Gees.... We've got the Spirit

Us South African's do fascinate me some times, especially our sense of humour and when we most use it.  Take the Bok's loss to Japan, man were the sushi jokes flying.  Social media was a laugh a minute after that.  A week later though we win........I think I've seen one joke.  Mmmmm?????

So yes, I suppose it is a stress or coping skill that we employ, even at the most tragic times.  I'll never forget the Westdene dam bus accident and all the bus jokes after that.  Is it appropriate?  Well in the case of the Boks, sure, Westdene, no but we do it anyway.  So other than a coping skill why do we do it and what does it say about us? 

I think there is a fighting spirit that runs in all of our veins.  We have overcome so much yet there is still much to achieve and we won't give up without a fight!  When we win, we rejoice together and when we loose, well that's just fodder for our humorous imaginations.  

In our faith walk we need to learn to have the same kind of resilience.  We need to have the guts to face life's difficulties and press on, knowing that God is always with us to guide us and protect us and no matter what happens, good or bad, God will redeem!

We have to think back to our good old school days and shout it out once more....

We've got the spirit, yes we do! We've got the spirit, how about you?

Super sized

Some weekends really turn out great!  We were given some time off on Friday so I had time to head to Lifestyle to pick up some plants for the garden before heading off to the store to do some grocery shopping.  Saturday was busy and Sunday was back to children's church and then Sunday afternoon the plants found their new home.  The sighting of the super moon on Sunday night was a real treat. 

The beauty and majesty of God's creation is truly amazing and I was breaking out in a melody of "How great is our God" shortly afterwards.  Most people pay little attention to natural events, but they have come to mean much to me.  I have seen time after time how major life changing events have happened soon after a natural one. 

This time I'm believing God for positive life changes, things that will add value and meaning to my life!  I am holding onto God's promises of blessing and believe in my heart that God is busy with a new work. 

Why don't you join me in believing God for new things....good things!  

Which one do I choose?

Today was heritage day and I hadn't really planned on blogging but I had to log onto the Internet for something else, so here I am.  Usually at work the day before people wear traditional cultural clothes.  Well now I don't have any anyway but if I had to I don't know which one I'd choose. 

There are only 3 confirmed heritage lines in my family as my dad's mom was adopted, but what I do know I have is Welsh from my father, and Scottish and German from my mothers side.  So which one I'd choose to celebrate in clothing I just don't know.  I had a kilt as a kid but outgrew that many years ago (think I should get another one). 

Heritage is a strange thing because for some reason it forms part of our identity.  Jesus had a heritage crisis of His own, part human, part divine and somehow He understood this from an early age as the young boy was found once teaching in the synagogue and clearly knew that He was doing His 'Fathers work'.

Once we are born again we our heritage and lineage take on a new line as well, we become the children of God and as such we have the blessings and privileges of Kings Kids.   

Zombie walking

No matter how positive and strong we may be feeling there are just days that life just takes it out of us and you finish the day feeling like the walking dead!  Your energy is gone and you are in serious need of a recharge. 

As Christians we are a walking dead of another kind.  Colossians 3:3 "For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God".  What does this mean?

It means that at the moment of our salvation our spirit man died and we were crucified with Christ but now we are reborn and our identity is Christ's identity.  We are swallowed into His being.  Now when God sees us He does not see our sin, He sees Jesus! 

So every time you are tired and feeling like a zombie, smile and remember you are already dead :-)

Let's play

I'm always amazed and amused by the playfulness of animals and this trait is seen throughout the animal kingdom.  Closest to home will be my two little fur balls that remind me on a regular basis to laugh and have fun.  I love it when a game starts and their eyes go wide open or when we go for a walk round the complex and they charge past me tails in the air. 

For millions of years before mankind walked the planet God only had these beautiful animals to keep Him company and that tells me a lot about the heart and nature of God.  He wanted to have companions who could live free, play and have fun, pounce, charge and generally make Him laugh. 

That makes me wonder if mankind makes God sad?  Does He regret that He created us to have freedom of choice that would lead to us taking on the sin nature of Satan, with characteristics that could bring about hate, envy, strife, malice and murder?  Does He regret giving us inventive minds that could create automobiles that kill people and the ability to create weapons of mass destruction?  To be honest, yes I think we do make Him sad. 

