A True and Worthy Leader of the People

A leader of people is someone who seeks to help those who follow, to go further than the leader, otherwise the leader is nothing more than a wall blocking the path of the people.
A leader who is not afraid to let his people go further, then the leader will achieve great things, for instead of being the sum of one, a leader who does this, becomes the sum of many.
The goal of a great leader is to fulfill the vision that has been given to the him or her. If in order to do this, the leader needs to step aside and let a follower take the lead, a great leader can accept this.
In the case of the Kingdom of God, we need to learn from our past mistakes of pride and selfishness.
We spoke about our enemy causing division, when it was us that created the islands of denominations which created a permanent division. This is not to say that we will not have differences, as all people have differences, but it is to say that we should not let our differences get in the way of the workings of God.
We need to learn that there is only One Church under Christ. The goal of God's people is to fulfill the purpose of the church, even at the cost of our denominations and our positions. We are not important, God's purposes are all that matter. What He wants to achieve should be our only goal.
We need to learn the simple things again. We need to learn the things that matter.
We need to learn to love. This might be an obvious thing, but it has been lost in the hype and glory of the modern church.
We need to learn to develop relationships with those who do not know Christ in order to win them to Him.
Not relationships built on achieving numbers, but relationships built around love and mercy. This may mean that we spend and give a lot to someone with or without the possibility that they will come to know Christ because ultimately the choice to come to Christ must be made by an individual.
We need to escape our religiousness and traditions in order to reach this world for Christ.
God's  Kingdom is not for those with great knowledge, but it is for the humble, the merciful and those who learn the simple things in order to develop a relationship with God and the people.

a gentler view

I was thinking about how different cultures view things,and I related this example to a few friends this week.
In the world of flowers,western floristry always tries to present arrangements where the material is perfect,no blemishes are ever encouraged and if a petal or leaf is imperfect one is encouraged to remove or trim it back.
In Ikebana which holds the view of the Japanese culture,any imperfection on the leaf or flower adds to the beauty of the arrangement,because it represents life and all the stages,from the unfolding of a bud to the decay &; death of the plant material,each stage is beautiful, like the seasons in our lives.even a diseased branch can look beautiful,because it may change the colour or texture.if a mistake is made by cutting a branch or flowers too short or it breaks when arranging,that's fine, it is like life,we were meant to use it another way.
I so like that view of things,and also my friend suggested we should apply that gentler view to ourselves.
Gerrie

Take a new view

I remember about a year ago, visiting a local church situated on a hill near the sea. I was kindly invited to look inside, as I had been walking around admiring the grounds and the outside of the building. The inside was attractive, with lovely stained glass windows, most impressive.

I walked outside to jump back in my car, and immediately became aware that it was as though my sense of sight was heightened, everything looked better! As I drove down the road the surroundings and the sea in the distance took on a beautiful quality. I arrived home and walked inside, my house looked better the view of my garden looked wonderful. I didn’t want this to wear off. I knew the still small voice inside  was highlighting something to me. it was about changing my perspective, to see things as He sees things, always seeing the beauty in things, it is where we choose to put our focus, that determines our joy & happiness. I believe also that He was showing me that he doesn’t just reside in beautiful buildings, but His presence can be found anywhere. This is a lesson that he continues to repeat to me in different ways just recently I heard him speak to me of it again. let me encourage you  to shift your focus, dwell on the positive, the uplifting, allow Him to give you His perspective - a new perspective! Don’t settle for anything less.

Beautiful Inside and out

At my last ikebana lesson,we had demonstrated to us,how to highlight the inside of a lily,peel back the petals and inside is a whole new vision,the stamens are revealed,and they make their own artistic impression.

the inside of the lily is just as beautiful as the outside.what do you think a lesson for us?what lies hidden is equally as fascinating,and worth taking the time to know.we could apply that to people we know or ourselves,the wisdom within.lets turn our hearts to the world,that have been caressed by love,so they will catch a glimpse and be equally as fascinated.

