Tyres, pathways and stones

I've been concerned about my garden, especially the few herbs that have survived so far. The winter weather and lack of water is definitely putting a strain on things. With early sunsets it is often too dark for me to water the garden in the evenings, so watering is only being done on weekends.

While looking at things though I have realized one important thing. Even if I loose all the plants in winter, I at least have one thing I didn't have last spring, a ready built infrastructure of tyres, pathways and stones. I don't have to start from scratch but can build again next spring from a stronger foundation.

That is what our faith walk is like. There are times when we will develop and build infrastructure. Then there are seasons where we can grow from the foundation that is already laid and improve on what we have done before.

If life is looking a little barren right now, don't loose heart. There will soon come a time when you can take things further and develop something stronger. Just learn to sustain what you have for now and be faithful to your commitment to God.

There are great things to come!

Tender hooks

The nation and indeed the world is currently on tender hooks. Our beloved Madiba is gravely ill in hospital and it seems as though his passing is drawing nigh. There are so many fears. What will our country become in a post Madiba era?

The disciples must have had the same fears. Although the Christ had risen and manifest Himself to them risen and victorious, their fear must have been very real. As a country we can only hope that sanity will prevail and that Madiba's legacy will live on strong, but that is where we do differ from the disciples.

The disciples had an advantage we don't have in our country. Jesus sent them another helper, the Holy Spirit. With the endowment of power and the strength they received from Him, they had the boldness to preach the gospel of Jesus with anointing and power.

As Christians, let us pray for the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit to reign over our country at this tender time.

A different kind of drive through

I had to laugh but I hope I won't get caught for gym fraud...tee hee! Tonight was just one of those nights when I just had to do a swipe and run at my local gym. What got me chuckling though was that the chickie behind the counter said to me, “oh we call call it a drive through.”

That made me wonder, do we ever do a drive through in our relationship with God? Yip, I know I'm guilty. No one to pray with at the dinner table, so a quick '”thanks for the grub” has to suffice as grace. No time for church, so we skid in after worship and bolt out the door once the service is over. A quick verse of the day instead of a bible study? Yip, I've done them all.

You know what? Somehow I think God doesn't mind and occasionally I think He might even chuckle. What I think God does look out for though is, what is our attitude towards Him and where is our heart at?

If our heart is longing after God and we do make the time for some dedicated prayer and take time to acknowledge Him in worship then we are still on the right track. What we do need to do though is to thank God for His unending grace and patience with us!

The long wait is over

There are moments in time when the long wait is over and you finally know that what you've been hoping for is now only a stone's throw away. Those moments are sweet and the validation we get from that is truly rewarding.

These moments have come at a cost. The price has been high, maybe more than you were willing to pay, but what you've learned along the road has born great fruit. We will have learned to be steadfast and to exercise patience, tenacity and how to display an excellent spirit.

One thing to remember though is that our moment of strength may well serve as a moment of discouragement for someone else, so we owe it to all to use these moments of joy to lift up and encourage others that if they show the same patience you have that the rewards will come.

Anniversaries

This weekend just felt weird. Something was off but I just couldn't put my finger on it. It was only while I was working through some old journals that I remembered that the 22^nd of June was the 2^nd anniversary of my late grandmother Joyce Hughes passing. June 2011 will go down as being the worst month of my life ever with not only her passing but other tragedies challenging my belief in a loving God. I understood well how Job felt dealing with so many crisis issues at once, although admittedly mine were less tragic than his.

The anniversaries of life serve an important function. They cause us to stop, ponder, remember and learn from the past. There are lessons to be learned from each life that passes through our world, whether their stay here was short or long.

Anniversaries also serve to give moments to celebrate the successes and wonderful things of life. Marriages and birthdays remind us of birth and life. All these things as important as each new dawn and sunrise.

In God we live and move and have our being!

Do you know?

There's a really old song that I've always liked. The lyrics go, “Do you know where you are going too? Do you like the things that life is showing you? Where are you going too, do you know?”

I suppose I like it because it asks the question, do you have a direction for your life? Thoughts of the future do dominate my thinking. The other question I ask is, where have the past 5 years of your life taken you? Chances are, barring some major decisions, your future will produce exactly what the past 5 years have produced, unless you decide to change things.

Making decisions to make radical changes in your life can and will always be scary. What we can know for sure though is that when we do decide to make a change, walk in a different direction or any other major life change, we will have the same God who split the Red Sea guiding our every move.

If you are facing changes right now, put your faith solidly in God's hands and know that He will be your pillar of fire by night and your cloud by day!

