It is LIFE...

There was a time in my life, which when I think about it actually wasn't that long ago, when reading the Bible, the inspired Word of God always seemed like it was such a chore, like it was just hard work and would never really get much out of it.  Occassionally I would pick up a revelation but most of the time I was doing it because I felt that I had to. 

I could spend ages listening to worship music and just being before God in His presence and worshipping Him but as soon as I picked up the Bible it seemed to become boring... reading the Bible was such an effort for me.

I don't know if anyone else feels like this sometimes... or is it just me??

I would try to make it enjoyable with a nice hot cuppa or lighting some candles and it would help to make me feel good but I still wasn't really getting much out of it.

However, during the past year or so, I seriously haven't been able to live without God's Word in my life every single day.  I don't know what changed or how it changed or what I did... perhaps it is just that I feel like I have more time and I don't need to rush... or that I pushed through without giving up... whatever it is, it is GOOD!!

I read something in the notes section of my Bible today which really spoke to me about how important God's Word is for our lives...

The Word of God will light your way;
it will help you make right choices;
it will heal your wounds and settle your heart;
it will protect you and cleanse you from sin;
it will lead you;
it will make you wise;
it is bread;
it is water;
it is a counsellor;
it is life;
it is satisfying;
it is sufficient;
it is supreme;
it is supernatural.

How absolutely amazing is the Word of God!!  It is everything that we need for whatever path we are on in life... wherever we are at... whatever we are doing... God's Word is all that we ever need.

Psalm 119:162
"I rejoice at your Word as one who finds great treasure".

i can't get no satisfaction...

"I can't get no... satisfaction... and I tried and I tried and I tried and I tried... I can't get NO (do, do, do).... No, no, no!"

Now that I got you singing... haha!

As most of you probably know me quite well, you will know that I am someone who likes to set goals for my personal life and I have lots of dreams and visions.  Every year my husband and I sit down and write out our goals for that coming year and the next five, ten, and fifty years... and then we revisit them every once in a while to make sure we are on track, etc.

Well, unfortunately, I have a dream which just doesn't seem to want to come to pass right now and it has been quite a few years of dreaming and praying and waiting... lots of waiting (sigh).  I also have a few other desires which in themselves seems quite big and impossible from where I am sitting right now but I know that God is a God of the impossible!

However, just the last few days God has been speaking to me about being satisfied with where I am at right now and being satisfied in Him.  Sometimes when I have a dream or a goal I become quite focussed on achieving it that I am looking so far ahead of myself and not enjoying what I am currently doing or where I am at in life right now.

Proverbs 19:23 'The fear of the Lord leads to life and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil.'

Now, I'm not about to say that we shouldn't have goals because without any vision or purpose we will perish but perhaps my focus needs to change just slightly so that I am putting God first in every part of my life and I am not becoming distracted from Him with my own dreams and desires.  Not that my dreams and desires are not of God... because I know that they are... they are good Godly desires but He needs to be my first focus and not my dream.

In Psalm 95:6-11 it talks about the Israelites in the wilderness after they had been set free from Egypt and they were being distracted by other things around them instead of focussing on what God was giving them right then and there.  God was supplying every need for them... they should have been satisfied but they kept thinking about their past and their own desires.  Because of this God said that they would not enter His rest... they would not be satisfied.

Psalm 106:13-15 'They soon forgot His works; They did not wait for His counsel, But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness And tested God in the desert.  And He gave them their request, But sent leanness into their soul.'

Again it is talking about the Israelites in the wilderness and how even after God had done so much for them up until that point... like feeding them manner from Heaven, giving them water out of a rock, killing the Egyptians at the Red Sea... But still they kept forgetting about those amazing things that God had done and was doing for them and were distracted by what they wanted NOW!  They 'lusted exceedingly' and God ended up giving them their request.  BUT they were still dissatisfied... they had leanness in their souls!

Unless we put God first in everything that we do... in everything that we desire... in everything that we dream about... even though those dreams and goals my come to pass... we may not feel completely satisfied... we will not be completely fulfilled.  Our satisfaction needs to be in God and not in fulfilling our own dreams and desires, even if those dreams and desires are good.

God wants us to live an abundant and fulfilled life and the only way we can do that is by putting Him first... letting Him become our complete satisfaction.

If we never achieved anything else in life... never got given anything else that we wanted... never had any more dreams come to pass... would we feel completely satisfied?

Something very challenging for me to think about.... what about you?

Look out... here she comes!

Psalm 42:5
'Why are you cast down, O my soul?  And why are you disquieted within me?  HOPE in God:  For I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God'.

