Freedom is Fearless

Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la, la-la, it’s Christmas eve tomorrow, and we have so much to be grateful for! What a year it’s been, as 2013 draws to a close, it provides us with the perfect opportunity to reflect on the good and the bad and maybe even those missed opportunities! Yes, those opportunities that passed on by because we were too afraid to step out of our comfort zone. Fear has the ability to delay, deviate and discourage us from fulfilling our God given destiny. If we can recognise what is holding us back I believe it will allow us to change our perspective so that we can move forward without hesitation.

Fear of the Unknown.

"Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”  Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said,“why did you doubt?” Matthew 14:24-31

God gave me a vision of soldiers preparing for battle. Not only do they have to prepare themselves physically but mentally too. They know they’re entering a warzone with an arrow pointed at their head but they enter it anyways! They were willing to fight till death with hope that their kingdom will reign supreme! I believe that if we choose to live life with the same mindset, taking into account that we are fighting for freedom, that our King is the King of Kings and that through Jesus Christ we are already victorious then our battleground becomes a playground. I know it's scary to leave your familiar, comfortable and mundane life behind, but true life only starts once you step out into the unknown, you might have to leave some things behind but the road ahead promises more fulfilment than you could ever imagine! I’m a living testimony along with hundreds upon thousands of people who have decided to give their life to Christ. It's easier to fight for something you believe in and to fight already knowing that you've won, therefore the battle loses its sting, fear doesn't have favour but we do! We are highly favoured by the creator of the heavens and the earth. The only thing holding us back is ourselves.

Fear of Change.

“Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed” John 3:20.

Before I decided to do a 360' turn in my life I never really set any time apart to check my heart. I did anything I wanted, whenever I wanted, without thinking ahead as to what the consequences might be. I wasn’t a terrible person, I was just selfish. I never wanted to confront my problems because then I knew I might have to change. I had a massive revelation just after I was saved, during a praise and worship song, someone on stage was stating “Lord look at my heart, take it, it’s yours” or something to that extent, I remember thinking to myself, “Yikes, do I really want God to see my whole heart? All my hidden agendas and motives, all my plotting and planning, my jealousy and anger, my pride, my lust and my lifestyle? Can’t He just look at the good, the bits of my heart that I wanted Him to see?” Then I realised He can see all of it anyways so I was fighting a losing battle! From that moment I decided to change my thoughts instead of just focusing on changing my ways. Don’t be afraid to do some serious soul searching! If you are afraid of what people might think of the new you, just remember you live for Christ now, and your change will bring about more change than you could have ever imagined.

Fear Before a Blessing.

“Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.” Luke 1:29-30

As it is the Christmas season, I decided it would be a great idea to reread and meditate on the nativity story, with that said something really stuck out to me, throughout the Bible whenever an angel appears to bring good news it is often followed with the statement, “Do not be afraid”. When a blessing is staring at us in the face we may feel terrified and confused as to what happens next. I believe it is human nature to always expect the worst. It may prevent us from hearing God’s voice clearly, as we continue to fight His unreasonable requests with our logical mind. The Spirit descended not only for comfort and healing but for direction as well. I know I sometimes fear the Spirit, especially when it comes to praying in tongues or listening to its prompting to do something out of the ordinary like praying for a complete stranger in broad daylight in front of a group of people (yes, He does that), but when fear becomes greater than faith that's when you lose the fruits and gifts of the Spirit! So I just want to encourage you to join me as we venture into 2014 with a heart full of expectancy and faith, the Spirit will move if we give it room to do so. As long as fear is holding us back we are still living by flesh and not by faith. God has overcome all things and if the Spirit lives within us, then we too can achieve all things through Him who gives us strength! God wants us to achieve all He has set out for us, if you feel God prompting you to do something, do it without hesitation, if it doesn't work out it's probably because He wanted you to learn a valuable lesson from the experience! Sometimes God doesn't want us to achieve everything all at once, failure is essential for growth not only in our willingness to never give up but in our faith and hope that we have placed upon our God given purpose.