Taking Jericho

Much has been written about the value of team work. Yet it is only when you get to experience a team working together that you realize the importance of it. Try to achieve something on your own and you will seldom succeed. However take the same challenge and put a team onto it and the results can be truly spectacular.

I think that is part of what God was up to with having the Israelites wander through the desert for 40 years. For centuries they had been slaves in Egypt and only pulled together when threatened by whips. They needed to learn the value of working together to achieve a common goal.

40 years later.....the walls of Jericho fell! Why? Because they marched together round the city in silence for 6 days, and then together on the 7^th day delivered a shout that shook the foundations of the city. Millions of Jews working together dealt a death blow to Jericho.

We all have Jericho's in our lives. Challenges that just seem too big for us to handle. Why don't you pray and ask God to show you with whom you should partner to tackle these challenges. Believe me, God has a team waiting just for you.

Finding strength

I am currently reading a book about developing ones strengths. The premise of the book being that throughout our lives we constantly have people telling us what we are not good at or where our weaknesses are and as a result, we get so stuck trying to 'fix' ourselves that we don't move past our weaknesses.

This book presents a different reality. Why not focus on what is good about yourself and what your strengths are rather? In doing so, we will become more successful and dealing with our weaknesses will become so much easier.

Ironic. Isn't that what scripture tells us?

• I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
• Whatsoever things are good and pure, think on these things.
• If we have faith we can move mountains.
• God is our refuge and strength.

I think we know where to go too, to find our strengths, don't you?

All pumped up

Isn't it funny but just when I thought life was a tad boring, Friday turned out to be a bumper of a good day!  Some things just fell into place and it was great to arrive at lunch time feeling full of happiness and totally pumped up for the day.  With the long weekend up ahead, celebrating youth day, it was great to start the weekend on a good note.

Emotions are fickle though and we cannot rely on them to determine our life path.  Staying focused on our relationship with God is the only way to secure lasting peace and joy.

The thing we need to remember is that it is completely possible to have joy without happiness.  Confused?  Don't be.  Joy is a spiritual force while happiness is reliant on emotion and positive circumstances.

Enjoy the good times when happiness abounds and ask God to help you ensure that the joy of the Lord will be your strength.

Day by day

I'll admit that there are days when I stare at my laptop for quite some time before I manage to put ink on paper, so to speak. Inspiration does not always flow easily and making sure that something of value is recorded for each day can be quite a challenge when life is just the same old, same old.

But is that really the case or do we just simply choose to ignore the beauty of each day? When it feels like the day has been a slog to get through one can quickly do whatever you have too, to get home and just relax and forget the day.

It takes great strength to not dismiss the mundane as invaluable but to cherish every moment, the highs, the lows, the fears, the tears and everything in between, for this is living life in God's grace day by day. As the word says; “the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,” and “His mercies are new every morning.”

Audio track

When I downloaded the bible application for my cell phone, I didn't realize that it had an audio track facility linked to it. I discovered it quite by accident and what a delight. I have found that at times when my soul is restless I can turn it on and being able to hear the word of God read while I continue on with my work is proving to be quite soothing.

Saul wrestled with demons and called for David to play the harp and so his soul was quietened. We all fight agitation from time to time, the key is figuring out what to use to calm our spirit and give us clarity at those times is important.

Centering prayer is about that, bringing us back to equilibrium where we can anchor our thoughts in the word of God. If you've been wrestling with negative thoughts or you've been thrown into turmoil through difficult circumstances, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in finding the right tool for you to use to bring your heart and mind back to the peace of the presence of God.

Under the covers

It makes me truly jealous! Every morning before I leave the bedroom after dressing, the kitties get tucked back into bed, while I head off to face a cold, hard world. All I keep wishing is that I could just turn around and climb back in with them and sleep for the rest of the day.

Why is it that only bears and a few other choice creatures get to hibernate the whole of winter away? In truth is it only bears who hibernate? Nope, I think some humans do too. When life gets too taxing they would rather hide away than face the truth.

The truth can be hard to deal with but I'd like to compare it too is the latter rains of autumn and the early rains of spring. The latter rains sustain the earth through winter. In the same way, truth gives us the strength we need to get through tough times in life. In the early days of spring the rains bring relief to a dry and parched land and so too truth restores and heals.

No matter what season you may be facing right now, ask God to speak truth into your life each day.

Winter chill

Today winter announced its arrival loud and clear.  The chill in the morning temperatures is now obvious and you know it is going to set in for the next three months.

These will indeed be hard days ahead and sadly many people will loose their lives from exposure to the extreme weather that lies ahead.  Again, it is sad that the world has the power to make changes that can help the poor and destitute but we lack the political will to do so.

