God’s Year in 2013

I woke up in the early hours of Sunday morning.  It was still dark outside with no sign of light for a few more hours.  In circumstances such as this I would have normally turned over and gone back to sleep, but not this morning.  On this particular Sunday morning I could feel God tugging on my heart. 

Have you ever noticed that when God is trying to get your attention he usually does it halfway through the night?  I like to believe that when I wake up in the night it is God calling me to spend some time with him, and that is what I did on this Sunday morning.

What did God tell me?  Nothing in particular.  What did I learn from God?  How important it is to spend time with him.

Mark and I get married this year on 9th March.  At that time we will really be starting our walk together.  Our lives are very close right now, but living together is bound to bring more challenges, and hopefully strengthen our spiritual lives, no longer as two, but as one.

This year is full of uncertainty.  Uncertainty regarding Mark’s work, my ability to step up to the role of helpmeet, our ability to serve each other, weather it will be sunny for our outdoor wedding, if my dress will be here in time, how to fit all his stuff into my house, but most of all, uncertainty on where God is going to lead us in our spiritual lives.

Amidst all this uncertainty, the best we can do is pray and say “Blessed be the name of the Lord” in all circumstances.

I can tell that this year is going to be God’s Year.  Already he is working wonders in both our lives.  It is not like he wasn’t before, but 2012 was a fairly relaxed year as far as spiritual turmoil, a refreshing rest after 2011.

This is the season for rejoicing in the Lord, for growing in Him and for prayer.

What are my New Years’ commitments?

1. To pray more regularly and spend more time in reading God’s word.
2. To listen to God more.
3. To get more involved in his Church.

This morning I read the following Psalm and it spoke to my soul.  I hope it blesses you too:

Psalm 33

¹ Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
² Praise the Lord with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
³ Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for joy.

⁴ For the word of the Lord is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
⁵ The Lord loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his unfailing love.

⁶ By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
⁷ He gathers the waters of the sea into jars^[a];
he puts the deep into storehouses.
⁸ Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the people of the world revere him.
⁹ For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.

¹⁰ The Lord foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
¹¹ But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.

¹² Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people he chose for his inheritance.
¹³ From heaven the Lord looks down
and sees all mankind;
¹⁴ from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth—
¹⁵ he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do.

¹⁶ No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
¹⁷ A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.
¹⁸ But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
¹⁹ to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.

²⁰ We wait in hope for the Lord;
he is our help and our shield.
²¹ In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
²² May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,
even as we put our hope in you.

 

May God bless each person who reads this blog.  I pray that you experience God this year just like I have begun to.

Matthew 5:13–Saltiness

Last night I read Matthew 5:13-16.  I’ve read this part of the Bible many times before.  Have you ever noticed that when you read a verse or section it means something to you, then you leave it alone for a while, and come back to it after a few months it means something different, or you have gained more insight into the verse?  This proves that you are growing spiritually.

While reading the verses about being the salt of the earth and the light of the world, I had an Ah-ha moment, slightly different from ones I’ve had in the past.

When you think about salt, it can be good or bad.  If a person uses salt on their food it enhances the flavour, if a person pours salt into a wound it hurts, a lot.  It will definitely bring attention to the wound.

In the same way, if you, as a Christian, fellowship with other Christians, you enhance each other.  You can be there for each other in times of trouble, in prayer, in joy, in sorrow and in spiritual growth.  Christians fellowshipping with other Christians improve themselves.

On the flip side, if you, as a Christian, spend time with non-Christians, it is like pouring salt into wounds.  Let’s say (theoretically) you spend a lot of time with people who drink heavily, but you don’t touch a drop, at some point they will notice.  What makes you different from them will cause them to examine themselves and their drinking habits.  Usually people don’t like to see faults within themselves and they will be hurt (like pouring salt onto a wound), but the hurt makes them acknowledge there is something wrong.

People who get hurt usually try to bring the person who hurt them down to their level, or they try to get away from the person who hurt them, or they try to heal the wound.

Maybe, by being the salt of the earth we shine a light into the darkness in other people’s hearts, and expose their darkness to themselves.  What they do with it once it has been exposed, is between themselves and God.

Light and darkness, good and evil

“Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.” – John 3:20

While reading God’s word this week I came across the verse above.  This isn’t the first time I have heard this verse.  As I grow, I begin to see more in certain verses than I did in my youth.  Maybe I’ll never be a completely mature Christian, but each day I feel I am closer than I was previously.

So let me tell you my thoughts on the above verse this time when I read it.