We moan and complain when all God wanted was companionship and to be able to walk together in the cool of the day and enjoy mutually satisfying conversation.  How about we start to try and stop doing the things that make God sad and become the fun and playful beings He created us to be?  How about we do something to make God laugh out loud??? 

Sushi

On Saturday it was time to start pulling out the lavender.  It was a task I wasn't looking forward too as they have served me well, but I do need them out to reshape the beds and redo the landscaping.  Oh boy, who knew chopping out lavender could be such a hard job.  I had planned to get the heads chopped off so that I could then dig out the roots.  Being such a tough job though I didn't finish which left me feeling unsatisfied with the progress, there was no sense of accomplishment.  Who knows I might need to get help with this one. 

Worse than this though was the failure of our beloved Springbok team to beat the Japanese rugby squad, which by all intents and purposes should have been a walk in the park.  Academically speaking, we were better than them but what we had failed to take into account and should have was the good coaching that they had received was well as the well known Japanese toughness and grit. Well needless to say the sushi jokes have been flying ever since.... :-P   I know its still early days and things could change but for us it was as if a national day of mourning had been declared and the grey sky's did not help the mood. 

A sense of accomplishment is what keeps us going in life, but what we often forget is the hard journey along the way to reaching a specific point.  My beautiful side garden did not happen over night it has taken years of trial and error with plants and constant change (and it is still changing).  My front garden has been through many evolutions as well but then I figured out that I didn't like what I had done before and wanted something new, so now it will certainly take time to finish again.  The work however will be worth the effort, of that I am sure. 

Accomplishment is not a single event, but many moments of slog and toil that arrive at a positive destination.  In our relationship with God we cannot expect to reach our spiritual growth goals in one moment.  No, they will take consistent effort at developing our personal relationship with God - day by day. 

And that is why no matter how old we are, or how long we've been serving Christ, every day will be a day in which we can only say that we are ......

Growing with God! 

Scorcher

I woke up to no electricity (thanks Eskom) and for some reason it was a little colder than it has been for a while.  I figured, no problem, I'm sorted with gas, I'll bring the little heater up and I'm sorted (done it before).  Then I started to get a little too warm so I turned it down a fraction, but as I'd probably had it at the lowest level it could go already it just did not want to hold the flame so I wanted to turn it off completely.  Somehow I wasn't watching my mark precisely and instead of pressing on the lever with my thumb I hit the grid. 

Oooooouuuuuuuuuucccccccchhhhh!

Well to be honest this month has been one long scorcher for me and I can feel myself cracking!  I knew I'd have six weeks of hell after my leave.  Its been four with two more to go but I just can't take it any more!  Life just does not feel peachy right now!  

Is there a sunny upside to this...Nope!  And there are times that no matter how hard I want to be spiritual and remember to be considerate and kind to others, it just doesn't happen because I don't feel others are being kind to me. 

Ok so enough moaning, what am I going to do about this?  Well believe it or not I really did pray and ask God to help me to stay cool, calm and collected and I really did try, more than that I just cannot do.  There is only one solice -

Hebrew 4:14-16
"Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."

God knows me, He understands me, He forgives my weaknesses and He gives me His grace! 

What more I can I ask for?

Just another day at the office

Normally I complain when my day is  a little dull, but today I was feeling a little 'tender' and to be quite honest I was grateful for just another ordinary day at the office.  The relative calm helped me to gain composure and have a productive day. 

I often wonder though, what was going through each of the disciples minds the day that Jesus approached them and asked them to follow him?  It must have been just another day at the office for them, going about their normal business and this man approaches them out of the blue and makes this simple offer. 

Truth be told, we don't know if there was anything more to the conversation because the bible simply doesn't tell us!  What was it about this man that made them drop everything they were doing and follow His commands?  He must have made one heck of an impression on them somehow.  OR, was it perhaps because somehow God allowed them to get a small, spine tingling glimpse into a vision of something they just could not understand yet.....His Glory!!??  

Don't push my buttons

I should have known better....................................!!!!

I was driving to work this morning thinking about last week and a couple of things that had left me feeling angry.  I decided that I don't want to be ruled by anger so I needed to choose to take charge of my emotions and think through things.  To be honest over the past few years I've learned that being 'controlled' angry is far more lethal than being 'wild' angry.

