HACKED BY NESAS_0DAY

Category: Stages of Life

  • Christian motherhood: A true story

    Christian motherhood: A true story

    [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_text]By Rosie Moore. (This article first appeared on The Gospel Coalition-Africa (TGC) website, May 10, 2020).

    I’ve heard a few clichés over the last 23 years of being a mom: “Your kids will grow up in the blink of an eye.” “Don’t worry, this season will end and things will get easier.” “Just love them unconditionally! That’s all you need to know.” Any of these ring a bell? If we are honest – none of these are really true, let alone easy. So I thought, in honour of mother’s day, I would put together some insights (from hindsight) for the benefit of a younger Christian woman; a dose of truth about Christian motherhood from my experience.

    Saying Goodbye to Me, Myself & I

    A few years ago I sat beside my husband at the graduation of our eldest daughter, Jessie. It was a blast from the past, with memories of my own graduation in the same hall 27 years beforehand. It felt like yesterday that I was a carefree student posing for photos in my cap and gown, eager for the future – a future in which only three people featured – Me, Myself and I. Three years later I got married and admitted as an attorney. Life continued as usual, with perhaps a slight modification to my expectations of the future – now featuring Me, Myself, I and My Husband as the main characters.

    Motherhood changed my narrative irrevocably. My vision for the future was blurred by sleep deprivation, depression and mom-brain.

    But four years after tying the knot, on the coldest day of 1996, we brought home our adorable but strong-willed, insatiable, colicky baby girl from the hospital! Motherhood changed my narrative irrevocably. By 2003 I was the mom of three daughters and a son, lost in the thick forest of nappies, naps, feeding, taxi driving and homework. My vision for the future was blurred by sleep deprivation, depression and mom-brain, which remained unabated for at least a decade. The actors in my life narrative did not feature Me, Myself or I. In fact, these characters had disappeared from the cast and I wondered if the old Me would ever return to the set. Who was she anyway?

    Getting Some Perspective

    The truth is that perspective disappears when you’re a mom in the trenches of raising small children. Especially for those locked down in a pandemic! But today, as mother to three daughters and a son (aged 23, 21, 18, 16) my role has morphed into a completely different character. My children no longer grumble or spit out their food, but think their mother is a wonderful cook! I get to enjoy robust Bible studies with them, laugh at their endless banter, and jog with them. I even get to watch them take care of each other, sharing the load of counsellor, nurse, tutor and referee that once weighed heavily on my shoulders.

    Two Helpful Mistakes

    So today, standing further from the action, I look at motherhood through a different lens. A lens which has clarified two skewed perceptions from earlier years. First, I trusted in God too little as a mother, and second, I underestimated the power of small but important things done day after day, year after year over a long period of time.

    Three Valuable Truths

    Here are three valuable truths about Christian motherhood I was able to gather in hindsight which I want to share with you.

    1. Your End Goal is Eternity

    Christian motherhood is about raising your children for eternity, not just for bedtime or an ‘easier’ season of independence. Keep looking into the eyes of your children and know that God loves these little people deeply; Jesus invited all children to come to him. God has entrusted them specifically to you to lead them to Himself. And He has not made a mistake in making you the mother of your children.

    They are your ‘home group’, your mission field and your closest community. Your children are the lambs you feed first, for you have been appointed as their shepherd. They are your first port of call for Christ’s Great Commission to go and make disciples of all nations. Starting at home, we are to teach them to observe all that Christ has taught us (Matt 28:20). If we believe the truth of the Gospel, this is one job we have to do diligently.

    To be winsome and credible to our children, we need to first cultivate a dynamic and devoted relationship with Jesus ourselves.

    The Gospel is Caught, not Taught

    Yes, there have been times when my children didn’t want to hear about God. No amount of diligent discipleship or bulldozing could compel them to love the Lord. But I also know that to be winsome and credible to our children, we need to first cultivate a dynamic and devoted relationship with Jesus ourselves. We need to be a Mary who sits at Christ’s feet, not a Martha who just gets the job done. Children smell hypocrisy a mile off, and the Gospel is primarily caught, not taught.

    Early on in my mothering, I read God’s command to the people of Israel in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and felt its weight as a mother. Over the long haul, it is this passage that has been my rudder and spur more than any other. For mothering starts with loving the Lord with our own heart and soul and might. Love for God is inextricably linked to the act of taking hold of God’s word and passing it on to our children, day in and day out, like a baton in a relay. Love for God and obeying his design for godly parenting cannot be separated. If you have ever objected to being your child’s teacher, the Bible takes issue with that! Your work as a mom is done line upon line, precept upon precept, over a long period of time.

    1. Don’t Underestimate the Early Foundations

    Christian Motherhood is not a fixed term contract. In fact, I have more opportunities to teach my teenagers today than I ever did when they were small. We talk about everything, from politics to evolution. From transgenderism to the post-truth culture that is shaping everything they learn at school and university. Our children need to become thinkers, as opposed to robots who simply process information and accept ideas without exploring the implications for all of life. Our teenage children need to learn how to give a reason for the hope within them (1 Peter 3:15). But all these conversations are built on the early foundations.

    They remember the time spent reading, reciting memory verses and praying together. The Holy Spirit made sure his Word didn’t come back empty

    The Power of God’s Word

    Years ago I thought none of my children were listening to me reading Leading Little Ones to God or The Child’s Story Bible or Little Pilgrim’s Progress. Sometimes we all nodded off before the end of our devotion! But today they remember the time spent reading, reciting memory verses, praying and going to Bible Tots together. The Holy Spirit made sure his Word didn’t come back empty and by God’s grace all of our children have soft hearts towards the Lord.

    Small family habits, rituals and casual conversations over many years do not have the power to save our children. But they are like the careful laying down of paper, twigs and firelighters in a hearth – ready for the Holy Spirit to light the match and breathe life into their hearts.

    1. Your Undercover Boss is Jesus

    In the monumental task of Christian motherhood, it’s easy to feel that your potential is being wasted. That your work is futile, endless and invisible. But your mothering matters to the King of Kings! He made you in his own image, to be fruitful and multiply, to rule and reign over his Creation, which is your home for much of your life. Your work is not just giving birth, putting food on the table and tolerating your children until they’re civilised! It is correcting and training your children day-by-day, building good habits and creating order from chaos. Just as God did at Creation.

    Your mothering matters to the King of Kings!

    Lean on Christ

    On those days that you’re staggering under an unbearable weight or find yourself controlling your family with an iron fist, remember that parenting is God’s work, not yours. Jesus is the boss and the Saviour, not you! Mom, learn early on the hidden power of surrender: surrender in rest and restoration, surrender in repentance. Surrender in prayer, surrender in dependence. Because it’s not all up to you.

    The Blessing of Christian Motherhood

    Finally, use these precious years to bless your family! Don’t waste the chance to say these simple words: “I’m proud of your perseverance”. “I loved watching the way you cared for your sister”. Or “thank you for being an amazing husband”. Christian mothers, honour and encourage your family. And don’t waste a single day on needless fretting.

