Belt it baby

Mmm mmm mmm mmm. Shhhh, come a little closer! Let me whisper this one in your ear! I have a little secret I want to share with you......... :-P

When you are alone with your thoughts, what happens? Ever find yourself slumping into a negative hole? Well I've got an extreme solution for you. Guess what the devil hates? HE HATES IT WHEN WE ARE HAPPY....whoooo!

Okay, nope, I'm not on happy pills, but I am full of praise! Full of praise for an awesome God! Full of praise for the sacrifice of His Son and full of praise for the awesome things that I know that God can and will do in our lives when we surrender our lives to His mercy and guidance.

Guess what else? When you are belting our God's praises there is no way that you can even squeeze in an …..... “Awwww, I feel depressed.” Nope, no way!

So common Christians, belt out God's praises and raise the roof!

Doggie doo

Have you noticed that it is just when you are starting to win a battle that the devil comes and runs round your heels to trap you up. You've just managed to lift your head past one step ahead and then you walk into his trap. I have referred to it in the past as the 'ankle tap tackle'. If we aren't careful, it is at these time, that we can easily slip back into negative thoughts.

[Now bare with me on the next analogy]

However, when our spiritual senses are at their peak we may encounter this situation to be a bit more like walking in a garden where there is doggie doo. Sometimes you can smell it, but you just can't see it. When we are awake and aware we will be able to do the double lift and just step past it. Lol!

How do we awaken our spiritual senses to.... sniff out... our opponents game plan before he strikes? Faith! When we have programmed our spiritual GPS and we know which direction we are headed, we will not loose sight of the end goal, despite the momentary set backs.

If your faith has been weak due to endless struggles and trials, have faith and believe! Jesus rose from the dead to enforce our victory over sin, death and the grave and no force can stop you from achieving that which God has ordained for you to achieve!

One extra day

A public holiday on a Monday is just bliss. That one extra day to sleep in. One extra day to pamper yourself or just to spend some time in the sun and in my case, some time doing gardening. For others spending the day with loved ones, maybe over a braai was the best way to go.

Easter Saturday must have felt like the end of the world for Jesus disciples, but then He rose again on Sunday and their shot at a few extra days turned out to be 40 days. Can you imagine the bustle? They must have wanted to draw out ever last inch of information, encouragement and leadership from Jesus before He departed from our planet and returned to heaven.

The knowledge, life and faith that Jesus imparted to His disciples turned religion as they knew it upside down, or as we prefer to say, right side up. Through His sacrifice Jesus imparted a strength of faith that would carry each one of them until their own death as a Christian Martyrs.

If you could have 40 days personally to walk with Jesus, talk to Jesus and seek your own encouragement what would you talk about? Thankfully as Christians today we do have that opportunity. With the help of the Holy Spirit we can talk to Jesus everyday but not seeing Him physically presents us with a challenging question.

Do you really believe?

Words

I'm giving away my age here but I remember an old song from the 70's early 80's and part of the lyrics were, “words don't come easy to me.” Communication is such a vital part of our lives and yet most of us struggle in one way or another to express ourselves through words.

The cliche that “sticks and stones may break by bones but words will never hurt me” is the furthest thing from the truth that you can ever imagine. Words are powerful! The Apostle James talks about the fact that we use small bit in a horses mouth to turn their whole body and that ships are guided by a relatively speaking small rudder. So too our tongue is a small part of our body but can cause a great fire, i.e. conflict.

In bible school we learned that through studies they have found that there are 5 major causes for divorce and I challenge anyone to defy the logic thereof and these are: Communication, money, family, sex and religion.

Above all these, one fact confirms the true power of communication. The written word of God. God chose to communicate His love for us by not only sending His Son to die for us but by leaving a historical account of His great works over the ages through the words we see in scripture.

Yes, words are powerful, so lets pray and ask God to guide us to use them wisely!

Opposite ends

It's that beautiful time of year again when the air starts to cool, leaves turn golden and then fall to the ground and you know that autumn is in full swing. It won't be long though and then all things will turn blue with cold.

