God is my source

I met a lovely lady today who told me that she works for God. I asked her what she did expecting her to say that she is a missionary or something like that. She said that she represents a certain company who sells retail goods, but that that is only her job as she works for God. I got what she meant. God is her source. He is the one who cares for her and provides for her. I remember hearing a teaching about that some years ago.

So if God is my source and not my job, my boss or my business, it will mean that I would live my life differently to what I would if He wasn’t. Or rather, if I didn’t see Him as my source.

How would my life look if I saw God as my only source?

First of all I want to establish that I believe every word in the Bible. Because of this I believe that God made the earth and all that is in it. Everything I have access to has been made by God.

1 Corinthians 8:6, Yet for us there is [only] one God, the Father, Who is the Source of all things and for Whom we [have life], and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through and by Whom are all things and through and by Whom we [ourselves exist].

Philippians 4:19, And my God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

James 1:17, Every good gift and every perfect (free, large, full) gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of all [that gives] light, in [the shining of] Whom there can be no variation [rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [as in an eclipse].

I have used the Amplified version of the Bible today. These verses illustrate how everything comes from God. He is the originator of everything that we have and that we receive.

Psalm 121:2, My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 91:2, I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust!

Psalm 23:1, THE Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack.

God is the one who helps me when I am in trouble and who looks after me like a shepherd looks after sheep.

Psalm 27:10,  Although my father and my mother have forsaken me, yet the Lord will take me up [adopt me as His child].

Psalm 22:10, I was cast upon You from my very birth; from my mother’s womb You have been my God.

Psalm 139:13-16, For You did form my inward parts; You did knit me together in my mother’s womb.

 I will confess and praise You for You are fearful and wonderful and for the awful wonder of my birth! Wonderful are Your works, and that my inner self knows right well.

 My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret [and] intricately and curiously wrought [as if embroidered with various colors] in the depths of the earth [a region of darkness and mystery].

 Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them.

God has known me from before I was conceived and as hard as that is to understand practically, that is what He says. Where there is a danger that my parents will forsake me, He says He will always take care of me. He also knows everything that will take place in my life.

I am going to say that the first thing that should change is that I should put way more trust in God and not worry. There are lots and lots of references in the Bible about not worrying. I should change my mindset to trust God instead of trusting people. I should operate in faith at all times. I should not look to my employment as my source. God can and will provide beyond what we can ask or even think. If I see God as my source, I will also be less selfish about my needs, realising that the things I need are the things that God wants to give me, and that those will be things that are good for me. If God does give me things that seem to be materialistic, like a nice car for instance, then it’s up to Him, I will not manipulate Him to give me my selfish needs. I will also live a much more grateful lifestyle, and complain a lot less. I think 5 minutes is not enough for this subject so I may continue. Thank you for listening. Blessings to you.

Don’t worry

Yesterday I heard of somebody I know who has been diagnosed with cancer. He has a very young daughter and his obviously distressed. Dr Michelle Strydom, who wrote a book called, “Healing begins with sanctification of the heart”, and uses a lot of Dr Caroline Leaf’s research, says that no disease in incurable. Both these doctors are Christians and Dr Leaf is a neuro scientist. What the book says is that between 87 and 95% of diseases are caused by fear, anxiety and stress, and that by changing our thinking patterns we can heal our diseases. The thoughts we think is what makes us do what we do and makes us what we are. The Bible confirms this statement.

Proverbs 23:7,  For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

We all have thoughts running around in our minds all the time. A friend was telling me how she reacted to an unfavourable situation which she didn’t feel comfortable speaking out about, by a million thoughts crowding her head, and she assured me they weren’t positive thoughts. This is a normal reaction. We do it all the time. People often say, “You can think what you like, but you can’t say what you like.” That isn’t necessarily correct though. We should be training our brains to think good thoughts and not to get upset over every issue. When we are stressed there are changes that take place in our brains and these changes affect our bodies. I’m sure most people have experienced the affect that shock or anxiety has on the stomach. We suddenly have to go to the bathroom even if we haven’t eaten. That is such a simple example, but is a real example of how our thoughts affect our bodies.

