Running to reach the goal

Phillippians 3:12
I have not yet reached my goal, and I am not perfect. But Christ has taken hold of me. So I keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize.


Church was challenging last night.  The parable of the Talents in Luke's Gospel: You must be trustworthy in the little things before being trusted with bigger things.  The speaker related this to being in your current situation, before moving in to 'bigger and better things'.


God is telling me yet again to trust Him and be patient.  To get to where I want to be, I must first be in the smaller things in life.  Be happy where I currently am, not forever longing for the life ahead.  Not worrying about where or how tomorrow will occur, but living for today.


And I will keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize, but I will not cheat my way and skip out steps God has planned.  I will run and struggle through each step of the way in a trustworthy manner.

Good and Evil

Professor : You are a Christian, aren’t you, son?

Student : Yes, sir.


Professor: So, you believe in GOD?

Student : Absolutely, sir.


Professor : Is GOD good ?


Student : Sure.


Professor: Is GOD all powerful ?


Student : Yes.


Professor: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to GOD to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But GOD didn’t. How is this GOD good then? Hmm?


(Student was silent.)


Professor: You can’t answer, can you ? Let’s start again, young fella. Is GOD good?


Student : Yes.


Professor: Is satan good ?


Student : No.


Professor: Where does satan come from ?


Student : From … GOD …


Professor: That’s right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?


Student : Yes.


Professor: Evil is everywhere, isn’t it ? And GOD did make everything. Correct?


Student : Yes.


Professor: So who created evil ?


(Student did not answer.)


Professor: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don’t they?


Student : Yes, sir.


Professor: So, who created them ?


(Student had no answer.)


Professor: Science says you have 5 Senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son, have you ever seen GOD?


Student : No, sir.


Professor: Tell us if you have ever heard your GOD?


Student : No , sir.


Professor: Have you ever felt your GOD, tasted your GOD, smelt your GOD? Have you ever had any sensory perception of GOD for that matter?


Student : No, sir. I’m afraid I haven’t.


Professor: Yet you still believe in Him?


Student : Yes.


Professor : According to Empirical, Testable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says your 
GOD doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son?


Student : Nothing. I only have my faith.


Professor: Yes, faith. And that is the problem Science has.


Student : Professor, is there such a thing as heat?


Professor: Yes.


Student : And is there such a thing as cold?


Professor: Yes.


Student : No, sir. There isn’t.


(The lecture theater became very quiet with this turn of events.)


Student : Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don’t have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.


(There was pin-drop silence in the lecture theater.)


Student : What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?


Professor: Yes. What is night if there isn’t darkness?


Student : You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light. But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and its called darkness, isn’t it? In reality, darkness isn’t. If it is, well you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?


Professor: So what is the point you are making, young man ?


Student : Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.


Professor: Flawed ? Can you explain how?


Student : Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good GOD and a bad GOD. You are viewing the concept of GOD as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, Science can’t even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing.
Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor, do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?


Professor: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.


Student : Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?


(The Professor shook his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument was going.)


Student : Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor. Are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?


(The class was in uproar.)


Student : Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor’s brain?


(The class broke out into laughter. )


Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor’s brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established Rules of Empirical, Stable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?


(The room was silent. The Professor stared at the student, his face unfathomable.)


Professor: I guess you’ll have to take them on faith, son.


Student : That is it sir … Exactly ! The link between man & GOD is FAITH. That is all that keeps things alive and moving.


P.S.By the way, that student was EINSTEIN.



Darkness and Evil is merely the absence of God, not the opposite force of Him.  As cold is to 
heat or darkness to light.  Darkness and cold don't disprove heat and light, but PROVE them.

Leading a God-Centered Life

Worship
Pray constantly
Be humble
Be childlike
Follow Jesus
Serve God


I tend to find that when the first one happens the rest happen.  Sometimes it's hard.  But we are call to praise Him in the storm as well as the calm.  Sometimes we won't feel like it but when we praise, we push through.  God is always with us, and we will anoint with the Holy Spirit, and the rest will follow.


