Cafe on Malibongwe

Today's blog comes to you from the News Cafe on Malibongwe. My car has gone in for a clutch repair and I decided it would be less stressful if I just took a days leave and chilled for a couple of hours while I get it done.

I'm not usually the type to take the path of least resistance but one thing I've heard my mom saying many times is that we should learn to live a life of less stress. (Lol! Just as I say that a bee comes buzzing round my head.) Living in Jo'burg that is especially difficult but since I finished my studies I found that I at least can make full and useful use of my annual leave.

When we look at Jesus life what can we learn about stress? Looking at His ministry it would appear as if He did not shy away from stress. He faced the Pharisees head on, handled crowds of people on a regular basis and especially through His death and resurrection, faced persecution and ridicule. What we don't see in the pages of scripture is the bulk of the 30 years prior to going into ministry.

It is obvious through scripture that by this time in global history, documenting events and stories was well advanced and Mary could easily have kept painstaking details as to her remarkable child's formative years, but these are well hidden from our eyes. What I am sure of is that Mary would have seen the miraculous unfold before her eyes many times before her Son was thrust into the lime light at the wedding in Canaan when Jesus turned the water into wine. It is no wonder to me that Mary knew exactly what she was doing when she said to the servant girls, “whatever He says to you, do it!”

I think the message is that we need to pick our battles. We need to learn when to let things go and when to stand our ground. Sadly these things are only learned by life experience. We do have a secret weapon in this fight though, the Holy Spirit. If we lean on Him for wisdom and guidance we will learn how and when do this.

If you are facing difficulties today, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you as to the best course of action to follow.

MH370

The news broke today that the missing Malaysian flight MH370 has been confirmed as the crash site found in the South Indian Ocean. I feel it fitting that we take the time to pause and to grieve with those who grieve and mourn with those who mourn.

To the family and friends of those lost on flight MH370 I send out my heartfelt condolences.

Not quite there

This weekend I was supposed to dig up the final flower/plant bed for the year. I had every intention of digging it all up, but I just plain ran out of steam, which I am not proud of. Not being the strongest of ladies, It took, what felt like hours, to dig up the first third of the bed. I bet Angelina Jolie would have ploughed through the whole lot in 20 minutes, Lol!

A recon of my herb garden yielded less than satisfactory results as well. In the weeks of heavy rain some plants have moulded over while the weeds took full opportunity to sprout everywhere and needless to say the wonderful cut worms got tucked into my bean bushes. Needless to say, I was quite disappointed with my gardening weekend.

Once I got done complaining though, I had a sudden chill. Here I am bemoaning my minor disruptions when there are so many people in our recent floods that lost everything. Their entire world not only came to a standstill but got destroyed. How ungrateful I have been.

Disruptions come to us all, big ones and small ones and they all require that we get up and start again. Sometimes we can rebuild from these disruptions quickly and others will take years and others still will require and entire lifetime. It is at times like these that we need to dig deep within ourselves for the courage and strength to face whatever challenges lie ahead.

My prayer tonight is that as people we will find a way to help others to build their lives before we focus selfishly on our own needs. May God grant our nations leaders wisdom and empathy.

Progress

Today's lesson was a clear message. We can all change if we are willing. The only problem with that is that it still takes time. Time for your thought patterns to change, time for your responses to change in accordance with those new thought patterns and time for it to become a newly established way of life.

That is precisely the message behind Romans 12 that we need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Paul did not say renewed, as in a once off event, he said renewing as in a constant, in motion activity.

If we make a conscious choice to change, we will see the results and progress. We will however have to have patience with the process of renewal, but each step forward will bring with it a small victory and proof that you are on the right track.

A good days work

If we are honest with ourselves most of us would agree that by enlarge we seldom leave the office with any sense of accomplishment.  That will most certainly hold true if we have spent the day delivering anything less than 100% effort.  Today I can honestly say that I gave it my all and it sure felt good.

In today's world people violently oppose regulation and the control of their work environment.  It is no longer the companies benefit that is placed first but the individual.

What does God's word teach us about our labours?  It tells us that we should do everything as unto the Lord.  This means that we should work as though Jesus was watching everything we do.

Would you change your actions if Jesus was standing next to you?  If so, maybe it's time for some changes.  Ask the Holy Spirit to work with you and to teach you how to fulfill God's call on your life to deliver your best!  He sure has helped me and I know that He will do it for you too!

How do you take your coffee?

Despite having a wonderful espresso maker I often find that I crave plunger coffee. Why? With different methods of preparing coffee comes different enjoyment. Different smells, different tastes and different intensities.

We all need variety in one way or another for with variety lies the spice of life. The same would be true of our faith walk. We need to experience the gospel in multiple ways in order to find the true riches of God's word.

When the word is displayed through preaching, teaching, music, film, or even the live arts, we encounter God in different ways. Seeing the gospel through another persons eyes brings a unique perspective.

I encourage you go out and find ways to spice up your relationship with God today!

Seat belt

This evening as I was driving home I was getting a little irritated with my car seat belt but after a few moments of thought I remembered why they are so important. You see like many people I have had the nasty experience of being in a motor car accident.

The horrid truth of it is that if it hadn't been for my seat belt I could have been concussed or even worse, but because of it I escaped major injury, but only major injury. I suffered a whip lash injury that moved two of my vertebrae in my neck out of position and it took a year of physio therapy to get my neck realigned again. Why do I share this?

Well in our emotional and spiritual lives we may at times feel as if living life by God's principles is restricting and difficult. The truth is that it can be, but like a car's seat belt God's principles are there for a reason. They are there to protect us. That does not mean they will spare us from pain but only that the pain we may suffer as a result will be less harmful than if they were not there.

It is tough to accept but Christian life is very much like a rose bush. There is great beauty to behold and experience but the thorns of life will still be there.