The Benefits of our Mistakes.

How often do we think that our mistakes are costly, horrible, embarrassing, shameful disasters? It is that kind of thinking that can rob us of the true beauty our mistakes can bring forth.

I had a silly incident last night, but it gave me some fresh perspective. It was an ordinary Friday night. I was relaxing at home, watching a dvd. Afterwards I sat in my room praying for a bit before bed. I was praying because I was feeling super stressed about some specific areas in my life, and all these areas are linked to or connected to a specific nation, America.

I reached a point in my prayer where i literally handed it over to God and asked him to Be God in it. and ....AMEN! close on 11 pm my side. the word ""Amen" and just come out my mouth when my phone rang.

It was an American number.

I answered it. I always answer overseas numbers because I have friends and family all over the world.

The voice, though familiar, was not making sense. There statement was confusing. It took a few minutes for us to establish that this person, a friend from South Africa, now living in America had accidently called my number instead of a colleague's. awkward.

My poor friend had messed up. It was a mistake. and it was costly [mistakes usually are] this time it was more likely a financial cost. But the timing of the call, who the person was and which nation they live in was no co-incidence. and no, this has never happened before.

The thing is, I firmly believe in God there are no co-incidences. I don't know what the call means. What I do know is the timing encouraged me greatly that God had heard my prayer and was paying attention. God took my friend's mistake and used it to encourage me.

I look back over life, and at friend's lives. The ones who come through the strongest, are the most positive, and the most encouraging are the ones who don't spend their lives trying to live down their pasts or better themselves or right their wrongs.

These people who come out like shining stars are the ones who embrace God's grace in the face of their mistakes and let Him create something beautiful out of it. They fall, and we all know if you fall you fall hard, but they embrace Grace and Forgiveness and grip his hand and let Him dust them off and then they stand and bring a testimony.

If we strive to live them down, our mistakes continue to have power over us and we run the risk of continued or greater failure, pride and more. We exhaust ourselves and it shapes our destiny. But if we grip the hand of Grace and leave room for God to be God in our mistakes, we not only find restoration and freedom in Him. We allow Him to be the power in our lives. But also that testimony will encourage and bring freedom to others.

just some food for thought this cloudy Saturday morning.

Psalm 37:23-24 [NIV]
The Lord makes firm the steps
    of the one who delights in him;
24 though he may stumble, he will not fall,
    for the Lord upholds him with his hand

Sunday Random Sunday 3

Been quite a tiring week, but there was still a bit of time for fun and creativity..... my nails fell victim to my creativity this time..... the joys of water marbling....ensures each nail is different from its friend....so much fun....

 Plus the remnants of nail polish in a jar, makes awesome creative shapes, and look cool in photos. . . its also a fun way to make friends guess what it is....and stretch their creative minds.

 Of course their is always time for friends. I must confess, that whether its co-incidence or not.... my new place seems to be attract more social time. I have spent almost 3 years in isolation and am really enjoying having friends drop by more often in my new home. . . lots of chilled time, and fun times.... and there is always time for games.

 Of course my faithful companion has finally settled in and is more at home in our new home. . . which means he has finally stopped peeing on the couch and has finally taken to sleeping on it.

 And my little garden is starting to open up in response to the excessive spring rain we seem to be having....here's a glimpse of some of the new life coming through.

 apparently ants like to photo bomb my flower pics :p

Doesn't the colours God puts together in nature astound you?
Speaking of colour.....got a bit more done on one of my art projects.

And of course....as often happens when creativity hits....my hair gets attacked...instead of cutting it...i decided to go back to my roots, my origins..... blonde here i come..... bad pic....still a work in process....but its fun regardless. . .. have a great week all of. 

Sometimes . . . Others say it better.

Recently there have been many thoughts and influences and comments coming at me from everywhere. . . but all with a common theme. . . its a strong theme, one we can all do to learn from. . . About not being stuck in the past or going backwards but being in the now and moving forwards. . . I could write a million words about this topic, all relevant and true. . . but sometimes others simply say it perfectly. . . one or two of these quotes I have already shared here, but its worth hearing again.