Gerrie

The Building

The Lord showed me a building. The building was still under construction.
He showed me that the when he cleared the land for the building, so that the building would be build on solid ground, he found that the ground had been corrupted and was unstable. So he poured out onto the ground, like concrete, his love. His love bound together and cleansed the land of corruption. Thus the Lord prepared the ground and made it level so that the building could be built.
He then placed the core foundation stones of Faith, Hope, Righteousness, Peace, Humility etc. (There are more than I can name.) Each of the foundation stones where huge and beautifully made. They were then cemented together with the mortar of love. Thus a firm foundation was laid and the building would be very strong.
Then the Lord showed me that the building was His church. The Lord continued to build the church. Each of the stones was a living stone. Each of the stones like the foundation stones was cemented together with love. The building was very strong and very beautiful. Then the Lord showed me the church after a period of time passed by. The mortar of love had been corrupted with selfishness. The stones were no longer bound together. Each of the stones was jostling one another. Some of the larger stones had moved out of the place that they had been put into and were sitting on top of the smaller stones. They said that they deserved greater prominence and had moved to the higher places within the building. Though they did not realise it, they were crushing the smaller stones beneath them. Some of stones that were being crushed and would never reach their potential, while others were severely stunted in the growth. Every so often one of the large stones would become unstable and it would fall to the ground. As time went on the stones jostled one another more and more as each of the stones tried to get to the top of the building. Soon, the entire building was shaking and then it fell with a great crash.
The stones that made up the building ended up in heaps all over the place. Even after the building had fallen. The stones were still jostling one another, trying to reach the top of the heap. They did not realise that the building had fallen and that they were no longer in the walls of the building. The dust and grit of their lives had blinded them.
After a period of time the silt and dust and the cares of this world buried the true foundations of the church. The mortar that held the church together had long since left and the church was in a mess.
Then the Lord showed me that he was coming, and that he was going to sweep clean the area that once the church was built upon. (This I interpreted as a shaking and the removing of the former things that made up the church. This I see is a warning to all who make up the church, that trials will come upon the people of God, so that the church will be clean and ready for rebuilding.) He showed me that He was going to raise up the foundation stones of walls and that he was going to restore them to their former places. That he would mix up the mortar of Love and join them back together. He then showed me that the Lord was going to go to the heaps of rubble to gather together the stones. He will choose where each of the stones will be placed in the building and that the stones will no longer jostle one another. Each of the stones will be joined to the other stones in love.
Only works that are measured by love will stand the fire of the Lord. All other works will fall. The Lord’s people will not be known by their works alone, but works that have been done in love. (1 John 4:7 NIV) Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

Changing Communities

Communities are not changed by politicians or by government organisations, communities are changed by individuals taking responsibility for themselves and for the people they come in contact with.
A community is like a garden, maintain it regularly and it will provide fruit, vegetables and flowers for viewing pleasure. Ignore it for a while and it will become full of weeds and give little. This is what has happened in a lot of communities today. Most of us have become selfish and self centered. We are too busy to deal with our community. We are bearing the fruit of this today with violence, substance abuse and vandalism.
We have become trapped by the lie that we can do nothing. The reality is that if one individual takes action to improve their community, they will be able to have an effect on those whom they can influence which could be only five or six people. If ten people attempt to take action to improve the community, the effect is not fifty or sixty people but anything up to 3600 as the effect that is made on the five or six people is on passed by the five or six people that the ten people started with.
Hand outs and victim mentality will never change anything. Changing how you think about yourself and changing your attitude to those around you can change the future of nations.

The boab tree

I went to visit my friend out west recently,and in the middle of her town were a number of Boab or Bottle trees.
I was very taken with them and took several photos.I particularly liked the way one had long sweeping branches that went all the way to the ground,a good place to shelter on a hot day.

It would get very hot out that way in Summer I imagine.The  tree has what look like a big belly,that is filled with water,very advantageous in a drought.The other day,I visited an electrical store, displayed on all the TV screens simultaneously,was a picture of six Boabs in a desert with a stream running alongside.If I needed reminding that day,I certainly received it

I loved the analogy of the tree planted by waters, and the symbol we chose for our house name and  the name we have on the giving we do to favourite causes. a tree provides,shade for the weary,shelter from the wind,food for the hungry,and planted by the water it  is a representation of all that sustains life.

psalm 1 you shall be like a tree planted by waters
Gerrie

The sermon chaser

Those of us who believe in God walk through life believing that our leaders are always right.

They must be they have a theological degree, they have the title and they get the honor.

But is this true? 

The reality is that they are ordinary people. There is nothing really special about them. 

They make mistakes, their knowledge of God is not complete and they should not be the only source of direction you should seek in your walk of life.

The bible clearly states that we will stand before God and give an account of the things we have done and not done.

It does not say that we will be able to state that we did not do what God asked us to do because our pastor said it was not or could not be done, that it did not fit within the ministry of the church, or that a prophet told us to do something else. 

We cannot blame anyone for our failings but ourselves.

So what am I trying to say here. We need to go to the source of all truth, God, to determine what we are supposed to do in life. 

We cannot rely on anyone else for our walk with God. 

We cannot rely on others for our prayer, we cannot rely on our Sunday services for our God fix and we cannot rely on our leaders to tell us what is right. WE NEED GOD. 

This requires work. We actually need to learn how to pray, we need to learn how to listen for ourselves and we need to learn a new form of obedience, that is obedience to God first man second. 

Always remembering to walk in love in the decisions we make. We also need to remember that the road God has for us is ours alone. Don't demand or pressure others to walk our road. If others are being lead the same way they will join us. If they are not lead the same way let them walk their own walk. Theirs is just as important as ours.

Walk in peace always, walk in love always and seek God at all times.

Stuart