TODAY IS YOUR BEST DAY!

Psalm 118:24 'This is the day the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it.' How many times have we complained about having a "bad day" or felt buoyant because we have had a great day! Every day we face is a gift from God. The good ones and the bad. The bad ones refine us and the good ones restore us. It is important that we understand the fact that once a day has gone, it is not going to be repeated. That we have to make the most of every day that we have. If you are working in a job that doesn't satisfy you, but you need it to keep a roof over your family's head and feed and clothe them, then try and find ways to get satisfaction out of your day in other ways. I will use myself as an example. I worked as a secretary ever since leaving college (secretarial college) and I hated every moment of it. I did, however, find that I enjoyed being with people, made friends easily and always had people coming to me with their personal problems. I remember my different places of employment not by the work involved, but by the people I worked with and the problems they faced. Looking back on my life, I realized that God had made it possible for me to get through the dreary times and at the same time showed me what area He had in mind for me. I have recently completed a course in Christian Counselling!

Be grateful for every day that you have, even when it seems impossible as you deal with hardship or even tragedy. For God is using all these situations, good and bad, to mould you into the person that He designed you to be. I am not suggesting, when I say make the most of each day, that you go out and live your life recklessly, but rather that you make the best of whatever situation that you are in. Living this way allows God to work through you and your life will be enriched and filled with an inner joy and peace that no man can destroy.

A Poem I wrote as a form of Worship

I ADORE YOU

Lord, to what can I compare You,

To the majestic mountains,

The waves crashing on the shore

Or even the mighty forests and

Shifting sands on the desert floor.

No Lord, they are pale reflections

Of the wonder that You are

Put there by your mighty hand

To fill our hearts with awe!

Your love reached higher than the mountains

Deeper than the ocean floor

The day you called out to me,

From your cross on Calvary

My child, it is you, I adore!

Surrendering Control

As I mentioned previously I have recently been in hospital and during my recovery program I had to learn some things about myself. The most difficult of which was to surrender control of everything I do. I am, in some ways, a bit of a control freak and like to have everything pre-planned – spontaneity is not my strong point! This served me well when getting ready to go in to hospital and I organized everything including arranging for my step-daughter to fly up and take care of me when I got out of hospital. I really didn't think that she would need to stay for more than two weeks and that she really would not need to do much more than meal preparation and some of my chores.

Was I ever wrong! I had no idea of how helpless I was going to be! Granted, I could get up and walk about, shower etc., but as for the amount of bed rest that I needed and how dependent I had become, I was shocked. Yet at the same time, because there was nothing else for me to do but accept my situation, I was able to surrender and allow her to take over.

As the days turned into weeks and my bedroom became like Grand Central Station for visitors, I was able to allow others to pray for me, do things for me, and, for the first time, to do it graciously. I had no choice. I was, in many ways, as helpless as a toddler.

The lesson that I got out of my situation is that, by letting my stepdaughter have control, I was doing exactly what God wants us to do with Him. You see, although I could have forced myself to do my own chores, I would have hindered my healing process and I could never, in my weakened state, have been able to do them anywhere near as effectively as what she could. God in His strength, wants us to give Him the control. Yes, we must do what we can, but with His guidance through His Word and Holy Spirit.

Surrendering may seem like a weak thing to do, as we tend to equate it with war, but we are not at war with God, nor was I at war with my stepdaughter. What we are, in effect, doing when we surrender our lives to God, is giving Him the opportunity to work through us, to strengthen and grow us spiritually, and to prepare us for the glorious riches that He has for us in eternity. At the same time, a life fully surrendered to Christ is a life that is filled with peace and inner joy no matter what our circumstances because we know that He is ultimately in control and that He works things for the good of those who love Him!

The Strength of the Meek

For so long the meek have been ridiculed as weak, they are seen as doormats or spineless. Yet in today's society, having the true qualities of meekness require great strength. A truly meek person is extremely difficult to find and yet when you get to know one, they are both a joy and delight. The strength of a meek person lies in his ability to not be provoked to anger, to deflect the wrath of another and to defuse fiery situations. The meek person will also rather forgive a dozen wrongs than take revenge for one. Their true strength lies in their ability to keep God's will as their focus and not allow their own emotions and desires to take precedent. Many a stony heart has been softened and many a life been positively impacted by these amazing people. The meek are calm when all around them the world is raging. They are the humble in spirit who put others before themselves and who know, that without God in their lives, their lives count for nothing. Having a meek person as a friend or spouse is a true blessing, for life with them around is peaceful, joyful and even in the dark times they are strong. Meekness is not a personality trait, but rather a strength that is learned only through a constant and sincere relationship with God.

Living Life on Purpose

I don't know about you but I find these well-meaning books about living purpose-filled lives downright depressing! In fact, they have a tendency to make me feel quite inferior! As a result of this though, I have been trying to get to the bottom of what a "purpose-filled" life means for someone of mediocre skills and talents who is not going to be an accomplished rocket scientist or the next Billy Graham. After much soul-searching and even tears of self-pity, particularly when I was down in that dark pit of depression, I have finally come to the following conclusions about what a purpose-filled life means in (I hope) God's eyes.

