My teenage self

SABC 3 is currently running a lunch time rerun of the 80's hit show McGyver. Back then I had to watch the show at my friend Tamsyn's house because I attended youth meetings on a Friday night and we didn't have a video machine.

Odly now, my video machine was broken and I've had to ask my friend Selma to PVR the shows. Spending time last night at Selma's place watching some of the shows was such a great girls night and brought back great memories. What I remember most............ That heart pounding, head over heels teenage crush! As far as I was concerned, I was going to marry McGyver! Blush!

It got me thinking, does God ever have a crush on us? Oh I believe he does! When God hears us worship, I mean the out loud, hands held high, passionate kind, I believe God spins in joy, enjoying our adoration.

King of Rock King of Pop

Elvis Presly and Michael Jackson had a couple of things in common. They both had an electric magnatism that drew crowds and their performances on stage set the music world on fire.

Both Presly and Jackson started new movements in music. Presly ruled the birth of rock music while Jackson will always be the undesputed king of pop.

Sadly for both the intense invasion of the world on their private lives and an inability to seperate career and home life lead to drug addiction which ultimately cost them their lives.

Truth is when we deny the source of our gift we are unable to receive the strength necessary to sustain our gift. If we allow the grace of God to guide us and we allow God to build character within us, we can have the foundation for building strong and successful lives and ministries.

Time traveller

Scientists have long proposed theories of an alternate universe. Some way for us to travel backwards or forwards in time. Yet we have not been able to achieve this because of the limits of our understanding of our dimensions.

God doesn't live confined to these dimensions. He is omnipotent (all powerful), omnicient (all knowing) and omnipresent (present everywhere, at once, throughout the time space of eternity). Mind blowing isn't it???

Have you ever wondered how with all the evil in this world today, God can still find it in his heart to forgive mankinds sin? Well he can because right now he still sees his Beloved Son, whipped, pierced and hanging on the cross of Calvary!

Although nearly 2000 have passed on our time scale, God is still present at the moment of the crucifixion. Wow! God is awesome and our only response can be to bow down and worship!

Wrapped up tight

My favourite time of day is that moment once all the lights go out, my head hits the pillow and the duvet is wrapped all round me. On a good night that means I'm lights out any moment.

The comforts of home make us feel safe and secure. God desires for us to have the same feeling of security in our relationship with him. When we allow the Holy Spirit to minister to us we truly can feel the arms of God wrapped around us.

Drawing close to God and his presence can be difficult if you have never experienced that before. I'd like to help by encouraging you to pray this prayer:

Precious Lord Jesus, I come to you today asking you to forgive me of my sins, cleanse my heart Lord and renew me. Precious Holy Spirit, I ask you to make the manifest presence of God known to me. Wrap me in your love and hold me close. I Love you Lord! Amen!

P.S. As winter draws near in the South pray with me that God would help those less fortunate than ourselves this year.

14 X 9

It isn't very big, but it is very treasured! A small postcard sized water panting given to me by a very dear friend. All artwork somehow tells a story.

I'll never forget an interview Oprah had with Matthew McConaughey about the making of the movie, "We are Marshall". Matthew recounted how he had been gripped by the story of this American town that had lost an entire football team in a plane crash and how he felt compelled to tell others their story.

Actors have the rare opportunity to tell other peoples stories. In my writing I won't know now if I'll ever get he opportunity to tell other peoples stories but I'm grateful to God for the opportunity to tell my own.

I can only hope and pray that by telling my own stories, I will be able to encourage others to live their lives for God!

Is it telepathy?

This evening I gave Ginger some tuna while Honey was out. Upon exiting the lounge, I jokingly suggested that Ginger tell Honey that there was tuna on offer when he went out. Sure enough a few minutes later Honey arrived and went straight to the food stand.

I am pretty sure they must have touched noses outside somewhere. Animals communicate in the most amazing way. Touch, smell, body language. All without saying a word that we would understand. I often wonder if they have some sort of telepathy as well, a secret language we don't understand.

We have a secret language the devil doesn't understand. It's talking in tongues. That wonderful language we are given when we are baptised in the Holy Spirit. Using this language allows us to communicate with God in a unique and powerful way.

Sharpville

I must admit that I used to be one of those people that says: “We've been in a democracy for nearly 20 years, why can't we just forget about the past and move forward!” Well the thought came to me the other day that for those who do remember the abuse, the torture, the murders and the poverty in which so many of our South African brethren still find themselves in, how can we ask them to forget?

Today we celebrate Human Rights Day in South Africa (formerly known as Sharpville day). Today I must ask for forgiveness from all for whom I have had so little regard for their past experiences.

So today as we celebrate this day that had such huge impact on our lives, let us not forget the sacrifices of those that have gone before us! May we all learn to remember the past with gratitude but look forward to the future with hope!

Num gum

Oh the pain! Dental procedures are always a nightmare. Two anesthetics later I knew that once the drugs wore off this one was gonna hurt! The anesthetic though is critical to the success of any procedure.