U2- from song Stuck in a moment. . . ."You've got to get yourself together
You've got stuck in a moment
And now you can't get out of it
Oh love look at you now
You've got yourself stuck in a moment
And now you can't get out of it."

From a recent sermon in our church, "We live in a state of influence, so if you are not moving forward you are regressing."

From a conversation with a friend, "“If you relive the past in your mind, you’re doomed to relive it in your heart as well.” That is especially important if whatever situation you're reliving has negative emotion attached to it. Looking back will make those negative emotions fresh every time they're relived. That prolongs the healing process perhaps indefinitely until that practice is stopped. Even if you're reliving good times it can be bad if you're living in the past thinking about the "Good old days" since those days are gone and can never be recovered. There's a reason God created time in such a manner that it's always in the now moving towards the future. I believe that as long as we are alive God's best is still ahead. If we're breathing then we have a hope and a future."

God, "Forget about what’s happened;

    don’t keep going over old history.
Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.
    It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?There it is! " [Is 43:18-19 MSG]

How do you expect God to give you a hope and a future if you are stuck in your past? Life's an eternal journey....don't get stuck at a pit stop/truck stop/road block/rest point along the way and think that you have arrived at your destination.

Born To Speak the Truth

I have this little badge that i keep, on it is a simple phrase, "Born To Speak The Truth".
I love truth, I hate lies and injustice.
I love truth. I love seeking out truth and digging deep for it. I love defending it. I love sharing it. I am passionate about truth.
Sometimes my need or desire to speak the truth is not always well received, partly because I can get quite ...um....passionate. . . . combine this with a confrontational character and it doesn't always go down well.

But just this weekend I realised that there might be another reason the Truth that I speak is not always well received.

I had one of those conversations. You know those rare gems. A moment when you are just chilling, chatting to a friend and suddenly you can tangibly feel the presence of God as words of wisdom and encouragement are shared. A conversation that is the catalyst to instant change in your life. A truly annointed conversation.

I can honestly say that I walked away changed from that conversation, and having experienced a measure of break through in an instant, that I had been longing for years to see. So what made this conversation different. [and lets be honest, these conversations are rare in our lives.]

Was it the fact that truth was being spoken to me? and not just any truth but truth based on the Word of God?  I have had many conversation centered around the Word, and listened to many sermons but not all have left me changed. . . .but why not?

Was it because the conversation was anointed? I mean, i could tangibly feel the presence of God? Honestly I have had many conversations and counselling sessions where the person was anointed by God and yet I walked away unchanged. I mean these others, there was no doubt about the anointing being there. There was no doubt about truth being spoken. But I either left unchanged or I had to fight really hard to embrace, accept and apply what was being said.

Yet one simple conversation between two friends, and in an instant things shifted. I realised a key that I have never fully understood before, though it has been staring me in the face for years. . .

Scriptures tells us in Ephesians 4:15 to speak the truth in love.  I believe this is a vital ingredient. I believe this is the ingredient that helps us receptive to the truth and the anointing.

You see, this friend that I was talking to, we have a good, long standing godly friendship that has been established over the years. There is a connection there, and I know them well enough to know that they have my best interest at heart. So I know that when they share truth, even if it is hard truth or convicting truth...even in those things... I know this person's heart and therefore I am open to hear it.

I think this is the difference. . . I think often as Christians we speak truth to convict or share an opinion and its void of love, therefore it just becomes a clanging symbol, resounding Gong!!! a non fruit producing blurb.

I think sometimes we try hard and we try to speak the truth with love. Our zeal is strong, and we sincerely want to make sure it sounds like we have the love of Christ. we really want it to be behind our words, but its not quite there.

