Have You Stopped Communicating?

“We just don’t seem to talk to each other,” Mary sobbed. “All you do is come home, wash down your dinner, watch telly and mumble a word or two. We might as well be two strangers living together. Our marriage just seems so dead”

Mary and John had been married a little over two years. Theirs had been a whirlwind, passionate courtship followed by a grand, elaborate wedding.

Mary had glowed on her wedding day. What a beautiful, glorious June day it had been. Exquisitely dressed in an ivory wedding dress adorned with intricate pearls, she had looked breathtakingly beautiful. John had stood proudly next to his new bride. With an imposing height, dressed in an expensive suit, no-one could argue they were anything but a handsome pair.

They quickly settled down to married life. John was a barrister in the City, Mary a school teacher. Young, in love with many ambitious plans they planned their future excitedly. They bought a lovely house in the country. They were both country bumpkins and Mary adored gardening. They would enjoy married life together for a couple of years before starting a family, they had agreed. Life was bliss. It was so good. They had many expectations and the future seemed bright.

Not too long afterwards, John was passed over for promotion. Frustrated, he became withdrawn, cold and distant. He seemed to recoil into a world that shut Mary out. He appeared to blame Mary, picked holes here and there. He still loved Mary but she felt the passion in their marriage was losing momentum. She felt isolated. She loved John too but with a lack of communication and with constant accusations flung at her, their marriage seemed doomed to fail.

In many ways, Mary and John are what we are like with our relationship with God. In the beginning, when we become Christians, we are often euphoric, on top of the world. We fall in love with God, we love spending time with Him. As we get to know Him, we become rejuvenated, elated even! We become new creatures. We vow that we will always strive to abide in His presence. We will always remain true to Him.

Then challenges come. “Err…I thought that now I have found God, life will be plain sailing”, you cry. You become frustrated. You start thinking God has deserted you. Yes, you know or rather thought you knew, that God is never too far away. Right now, however, at this precise moment in time, how come it seems that God appears to have abandoned you? Or you start thinking the reason you are in this current predicament is due to sin.

Slowly and quietly, before you even notice, you start to withdraw from God. You soon stop reading your bible. Well, maybe, you only read it now and again. Also, you can’t seem to find the words to pray. You are angry at your situation, maybe even angry with God. The last person you want to communicate with is God. Result, your relationship with Him begins to crumble before your very eyes. You start slipping back into old, wrong habits. You now live a life that really does not truly glorify God.

God has said in His Word, He will never leave us nor forsake us. Jesus said ‘In this world, you will have tribulations, but be of good cheer, I have overcome them all”. God’s word never promises that we will not be faced with tests, trials and challenges.

In the same way as every relationship is tested, so our relationship with God will be tested. Our adversary, satan will always seek to question our commitment and test the strength of every meaningful relationship. We must be vigilant and know the wiles of the enemy. We must develop a trust with God at all times because He has overcome that situation troubling you. Therefore we must open the communication lines.

Just as a lack of communication in any relationship results in it’s breakdown, so too if we cease praying, we will find that we eventually become weak Christians. We must remain firmly rooted in all things of God, seeking His presence, spending time in His Word and praying.

The Word says if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. In those gloomy moments of despair when all seems lost, God is surprisingly, right there beside you. He just wants you to reach out to Him. Tell Him your hurts, your disappointments, your dreams, your desires. Anything! Big, enormous, small and tiny! He yearns so much to listen to you. He is oh so willing!

The Word says He is near to all who calls on Him. How near are you to your Heavenly Father now? Just like Mary feels John is far away from her because he does not communicate, similarly, you distance yourself from God when you stop talking to Him.

John had not realised the walls of silence he had enclosed himself in had been hurting his wife so deeply. Over time, he learnt to lift the communication barriers. He learnt that by talking, listening and opening up, he could share his concerns and so ultimately save his fast decaying marriage. Together they could face this trial and with renewed optimism.

