Christmas is...

Christmas is not an annual one-day event,
With a cheeky elf or Santa for entertainment.
Christmas is not just a generous festive feast,
Or buying gifts to satisfy a consumer beast. 

 
Christmas is not about a tree dressed with tinsel,
Or whether the tree top has a star or an angel.
Christmas is not merely the carols we sing,
Or visiting loved ones with gifts that we bring. 

 
For Christmas is something far deeper, far more —
A holy reminder of a good hope at its core.
Christmas is a season of warm-hearted giving,
Of goodwill and grace woven into our living.
Christmas is charity, mercy, and kindness,
Where love in our actions becomes our witness.
Christmas recalls our Saviour, humbly born,
The One we remember again at Easter morn.
Christmas is Jesus — God’s promise of peace,
The true heart of the season, our centrepiece. 

 
So let us celebrate Christmas with wholehearted glee,
Honoring Jesus Christ, who was born to set us free.
Let us hold fast to what makes Christmas bright,
And keep Him at the centre — our truth, our joy, our light.

The Choice is Yours

 

You can choose to be mean or you can choose to be kind,
You can choose what thoughts will occupy your mind.
You can choose how you respond and how you will react,
You can choose to reply in haste, with little or no tact.
Or you can choose to remain calm and not be offended,
You can choose to accept that the hurt was not intended.
You can choose to be bitter or you can choose to forgive,
You can choose to be grateful and always appreciative.
You can choose to get angry or you can choose to have peace,
You can choose to be stressed or you can choose to release.
You can choose to give up or you can choose to have hope,
You can choose to how you’ll live and how you will cope.
You can choose to succeed or you can choose excuses,
You can choose to see the good in life’s little bruises.
You can choose what to believe, or you can choose to reject,
You can choose your future, by the dreams you project.
You can choose to be a blessing, or you can choose to curse,
You can choose to be still, even when things feel worse.
You can choose to be friendly, to encourage and complement,
Or you can choose to isolate, remain alone, to your own detriment.
You can choose to be happy, or you can choose to be sad,
You can choose to have joy, or you can choose to feel bad.
You can choose to feel sick, or you can act like you’re well,
You can choose to push through and not make other’s life hell.
You can choose to declare your healing, despite how you’re feeling.
Each day you wake up with many choices to choose,
There are good choices to choose, and bad ones to refuse.
Each moment of every day, you have many choices to make,
So be sure to choose well so you won’t make a mistake.

Time is a Gift

Time is a precious gift to us,

To be spent wisely and valued,

No minute should ever be wasted,

As time cannot be accrued.

 

There’s a time to work and a time to play,

To fully appreciate this blessing.

For when you’re mindful of your time,

It will keep you from obsessing.  

 

Time is a gift that needs re-gifting,

It’s best spent on one another.

Leave no time to become selfish,

When you’re a wife or busy mother

 

There is time each week, set apart,

To rest, to pause and be restored.

To reflect, to process and recharge,

It’s not a time meant to be bored.

 

Music, reading and watching movies,

Are God’s gifts He gives our soul.

They bring us calm and knowledge,

And helps us to better grow up whole.

 

Time is a gift with a Godly purpose,

Be mindful how you spend each hour.

When you surrender each day to God,

He will fill each one with His power.

 

Your time cannot be saved up,

For the clock keeps ticking away.

Each second, each minute and hour,

Will see the end of another day.

 

Add meaning to your time on earth,

Set goals you want to achieve.

Add purpose to your daily routine,

Have a dream you can believe.

 

You have no right to your time,

For it’s a gift that has been given.

So, avoid every wasteful moment,

Until your time is needed in Heaven.

Releasing your Offences

Have you been hooked by life’s silent killer
The devil’s easy lure of taking offence?
Do other people’s comments and actions
Always seem to put you on the defence?

