Everyday God - Amazon

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Energy burst

For some unknown reason I had a massive energy burst tonight. Not one to want to waste an opportunity I got stuck into some house cleaning.

In our relationship with God we need to learn to do that too. There may be the odd occasion when your plans change and you have an hour to kill.

Spend that time in the word of God. Give God some of your attention at an unexpected time and wait and see what God does next. He loves it when we steal a moment to spend with Him.

Oops off to bed I go!

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Places please

Have you ever wondered why the groom is standing at the altar waiting for his bride? He does this to show that he is the one initiating the covenant. This is important because whoever initiates the covenant takes on a greater responsibility for seeing it fulfilled.

Oh and where else have I seen this before? Oh yes, an altar call. God initiated the salvation covenant with us. He took up His place first by placing Christ on the cross so that we could come to Him of our own free will and commit to a relationship with Him. That is why we leave our seats and go forward to the front of the church (just like walking down the marriage isle).

Are you seeing the picture more clearly? I know I am. God says, “Here I am, come to me.” If you are reading this and you have not yet committed your life to a relationship with Christ, you can do so now. God is waiting for you, as eagerly as a groom awaits the bride.

He longs for you, go to Him!

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

The Ring

For most of us the symbols of the marriage covenant are simply tradition and we seldom pay attention to their meaning in scripture and the impact this has on our spiritual walk with God.

In ancient times there was no physical ring given between partners at the marriage ceremony. What did happen was that both partners were cut on what we now call the ring finger and then they would hold hands and mix the blood between them.

This mixing of blood symbolised the fact that their lives would now be mixed and joined. His blood for her and her blood for him. All covenants were sealed in blood which meant that they were eternal.

God sealed our salvation covenant with the shedding of His Son's blood on the cross to guarantee our salvation. We share communion today to remember Christ's sacrifice and remember our eternal covenant with God.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Clumsy cluts

Being the clumsy cluts that I am, I fell off my chair twice while trying to remove old items from the top of my cupboard so that I could put something else on top. I decided not to attempt it a third time, realizing that my blood sugar level was a bit low.

We've all had failed attempts at something. Like the time I decided I wanted to start my own business. “Well what's wrong with that” you ask? Well if it hadn't been for the fact that I was 23, no degree and wanted to start an accounting business, I might have got somewhere, Lol!

Failure isn't the end of the road. We might not have been properly equipped or maybe just got a little ahead of ourselves. The important thing to remember is to not let that stop you from moving forward in your relationship with God.

When we allow the Holy Spirit to minister to us in the midst of our failures, that is when we find true healing, forgiveness and strength. When we do get that opportunity to try again, we will be ready with more wisdom and grace to tackle the road ahead.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Tough as grass

Mary Mary quite contrary, how did you get rid of all that grass so that you could make your garden grow? Digging up grass in order to make a new flower bed must be the toughest part of starting a new flower bed. Grass has really stubborn roots and trying to get it out is a really big challenge.

Unfortunately in the process a bit bit of top soil is lost will need to be filled in again with good soil. That top soil could be many things. Sin, relationships, whether they be good or bad or habits that need to go.

Don't fear the losses in your walk with God, especially when it is people we need to part ways with. Even when those relationships have been good, they will have fulfilled whatever purpose God brought them into your life for and it is time for both of you to move on to greater things.

Habits can be tougher and require more work but once we are rid of those habits we can fill our lives with more positive habits that yield growth for our relationship with God.

Time to do a little gardening.



Thursday, February 21, 2013

Revel in it

Having time to get stuck in and do a heavy gardening session on a week night was just FANTASTIC! Working up a good sweat while seeing my garden continue on this next phase was really exciting.

What amazed me more was the one plant that I had brought back from my Durban trip. I was almost certain it wasn't going to survive, as soon after it arrived home it lost all its leaves. As I crossed my fingers tonight and pulled it out of its pot to plant it into the garden, there they were. Little white roots had sprouted and it was well on its way to recovery and growth.

Giving up the body corporate work was a hard decision and I know for sure the people involved took their actions intentionally to hurt me. What I found out very quickly was that as soon as I let go of the anger and resentment, I remembered all the wonderful things I used to spend my time on before I got involved.

