The Passion of the Christ

After watching The Passion of the Christ it struck me. All our suffering is nothing compared to what we should have gone through; it’s nothing compared to what Jesus suffered in our stead. He was betrayed, mocked, beaten, scourged, spat on, hated by the crowd and even deserted by his friends. And He bore the weight of the whole world’s sin on His back. He even experienced complete separation from the Father, the separation we should have undergone, when He cried in agony of spirit and body: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Imagine experiencing so many kinds of suffering all at once.

Of course, through the Bible we know about what Jesus went through. But it’s so different when you see it with your own eyes. In The Passion of the Christ, you see His pain, you see His body so damaged it’s unrecognisable and you see what we deserved. That’s what my heart was screaming out whilst watching the movie: “Jesus, I should have been the one to receive the punishment, not you!” Yet, Jesus took it for us. As He hung upon that cross, His body drenched in His own blood and nails in His hands and feet, He showed us the very face of love. We all go through times in our lives when we doubt God’s love or just don’t feel it and we ask Him to show it to us again. Yet I realised how selfish that prayer actually can be. Jesus showed us love when He died a terrible death for us, what other proof do we need that Jesus loves us more than we can ever imagine? If you ever go through suffering or times when God’s love feel oceans away- believe me I’ve been there many times-look to the cross and remember the sacrifice our Saviour paid for us. He knows what you’re going through and He loves you so much that He gave everything for you.

The Hope of Spring

 There’s something about the changing seasons that causes me to stop and reflect. It’s quite amazing how our surroundings can affect us. On a beautiful, cool spring day, my heart fills with joy and peace.

Spring has finally come to South Africa. There’s something about spring that renews my hope. What was once dead and brown suddenly transforms into something beautiful. New things begin to grow; flowers appear, the grass slowly turns green, leaves adorn the trees in glory once more and the birds sing their melody yet again. And the sweet aroma in the air....I can’t describe it; all I know is that it fills my heart with joy and contentment. But I think if hope had a scent it would smell like spring. It’s on spring days that I can feel God at work around me; making things new and mending what has been broken. It’s the time we notice the amazing Gardener at work.

Spring gives me hope. It shows me that healing is always possible, even after the most severe winter. Spring to me is joy and hope in its physical form. It paints a picture of God planting flowers in our lives and giving us new life; a picture of God bringing beauty out of the ashes. We must never lose heart, for spring always returns, even when it feels like the cold is unending. 

Blogging Break

Hey everyone, I'm so sorry I've been neglected your blogs and mine! My life has been very busy with studying for upcoming exams, but they'll be over in three weeks time. Just want to let you all know that I'll, unfortunately, have to take a "break" from blogging and focus on school. So sorry for not keeping up with you all, but I do really appreciate all the comments, awards and new followers. "See" you in three weeks time! :)

Music Videos

So today, I'm going to do a different post for three reasons. One, I actually don't have time at the moment to write a blog post (I'm studying for exams),two, I have never posted a music video on my blog before, so it would be nice to do something new, and three I think the two music videos below are quite amazing and would like to share them. I don't know if any of you have watched them already, but, for those who haven't, I hope you enjoy them.

Introducing Bronte

On Wednesday evening, I got my little black, female kitten. After asking for months, I finally convinced my dad to let me have a kitten. I named her Bronte, after one of my favourite authors, Charlotte Bronte. Here are a few pictures of her (unfortunately I haven't got many good ones yet). She is about six weeks old and is quite a handful! She's playful, noisy, and is still learning that the litter is where she does her business, not under my cupboard, but she is so cute!

Fearing the Unknown

Fear can grip you in its icy claws until you feel like you want run away and just disappear. Fear is one of the most crippling feelings. It can stop you from doing things that perhaps need to be done for your own sake. Fear is what keeps us in our comfort zones and prevents us from making a difference in the lives of others. It is a feeling I know well. There are so many things I’m terrified of, and they are not necessarily physical things. Often the things we are scared of are those that cause us to step into the unknown. We fear when we have to do something that doesn’t come naturally to us. But we’ll never grow if we don’t learn to overcome our fears.

The problem is that our fear only really evaporates when we do that thing we are afraid of. I’m not talking about doing nonsensical things; there are some things that we should be afraid of. The kind of fear I am talking about is the fear that keeps us from walking with God into the more that He has. And walking with God always involves taking giant and scary leaps of faith. Sometimes we cower away and refuse to budge. But we’ll only be robbing ourselves. I’m writing this for myself as much as for you. Fear is often a huge thorn in my side. At this point in my life, I’m terrified of the unknown future. I’m terrified of growing up. I know that soon I’ll have to make the choice of stepping further out of my comfort zone than I have ever done before. Stepping into the unknown requires inner courage that we can only get from God.

Taking that leap of faith may be daunting but what’s waiting on the other side is perhaps better than we could ever imagine. And yes we may fall, but Jesus is always there to catch us. What we have to realise is that God is bigger than our fear and He’s bigger than the things we fear. There is nothing on this earth that is too big for God to handle. We need to learn to entrust our fears to God and believe that He is in control. Taking that step into the unknown may feel like you’re flying over a dark chasm, but it in the end it’ll be worth it..... and you would have learned how to soar like an eagle.

Perfect Patience

Patience isn’t one of my virtues. In a world where fast food, airmail and cars rule, most of us want things to happen now. Impatient and hating to wait, we expect everything to go smoothly and quickly. This world has turned into race course; if you want to be on top and successful, you can’t stop and wait for anything; you have to keep speeding on towards the finish line. And that is a dangerous lifestyle; it’s a lifestyle that doesn’t enjoy the moment and doesn’t understand a God whose patience is perfect.

If God was not patient, He would have thrown me out of His Story years ago. Instead, He shows me His everlasting mercy by giving me another chance. When I fail, He doesn’t yell at me to just get lost. He shows me my mistake and promises to never leave nor forsake me. God is patient with us every step of the way on this difficult road called life. He never gives up on us, He never forgets us. Because of His amazing love and mercy, His patience is unlimited. That doesn’t mean we take it for granted and keep on sinning. It means we try even harder than ever to walk in His ways. God’s patience and love give us the strength and perseverance to keep moving on. When we’ve failed yet again, His patience is the promise that He still believes in us enough to be ever-present in our lives.