The Sons of Terror

God’s Thoughts to Me

These are the nations that the Lord left in the land to test those Israelites who had not experienced the wars of Canaan … These people were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the commands the Lord had given to their ancestors through Moses (Judges 3:1-4, NLT).

The Fearsome Hittites

Earlier this year Metro Goldwyn Mayer, in co-operation with History Channel screened a new television drama about early medieval Scandinavia. It is the story of a famous Norse hero, Ragnar Lodbrok.

This Viking farmer, his brother, Rollo, his wife, the shield maiden, Logertha, and a few other warriors loyal to Ragnar, were the first Norsemen who sailed west to England.

They raided the English of tons of gold and silver ornaments, precious gemstones and jewelry. They even took a few Englishmen back to Norway as slaves. These warriors were formidable, fierce and powerful and filled many a brave soul with terror just on hearing their names.

As I was reading an article on the book of Judges, I met another tribe of people who were just as fearsome and powerful as these Norsemen: the Hittites. They were the third major nation our Lord left in Canaan.

God did not allow Joshua to conquer all Israel’s enemies for He knew their hearts. The new generation was already turning away from their Lord and prostituting themselves by worshipping other gods (Judges 2:17).

Our Pappa wanted to teach them how to war against these formidable foes who each represented a fleshly, worldly or satanic principle that have been with man since the day Adam decided to live life on his own.

The Hittites were a formidable nation and were spread out over an immense area. Their name comes from the name “Heth”, meaning “Sons of Terror”. These fierce warriors were big, strong and fearless opponents.

They may have long come and gone, but their gremlins of fear, that spirit of terror certainly has not. This spirit holds the whole world in its iron grip of hatred, violence, corruption, terrorism and wars.

When we look at our Lord Jesus’ words, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world”, why is it that so many of our Pappa’s children are still held captive and controlled by the Hittite enemy? (John 16:33).

Can it be that the Hittites have masqueraded themselves in religious garb or Angel of Light attire? It might just be. Way too many Christian lives are held captive and controlled by the Hittite enemy.

It should come as no surprise. Paul warned us, “I know that false teachers , like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock … distort the truth in order to draw a following” (Acts 20:29-30).

One thing the world has no shortage of, is preachers and teachers doing their own thing in Jesus’ name, each having their own set of followers. They fleece their flock for their own gain, leaving their sheep shivering and starving in the winter cold.

I used to be one of these naked, poor sheep. I have seen my fair share of hirelings running away as fast as they could when wolves were attacking and scattering the flocks.

Our Lord told us the reason, “The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep” (John 10:13).

But I have also experienced the love, the mercy, the grace and goodness of the good Shepherd who sacrificed His life for me and reconciled me to my Pappa. I have experienced perfect Love that casts out all fear (1 John 4:18).

I have the privilege of drinking daily, deeply from the Fountain of Life … of experiencing life in His Loving Embrace. I have the joy of having a Pappa who picks me up when the wolves come … a Father who comforts me with the beat of His heart.

Much love and sweet blessings.

Mia

Linking-up with

The Shepherd from Heaven

God’s Thoughts to Me

He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry His lambs in His arms, holding them close to His heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young (Isaiah 40:11, NLT).

He Feeds Us

Today is the beginning of the International Fibromyalgia/ME Awareness Week. Although research is only in its infancy, we look forward to progress and perhaps a breakthrough in the near future.

Due to unbelief, many if not most sufferers, received very bad and hostile treatment from the medical profession.

But at least we are finally beginning to be acknowledged as human beings with a real and quite disabling disease.

Isaiah 40:11 reminds us so wonderfully of how well the good Shepherd from heaven takes care of mothers and their children.

He cares for the broken ones, the weak, the sick, the unimportant, the unwanted and the rejected of this world. They only need to come to Him.

When my son, Simon, was in Grade 11, we had to buy text books for Grade 12 when the Grade 12 pupils were selling their old books second-hand at a much lower price than new books.

I recall the week when we had to pay about R600 (around $67) for two text books as well as payment for the initiation camp for the following year’s Grade 12 learners.

It was in the middle of the month and we were stone, cold broke with only a few pennies we had to rub together in any case. Yet, I knew I had a Pappa who promised to take care of all our needs.

The morning the payment was due, we still had not received our Lord’s provision, but I assured my children that the money would be paid before the end of the day.

When they left for school, I had a serious talk with my God, reminding Him that today is D-day and we still were empty-handed (or rather empty pocketed).

He told me to go to the ATM, and of course I stubbornly had to argue a bit, for the previous day when I checked, I was taunted by a big, round zero. Oh, those trust issues!!!!

At the word of our Lord, in the famous Peter style with the fishing nets, reluctantly, off to the ATM I went.