Speaking truth in love comes from a different place, a place of relationship. We see it time and time again through out scripture . . . relationship is key. its not just about well worded phrases dripping with "love" cliches but no heart. . . we need to actually LOVE.  I am sure that is why Jesus could hand out some heavy rebukes to his disciples like "Get behind me satan", and yet they remained faithful to him and walked into restoration. Because as harsh as the words were, they knew where they stood with Jesus, because they were in relationship. This opened the door for them to speak freely.  To be able to bring truth, even the hard truth. To be able to know how to bring truth etc.

I encourage you all, dont be like me . . . dont be running around just speaking the truth because you see a need for it to be spoken . . . even if you lace the sentence with a reminder of how much you love the person..... Speak it in love.....truly in love....  and let it be more than words, your lifestyle needs to reflect your heart too.... i love how Ephesians 4:15 is written in the amplified bible.
But speaking the truth in love [in all things—both our speech and our lives expressing His truth], let us grow up in all things into Him [following His example] who is the Head—Christ

Sunday Random Sunday 2

It's that time of the week again...time to have a fun look at what has been going on. Truthfully its been a super busy week, which is why there haven't been any other blogs written this week. Work has been quite chaotic and busy. . .perhaps its the weather....speaking of the weather - we finally had some sunshine and warmth this Saturday just passed.... and boy did it arrive with a vengeance ...but we are back to rain today.

Despite being busy. . . there was of course time for art. . . I learnt a new technique this week... moved on a bit from sketching and learnt some dry brushing. So I have been experimenting with that, as well as working on last week's pic.

Despite the stress of the week, I seem to have rediscovered my love for baking. . . art class were treated, and then I had a fun weekend with friends popping in to say hi or play games for hours . . . I do think a rule needs to be established, "if you are in someone's home you may not beat them in their own games...especially if they taught you how to play the game." I am just saying!!!!

Also if the cupcakes stick to the wrapper and fall apart, throw the pieces in a bowl and smother in chocolate ganache. . . home made of course....also added some Marshmallow Fluff [not home made this time].... it was decadent and yummy. . . and a great time with friends, even if some of them beat me at my own game....often!

Please notice i have a kettle....some super delightful friendie bought it for me as a housewarming gift....woohoo....makes life so much easier.

Little by little am adding in some plant life to my patio....so glad most of my plants survived being transplanted....now may they thrive....can't wait till its all set and finished and i can just relax out there....just me and the millions of mosquitoes.....man this place is swarming!!! 

so that is a bit of randomness and fun, despite a stressful week . . . i must be honest i end this week and i feel like i have hope again. I am amazed at the goodness of God, so often He is so busy behind the scenes that we miss it....but this weekend [especially] my eyes have been opened.....more on that in blogs to come.....

I know its an old song but this song has really been in my mind and my heart this week . . . its such a beautiful song, and we are so privileged to have his love, and be in his heart. simply click on the title below to go to the link....

Lord you have my heart

I am obviously a very wordy person.... more of a novelist than a blogger. . . sometimes we have a truth in our hearts and then we are chatting with a friend and then sum it up perfectly in a simple sentence that is so deeply profound it could change the course of your life....so i leave you with a quote my friend shared with me this weekend. So profound i made them say it twice and then email it to me.... 

Sunday Random Sunday

I've decided to attempt something new. .  .I was thinking about how people capture random moments in a day and make a social media video of it. . . and thought, "wonder if that's something I would do."

Instead of doing a video, though, have decided to do a blog with some photos or videos or links or quotes of things that struck me during the week. Kind of like a fun reflection, and a bit of insight into my life. . . it might be random....it might be inspirational...who knows....I decided Sunday was a good day for a bit of Randomness....so here it comes... [PS click on the photo to see the bigger image]

Tuesday night art lessons [ above] . . . the start of something new. actually so far I haven't finished a picture that I've started . . . maybe this time I will.

This quote hit me like a curve-ball . . . it is super profound . . . how often do we get stuck in our heads, our memories or our past? stuck in a moment, it prevents us from moving forward . . . I heard a preacher say this morning that if we aren't advancing...then we are digressing . . . sad but true.
Also, due to pondering this quote... have had a U2 song stuck in my head all week.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emFUtuotHL4

Mulberrys! Mullberys! YUMMY Mullburrys! New accommodation has a Mulberry tree that hangs over into our garden, and they are super sweet, super yummy and in abundance...reminds me of a time in my childhood when we were in Johannesburg [well just outside] and we had a Mulberry tree in the middle of our front garden.....did I mention that they are YUMMY?!?!?

