Put GOD in the center

The prophecy was that a baby would be born in Nazareth; He would save the world of their sins. Not a lot of specifics, huh?

When Mary fell pregnant she didn’t say, “Ok, now, let’s go to Nazareth so that the prophesy of the Old Testament can be fulfilled.” As far as she was concerned she was just going to have the baby and raise the child with Joseph, their family and friends. That’s all she knew. Then the Roman Emperor decreed that a census should be taken. The Emperor’s goal was not to fulfil the prophecy either. God was using completely natural circumstances to move the people around for His purposes – like pieces on a chess board. The next thing they found themselves in Nazareth, gave birth to a baby boy in the manger – prophecy fulfilled to a tee.

God’s plan was to set the Israelites free from slavery in Egypt. Pharaoh would choose to harden his heart and he played right into God’s hands for showing His power and miracles to the Israelites so that they would trust Him and know that He was their God. Eventually, after the tenth plague, Pharaoh practically threw the Israelites out of his country and demanded they leave. He must have thought he was calling the shots, but he was doing exactly what God had intended him to do so that His purpose could be fulfilled, i.e. saving His people from slavery.

God’s plan was that Josef would save nations from hunger 20 years after he had the dreams of the sheaves and the stars bowing before him. Joseph didn’t say, “Ok, let me go check on my brothers so that I can get thrown into a pit, be sold as a slave, be falsely accused of sexual harassment, thrown in prison – perfectly positioned for the king to spot me and appoint me 2nd in command of the whole of Egypt and save nations.” He didn’t know what hit him, but each party in the process did exactly their part for God to achieve His marvellous outcome of building the necessary character in Joseph so that he could be the man of the hour at the appointed time.

I have tried so many times to figure out God’s plan for me just to find out – with a huge disappointment every time – that I had missed the mark by miles?

Sometimes things don’t make sense in and of themselves, and it takes time for all the separate occurrences of our lives to come together and show the bigger picture in a meaningful way. I think in those difficult times, when nothing seems to make sense, all I can do really is what is in front of me naturally, and to trust that God is guiding me even though I don’t recognize it, and no matter how lost I feel; that He will achieve His greater purpose on the other side of it all. My part is to trust Him and obey whenever and however I feel Him leading me.

The rest of the time..?

...and, having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place] (Ephesians 6:13)

and

Rest in the Lord; wait patiently for Him to act. (Psalm 37:7)

I have this little card in my Bible – it is a reminder that I often need nowadays – it reads, Put GOD in the centre – and everything will come together. (Joseph is keeping an eye on it for me ;)

No tomorrow in yesterday

No, dear brothers, I am still not all I should be but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, Phil 3:13 (Life Application)

I remember a brief few minutes with one of the company CEO’s that I worked for. He had just listed his company on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and they had an interview with him on television. It was quite the WOW event! I met him at the coffee bar the next morning and asked him how it was. At first he didn’t know what I was talking about and when I reminded him, his response was “Oh, THAT! That was yesterday; it is history – forgotten about already."

His story always reminds me that the past is the past; whether good or bad. You can’t change it, you can’t enjoy it again – a once off offer; never to be repeated! If it was good,it is going to fade as time goes by. If it was not pretty you can’t go back and revise it. There is no point in asking, “Why (me)?”, “Why not (me)”, “What did I do wrong or do to deserve it?”, etc, etc. Fact is, it’s gone and it doesn’t care what your name is! All you can do is take whatever you could learn from it and move forward. If you don’t, it could drag you under, drowning you. Everyone fall down at times but it doesn’t have to be – shouldn’t be – fatal.

The future is not found in the past.

Yet there is one ray of hope: his compassion never ends... Great is his faithfulness; his loving kindness begins afresh each day. (Lamentations 3:21, 23) But forget all that – it is nothing compared to what I’m going to do! For I’m going to do a brand new thing. See, I have already begun! Don’t you see it? (Isaiah 43:5)

God is not a God of yesterdays, except to remind us of His proven faithfulness and the lessons to be learnt. We shouldn’t get stuck spending our energy on something we can't change either. We need to determine each day that today is a new day; to leave yesterday in the past where it belongs and to celebrate the beauty that is right before us; to not let it be tarnished by the memories of ‘used to be’.

