I cling to You.

"Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings.

I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely" - Psalm 63:7-8

When we reach out to God and cling to him, we must remember that God is also reaching out and holding us at the same time. As a child clings tightly to her mother, she doesn't yet know that it is the strength of the parent that is doing most of the holding. Believing that it is her strength that is making the feeble grip hold, she will soon realise that the overwhelming love of the parent is actually holding her safe and sound.

Living in Grace

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New life emerges .... slowly

 

The Message – “Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life emerges! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him and then called us to settle our relationships with each other.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

When Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, he spoke to them of becoming a new creation. That when we encounter Jesus, the old is gone and the new has come. However, sometimes I wonder why it takes so long for the this 'new' creation to appear in my life and then I begin to wonder if I there is something wrong with me. I am not sure if you can relate to this at all?

For this reason, I love Eugene Peterson's take on 2 Corinthians 5, where he speaks of how the new life in Christ 'emerges'. And this is when I think of how a butterfly emerges from the Cocoon, slowly. This takes time (anyway from 5 to 21 days apparently). 

So, when we allow the Spirit to transform our hearts and lives, let us realise that this takes time - we emerge from our old life, into the new creation of Jesus.

Living in Grace

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Love on its knees

I was reading an old book called Prayers for Busy People, written by Rita Snowden, in 1978. She mentions in the opening pages, a quote from Dr Harry Fosdick, who speaks about Intercessory prayer as 'love on its knees.' 

Don't you love that? Love on its knees.

When we pray for other people, we are offering a form of love on our knees. The posture is humility, and we are showing our concern and love for people who desperately need our prayers. 

The next time you start to intercede for someone, think about this beautiful gift. You are offering other people your love (and God's love), while on your knees.

Living in Grace

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The Lord is our strength and shield

 

Thank you for encouragement and willingness to read my ramblings - I do appreciate you and it is your interaction that keeps me writing. Every now and then one reads a passage of Scripture that hits the mark, and you don't need any further commentary. Psalm 28 is one of those passages and I offer it to you today. May the Spirit of Jesus speak to your heart. 

"I pray to you, O Lord, my rock.
Do not turn a deaf ear to me.
For if you are silent,
I might as well give up and die.

Listen to my prayer for mercy
as I cry out to you for help,
as I lift my hands toward your holy sanctuary.

Do not drag me away with the wicked—
with those who do evil—
those who speak friendly words to their neighbors
while planning evil in their hearts.

Give them the punishment they so richly deserve!
Measure it out in proportion to their wickedness.
Pay them back for all their evil deeds!
Give them a taste of what they have done to others.

They care nothing for what the Lord has done
or for what his hands have made.
So, he will tear them down,
and they will never be rebuilt!

Praise the Lord! For he has heard my cry for mercy.

The Lord is my strength and shield.
I trust him with all my heart.
He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy.
I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.

The Lord gives his people strength.
He is a safe fortress for his anointed king.

Save your people!
Bless Israel, your special possession.
Lead them like a shepherd,
and carry them in your arms forever."

Living in grace

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Dealing with Disappointment

Dealing with Disappointment!

How do we deal with one of life's guarantees? Having to experience disappointment is the one thing that we will all go through in life.  It is not easy, but we will all need to embrace it at some point in our lives. 

This last weekend, my son and I got to experience this firsthand. We had just disembarked from the train, when we heard that the Cape Town Marathon had been cancelled. Initially all of the runners thought it was some kind of hoax, but as we walked towards the start line, we realised it was true. We could not believe it. The disappointment in the air was palpable, and very soon the adrenaline seeped out of our bodies. The race was done, even before we started.

So, how do we all deal with disappointment? Eliza Tabor once wrote:

“Disappointment to a noble soul is what cold water is to burning metal; it strengthens, tempers, intensifies, but never destroys it.”

Well, I trust that this will be true in some way. However, the Bible writers add something else to the mix.

Romans 5:4 - "And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love."

1 Samuel 15:11 - Samuel was angry when he heard this. He prayed his anger and disappointment all through the night. (The Message)

I like this attitude - praying our disappointment. If anyone knows the impact of disappointment it is God. We can take all of our 'deferred hopes' to him and trust that he will revive our spirits.

Living in Grace

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A prayer for Mental Wellbeing

A friend of mine wrote a brilliant article about Mental Health Awareness. If you would like to read Chris's full article, please check it out on this platform.

Here is a prayer that he also wrote.

