When Life Becomes Unbalanced

I have a plant in my kitchen that has one leaf that is growing much taller than the rest.  It looks odd, but as I was looking at it the other day, the Holy Spirit reminded me how our life can sometimes get like that – ie when one area becomes unbalanced as our priorities get all mixed up.  Some time ago, I was going through a bout of ‘doing good’.  I was actively helping others with their problems, running errands for friends and doing what I thought a good Christian should.  It was only when I discovered that my daughter didn’t have a clean shirt for school one day that I realised how much I had been neglecting my own home chores.  It is helpful to maintain a check-list of our priorities to make sure we keep our lives balanced.  When we’ve done all the chores that we need to do, we can then seek out things we want to do.  Sometimes we need to say no to others in order to keep our priorities in check.  This may offend some people, but when you are keeping the people in your life that really matter happy, it will be a sacrifice worth paying.

Be Like a Cow

I heard a very descriptive phrase the other day that really made an impression on me.  It was that we are to be like a cow eating grass, in the way we read the Bible.  Not just to graze on it selectively, a bit here and there, but to chew on an area for ages, then to store it and regurgitate on it throughout the day.  We know that the Bible teaches us to meditate on the scriptures, praying for the Holy Spirit to reveal its hidden truths, but very few of us really know what it means to meditate. The definition of meditate is to think deeply, focus and/or contemplate on something. It is just like worrying incessantly, but instead of towards negative thoughts, towards something powerfully positive!

So now, each morning when I read my Bible, I smile to myself and picture myself as a cow, grazing on luscious, green grass in God’s meadow, keeping it in my cheeks (or rather mind) to regurgitate on it during the day.

Breaking the Circle of Abuse

In all relationships, both in friendships and in marriage, we usually treat the other person the way they treat us, either good or bad. Unless of course, we have become so spiritually mature that we are able to treat others the way we are meant to, despite how badly they treat us!

Sometimes when we become offended, or we have a fall out, we begin to play the tit-for-tat game, treating the other as badly as they treat us. This is particularly true in marriages where the silent treatment is often played out. And being human, we are often just as stubborn as the other, refusing to break the cycle of negative behaviour. It thus takes a very obedient will to be the first one to break the circle/cycle of abuse.
I learnt this lesson at a time when my husband and I had a rather nasty row, caused by a petty disagreement of opinion, and had chosen to ignore each other. Logically, you would have thought that we would have put on loud music to make some noise, but instead we crept along the house in dead silence, as if to magnify our defiance in not speaking to the other! This pitiful behaviour continued for a few days (yes, I realise the Bible says not to go to bed on your anger ) Which is why I think God needed to teach me this lesson, and quick! I was making myself a cup of coffee when I clearly heard the Holy Spirit tell me to make my husband one too. Of course, I thought that was totally absurd and I instantly refused, but when the promptings in my spirit got stronger, I knew I had to obey, so did so reluctantly. I made him a cup of coffee, just the way he liked it, and went up to give it to him, trying very hard to avoid his eyes and not say a word. What that unusual and small gesture taught me was that sometimes one of us has to choose to make the first move towards breaking the circle. It was such a simple act of unexpected kindness, making a cup of coffee for my so-called enemy, yet it had the power to melt the grudge and put us both back on a path to reconciliation. So if you have someone who you are not on speaking terms with, learn from this lesson today! Don't wait for them to make the first move! You have to decide to be the bigger person by obeying God to forgive and restore peace. Imagine yourself taking your sword of faith and cutting that circle and making it a straight line, a path that both of you can walk forward together into a happier relationship.

Peace to Hear

I learnt a very important lesson recently from God and that is that you cannot hear His Holy Spirit speak and guide you if your heart is not at peace. How He taught me this was in the most disturbing manner! I had had a very difficult week dealing with offenses and my heart was certainly not filled with peace. In fact it was the very opposite of peace, which by my definition is a mix of angry chaos! My daughter had been invited to one of her best friend's birthday party, who I knew was very keen on horses. Before heading out to the shops, I prayed a quick prayer that I would be able to find the perfect horse gift. After two days of exhausted shopping to the two main shopping areas some distances away, I had found nothing In the end, I had to resort to buying a non-horse gift which I was very disappointed about. It was a few days later when I had to visit my local town and lo and behold, there in one of the gift shops that I had not even thought of visiting, was what would have been the most perfect gift - a lovely jewellery box with pictures of horses on it! God spoke so clearly to me that if I had been at peace in my heart, I would have been able to hear His voice tell me to visit that shop first. So often when we become rushed or flustered in our lives, our peace is one of our first fruits that is lost. It is almost as if it is an ingredient that cannot dwell in such an environment, so remember, if you want to hear the Holy Spirit clearly, be sure to keep your peace!

