Stay in the Yard

3-33pm

Such a thought provoking Andy Stanley DVD the other day. We watched the introduction to a series on the Ten Commandments. He said that the rules of God are not a condition of His love but a sign of His love.  He added that you can tell a lot about a person by the rules they set and to whom they give the rules. The 10 Commandments give you insight into what is valuable. When God starts with, “I am the Lord YOUR God…” that’s relationship! When God saved the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, He came to them, not to be a law-giver, but to be a Saviour. All they (and us) have to do is trust Him. We are not on this earth to establish a relationship with God – we already have one.  Rules never establish a relationship. Rules without relationship results in rebellion. Jesus is asking, Will You Trust Me? It was such a great message. He ended it with an illustration. If your dog gets out your yard and goes running off round the neighbourhood, and a neighbour sees him and phones you and says, ‘your dog is at my house.’ You’re not going to reply “If he’s not at my house, he’s not my dog!’  No! Your dog is your dog whether he is in your yard or out. The commands that God gives are like an invisible fence that surround us. We are His. Living in obedience to Him is where I want to be and when I do, I am inside the fence. When I start living outside of the boundaries of the Word of God, that’s when I’m outside the fence. I’m still God’s child, but I’m not living in accordance to His rules…I may be out of relationship with Him – in rebellion. If that’s the case, the consequences will be dangerous. It’s an excellent series, called The Sinai Code…look out for it.

Today, I had a conversation that will change my life. It was a massive ‘step of faith’ conversation. More details will be revealed in time, but just for my own records – today 14-4-14, I stood up in the boat and will soon  be stepping out of it! I got home and made myself a big, strong cup of coffee and then I sat, almost in shock, and thought about it. From the age of 14, I have been trusting God. It’s a well known couple of Bible verses but they have proven true year in and year out… 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 make your paths straight.”

I’m trusting God!

I had coffee with Truffles….

In this photo she is looking somewhat unsettled. When I took the photo, the ‘painter’ was here cleaning the roof ahead of tomorrow’s paint. He had just started and the noise and unfamiliarity was freaking her out a bit. Eventually, I let her out the window and she gapped it to a neighbour’s house where she could watch proceedings from a safe distance! No doubt, she’ll be home as soon as his van drives away!

God bless you loads!

In His Grip,

Helga xx 🙂

Gratitude Pic….oh oh! Hands up those who are so so happy the heat of the weekend has passed….cool, drizzly, cloudy day – yes please!