Sold

Today I sold my car... It was quiet a process but I did it.

For the last month or so I started praying about my car and if I should sell Chip. About two weeks ago while I was driving to Hout Bay, I decide to use the time to pray.  I was praying about selling my car and God was like, "Sell it".  I immediately started thinking about how I can't sell my car because I need it.  I then said to God, "ok, I'll sell Chip in two weeks because I need it to get to Gap and cell group. In two weeks time it'll be holidays and I'll be able to be carless for a week or so and be able to look for a car." 

So... Two weeks later I posted an advert on Gumtree and on Junkmail.  I had about 5people call me and ask to come and see the car.  Three people wanted to come see it on Friday and two on Saturday.  It rained on Friday and no one came, I was like that's okay. God's got this and he knows who will buy it.

This morning I had a mini freak out when I got up and thought, "I don't want to sell my car" but then I told myself to stop thinking like that. I then had a second HUGE freak out when I saw Dave about how it's stressful selling my car and having to buy a new one and how I don't know how to do this or what to buy. Dave was super awesome with how he handled my tears and fears about selling my car and buying a new one. 

At 3pm the first person came and viewed my car. He was someone who was a car inspector from a car roadworthy centre. He checked the WHOLE car out and made an offer of R14 000.00 cash on the spot.  I told him that I would get back to him because there was someone else coming to look at the car.  20 minutes later the other people arrived and checked the car out from top to bottom.  They looked underneath it, revved the engine like 10 times and then made an offer of R15 000.00 cash on the spot.  I called Dave and spoke to him, the guy spoke to him,my dad spoke to him and then the deed of sale was written up, the money was counted and BOOM Chip was sold and Denzel the new owner drove off with Chip.

I never expected to get as much as R15 000.00 for Chip. I thought I would get less, but I'm amped because R15 000.00 is the exact amount I want for the deposit  I think God knew what He was doing with the sale of Chip.

After the sale had happened, Dave took me to deposit the money.  While I was standing in the queue at the atms I realised that this was the first time that I had done something EXACTLY when God told me to do it.  Normally I drag my feet and take a 100 years to get there. It's a weird feeling... but I like it.  It feels so much better doing something when God tells you to do it, than to drag your feet.

xKx

The more they seek you, the more they find you

This is Tree

This morning I BBMed my bestie, Tree, and asked her to give me a topic to blog about.  She replied with this: "Bird poo. And the chances of 1 person getting pooed on 4 times in 5 years." I laughed like a loon on loon tablets when I read this and though, "Yes! I MUST do this, even if it's just for a laugh" 

So here I am... typing away about how my best friend has been pooped on by birds A LOT!  

InCiDeNt 1

 

The first time it happened, well that I can remember was way back when we were still in school.  I think we were either in grade 11 or matric. I can't really remember the year, anyway....  We were at sectional athletics.  I looked towards the bottom of the stands and I say Tree with her dad. I thought that she was crying, so went down to see what was wrong. When I asked her what was wrong and if everything was okay.  She then told me that a bird had pooed on her and her dad was wiping it off her.  I then burst out laughing. 

InCiDeNt 2

A couple of months later during break at school, a little birdy chose Tree's satchel to poo on. Her bag was among our bags, but her bag was the lucky one the bird chose. When she picked up her bag at the end of break, I think her shirt got a bit dirty.  We all once again laughed. 

InCiDeNt 3

One Sunday night we were all getting into Tree's car.  Terri ran her fingers through her hair and she discovered that a bird had just pooped in her hair.  We found it funny because it happened in the night, when birds are meant to be sleeping not flying around.  I then said to her, "The more they seek you, the more they find you."  I think we all laughed for the whole trip home. 

InCiDeNt 4

Unfortunately I can't remember this incident..... 

Tree's car

InCiDeNt 5
 

This week Sunday we were talking about birds and how they always manage to poo on Terri.  I can't remember why or how we started talking about it, but we were.  Yesterday afternoon Tree send me the following picture, saying "they got me again."

 

 

 

Apparently it's good luck to have a bird poo on you or you're going to receive some good luck. I don't know, but it doesn't seem like Tree has had any luck, becasue the birds still seem to find her and poop on her.  It's rather ranodm and funny as to why she always get's chosen by the birds.