All it takes for Heaven to move on your behalf is to pray. Communication has power just as prayer has power. Lift the barriers today and get communicating. Get praying. God is at the other end of the communication line waiting to take your call.

© August 2006

Devotional - Is your Destination, 'Expected End'?

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. (Jeremiah 29:11 KJV)

Right, lets get a bit creative with our imagination today. Suitcase is packed with swimwear, shorts and sandals. Camera slung round your neck. Sunhat perched on. Passport in bag. You have just said your good-byes to all the neighbours. Told them you are heading off on holidays. But there is a problem. You don't know where you are heading!

Few of us may have found ourselves in this situation. Majority of the time, we plan our vacation. Ssometimes even months in advance. We buy the guidebooks, practice a few phrases, plan our trip down to the letter and hurry the days in the calendar.

But how about the few who enjoy a little more 'excitement'. To you I ask this, have you ever headed to the airport not having an inkling where you are going? Got to the airport and booked what was available. You are however constrained to what is available, pricing, choice of airline, accomodation and destinations that suit the clothes you have packed in your luggage!

Sometimes our lives are like the last scenario. We throw caution to the wind and take what is available. What life has to offer. Good, bad or ugly! Should that be the case? Our Heavenly Father says He has a different agenda for us. He has an expected end for us. Beautiful plans. Yet we wonder why we miss it. How many of us are heading towards our expected end? How many of us even know what it is or one even exists?

We need to know our destination and take steps towards it. Ask God what He desires of us. Speak to Him. Listen. Attend to His instructions. Trust Him. Just come on board. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, so it makes sense to ask Him where to go.

Heavenly Father, thank you for having such good thoughts for me. Lead me in the way I should go. I commit all my plans to you, trusting and knowing you will take me to my destination. In Jesus name, Amen

If we don't know where we are going, we can't get to our destination.

© August 2006

Lead Us Not Into Temptation

I took a bite on my apple. Royal gala. One of my favourites. Red, succulent and sweet. Just the way I like it. 'Tempting' and delicious any day.

I thought about Eve in the garden of Eden. What type of apple had she eaten, I mused. Had it been a braeburn, golden delicious, royal gala? The options go on. Whatever was the case, the serpent had tempted her with wordy speeches and an apple! Eve had yielded. Taken a bite. And in so doing, man fell.

Temptation! The first trick to man. And one of the enemy's powerful strategies. One of his devices in that dirty bag of his. The enemy did not tempt Eve with a rotten apple. Eve saw the apple was 'good for food and pleasing to the eye'.

Do you think satan is any different today? No, not at all. He still uses delicious looking 'apples' to pull us down to an ugly pit.

What is that apple the enemy is using to lure you? Give the enemy an inch into your life, he will run a marathon with it. Someone once said, let the enemy in at the back seat and it wouldn't be too long before he wants to be the driver.

Do not yield to temptation. Examine the apple. Be wise. Seek God for direction. Even my delicious looking royal gala may be beautiful on the outside but rotten inside. How is it with your 'apple'?

© August 2006
Note: Satan above has been spelt deliberately with a small 's' so as not to give him any recognition even in English grammar.

Getting Through The Seasons of Life

I flicked on the light switch in my living room. It was getting dark, I observed. I peeped at the mantle clock. It was around 20:30. It seemed only a few weeks ago that it had been getting dark much later than this hour, I thought. Daylight hours were counting down with each passing week. Autumn (Fall) was slowly heading our way. I reckoned in just a few weeks time, we would be saying good-bye to long, hot summer days as equally long, cold winter nights make their way in.

Such are the climatic seasons. Each having it’s own unique characteristic. Isn’t it remarkable how we can compare these seasons to seasons of our own individual lives? We endure the cold, loooong, oh so long, stark winters when trials and adversity seem to be the daily menu. We make several attempts at sowing seeds of hope. Time passes. We persevere. Finally, a day comes when the buds of hope start to shoot through. Not too long after a full, beautiful bloom comes forth. Summer has arrived!

