Month: November 2017

Samuel. The very child prayed and yearned for. The one given back to God. And God chose him before he was born. God chose him before Hannah ever begged for a son. She cried out longings given to her by God. And the young boy Samuel heard the audible voice of God. In a temple where it had been forgotten. God opened his ears. It was not copying and mimicking a mentor. It was new – brand new….so new that the young boy assumed it could only be Eli calling him. And do you think that hearing God elevates you in people’s eyes? Do you think you would be respected because you heard God and relayed the message? No my friend, if you are ever called to be a prophet you will not be loved by the majority because of it. But like Samuel – God would have chosen you a long time ago. It would be your choice to be like Samuel or to be like Eli. Will you stop God’s voice with sin, or will you marvel that you can hear His voice….and then still relay the hard messages? The truth messages that sting and warn?
And if you choose to stop  God’s voice like Eli…..how will you react to having a young Samuel in your life….and will you listen to His warnings that he relays?
Eli missed it, yet God gave him a chance. And at the same time it was Samuel’s first test. Would he put God’s truth ahead of fear, ahead of not wanting to hurt someone he loved?
The temple at that time was growing spiritual mould. And mould is considered unholy. I think we have spiritual mould growing in our homes and in our churches today. We paint and bleach and do a splendid job of covering it – just like Eli did. But mould is no joke…..and the stones used to build houses in those days, if they had mould growing on them….had to be thrown out….the stones  surrounding it had to be scraped clean….and new stones placed in the place of the discarded ones. Mould spreads. Mould also needs darkness and dampness to grow. It should be a picture to us to be alert. The more you block the Son out…the more chance for mould to grow….the more chance for mould to spread to parts that were not affected by it at first. A fresh spiritual wind and Sonshine is needed….as well as turfing out and replacing that which is not holy.
Here is your checklist:
Are you a Samuel? Will you speak what you have heard?
Are you an Eli? Will you heed the warnings?
Is there mould in your house? Are you going to be pro-active or are you going to repaint?
There is always a choice. And the choice is yours.

There are lies we learn as we grow up that become the foundation of our beliefs and actions. Having good and sound sounding-boards is so important while growing up. But what happens when you are a child that doesn’t talk or open up to people?
Yes, God will help us work through our issues, graciously again and again and again until we get it right. But how much better when we have steady adults in our lives, God-fearing adults who can help shape our futures? What if we could be that to a teen or a pre-teen now….be what we wished we had growing up?

I tend to be very works-based. Partly from learning that model growing up and partly from my personality-based-tendency to people-please to gain my worth in this world.

In my pre-teen years I would religiously pray for every family member up to cousins. Until one fateful day when the death of a youngster coincided with a morning I had not prayed. And in an instant, anger and distance grew against a god that I felt was not worth it if it meant I had to help him get the job done. A skewed perception and way off the mark….but I was ten and no one would ever know that thoughts like that even existed in my brain.

Yet it has been part of my foundation for a long time. Still now at 38 I will automatically steer away from naming extended family by name on a daily basis for fear of taking responsibility for them. Our minds are amazing things – but they are also frightful things. That is why satan uses it. We do not realize how much and how often he does, and scary enough – we do not want to put in the work needed to eradicate flitting thoughts nevermind foundational ones. Yet the more we work on ourselves now, the better chance of us being available and ready to guide and mentor someone in the next generation. Usually our healing isn’t only for us. It is seeds to make bread for another.

And I hate learning about new issues I have. I hate it when the Holy Spirit illuminates something in my life. Because it feels like I am never going to get on the path God chose for me. Sometimes I feel like I have messed my life so much that I have messed up His calling on my life. That is until I sit down and ask myself: Do you want to help yourself heal, or do you want a forgiving huge incomparable Holy-of-Holy God who knows you inside and out, and has your name on His palm, help you to heal.

The answer is easy. But the walk in that direction is not.

Isaiah 55 v 6 – 11
6-7 Seek God while He’s here to be found, pray to Him while He’s close at hand. Let the wicked abandon their way of life and the evil their way of thinking. Let them come back to God, who is merciful, come back to our God, who is lavish with forgiveness.

