Spectacular vision

I have always been a little shy of the book of Revelation and will for the most part skip it in favour of what I would call lighter, less heavier reads but I felt challenged by God to work through it this time round. I try not to focus on more than one chapter at a time on any book so that I can allow it to all sink in.

With a heart open and ears ready to hear from God, I began reading chapter 1. What a spectacular vision rises before your eyes when you read the following:

Rev 1:13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girded about the chest with a golden band.

Rev 1:14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

Rev 1:15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

I have no words that can beat this spectacular image so I leave you with these words. It all makes perfect sense why there are angels in heaven crying, “Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. Holy, Holy, Holy.”

Getting organized

I am currently working through some filing in my new position, something the team simply has not had the time or resources to get done. Most people would get annoyed with being stuck with a filing task but I view it as a unique opportunity to very quickly learn about the scope of the job function and all that it entails. In a highly regulated banking environment having ones ducks in a row is very crucial.

Setting ones affairs in order on a personal level is also really important. Making sure you have you have a written will, looking after your estate management and being in control of your financial affairs are all part of good stewardship.

These are all lessons in life that I have had to learn the hard way as I have made many wrong decisions in the past, so I could never stand in judgement of others who have perhaps taken a wrong turn. The one thing I have learned is that our God is a truly a God of mercy and if we repent then He will always be ready and waiting for us to return to the plan that He has laid down for us to follow.

Pick of storms

The rainy season is now eventually in full swing. Today's weather was probably as close to the way I love things as you can get. It was sunny for most of the day with a brief time of rain but by the time I left the office, the sun was back out again and there was a beautiful rainbow in the sky.

We don't get to pick the weather, God/nature does that for us. We just have to figure out a way to cope in the midst of them. Be it a hail storm, tornado, tropical cyclone or a raging thunder storm they all have their own unique dangers.

Life is like that too. We don't get to choose what crisis will be thrown at us. Sickness, financial failure, marriage breakups a loss of a family member are all devastating storms of life. There is one thing that both types of storms do have in common though and that is that often they change the course of our lives.

Tornado's destroy homes and so do divorces, but both happen in our world today. How do we rise above these storms and stay strong in God? We need to make sure that we are anchored in our relationship with God. In the same way that homes in tornado zones are built with a strong basement, so too our Christian faith should be anchored by the knowledge that because God loves us and He will always bring about the best outcome for us, even if that outcome is our own passing from this life to the next.

Storms come and go but when the pass, we get up and we rebuild that which was broken. It is in those times that we must never forget Romans 8:28 that all things work together for the good of them that love God and are called according to his purposes.

Press release

This weekend was hectic but I had a short while between appointments to have a quick first glance through the press release that needs to be prepared for the books release, hopefully later this year. Now, I would love to know how many authors have drafted a press release from the back seat of a Hyundai Atos. Trust me, it was funny.

There are so many interesting parts to the publishing process and I am really finding it fun and an interesting learning curve. Hopefully if any future books get released it will help me to prepare for them better.

I wonder what the press release for Jesus birth would have been like? Yes, I know Isaiah, the Angels, the Shepherds and wise men all beat me to it, but how about I give it my own shot?

A boy child, Jesus, was born to Mary and Joseph. This young child's future looks bright. He is to become a friend to the lost and down hearted, a healer of all ailments and diseases, a mentor to His disciples, a friend to many even tax collectors and a provider of food to the multitudes. His destiny will be to wear a crown of thorns made by scoffers and a death more agonising than anyone could imagine. BUT, He is to rise from the dead on the 3^rd day, to defeat Satan in his own territory, to snatch the keys of death, hell and the grave and to set captivity free! He will rule for all eternity, seated at the right hand of the Father and will be crowned King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

Go quickly, read about Him in today's bible! Amen!

Night after night

I was busy digging through my old Bible School files this evening, looking for some notes to send to my sister. Looking through those files brought back many wonderful memories of my 3^rd year, but what concerned me as I glanced through them was the realization that in truth we had only skimmed the surface.

So how much time did we spend in classes learning about God and His word? Well my 1^st and 2^nd year I did back to back but 3^rd year a few years later, but the days and hours? 3 lectures per night (roughly 45 minutes each), 5 nights per week, 4 normal school terms per year, for 3 years! Yikes, that sure was a huge amount of time studying God's word night after night.

Why do I raise all this though? Bragging? No, never! I say all this because a wise lecturer once told us that the more you learn about God the more you realize how little you know. That means that even if we were able to spend every waking moment learning about God and studying Him, we still would never know everything there is to know about our awesome God!

Maybe you are asking then why should we even bother trying? Well what I've learned over the years is that God is in every waking moment. Every experience I have and feel is part of my life with God, so in truth I know all that I need to know for this very moment.

Oh temptation

Oh my, how I longed to bunk work today! My book draft has come in from the publisher and there is so much work to be done with that. The little devil on my shoulder said, "call in sick and spend the day at home and do the work". My conscience just could not do it though as the right thing to do is to book a days leave.

It really isn't easy to do the right thing all the time and that is why temptation is one of the Devil's most powerful tools! The Devil's other favourite tool is discouragement! When you put discouragement and temptation together the result is often explosive!

It is our nature to justify our actions when temptation comes, but James 1:12 tells us what the right thing is to do: “Blessed is the man that endures temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them that love Him.”

Living a life of integrity can be really difficult at times but God promises us that there will be rewards to our faithfulness and honesty if we choose to focus on Him and walk the path that he has asked us to walk.

Bed weather

We have had an unusually dry and dusty start to Spring this year and it has been really hard to try and keep all the smaller flowers alive, so I was hugely grateful when it started raining on Saturday night and it has continued raining on and off through to today with a few added hail storms as well. 

The cool weather just made for perfect bed weather and I spent all day Sunday in bed with my laptop catching up on some necessary work, only getting up in the evening to have a shower and rush to Church.  This meant I did not get my usual Sunday cooking done and my punishment for my laziness meant I had to catch up with cooking on Monday tonight.  Unfortunately the bad weather prevented me from posting this blog yesterday.

I drove home yesterday evening with thoughts crossing my mind about how I ever managed to live a productive life in the past.  The pace in the city has really changed dramatically over the past 10 years and travel to and from work now eats up great chunks of the day.  I also wondered if Jesus ever felt like life was to hectic?  Despite our drastic differences in lifestyle I think He did.  I think that is why we read about Him often taking time out to retreat to quiet areas for prayer and meditation. 

That being said I find myself thinking that maybe I am just too harsh on myself and that enjoying the slower days in bed are a gift and I should enjoy them guilt free.  Maybe you've been in the same boat, chastising yourself for just taking things at your own pace at times.   Well I want to encourage you not too, God certainly doesn't.  He knows our need for a change of pace and welcomes every day as it comes. 

So relax, enjoy the rain and feel the strength that comes from each new day!