    When you’re tempted to throw in the towel, remember how Nehemiah responded to Sanballat when he tried to divert him: “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down!” (Nehemiah 6:3).[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container background_color=”#ffffff” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”5%” padding_right=”5%” hundred_percent=”yes” equal_height_columns=”yes” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_3″ last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”https://www.christchurchmidrand.co.za//wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Devotions-sign-up-to-our-mailing-list-logo-300×300.png” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”center center” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”2_3″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”2%” margin_top=”2%” margin_bottom=”2%” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_title size=”2″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]

    Receive our latest blog in your Inbox

    [/fusion_title][fusion_code]Q2xpY2sgZWRpdCBidXR0b24gdG8gY2hhbmdlIHRoaXMgY29kZS4=[/fusion_code][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

  • A Lasting Legacy

    A Lasting Legacy

    [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_text]Everyone wants to be remembered for something, but the accounts of Enoch and Noah point us to the only epitaph worth having and the only legacy worth leaving:

    They walked with God.

    They walked WITH God before they did any great work FOR God. They were concerned for the salvation of their households. Their legacies were not born out of natural talent, physical prowess or leadership skills, but out of a persevering FAITH which moved them to obey God in whatever he called them to be and do.

    Their lasting legacies were birthed from a faith that kept walking with God through the mundane and momentous details of life… over a lifetime.

    Our text today is Hebrews 11:5-7:

    By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 

    6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.7 

    By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”

    They walked by faith, not by sight

    Enoch and Noah are listed in Hebrews 11 as heroes because they lived by faith, sure of things hoped for and convicted of things not seen. (Heb 11:1). Both gained God’s approval through their faith, but never saw God’s promises fulfilled in their lifetimes (Heb 11:39). We are told that both men lived lives that were pleasing to God (Heb 11: 5; 7) as they walked with God (Gen 5:22-23; Gen 6:9). Enoch’s entire story is summed up in four short verses in a genealogy, whereas Noah’s account takes up seventy-four verses (Gen 6; 7; 8; 9).

    Noah’s legacy

    In human terms, Noah was the one who played a pivotal role in redemptive history, not Enoch. The 600-year old man with the long white beard is the darling of Sunday school classes and Toddlers’ Bibles, whereas I’ve never seen Enoch’s story get a mention. Admittedly, nothing spectacular happens in Enoch’s life (except at its unique end), whereas Noah’s legacy was stunning: From the age of 600 to 720, Noah knocked nails into a watertight ark the length of one-and-a half rugby fields and as high as a four-storey building. Although he lived 4400 years ago, Noah built a vessel that was as large and seaworthy as a modern day cargo ship. Despite no sign of a flood for 120 years, he “did everything just as God commanded him” while a wicked generation looked on apathetically and ignored his warnings of coming judgment. He dared to stand alone as the only ‘blameless’ man in his corrupt and violent generation. For this he ‘found favour in the eyes of the Lord’ (Gen 6:8;9). While buffeted on high waters for over a year, Noah took care of all the animals on the ark– no mean feat for any zookeeper! Noah was a colossus in the arena of faith in action and deserves his spot in every children’s Bible.

    For our impatient generation, Noah’s long-term commitment (121 years) to doing exactly what God told him to do is truly staggering. Because of his obedience, God saved Noah and his family from a vast flood that wiped out every other living thing on the face of the earth (Gen 7:21; 22; 23). Noah’s legacy is obvious for all to see.

    Enoch’s legacy

    However, Enoch’s claim to fame is more subtle than spectacular. In fact, it seems that Enoch lived a common, pedestrian life. Little is mentioned about him except the gems tucked into the genealogy of Genesis 5:

    21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. 22 Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters.23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

    Without a body to bury, Enoch’s funeral may have been unusual. But these four verses would be a fitting eulogy at any believer’s funeral. Unlike Noah, Enoch was not assigned a great project or pivotal role in redemption history. Nor did he live to a ripe old age for his day. (By comparison, his son, Methuselah lived 969 years and his grandson, Lamech lived 777 years!) Enoch’s lasting legacy was simply that he walked with God as he went about the ordinary business of life. His faith was an ongoing habit of life.

    It struck me that Enoch walked with God from the time he was 65 years old, the year his son Methuselah was born (Gen 5:22). The birth of a child is always a momentous event. I wonder if he had a personal encounter with God as he looked at the tiny baby in his arms and saw God’s handiwork in his son’s perfect frame? Perhaps this day branded him forever as a man who walked by faith and not by sight—the day he received saving faith? After Methuselah’s birth, Enoch was a father to other children and walked with God for three centuries. At that point God considered his work on earth done.

    The subtle statement “Enoch walked with God” is repeated by the inspired writer, so it must be significant (Heb 11:22; 24).

    An epitaph worth having on our tombstone

    Enoch may not have owned a tombstone in a graveyard, but he had a significant epitaph recorded in Genesis 5:24 for hundreds of generations to read. Enoch’s epitaph challenges us:

    When we die, will people remember us as someone who walked with God? This is the only epitaph worth having.

    Walking with God is an ongoing habit of life rather than a few isolated encounters. It hints at intimate friendship with a steady rhythm, like two pilgrims enjoying each other’s company on a long journey together.

    Walking suggests a daily dependence on God through the mundane and momentous details of life.

    Walking is active, determined progress towards a destination– as opposed to stagnation.

    Walking with God is not a sprint, a sleep or a solo. It is not an endless quest for the spectacular, nor sanctuary from the rough and tumble of life. It is keeping in step with the Holy Spirit in the messy details of life (Gal 5:16;25).

    A habit takes 66 days to install– a relatively small chunk of time out of a lifetime. There is no habit more worthwhile than an early morning rendezvous with our heavenly Father, in which we read the Bible and pray honestly to him. We cannot ‘walk’ with God unless we listen and talk with Him along life’s way.

    A legacy worth leaving

    When faithful Christians walk with God in the details of life, they become winsome. The grace and love of the Lord Jesus spills naturally into their demeanour. They long to pass on the gospel of grace to others. This is the lasting legacy they leave behind them.

    It’s easy to overlook Enoch’s legacy as we get bogged down in the genealogy of Genesis 5 and engrossed by the flood thereafter. Enoch passed on a lasting legacy that he could not have foreseen at the time:

    Enoch was the great-grandfather of Noah! (Gen 5:25-30) And Noah pointed the way to Jesus, the great Redeemer!

    Noah did exactly what great-grandpa Enoch modelled for him—he walked with God. This led him to be favoured by God—a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time” (Gen 6:8; 9). Through the INFLUENCE of Enoch, Noah learnt to treasure and obey God before all else. Through Enoch’s EXAMPLE, Noah learned to trust God even when he could not see why. That is why God entrusted Noah with the Ark.

    What Noah did not see

    Noah could not see beyond his immediate context, but his Ark still stands as a powerful beacon of God’s Redemption of the world. With hindsight, we can see that Jesus embodied the Ark that sheltered Noah’s family from God’s judgment:

    “This is God’s message that everyone should know when they walk away from Noah’s account. The message that God is the Creator, that sin has consequences, and judgment is coming. The people of Noah’s time lived how they wanted to live up until the Flood took them. They never took the time to repent of their wickedness.

    The Bible tells us there was only one door to the Ark (Gen 6:16). Similarly, there is only one way to enter into a relationship with God. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). For those who believe in Him, Jesus is our one entrance into God’s redemptive grace.

