Hand Delivered Bouquets

Those of you following my blog are fully aware that Max Lucado is my favourite author and read this which he wrote:

by Max Lucado

Through Christ, God has accepted you. Think about what this means. You cannot keep people from rejecting you. But you can keep rejections from enraging you.

Rejections are like speed bumps on the road. They come with the journey. You’re going to get cut, dished, dropped, and kicked around. You cannot keep people from rejecting you. But you can keep rejections from enraging you. How? By letting his acceptance compensate for their rejection.

Think of it this way. Suppose you dwell in a high-rise apartment. On the window sill of your room is a solitary daisy. This morning you picked the daisy and pinned it on your lapel. Since you have only one plant, this is a big event and a special daisy.
But as soon as you’re out the door, people start picking petals off your daisy. Someone snags your subway seat. Petal picked. You’re blamed for the bad report of a coworker. Three petals. The promotion is given to someone with less experience but USC water polo looks. More petals. By the end of the day, you’re down to one. Woe be to the soul who dares to draw near it. You’re only one petal-snatching away from a blowup.

What if the scenario was altered slightly? Let’s add one character. The kind man in the apartment next door runs a flower shop on the corner. Every night on the way home he stops at your place with a fresh, undeserved, yet irresistible bouquet. These are not leftover flowers. They are top-of-the-line arrangements. You don’t know why he thinks so highly of you, but you aren’t complaining. Because of him, your apartment has a sweet fragrance, and your step has a happy bounce. Let someone mess with your flower, and you’ve got a basketful to replace it!

The difference is huge. And the interpretation is obvious.

God will load your world with flowers. He hand-delivers a bouquet to your door every day. Open it! Take them! Then, when rejections come, you won’t be left short-petaled.

God can help you get rid of your anger. He made galaxies no one has ever seen and dug canyons we have yet to find. “The LORD … heals all your diseases” (Ps. 103:2–3 NIV). Do you think among those diseases might be the affliction of anger?

Do you think God could heal your angry heart?

Do you want him to? This is not a trick question. He asks the same question of you that he asked of the invalid: “Do you want to be well?” (John 5:6). Not everyone does. You may be addicted to anger. You may be a rage junkie. Anger may be part of your identity. But if you want him to, he can change your identity. Do you want him to do so?

Do you have a better option? Like moving to a rejection-free zone? If so, enjoy your life on your desert island.

Take the flowers. Receive from him so you can love or at least put up with others.

LOST

Today is just a "LOST" day for me and I not sure what I writing about so I have titled today's post as "lost" – WHY LOST, I guess my day has just gone like some of the words in the song "LOST" by Michael Buble – I was listening to the song on the radio while driving home and it actually made me think on a few things in general. One line of the songs says "I never saw the writing on the wall" – man was that so true for me and here is why:

The first thing was on Saturday that has just passed I asked my daughter if she thought I should get a another woman in my life – I was just curious to see what she says – I was somewhat amazed when she told me her answer is NO – the best part of this is that she is only 7 years old - in a way I believe she was correct and why, well because I proceeded today to make one of my biggest "bloopers" and that was to tell a great lady what I felt about her – I think everyone must tell people what they feel as we need to rather than to try and bottle feelings up inside. It is how we react to what we say and that can make the difference, be it negative or positive.

Either way in case you wondering what happened with me spilling my heart out to someone - it backfired on me which I was actually expecting in a small way. Funny but yes I was expecting it like a sixth sense but I knew I had to do it. I would always have wondered if I did not do it.

I believe certain things we must never hold back just like what I did today (even though it backfired I have no regrets) and why – because I said to God in the morning that I will accept whatever the outcome would be and besides life is so short I would never have known unless I spoke to her.

God gave me my answer when a little girl of 7 years old gave it to me on Saturday already – the writing was on the wall but I never saw it.

Why do I accept it ?

It is God's will for me and that is good enough for me.

