Pray, Pray, Pray

Today I stand with head bowed down, troubles on my heart but at peace with the knowledge that I am powerless to do anything about them. I personally cannot remove the tumour on my sister's brain, I cannot make my friends in hospital heal any faster or suffer less. Nor can I heal the hearts of the hurting when they come to me for counsel. That is why my head is bowed. Not with the weight of troubles - but in prayer.
I cannot do the surgery my sister requires but I know that God has equipped others who can, and placed the right people in the right place to do exactly that. I cannot mend broken hearts and shattered dreams but I can help pick up the pieces. God has said that when we bring our prayers to Him he will listen and answer and that when two or more of us gather in His name - well then powerful things happen!
So I don't want to waste time imagining what could go wrong when I could use that time thanking God for that person and for the fact that He is taking care of them right at that very moment. As much as you or I may care for and love someone who is suffering, we must never forget that God's love for them is even greater and He has only what is best for them in His heart.  So today I bow my head, bend my knees and lift my heart to the most Almighty God, who created the Universe and yet loves tiny little us so completely.  I ask our heavenly Father to have His Hand on their lives to heal them, to make the Surgeons steady and sure in their actions and to keep these wonderful people with us here on earth for a much longer period. I thank God for the gift of life that He has given to each and every one of them and I ask Him to give them all a much longer time in which they can bring glory to Him and witness of His amazing love and supreme healing powers.
We are never helpless. We have prayer. The most amazing, awesome gift that you can imagine and yet which is so under-rated. God hears the prayers of the righteous. So when your heart is filled with the right intentions, and you present your requests before God, He will hear you and He will answer you. He may not always give you the answer you want but He will always give you the BEST answer.

A "Mighty Men" conference where men gather to worship and pray!
May God hear their voices - the voices of South Africa!

Out of the Ashes.......

"Out of the ashes, beauty will rise, and we will dance among the ruins, we will see it with our own eyes" so sings Steven Curtis Chapman in his song Beauty Will Rise. All I can do, is hope that it is true. This year has been a nasty one filled with death and illness and destruction.
I will be attending my third funeral tomorrow for the year that makes it one a month so far since the year began - I hope the trend now stops. The devastation that has wrecked Japan recently as well as Christchurch in New Zealand and the other countries that have been battered by natural disasters have numbered more in three months than what we generally get worldwide in as many years! Now the countries in northern Africa and the middle east are at the brink of civil wars, with innocent women and children getting caught up in the crazy political battles. I agree that it is time for the despots like Gaddaffi to be removed from power, such a pity though that so many innocent people have to die to achieve it.
To add to all of this there is the small day to day problems and hurts like finding out that a friend that you counted as really special, doesn't consider you important at all. Or the work you have been doing with such enthusiasm gets 'rubbished' by the people you were doing it for with one or two nasty comments.  I'm sure that you can add to the list, but I'm not  going to - it's too depressing and right now I want to put my hope in Jesus because I know that only by walking with Him, trusting Him and letting Him be my guide am I going to make sense of all the madness in this world....

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The True Friend!

John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

Friendship can be a tricky business, it’s not like marriage where you’ve made a commitment to each other and declared your love for each other both publicly and privately. No, friendship can be far more complicated and difficult than any other relationship. In fact, I’ve often wondered why Jesus used friends and not family or spouse. Perhaps it’s because the loyalty and love of a friend is a constant unknown, never declared, always presumed, always uncertain.

I know a few people (myself included) who have (or have had) a friend that they were totally committed too. If this friend was in trouble everything was dropped or put on hold while their needs were met; extra care was taken when buying them birthday gifts, but if they remembered your birthday you could see they’d just grabbed something and hoped it would be ‘okay’.  You’d make dinner arrangements and they’d casually cancel at the last minute because they were tired but if this friend called and said “lets meet for coffee”, after getting over the shock (because they were never the one to initiate anything) all other arrangements were quickly cancelled – even the urgent one that you’ve waited a month for! 

Not all friendships are like this, thank goodness! Most of them are more evenly balanced with a mutual amount of give and take and yet, these friendships are the ones that we never forget, the people that we pour our hearts into, that we want to care for, nurture, encourage, support, love. The problem with these friendships is that very often a time comes when we realize that we are putting ninety percent into the friendship, the other person is benefitting tremendously from all our attention and so, to keep us at their side, they will do their ‘share’, they will put in their ten percent just to keep us satisfied.  When the ‘ninety-percenter’ suddenly realizes what is going on, they very often confront their friend angrily and invariably walk away from the friendship feeling hurt, used and confused.

