The brave little soul

Not too long ago in Heaven there was a little soul who took wonder in observing the world. He especially enjoyed the love he saw there and often expressed this joy with God. One day however the little soul was sad, for on this day he saw suffering in the world. He approached God and sadly asked, "Why do bad things happen; why is there suffering in the world?" God paused for a moment and replied, "Little soul, do not be sad, for the suffering you see, unlocks the love in people's hearts." The little soul was confused. "What do you mean," he asked. God replied, "Have you not noticed the goodness and love that is the offspring of that suffering? Look at how people come together, drop their differences and show their love and compassion for those who suffer. All their other motivations disappear and they become motivated by love alone." The little soul began to understand and listened attentively as God continued, "The suffering soul unlocks the love in people's hearts much like the sun and the rain unlock the flower within the seed. I created everyone with endless love in their heart, but unfortunately most people keep it locked up and hardly share it with anyone. They are afraid to let their love shine freely, because they are afraid of being hurt. But a suffering soul unlocks that love. I tell you this - it is the greatest miracle of all. Many souls have bravely chosen to go into the world and suffer - to unlock this love - to create this miracle for the good of all humanity."

Just then the little soul got a wonderful idea and could hardly contain himself. With his wings fluttering, bouncing up and down, the little soul excitedly replied. "I am brave; let me go! I would like to go into the world and suffer so that I can unlock the goodness and love in people's hearts! I want to create that miracle!" God smiled and said, "You are a brave soul I know, and thus I will grant your request. But even though you are very brave you will not be able to do this alone. I have known since the beginning of time that you would ask for this and so I have carefully selected many souls to care for you on your journey. Those souls will help you create your miracle; however they will also share in your suffering. Two of these souls are most special and will care for you, help you and suffer along with you, far beyond the others. They have already chosen a name for you". God and the brave soul shared a smile, and then embraced.

In parting, God said, "Do not forget little soul that I will be with you always. Although you have agreed to bear the pain, you will do so through my strength. And if the time should come when you feel that you have suffered enough, just say the word, think the thought, and you will be healed." Thus at that moment the brave little soul was born into the world, and through his suffering and God's strength, he unlocked the goodness and love in people's hearts. For so many people dropped their differences and came together to show their love. Priorities became properly aligned. People gave from their hearts. Those that were always too busy found time. Many began new spiritual journeys, some regained lost faith - many came back to God. Parents hugged their children tighter. Friends and family grew closer. Old friends got together and new friendships were made. Distant family reunited, and every family spent more time together. Everyone prayed. Peace and love reigned. Lives changed forever. It was good. The world was a better place. The miracle had happened. God was pleased.

By: John Alessi

Psalm 51v10

Beautiful things

All this pain
I wonder if I’ll ever find my way
I wonder if my life could really change at all

All this earth
Could all that is lost ever be found
Could a garden come up from this ground at all

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

All around
Hope is springing up from this old ground
Out of chaos life is being found in You

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

You make me new
You are making me new


Lyrics by Gunor

Seasons

"The seasons do not push one another;
neither do clouds race the wind across the sky.
All things happen in their own good time."
-Dan Millman


To every thing there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
God has made everything beautiful in its time.
Ecclesiastes 3:1,11

Abide

When I think of what it means to abide, I think of families living under one roof. I think of the intimacy between a husband and a wife. I think of the close connection between friends. I think of walking side by side with the one I love. It's when you love someone so much, you want them to be so close to you that they become a part of you - so you can breathe them in and carry them inside you, wherever you go. This is what abiding means to me, and when I look at 1st John there are a few key principles that relate to this when it comes to what it means to abide with God.

God’s Word in me

Our closeness to God begins with having His word in our hearts and minds.

“Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father.” 1John 2:24

Jesus talks about this abiding/dwelling of his words in us in the most profound way in John 15:5-7

“I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast out as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done for you.” John 15:5-7

Abiding in Christ is like being a branch connected to a vine - it's where your sustenance comes from and where your strength lies. If a branch is somehow disconnected from the vine, it becomes useless and eventually dies. For us, Jesus is our true vine. As branches that stem from him, when we disconnect from him, spiritually we die. We are cut off from our source of nourishment. We can no longer operate in his power, his peace, his love because he no longer flows through us.

As such, abiding goes beyond just having God’s word inside us to accepting Jesus as our Saviour and becoming closely aligned and connected with him.

"Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God." 1John 4:15

Jesus is the 'word made flesh'. He was and is the embodiment of God. He portrayed everything that God was but in a tangible, real way. Jesus is the ultimate reality of God's word dwelling with us and in us in every way. Jesus is our link to the Father. He is the Vodafone to our mobile, the big pond to our Internet connection; and while we cannot see him, he is there. Undoubtedly.

