It did hurt

It hurt even more than I thought it would, but for the time being I feel I have made the right decision to protect my life and home. I do care though and gave the young lady enough provision to see her through for a while. At least if nothing else it buys me time to think.

Once enough time has passed maybe the right solution will present itself. Maybe it is best to leave things the way they are now OR maybe it is best for her to work under supervision. Maybe the best solution is to help her find an income independent of myself.

We all wrestle with decisions and wonder if we have done the right thing. God did too. Yes, that might sound surprising but we see many times in scripture where God changed his mind.

After wiping out all earths inhabitants we see regret when God declares to Noah, 'Never again will I destroy all mankind' (paraphrased). After threatening to destroy Nineveh, seeing their repentance God changes his mind. He spared them much to the embarrassment of Jonah.

If I have erred, I pray that God will guide me to corrective action. If not, I pray for confirmation. In all life's struggles all we can do is trust and lean on God. He is our devine source of strength and wisdom.

Ouch it's gonna hurt

Today I'll have to do something I've been dreading all week, and that is to dismiss my maid. Unfortunately the damages she caused last week are severe and myself and my neighbour do not feel safe leaving her alone in our homes any more and we can't be around to supervise.

It may seem like a heavy action to take but there are times in life when we just have to face the punishment for our sins. God may forgive our sins but he will never remove the consequences. Facing the consequences of our actions is sometimes the only way we learn and change our behaviour.

The challenge really is to hand our punishment with love so that we can grow from the situation. It's hard to put words to the feeling of sadness and I understand well how a parent must feel when punishing a child.

Praying as always for God's wisdom in the situation.

Mov'in right along

There were many movies that made it on to our kid hit list, one of them being the one “The Muppet movie,” and favourite song.... Mov'in right along.... duppie dum duppie dum! Lol! The very literal translation of turn left at the fork in the road being a favourite.

Don't you just wish that in life the directions and sign posts were that clear? But would life really be any fun if we were just moved around like puppets (sorry Muppet's)? No I don't think so. I also don't think that it would be God's desire to move us from one point to another. How do we ever get to know God's voice, if we don't have to trust him for guidance?

The very fact that the decisions we need to make require us to spend time in God's presence and to seek his voice are what drives our relationship with God and causes us to be more dependant on the Holy Spirit. Thus when he speaks, we obey and the mystery of God's plan unfolds before us, we learn to love and trust him more and more.

So if you're at that fork in the road, spend some time with God and read his road map (bible) and I know God will guide you to the right decision and he will get the Glory!

Breezy very breezy

So I got out of bed this morning and something didn't feel right, kinda cold I'd say. It didn't take long to figure out that my pyjama pants had said enough is enough and ripped from side to side. Lol! Was a breezy walk to the bathroom.

Do you feel like life is falling apart at the seams? That's when we need a master seamster. He mends the broken hearted, zips up broken marriages and masterfully patches lives destroyed by addiction.

When we allow God to be our seamster he can restore any damaged garment to be fully restored and better than ever!

Need a little help with some mending? I know a guy ;-)

Oh what a Thursday!

Last week Thursday was just not my day. After a tough day at work my joy of seeing my babies when I arrived home was short lived, when I was suddenly faced with bird kill in my lounge, my little monsters had done it again. I calmed myself and went to home cell. After cell, I finished my house chores and was preparing for bed, when my neighbour called frantically with an emergency.

Our mutual maid had left a tap open during a water cut and her apartment had been flooded. We cleaned for nearly two hours to clear the bulk of the water but the damage was was extensive. During the clean-up I had returned home to collect supplies and when we finished I returned home, only to find that I had locked myself out.

It took me a while to get in but eventually collapsed into bed. In the midst of a crisis it is very hard to see God's redemptive hand at work but we have to have faith that God has not become “Old shut eye” but that he is our ever present God and knows how to resolve the situation.

The situation will no doubt require some tough decisions and major changes but I believe God will grant wisdom and strength to make the decisions and changes. Our God shall supply and his name will be lifted and we will see the salvation of our God!

Engine noise

I always smile if I arrive home and my cats come to greet me when I open the car door. Cats have an amazing ability to recognise the destinct sound of the engine of their masters automobile.