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I found that double the amount we needed was paid back to us from the Receiver of Revenue. We were overjoyed and my children’s faith grew with leaps and bounds.

One would think that I was now cured of my stubbornness. Oh no, not this one. As a Fm/CFS sufferer, I had my fair share of unbelief, rejection and neglect from doctors, church people and also family and friends.

To such an extent that I landed up in the proverbial pig pen; not because of my foolishness, but because I had no one to care for me when I couldn’t take care of myself. Nobody believed that I was really ill.

But I was never alone. I could hear my Pappa screaming in my pain and suffering. Faithfully He was working in His normal mysterious ways to perform His wonders in my life.

The shepherds of ancient times would break the legs of the lambs that constantly wandered away.

Then he would set the leg and carry the lamb on his shoulder until the leg was healed. After that the lamb would remain by the shepherd’s side for the rest of its life.

Pappa knew of my stubborn propensities to be a master performer to earn everyone’s love and approval.

With my religious mindset, I just could not believe that I already was loved and accepted by our God.

Because of His amazing love, He did what the shepherds did with their stubborn, wandering lambs. Allowing Fm/ME in my life, He “broke” my legs.

With such tender care and love, He gently set it as well and carried me around His neck until I was healed of my stubbornness and insecurities.

I have learned how good it is when my Beloved Shepherd Himself feeds me with the milk of His love… His grace … His life and compassion.

Fm/CFS has taught me how to always walk with our Lord and never ever to leave His side again.

Even though we suffer greatly at times, I am so grateful for the wonder and joy of walking daily with our God … for the privilege of living in His Loving Embrace.

Love and sweet blessings

Mia

We all have experienced how our Lord has provided in miraculous ways. Please, share His goodness with us!

Linking-up with

The Sheep and The Goats

God’s Thoughts to Me

For I was hungry, and you fed me, I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink, I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick and you cared for me. I was in prison and you visited me … Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? … I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me! (Matthew 25:35-40, NLT).

But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father who sees everything, will reward you (Matthew 6:3-4, NLT).

True Generous Love

When my earthly Pappa passed away 8 years ago, he left me a legacy I would never exchange for all the riches of the world.

He had a humble burial, the way he preferred, actually insisted on. His grave is adorned only with an uncut rock from my brother’s farm and a few succulents.

On the rock is a small copper plate engraved with his name, date of birth and death, and the words,”And the greatest of these is love”.

My father was a humble man who taught me much about my heavenly Pappa.

He had the means to be quite rich, but he wasn’t! He didn’t preach with words, neither with visible deeds of charity.

Actually, I don’t think he knew what he was doing anyway. He and my late mother had generous hearts for the naked, the poor, the hungry and the sick.

Prisoners in Zimbabwe

But I could see a regular pattern emerging from his life like a sweet fragrance.

Many people whose lives were quite broken, not only physically, emotionally, financially, but also in many other small ways, were quite transformed and much better off once their paths have crossed his.

They had sort of more direction and purpose in life and usually they started to know our heavenly Pappa in a new way once they allowed Him to touch them through my father’s life.

He showed me what true love really is without saying a single word!

He definitely had no repetoire of “good” religious deeds that he will one day be able to present to his heavenly Pappa like many would as our Lord told us,”On judgement day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name'(Matthew 7:22)”.

I have the suspicion that, according to the world’s standards, he was not even a very good steward of his money.

But then, his left hand had not the slightest clue what his right hand was doing.

Oh, and he had such a wonderful sense of humor! He could tease us endlessly, yet, with so much love and compassion that it was like a fresh, peculiar breeze in a world fiiled with greed and seriousness!

He was a highly intelligent and educated man, but to him, it was of no importance. And he knew suffering and sorrow, for he lost his wife when he had us three naughty, impossible kids of respectively nine, six and three years old.

I know that when one day the great Shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, my father will be so surprised to be amongst the front sheep for he wouldn’t have the slightest idea why he is so blessed. (Matthew 25:32-33).

He will be so surprised to be granted a place at his Pappa’s right hand … that special place of honor for he will NOT KNOW what he has done to receive such love!

Dear Ones, this is the legacy my father left me … the legacy and footprints I would love to walk in.

Much love xx

Mia

I am linking-up with

A God Who Waits

God’s Thoughts to Me

Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it. You said,”No, we will get our help from Egypt.”…. So the Lord must wait for you to come to Him so He can show you His love and compassion. (Isaiah 30:15-18, NLT)

Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10, NLT)

A Still, Quiet Christmas

During 2011 South Africa had a census. The country was bustling with activity and expectation, hoping for better services and living conditions as a result.

