leader or dictator

Those in leadership who have fear of loosing their position, tend to rule using fear! And anything that will cause fear is fair game! And the more fear felt by the leaders subjects, the better for that leader! It means that people will do what they are told, when they are told and how they are told, no questions asked! It takes a very strong person to rise up and stand against the fear! People who have the guts to speak the truth and stand against the fear tend to find themselves under huge amounts of pressure to "change their thinking"! All kinds of 'tools' will be used in order to persuade a change!
Leadership that is based in fear has the potential to become a dictatorship! We've seen what has happened in history with various dictators and leaders of fear! Something eventually causes their downfall!

Leadership and fear should not be mixed! Leadership should be don't in love, with every effort being made to lead people, not force or coerce them.
Jesus showed us how to lead others. He lead them by being their servant! He washed their feet, He prayed for them, He healed them, He drove out their demons. He did all that He was told by His Father to do!
The only way to lead without fear is to know God and know what He says about you! Jesus knew what God said about Him - This is my SON in whom I am well pleased! Jesus knew and believed what His father said about Him!
To be gracious, gentle but strong leaders, we need to be hearing and believing what God says about us! We need to do what the Father tells us! And we need to do it in love!
Going to bible college has the potential to make a good preacher, but not necessarily a good leader!
Being a good takes courage, strength and humility!
God makes an awesome leader, because He is gentle and humble in heart. He has compassion for those who need it, He has grace for others, He has kindness which leads to repentance. He knows when to serve His people and when to chastise them. He has wisdom to guide His people through lifes storms.
If you wish to be a leader of any kind, I strongly recommend that you learn to spend time in Gods presence. He will make you into the kind of leader He wants you to be! And where God is, fear can not reside!

One thing forgiveness can not do!

There is one thing that forgiveness can not do! It can not change the flavour or texture of pumpkin!
Let me explain!
A few nights ago, we were invited out to dinner! The menu had pumpkin soup - not my most preferred soup! To be honest - I detest pumpkins!
I was brave - I ate some of the soup! Its called being polite to your hosts! While I can not say I enjoyed the soup, the rest of dinner was great!
Whilst there my mother happened to mention that as a child I ate pumpkin! Fair point - I did! But - I didn't want to! I was, however, motivated to eat my pumpkin.
You see, I had this step father, and he had this thing that he seemed to enjoy doing - and that was hitting and hurting people! Especially people that were not related to him and people that were smaller and younger than him! He was my motivation to eat something I hated! It was easier and far less painful to eat a piece of feral pumpkin that to have this guy try to slap your face to the other side of the world (without the rest of your body coming along for the ride).
Now, while I have forgiven him for everything that I can think of, that the Holy Spirit has stirred up and anything thing else (just in case I missed something), forgiveness, firstly, does not take away the memories of a fist, fork, or whatever else coming your way, nor does it change the flavour and texture of pumpkin! Whether that pumpkin be in a soup, mashed with potato, boiled on its own, or roasted! It still looks, tastes and feels as feral as it did when I was a child!
Please, don't use that lame comment, "God made pumpkin too!" It doesn't exactly work on me!
My point is... If you know a person who just won't do something, even though it could be the best thing that they ever did, just ask them why! You may be shocked by their answer! Abuse victims often have things that they just won't do because of something that happened to them! And like me, they can forgive their aggressor, but forgiveness won't change the memories attached to certain actions, places, food or anything else! That is between them and God! And just because they did something as a child under the influence of an aggressor, doesn't mean that they will willingly do it as a free adult!

Stay alert

When your head is down and your lapping up the water - that is when you are vulnerable! In other words - when our focus is on one thing and we are no longer watching our backs, that is when we get attacked! While things like weddings and funerals are huge events in life, we need to make sure we have friends and family still watching out for us... This means prayer! The devil doesn't take a holiday just because a close friend or family member has died, gotten married or any other big event is on! When we are distracted with lifes painful or exciting bits, we let our guard down and that can (not always) give the ever opportunistic devil an opportunity! I'm not saying to be fearful, just to keep a lookout!
Those who don't pay attention to their surroundings are more likely to be picked off! We need to stay alert and remember - the devil has "unfair" work practices. His hordes never get sick days, they never get holidays, rostered days off or anything else! They work 24/7! And they always look for opportunities. A distracted child of God is easier pickings than an alert child of God! Remain alert - continue praying and seeking God!

