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A Follower of Christ
  
Nobody worries about Christ as long as he can be kept shut up in
churches. He is quite safe inside. But there is always trouble
if you try and let him out.

-- G. A. Studdert Kennedy


A Christian……..a follower of Christ……how do you follow Christ? How do you love Christ? Whose will………His will? How do you hear Him when He speaks? Do you hear Him? Do you listen?

Which are you…….one like the woman caught in adultery……..or the prideful scorner hurling stones?

Are you like the humble tax collector who comes before God admitting your brokenness……….or are you like the Pharisee…..better than the broken one?

Are you saved? You know the beginning…….you know the ending…….but what comes between?

What does this mean?
Luk 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

What does it mean to you?

I have to admit, there is nothing easy in being a follower of Christ. It’s easy being saved, easy reading the Bible, going to church, praying but when it comes to actually living our belief and faith……we fail miserably.

Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Mat 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

I have taken these two verses to heart in a big way. Because being a follower of Christ is sometimes burdensome. Giving up your desires for His desires, asking for His will in your life as opposed to your own….this is not an easy thing. But He equips us, and gives us the strength we need to walk the walk with Him.

Psa 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

When you ask God to create in you a clean heart…….it means sometimes He has to break you down, bring you to your knees……..and it hurts! Coming face to face with God with all your brokenness has got to be one of the most painful things you will ever do….but I can tell you from the depth of my heart that it is the most spirit refreshing thing you will ever do!

The closer you draw to God, the lonlier you feel as a Christian. There is nothing sadder than talking with a fellow believer about the wonders of the Holy Spirit, the amazing grace of God, and they look at you with glazed eyes. I know this because I too once stood with glazed eyes, just “not getting it”. When I talk about listening to His Word while I sleep, or listening to His Word on my IPOD as I walk, other Christians look at me as though I am whacko!

Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

What does that verse mean to you? It means exactly what it says to me.

And if we are mocked for loving God this way……….who is being mocked……is it me………is it God’s work in me……..is it God Himself?

Mt. 11:15
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Flatlined______________________________________ May 8, 2008 3:08 pm
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Often when we go through the storms of life, we find ourselves in the middle of an ocean of tumultous waves, and we have to fight so hard to stay afloat. While you are in the middle of the battle, you don't think about rest, you don't think about the aftermath. Your only concern is making it through the storm.

But once the storm is passed, there you are, clinging to your life raft, holding on day by day, waiting to be rescued.

It seems as though it will never happen, and you grow so weary. You just want to rest your head on something soft, feel warmth around you.

Your strength slowly starts to leave you. The overwhelming storm has left you drained and spent. Your mind wont even allow you to think about tomorrow, let alone the next hour. It's as though the world is still moving, but you have come to a standstill.

And then you flatline_______________________________

Deu 33:27 The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms
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PRINCESS DELIGHT....The Conclusion May 8, 2008 3:45 am
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Later that evening, the princess, feeling relaxed and happier than she had been for a very long time, danced around the little cottage, her sweet voice filling the air as she sang. She wondered if her father would allow her to marry the farmer. He wasn’t a prince, and he had no finery to keep her comfortable with, but she found herself falling in love with him. He was unlike any of the princes that had rescued her. Yet she knew deep in her heart, that once he found out about her flaw, he too would reject her. She sighed then, and her song took on a note of sadness.

Unknown to her, the farmer was standing a little way away from the cottage, transfixed by the beautiful sound of her voice as she sang. As the tone of her singing turned to sadness, curiosity got the better of him and he wandered closer, daring to look in the window. Their eyes met, and the princess gasped with dismay, as the tears rolled slowly down her face. She slowly walked to her belongings, and walked out of the door towards the mule, with the realisation that the journey had once again ended and she would be sent back to her dungeon.

What she didn’t see as she walked away was the look of compassion that encompassed the face of the farmer. She did not see, either, the silent tear that rolled down his face, as he understood the pain she had experienced at the hands of princes who could not see beyond her appearance.

The princess stood beside the mule quietly, waiting for the farmer to join her for the long journey back to the dungeon. She could not meet his eyes as he approached, and her body heaved with sobs at the finality of her fate.

The farmer walked to where the princess stood, and gently lifted her face so he could look into her eyes. He then reached down and kissed her gently on her lips. He then kissed each and every ugly wart on her face, stroked her coarse and stringy hair, and held her close to his chest.

The princess looked up at him in amazement. Was this really happening? Did the farmer not notice her ugliness? Was he not disgusted when he looked at her? How could he possibly want to kiss her, knowing this is what he would see every single night? Yet he did. Because the farmer was an honourable man, and he saw beyond her flaws. The farmer was a wise man because he saw the real beauty of the princess, and that was the beauty within.

