My Friend ........ the Holy Spirit

My Friend the Holy Spirit....

John 14:26 (AMP) :" But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intersessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby) the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name (in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf), He will teach you all things.  And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you".

Are you longing for a Friend, someone who is humble, gracious, trustworthy and always looking after your best interests.  Then get to know your Friend the Holy Spirit.  Jesus said that He will give us a Friend   (John 14:15) so that we will always have someone with us. Not just sometimes or often, no, ALWAYS. This beautiful, gracious Friend will be with you every moment if you allow Him. He will show you things in your life and in your heart that will change your life forever.  He will never let you down, He will never fail you.  I know sometimes you might feel that He has failed you if you are looking at your immediate situation. But look back at your life (over a couple of years) - you would be able to see how the Holy Spirit has gently carried you through the very difficult periods in your life.  No one said that life would be without any difficulties but I believe that the Holy Spirit wants to teach us and build our character and use us for the Glory of God.  So just press on! You will finish the race for your life that is part of the bigger plan.

The Holy Spirit will never "force" himself to be part of your life.  He is not forceful to those that do not want Him to be part of their lives, but the Holy Spirit is patient. He is patient and kind.  The Holy Spirit is powerful and strong, yet humble.  He can heal our hearts, all those places in our lives that are shattered.  No distance can ever separate us from Him.  He is is always with us and there is nothing He does not know about us or our future, so He is able to protect us. How absolutely awesome is that. So just sit back, be still, and invite Him into your life. He is a Friend indeed and a Friend in need.

When we get to know the Holy Spirit intimately, our values and our morals will be aligned to those of Jesus.  We will become new creatures longing to walk in His ways.  It says in Titus 3:5 (NIV) : " He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy.  He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit". Again, this shows the Grace God has for us, as no works we ever try and do will be good enough, it is only by GRACE!!

Prayer:

Father God, I pray to really get to know the Holy Spirit and people longing for joy and peace to get to know the wonderful, beautiful Holy Spirit that shows us Grace.  Holy Spirit You are welcome in my life.  May You be my Friend and my Guide in my life. Guide me so that I can please You with everything I do in my life.  Thank You Holy Spirit - Personal fulfillment when You are part of my life. All for the Glory of God! 

I will be still and know God, Holy Spirit take over!

"New hands" to lift the burdens : Mandela Day

Acts 20:35 :"In everything I did, I showed you that this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive'".

In South Africa (and I'm sure in some other Countries), we give 67 minutes of our time to make the world a better place on Nelson Mandela's birthday the 18th of July yearly.  Nelson Mandela himself inspired this idea when he said on his birthday in London in 2008: "It is time for new hands to lift the burdens.  It is in your hands now". So that specific day became one of caring for someone else or for a good cause.

Mother Teresa said: "Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work".

So, today therefore was an exciting day. It is always exciting doing something for somebody else. It makes you feel like a blessed person. After a demanding day at work a group of us went to a home for abandoned and abused girls. It was so absolutely rewarding to get so many hugs and love from the girls, as off course they are crying out for love. One of the 2 year old girls just did not want to let me go, she slept on my shoulder and held on to me making sure I would not let her go.  Another girl sat on my friends' lap and told her just how beautiful she was.  All of them just wanted our attention all at once. We helped them with homework, laughed together and made sure they were loved.  I often find myself wondering and crying out why moms and dads would just abandon their kids and neglect them.  I will file it in my "I don't understand" file and know that I don't want to judge, that is for God to do, although it hurts my heart so bad.  We can just love and be the hand that God wants us to be.  

Thank you Father that You enabled us to give a bit of emotional love and support today.  Children need so much love. You love them so much. 

After that we went to the old age home, my friends' work's project for their 67 minutes.  We must never forget about our old people.  Afterall, that is where our knowledge and wisdom lies.  They are so easily forgotton, but oh so very special.  

Wise words from Abraham Lincoln as he said: "And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years".

We must just be available, as Jesus said, available vessels ... we don't have to care or feed 100's of people, we can just start with 1

Jesus helped and healed people all the time, even on a Sabbath. That just shows us the depth of His love and therefore in return how Jesus wants us to care.  Jesus could not stand to see people suffer, because of His compassion and empathy, and so that is what He expects of us.  Jesus said we have to look after the poor. And to be poor is not always about wealth but it is also about the helpless and the poor in spirit.

Let's pray ....