There are so many fears we have to deal with on a daily basis but if can recognise that we are free, we are favoured and God is faithful in all His ways then I believe we can step into 2014 with our heads held high expecting great things to come because of our willingness to trust God and be coreageous in all our decisions, knowing that if and when we fall, He will be there to catch us and encourage us to never give up. We have an eternity of love and freedom waiting for us, “no fear of condemnation” so keep that in mind when you staring fear in face again!

Can I encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and come and experience what Christmas is truly all about!

Hillsong Church Cape Town

Kinetic Way Off Century Boulevard Century City Cape Town Western Cape.

Christmas Eve: 7.30pm

Christmas Day: 8am, 9.30am and 11am

Have a blessed Christmas, and thank you so much for all your support throughout the year! 

Heart & Soul

“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins.” Mark 2:22 (NLT)

I cannot begin to explain how God has been shaping and moulding me over the past month or so. I think I’ve grown more in November than I have this entire year (queue short jokes here) I’m actually referring to the growth of my heart.

We sing songs at church proclaiming; “Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders, let me walk upon the waters, wherever You would call me” and songs like “More of you, less of me, take this life, Lord it’s yours” without fully understanding the impact it should have on our life. When God asks for our heart, He demands all of our heart, all of our energy and all of our time not just the parts of our life we chose to give Him. If you sit down and think about it, it may feel like a tough journey to venture out on and that’s why most people who start coming to church eventually start to fade and end up living the life they use to live. We sometimes become so focused on changing the world that we forget that change should happen within us first. To avoid having a change of heart allow your heart to be changed first.

We don’t need God to fix our problems we need Him to mend our heart. Problems are part of life, it’s inevitable but the way we react to difficult situations sets us apart from everyone else. If we can look at every minute of our life being carefully orchestrated by God we begin to ask questions like “Lord, what do You want me to learn from this?” instead of stating “Lord, what did I do to deserve this?!”

What I’ve learnt is that I would rather have my heart changed first so that my actions can reflect what my heart truly feels, instead of changing my actions first and doing things half-heartily. Good deeds may get you to the pearly gate but if your heart is for the Lord, heaven will be your reward.

God can work on your heart in a number of ways, mostly it’s Him calling you to step out in Faith to do the things you deem as impossible. Ps Scott Jones puts it like this “Heaven is our destination not our destiny, our destiny is to make a difference while we are still on earth.” People will give you one million reasons not to do something but hold firmly onto the word that God has placed on your heart. We should stand for the one thing we believe in instead of falling for everything the world believes in. We need to make the conscious decision to take the first step, if it’s God’s will for our lives, He will take care of the rest. Although God isn’t always precise with His instructions, He does it to test how faithful we truly are:

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Hebrews 11:17-18

We look to God for answers and direction but sometimes it's really difficult to understand what He wants from us, God makes things clear when we take time to be with Him. God wants people that won't give up on Him, that will tirelessly search for the light switch in a dark room instead of sitting still and complaining that they can't see. Yes, bad things happen to good people but that’s because God wants to turn good people into great ones, when the going gets tough get God, that’s the only thing He asks of us. 

It’s not about how much you can do, it’s about how much your heart can change while you do the things God has called you to do. If you do things with a faithful heart, the smallest step can make the biggest impact. Sometimes being faithful and stepping up may require personal sacrifices, but when you keep your focus on Jesus nothing will feel like a sacrifice because He is everything you'll want and everything you'll need. "For many are called, but few are chosen" Matthew 22:14 (KJV)

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

This topic has been on my heart for little over a month now, I’ve rewritten this post several times in my head but I finally have an opportunity to share something that I feel we should all re-evaluate in our life, allowing it to resonate within our heart, and ultimately changing our outlook on everything, the topic is Value and Self-Worth.


