Some really good information on ‘reblogging’ a post!
Very beautiful…
Life has its way of blackening eyes.
Courage paints beauty where hardship resides;
Deep within tissues most damaged by pain,
Faith breeds the strength that will rise up again.
This lily variety is called ‘Black Eye’.
These past few weeks I have found myself wallowing in thoughts of the past, a feeling of self-pity has slowly started to seep its way into my psyche and a sense of failure has gripped me. Mainly a sense of failure that I am not living my life as God ordained me to live it.
One of the dictionary meanings of wallow is “to move about with difficulty” and that is where I have found myself – I have found it difficult to move and breath and love and care – about myself, about others, about God. I have found myself repeating the words found in the first chapter of Ecclesiastes “Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!”
I decided to see how Ecclesiastes ended and this is what the second last verse in the book has to say: “…here is the conclusion of the matter; fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man”.
Jesus, Himself said “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John13:34). Galatians 5:14 stresses this fact “For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself”.
How can we begin to love others if we do not feel love for ourselves? Jesus loved us so much that He was willing to die for us. How can we deny that love in our lives? How can we reject God’s love for us? What right do we have to waste His sacrifice and to wallow in feelings of defeat and hopelessness?
And then the biggest question for me “how can I confess to love God if I don’t feel love for myself?” And as I asked this question of myself I could see Satan in my mind’s eye, rolling around laughing, because once we start to go down the road of self-pity, once fear and failure has us in its grip, Satan has won the battle! We don’t need to be actively sinning or disobedient to God’s Word – we just need to feel a wee bit unworthy, a little bit despondent to become ineffectual in our Christian walk.
It is perfectly natural to feel depressed, unhappy, fearful – the problem arises when we allow those emotions to take root in our lives. Jeremiah 17:8 has this to say about a man or a woman who trusts in the Lord. That they will be blessed and
“…will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream. It will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to bear fruit”.
The tree endures all manner of hardships – thunder and lightning storms, wind, intense heat, animals digging around its roots and climbing in its branches – and yet, it stays firm because its roots go down deep into the soil.
If we love the Lord, we are that tree. We need to ensure that our roots are deeply embedded in Him and the only way to do this is by spending time with Him. Praying, reading the Bible, fellowshipping with other Believers, going for walks in nature, being quiet and waiting upon Him.
It won’t matter what befalls us or how strongly our lives are being tossed in the storm of life because we have the absolute assurance that we are rooted in God.
We need to put time aside to go for a walk, to do some spring cleaning in the house, to listen to praise and worship songs, to have a bubble bath, to pray, to read the Bible.
We need to get active. We need to count all our blessings. We need to confide in someone we can trust.
And if none of the above lifts our spirits we may need to seek medical help – which is absolutely fine!
So today that is exactly what I did. I went for a walk, had a bubble bath, cleaned out some cupboards, spent time listening to a worship CD, gave God a list of things I was grateful for, read Isaiah 30 (a good read) and sat on a park bench for a little while. Unfortunately, I ran out of time otherwise I would have weeded the garden as well!
I also found two quotes!
“A life of adventure is ours for the taking, whether we’re seven or seventy. Life for the most part is what we make it. We have been given a responsibility to live it fully, joyfully, completely, and richly, in whatever span of a time God grants us on this earth” – Luci Swindoll
and
“God is the one who calls me the Beloved, and I have a desire to express to others how I try to become more fully who I already am” – Henri Nouwen
I feel great!!
A beautiful young lady, who is in the process of planning her wedding day, wrote and asked me the following question: “How do I make my marriage last?”
Her parents divorced when she was young and her dad subsequently married two more times.
Having been involved in a few divorces and marriages that my parents have gone through – firstly as a child and then as an adult – I could so strongly empathize with her fears and concerns. How does one make a marriage last when one’s own parent’s marriage didn’t last and often the subsequent marriages ended in divorce as well?
Divorce has also become so common now-a-days. In December last year, News 24, reported on the Marriages and Divorces 2012, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) findings under the heading Wooing and weeping: marriage and divorce in SA .
These were some of their findings:
Marriage rates are dropping, but the number of divorces is climbing. In 2012, 21 998 divorces were completed and registered, up from 20 980 in 2011. During the decade under review, 2005 was a really bad year for marriage: 32 484 divorces were recorded.
Most of 2012’s divorcees were ending a marriage for the first time; about 2.0% of men and women were at least third time divorcees.
Divorce has always played a large role in our children’s lives (starting with their grandparents). In every single class they have ever been in from pre-primary years, there have always been children who come from families where the parents are divorced. In fact we always knew when one of their peers parents’ marriage was breaking down because they would go through a stage of seeking reassurance from us that we would never get divorced.