To my Daughter Natalie-ann, here is a line of one of our favourite songs by Katie Melua that you always ask me to play:

"And if the lights go out on all of us in just a year or two, and if the sky comes down like falling rain, I'll be here for you; I'll go down with you."

God always knows what is right for us and when the timing is right.

To Marius

To Marius (my brother in law) and Tracy and kids - Its been sad news this weekend to hear about the passing of your Dad and I pray that God will be close to you and your family during this time.

John 11:25-"I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die like everyone else, will live again."

May God be with you always.

Love

To those who are following my blog you were most likely expecting the next post to cover the topic "worry" – well i decided not to post it right now as I have an urgent sense to post this verse:

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."

I not sure why I needed to post this – maybe it carries a message for someone reading this blog or maybe I need to reflect on it for myself !!!

May God bless you and I hope your day is filled with LOVE.

Part 5 - Stress

Stress – now that is a word that we just love – we all know exactly what stress is or do we really ?

Stress comes when we fail to trust God for help.

Stress is our own doing and most times we just have too much too handle and carry all the burdens ourselves instead of just giving all our problems to God. Each topic i have discussed causes us to end up experiencing some form of stress.

There is a saying which goes like this – "Don't say how big my problem is, rather say how big my God is".

Stress is "Emotional pressure suffered by a human being" – this was one definition i found in the dictionary – there are others but i wrote this one as it makes sense to all of us.

So who can assist with emotional issues ?

God can assist us with this one and here are reasons why:-

Isaiah 41:10 – Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.

2 Corinthians 4:9 – We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going.

What is great to know is that no matter how we feel God is always there and will always help no matter what we experience – WE JUST NEED TO ASK FOR HIS HELP

ANOTHER PROMISE FROM GOD:-

John 16:33 – Go look up this verse for yourself and may God bless you.

Part 4 - Restlessness

I must say that the topics i chose to write on this week have been very interesting for me to write and has not been easy at times - it has been fun to try and find information within the Bible on the topics but i do enjoy it tremendously.

There is still three more topics in this series that i need to finish which are Restlessness, Stress and Worry.

So let's get on with today's topic - RESTLESSNESS

Let's see what the Dictionary tells us about restlessness – "it is an emotional state of agitation or excitement"

Have you ever experienced wanting something quicker than you hoped ? Perhaps you waiting for word on a new job or you hoping for better health but it just seems as if it is taking too long and you just can't get an answer quick enough. None of us know what tomorrow will bring but we still think to ourselves it isn't happening quick enough. (we want an answer now). This is just an example of how something stirs up feelings as we want things to happen quickly and when it does not happen in our time it results in us getting restless .

We will get restless when wanting something on our own time instead of waiting for God's time.

As Christians we need to learn and understand that God will provide in His time and we must adapt to that even when it seems impossible - this will in turn prevent us from getting restless about issues.

I might be wrong but most times we get restless it is usually on issues of own "want"

I have struggled finding many verses on being restless (i am by no means saying there isn't) i might just have overlooked some but there is two that gives me an answer to this which i am sure you will agree with and they are:

Matthew 11:28 - Jesus said, "come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest."

So now some people say "oh, ok that sounds so easy but how do we really do that ?" The answer is simple:

Philippians 4:6-7 – PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING.........IF YOU DO THIS, YOU WILL EXPERIENCE GOD'S PEACE.

To close of this blog entry today i just want to leave YOU with another promise from GOD:

"When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you" – ISAIAH 43:2

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and may God bless you and remember to keep PRAYING – PRAYER does amazing things.

Part 3 - Crisis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia on the net they describe a Crisis as follows:

A crisis (plural: crises) may occur on a personal or societal level. It may be a traumatic or stressful change in a person's life, or an unstable and dangerous social situation, in political, social, economic, military
affairs, or a large-scale environmental event, especially one involving an impending abrupt change. More loosely, it is a term meaning 'a testing time' or 'emergency event'.

I think we at times see a crisis very similar to a burnout but in fact it is not the same even though they might seem closely related.

