Library search

Nelspruit was a beautiful town to grow up in. I remember to town library was especially beautiful. We spent many hours finding reading books and getting information from encyclopedia's for assignments...... Well that was in the days before computers.

Today, there isn't a single subject that you cannot Google and find information on. Yet with all this information, our search for God has never been more difficult.

Sure you can download bibles and study materials, but you cannot "download" God. that's because our search for him must be done with heart and soul. A mere mental knowledge of God does not build faith and trust. It is only when he has answered our secret prayers, that the reality of our relationship with him sinks in.

Will you open your heart to God today?

Flu bug

So I have the flu. How does that fit into your faith walk Christian? Well to me it's a reminder of the events that took place in the garden of Eden.

Adam and Eve's daily walk was in the direct, full presence of God. They however chose to disobey God's command and not only lost his presence but allowed the presence of evil to become a daily part of their life.

Well now I have a choice. I can be angry at my situation, or I can thank God for modern science that there are medications that can help control the symptoms. I know taking medicine is against some people's faith. The way that I see it, is that it is a gift of God to help me.

I thank God that he gave scientists the knowledge to create medicine and I thank God that as I rest in him, his Holy Spirit will work in me to bring healing.

Reminded....

Have you ever given someone advice and then some time later had somebody give you exactly the same advice about a situation in your own life? Well that's what happened to me today.

So often we go from one person to the next trying to look for advice, when all along the solution to our problem resides with in us. How is this possible?

Well when Jesus was getting ready to leave the disciples, he told them that He would send the Holy Spirit to us and that he would be our councellor, comforter and helper.

Next time you are in a bind, ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you and guide you. If you quite yourself, you will soon hear his gentle voice speaking to you and showing you the way.

Hang on baby!

They say that even at birth, a baby has enough strength in their grip to be hung by the hands from a pole. It seems this clinging ability is our first primal survival instinct.

I've heard some people say that Christianity is just a crutch. I beg to differ. If God has given us this clinging instinct from birth then surely as there are things we must cling to.

Things I am clinging to:
The promises of God are Yes and Amen!
The knowledge of our Salvation!
The love of God as our comfort!
The fellowship of the Holy Spirit!
The truth of his word!
Christ's victory over sin!

Yes, I there are definitely things we should cling to! ;-)

Thank you for caring

It is amazing how good it can feel when someone goes out of their way just to ask how you are coping with a particular problem. It is as if in that moment, the world gets lifted off your shoulders, just because someone showed you a moments care.

Caring can and should form the basis of the sharing of our faith with others. St Francis of Assisi is well known for his saying that at all times we should preach the Gospel and if necessary...... Use words.

The way we are able to care for the people God loves is the greatest testimony we can have to fact of of our love for and relationship with Christ.

What a day!

Today has turned into a day from Hell. Does it happen to you that when things go wrong they just go wrong in a number of ways at once? Well that's been my day so far.

Ironically I've been drawing strength from a devotional I subscribed to and it is being a real blessing. I suppose the moral of this story is that even the encourager needs some encouraging from time to time. You also can't give out what you are not getting in. If you do you will burn out.

Think of the people in your life that have blessed you spiritually in the last six months.
Lift them up in prayer and God lays it on your heart to so, send them some words of encouragement as well. They will be grateful that you did and it will be a wonderful way for you sew seed in someone else's life.

House keeping time

I just spent the day with my domestic worker training her on house cleaning. Wow, the house smells great and you can feel that it is clean. There is also something so therapeutic about cleaning.

You may even get brave enough to throw out a few thing that need to go and find new uses for items that have been hanging around idle.

Our spiritual lives can get like that too. We occasionally just need to be ruthless and get rid of bad habits, let go of old hurts or deal with painful set backs.

I'd like to challenge you to a little house cleaning of your own. You may be surprised at how good it feels when you are done.

Yummy yummy Red wine

I've spoken about an Avo tree taking a long time to bear fruit. The principle of maturation taking time applies to may other areas of life. A good wine is usually kept in Oak vats while it matures. As it does, it takes on the flavour and tones of the Oak it is stored in.

As we grow in our relationship with God, we are a bit like this wine. The more time we spend with God the more we take on his characteristics.

The general rule with wine is that the longer it matures the softer the flavour is on the pallet. This is true of us as well. The more we grow in God, the more the rough edges that makes us difficult to live with, get softened.

Give yourself time to grow in your relationship God and you'll slowly start showing your true.... Flavour!

My Avocado lesson

My dad used to love fruit trees. When we were living in Nelspruit he planted them everywhere in the garden. We had Paw paw, Mango, Litchi, and Tree Tomatoes. But........ his pride and joy were his two Avocado trees.