Let’s paint a picture.  A person does a horrible deed, a terrible sin, what is the number one thing a person with a conscience is worried about? That person is worried that the horrible deed will be found out.  Even a person without a conscience won’t advertise a murder they committed to the police force, and if they do they usually don’t sign a name…

Let’s think about something a little closer to home.  Think about your reputation with those at your church, or around you.  I can guarantee that there is something you haven’t been completely open with regarding your past.  Something that maybe you have put behind you, that you have asked God to forgive in you, but still don’t want to advertise to the public at large.  I know I have a few things like that in my past and only the people closest to me know about those things.  I know that if I open up about those things nobody will think any less of me, they will know they were my past and won’t hold them against me, but I still won't bring those things up unless necessary to help somebody else through a similar circumstance, probably because they are my past.  Learn from the past, but put it behind you.

What I want to talk about though are the things you are hiding away right now.  The ones that you are still busy doing and don’t want to be exposed.  That is the easiest way to identify sin in your life.  Are you doing something right now that you wouldn’t want anybody outside your inner circle finding out about?  Are you doing something right now that you wouldn’t even want your inner circle finding out about?  Are you hiding something that you wouldn’t want to be brought to light?

That is almost definitely a sin.  It is something that you are doing under the cover of darkness.  It is the easiest way to identify a sin your life.  You need to be honest with yourself.  Ask God for forgiveness and turn away from your sin.

Remember Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery “Go now and leave your life of sin.” (John 8:11).

Once before I posted a quote from a TV show I enjoy, it goes:

There is only one thing in life you can truly control, and that is whether you are good or evil.

I still believe that quote holds true, only you can control your actions, nobody else.  Others can guide you, and make it seem like there is no other choice, and all choices will have consequences, but ultimately, you still choose.

If you want to read my first post with that quote in, you can find it here: Red pill or blue pill?

On My Mind… 17 September 2012

Something has been on my mind since this past weekend, and I cannot seem to get it out of my mind.  It sprung from a comment made by an acquaintance at a braai that Mark and I went to…

The comment was “Women are full of S___” (see I censored it).

The general consensus was that men don’t understand women and women don’t understand men and that is the way it is so we need to live with it.  It seems like the human race was just looking for a partner who appears less full of nonsense than other options.

My thought is “Have you ever tried to understand the other half of the human race?”

How can you say that women are full of s___ if you haven’t tried to understand them?  And how can women say that men are impossible unless they have tried to understand them?

Mark and I chatted about this on the way home (very briefly), and actually we both had the same feeling when the topic of conversation headed this way.  It showed both of us how special our relationship is.  We are truly best friends.  We are able to talk about anything. There are things we have spoken about that we couldn’t open up about to anyone else.  Mark builds me up, and I like to believe I do the same for him.

I know a few couples who share what we share with each other, so we are in no way unique.  But I cannot believe how many people are willing to settle for less than a God written love story.

Something that I have learned in my 12 years of dating experience is that if God isn’t with you in the beginning of the relationship then it isn’t going to work when God becomes involved.  But if God is with you in the relationship from the beginning, if you build your relationship on him, THEN it is going to be a love story worth making a movie about…

I like to compare my relationship with Mark to the relationship in the Pixar Movie called UP! <- check it out  - Because honestly, that is where I see it going.

Now, normally, I wouldn’t reveal too much about my relationship online and openly like this, but I cannot see this ending any other way.

Going back to the original statement… I was truly offended by it. And his wife was sitting right next to him and took it like a gem, not saying a word.  All it made me wonder is what is going on in their home life?  I didn’t see any love between them, maybe it is a different kind of love that I am not familiar with, I don’t know.  Each to their own, but I wouldn’t be able to live with a man who can disrespect his queen in that way.

It’s really been bothering me.  I want everyone close to me to experience the wonderful God-written love story that I am experiencing.  And it kills me inside when I see people settling for less because they have taken matters into their own hands and are not trusting on God.

I cannot tell you how much Mark and I prayed, and how close we got to God before we started dating.  When we started seeing each other, it was truly because we were 100% sure it was what God intended to happen.  And the longer we are together, the more certain we are of this.

And my heart is aching for my friends who have not experienced something this wonderful.  I keep praying that they will find God’s will, and God’s way through their love stories.  But all I can do is pray, they need to seek God themselves, the same way I did.  They need to learn to trust God in the storms so he can bless them when they reach the safety of the harbour, then they can enjoy the sunshine on the beach just like I am.

Long post, but I have a lot on my mind tonight.

Luke 18:17 - Child-like Faith

“Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” ~ Luke 18:17

Have you ever met somebody who has a child-like faith? A person who just seems to believe in God without questioning?

I remember a friend from grade 1 who firmly believed that raisins were made from dead flies because her brother told her so. She trusted her brother without questioning him at all.

Our faith in God should be of a similar kind. We should have a child-like faith that God exists, that God only wants the best for us and that God is in control of everything.

Naturally we should question everything that teachers of God's word say, and we should be weary of false teachers and prophets, but we need to be sure in God's word as we read it. Trust it and have faith in him.

Jesus himself said that if we do not receive the kingdom of God like a little child, full of child-like belief and faith, we shall not enter it.

Trust God unconditionally. Love God unconditionally. And receive him like a little child.