I have to ask myself ‘why?’ Why walk away from something that you have built up? Except for in a marriage, nowhere in a relationship with another person, is it demanded that what you feel for someone is what they should feel in return. If you have declared your affection for that person, have they ever reciprocated? Did you inform your friend that you had certain expectations of them in return for the things that you did for them? Under most circumstances people will respond in kind, but if they don’t after the first few occasions, you can be sure that they probably never will.  I am fully aware that in my own particular case hell would freeze over before my friend even made it into the ten percent bracket, but I am prepared to live with that as it is my choice and until such time as I feel God saying ‘enough’ then that person will continue to have my full commitment. 

I also cannot help feeling that many ‘Christians’ have a relationship with Jesus that is very much like the “ten percenter’s”.  They like to keep Him around for when they need Him in an emergency, but otherwise they never talk to Him, never visit Him at His house, never do anything that He needs done, but know that they don’t have to do anything at all, because He is the truest of all friends, because He laid down His life for us!  The other wonderful thing about Jesus is that, although so many Christians are ten percenter’s, He is always a one hundred percenter! He will never walk away from us no matter how badly we treat Him, his love remains steadfast and true. He never lets go no matter what we are going through or how we behave.

John 15v17 “ This is my command: Love each other.” 

No Limitations....

How many of us go through life saying “I can’t”.  No matter how big or small the “can’t” is, by saying this we are setting a limitation not only to what we can do with our lives but we are limiting God by stopping   Him from working through our lives.  Now I know that God is a limitless God, capable of doing anything, but God will not work through us if we are not willing to be open to taking the steps and doing what He wants us to, and that excludes the ‘cannot’s and will not’s.

We so often see stories of people who have overcome enormous obstacles of physical disabilities, serious illness, tragedy and loss to go on and become winners in life, the type of heroes that we can all look up to.  These people should make those of us with excuses for not doing things, look seriously at what we are saying – are the “cannot’s” not perhaps, in truth “will not’s”.  Is it not perhaps our own fears that are holding us back and preventing us from doing something rather than an actual lack of ability?

What would happen in our lives if we were to decide to change the way we look at doing things and say “Yes, I can”. You know, you don’t have to do everything perfectly but just doing it can make an enormous difference to how you face life, how you feel about yourself, and how you face life’s challenges when they come your way.  If you decide to throw out all your self-imposed limitations you would be amazed at how your life will change so you need to decide if you want to continue the way you are or would you like to start making a difference in the lives of some of the people around you?

When it comes to doing something that God is wanting us to do, you can be sure that He will be your strength, He will provide you with what you need to carry out His work and He will always be at your side as you step out to do His work.  All you have to do is say “Yes” not only that but “Amen” which means “So Be It”.  So do not put limitations on what God is wanting to use you for, say Yes Lord, so be it, and live a life of no limitations, filled with the joy of seeing what God does in this world as you let Him use you to do some of His work, as you step up, throw out your limitations and make the difference.

Being God’s Samaritan

Have you ever been in a situation where you have been helpless and had to be rescued by someone? Did you feel embarrassed that someone had to help you out or were you so filled with gratitude that you realized that nothing you ever did could fully repay this person for what they had done for you? So often the person who comes to our rescue in our time of need is a complete stranger. A person who, is in no way tied to us physically, emotionally or financially and thus has no 'reason' to stop and assist us. Admittedly there are people who make rescuing others their occupation and get paid to do so, but I am not talking about the firefighters, or paramedics, or police.

Our response to help another person is an indication of our true character, and if we are unable to walk on by when someone is in need then we are reflecting the heart of God. However, except for in the case of emergencies, we should not be dependent on strangers when we are in situations where we need to be helped. God has called us to live in community, not in isolation. He has made us a part of His family, we are His children. As much as we should feel honoured when someone calls on us in their hour of need, we should not feel as though we are a burden when we have to turn to someone when we too have difficulties to face. If we were to live in community as God has called us to do, there would be far less suicide, sickness, divorce and depression in this world than what there is now.

Rescuing someone is not always needed only in traumatic situations like an accident or illness. Very often a young mother may need rescuing with some baby-sitting or an elderly person may need a hand with some transport to get their shopping done. Situations are all around us but, unless we are in community with others we are not going to be able to see them and therefore not going to be able to be the hands and feet that God wants us to be.