 

xKx

Yahweh Nissi

I'm busy doing a devotional on the different characteristics of God.  This weeks one is Yahweh Niss - The Lord is my Banner.  I never really understood what this meant until this week. 

Back in the day when the Israelites were fighting the Amalekites, Moses went and stood on a hill and raised his arms. When this arms were up the Israelites were winning and when they were down the Israelites were loosing.  When the Israelites had won the battle Moses made and alter and called it Yahweh Nissi - The Lord is my banner. (You can read the whole story in Exodus 17:8-15) 

..... So why did Moses call the alter this and not something else? 

I think these could be some possible reasons WhY.....

When an army goes into battle the banner is always flown at the front the army. It identifies who they are.  When you are being attached you would like to know who is attacking you, the banner does this. The Israelites were Gods chosen people, He represented them and they represented him in the world.  God gave them their identification, just like a banner gives an army their identification. 

The banner always directed where you were going. If the banner carrier went left, you went left.  

During a battle the banner helped the members of the army find their comrades when they get lost or disoriented during the battle.  The banner helps them to stay focused on where to go and it also inspires courage among the army. When they see the banner it helps them to realize that they are not alone and apart of a "team" 

Moses sat on the top of a hill - he was the Israelites banner.  When his hands were up the Israelite army could see him and they were motivated to keep fighting and they were focused on the task. 

SoMe MoRe ThOuGhTs...

Deuteronomy 31:8 says "The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.  I often pray this, because it's  true. God goes before us where ever we go, whether it's a battle or not. He's our banner. 

As Christians we need to be focused on God, constantly looking to him for direction and motivation.  Just like a banner gives the army direction and motivation, when we look to God we find our direction, realize we're not nearly as lost as we imagine, are able to refocus and get motivated again. 

1 Peter 2:9 says  "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession....."  This describes who we are today, the Israelites were Gods chosen people and he went before them. Jesus made it possible for us to become Gods chosen people.  This is who we are. God has given us our identity. God like a banner gives us our identity. 

This characteristic of God blows my mind, I never thought something as a simple as a banner can have so much "weight" behind it and be so powerful.  I think that it may even be a new favourite of mine. 

 

xKx

IT'S not ALL about ME

Last night the topic at Gap was a servants heart and Teen Church on Sunday was all about how "It's not all about you". It was all about how life is not all about ourselves, but about how Jesus wants us to live a lifestyle that is others focused.  This is very different to how the world paints our lifestyles.  The world says it's all about me, but being a Christian, as I'm discovering lately is living counter culturally. 

 

I said to my kids at Gap last night that I don't want to be one of those people who walk around telling people I'm Christian, I want them to see that I am a Christian by how I live my life. So here's the challenge... how do I live Mathew 7:16 "You can tell what they are by what they do" (CEV)

I think it goes further than my ministry.  It's not in the places I serve, such as Gap, teen Church etc.  I think it comes down to my every day living.  It's my attitude when I do things. It's how I greet people and how I engage with people.  I often joke with my friends that I have a sign on my forehead that says, "freaks welcome" or "talk to me" because I always seem to attract people who want to speak to me. I don't think there's a single day that goes by and someone doesn't say hello to me when I'm walking to work. Often, at least three times a week some random person will start talking to me on the taxi, while I'm walking to work, at lunch or in the lift at work.  I think these moments are important for God to use you to shine Him to these people.  I can either be rude and ignore them or I can engage with them and have a few minutes of chit chat.  What I want to do most days is directly linked to my mood, but I need to remind myself that life is about shining Jesus to people.

I also think we need to be willing to help people even when it's inconvenient.  Someone once said to me that Christians should be the most interruptable people ever. We should welcome interruptions. God interrupts our agendas and plans with His own plans and agendas ALL the time.  When He sends someone our way for a chit chat, or to ask us for help or to talk, we should welcome the distraction and embrace it full on and listen, engage with person or help them. 

After prepping the lesson for Teen Church and for Gap I feel challenged to be more open to people and to just shine Jesus to more people. I also feel challenged to be more of servant and to live less selfishly. 

xKx

Fruit Bearing

But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives we will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Galations 5:22-23 (NIV)

The fruit of the spirit has always been something that I have wondered about. What does it mean to bear fruit, how do we bear fruit and is our fruit bearing limited. 

