Up in the air

By now the memories of hot cross buns, Easter eggs and more importantly what Easter signifies to the Christian faith have fallen to the back of our minds. For those of us who have dared to allow our soul to venture to the dark place the cross embodies, have risen past the joy of the resurrection and for the most part settled back into life as normal.

I'm sure it was no different for the disciples. Jesus betrayal and death had left them mortified and and in shock but His resurrection on the third day quickly eliminated their fear and dismay and they accepted Jesus back into their lives with a renewed joy and boldness.

Jesus time of teaching and fellowship must have been so surreal and just when things had settled down He takes them to the mount of transfiguration and His true glory is revealed. With His final words, “Go ye therefore and teach all nations,” He ascends into the skies and out of sight.

Once again the joy of His presence is removed from them and they retreated to the upper room. Fear reappeared and their faith must have been shaken once more, but they had one last command, “but tarry in the city of Jerusalem, until you are endowed with power from on high.”

Totally unsure of what this power was, they waited....until Pentecost.

Have their been times in your life when God seems near and then far and then near again and it leaves you a little confused? If so you are not alone and you are in good company. Wait upon God and have faith in Him and He will endue you with power.

Out with the knots

For most ladies getting a monthly back and neck massage is a pure luxury. In my life its a medical necessity. Its the only way to keep those nasty head aches at bay. For the most part it is actually quite painful to try and work those nasty knots out and we usually won't get them all out in one go.

Do we ever get our relationship with God all in knots? I think that is entirely possible, but how does it happen? Well its a small white lie here and a mean word there and a few skipped church services later and you are wondering if this faith thing is even real.

Oh, but it is, and the most wonderful part of it all is that we have a physician who knows exactly how to treat our spiritual knots and he sooths us with the oil of His annointing and the warm of His love and grace.

So if you are feeling a little knotted up, turn to God! He is and always will be our greatest healer!

Its in the eyes

We see it every day but we take it so for granted. That life that flows within us that shines through our eyes. Our eyes are not only the windows of our soul but they give evidence of that which God breathed into us the moment we were conceived.

Why is it that we take life for granted? Because it becomes so normal that we forget about it until that one moment when it is taken away.

Tonights message is short and sweet. Appreciate the life that flows within your veins and the next time you look at someone and see that little sparkle in their eyes, rejoice! It is proof of life!

Somebody's been sleeping in my bed

It's a little annoying but always a bit funny when my cats stretch out their legs to grab the side of their baskets and refuse to get in. This usually happens when some other kitty has been sleeping in their beds and they just don't smell right. This always leads to a linen change, Lol!

Contrary to this, should I leave any washing out or if the wash basket is open, they won't hesitate to get stuck into my washing and snuggle down. All this is due to a cats association with smell. My washing represents me, so therefore makes them feel close to mommy, while their own linen being dirty represents an invasion of their territory.

We tend to treat people in the same way. A new colleague at work, a new kid on the playground, a new neighbour in our complex, may all be treated with coldness at first due to our inherent dislike for new people in our space. The sad thing is that we may even apply this in Christian circles with a new member of a home fellowship group.

What does the bible tell us about how we should treat strangers? Well the parable of the good Samaritan is a good example, he took care of a foreigner. We are also told that we should welcome and be generous to strangers as in so doing we may well minister to Angels and receive blessings from their presence.

Let's welcome people into our space this week and prove the fruit of kindness in our spirit.

Highway

I don't often work late, so when the work load requires it, it is no trouble at all. Now that winter is in full swing I was taken by something quite ordinary that just struck a chord with me. Driving ahead all you could see was a highway of red tail lights. Yet looking in the rear view mirror all I could see was white head lights and a single row of orange highway lights to brighten our path.

Okay..... so what's so unique about that? Perspective. All those cars I saw were all going in the same direction, yet the view of them from my car was so different. Isn't that exactly what our lives are like. We look ahead and all we see is uncertainty and sometimes we even look at the future with fear, yet behind us everything looks so clear. In fact the norms of the road would tell you that if you were to see head lights coming towards you on a highway, that would be a very bad thing.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that we are all on the same path of life and that most certainly the view before us may seem fearful and aimless, but once we have done the distance the path behind us is always clear. Of most comfort is the fact that the Holy Spirit will always be there to be our single guiding light, so take heart and trust in God!

It wasn't my imagination

I thought it was my imagination running away with me, when I actually started feeling more relaxed after lighting up some fragrant incense. That was until I saw my usually hyperactive kitties settled down without being prompted to do so.

The bible tells us that when David played his harp and sang, that his music calmed the soul of the troubled King Saul. David's worship created an atmosphere for God's peace to draw near. Our lives are so hectic and rushed that it is important for us to find ways to bring God's presence and peace near us so that we can have clear hearts and minds with which to make the important decisions of life.

