Dance!

 
Google was, in this instance again, a blessing.   I had half a fragment of a song looping ‘round my head all morning:  “Teach me to dance to the beat of your heart.”  You know how it is…it refused to budge nor leave.  Google came to the rescue.

Oh to run the straight race through God’s good grace – run and dance – even if, at times, through tears. This is crazy and impossible other than by our God's magnanimous and un-rationed grace in Jesus Christ.  So great is salvation in Jesus that even those in a wheelchair or busy moms in a dazed &  sleep-deprived state - even us who lost a son - can dance to the beat of the King's heart.

That doesn’t  mean Christians float in some fantasy land, out of touch with the brokenness of this world.   It means that as a Christian I have forgiveness & a solid hope in Jesus, by free grace through faith.  Help for today & a future that outweighs the sorrows of this present world - makes all the difference!

I’m sorry I couldn’t find a suitable you-tube clip - I hope you know the tune....?

Teach me to move in the power of your Spirit
Teach me to walk in the light of your presence
Teach me to dance to the beat of your heart
Teach me to love with your heart of compassion
Teach me to trust in the word of your promise
Teach me to hope in the day of your coming
Teach me to dance to the beat of your heart
You wrote the rhythm of life
Created heaven and earth
In You is joy without measure
So, like a child in your sight
I dance to see your delight
For I was made for your pleasure
Let all my movements express
A heart that loves to say 'yes'
A will that leaps to obey you
Let all my energy blaze
To see the joy in your face
Let my whole being praise you
Praise you

A heart that loves to say 'yes'
A will that leaps to obey you.

is a heart into which God poured out His love!




So I end - hurrying back to preparing for our much anticipated
visit with our children in Tokyo in a few weeks' time - with "love" in Japanese.

Funny baby baboons

Which parts of God’s creation bring a smile to your face?  Is it the cuddly baby, the playful kitten?

For us it is definitely the Chacma Baboon babies.
The Chacma Baboon is found in South Africa, north to Angola, Zambia and Mozambique. As South Africans, we have encountered them numerous times on our visits to the Kruger National Park, on hikes in the Tstsikamma Forest, along the Garden Route and at Cape Point.  While we lived in a farming community in the East Cape, the farmers sadly had no option but to shoot some Chacmas to prevent the killing of lambs for their intestines during times of severe drought. 

Quite recently, Gordon and I “bumped into” a small troop of Chacma Baboons on the Garden Route between Bloukrans and Nature’s Valley.  On that week-day we had the road and the small troupe of about 3 families all to ourselves. Were they entertaining and hilarious!  I took loads of photos, just like these from the internet. 

Enjoy and we dare you to look at them and think that our Creator God never smiles!



























Some people, who've never really encountered Jesus by faith, could be stuck in their impression that He’s a dull and  joyless God .

Zephaniah 3:17: The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will
take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.!

Who can read these truths, take them to heart, without being deeply, and profoundly moved to wonder and awe.  Has He saved you and quieted you with His love?  Is your hope in Christ alone?  Then, know for sure, He is taking great delight in you, and rejoicing over you with singing!

Staggering…

We don’t know what Jesus’ features look like, but we know rejoicing and laughter when we see it!

We believe that the wonders of Zephaniah 3:17 are fully realised in heaven and wonder what God’s singing sounds like! 

A hairy bus ride!

Yesterday I got the bus from Hatfield to Stevenage and from there, another via Benington Village towards Hitchin in Hertfordshire.  The purpose of the rides was to get to the Lordship Gardens and lose myself  among drifts of snowdrops and the promises of a spring-to-come.   Also to kneel down on a bin-liner – not to pray this time, but to photograph dainty blooms at elf-eye-views.

At first I was surprised to see that the bus that arrived at Stevenage terminus was a small 21-seater.  It didn't  take long to find out why.  Most of the route was along an oh-so-narrow English lane. See the Google-picture including the passing place on the left.

The Highway Code
Section 155
Single-track roads. These are only wide enough for one vehicle. They may have special passing places. If you see a vehicle coming towards you, or the driver behind wants to overtake, pull into a passing place on your left, or wait opposite a passing place on your right. Give way to vehicles coming uphill whenever you can. If necessary, reverse until you reach a passing place to let the other vehicle pass. Slow down when passing pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders.
Section 156 - Do not park in passing places.

This is my photo taken from the inside of the bus:   a reflection of the focused bus driver in the rear view mirror and the road sign a hint of things to come.

Again from inside our small bus : the country lane ahead.

Admittedly, the 2 journeys weren’t the scariest and deadliest rides on the planet, nevertheless I had to anchor myself with my knees against the seat in front  – and hope for the best!   There was no opportunity to be chicken and stop the bus to get off, because – the road is so narrow there’s not room to get out!  

We survived the first swooping bend and there were many more to follow.  Though the drive cannot be compared to  an inverted corkscrew roll or an airborne inverted S-roll or high-speed banked curves, still…… it was a good and proper hairy ride! 

To get a feel for the journey click on this link: An English Country Road and, in your mind's eye,  add oncoming traffic.

