A deceitful heart

John 21-25

After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, "I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me."  His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them He meant. One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, "Ask him which one he means." Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?"

I have meditated on these few verses for some time now and I am still at a place where I feel restless... suspicious... uneasy ... because I know how deceitful my own heart can be.

(ps51.3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.)

The disciples knew their own hearts, their struggles and thoughts, those very intimate thoughts that you hide from the world - even though they loved the Lord....

I know I love the Lord and that I am really and truly committed and dedicated to Jesus and the Gospel, but to be truthful & straightforward, there are times that I know I cannot trust myself .............

Did the disciples have the same battle, the same struggle where they know their hearts are not as trustworthy as they would like it to be?

Which leaves me to this distressing thought... will I be faithful throughout the end. I know without a doubt, undeniably, unquestionably, most certainly that I truly want to faithful to the end... regardless

But will I be like Peter, and deny Him when the going gets tough?  Even though, I can truly say that I will lay down my life for Jesus.

Even though, beyond a shadow of doubt, I love Him more than life itself.

Even though, I need Him like I need oxygen

Even though, I adore Him with my whole heart

Even though, I put my trust and faith in Him

Even though, He died for me...

Where are you in this.... Truthfully? Straightforward?

Unspoken prayers...

Prayer is often just words unspoken,
whispered in tears by a heart that is broken...

I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in Your word.
My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on Your promises.
Psalm 119:147-148 

L'Femme Kofi

Ek het onlangs die voorreg gehad om saam met die hele produksie span van L'Femme Kofi op hul stel te kuier en deel te wees van 3 opnames, & ek moet sê ek was baie baie verrras dat die Here die hele tyd in almal se gedagtes was, dat die Here voorkeur geniet het in elke aspek van die maak van die program. En die beste van alles was dat hulle Hom deurentyd ge-eër het.

Toe ek Purple Cape Productions se inleiding oor die program lees (hieronder gedeel) het ek nog steeds nie 'n benul gehad dat alles vir hulle werklik om die Here draai nie.  Dit was gr8 gewees om deel te gewees het van die Here se droom, wat Hy deur Jozua, Magdaleen, Carla, Liese en hul almal droom.

Waaroor gaan L'Femme Kofi?

Hierdie program gaan oor regte vroue wat intelligent, mooi en gelukkig is met wie hulle is. Hierdie is die vroue waarna ons moet opkyk, hulle is die ware “celebrities”. Vroue moet nie voel dat hulle hulself moet verander om op die standaard van beroemdes en modelle te wees nie. Hulle moet verstaan dat elke rol wat hulle vertolk belangrik is, of dit nou dié van 'n ma, 'n vrou, 'n sekretaresse of 'n besigheidsvrou is. Hulle laat besef dat hulle iets besonders is. Hulle moet nie na modelle of aktrises kyk en dink: “Ek gaan nooit so lyk nie”, of “Ek sal nooit soos daardie persoon wees nie.” Die belangrikste vraag is: “Wat dink die Vader as Hy na vandag se vroue kyk?”, “Hoe voel Hy oor jou?”

Hierdie sal 'n sielvolle, christelike program met 'n klassieke aroma en gesellige tempo vir die alledaagse vrou wees; met 'n Christelike ondertoon. Ware heldinne oor verskeie genres en generasies sal vroulikheid deel in 'n tyd wat dit voorkom asof soveel vroue die hoop laat vaar het om werklik 'n vrou te wees: bekoorlik, elegant en vroulik. Wat dink vroue as hulle in die oggend klere kies vir die dag? Nooi jy ooit die Vader in jou klerekas in? Vra jy Sy opinie oor die grimering, hare en skoene wat jy aansit of aantrek?

Een konsep van die program wat deurentyd bespreek gaan word is: vroue wat vroulikheid oor dra. Wat sê die Woord? Die onderwyseres, huis- vrou, werkende vrou, getroude vrou, moeder, suster, ouma ens, wat in baie uitdagende en intimiderende omstandighede steeds 'n manier gekry het om bekoorlik te wees. Dat vroue wat in hul dinamiese lewenslustigheid hul vroulikheid en die respek van ander mans en vrouens behou het. Dat gemiddelde vroue kan wees net wie hulle is en nog steeds buitengewoon wees. Dit is 'n geselsprogram vir vroue om te herontdek wat dit is om 'n vrou te wees, in alle fasette van die lewe.