He had two, one summer bearing and one winter bearing. The astounding thing about Avo's though, is how long they take to bear fruit. On average an Avo tree will take six to seven years before it bears it's first fruit.

Shoeeeee, in our microwave generation we start something and expect it to work in a month. When it doesn't, we quickly write it off as a bad idea. Have you ever thought that it might be a good idea to just let it keep growing.

The very platform I am using to promote this blog "Facebook" started as a group of friends just trying to share their lives with each other. Nowadays you won't be able to go anywhere without finding someone playing on Facebook.

What ideas have you shelved? Maybe it's time to replant and just let it grow. God works best when we give our projects to him, and just let him do the rest!

Are you a survivor?

I'll confess! I love watching "Survivor". I love their motto,"Out wit, Out Play, Out last!" Have you noticed that it isn't the strongest or even the smartest players that make it to the end. It's the players that know how to manoeuvre their way through the web, the ones with the backup plan!

Well then, seeing as the devil will try anything to stop us in our tracks, isn't it time we learned how to outwit him? I'm up for that game. To be practical, I can only think of using my own current situation.

I suffer from migraines, so occasionally I'm man down for a day or so. You will have noticed that I tend to disappear from writing from time to time..... How am I going to get around that one..... I think I'm going to start writing a bit in advance. Takes much less energy to post a blog than to start from scratch.

So what can you do to outwit your opponent today?

Are good fences always best?

There is an old saying that good fences make good neighbours. This may be true that we need to have strong boundaries in our lives. I do however feel that open gates bring joy in community.

In our world today, large numbers of people live in small connected spaces in residential complexes and flats. In the midst of this instead of learning to find ways to get along, we spend our lives trying to destroy the very relationships we need to build a healthy community. (I'll admit I've done it myself).

We need to remember that most of us have landed in this close environment not because we wanted it, but because we have no choice. I think we should make every effort to bring peace and kindness although it may be necessary though to work through disagreements in order to find solutions to work together.

When last did you show an act of kindness to your neighbour or friend?

This blog is in honour of a neighbour who's act of kindness inspired this blog. Thanks Louise!

Naughty little counterfeit

I remember counting a cash float at a Health Club reception. While I was counting the notes, one came through my fingers that just didn't feel right. I held it to the light and...... Sure enough it was a counterfeit!

This is what satan does. He produces a lie that looks so real, the untrained eye would think it the truth. He knows that our love for God would repel us from anything blatantly evil, so he slips it in there in disguise.

We need to remember that the Word of God is our source for all truth. Anything the Holy Spirit shows us will always align itself to the Word of God as our "check point".

We need to make sure that we remember where our "True North" is: The word of God!

Walking through darkness

How many times have you been in a situation where you are in such difficulty that it feels like you can't see two feet in front of you? You feel so confused that it feels like there is just no way that you can know which direction to go in.

That's when depression often sets in and you feel as though nothing will ever come right. Trying to find pro-active solutions to your problem seem impossible.

We need to learn to deal with depression constructively. So here are a few pointers to help you:

Isolate one area that is depressing you and take action.

Tell yourself that this action brings you closer to your dream.

Focus on God's love for you.

Try to remember a word of prophesy or scripture that gives you hope.

Find a scripture that confirms you hope and gives you faith.

Ask God for his supernatural peace.

Thank God for your breakthrough.

Claim the Joy of the Lord as your strength.

Facebook only users: For a more detailed teaching, email me at: GWG.Ronwyn@gmail.com

Try and try again!

Sore feet from running round entertaining guests and having family round for dinner. Made my braai bread recepe again and it definitely came out better than the last time. It is great that in life we are given the opportunity to try things over again where we have previously failed.

I've learned in time that failure only becomes final, when we refuse to try again. Some failures are so painful that the mere thought of attempting to work at that area of our lives, freezes most into complete idleness. Relationship failures are the most painful to recover from.

God has a plan and purpose for our lives and that's why we cannot give up. We have to rise above the pain and try again. By God's strength we will eventually conquer and success will be sweet!

Fresh start

This week I have been given a small opportunity to have a "new start" with something I had messed up. I've realized again that hind sight teaches us what changes we need to make.

Well this is the opportunity we are given when we come to Christ and give our lives to him. He wipes away our sin and cleanses us from our wrong doing and gives us a clean slate.

The amazing thing is, that God doesn't only give us this opportunity once, but every day. 1 John 1 v 9 tells us that if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Wow! God is so good!

So what next?

