Covered in Yuck

A couple of the little people in my life had lots of fun playing with shaving foam recently. It got everywhere....despite the fact that I only put it on 3 trays. But man! The fun they had!!!

But it got me thinking about how I get myself covered in 'yuck' ...and it's not a fun yuck.

When I deliberately avoid eye contact with someone so I don't have to talk to them....when someone tells me a story and I have to top their's with my own rather than just listening and letting them have the limelight...when I lose my temper over something very trivial....when I judge someone before I have even heard their story...when I am fearful....when I speak before thinking.....when I make a snide remark - and that's just this week's YUCK!

How easily we weigh ourselves down with YUCK....with sin.

But how thankful I am that I can go to God and seek forgiveness and ask for His help to do better. And how gracious He is to answer that prayer with love and patience and His divine power.

As the week heads to a close and a new month starts, I pray there will be less YUCK covering me.

From Genesis 1-12

As I read thru the Bible again this year, I am going to try and keep an online journal (of sorts) with a few thoughts from what I read. Perhaps some of my thoughts might be relevant to you too...I pray that may be so....at least on some of the days.


As most of us know, the first book of the Bible - Genesis - is about origins or beginnings. But have you ever thought about what it is the beginning of? It's not just the beginning of the world, although there is that remarkable account of an awesome God planning and creating this magnificent universe. And to think, all He had to do was say it and it was...and it was GOOD!


So Genesis is also the beginning of life. It tells us how we got here. Life - including humankind - was created by a loving God. Logically then, life is precious. It is a gift. It is to be revered and valued. And we are to be grateful for it and thoughtful in how we treat and use it. The early chapters of Genesis remind us that we have been created in God's image...the only part of His creation that can claim this. I hope that as I live my life today, I reflect even a part of His amazing character.


Genesis tells of the beginnings of marriage....Adam and Eve together as a God-ordained couple. And a definition of what marriage should look like: Genesis 2:24 - For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. And we are also given the principles for a successful marriage.....walk daily with God and wives, be a helper to your husband. Someone who 'does him good.'


The early pages in the Bible also reveal other beginnings, not all good. There is the beginning of sin, as Eve and then Adam disobey God. They chose to live life - this life given by Creator God as a gift - on their own terms. And the result? Separation from Him and a legacy of sin and separation for all generations to come. The beginning of judgement....God cannot abide sin and as a just God, He needs to deal with it. And as we know from Romans, the 'wages of sin is death'.


But how incredible that Genesis also is the beginning of grace. God has made a way for us to be forgiven, reunited with Him and able to live life without fear of eternal death. And finally, we can read about the beginnings of covenant....solemn promises God makes with Noah and Abraham. Promises that still impact us today and particularly relevant as flood waters continue to rise and fall. (see: Genesis 9:9 and on)


To me though, one of the best bits about the book of beginnings is the fact that it tells us that God had no beginning. He always was and always will be. Beyond time and space, God existed....always. He is not limited in any way. He is limitless. Infinite. Exceptional. And He is the One in whom our hope and trust can find the firmest and most secure and fulfilling foundation. I have a small grasp of WHO He is and who He is makes all the difference when I consider WHO I am. A simple, but astounding, concept I heard at a conference once is 'Because He IS, I AM.' If God was not, then neither would I be. If God did not exist, I would not exist. Just a little reminder that you and I are not here by accident. There is a plan and purpose to our existence...and it's not just for the here and now, but for an eternity.


Finally, Genesis: it is the story of a good God and His good creation. It tells of man's role and outlines sin and its effects. It is the story of hope as we read about God reversing those effects and providing a future. Yes Genesis is about origins...but it is also about our destiny as well.....and when we faithfully walk with our Creator, that destiny looks VERY GOOD. 


(Credit where credit is due.....thanks to the Bible Society's Women's Devotional Bible for ideas for this post.)

Just Breathe

Yesterday I posted about the gifts we have been given by God, highlighting creation...commands....peace...the Holy Spirit.

Today I wanted to flash back to my uni days (oh...so long ago) to revisit a key teaching I had on the Holy Spirit. A key teaching that revolutionises lives.

Having grown up in a fairly conservative church tradition, I don't recall many sermons on the Holy Spirit. In fact, I mostly referred to Him as an 'it.'

But when I went to uni I got involved with Christian group Student Life and there, I was taught about the HS and how He was the key to living the Christian life - empowered and successfully.

Simply put, living with the Spirit is like spiritual breathing. Here's how it works.....

When we physically breathe, we exhale carbon dioxide. It's potentially dangerous stuff. When we spiritually breathe, we confess our sin. Sin IS dangerous stuff. We tell God where we've gone wrong and we ask for His forgiveness.

When we physically breathe, we inhale oxygen. O2 is life! When we breathe spiritually, we ask the Holy Spirit to fill us. He is LIFE! We ask Him to empower us to live as God wants us too. We ask Him to guide our thinking and influence our attitudes. We ask Him to direct our behaviour and reveal to us God's will in all things.

Easy hey? He becomes our power source and our personal counsellor...the One who enables us to live the best life we can.

So today...BREATHE!! Breathe deeply and breathe often!

Listen to the Lyrics #3

STAN WALKER: 'UNBROKEN'

The Bible tells us we are broken…sin has done that to us. So, if we don’t walk with God, we can never be whole. What a sad thought. I can’t ever be the full, real ‘me’, the me God designed me to be, if I remain broken. And I can be broken in many ways…physically if my health is poor, emotionally if I never allow myself to love and be loved, mentally if I fill my mind with things not of God and spiritually, if I allow sin to continue to separate me from God.

The good news is we can be made ‘unbroken’. But the only one who can put us back together is the One who designed and created us…our Heavenly Father.

Stan Walker sings these lyrics in his song ‘Unbroken’:

I just woke up from a dream when I was in one piece

No fragment of me had ever seen these streets

Love held me together and it never let me go

There's nothing left for me to break

Reality is…...it doesn’t have to be a dream to be whole. God IS love and it is His great love that drove Him to give the world His son…a son who was broken in our place, by our sin to give us a life of hope and wholeness.

Find this song on itunes or www.youtube.com