Sometimes we are in a difficult emotional situations and we feel that the best thing we can do is to suppress our feelings so that everything appears to be normal. This isn’t a good thing, but neither is throwing tantrums about everything either. By being silent and putting away negative emotions or by being explosive and hanging all the dirty on the line you aren’t building the right kind of connections in your brain. If you have either of those problems you have to learn to trust Jesus, to take the Bible at face value, and to apply the promises that you have been given. Firstly, God doesn’t want us to be stressed. Apparently there are 366 references to not worrying. I say apparently because I haven’t looked them up myself. That sounds like a good project for one day. And secondly, God made provision for our fear, stress and anxiety. He sent Jesus to die for all those negative emotions.

But how does Jesus stand in for our anxiety. I see it this way: If I am not a Christian, I live like the rest of the world lives and I regard stress as totally normal. When I accept Jesus as my Saviour, I begin to look differently at the world. I realize that I am only here temporarily and that there is life after death, for me, an awesome life because I now am a child of God and will go to heaven. So automatically a lot of fears I had before I became a Christian just aren’t relevant anymore. I don’t have to fear death because death is not going to be the end, but the beginning of a wonderful new life. I read my bible and I realize that Jesus died for my sins and that God gives me grace to be able to live without sin, but when I do sin He does forgive me. I also learn that there is absolutely no reason to fear people because it is repeated many times in the Word. I don’t have to fear being destitute because God says that He will take care of me. Just like I don’t ever have to fear being lonely. He will never leave me or forsake me. Jesus also died for our sickness. There is no sickness that He can’t heal, and when I look at the research I mentioned, it makes sense. When I put my trust in Jesus and I stop worrying and being fearful, I am going to have many more positive thoughts which will send sickness running. There are conditions that aren’t stress related, but Jesus is in the miracle business and the Word tells me that nothing is impossible for God. And of course one of my favourite verses tells me how I should think.

Philippians 4:8, Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

Now that we know what to do we need to start doing it!

Creativity

I have discovered that if I don’t do something creative at least every second day I am not able to function as a productive human being. By creative I mean something like crafts, art, writing or even baking. Baking, if it’s something that I’m creating and not just making from a recipe. If I don’t do things that speak to my soul I start to feel lethargic and unmotivated. When I was teaching at the nursery school it was never a problem because being creative is all in a day’s work. Now, running a shop and doing the admin does not always include creative activities. One is not allowed to be creative when doing bookkeeping. Creative bookkeepers usually end up in prison and I have no intention of going there.

I think because of the way people were created there is something that was placed inside each person that makes him (or her) need certain things to be fulfilled. Obviously there are the usual things like shelter and food and love but then just one step further there’s that thing that calls to your soul, to the inner part of you that you can’t see with your eyes but you can feel it. I have friends who have the need to be neat and tidy and orderly and that’s who they are. I love going to their houses and seeing that everything has a place and everything is in that place. I do wish that I could be that tidy but I really don’t see it happening. When I feel the inspiration to create something and I know exactly what I want to do, I can’t see dishes that aren’t washed. Seriously, they become totally invisible. There’s nothing I can do about it. I’ve tried. Often.

Another thing about being creative is that sometimes I will go shopping with a clear idea of what I want to buy but then I will see something else that totally and completely takes my breath away and I forget what I really wanted. Like when I received a gift voucher for my birthday. I went to the store knowing that I wanted mascara and hairspray. Then I saw eye shadow. Not just any old eye shadow. The colours were so beautiful that I had to buy it. Two weeks later I remembered what I was actually going to buy!!

Then a few weeks ago my husband and I went to Makro to buy stock for our shop. I quickly wandered (is it even possible to wander quickly?) around the stationery department and I saw a pad of pink cardboard. Not just normal pink though – 5 shades of pink. Even though pink isn’t my favourite colour by a long shot, I fell head over heals in love with this pink card and I had to have it.   Strangely enough it never happens with a dress or shoes or groceries…

Most of my family are also very creative so they accept me the way I am. I thing mostly my husband endures me the way I am but he has also realized that after 29 years of marriage there’s never a dull moment. He definitely doesn’t know what to expect next.

There’s a quote that I really love.It’s attributed to Rod Siltanen,but if this isn’t really his quote please forgive me. One cannot even trust Google these days.

Here’s to the crazy ones.

The misfits. The rebels.

The troublemakers.

The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently.

They’re not fond of rules.

And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can quote them, disagree with them,

glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.

Because they change things.

They push the human race forward.

And while some may see them as the crazy ones,

we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough

to think they can change the world,

are the ones who do.