“Salt is good, but if salt has lost its saltiness, how will you restore it? Have salt within yourselves, and be at peace and live in harmony with one another.” Mark 9:50


This wonderful teaching by Jesus can be interpreted in numerous ways, but my take on it is fairly simple. Value is great, but if we lose self-value, how can we expect others to value us? You can’t find value in the lives of others if you don’t highly value your purpose and reason for existence first. Always regards yourself as worthy, as valued, only then will you live at peace with the people in your life.

The Bible states that you should love your neighbour as you love yourself. The commandment always made me feel a little conceited, surely I should love others more than I love myself, but when I had this revelation about “Value” it occurred to me, I need to first understand my significance on this earth before I can fully grasp the importance of others in my life. We should first learn to love ourselves before we can even attempt to love others.

People oh so often let others determine their value and worth, they let others label them and define them forgetting that their names were already written in the stars long before they were even born. If someone makes you feel like you aren’t valued, that spending time with you is an effort rather than a joyous event and that speaking to you is just for their benefit, then I want you to know you deserve better.

Just because you value others doesn’t mean they will always place the same value on you. But at that point you should decide am I going to be the Pick n Pay No Name Brand to the people who undervalue me or am I going to choose to be the luxury brand that people will hold on to because they regard me as too valuable to use or lose. Ladies always remember one man’s junk is another man’s treasure, don’t settle for being treated like trash, you are beautiful, you are strong, humble, caring and independent and you deserve to be treated like Fine China. Find your Identity and self-worth in the Father, He loves you so much so how can you not love his perfect creation, yes I’m talking about you! 

“Worth is not achieved, it is received through God!” – PS Judah Smith.

Don’t manipulate or deceive yourself into believing that the person you regard as valuable carries any true value in your life if they not willing to place the same value on you! If you feel like you have to keep fighting to prove your self-worth, then is it really worth it? My advice to you is to simply let it go, you deserve someone who would do anything to have you in their life, a friend that would jump to help you in any time of need, a boyfriend or girlfriend that wants to show you off to the world, you should value yourself enough not to settle for anything less.

I want you to take a look at the things in your life that your regard as valuable, the things you feel you simply can’t live without. Is it worth the value you have placed on it? Some people, actually most people, regard themselves as more important than the people around them, making choices regardless of the effect it may have on others. The commandment states “Love your neighbour as you love yourself”, not “Love yourself more than you love your neighbour”. Yes you are a gifted by God, but you not God’s gift to mankind, that spot can only be filled by one person and that’s Jesus.

I want you to learn from others, when people tell you about their day, their testimony or even their revelation, don’t try and “one up” them, instead take in what they have said and learn from it! I believe if we can find value in the existence of others, in the words that they speak and the achievements they have accomplished, then we are one step closer to identifying the true meaning of what worth actually is. Words carry tremendous value when spoken from the heart, so make sure that your outward actions is a true representation of your inward thinking. Don’t be the person who only speaks empty promises and lies, make sure that every word spoken will have a positive reaction in the lives of the people that cross your path.

Be the perfect stranger that will spare some time to help out a ‘weary traveller’. Encourage your friends and family instead of snarking at their achievements. Love without boundaries even if you have been rejected, hurt or deceived.

God gave us the most valuable thing to Him, His one and only Son, because He placed value on us. In spite of how little people valued the teachings of Jesus, the miracles He displayed and the love He spread, Jesus had a mission to achieve, a purpose to fulfil. Even though people couldn’t see, or understand the purpose Jesus had while on earth, His existence made us who we are today, totally free.

Sometimes people can’t see how important you are until you take a step back, some people don’t even notice that you’ve left, but you have a predetermined destiny and you shouldn’t let the opinions of others hold you back from achieving it. Once you start to value yourself and see your identity in Christ, God will always have a way of showing you how valuable you really are... He will surround you with people who truly love you, He will bless you with favour whether it be a promotion, an increase or even a leadership role at your university or school. He will be sure to encourage you through your colleagues, your lecturers, teachers or parents. And if that fails, walk into your closest church, I can almost guarantee you that you will feel more loved than ever before.

