A teachable heart

10  May 2011

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

What a blessing it is to have a teachable heart. So many people simply do not have this, they believe that they are always right and they will do things their way no matter how you try to teach them. This is a problem from a child, and reflects the character of the parenting as well as the structure of the home life. A rebellious child, will always reject authority, and in later life this rebellion continues and the result is a person who is un-teachable.

To have a teachable heart starts with the ability to submit, to submit to authority, a knowledge that one can learn and change, to want to learn. It also reflects the ability to serve, to do things as a servant of others, to be humble and never seeing oneself as better than anybody else. It is also implies that you do not interfere, interfere in what others are doing, or to believe that you have the right to even when you do not. It is the ability to observe and learn from others, and to humbly acknowledge that.

Most of all a teachable heart starts with a relationship that the Word of God is central and that Jesus is the Teacher and we learn from His lessons taught to us. We do not presume to be the teacher, when we have not learnt the lessons ourselves. A teachable heart always is open to learning new things, new ways, and growing in faith and love.

Be encouraged today to allow your heart to be teachable.

David

Point to ponder:  God loves a teachable heart.

Question to consider:  Do you have a teachable heart?

Be you

8 May 2011

Proverbs 2:6-8 For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and preserving the way of his saints.

As one grows, one becomes wiser, not just growth in age but also in experience and observation. This wisdom is not given to any person as a reward, but rather the ability to discern within a situation and through that have the insight and understanding needed. Being part of a church with a large elderly group it is interesting to observe how different men respond. The more dedicated to their past work life, successes and influence the harder it seems for them to cope with change that life brings. Many were leaders in their field of expertise and where they added value and had the prestige of their position. Yet in a retirement village it does not count for much as to who were, but rather who you are today.

Wisdom is realising that who you were does not count for much, but rather who are is very important. So a valid question for any person is not who you were, or what job you do, but actually who are you? How good are you at being you? This deals with your attributes which are not tangible, but are intrinsically you, this deals with your nature. A short tempered person when young, will only become even a shorter tempered grumpy old person, to change this needs there needs to be a change in who you are. For this to happen you need to want to change, and you cannot do this without God intervening and giving you a new nature.

A lesson then to learn is stop looking back at who you were with all your success and failures, but be you, loving, kind, considerate, patient, tolerant and accepting of others for who they are today.

Be encouraged today to be the new you.

David

Point to ponder: We can change.

Question to consider: Do you focus more on who you were than who you are?

Yes Elvis lives

Who would have guessed that Elvis would be in Craighall today?

Dear friends,

Now here's a million to one chance. Marianne and I had just got back from the bush and had stopped in at our chemist at the Pick n Pay centre in Craighall when we were hailed by a hearty shout. It was our Elvis up from Cape Town. Indeed they were headed back down south that very minute, but he and his lovely fiancée spotted out Golf and drove up to say hello. We shared a couple of manly hugs and they were on their way. News is that they may be back sooner than we expected. Our prayers are with them for a safe journey.

Blessings,

Geoff and Marianne.

Plan your Day

6 May 2011

Isaiah 14:24 The LORD of hosts has sworn: "As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand,

The importance of something that needs to be done is measured by the attitude towards that something. So often I forget to do something and if I had to be honest I would say the reason I forgot is that I had more urgent things on my mind. It is easy to remember things when you are in quiet place with very little to do, but when every thing is clamouring at the same time and urgent and important things need to be done then it is not so easy. This is why diaries are important, reminder notes, and in the last resort getting someone to help you to remember. My problem is that in the clutter of life I forget where the diary is!

It helps then to get back to basics and to find the measured pace in the day, by first starting the day in meditating on what the day should produce and then setting out the time frames for this to happen. When we deal with the important things to ourselves we are often seen as selfish, yet it is when we focus on solving urgent problems, they are usually someone else’s. To be able to plan ahead and to keep to that plan is not always feasible, but is better to plan than operate out of chaos. This same principle should apply not only to our physical day, but our emotional and spiritual, we need to make time for those things that are important, before they become urgent.