No matter what we think God has gifted each of us in different ways. Using those gifts that we have been given results in a life lived purposefully! How do we know what our gifts are? If you have ever had a passion to do something, e.g. visit the elderly in your nearest home for the aged; send encouraging messages to a friend; bake a cake for someone at work; babysit; write poetry; I could go on and on but I'm sure that by now you get the picture, then follow that passion. Even if you are afraid to try, afraid to appear foolish, afraid you will disappoint yourself or be rejected in some way, just do it. You will find that the first step is the hardest and from then on, if it is what God is wanting you to do, the rest will follow and you will wonder why you had taken so long to get moving. The amazing degree of satisfaction that you will get out of doing what God has asked you to, no matter how small it may seem in the eyes of world, will make you realize what a purpose filled life is all about.

It's not about the job's we do or our level of financial success or fame, but rather about doing the small (or big) things that God has called us to do that impact the lives of the people around us. We may never know what impact we have on someone else but that does not matter, what matters is that we have done what we were called to do. Living purposefully is not about us, it is about obedience to God and the difference we make by doing what He calls us to do.

Getting through the pain!

I am sitting in bed writing this having just come out of hospital (thank you Lord for Laptops!) While I was there I had time to reflect on the suffering of other people as I listened to the reasons for the hospitalisation of the other patients in my ward. The age old question of "If there is a God why does He allow so much pain and suffering" came to mind and I felt it was worth looking at.

If the world was perfect, no pain, no war, disease, poverty, hatred, racism, crime and everything else this world suffers with, well it would be heaven, wouldn't it? But we live in a fallen world with all its accompanying problems because along with all the wonderful things that God gave us here on earth, He also gave us free will! He did not choose to have a lot of mindless puppets dancing to His will, instead we were given the choice of walking with Him through this life or turning our backs on Him. What never fails to amaze me about God is that He also allows us to change our minds.

So no, we do not live in a perfect world, we live in a world of war, pain and poverty. A world filled with sin, anger and hatred that rampages throughout the lands and destroys innocent lives. However what I have realised though is that without ugliness, how could we recognise beauty? If there was no pain and suffering, to whom could we show compassion? In times of war, heroes are born and the generous heart goes out to those pulled down by poverty. Out of adversity comes courage and strength and love conquers the heart of even the most hate-filled, angry person.

As I sit here "enjoying" my bed-rest and being over-cautious of how I move because of the surgical wound, I am grateful for the fact that I have had the opportunity for this pain. It is only by having the surgery (and resultant pain) that I am able to get well again. It is sad that is is so often only when they are in pain (physically or emotionally) that people become aware of their own mortality and weakness and reach out to God, the only one who can help them!

1 Peter 5:10 says "After you have suffered a little while, He will restore, support and strengthen you, and He will place you on a firm foundation." Whether your pain is physical or emotional trust God with it and He will see you through.

The Power of Words

We are all aware of how powerfully our words can affect other people. Many of us even use them as weapons, particularly in our attacks on the people closest to us, whom our words generally have the most ability to harm.

However, how many of us realize the damage that our words can have on ourselves. How many times have you put yourself down, described your looks, body shape, intelligence, talents and abilities in a derogatory manner? I know I have done it to myself countless times. In fact, during my depression, I did it all the time. No, let me rephrase that, one of the most tell-tale signs that I am sinking back into depression is when I start being less than complimentary about myself! Whether it is done as a "joke" or not, it still has the same affect on how I think about myself.

Would we really do this to ourselves if we realized that not only are we insulting ourselves, but we are insulting God as well! We are saying that His workmanship is not good, that He has made a huge mistake when He made us. What we need to realize is that God doesn't make mistakes! He has made us exactly the way He wants us to be and therefore, in His eyes we are perfect! We are not perfect in the sense that God is perfect, but in the sense that He has created each and everyone of us for a purpose – His purpose. He has designed each one of us uniquely and individually with our own specific talents and abilities and intelligence, exactly the way He wants us to be, and what we need to understand is that HE LOVES US!! Totally.

Perhaps if we started to see ourselves through God's eyes, as His beloved and unique creation, we would stop worrying about the "details" of looks etc., and instead try and focus on living our lives the way He wants us to and thereby fulfilling our destiny that He has planned for us. If we do this, we will be amazed at the fullness of life that we will have.

Words have a habit of being self-fulfilling. What we say about ourselves will eventually become "true" because we will, through self-hatred, destroy our trust in our abilities to achieve anything. By thinking we are "worthless" we will eventually lead worthless lives. Never attempting anything, never reaching our potential or using the gifts and talents that God has given us.

We need to stop those negative tapes playing in our heads and coming out of our mouths and instead realize that the Creator of the Universe knows exactly how many hairs we have on our heads. And if He is aware of such a mundane and irrelevant detail, how much more concerned is He with the details of our lives!