God Connections for Our Destiny

Last night I attended a South African Book Launching party for author Mary Strick, in the little town of West Kilbride on the West Coast of Scotland, and being South African AND a hopeful author one day, I was very keen to go. I had heard about it via word of mouth and the couple I had hoped to tag along with could not get a baby-sitter and had to cancel at the last minute. It was then that I almost gave up going, but I felt a strong stirring in my spirit to go, and so not to miss any possible opportunity for a God-connection, I went. Yes, I believe that we do not always meet people by accident and very often, they are people that God brings into our lives for a purpose. Mike Murdock, a well known Christian teacher and author, says that some people we meet hold the keys to unlocking our destiny! So entering the room, I scanned all the faces and could not see a single soul that I knew, which is always very daunting for me But one single chair at a far-end table seemed to become a beacon to me, so I asked if anyone was sitting there and was relieved that it was indeed available. On speaking to the two ladies at the table, I had to smile and thank God, as indeed He had placed me next to an established Author Victoria Campbell and another lady whose name I forget, but who pointed me to the web-site Fischy Music which on having looked at it, I see is a subject I am very passionate about and I know holds information and resources God wanted me to have. Both of these connections have offered me invaluable advice and encouragement and I believe has made a huge impact to reaching my destiny. So next time you are invited somewhere or meet someone, check with God if these are people ordained by Him as a Godly connection, and not just a random, irrelevant meeting. Be open and alert to explore their knowledge by asking questions and prepare to be amazed!

Going After the Prodigals

I recently watched a sermon on one of the Christian TV channels by one of my favourite Preachers, Joel Osteen. He was speaking on how important it is to bring in the prodigals. By that he meant all those Christians who had lost their faith, fallen by the way side, back-slidden and had stopped coming to church. We so often hear about bringing in the lost, but seldom to encourage the prodigals to come back home! I don t know what the statistics are but I am sure that for every new believer there are those that fall away. His message was so simple, yet crucial and really made me think. He said that those people who usually sit around us at church we should consider as our flock and be watching over them and noticing when they are not there. So often, we just wonder what happened to so-and-so, but then we never follow through to find out. Joel says that we must seek after them to encourage them to keep them in the fold. All it takes is a contact to let them know we miss them, we love them and that the body of Christ needs them. Afterwards I couldn t help wondering who I should be looking up to encourage, but God had already heard my heart. That very same day, I bumped into three people who I had not seen for ages and it was as if God was saying to me that these are the ones who needed my encouragement. We must always remember that although our prayers for others are vital, it is very often our own voices that God uses as His mouthpiece to encourage His children!

Never too Busy...

In today's crazy schedules of life, we often battle to balance things and this can so easily end up in our priorities getting all mixed up! God highlighted this lesson to me after my excuses for everything seemed to be Sorry but I ve been too busy . You name it - I was too busy to remember to wish a friend Happy Birthday, too busy to reply to an email, too busy to pick up the phone, too busy to visit with a friend etc etc. So after the umpteenth time of using that excuse, God brought me to the Bible verse that says our lives reflect what s in our hearts and if we are really TOO busy to do good things, then we are TOO busy doing the wrong things! I realised that if my friends or family were a priority in my life, then I shouldn t be too busy for them and if I was finding that I didn t have the time, then I needed to look at where my time was being spent. I also discovered that if there was something I really WANTED to do, I would always somehow manage to make the time. For example, I would wake up early, or go to sleep late doing the thing I wanted to do what was in my heart to do! Slowly I began to get my priorities back into place and now when I find I am too busy to do good, I make the time, even if it means sacrificing that TV program I wanted to watch. God has only given us 24 hours in a day and how we choose to use them, shows God and ourselves what s in our hearts. When we consciously are aware of how we spend our time, and do the things we must do first, even if they aren t fun things, then we will end each day with a feeling of accomplishment. When we don t choose to make time for our friends and family, it conveys to them that they aren t that important in our lives. So stop all the excuses and start getting busy with what God wants us to be doing! And if you are a housewife or stay at home mum, ask God for some of His time management wisdom tips! You'll be amazed at how many time saving ideas the Holy Spirit will give you daily - and of course, being efficient by doing things right the first time, without procrastinating does always help...