You are worthy, you are chosen, you are loved and never forget it!

I told you so...

Guess who’s back? Back again, Nushie’s back tell your friends, okay I’ll stop before I completely lose all of you and I haven’t even got to the real stuff yet. I know it’s been a month and a half since my last post and most of you have probably came to the conclusion that I’ve given up on yet another blog but to be honest sometimes the spirit moves and sometimes it doesn’t I’ve started on a couple of different posts but haven’t felt strong enough to share it with you. But after digging deeper this Sunday the Spirit decided to smack me in the face with a little bit of a revelation, this post is about being obedient to God and the works of the Spirit.

How can one define obedience in the Christian world? We refer to it as the little voice inside our head, the gut feeling, basically our conscious that tells us what choices to make and which road to take. God doesn’t only speak to us through our conscious but through signs, the word and in prayer. I can honestly say that in the past month I have been numb to His word, I still had my quiet time and prayed every now and then but my mind was so focused on things of the flesh, wrapped up in my daily routine that the light that once shined so brightly started to dim, I focused on my everyday instead of my one day. I felt as if the Spirit left me and that my selfishness and lack of effort in connecting with God on a deeper level completely pulled me away from Him and no matter how much I tried to make the fire burn again, it was working. But if I take a step back and look at the bigger picture, God was always there, He has always been there, He spoke to me through the word numerous times, but I was too stubborn to listen, blinded by what I wanted instead of what I needed.

This is what we do, in our jobs, our decisions, our friendships, our relationships, when God tells us to take a right, we take a left because we think it’s the right way. We justify why we think going left is the best option, we manipulate the situation to make it appear as if it’s God’s will and we try and put His purpose in our decisions. And when things don’t work the way we planned we lift our heads up and ask God “Why did this happen to me?” and I can just imagine God saying “I told you so, I know what’s best for you and my plans are far greater than the plans you have for yourself” yes, I did just adapted that from Jeremiah.

One thing I can suggest is to be on the lookout for those signs and if something in your heart is telling you that “this job”, “this new friendship” “this decision” is not right for you and you know that it will only end up with you being disappointed, it’s probably the Spirit prompting you to make a u-turn and get back on track. If it’s not according to His will, then we should be willing to make a decision to walk away from the things we want because it isn’t necessarily the things He wants for us. Remember the devil comes like a thief in the night trying to steal your joy and happiness, and by you doing life your way you make it so much easier for him to shoot you down with fear, rejection, loss, anger, resentment basically anything that separates you from your mission, calling and purpose that God has set out for you.

On the way back from Langebaan two weekends ago the Spirit spoke to me, I took out my iPhone and jotted it down and I feel it’s important that I share it with you. As Christians we like to focus on how Jesus died on the cross for our sins, we focus on the sacrificial love that is Christ, but we often disregard the fact that the real miracle occurred 3 days later when Christ rose from the dead. He defeated death. His disciples believed He was gone for good, some lost faith and others doubted His resurrection. We are often so focused on what we have lost, so focused on the things that don’t go the way we hoped or planned forgetting that somewhere, somehow God is already at work, pre-planning our victory, restoring our loss, reviving our spirit and when we are presented with the miracle we need to be bold enough and confident enough to step out onto the waters in Faith knowing that we can’t chose our destiny when our destiny was already chosen for us by the creator, the King of Kings, the alpha, the omega, the beginning and the end. (Sorry thought I would try be a pastor there, it sounds so much better when they say it...)

Be obedient to God’s will and I can assure you that favour will follow your every step, invest time in speaking to God, He will respond, and put God at the center of your world, if you follow the light you will never truly be lost. 

