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