There is nothing that will frustrate the devil more than seeing you happy when he has gone on an all out attack to make you angry. It can be really hard to let go but once you do, the joy is great and I will certainly revel in having more of my personal time back.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Out with the old

Someone once told me that in order to move forward in life we have to let go of what we don't want in order to grab onto what we do want and need. That means it has to be out with the old and in with the new.

You may not have noticed it but the last few days I've been in turmoil. Some individuals in the complex that I now 'used' to chair decided that they didn't like my way of doing things and decided a revolt was in order. This was followed by lie after lie. I'd been wanting to fight the situation but after an encounter on Monday night, felt it was time to let go.

You see I've done the Hercules waltz before and I know that now is the time to step back from centre stage and let the music take over. God in his time will always vindicate us when the time is right. The problem with this is letting go of all the hard work that I had put in over the last two years to save our complex from ruin and turn the situation around.

The big thing is, I have now let go and this freed up my spirit to look forward to a new spiritual path for the next season of leadership in my life. It is once again in the familiar and wonderful territory of starting my own home fellowship group.

I'm praying my new journey will bring with it fruit and joy!

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Fungus

So a short while ago, my Roses somehow got a fungus. I was quite upset as the thought of loosing my beautiful cerise pink roses was just so saddening. I had to take tough measures if I wanted any hope of saving the plants.

To get rid of the fungus, I removed them from the pot, and planted them into the garden, in the hope of improving their drainage. I also had to cut them right down, a little more than you normally would with pruning. Some good fungicide also got administered. I thought to myself that now it was all up to them, if they wanted to grow and survive then they would have to do so, I couldn't do so for them.

To my delight they have started growing again and the little branches are forming in a more beautiful formation than before. I am sure that over the next few months, I will once again be able to watch and enjoy them grow.

Sometimes in life we go through tough situations which may leave us feeling a little pruned. Plans we'd made are cut short and the goals we had are plucked out of our control. Yes these times are painful but we must allow nature (God) to do its work. With the right location (direction) and the right treatment (the healing power of the Holy Spirit) we will once again sprout new life in an area of our pruning and the result will be more beautiful than before.


Sunday, February 17, 2013

Canna hunt

I had decided that on the way home from work on Friday I should stop by at some of the spots I'd seen where some Canna were growing wild and dig some out for my garden.

I stopped at site one and walked to the field where they were growing. To my annoyance they were surrounded by thick grasses and trying to dig one out became impossible. I drove to site two but after checking the area, didn't feel safe and decided to rather abort the mission.

In our spiritual walk there will be times when we have made plans that we feel will work well but the obstacles in our way make it impossible to proceed. Other times we will get a check in our spirit and know that it is not the right course of action for now.

Don't get frustrated at those moments in life where things aren't quite going according to plan. If we wait on God and exercise patience, he will guide is to the right solution for our lives.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Love shock

On a day when we all celebrate love, South Africa woke up to a big shock. One of our elite athletes had been arrested in connection with the alleged murder of his girl friend in the early hours of this morning.

It has been a very long time since I have had my nose glued to the news but I just couldn't help watching as the layers of this story which will most likely continue for a long time still unfolded. Much of the news came as such a surprise for those of us who knew him little. All we can do is sit by the sidelines and watch.

Sometimes watching from the grandstands we see things we don't like. I often wonder how our loved ones who have passed must feel when we do things that hurt the heart of God? We owe it to those who have gone before us and those who will come behind us, to live lives that will honour to God.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Defy gravity

We pay it little thought, but we all are well aware of its effect. Gravity. What goes up, must come down. Mankind has found many ways to defy gravity. Aeroplanes and hot air balloons can both take us high into the sky but they too must come back down to earth.

Our faith and relationship with God are no different. We really do need those moments of being lifted high in worship. There is nothing on earth that can come close to the ecstasy of being totally wrapped up and consumed in worship. The pleasure is so great that many will do anything they can to stay in that state.