Be encouraged today to take a moment now and plan your day.

David

Point to ponder: God likes a good plan.

Question to consider: God plans, do you?

Our webpage: www.chf.yolasite.com

Unexpected

5  May 2011

Luke 12:40 You also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an unexpected hour.

Yesterday we decided to prune some of the trees next to the workshop, so that we will not have to continually sweep up leaves. This was a simple process until we decided that we needed to actually cut the tree down a bit more. So armed with a chain saw, the tree stump was cut back, only to find that the trunk was hollow and filled with a hive of bees. Thankfully they were more shocked than I was. So that was the end of any pruning. After making a small fire in the stump, we left it.

This morning the stump was ash and the hive has moved into a Jacaranda tree close by, nobody is able to walk near until such time as the hive has found a new home. The lesson learnt is that we often do things without expecting something to go wrong. How prepared we are to deal with the unexpected, depends on experience and abilities. In every life’s experience there is a lesson to be learnt, when we do not learn we seem to just repeat until we do.

Are you ready to meet the Son of man today, because just as the bees could suddenly appear, so could He.

Be encouraged today to be able to face the unexpected and to learn from it.

David

Point to ponder: God is with us in the unexpected.

Question to consider: Do you cope well with the unexpected?

Our webpage: www.chf.yolasite.com

Witness

4 May 2011

Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Sama'ria and to the end of the earth."

The purpose of receiving the power of the Holy Spirit is that we become witnesses for Jesus Christ to the end of the earth. As a consequence of this we are empowered by the Holy Spirit through His  gifts, these are healing, preaching, faith etc. In each and every case the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives is love, peace and joy. This Biblical understanding is important because we need to understand that the primary purpose of the power of the Holy Spirit is to be witnesses.

In the Acts of the Apostles we also need to understand that the nature of the Holy Spirit is like the wind, we cannot control it and we do not understand where it comes from. There is no secret recipe or religious ritual that can force the Holy Spirit to come under control of human will. No Bishop, Pope, nor Priest has authority over the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit empowers only those who have committed themselves to Jesus Christ and who have repented of all their sins. All authority rests under Jesus Christ alone.

When we accept Jesus Christ as Lord of our life, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to become witnesses to the work and life of the Holy Spirit. We are witnesses.

Be encouraged today to be a witness for Jesus Christ.

David

Point to ponder: God called you to be a witness.

Question to consider: Are you a witness?

Pray for the world

3 May 2011

Luke 19:41-44 And when he drew near and saw the city he wept over it, saying, "Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes. For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you; because you did not know the time of your visitation."

Some periods of time in history have more significance than others, and often we live and then miss the historical moments as we are wrapped up in our own affairs, missing the importance of the event. From Friday to Monday the world has changed, firstly the marriage between Prince William to Katherine Middleton, then the death of Gadaffi’s son and  three grandsons in Libya, followed by the killing of Ben Laden in Pakistan. How these events will play out will be determined by time, but the influence on history and future international events cannot be ruled out.

Prince William will carry the primary title of Defender of the Christian Faith, this title will be bestowed on him at a future coronation, how he will respond to this still has to be seen. Ben Laden was seen to the Islamic community as their Defender of the Islamic faith and his killing by the USA war machine will have responses displayed around the world. In the same way the killing of Gadffi’s son and three grandsons by NATO forces will also have effect in Libya and the Middle East.

Having been witnesses to these events we need to pray even more intensely for world peace, and to pray for the return of Jesus Christ with an urgency as never before. As Christians we realise and believe that nothing in this world happens outside of the Word of God, so we the remnant of Believers on earth must not loose faith but to pray with greater intensity for the salvation of the world.

Be encouraged today to pray for world peace.

David

Point to ponder: Christ is coming.

Question to consider:  Do you pray for the world to know Jesus Christ?