    The Bible warns us that a second judgment is coming—this time by fire (2 Peter 3:7). People are turning from God, rejecting Him as Creator, and putting themselves in His place. God continues to be longsuffering, as He was in Noah’s day, but there will come a time when judgment will come. During Noah’s time the question was, “Were you standing in the boat or standing out in the world?” There was no hope of survival for the people outside of the Ark, God’s means of physical salvation. In Noah’s day grace came in the shape of an Ark. Today grace comes in the shape of a Cross. The only way a person can be saved from the eternal consequences of their rebellion against God is to turn from that sin and trust in the Savior Jesus Christ—the way, the truth, and the life. Where do you stand?”

    https://answersingenesis.org/noahs-ark/what-we-know-of-noah/

    Enoch, Noah… and us

    Enoch and Noah point us to the only epitaph worth having and the only legacy worth leaving.

    No Christian is ‘just’ a mother or father, aunt, uncle, grandparent, youth leader or school teacher. Like Enoch, our EXAMPLE and INFLUENCE will have massive ramifications that we cannot see now. We are entrusted with the flaming torch of the gospel to pass on to future generations. Even if we have no family of our own, every believer is entrusted with a sphere of influence, no matter how small. To God, it was enough that Enoch was a godly husband and father who walked closely with him. His influence and example in his family was greater than he could have imagined. We do not know what else he did in his lifetime, but his faithfulness in ordinary things pleased God immensely. The writer of Hebrews calls us to follow in the footsteps of those that went before us, to pass on our faith to the next generation and keep our eyes on the end goal of history.

    “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For,“in just a very little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay; 38 but my righteous one shall live by faith…(Hebrews 10:36-38).

    Lyrics of the song By Faith:

    By faith, we see the hand of God
    In the light of creation’s grand design;
    In the lives of those who prove His faithfulness,
    Who walk by faith and not by sight.

    By faith, our fathers roamed the earth
    With the power of His promise in their hearts
    Of a holy city built by God’s own hand –
    A place where peace and justice reign.

    We will stand as children of the promise,
    We will fix our eyes on Him, our soul’s reward.
    Till the race is finished and the work is done,
    We’ll walk by faith and not by sight.

    By faith, the prophets saw a day
    When the longed-for Messiah would appear
    With the power to break the chains of sin and death,
    And rise triumphant from the grave.

    By faith, the church was called to go
    In the power of the Spirit to the lost
    To deliver captives and to preach good news,
    In every corner of the earth.

    By faith, this mountain shall be moved
    And the power of the gospel shall prevail,
    For we know in Christ all things are possible
    For all who call upon His name.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container background_color=”#ffffff” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”5%” padding_right=”5%” hundred_percent=”yes” equal_height_columns=”yes” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_3″ last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”yes” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”center center” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” gallery_id=”” lightbox_image=”” style_type=”none” hover_type=”none” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” borderradius=”0″ stylecolor=”” align=”none” link=”” linktarget=”_self” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” hide_on_mobile=”no” class=”” id=””] [/fusion_imageframe][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”2_3″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”2%” margin_top=”2%” margin_bottom=”2%” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_title size=”2″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]Receive our latest devotion in your Inbox[/fusion_title][fusion_code]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[/fusion_code][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container background_color=”#ffffff” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”5%” padding_right=”5%” hundred_percent=”yes” equal_height_columns=”yes” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_title size=”2″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]Other devotions from the God Walk…[/fusion_title][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_recent_posts layout=”default” hover_type=”none” columns=”3″ number_posts=”6″ offset=”” cat_slug=”devotion” exclude_cats=”” thumbnail=”yes” title=”yes” meta=”no” excerpt=”yes” excerpt_length=”0″ strip_html=”yes” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][/fusion_recent_posts][fusion_text]– more devotions –[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

  • Longing for Home

    Longing for Home

    [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_text]“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” CS Lewis.

    Home is much better than camping! I am often the target of my family’s jokes because I claim to be a camper. I go crazy over the gadgets, cooking equipment and blow-up mattresses, but in reality I’m useless at sleeping in a tent and eating out of tins! I love the comforts of home too much. The reality is that Christians are a lot like campers. The Bible tells us that since this world is not our home, we shouldn’t blend in or make ourselves too comfortable here (1 Peter 2:11-12). Sometimes a campsite is an inhospitable and downright dangerous place. The tent gets leaky, is attractive to mosquitoes and the ablution facilities smell! Not to mention the noisy neighbours who play loud music all night! Do you sometimes have an indefinable longing in your soul? A homesickness for something lost? A powerful desire for all to be well, as it should be? Do you sometimes feel alienated from a culture that produces TV shows like “The Bachelor” and lives by the maxim “eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die?” It is a good sign if we don’t feel we belong. It is right to be homesick for a perfect home, where everyone will walk in harmony with God, where communities are connected, bodies and minds are healthy, and souls know rest and peace. God’s image in us cries out for a home of perfect order and beauty, where even the weakest are known, loved and welcome. Most of all, we groan for a lost home where there is no pain or death– where sin (the root of all suffering) is finally ripped up and tossed onto the bonfire for good. The good news of the gospel is that death is not the end for a believer, but only the beginning of the final chapter of God’s redemptive story. God is the ultimate homemaker and is restoring a grand home where all his children will live with him forever (John 14:1-3). This is not wishful thinking but God’s firm promise to every man, woman and child who dies “in Christ.” Our permanent home is called “the new heavens and the new earth” and it is beyond our wildest imagination (1 Cor 2:9). Paradise lost will be found again. There is a great welcome for every dying believer who enters eternity with Jesus: A home free of disease, death, disorder and despair. A place where only righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:13; Rev 21:1; Isaiah 65:17; 65:22). A place where we can finally take off our shoes, put down our roots and never say goodbye.

    But first we must shed the tent.

    Our text today is from Hebrews 11:

    8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

    13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

    17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

    20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.

    21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

    22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.

    Stranger in a foreign land

    Abraham left a home of idol worship because He believed God’s promise to take him to a better place, a land God would give him and his descendants. It was the land of Canaan. Yet Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived as foreigners in the land of promise all their lifetimes. Although a wealthy man, Abraham’s family lived in tents and owned only a burial site, where Sarah, Abraham and later Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah were buried (Gen 23:6; 9; 11; 13). The writer of Hebrews tells us that Abraham’s faith was founded on a future hope: “For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb 11:10). All the Patriarchs were looking forward to a better country, a heavenly one (Heb 11:14-15).

    “Evidently, Abraham’s greatest hopes and dreams for a homeland were invested not in earthly Canaan but in his heavenly homeland, a city without foundations. No more moving from place to place in temporary lodging—this city would be designed in God’s mind and built with his hands.” (Nancy Guthrie, Hoping for Something Better.)

    Like Abraham, we are still waiting for the day when “creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God” (Rom 8:21). It is as though Christ has paid for the house, but God’s children are still waiting to move in. Those who love him are in the period of ‘groaning’, as we wait for creation’s redemption and our resurrected bodies.

    Today, we can look back in history and see that Jesus fulfilled so many of the promises given to Abraham. We see now that Abraham’s faith was justified. But, like Abraham, Christians must live and die for God’s future promises that we cannot always see clearly now.