Most times a crisis comes our way due to us ourselves making a wrong decision – we know something might work out wrong but we decide to do it anyway, only to discover later we made the wrong decision and then we try to find a way out and when we are unable to thats when we end up being in a crisis.

I must admit that in choosing "crisis" to write about is more difficult than i thought - but this is what i can find in the Bible about what causes a crisis ?

You can cause your own crisis when you are living in sin – Proverbs 27:12 – A prudent person foresees the danger ahead and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences. This verse for me is telling us to think about things before just going ahead and doing it.

I also know that we can face a crisis from things totally out of our control – think back to when the "TSUNAMI" made world news headlines, im sure if i was faced with that i would surely be faced with a major crisis as one would just feel so helpless and one would have no idea of what to do or how to handle what just happened.

Did you know the Bible actually tells us that there are blessings that come out of a crisis – i try to study my Bible in depth to get maximum information out of it and was actually surprised when looking up this topic within the Bible, but here are some blessings believe it or not:

1. A crisis helps us to see God more clearly (oh yes that is a blessing for sure)
   
2. A crisis helps us indentify with Christ's sufferings for us – 1 Peter 4:13 – These trials will make you partners with Christ in his suffering.
   

I have looked for different answers and books to find a different answers on how to get out of a crisis but i only find one answer = TURN TO THE LORD. (See if you find an alternative answer – if you do please let me know and leave a comment)

Jonah 2:7
– When i had lost all hope, I turned my thoughts once more to the LORD.

Psalm 130:1 – from the depths of despair, O LORD, I call for your help.

My NIV study Bible states this – "our weaknesses are times for his strength; our crisis are his opportunities".

I just want to close off this post with a promise from God:

Psalm 46:1 – GOD IS OUR REFUGE AND STRENGTH, ALWAYS READY TO HELP IN TIMES OF TROUBLE.

Part 2 - Burnout

What is burnout ?

Burnout is when we feel exhausted and sometimes weak while trying to do our daily work - here are some examples:

Psalm 38:8 – I am exhausted and completely crushed. My Groans come from an anguished heart.

Psalm 69:1-2 – The floodwaters are up to my neck. Deeper and deeper i sink into the mire; i can't find a foothold to stand on.

When everything seems too much around us, that is when we are actually experiencing burnout and we tend to think it is something else or we pretend everything is ok and yes we hope we will just get through the feelings we might be experiencing. We do this because most of the time we feel we are in control and don't want to admit we need assistance.

We do not usually like to talk about emotions or feelings so instead we rather bottle it up inside and try to seek solutions on our own and that is exactly when we make matters and feelings worse.

How do i get help on this (burnout) ?

God says the following:

Isaiah 30:15 – Only in returning to me and waiting for me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength.

Matthew 11:28-29 – Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and i will give you rest..........and you will find rest for your souls.

These two verses show us that God invites us in times of trouble to approach Him as He can and will help us – WE NEED TO APPROACH GOD

This is God's PROMISE:

"He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; he offers strength to the weak. Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will give up. But those who wait on the LORD will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:29-31

Part 1 - Anger

As promised - today's post is about Anger

Please note that this week's topics are purely an overview with reference taken from the Bible and it is by no means a psychological approach and it is not from a medical point of view either – i am no psychologist and it is purely what i get out of the Bible.

Why do we get angry ? Here are a few causes to think about (you can decide)

1. We get angry when our pride is hurt
   
2. We get angry when someone else is acknowledged instead of us
   
3. We get angry when we get jealous about what others have
   
4. We most definitely get angry when someone confronts us of our sinful actions
   
5. We get angry when we don't get our own way
   

When is it ok to get angry ?

It is ok to get angry as long as its anger towards sin - John 2:15-16 shows us that Jesus got angry when he saw that his Father's house was turned into a market place

What should we avoid when feeling anger ?