These offences are life’s hidden enemy
That we feel so strongly, but cannot see
They steal your hope, destroy your future
And keep you bitter and bound in captivity

You can either be bitter or better
For those roots of bitterness will grow
They deceive us to only see the pain
And stops the Holy Spirit’s flow

When you carry the wounds of offence
You rob yourself of God’s good grace
They will deaden and harden your heart
And block you from seeing your destiny space

Don’t let any offence take a foothold
To make you a puppet to do Satan’s will
Watch out to not pick up any offences
For they each carry a heavy, bitter pill

Offences are not given but taken
The devil uses those closest to you
We cast them into media’s gossip
As our bitter roots fester and brew

It’s time to drop the weight of your baggage
To release and let your offenders go free
To unlock yourself of their robbing power
You need to give them God’s forgiveness key

We are called to pray for and bless
Our offending enemies and abusers
Not just once, but seventy times seven
Even our unfairest, harshest accusers

Increase your faith and not your feelings
Choose to become unoffendable
Stop living your life as a victim
Only with God’s grace is this possible

Stop waiting silently, for their apology
Lay your offence as the foot of the cross
Let Jesus heal your wounded heart
As you show the devil who’s boss!

Inspired by the sermon of Gabe Phillips from Life Changers Church - Milnerton : 

Are you watching this? -  https://youtu.be/8pl9XhRhADg

Water in the Wildnerness

Is your life dry and dusty from drought?
Are you thirsty and weary throughout?
Do you want to be watered and well?
Then drink deep from God’s Living well.

Don’t blame others for your dryness,
When you’re wandering in the wilderness.
Put a stop to all your feeble excuses,
That keep you from God’s presence.

The enemy is attracted to dry places,
He devours your dry, empty spaces.
Flood him out with God’s healing water,
For therein lies your wilderness answer.

God’s calling you to jump out of your boat,
Not just to walk on the water or float.
But to swim in deep and be fully submerged,
For it’s there that our dry places are purged.

Don’t let doubts and strongholds stop the flow,
Drink deep from God’s word, as you swallow.
His Spirit doesn’t fill us when we’re empty,
Only when we come, admitting we’re thirsty.

Drown your sorrows in His Living Waters,
Listen to God and not the enemy’s talkers.
Like a flood, the Lord’s grace washes us clean,
His Living water protects us, like a vaccine.

Drink of Jesus and you will never thirst,
Let His conquering love make your walls burst.
Open yourself to drink from His fountain,
Drink long, drink deep and drink often.

When you’re drowning in life’s storms,
Defeated by crashing waves that swarms,
Remember God is right there beside you,
It’s in deep waters that you find His rescue.

Let your Pool of Bethesda be well stirred,
By the healing waters of God’s Word.
Let His Spirit lead you beyond the water’s edge,
So He can clean you with His purifying dredge. 

 

God’s eternal waterfall holds great power.
Soak in it deep, under His anointing shower.
Refresh your spirit in His everlasting spring,
Come feel the quenching only God can bring.

Inspired by the sermon of Gabe Phillips – Life Changers Church, Milnerton, Cape Town, South Africa - 

 The Water and The Wilderness

Song to enjoy : Keith & Kristyn Getty - Living Waters - 

 Living Waters

What you Feed will Grow

We wake each day with a choice,
With what and who will we feed.
We can be miserable or rejoice,
Focus on our blessings or our need.

Our food is the fuel that grows us,
Transforming us into someone new.
Growing to become more like Jesus,
When we feed on what’s pure and true.

Our flesh and 5 senses keep calling,
To feed them with our selfish desires.
Whilst our spirit’s growth keeps stalling,
Getting choked out from what it requires.

We need to crucify our flesh,
And starve it’s needs to death.
So that our spirit can arise afresh,
And feed on our worship breath.

Our spirit’s willing, our flesh is weak,
We must look above and not around.
For the spiritual food that we seek,
Is where our maturing growth is found.

We need to feed on God’s Word,
To read it, listen and meditate.
Making sure that our spirit is stirred,
As we daily finish what’s on our plate.

We need to feed on earnest prayer,
To talk to and hear from our Lord.
Knowing that He is always there,
Offering us blessings as our reward.

We need to feed on joyful praise,
To worship our God with a song.
Take off our focus on what preys,
Feeding together makes us strong.

