Bible Monday’s: Galatians 5:16-26

The other day I was sitting in my bed having some me-time with God.  I was just flipping through the index of my New Testament NLT Bible.  For some unknown reason I just felt like using that version on that specific night, normally I read an NIV Bible, but I have various versions in my home since some translations explain certain passages better than others, so if I get stuck on the meaning of a passage I try a different version.

 

So anyway, I was flipping through the index of my New Testament NLT Bible and stopped on the entry for “Alcohol”.  I read down the list. I’m not 100% sure why I read that list but it might have something to do with the bar fight over the previous weekend that I wasn’t present to see but heard all about the next day and had flashes of previous sins in my life which resulted in me making the decision to never touch alcohol again unless it is in medicine or is a glass of champagne/wine at a wedding/other celebration.

 

I read down the list:

Romans 13:13-14.  Becoming drunk is sinful. – yip, I know that already.

Galatians 5:19-21.  God hates drunkenness. – huh? it really says that? *page to Galatians 5:19-21*, and end up reading the whole section from Galatians 5:16-26.

 

Now I strongly recommend going to this website and comparing the NLT version to the NIV version.  I’ll even include links here to make it easy for you:

 

NLT version:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians%205:16-26&version=NLT

 

NIV version:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians%205:16-26&version=NIV

 

In essence they are the same, but the NLT version is written in a way that a teenager (or young Christian) can understand it.  The NIV version is (in my opinion) a little more advanced… I don’t know if I want to even try and look at the KJV, but for the sake of completeness here it is with a link:

 

KJV version:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians%205:16-26&version=KJV

 

Now remember at this stage I had only read the NLT version, and it took my breath away.  Who would have thought the words “wild parties” would be in the Bible?

 

I compared the list of the desires of sinful nature to myself – I can count 2 things that I have recently been able to overcome with God’s help.  One or two others are going to be ongoing battles for a while (remember, I am not perfect).

 

I am proud to say that the night before reading this passage God had confronted me (well I think it was confronted because I was in prayer and I just got an unmistakable urge to do this) about the alcoholic drinks that had been sitting on the shelf untouched for over a year.  I hadn’t thrown them away because I don’t like to waste.

 

Something in my brain clicked that I was never going to drink it, and I was never going to offer it to guests so I might as well throw it down the kitchen sink, and that is what I did.

 

I think that Galatians 5:16-26 (in the NLT) gives a nice well-rounded list of “Do’s and Don’ts” for new and old Christians.  So often I have just asked God “Why couldn’t you have given us a list of basic everyday life things that you like and don’t like us doing, in black and white?”  Well, guess what, he did give it to us, just some of us haven’t found it yet.

 

Then we go onto the next part, the Fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  I think that overall, a lot of us can say “Yes, 60% of the time I am those things, some of them I am 80-90% of the time.” But there is always room for improvement. 

 

For example, I am extremely patience while waiting in lines, but I am impatient while waiting for God to answer prayer – I need practice in that one.

 

There was a saying: “Never pray for patience because God will make you practice it!”, but I say we have to look at our weaknesses and pray that God will give us opportunities to practice our weaknesses.  I know that my weakness is self-control and I have a friend whose weakness is peace.  He is so eager for arguments, he’ll take the opposing view just to have a good argument with someone (whether he believes the opposing view or not)!

 

Then the next question is what is your biggest strength?  Mine is peace, I try to maintain the peace in all situation, I strongly dislike arguing and would rather say “Well, we can agree that we disagree” and end the discussion there.  My not-so-little-anymore cousin’s biggest strength (in my opinion) is self-control, but with him it is difficult to pinpoint his strength because he just seems to be overflowing with love, joy, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  I don’t know if he is patient, but I’ve never seen him impatient.

 

The point is to cultivate your strengths and improve your weaknesses.  Think of the school situation.  If you discover in Grade 4 that you are above average in Maths, but below average in reading, the teachers recommend extra lessons to improve your reading skill.  And a good teacher will acknowledge your strength in Maths and recommend you enter mathematics tournaments to encourage you to build on your skill.  In the same way we need to focus on both our strengths and our weaknesses.  Pray for opportunities to practice our weaknesses and pray for situations to use our strengths.  I’m going to.

 

This has turned out rather long, so I would like to congratulate you if you read the whole thing.  I intended just to write a few paragraphs and it just flowed into an essay.  Each time I finished off one section, it flowed into a new one – but that is how my train of thought works.

 

May God Bless each of you!

