Category Archives: Five Minute Friday

Faith, Five Minute Friday

Should

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//When I think of the things that I should do, it gives me a feeling like I have this big responsibility to do it…and you know it’s the end of the world as we know it if I don’t get it done, right? So, here then follows that well known feeling of failure because most of the time, let’s face it, I don’t do what I should do. And, I often think about the things that I shouldn’t do that I am doing!

Should is defined as an obligation, a duty, or correctness, and it’s usually when someone is criticising the persons actions. Basically meaning that when someone should do something, it is supposed to benefit you or those around you in a good way.

So, how do I know what I should do? Well, the Bible is full of all the things that we should do in order to live our lives right, so I guess that this should be a good starting point…//

Colossians 3:12-17 

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

In just 5 verses I have been given a lifetime’s worth of advice. I should…

Be compassionate; Kind; Humble; Meek; Patient (especially with those that irritate me!)

I should forgive (and I know this is easier said than done at times); Love (always and forever, with anyone and everyone); Be thankful (for anything and everything); Peaceful; Wise; Giving praise to God (even in the hard times); Read my Bible and let His Word live within me.

Wow! All that in 5 verses. (I’m pretty sure that I’ve probably missed one as well). It’s a lot though to take in, right? This is just a little list of “should dos” taken from a small passage – can you imagine what the list would look like if it was the whole Bible?

Do not fret though. We are not always going to get it right. One thing we have that we can fall back on when we feel we have failed, is Gods amazing Grace…and then we should get back up again and carry on with our obligation to live our lives right by God.

You are reading a Five Minute Friday word prompt. This is hosted by Kate Motaung and is where a group of people write about a given word for that week. This week the word is “should”. // marks what I wrote in 5 minutes.

Faith, Five Minute Friday

More

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//”Can I have some more, please?” One of my children ask me nervously.

“More? You seriously want more after everything you’ve had? Let what you’ve had satisfy you,” I reply sharply.

We live in a world now where we are not satisfied with what we have. We always seem to want more. We get the latest mobile phone model or the latest car, which makes us happy for a few weeks, or even a few months at a push, but we realise something is missing and another new model has come out. So, we go back to square one of needing more so that we can accomplish more and feel more satisfied. It’s a never ending circle.

Children are the worst for this. They receive something that makes them feel good, but they get bored easily so they come back and ask for more. Children are young though and it takes them longer to understand concepts in life. The notion that we need to be satisfied with what we have in front of us is just too hard for them to handle sometimes.//

Children need to understand that we are not always capable of providing them with more…with everything they want. Children are children though, and like I said, it takes a while for them to understand the concept of being satisfied with what they have. You would think it would get better though when you get older…right? It doesn’t.

When I think of how unsatisfied we are in this world, I am truly grateful that we can fall back on the One that will always satisfy our needs. The One that I always go to asking for more…

More grace…

More peace…

More love…

More of Him.

Isn’t it a good job that He doesn’t reply so sharply to me “be satisfied with what you have. I have given you enough grace as it is to last you a life time.”


I am satisfied in knowing that if I go to my father, he will always give me more.

You are reading a Five Minute Friday word prompt. This is hosted by Kate Motaung and is where a group of people write about a given word for that week. This week the word is “more”. // marks what I wrote in 5 minutes.

Five Minute Friday, Happiness

Make A Joyful Noise!

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You are reading a Five Minute Friday word prompt. This is hosted by Kate Motaung and is where a group of people write about a given word for that week. This week the word is “sing”. // marks what I wrote in 5 minutes.

//Singing is in all of us – wether we can sing or not! And all of us at one point will have an urge inside to get out what goes around in our heads – whether it’s humming a simple tune, or pelting it out at full force in the shower!

I use to sing quite a bit when I was younger – in school choirs and church choirs – and wasn’t that bad. I could even reach the top notes back in the day. I struggle now though and you would probably laugh at me for trying (I laugh at me for trying), but that doesn’t stop me from singing when I want to! //

Singing is a great way of increasing our well-being. We breath better because of the amount of oxygen we take in. The more oxygen we take in getting to our brains, it makes us more alert. Singing also helps us with facial exercises because of the expressions that we make when we sing – some people obviously get more exercise that others!

Singing has so many more benefits – mentally and emotionally as well as physically. Focussing on the words that we sing, especially emotional songs with meaningful words, helps to soften even the hardest of hearts. Singing is also very Spiritual and what better way to use your voice, whether you can sing or not, than by using it for God. However we sing, if we are singing for God it is music to His ears. Make a joyful noise it often says in the Psalms. A JOYFUL NOISE!!

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So why not try and let out some of those songs that you have been keeping inside of yourself today. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain with the benefits of singing. Don’t worry about whether you can sing or not. Just because you can’t sing doesn’t mean to say that you don’t sing!!

 

Faith, Five Minute Friday

Empty but still full

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You are reading a Five Minute Friday word prompt. This is hosted by Kate Motaung and is where a group of people write about a given word for that week. This week the word is “empty”. // marks what I wrote in 5 minutes.

//Why celebrate Jesus dying on a cross? Dying in such a humiliating way…

He was stripped…

He was whipped…

He was mocked…

He was tortured…

He was scorned…

…And He was hung on a cross and left to die.

Why celebrate such a barbaric death? We celebrate it because we know that two days later He will have conquered all of this. He will come back to life, leaving that tomb empty.

That wonderful feeling of Him conquering death leaves myself no longer feeling empty like that tomb was. // It’s only been in the week leading up to Good Friday have I felt that something has been filling up inside me.

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I look at what Jesus went through…every whip He felt beating on His back…each nail that was pierced into His skin. He did that for the people who scorned Him…

…The Priests that crucified Him…

…for Judas who betrayed Him…

…the person who hung on the cross next to Him…

…for me…

…and for you.

That empty tomb is a sign that we no longer need to feel empty. We can all be full in the knowledge that Jesus is alive and that we have His abundant grace always filling us up.

Faith, Five Minute Friday

How much is enough?

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You are reading a Five Minute Friday word prompt. This is hosted by Kate Motaung and is where a group of people write about a given word for that week. This week the word is “enough”. // marks what I wrote in 5 minutes.

//I am what I am. What you see is what you get. This is my “northern way” and what I often tell people. Usually it’s because I don’t want them to judge me for anything with what they see in front of them.

I want to look tough on the outside and like nothing bothers me. But deep down I am thinking “am I enough? Is what you see in front of you enough?” I put on an act as though I am enough, and that I wouldn’t care less if you didn’t think I was.

But deep down I am scared to show you the real me. Because I am scared that the real me is not enough. The real me that is sensitive deep down and that I cling on to what other people say because it matters to me. The real me that is exhausted with looking for people’s approval just so that I feel enough.//

Isaiah 43:4
“Since you’re precious in my sight and honored, and because I love you, I’m giving up people in your place, and nations in exchange for your life.”

Do you know what I try and cling onto though, as a Christian? (Notice I said try…because I often fail at this!) Because of Jesus and what He has done for me…

I. Am. Enough.

When I ask God if He loves me and how much He loves me, I am always reminded of this answer that was penned by someone else…

I asked Jesus, ‘How much do you love me?’ And Jesus said, ‘This much.’ Then He stretched out His arms and died.  Unknown

I pray for each and every person reading this, as we approach Easter, that we remember the reason why we are enough.

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