Essential Grace Blog

Hello Dear Reader, It has been an emotional week in the world. In most Southern African countries there has been varying levels of distress from xenophobia related violence, the cruel deaths of young women, and the death of an iconic leader who was for many years a hero to many in Africa. Closer to home there has been the usual unrest through our ongoing court cases, the floundering economy, some sudden deaths that have left us reeling as a community. It has been one of those weeks that requires digging deep into one's reserves of strength just to get to sleep at night. Some more than others. On the issue of sleep, I have discovered what a luxury sleep is to so many people. As usual, I was chatting to a stranger I met at a fundraiser on the weekend. I find myself doing that a lot lately, my curious (nosy) nature gets the better of me and I find myself engaging in deep conversation with people whose names I don't even know. Well, this was the second stranger of the morning I...

Well-being is a concept that many find to be vague in definition. It can be tricky to really understand what well-being actually speaks to. Well, the simplest way to define well-being is to say it is a state of being that goes beyond the physical health, and one that incorporates the different attributes of a person. Holistic well-being is therefore a state of good health in every area of one’s life. Has it ever been possible for a person to successfully while ignoring one or several parts of their being? I very much doubt it. Let us take a look at each of them individually;   ·          The soul , this part qualifies you the title of ‘human being’ as the general consensus is that no other created being possess this intricate detail ·          The mind is vital of course as it allows the process of reasoning and creative thought, decision making and self-regulation, among others. ·  ...

I heard a sermon recently by Chip Ingram where he was talking about the life of Paul the Apostle. His opening line was ‘the shortest distance between point A and point B is a zigzag.’ This is seems to be a rather unique way of looking at the calculus theory, a way that makes life rather complicated for people like me who love straight and uncomplicated lines. His message was on the life of Paul, who after being given a directive from Christ himself on how he was to live his life; went on to live a very eventful and often dangerous life. Paul may have expected his life to be filled with mission trips to the Gentile lands, sermon writing, planning and carrying out evangelism drives, meeting with new believers over a fellowship picnic, and plenty of other ‘normal’ things that a missionary would expect. However, this beautiful straight line he may have envisioned turned out to resemble a scribbled line connecting to points between his salvation and his death. Many ...

         There are some passages that we come across in the Word that jump out at us and seem to be so self-explanatory. Then there are others that leaves us scratching our heads wondering just what to make of the text, and often we tend to avoid such passages in favour of the free flowing text that speaks to us.         One such passage that leaves me stumped is 1 John chapter 2 verse 12 to 14. The letters from John are a particular favourite of mine mostly because of his writing style. I find him to be straight forward and precise in his instruction. this passage says;               " I write to you, little children because your sins are forgiven                 I write to you fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning                  I write to you, young men because you have overcome the wick...

There was an article I read in a women's magazine some years ago. It was about the growing trend of glamourising stress. Apparently, people get into competition on their outrageously busy schedules, their tight deadlines, their endless to-do lists and the ever raising blood pressure. I don't quite know if this has something to do with wanting to be important, or trying to paint a picture of productive energy. The point is, stress can never be glamorous. Neither can the lack of balance and pacing in one's life. The Bible speaks about suffering in terms of it being a global experience. It is not exclusive nor can it be patented. For example, when you think of suffering in the typically African perspective, it is easy to imagine that famine, floods, wars, and corruption are localized to this sad part of the world. But this is simply not true, famine, floods, wars, and corruption are well represented all over the world. Perhaps it is much easier to project so me forms of suf...

A revelation is a beautiful thing. It is when you hear the voice of God, feel His touch, or sense His hand guiding you into a particular direction. Revelations can come in many different forms and can be on a diverse range of topics. You may get a revelation on something like cutting back on the amount of sugar you take, on the way you speak to others, or it can be something major such as letting go of a relationship that is not for you. Sometimes these revelations can be re-occurring. Particularly when you have forgotten what the message was about. I received this type of message last night after turning out the light to sleep. That and first thing in the morning is usually when I get such messages. It is a topic I have written about before and it remains a mystery to me why it keeps slipping from my mind. Why is it that we so easily decide on God's behalf? Have you ever done something and thought 'mom would flip if she saw me right now,' or 'if so and so where...