Sometimes as a woman my emotions can get the better of me... one minute I may be happy and jumping around with joy and then only minutes later I can start feeling a bit sad and a little depressed... but to top it all off, sometimes I don't even know why???!!  WHY are you case down my soul?  Sound familiar...lol!

Cast down means to sink or depress... And then there's the other side of the coin - disquieted... to make a loud sound, to be in great commotion or tumult, to rage, war, moan, clamour: clamorous, concourse, cry aloud, be disquieted, loud, mourn, be moved, make a noise, rage, roar, sound, be troubled, make in tumult, tumultuous, be in an uproar!  My goodness there are a lot more descriptive words for that emotion!  Definately the opposite end of the scale compared to 'cast down'.

But as women, that is sometimes what our emotions can be like - up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down.  I also know for myself that when my emotions are like this, I can take it out on those who are closest to me and unfortunately at this point of my life, it is usually my poor husband!  It has nothing to do with him at all or what he might have said or done but at the slightest push of my button...look out... my weaknesses begin to show and I don't like them at all!!

Our emotions are what we are made of and reflect the awesomeness of being made in the image of our God.  However, we must learn to take control of our emotions so that they are submitted to God.  They need to be expressed in a way that is godly and not like an uncontrolable freak!

'Lord, please help me in my weaknesses'...

Grace like a diamond...

I just love the movie 'How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days'... and this morning while I was reading my Bible I got the coolest picture in my mind and I just wanted to share it...

Proverbs 3:21-22 says 'My son, (or daughter) let them not depart from your eyes - keep sound wisdom and discretion; so they will be life to your soul and grace to your neck'.

Grace to your neck...  just like the Isadora diamond in the movie right??!!  Absolutely!  When Andie (Kate Hudson) walks out in her gorgeous yellow cocktail dress she looks nothing but beautiful... however when they place the Isadora around her neck she becomes the object of everyone's attention... she instantly grows two inches taller, walking around proudly displaying those huge sparkling diamonds and everyone turns their heads to take a look... she is just stunning!

A little while later into the evening she goes quickly running out of the building with the Isadora around her neck and when everyone suddenly realises she is still wearing it... all they care about is chasing after that diamonds and the pursuit is on!

We need to chase after sound wisdom and discretion in our lives and never let it out of our sight just as though it is the huge Isadora diamond necklace.  Wisdom and discretion will become that amazing 'Grace to our neck'.  

The word Grace in this instance means - kindness, favour, gracious, pleasant, precious and well-favoured... who as a woman doesn't want all of that in our lives??  I know I certainly do!

We can shine and sparkle as we keep our eyes focussed on sound wisdom and discretion.

Encounter with God

Over the last six weeks or so I have been reading a couple of books in relation to encountering God and reaching my promised land... and during this time I have found such a hunger for more of God beginning to well up inside me... more than I have ever experienced before and I am absolutely loving spending time with God and just can't seem to get enough!  It is so true that if we draw near to God that He will absolutely draw near to us!!

One of the most significant realisations I have had has been that I need to become more like Jesus and one thing about Jesus that has really stuck with me is that not one single person who met Jesus during His time here on earth walked away disappointed.  Each and every person who chased after Jesus walked away from their encounter with Him fully satisfied.  Jesus healed every single person who was sick or diseased and He even raised the dead.  That is just so totally awesome!!!... not one single person walked away dissatisfied!  Imagine how incredible that would be if every single person we prayed for walked away completely and totally healed!

And an even more amazing thing is that Jesus said we would do even greater things than He because we would have the Holy Spirit... and that is what I am chasing after right now!

I so deeply desire such an encounter with the Holy Spirit so that I can become like Jesus... this is my life-long pursuit.

'My soul thirst for You, my flesh yearns for You'. Psalm 63:1

Good Samaritan

As I was driving home from the beach earlier today I was a bit annoyed at myself for spending so much time enjoying the sun and the surf and I was having words with myself saying that ‘I should have been at home doing the washing’ or ‘I should have been organising my shopping list for tomorrow’... blah, blah, blah...

I was about to pull out across the highway towards home and I looked up to the right and ‘oh my goodness’... I saw a bicycle and a body go flying into the air and crash onto the side of the road. My heart started pounding and my first thought was... I have to help that person... but then I thought... but by the time I get up to the U-Turn section and turn around and come back... surely someone else would have stopped to help out. As it was I had already waited for about ten cars that had driven past the incident so that I could cross onto the other side of the road so surely someone else will stop.