I'm sure God delights equally when he draws his presence near us and we recognise his presence and respond to him. God's desire to fellowship with us is such an awesome privilege.

An even more amazing thing is that the more we become sensitive to his presence, the more he reveals himself to us. If you haven't felt God near in a while, just pray, "God I ask that you fellowship with me today." Then watch and listen :-)

War wounds

I don't now about you, but I've got scars all over my body. Most on my knees, but there's a nasty one over my eyebrow. Being partially deaf, my balance has never been good, so tripping up, especially as a kid was a regular occurance.

The amazing thing for me about scars is that they stand testimony to the human bodies ability to heal itself. In life we all have been wounded in one way or another and these wounds do leave emotional scars.

When we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives we have the annointing to heal from those wounds. As the scars heal we are able to reflect back on those incidents and remember but not feel the pain.

Sometimes we may look back on our old hurts and still feel pain there. That means that God isn't finished working there and that we have only healed to the degree that our subconscious can handle. As we pray we allow the Holy Spirit to open that old wound and remove the infection before he heals us further.

Unpredictable

I had a chat with someone today who thought I was going to be very angry that they had made a mistake with something. NOT. If there's one thing I know and claim as a fundamental human right is that we all make mistakes, especially if the act was unintentional. We all need to show a little grace.

After all, isn't that what God gave us, and so much more? Doesn't Ephesians 2 v 8 tell us that we are saved by grace and that we could not have earned it? The gift of salvation is free and given with grace and I feel we should give love and forgiveness freely as well.

The more we give the grace of forgiveness the more people will trust us with their love. Yes, love should be unconditional but we must remember that we are fallible and it is hard to give love freely, therefore we must act with patience.

Palony juice

Lol!  I get such joy reading about the funny things, other people's children do.... ROTL!  Reminds me about one little black book my old man used to keep (I wish I knew where that went to).  Any time my sister and I got up to mischief or did something that tickled his sense of humour, he'd write it down, only to be used as ammunition in our teenage years if we thought we were getting a little too big for our boots. 

So okay, now I have to spill the beans on myself.  I used to have a little "remedy" that worked any time I was feeling nauseous.  That was good old Marmite of course.  Somehow on day I'd left my spoon full of Marmite in the fridge, and who knows what dripped into the spoon, but when I went back to take a lick..... the only thing I could compare the taste too was Palony, Lol!  I uttered in disgust, "It tastes like Palony juice."  ....... I never did live that one down and fear this blog will come back to haunt me.

Funny enough I was reading the tail end of Jonah today (excuse the pun) and just couldn't help smiling at Jonah's tantrum when God didn't bring down fire and brimstone and destroy Nineveh like he said he would.  I imagine God must have smiled too wondering what to do with his spoiled little prophet (funny how we don't know the rest of that story).  I can only imagine that Jonah survived the humiliation and lived the rest of his days serving God humbly.

So is there any lesson to this tail / tale?   Not really, I just needed a laugh and thought you could do with one too!

Humdinger

Rarely have I seen such a thrilling soccer match. The UEFA final between Bayern Munich and Chelsea last night was a humdinger! With minutes to spare before the final whistle was due to blow, Bayern scored and it looked like it was game over for Chelsea.

Drogba was going to have none of that and his header sent the teams into extra time. Another 30 minutes of play and a dramatic penalty shoot out saw Chelsea win on penalties 4-3.

It took shear determination not to give up! How relavant in the warfare we face with Satan in every day life. How often don't we face circumstances in life and feel that's game over for us.

Luckily we don't need to fear because our header came from our Champion Jesus when He took that final breath on the cross and said, "It is finished!" All we have to do is show up on the pitch and play.

Buzz..... thud!

It must have been the antibiotics that had me on a bit of a buzz yesterday, but today I landed back on earth with a bit of a thud (well that's my excuse at least).  I could easily be tempted into saying that I don't "feel" happy, but truth be told it was a rather peaceful, quiet day.

