pondering the spiritual principals of the Kingdom of God. There are spiritual laws that are unbreakable and cannot be subverted. Just as there are laws in the natural (physical) realm there are principals set down by God, that when followed, result in a powerful life. For example,…
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Get Back to Basics — Guest Post by Lisa MacFarland
Today we have the blessing of a guest writer. Many of you will recognize Lisa MacFarland from the comments over the years, she has been such a solid encouragement to many, and we're so happy to have her hop on and write for us today. Over to Lisa — ** Hello, my name is Lisa…
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Jehovah Perazim: Breakthrough Power Within You
Hello, dear friends, it's Ann here. Last week we talked about life with the Holy Spirit. I so enjoyed those conversations. Well, this week I want to share a couple of simple stories — one today and one on Friday — to describe something the Holy Spirit did on an otherwise ordinary day. In each…
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Shift our Focus: A More Simple Life
Photo courtesy of Pexels.com and Scott Webb Ian from wintry Sydney here. Happy 4th of July for all my American friends. Fiona and I were reflecting the other night how ‘play’ has changed so much for our children and grandchildren. Being born in the 1960s and growing up in the 1970s, we’d spend hours and…
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Shift Your Focus
Photo by Ethan Sees from Pexels Happy New Year, my friends. I know it’s now February. Wow, where did January go? But this is my first post of 2022. I’m so looking forward to this year. Where is our Focus? A new year often brings new beginnings, new hopes, new challenges. Often it simply brings…
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Loving when it’s hard
Image courtesy of Tina Phillips at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Ann’s most recent post has lingered in my mind for a few days and I thought I’d reflect a little more on it. If that’s okay? Ian here from a sunny Sydney. We have those between a rock and a hard place moments don’t we? As I think I’ve…
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In the Moment
Image courtesy of tiverylucky at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Hello dear friends, Ian from sunny locked down Sydney. If you’ve followed my recent posts at the beginning of each month there’s been this consistent theme of connecting with God in the ordinariness of our day. For years, I think I often sought God in the big moments, hoping…
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Invite the Lord into the Ordinariness of Every Day!
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Hello, everyone. Ian from Sydney here. Last month I wrote a post on the seeking to live in the unforced rhythms of grace by taking on the Lord’s easy yoke. Increasingly, I’m discovering how important it is especially amongst the everyday stresses and strains that we all experience.…
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The easy yoke …
Image courtesy of hin255 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Hello, dear friends. Ian from a very chilly Sydney. I’m hoping those of you in the northern hemisphere are having lovely vacation time in warmer climes. We just finished a marvellous series from Ann on slaying giants. I was particularly grabbed by Ann’s idea of taking hold of 5…
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Born to Be Lovers
Image courtesy of SawBear at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Hi! Ian from wintry Down Under. Love! It tends to be something we compartmentalize, don’t we? It’s how we feel about our spouse and children, our parents and there’s this industry around romance, the books and movies. Strangely, or perhaps not so, it’s actually not talked about a lot.…
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“How long, Lord?”
Image courtesy of Janpen04081986 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Hello, dear SUMites, Ian from sunny Sydney. The world was turned on its head this time last year when the first people outside of China began to be diagnosed with this new virus strain which the medical community named COVID-19. The virus soon spread exponentially (a term that became…
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A Blessing of Peace
Image courtesy of blackzheep at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Hello, my SUMite friends. Ian, from Down Under here. I trust everyone is holding up okay under the continued stress of the global pandemic. It has sure been an unsettling time for all of us and finding ‘peace’ can be especially difficult. One of the blessings of the Beatitudes…
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How Do We Linger Long with the Lord?
Dear friends, Ann here. Last week I shared a story about a shift in my home. A good shift. If you missed that post, you can read it here. Essentially, a peace came and settled between me and my hubby, and we stopped having disagreements about faith or church. Wonderful! Perhaps at some point in…
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Living an Extra (Ordinary) Life
Photo courtesy of Stuart Miles and FreeDigitalPhotos.net Hello, dear friends. Ian from sunny Sydney here. It’s a big few days in America with the election and we all around the world watch on eagerly with prayerful hearts. Recently, I came across a little-known Saint, Alphonsus Rodriguez, who lived in Spain in the 1500s. Rodriguez was…
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Calm in the Storm
Image Courtesy of Serge Bertasius Photography and Free Digital Photos.net Hi, Ian here from sunny Sydney. Wow, who could have imagined when I wrote about supernatural happenings and wilderness experiences in my last post that a few weeks later almost the entire would be thrust into wilderness. It’s scary with how fast things have moved.…
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To Cherish …
Hi friends, Ann here! The other day I noticed something new about marriage in scripture. It was like a big flashing light-bulb going off in my mind, so I thought I’d share it. See what you think of this: In the Bible there are a few key scriptures about marriage, as we know. But what…