Oh Father, thank you that once again today You kept me totally humbled.  There is just so much pain in the world. So many people are so hungry for love. Thank you that you have given so many people a compassionate heart for a broken world. Open our eyes Jesus to see and to do. We can make a difference starting with 1.  After all, You said we must just start with the little. The little is good enough for me for now until You show me what You need me to do. All for Your glory Father God.

IT IS TIME FOR NEW HANDS TO LIFT THE BURDENS!

The Indescribable Glory of God

Exodus 33:18-23 (ESV) : Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And God said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.  But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”  And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by.  Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”

Our minds cannot yet understand God’s ways and the Glory of God …. our eyes still need to be opened to His GLORY..

As human beings in the flesh, we would never be able to survive the sight of God because of His Glory.  And this is just because God wants to protect us and not harm us, as His Glory is so powerful.  But one day in heaven when we are spirit that will all change.  This takes my breath away!  I feel so humbled by the fact that God created us because of love – to one day be with Him in heaven to experience the fullness of His glory, now that makes me excited and at the same time it brings tears to my eyes.  I have read so many articles where people say that God does not exist or God is imaginary that is why Moses could not see His face. Wow, people!!!! God absolutely exists!!  Just look around you.  Look at the incredible way God has made you and me.  How can we even compare God to a human being or limit Him when He is just so Amazing.  His Glory is astonishing. Psalm 19 & 73 speaks about the heavens telling us the story of God’s Glory.  I would never want to pass this opportunity by to be a child of the most High to one day experience His Indescribable Glory!  Indescribable, uncontainable.. All powerful, untameable, incomparable, unchangeable… Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim, You are amazing God… (Part of Lyrics.. Indescribable by Chris Tomlin)

I do believe in my inner being that God is extremely misunderstood.  He is the first one people “blame” when something bad happens and He is the last one people “thank” when something good happens.  God allows certain things to happen to us that we don’t always understand but He loves us, He is beautiful (I cannot comprehend all the beautiful images in my mind when I think of Him and my thoughts are even limited as His beauty is just startling). He is omnipotent (Rev19:6 – Almighty), omnipresent (Psalm 11:4 – present everywhere at the same time), and omniscient (Psalm139:12 – having complete and unlimited knowledge).  I read in Joel Osteen’s book – Your best life - that each of us should have an “I Don't Understand It" file so when something comes up for which we don’t have an answer, instead of dwelling on it and live in self-pity, we just need to file it in there and walk away from any emotional bondage. So yes, my new filing system now has a file called “I Don’t Understand It”.

Created for His Glory

Isaiah 43:7 says that we were created for the Glory of God.  If we think about it God says that He is love.. So we were created for LOVE.  Yes, then we were created for Him and Jesus said that the greatest commandment is LOVE. Jesus Christ is the best expression I can think of when I think of the Glory of God and of Love, when I think of His goodness and when I think of Grace.  

I have asked some people to let me know how they see God and what God means to them in their lives. Here are some of their comments ….

How is see God…

“God is almighty, all powerful, He is amazing beyond words, I do believe that we are made in His image, therefore I do believe that He has a tender, loving presence about Him.  He is filled with unconditional love for us all, a God of forgiveness and grace for us all.  He accepts us just the way that we are and He knows our hearts desires. I know that God is always with me and will only ever have good plans for my life.  I am FOREVER grateful to God for all that He has blessed me with, no material possessions could ever make up for all the good qualities that He has given me, for all the loved ones that He has blessed me with that are always there for me, and when I feel that I just can’t carry on I am reminded in some way or another of how blessed I actually am.  I am a child of the most high God, what more could I ask for.  I know that God is the ultimate PERFECT example of PURE love”.

How I see God…

“When I think of God, I picture him with a bright light all around him, and with a soft gentle smile, extending his hand out towards me. Firstly let me say “Thank you God for the most amazing and awesome wife that I have been blessed with, A TRUE GIFT FROM GOD. God means everything to me, without him I would never be able to cope with all that is happening in my life and to all those whom I love. God has answered so many prayers in my life, I owe him so much. It is true what they say WE SERVE AN AWESOME GOD, Always there, never failing in His care, Yes sometimes I get despondent and cry out to GOD, please answer my prayers, but in His own time and when He believes it to be the right time, He DOES answer in miraculous ways. I have a company that is struggling to survive, I have a car that needs to be repaired, I have loans I have to pay, the list goes ON and ON, I truly let go and LET GOD, and I received money this week to pay all the problems and burdens that I have.  I carry no malice towards any of those people that get pleasure out of needless gossip, or grudges that they bare, because MY GOD SEES ALL and He truly must know my heart as no one else does. GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME and ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD”.