So you've reached your goal and the question arises, what next? Many a sports star, actor and business person would tell you that the moment a goal is achieved, a deep sense of loss and even depression sets in.

These feelings are a result of the tremendous effort and sometimes stress that goes into achieving our goals. When the celebrations subside, there is a sense that we are not sure which direction to go into next.

Might I propose that in order to lessen the impact, it may be useful to start planning your next goal a little ahead of the finalization of your current goal. This will help with giving your something to look forward to immediately after the achievement of the current goal.

Where are you with your goal planning? Maybe it's time to stop and take stock?

Milestones!

Today marks my 100th blog! A very big milestone as I move towards my goal of 365. For most of us, at some point in our school career we would have had some training in having a vision and then goal setting. Milestones are important markers as we move through the process of attaining our short, medium and then eventually long term goals.

This process is no different in our spiritual walk. What usually sets most people back is the obstacles we encounter along the way. What we don't often remember is that these obstacles give us an opportunity to eliminate things that don't work in order to find what does work. Edisson is said to have tested many substances before he found the right one to make his electric light bulb work! Who knows how long it would have taken to make it work if he had not persisted.

Today I was hoping to announce the next phase of my blog development plan, but technical problems have delayed the launch! As frustrating as it may be I will not give up until I succeed.

I want to thank those who are faithfully supporting the growth of this project and humbly request your continued support. I hope that as we grow in God together, we may all reach our goals and dreams!

Love to you all!

Dealing with depression - learn to walk through darkness

Attached: Walking through Darkness.pdf

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Have you got it?

Passion - you know it when you have it and you know it when you see it. It's a force that drives us to do things we otherwise would never have the courage to do.

Passion drove Christ to the cross. Once he had submitted his will to his Father, set his mind on the task at hand and begun moving out of Gethsemane towards Calvary he needed only one thing to get him there - Passion!

His passionate love for us helped him endure the humiliation of a worthless trial, the agony of torture and the pain of death.

It was also this passion that gave him the strength to trust in the resurrection power of the spirit or God and the power to overcome the forces of evil in a dramtic, victorious resurrection.

Guess what? The same passion and resurrection power now dwells in you! .............. Use it!

Ghandi

There have been many great leaders in history that have taught us the value of making a non-violent stand. None more so after Christ than Ghandi. His message was clear, that a peaceful protest can and will yield a successful result.

This can be really difficult to do if you have defensiveness and agression built into your natural temperament. As we grow in God though our natural impulse reactions can be trained to focus in on God's word to help us gain control of bad behaviour.

The result in most cases will be that once you have calmed down you will soon be able to find support for your cause and be able to rely on the strength of others to help you through your difficult time.

So stop, calm down and go and talk to a few friends. Somebody out there has the answer you are looking for..... And oh yes, remember that Jesus loves you :-)

Getting started!

I don't know about you, but I find getting something started is always very difficult, especially if it is going to require some discomfort.

I'll take for example, getting going with studies each year. I find that it usually requires a surrender of my will to the task at hand. Once I've committed myself to the task, it's usually downhill from there.

I guess that is what Jesus was doing in the garden of Gethsemane. He had to wrestle with his spirit, until he was able to find that place of surrender. Once that was achieved, he could set his focus and determination to achieve what God had called him to do.

What are you wrestling with? Have you found that place of surrender yet? A resurrected life awaits you on the other side of your submission.

Seize the day!

Attending a funeral is always a sobering event. It reminds us of inevitability of our own passing. The other inevitable realization is how short our time on this earth really is. The question I always ask myself is, what will I be leaving behind? What will my legacy be to the people I leave behind.

An opportunity to witness the testimonies from a life that has glorified God in marriage, ministry, friendship and leadership is a true motivation to stay on the path that God has planned for you.

I'm hoping that in some small way I may be able to achieve just a little of that and inspire others to walk a closer relationship with God.

It is time to seize the day!

This blog is dedicated in loving memory of Ps Frank Donnely. Thank you for your love, dedication and leadership!

Packed like sardines

I remember a holiday in Cape Town a few years ago. Our trip had been planned to be flexible around the weather. One beautiful morning we decided to go up Table Mountain.

As we approached the main entrance into the cable way lift, an oldish Capetonian in a wheel chair was riding up and down shouting in Afrikaans, "Kom nou, almal in soos Sardientjies!" (For the non-afrikaans that means "in like sardines").

What struck me about him, was here was a man with a disability, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. He had a voice... And he was going to use it!

This man's positive attitude was simply infectious! He certainly was an encouragement to me to look to the bright side of life :-)