God’s ways in me

Secondly, to abide with God is to do the will of God and follow His commands. In doing this we are able to see God in us and God in others.

"Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us." 1John 3:24

"And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." 1John 2:17

The closer we get to the Father and to Christ, the more Godly our desires become and the more we come to love what God loves and as a result, we will want to follow His commands: - not just out of obligation but out of hearts filled with love for a Father who loves us beyond comprehension - for a Father who wants to protect us.

God’s righteousness in me

Thirdly, to abide with God is to become sinless.

"No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him" 1John 3:6

"No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God." 1John 3:9

When we are baptised and we put to death our old selves and take on the saving name of Jesus, we enter into a covenant with God - a lasting marriage, a committed relationship. He no longer sees our sin because it is covered by the blood of Christ. We are seen as sinless in the eyes of God. Although we may still sin, it is covered by the blood of Jesus, thereby we become perfect, sinless children of God. However if we keep on sinning and do not know God, we show that we have not taken on the saving name of Jesus and accepted Jesus as our Saviour.

Abiding in God extends beyond believing and doing the word of God to a life motivated by the grace of God that leaves behind sin in its pursuit for righteousness.

Abiding - God’s love in me

Lastly, to abide with God is to love one another.

"God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him." 1John 4:16

"No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us." 1John 4:12

Gods greatest commandment to us is to firstly, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind", and secondly to "Love your neighbour as yourself." - Matthew 22:37-39. So Jesus wants us to love one another and serve one another in the same way that he loved us and gave his life for us. But first and foremost, Jesus wants our total devotion and love for Him. He wants to abide in us. It is only from hearts filled with love for Him that all good works and acts of love flow. If we show love to others, we show love and devotion to God and we abide in Him.

So how do we abide in God?

For me, it’s almost as if Jesus has set up camp inside me... and is sitting around toasting marshmallows on my heart that burns only for him. He guides my thoughts and walks where I walk. His mind becomes my mind. His thoughts, my thoughts. Our foot prints become one foot print. My shadow, His shadow. He becomes my conscience, my sweet small voice of reason and my friend. By following his commands and loving those around me, I can reflect Him in my life, my thoughts, the way I deal with others and the way I live my life. It’s allowing Him to be liquid in my life, to seep into my cracks and crevices and fill my empty spaces.

He is my inspiration. He is my link to the Father. He is my home.

Transitions

If you were to look at my bookshelf, you would see that not only do I
have a penchant for action/adventure novels but that I also have books like
Homer’s ‘Odyssey’, Ghandi’s ‘Story of my experiments with truth’, Nelson
Mandela’s autobiography ‘A long walk to freedom’ and the Bible, all of which
I try to read. I read and search, I debate with family and friends attempting to
uncover my own passions and realities. I go through the pages of other people’s
discoveries and journeys to try and find something applicable, maybe something
that will give meaning to my own discoveries and journeys, to assist me as I walk
through my life. Ever changing from a child, to a pubescent teenager discovering
my body and hormones and guys, to a young adult trying to find direction and
more guys, to a wife finding the guy and hopefully, one day, a mother and
grandmother. We all have different journeys but we all change. We change our
bodies, we change our clothes, we change schools, we change jobs, we change
homes, we change allegiances, we change our attitude, we change loves, we
change our minds. We change!

Sometimes these transitions are the source of joy and other times of
sorrow, but there is no doubt that we are changeable creatures. I’ve learnt
that change can be hard, but change can also be forgiving and it gives me the
opportunity to realise and understand my purpose. And yes, in the depths of my
mind there lurks an awareness of types of change that would devastate me. We
can’t always choose change but, a lot of the time, change happens as a reaction.
I changed cities because of a broken heart, I changed jobs because I got bored,
I changed friends because I realised they weren’t really friends – I changed a lot
to escape. There came a point when after all that change I realised I still had no
purpose. Life was changing me, but not in ways that brought me any joy, it was
just happening and I had no control over it.

In time, my concept of what my faith meant to me changed, which
changed everything. I didn’t want my life to be filled with meaningless
acts. I wanted something more; I wanted to change myself and not just my
circumstances. Moving on from familiar ground is daunting – there are so many
unforeseen events that could affect you in ways you are not prepared for. But
if you hold on firmly to a sense of meaning rather than meaninglessness, if you
boldly and purposefully look into the future and decide that you will change it,
then you will not be a victim, just allowing life to happen to you, you will be an
entrepreneur, carving your path and chasing your dreams.

Transitioning between seasons in life is an exciting opportunity to accept
that we are creative and wonderful women, and that whilst the road ahead may
seem uncertain, we certainly have a creator who created us with invaluable
beauty and potential. Life can be crazy, cultures and values change around us,
but there is an unchanging God who always believes in us.

By Glenda Robinson

Roots