How I see God…

“I have an awesome almighty God, He means so much to me in my life, and I know He always looks out for my best interests in life.  Who would we be without God, God is the reason we are here, He died for our sins and for that He in awesome God, I love him with all my heart soul and might! Thank you God for all you have done for me, Thank you for making me one of your daughters, Thank you for making my heart pure”.

How I see God…

“A Father, Friend, Forgiver and Lover of My SOUL, Wonderful counsellor, Mighty Prince of Peace, Mighty good shepherd, my Strength, my Teacher, My Trust, My Joy, LOVE (we can never know true love apart from Him) God is my life- My everything. The author and the perfector of my Faith.  I feel that God understands me more than I do myself, I've done so many wrong things and still continue to do so but God loves me, He forgives never to ever remember or remind me of my sin, He is all that I have, He makes sense when everything else in the world does not, HE  LOVES UNCONDITIONALLY knows all my flaws and still loves me. Most of all He is my best friend, no day goes by me not talking to him. I believe in Him and Him only I believe in His reports and none else. Looking where I come from and where I am today it can only be God who has made all things possible.  He is able to open doors that no man can close. He is the centre of my life; after all it’s all about Him and none else.  This wonderful man called God He understands our prayers even when we can’t find words to say to Him.  He is everything to me can’t imagine life without him”.

How I see God…

“To me God is beautiful, radiant softly spoken.  He is the One that helps me carry on no matter what.  He picks me up when I am down. He is my father that loves me listens to me guides me and He is just awesome and the lover of my soul”.

How I see God…

“God means to me: love, gentleness and caring and you can always depend on him. He is the only one forever”.

How I see God…

“The secret is Jesus – And in Him we find all wisdom and hidden treasures and my life without Him will be empty”.

Pray with me ...

Amazing God in heaven, forgive us for limiting You. Yes, we can't even comprehend your awesomeness, your Glory. We would not be able to live if we had to see Your Glory. Do we even know sometimes what we as for.  Thank you for thinking enough of us humans that You sent Your Son for us and that You love us so extremely much. I am just thankful to be your daughter and thankful that You love me and know the depts of my heart. All we do is for Your Glory beautiful Father!!

When enough is finally enough .....

God knows the bigger picture .... 

Once you step out and look back at your life you can begin to see how the grace of God helped you through!

I am very sure when God created people, He meant for everyone to get along and love each other with that beautiful tender love Jesus portrays.  But we all know this is not the reality we so long for at times.  God would never have told us to love one another if He did not enable us to do so.

I need people to understand that my writing in this blog is not for the ordinary family with a few arguments here and there.  This blog is meant to give those families with deep-rooted hurt and sadness some hope to say "no matter what, you can get through it".  I know families in my circle that are going through a tremendous amount of hurt because of judgment and cruel words.  Those are the families I pray for and there is hope and grace in our Jesus.. Just press on!!

GOD KNOWS BEST FOR ME

We all know that glass can be absolutely beautiful, but it can also cut extremely deep.  A very famous quote from an author (unknown) reads: "Relationships are like glass.  Sometimes it's better to leave them broken than try to hurt yourself putting them back together".

I know as we have been made in the image of God and God exhuberates love in abundance that this was His ideal plan for us.  God tells us in 1 John 4:7 "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God".  But these words are not always that easy. When then can our hearts cry out "enough is truly enough"! It hurts. The glass is about to shatter. I do believe God would not want us to get hurt over and over so at one point I know God would be content if we make a decision and we say "today, at this very present moment, enough!

We all want our family (or friends) to care and we want to feel valued so we expect them to act in a certain way towards us, as that is the right thing to do. Sometimes someone is "knowingly" hurtful towards us.  It is therefore important for us to recognise this or we will feel disempowered and hurt.  We cannot change our family (or friends) but we can protect ourselves.  Sometimes when we come into contact with them we should already expect how they will "behave" and we should just protect ourselves, guard our hearts. To "crave" approval leads to tremendous hurt at times.  This is the time that we have to just let go, let go and let God!  We can't change our family and we can't change what they think but we have to protect ourselves and our emotions so best is not to fight back, no don't. Letting go of all the feelings to fight back or say what is on our minds, will just leave us with the freedom that we need. So let go and let God.  We must just remove the emotions when we think of the ones that hurt us or when we are around them and pray for absolute inner confidence.