We are all gifted with talents with which to feed and nourish our soul's. God placed these talents within us to give us an avenue with which to connect with Him. Have you perhaps placed your talents on the bookshelf of life viewing them as just a luxury or 'nice to have'? If so, I'd encourage you today to dust off that old guitar, open the piano or find time for the gardening or wood work you have been putting off for so long thinking it was a waste of time. God wants to use that time of relaxation to connect with you and give you strength and guidance.

Easier to watch

A few nights ago I was drawn into watching video clips about the making of the movie, "The passion of The Christ".  What fascinated me was the extensive effort they had to go to in order to replicate the wounds of Christ.  It required the use of prosthetic skin overlays as well as CGI to create the effects.

As I finished I thought to myself, "it makes it easier to watch".  Without hesitation I heard Jesus clearly say to me, "that didn't make easier to live".

Now I'm not one to say that I hear Jesus Himself speak to me personally every day.  No this was unique, it was different.  You see it is human nature for us to turn away from or not want to be exposed to the true suffering Jesus went through for our sin, but I believe that He does want us to stop and look.

Not only to stop and look at His suffering, but to stop and look at His glorious victory over sin and the grave!

I dare you to stop and look at Jesus today!

Give it up already

There is hardly a day that goes by that one does not receive a sales call of one type or another. Something I wish companies would understand is that by doing all of these telesales they are loosing the interest of people who really do want to buy their product. After all if you have been hounded constantly from an institution, why would you then go and do business with them and have to deal with more of the marketing? Annoying to say the least.

I often wonder if we do this with our faith as well. We go on and on and on and at some point I think people switch off. I believe that if people want a sermon they will go to church, but what people really want from us is to be able to connect with a real person and see firsthand what our faith really means to us.

Jesus allowed His disciples to connect deeply with Him on a personal level as He walked with them over the span of His ministry. Will you open your life and heart up to let people walk with you through your journey of faith?

Against nature

Autumn, going into winter is definitely not the time to be planting seeds, however, lately I have been sewing some. I looked at my garden and said, “mother nature, I dare you to defy the odds and bring forth life.”

So now I watch and I wait and the anticipation grows. You know what, I have confidence that she won't let me down, do you want to know why? Because it is the nature of a seed to bring forth life.

As we go into winter here in the Southern hemisphere and things get cold, it is common for our moods to drop and for people to loose hope. I want to challenge you today to make that dare towards yourself. Dare your own life to bear forth life in a time of cold and darkness.

Have faith in God!

Crashed

Clever! My cellular network provider decided to offer all its clients a free 1 gig of data. Ha, and they gave no thought to the consequences. As expected the network crashed. You seriously can't tell me that with all the brain power there is running such a large company that no one anticipated this result??? Sadly, somebody probably did warn them, but they chose to ignore it. A safer bet would have been to make the offer valid for 1 month.

This doesn't surprise me though. It seems to be a bad trait of human behaviour that we will barge straight into a storm even though the warning signs are all around us. We see this trait throughout scripture.

Adam and Eve warned against eating the fruit – they did it anyway

Israel told to repent from worshipping foreign gods – they worshipped anyway

Judas was warned through prophesy that someone would betray Christ – he betrayed Him anyway

Peter warned that he would deny Christ – he denied Him anyway

I guess what I'm trying to say is that we need to start learning better discernment. Here is an interesting comment to use as a great example. Jesus said to His disciples that they should “test the spirits”. In other words we should expect that there will be more than one spiritual force communicating with us and we need to learn to discern which one is God's voice.

Eish, that sounds complicated! It doesn't have to be and it doesn't have to frighten you. Jesus has given us His word that He will always communicate with us clearly through the Holy Spirit. The only question then is how to recognise it. Lol! Its actually easy. Its the one that isn't screaming at you. Remember, we've spoken about this before, The Holy Spirit speaks in the still small voice and Jesus guides us with His peace.

Maybe it is time to discern which voices we are listening too so that we can avoid disaster.

Finished product

The art of gardening brings with it great joy. The joy of watching seeds sprout, the joy of watching plants grow, the joy of watching flowers bud and bring forth colour and scent. When all the hard work is done, having the joy to see a finished product come forth once you have completed work on a bed is amazing.

Those pinnacle moments are special, but what we choose to forget is that in order to achieve that much hard work had to be done. Digging up grass, digging up stones, working in compost and healthier top soil and digging out weeds.

In much the same way a women will conceive and a baby will grow in her womb. We would all love to imagine that it is all sweet and special with no problems but oh boy there is pain. Morning sickness, stretch marks, back ache and swollen feet are just some of the pains a mother will bear to bring forth a new life.

In that moment of birth the joy of the labour is fulfilled and a mother gets to hold her baby in her arms and it is so worth it! Let us not forget the trials and joys of motherhood.

To all the mom's, I hope you had a wonderful mother's day and that your sacrifice has been honoured today!

Remember the tootoo?

Jealousy! I see it with my two cats. If one gets more attention than the other, a claw fight ensues. OR I get meowed at for hours on end. Keeping the peace can be tough but I have to make sure that they both feel loved and pampered.