Recipe Friday: Farmhouse Omelette

This is great for both breakfast and supper! The recipe says it serves 4, and it would probably serve 4 people my size, or 4 children, but William’s 17 year old brother would most likely finish it all by himself.

 

 

Ingredients:

• 25ml (25g) Margarine
• 1 small onion, peeled and chopped
• Half a green pepper, de-seeded and chopped
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 4 eggs
• 25ml cold water
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 50ml grated cheese

Method:

1. Prepare all ingredients (chopping etc.) Beat together eggs, water, salt and pepper.
2. Heat margarine in a frying pan
3. Add onion and green pepper and fry, stirring all the time with a spatula for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add tomato and fry for another 2 minutes
5. Pour egg mixture over vegetable mix in the pan. Cook until egg sets around the sides of the pan.
6. Switch on the top element of the oven. Sprinkle grated cheese over egg mixture, place pan under the top element and cook till omelette is golden brown and cheese has melted. (Leave the door open and any plastic outside the oven.
7. Divide the omelette and serve with warm toast.

Bible Monday's: Psalm 48:14

"God is our God for ever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end." ~ Psalm 48:14

This afternoon, while thinking about what to write in this blog post, I opened a little box called "101 favourite Bible verses for women." I drew out a card and read the verse on it.  It was Psalm 48:14.  I still had no idea what to write about in this post.  So I started reading the Bible.  I decided I was going to read today's Bible reading and just continue with tomorrow's and the next day's and so on until God made something stand out to me.

I read 2 Samuel 3-4.  Then I went onto the next day's reading (which is actually Wednesday's reading because I am a bit ahead of schedule), it is Psalms 48-50.  After reading Psalm 48 it occurred to me how strange it was that I not only drew the above verse out of my little box, but it was also the next Psalm I was to read in the Bible.  This may be a coincidence, but it allowed me to really think about Psalm 48:14 again, especially the part "He will be our guide even to the end."

Lately I have had a lot on my mind and a heavy weight on my heart concerning a private matter, something which should only be discussed with close family and friends, so please forgive me for not disclosing it here.  What you need to know is that I have prayed for a certain miracle to happen in 2011, and when God grants my request, I'll definitely post disclosing all.

On Saturday, God guided me (very obviously) on the matter mentioned in the previous paragraph.  The matter is far from resolved, but I now know what I need to do during this upcoming year.

I want to encourage everyone reading this to share your troubles with God.  He will give you guidance.  Just like it is written:

"If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you.  He will not rebuke you for asking." ~ James 1:5

Just remember, once God gives you the wisdom you need to follow through on it.

Sunday News: The Holidays (Part 1)

I had such a wonderful holiday with William.  We left for my hometown the Monday before Christmas.  My 2 budgies came with us in the car.  The trip was mostly uneventful.  Here are some pictures:

 

 The view out my window while we travelled.

 

William driving the car with my budgie (Leya) on his head.

We stayed over at my mother’s house for the night.  It was a 4 hour drive and we had only left at midday.  My mom spoilt me rotten by cooking for us.  Nothing is better than a mom-cooked meal.  The next day we were on the road again to visit William’s family at the coast.

 We stopped for tea and lunch at Buddaford farm stall.  It can be found 10km outside Fort Beauford on the road to Whittlesea.

William enjoying a nice cup of coffee.

The best toasted sandwich and salad in the world (or so I’m told)

Roosterkoek – The bread is baked on an open flame.  Served with Strawberry Jam and Cheese in this case.  It is one of my favourite light meals and I very seldom get to enjoy it.  It was delicious.

And this is where I shall close for today.  God is great and I am so grateful he allowed us a safe trip this holiday season.

Saturday Fitness: New year

Today is the start of a new year, and like everybody else, I have a few fitness and health goals for the year ahead of me.  These are not really New Years Resolutions since my official New Years Resolution is:

 

“To grow closer to God in the coming year by prayer, reading his word and living a set-apart life for him.”

But I still have other things I would like to get into the habit of doing this year.  The first is that I want to get into the habit of exercising every morning for 20-30 minutes.  Then going for a walk or other exercise in the evenings for 30 minutes too.

 

The next habit I want to get into is eating healthy meals, mostly focussing on fresh fruit and vegetables.

 

On another note, I also want to get into the habit of posting more regularly on my blog.  I really slacked off over the past few weeks.

 

I hope that everyone has a great year, and I’m praying that God helps everyone I know stick to their New Year Goals.