God never promises a trouble free life. But he does promise to be with you, to help and guide you through all your troubles.
I sometimes wonder why non-Christians get the impression Christians don't have any trouble/get sad/have bad stuff happening to them etc. Then I realise it's a combination of things:
1. Misinformation - the Good news is preached, with all the 'nice bits' in it and misses out the more 'unsavoury bits'
2. We are generally a pretty happy bunch! This is because despite troubles befalling our ways there is a hope, one of an eternal future that will outlast everything.
Psalm 30:4-5
Sing the praises of the LORD, you his faithful people;
praise his holy name.
For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.
I love the Psalm's they're so real. David who wrote a lot of them, shows that he too was very human, and struggled with all the stuff that befalls us. Yet he always trusts God to do the right thing, and praises Him for it.
As Christian's we must take the long view, of eternity (a very long view!!) Therefore 2 things to remember when stuff gets you down:
1. Trust God to be in the situation, He WILL guide you if you ask.
2. Hope of a new morning - it WILL end, He promises.
To end 2 quotes I saw on Nicky Gumbel's twitter feed, the first very apt for the above, and the second also, but point three made me chuckle too! =)
'Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength.'
'Jesus promised his disciples three things - to be : 1. Absurdly happy. 2. Completely fearless. 3. Constantly in trouble.'
Lord you are absolutely amazing, I'm sorry I sometimes (mainly constantly!) question your promises that fill the Bible. It's so clear when I read it that you are God and NOTHING can stand in your way, but I instantly forget it when I put down your Book and go about my daily life. I know I shouldn't separate 'daily life' and you Word. Help me Lord to combine the two much better, and constantly think of you.
Monday, 5 March 2012
Sunday, 4 March 2012
Habits and Trust
It was said by the pastor in church today that it takes 21 days of doing something before it becomes a habit.
Awesome I thought, I'm half way there (that is, it's day 12 of lent - yes I am counting the Sundays!) and still doing good with the whole quiet time thing and daily blogging of my thoughts that come from quiet time/church. Then I remembered a line from a poem I heard ages ago about habits:
Don't let your parents down;
They brought you up.
Be humble enough to obey;
you may be giving orders someday.
Choose your friends with care;
you become what they are.
Choose only a date;
who would make a good mate.
Guard your thoughts;
what you think, you are.
Be master of your habits;
or they will master you.
Don't let the crowd pressure you;
stand for something or you'll fall for anything.
Master your habits, get into good habits, not bad ones, or they will overcome you.
Proverbs 3:1-6
My child, remember my teachings and instructions and obey them completely. They will help you live a long and prosperous life. Let love and loyalty always show like a necklace, and write them in your mind. God and people will like you and consider you a success. With all your heart you must trust the Lord, and not your own judgement. Always let Him lead you and He will clear the road for you to follow.
Trust was also talked about in church today - trusting God completely for His ways are good. Definitely a word from God today since I read about trusting God in another blog yesterday evening. They were talking about trusting the tree they climbed, knowing it wouldn't fall down because others had climbed it before and so had they. Their prayer was simple: Help me trust you Lord, like I trust the tree.
I know how this feels, I've climbed a ton of trees as a kid, and always trusted the trees completely. And only the other day I was thinking about trusting God in His promises and His words. My continuing prayer: Help me Lord trust you like this.
We sang this song today, I've always loved this verse since I first heard it:
I'm caught in the rhythms of grace
They overcome all of my ways
Realigning each step everyday
To live for Your glory
A new revelation about the meaning hit me today thinking about habits and trust. I'm fully caught up in God's Grace, so much it thoroughly saturates me. Trusting in God and continuing my 'habit' of quiet times, studying God's word, and listening to Him speak through His word helps realign my steps for the day to walk with Him and not away from Him. For all this is for His glory, my life.
Awesome I thought, I'm half way there (that is, it's day 12 of lent - yes I am counting the Sundays!) and still doing good with the whole quiet time thing and daily blogging of my thoughts that come from quiet time/church. Then I remembered a line from a poem I heard ages ago about habits:
Don't let your parents down;
They brought you up.
Be humble enough to obey;
you may be giving orders someday.