Being raptured in worship is supposed to have one lasting effect, to convince us of God's love for us and produce in us a heart of service. Service to God by serving the people around us. There are so many wounded and dying people in our world today. We need to take the knowledge of God's love for us which we have learnt in worship and share it with those around us.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Mind the ditch

There are many types of gravel tracks or roads. Some so treacherous you can only drive on them with a 4x4, while others seem seemingly flat and easy to drive on. It is however these seemingly easy roads that can have the most dangerous problem. They may well have ditches and donga's running along side them. Loose control of the steering wheel and you can easily slide into a ditch on either side.

Learning spiritual balance is much like this. For instance if you spend too much time focused on reading the word of God and don't allow His Spirit to move in your life, you could well end up spiritually dry and legalistic.

If you focus too much on the Spirit, going from one Spirit ministry service to the next looking for a fresh touch from God and never spend time in the word, you could well end up being unable to work on the more practical aspects of your faith.

The key is to stay somewhere in the middle of the track. Ensure you keep your speed under control and keep a tight grip on the steering wheel. Ensure you have enough time for the word and ensure that you take the opportunities to attend services or spend time with friends where you can be ministered too through the power of the Holy Spirit.


Monday, February 11, 2013

Moonlight and red lady

My mom came to visit this weekend and the time we spent together was really special. Mom was kind enough to sponsor 2 new Hibiscus bushes, one with a beautiful double yellow flower, named moonlight and one with a red flower named red lady.

The challenge was getting moonlight and red lady into the ground. It became evident very quickly that our complex was built on rocky terrain. There were so many rocks that had to be dug out just to make a whole big enough for the plants.

Amidst all the rock I hit a frightening white object. Thoughts of skeletons came to mind so it was a huge relief to finally figure out that they belonged to the roots of my giant Strelitzia. Phew!

It amazed me how this plants roots had managed to find life by slowly working its way through tons of rock. That's how our spiritual roots need to be, tough enough to anchor us down yet, supple enough to manage difficult terrain.

How do we develop roots like that? I'd love to say you could do it just by focusing on faith or love for example, but that simply would not be true! The only way is to remember that our spiritual life must be balanced. We must be willing to work on our overall spiritual growth.

I will talk more about that in the days to come. God bless!

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Erupted

April 2010, a volcano in Iceland erupts ejecting an estimated 330 million cubic yards of volcanic ash into the atmosphere. The enormous ash cloud, which rose to a height of approximately 30,000 feet, created the largest air travel disruption since World War II.

We all have those events and moments, when it feels as if our world has come to an end, a cataclysmic shift takes place within us and we are never the same from that moment on.

The amazing thing about ash is that on its own it does little good to the earth, but mixed with the right amount of manure and a few other components it actually dramatically improves plant growth.

That is how we must view these events. Yes, they are devastating but the good that can come out of them if worked with correctly can dramatically and positively improve our future.

If you are going through such a traumatic event, hold fast to your faith and don't let go!

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Shimmer

While applying a new fragrance from the body lotion series I normally use, I noticed that the lotion was slightly grainy, but I had no idea why. I paid it little thought until driving to work. As the sunlight caught my skin I noticed thousands of little pieces of glitter and wow, how gorgeous it looked!

Jesus told us we are to be the light of the world, that a city on a hill could not be hidden. But what if you aren't a city, but just a lowly member of the body going about making the body of Christ work? Well then we can be the little pieces of glitter that make the body of Christ shimmer!

Light and all things shiny are supposed to attract and that is our job in the body, to attract others to Christ and to a relationship with him. Will you let God apply the Holy Spirit lotion of love to your life so that you can shimmer for Christ?

Monday, February 4, 2013

Power of attitude

My first sunburn this year came from doing a project in my complex with implementing power and water savings devices. What amazed me most was peoples attitudes.

For most people there was relatively small inconvenience other than having a few strangers in their house. For some there were minor complications, yet they responded gracefully and did not complain.

For others there were no complications, yet they complained and some even got aggressive. It all boiled down to attitude.

When we have an attitude of co-operation achieving anything is possible. The same is true in our spiritual walk. When we co-operate with the work of the Holy Spirit our hearts and attitudes change to enable God to do amazing things through us.

Will you allow the Holy Spirit to work in you so that you can develop an attitude of power?