Not a good night

Last night was not a good night! I had a rather nasty dream (the details of which I won't go into), then, the paranoia kicked in. The overwhelming fear of absolutely nothing was exceedingly strong. At first I thought I could handle it. But it just got stronger! It didn't help me that the neighbours decided to choose that night to have a drunken conversation outside, and the dog was running around barking and growling at anything that moved, the cat was playing with noisy things and my husband decided to try a new sounding snore. I was tired, freaked out from that dream and just not feeling emotionally great! I knew what I needed to do, but, as usual, I thought I could handle it myself... But no! That line of action failed as the fear grew! All the while I'm telling myself that all this fear is unrealistic and just plain not needed! But I was in its grip! Somehow I plucked up the courage to grab my "secret weapon"! My mp3 player - holding several hours of God praising music! Over the last 11years, I have found the best (for me) way of overcoming fear, is to worship God! You can't be fearful whilst worshiping God! It just doesn't work! If only the worlds psychiatrists would tell people that overcoming fear (which is what the majority of lifes issues are based on) is as simple as worshipping their Creator! But the world doesn't work like that! Sadly. By the way, I'm not telling anyone to stop taking medication - I'm just saying that if you are experiencing and fear based issue, maybe you could try getting to know your Creator! His name is Jesus Christ - and if you let Him, He will set you free!

untitled - because I couldnt think of a title!

I've been reading a book: Get Well and Stay Well – Jane Stevenson... (Jane Stevenson website)

Now I understand that there are many people who will tell me that I am wasting my time and Gods time by reading stuff about nutrition and general health. I have my reasons...

Reason 1: God wants us to be healthy... We know this because Jesus himself healed many! So... if God wants us to be healthy – we should do our best to make sure that happens! I can not be praying for others if I'm in line being prayed for! Besides, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, it is our duty to look after our body!

Reason 2: If I am sick, tired, weak, in hospital, I'm obviously not going to be where I was designed to be! So, if I do my best to make sure I am healthy, and if I rely on God for the rest – because I'm only human and cant do everything... then I'm going to be a lot free-er to do what God tells me to do! Logical - I think yes!

I believe that correct nutrition goes hand in hand with Communion and life in general! God made various vitamins and minerals, and He made the human body to require and function properly with these vitamins and minerals! So, my logic says, if I make sure I'm getting the right balance of vitamins and minerals, then I am less likely to get sick, therefore I am more able to my particular job! Which means that my brain will function properly to be able to think straight and write blog posts, and share what God is saying to me, in a way that people can understand! It also means that as a photographer, I will have the energy to do my job!

And another thing I like about reading this book (aside from its logic) is that it is showing the physical body and God has been showing me the spiritual and emotional parts!

Take Elijah House Ministries – they deal with ones emotional and spiritual issues (and on occasion physical issues get dealt with in the process, because some physical issues are caused by ones emotional and spiritual state). They pray in order to seek the underlying root cause of a particular issue. There is no band-aid solution with them. You deal with the root cause, and while that may be painful, it solves the problem and eventually the symptoms of the problem fade away, because the problem is no longer there!

You go to a Dr. because you are physically sick. He/She gives you some medication... This often, but not always, is a band-aid solution to the actual problem... If you knew the underlying root cause of a physical problem – you'd seek the solution, right?

So, if you are having nightly calf muscle cramps, would you want “solution a” or “solution b”?

Solution A: Quinine sulphate... Which, while for a short time, looks like its solved the problem, doesn't actually fix the root problem... The underlying problem still exists and slowly becomes worse...

Solution B: Magnesium – this makes the muscles relax naturally along with solving the underlying issue of the magnesium deficiency... Problem solved. Symptoms go away!

Solving the root issue saves a lot of heart ache, physical pain and financial pain! We do it in prayer ministry, so why not with our physical bodies?

Now I'm not trying to diminish Gods strength and power to heal us. What I am saying it that if we use the brains God gave us, and the vitamins and minerals God gave us – we would not suffer quite so much!

Granted. This world is a fallen, broken world and sometimes, for reasons we know nothing about – natural remedies fail us, that is when God can and often does step in and either changes our perspective on life or outright heals us! Either way – we come out better off!

Whats your thought?