Die doel van hierdie program is om algemene probleme van vroue te bespreek deur vroue wat reeds deur hul eie ontdekking gereis het. Die doel van die produk is daarom, om alledaagse vroue te wys wat ekstra ordinêr uitstaan in hul benadering van die lewe en sy omgewings. Al hierdie gebeurtenisse van selfontdekking en groei gaan plaasvind in plekke van gemak, waarde en aanvaarding.

Hoekom juis koffie? Vir generasies soek vroue regoor Suid-Afrika – of jy nou in 'n plakkerskamp of in 'n kasteel bly – plekke van gemak, essensie (waarde) en aanvaarding. Van hierdie plekke bestaan in koffiewinkels. Koffie sê: “Kom ons gesels, om hierdie tafel word jy vertrou en dít is waar jy moet wees, jy word aanvaar om te wees presies wie jy as vrou is en daarom kan jy sê wat jy wil, hoe jy wil en wanneer jy wil – dit sal jou vry laat voel...”

L' Femme Kofi: 'n vars en oorspronklike idee. Wat is in die Vader se Hart as Hy na vroue kyk?

Have you ever ever ever considered this?

Have you ever ever ever considered this about God's creation ... the way He enjoys His own? The way He speaks to it? Have you ever ever ever considered this... they speak back to their Creator? 

Have you ever paused to think about the fact that when God sends lightning flashes forth, they report for duty?

Have you ever considered this...that the young ones of the crow calls out to God and tell Him they are hungry?

Have you ever ever wondered about God's wisdom, His cleverness, His knowledge, His abilty to create and to make things work?

Do you know that God gives orders to the morning and instructs the sea where its proud waves has to stop?
That God walks through the valleys of the ocean depths and that darkness has a home?

Then consider this....
That this God, who created heaven and earth and everything in it, planned and created you.  But that is not all, that He loves you, with a love that is far beyond my understanding.  That He wants to be your Father, your friend and that He wants to have a relationship with you.

You, who have failed Him, you whom have hardened your heart against sin, you who have betrayed Him so many times before.. over & over. 

You whom have had an abortion before
You whom have had several sex partners before
You who are in a homosexual relationship
You who are a prostitute
You who talk behind people's back
You whom have killed someone before
You who are dishonest
You who are addicted to drugs and alcohol
You who uses fowl language
You who lead people to go astray
You who have lied and steal many times before
You who battles with pornography

and then, get this...
He loves you unconditionally,
There is nothing, nothing that you have done, that God cannot forgive.
He died for every possible wrong you could have done in your life.

and all you have to do, is to ask God for His grace, His forgiveness
then walk away from all the wrong in your life...
and start all over.

Job 38
(The Lord speaks to Job)

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me if you have such insight.
Who determined its dimensions?
Certainly, you know!
Who stretched a measuring line over it?
On what were its footings sunk?
Who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Who shut the sea behind gates when it burst through and came out of the womb when I clothed it with clouds and wrapped it up in dark clouds, when I set a limit for it and put up bars and gates, when I said, ' You may come this far but no father.  Here your proud waves will stop '.

Have you ever given orders to the morning or assigned a place for the dawn so that it could grab the earth by its edges and shake wicked people out of it?
The earth changes like clay stamped by a seal, and parts of it stand out like folds in clothing.
Wicket people are deprived of their light, and an arm raised in victory is broken.
Have you gone to the springs in the sea or walked through the valleys of the ocean depths?
Have the gateways to death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gateways to total darkness?
Have you even considered how wide the earth is?
Tell me, if you know all this!

What is the way to the place where light lives?
Where is the home of darkness so that you may lead it to its territory, so that you may know the path to its home?
Have you been to the warehouse where snow is stored or seen the warehouses of hail that I have stored up for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?
Which is the way to the place where light is scattered and the east wind is spread across the earth?

Who made a channel for the flooding rains and a path for the thunderstorms to bring rain on a land where no one lives, on a desert where there are no humans, to saturate the desolate wasteland in order to make it sprout with grass?
Does the rain have a father?
Who gave birth to the dewdrops?
From whose womb came the ice, and who has given birth to the frost in the air?
The water hardens like a stone, and the surface of the ocean freezes over.

Can you send lightning flashes so that they may go and say to you, 'Here we are'?
Who put wisdom in the heart or gave understanding to the mind?
Can you hunt prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of her cups as they crouch in their dens and lie ready to ambush from their lairs?

Who provides food for the crow when its young ones cry to God and wander around in need of food?

Are you fooling yourself?

People do not drift toward holiness.

Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord.

We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.

- D. A. Carson

Regardless

Father, with my whole heart I want to have a heart like Paul and Silas had.... to be able to sing to You, regardless of what I am going through... Dis vir my nog by tye te moeilik Here.  Ek wil eerder op 'n hopie lê en huil.... but it is truly the desire of my heart to be able to keeeeep my focus on You.