I read this the other day when I started thinking about it; "How do we bear this fruit? It will be surprising to many Christians that it isn’t by trying harder, going to church, or any other works. Your fruit comes from spiritual wisdom and understanding given by the Spirit." - Anonymous 

I think from this quote that we "bear fruit" when we actively give the Holy Spirit room to work in out lives. I don't think it's possible for us to bear fruit without the Holy Spirit in our lives.  When we're not allowing God to move in us, we become joyless and less enthusiastic about things.  We also don't show the fruit of kindness or love as much as we would if we as open to God as we should be. The only way that we can really bear good fruit is if we are in Jesus. It says in John 5:19 "Jesus replied, "I assure you the son can do nothing by himself. He does only what the sees the father doing...: Jesus lived a life where he showed every single on of the fruits and he only did that because he was watching and doing what God was doing, thus enabling him to bear fruit. 

Matthew 13:23 says; "But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown"  Christians hear the word at church, they read the word and they pray. I think that even though we hear it, we need to absorb it and then let God transform us. As we allow God to transform us, we start living more like Jesus and we will then start showing more characteristics of him, therefore bearing more fruit. 

I also think that to bear fruit we also need to be spending time with God, John 15:5 says; “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."  We need to be growing in Jesus, just like a plant gets nutrients to grow, we get nutrients to grow spiritually with Jesus, our vine. With out this we won;t grow or bear fruit.  

I don't think that it's possible to bear fruit and grow spiritually if you are not deeply rooted in Jesus. We need to be open to him working, we need to be allowing him to shape and mold us to be more like him. We also need to be tapping into Him to renew and fill us. 

xKx

Testimony

A few years ago I listened to someones testimony. They were sharing about how they had slept with their previous boyfrieds and how when they married their husband God made it feel like the first time.  I had spoken to them, (Tarryn), about it afterwards. I have slept with my prevouis boyfriends and I really wish that had waited until I had met my Mr right and married him.  I also often wondered about what they meant that God had made it feel like the first time as as thought heir husband had been their first kiss and first relationship. 

At camp I got the verse, Joel 2:25a "The Lord says, “I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts, the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts"

At first I thought that it was about restoring relationships, but last night while Dave and I were chatting about stuff I realised that it also has to do with the past and what I had done.  During the convesation with Dave, I looked at him and said, "This sounds really silly, but this feels like you're my first boyfriend and you're the fist guy I've ever kissed."  After I said that I was like... "oooooh, know I know what Tarryn meant.  It's really silly, when I'ma round Dave I get all nervous and giggly when I hold his hand, or kiss him. I get hundreds of butterflies in my stomache when I see him across the room or when he brushes my arm with his hand. I feel like a teenager with her first boyfriend ever.

God totally restored what I destroyed by sleeping, kissing and dating other guys instead of waiting for the guy He had intened for me. God really blows me away with how he heals and restores completely when He works in your life. 

xKx

 

Realness with my Bestie

On Sunday I had a good gigle to myself when I realised that Terri and I are really good friends.  We've been friends since grade 8, which means we've been friends for13 years. That's almost like forever!  This past weekend we went on our church camp, while we were packing up to go home I needed to go to the toilet but there was no more toilet paper becasue it had been packed away.  I went to Tree and asked her for a tissue. As she took them out of her hand bag she asked me if I was going to make a wee.  So I said yes, I wouldn't poo now - you know I haev toiler issues.  She then looked at me and asked if I had pooed at all this weeked. I said yes, but I had to be ninja. I have a fear of using public toilts and pooping in strange toilets except my own.

As I ran off to toilet I got the giggles as I thought about that conversation, it's a conversation I would only have with Tree. It also made me realise that we're really good friends and also very strange and real with each other.  

I really appreciate that we can be real with each other, real in an honest and raw way. We share everything and walk this crazy life we have together. We spend hours together laughing, drinking tea and praying together. We also build each other up and encourage each other in our walks with God. 

Tree really is the BESTEST BEST friend in the whole world Im uber blessed that God put us together as best friends.

xKx