Refuse to Let Fear Stop You

"Ask yourself, 'What would I attempt, if I weren't afraid of failing?' Jesus told of a man who entrusted his business to three key workers. He gave the first worker five talents, the second two, and the third one. In Bible times one talent was about fifteen years' salary, so you begin to grasp what an opportunity this was. It was a defining moment which gave each of them the chance to test their skills, develop initiative, practice good judgment, and profit from their investment. The first two men did exactly that, doubling theirs. But the third was afraid of failing, so he buried his talent. Jesus described this man as 'wicked' and said his talents would be taken from him and given to the man who used his profitably. He wasn't judged for what he did, he was judged for doing nothing.
Fear of people, fear of failure, and fear of rejection can tempt you to bury your gift. Don't do it! Unless you've the courage to start-you're already finished. When God called people like Moses, Gideon, Deborah and Esther they all had to overcome their natural fears; so will you. When they were in the wilderness, fear of lack made the Israelites want to go back to Egyptian slavery. Fear of persecution caused the disciples to forsake Jesus in His darkest hour, and caused Peter to deny Him-three times. Refuse to let fear stop you! How you use your talents is a matter of the utmost importance. The truth is, it's the basis upon which God will finally judge and reward you. " See Luke 19.21 (From The Vine)

I read this today in our Newsletter. The quote is from the book "In the Eye of the Storm" by Max Lucardo (p229) - HOLINESS IN A BATHROBE !

" "When your world touches God’s world , the result is a holy moment…..It might occur in a Cathedral or a subway, by a burning bush or a feed trough. When and where does not matter. What matters is that the holy moments occur. Daily. And I’d like to talk to you about the holiest of those moments – I’d like to talk to you about the holiest moment in your life…..

It happens any morning right after you wake. Right there in your house. .. Let me re create the scene: the alarm rings. …. You’ve already hit the sleeper button three times.

The hour has come. Daybreak has broken. So with a groan and a grunt you throw back the covers. You sit on the side of the bed and stare at the back of your eyelids… you prise them open with your palms.. you stand and with the grace of a pregnant elephant you move toward the bathroom.

You are approaching the sacred hour. You may not realise it but you have just stepped on to the holy tile.

Look into the mirror. Behold the holy one. Don’t turn away, the image of perfection is looking right back at you. You observe your hair, pyjamas wrinkled, dried out lips, pudgy eyes, breath that could stain the wall …..

Anything but holy. You say give me an hour and I’ll look holy. Give me some coffee. Give me some make up, a toothbrush and hair brush, perfume etc… Then take me into the holy of holies, then I will make heaven smile..

You see. What makes the morning moment so holy is it’s honesty.”

Lucado is suggesting the holy moment/ experience represents honesty.

So I begin to take that thought a step further and call the moment Holiness: Holiness is honesty with God. Honesty with ourselves. Honesty with others. Honesty in our ministry. Honesty in our relationships. Honesty in our worship.

A daily behaviour assessment could be in the making here. To look back at the experiences of the day and record all the honest words, actions, business deals, time with God, motivation, personal agendas. Honest holy living?

Holiness - God's Balancing Act

Hello. I've decided to try to keep this blogg again for me & for those care about. Finding life's balance is a life time exercise - a journey of fustration & delight. I'm recording the amount of time I spend on the different activities in my life. I expect some interesting surprizes in trying to live a more intentional life (whilst still allowing for the Spontaneous) LOL :)

Hello everyone,

It's been a long time. Work has been rather hectic, but somehow I still need to find time to express myself & enjoy you as well. I tried to make a comment with Electica, but couldn't at the time. I'm going to try again. I'll see how I go.

Bless you all,
Amanda

Still learning

Still learning ... just completed profile & then forgot to save it. Need to go to bed yeah. It's rained heavily today.

Big Learning Curve

I found out today that my friend Kylie has a Blog site which she shared with me. Wow, how good is this. What a wonderful way to share life with others. Learning is wonderful, frustrating when trying to figure things out by oneself - eg How Blogs work & How to edit photos (when one hasn't done it for a long time). Tonight as I was looking through some Favourite Web Sites I discovered how to download Astronomy photos. I'll see if I can add one here. It worked. Bye for now.