We do get through the hard times. And if only we are patient and faint not, our season does come too. Yes, there is a time for everything. We must not lose heart. Think on this, even in the winters of life, there is the beauty to be found. Isn't it fun building snowmen, after all?

I am learning to embrace each season. Because my time will come. It always does. I will bear fruit in due season. I have done so often in the past!

© August 2006

God Prunes Us for Our Benefit

At the start of spring this year, I was driving down a tree lined street, my usual route, on the way to work. I always love driving down tree lined roads. The trees all seem to stand majestically. And don't they always look like they seem to grow in unison with each other? Are they in cahoots I often wonder? Just look at one tree and try and spot the difference with the other.

The trees look dead...
I love to compare the bushy foliage in the summer as opposed to the stark, naked branches in the winter. However, that spring morning, I noticed that the branches had been cut quick brutally over the weekend. I looked with sadness wondering, if some decision had been made by the council to fell all the trees on that road. I perceived that maybe the trees had grown out of control and had thus become a hazard. When I later realised that the trees were not going to be cut down, I was quite relieved. But I still wondered if the trees would remain in that deprived looking state. I just could not see how anything could come of those trees after that! Poor trees, I thought

They have only been pruned...
Well some time ago, whilst driving down the same street, my eyes looked up to see what had happened to 'my' trees. I noticed a rich, green, bushy lush of leaves had grown. It then finally dawned on me that the trees had only been pruned in order to shape the tree. Hellooo!

God prunes us...
Isn't God like that with His children at times? We get knocks, suffer a few setbacks and face some frustrations and wonder where God is in the midst of all our distress? Yet God has been standing right beside us. All He has been doing is pruning us, getting rid of the dead branches. Shaping us to be productive and fruitful.

We have not been left for dead...
Sometimes we get knocked so badly, we wonder if we will ever recover. Oh yes, fewof us have been strangers to a few disappointments or 'prunes' we have met along the way in this journey of life. Yet though, some knocks just really whip the life out of us. At those times, we think, hey, this time, it looks like the tree of life in us must have been axed down.

Trust Him!
God is never too far away. Sometimes we can't see further than our nose. Don't you think He knows what He is doing? As the Master Tree Surgeon, He knows that in season we will bring forth if we only we trust Him and are patient! Is any-one listening?! Also we have to realise that some prunes are more severe looking than others. That's the way it is.

In Closing...
Thank you God for pruning me. I will bloom and blossom in time. I leave it all in your surgical Hands. Amen

Just as I was ignorant of the concept of tree pruning, often our ignorant eyes can't see that all God is doing, is shaping us for a brighter tomorrow.

© August 2006

Devotional - Childlike Trust in God

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. (Matthew 19:14 NIV)

I have chosen to believe the things of God with childlike simplicity. Tell a child you are going to buy them say an iPod, they are gonna believe you. They will take that promise and run a marathon with it. Before you know it every man and his dog in town has got the broadcast that they are soon to be the proud owner of another 'soon to be bored with' gadget.

Very few children, at least the ones I know, would start analysing how you going to be able to afford to buy them anything you promise them. Whatever you say as far as they are concerned is the new gospel! Never mind that your grey cells may be chasing one another in the restricted confines of your brain. Oh, you may choose to toss and turn all night if you are one with loads of energy. Instead of snoring away, brain activity is hard at work, calculating and re-calculating how you going to pay for whatever. Meanwhile, the child with the promise, is very sound asleep. By your own words, you have signed your own 'no getting out of this one' warrant!

So let me ask you a question. Why do we choose to analyse, dissect, worry, ponder over the promises of God? Why do we try to figure out God? What I don't get is this. We sing off key at the top of our voices in church on Sunday, much to the irratation of the person sitting next to us. Singing songs with all our hearts proclaiming that we are children of God. Yet, frankly we don't act like one!

