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.
Saturday, 3 March 2012
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.
Monday, 27 February 2012
Glory
It's a very extravagant word don't you think? It's supposed to be.
Apparently it's one of the most common words in the Bible - very fitting, since God is Glory.
The Hebrew word for Glory is Kabhod, meaning heaviness or weight. The Greek word, doxa, meaning good reputation, or honour.
I currently have the first 2 lines to a song written on my desktop accompanying the most amazing picture of a sunrise:
'I see the King of Glory, coming on the Earth with fire, the whole Earth sings, the whole Earth sings.'
I chuckled when I substituted the word Glory...I see the King of HEAVINESS! But thinking about it, it's true: I see the heavyweight champion of the World, that no boxer here on Earth can beat for the title.
'Coming on the Earth with fire'
When the Israelites had finished building the Tabernacle in the desert, a great cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Glory of God filled the Tabernacle. The cloud, which represented the Glory of God went before them during the day, and fire at night.
The gospel displays the Glory of Christ, and we show the world little glimpses of it when we work and live for Christ.
Lord I pray today that I will help show your Glory to others, and help me to see the struggles of this life in perspective, ‘for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all’ (2 Corinthians 4:17).
Apparently it's one of the most common words in the Bible - very fitting, since God is Glory.
The Hebrew word for Glory is Kabhod, meaning heaviness or weight. The Greek word, doxa, meaning good reputation, or honour.
I currently have the first 2 lines to a song written on my desktop accompanying the most amazing picture of a sunrise:
'I see the King of Glory, coming on the Earth with fire, the whole Earth sings, the whole Earth sings.'
I chuckled when I substituted the word Glory...I see the King of HEAVINESS! But thinking about it, it's true: I see the heavyweight champion of the World, that no boxer here on Earth can beat for the title.
'Coming on the Earth with fire'
When the Israelites had finished building the Tabernacle in the desert, a great cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Glory of God filled the Tabernacle. The cloud, which represented the Glory of God went before them during the day, and fire at night.
The gospel displays the Glory of Christ, and we show the world little glimpses of it when we work and live for Christ.
Lord I pray today that I will help show your Glory to others, and help me to see the struggles of this life in perspective, ‘for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all’ (2 Corinthians 4:17).
Sunday, 26 February 2012
Matins
This morning of church I was reminded of the word Matins. This is a word derived from Latin, which I have never learned except on the odd occasion of coming across various bits of anatomy in medical school! The following in taken from that great source of wisdom – Wikipedia! Matins, or from the adjective matutinus, meaning ‘of or belonging to the morning.’
I first came across the word at the Parachute Festival (Hamilton NZ), when the Parachute Band released their new album (which is completely awesome by the way). There new album is 2 CD’s, one called Matins, and the other Vespers. The idea being, one for morning praise, and the other for the quiet reflection in the evenings. Matins and Vespers is an age old tradition of many Eastern Orthodox churches, and the Roman Catholic Church.
I just love the fact that mornings are for praise of God. It starts the morning well don’t you think? Praising His almighty name, and committing whatever befalls us that day to Him. I was reminded of it at Church this morning because the first song we sang was most definitely a praise song:
I’m casting my cares aside
I’m leaving my past behind
I’m setting my heart and mind on you, Jesus
I’m reaching my hand to yours
Believing there’s so much more
Knowing that all you have in store for me is good
Today is the day you have made
I will rejoice and be glad in it
And I won’t worry about tomorrow
I’m trusting in what you say
Today is the day
I’m putting my fears aside
I’m leaving my doubts behind
I’m giving my hopes and dreams to you, Jesus
An awesome way to start the day, rejoicing that today is here, and claiming it all for Jesus.
Tomorrow I start back on the ward on Orthopaedics, which means no more random houred shifts in the chaos that is ED, and I have to be at work by about 7.30am every morning Mon-Fri. This means getting up early to do my quiet time, and this tends to be my downfall, waking up thinking, just 5 more minutes! Which inevitably eats into quiet time - doh! Therefore my prayer today is: give me the strength to get up in the morning (in time) to praise God with Matins, and commit the day before me to the Lord with my quiet times.
Amen!
I first came across the word at the Parachute Festival (Hamilton NZ), when the Parachute Band released their new album (which is completely awesome by the way). There new album is 2 CD’s, one called Matins, and the other Vespers. The idea being, one for morning praise, and the other for the quiet reflection in the evenings. Matins and Vespers is an age old tradition of many Eastern Orthodox churches, and the Roman Catholic Church.
I just love the fact that mornings are for praise of God. It starts the morning well don’t you think? Praising His almighty name, and committing whatever befalls us that day to Him. I was reminded of it at Church this morning because the first song we sang was most definitely a praise song:
I’m casting my cares aside
I’m leaving my past behind
I’m setting my heart and mind on you, Jesus
I’m reaching my hand to yours
Believing there’s so much more
Knowing that all you have in store for me is good
Today is the day you have made
I will rejoice and be glad in it
And I won’t worry about tomorrow
I’m trusting in what you say
Today is the day
I’m putting my fears aside
I’m leaving my doubts behind
I’m giving my hopes and dreams to you, Jesus
An awesome way to start the day, rejoicing that today is here, and claiming it all for Jesus.
Tomorrow I start back on the ward on Orthopaedics, which means no more random houred shifts in the chaos that is ED, and I have to be at work by about 7.30am every morning Mon-Fri. This means getting up early to do my quiet time, and this tends to be my downfall, waking up thinking, just 5 more minutes! Which inevitably eats into quiet time - doh! Therefore my prayer today is: give me the strength to get up in the morning (in time) to praise God with Matins, and commit the day before me to the Lord with my quiet times.
Amen!
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