THE MORAL OF THE STORY IS THIS: Not one of us is perfect. We all have flaws, some that are visible, some that are unseen. I guess the choice is up to us, individually to decide in the grand scheme of things, what is important, and what can be overlooked.
Our father, the King of Kings, sees us already perfect. He teaches us which flaws can be dealt with and changed, and which flaws are just part of who we are, and He accepts them all. He loves us, warts and all and that is something we can have confidence in.
The devil is always on the prowl, trying to undermine the good work that the King has done in us. He wants us to notice our flaws, he wants us to notice the flaws on others, he quite simply wants to make us as miserable as he possibly can.
We have the choice, just as the princes in this story did, to reject someone because they don’t have the perfection we seek in a mate or a friend. Or we can be like the farmer, seeing beyond the imperfections, seeing the beauty within.
I’m not simply talking about physical beauty. I am talking about the imperfections we all have within us.

Lev 19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.
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PRINCESS DELIGHT...Rescue again...or another disappointment? May 8, 2008 3:30 am
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Then one day, a man arrived at the dungeon. He was a simple farmer, his face leathery from being out in the sun for long periods. He did not have the countenance of a handsome prince. There was a funny gait to his walk and his face mirrored the hard life he had led. His clothes were far from grand, and he did not own a fine steed like the princes did. All he had was a mule.

As he walked up to the dungeon, he could hear the princess singing her sweet song as she tidied up her cold and dark dungeon. He was mesmerized as he drew closer and when her face appeared at the window, he almost fainted with delight. She was so beautiful!

He helped the princess as she climbed upon the back of the mule, and he walked along beside her as they headed for the long journey home. He engaged her in conversation and as the day wore on, she found the farmer to be a personable and enjoyable companion. However, as night was drawing, the princess still covered her head with her protective veil. She was taking no chances this time of reaching home safely. The farmer was never going to have the opportunity to see her flaws, she would keep her distance from him once the sun went down.

On the second day of their journey, the princess found herself drawn more and more to this simple farmer. They laughed and joked and sang as they journeyed slowly on the mule. At times the princess would walk along with the farmer, rather than ride. He seemed so attentive when she talked, as though the things she said were of high importance. Another thing that endeared the farmer to the princess was that he took great care to see that she was comfortable and protected on the journey. She felt safe with him, yet she was still wary of allowing him to see her without her veil after sunset.

On the third night, they came upon a small unused cottage, and the farmer insisted that the princess spend the night in the warmth of the cottage, while he slept outside with the mule. The princess was relieved that she could spend the night safely in the little cottage without the necessity of covering her head with the veil.

Often, the most precious things in life are the simple things. And the nicest people we meet are the average flawed variety!

Notice how refreshingly sweet the farmer was. He wasn't trying to win the charms of the princess, his concern was that she be well cared for.

Also notice how relaxed the princess became in his presence. Well almost relaxed.....remember this woman had been rejected many times and she was not prepared to take the risk of rejection again.Sometimes our past failures and rejections colour our attitude when we meet someone new. The devil likes to remind us of our past, to keep us fearful of the future.
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PRINCESS DELIGHT.....rejection by the prince May 8, 2008 3:05 am
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On the first night of their journey, the princess successfully hid her flaws from the eyes of the handsome prince. However, on the second night, the prince could not bear to see her beautiful face veiled and hidden. He wanted to enjoy all of her perfection at all times. Although she tried very hard to stop him, the prince was able to remove the veil from her head, and as he did so, he recoiled in horror. What had happened to his perfect princess? She was not perfect at all! This would not do! There was no way he was going to marry a princess who was not perfect in every way.

No matter how much the princess pleaded and wept, the prince was unmoving. He put her on his steed, though this time she had to ride behind him, as he could not bear to look at her face, and he took her back to her dungeon in the valley, locked and bolted the door before he rode off into the night.

Sadly for the princess, this happened many times over the next few months. There were many handsome princes who discovered her dungeon in the valley, but each of them, once they discovered her flaws, returned her to the dungeon.

The princess sobbed as she realised she would never make any man happy, due to her flaws. She wished she could find a way out of the dungeon and make it home safely to the castle of her father, the King. But perhaps even he would be disgusted with her and keep her hidden from the world? Or worse still, reject her and send her back to the dungeon. She was a very unhappy princess, and her heart grew bitter and cold from lack of love.

Have you ever been rejected by someone you love? It hurts! We've probably all been there at some point in our lives.

You know, if you go looking for the perfect human specimen....you will never find him/her! That is a reality. We might have a beautiful face, or a beautiful body, or maybe a beautiful personality....but rest assured, even the most beautiful, self assured men and women are not perfect. We all have character flaws.

