​Faith.
I have faith that the marmalade jam I have prepared and have on the stove cooking and which I am stirring is going to become marmalade.
I have followed the recipe to the last comma; the color is light, the bubbles are rising and breaking with a gluggy plop. My faith is in my preparation, the length of time spent cooking, the amount of sugar content and pectin. All these elements I have faith in should reward me with excellent tasting marmalade.
 God loves faith. He wants us to respond to him in faith and enjoy his presence.  To enjoy the Lord, we must first believe that he is a living person. If we cannot find him and accept him, we will never see him, know him, or enjoy him.
 If we commit ourselves to him and take a risk by committing to a person we can’t see, what will the outcome be? The answer will be yes; we can step out trust God because he rewards them that believe in him.
God has promised us a life of abundance, joy, peace, everlasting life, protection and provision.  It all rests on us taking a risk and putting our faith in him.  God will be happy; we will be satisfied. The world will be a better place and heaven more prosperous.
Thought for the Day: ‘Faith activates God – fear activates the enemy.’  Joel Osteen

We can re-invent ourselves, which gives us a great deal of satisfaction, but unfortunately, it still cuts no ice with God.  If we are thinking of pleasing God and getting right with him, we need a different mindset.
To be reprogramed or re-invented, we need to take on Jesus. He clothes us with his perfections, fills us with himself. For us to be this new person, we need to be born again. We need to accept Jesus and filled with him. When he lives in us and we in him God is pleased, he gladly accepts us as his beloved children and brings us into his presence, his throne room.

​Such re-invention doesn’t require 66 days; It only takes as long as we can say, Jesus, I accept you as my rescuer. I give my life to you. I want you to live in me and I in you.’
Once we decide to be a child of God, no more effort is required of us to make ourselves better. Christ has done it all for us on the cross. We can say in all truth that we died with Christ: and that I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
Thought for the Day: ‘Feeling sorry for yourself and your present condition, is not only a waste of energy but the worst habit you could ever have.’  Dale Carnegie

Take a break. When I used to cut apricots for drying, it was tiring and repetitive work, we received so much money per tray of halved apricots.  It was necessary to pace myself if I wanted to earn a decent amount of money. I worked out that I needed to cut a tray of fruit every five minutes.  My cutting knife almost grew into my hand. Apricot cutters didn't take breaks. Taking a break meant a loss of 50 cents a tray.  

God made the universe in six days; then he took a break. When Jesus hung on the cross and darkness covered the land, God again took a break – a love break.  He so loved the world he gave Jesus.  When we are born again, we are accepting God's love-break,  and are stopping and accepting Jesus as our rescuer. 
We need to keep taking love-breaks to tell Jesus how much we love him in return for him loving us enough to die for us.

Have you taken a love break yet? Sit down in a quiet place and spend a few minutes meditating on the scriptures we read each day and thank him for his life in you.
Thought for the Day: Sometimes, good things fall apart so that little things fall into place. 

A secret Life…
 It seems everything has a secret life, even plants. A curious scientist is needed to unravel those secrets.
​The gardener may have certain suspicions about the secret life of plants, trees and water.
We never document those suspicions thinking they are granny's tales and fearful of being considered crazy.
The book titled 'The Secret Life of Plants' by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird documents their experiments into the secret life of plants.    The authors claim plants are emotional and respond to stimuli such as music.
Helen Pitcher writes that plants hear and react positively to classical music, while responding negatively to rock and roll.  Helen Pitcher claims that cress plants ramp up levels of defensive chemicals when exposed to the sound of a chomping caterpillar. In contrast, the sound of wind or the song of insects prompts no reaction.
Does all this sound like a pipe dream?  I am not a curious scientist.

​Plants do have a mind of their own though, as any gardener knows.  Provide plants with suitable soil, enough water and nutrients, and they will grow. That is common sense.
On the other hand, I have observed trees grow out of sheer rock faces; I am left marvelling at the tenacity and determination to overcome any obstacle and live.
There is another aspect, and that is the secret life of faith. My faith in particular. My faith is like a plant, the seed of faith was planted in my heart. It grew as does a plant, my faith blossomed for the world to see as does the flower that blossoms. As a full blown blossom so today is my faith.
Jesus, Son of God, said, 'My words are life.' This quote can be read in full in John 6: 63. Further, 'the Word of God is spirit and life. 'The Word of God is 'living and active.' For the full-text Hebrews 4: 12. God’s Word is powerful and dynamic and imparts life to us who believe.  God’s Word acts like nutrients and water does to the plant.  His word informs us, about him, given free reign it encourages us, nurtures us, and strengthens us.  We are able to not only cope with life live fully and  abundantly.

​God’s most life-changing Word is, 'For God so loved' … me that he gave Jesus his only son to die that I might live.  God's whispers of love spoken in secret to my heart explode into life, just as plants do when they are lovingly nurtured with water, nutrients and light.
My life was changed overnight by his Word.  God said, 'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.' I took God at his Word and embraced his plan for my life. I believed that His Word is truth and not only his Word, but he is truth. Because I accept his Word, I am filled with his Life and power. I now live freely and richly in his care and provision.
As plants respond to loving care, so I respond to God's loving care.  He provides for me what I need; he nurtures me with his Word.  He loves me unconditionally. He is my all, in all.