We often confuse happiness and joy and sometimes get dragged into moodiness by "his serpentness".    What we must never forget is that happiness while being a valid emotion is not permanent and we need to learn to live in the Joy of the Lord which is a powerful, spiritual force.

Joy can take the ordinary and make it awesome simply by remembering that God is always with us and we are never alone.  Practicing God's presence daily takes work and it doesn't just happen by itself.  Knowing that God is our source of Joy and strength will sustain us even when life is on it's normal roll.

Redeem the time

We all believe Romans 8:28 "All things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to his purposes," but we seldom understand how God will do that.  It's the principle of redemption.  God redeems everything that is lost or damaged and restores it back to himself in a greater glory than it first existed.  Part of this redemption may only take place in heaven but there is much that we can learn from this principle and receive into our lives now.

 

I was bemoaning being sick with tooth problems this week but God said: "Redeem the time. Use it for something productive, spend time in my presence."  God has a purpose behind slowing us down. He wants more of our attention for himself.  I've learned over the years that God is a jealous God and when something takes our attention off him, he will remove that thing until he gets our attention back on himself. 

 

Focus on God, spend time in his word and build strength in your spirit so that when he releases you into your calling you can be busy but still focus on him.  Wash dishes while praising his name, scrub floors with his presence all around you and soon you'll see your eyes lifted off your circumstances and directly into his will for your life.

 

Do you know why?

How appropriate!  Ecclesiastes 11:5, "As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things." We all ask the question at times, "Why God?" I wish I had the answer but the writer of Ecclesiastes let's us know that we are not alone. 

Trusting God when things seem to be going wrong can be really hard, but it's at times like these that I remember a well known hymn:

Simply trusting every day, trusting in the usual way.  Even when my faith is small, trusting Jesus that is all. 
Trusting as the days go by, trusting as the moments fly, trusting him, whatever before, trusting Jesus, that is all!

Health Challenge

Some time back I was battling with constant migraines. After months of work, I managed to get them under control again. During that time a wise friend challenged me about my thinking about the migraines. The challenge was that I had started to own the migraines calling them “mine”.

After much thought I realized that of course he was right. What also came to remembrance were my early years in Johannesburg. I really struggled with the climate change and started getting bronchitis at regular intervals. At that stage I was in bible school and was really challenged by the teachings we had about divine healing.

Through these challenges and the ones I face now, I am learning the reality that in order to walk in God's divine health we need to apply and stand in faith when we are well. When we do, we make deposits into our faith bank to withdraw on later, but when we don't we not only leave the back door open for Satan to come in and attack us but we do not have the spiritual strength we need when sickness attacks.

If you are struggling with your health now, do what you have to in order to get well, but once you are, wake up every day and pray, “Lord Jesus, I thank you for my health today and I choose to live by faith.”

Breakfast and shopping

It's always bitter sweet spending time with friends that live in a different city to yourself, especially if there is an ocean between you. Bridget and I went to Clear Water Mall for breakfast and then did some shopping. There were times I was feeling guilty that we weren't “doing something special”.

It didn't take long to realize that just doing anything together was really special. I also know now more than ever that no ocean or continent can separate true friendship. Aren't those words echoed in scripture?

Didn't Paul in Romans 8:34-39, “ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ..... For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

What God desires is for us to know his friendship wherever we are, so whatever you find yourself doing now, just pray, “Lord, spend time with me today.”

Look at the moon

This week we saw another amazing super moon. This happens when a full moon occurs during the time when the moon is closest to the earth in its orbit. This super size moon has been beautifully photographed around the world.

Isn't it amazing how much light a full moon brings. Lighting up the dark spaces of night it helps us find our way. So too with the word of God. The word brings light and truth into the darkest spaces of our hearts and helps us to see clearly as to the direction our lives should take.

Often in life we have to make difficult choices. When we spend time in God's word it brings clarity. When we have a clear vision of where we should go, making choices becomes easier. If you are struggling to find a way out of a troubled situation, let the word of God bring light into your darkness and you'll soon have the answers you are looking for.

Just worship you

I love to pop my cats up on a chair and tickle them under the chin. When I do they close their eyes and lift their chins up for more tickles. I usually grab the opportunity to kiss them on the nose and say, "I looove you!" they don't like being kissed but purr away happily.