When sin entered the world, the flaws came with it! And they will be with us until we make it through those pearly gates. There is no point trying to hide them..they will rear up their ugly little heads sooner or later!

The question is, how much are we willing to overlook? Will we ever be good enough? Lovable enough? Great cooks? Perfect handymen?

And what about those little character flaws that each of us have? Are they really so important that they can't be overlooked?

And do we settle for the bad qualities (those ones that we can't overlook) because the outside looks so good?

Rejection does something terrible to the psyche. It can make you wonder if you will ever be good enough. See the devil at work here? He can have us believing that we will never ever make the grade.

Poor Princess Delight. She didn't get rejected just once, she got rejected many times. No wonder she feels so miserable!

Is there any hope at all for this poor princess?

Guess you will have to wait for the next episode.......
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PRINCESS DELIGHT ... Rescued by a handsome prince! May 8, 2008 2:47 am
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Then one sunny morning, the princess heard the clatter of hooves, and she ran to her little dungeon window. There stood the most handsome man she had ever seen. He just happened to be one of the princes searching for Delight.

The princess was ecstatic, as the prince broke open the door to her dungeon and took her in his arms. Rescued at last, and by such a handsome man, the princess danced with glee, free once again, with hopes of living happily ever after. There was however, one smudge on the horizon of her dreams. What would she do after sunset? How would she hide her disgusting countenance once the sun went down? Perhaps she could wear some sort of veil that covered her head, until such as a time when the prince loved her so much, he wouldn’t mind that she was flawed.

So the handsome prince set off on the long journey back to the castle, the beautiful princess sitting in front of him on his fine steed. He couldn’t believe his good fortune, she was so perfect! This beautiful and perfect princess would one day be his beautiful and perfect queen, and all the people in the land would envy his trophy. They would be the perfect couple, the most perfect couple in the land!


Isn't it wonderful when you first meet someone of the opposite sex that you are attracted to? They look so goooooood don't they? But what if the outside package is just that.....package? What are they like on the inside? Does it matter? Yes it does!

Pro 31:30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.

Don't worry girls, I'm sure this should apply to men as well!

Something else happens when we meet someone for the first time. We wonder if they will really like us when they get to know the real "us". We can become consumed with fear over losing someone because we don't meet up to their expectations.

We all want to be accepted for who we are, and so we should. Nobody should have to change the essence of their personalities to please another. Obviously if we have bad behaviour habits, it would be in our best interests to change them, but trying to change who God created us to be is like trying to peel an onion with no fingernails! (Try it and see!)
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PRINCESS DELIGHT ... trapped in the dungeon May 8, 2008 2:30 am
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Many months passed, and the beautiful, but very miserable princess would sit in her dungeon, nestled in a valley surrounded by large almost impassable mountains. Each day she would look longingly at the beauty beyond her four walls and she would sing the sweetest songs, with hope in her heart that this day she would be rescued. But at night she could be heard, weeping softly as she sat in quiet melancholy, wondering if she was doomed to spend the rest of her life in this place.

Have you ever found yourself, trapped in a situation, trials abounding with no way out? It's so easy to become discouraged, wondering if life would ever get any better. Sometimes life does feel like we are living in a dungeon.

As children of God we do have a hope, His hope, His promise. Because He really does want us to have an abundant life. I am not talking about material abundance, I mean an abundance of joy, the kind that can only be found through faith in Christ.

When we are left in the dark, the last flicker of our candle gone out, we can look beyond our circumstances and trust God to lead us into a better tomorrow.

And what about the princess? Where is her hope? Will she ever be rescued from her dungeon?

I wonder.........
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PRINCESS DELIGHT.....The search is on (Part 3) May 8, 2008 2:18 am
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Back at the castle, the King was bereft without his beautiful daughter. He searched the land for her but she was nowhere to be found. His heart was broken and he longed to hear the happy laughter of his beautiful Delight.

So the King decided to engage the help of the many suitors that had visited his daughter. He passed a decree that the man who rescued his daughter and brought her home, could have her hand in marriage.

Once the word was out that the princess needed to be rescued, the men in the land were spurred into action. Many a prince had desired the beautiful Delight and longed to make her his own. Each prince knew that the beauty of this princess would enhance their own kingdom and make them very rich.


It must make God so sad, when His children are deceived by the evil one. Or when trials beset us. God doesn't bring bad things into our lives, but sometimes He allows things to happen so that we are shaped into His character.

And sometimes God brings people into our lives to help us out of a jam. What we see as coincidences, are not as it seems. There are no coincidences when it comes to God.

Unfortunately the devil also brings people into our lives, his purpose? to draw us away from our Father, the King.

He brings people who use us and abuse us, to make us lose hope. People who are only set on their own gain.

I wonder if the right suitor comes along to rescue the princess?