What about our faith?  The same is true!  There are many Christians today that are naked in their faith and without the spiritual covering needed to protect them from hard times.

What is our spiritual covering?  Being submitted and in relationship with spiritual elders that can guide and lead us and walking in relationship with Christ's church.

Let us take the time to check our spiritual wardrobes and make sure that we have the spiritual covering we need.

Escapism

I reckon the whole movie and television industry is held strong by one principle. Human beings love fantasy and to escape from their own reality. When someone else's life, all be it fictional, is worse than ours, it seems to alleviate any frustration we may feel about our circumstances.

But is that a way to live? Most of us even try to escape from looking at our own future realistically. Have we set up our savings correctly? Are we taking care of our friendships and family relationships so that we can ensure we have support when necessary? Do we have a strong enough relationship with God to carry us through difficult times?

Maybe it is time that we get the basics right so that we can live lives that ring true closer to the reality we desire to have in the future. One thing is sure, our salvation ensures that we will certainly have an eternity better than anything imagined in fantasia.

Power to change

Every time I see pictures on television of poverty, destruction and war, I grieve. We live in a world today of massive divides between the rich and the poor. But hasn't it always been like that? Yes, throughout history class divides have been prevalent.

So why does nothing change? Because human beings are selfish in nature. We have the power to change the world but we don't, simply because of greed. I always ask myself “when will it be enough?” If I had the power to change my own circumstances immediately and had limitless access to finance, would I ever reach the place of saying, I have enough, let me help others?

One would hope that as we grow closer in our relationship with God that we would find that place of sufficiency. Where we can say confidently, I am blessed and all that remains I give to God to use as He wills. My hearts desire is that one day that will become a reality.

Just off cold

With electricity prices continuously on the rise I decided it was time to buy a wall panel heater for my bedroom. Admittedly in the mornings I still need a little help from my bar heater after a shower but the evening time spent in the bedroom is lovely. It's not too hot or too cold, just comfortable. A bit like Goldilocks and the three bears.

I know winter has not hit us in full force yet, but I'm confident it will still yield a positive result even then. It is a very soothing feeling to be warm and comfortable in winter. That is part of what the Holy Spirit brings to us as our spiritual comforter. At times when we are frustrated and agitated He can come and comfort us and sooth our spirit.

If you've been feeling a little frustrated at life lately, ask the Holy Spirit to come and wrap His arms around you and give you the warmth, comfort and love that you are looking for.

Good old fashioned shoe polish

Some time back I remember writing about my poor Imbuia wardrobe that got left outside due to my town house being too small to fit it inside. The weather was really getting the better of it and although I tried to oil it as often as possible, it just wasn't doing the trick.

Thanks too some great advice from my step dad we moved it to a rear wall which should be a little more weather proof, but the best advice for restoring the old dear was to use some good old fashioned shoe polish.

I had my doubts but considering the alternative of a full scale refurbishment which could have costed thousands I decided to give it a shot. Wow what a result. Not only has it restored the colour but the wood is now beautifully sealed with a good wax coat that should do wonders for it in the rainy season.

Sometimes it is the simplest solutions that work the best and living a life of faith is most certainly like that. Faith is not some pie in the sky solution we turn too when all else has failed, it should be our first stop when dealing with any given situation.

Lost and found

I had to go some place this weekend that I'd only been too once but as a passenger.  Isn't it strange, but as a passenger you are travelling on exactly the same route the driver is going but somehow we just are not cognisant of the directions.  It is only until we have done the route ourselves that it actually sets in.

Navigating our way through God's word can be exactly the same.  We may have heard the story a dozen times, but actually getting to the right spot can be difficult.  That's why practice makes perfect.  I remember at Sunday school that we learned a little song that ran us through the New Testament books in order.  It was set to music and therefore it became extremely easy to learn.

Maybe there are things you are struggling to learn in scripture.  Try putting the story to music in your mind, or paint a mental picture of some kind.  Using creativity is a wonderful way for us to learn to memorize where scriptures are.

Red lady's time

I had been worried about Red Lady, my red Hibiscus, all through summer. Moonlight, the yellow Hibiscus, had been flowering profusely while Red Lady produced hardly any flowers. Somehow now the tables have been turned and Red Lady has started to bloom, while Moonlight is taking a back seat.

It is clear now that she just wasn't ready to send out her blossoms and needed more time than Moonlight to settle in. This discovery has been a wonderful blessing as it is teaching me to look at people a little more differently.

In some people's lives we may be able to see the obvious but they are just not there yet. It doesn't help to force the issue, we need to learn to let them be and in their own time they will come around. The best thing we can do is to support them and encourage them throughout the process as best we can.