2 months to go

As of today there are only 2 months left of 2011. The year is not finished yet, so let's do all we can to live our lives to the fullest. Catch your breath, say a prayer and live courageously.

"Don't be fooled by the calendar.  There are only as many days in the year as you make use of."  ~Charles Richards

"May you live all the days of your life."  ~Jonathan Swift

Here are some things to do in the next 2 months:

1. Read a book for fun

2. Read a book from the Bible

3. Write a letter to a friend

4. Celebrate with family and friends

5. Think about others this Christmas and bless them

6. Watch 'that' DVD you have been meaning to watch

7. Take a walk and appreciate God's creation

Be blessed

Living in Grace

D3LM3

God is AWEsome

Man, I love Jesus!

God is so AWEsome. At our 3 worship service today we celebrated a time of Thanksgiving. It is basically a time for people to share testimonies of thanks of what God is doing in their lives. WOW, I was blown away. God is at work, friends. If I had doubted this, well today I was reassured that God is still moving in our midst. The moving testimonies reminded us all that God takes care of his children and that God wants us to hang onto him. We know that life is full of 'dung' (as someone put it), but God wants to take us out of the mess and to lift us up. We can't escape the mess of life, but we can know that God is by our side.

Be blessed because God loves you. There are other men and women of faith who are also struggling on the same journey as you. You are not alone.

Living in Grace
D3LM3

P.S. The photo is of Nathan playing in the mud. Life can be muddy, but Jesus can make us clean :)

God gets a mention

In our family prayer times we always ask the boys to thank God for something. It usually goes quite 'normally', but last night Josh prayer an interesting thing:

"Thank you God for mommy and daddy, Declan, Nathan, Bella (the dog), the bird, the fish and thank you for God...."

That's right Josh was thanking God for God! I am sure that God had a huge smile on his face - we certainly did. I think God was chuffed to get a mention in Josh's shopping list of prayers.

What do you think?

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

Inspiring quotes - part 2

Our second day at the Global Leadership Summit was better than the first. There were so many amazing speakers and some deeply moving worship. Here are a few of my favourite quotes from the day's speakers:

"I would rather deal with anger than apathy." - Michelle Rhee


"When a wise person hears the truth, they adjust themselves to match the truth." - Dr Henry Cloud

"Humility is the noble choice to forgo your status and use your influence for the good of others." - John Dickson

"We are God's instruments to create the future." - Erwin McManus

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Inspiring leadership quotes

We are attending the Willow Creek Leadership Summit at Kloof and it is inspiring.
Here are a few quotes from the various speakers today.

We live in a world that's crying out for better leadership - Bill Hybels

Instead of calling it failure, just call it an exercise in learning something
nobody else knows - Len Schlesinger

Before you tell me what you teach and preach. Show me how you
Live and give - Cory Booker

Make art. Give gifts. Lead. Make a difference - Seth Godin

Are you ready to break through your sound barrier? - Brenda McNeil

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

What are you aiming for?

What are you aiming for? What is driving you at the moment?

"Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither." -
C. S. Lewis

May our aims be Godly.

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

Longing to be gracious

God longs to be gracious to us. God looks for opportunities to bless us. This is what Isaiah says:

"Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
he rises to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!" - Isaiah 30:18

This is a far cry from the picture of God people try to paint - God is only out to get us. Or God is looking for ways to punish us. I think I prefer Isaiah's picture of God.
What about you?

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Courageous

Muhammed Ali once remarked that "The person who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life."

For me, God took the ultimate risk in becoming a human, in the person of Jesus Christ. There is no greater risk than giving up your power! Perhaps this is why Jesus is revered and honoured above anyone else on this planet.

Risk is worth it!
Combine love with risk and you have enough power to change the world!

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

Take advice

More wisdom from Solomon to start your week...

"Dear friend, take my advice;
   it will add years to your life.
I'm writing out clear directions to Wisdom Way,
   I'm drawing a map to Righteous Road.
I don't want you ending up in blind alleys,
   or wasting time making wrong turns.
Hold tight to good advice; don't relax your grip.
   Guard it well—your life is at stake!
Don't take Wicked Bypass;
   don't so much as set foot on that road.
Stay clear of it; give it a wide berth.
   Make a detour and be on your way" - Proverbs 4:10-15

God bless you this week,

Living in Grace
D3LM3 

BE

To be or not to BE - that is the question!

"BE doers of the Word." - James 1:22

"BE imitators of God ... And walk in love." - Ephesians 5:1-2

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Thank God

When last did you say, "Thanks Lord!" I am not talking about how many people use the
term in a derogatory way - I mean in a genuine attitude of thanks!