One of my favorite songs, but one of my favorite band has a song with these lyrics [above]. The privilege of grace and redemption....Too often I am aware of my failings, weaknesses and mistakes. Thank God for His redemption love. Go ahead and refresh your soul and take a listen to the song...let yourself be reminding of His forgiveness and refreshed by His love.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5I2HQGWlf2Q

Sometimes a girl's just got to buy herself some flowers. #TakeTimeToAppreciateBeauty.

Lazy Sunday afternoons, chilling with a friend, playing a game. . . new memories and fond reminders of times gone by.

I might not be completely unpacked nor settled, but I have invested time in decorating and creating beautiful spaces.

Speaking of creating.... I created a mini water feature, all by myself... so rewarding. just a small one to create some atmosphere. Previous home had fire....this one has water. 

I leave you with words of wisdom from the water bottle I found. Take heart, and remember that there is always a reason to smile. 

Little Pig, Little Pig, Let Me In...

Sometimes obvious truth is also simple truth. . . and its not usually new truth either. . . but for some reason it suddenly resurfaces in your brain and hits home.

Today I was thinking about life and everything else in general . . . I have a very busy brain. One of the thoughts I had was this,

"If you let it in . . . it will win."

It's simple but always very true.  One of the scriptures I have had shadow me in the last year or so is from Proverbs 4 :23 "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."

So I have to stop and ask myself, "what am I letting in?" because truth is truth. . . If I let it in, it has won and will continue to win. It might come in subtly, a slight look, a laugh at something inappropriate. It might be justified, bitterness, offence, reaction to rejection, self-pity. They put on the puppy eyes, and the mournful look and we let our guard down and open the door.

Or it might be something seductive and obvious like blatant sin born from the seed of rebellion that we let in the back door. Rebellion never comes through the front door, no it doesn't, not in Christian circles anyway. The front door carries the facade of acting right, and saying the right thing....but we leave the back door open and let it come in. The thing is rebellion, like a lot of other sins, always brings friends.

In Genesis 4:7  we see God warning Cain that sin was crouching at the door, but encouraging Cain to master it. When you open the door to it, it will master you. You need to put it in its place, and keep it out the door. it's a bit like the story of the 3 little pigs and the wolf. The wolf was persistent and kept trying. He kept knocking and huffing and puffing and eventually even tried to climb down the chimney.

The thing is, if the pig had let the wolf in, the wolf would have master him. A lot like red riding hood. . . don't make friends with the wolf. Dont invite it in. He will be at the door. He will beg and plead and howl and huff and puff. Don't open that door.

We are able to resist. God is faithful to provide a way out and He has also given us free will to stand our ground. We stand in his authority. And this doesn't just apply to sin. So many things try to come in to master our lives. There is only one safe bet, only one "thing" that deserves to be allowed access. . . Only one who if He is allowed in, will master but in a good way that will bring about the best in your life and that "person" is Jesus Christ. . . keep your door open to him.

Don't keep him sitting on the porch and act like you know him because he is on your premises and you have heard his voice. . . take the risk and let him in....go ahead, open that door....regardless of what kind of mess is inside. Regardless of what other "things" you have let in and the houseguests they brought with them....let Him in, and Jesus will serve the rest their eviction notice and help you clean it all up....don't be scared....today's here, He's here, ready and waiting for you to open the door.

Sin Seduction Solitude

This is going to be a bit of a random blog, but it occurred to me yesterday while driving to work...

Sin does not like Solitude.

Sinners don't want to be the only ones sinning.

