The Lord is my shade

A choice of love

(And He walks with me and He talks with me.....)

Today I am reminded of God's desire for fellowship with us. He has actually engraved this in our souls, hence the need for  mankind to be relational.

He is a relational  God, we do what we do for Him because we love Him and not because we have to-right? Isn't this how relationships work?

I thought that because serving God is often regarded as a difficult sacrifice, he forces His will upon us! I was wrong! God wants us to get to a point that, based on our relationship with Him, we can't help but serve and Honour Him. The interesting part is that He waits for us to get to that point.

My prayer recently was, Lord please don't give me either/ or, I prefer a specific instruction and please make sure I carry it out. This is when I felt the Holy Spirit challenging me: "you need to get to a point where you choose,' choose to serve because you love Him.

And if it seems evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose ye this day whom ye will serve...but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15)


****It's a choice of love!

Meaning

How often do you stop and evaluate your life? Ask questions like, am I still going the right track, following my dreams, being the best I can be, is there meaning to what I am doing? Meaning is what causes you to get up in the morning because you know you have a job to do, there is some sort of purpose you are striving towards.

I guess the big question is how do you evaluate meaning in your life, is it based on how much money you make, how many friends you have, how far in the corporate ladder you've come, type of  the car  you drive?

What happens then when you loose the car, money and everything else you perceive as  meaningful? Does this mean your life doesn't have meaning anymore.

For me, I believe that meaning comes from within, it's who you are despite anything else. It is a sense purpose that is not measured by what I have and don't have. It's who you are, the value in you and this is definately measured by how you relate to the next person. Ever thought about the fact that all businesses in the world in some way or the other, they are meant to make human life comfortable, think about it, it's all human oriented, done by other human beings for other human beings. This leaves us with one conclusion then, that our greatest sense of purpose is found in serving the next person (your neighbour), using the talents, resources and all the skills we have.

Linked to this is love, I can't serve you  with all my heart unless I see you as myself, a human being that deserves honour.

I treat you with honour
because I honour God.


Love the Lord your God with all your heart (Mt 22:37-40)
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’

The Father's love

Once upon a time there was a little girl who had to embark on a journey, the only thing that she could take with her was the memory of her father's love. Trials and tribulations came on the way, but the memory of her father's smile and love kept her going. Strangers came and offered her better love than what her father could give, but it all proved to false.

Because she knew the father's love, she could tell the difference and this protected her. Do you find that at times you can't tell the difference,go back to the drawing board and make your self familiar with the Father's love. See, He says, I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have drawn you with my loving kindness, (Jeremiah 31v3-4).

We all have a Father in Heaven, who loves and cares for us far beyond than our earthly fathers. Reach out to Him and you'll never go wrong.

Give Thanks

How often do we take stock and give thanks for what we have, for example: good health, loving families, a roof over our heads etc. We often waste time and energy by concentrating on what is going wrong in our lives.

There is a great lesson that God seems to teach us in the bible about giving thanks and funny enough the two stories that come to mind both include lepers. In II Kings 7v3 the bible talks about 4 men who were down and out, cast out of the society because of leprosy, their destiny changed when they decided to look at what they have instead of what they were lacking, when they decided to do this, God honoured them. God used them to save the very community that rejected them. Being thankful helps us to illuminate what is good about our situation and automatically once we do this, you realise that your  situation  is not the end of the world, there's more that God has in store for you.

Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” -- Luke 17:11-19

May you find strength as you give thanks to the Lord.

Moving Forward

I am reminded of the song  Moving Forward (not going back but moving ahead), often times we resist change because we fear the unknown, what will happen if, this is a question that all of us ask at some point in our lives, especially when God takes us to a new place and a new season. Sometimes this season comes through pain and hurt, sometimes you just feel you have finished your job, done all that there is to be done and nothing is left. There's a yearning for a new thing, a new day, but somewhere somehow, fear and uncertainty holds us back. This is my prayer, Lord wherever your will takes me, help me to go.

Isaiah 53v11 says, "after the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satified,"may your find your satisfaction in His will always.

New Beginnings

Have you been going through a storm? There are times in life when we feel that our journey of pain and disappointment is unending. Sometimes God allows hard times in order to bring us to a place of dependence on Him.

Trust God for a time of renewal. As He says in Isaiah 54 verse 11-12: 'O afflicted City, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will build you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with sapphires. I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones.'

Like the city mentioned in this verse, God is promising to rebuild our lives and when He does, you can be assured of His protection!