Children display exactly the same behaviour, I know I sure did. My sister reminded me of the too too incident. Although I don't remember it, I do remember the photo my parents took. I had obviously been getting jealous of my sister getting attention in her ballet outfit so somehow I managed to end up being dressed up too.

There is a good and bad kind of jealousy. You disagree? Let me prove it. Bad jealousy destroys relationships of all kinds. The word of God tells us that God is jealous over us. Unlike other types of jealousy that take, God did the opposite. He gave us His Son so that He could reconcile us to Himself. God's jealousy lead to sacrifice.

Aren't you glad that God I jealous about YOU!

X marks the spot

South Africa celebrated its 5^th democratic elections today. For all intents and purposes it appears as if things have gone peacefully and without major incident. At my own voting station, things proceeded quickly, leaving me some time to head home and do some more gardening, yay!

The right and freedom to vote is the sacred right to choose. This is the first and most fundamental right that God gave to Adam and Eve received in the garden of Eden. He gave them the right to choose to obey His word or not to obey. For the most part considering this right my first thoughts usually go to our right to choose salvation, but in truth there are many choices in our Christian life that we will make.

At work we can choose to give our best and excel and honour God through our work. At home we can choose to treat our family with love and compassion and not hostility and anger. In our friendships we can choose to be kind and caring instead of jealous or spiteful.

There is another choice I'd like to talk about though and it is a little more difficult. We live in a world today where relationship boundaries are seldom respected. We see time and time again where marriages end with an affair. Truth is we all know when we are edging too close to that boundary. The difficulty is, will you choose to honour God by walking away from that relationship to protect the other person's marriage?

It is indeed a very difficult choice to make, but honouring God in all our relationship's tells others that we chose to put our X in the box that says, 'I am a true Christ follower.'

Where to start, where to start?

I know I've been there before and I see almost every day. Situations, workloads, thoughts so mixed up and mangled that you just don't know where to start. I have a routine at home and anytime I feel a little lost, I go back to begin an recheck my chore list. It doesn't take too long before everything is back on track and it all gets done.

Being practical, is for the most part, the best way to go. It is no different with our spiritual lives. So what do you do when it feels like your spiritual walk is off track? Go back to basics. Well for those of you who have walked this road with me for a while you may remember these but I'll do a recap anyway.

• Read your bible – Reading your bible is like taking your vitamins. When you are healthy, you wonder why you are taking them but when your immune system is compromised is when you wish you hadn't stopped. By this I mean that your daily reading may feel as if it has no real bearing or benefit to you but when a crisis hits you will stand or fall based on the strength of your knowledge of the word of God.
• Pray to God – Always keep your communication lines with God open. Talk to Him as often as you can during the day.
• Reach out to others – There are many ways in which we can reach out to others to share God's love and compassion to them. If you are shy and don't feel comfortable sharing your faith, feel free to forward them these daily devotions.
• Fellowship – Make sure you take time to spend with Christian friends who can walk with you through life's difficulties.
• Confess your sins – I spoke about it yesterday. 1 John 1 v 9 tells us to confess our sins so that we may be forgiven and cleansed.

That's your quick spiritual checklist. How are you doing today?

Electioneering

My goodness, I wish it were all over and it will be in about a week. All the political mumbo jumbo we see on TV can be a bit frustrating. I wish that the auditor general would hold political parties accountable to actually deliver exactly what they say they can do. For the most part it is all just fresh air.

I have no doubt that the world is watching. Watching to see what we will do. There have been some strong new comers to the game and then there are the old hats. So what the results will be I'm not sure, but it is going to be interesting to get those final figures.

Truthfulness and honesty should be the core back bone of our lives. These are values that should be entrenched in our ethical Christian behaviour, so why do we so often fail to uphold them? I believe it is because an attitude of repentance has slipped from our consciousness.

When we pay little cognisance to the fact that we ought to repent of our sins on a regular basis, we slip into the so called 'white lie' syndrome, and trust me that I am preaching as much to myself as to anyone else here. I've done it and I know wrong it is.

As Christians, let us make a renewed call to a life of repentance. Let us come closer to God in our walk and bring a repentant spirit before Him so that our conscience will once again be the active guard to our heart that it should be.

Weeds galore

Recently I found myself lamenting my decision to remove the marigolds in the side beds and thought I would have been better off leaving them for winter. I decided today to start doing my second round of weeding for the end of this years gardening season and quite honestly I realized I am better off without the marigolds for now.

Those pesky clovers are a nightmare to get rid of and there are certain portions of the beds that still need a decent layer of top soil. Keeping the beds simple and clear will make it easier to focus on trying to get rid of the weeds, then hopefully by next year I'll have neater beds that are easier to sew good flowers into.

It spoke volumes to me about life. We may think that we are ready for flowers galore but if we aren't careful the weeds and mess we are hiding will take over and destroy our lives. Sometimes it is better to simplify our lives in order to maintain our hearts in good order.

Are there weeds in the garden of your heart that need to be removed? If so, maybe it is time to simplify things and give yourself time to see things clearly.