I have found nothing that makes my heart satisfied the way it is when I praise God, in that moment I know God is in everything and will work out everything, nothing bad will happen, and I don't need to worry.


Applause, everyone. Bravo, bravissimo! Shout God-songs at the top of your lungs!
God Most High is stunning,
astride land and ocean.
He crushes hostile people,
puts nations at our feet.
He set us at the head of the line,
prize-winning Jacob, his favourite.
Loud cheers as God climbs the mountain,
a ram's horn blast at the summit.
Sing songs to God, sing out!
Sing to our King, sing praise!
He's Lord over earth,
so sing your best songs to God.
God is Lord of godless nations—
sovereign, he's King of the mountain.
Princes from all over are gathered,
people of Abraham's God.
The powers of earth are God's - he soars over all.

Don't over complicate

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam

and the mountains quake with their surging.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy place where the Most High dwells.

God is within her, she will not fall;

God will help her at break of day.

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;

he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

The LORD Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Come and see what the LORD has done,

the desolations he has brought on the earth.

He makes wars cease

to the ends of the earth.

He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;he burns the shields with fire.He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;I will be exalted among the nations,I will be exalted in the earth.”The LORD Almighty is with us;the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Loving somebody means longing to be in the presence of that person.  We should long to be in the presence of God if we love Him.  It's not an oversimplification.  Love God with all your heart.  Return to your first love - remember the passion you first had about God when you found it was true.

'Don't over complicate God's will. Just stay connected to Jesus. Love Him. Look into His eyes. He will lead. Follow. Repeat.'  Louie Giglio.

Crossroads

'Don't over complicate God's will. Just stay connected to Jesus. Love Him. Look into His eyes. He will lead. Follow. Repeat.'  Louie Giglio.


'God's plan for your life is God. Don't expect him to hand you something else.'  Louie Giglio.


So I find myself at a crossroads again in life.  An opportunity of a job that will help progress my career.  But I'm comfortable here God, I don't want to go, I have good friends, I've not been here long, please can I stay longer than a year in one place?  I'm fed up of constant moving, starting again, making new friends, finding a new church, somewhere to live.  I've got no one to go with, it's getting lonely.


Return to your first love.  Remember that passion of praising God and the freedom you felt in your heart, nothing can ever hurt you again.  Just stay connected to Jesus.  Trust Him to move the boulders blocking your path, and to put them where He doesn't want you to go.  Don't lean on you own understanding.


I'm found in the rhythms of Grace, they overcome all of my ways, realigning each step everyday, to live for your Glory

Where you go, I'll go ....

My life is a light for Your cause
My will laid aside for Your call
And reserved are the depths of my heart
Only for You
I'm caught in the rhythms of grace
They overcome all of my ways
Realigning each step everyday
To live for Your glory


Take my life I lay it down
At the cross where I am found
All I have I give to You oh God
Take my hands and make them clean
Keep my heart in purity
That I may walk in all You have for me
Take my moments and my days
Let each breath that I take
Be ever only for You oh God

All your ways are good 
All your ways are sure 
I will trust in you alone 
Where you go, I'll go 
Where you stay, I'll stay 
When you move, I'll move, I will follow you 
Who you love, I'll love 
How you serve I'll serve 
If this life I lose, I will follow you, I will follow you 
Light unto the world 
Light unto my life 
I will live for you alone 
You're the one I seek 
Knowing I will find 
All I need in you alone, in you alone

Proverbs 3:5-7 (MSG)

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;

don't try to figure out everything on your own.

Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;

he's the one who will keep you on track.

Don't assume that you know it all. 

Isaiah 55:8-9 (MSG)

"I don't think the way you think.  The way you work isn't the way I work."

God's Decree.

"For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think.

Listen to me ....

Psalm 44:1-3
We've been hearing about this, God, all our lives.
Our fathers told us the stories
their fathers told them,
How single-handedly you weeded out the godless
from the fields and planted us,
How you sent those people packing
but gave us a fresh start.
We didn't fight for this land;
we didn't work for it—it was a gift!
You gave it, smiling as you gave it,
delighting as you gave it.


.... and Trust me ....