I decided to turn around anyway, just to make sure that whoever it was, was ok. As I got closer I was surprised to see that there were no other cars pulled over and no one else had stopped to help. I mean, it is the main highway into town and probably about 30 cars had passed as I took the time to turn around and come back.

So, there she was, a hurt and shaking little girl on the side of the road without anyone except me stopping to help... I honestly couldn’t believe it. She was so shaken up that she hadn’t even thought to pull out her mobile to phone anyone until I suggested it! So I piled her now mangled bike into the back of my car along with my surfboard, which believe me was no easy task, and I drove her (shaken but relieved) back into town where she needed to go.

I am still in unbelief that no one else was considerate enough to stop and see if she was ok. But I guess that was why I just happened to be in the right place at the right time...

But I don’t believe in coincidences.... I believe that God knew I would spend too much time at the beach this morning and He knew this little girl was going to fall off her bike and that I would be the only one to stop and help.

In a world where people are too busy and so focussed on what they are doing, I believe we need to be ones who will be open to what God wants us to do and who will keep a listening ear out for what He is asking us to do.

I could have kept driving all the way home thinking that someone else would stop because I was on the other side of the road anyway... I shouldn’t have to be the one to turn around and go back. But I was the one and I am glad that I was the one who God used to help someone else today.

I don’t know this girls name and she doesn’t know mine... all she knows, in her words, is ‘a nice chick’ stopped to help and made her day a whole lot better than what it was at that particular moment.

Be the Change...

Whenever I return from a trip away from home, as I am preparing to go to bed that night, I am always completely amazed at how small this world has become because my previous nights sleep was spent in another city or in some cases an entirely different country… how cool is that I have been shopping in Sydney this morning and home for dinner with my husband tonight. And yes… my suitcase was slightly overflowing this afternoon!

But tonight my thoughts are also on those who are a lot less fortunate than I am… as I have been so aptly reminded over the past few days at Colour… even though our world seems so small when we can travel to the other side of it within 24 hours, the problems that exist in this world today, and probably have for hundreds of years, seem so very huge and almost impossible to overcome or to even make a small mark on…. issues like poverty, violence, famine, slavery, human trafficking, homelessness… and the list could go on.

However, I am also encouraged… even though in my mind these problems seem very difficult to solve… as we join together in unity and do our little bit… whatever that bit maybe…. whatever it is that God has asked us to do… or whatever you feel that you can do… we can in fact make an impact in this world… in our lifetime.

We are the answer that this world is crying out for… God is the answer that this world is crying out for. We just have to be the brave and courageous ones and step out to do our little bit… which will, because of the power of unity, make a huge difference.

I don’t know about you but I want to be able to make a difference in the lives of the people of this world who are less fortunate… I do not at all like to see children suffering or women being disfigured and I am willing to do something about it.

That is one of the reasons why over the weekend I welcomed another new addition to my family… a gorgeous little four year old Philippino girl named Kyla and even though she may only be a photo on my refrigerator… I will consistently pray for her and her family and I know that my support will make a difference in her life and she will have a better and brighter future because I was willing to do something about it.

Whatever it is that God asks me to do, I pray that I will always have the courage and determination to take the plunge and just do it… to be one who will BE THE CHANGE!!

Its whats on the inside that counts...

With a title like that you may have thought I was going to write about being beautiful not only on the outside but also on the inside… however… I have something different in mind.



As I am preparing to go to Colour tomorrow I am of course very conscious of what I will be wearing but not only that I am also very aware of my feelings of both excitement and apprehension at the same time.


Those of you who know me well will know me as someone who almost always looks very cool, calm and collected… even under difficult and challenging circumstances and I have recently been told that I am like the woman on the ‘Navman’… always sounding very cool, calm and collected… and I hope that was supposed to be a compliment!


However, underneath that oh so calm exterior, right now is a sea of knots created by thoughts like…


‘I have to fly alone… and in a prop plane… and its blowing a small gale… and its going to be rainy… and do I need another jumper… what if I forget something’ and the list goes on and on.


And so I ask myself… ‘Where is my faith?!’


I know that this is going to be an awesome and amazing conference and I truly am very excited and looking forward to going, especially considering that I have never been before… but what about these other feelings that keep getting in the way… how do I deal with them? I was thinking only a few months ago that I was really getting over this worrying thing that I have had a problem with for so many years but once again it has reared its ugly head!


And I know all of those Scriptures about ‘Do not worry… ‘Fear not… etc. so no need to remind me!


I know that I will be fine once I get on that plane and I am on my way and I can always buy something if I am cold or if I forget something… so really there is nothing to worry about at all.


My God is with me and that is all I need to know to have a good nights sleep.

