I always hated knitting.
Mostly because,at the time,it was something
I didn't ever want to do
But my mother,bless her heart,
Had other ideas.
She inspanned the help of
My Aunty Ann
Now Aunty Ann was a stickler for detail,
A fanatical gold-medalist Gardener
Who always wore a khaki cap
with a flowing back neck-piece
For protection against
the hot African sun,and which we kids
thought absolutely hilarious...
But Aunty Ann was cleverer than we thought
"See that nice scarf" she pointed at a pretty red and blue
Knitted scarf hanging behind the dining room door
"Like to make one like it ?"
I hummed and hawed,"Yes, I can try "
I said, staring at her khaki cap neck piece
" I'll try "
Out came the giant sized knitting needles,red and blue wool.
Straightaway we set to work
I was all fingers and thumbs
Until after desperate days I began
to get the hang of first "casting on "
And then learning the main stitches..
Plain
and Purl
"Left hand down" shouted Aunty Ann,
Her wrinkled weather beaten face gleaming
"NOW..IN...OVER...
THROUGH...AND OUT.."
Slowly,laboriously these words became a chant
Which I found myself repeating through the day
And woke up saying in the morning..
And I learned to knit...
Day by day I came to manage the plain stitches
But Oh my !...the PURL!
Many a tantrum and a
throwing down of knitting paraphanalia !
Later I somehow managed the dreaded Purl
After many a-pulling out and a re-knitting
We managed to get me to knit
My first scarf
Slightly Hol-ey,Puckered
From dropped stitches in some places
But nevertheless
A scarf !
i don't know what happened to it-
but I can still remember to
"through and Out"
When it comes to finishing something..
And know that no matter
How incapable we are,when we start to learn
To walk in His footsteps
And no matter how many stitches we drop
We will be "Through and Out"
In the End !
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Sunday, April 22, 2012
The clay
Once I took up pottery
and tried to make pots and plates
It never worked.
I could never pour in a perfect mould.
because when a Potter pours in clay
Into a mould
He knows exactly how much
To pour in.
Exactly.
All of it.
Like all of the righteousness
which is Christ
He gives to us.
We have it.
A free gift-
We are the clay
He is the Great Potter.
Jesus had to live in a body of clay
Like ours
Only His was perfect.
But He had all the emotions
He had eyes to see
All the lust and sin of the world
Ears to hear all their condemning and mocking cries
A nose to smell all the stench
And filth of their sweating sin
He saw,felt,heard the very things we do to day...
A seed
does not grow unless it has come
From a fruit that once lived
Once it dies ,it can fall into the ground
And begin to sprout..
But does that seed whine and cry
as it begins to bud ?
Does a baby leopard feel the pain of its growth
And howl with pain ?
We do,naturally..
But if we die with the Lord
We are not ashamed- even though we do
Howl sometimes with the pain of it
But There is NOW no condemnation
No Mocking
We learn to sprint ahead
With all our might
For the prize of the High Calling
Which becomes ours in Christ Jesus
We run,carrying the pain,the fear
We run carrying it
Not throwing it out with the bath water
Because we know that the cross of shame
That Jesus bore in His body
He didn't have to do it
He could have turned to His Deity and Power
But He didn't
Because He knew if He did
He would never have overcome satan's rebellion
Never have created mankind to replace him on earth
And never been able to send the Spirit at Pentecost
To give us salvation through eternal Life...
and tried to make pots and plates
It never worked.
I could never pour in a perfect mould.
because when a Potter pours in clay
Into a mould
He knows exactly how much
To pour in.
Exactly.
All of it.
Like all of the righteousness
which is Christ
He gives to us.
We have it.
A free gift-
We are the clay
He is the Great Potter.
Jesus had to live in a body of clay
Like ours
Only His was perfect.
But He had all the emotions
He had eyes to see
All the lust and sin of the world
Ears to hear all their condemning and mocking cries
A nose to smell all the stench
And filth of their sweating sin
He saw,felt,heard the very things we do to day...
A seed
does not grow unless it has come
From a fruit that once lived
Once it dies ,it can fall into the ground
And begin to sprout..
But does that seed whine and cry
as it begins to bud ?
Does a baby leopard feel the pain of its growth
And howl with pain ?
We do,naturally..
But if we die with the Lord
We are not ashamed- even though we do
Howl sometimes with the pain of it
But There is NOW no condemnation
No Mocking
We learn to sprint ahead
With all our might
For the prize of the High Calling
Which becomes ours in Christ Jesus
We run,carrying the pain,the fear
We run carrying it
Not throwing it out with the bath water
Because we know that the cross of shame
That Jesus bore in His body
He didn't have to do it
He could have turned to His Deity and Power
But He didn't
Because He knew if He did
He would never have overcome satan's rebellion
Never have created mankind to replace him on earth
And never been able to send the Spirit at Pentecost
To give us salvation through eternal Life...