God promises us healing, wisdom, protection, and so much more, yet we come up with all kinds of theories why these wishes cannot be fulfilled in our lives. We even have the audacity to compare ourselves with others similar to us who have prayed, and apparently have not had answers to their prayers. And so start to doubt!

I made up my mind some time ago, I will be a true child of God. I had no choice. With situations I had no control of, I knew I had to trust God 100%. That complete trust can only come when we have the mind of a child.

And guess what? My so-called 'foolish' child-like trust built my faith in God. And God reciprocated. Who said God is not a God of miracles? Not I!

Signed: Child of God

© August 2006

A Morning Prayer

Lord, I thank you for a new day. This is the day you have made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. I declare that this day will not be clouded with a sense of hopelessness and despair. With a new day, comes the gifts of new hopes and dreams. Thank you for these gifts, Lord. Give me the strength and the will to fan the flame of my dreams today, Lord. May your will for my life be done on earth as is in Heaven. Give me eagle eye vision today as I execute my dreams with your guidance, Lord.

Help me Lord to grow in faith as I walk with you today. Let the mustard seed faith you have given each of your children, start to germinate in my life today. Help me to dwell in your Word which sheds light to all the darkness of this life.

I refuse to be fearful because You have said in Your Word that you have not given me a spirit of fear. I will instead operate in power, love and a sound mind. Because You have thoughts of good and not of evil to bring me to an expected end, I rest in your assurance knowing that nothing shall by any means harm me. I am not moved by what I see but I will be moved by faith today.

Grant me wisdom, knowledge and understanding today. Because the carnal mind cannot understand spiritual things, let the Holy Spirit be my Teacher and Revealer of secrets. Help me Lord not to lean on my own understanding but to always put my complete trust in You.

Thank you for answered prayers. In Jesus most precious name, Amen

© August 2006

Thought For the Day - What are You Thinking?

Err... what were you thinking a moment ago? Or five minutes ago? Or today, even?
Careful.....!
The Bible says 'as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he'. Powerful words or wishful thinking?

Right, wrong or wishful thinking, we have a choice.
We can choose to think good thoughts and be hopeful..........
We can choose to think negative thoughts and be fearful...........
We can choose to be a cynic and take whatever comes.........
However, one things for certain, we can't be all three at the same time!

Being hopeful brings us joy................
Being fearful distances us from God...............
Joy and Fear can't be in the same place at the same time...............
Give one the exit and let the other in!

What are you thinking now.............?

© August 2006

Reflections - Created For God's Pleasure

I sat in the park yesterday. In the distance, you could hear the muffled sounds of cars passing by. On a bench to my left, sat an old man, head bowed, dozing in the sun. On the grass, sat two lovebirds, arms entwined, totally oblivious to their surroundings. Children on bikes, chased one another with carefree excitement. Two young girls were chatting away, probably indulging in some gossip or the other. I sat reading a devotional bible, soaking up the sun and enjoying the apparent bliss around me.

God smiling
I pondered and thought for a moment about God. I knew He was watching us all. He would know everything that was going on in the park, I figured. I wondered what He would be thinking of us folks in the park. If I was enjoying the scenery, surely God would be too, I thought. Were we not created for His pleasure, after all?

Harmony
As I sat taking in the ambiance, I suddenly realized that even the traffic noise had drowned out in my mind. All I could hear after a while was the gentle, refreshing breeze. Purified pleasure!

Take Time Out
Why is it we never seem to take time out now and again to enjoy His Creation? All we ever seem to do sometimes is work, try to keep up with the rat race and.....work! Didn't God spend 6 days creating this 'garden of the world' for us to live in it and enjoy? Beaches, mountains, rivers, animals, people ... all for our pleasure.

Enjoy & Be Enjoyed
Take time out to have fun. No need to feel guilty in relaxation. Embrace His creation. Enjoy and be enjoyed!

© August 2006