A few years ago I was really shocked and saddened by a comment my daughter made one morning. We were on our way to school and I was to meet with other mothers to pray for our children. I asked my girls if there was anything they wanted us to pray about. We had just returned from attending the wedding of my husband’s niece in England. The following were their responses:
Amy said, “Please pray that Clare and Pav will have a happy marriage.”
Sarah said, “Maybe you should rather just pray that the marriage will last!”
How incredibly heartbreaking it is to hear children speak about marriage in that way.
In his paraphrased version of the Bible, Eugene Peterson writes the following:
God, not you, made marriage. His Spirit inhabits even the smallest details of marriage.” —Malachi 2:15 (MSG)
In his wedding sermon, Dietrich Bonhoeffer talks about marriage between a man and a woman, saying of marriage:
…with your love you are founding a home.”
This is why divorce is so heartbreaking and damaging to children. When their parents—who have sworn before God to love each other for eternity—separate, children no longer have a safe home to find refuge in.
The other thing is that we tell our children that they must not make promises they cannot keep and yet, here are the adults, breaking the promises they themselves made!
Our duty to each other and to our children is to love our spouses. When we find this difficult, we need to seek help. We need to kneel before God and pray His healing into our marriages. If necessary, we may need to seek godly counselling. Additionally, we need to start reading His Word in order to find out His design for our marriage.
We need to remember that we are not our parents, we are free to choose a different legacy for our marriage and our children.
We have to choose to stay in love. The saying “love is not a feeling, it’s an act of your will” is so very true.
Originally posted on http://www.startmarriageright.com/2015/07/making-your-marriage-last/
Being a part of the family of God is definitely one of the biggest perks to being a Christian!
As a member of God’s family, one can travel anywhere in the world and be assured of meeting other members of the same family.
“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household” Ephesians 2:19
In the two photos above the following countries are represented:
New Jersey, United States
Tennessee, United States
Nigeria
Malawi
Northern Ireland
Scotland
South Africa
1 Corinthians 12:27,26 “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it”
We are all drawn together because we love the Lord!
We had gathered in Cape Town, South Africa, to honor and celebrate American Independence Day on the 4th of July! We wanted to share this celebration with our folks in church who were from the United States, William D. Carter III a visiting student from Princeton Theological Seminary and Andy Cunigan, a fellow American. Andy and his family are living in South Africa for a while and, ironically, his wife Betsy and their three children were on holiday in the States and were celebrating the ‘real deal’! As Believers our cultures and traditions can be shared and celebrated with everyone and we can learn so much from each other.
The American flag was ‘flying’, there were copies of the Declaration of Independence and the words to “The Star-Spangled Banner” on the table, hamburgers and hot dogs were served and the piece de resistance was a cake baked and iced as the American flag by the youngest member present!
Busy icing the cake
After supper the mandolin and guitar were brought out and the singing began!
As I sat there, I imagined what it must have been like when Jesus was on earth. How he must have enjoyed his evenings – eating, laughing, talking, praying and singing praise songs to God, and how much He must have enjoyed celebrating the 4th of July with us!
Romans 12:5 “so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others”
Often, as I look at this cross, I think about how Jesus allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross so many years ago. As He hung there, He looked ahead through the ages and saw me sitting at my desk staring at this cross. He saw my life from beginning to end.
He saw the fears, failures, tears I would cry.
He saw the joy, peace, laughter I would feel.
He saw me feeling demoralised, a failure, worthless.
He saw me celebrating, confident, feeling worthy.
He knew without a shadow of doubt that I would constantly struggle to obey His commands (especially the ‘love your neighbour’ and ‘do not judge’ ones). That I would fail Him countless times and yet He still chose to die for me.
The words GOD LOVES YOU are deeply carved into this wooden cross. Just as a carving tool cut into this wood leaving deep dark scars, I see the back of His body scarred with wounds as He was whipped prior to being crucified. I see the scars on His hands and feet where they nailed Him to the cross.
AND then I think of how often I make a mockery of His death because of lack of faith, because I refuse to take Him at His word, because I often don’t feel worthy of His death. It is then that I am reminded that His dying had nothing to do with my feelings. I may not feel worthy but He says I have immeasurable worth and I have to believe that.
That is when I go and read the beautiful letter He wrote to each one of us long before His death took place:
“This is what I am saying to you. Don’t be afraid, because I have saved you. I have called you by name, and you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you cross rivers, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, nor will the flames consume you. This is because I, the Lord am your God. You are precious to Me, because I give you honour and love you.