Yet on the opposite ends of the planet new buds will be forming, snow may be melting, and being outdoors is becoming a little more comfortable. The glory of spring is delivering hope of days in the sun to come.

Opposite ends, opposite experiences, opposite hopes and dreams. As the much as the seasons keep us opposite poles apart, so in life people are on opposite ends of their spiritual experiences. That can be tough to deal with. You could be laughing it up and enjoying the time of your life while someone else is going through the most life devastating experience.

That's when we need to remember that balance is important. When you are on the mountain top, don't lord it over others but use your season of victory to be an encouragement to others. When you are down in the valley, lift your eyes to the hills, because that is where your help comes from.... THE Lord!

Most of all, remember that from the mountains to the valley our praises must rise up to the Lord!

Movie time

Spending time with family is always precious, so being with my folks for Easter was really special. Mom treated her neighbour and me to a ladies afternoon at the movies. Afterwards we had coffee and chatted about the movie like real movie buffs giving our opinions about what we liked and disliked.

What a blessing it is to have a wonderful friendship with your parents, that is one of the truest joys of adulthood. Being able to relate and talk about life on a mature level with love and understanding.

It reminds me of the old chorus: “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear, what a privilege to carry, everything to God in prayer.”

Do you know Jesus as your friend? Are you able to share your deepest joys, secrets, fears and dreams with Him? If not, maybe it is time to start having those conversations. Not the ones where all you do is ask for His help, but the ones where you talk about the wonderful and crazy aspects of life.

God longs for us to know Him and to have a close relationship with Him. Open your heart to Him today and enjoy the wonders of knowing Him as your friend.

Something new

We all love it, something new. The leather smell of a new car, a new cell phone, a new TV, a new suit, the look of new linen and even new relationships make us giddy. Well the good news is that in Christ we can have the best new thing ever! A new and eternal life!

That is what Christ paid for when He died on the cross. A brand new you!

2 Corinthians 5:17 reads, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

From a spiritual stand point that means that your spirit man is recreated and is completely new. From a soul perspective it means that Christ's death and resurrection affords us the opportunity to plug into the work that God wants to do in our lives and have our soul transformed so that we can be transformed into Christ's image.

What do you most want to transform or change in your life? Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you to finding the right solution to the areas of transformation you need in your life. In God all things are possible and we can change into the new person God wants us to be.

Run that by me again

If there is one thing I have learned it is how deeply a mother hurts when her children are in any kind of pain, physically or emotionally. I cannot begin to imagine the pain and agony Mary must have suffered in that final week before her Son's Crucifixion and then seeing her Son hanging on that cross. What I do believe though is that there is much about Jesus life before ministry that has been kept hidden from our eyes.

Mary knew her Son was different from any other man. From the moment of the miraculous conception and the Angel's visit, she knew their lives would not be ordinary. I can believe we can draw inference from her behaviour that there must have been many times throughout Jesus life where they would have sat down and discussed how things would play out. I know certainly if I had been Jesus mother and known His future destiny, I would have said to Him many times, “run me through this again, I need to understand.” In the movie, “The passion of the Christ” we simply see her say, “it begins.”

Yes...... I believe she did know. As a Jewish woman she would have been aware of the hope of the Messiah and though in that time women were not educated, I believe Jesus would have sat with her many times and explained the scriptures and all the prophesies about His arrest, the mock trial, the persecution and then His death.

But.... I believe she also knew one other thing! He would rise again. Do you not find it odd that after His resurrection that scripture makes no reference at all to Mary being in shock or disbelief? No, she knew, she really knew. At the time Mary would not have had the benefit of hind sight therefore she had to trust her Son's words to be true.

Today we do have the benefit of hind sight, we know the full story from beginning to end and there is only one thing left for us to do................................................

BELIEVE !!!!

May you and your family be blessed this Easter and I'll see you again on the other side of resurrection Sunday!

Rolling the dice

Rolling a dice is such a random act and in the most cases the results leave one at the mercy of chance. The Roman soldiers rolled dice to decide on how they would split Jesus garments. It seems like such an insignificant act that it makes one wonder why it is mentioned in scripture.

