Set Your Affection On Things Above

1  If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

2  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

4  When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

~ Colossians 3:4

You want to belong in heaven. That's where your affections ought to be, on things above. Jesus said, "Set your affections on things above, not on things of the earth. They're going to fail." Stay with God. Stay with realities. God is a God of reality. He's always been in all ages. Any time that man ever walked with God, God become a reality that performed signs and wonders and miracles with His people. It's God's purpose to do so. Surrender all.

Right here in Louisville, Kentucky, not long ago, there was a very nice family of people. They had a sick baby; called to pray for it. The doctor walked out of the hospital. "And what about the baby?"

He said, "That baby's dying. There's nothing else can be done for it." Said, "It's got leukemia." Said, "The baby has to die."

Thought, "O God, You ain't said that yet. You never witnessed that." I went and talked to the parents, and the parents was crying and sobbing. Their baby was gone, as far as they knowed. But what did they do?

The doctor was right. Everything that he knowed to do, he'd done. Leukemia's a killer, and nothing can stop it. Said, “The baby is going to die.”

The old grandfather of that baby... You all know the case. And the old grandfather of that baby come along. When he heard me speak about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, he said, "I used to remember years ago, when an old preacher said there'd come a time that people would receive the Holy Ghost again, and signs and wonders would be done." He went off in a little room to himself. He wouldn't stay with his son or his daughter-in-law no more. He stayed in there, crying and praying. When the old fellow walked out of there, the sweat hanging across his bald forehead, his eyes glistening, said, "That baby will live."

Said, "What?"

He said, "Doctor, I respect you as a man of science. I respect you and your intelligence that you've learned through medical research." But said, "I prayed and I prayed, and I prayed until I surrendered everything I had to surrender, and the Holy Spirit said, 'The baby will live.'" It did. Why? He surrendered everything he had.

~ Br Branham - UNFAILING.REALITIES.OF.GOD 60-0626

Living In A Cloud

For the past two days we have been living in a cloud! Well, at least that's what it's felt like! :) The cause of this has been some unusual weather - unusual at least for South Africa  - and me.
The Summer rains started late this year, but thankfully we've had quite a bit since then. Our "rain" in this part of the country usually means thundershowers of the kind that build up in the heat and then there is something of a cloud-burst with lots of lightening and thunder and sometimes strong winds and hail. When it's all over, the sun comes out again and everything is back to normal and everyone is thankful for the showers. It's not often that we have days of continuous rain.

Rain water pouring down the carport roof like a mini waterfall.

Last weekend, however, it began raining constantly - not the usual thundershower but a quiet, steady rain....and it's hardly stopped since! Then about two afternoons ago the rain changed to a light drizzle and we were shrouded in mist. Now usually when we have mist in the early mornings, it usually clears quite quickly and then the day is very hot. This time the mist just hung there! We live quite high up on a hill  near the edge of a gorge and usually have views for kilometers, well the last couple of days we haven't been able to see past our front gate. I found it very strange, really like being enclosed in a cloud. Even our pets were puzzled at the weather and would stare out the window at the funny sight! :D I suppose this sort of thing is common in many other countries, especially Europe, but I've never experienced this before!

Our cat, Munchkin.

I'm sure it's somehow got something to do with the Leonid meteor shower that happened on the 18th - EVERY time there's a meteor shower, we have strange weather (and miss the "shooting stars", of course!)

Well, this afternoon the mist has finally lifted and although it's still completely overcast and everything is dripping wet, we can see across the gorge again and all the birds and insects are very busy and noisy. The birds are all preening themselves and the bees are visiting the wet flowers.

My reflection (while taking a photo) in a pool of rain water. :)

Here rain is always welcome and it also helps to keep the heat down but the last week and especially the two misty days have made me realise how much we take sunshine and clear weather for granted here in South Africa!

Just for interest:

S.A. is famous for it's sunshine. There are an average of 2993 hours of sunlight per year with an average of 8.2 hours of sunlight per day.

South Africa receives some of the world's best sunshine and experiences some of the highest solar radiation levels in the world .

The Day of Small Things

There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves,

 and two small fishes:

but what are they among so many?

~JOHN 6:9

"Letters joined make words,

And words to books may grow

As flake on flake, descending,

Forms an avalanche of snow.

A single utterance may good

Or evil thoughts inspire;

One little spark, enkindled,

May set a town on fire.

What volumes may be written

With little drops of ink!

How small a leak, unnoticed,

A mighty ship will sink!

A tiny insect's labour

Makes the coral strand,

And mighty seas are girdled

With grains of golden sand,

A daily penny, saved,

A fortune may begin;

A daily penny squandered,

May lead to vice and sin.

Our life is made entirely

Of moments multiplied,

As little streamlets, joining,

Form the ocean's tide.

Our hours and, aye, our months and years,

Are in small moments given;

They constitute our time below,

Eternity in heaven."

~ The Christian's Daily Challenge

For who hath despised the day of small things?
~ZECHARIAH 4:10

The Trees Are Raining!

It's that time of the year again when we have the "Raining Tree" season. For anyone not familiar with this, it can seem quite mysterious and sometimes be annoying! In the evening certain trees start dripping water - though there may not be a sign of a cloud in the sky and it only "rains" puddles under the tree!

Sometimes you can hear the drops falling on the paving or on leaves or flowers that are lying on the ground. If you are standing nearby, you will also have it raining on you! It can be a puzzle!! :-?

Actually it's not the tree but a small insect that causes the "rain"! It's the nymph of Ptyelus grossus, (much easier called a  froghopper).To protect themselves from the sun the nymphs cover themselves with a foamy substance.



The insects get nourishment by piercing the bark of the tree with their mouthparts and sucking up the sap at a fast pace. They then eject almost pure water just as fast, and this drips from the tree to form pools on the ground below.
Although froghoppers are found in many other places in the world, many African people are very superstitious of trees that "rain" and there are lots of stories about them.

The area where we are staying, (including our garden), has a lot of trees that are used by these insects, so we often have to dodge the "raindrops". I had to laugh when I read about a man who was really complaining about the raining trees. He said that not long after he moved house, he discovered that the large tree outside the backdoor (and it towers over the washing line, as well), was a rain tree and that it dripped so much that everytime he and his wife went outside they had to use umbrellas when passing under the tree to get to the car! He was very upset and longed to chop the tree down, but they were only renting the house so the tree had to stay - to the froghoppers delight, I'm sure! :D

The "Rain Tree" in our garden.

Halo Around The Sun

South Africans were treated to quite a rare sight in the sky yesterday - a perfect rainbow halo around the Sun. The sight caused quite a stir and made headlines in the news - with lots of photos on the net as well.

The scientific explanation is that the halo is caused by light reflecting off tiny ice-crystals or water droplets very high in the sky. The thing about theses halos is that they can't be predicted like eclipses, the conditions for them to form have to be absoultely right. The conditions that form halos often cause rain and this is what happened yesterday evening, we had heavy showers of rain. Sometimes halos appear as arcs and other times, like yesterday, they completely surround the Sun. Like all of creation, they are wonderful masterpieces of the Lord's work!

 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

- Genesis 1:14