The flying tablecloth
When I was twelve years old
I wanted to fly.
So I took my mother's tablecoth
and tied each corner with a piece of string
I joined them all into one bunch
Then holding on to the bunch of string
I took down the old wooden ladder
And climbed the garage roof..
I jumped !
I remember coming a bit of a cropper
But never really hurting myself.
Perhaps if I had
I would never have tried it again !
How many times,since then,
Have I tried to fly
by myself
Without
The wind of the Holy Spirit...
I wanted to fly.
So I took my mother's tablecoth
and tied each corner with a piece of string
I joined them all into one bunch
Then holding on to the bunch of string
I took down the old wooden ladder
And climbed the garage roof..
I jumped !
I remember coming a bit of a cropper
But never really hurting myself.
Perhaps if I had
I would never have tried it again !
How many times,since then,
Have I tried to fly
by myself
Without
The wind of the Holy Spirit...
Righteousness
Christ died
That we may live.
It is only through
HIS being our Righteousness
that we are made righteous
We can't just grab at it
Overnight..
It takes a lifetime.
God expects us to
Grab hold of
His righteousness first
What is righteousness ?
In 1 Corinthians ch 1 v 30 it says
"Of God , are ye in Christ Jesus
Who was made unto us
Wisdom - from God,and rightousness
And sanctification
And redemption "
Without His rightousness
We dare not face God
That we may live.
It is only through
HIS being our Righteousness
that we are made righteous
We can't just grab at it
Overnight..
It takes a lifetime.
God expects us to
Grab hold of
His righteousness first
What is righteousness ?
In 1 Corinthians ch 1 v 30 it says
"Of God , are ye in Christ Jesus
Who was made unto us
Wisdom - from God,and rightousness
And sanctification
And redemption "
Without His rightousness
We dare not face God
Thursday, April 5, 2012
The Gospel or the devil's pill?
when my mother died
Part of me died with her.
My whole world collapsed.
I had a nervous breakdown and began taking tranquilisers..
The devil's pill
That was 46 years ago.
Now I have refused the devil's pill.
My mind has cleared,almost as if a veil of smog
had been lifted from it
The devil has specially designed the tranquilisers and sleeping pills
To blot out man's thinking mind.
Then through the confusion and fog
he can gradually come to control the way you think
In certain aspects.
That is to think like an anti christ
which is his son,that is who the anti christ is
He plotted this ever since he rebelled,in Genesis chapter 1 verse 2.
Then it was that the Almighty God had to Re- create
the world that he had first created in Gensis chapter 1 verse 1.
Causing a devastating "Genesis Gap"
God had to first destroy the world "that then was "
And then Re-create it.
God did this specifaclly so that He could
Create mankind.
Mankind would then become God's tool in destroying the works of the devil
All this time God knew that He would send
His only "Begotten" Son,Jesus Christ,the Messiah to earth
Why was Jesus sent in the form of a Man?
For this very purpose in 1John3 verse 5 "ye know that He was made manifest to
take away our sins" and the works of the devil
1Timothy 3 verse 16 says "God was made manifest in the flesh "
God specifical;y designed Jesus for the purpose of defeating satan.
Mankind was also specifically designed for the same purpose...
Part of me died with her.
My whole world collapsed.
I had a nervous breakdown and began taking tranquilisers..
The devil's pill
That was 46 years ago.
Now I have refused the devil's pill.
My mind has cleared,almost as if a veil of smog
had been lifted from it
The devil has specially designed the tranquilisers and sleeping pills
To blot out man's thinking mind.
Then through the confusion and fog
he can gradually come to control the way you think
In certain aspects.
That is to think like an anti christ
which is his son,that is who the anti christ is
He plotted this ever since he rebelled,in Genesis chapter 1 verse 2.
Then it was that the Almighty God had to Re- create
the world that he had first created in Gensis chapter 1 verse 1.
Causing a devastating "Genesis Gap"
God had to first destroy the world "that then was "
And then Re-create it.
God did this specifaclly so that He could
Create mankind.
Mankind would then become God's tool in destroying the works of the devil
All this time God knew that He would send
His only "Begotten" Son,Jesus Christ,the Messiah to earth
Why was Jesus sent in the form of a Man?
For this very purpose in 1John3 verse 5 "ye know that He was made manifest to
take away our sins" and the works of the devil
1Timothy 3 verse 16 says "God was made manifest in the flesh "
God specifical;y designed Jesus for the purpose of defeating satan.
Mankind was also specifically designed for the same purpose...