This is the best which we tend to forget and i have made this mistake myself – "avoid speaking your mind when you feel angry, why, because something is always said that a person regrets later" and check this verse:

James 3:5 – THE TONGUE IS A SMALL THING, BUT WHAT DAMAGE IT CAN DO. (wow, wow, wow – is that not an awesome verse)

So how do we sort our anger and keep it in control – its quite easy cause if you been following my blog you already have the answer from God = Ephesians
4:26
-"DO NOT LET THE SUN GO DOWN WHILE YOU ARE ARE STILL ANGRY" (NIV).

When Life Seems Hectic

A few days ago i wrote an article on "the past" and the more i read it the more i realised that we all sometimes rush through everything too quick, be it our personal lives or be it at work, we always on the go and forget to stop and smell the roses.

What i mean by stopping to smell the roses is that we rush and we hurry through everything and we don't pause or shut down to recover. We should only be in a hurry when you want to get out of harms way and when obeying God – thats the only time we should be in a hurry (how many of us "hurry" through life when we should not be ?)

We need to just take a moment for ourselves to relax and to shut down from the rush of everyday life.

We rush all the time and when we rush we don't give ourselves time to relax and we think we can just carry on without taking a break to smell the roses – in reply to our haste we end up creating certain things for ourselves which only ends up having a negative affect on us mentally and physically – below are the topics i going to post and discuss this week individually:

Anger

Burnout

Crisis

Restlessness

Stress

Worry

If you want any information on the above or it stirs an interest with you then keep an eye on my blog as i will be discussing each topic individually this week using only the Bible as my main source of reference.

Psalm 119:105 - Your Word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path.

Take Every Thought Captive

Max lucado is definitely my favourite author and needed to post this which he wrote:

Today’s thoughts are tomorrow’s actions.
Today’s jealousy is tomorrow’s temper tantrum.
Today’s bigotry is tomorrow’s hate crime.
Today’s anger is tomorrow’s abuse.
Today’s lust is tomorrow’s adultery.
Today’s greed is tomorrow’s embezzlement.
Today’s guilt is tomorrow’s fear.

If you have never read one of his books - do yourself a favour and go to a christian bookstore and get one of his books

Ephesians 6:10-20 (from Michael)

To my Brother Michael and his wife Annerie - you wanted this posted so i have put it on for you

. If one thing is clear to me is the book of Ephesians is the calling of God this week for Annerie & I.

I was back in the book of Ephesians 6:10-20 and this is what stood out for me “Even as we pray for a change in our circumstances we should also pray that God will accomplish his plan through us right where we are. Knowing Gods eternal purpose for us will help us through the difficult times.” This is not one of the verses but rather part of the explanation so go read it. It goes on to comment on the armor of God and that makes for a excellent read.

One this is for sure when your ears are open God speaks in miraculous ways and I thank him every day for bringing me to this place.

Have a great weekend

Regards
Michael

Ephesians

I must say i really enjoy all the writings of the Apostle Paul and my most favourite book in the Bible for me has to be the book of Ephesians – i do have other favourites if one can call it that but Ephesians for me just seems to have a special place with me.

Last night i was reading a new book that i bought recently which is titled "HEARING GODS VOICE" and the chapter i was reading was discussing aspects of the Holy Spirit and in the same chapter the author referred to the book of Ephesians in the Bible, and because i enjoy Ephesians quite a bit i finished the chapter i was busy with and took my Bible to read before i went to sleep. While reading through Ephesians what caught my attention was the following verse:

EPH 4:26 "DO NOT LET THE SUN GO DOWN WHILE YOU ARE ARE STILL ANGRY" (NIV)

I have been thinking about this verse for 2 days now and what i have realised is that this verse is so easy for us as Christians to forget at times and what we forget is that in order to live a Christian lifestyle we are to obey God's Word and no matter how we look at this verse, it is God's Word and we need to obey it - if we do not obey it then we are ignoring what God has instructed us to do so i have posted this as i believe many of us have not adhered to this verse. If you maybe ask the question but what do you mean, then my answer will be as follows:

Have you ever gone to sleep at night being angry about something or towards someone ? I most definitely have and i can relate to it for sure.