Loving Love - Part 2

As they say the best things in life come in two’s, it takes two to tango, things are twice as nice and everyone loves a two for one deal. So I decided to make this topic a two part series, because inevitable there are two parts to life, firstly pre-love and there after true love.

There will be many loves in your life, you might think that the person you spent 5 years with was and must be the perfect one for you. He ends up breaking your heart and you simply can’t muck up the courage to move forward. I want to encourage you not to be afraid to love again. “God never works backwards, he only moves you forward” Your future will always be better than your past. Yes, great, sometimes round two does work, but then don’t go into the relationship complaining about the same things, it was your choice to go back so now you have to take it as it comes which leads me to the next subheading...

Don’t Settle

We all love to settle...We take what we can get, but why? Lack of confidence?  Loss of hope? Limited choices? Fear of rejection? I feel people tend to settle for someone they think they deserve, they aim low instead of striving high. Some tend to be with someone out of convince and commitment rather than passion and love. You may confuse attention for affection, everyone wants to be wanted, but when you knee high in a real-ationship you tend to realise that the zeal isn’t real and before you know it, you have to break the person’s heart. How do you determine if your feelings are real? Well for me personally I know that I want to see that person again as soon as they leave, hours feel like minutes and smiling becomes as normal as breathing.

God wants the very best for you, I’m not saying that the people you are choosing are not great people as we are all perfect in God’s eyes, but God wants the very best for ‘you’ in particular! He wants you to choose someone who will lift you up instead of tear you down, someone to make you flourish when the rest of the world is out to demolish and most importantly someone who is walking in the same path as you and not running in circles. There is a Mr Perfect, but with patience comes perfection.

Love to be Loved

All too often I have seen people in loveless relationships, to afraid to talk about how they truly feel. They sweep things under the rug until they choke on their own dirt. Love is a two way thing, you can’t complain about things if you not willing to work on yourself first. You go into a relationship to serve, to give and to put someone’s needs above your own.  Real love is selfless and kind, and when both people have this factor in mind, then a common denominator is found. Lack of effort and spitefulness are silent killers, as humans we always want to be put first, but when that happens it becomes all about me and less about you, and didn’t you get into that relationship, put everything on the line, just to be close to that person as much as possible? God loved us even when we didn’t love him, he loves us even though we continue to sin, he sacrificed his one and only son to save us and give us hope for better days, to give us an opportunity to be close to him. We need to love with our whole heart not just the parts we want to share otherwise you’ll be the reason for your own broken heart.

Don’t Make Someone Your Everything

As much as I just encouraged you to love with your whole heart I believe that one shouldn’t make someone your whole life. Your heart is only one part of your body, but there are many other vital organs that are needed to make your body function properly. People come and people go, love is lost, new love is found. As much as we like to hope that everything will always work out perfect in the end, sometimes it doesn’t and life throws you a curve ball. It’s your choice whether you are able to focus on the bigger picture or if you still trying to connect the dots to form the picture you have been trying to figure out for most of your life.

I wish people could understand that God isn’t a genie, we can’t just rub a lamp, make some wishes and then send Him to where he came from. We think because genies say you can’t wish for true love you kind of feel selfish when you ask God to bless you with someone perfect. I tend to dance around the subject, with the feeling that God has bigger problems to fix, I sometimes forget that He created love, He wants us to feel wanted, accepted and appreciated. He is our best friend, our wing man, our encouragement, our shoulder to cry on, the greatest listener and definitely offers the best advice.

The greatest love story ever told is the one of our saviour; it’s an epic love, an irresistible love, a love that knows no boundaries, an eternal love, a love that forgives, a love that comforts and protects, a love that offers security, assurance, understanding, peace and hope. A love that is sacrificial, effortless, and wholesome. A love that is unshakeable, unbreakable and undeniable.  His love surpasses all, even if the person you seek after is never found; find comfort in the fact that you will never truly be alone.