In early medicine many different substances were tested. Some cases had tragic consequences ending in death due to the effects of the medications not being truly understood! Today it has become a highly specialized field.

In the modern Church, Pastors have become a specialized skill. With all the drama that life throws at us a Pastor needs to have the skills necessary to work skillfully with believers. You could say that Pastors have become our spiritual surgeons.

In life there are times when we need some spiritual anesthetics. Dealing with wounded souls often means that a little surgery is needed to bring healing in specific areas. Make sure that when undergoing such procedures that you deal with someone skilled enough to do so.

Let's all give a little appreciation to our Pastors!

Blind side

I love, love, love watching Survivor, even if SABC 3 is a season or so behind...... and the best move.... the blind side. Sad thing is in life the devil is a master artist at the blind side move on us. So how do we get ahead in the game?

Well here's a couple of tools I can think of that we need in our back pack go help us along our way:

• Binoculars: The word of God gives us our long term view and helps us maintain our vision. I mean we do finish up in heaven don't we?
• Head lamp: The Holy Spirit will show us things to come, lighting up our medium term path.
• Torch: God's word not only gives us a long term view, but helps us navigate in the dark, with our daily reading of the word to encourage us and keep us going.
• Periscope: The testimony of those that have gone before us, can give us the insight we need when we need to see around a bend.
• Rear view mirror: The Spirit of the Lord is a discerner of the thoughts and attitudes of the heart, helping us to judge incidents in our lives and find their true meaning.
• Rope: When we are stuck in the storm, the rope that binds us to our fellow believers in Christ will help us stay on the path.
• Anchor: If at sea, our anchor of faith helps ground us when our faith in God is tested.
• Sail: Hope flies as our flag and sail, catching the thermals of God's spirit powering us on our way to God.
• Compass: Our compass not only guides us on our way but at it's heart is a cross which is the rock of our salvation.

So you see, we have a whole lot of tools to guide us on our way! So safe travelling along in the game of life :-)

Wake up

On Saturday I decided to take a rest day. Thing is on Sunday when I dragged myself out the house I couldn't figure out whether I had stayed in bed, to rest and get healing or whether I was perhaps avoiding something that needed attention.

We all need rest at one point or another, but if we are hiding away from addressing real issues in our lives all we are actually doing is burying the problem. At some point, it will come out. So I suppose what we need is to ask God to wake us up in inside.

We all need a touch from the Holy Spirit to refresh, revive and rejuvenate us. If you are feeling a little dry and lifeless, pray this prayer with me: “Precious Holy Spirit, come into my life in a new way, refresh, revive and restore my Spirit, so that I may be able to stand strong and fulfill the purpose for which God has created me! Amen.”

Clue No. 2

The second hint that the seasons are changing is that my sinuses go balistic twice a year at the onset of Autumn and Spring. It's so painful that I wish I could cut my nose off.

That reminds me of the movie "Face Off". I didn't like the violence but it sure had an intersting story line. The idea of identities being switched though is not a new concept.

Doesn't scripture tell us that Christ who knew no sin took on the identity of man and became sin for us? Jesus knew what that switch would mean. Taking the penalty for our sin would mean his death, yet he pressed on knowing that our salvation was at stake.

Thank God for his sacrifice!

Wimpy breakfast

Wimpy breakfasts are wicked. For days before and after popping in for a morning munchie I can actually smell the beacon. My taste buds water at the thought. It's amazing how the human brain can do that.

It's sense memory. Once we've experienced something our brain stores the memories along with the colours, smells sounds and feelings. The sad thing is that this happens with all of our bad and traumatic incidents as well.

What we need to overcome these negative events is the help of the Holy Spirit to heal those memories. When we allow God to minister to us we can experience the healing touch of God in the midst of those memories.

If you have memories you need healed, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you through this process! God is near and his desire is to minister to you!

Pinned

The first sign I had that the season was changing was waking up to my kitties sleeping on either side of me, pinning me down. The one thing I truly love about living on the highveld is that you really do experience the seasons and Autumn is definitely my favourite time of year!

I love the autum colours, probably because they compliment my Red hair, but the sound of leaves crackling as you walk is so much fun. The one mistake we often make in autumn is fearing the onset of winter and the cold it brings.

Life too goes through seasons and hard times will come. The hope we have is that the winter will pass and soon enough we will enjoy the glory of spring and joy of Summer. It is then that we understand the meaning of Solomons wise words, "to everything there is a season".

Needs a little oil

When my late grandmother's wardrobes arrived last year I had planned to keep the one wardrobe in my second bedroom. Once it was placed I soon realised that it was too large for the space so the only option was to put it on the patio.

On the upside it made the patio feel more part of my living space. On the downside I had no idea how it would respond to exposure to the weather. During the dryer months it managed well but when the rain started I could see I had a problem on my hands.

Not too sure how to treat it, I left it for a while. On Saturday I decided to see how it would respond to intensive polish treatment. Noticing an improvement but still not happy I bought wood oil. Wow! What a difference it made. The beauty of the wood came shining straight through.