This verse is telling us that no matter what makes us angry – be it an issue at work or maybe even a loved one at home we need to resolve things that make us angry the same day.

The verse for me is an instruction with the solution all in one which is plain and simple "do not let the sun go down while you are still angry"

So next time you have a fight with a loved one sort the matter out the same day – GOD SAYS YOU MUST.

A Special WELCOME........

Sometimes life goes by so quick we never stop to reflect on the past.

The past is not to be looked back at as negative - we must look back at it in such a way as to see what have we learnt out of it. God has plotted our paths out before we were even born and one thing i know for sure is that the past is gone and its something we can never change no matter how much we would like it to have been different.

You might be wondering why am i writing about the past - well i been doing a lot of thinking on the subject and it will all make sense once you have read this entire article.

One of my favourite songs by Bon Jovi is titled "WELCOME TO WHEREVER YOU ARE" and here are the lyrics:

"Maybe we all different but we're still the same,
We all got the blood of eden running through our veins,
I know sometimes its hard for you to see,
You're caught between who you are and who you want to be,
If you feel alone and lost and need a friend,
Remember every new beginning is some beginnings end.

Welcome to wherever you are
This is your life; you made it this far
Welcome, you got to believe
That right here, right now
You're exactly where you supposed to be
Welcome to wherever you are

When everybody's in and you're left out
and you feel you drowning in the shadow of a doubt
Everyone's a miracle in their own way
Just listen to yourself, not what other people say
When it seems you're lost, alone and feelin' down
Remember,everybody's different; just take a look around

Welcome to wherever you are
This is your life; you made it this far
Welcome, you got to believe
That right here, right now
You're exactly where you supposed to be

Be who you want to be
Be who you are
Everyone's a hero
Everyone's a star

When you want to give up and your heart's is about to break

REMEMBER THAT YOU'RE PERFECT; GOD MAKES NO MISTAKES (This is the best line in this song - i love it)

Welcome to wherever you are
This is your life; you made it this far
Welcome, you got to believe
That right here, right now
You're exactly where you supposed to be

I say welcome....
I say welcome....
Welcome

WOW - what a song and im sure everyone can relate to the words of this song as it is an awesome song not just due to the fact that it applies to everyone but the words are true and real and the God factor within it stands out so clearly which is really awesome and i sometimeS wonder how many people realise this when they listen to this song on the radio or elsewhere.

I used the song to show two things

(a) that every start of something has an end and that every end has some new beginning which applies to all of us and that God is the one who is in control all the time and therefore the past is exactly what the word says - IT IS PAST - no longer exists. sometimes things must happen for a new beginning.

(b) the second part i wanted to point out is in the song where it says "REMEMBER THAT YOUR'E PERFECT; GOD MAKES NO MISTAKES" is something we all need to realise every single day no matter what happens to us or how we might be feeling on a particular day.

"We are right now and right here exactly where we meant to be" - thats cool as we at times dont see it that way and maybe we need to look at it that way and realise that we are meant to be where we are right now because its all part of Gods plan.

Well i hope you enjoyed this short article as much as i enjoyed writing it and this morning i just had it all in my head and had to write it cause i know this was God that inspired me to write this one.

I give thanks to God for all he has done and i wish for everyone who reads this article that you will give thanks to God for all you have and to look at the future and know that YOU ARE PERFECT IN EVERY WAY cause God says you are.

I would like to give a special thanks to my Mom & Dad for everything, my brother Michael and his wife Annerie, my sister Tracy and her husband Marius, my sister Liza and her husband Derrick and our awesome GOD for all the help last year. You guys were all amazing in each and every way for which i will always be truly thankful for.

May God bless all of you and remember - YOU ARE EXACTLY WHERE YOU MEANT TO BE.

GLORY BE TO GOD - AMEN