Ok, ok, by now I can see your frown....so you think Christians aren't supposed to be angry at all??  Is that what the bible says?  No, it isn't.

Ephesians 4:26 (KJV) "Be ye angry, and sin not; let not the sun go down upon your wrath" 

Here's the thing, when we get wild with anger we will not be in control of our thought processes and as a result we will say things that will hurt others.  When we focus our anger it is like firing up a high pressure hose pipe, you let it loose and it blasts the dirt away. 

So how do we calm down and gain focus and get control back of our anger so that we can use it wisely?  Well one of my colleagues was kind enough to listen to my gripes and even had a good chuckle at my face turning different shades of red as I recounted the number of things that had gone wrong and were pushing my buttons, all in one morning. She was even able to give me one or two points from a different perspective and that helped me get back on track and finish the day successfully. 

So take a deep breath and relax and allow God to guide you on your path to being a more 'focused' angry person....tee hee! 

The ceremony begins

This weekend was a rather productive one on all fronts, but especially because I managed to finish tidying up the side garden.  I am still waiting for Lifestyle nursery to bring in their new berry bushes so once they arrive I'll have the berry garden completed for the season.  The side garden however has been trimmed and cleaned, compost laid and new seeds sewn and is now ready for growth.  That prompted me to begin my favourite candle ceremony. 

In the warmer months and as often as I am home at sunset I like to make a cup of coffee and park myself on my back stairs.  From there I can see almost all of my garden.  The berry garden is behind me, I can see the whole side garden and most of the front garden is in view.  Often I'll have a bible or book with me or sometimes not.  It is a personal sacred time of reflection and meditation.

From here I can reflect on my garden and the progress I've made but it also gives me time to reflect on the week that has past, maybe some of the mistakes I've made and areas of my life I need to pray about.  I also take time to reflect on what is good in my life and what I love about it and in general it just brings me closer to God. 

Do you have a sacred time or space in your life for reflection?  If not, I'd like to encourage you to do so.  It is one of the key and most important building blocks to growing in our relationship with God.

Caught in the thermals

When we are in the pressure zones of life we may often ask ourselves whether it is possible to find true joy in the midst of the mayhem.  I believe it is possible.  Think of an eagle that takes to the air from the ground.  He knows his destination is high in the air amongst the thermals, but in order to get there he has to first fly against the air pressure and any gusts of wind that he may encounter.  In order to get high up though he has to keep flying up, he cannot stop. 

Once our eagle has gained sufficient height the thermals will grab him and he’ll be able to glide round and round, up and up and ahhhh, the joy of care free flight kicks in.  Knowing the good that lies ahead in life can give us the strength to fight against life’s windy zones and give us the courage to keep going, because we’ll know our destination. 

The bible tells us that for the joy set before him Christ endured the cross.  He pushed on through the pain and agony until He finally declared “It is finished!”  Jesus knew that His death would pave the way for us to enjoy eternal salvation and life with God and that image in His mind kept Him going. 

Whatever you are dealing with right now know that there will be an easier time ahead when the thermals of life will lift you up and you will be able to soar!  So rejoice, smile in the tough times and know that you will arrive at your destination.

 

Pressure pressure

When the pressure is on it can feel like the walls are closing in on you.  You can feel pushed and shoved from every direction and it can be totally intimidating.  Maintaining focus, energy and strength and balance can be really difficult. 

Jesus knew all about this kind of pressure.  From the moment His ministry went public and people heard of the miracle worker, he was followed and crowded in on a regular basis.  We see it when He climbed into a boat at the Sea of Galilee, when he was rushing to reach Jairus’s daughter, when the lame man was lowered through the roof of a house and we could go on.  The point is Jesus knew what it was like to have people pulling and pushing Him and yet He was able to maintain His composure at all times. 

Well, you might say, He was Jesus after all.  Yes, but He was human too.  So how did Jesus strike the balance in order to maintain control?  He knew what is goal was and that was to touch as many people as possible with the power of God and to bring healing and restoration.  He also knew when to withdraw from ministry for times of personal refreshing. 

So what should we do in similar circumstances?  Be goal directed.  It doesn’t matter that our goals are less spiritual they are important nonetheless, so be focused and check your progress on a regular basis.  Also remember to make time for personal reflection and meditation and know where your source of strength lies. 

God is with you and you can do it!