We won’t grow with fast-food junk,
Gobbled up in a hurry, on the run.
Savoring long, on a decent chunk.
Is where our best growth is done.

So wake up each day and choose,
To feed your spirit and not your flesh,
Resisting self, making no excuse,
Until your flesh becomes hungry less.

And as you feed your spirit well,
By abiding and snacking all day,
Others will soon be able to tell,
And will want to eat of your buffet.

Wash my Feet, Lord

Wash my feet, oh Lord,
My filthy, black, muddy feet,
With their smelly, stench of sin,
Ugly and wrinkled from the heat.

Cleanse my feet, oh Lord,
Will you wipe away their shame?
Let your grace rinse them clean,
By the Power in your Name.

Wash them with your blood, Lord,
Let your living waters pour on me.
Soften my cracked, coarse, callouses,
Unshackle me from the enemy.

Help me expose my ugly feet, Lord,
In close intimacy and with humility.
Stop me from covering up with barriers,
Or trying to make them look all pretty.

Help me Lord, to be a good example,
To wash the feet of my neighbour.
To help clean and heal their dirtiest parts,
And to share the load of their heavy labour.

Teach me Lord, to walk in your shoes,
To take off my coat of pride, yet feel secure.
To be a willing servant to wash and clean,
And co-administer Your healing pedicure.

Lord, let me shake off the dust of this world,
So I can leave deep footprints in their hearts.
Let me walk upright and in your righteousness,
As I learn to serve to clean their sinful parts.

Inspired from a sermon by Daniel van Schalkwyk – Shofar Church

Life is like a Computer

 Your life is like a computer,
You need the right programs installed.
If you want the correct output,
You must take care of what is stored.

At times you may need a reboot,
For God to debug your system,
To restore your life to His default,
With His program full of wisdom.

Sometimes you just need a refresh,
Or an undo when you make an error.
Delete them from your cache memory,
And keep your focus on Life’s cursor.

Your sin and bad habits are like a virus,
That corrupts your life’s output data.
Your inner code may need to be rewritten,
In God’s Biblical version of Java.

You will need constant updates and scans,
In order to function and operate well.
Search the Bible like you do with Google,
To find life’s answers for you to excel.

You must stay plugged into God,
To keep your inner power constant.
Let His Holy Spirit be your modem,
To help you start up in an instant.

Let your Church be your network server,
So you can join and grow in life.
When you share and gain from others,
You'll find help to face all life’s strife.

Do you sign in with purpose each morning?
Have you got God’s Bible program installed?
Is God your chosen Operating System,
So your life can be protected and firewalled?

Chocolate is the Answer

What do you do when it’s your child’s last day of school
And you’re feeling emotional, but you smile and act cool?
How do you cope, when you’re losing your hope
And you’re 3 months into lockdown without wine
But you smile and pretend everything’s just fine?
What do you eat when you need a bit of comfort
And a diet or restraint is just too much effort?
Where do you turn when you’re stressed from too much work
And your unsympathetic boss keeps acting like a jerk?
How do you get everything done that needs doing
When the hours are few, but you left still queueing?
What do you do when there are bills to be paid
But you want to trust God so you’ve asked and prayed?
How do you survive when it’s that time of the month
When you’re grumpy and mad and sad and feel bad?
What do you do when you have writer’s block
And you’re staring into space and watching the clock?
Where do you turn when your plans don’t turn out
And nothing goes right and you just want to shout?
Jesus and Chocolate are the answer, my friend…

Re-taking Life's Tests

Some storms in life seem to reoccur
Or the same steep mountains to climb
Giving us another chance to pass
God’s lesson and test, one more time

I had hoped things would work out okay
I have tried to keep a positive attitude
But it’s hard not knowing the future
And still try stay in a hopeful mood 

When those 3am fearful thoughts come
That leave a tightness in your chest
When you’re trying so hard not to quit
And to not feel defeated or stressed

Lord, I need your strength to cope
I can’t go through this again on my own
Please help me to not lose hope
And keep my focused on you alone

To help me pass this test this time
I will study your Word in preparation
Sustained by your calming peace
Passing well will be cause for celebration