The Greatest of these is Love!!

In August, I got to attend Larnelle Harris' concert in London. I had never heard him sing as a soloist; and this song I found very deep and true. I just wanted to share the words of the song!  

The Greatest Of These 

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels

But have not love

I am only a resounding gong or clanging cymbal

And if I have the gift of prophesy

And can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge

And if I have a faith that can move the mountains

But have not love

I am nothing

If I give all I possess to the poor

And surrender my body to the flames

But have not love

I gain nothing

Love is patient

Love is kind

It does not envy

Does not boast

It is not proud

It is not rude

It is not self-seeking

It is not easily angered

It keeps no record of wrongs

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres

Love never fails

But where there are prophecies they will cease

Where there are tongues they will be stilled

Where there is knowledge it will pass away

For we know in part and we prophesy in part

But when perfection comes the imperfect disappears

When I was a child I talked like a child

I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child

When I became a man I put my childish ways behind me

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror

Then we shall see face to face

Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known

And now these three remain

Faith, hope, and love

But the greatest of these is love

The greatest of these is love

The 'bliss' of ignorance>>>

Two nights ago while driving home something happened that got me thinking; the traffic light was red, I just waited behind the car that was in front of me. Then I heard a high pitched noise and wondered what that was; turns out I was parked on a  yellow island, and the high pitched noise was the TRAM! I was blocking the tram! Luckily there was a bit of space in front of me and it was able to cut across our road and continue merrily on its way!

Here's a picture of the TRAM borrowed from this  site, its called the LUAS here and its tracks often cross the roads:

It got me thinking about something I've read in the Bible before; Sinning in ignorance.

How many times have we parked on yellow islands in our lives? But like that Tram driver, God gives us enlightenment and it is key what we do, once we realise that we have sinned. My parking on the yellow Island in ignorance didnt mean that it was allowed to park there; once I was aware, I should then stick to the road rules, now our Christian walk is not as simple as Road rules, but what I find of most comfort is that, it is God who gives enlightenment and forgiveness too!

1 Timothy 1:13-15

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹³ although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. ¹⁴ And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

Hebrews 5:1-3

New King James Version (NKJV)

5 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. ² He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. ³ Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins.

Acts 3:17-19

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁷ “Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. ¹⁸ But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. ¹⁹ Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

Acts 17:30-31

New King James Version (NKJV)

³⁰ Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,³¹ because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

Let's remember to pray for sins committed in ignorance, because we don't know who we have hurt without realising. 

The number 100

SO I was searching through my emails for something, and found that I have 100 (yes a hundred) emails from a sister in Christ that I used to spend a lot of time with, laughing, praying, and sometimes crying about all things under the sky. The number 100 seems so rounded and so final, it gives me peace for that unreplied email, perhaps it was meant to be, it was meant to remain at a round number - 100.

Today I wanted to talk about the more than 100 times in life where I've had the privilege to be a Blessing and Be Blessed by others. God planned my healing from all this, since I came to Dublin, He has not even once given me the opportunity to play the roles I played back in Cape Town, I have been the helped, served, the list goes on and I have learnt a lot more about the Grace and Healing power of God and His love overflowing: (not sure why but this image came to mind)

Like a poem I read today, some are like tree leaves, fickle and blown away easily, some are like branches, slightly stronger than leaves but will break when there's too much weight on them, then there's roots that are built to hold you up and support you!! 

I am thankful for all the roots in my tree of life today :) I am experiencing joy of life, even as I look at past hurts, I think this is what it means to "count it all JOY"

Can you imagine being like the autumn leaves in someone's life? At least branches don't fall off in autumn, the roots in the tree below must be so big, it's branches could carry lots of weight too! 

The same tree, across the path

I love this pic, I decided to post it again

There's something about desaturating the colour from an image that appeals to me lately! In contrast I'm a firm believer that things are not always black or white, there's colours in between...I guess those colours are grey?

Anyway, just wanted to share this picture again, that's made it to my portfolio :) which is growing slowly.

