Learning Perseverance

Do you ever get the impression that God is wanting to teach you something?

Or that you are experiencing much of the same kind of thing, and you wonder what lesson you need to take from these moments? 

Well, I have been having one of those weeks and sense that the lesson I need to learn is perseverance. I admit that I am not enjoying learning the lesson so much, but I do trust that I will soon understand why it is a value lesson to learn (or re-learn).

Can you relate in anyway? What are having to learn at the moment?

"May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance." - 2 Thessalonians 3:5

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it." - Maya Angelou

"For great things do not just happen by impulse, but are a succession of small things linked together." - Vincent Van Gogh

Living in grace

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Having courage

"In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
In his teaching the islands will put their hope.” - Isaiah 42:3-4

As we brace ourselves for the unveiling of the rest of 2023, it is good to remind ourselves that we put our trust in the One who will not falter or be discouraged. We will be discouraged at times, and we may even falter, but when we place our hand into the Lord's hand, then we know that we will be carried through these difficult times.

"Having courage does not mean that we are unafraid. Having courage and showing courage mean we face our fears. We are able to say, 'I have fallen, but I will get up.' - Maya Angelou

Living in Grace

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The strain of becoming the butterfly

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” - Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou was born on the 4th April 1928 and her contribution to the world of poetry, literature and the human rights movement is legendary. This quote teaches us that we so often admire people who look like they have achieved something, or appear to have it all together, but we forget the pain and suffering that took place for them to get to that place. A butterfly would just remain as a moth if it didn't allow the process of metamorphosis to take place. 

How can we apply this to our spiritual lives? Does this mean something for us in this season of Lent? 

If we want to grow into the image of Christ what needs to change in our lives? Could these words of Jesus offer us some insight?

Matthew 18:3 - "And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

Living in Grace

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“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” - Maya Angelou

Still I rise

Maya Angelou wrote these words at a time of great struggle and pain in her life. What I love about the sentiment of her writing is that every one of us can relate to parts of her experience. Although the discrimination and rejection she went through are unique to her situation, they provide a link with all human suffering. Despite all of this, she still had the courage to state: STILL I WILL RISE!

“You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.”

May you and I learn to RISE with Jesus Christ - he is the one who helps us overcome!

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Jumping hurdles

"Love recognises no barriers.
It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls,
to arrive at its destination full of hope." - Maya Angelou

I don't know why we think that LOVE is always going to be the easiest path to take. Often it is the harder of two choices. As Maya Angelou says, 'Love is willing to jump over all barriers and hurdles' in order to please the 'Other.'

When Christ contemplated the pain of the cross, it must have been a huge hurdle for him to overcome. However, as he scaled the heights of that pain and agony, he did so because of the Hope that awaited Him and ultimately, it is that Hope which is given to all of us.

May you journey through your day 'full of hope' and may your love recognise no barriers before you.

1 John 2:10 - "Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble."

Living in Grace
D3LM3