I did think that I could do this little exercise in 2 minutes, but I guess my brain just doesn’t work that fast! And also, I like to ‘My story’, which hopefully you read, so 10 minutes is more realistic for the whole bit. I also thought that I could do this every day but in reality, I only get to it once a week. SO, if we add up the two minutes for every day (week days) we get 10 min once a week. And, we can always ponder on it for 2 minutes on the other days.
So … here is a more practical way of doing the “Two” Minutes. First read your chosen passage, then write out each word and think of alternatives for that word that will make it more real or believable for you. Then, re-write the passage in your new words.
After that, you can see which ‘word’ or ‘statement’ really comes alive for you. Is God pointing our anything specific in your life? It’s ok if there is nothing standing out for you. Just the fact that you are reading and re-writing the message, is giving you a greater understanding of God and His love.
Hebrews 1:3
The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.
… Son, Jesus, friend, savior, Radiates, emanates, shines, exudes, bursts with Own, personal, self, identifiable, individual Glory, magnificence, splendor, beauty, wonder Expresses, shows, lives out, communicates, conveys Character, person, essence, honor, integrity, uprightness, moral fibre, rectitude Sustains, provides for, cares for, looks after, maintains, up holds Everything, the whole world, all creation, all, entirety Mighty, strong, immense Power, almighty, great Command, spoken word, instruction, charge Cleansed, made clean, wiped away, washed Us, me, man, believers Our, mine, peoples Sins, wrong doing, evil, immoralities, injustices Sat Down, took his place, took up his crown Place, position Honor, righteouseness, respect, adoration Right Hand, beside,alongside, next to Majestic, Powerful and Mighty God, Father, Perfect Love, Heaven, Spiritual Realm, Beautiful World …
Jesus, our friend, bursts with Gods identifiable magnificence and splendor. He lives out the essence and integrity of God. He upholds the whole world by the immense power of His spoken word. When He wiped away all my wrong doing, He took up his position of honor in the heavenly realm, right alongside almighty God, who is perfect in love.
These are the words that stood out to me…
‘He upholds the whole world by the immense power of His spoken word’.
My Story: Part of the night-time routine with our little girls is to read 2 or 3 or sometimes 4 stories and then sing 2 or 3 or maybe 4 songs. The girls of course choose the same songs every time – ‘Twinkle, twinkle little star’ and ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’. One of my favorite songs to sing is ‘He’s got the whole world in His hands’ and although they never pick this song, they do sometimes sing along.
I know it may be difficult to believe this at times, because of all the fighting and famine and natural disasters that are forever making the newspaper headlines and that seem to be happening more and more frequently. But the reality is that no matter what is going on all over the world, the Lord is still working in the lives of those that have chosen to believe in Him and trust Him – all over the world. And He still has power and authority over all things in the world. So no matter how crazy things get, we will still be secure in the arms of the Lord. He will still be looking after the big and the small things in our lives.
Anyway, so in the second verse of the song, it goes … ‘He’s got the wind and the rain, in His hands’ … and I am reminded of the time that I was staying in Sandbaai, along with the girls over the school holidays, when a fire started raging on the mountain. It was literally just eating up everything it its path as it moved like a starving monster, over the crest of the mountain from the Fisherhaven side, and crept and lept towards Onrus. In the first few hours of the burning, I found it quite beautify and awesome to watch, almost mesmarizing, especially as it grew dark and the flames performed their spectacular dance. But as they encroached on the houses below, I began to feel powerless and quite desperate for the people whose homes would be coming under threat.
So in the quiet, safety of our house, I prayed for the rain to come down and smother the fire. And it literally did. I can’t remember if there had been a hint of rain before the prayer, but regardless, the fire was moving rapidly towards the houses when I eventually went to bed, well after midnight, (still repeating the prayer for rain), and when I woke (early in the morning) the fire had been completely doused and every single home saved. I am sure the the people whose homes were under threat were praying much harder than I was. Praise the Lord!
Here are a few snippets from Eyewitness News:
By 8pm Overstrand Fire & Rescue Station Commander Angelo Aplon described the fire as “out of control”. Onrus resident Caroline Gabb said several homes and retirement villages closest to the flames were evacuated, and the entire community was on standby throughout the night. ““The wind was the thing that really had us all on tenterhooks. The wind was really, really strong and we kept hoping it would drop… luckily for us the rain came down when it did.” The downpour helped contain the blaze and city fire crews were able to return back to base at 5am.
Some people were more than just hoping … they were PRAYING!
This incident also reminds me of the bit in Angus Buchan’s story when a fire started on his farm and was rapidly heading towards the Lion Match plantation. Their attempts at putting it out were completely futile until he fell on his knees and prayed. And almost within minutes, the storm clouds gathered, the skies opened up and the fire was completely extinguished. A perfect miracle at the perfect time. The whole world, in His hands!