Unfailing

"Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life..." - Psalm 23:6

There are not many things in today's world that won't eventually fail. Light bulbs will fail and blow. Batteries run out of energy and 'fail'. Cars, computers, phones, TV's, and many other electrical appliances work for a limited time period and then they fail. I guess it is just a reality of life.

However, having said this, isn't it wonderful to know that the LOVE God has for us is unfailing? It will never ever run out of steam, energy, power or cease to exist. God's love is from everlasting to everlasting.

It is also interesting that the word UNFAILING appears over 120 times in the Bible. Makes me think that God wanted us to know this wonderful truth.

John 1:14 - "So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness."

Living in Grace
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The Portrait

Portraits of History's famous people offer us some insight into what they may have looked like, although we can never be 100% sure. Artists did their level best to create the right portrait and I am sure that Royalty wanted their images to look as good as they could be. It is not like today where we have Digital photography, so people in a Thousand years will be to know exactly what we looked like.

So, when Paul writes to the Colossians he says: "The Son is the image of the invisible God..." (Colossians 1:15) he is not speaking about the identical digital photo, but rather about the Portrait of the Father. However, even the word 'portrait' falls short of adequately describing Jesus and his resemblance to the Father because it is in Character, Nature and Person, that Jesus 'looks like' our heavenly Father. This may be a little tricky to understand, but I think we get Paul's point. When we have seen Jesus, we have seen the Father.

What do you think?

Genesis 9:6 - Because God made humans in his image reflecting God’s very nature.

Living in Grace
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What gives you strength?

In training for the upcoming Comrades I have been finding it interesting learning what runners use to help them gain a little extra vooma for the race. Some people use gels, or Gu's, while others use sports drinks, coke, or certain energy bars. I guess one has to experiment with a whole range of things before we find the right thing for us.

This leads me to the scripture verse from Hebrews 13:9, which states:

"Your strength comes from God's grace, not from ...."

And so as we go about our business today, may we remember that our real strength for the Christian race comes from the GRACE of Jesus. This sustains us and gives us the spiritual vooma we need to complete the journey.

Living in Grace
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I will not be shaken!

I was privileged to share in a Memorial service today for a wonderful man who lived his life well. He was well respected and admired in the community. Even though his ill health caught him by surprise, he was faithful to God, even until the end. It was interesting that he even prepared his own readings and songs for his memorial service, which is not common nowadays. One of the passages he chose was from Psalm 16, which really spoke to us. If I reflect over the Psalm these are the words that struck me:

"I will bless the Lord who guides me;
    even at night my heart instructs me.
⁸ I know the Lord is always with me.    I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me." - Psalm 16

Is this my experience of God? Do I remember that God is with me always and that I will not be shaken - no matter what comes my way?

Reflect on these two verses and may God guide you deeper into his Grace.

Living in Grace
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Holding hands

Holding hands with someone is usually a sign of a close relationship. We hold hands with loved ones, spouses, children and even in church communities. But, have you ever thought about 'holding hands' with God? In this intriguing quote we read...

..."The purpose of prayer is not primarily to move the hand of God but rather to hold the hand of God." - Jon Courson.

Following on from my post yesterday, I think this is another helpful way of viewing our prayer life. If I could imagine my prayer as a space of intimacy with God, then holding the hand of God would seem more appropriate that trying to twist God's hand to my personal needs.

What do you think?

Mark 5:41 - "Holding her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means “Little girl, get up!”

Living in Grace
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Getting the goods

Often our prayers are based around pleading with God to give us something. As Jon Courson suggests, we pray to ask God to give us the 'goods' we are asking for. However, in the end, if this is the only reason we pray, then our relationship with God will become very impersonal and business-like. Surely, we would want our prayers to be based on a loving relationship with our gracious God? If it is not like this, then we may as well have a Robot as a divine being and when we want something we just punch in the request and wait for it to be delivered?!

"Prayer is not to get the goods. It is to enjoy the One who is good." - Jon Courson

Living in Grace
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We have to be intentional

“Spiritual growth is not an accident. It is intentional. You must intend to grow. You must make a choice to grow. You are as close to Jesus Christ as you choose to be. If you are not growing spiritually don’t blame your wife or husband or kids or parents or pastor. You are as close to God as you choose to be.” - Stephen Sheane 

I think this quote is wonderful, as it reminds me that if I want to grow in my faith, I really need to be intentional about it. Just like striving for any other goal, I must put my mind to it and keep focus. Spiritual grow takes time, discipline and commitment.

2 Corinthians 13:11 - Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.

Living in Grace
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Which is Greater?

"When we pray it is far more important to pray with a sense of the greatness of God than with a sense of the greatness of the problem." - Gordon Jackson

So which one are you focusing on today?

"Some people think God does not like to be troubled with our constant coming and asking. The Only way to trouble God is not to come to him at all." - D.L. Moody

Living in Grace
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The confidence of a friend

When we are blessed with good friends we know that we can confidently ask them almost anything and they will go out their way to help us. Is this the way we view God? Are we able to approach him with the confidence of a good friend?

