Imagine what it would be like to be completely free. Close your eyes for a moment, and imagine what freedom would look like to you. How would you live your life? How would you dress? What would you speak about? What would you do with your hours? Visualize your life for a moment, free of …
God knows the desires of our hearts. However small or insignificant it might seem, he knows it, sees it, and hears it. I had a friendship with two girls that come from similar backgrounds as I did, and after a fleeting friendship, it didn’t work out. My heart ached because they were creatives just like …
We all know the story of Jabez pretty well. His birth was a painful one, so his mother cursed him and gave him a name that means ‘he who causes sorrow’. But Jabez flipped the curse by asking the Lord, ‘Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might …
‘Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be broken.’ In high school, I struggled with flexibility. I desperately wanted to control everything in my life. It’s only recently that I realized that the root cause of it was because there was one thing in my life that I couldn’t control: my hearing loss. Fast …
How do you know when your season is about to change? This previous Saturday, we hosted a Winter Workshop in Jeffrey’s Bay (for more info, go to The Creative Community). The focus was on ‘The Art of the Heart’, and we asked the participants to write a summary, then a timeline of their lives thus …
For the last week or so, the Lord has been highlighting someone to me in my thoughts. Every conversation I’ve had with her in the past, every comment she made, all her actions and inactions towards me. Holy Spirit was leading me as I was combing through every single encounter I’ve had with her, and …
Throughout the years, my father always took care of my car. He regularly sent it in for a service, made sure it was filled with petrol, and always arranged with the gardener to wash my car. I never had to worry about it, I simply drove it. Now that my father isn’t here anymore, the …
We really don’t know how much time we have left on this earth. Two deaths in my family made me realize the brevity of life, and how short and fleeting it really is. We get so accustomed to the sunrises and sunsets of our lives that we don’t realize just how quickly time is running …
For the last couple of days, I’ve been thinking about how we tend to overcomplicate our lives greatly. We mistrust the people in our lives, and we second guess their motives. We are highly suspicious of others’ words and actions. We also believe everyone has an agenda, a terrible trick up their sleeves. We replay …
This week, I relaunched my creative arts endeavor, The Creative Community (formerly known as JBay Creatives). Exactly a year ago, I launched JBay Creatives with the idea that I was going to start my creative writing classes. The name & logo was designed, marketing was done via newspapers and radio stations, motivational talks at schools …
‘Community is messy.’ Banning Liebscher Last night we watched a brilliant teaching by Banning Liebscher, aptly titled ‘Living An Intentional Life.’ Banning is the founder and pastor of Jesus Culture in Sacrament, USA. He spoke about how the type of soil that we plant ourselves in, matters greatly. Three things nurture the soil in our …
‘There is a tender tension between celebrating what we have been given, while also crying out for more.’ Bill Johnson It’s interesting how everything is upside down in the Kingdom. The first being the last, and the last being the first. How you shall be thirsty, but when you drink, you shall never thirst again. …
Imagine that your life is like a house. You can imagine a mansion, a farmhouse, a cottage by the sea. Now imagine you enter this house. In almost every room, the lights are turned off. Room by room, you go in and slowly the lights gets switched on. You see unopened boxes stacked on top …
While we are on this earth, we are not just a spirit. We are spirit, body, and soul (emotions and mind). One day, when we pass away, our spirit will live on. But while we are on this earth, we are being given a chance to make our lives right and to choose Jesus. Our …
At the beginning of this year, I had two goals: To launch JSSM and to write my memoir. With JSSM finally up and running, I tried in vain to set time apart for my creative writing. I would get up in the mornings, hoping that I would find some time during the day to write. …
‘My sheep know My voice, but the lambs don’t necessarily know My voice.’ Kris Vallotton This week, a man and a woman challenged me in my leadership. This happened on two separate occasions. Interestingly, they both said the exact same words as they were about to do it: ‘I’m going to put you on the …
A few years ago, a thought came into my head: God can change His mind. This revelation was revealed to me after I had been in a specific relationship. Before I went into the relationship, I felt the Lord saying to me, ‘Trust Me, and do this.’ And so I did. A year later, things …
Sometimes it feels as if the Lord brings certain revelations to our attention a couple of times. I think it’s because we forget what we’ve learned, or sometimes we haven’t grasped the full truth of the revelation yet. This week I was reminded of such a revelation again. A few years ago, my friend was …
In the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant was the Holy Spirit’s resting place. No one was allowed to touch this box; if you did, you died almost immediately. Only the priests were allowed to come near it, and even then there were rituals to be followed so that you could ‘cleanse’ yourself before …
‘And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violence takes it by force’ Matthew 11:12 We tend to water down spirituality until it becomes religion. We want to play it safe until our faith becomes lukewarm and we settle for the mundane. The verse in …
‘God is looking for hunger.’ Bernie Ooley Sometimes, being unsatisfied with something is a good thing. Sometimes, wanting more is frustrating but it’s a good thing. When we are not happy with the norm, we challenge the level to higher heights. This week, I was at the mall in Port Elizabeth with my mom. We …
‘Revelation is a manifestation of friendship.’ Bill Johnson I love it when the Lord answers something that I’ve been wondering about – especially when it’s something that I’ve been thinking about for years. When that truth bomb drops, I just pause for a moment and stand in awe of the revelation that’s just been given …
Nature’s seasons can teach us so many lessons. The ebb and flow of it can be compared to life itself; it gives us a revelation and an understanding of what’s going on. It also gives us a grace to know that this too shall pass, that seasons do change and life will go on. Jeffrey’s …
‘It is normal for you to hear things that have never been heard before.’ Bill Johnson ‘I am really passionate about learning how to be moved by what I don’t understand.’ Eric Johnson Recently, I watched a YouTube video of Stacey Westfall with her horse, Roxy, where she won the Championships for Bareback Bridleless Freestyle …
In Matthew 22:14, the verse ‘Many are called, but few are chosen’ is something that I have pondered over throughout the years. What does it mean to be called, or more importantly, chosen? And how do you know which one you are? Recently, I had lunch with a mother and her 14-year-old daughter. The daughter …
Last year, I started rewriting the outline of my memoir. As I was putting certain chapters of my life together in brackets, I realized that life is just like that: there are specific seasons in the chapters of our lives. And within those seasons, a certain amount of grace is also bestowed upon our lives. …