Whenever we think of helping someone our first thoughts are always 'monetary'. Then we realize that we don't have very much of that commodity ourselves, and so we lose heart and give up. Most people would be embarrassed at a financial handout, but if you know someone is struggling, invite them around for a meal, or drop off a bag of groceries. I could type pages and pages of suggestions and still not have an ending, because there will always be a new need – but God's storehouse is always full and all He needs is willing hands to carry the 'supplies' to those who are in need. It may even be you who has a need to be met!

Recently my youngest son called me to find out if it would be okay if he brought home a kitten, if he could catch it! He had gone to the post office and found this tiny creature trying to fend for itself on a traffic island in a busy street. He was able to catch it by feeding it pieces of bread. The poor little thing was only 4-5 weeks old and in a bad way. However, she is now a lively and active part of our lives and is my son's little shadow. The funny thing is, my son has never particularly liked cats! However, he said he could not live with himself, or consider himself a human being, if he just walked off and left the kitten in the street. The changes she is making in him and in his heart are amazing!

JOY TO THE WORLD! (So then why’s everyone so miserable?)

Believe it or not it actually is that time of the year again! Christmas!! Quite honestly, I have absolutely no idea how it got here. Last time I looked, I'm sure it was July. Anyway, whether I like it or not, it's here along with all the craziness that accompanies it. Packed shopping malls, road-rage, drunk drivers, Boney-M belting out in the supermarkets, exhausted shoppers, crying children, Santa's on every corner ringing bells and encouraging you to shop in the different stores.

Yet how many of the people rushing around decorating Christmas trees and spending more money than they should on unnecessary gifts really understand what they are celebrating? Perhaps that is why so many of them are so miserable? They do not understand the great sacrifice Christ made for them. Lets' face it, would you give up paradise, come down to earth, knowing all the pain and suffering you would go through, for a bunch of mostly ungrateful people? Would you? Didn't think so! Nor do they realize the amount of love that He had for us to do that and for His father. What love, what sacrifice, what a gift!

The other day I watched a very brave man, a bell ringing Santa in a local mini-mall, telling everyone that God Loves Them!! Now that was a first! I realized then that that is exactly the message that we should all be taking to the world at this time. So when you sit down to your Christmas dinner tell everyone near to you that we celebrate this day because Jesus was born to demonstrate just how much God loves us! You never know, by spreading God's good news, you may actually put some real joy into someone's Christmas!



THE GIFT

Madness, mayhem, glitter and lies,

Roasted turkeys, gift-wrap and good-byes

Every year we do it again

And again

Round and around it never ends

We search for something

We don't know what

Unfulfilled, saddened

We try again next year

Buy bigger gifts, bigger tree

All the time - lost

Then one Christmas day

A friend hands a 'gift' to me,

A miracle occurs

My eyes are opened

My heart set free as I am shown

God loves Me!

Days in the Desert (or It’s Not About Me!)

I have been struggling lately with ideas on what to write about for this blog and felt like I was definitely having a 'desert' experience. The well of creativity had run dry, my mind was like the Israelites – wandering around in circles, and the possibility of reaching the promised land (or writing a new post) were as remote as landing on Jupiter.

So I shot off a quick "why God, why?" message, (He know's my attention span is limited so tends to tolerate short yelps and mini messages) and responded with a quick "BECAUSE IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU!" Now trust me, I didn't hear a booming voice or anything like that, just had this conviction that this was what I had been doing wrong – making the post about me! My idea, my feelings, my thoughts, when in reality it is and always has been about God.

I realized then that the reason the Israelites had to wander the desert was because they also kept making everything about them! God had performed miracles and rescued them out of slavery. It wasn't long though before they started complaining about the heat, lack of water, food choice, and just about everything else you can possibly think of! It became about them and not about the Awesome God who was present with them every day, who provided for their every need, who had saved them from centuries of slavery with miracles that the might of Pharaoh and all his magicians and armies could not stop.

Unfortunately, that is what we do in our lives as well. We lose sight of God and focus on our little day to day problems. We forget that all that we have comes from God and every breath we take is a gift from Him. If we realize that its' all about God, that we live our lives to bring glory to Him, then we will find that we are no longer wandering dry, dusty, lonely desert roads of life but adventuring through the lush lands of milk and honey that God has promised us.