    Living and dying by faith

    Today, as in Abraham’s time, believers are called to believe God’s promises and never stop hoping in his clearly revealed word. Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Heb 11:1). Only God knows what tomorrow has in store for us, but this scene from the new heaven and new earth is what every believer can be certain of beyond the grave:

    “Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Rev 21:1-4)

    It seems strange at first that the writer of Hebrews chooses to highlight the faith of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph in the face of death, instead of choosing another act of bravery or heroism from their younger days. But the Patriarchs show steadfast confidence in God’s promise of home, right to their last breaths: As a dying man, Jacob’s faith was steadfast as he worshipped God and blessed Joseph’s sons. After living almost his entire lifetime as a stranger and exile in Egypt, Joseph ordered that his bones be buried in the promised land– his home (Gen 50:24-25; Ex 13:19). It took another 400 years before Moses took those bones out of Egypt, but Joseph never stopped believing that God would rescue his family and take them back home. Even when Isaac was tied to the altar, Abraham believed that God could raise his beloved son from the dead, which is what every Christian is promised when Christ returns. Because Christ Jesus has been raised from the dead, all the Old Testament heroes of the faith, and every believer who has put their faith in Him, will be raised from the dead and clothed in resurrection bodies (1 Cor 15:20; Hebrews 11:17; 20; 22). When we lose the tent, we will find our home!

    The King was homeless too

    Are you homesick for the perfect garden where God placed the first man and woman to live, love and work? Do you long for the days of shalom before man disobeyed, bickered and blamed—before we were banished from the Garden to wander restlessly in a hostile environment? It is good to know that Jesus himself experienced the same longings we have for home. All the fullness of the Father dwelt in Him, yet he willingly left his heavenly home to live in our fractured world. He left the “bosom of the Father” (John 1:18KJV) to be an alien and stranger on earth. He was the eternal Word who became flesh and pitched his tent among us (John 1:14). He lived as an exile, rejected by those who should have welcomed him. The world did not know him (John 1:10; 11). God’s Messiah had nowhere to lay his head as He ushered in the promised kingdom (Matt 8:19-20). He was “the stone” the Jewish leaders rejected, who became the cornerstone of God’s people  (Mark 12:10-11; Acts 4:11-12; Ps 118:22-23). In his death, Jesus was abandoned by his friends and surrounded by strangers. Worst of all, He took on our spiritual alienation when he was forsaken by His Father on the cross and cried, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt 27:6; Psalm 22:1). Jesus had no funeral and was buried in a borrowed grave. The King of the universe was homeless on earth in order to share his home with us.

    The King’s prayer for the homeless

    But, on the eve of his crucifixion, Jesus prayed for the protection of believers who live “in” the world, but are not “of” the world (John 17:14; 16). Like Jesus, we are homeless too. His prayer is steeped in longing and love for his Father and all believers throughout the centuries. It is a wonderful prayer for us to read when we find ourselves groaning for home. Jesus understands our longings for all to be well. He sees that our homes and families are not perfect. He grieves for our losses. Jesus promises that it will all be made right at a certain day in the future—the day he returns to earth and does his final work of restoration, renewal and redemption of the entire Creation. Jesus will come in his own time and in his own way, but he will come in glory and all the angels with him (Matt 25:31). His coming is our “blessed hope”, “the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

    Revelation 21 gives a glimpse of what the new heavens and new earth will be like. I will leave the renovation of our future home in the capable hands of the ultimate Architect and Builder– God himself! Like Abraham, we are passengers in transit. We live in fragile tents. We are called to believe God and hope in his promises, even on behalf of believers who are unable to hope for themselves. Hebrews 11 reminds us not to grasp too tightly the things of this world, to travel light and keep our eyes fixed on the final destination. When it comes to our time to die, I pray that every person reading this devotion is ready to discard your tent and move into your new home.

    He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:5)

    Live it out!

    1. Do you believe the promises of God’s word are trustworthy and true, as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph did? Are you sure of your ultimate destiny, or do you think the new heavens and new earth are wishful thinking?
    2. Do you know that no matter how wonderful your family or community is, you will never have all your longings for ‘home’ met on earth?
    3. Build community and friendship wherever you find yourself. Invest in people, not in things. The gathering of God’s people to worship, learn, pray and encourage one another is a dim reflection of the great community of believers who will share life in the heavenly city. In the meantime, God says we should share our longings, hurts and hopes with fellow pilgrims along life’s journey (Hebrews 10:25).
    4. Invest in your relationship with God. After all, heaven is His home and you are His tabernacle in this world. He promises His presence and love until the day He takes us home (Rom 8:31-39; John 15:9; Ps 139:7; Ex 33:14).
    5. Worship as you listen to Brooke Fraser singing the CS Lewis song (click here).

    Prayer

    Father, thank you for the example of these Old Testament believers who urge us to live and die by faith in your promises. We know it is only by your grace that we can fix our hearts on what our eyes cannot see, especially when we are old, sick or afraid– on the days your promises seem like a hazy dream. Lord, thank you for your promises of redemption that were fulfilled in Jesus– for his death, resurrection and ascension, and the great salvation that this achieved for believers and for the whole of creation. Thank you for your promised Holy Spirit who lives in our hearts today. As the believing Patriarchs blessed their descendants, we pray as believers that you would circumcise our hearts and the hearts of our descendants, so that we may love you with all our heart and soul, and live in your presence– today, tomorrow and forevermore (Deuteronomy 30:6). In the name of Jesus the Christ, Amen.

    Useful resource:

    • Hoping for Something Better: Refusing to settle for life as usual. Book on Hebrews by Nancy Guthrie.

    [/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container background_color=”#ffffff” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”5%” padding_right=”5%” hundred_percent=”yes” equal_height_columns=”yes” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_3″ last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”yes” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”center center” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” gallery_id=”” lightbox_image=”” style_type=”none” hover_type=”none” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” borderradius=”0″ stylecolor=”” align=”none” link=”” linktarget=”_self” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” hide_on_mobile=”no” class=”” id=””] [/fusion_imageframe][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”2_3″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”2%” margin_top=”2%” margin_bottom=”2%” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_title size=”2″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]Receive our latest devotion in your Inbox[/fusion_title][fusion_code]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[/fusion_code][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container background_color=”#ffffff” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”5%” padding_right=”5%” hundred_percent=”yes” equal_height_columns=”yes” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_title size=”2″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]Other devotions from the God Walk…[/fusion_title][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_recent_posts layout=”default” hover_type=”none” columns=”3″ number_posts=”6″ offset=”” cat_slug=”devotion” exclude_cats=”” thumbnail=”yes” title=”yes” meta=”no” excerpt=”yes” excerpt_length=”0″ strip_html=”yes” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][/fusion_recent_posts][fusion_text]– more devotions –[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

  • Advice to my Younger Self

    Advice to my Younger Self

    [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_text]By Jerry Gule.

    When you are in your 50’s there are times you look back with amazement at some of the things you got up to in your teens and early 20s. You say to yourself, “What was I thinking? I should never have done that or I should have done more of this.” In those moments you realize that time has gone and you cannot undo those decisions and actions. Guilt and regret can settle in your heart.

    This is where unmerited grace needs to come in to help you accept that there is actually no use crying over the proverbial spilt milk.  Grace says you are forgiven and you have to forgive yourself since there is nothing you can do about the past. You can only do something about the future.

    Regrettably, those memories of past decisions cannot be deleted from your inbox, and from time to time they come racing across the screen causing you even more hurt and pain.  Sometimes you see the “evidence” or “scars” of your poor and ill-informed decisions and each time they remind you of how inane your thinking once was.  The truth of yesterday haunts you today. King David must stand as one of the greatest Biblical examples of someone who could not erase the reminders and consequences of his past.

    I do wish at times that there had been a special person who emerged to give me eyes to see the impact my decisions would have on my future and on generations to come.