Choose your friends with care;
you become what they are.
Choose only a date;
who would make a good mate.
Guard your thoughts;
what you think, you are.
Be master of your habits;
or they will master you.
Don't let the crowd pressure you;
stand for something or you'll fall for anything.
Master your habits, get into good habits, not bad ones, or they will overcome you.
Proverbs 3:1-6
My child, remember my teachings and instructions and obey them completely. They will help you live a long and prosperous life. Let love and loyalty always show like a necklace, and write them in your mind. God and people will like you and consider you a success. With all your heart you must trust the Lord, and not your own judgement. Always let Him lead you and He will clear the road for you to follow.
Trust was also talked about in church today - trusting God completely for His ways are good. Definitely a word from God today since I read about trusting God in another blog yesterday evening. They were talking about trusting the tree they climbed, knowing it wouldn't fall down because others had climbed it before and so had they. Their prayer was simple: Help me trust you Lord, like I trust the tree.
I know how this feels, I've climbed a ton of trees as a kid, and always trusted the trees completely. And only the other day I was thinking about trusting God in His promises and His words. My continuing prayer: Help me Lord trust you like this.
We sang this song today, I've always loved this verse since I first heard it:
I'm caught in the rhythms of grace
They overcome all of my ways
Realigning each step everyday
To live for Your glory
A new revelation about the meaning hit me today thinking about habits and trust. I'm fully caught up in God's Grace, so much it thoroughly saturates me. Trusting in God and continuing my 'habit' of quiet times, studying God's word, and listening to Him speak through His word helps realign my steps for the day to walk with Him and not away from Him. For all this is for His glory, my life.
Saturday, 3 March 2012
Confidence in God
Having the confidence in God is believing you're better than you believe you are, because God say's you are.
Having the confidence in God to have even faith as small as a mustard seed to move mountains. If that small amount of faith moves mountains, think how smaller our faith only has to be for moving things smaller than mountains! Not that you should aim small - aim for that actual mountain!! Do not doubt in your heart, but believe (Mark 11:23).
Mmmm...awesome words but still really difficult in practice. There's some stuff that I've been asking God about and for, for years but hasn't happened....yet anyway. When I remember this stuff it gets really difficult to believe the words written in Mark's gospel.
But I know God is there, He is for me, and not against me, He has a plan for my future, the most awesome one, one far better than I can ever imagine. This I know, and do believe, even if doubts creep into my mind and start to bash away at this truth, Jesus is with me and therefore I will not be defeated.
Having the confidence in God to have even faith as small as a mustard seed to move mountains. If that small amount of faith moves mountains, think how smaller our faith only has to be for moving things smaller than mountains! Not that you should aim small - aim for that actual mountain!! Do not doubt in your heart, but believe (Mark 11:23).
Mmmm...awesome words but still really difficult in practice. There's some stuff that I've been asking God about and for, for years but hasn't happened....yet anyway. When I remember this stuff it gets really difficult to believe the words written in Mark's gospel.
But I know God is there, He is for me, and not against me, He has a plan for my future, the most awesome one, one far better than I can ever imagine. This I know, and do believe, even if doubts creep into my mind and start to bash away at this truth, Jesus is with me and therefore I will not be defeated.
Friday, 2 March 2012
The most awesomest thought of all.
All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship
I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory
and He is here
Just one thought today: The absolute enormity of the sacrifice of Jesus. He bore the reaction of God's anger to all of my sin (and the rest of the world's) on Himself, to save me (and everyone else).
How can I not thank Him for what He has done, I could never provide enough of a suitable offering to God for atonement of my sin, but Jesus did, so I don't have to.
I only receive forgiveness as a gift, not ever earned. The most awesome gift ever in the whole wide world.
Some cannot fathom the cross, say it is foolishness, for others it is offensive, for others it is life changing. For it to be life changing we have to ask God. He is there waiting for everyone, eagerly expecting and wanting the question to be asked, He will never force down the door. The handle is on our side, not His, we are the ones who have to make the first move. This is the gift of free will.
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship
I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory
and He is here
Just one thought today: The absolute enormity of the sacrifice of Jesus. He bore the reaction of God's anger to all of my sin (and the rest of the world's) on Himself, to save me (and everyone else).