I felt God tug at my heart the other day saying, "When you close your eyes and lift your face towards heaven to worship me, that's when I can bow down and kiss YOUR face and say I looooove you!"

God desires our worship, not because he wants to feel important. He desires our worship because that's when he can draw close and allow us to experience his presence and his love for us.

Eeeeggggg......splotion

Don't know about you but I've had the misfortune of having an egg explode in my microwave (many years ago of course) :-) Lol! By the loud bang it produces, you'd swear that your home was under terrorist attack.

Worste case scenario though, there's just egg everywhere. We've all heard the acronym F.E.A.R. - False evidence appearing real. That's where the devil wants us to live, camped out at FEAR's door.

No! Get up, give yourself a smack and start confessing God's word over your situation. Remember this, "It's not by power, nor by might, but by my Spirit," says the Lord!

Cat walk

No I don't mean the ramp model kind, Lol! Yesterday I took my cat's for a walk down to our complexes pool area. A walk we like to do on Sunday's.

Usually on the way back they hang back a bit and then run up once I call them. This time it was a "Tag, race you back to the finish line" as they charged up the hill which had me laughing out loud!

To see such competitiveness in sibling cats is amuzing. It's their natural playfulness that makes them such a pleasure to watch. God delights just as much when we whole heartedly have fun and enjoy each others company.

So, tag you're it! Game on!

Pop-ups

Four Vodacom shops and a few hours of frustrating set up later, my new PC is up and running.

During programming from various sites, I encountered various pop-ups that 'looked' like the program I needed so they inadvertantly got installed along with the ones I did need. At the end I had a whole bunch of programs that had to be uninstalled.

Often in life while searching for the truth of God's word, we may encounter people or doctrine that appears to be the truth we are searching for, when in fact they are not.

We need to use wisdom and caution when accepting doctrine into our lives to ensure that our hearts are only programmed with the essentials of God's word.

Techno crash!

Oh how I wish that was the title to a new rap song. Sadly it's not. My PC has given me official notice that it intends to stop working any time now. Luckily it has just enough steam to keep going for a little while longer. Long enough to give me time to get everything backed up on the net.

I've managed to backup all my documents, so tonight it's the pictures, then I'm ready for it to give up the ghost. A while back a friend tried to encourage me to use drop box but it all just seemed like too much fuss. Well I've vowed to turn that inconvenience into a discipline!

Why is it that in life and in our relationship with God we avoid doing the necessary simply because it seems to be too much work? We cry out for God to speak to us, yet we refuse to take the time to read the word.

If we want God to speak to us and we want answers to prayer, we must go to where God can do so. Will you take time out for God's word today?

May's Emerald

Northern hemisphere spring in May is a time of new growth and rebirth.
The intense brilliant green of the Emerald, May's birthstone, is as
refreshing to the eyes as a spring garden after a rain. Within its
depths are often tiny fractures or inclusions, which the French call
"jardin," or garden, because of their resemblance to foliage.

When we look within our own lives we may see fractures or breaks.
These breaks may be caused by a love lost, failure in business or
finance or maybe an emotional or physical break down, or many other
reasons. The question is, do we see those breaks as opportunities for
new life and new growth? When you want a tree to grow you must first
prune it and remove the dead foliage, so to with life.

The Emerald is a member of the beryl family of minerals. The green
crystals grow slowly within metamorphic rocks and are restricted in
size by the rock, making large Emeralds rare and costly. Our growth
in God too can be slow, put with patience we will develop into
priceless jewels in his kingdom.

May Day

Google May day and you'll be surprised at the response.  In America the day is celebrated to commemorate the Haymarket massacre in Chicago in 1886, however throughout the world there are different reasons that each of the 80+ countries celebrate the day. 

Workers rights have been fought for centuries on many different platforms but if you think of it what people are really saying is, "I am a human being and I deserve to be treated with dignity and respect."  We all long to be validated and feel that we are valued. 

The most powerful response we see to this cry in scripture is seen in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life!"  In God we are validated, valued, loved and respected.  We must learn to find our sole identity in Christ!