Let go of the old

Recently I’ve decided to get a new car. Now those who know me, know my car is like my personality loud &  robust. I’ve had many a adventures in choertiji (also known as Golfi, Herbi, Boomerang). And when someone came to look at her to see if they want to buy her, my heart sank- her seats are ripped, the seat-belt isn’t working, her body looks a bit bruised, but man she has soullll...

As you can tell I’m emotionally attached to Golfie, perhaps it is that she was my first car, the one I said that I would drive till she dies. Perhaps it’s all the fond memories; hooting at random people because we can, going on road-trips and alot of fun. Prehaps it is because it is the most expensive possession I ‘own’. But I’ve always believed God has blessed me with choertji, so I can bless others. And I believe I have...

So I ask myself the question, why is it hard for me to let go? Do I somehow doubt God’s provision? Or that the new will not be good, because I'm comfortable with the old broken down? Do I believe the lies of the enemy that somehow I deserve a choretji (old car)? It seems strange that despite all her many flaws I desire to keep her. But are we not all like that? We struggle to give up the old the comfortable, because we do not believe God wants to bless us with the new and better. We hang unto our addictions, our self-defeating behaviours because somehow we think this is it, this is the way I’m supposed to live. But God has called us to let go of the old to embrace the new.

What if Lazrus after being resurrected (see John 11), wanted to keep the grave cloths on? What a strange picture, a living man in burial clothes. Jesus says to unbind him, and so we need to allow Jesus to unbind us from our old unhealthy ways of thinking, doing and relating. Let’s let go of the old to embrace the new.

May God bless you as you let go

May the Lord unbind you from your ’grave-cloths’

May God make His face shine upon you as you embrace the new

And may He give you peace in the transforming process

Perspective

I’ve recently moved to a beautiful city (Durban), when I got here all I could see where beautiful big green trees. As time passed I started to see the fences and walls to keep people safe. Today I was walking along the beach, when I got here I saw the beautiful sea and restaurants; now that a bit of time has passed I see the old delapdated buildings. When you stay in a beautiful place, after time passes you forget to appreciate the beauty. And it got me thinking about perspective. It can be so easy to see the bad things, what is wrong in a job, in your life, in a relationship, in you, and your family; but do you see the good? You see places and people have both good and bad, but what do we choose to focus on? It does not take much effort to criticise/complain, but the word of God tells us to “Do everything without complaining” Phil 2:14, but instead to be grateful and thankful (see Eph 5:20).

God sees things in a different way than we do, His thoughts are not our thoughts (Isiah 55:9). In 1 Sam 16:7 says "But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” God sees the internal (heart – our attitudes, intentions), not the external.

My parents are amazing, ‘plat op die aarde’, very humble people, and they too do not focus on the external. At times I feel drawn into the system of the world of “How do I look?”, what do I drive, wanting to keep up with the filtered Jonses instead of remaining focused on what is truly important. Col 3:2 says Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth (unlike the world). Because you see what truly counts is not the dress I wear, but the way I treat people. I am to put on ‘love’ (Col 3:14) not some name brand. So you see what is of true importance is the eternal, the hearts of people and the presence of God. So let’s keep our minds focused on this.

May the LORD bless you with a heavenly perspective

May He keep you focused on Him & His kingdom

May God make His face shine upon you as you remain humble

May God give you peace as you turn your eyes unto Him.

Beautifully flawed

I can’t count how many times in my life I wished I would feel less, or at least less intensely. Often others go thorough stress, and they seem to not let it bug them. But for me it’s to the 10^th degree stress. When something sad happens, it feels like my heart breaks (and yes to the 100^th degree that others seem to experience, or so it feels). But oh the joy when I have joy... No I don’t have bipolar, but I do feel intensely and I feel a lot. 

I’ve often wished my heart to be harder. Yet I know God wants to give us a heart of flesh (Ezek11:19). And so today as I was crying, pouring out my heart to God; wishing again that I could be different when I was reminded of Psalm 139. A well known scripture to most, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” (v13-14). What struck me is the phrase: "I praise you” and why does David praise the LORD? Because God did a good job with David. And not only did God do a good job with David, He did a good job with me! Wow! As I read that I realized I more often complain to God about how He made me (this can include complaining about looks, or part of your personality); rather than praising Him for how HE has created me.