Don’t be afraid because I am with you. I formed you and made you for My glory. I chose you so you would know and believe Me; so you would understand I am the true God.
Forget what happened before, and do not think about the past. Look at the new thing I am going to do. It is already happening. Don’t you see it? I will make a road in the desert of your life, rivers in the dry land of your life, and you will sing songs of praise to Me.
I am the One who forgives all your sins, for My name sake; for My name sake I will not remember your sins. ( Isaiah 43)
Very thought provoking and interesting post!
I would rather be writing my Sermon Redux this morning but the events of this weekend and Christian response to the homosexual marriage decision by SCOTUS have left me a little irritated as to which Jesus Christ people are following. I already wrote one article on this Rabyd Opinion – A Little Rational Perspective on Gay Marriage for Christians and it has been taken to heart by some others have simply decided to continue their temper tantrum because they lost and have now started to plan and execute more form of resistance to this decision. The biggest problem some of them now have is how many companies came out in support of this decision and how they plan to boycott them, etc. On a practical note, this is going to be amusing because if you boycott everything that promotes sin you are going to probably be down to eating nothing and buying…
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Ten years ago my sister gave me this book for my birthday:
The following was inscribed inside:
DEAR NOEL, HAPPY 41ST BIRTHDAY. WRITE YOUR BOOK! LOTSA LUV M.A. THIS IS A BOOK FOR THOSE MOMENTS
I never dreamt that ten years after receiving this book, my second book All God’sStones would be published and that Trevor Hudson would write the foreword for it!!
Trevor Hudson has written many books. I have read the majority of them and have quite a few filed on my book shelves. The Serenity Prayer, however, stays on my desk within easy reach because I refer to it often. This book has brought a far greater understanding of God’s love and His power to restore broken lives, into my life. In the book Trevor Hudson states:
Each one of us has been created with and given certain gifts. These have been placed in us by our Creator God and they represent our unrepeatable uniqueness. God’s general will for our lives is intimately linked with this giftedness.
As a poster once proclaimed: “Who we are is God’s gift to us, who we become is our gift to God”
I was honored and humbled when Trevor Hudson agreed to read my book and to write a foreword. It was such an amazing gift from God (and Trevor) to me. In Isaiah 43:4 God says “…you are precious and honored in my sight, and I love you…”
In Isaiah 30:18 it says “the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!”
I am a blessed child of God and my prayer is that I, in turn will be a blessing to others and to God. That God will use my books as he has used Trevor’s books to bring comfort and understanding into lives that long to be touched by HIM.
I am a child of God’s.
I am also a writer.
Mother Teresa once said “I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world”.
My objective is to be one of God’s love letters to the world. I can only achieve this through His grace at work in my life.
WOW! God is so good!
Through His grace, God will help us to become the person He created us to be.
As we walk through the day with God we need to be aware of what God says about the way we walk.
In Joshua 22:5 He says “But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey His commands, to hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and all your soul”.
If we walk with Him, God promises us the following in Proverbs 2:7 “He holds victory in store for the upright, He is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for He guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones”.
God also said that if we asked Him “He will teach us His ways, so that we may walk in his paths”.
There is a beautiful passage in Isaiah 30:18 that says this “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him!”Sometimes in this journey of life we tend to rush ahead and leave God behind. We need to remember to wait for Him.
The passage continues as follows: “Whether you turn to the right or to the left your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying “This is the way; walk in it”.
If we wait for God we will hear His voice telling us in which direction to go.
In fact in Jeremiah 6:16 that is exactly what God says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”In other words when we are not sure what to do and we are standing at a crossroad in our life we need to search God’s Word for the direction He wants us to take.
Extract from All God’s Stones
A poem written by a teenager whose parents are divorced and who only sees her mother on weekends.
Weekends, Mother
I see you during the week
But when the weekend comes – mother you are never here.
Just because at times I’m distant, cut off from you
It doesn’t mean I don’t need you.
I get home on Friday
And you’re not here.
I know I’m not a model child
But then no child ever is
I know I’ve caused you pain
But then you always do hurt the ones you love
One Friday I’d like to get home from school
And find you here alone
I’d like to walk along the beach with you
And tell you all my dreams
I want to make you part of those dreams
Share my thoughts and feelings with you
Pick you a wildflower
And watch your hair blow in the the wind
Make you coffee and talk to you till the early
Hours of the morning
I can’t do any of these things
Because you are never here at weekends
Just one weekend with you alone, Mother
Is all I ask
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UNDER A JUNIPER TREE 