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
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Monday, April 2, 2012
Born to die
The Lord Jesus was
And so are we
To die spiritually is not chocolates and easter eggs,parties and barbecues- it is"
bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus,that the life also of Jesus might be made
manifest in our body " (" Corinthians 2 v 10) and verse 12 says " So then death worketh in me,but Life in you "
Why should WE die too ? why not just believe that Jesus died for us ?
And go on in our jolly "hockey sticks " way ,living ,drinking that drink,dancing that dance and
go on in our unrighteous ways ?
Not forgiving,not facing up to our lives in Christ ? Just letting Jesus do it for us-
even going to church,Bible studies ,doing really "deep " studies ...
It says "then DEATH worketh in me,but Life in you "
Does that mean to ignore what the Scriptures say and still go on our own way,
working out our own kind of death-not actually DOING what the Scriptures say ?
In a few places Paul says " God forbid"!
He,Paul, says in Galatians ch 6 verse 17 " I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus "
Consider this. Day by day,minute by minute trial by heavy trial,walking along the strait and narrow way.
We say "Oh but Jesus was God ,that's why He could carry the cross .."
Actually,He refused His Deity on a number of occasions - think on that !
He refused the fact that He could draw on the Power of God instead of His own flesh,His emotions,His senses...
in the Garden of Gethsemane,He could have refused the Cup of suffering and drawn on
the power of God's Spirit.
Yet He refused it and said " Not My will but Thine "
In John chapter 4 He could have succumed to satan's temptations but He told the devil
The Lord rebuke thee ", and went on in the desert ...
He BORE these things in His Body for us...
The wicked ones,the sinners,born to sin.
How is it that each one of us at some stage run away from facing up to people
we have wronged,or situations that face us - instead of kneeling to pray with the discipline of
the Holy Spirit...
Asking for forgiveness until we can come to a breakthrough in our spirits,
Keep on asking,going through our trials
Bearing about in our bodies,our emotions and fears,
Knowing that our Lord Jesus Bore the very same things
For us..
He had to do this
So that the whole of mankind
Could be forgiven for all their unrighteousness
Because HE IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS
We cannot better that by all our works,our achievements,even our prayers,bible studies and doctrines..
HE is our righteousness
Not will be
HE IS!
So we can each carry our own burdens through life faithfully to the Lord Jesus
Through the wonderful Helper,comforter,guide..the Holy Spirit given at Pentecost
after Jesus had ascended to the Right Hand of the Father...
All for us,the sinners
And so are we
To die spiritually is not chocolates and easter eggs,parties and barbecues- it is"
bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus,that the life also of Jesus might be made
manifest in our body " (" Corinthians 2 v 10) and verse 12 says " So then death worketh in me,but Life in you "
Why should WE die too ? why not just believe that Jesus died for us ?
And go on in our jolly "hockey sticks " way ,living ,drinking that drink,dancing that dance and
go on in our unrighteous ways ?
Not forgiving,not facing up to our lives in Christ ? Just letting Jesus do it for us-
even going to church,Bible studies ,doing really "deep " studies ...
It says "then DEATH worketh in me,but Life in you "
Does that mean to ignore what the Scriptures say and still go on our own way,
working out our own kind of death-not actually DOING what the Scriptures say ?
In a few places Paul says " God forbid"!
He,Paul, says in Galatians ch 6 verse 17 " I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus "
Consider this. Day by day,minute by minute trial by heavy trial,walking along the strait and narrow way.
We say "Oh but Jesus was God ,that's why He could carry the cross .."
Actually,He refused His Deity on a number of occasions - think on that !
He refused the fact that He could draw on the Power of God instead of His own flesh,His emotions,His senses...
in the Garden of Gethsemane,He could have refused the Cup of suffering and drawn on
the power of God's Spirit.
Yet He refused it and said " Not My will but Thine "
In John chapter 4 He could have succumed to satan's temptations but He told the devil
The Lord rebuke thee ", and went on in the desert ...
He BORE these things in His Body for us...
The wicked ones,the sinners,born to sin.
How is it that each one of us at some stage run away from facing up to people
we have wronged,or situations that face us - instead of kneeling to pray with the discipline of
the Holy Spirit...
Asking for forgiveness until we can come to a breakthrough in our spirits,
Keep on asking,going through our trials
Bearing about in our bodies,our emotions and fears,
Knowing that our Lord Jesus Bore the very same things
For us..
He had to do this
So that the whole of mankind
Could be forgiven for all their unrighteousness
Because HE IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS
We cannot better that by all our works,our achievements,even our prayers,bible studies and doctrines..
HE is our righteousness
Not will be
HE IS!
So we can each carry our own burdens through life faithfully to the Lord Jesus
Through the wonderful Helper,comforter,guide..the Holy Spirit given at Pentecost
after Jesus had ascended to the Right Hand of the Father...
All for us,the sinners
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