Truth is there was nothing that God left to chance on any of the details of Jesus Crucifixion. Every detail was meticulously planned and as if by rehearsal foretold throughout the old testament. Psalm 22:18 reads “They divided my clothes among themselves and throw dice for my garments.”

Prophets throughout the centuries declared details of that fateful week and even a study of Genesis will prove that from the dawn of mankind, the fall of Adam, the salvation story was begun.

But, you may say, this was the most significant event of all time so yes, it would be foretold and well planned. Our lives seem so much more random. Yet in the same way that God's words foretold these events in Jesus life they are as applicable to us today.

Look at what the scriptures prophesy about our lives:

Psalm 139:16 “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were before one of them came true.”

God has every detail prepared and written for your life. When times are dark, trust in Him for He will guide you on your ordained path if you allow Him to truly direct your life.

A horse or a donkey?

Palm Sunday is a Holy day commemorating the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem as He entered riding a donkey. Interestingly a King riding a horse symbolized a King intent on war while the donkey symbolized peace.

This amazing event was prophesied nearly 500 years before Christ in Zachariah 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”

Jesus made His intentions clear, He was to rule His Kingdom as a King of peace. This infuriated His followers who were of the opinion that the Messiah was to be a strong political figure who would bring them deliverance from the Romans.

This is beautifully depicted in the Amy Grant song, El Shaddai:

Though the people couldn't see
What Messiah ought to be
Though Your Word contained the plan
They just would not understand
Your most awesome work was done
Through the frailty of Your Son

Let us not make the same mistake of putting false expectations on the visitation of Christ in our lives as Messiah, but let God reign in all our lives supremely and in power as we grieve during this Holy week.

Justice is served

With all the recent attention around court events it got me thinking that there are probably many people who have difficulty in grasping God's justice system and how it works. To begin to understand this we need to know that there are two justice systems we work with, one being heaven's justice and the other, earth's justice.

How does God view sin? Strangely to us, in God's eyes all sin is viewed equally. I say strangely because God views murder and stealing a pen from the office in equal light, with equal punishment required. To us that is totally bizarre but God does not distinguish. In God's eyes all sin requires the same justice, death.

God however knew that no man would ever be able to meet His high standard of righteousness which is why He decided to make one sacrifice, for all of mankind, for all eternity. He sent Jesus to die on our behalf to meet His law that a sacrificial lamb must be slain to atone for our sins.

Here is the amazing part. Because of that one sacrifice, all who repent and receive Jesus as Lord and Saviour receive the same salvation, eternal life. Therefore a murderer and a petty office thief who both confess their sins and ask for salvation, will be saved and will receive the blessing of being in right standing and communion with God. The blood of Jesus atones for their sin.

There is however one thing that God does not do. He does not remove the physical consequences for our sin. There must be justice and restitution. When Jesus was hanging on the cross and the thief asked to be remembered, Jesus did not assist the thief to escape His punishment. Both Jesus and the two men crucified along side Him died that day. The thief however was given eternal life.

These concepts may be hard for us to grasp but our God is a God of justice and His law must be fulfilled in each of our lives.

If you are struggling to come to terms with these concepts and need further guidance, please feel free to email your questions to me at: GWG.Ronwyn@gmail.com

An ode to my cell phone battery

Oh battery, battery, small and black

How is that you are always flat

From you I cannot part

Which really really breaks my heart

I'm stuck with you

Through too year two

And oh dear that does make me feel blue

Oh why oh why can they not just give you an extra battery with your phone so that you can change it after the 1^st year? Some things are just not built to last.

In contrast God's word is everlasting and has stood the test of time and proven itself to be the undisputed truth.

In a world where we can seldom place reliance on anything, trust and rely on God's word as it is indeed eternal.

Caught in the act

I'm grateful that my Honey is once again making a recovery from a his medical issues.  The vet did however insist that all commercial foods be discontinued and that he stick to his prescription diet.  The problem is that cats are scavengers by nature due to their strong survival instincts.  This means I've had to enlist the help of my neighbours.

While visiting one neighbour last night to negotiate with her to use the only other safe alternative my little guy snuck in and politely tucked into her cats food.  He was caught in the act and while I was annoyed by the intrusion it did go to prove my point.