You see God had a plan with the emotional way He made me. Maybe it’s so I can have greater compassion on those struggling, maybe it is so I can show others that to have emotions are ok, and it’s ok to cry. But I believe that the biggest  gift of my emotionality is to realize a closeness to God. For “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18. You see the gift of realizing you’re broken is that it brings you to God...When you realize how deeply broken you are, how you can’t without Him- it brings you closer to Him. Even as I type this I recognize that it is a journey of realizing the gifts He has given, even in the things we see as flaws. But for today won’t you join me in saying thank you God, for making us unique, beautiful, and creating a sense of awe in the masterpiece He has created and is creating in you & me (see Eph 2:10).

May the LORD bless you in knowing you are a masterpiece

May the LORD keep you from complaining about your ‘flaws’

May the LORD make His face shine upon you as you praise Him for His work in you

May the LORD give you peace as you search for identity in Him.

Control freak...

I’ve recently moved. And a lot has happened in short time- living in new place, new job a lot of means I have a lot of adjusting to do. I’m staying with relatives trying to find my own place. And I’ve been pushing to find a place to stay, pushing myself to find a church. I haven’t even been here a week and I’m trying so hard to make things happen. And that I’m busy freaking out because it’s not all happening NOW!  God showed me that it’s because I don’t really trust Him. OUCH! He  wants me to let  Him lead me and show me the way in HIS time. You see there’s nothing wrong with me making plans, or making effort to let the things fall in place. But there is a problem with my attitude, “LORD you are taking too long, so I will help you a bit”. Talk about PRIDE- OUCH!!!!

You see when we try to control everything in our lives we live in the wrong belief that God is

not soveirgn, and we don’t allow Him to be in control. It shows we don’t really trust Him to

make things good. Yes we can make plans, but we must remember “The heart of man plans

his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.” Prov 16:9. We are to acknowledge God 

in all we do, and then He will lead us “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean 

on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight 

your paths.” Prov 3:5-6

So yes, let’s make plans but trusting Him to lead us. Let us check our attitudes when we plan, making sure that there is not pride and unbelief in our hearts. For He knows what we need, He will lead us, His heart towards us is good! Let us believe this and from this place, ‘Let go and let God take control’.

May the LORD bless you with the grace to let go

May He keep you on His paths as you acknowledge Him

May His face shine upon with His goodness.

And may He give you peace even in the chaos of not being in control.

The evil of comparison

So recently I’m staying with someone else’s mom, and she’s a great aunty, but well... she’s not my mom. Funny that for some reason, probably because I miss my mom, I compare the two. I’ve been looking for a church family, and having been in the same one for the last 8 years; well it’s really hard not to compare. Then I think but they don’t do worship like we do, they are too this or to that. And so goes the evil of comparision. But you see each mother is unique and special to their own children. And each church is a different manifestation of God’s character. I believe each church, except cults of course, are a reflection of a different aspect of God; like the different colours of the rainbow.

And then there’s Facebook, where you get to compare the ‘perfect illusion’ of the other person’s life to yours. And you feel you don’t look as nice, have as much fun, have as many friends as Sally does. But as they say the grass only looks greener, because there is more poo on the other side! Spend enough time with any person who looks like they have it all together and you will realize they don’t, they can’t otherwise they wouldn’t be human. When we compare and look at the riches, beauty, or talents of others we are envious or greedy. Col 3:5 (NLT) “Don't be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.” Comparison shows that we are not grateful for what God has given us. It shows that there is an idol in our heart, for we secretly think if I only had that I’d be ‘happy’. Not recognizing that Jesus is the true joy giver (Psam 16:11).

I’ve also fallen into the trap of thinking someone else would be better suited to do my job or do a better job than me. But you see God didn’t put so-and-so here, He chose me! He thought I’d be best suited & that is why He has placed me where I am for this season. WOW J Eph 3:8-10 (HCSB) says  ^“This grace was given to me—the least of all the saints—to proclaim to the Gentiles the incalculable riches of the Messiah, and to shed light for all about the administration of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.This is so God’s multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens.” Paul is speaking of how despite that he is no-one God chose him to a special work (sharing the gospel to the Gentiles). You see we all have a unique place in God’s kingdom, we are all part of the body of Christ. We cannot say just because we have a different function to Paul, or Joyce Meyer that we are not part of the body. We all are needed! See 1 Cor 12:12-27. 

Another dangerous trap of comparison can be to compare your current boyfriend, or even husband, to your old one- again we need to recognize that God has made each person unique and so each relationship is also different and unique. It is unfair to compare! So let us guard our hearts and minds from comparing.

May the LORD bless you in knowing your unique place in the kingdom

May the LORD keep you with being content where you are at,

May He make His face shine upon you in all you do.

And give you peace by avoiding the comparison trap.