8-11 “I don’t think the way you think. The way you work isn’t the way I work.” God’s Decree. “For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think. Just as rain and snow descend from the skies and don’t go back until they’ve watered the earth, Doing their work of making things grow and blossom, producing seed for farmers and food for the hungry, So will the words that come out of My mouth not come back empty-handed. They’ll do the work I sent them to do, they’ll complete the assignment I gave them.

Yesterday as I was filling in a contact form I came to the question – Who is your emergency contact?

Who is my emergency contact? I had to stop and think – who would you call if a car knocked me down in the street tomorrow?  Who indeed….

Family has moved away and I am now alone in a town, and I find myself in a blessed season of crossroads where I have lost friends and where I have deliberately cut toxic friends from my life.

After  a good amount of time had passed I put my pastor as my emergency contact, but I didn’t walk away feeling bad about myself because I know what I bring to the table in relationships and I know it is of value.

Today I got to thinking about how Jesus should be our emergency contact. He should be the first Person we run to when chaos, conflict, destruction and death arise. But is He?

Could it be that negative, toxic thoughts and seeds of bitter discontent are your emergency contact?

Is it maybe the family member who doesn’t follow Biblical principles?

Is it the friend who believes that a night on the town is what you really need?

Is it the person who will advise you to run away because that will solve your conflicts?

Does your emergency contact believe in prayer, fasting, the wisdom of the Word and spiritual warfare?

Does your emergency contact point you back to the fact that Jesus should be your emergency contact?

You see, when in an emergency you can usually think straight and logical if you remain calm. But in the aftermath when you realize your loss and pain – who do you go to? Beware who speaks into your life at this point. Plan your emergency contact beforehand:

• Run to Jesus daily now, so that your relationship will be strong enough that you run to His arms in an emergency and do not drift away
• Have an equal or a mentor that has a strong hand that helps and does not hurt

Isn’t it funny how we forget to rely on God when things go wrong even though He lives inside us 😉 and how we will most certainly forget again…

(a post written on surface level about a subject deeper than the ocean…..)

The Bride has made herself ready…… Whoa…. I read that again. And again. She has made herself ready. Herself. She. Made Herself.

The Church is to prepare Herself for her Bridegroom. She knows her Bridegroom loves her but this is where She is to be actively busy. If She loves the Bridegroom and doesn’t want anyone else then she will be getting ready. Her Bridegroom will not have to beg Her or try to convince Her. Yet it seems that way, doesn’t it?

The art of first love is lost on us. People do not understand it because their frame of reference for true love does not match the biblical meaning.

True love? Well, we can divorce later if it doesn’t work out. Let me test-drive a few partners before I have to marry. You love me more than I have ever been loved so let me settle because love might not come around again and then I will be all alone. Yes, I love you but I have extra needs so I have a few extra pieces on the side…..

We have NO idea what true love is. We live in a society where all sorts of media has replaced meaningful relationships. Where virginities are stolen from youngsters and so love and power are confused and intertwined. Marriage is not forever. Love is actually lust. And if you are not my idea of perfect you are worth nothing. A society where sex can be bought, stolen and even demanded. A society that does not know what true biblical love is.

I wonder if the concept of a Bride readying herself is lost on us too. Do we love our Bridegroom with our whole hearts….or do we have extra pieces on the side for our enjoyment. Are we test driving other partners before we settle down as the Church? Are we preparing to wear white to the marriage supper? Are we prostituting ourselves or are we waiting and preparing?

These are hard questions….and the answers are harder to accept. Yes, grace exists….but that grace should be enabling us to wait and prepare. Not squander…..

Our Bridegroom loves us with a love that cannot be fathomed by us. It is beyond our understanding. But let us learn how to love Him with a love that waits only for Him. A love that will accept no other loves. A heart that beats only for Him. May the Holy Spirit awaken this love in our hearts. Love that stays on the straight and narrow. The Bride in Biblical times that keeps checking out the window for when her betrothed will visit. A Bride who could not even contemplate not walking down the aisle to meet her God.

First Love ❤

True Love ❤

And a Bride that makes Herself ready.