How can I not thank Him for what He has done, I could never provide enough of a suitable offering to God for atonement of my sin, but Jesus did, so I don't have to.
I only receive forgiveness as a gift, not ever earned. The most awesome gift ever in the whole wide world.
Some cannot fathom the cross, say it is foolishness, for others it is offensive, for others it is life changing. For it to be life changing we have to ask God. He is there waiting for everyone, eagerly expecting and wanting the question to be asked, He will never force down the door. The handle is on our side, not His, we are the ones who have to make the first move. This is the gift of free will.
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Just what I needed!
I saw this on someone's FB update yesterday:
Keep your head up, keep the faith... you are doing better than you think - God
So I saved it onto this webpage so I could remember it this morning.
God is amazing, just absolutely stunning!
What I also opened the internet to was the web page I get my daily quiet time off (Bible in One Year by Nicky Gumbel, vicar of HTB - Holy Trinity Brompton, UK). The title of today's quiet time is Happy Leap Year! OK, I thought.... technically I'm a day ahead of them since I'm in NZ and They're in the UK, so actually it's the 1st March (pedantic I know!) The other thought I had was, OK, where is he going to go with this?! Well, this was the first bit:
I wanted to write a brief note to encourage all of you taking part in the Bible in One Year challenge to keep going. Rick Warren has written that ‘reading the Bible generates life, it produces change, it heals hurts, it builds character, it transforms circumstances, it imparts joy, it overcomes adversity, it defeats temptation, it infuses hope, it releases power, it cleanses the mind’. I hope and pray that reading the Bible in One Year brings much benefit to your life, just as it has done to mine.
Just what I needed! My thoughts this morning when my alarm woke me up was 'uuggggggggggh, Do I have to get up now?! Just 10 more minutes!' God speaks exactly when you need and what you need, sometimes it's subtle, others times not so much! This was kind of in between, not subtle, but not quite the shouting in the face phase either. Sneaky! =)
It's only been 9 days but I know these regular, thoughtful, non rushed, quiet time mornings are building my relationship with God. To have any kind of relationship with anyone you have to talk to them, listen in return, It's happening, AMEN! These are the verses written for today's quiet time, thank you God =)
‘Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither –
whatever they do prospers’ (Psalm 1:1–3). Keep delighting in God's word
‘You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me’ (John 5:39). Keep focused on Jesus
'Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you’ (Deuteronomy 4:1–2). Keep putting God's Word into practice.
I've gad a few comments from friends who are reading these musings of mine since I'm posting them to FB. Thanks for the encouragements guys =) I'm also delighted that some of you have mentioned they're helping you. I didn't really thing God could use me like that, but AMEN! Keep the Faith guys, it's awesome, and I'm glad through me God is able to give you the encouragement you need sometimes. So today's thoughts are an equal encouragement to you all.
Keep your head up...
Keep the Faith...
You are doing better than you thought
Keep your head up, keep the faith... you are doing better than you think - God
So I saved it onto this webpage so I could remember it this morning.
God is amazing, just absolutely stunning!
What I also opened the internet to was the web page I get my daily quiet time off (Bible in One Year by Nicky Gumbel, vicar of HTB - Holy Trinity Brompton, UK). The title of today's quiet time is Happy Leap Year! OK, I thought.... technically I'm a day ahead of them since I'm in NZ and They're in the UK, so actually it's the 1st March (pedantic I know!) The other thought I had was, OK, where is he going to go with this?! Well, this was the first bit:
I wanted to write a brief note to encourage all of you taking part in the Bible in One Year challenge to keep going. Rick Warren has written that ‘reading the Bible generates life, it produces change, it heals hurts, it builds character, it transforms circumstances, it imparts joy, it overcomes adversity, it defeats temptation, it infuses hope, it releases power, it cleanses the mind’. I hope and pray that reading the Bible in One Year brings much benefit to your life, just as it has done to mine.