    If I could give advice to my younger self, this is what I’d say:

    1. Life is a journey

    Do not rush to do everything before you have walked the whole way. Sometimes our youthful exuberance leads us to act on half-baked information and facts. This rashness can have long lasting effects.  So always lean on the side of gathering the facts or data to inform your decision making rather than rushing impulsively into action without considering the pros and cons. You have a long life ahead – God willing – so why rush it?

    2. Remember your actions and decisions have consequences

    The results of your actions can either be good or bad, positive or negative. It is a certainty that actions or decisions have consequences, which in many instances can be deep and long-lasting. So, with this in mind, it stands to reason that one has to always carefully weigh the options. By deciding on one way or another, you may open or close your opportunities for an interesting and successful career long-term.

    3. Prepare for each life stage

    Preparing to live with a purpose at each stage of life beyond infancy is important.  The stages include: infancy, adolescence, young adulthood, adulthood and senior citizenship.  You prepare by listening to those who have gone before you. They may have been born before modern technology, but they know a lot more about life than you do. Of course, these older ‘counsellors’ or ‘mentors” should be people you trust and who have your best interests at heart. It is unwise to reject good advice off-hand just because you do not like it. One needs to take time to reflect and consider any feedback and advice one is being handed.

    4. Defer gratification or pleasure seeking

    Generally long-lasting things take time to achieve, so the “tyranny of urgency” i.e. a mentality that says “I want it and I want it now”, can lead to untold disasters. The trick is not to be driven by your desires. You cannot just get things your way all the time.  Learn to delay your gratification and control your impulses, giving you a necessary pause to think.

    5. You are not the final authority

    Sometimes youths “fight” with their parents or any authority figure, because they want to be in charge of their lives and to live their way without any controls. Remember you cannot live as if you will never account for the manner in which you conduct yourself. The reality is that you may be called to account many times during your lifetime. There is always someone in charge either directly or indirectly. Ultimately, God, the Creator and Judge of the universe, is in charge and will require some accounting when the curtains of this world are drawn. Live today with that final Day in mind.

    [/fusion_text]

    [/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container background_color=”#ffffff” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”5%” padding_right=”5%” hundred_percent=”yes” equal_height_columns=”yes” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_3″ last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”https://www.christchurchmidrand.co.za//wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Mail-2.png” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”center center” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”2_3″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”2%” margin_top=”2%” margin_bottom=”2%” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_title size=”2″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]

    Receive our latest blog in your Inbox

    [/fusion_title][fusion_code]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[/fusion_code][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

  • Grandparents

    Grandparents

    Love at first sight…

    That is what happened when I took that tiny scrap of humanity in my arms, looked at the little face and fell in love with our little Lilly. My world changed forever. That was 5 years ago, Friday 10th February 2012. I didn’t realise how much our lives would be intertwined, particularly in those early months. We bounced on the exercise ball, we walked, we laughed, we cried and, horror of horrors, I sang. That was when “doo doo my Lilly” started out followed by the biggest lot of rubbish, like “why the hell will you not go to sleep!”, all in a sing song voice. August 2014 Luke joined the family

    How do you prepare emotionally for the change from parent to grandparent?

    Preparing for grandparenthood was never on my agenda. Most probably because my “being a Mom’s Taxi” days carried on for over 20 years and our eldest, our daughter, was 34 when she finally went down the aisle. Even then I refrained from frustrating my daughter with endless grand child talk and just went with the flow. My mindset then was “If they have a baby, cool, if they don’t, it is also okay.”

    Now one cannot imagine what it will be like before they are born, but once they are it is astounding how you fall in love with the little bundles of joy and cannot stop yourself from “fussing” over them. Once they get older, the joy of having them around to visit and sleep over makes up for the fact that your own children have left home for good.

    Being GP’s has changed our mindset. It adds a new dimension to future planning. When we downsize do we move closer to one or another of our 2 Jozi children? Suddenly that dream of moving Sedgefield way doesn’t seem such a good idea.

    When considering moving closer to one’s children, it is good to remember that they can upstick and be on the other side of the world in the blink of an eye. So only move if it is where YOU want to be and where you can set up your own life and your own circle of friends.

    How Involved should we be in our grandchildren’s lives?

    This will depend on the relationship with the parents and where they live.

    We are fortunate to be a 20 minute drive from our grandchildren and have a close relationship with all 3 of our children and their spouses. We are involved in Lilly and Luke’s lives on a weekly basis. Sleepovers; once a week school run; Papa helping with DIY and Sunday afternoon teas.

    We lovingly reinforce their parents discipline so that Luke & Lilly know exactly where they stand. I have only gotten into trouble once and that was when their mother discovered that it was Nana that taught them to drink the last bit of milk left in the cereal bowl straight out of the bowl. So that has now become one of Nana’s Rules. It can be done at Nan’s but not at home!

    Exodus 20:12 says “Honour your mother and father, so that you may live long in the land your father has given you.” We want to help Lilly and Luke in honouring their parents. What that looks like, will change from grandchild to grandchild but we want to guide them from as early as possible. The way honour is displayed is different as phases of life changes, our children grow up and they begin to start making decisions for themselves and we evolve from the front seat driver to the passenger giving guidance whenever needed. Having an open and honest relationship with the parents of your grandchildren is the best way to avoid any conflict.

    How to provide the gospel to your grandchildren

    Proverbs 17:6
    Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children. NIV

    The point is that grandchildren are beautiful jewels that grandparents wear like strings of pearls. Chris Brauns

    How to share the gospel with ones grandchildren again depends on circumstances. From our perspective, with all 3 children married, and with each (spouses included) at varying levels of Belief, there is no perfect blueprint.

    One has to remember that they are your children’s children and as such, you have to respect that and not be prescriptive or confrontational.

    With Luke & Lil being our first grandchildren we are on a training run and try to live by example and take our cue from their parents. The children know that we go to Church and Lil has been with us a few times. I have permission to read them stories about Jesus and the nod has been given for Lil to go to Sunday School when she is with us. We have to pray and let God guide us.

    How do you best show love to your grand child?

    Loving and interacting with your grandchildren is pretty much the same as what you did with your own children, only you get to do much much more of the good stuff and don’t have to worry about the day to day routine drudge. That’s Mom & Dads problem.

    What are some practical things you can do when they come over?

    Of course this depends on the age and what stage the grandchildren are. Being very practical hands-on people the children generally join in with what we are doingThey ride their bikes, help in the garden, play fantasy games, make tent houses with the chairs, cushions and blankets and cause total chaos when helping with the baking

    Watching a grandchild go through the various stages of growth is a very rewarding, enriching experience and we are very fortunate to be able to spend so much time with these two and hopefully we will have the same with any further grandchildren that will join our family.

    [fusion_builder_container background_color=”#ffffff” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”5%” padding_right=”5%” hundred_percent=”yes” equal_height_columns=”yes” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_3″ last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”https://www.christchurchmidrand.co.za//wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Mail-2.png” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”center center” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”2_3″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”2%” margin_top=”2%” margin_bottom=”2%” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_title size=”2″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]

    Receive our latest blog in your Inbox

    [/fusion_title][fusion_code]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[/fusion_code][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

  • Divorce

    Divorce

    Disclaimer from the editor: Although divorce is not something that everyone goes through, it is still worth adding it to our series on stages of life. Sadly the divorce rate globally is growing and in South Africa it is currently sitting at an average of 6% increase annually with over half our population experiencing it. It has thus become a stage of life for many, giving us good reason to add it to the series.