Rise and Shine...

This morning I was awaken from my peaceful slumber by some very inconsiderate feathered friends having a little get together in the trees outside of my bedroom window. I stumbled out of bed and opened the shutters so I could close the window and at least try and get some peace to go back to sleep at this ungodly hour (cough cough)…. As I opened the shutters, in front of me was the most gorgeous sunrise.

I was so inspired I then opened all of the shutters and lay back down on my pillow watching the sunrise over the horizon. After about only a minute I couldn’t stand it any longer… I had to get up and go outside to enjoy this as much as I could.

As it was, it was only 30mins before I usually get up and it was almost like God was looking down, laughing and saying ‘You could be enjoying something like this every day if you weren’t lazy and got out of bed just that little bit earlier’.

On Sunday at church one of my new friends shared over communion about being distracted from God (*squirrel*)… well this morning was totally the opposite for me… because of God’s creative handiwork in the sky I was distracted toward Him!

It made me wonder…. How much do we miss from God because we are distracted by other things or because we are lazy, or because we are walking around with blinkers on? I have been missing out on an amazing sunrise every morning because I like my pillow… what are we missing out on when we stay home from church on a Sunday because we are tired or the surf is good? Or what about when we don’t give the whole amount that God has asked us to give?

I thought about the rich, young ruler… God asked him to give up every single cent that he had to come and follow Him but the young man was too in love with his money to do that… I wonder how much more money and favour God would have given him had he been willing to give it up for God in the first place?

I don’t want to miss out… I am going to make a concerted effort to get up just that little bit earlier so that I can enjoy the beauty that God has created every morning.

Answered...

This morning as I was reading my Bible I realised an awesome thing…

Over the past few weeks I have been reading a book called ‘The Richest Man Who Ever Lived’ which is about King Solomon’s secrets to success, wealth and happiness out of the Proverbs, and at the same time I have also been reading a chapter in Proverbs everyday.

As I was chatting with my husband over our romantic Valentine’s Day dinner the other night and discussing my ‘impossible’ dreams, I had a few questions about how I was going to achieve parts of them when I didn’t have a clue about what I was doing! My ever-so wise husband replied that God would show us the way to achieve the impossible. I didn’t really think anything more about what He had said until the very next day when I read a chapter of my book and it specifically answered one of the most difficult questions I had asked… AMAZING!

Again this morning before I started reading my Bible I was chatting with God about a personal situation that I am struggling with at the moment and asking what I could do to overcome in this particular area and as I read my Proverb for the day… there it was… the answer…. plain as day!

The Bible may have been written thousands of years ago but still in Twenty-Ten, as we commit our lives to Jesus and expect Him to help us in our everyday lives, He will provide the answers that we are seeking after.

Some answers may not come as easy as those I have described above but they will come... we just have to look to Him for the answer to begin with.

Good Morning Lord

What better way to start the morning than with a steaming hot cup of tea, the Word of God and a view to boot!!

Until recently I was of the opinion that it didn’t matter what time of day I spent with God in my quiet time… with the busyness of life as it already was, any time at all that I had spare to spend with God was good enough for me, be in morning, afternoon or evening before bed… as long as I did it.

But in the last few weeks where I have had the privilege of not having to get up early to get to work every morning, I have been able to instead spend the very first part of my day with God and I must admit that I have found it so much more satisfying and fulfilling.

Whereas previously I might have read my Bible and had a quick little prayer time before going to sleep and then most likely forgetting any revelation I may have had, I now find the whole entire day ahead of me to think about what God is speaking to me about and how He wants me to apply His Word in my life.

Matthew 6:33 says “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”.

I know this scripture probably pertains to seeking God first before we seek after other things to try and satisfy our needs and wants but I also believe that it means we should be seeking God first in our day, at the beginning, before anything else comes along and clouds our minds… our first thoughts need to be with God.

So I encourage you, if you don’t already, spend your time with God at the very beginning of your day… it really does make all the difference.

Surfing

I am totally busting to tell someone about the most beautiful and fun surf that I had this morning and my husband is out playing golf so here I am... although I know that probably only a couple of you reading this will really appreciate it as much as I did.

After a short little drive to one of my most recently frequented locations it wasn’t looking very appealing for a surf. The waves were breaking right on the beach because of the almost full tide and there was nothing at all out ‘the back’ so I climbed back into my car slightly disheartened because after all it is the weekend and I really didn’t feel like going back home and doing housework!

So I drove back towards home and decided to check out a more popular spot hoping that there would be something to at least get wet for and if there was... not too many others already out there. As I drove into the carpark there were only two other cars and I sadly thought ‘this isn’t looking very promising’ but I will have a quick look anyway and perhaps have a swim instead.

