golgotha

so when all was said and done then

on that day emptier than any other

Your broken body hung there

Your bloody sacrifice seeping into the ground

in the shadow of that dreadful day

the Father’s heart had turned away

You had bourn all our sin and shame

the world had changed, never ever be the same

when all the jeers and insults with venom had been screamed

and spit and blood had mingled

just the crown of thorns remained

i could recognise myself there

staring at a man

i could even hear my voice there

laughing at the pain

so when all was said and done then

or that was what I thought

the cost of that great sacrifice

a sinner/ rapist/ murderer/ thief/ gossip/ slanderer

yes, my salvation bought

when all that i had ever done and yet

would do in years to come

was there on that cross of love

the world became strangely dim

and then it was just

me

and

Him

there is more!

so i've found there is more than this, more than just what the eye sees.  


to you with the big car, the massive house, the designer family, there is so much more.  to you the power hungry, that destroys everything that was before, just because it wasn't your idea.... there is more.


to you who manipulate those human beings that you're suppose to nurture and twist the truth, and maneuver everything to suit your goals, your wants, your needs... i'm telling you there is more.


to you whose heart has been broken, who's living in pain and daily agony, who's feeling isolated and can not think about the next 24 hours... there is more.


to you who is worried about the next bit of money, to pay the rent, pay with your soul, have something new that will bring you joy... there is more.


to the lost, the lonely, those who pretend they're ok, but they're not. it is ok, there is more.


there is a God who wants to bestow on you - love, joy, peace, hope, faith... in case you say "i'm too weary", "love is not enough", "no-one really cares", "my money will buy me happiness", "i'm too intelligent to believe", trust me and let me tell you there is more.


there is a life that is free, filled with love and unspeakable peace, that goes beyond understanding.  there is fullness beyond what you have ever experienced in your life.  there is abundance of relevation, excitement, contentment and those things that you have searched your whole life for.  trust me, i've been there.  all you have to do is ask.


and He WILL answer.

on a journey...

it's been a while since i've blogged... it's been a hard journey to be on... somehow sometimes it seems that being a Christian makes life harder... but i also know that without God in my life, I wouldn't know how to live.

Right now, God is teaching me about resting in Him. now if you're even a little bit like me, patience is definitely not your strong point. patience has NEVER been my strong point. sorting things out, making sure everything and everyone's ok, now you've got me there... but this waiting... upon His Will, His decisions, His guidance... although i know very well that if i do not wait, i will muck it up... i'm just not that good with.

so there are times that i sit at God's feet and literally say, "Lord, i'm hopeless at this, i've tried and failed over and over again, teach me... teach me how to wait upon you." and then some days i see a glimpse of that... sometimes i can even almost get through a whole few hours, before my head starts to do me in again. sometimes... i see a glimpse of what God has in store for me, if i can just wait.

and other times, i just do not seem to be able to do what i want. how i relate to paul saying the good that he wants to do, he can't and the bad that he doesn't want to do, he does... maybe that's why it is in the Bible, because even Paul, who wrote so much of the Bible, battled with doing what he wanted to to please God.

so for now, i'll go forward in my journey.... Abraham was very old before God called him.... so maybe there is still some hope for you and me... now if only i could know where to... see there i go again... Lord teach me to wait PATIENTLY at Your feet, because i know that your timing is perfect.

Thank God, she lives in Eternity with her beloved Jesus!

To all our brothers and sisters in Christ. Our little Ilne decided that it was time to go to her beloved Jesus on Monday afternoon 16h30. Praise Him, she's alive in paradise. We have peace that she has gone to be dancing in front of her BIG BIG God and we will see her in Eternity. We will miss her terribly, but we thank God for having had the blessing of knowing her and witnessing how much she loved and served our Lord, even at the age of 6.

Even in the past 3 weeks, her life was a witness to many, in our country and around the world in at least 12 countries and many lives changed through the testimony of a little girl consecrated to God. We do not have all the answers and we will miss forever, but look forward to meeting her one day in heaven. Ilne's message to everyone staying behind would be: "Live life to the full and know God intimately". Take heed to that message.