We're getting to winter months where I wont have bright flowers to take pictures of, I best get used to the grey, black and white :)

The joy of my life

I just thought I should write about the joy of my life - my family :-)

Often I find myself focusing on the never ending laundry, toys, tidying up, cooking, dish washing and the list goes on. But today I came home to a clean house after dropping the kids at school, hubby had gone to work, I had no school work to do...and guess what? I missed a bit of noise in the background, I missed being 'disturbed' with an 'important' question every five minutes. I started to look at the time; looking forward to fetching them at school and guess what? They were too tired to do what I had in mind :(

Anyway, I was also thinking about that we really need to treasure these years while they are still young and at home, there will come a time where the time away from home is not just 3hours every weekday but longer!

Again I'll quote Psalm 90:12 because it really is about numbering our days...

Another verse I read today was "Ecclesiastes 3:1, 6 - "For everything there is a season,, A right time to hold on and another to let go..." (MSG version)

I pray that when the time comes for my kids to move out of home, We will have a treasure of good memories and they will have a treasure of lessons from us.

Taste and See...

Sometimes we say we are 'ok' and accept the mediocre life, sometimes we get used to pain and it becomes normal. I have found that self-sufficiency and a quest for it, prevents me from experiencing the fullness of God’s kindness, and peace, and I’m constantly chasing my tail. There is a better option in God:

Taste and See that the Lord is good

Even though you may say; you are not thirsty

            I can see you haven’t had the Living water (John 4:13)

Even though you may say you are not hungry

            I can tell you haven’t had the Living bread (John 6:51)

Even though you may say you are at peace

            Have you heard of Peace perfect Peace? (Philippians 4:7)

Even though you may say you have friends,

            Have you met the Greatest Friend (John 15:13)

Even though you may say you have love

            Have you met the Greatest Love (1 John 4:8, John 3:16)

Taste and see the Lord is good, oh the JOYS of those that take refuge in Him (Psalm 34:8)

The power given to me....

I'm moved to share a poem I wrote recently, one morning when I realised God really gave me a priceless gift! 

Forgiveness

The power lies within me,

It has been given to me by God-

To seek forgiveness and to forgive others,

Why is it difficult? You see,

I have received this from God-

How do I give it to others?

The emotions raged within me

Day and night, pain resided in me

I thought about it,

I talked about it,

I prayed about it,

I wrote about it…

I waited for it,

I anticipated it,

I created opportunity for it,

But still I did not get it…

Why did I need it?

Why did I crave it?

What power was in it?

What was in this APOLOGY??

Until I remembered the GIFT,

The power God had given me

The ability to forgive, without it

The ability to let go, without it

The ability to move on, without it

The ability to free my life of hurt, without it

The possibility of removing that pain, without it

The absence of the tears, without it

For I realised that without it, I still had the power from God

I still had the ability to forgive, let go, live freely

I was still able to free myself of your poison.

For what power does your apology really have?

Without it, there is power in God to live joyfully!

Ephesians 4:31-32 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you

30 and enlightened!!- We journey on

The hype and excitement I had two or three months before the day, started to decrease, I'm not sure why...I had a great time. Great reflections as well. 

I've cut out a few toxic people from my life, and I feel lighter, I've also decided to spend time on meaningful relationships instead of trying to be everywhere at the same time. These were not difficult decisions to make, I think that is the path God laid for me; some paths had to be cul de sacs leading to nowhere!!

I have been meditating on this verse: Psalm 90:12 " Lord, Teach us to number our days,
    that we may gain a heart of wisdom"

Numbering my days; that means- if I had 6 months to live, there's many things I would not be doing right not...question is why am I spending time on them now; why I am not doing those things that I'd do if I know my days were numbered. I truly dont know if i have less or more than 6months, so that is why my prayer is "Psalm 90:12 " Lord, Teach us to number our days,
    that we may gain a heart of wisdom"

This means there are changes that I need to seek God to help me with, this may be a scary process and I just need to remember:

Proverbs 29:25 (NLT) - Fearing people is a dangerous trap,
    but trusting the Lord means safety. 

Galatians 1:10 (NIV) Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people?If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ

Samuel 15:24 - I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice.

Reflecting on God's calling for me to make changes in my life, I am focusing on my family, and for once in a long time, am ok with not trying to save the world! 

We journey on (my husband and I)

Father and daughter :)

My son :)