If there are any of you who like to have a little surf you will know what the anticipation of walking up the path towards the beach is all about. I could hear some waves lightly crashing on the sand and as I came over the crest of the sand dunes it was just beautiful... clean 2ft waves, light offshore winds, slightly overcast and there were only about four others sitting out there!

I quickly raced back to the car, grabbed my board, walked back up the path, threw on my wetsuit and jumped into the water. The water was clear bluey-green and I could easily see the sand on the bottom, even out the back.

Within two minutes I was paddling onto a nice clean 2ft wave and caught it all the way into the beach. I paddled out again and after another two minutes caught another little wave. I paddled back out and sat on my board in the water for a while waiting for another perfect wave.

The waves died off a little bit and I looked out towards the ocean and on the horizon was a huge thick dark black storm cloud. It was gradually getting darker and darker around me and looked like it was about to pour with rain but then the sun ever so slightly peaked just over the top of this huge monster of a cloud and was glistening onto the water around me making it look like glass... it was absolutely gorgeous!! I sat out there in awe of the beauty that God had created for me to enjoy on this beautiful Saturday morning. I wish I had my camera so that I could have taken a photo because it was an amazing sight.

I caught a couple more waves and then it started to rain... the glassy waves looked even more inviting and the drops of fresh water running down my face were like heaven!

As I mentioned at the beginning, probably only a few will really appreciate what this picture is really like in reality but I’m sure that God creates special moments in creation for each and every one of us to enjoy every day and for us to realise how big and awesome He really is. It is good to get outside and see God in creation and appreciate what He has made for us.

Inspired...

I have just finished reading a very short but inspiring cute little book called ‘Fish’. The story itself is quite fun and definitely gets you thinking and motivated about life but an extract included in the book is what I would like to share…

It is from another book called ‘Simple Abundance’ by Sarah Ban Breathnach…

Most of us are uncomfortable thinking of ourselves as artists…. But each of us is an artist… With every choice, every day, you are creating a unique work of art. Something that only you can do… The reason you were born was to leave your own indelible mark on the world. This is your authenticity… Respect your creative urges… step out in faith… you will discover your choices are as authentic as you are. What is more, you will discover that your life is all it was meant to be: a joyous sonnet of thanksgiving.

We only have one life to live on this earth and as Sarah has so greatly put it…. We were born to leave our own indelible mark on this world! Each of us has a purpose in life… God has a plan for us all and we need to make the most of every minute of our days because once it is gone… its gone!

I have been quite surprised over the past couple of weeks at how time really does fly when you are having fun… It definitely seems to go a lot slower when you are working for some reason!

I have been enjoying my morning swim or surf, doing a little bit of work every now and then, being a homewife (I don’t like ‘housewife’) and pottering around, as my mother would say, but it is definitely time for me to start working on those goals that I have set and get that schedule happening so that those minutes, hours and days don’t quickly slip away as they so quickly can and I am left standing there with an empty canvas.

I may currrently be a ‘lady of leisure’ but I definitely don’t want to be lazy!

A New Life...

Ok, so here I am once again after the long waiting period of being without an internet connection in my new abode... it is amazing what you can actually accomplish when there isn't any access to the world wide web!!

Over the past three and a half weeks I have been so in awe at the greatness and faithfulness of my God. Every morning when I have woken up and looked out my windows to a gorgeous ocean view I thank God from the bottom of my heart that He has so abundantly blessed me by again fulfilling one of my life-long dreams of living by the beach in a home where I can see the ocean. When I first arrived in this beautiful part of the world just before Christmas and saw where I would be living, I almost felt undeserving of what I had been given. What had I done to deserve this and who am I that God would pour out such a blessing on my life?

I now know without a doubt that if we are faithful, God will and does give us the desires of our heart. His desire is to see each and everyone of us blessed beyond anything that we can even imagine, if we love Him and trust Him with all of our heart.

I have to admit though, that living in this gorgeous place would be absolutely nothing if I didn’t have Jesus by my side, to guide and direct me, to help me to make new friends, to hold my hand as I begin this ‘new life‘…  He is my everything and without Him I am nothing.

One of my goals for 2010 is to live generously and be a blessing to others because ‘to whom much is given, much is required’. I want to be a blessing to others, to influence the lives of others and to make a difference in someone else’s life because of what Jesus has done for me.

I also never want to take for granted what God has provided for me and to do that I know that I will need to make every effort to continue to thank Him for everything He has blessed me with.