    By Des de Fortier

    In every stage in life joy can be found as this is the chief end of man, but how do we worship God in this stage of Life? Where can our joy come from? What are some of the challenges etc?

    It is hard to think we can find joy in divorce as it must be one of the most traumatic experiences to go through in life.

    • The death of a relationship,
    • The death of a dream,
    • A life without a partner
    • So much responsibility as it often involves children.

    Is there joy in the fact that we are now removed from a difficult marriage? Or an abusive one? Some might think it’s a simple to find joy; Just find another person and move on, relive your youth as a single person…looking to fill the whole in all the wrong places such as pubs etc.

    It’s not quiet as easy. The union of marriage is a miracle from God and in there lies the biggest challenge we need to face. Ignoring this will rob us of a joy greater than the one we believe we gain from new relationships. I have tried many paths to find happiness and can truly say there is just one that brings real healing from the trauma of divorce.

    Don’t place your hope in the separation divorce brings

    “This is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh” Genesis 2:24

    In Genesis 2:24 we find the main reason why a divorce is so painful. It does not say we can merrily separate and go our different ways. In marriage we become one flesh, which means separation in marriage is as bad as ripping a person in two. We believe the world will provide us with happiness as after a long period of hurt in a broken marriage, we believe:

    • Happiness is somehow owed to us.
    • “Surely the world will offer us this and that after divorce?”
    • We think we are now single and able to enjoy the fruits the world offers.

    Yet the sad reality is that it is very much the opposite! The world will make us miserable and lonelier than we can imagine. Pretty gloomy and miserable right?! Wrong! We have a hope a great hope and this hope will bring us more joy than we can ever imagine, even in times like divorce.

    Set Your Priorities Right

    So, where does it start? Well, let’s look at John 3:16 – 21 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life” This verse helps us to set our priorities in order. We need healing and a lot of it and who better to provide the healing than the manufacturer of the heart? The journey begins with believing, or entrusting our lives to God which provides us with eternal life. There’s a joy which comes from knowing that this world is not the end and, if you understand what the phrase ‘eternal life’ means, there’s an even greater joy.

    In John 17:3, Jesus describes eternal life as knowing the Son and the Father. It’s not only about the end, but eternal life starts in this life. Eternal life is:

    • A relationship with the Father and the Son?
    • We can relate to the God of the universe unbeterbed by who we are,

    The relationship is not based on our actions, but rather on whether we’ve entrusted our lives and troubles to God. That brings joy. This is our first priority which brings back hope.

    Never Walk Alone

    We cannot do this alone. We need,

    • A place where we can learn, grow and find the right support as we need it.
    • A place that will support us through troubled times, in doubt in ourselves or God.
    • A community that will set us straight.

    I have been involved in facilitating Divorce Support for a long time and am still amazed at the healing that happens when Christ becomes our focus. The restoration of marriages, the reconciliation between two parties and the ability to rebuild a life full of wonder and joy even in divorce.

    There will be plenty of challenges.

    • The recurrence of the pain as much as we don’t want to face it we will have to.
    • Facing our ex-spouse especially when there are kids involved
    • The ability to give forgiveness or gain a civil form of reconciliation .
    • A financial mountain to climb.
    • Depression
    • Anger

    These are just a few obstacles as there are many more and none of these disappear overnight. In the beginning this seems an impossibility, but once we understand it in the Love of Christ, which was God’s intention, it can be liberating.

    Know that God is with you

    As we go through these challenges we will learn that God is there every step of the way if we hold on to his love. Psalm 91 starts with “whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty” and verse 4 continues ” He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.” What an incredible passage! Here we are promised that in God we have:

    • Safety,
    • A safe place to heal and grow again.

    Divorce is a time of uncertainty and unknowns. It can take forever to believe there is any hope of Joy, and sometimes we will feel that the world is against us as challenges will vary in their intensity especially in divorce. The late Dr Miles Monroe said, “Divorce is just an event. It should not define who we are”. We can find our identity and a pure love in a relationship with God through the death of Christ.

    Know that nothing can separate you from the Love of Christ

    In closing I want to point you to another passage of hope; the ultimate hope. Romans 8: 18 – 39. Paul ends it in verses 38 – 39 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Amen

    So if you have ever been divorced or are going through one and wondering if you are normal or if you will ever feel normal again? Find a support group or a family who loves and lives for Christ and ask God to guide you by faith in His Son Jesus Christ. True Joy is not in what we have now, but what we gain in eternity through Christ.

    [fusion_builder_container background_color=”#ffffff” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”5%” padding_right=”5%” hundred_percent=”yes” equal_height_columns=”yes” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_3″ last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”https://www.christchurchmidrand.co.za//wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Mail-2.png” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”center center” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”2_3″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”2%” margin_top=”2%” margin_bottom=”2%” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_title size=”2″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]

    Receive our latest blog in your Inbox

    [/fusion_title][fusion_code]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[/fusion_code][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

  • Drowning in the Deep

    Drowning in the Deep

    5 Tips for Taking on your First Job

    When I think back to my first job, I shudder.

    Everyone else in the company seemed to be coping, but me. I felt like I had been thrown in the deep end and I could not swim. I was drowning. My response to my own situation was, ‘I’ll just work harder and put in more hours’, yet somehow I still stuffed up and still failed to do things right. I’d attribute my failures to others by blaming my colleagues for things like projects not being done on time, but deep inside, I knew I was to blame.

    Your experience might be different to mine; in fact, you might have excelled. The good news is, through this struggle I learned some valuable lessons that I think you too could gain some value from.

    1. The boss is not thinking about you

    This started from the bedroom for me. I’d wake every morning, look in the cupboard and say to myself, ‘I need to look awesome’. There was a ladder that needed climbing and I was going to do everything I could to show the boss that I’m the perfect climber. I went to work at 7am when work started at 8 and I was in the office till 6:30pm, even when the office closed at 5. The trouble is, most of my time was going to the wrong thing. I was constantly checking how I worded my emails, how I presented myself in meetings and often would twist words to make it appear like I was on top of things. I wanted my boss to say, ‘Now there goes a model employee; trust worthy, respectable and definitely needed in our company’.

    I later learned that the boss was not interested in me, but interested in a job being done. They had a product and I was employed in my role to help that product make a profit. The moment I switched the interest from me to growing the product, I naturally became the person the company needed. Just as well! Biblically I knew I couldn’t be perfect (Romans 1) and now I didn’t have to be.

    2. Don’t think 9 – 5

    Some people will advise you when you start working that you’re doing too much if you have to work past 5pm. That may be true for someone who has been in the game for years, but you are starting out. You will be slow and not only that, you will make tons of mistakes as you work out your role and the company (And very often the industry) that you are in. You need to make time.

    Having said this, it’s not always easy to make time available. Especially with kids, family, church and friends being demanding. My suggestion would be to let people know that the next two years you are going to be grafting at your job. This may mean, shock horror, that you lower your commitment in church and to your family. Don’t miss understand me as you need to be a part of church and you can’t give up on your family, but for a period of your life you need to sacrifice so that you can build a good foundation for your career. This will help your family and church in the long run.