His sins earned him a spank and he was removed and chased home, Lol!

We are all caught in the act of sin one time or another.  How did Jesus handle indiscretion?  We see this beautifully displayed in the story of the women caught in adultery.  Scholars believe that this women was dragged into the street to face Jesus naked, while the man involved was left to walk free.  Jesus response?  Total grace.  He challenged the pharisees by writing in the sand and they left one by one.


The apostles make no mention of what He wrote but by their response it is believed that He may have written down the names of all the men who had committed the same act with this very women.  We are all quick to judge but I think we need to ask ourselves how we would want to be treated in the same situation.

Your pick of thorns

Have you ever noticed that we all have some area of life that is just always a catch point. For some it may be illness, for others career problems or finances, relationships, temperament, or many others. Why is it that we all just have a particular area that always causes us to struggle?

The Apostle Paul writes about this when he talks about his “thorn in the flesh.” I'm so glad he never named his thorn but simply stated that it was a problem. Otherwise we may be tempted to say, “I'm so glad I don't struggle with that.”

Instead of criticizing yourself or others for the difficulties we all face in life, rather offer empathy, caring and love. When we do that we fulfill God's commandment to carry each others burdens. If you are facing difficulties right now, you are in my thoughts and prayers.

Cappuccino

Today was a personally difficult day for me.  Coming home it was wonderful to just be able to sit down and enjoy a good home made cappuccino.  Taking a short walk around the complex this evening under a clear dark sky while the kitties chased between garden beds reminded me of all the wonderful things in life to be grateful for.

Have you ever seen images of a rock climber climbing up or down a crevasse?  They will often push against both sides of the crevasse wall to gain leverage.  That is what gratitude does.  Gratitude gives you wall to wall leverage when you feel your faith is slipping. 

Another climbing tool, the rope hook will also assist the climber in get out of the crevasse but it needs something to hook into, that would be hope.  When we hook our hearts into hope and use the tools that God has placed in our hands we will be able to pull ourselves out of danger and back onto a safe landing.

When you feel like life is slipping away, use God's tools of gratitude and hope to push and pull your way out of that situation.  God's word is powerful, allow it to guide you through these difficult moments of life. 

An unbelieveable resume

I decided it was time to start challenging myself with my writing and have started work on my first fictional piece. Without giving away any trade secrets I can divulge that it will have a space theme. Being a big fan of all things space related; Star Wars, Star Trek, Batelstar Galactica and Stargate just to name a few, I am totally pumped. I do need to do a little research into my ultimate favourite space hero's the moon landing crew of Apollo 11.

Wow, Neil Armstrong's resume reads like unreal fiction but it is all true. I'm no where close to finishing my research on him, but wow this guy had a lot of bad landing and narrow escapes. Despite all this he made into space but only ever completed one EVA, you guessed it, that famous moon walk.

In all honesty my life has had a ton of crash landings but Neil's story gives me hope. It only takes one great achievement to put you on the global map, never to be forgotten. A well known preacher used to say, “Don't take a step back in your set back because God is already preparing your come back.”

Knowing all this, it is time to set my heart at ease and know that God is in control of everything and that on that one great day it will all have been worth it. If you have been feeling downhearted, wondering how to make sense of the difficulties you might be facing, join me in saying:

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!

With God all things are possible!

Our God is a great and mighty God!

Amen!

Switch

We hear that word thrown around a lot lately. Switch from your bank to our bank. Switch from your insurance to our insurance. Switch from your super market to our super market. Companies know we spend our money somewhere and they will do anything to try and persuade us to make the change to their organisation.

The question we need to ask ourselves is, at what cost? Large companies spend millions to keep their products and services foremost in our minds and they do this by advertising. They entice us with special offers, good deals and wonderful bargains.

Do we do this with our faith though? In some instances we do. In some regions it is even acceptable to have multiple gods that you worship. Our God is a jealous God. He covets our hearts and attention above all else. If He didn't, He never would have sent His beloved Son to die on a lonely cross for our sins.

God does however give us the choice to make for ourselves. I'm going with Joshua. “Choose you this day whom you will serve, but for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”