Honestly

I stood there with the world spinning wildly thinking, "oh God, 9 years is a hell of a long time, I wish I could just wake up and this nightmare called life would be over"... Have you ever felt like that?
I'm not entirely sure that going to the funeral today was the smartest idea!
I kinda survived the service, and I'm so very very thankful to Ps. John for insisting that the burial service for Exavier was first... Seeing a coffin in church was something new to me, and not altogether pleasant! Then there was the slow driving from the church to the cemetery - it seemed to take forever! Then, as Ps. Graeme said, we were at the hardest bit. I thought I'd be ok. I was so so wrong. Memories flooded back, like a tidal wave. I was no longer at Patties funeral, but Exaviers. Just when you think you're done grieving, you get whacked in the back of the head... I had Onjahlíka with me. She was quiet, calm, not excited or running around like normal. I guess she could sense the mood. I'm not sure how I am. Actually, I feel like I'm in shock, the way I was just before Exaviers funeral.
I don't think I'll be able to go to another funeral. And I think I'll avoid my own!
I was standing away from everyone, thinking, "oh how I need the support of Gav", God spoke up and said 'I had Him. He understood.' I had gone to this funeral to support Jim and everyone of my friends who knew Pattie better than I did. I didn't go there to re-enter the grieving process for Exavier. Yet that is exactly what happened. It was like I was transported back in time. All the while with the feel of a comforting hand on my back (no-one was with me, so it could have only been God or an angel).
Gav told me once that he wasn't sure if he could even go to his own parents funeral. I totally get that! I'm not sure if I could even turn up at my own whenever that may happen! Although, having the advantage of being dead may help there! As for anyone else, not so sure. I'm certainly not willing to put my emotions to the test, so please, everyone that I know - don't die while I'm still alive! Funerals are not fun places, and as Graeme said, it hurts. But that is an extreme understatement! Even "it bloody hurts" doesn't cover it!
We are eternal beings wrapped in mortal carcasses! That is why death is so painful and scary. As Christians, we have hope. How does everyone else cope?
At Exaviers funeral, I told someone that if it wasn't for Jesus/God/Holy Spirit, there'd be two coffins, not one! I still stand by that! Even now, I feel that there is peace amidst the pain! Only God can do that!
I feel for Jim. Married just shy of his 52nd wedding anniversary. I don't know his pain. I could never know the pain of loosing your wife (that one is kinda impossible, I'm not about to marry a woman any time soon!)!
All I can do is continue to pray that God continues to comfort the family! As He has, and continues to comfort me.

understand it! it requires differentiation...

Firstly, take communion with FAITH!! Anything without faith becomes RITUAL! So take it with faith!

Question: what is the wine/juice for?

It is the cup of the new covenant in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ!
Is the bread included in the cup of the new covenant? No!

Question: what is the bread for?

Jesus said that He was the bread of life, then at the Passover He declares, this is MY body broken for you... Put one and one together and add a little faith!

Think about it!

What you eat becomes part of your physical make up! So, logically speaking, if you therefore eat of the Lords body, don't you think that something is going to have to change in you? Your health, your thought patterns... Don't you think that God is more than able to deal with whatever your issues are? Faith in God is where it starts!

Contentment - a refresher course!

Contentment comes when we learn that our peace is more important then things around us!
When we are content, its because we have trusted that God will do whatever He needs to do in us and that we have retained our peace! Contentment requires a trust in God, and a belief that He is doing things in and through us that we may not like, but will make us better people and will bring us into a deeper understanding of Him and us!
I can honestly say that I am content without a flushing toilet! (I may not like it, but I am content.) Most women in this modern society may not be able to say that, but having lived with a toilet that didn't flush for over a year (we had a bucket next to it for flushing purposes), I know that I can say I was content! I can say that simply because I hate nagging. I hate it when people nag me to do something, so if I hate it so much, why should I practice it?? Also, I know that when my husband sets about doing a task, he researches all his options, checks to see if anything could go wrong (in the case of the toilet - we required an epic amount of effort in order to succeed. It wasn't as small a task as we first hoped.), and then he sets about doing it! I waited for over a year for the toilet to be reconnected to the water! But as my husband found out - our pipes were beyond repair. It all had to be replaced! We've replaced the majority of it now, but the rest really needs to be done too!
Learning to live in a house that is undergoing some major renovations is not always a fun thing to do! There is always something that never has a home, because where it needs to go is a construction zone!
Paul said that he had learn to be content in all things, whether rich or poor, starving or well fed... I'm not sure that I can go that far, but I can say that I can live without some modern conveniences without complaint! Some things are not worth loosing your peace over! God doesn't always calm our storms, mostly, He walks with us in the midst of them! And grasping hold of that is where we learn to be content and at peace! Its easier said than done! My first lesson on contentment took me 7 years to learn! This time, my refresher course took me a little over a year! Hopefully, the next refresher course (if needed) will be shorter!!