    3. Only say ‘I’m not right for the job’ two years in

    If you’ve just started working and are feeling like throwing in the towel, ask yourself how long you’ve been there. If it’s less than 2 years, then don’t give up. On average it takes two years for you to really understand what you do. Not only that, it takes 2 years for the company to really see your potential. Your first year will most likely be filled with mistakes and errors and your company will see your first year as training. It’s your first job, they’re not going to expect you to be the model employee in 6 months. Once your first year is over, you will be capable of taking on more and will reach your sweet spot your second year in.

    4. Share your frustrations with older Christians

    Part of my biggest problem was that I swam alone. I felt like I had to take on every challenge myself and I didn’t want to share it as I didn’t want to burden others or look bad. At my church I had a world of older men and woman who had walked this road before, yet I never chatted to them. How closed minded was I? I would have saved a ton of frustration had I just sort their wisdom!

    5. God is the ultimate CEO, in him is true purpose

    Quite often I felt like my Christianity was experienced only on the weekends, bible study or when I did my quite time. During my working hours, it was me on my own. It was not that I didn’t want God to enter the office with me, I just didn’t know how to bring him in. It was when I understood that God created, and is still running, the world that I realised there was a CEO above my CEO. A boss above my boss.

    The company is not my bosses, it’s God’s company and he will do with it what he pleases. Knowing this I sort God’s word and saw that he’s not opposed to revenue (Romans 13:7), he desires hard work (1 Thessalonians 4), I am made in his image as a creative worker (Genesis 1) and wants people to receive profit (Proverbs 21:5). Every morning I gave my first 30 minutes to a ‘meeting with the CEO’ and told the Lord of my plans for the day. I even included stats as it made me take the meeting seriously and I prayed for my plans to improve on the product through my position. Doing this gave me purpose greater than that of a salary or job satisfaction, I was on mission for the Lord by working hard in his company.

    [fusion_builder_container background_color=”#ffffff” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”5%” padding_right=”5%” hundred_percent=”yes” equal_height_columns=”yes” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_3″ last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”https://www.christchurchmidrand.co.za//wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Mail-2.png” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”center center” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”2_3″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”2%” margin_top=”2%” margin_bottom=”2%” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_title size=”2″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]

    Receive our latest blog in your Inbox

    [/fusion_title][fusion_code]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[/fusion_code][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

  • Kinderjoy

    Kinderjoy

    Finding joy in the Lord as we raise our children

    In a game of word association, the word “children” does not always evoke the word “Joy”. Sometimes the word “grief” is a better fit. Colic, reflux, lactose intolerance, snot, missing shoes, missing teeth, missing link, trips to the hospital, visits to principle, school fees, late slips, braces, broken windows, broken heart, bunking out, boyfriends, girlfriends, cigarettes, matric exams, university (or not), university fees, #feesmustfall, failure, graduation, unemployment etc. etc. etc. To the average parent this is not the stuff of joy. But it is the stuff of children. And yet when you ask most parents about children, well, “they’re a joy”. How so? Perhaps we need a biblical rethink of the meaning of joy, and the meaning of children. Here are seven ways we might do just that.

    God, joy, and children.

    Joy is satisfaction of the deepest, most enduring kind. And it is only, ultimately, to be found in God. Whatever else we find joy in is a conduit; a channel redirecting us to the true source of joy. So it is with children. Our joy in them can never be disconnected from our joy in Him. Joy does not reside in our children. It can only pass through them en route to God. That is the nature of the joy we can have in our children. Joy in these ways…

    Joy in their coming.

    Children are a gift from God, and when they arrive we should rejoice in Him. If you need help remembering that at 3am on a Tuesday, read Hannah’s prayer (1 Sam 2.1-10) or Mary’s song (Luke 1.46-56). Your child may not be Samuel or Jesus, but they are no less a gift from God or a reason to rejoice.

    Joy in their growth.

    We all know what it’s like when they finally get something: potty training, riding a bike, simultaneous equations – it warms our hearts. How much more cause for joy when they grow in the Lord? When they ask genuine questions about God, when they pray from the heart, when they choose self-control over revenge by hockey stick. There is joy in seeing our children “grow in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men” (Lk 2.52).

    Joy in their triumphs.

    The ballet recital; the bronze medal; the learners license – cause for celebration, every one of them. But again, how much more the triumphs of character. The peacemaking, the forgiveness, the faithfulness, the humility before God and your little sister. These are the true trophies. This is where real joy is to be found.

    Joy in their failings.

    No-one gives out a tin cup for coming last. There are no certificates for being caught cheating on a test. But when we teach our children to suffer well, to trust in the midst of trial, then joy is still available to us. Failure is not devoid of joy, because God is not absent in failure. Christ died for our failure. When our children come to understand this, and struggle through the pain of failure with Him, this can and should be a moment of deep rejoicing.

    Joy in their joy.

    Can there be any greater joy for a parent than to see their children rejoicing in the Lord? I don’t imagine so. It’s a day we should all be longing, praying and parenting for.

    Joy in their leaving.

    This is the goal, right? I don’t just mean packed off to varsity, or the first job, or finally evicted age 45. I don’t just mean physical separation. I mean the day they transfer ultimate trust and obedience from us to their Father in heaven. That’s the goal of parenthood. They are not ours. They are His. And we want them to go home. Therein lies the joy.

    [fusion_builder_container background_color=”#ffffff” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”5%” padding_right=”5%” hundred_percent=”yes” equal_height_columns=”yes” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_3″ last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”https://www.christchurchmidrand.co.za//wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Mail-2.png” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”center center” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”2_3″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”2%” margin_top=”2%” margin_bottom=”2%” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_title size=”2″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]

    Receive our latest blog in your Inbox

    [/fusion_title][fusion_code]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[/fusion_code][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

  • Get off the stage!

    Get off the stage!

    Advice to the married.

    So, basically, getting married was never really part of my life plan. It was going to be that cool thing which happened, if it happened. But I wasn’t banking on it. I always thought “I’m just not the girl you marry”. I was going to make music and travel the world. That was it, case closed.

    But in 2014 that changed when I walked up the isle with my mother as I half laughed, half cried towards my friend of 7 years and soon to be husband. It was happening! White dress, cake, and all, I was getting married.

    Fast forward 8 days and we move in to our little cottage and I realise I have to make this my new home, with this man. I had to be a wife. “so exactly What is a wife?” I asked myself as we loaded my tiny bundle of belongings into our new home, which we shared with spiders, moles, springtails, and a bat that one time. What is a wife? I suddenly felt this surge of (self-inflicted) fear and pressure to be this wife thingy. In the months to come I found myself struggling to live up to a high-impact performance on a stage which no one had put me on, least of all my husband. So as one could predict I broke down and in a genuinely crazy fit of anger, frustration and exhaustion, through a runny nose and tears I told my husband “I don’t think I can do this” to which he simply replied “do what?”

    Marriage is not your idea

    Ephesians 5:22-33
    “22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord…. 26Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her”

    One of the greatest sayings I heard was “Marriage was God’s idea” and in his word he sets marriage up to be a life lived by two people committed to loving Him and each other. It’s a beautiful thing. Reading the passage above is what made the true idea of marriage appealing to me. It is founded on the love of God shown through Christ, the greatest expression of Love. And Christ should be the foundation and springboard for everything else. And yet, after all the marriage prep and after I said “I will” in agreement to the vows, I somehow forgot that. I made marriage a point system I had to come on top of. I never realised in that first year, I was still being influenced by secular thought. Somewhere I was ticking boxes which said “a wife does this, and does not do that” without ever considering God or his agenda. Without ever considering that he knows what is best. So naturally it broke me. I had to go back to the source, rather, I have to go back to the source, daily.