Loving Love: Part 1

Love, such a small word yet it has the power to move the world forward, the power to make people do the unthinkable, the power to shatter or to make everything matter. There are so many different forms of love, from the tattooed, unchangeable, everlasting love for family, to the enduring, long hours, no sleep, and focused love for your job. Then you get the crazy, deep, random, humorous love of friendship and then the status, ego and argument driven, bonding love of sports or a hobby. But the first part of my two part series, I want to focus on the heart racing, palm sweating, ever changing, intense love of romance, then justifying it with the agape love that is Jesus Christ.

Let me just make something clear before I continue, I have absolutely no experience when it comes to this topic, I’ve never been in love, but I’ve learnt loads of stuff just by watching the people I know embark on life’s only mission, to love and to be loved in return.

Forever Alone:

Many of us are still single, for some it’s the perfect season, almost like summer, they can’t imagine having to give up the outdoorsy feeling of the single life. For others they wait for winter, waiting to feel the warmth of a burning fire. Please, don’t fool yourself into thinking that you will be perfectly fine alone if Mr/Mrs Perfect never comes along, truth is no matter how old you are, you and I both know you will always be looking, waiting and hoping for love. So how can we feel fulfilment of the heart when the thought of being alone forever is only filling our brain with anxiety?

God gave Adam an Eve, he gave Abraham a Sarah, he gave Isaac a Rebecca and the list goes on, if God can do it for them he can do it for us. Dating shows don’t have anything on the creator of love, love will come at the perfect time, when you least expect it, it’s going to be epic and well worth the wait. And if you do end up never falling in love at least you have more time to love others who are in desperate need of it!

Friend Zoned:

I think that title carries more fear than the name Voldamort. From a personal point of view I am the type of girl who gets along with guys very well because of my interests, I go through phases where I am really close to someone and then boooom that dreaded word is dropped ‘Friends’ whether it be me saying it to ensure that it is purely friendship or me using the term ‘best friends’ to protect myself from getting hurt or even using it casually because I already made a preconception that my new ‘best friend’ will never be interested in me so might as well friend zone myself. And then there is the part where he drops the ‘best friend’ bomb first and I’m left thinking wait, what? Are you for real?  I have repeated this line to myself numerous times over the years ‘Always the best friend, never the girlfriend’. Maybe it’s because I’m too nice, too friendly and everyone loves a heart breaker, but then I think to myself, why should I change who I am to get someone to like me?

There are two answers to this, either speak up, or let the feelings fade! Friendship is as beautiful as any relationship; sometimes friendship lasts longer and is less complicated. Truth is your destiny is pre-planned, if God wants you to have that person, he will give him/her to you. Be patient, don’t chase it and don’t force it either.

Second Choice:

All of us want to be first, to feel like the only girl in the room, to be deeply cared for above all else. Sounds like a chick flick doesn’t it? God made me a promise long ago, in Genesis 29-30 The story of the love triangle between Jacob, Rachel and Leah is discussed. You see, Jacob fell in love with Rachel, but Laban, Rachel’s father, said that Jacob must wed Leah too if he wants to be with Rachel. Rachel was much prettier that Leah was but God never short changes anyone; he blessed Leah with the opportunity to have children where Rachel couldn’t. Leah thought that Jacob would love her more because she could offer him more than Rachel’s beauty, but no matter how hard Leah tried it was always Rachel, the first choice. My question to you is, are you willing to fight for the one you love? Or would you rather have someone who will go to battle for you? Find comfort in the fact that although you weren’t his first choice, you are His first choice and He chose you, and fell in love with you before you were even born. He will never leave you nor forsake you! He will bless you with someone who will want to show you off to the world. Don’t ever settle for second best.