Psalm 136:1 - "Thank God! He deserves your thanks. His love never quits." (MSG)

So, what are able to thank God for today?
I thank God for my family, my friends, my church, my health and all other blessings.
I thank God for the opportunity to do some writing this week.
I thank God for some struggles that make me rely fully on Jesus.

Thank God today!

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Press on

We don't always reach our goals quickly. When it comes to our faith, it will take a lifetime. May you have the strength and grace to carry on. May God grant you perseverance and stamina for the journey.

"One thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 3:13-14

Living in Grace
D3LM3

God is near

In case you had forgotten - God is near to us. Spend a moment in quiet and ask the Spirit to help you sense God's presence. God has not gone anyway - God is with you right now. Believe it...

"What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him?" - Deuteronomy 4:7

“The kingdom of God is near." - Mark 1:15

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Changing ourselves

"Everybody thinks of changing humanity and nobody thinks of changing himself." - Leo Tolstoy

Matthew 7:3-5 - “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye."

Let's change the world, by changing ourselves first!

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Two Daddies...

I was helping Josh brush his teeth this morning when he suddenly said, "Look, I see two Daddies?" I wasn't sure what he was getting at, but then noticed he was pointing at the mirror and then at me - two daddies - one in real life and one in the mirror!

How true his little statement is! There are two of me. The person the world sees and the 'real' me. How different the two 'daddies' can sometimes be. We all wear masks - we all try to portray ourselves to be better than we truly are. The real struggle in our Christian walk is to allow Jesus to take the 'real' me and to transform him into the person I was created to be. God knows our potential and he is willing to chip away at all our rough edges, making us into his masterpiece.

Jeremiah 17:9 - "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?"

Who are you?

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Christians believe in...

What do you think of God? Is our picture of God damaged by disappointments and other people?
I want to echo these words - this is what I believe...

"Christians believe in a God who speaks. Ours is not a silent God, a God who sits,
Sphinx-like, looking out unblinking on a world in agony...
He speaks because he loves. Love always seeks to communicate."
- Donald Coggan

What do you believe?

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

Promise for today

Be still and know that I am God! - Psalm 46:10

Come to me all you who are burdened and I will give you rest. - Matthew 11:28

Rest in His Grace
D3LM3

Needing wisdom

If you are seeking wisdom, ask God for it! God has promised to give us wisdom - just read James 1 if you don't believe me. 

Abraham Lincoln - "I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of those about me seemed insufficient for the day."

I have found the following 3 steps helpful in my life:

ASK God.
PRAY through your decision.
ACT in faith.

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Prayer of Francis of Assisi - part 2

Remember I mentioned 2 days ago that sometimes it is best to digest profound writings in smaller bites? Well, here is the second half of St Francis of Assisi's prayer. Enjoy and be blessed:

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen 

Living in grace
D3LM3

Spiritual heroes

Most young boys go through a superhero phase. Josh has recently gone through the Batman phase, where all he ever wants to do is wear his Batman outfit - it is hard to convince a 3 year old that clothes need to be washed sometimes!

Dallas Willard is convinced that our world needs spiritual superheroes. This is what he had to say:

“The world can no longer be left to mere diplomats, politicians, and business leaders. They have done the best they could, no doubt. But this is an age for spiritual heroes- a time for men and women to be heroic in their faith and in spiritual character and power. The greatest danger to the Christian church today is that of pitching its message too low.” 

Any thoughts? I'd love to hear from you sometime.

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

Prayer of Francis of Assisi - part 1

The following prayer of St Francis is well known. There is so much depth in the words of his prayer that sometimes we lose the impact of each phrase and word. For me, it is best to 'digest' the words in smaller amounts - I appreciate their meaning more.

"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
where there is injury, pardon,
where there is doubt, hope,
where there is darkness, light, 
where there is sadness, joy."

Think on these words today.

Be Blessed by His Grace,
D3LM3

What I want

We often get so caught up in 'what we want' that we forget to discern what God wants or needs from us. We live in a world that encourages us to take what we want, or to expect things to go our way, that when things don't, then we get upset with God.

"The world with all its wanting, wanting, wanting, is on the way out - but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity." - 1 John 2:17

May the Spirit of God teach us to discern what the heart of God wants.

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Beginning of wisdom

“Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Only fools despise wisdom and discipline.” – Proverbs 1:7 

“Start with God—the first step in learning is bowing down to God...” – The Message

Let's put first things first!

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Proverbs

Proverbs have the ability to convey a large amount of truth in a small number of words. Solomon was clear as to why he wrote these Proverbs down. This is what he had to say:

"Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline,
to help them understand the insights of the wise.
Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, 
to help them do what is right, just and fair." - Proverbs 1

It sounds like our world should start reading Proverbs right away!

What do you think?

Living in Grace
D3LM3