    Marriage is not about you

    There is no performance. It is simply agreeing that both of us are sinners saved by the grace and mercy of Christ, living in this world and figuring it out, together. Working out our salvation. That both of us need God and each other and that is alright. And in being loved by God and loving God we can love each other. At that point, suddenly compromise and the swallowing of pride is less difficult to do and the bigger picture becomes clearer. At the same time kind gestures are driven by more than obligation. Suddenly I can remember – it is not all about me! And that’s a good thing, it would be a disaster if it was. Keeping Christ the main thing is what keeps us going. And Lord knows I WANT us to keep going. However after a hard day and dishes haven’t been washed, my mind is tempted to jump to questioning my entire marriage instead of simply addressing the issue at hand for 2 minutes and going on to have a pretty cool evening with my best buddy.

    Love is not a feeling

    It is tough but just as Christ demonstrated, love isn’t a fluffy feeling, but an act of the will. It is all down to choice and by his grace we can make it every day. And truth be told, that much I would rather have, than hoping a fluttering emotion magically never goes away. And when the arguments do happen and the disappointments do come, it is God’s standard, not my own that I can present to him to remind him of what we are here for and remind myself too. And it is there where we find the big thing, the joy!

    So we turn 3 years old in a few weeks and yes we are very much babies in the game but I am thankful to the Lord for the time so far. For in all the madness that it two people coming together, through Him we have found and experienced joy.

    And to anyone wondering, the story so far is this: I made music, got married and travelled the world, often with my husband. And I am very grateful.

    [fusion_builder_container background_color=”#ffffff” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”5%” padding_right=”5%” hundred_percent=”yes” equal_height_columns=”yes” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_3″ last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”https://www.christchurchmidrand.co.za//wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Mail-2.png” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”center center” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”2_3″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”2%” margin_top=”2%” margin_bottom=”2%” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_title size=”2″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]

    Receive our latest blog in your Inbox

    [/fusion_title][fusion_code]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[/fusion_code][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

  • 6 Things Every Single Christian Should Know

    6 Things Every Single Christian Should Know

    Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][e] him.”
    – Genesis 2:18

    Hi! How are you? What are your plans this weekend?
    This is a common question that most of us are familiar with, it may come in slightly varied forms like: What will you be up to & with who? How was your time off? Did you and the family have a good time?
    Beneath these friendly and casual questions can lie the unintended assumption that the person being spoken to is married or in a relationship.

    The aim of this blog is to encourage my fellow single people by reminding you that in Christ you are neither incomplete nor missing out on anything, because in him you have all you need.

    If you are like me and you’re single, you may tend to hang out with a lot of married couples at work or church. Whenever they talk about their weekend plans they always mention little Jimmy and his soccer match this past weekend or they reflect on that wonderful film they saw with their spouse this past Tuesday night. Even when they don’t need to tag their spouse, they always somehow end off with the obligatory: “When me and my wife/ husband were walking/watching/eating/driving…”.

    This kind of conversation can be awkward or even uncomfortable for us single people who may be reminded each time that we are missing out on something if we do not ourselves have a partner or family with which to spend time with.
    Indeed, couples can seem to subconsciously replace every 1st person pronoun with that dreaded “my husband and I”/ “me and my wife”/ “My girlfriend and I” that you can’t help but think “I’m still single and missing something!”

    But is this necessarily true?

    Here are 6 brief points to consider if you are single

    1. Some of the most fulfilled human beings ever, made the most of their singleness

    While it may be true that most people grow up imagining that at some point they’d end up with a certain career or neighborhood sending their kids to a specific school; not enough of us factor in the possibility that married life might not be the guaranteed standard future for all of us. That perhaps we won’t live out Genesis 2:18 in exactly the same way as all our friends or colleagues, but this doesn’t mean this famous verse doesn’t apply to you.

    While you may go on to struggle with a deep longing for marriage for the rest of your life (until such time as you do possibly get married), one needs to remember that the whole point of life is not marriage. The Westminister Catechism, the famous Christian document summarizing what we believe as Christians, does not begin with “What is the chief end of man? – to glorify God by finding a good spouse and enjoying that person for life”
    But it begins with the famous words: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”

    In fact, in Jesus and the Apostle Paul we have perhaps the greatest examples of people who resolved to dedicate their lives to living for God’s glory and thus fulfill their life’s purpose… yet they were single men. No Christian would dare pity them for their lives of single devotion to God & His mission, instead we are eternally grateful to them for their role in our faith (Christ in saving us; Paul in writing and proclaiming it through his New Testament letters).

    2. Marriage aint as rosy as you think

    We live in a fallen world where every part of our lives is affected by sin. It would be naïve of us to expect that marriage is immune from that reality. Yes, even marriages may suffer from the frustrations of this groaning world. We should, out of a cautious perspective on life, not put all our hope in the marriage basket, for you will despair in disillusionment as soon as you realize that Mr. or Mrs right are occasionally grumpy when they wake up on the wrong side of the bed; or that they too struggle with habitual sin thus seriously testing your patience from time to time.

    Others have realised the truth of this in devastating ways as they’ve had to let go of that dream of ‘together happily ever after’ when their union was rocked by infidelity; divorce or even death.

    So remember, marriage is not the “be all and end all”.

    3. Christ fulfills the promises marriage fails to deliver

    No, only Jesus can meet our deepest longings, only he fully meets our greatest cravings and only he can properly occupy that God-shaped vacuum in our hearts. So to expect that of Mr./Mrs. Right is not only naïve, but it’s unfair.

    Yes, marriage is a God given gift and therefore a wonderful blessing. Perhaps we ought to view it as a taste of the greater things to come. Perhaps, much like any good gift from God, marriage is a display of His glory in that it points to Him who is the Great Giver. He is the one of whom this created gift should point us to, so that as we taste his goodness in marriage, we are not contempt with a mere sign.

    4. Your singleness is freedom, enjoy it

    The life of the single person often comes with the opportunity to do the kind of things that a married family man/woman cannot do, because their time ought to be carefully spent meeting their many responsibilities to their family.  Instead of seeing your singleness as a curse, view it as an opportunity to use your time in many other ways which serve to bring glory to God. Some of the freedoms you may miss once you lose your singleness revolves around your time and what you can do with it as well as your resources or money.

    Before grumbling against God for not bringing along Mr. or Mrs. Right at your appointed time, remember to serve him best with the things you do have.

    5. Your singleness may not be outside of God’s plan for your life

    Some of the great contributors to the Christian faith, as I’ve mentioned earlier, were not married people. The likes of John Stott and Vaughan Roberts have written helpful Christian books which have benefited Christians the world over… and they never got married.

    You may one day look back at our own life and rejoice in the opportunity God gave you to serve him realizing that in his providence he sustained you in your singleness, still used you for the good of others and for his own glory in a way that wouldn’t have been possible as a married person.

    6. Singleness doesn’t have to mean loneliness.

    In the context of a church family, singleness doesn’t have to mean loneliness. As redeemed fellow believers there is plenty of opportunity to love and serve one another. Those who do not have any, or a healthy, biological family still feel loved and valued within the Christian church family.

    So let’s end this blog by reflecting on the wise words of the Apostle Paul, a single servant of the Lord who didn’t let any of his circumstances (not even his singleness) hinder him from bringing glory to God:

    “I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:10-13)

    [/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]