Change of power

By now thoughts of Easter have all but disappeared.  Children are back at school and parents are no doubt hard at work and that short holiday is now a memory.  In some ways I think the disciples must have felt something similar.  After the shock of the cricifixtion and then Christ's miraculous ressurection, their lives must have started to return to what they must have felt would be normal.  The living Christ with them now day by day, teaching them and guiding them. 

But Jesus knew there was one last part of the plan that needed to be completed and to see that picture more clearly we need to take a peak once again at Luke 4:5-6, which reads; "And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it."

Satan had boasted that he had all the power over the earth, but Jesus took that from him when He died and overcame death and the grave.  There was one thing left to do....can you venture a guess?  Well I'll give you a clue.... there were 11 men involved and they needed it.....getting warmer yet?  Let me show you.

Jesus parting words recorded in Matthew 28:18-20 to his beloved diciples makes it clear; "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." 

Yes folks.....we now hold the power, so therefore as we celebrate ascension day, let us live and walk in the power of our resurrected Christ!

Good old Duck tape

Back in the 80's when McGyver found a problem that needed to be stuck together, the old duck tape roll would come out of nowhere and ....tadah, the problem was fixed!  That was kinda cool.  Not so cool however, was driving behind a mini-bus taxi today with the back door sealed closed with what......?  Yip, you guessed it, duck tape!!!!  It was smashed up pretty badly too mind you. 

I asked myself what in the world would make people actually get inside a vehicle like that?  Are they so desperate that they would honestly risk life or limb just to get somewhere?  The sad answer to that question is yes!  There simply aren't enough safe and efficient transport vehicles on our roads to reduce traffic and congestion and people just feel they have no option. 

The question is, are there times in our spiritual lives when we take unnecessary risks?  From hard life experience I can say yes to that question too.  I know where my worst risks and life mistakes have been and they have usually been at times when I have taken my eyes off of my faith in God.

I'd like to encourage you today that if you are facing difficulties in life, have patience, pray and ask God for wisdom before acting.  Usually in time, God will provide the right solution. 

Trust in God!

Mutter mutter

Over the years I have learned that more often than not, God is silent in our lives.  He expects that once our relationship with Him is strong that we will just get on with life and be the living witness for Him that he requires us to be.  You will not hear me say, well God told me this or God told me that.  That is mostly because I don't ever want to bring God dishonour by saying that He told me something only for it to be found untrue.

That does not mean that God doesn't speak to me.  He does, but funny enough it is often if my thoughts are going in the wrong direction that He does speak.  That was the case last night.  I was muttering away to God much better and the conversation went like this......

Ronwyn:  Mutter mutter mutter, and you know how long it has taken, mutter mutter mutter.
God:  Do you think I don't know that?
End of conversation!  Lol!

So God spoke and from that I gathered it was time to just keep walking down the path I'm on and trust in Him....and doesn't that go back to the begging of tonight's story...... ;-)

All for a reputation

This past week was one of the toughest I've had in a long time.  It was month end madness and on top of that I had auditors to deal with and they wanted to know everything about the toughest part of my job.  There were no easy explanations and no quick solutions, they needed the information.  The hard part was that I have a non-negotiable deadline to meet by Monday morning. 

By Thursday, I had not even had a chance to start on it yet.  Fear was starting to creep in but I told myself that I'd never missed the deadline before and I wasn't going to start missing it now.  That meant a sacrifice of a couple of hours on Saturday was necessary.  I did get a head start on Friday and I managed to wrap everything by Saturday, so I'm finally out of the woods.

It took dedication, hard work, perseverance and a commitment to the task at hand but at the end of the day it is my reputation that was on the line and I wasn't going to let that slip, not for anything.  In our world today it is so easy for people to get a bad attitude about their jobs and to not perform to the best of their ability.  As Christians let us not make that mistake, for in the end it is not only our reputation at stake but Christ's and we should do everything we can to lift Him up before man. 

Sore eyes

Financial month end is always a difficult time of the month.  There are deadlines and pressures coming at you from all sides and trying to get through recons can be taxing on my eyes, especially when I am staring at moving figures on a computer screen for hours on end.  It is all part of the job though and staying focused and on top of things is critical. 

That makes me wonder if there are times when we can get spiritually sore eyes?  I'm guessing the answer is yes, but when would that apply?  Well for me it would probably come from times in life when I have been most critical of myself.  Times when I have spent hours pondering why certain issues in my life keep cropping up and what was 'wrong' with me. 

The truth is that there usually is nothing wrong with me or you.  There are simply life experiences that have shaped our character and some of those set in behaviours need to be unlearned.  So how are we going to achieve that? 

Romans 12 tells us that we need to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, that means replacing bad or negative thoughts with positive and good thoughts about ourselves and our knowledge of God.

If you've got sore eyes from too much introspection, close your physical and emotional eyes and raise your head and see Jesus with your spiritual eyes and see your saviours love for you and how much He desires for you to live a full and prosperous life. 

Art of illusion

They have you convinced.  You're looking where they want you to look and then suddenly out of the blue the picture changes and the impossible appears.  It is all in the art of illusion.  The skilled illusionist makes you believe that it has to be true.


But what about our thought life.  We have been deluded in that area as well.  We believe the lies brought to us by another very skilled illusionist.  Tell me if any of these sound familiar?

- You're not good with people
- You're hopeless at managing money
- You're too short or too tall
- You're useless at leading a group
- You're too shy to speak in front of a crowd
- You're not the right race, sex or age
- You're too aggressive
- You don't have what it takes
- You simply would not manage
- You have no idea what you're doing
- You'll never succeed at that

At least one or more of those lies may have made you wince, because you've heard them all too often.  From people who think they are being 'honest to be kind', people who don't really know the truth about you at all.  Well before you blame the people who have said these things to you, take a deep breath and remember that we need to forgive those who have trespassed against us.

The truth is that it is the devil who wants to keep you deceived and not living out your true potential.  He is the one behind the lies, the hurt and the pain and he is the one we should be angry with.  Yes, maybe it is time to get a little angry, but let's keep that all in perspective.  Be angry enough to break free!

There is only ONE truth we need to remember to combat all of these lies:

I CAN do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!!!!!!!

Calendars and schedules

After a week of doing pretty much nothing, the thought of getting back to work as well as dealing with calendar's and schedules is feeling a little overwhelming.  I'm sure that in a day or two though the short holiday will have worn off and things will be back to normal. 

As much as this is an absolute drag for me to contemplate I know that my kitties are only too happy to have me back and for the familiar rhythm to play itself out once again.  For them its about my presence and the comfort of knowing they are loved and cared for. 

The one thing we should never loose of in life is that no matter what we are doing we are in contact with people (unless you're a hermit hiding away).  For those people our presence means something.  Whether it is to achieve a particular task at work, provide the comfort of friendship or the safety of family, our daily rhythm has purpose.  Remember that and you'll never feel again that a day is a waste.