Holding Steady

February 2022

One month in to this year of 2020 and I am tipping that already there have been tweaks and adjustments made to your List of New Year hopes and dreams and actions. That is real life.  And, it is no reason to throw the remaining items out the window.  Adjustments are the steps of advance in every scientific laboratory around the world. True genius is often a last minute thought or even a mistake in following the list or steps to the anticipated outcome.

Maybe in collecting your commitments to change you borrowed from friends or celebrities lists. Maybe you were influenced by criticisms or conversations from friends, family members or even colleagues. All these thoughts are great to put in the mix but it is important to keep hold of the measuring stick of how God views you and what He has put you here to contribute and accomplish.

So how can you know what it is that God has in mind for you? One of the easiest indicators is that God has prepared you for your role.  He has already either given you  skills, aptitude or a keen interest in the area. What is it that immediately grabs your interest when the topic of conversation is raised or you observe an item of news on TV or you find you are googling articles and research on certain topics. 

God is not going to create you with a love for one thing and an obligation in something quite opposite.

One other important fact to remember is that apart from you, God is definitely the most interested person in seeing you accomplish your destiny. Bumps in the road or potholes; rough surface or slippery slopes; all these are shaping you for success and God's personal teacher, the Holy Spirit is right along side 24/7 ready to lend a hand, steer the course or push you when you get stuck.

So new month, new page , let's get back on track with hope and determination.

David and Cherie Rodway

Hello 2020!

January 2022

It is true that every conversation begins with a greeting!

It might be Hello, Hi, G’day or your own particular favorite opener.

January is the opening greeting to a new decade. I recall being in a conference in the early 2000’s and the focus was on setting goals for 2020. To me it was like flinging darts at a dart board while wearing a blind fold. The alliterative 2020 carried its own elusive mystery.

And here we are on the verge, the very doorstep of that mysterious year. It is so important that we all engage in the conversation from the very beginning. Introduce yourself. Share your hopes and dreams and fears with this compendium of time. Declare the secret desires of your heart. Put it out there. If you are brave you might even select the month of this exciting year on which to hang your dream.

Before you succumb to the overwhelm and pull the bedclothes over your head let me remind you that you don’t walk into this year on your own. God sent his own Holy Spirit to walk it with you. He is also known as the Comforter, Guide, Teacher, and ever present representative of the whole Godhead.

The beginning of each New Year requires the customary new resolutions that everyone knows will be overlooked or forgotten by the end of January. Yet somehow the beginning of a new decade compels a more diligent review.

Right now is the time to grab a coffee or favorite tea and find your journal and your favorite nook and open yourself to those dreams within. Those God given dreams are beacons directing you to your purpose in life. When God created you he gifted you with unique skills, capacities and mindset that will open the door to the person He saw at the beginning of time. As you consider the next twelve months and the nine years that follow, listen to that still small voice inside that is the voice of the Holy Spirit guiding you.

As you set your course remember these important facts.

1. You are made in the image of God and as the author of your faith and designer of your being He is ready to share His best ideas and hopes and directions with you to bring you hope and peace.

2. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to verses or passages of God’s Word that will be strategic in your life this year. Matthew 7:7 instructs us to “Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you.” James 1:5 in the Amplified translation declares

“If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God Who gives to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him.” James goes on to say that we must be confident that God will direct us and if we are doubtful or hesitant then we will not find what we are looking for. Decide to be resolute in your decisions and actions this year.

3. Open your eyes and ears to your community of family and friends to identify conversations you can contribute to or questions you can answer or needs you can satisfy. Be a giver of life and love this year. Let your light of love and interest and care light your path and you will be surprised how far your life can penetrate with God’s love and life.

David and Cherie Rodway

Hope Has a Name and it is JESUS

December 2021

You don’t have to look far these days to recognize the greater majority of us are seeking to establish who we are, why we are and where we are. There is an inside jigsaw of emotions that fight for supremacy in our thoughts. These emotions are fuelled by comparison, by modern pursuit of bigger and better things and options and the overabundance of social media and promotion of something new to achieve or accept.

In 1943, well renowned psychologist, Abraham Maslow, established 5 basic needs of the human person.

Beginning with physiological needs of health, food, water, warmth, rest and reproducibility – the basics.

Then safety needs of security and protection of this basic person. Next he showed that belonging and experiencing intimate relationships and friendship and acceptance was essential for the well-being of all humans. From that foundation all humans can reach out to explore the environment around them seeking a feeling of accomplishment and prestige and self-value. These combine to provide a springboard for us to seek to achieve our full potential of expression and creativity and valued contribution.

Some years of experience later, Maslow added a sixth level of Transcendence through philosophy or religion. He found that the fullest realization of a person’s potential was fulfilled by giving oneself to something beyond oneself. A quote from one of his books explains "Transcendence refers to the very highest and most inclusive or holistic levels of human consciousness, behaving and relating, as ends rather than means, to oneself, to significant others, to human beings in general, to other species, to nature, and to the cosmos".

Here we are at the month of December! In North America the frenzy of Black Friday and Cyber Monday turns our focus to acquiring the latest or the cheapest gadget or highly promoted essential at a price declared to be ‘rock bottom’ so we can have the best Christmas. But if we are honest with ourselves, we will admit that the expenditure adds to our already stressed well-being. Our desire to be loved by the recipient of that amazing gift is high on our list of desire but we know in a week or so they will have moved on to the next new thing.

The answer to that nag in our heart for a reason to hope for satisfaction of these six basic needs is to explore number six. Christmas gives us the hint. This special time each year that springs from the celebration of God coming to earth in the form of a baby. His name is Jesus. The Old Testament in the Bible contains more than 50 prophecies that Jesus would come to be the Messiah.

The actual date is disputed but the purpose of Christmas is not a birthday but a recognition of God’s great gift of hope. Jesus, the baby born to die at Calvary and as the Son of Man he satisfied the just demands of His Father by taking the punishment for all sin and providing a way of reconciliation between sinful humankind and their loving Heavenly Father. Jesus described himself as The Way; The Door; The Truth; The Life. He is the fullness of Hope. The word ‘hope’ in the Bible refers to the confident expectation of what God has promised and the strength lies in His faithfulness to fulfill every word of His Promise.

This December start with #6 – Transcendence through Jesus. Seek Him and be confident that He will supply all your needs (Philippians 4:19), He has appointed His angels to watch over you (Psalm 91): He is a friend who sticks closer than a brother and He will never leave you or forsake you (Matthew 28:20); He has taken you from the kingdom of darkness and despair and brought you into His kingdom of life through Christ Jesus (Colossians 1:13) and sent the Holy Spirit to live within you to teach you, lead you and guide you to be the best version of you that you can be (John 16:13).

HOPE has a Name and that name is JESUS!

David and Cherie Rodway