There will always be someone better than you, but you have to be confident enough in yourself to believe that you are as deserving of love as the girl who sits opposite you holding hands with her boyfriend who can’t stop smiling at her. Instead of being envious celebrate it, because when you find that one of a kind love, you’ll be able to enjoy it without any guilt when you too show public displays of affection. In my next post I will stretch the topic further, covering the following factors: Don’t settle, love to be loved (trusting love) and not to make one person your everything. I will also talk about what I think God wants from us when it comes to the callous yet exhilarating word which is Love... Keep your eyes peeled, post will follow soon.

Just Keep Running

“Things fall apart for better things to come together” they say, but sometimes it’s really difficult for us to grasp this concept. After endless weeks of listening intensely to the word, and through the scripture God has been revealing to me, everything is finally coming together.

Everything in your life makes sense, when you begin to sense God’s movement. The Holy Spirit is our sixth sense, guiding us, informing us and reminding us of God’s divine plan for our lives.

People treat life as a race to the finish, competing with others to reach first place. Rushing through seasons, trying to outsmart and outwit life in general.

 I, however, see life as a relay, let me explain:

With heads down, heart pounding in our throats, unsure of what is to come, we walk up to the starting line:

This is our season of preparation, the season where we feel nothing is going right for us, where we feel the world is against us. For some this season of preparation is short, for others it can last way longer and for most they never really leave the finish line due to the fear and anxiety that has completely consumed their being.

I feel this season of preparation allows God to separate us completely from our fleshly lives. Ask yourself this question, would you still be happy if you were to be stripped from everything and only have God in your life? No job, no friends, no family, no cities, just you on open land with God? Is He enough for you? The moment you can say yes to this and mean it, then my friend, you ready for your race.

Someone will always start ahead of you:

We all like to point at people and say they were blessed from the beginning, whether it be being born into a wealthy family, having unlimited talents, or endless opportunities. Fact remains, we all have to start somewhere. We may even begin our race at a different time in our lives than others, but we are all given an opportunity for a start and it’s our decision whether we take it or not.

The race begins:

Boom, and we are off to a start, once God catapults us forward that’s when the race beings. With our head held high we off to a blistering start, He directs our steps and allows us to swiftly move forward. All the pieces come together and before we know it we in full motion, life seems great!

A steady momentum:

This is the point in our life where we seem completely content with everything, we happy with the speed we at and sometimes our contentment becomes complacency. I, personally, would not recommend this, keep pushing forward, strive to be like those leaders ahead of you and be an encouraging leader to those who trail you.

Out of breath:

As unfit as most of us are we are bound to lose our breath, we are going to feel like giving up, people are going to overtake us in life but we need to decided whether we are going to pull out and go off track or whether we are going to push forward no matter how the pain consumes us, how unbearable or even impossible another step forward may seem.

A burst of energy:

When gravity pulls you down, when your situations leave you feeling completely out of breathe, allow the Spirit to give you a burst of energy, a gust of fresh air. Refresh yourself in the word, in the love you have for others and in that intense bond you have with Jesus Christ our Saviour. The greatest push is at the very end, when your role in the race comes to an end. We don’t know when our race will end, it could be just around the bend, we need to stay focused and be ready to hand over the baton at any time.

Baton exchange:

When our journey comes to an end, we pass on our legacy to the next, the people we have influenced, the lives we have changed and the love we have shown all influences the lives of others, we can jump start their calling, through encouragement and support. The impact we make in other people’s lives can only truly be seen once we leave earth, while we are enjoying our eternal rest.

We are not on this earth to compete; we all start stagnant and strive for the same finish line, it’s our faith that gets us on track. We may fall behind at times, but truth is we are no different to the murderer who holds a gun to our chest, no different to the father who abuses us or the mother who left us, no different to the spouse who cheated on us or even the sibling who stole from us, the best friend that betrayed us, or our role model who disappointed us. We all have an opportunity to run the same race, restoration is better than isolation, lets run this race together because celebration is better together.

“...For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners!” Matthew 9:13