One spot still needs a little more attention. So too, it is with our spiritual lives. When we are dry and cracked we can ask God to pour out the oil of his annointing on us. Some areas of our lives will need more oil than others. God is faithful and will always restore us to brilliant shine!

Car wash day

Car wash day is always fun. My little Atos gets cleaned, polished and washed inside out. After a few hours of spoeg and polish, she's shining like a new penny. Truth is a clean car is easier to drive as the windscreen doesn't frost up as quickly.

Clear vision all round ensures greater driver safety. As with cars, our emotions sometimes need a little cleaning. I find in order to cleans the soul that creative exercises reboot my thinking and refresh the soul. This enables me to see life with new meaning.

A refreshed soul is a great asset as it can be our fountain of life and energy. When our source of strength is restored we are able to get back to our daily routine with renewed creativity, allowing us to find new solutions to life's complex challenges.

At it again

So our Sun has been at it again. Massive solar flares the size of atomic bombs and despite all this explosive behaviour, it still has roughly 5 billion years to go before it goes extinct. The vast expanse of this time is incomprehensible to man but for an everlasting God it must be like batting an eye lid.

What is even more mind blowing is that this God who created everything and exists in eternity, loved us enough to give us his most precious gift! His Son, hanging on a cross made by man out of wood from trees created by God...... a total mind bender.

We never truly will ever comprehend the scale of God's love and mercy towards us. He planned all of creation for that one moment when we would stand before him with repentant hearts and say, “Yes Lord, I receive you as Lord and Saviour!” To God........ all of eternity is worth that one moment!

Power'less'

Our reliance on modern technology is frightening. Ever been at a checkout when the power goes down? What happens? Everybody stands around with blank faces and I think to myself, "doesn't anybody use invoice books anymore?" Eish!

Technology guarentees speed and accuracy but it also takes away our ability to think and reason. For many people problem solving has become a lost art. Pushing a button on a computer to get an answer creates the expectation that to all of life's problems there should be an instant solution.

In life and in faith there are no instant answers. We have to learn to stretch ourselves and apply ourselves to the challenges we face. The only plus we have is that with God we know all things are possible and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit we can search for truth and find God's desired solution to our problems.

Sold

I'm a pretty hard sale. If I'm not in the market for an item, I'm just not interested. Then even if I am in the market, you're gonna have to impress! So when a sales man manages to tickle my ears with the words I want to hear.....I'm sold! Nothing is going to change my mind once I'm set on an idea.

God employs a slightly different strategy. The word tells us that it is the goodness and kindness of God that leads us to repentance. God doesn't use force to persuade us to accept Christ into our lives or to make the changes we so desperately need, he gently shows us his mercy and love.

Accepting Christ into our lives is the most powerful decision we will ever make. This choice will not only impact on our lives but those of the people around us. When people see the truth of God at work within us they too will be sold on the idea of having a relationship with our precious Lord!

Magazine lifestyle

I enjoy magazines every now and then, but I find that the one sense I'm left with is the sense of frustration. That's because magazines often paint a picture of the perfect life that just simply isn't attainable.

Sure there are pockets of truth and amazing tips to pick up, but we simply cannot live the picture perfect life. There simply is no such thing as perfect.

What we will find when we allow our souls to find a place of rest is a contentment that is deep and lasting. We may not have the latest techno gadgets or DSTV but when when we find contentment in the company of our pets and lovely home made cup of coffee, can anything get better than that?

Sunshine D

Vitamin D is best obtained from exposure to the Sun, hence the reason it is called the Sunshine Vitamin. It contributes greatly to the human immune system and is known for helping prevent many diseases like bone density deficiency, mortality in the elderly, cardio vascular disease, asthma, cancer, multiple sclerosis, infections like influenza and may others.

Vitamin D is essential to a healthy life therefore we should ensure we obtain ample supply of it. The word of God is our spiritual vitamin D. It sustains our spiritual life and ensures that our spiritual strength is maintained.

We need to make sure that we find ways to get ample doses of God's word into our life. In our world today with the amazing technology we have, doing this has become so much easier. We can sign up for devotionals and get daily scripture feeds to our phones and computers easily. I would encourage you to do everything you can to get your daily dose of God's spiritual sunshine D.

Heat treatment

Aquamarine is the birthstone for March. The name coming from the Roman words “Aqua” meaning water and “Mare” meaning sea. The Romans believed it was sacred to Neptune and would grant safety while at sea. In ancient times the stone was also used heal disease and reverse poisoning.

This beautiful crystallized mineral rock, unlike other gemstones, is often flawless. The most interesting fact about Aquamarine is that it is often heat treated to change the colour from less desirable colours to the brilliant clear blue it is loved for.

This makes me wonder. In life we often face tough challenges which produce heat and friction. The challenge is, do we allow that heat to destroy us, or like Aquamarine can we turn those situations for good and allow them to bring out the beautiful colours that God has created within us?

My hope is that through these challenges with the help of the Holy Spirit we can grow to see the beauty of God manifested within us.