And while we are on an adrenalin-pumping topic…here’s a count-down to the scariest ride world-wide:

3.    Big Shot!
Astronauts travel at 45mph at blast off, which is slow in comparison because this ride throws you up with enough force to give you a weightless 4Gs for take off.
2.   Insanity
The Insanity is perched atop the Stratosphere tower in Las Vegas. Aptly named for what it seems to be at 906 feet above the Vegas strip, this ride takes you from the top of the tower and perches you at a 70 degree angle before a literal ‘spin’ at 40 miles per hour giving you a real bird’s eye view of Vegas…all without the wings.


And.................the winner!
1.  Top thrill Dragster
Top thrill Dragster, at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio, is only half a minute long ride that can force you recount your life.  It broke a few records when it was launched, including that of being the first rollercoaster to top 400ft and the first to go at 120 mph as well. Check out the 400 ft vertical drop, and don’t forget about the 270 degrees twist along the way!


I end  this post with a glance at snowdrops in the moat and  a few questions on fear.
 
 The snowdrops at Benington Lordship Gardens, Hertfordshire – 2011.


 Questions about fear

• Can I alleviate my stress and take off the edge off my anxiety? 
• How can I nail that which pushes my fear buttons?
• Is fear inescapable?
• Can you ward off rising fear?

If you are scared or fearful, please do take about 5 minutes to read "Real Fears, Real Help".

Real fears, real help

 

a) There comes a day…
when whistling a merry tune or giving the thumbs up sign or looking on the sunny side is not enough – I’m really scared and I need God.

b) What represents fear for me? 

• Werewolves, vampires and zombies, a dangling spider?
• Cancer, failure of treatment, relapse, death?
• What are my core fears?

c) What holds me together in a time of crisis? 

• What or who gives me a steadier pulse, inner poise and strength greater than my particular temperament or circumstance allow me?

 

Here are steps in the right direction on how to start to deal with stress:

1. Take stock of your fears and accumulated anxieties.
2. Jot down your actual fears – you MAY have been blowing things out of proportion and much of the hand-wringing could be eliminated at this early stage.
3. Note there is a  difference between feeling afraid and living in fear, being unduly dismayed and riddled with anxiety.
4. Sometimes we even enjoy our worry – ah the drama of it, the attention!

And now down to what to do with those fears!

•  1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety all your anxieties all your worries all your concerns on Jesus.  Yes, turn every worry over to him,  because he cares for you affectionately.
•  John 14:1"Do not let your hearts be troubled distressed, agitated. Don't let this throw you. Trust in God; and rely on God trust also in me. (Jesus)
• John 14: 27  Peace I leave with you; my own peace I give you and bequeath to you peace of mind and heart. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.  Don’t allow yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and unsettled. (Jesus)
• Psalm 34: 4 I sought the LORD, I looked for the Lord and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.  He took away all my fears. he freed me from my anxious fears.
• Isaiah 41:10  So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed. Do not be afraid, do not look around you in terror, for I am your God. There's no need to fear for I'm your God.   I will give you strength and yes, for sure I help you;
  yes I will uphold you with my righteous good and victorious right hand. I'll hold you steady, I will keep a firm grip on you.
• Philippians 4:⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your unsettled hearts.

Shalom!

If you have a few more minutes, and you would like to read about sought-out fears, see  "A hairy bus ride" and other adrennalin-pumping, action-filled adventures, this is the link where you will find just that.

What if the bread I've asked for feels like a stone?

Our Father in Heaven.....give us today our daily bread.

To pray this way, I’m going to have to be convinced of at least two realities:

1. God is generous.
2. God is wise. 

I will have to believe God is generous and that God is wise and be convinced in my heart , before I will start to take Him up on His great and precious promises. Once I’m sure that God is generous and that God is wise, prayer flows more naturally.

  

OUR FATHER IS WISE.

Matthew 6 Verse 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

But…………what if it feels as if God is giving me a stone, instead of bread? Is it because I have forgotten that God is wise and generous?

WE HAVE GREATER NEEDS THAT WE MAY NOT PERCEIVE OR VOICE OR VALUE.

2 Corinthians 12: 7 so to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

By the way, this thorn is not a tiny little thing you can pluck out with tweezers. God basically says "no" to Paul.

• My need is often to be weaned of my self-confidence and perceived self-power.
• My need is to be brought to the end of myself and found in that moment, to be strengthened by God, upheld by a generous and wise Father, giving me strength, giving me joy.
• My need is to get to that place where I can genuinely say: “Jesus is enough for me; God’s grace is enough for me.” 

But .....many a time I do not see that as a need.

When the bread I’ve asked for feels like a stone,

I need to remember God is wise and generous and

He will do something I have not even

started to imagine or thought of asking.

Yes, ask what you perceive as your need. At the same time, ask Him to give what He, in His generosity and wisdom knows what you need.

“This is what I think I need, Father, but please give me what You KNOW I need.”

• I can fully trust that when my Father withholds what I think I need, it is not for a lack of generosity, rather, it is an expression of His loving wisdom.
• This is not the time to blame God for withholding my request from me, but to thank Him that in His wisdom and generous love
• He saves me from my limited and narrow vision of what I see to be my needs.
• He is working out His good for me that I cannot even start fathom to ask for. 
• Prayer is pleading for the generosity and favours and blessings of God to be lavished upon our lives, while also surrendering to the wisdom of God.

 Here is a good biblical preaching link to JR Vassar's sermon  on Give us Today our Daily Bread.