Do something

Oscar Romero of El Salvador was assassinated in 1980 for speaking up for his faith. In part of a beautiful poem, he wrote these words:

"This is what we are about:
We plant seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities."

Do something for God today. Plant the seed; water the seed or lay some foundation. It may not be complete, but God will help to bring the appropriate harvest.

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

Put the light on!

Stumbling in the dark is not without it's dangers. Stubbing your toes, walking into coffee tables or walls, feeling your way from room to room and praying that you will find the matches. This happens when our physical worlds are plunged into darkness, but is it not the same kind of scenario when spiritually or emotionally we feel the darkness descend? It's hazardous territory.

Thankfully, 'Light' and 'darkness' are very popular themes in the scriptures. Take this one for example:

"You light a lamp for me. The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness." - Psalm 18:28

Live in the light of God's grace,
D3LM3

P.S. Awesome photo from here

Nothing

"God creates out of nothing. Therefore, until a man is nothing, God can make nothing out of him." - Martin Luther

I am not sure what you make of this quote, but the first scripture that came to my mind, when I read these words, was this one:

John 12:24 - "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds."

What's on your mind?

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

Blame

My youngest son, Josh, is going through an interesting phase. Somewhere along the line he has learnt to 'shift blame' onto other people. Like this morning for example. He woke up at his usual 5:30am and wanted Kim to read him a story (I was grateful that he chose her to read at that time of the morning and not me).

Anyway, as he was turning the pages, he tore one of them and when Kim asked him not to tear the book, he responded, "Daddy did it!" There I was, just innocently trying to decide if I wanted to get up or not and I got blamed for something I knew nothing about. That's bleak!

Poor old Nathan and Declan (and Bella, the Labrador) have been blamed for a lot of stuff lately. As parents our role is to now teach him how to accept responsibility for his actions. Pray for us!

The thing is, Josh is going through a phase that we will 'train' him out of, but many people are still playing the 'blame game' and they are not 2 years old! Sure, it started with Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, but we need to start taking responsibility for the choices we make.

I came across this encounter in the Old Testament:
"When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground. She fell at his feet and said: "My lord, let the blame be on me alone. Please let your servant speak to you; hear what your servant has to say." - 1 Samuel 25:23-24

Abigail was prepared to 'take the blame' for something. That's brave! Many others wouldn't have.

What things are we facing in our lives, where we are still blaming others. Is there going to be a time when we say 'enough' and start turning things around?

Just thinking!

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

Do you think or do you know?

When Jesus heard this, he told them, "Healthy people don't need a doctor - sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners." - Mark 2:17

So, which one are you? Do you 'think' you are righteous, but perhaps you may be missing the essence of God's love and grace? Or do you 'know' you are a sinner, saved by the amazing love of Christ, and now you desire to live your life to honour this gift?

May we wrestle with our faith in such a way, that we refuse to become like the pharisees, but that we also seek to be transformed sinners.

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

I pictured him to be different!

When we read the writings of famous authors, we put together an image of how we expect them to look. Just think about some of your favourite authors and what image comes to your mind? Have you ever thought about this when you are reading from the Bible?

To be honest I had a certain 'image' in my mind of the Apostle Paul and I was quite content with this, until I read this description of him (from a 2nd century historian):

"A man small in size, with meeting eyebrows and a rather large nose, bald-headed, bow-legged, strongly built, full of grace; for at times he looked like a man, and at times he had the face of an angel."

Paul seems different all of a sudden!

So, how do you picture Simon Peter, or Matthew or even Jesus? What has shaped our minds to come up with a particular 'image' of these people? When we meet them face-to-face will we stop for a second and say, "I thought you looked different!"

Just pondering:)

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

Insightful Woman

As we near National Women's Day in South Africa, I thought it would be appropriate to turn to some insightful wisdom from Teresa of Avila. She was a 16th century mystic, who had turned to Christ as a young woman. Bearing in mind that she was born into a noble family, her conversion would have cost her dearly. She wrote these powerful words:

"Let everyone understand that real love of God does not consist in tear-shedding, nor in that sweetness and tenderness for which we usually long, just because they console us, but in serving God in justice, fortitude of soul and humility."

She may have been inspired by Micah, who wrote:

"He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God." - Micah 6:8

Have a blessed Women's Day!

Living in Grace,
D3LM3