Fortunately we were all visited at our homes by the census officials and had no need to travel to our places of birth like Joseph and Mary had to do when the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed a census throughout the Roman Empire at the time of Jesus’ birth.

I can only imagine the commotion in Bethlehem when they arrived; with all the travellers returning to register for the census. No wonder there was no accommodation available for this unimportant carpenter and his highly preganant wife, who was already in labour.

The world, as usual, was too busy with its worldly things to pay to much attention to their greatest need. I don’t think they were even aware of their need …. the need to be saved from itself and all the futile ways of trying to find worth and meaning …. the need for forgiveness, love, grace and compassion ….. the need to come to our Pappa to freely receive His Gift of Redemption, our Lord Jesus, and to live in Him.

Looking at the frantic hustling and bustling around me, as the world is again preparing for the Christmas celebrations, it makes me sad and I wonder how much, if anything, has changed!

I can sense our Pappa still waiting, longing for His children to just be still and quiet …. to just return to Him and listen to His heartbeat of love …. to allow Him to show them His love and compassion ….. to allow Him to hold them securely in the palm of His hand.

It breaks my heart to think of all the times I was just like the stubborn Israelites who “would have none of it”. For much too long I had been looking to Egypt. For much too long had I been wining and dining the ways of the world, especially its religious ways, frantically trying to find my acceptance and worth in the false security it offers.

But still my Pappa had been waiting for me, patiently allowing me to come to the end of myself and my ways, knowing that the time would come when I had no one and nothing to look up to, but Him. When that time arrived, how graciously did He shower me with all His love, grace, goodness and compassion!!! The love, peace and joy I experience in His Loving Embrace is way above the busy, futile ways of the world.

Come dear Ones, let us all return to Him, rest in Him, confident of His goodness, drawing our strength from His presence. Let us become still and KNOW that He is God.

Much love XX

Mia

It is again time to link-up with Barbie at The Fresh Brewed Sunday community. We are all invited to share a verse from Scripture that has special meaning to us. Come and join us at http://myfreshlybrewedlife.com

Thank you, Barbie!!

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A Stable for a King

God’s Thoughts to Me

That night there were shepherds, staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. (Luke 2:8-9, NLT)

She wrapped Him snugly in strips of cloth and laid Him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them. (Luke 2:7, NLT)

The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart. (Psalm 51:17, NLT)

Expectant Hearts

The world is expectantly doing what it does best; rushing frantically…this time to prepare for Christmas. The atmosphere is filled with a busy buzzing, somewhat superficial, trying to envelope and misguide many into the commercial worldy version of Christmas.

Merchants have filled every nook and cranny of their shop windows with unnecessary goods wrapped in Christmas garb….all begging to be bought for non-existent needs, oblivious to the fact that the greatest need of mankind had been provided for, 2000 years ago. Bethlehem, the basket of bread, had been fiiled with the Bread of Life when our Pappa wrapped His love in human flesh, a tiny baby…small fingers, small toes and all.

My heart pondered a silent question, ” Where did it all go wrong…? When did Christmas become another money-making opportunity for so many of our Pappa’s children. Where is the wonder and awe of our God who is holy and magnificent beyond description?”

But, then I remembered the humble, dirty stable, the only accommodation available to receive the King of Kings. I could almost hear the angels singing a new song of joy, when I realized His birth was announced to the lowest of people, the shepherds.

The occupation of shepherding was considered by the Jews at the time of Jesus’ birth as quite low on the importance scale. His people were earnestly looking for and expecting an earthly king like King David to free them from the Roman oppression. Yet, gentiles from the east recognized and understood the majesty and importance of this birth and travelled far to pay Him honor and bring Him costly gifts.

I realized that no heart is too dirty for the new Life of our Lord Jesus to be birthed in….no person too unimportant to be the audience for His song of Joy….no culture, country or its people unable to come to Him with gifts of gold, incense and myrrh.

Lord, take my dirty stable heart
make it still and humble
sing to me Your glory song
in the quiet of the dark

Transform my faith
into the finest gold,
my wordless prayer
a costly gift of incense
my love a spicy gift,
myrrh for the King

I realize that true expectancy to receive our King can only be birthed if our Heavenly Father has done a mighty work of grace in a life. When a heart has been humbled, when a spirit is contrite, when spiritual sight has been restored, can tiny seeds of desire be planted in fertile soil…seeds that will grow into great expectancy…into passionate desire to receive and host our King of Kings.

Much love XXX
Mia

Thank you, dear Barbie, for the privilege of your linky place where we can prepare our hearts to receive our King this Christmas. You can join us at http://myfreshlybrewedlife.com/

I am grateful to be linking up with Tanya Marlow from Thorns and Gold as well. You can join us there at http://tanyamarlow.com/. Thank you, Tanya.

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