Wait for the next instalment.........
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PRINCESS DELIGHT...In the hands of the wicked witch May 8, 2008 2:01 am
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The evil witch knew how much Delight loved pretty flowers, so one day she met her in the meadow and gave her a large bunch of beautiful flowers. What the princess didn’t know was that the flowers were infused with a poison, and as she breathed in the pretty fragrance, the poison filled her body and caused her to fall unconscious on the ground. The evil witch then carried her to a dungeon far away, and left her there, all alone.

The poison was such, that every day at sunset, the beautiful princess would grow ugly warts on her face, and her lustrous shiny hair would look coarse and stringy. The princess would look in her mirror with horror each night, and weep bitterly. Yet each morning, she would wake up and look in her mirror and see her real beauty. The witch laughed at her with glee, and told her that she would never be the same beautiful princess again. She would have to live with her ugliness each day, as the sun went down until the sun rose the next day.


Just like the witch infused the flowers with poison for the princess to breathe in, so satan infuses ugliness for us to breathe in. All the beauty that God has placed in us, can be robbed by the devil, convincing us that we are not worthy, not lovable, not pretty, not good. As the princess breathes in the poison, we too breathe in the poison satan inflicts on us. We believe the lies and they become a part of who we think we are.
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THE STORY OF PRINCESS DELIGHT May 8, 2008 1:07 am
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Yup another one of those fairy tales......but this one is closer to the truth than you can imagine! I hope you enjoy part 1....don't forget there is more to come!


Once upon a time, in a far away land, lived a beautiful princess. She was named Delight, because that is exactly what her father, the King thought of her. He loved her so much, she was his pride and joy!

There was nothing the King would not do for his beautiful little princess. Because she loved to dance and sing and play, he built his castle around beautiful rolling hills and meadows, and each day he would watch his daughter, as she joyously danced and sang with abandon. She would make daisy chains for her hair and she picked beautiful flowers to bring in to her bedroom in the castle.

Not only did the King love his daughter, she was loved by everyone who she encountered in the kingdom. Her laughter could be heard, like sweet music to all around and she treated every one she met with kindness and love.

The princess grew into a beautiful young woman, and many princes from far away lands would travel to meet her and try to win her hand. Her father, the King, warned her to be cautious in choosing her suitor. He wanted the very best for her, and he taught her to seek the heart of the prince she would one day marry. He taught her to look beyond the surface because that was where his real heart lay. He wanted her to learn that appearances meant nothing, and sometimes a handsome exterior hid a wicked heart.

Now there also lived in the land, a wicked witch who hated Delight, the beautiful princess. The witch would seethe inside as she saw how loved and admired the princess was. She hated to see Delight being happy and carefree, and so she plotted and schemed to do away with the beautiful princess.

What is the evil witch up to? And how will she do away with Princess Delight?

Sounds a little like satan doesn't it? God loves us and wants to give us the best. He looks at us and sees the beauty He created. Satan wants to rob us of our joy. He is the destroyer and he can't stand to see the children of God happy.

Stay tuned for the next episode!
9 Comments
My Little World......... May 7, 2008 8:58 pm
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It's only been a few months.....but it feels like forever since I left!

So what have I been up to?

My son is in his last year of school...yippee! His love for God grows and I am so proud of my precious boy! I know that some day he will be a great man of God...I can see it starting now, and he has wisdom that far exceeds his years. Ok so I am biased...but it is true!

Guess what!! I have decided to write a book! Always wanted to do it, but never really got motivated. It's about drawing nearer to God, and it's based on my own life experiences, the struggles, the triumphs, the lessons along the way. I usually wait for God to give me some content and then I rush to my computer to write it down! It's powering along nicely. Not sure what will happen when it's done, maybe some crazy company might publish it???? If anyone has contacts I sure would appreciate the plug!

My job is driving me nuts! All I want to do is write but I have to go to work instead!! Kind of given up on the idea of a millionaire walking into my life so I have to earn my living instead......dang!!

The weather is getting decidedly chilly in these here parts. My Japanese maple tree is bright orange right now.....sooo beautiful!

I've been having family struggles....namely with my sisters who think I am a dropkick and a loser! Oh well!

Haven't been doing my girly nights out thingy for a while....much to my friends disgust!

Most of all.....been praying for God to restore my zest for living, my exuberance, the silliness....I want it back....just don't know how to get it back. Anyone got any ideas, I sure could use a few!

Above all else.....just spending time with God, having loooooong chats into the night. I told Him, it would be a whole lot easier if He just sat at the end of my bed each morning and gave me directions for the day. I'm good at taking directions! He just smiles and tells me "my child, I need you to walk by faith, not by sight". Aaaaah that's my Daddy!

Even though I did disobey God and messed up my mascara, it is kind of neat being back. I did miss you guys!
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