*The picture is from MS Word Clipart

"Don't ever be afraid..." and here's why

“Don’t ever be afraid or discouraged! I am the Lord your God, and I will be there to help you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 (CEV)

Does this mean that we are not supposed to be afraid; to not feel fear? I don’t think so. We are human and we were created with emotions, and I believe that they serve a purpose too, but we are to be master over our emotions instead of being controlled by it.

I believe God is saying, “Don’t ever be afraid or discouraged” and here’s why – I am the Lord your God – I am with you – I will help you (not maybe – WILL) – wherever you go (there is nowhere where He cannot get to you).

We are to feed our faith and starve our fear. I read once that courage is feeling the fear and doing it anyway! To face our fears is the only way for us to overcome it. I’ve always remembered someone describing fear as (F)alse (E)vidence (A)ppearing (R)eal. On the other side of our fear we will find the liberty instead to be all that God has destined for us to be. However, the first step of believing what God says is up to us if we are to ever discover the wonderful things that are in store for us.

So the next time you feel fear you need to remind yourself of His promise and then make up your mind to be courageous and have faith that all will be well because He always does what He says.

*The picture is from MS Word Clipart

Eternally wise, pound foolish in 2010

As the festive season draws near may this be a time that we will remember - first and foremost - the greatest Gift of all - Jesus, the expression of God's love that surpasses all human understanding! May it be a season of thanksgiving, blessing, peace, joy and a reminder (again) of just how precious you are; each and every one. May His love be tangible for you in a very personal way - not only in this season - but always!

Creativelee Liane :)

* An excerpt from an article in New Man eMagazine, 9 Dec 2010 by Drew Dyck

...Come, Thou Unexpected Jesus

(with apologies to Charles Wesley)

Come, Thou unexpected Jesus,

Interrupt our spending spree.

Shopping malls hold all that pleases;

Why would we then look for Thee?

In the midst of all the bustle,

We've lost the most important part.

Teach us that our lowly Savior

Is not found in a shopping cart.

–Jenn Kipp...

Crayons: Part 2 - ...the master of those not yet uttered

(Continuation from Crayons: Part 1)

Just like each person holds his crayon in his own way, each person use words differently too. Not everyone have the skill to say it ‘politically correct’. One person might use words that represent an offence to another, e.g. swearing. (I’m not talking about careless profanity, so context is relevant.) Does that mean that they should go unheard and misunderstood because they don’t know how to say it eloquently?

Words in conflict can be especially hard. I think that it is good, though, to apply the same principle: that understanding is more important than each literal word in isolation. Initially I didn’t fare to well. I’m using anger as an example: Someone expresses their emotion, including some foul language. You can either walk away understanding why the person is upset, or you can go away with “they used the ‘F’ word”. Who knows, maybe there was the occasional valid point. I wouldn’t know, I wasn’t listening... for every time I came away with the latter...

One of the “filters” that affect the words we hear/interpret is when you are personally involved in the conflict. When the anger / frustration / resentment, etc. is about you it is not always easy to listen objectively. Admittedly so there have been times when I’ve been less successful at it than other times.

However, in the greater scheme of things I still think that it is more important to continue honing the ability to use words than not communicating at all, even though it might be somewhat clumsy or messy at first. For me it is part of getting to understand each other better and the more you communicate the better you become at it. Sometimes improvement needs to happen “in transit”. Life doesn’t always stop for you to perfect something first and then move forward, so get good at communication “on the go”.

(I think it is important to add that the attitude with which you use words (communicate) needs to be kept under constant watch. Being “clumsy” or “messy” with words does not give you the right to rip others apart as you please. Attitudes of the heart is often not spoken with lips, or heard with ears, but whispered heart to heart while you’re busy saying something else.) If you really care about the other person that is part of the relationship then you make room for them to grow (and if the caring is mutual, then you don’t abuse that gesture – If you get invited to a party and it matters to you, then you show up - - and you tango!)

Learning to communicate well – especially with those that we share longer term relationships with – is a challenge that require commitment, patience and perseverance. Shutting up like a clamp, creating the illusion of peace, doesn’t really help anyone. It is a ticking time bomb that will inevitably explode somehow and someone somewhere will most certainly bear the scars.

We can so easily become caught up in what words mean to us that we forget about what they mean to the one uttering them. He who holds the crayon knows the picture he is trying to draw. Sometimes the picture is not a portrait of you, so if you really care to know, get to know the colorful vocabulary in someone else’s crayon box.