Please join us in thanking God for His eternal love, for lending us this angel for 6 years and for giving us a hope that we will one day see her again. Ilne, we love you FOREVER!

We also pray God's blessings upon you for standing strongly with us in faith and your prayers. Your support has been amazing.

God bless you.

Our God of love!

Our God is a God of love! On this day as people buy each other flowers and cards and chocolates... it needs to be a reminder of Him who made it all. The love we feel for others, is because we were made in His image.

In waiting upon His manifestation of His healing hand on our Ilne in our physical world, God reminded me of His great Love! He told me that as much I believe my mom and dad loves me, He loves me a million times more. Through lifting us up every day as we wait upon His miracle, He showed me that He loves me and my family and the people around us and even you reading this, way way way more than we can ever imagine. He told me that we do not have to beg Him to hear us, He has heard. And He is all-powerful, allmighty, righteous, faithful, wonderful. There is NO-ONE like Him!

He is LOVE. You can only but read His Word to realise how much He loves us. How many times did the Israelites not walk away from Him and after bringing them back He would love them again. Most of us would have given up on them a long time ago, just chosen another nation, not bother with them anymore.

Most of us would have given up on ourselves a looooong time ago, every time we wandered away from Him who loves us with an everlasting love.

The ultimate Valentine's love poem is written in John 3:16 "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." He did not spare His only Son, because He loved you!!

and yet He waits, He calls you by name. He wants to be your God, He wants to share your life and give you good things. He wants you to be with Him eternally. Do not delay... there will never ever be anyone that will love you the way He does. Praise be to His name, who stays faithful and wonderful forever!

surrendering...

surrender.... we use the word so often, that one could be forgiven for thinking that it is easy. and then i find that it is not...

and although i love God with all of my heart, i find that i still doubt, still try and hold on, still try and figure it out, still try and adjust and control in some sort of way, even if it is just to keep on praying and feeling a bit frantic, and that my actions and my prayers might somehow persuade God to answer...

and time and again, i fall on my face, i bleed, i cry, i wish things were different, i rebel at what doesn't seem fair or right, i worry, and i sometimes even resent not being able to change things around me.

and it's then, when at last i actually just feel like dying, crawling into a corner and never waking up, that God's gentle Spirit whispers into my secret place, there where just Him and I can go... deep down inside I become aware of this: "Surrender".

surrender your heartaches and your battles and your fears and your doubts and your human thoughts and your cries and your needs, because I say "I am the Way". "I am the Jesus that resurrected people from the dead, I am the Jesus that cried with Mary and Martha about Lazarus, I am the Jesus that calmed the storm." "I am the Father that says cast all your anxiety upon Me, because I care for you, I am the God that has good plans for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you." "Even if a mother could forget her only child, I have not forgotten you, I have your name (and his) engraved in the palm of my hand."

"I have loved your with an everlasting love, I have bought you with the blood of my Son." "I will never leave you nor forsake you".

And in that quiet whisper, i know that i am home and nothing i can ever do will change things, but God can. And it's then that i surrender...

Because that is what LOVE does!

Jesus humbled himself.
He went from commanding angels
To sleeping in the straw.
From holding stars
To clutching Mary's finger.
The palm that held the universe
Took the nail of a soldier.

Why?

Because that is what LOVE does.

Jesus went from being God
to being human too.
From intimate communion with the Trinity
to being forsaken by God.
From having the right to condemn sinners
to dying for them on a cross.

Why?

Because that is what LOVE does.

Jesus went from heavenly thronerooms
to a humble manger.
From angels bowing before him
to shepherds at night.
From loving us always
to loving us more.

Why

Because that is what LOVE does.

The gift of God
The birth of Christ
This is Christmas

This is love... from the God of LOVE.

May you experience the Love, Joy and Peace that Jesus brought into this world, a Love, Joy and Peace that transcends any human understanding, a Love, Joy and Peace that is still relevant, even for you today. All you have to do is to accept it. Right now.... today.