"We are to ask with a beggar's humility, to seek with a servant's carefulness, and to knock with the confidence of a friend." - D.L.Moody

Proverbs 18:24 - One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Living in Grace
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Clinging to a spiders web

"They hang their life from one thin thread, they hitch their fate to a spider web. One jiggle and the thread breaks, one jab and the web collapses." - Job 8 (The Message) 

Life is very fragile and yet, even knowing this, many people still seem to hang everything onto one small thread or a "spiders web." Health, employment, relationships, material comforts, all fall into the category of the 'one thin thread' in my opinion. And when we lose these things, our whole lives seem to fall apart. 

It is not that God doesn't want us to enjoy any of these things - of course we can still love God and enjoy our work, relationships and so on. The trouble comes in when 'EVERYTHING' hinges from these things and there is no room for God. That is the dangerous place to be in.

I guess, Jesus still says it best, when he says, "a wise person builds their house upon the rock!"

Living in Grace
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Alone we can do so little ...

It is amazing what can be accomplished when people work together as a team. This is nothing new for us today, but it is well worth repeating - There is power in a united team! I firmly believe that places of work, sports teams, churches, organisations and even families can accomplish so much more when we work as ONE. Of course this doesn't mean that we will always agree on certain things, but we need a common goal and purpose to all work towards. In this following scripture we see how David brought Israel together and their 'United front' enabled them to gain a great victory.

1 Chronicles 19:16-18 – ^“David gathered all Israel and crossed the Jordan; he advanced against them and formed his battle lines opposite them. David formed his lines to meet the Arameans in battle, and they fought against him. But they fled before Israel….”

"Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much."-Helen Keller

"None of us is as smart as all of us." -Ken Blanchard

What team is God inviting you to be a part of today?

Living in Grace

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Old habits die hard

There is a saying that says "old habits die hard", implying that it is often very difficult to change our old habits. This can be very true in certain circumstances and if we want to change these habits, we need to put measures in place to change our behaviour. What do I mean by this? Well let me give you an example from everyday life...

...living in the midst of a water crisis in the Western Cape has taught us to preserve water and to come up with creative ways of reducing consumption. The old habit of flushing the toilet after every visit has had to change and this took time to put into practise. It wasn't easy at first, because when you have flushed the loo for years and years, you take it for granted that you can simply do the same in a new home. In order to help us all remember, we ended up turning the water supply off at the wall, which immediately helped us 'remember' to get water from the shower instead.

So, here is the big question: When we have other habits that impact upon our relationship with Jesus, what measures are we willing to put into place in order to make things better? I feel that if we don't make conscious plans then our old habits will continue to distract us from true worship of Jesus.

Isaiah 65:17-19 - “Pay close attention now: I’m creating new heavens and a new earth. All the earlier troubles, chaos, and pain are things of the past, to be forgotten. Look ahead with joy. Anticipate what I’m creating: I’ll create Jerusalem as sheer joy, create my people as pure delight. I’ll take joy in Jerusalem, take delight in my people:

What do you think?

Living in Grace
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Someone you know

When you spend time praying do you find yourself feeling as if you are just reciting a shopping list or mechanically mouthing some words? In truth, prayer can become stale and mundane for many people, but this quote has helped me to remember the essence of why I pray.

"Prayer is a declaration of our dependence on God. It isn't something mechanical you do; it is somewhere you go to meet Someone you know." - Jill Briscoe

I am challenged to remember this when I next pray - to go into that quiet place and think about meeting someone I know - the Living God. I think this may make a world of difference in my prayer time. What do you think?

Living in grace
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Magnifying what?

Whatever you are spending most of your time on, that is what you are 'Magnifying' at the moment.

"Fretting magnifies the problem, but Prayer magnifies God." - Joanna Weaver

Such wisdom in this little quote. When we think about our problems day and night, we begin to Magnify the problem and we can tend to make it much bigger than it needs to be. Yet, if we spend our time of prayer MAGNIFYING Jesus, then we get the issue in it's proper perspective.

Ask yourself today:
Who or what am I magnifying today?
Is the problems in my life or the God of my heart?

Living in Grace
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Ending so there can be another beginning

Ascension Day is always marked 40 days after Easter Sunday and this year it is on the 10th May. It has become a somewhat forgotten religious holy-day for many Christians, but in my opinion it should be remembered for it's deep significance. Christ's ascension into heaven marks the ending of his earthly ministry and the fulfilment of his promise to return to the Father. This significant 'ending' also marks the BEGINNING of the age of the Holy Spirit, officially starting at Pentecost.

 

Psalm 47:5 - God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets.

 

 Hebrews 4:14 -[ Jesus the Great High Priest ] Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.

 

Whether we take Ascension Day as a holiday (holy-day) or not, it is worth reflecting on the image of Jesus seated at the right hand of the Father interceding for us and sending the promised Holy Spirit. As in all Life, there needs to be a significant Ending, in order for there to be a new Beginning.

 

Living in Grace

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