Just what I needed! My thoughts this morning when my alarm woke me up was 'uuggggggggggh, Do I have to get up now?! Just 10 more minutes!' God speaks exactly when you need and what you need, sometimes it's subtle, others times not so much! This was kind of in between, not subtle, but not quite the shouting in the face phase either. Sneaky! =)
It's only been 9 days but I know these regular, thoughtful, non rushed, quiet time mornings are building my relationship with God. To have any kind of relationship with anyone you have to talk to them, listen in return, It's happening, AMEN! These are the verses written for today's quiet time, thank you God =)
‘Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither –
whatever they do prospers’ (Psalm 1:1–3). Keep delighting in God's word
‘You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me’ (John 5:39). Keep focused on Jesus
'Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you’ (Deuteronomy 4:1–2). Keep putting God's Word into practice.
I've gad a few comments from friends who are reading these musings of mine since I'm posting them to FB. Thanks for the encouragements guys =) I'm also delighted that some of you have mentioned they're helping you. I didn't really thing God could use me like that, but AMEN! Keep the Faith guys, it's awesome, and I'm glad through me God is able to give you the encouragement you need sometimes. So today's thoughts are an equal encouragement to you all.
Keep your head up...
Keep the Faith...
You are doing better than you thought
The Ultimate Mercy of God
Pray without pretending, live without fretting, love without discriminating, speak without fearing.
Through the Mercy of God we are free to do these things. The coolest definition of Mercy I think is 'price paid'.
The price is paid for our sin which is what separates us from God. Therefore we can come to God, close to him without fear, trepidation, discrimination, pretence, because Jesus is our advocate. He is by our side and when God (rightly) judges us for our sin (lying about whether you fed the cat vs Murder -a discussion for another day!) and says to God, 'hang on a minute, take me, I'll go in his place'.
Who would do that??! Well apparently Jesus does, which is the coolest news =) I often struggle with the thought that I'm not good enough for Jesus to even want to take my place. I mean, it's probably a bit easier to take the rap for someone you like! But no, He LOVES us, so it's all the better. Because He loves us He will save us. He loves us because He loves us. If you love someone then you'd do pretty much anything for them to save them, to stop them from dying.
Even when we are struggling, God will save us. It's not a conditional love - if you do this, then I will....
It's completely UNconditional, He loves us whilst we are still sinners.
The whole New Testament, even the whole of the Bible, shows this to us. Look who Jesus hung out with, cared for, spoke to, had time for. Not the pretenders, the big wigs who thought they knew everything and were really arrogant, showed off, thinking they had it sorted.
Don't pray like the Pharisee in the temple, loud and proud - not that it's wrong to pray out loud - just that it shouldn't be for show, look at me etc. Pray like the poor widow, humbly, sincerely, honestly. God knows your heart anyway, so why pretend to the rest of the world, none of that matters...Live without fretting.
Through the Mercy of God we are free to do these things. The coolest definition of Mercy I think is 'price paid'.
The price is paid for our sin which is what separates us from God. Therefore we can come to God, close to him without fear, trepidation, discrimination, pretence, because Jesus is our advocate. He is by our side and when God (rightly) judges us for our sin (lying about whether you fed the cat vs Murder -a discussion for another day!) and says to God, 'hang on a minute, take me, I'll go in his place'.
Who would do that??! Well apparently Jesus does, which is the coolest news =) I often struggle with the thought that I'm not good enough for Jesus to even want to take my place. I mean, it's probably a bit easier to take the rap for someone you like! But no, He LOVES us, so it's all the better. Because He loves us He will save us. He loves us because He loves us. If you love someone then you'd do pretty much anything for them to save them, to stop them from dying.
Even when we are struggling, God will save us. It's not a conditional love - if you do this, then I will....
It's completely UNconditional, He loves us whilst we are still sinners.
The whole New Testament, even the whole of the Bible, shows this to us. Look who Jesus hung out with, cared for, spoke to, had time for. Not the pretenders, the big wigs who thought they knew everything and were really arrogant, showed off, thinking they had it sorted.
Don't pray like the Pharisee in the temple, loud and proud - not that it's wrong to pray out loud - just that it shouldn't be for show, look at me etc. Pray like the poor widow, humbly, sincerely, honestly. God knows your heart anyway, so why pretend to the rest of the world, none of that matters...Live without fretting.
