Do you go about promoting the reputation of someone?  Perhaps a celebrity, or friend?  Even yourself?  With the advent of social media, it seems we now focus not just on developing our character, but developing our social branding, or image.  No longer do people make a judgement of you, when they meet you, they can research or google you long before that.  Then, by the time you meet them, they have already formed an opinion of you.  It seems our world is a lot about promoting ourselves, our businesses, our tribe. I was studying scripture and I came across the ‘Ha ..read more

I have been fascinated with Psalm 69 in the last few days, since I have been reading about a season in David’s life when he was at the “end of his rope.”  There are probably many of us that recognise the feelings David describes.   He tells that it is like being in deep miry depths, the water up to his neck and soon it will cover his head and he is drowning in trouble.  He is desperate and his troubles are not small, or short: his life is threatened; his mind is unstable; he is worn out; there is no help and his enemies are many. He is also without hope and has found no co ..read more

Psalm 55:22 “Cast you cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall.” Casting your cares   Easy to say, not so easy to do?  Is it something you must do repeatedly?  I regularly find that just as I have cast my burden over, I find that I am carrying it all over again.  Just what does it mean to cast your cares on the Lord? In this Psalm, the Hebrew word ‘cast’ means to roll it over onto the Lord, to pile them on him.  It echoes 1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” That Greek word  ‘cast’ ha ..read more

Ever prayed something like this: “Lord every now and then the anger wells up in me so that I cannot control it and I battle to release it and give it over to You. I feel so angry Lord.  I battle to accept the situation as it is, I so desperately want change.  I realise that I feel like this when I don’t get what I want, or what I was hoping for.  This situation as it is, is not what I would like to happen, and my wants and needs are not being considered.”  I was being honest with God about my disappointment, my dissatisfaction,  even trying to understand my own anger ..read more

Surrender! The word that has come up continually in the Lord’s presence lately!  I have come to one conclusion and it translates to everything in my life: “Surrender it to the Lord’s sovereignty, Michelle! Surrender everything.” Everything you hold onto, is not actually yours.  It was given to you by the Lord. I am embarrassed to say that my wants and desires have caused me to plead in the presence of the Lord, expressing my desire and longing and asking for satisfaction of that desire.  It has caused me to rage in the presence of the Lord, moaning at the unfairness of my unmet ..read more

When we want to learn a new skill, we take care to learn everything we can about that subject. An artists will try different mediums and techniques to enhance their art. A musicians will practice their music piece by piece, note by note, in order to memorize and perfect the song they are learning. A chef will experiment and enhance a recipe to perfection. Engineers practice advanced math in order to develop and design our changing world. We give our time, our energy and our minds to these things. King David wanted to know God. He knew in order to know God, he would need to know God’s Word, be ..read more

It is a year in which I am seeking guidance from God, clear direction as to the path of life I should take.  It has involved a lot of reflecting, journaling, praying and most importantly, reading scripture. I have been studying Psalm 119 and stopped at Psalm 119:59 “I have considered my ways and have turned my steps to your statutes.” I was struck with the thought that this is exactly where I am, this year is all about “considering my ways” and “turning my steps,” and that the writer has chosen to direct his steps according to the statutes of the Lord, not his own rules for living or t ..read more

Horses are amazing animals.  They have incredible strength, can be extremely stubborn, yet when they submit to our leadership (through a bit and bridle) you can harness all that power to control them to do exactly what you want them to do.  The power to do this lies in initiating pain in the animal’s mouth.  In order to avoid the pain, the animal will follow your leadership. Now Psalm 32:8-9 gives an interesting instruction from the Lord: I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go. I will counsel you and watch over you. Do not be like a horse, or a mule, w ..read more

Some of us make New Year resolutions and achieve some of them.  Others don’t bother because they never get achieved anyway.  Still others of us make them, and break them, before the end of January.  It doesn’t matter which group you are in, the beginning of the year is a good time to think about how you want the year to play out and what you can do about it. Irrespective of how you roll – resolutions at the new year are usually about diet or exercise and very rarely revolve around character or purpose. Making Resolutions Which is exactly what has been turning in my head as I mo ..read more

Blessed is the man…(Psalm 1:1) We are in the first week of the new year, a new beginning, a clean slate.  We all feel like we get to do a “do-over” at new year, hence the need to start with a few resolutions, like an exercise plan, a diet etc.  The desire is to start the new year off in a good way.  In a way that will bring blessing. Psalm 1, is the opening Psalm of the book of Psalms and appropriately opens with “Blessed is the man…”  We all want to be blessed and this Psalm sets out the path to blessedness right from the start. But first, what does it mean to be blessed ..read more