I drive a very busy highway/ main road to work, it is up a hill with sharp bends, and thus for safety has a lower speed limit than your average highway/freeway. It is a road that has accidents on it almost daily, if not more often. What amazes me each day is how many people still drive like they bought their licence online. They are reckless, careless and breaking the law. . . but what surprises me even more is how impatient they get with the ones keeping the law.

You can happily be doing the speed limit, and they will come and drive right up the back of your car and flash their lights and gesture for you to move over so they can speed past. They will continue swerve behind you and try push you out. and if you don't move and they find a gap to go past you, they usually swear at you as they go by.

It's an intriguing reaction. How many of us would swear at someone for keeping the law? Suprisingly quite a few people. I realised a simple truth in watching their antics behind me. They are trying to draw me in. not consciously. But they are bullying me, wanting me speed up past the limit, to be the same as them. They are intimidating me, wanting me to move over and let them fly past like they are right and I was wrong. They are egging me on wanting me to loose my temper, and get angry or swear back or become negative and offended. They are wanting me to join them, in some way, in their sin.

Sinners don't want to be the only ones sinning. Sin has a strategic seduction strategy to suck you into its game, in whatever way it can. . . but you choose to step inside or stand strong. Right from the very beginning it is how it happened. Yes Adam and Eve were standing next to each other when the snake brought his sinful seduction. But Eve drew Adam in. . . she didn't want to sin alone.

When we sin alone we loose the ability to point fingers, shrug off the blame, take responsibility. We find our excuse and our justifications so that we don't have to change. It makes us feel like what we are doing is not so bad because everyone is doing it. Or sometimes we get an even bigger reaction that we hoped for, and the person we were [subconsciously - though sometimes in more deliberate greater sins, consciously] drawing into sin commits a sin far worse than ours.

The standards dont change, regardless of the situation. Sin is defined in the word of God, not by how many are doing the same thing. Be alert, its a strategic game. Its trained in the art of being subtle and sly. And if you think you are better than that, perhaps you are already in the sin of pride pr judgement.

Watch your life and doctrine closely. Guard your heart. Be sure that sin, is a common temptation and its all around us. And as much as sinners don't like solitude, and sin wants a partner. . . once it sucks you in, it will isolate you from God and friends and lock you in a prison of self-hatred and solitude from the ones who love you.

there is always good news though.....
1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

*sniff* *sniff*

*sniff* *sniff*

"eeeeew"

*sniff*

what's that smell?

Oh wait.....it's me.

*cringe*

I am sure we have all had those bad days, where the temperature is too hot and our deodorant fails us. Or a baby has vomited/peed on us, or we have been working in the garden and the fertilizer exploded on us. It can happen, sad but true.

Body odor is not our friend, I remember days climbing into a taxi or onto a bus and you could smell some people a mile away, they were poorer, came from areas that didnt always have running water, they had no money for food let alone deodorant and they obviously ate lots of garlic. its not pleasant but its an indication of the state of their lives.

Smells, as odorous as they are, can be a good thing because they are often a warning sign that something is wrong. How often do we sniff food or milk to see if its off? the smell warns us.

So what odor are our lives giving off? In Christian circles we often talk about how our lives must give off the sweet perfume of Christ etc. These are common topics and phrases thrown around. Or how our worship is like sweet smelling incense rising up to God.

I often don't know what this means or how to achieve it truthfully, and maybe I will explore it more in another blog. But this week I read an interesting quote, it said...

"When your memories are greater than your dreams you are already beginning to die." 

aaah the smell of decay. So many of us are trapped in our pasts. So many of us are burdened with the hurt of our past, myself included. So many of us are dying, emotionally and spiritually because of our memories, releasing a stench of decay and an aroma of hopelessness and fear. Fear has a smell, that's what animals sense. Hopelessness does too. 

What smell is rising up in our lives? 

The good news is that we are not dead and buried, whilst there is breath in our lungs and God is on the Throne, there is still hope. We too can come back to life again. I love the verse in Job 14:8-9 that speaks of a fallen tree, but at the scent of water it comes back to life and begins to bud.

I believe spiritually and emotionally we all have the same hope if only we would draw close to the rivers of living water.