So that I can sing of Your love forever.

Regardless…
Of my broken spirit
Of my weak flesh
Of my circumstances
Of my anger
Of my hurt
Of my destiny

The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose.

Acts 16: 22-26

What if I was the Mother of the Most High King

Would I have been able to stand in Mary’s shoes? As a women, as a mother?

Would I have been able to witness my son being rejected, beaten, crucified and left to die on a cross to fulfill God's prophecy?

Would I have been able to withstand the pain of a sword piercing through my heart?

Would I have been strong enough to hold on to my faith in God during this time?

Would I have failed God by begging Him to intervene, to not go through with His plans? Would my selfishness once again surfaced? I think I would have failed Him! In my own small little world, I would have given up, would have wanted my own comfort, my own pain to be spared... I give up so easily on my dreams (and His!) when times are hard … I am so ashamed…

God, must have trusted Mary with His whole heart for her to be the mother of His Son, Jesus!

Oh I... [yee] of little faith…

Hoe "undo" ek my foute Here

Here partykeer wonder ek oor dinge... oor my lewe, veral my verlede...

Vir hoe lank dra mens nog die gevolge van 'n verkeerde besluit wat jy lank lank gelede geneem het? 

Soms wens ek dat wanneer mens tot bekering kom, als wat ek gedoen en gese het wat lelik en vieslik was, net kan verdwyn... dat ek dit kan 'undo' en Here as ek werklik uit my hart uit eerlik moet wees - en tot my skaamte, dat ek nooit die gevolge daarvan moes gedra het nie... al verdien ek dit. Alles en nog meer !

Dra mens dit verewig Here.  Hoe lank is verewig?

Is U al moeg om al my kastaiings uit die vuur uit te krap Here?  Om al die mense wie se lewens ek so omvergegooi en verwoes het, bymekaar te maak en gesond te maak? Sal hulle my kan vergewe Here?  Ooit? 

Oeh Here, as ek net daaraan dink, dan wens ek dat ek die klok kon terug draai?  Die seer kan weg vat?
Sal U Here weer 'n keer, ingryp en harte gesond maak.  Help drade optel?  Vader dit is my eerlike begeerte dat al daardie mense, U aanraking sal ervaar, U Helende hand sal voel en kan aangaan, sonder letsels?

Here, asb.
Nog 'n keer.
Weer.

In Jesus se Naam

Restoration

THE Story

 

 

The death of Your Son, Jesus

My beloved Father.

When You spoke the World into Being, You had this day on Your mind and You knew even then Father, how much pain it would cause You, to see Your Son Jesus left to die on a cross.

Father I cannot imagine it being my child - it's as if my mind don't want to go to that place...

You must have felt such pain when Jesus cried out to You in Gethsemane...."My Father, take this cup of suffering away from me. But let Your will be done rather than mine".  How You must have cried my Father....

Did it felt like a spier piercing through Your very own Fathert-Heart... or did You not allow Yourself to go to that place...

I wish I was there with You that day Abba Father.  I would have hold You very close to my heart, share in Your grief ... an emotion so far beyond anything I have ever experienced.

My dearest Father, because of this unselfish love You have shown and bestowed ever so abundantly on the world, on me, I will love You always.  I will be true and faithfull to You, until the day I die.

Your beloved daughter.

In remembrance of Jesus

Holy Communion

Then He took a loaf of bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them saying. "This is My body which is given for you; and when you do this, it is a way of remembering Me."

An in like manner, He took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new testament or covenant in My blood which is shed for you.

Luke 22:19-20

An unashamed Follower of Jesus

My Beloved Saviour

Exceptional Parenting

A few inspiring principles...

~  Don't try to make them carbon copies of you. God made each of your children a 'once-off', with their own genetic make-up and personality.  Don't try to make them into something that God and the rest of the world don't need one more of.

~  Develop their potential.  That means listening, observing, and once their talents and interests are identified, helping to maximise them.

~  Love them unconditionally.  Your kids need to know that their worth is never in question, that they are loved for who they are; that your love is not given or withdrawn because of behaviour, appearance or achievement.

~  Establish boundaries and be consistent in maintaining them.  Boundaries give kids a sense of security; without them, they're headed into a life of trouble.

~  Help them pursue their dreams.  Just like you, your children need goals to shoot for, to stimulate and inspire them.

~  Help them develop strong character and godly values.  These are the all-important intangibles that'll help them to go the distance.