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Holiness
God is Holy, which means set apart, lifted above, pure. In fact God is the Holy or Holies. THE most Holy. WOW!
‘One of the stubbornly enduring habits of the human race is to insist on domesticating God. We are determined to tame him. We figure out ways to harness God to our projects. We try to reduce God to a size that conveniently fits our plans and ambitions and tastes.’ Eugene Peterson.
But the Bible says God is Holy (see the first paragraph!), so why do we drag Him down? We can't do it, He won't let us.
'Holy refers to life burning with an intense purity that transforms everything it touches into itself.’ Nicky Gumbel.
I think why we try, by which I mean we don't necessarily do intentionally, but without thinking, is because as humans we have human brains. We just cannot fathom the absolute wonder of God, He is just too out of this world, and Holy. There is no other word. He is just too amazing, it blows our brains. We get glimpses of course, which I love, I think anyone does. Have you ever done that? It tends to happen when I'm praising God in song, or am out and about walking/cycling and see something amazing of nature. And it just hits you, BAM! W-OW! SOOOO AWESOME!
I always did like the phrase 'in the beauty of Holiness' which comes from Psalm 27 (which I actually didn't know, but first heard it in Paul Oakley's song Be lifted up)
Psalm 27:
One thing I ask from the LORD,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the LORD
And Paul Oakley's song:
Be lifted up, be lifted up
As we bow down,
Be lifted up.
Let the heavens rejoice
Let the nations be glad
Let the whole earth tremble
For you are God
Come and worship the Lord
In the beauty of holiness
The focus of our life should be worship, the one thing (Ps 27). We find the beauty of the Lord in worshipping Him, and this lifts us from distraction, fear, anything that binds us that should not.
'We are to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is our true and proper worship’ (Rom 12:1–2).
The characteristics of Holiness:
Humility - do not try to get on over anyone else
Love - Love EVERYONE
Tolerance - to people even though they are different
Discipline - But be intolerant to sin
Peace - Do not argue
Faithfulness - Do not compromise God
=S Kind of difficult, eh? But I pray with the beauty of God's Holiness, that we may with even a tiny bit of glimpsing His Holiness we can become more like Jesus everyday.
‘One of the stubbornly enduring habits of the human race is to insist on domesticating God. We are determined to tame him. We figure out ways to harness God to our projects. We try to reduce God to a size that conveniently fits our plans and ambitions and tastes.’ Eugene Peterson.
But the Bible says God is Holy (see the first paragraph!), so why do we drag Him down? We can't do it, He won't let us.
'Holy refers to life burning with an intense purity that transforms everything it touches into itself.’ Nicky Gumbel.
I think why we try, by which I mean we don't necessarily do intentionally, but without thinking, is because as humans we have human brains. We just cannot fathom the absolute wonder of God, He is just too out of this world, and Holy. There is no other word. He is just too amazing, it blows our brains. We get glimpses of course, which I love, I think anyone does. Have you ever done that? It tends to happen when I'm praising God in song, or am out and about walking/cycling and see something amazing of nature. And it just hits you, BAM! W-OW! SOOOO AWESOME!
I always did like the phrase 'in the beauty of Holiness' which comes from Psalm 27 (which I actually didn't know, but first heard it in Paul Oakley's song Be lifted up)
Psalm 27:
One thing I ask from the LORD,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the LORD
And Paul Oakley's song:
Be lifted up, be lifted up
As we bow down,
Be lifted up.
Let the heavens rejoice
Let the nations be glad
Let the whole earth tremble
For you are God
Come and worship the Lord
In the beauty of holiness
The focus of our life should be worship, the one thing (Ps 27). We find the beauty of the Lord in worshipping Him, and this lifts us from distraction, fear, anything that binds us that should not.
'We are to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is our true and proper worship’ (Rom 12:1–2).
The characteristics of Holiness:
Humility - do not try to get on over anyone else
Love - Love EVERYONE
Tolerance - to people even though they are different
Discipline - But be intolerant to sin
Peace - Do not argue
Faithfulness - Do not compromise God
=S Kind of difficult, eh? But I pray with the beauty of God's Holiness, that we may with even a tiny bit of glimpsing His Holiness we can become more like Jesus everyday.
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