"Dear Heavenly Father,

We come to you with an open heart and mind, seeking peace, calmness, and clarity. We pray for improved awareness and understanding of mental health, wellness, and wellbeing – and for the strength to navigate life’s challenges.

May we be gentle with ourselves, embracing our thoughts and emotions with kindness and compassion. May we find solace in the present moment, letting go of worries about the past or future.

We pray, Heavenly Father, that you will grant us resilience, hope, and courage to face each day with confidence and positivity, and that we are surrounded with love, support, and understanding from those around us.

We ask this in Your name, Amen." - Dr Chris Luman

Please pass this onto someone who may need this today. I believe it is so important to speak about our Mental Health. Thank you. 

Living in Grace

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Practice what you preach

There are countless examples of people who have preached a good life but have not actually followed through with their words. Putting faith into practice, is a sure way of showing others the authenticity of being a follower of Christ. 

In his final charge to Timothy, Paul reveals how his life is a testimony to his words. 

"Now you have observed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions, and my suffering the things that happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them." - 2 Timothy 3:10-11

Thought: How closely do we live up to the words we preach?

Living in Grace

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The challenge to change ourselves

"When we are no longer able to change a situation - we are challenged to change ourselves." - Viktor E. Frankl

These words leave us with a big challenge. Frankl was writing this reflection after he had lived through the horrors of the concentration camps. I can only imagine that this would have been incredibly difficult to put into practice. 

As I was reading his words, I thought about the 2 criminals who were crucified alongside Jesus. Both of them found themselves in situations they would never be able to change. One thief remained bitter and angry; the other thief, allowed his heart to be changed and acknowledged Jesus as his Saviour.

How do you deal with difficult situations?

Living in Grace

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When the storms rage

"But I called on your name, Lord, from deep within the pit.
You heard me when I cried, “Listen to my pleading!
Hear my cry for help!”
Yes, you came when I called; you told me, “Do not fear.” - Lamentations 3:55-57

There is something beautiful and reassuring about the knowledge that God comes to our rescue. He hears all of our prayers, and he chooses to answer in his time. 

“Sometimes the Lord calms the storm. Sometimes he lets the storm rage and calms his child.” - Unknown

Living in Grace

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God's strength

"God’s strength behind you,

His concern for you,
His love within you and his arms beneath you
are more than sufficient for the job ahead of you.” - William Arthur Ward

"The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him.
So, it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord." - Lamentations 3:25-26

May you know the love and strength of Jesus in all that you do today.

Living in Grace

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Hope, with a track record

 

The phrase, 'track record', usually refers to a record of someone's past performance and this is often used as an indicator of likely future performance. It is believed to have originated from the sport of Horseracing, where a horses past performances on the track, would give punters a good idea of their future racing potential.

In Eugene Peterson's paraphrase, he uses the phrase to speak of someone whose past attitude gives us a warning of his future behaviour: 

Matthew 5:25-26 - "...Or say you’re out on the street and an old enemy accosts you. Don’t lose a minute. Make the first move; make things right with him. After all, if you leave the first move to him, knowing his track record, you’re likely to end up in court..."

So, when Anne Lamott offers her thoughts on a definition of 'faith', it is striking that she suggests that it is "hope, with a track record.' 

Our faith in Jesus is not based on our feelings or opinions, but rather on His track record. When we see that we have placed our Hope and Trust in him, and Jesus hasn't let us down, then we find it a little easier to have faith in him (in the future). 

 "Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge." - Psalm 62:8

Living in Grace

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Running away with purpose?

Somewhere in our distant past we have been taught that 'running away is a coward's choice.' And there is some truth in this, I guess, but today's scripture offers us a different view.

"But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness." - 1 Timothy 6:11

Paul tells Timothy in this passage to “flee these things.” You will need to read the preceding verses to see what he is referring to, but in summary, he is urging Timothy to run away from temptations that will disrupt his faith - they are like a dangerous enemy. 

And we have another great example in Genesis 39, where we see how Joseph ran away from the claws of Potiphar's wife. His decision actually saved his life in the end. 

However, there is one more thing that we need to chew on. Paul is not only urging Timothy to run away from temptation, but he is telling him to run towards something better. He says to him, PURSUE (run TOWARDS) righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 

Thought: Sometimes we are called to be wise and run away with purpose. To run towards the things of God, and to leave behind the temptations of this world.

Living in Grace

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