Category: Minneke’s Musings

Sues Views

9 years ago today ….. Jabari was born! I still remember wondering what that precious bundle held. And it has been a joy to watch him grow and develop into the sweet and smart boy he is now. 

Do you know you were designed by God who put into you everything you will need to be who He made you to be? If you’re not sure ….. Read Psalm 139

‘For you formed my inward parts;

    you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.[a]

Wonderful are your works;

    my soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them,

    the days that were formed for me,

    when as yet there was none of them.

 

Sue’s Views

When Jesus disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray ….. He gave them a model prayer which has come to be known as ‘The Lords Prayer’. It wasn’t meant to be quoted parrot fashion but to be followed thoughtfully. It contains all the elements required to live each day in Gods blessing. It starts by putting God in His rightful place ‘Our Father in Heaven’. It acknowledges who He is ‘Hallowed be your name’ ….. determines our desire to see Him reign as King on earth ‘Your Kingdom come’ ….. and our willingness to put His will above ours ‘Your will be done on earth as in Heaven’. Then we can bring our physical needs ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ ….. our spiritual needs, ‘Forgive us our debts as we forgive those indebted to us’ ….. our mental and emotional needs, ‘And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.’ Finally ….. it reaffirms who God is, ‘For thine is the kingdom, The power, and the glory, For ever and ever. Amen.’

If you use this pattern every day you will never run out of things to pray for your family and loved ones!

Sue’s Views 

The trees are starting to change colour and there is a definite ‘nip’ in the air!As we reluctantly say goodbye to summer ….. let’s remember that every season has its purpose and is necessary for life to continue. I personally love autumn! It has a beauty of its own. The vibrant array of colours ….. the crunchiness of walking on fallen leaves ….. the crispness of the sunny days! It causes us to prepare for winter by putting on an extra layer. In nature ….. it’s clear out time! It gets rid of the old to make way for the new. Not a bad time for us to do the same!

Sue’s Views

My word from God today is Proverbs 3: 5-6

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths” 

As I mentioned in my last post ….. there are conditions to God’s promises! In this case ….. in order to experience God’s direction ….. there are 3 conditions to be met. Trust Him wholeheartedly ….. not leaning on your own understanding ….. and acknowledging Him every step of the way. 

I’m sure many of us start off with a prayer asking God to direct our path but we have our own idea of how He should do it! We use logic, reasoning and past experience to plan how this might work out. When He takes us on a different path we question whether we heard right. Trust means faith without seeing ….. obeying without understanding ….. and yielding to His direction knowing His ways are higher than ours! 

I experienced this yesterday when out walking. I had asked God ‘where to from here?’ I came across several signs that took me on a very different route to the one I’d planned!

Sue’s Views

What is faith? It’s not wishful thinking ….. or a way to get something you really want. It’s seeing something that God has promised ….. but that doesn’t yet exist. If I can see something ….. I don’t need faith to believe in it! Faith is something that grows ….. like a tree. It starts off as a tiny seed that looks nothing like a tree. But ….. given time ….. it grows into something that brings forth fruit ….. shelter ….. and beauty. Faith is like a muscle that must be exercised in order to strengthen. It also pleases God!

Sue’s Views

An old Scotsman operated a little rowboat for transporting passengers. One day a passenger noticed that the old man had carved on one oar the word faith, and on the other oar the word works. Curiosity led him to ask the meaning of this. The old man said, “I will show you.”

He dropped one oar and plied the other called works, and the boat went around in circles. Then he dropped that oar and began to ply the oar called faith, and the little boat just went around in circles again.

After this demonstration the old man picked up faith and works and plying both oars together, sped swiftly over the water, explaining to his inquiring passenger, “You see, that is the way it is in the Christian life. Dead works without faith are useless, and faith without works is dead. But faith and works pulling together make for safety, progress, and blessing.”

Sue’s Views

‘Love is not boastful or proud.’ When we are single we all want to meet Mr or Miss ‘Right’ ….. but no one wants to be married to Mr or Mrs ‘I’m always right’! True love listens to another’s perspective and tries to view life through their eyes. I find the best way to get to know someone is to get them talking about themselves. For many of us ….. our favourite topic is ‘me’. This Valentine’s Day ….. let’s get over ourselves and think of others more highly than ourselves!

Sue’s Views

Love does not envy! Envy is a feeling of discontent and the longing for something someone else has. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence! Love ….. on the other hand ….. rejoices when someone else gets a promotion ….. or a new house ….. or receives some kind of accolades. In a way ….. envy is accusing God of being unjust. It says ‘What you did for them ….. you should have done for me!’ Love says ‘My time will come but this is your time to shine!’ Challenging eh?

Sue’s Views

1 Corinthians 13 is known as the Love Chapter in the Bible. The first thing it tells us about love is that ‘Love is patient’. Anyone ….. unless they live alone on a desert island ….. will have been challenged by this aspect of love. Other people don’t necessarily live by your timetable! I had to wait a long time to get this photo because the butterfly would not stay still long enough for me to capture it. We can be like that ….. flitting from one thing to another ….. while God waits patiently for us to stop and acknowledge Him. Maybe there’s someone in your life who frustrates you and tests your patience? Ask God for help and wisdom. He may want to teach you that the other person is more important than your timetable!