We need to make the right choices for ourselves, for our own lives.  Not all family would be loyal and not all family would be forever. They can be forever in your heart as that will never change.  You can still love them but you don't have to have a close-knit relationship with them.  God understands yes, He understands your heart.

It is great for us to always be compassionate towards our family but sometimes we need to look at our own hearts and be compassionate with ourselves first we need to say " This is just not okay".  Don't justify that you "might" be the wrong one because of the way you are being mistreated.  When you are truly loved by your family (or friends) they would not use your past mistakes or failures to justify the way they treat you.  That should not be their function but God's.  God is the only one that can judge not any human has that right, as He says in Matthew 7 : 1-5 (ESV) : "Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.  Why do you see the speck that is in your brothers' eye but not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye"?  No matter what you have done in your life you deserve to have healthy relationships, build relationships with those that truly care and those that do not judge and those who treat you well.

Let us pray ....

Father God we pray for fruits of the spirit - peace and self-control - to manifest in our lives.  We pray that you change the hearts of those family members or friends that hurt us. May we have healthy relationships with people who care and who dont speak evil words against us. Lord you are our counselor and you counsel us, You tell us what to do.  We trust in You. 

I choose ........... Grace and Love

Choosing .... no matter what happens in our lives, Choosing, no matter how we feel about ourselves! 

Jesus said in John 15: 16-17 "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit - fruit that will last, and so whatever you ask in My name the Father will give you. This is my command : Love each other".

Well, wow, Jesus came as our Grace as He chose us (you and me) and He left us with ONE greatest commandment and that is to love.  

I am a very ordinary woman with a passion to let people know about the Grace of God.  I also have a love for Jesus greater and different than any other love I can think of.  Jesus can touch ordinary people. Think of Moses, Paul and David the shepherd boy just to name a few. All of them "ordinary".

So, looking at reality of day to day choices in our lives my friend has a little "campaign" that she has giving out biscuits to the hungry or the homeless or just the ordinary man on the street as God would lead us.  We do this whilst driving home or to work or weekends when we drive together.  Well sometimes I would cry (like this morning on my way to work) and then a minute after that I would smile as the little newspaper "boy" smiles from ear to ear as He reads "You are special to God". But, choices are what we can make in life just to make a little bit of a difference in somebody's life, it does not have to be a big deal, it can just be ordinary.  A lot of a little can make a huge difference! 

Whatever you are doing in your life and you feel "inadequate" or ordinary - God is looking for you, yes you!  Remember God never sees the inadequate we see and feel in our own lives, He sees beyond that. "Inadequate" actually does not exist when God is involved. Just look yet again at Moses, Paul and David. I love the song by Ray Boltz called Shepherd boy.  This song is when Prophet Samuel was searching for the next king of Israel amongst Jesse's sons.  He overlooked all and lastly in the fields caring for the sheep was David (The man after God's own heart - 1 Samuel 13: 13-14).  David was just the shepherd boy, not fit for a king in "worldly eyes".  But God sees past the worldliness into the heart of a person.  Yes, David was the chosen one, the ordinary shepherd boy.

(Chorus of the Shepherd Boy by Ray Boltz)

But when others see a shepherd boy

God may see a king

Even though your life is filled

With ordinary things

In just a moment He can touch you

And everything will change

When others see a shepherd boy

God may see a king.

The story of David is so full of grace and love, from the core of our God's own heart - What an awesome promise to us.

So, in our own lives, no matter how we see ourselves and no matter how others perceive us, God sees us as kings and queens, fit to do his work and fit to be part of His Kingdom - children after His own heart.

Choose today!

Choose your life in such a way to accept the grace so freely given to us by our Father God.  Choose to accept the greatest commandment Jesus gave us - to love.  What a privilege to LOVE God with all our hearts, souls and with all our minds.  Then we have to love our neighbours as we love ourselves.  This is where we can choose to make small little differences.  When we love God and we accept His Grace (Jesus dying for our sins on the cross & Him loving us just as we are) it will feel so awesome to know that we are sons and daughters after His own heart. Just choose!

Pray with me .....

Father it feels so awesome to call myself your daughter, the little old ordinary me.  Thank you that I am enough to be part of Your amazing Kingdom.  I don't want to ask for anything but I just want to say thank you.  We can be grateful for so much.  We just need to look around us.  When You look at me You see me as Your Queen, fit for your Kingdom. Father everything we do is for YOUR glory.  Amen