He will carry you

 https://youtu.be/xp4sb7lbhME

A link to a song I love 

Taking time out during the business

 Christmas time for me got real busy. It seemed like wherever I turned there was something to do it somewhere to be. I went from one place to the other, not stopping to get a breath. 

Have you felt like that? Especially during the holiday seasons? You run from here to there, not stopping long enough to breathe or talk to God?? 

What does the Bible say about this? 

Exodus 14:13: Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.

1 Peter 3:4: But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

Psalm 46:10: Be still, and know that I am God:I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

These are just a few verses about being quiet in your heart, and standing still before God. That’s where he wants us. In a still and quiet place where we can see God working and moving. And where we can talk to him. When we are busy running around, we forget God’s goodness and faithfulness. When we are quiet and still before him, we can see him moving and we remember. 

Let’s remember to take time out for Christ. Remember he is your creator and friend. Make an effort to stop during the business and thank God, and remember his faithfulness. 

Going beyond the waves.

 the 

I was at the beach recently paddling. I only had one pair of clothes and I was wearing them, so I didn’t want to get them wet. So I tried hard to not let the waves hit me as they made their way to where I was standing and break. The longer I stood there, the more rough the waves became, and the more wet my clothes got. So I walked a bit farther and went beyond where the waves broke. And it was calm and I didn’t get my clothes wet. It reminded me of how often times in the life we are content to stay at the edge of the sea. We hope to miss the rough waves of pain and disappointment. But the more we wait at the edge, the more rough those waves get. Yet if we were to brave the waves and walk further into our father’s arms, all would be calm. We would be safe. Yet even tho I was standing where the waves couldnt break on me, they still had to pass me by, yet because I was far away from their breaking place, the waves were not as rough. 

If we rest in our father’s arms, the waves of life will still pass us by, yet they won’t be as tough because our Heavenly Father is holding us. 

You are wonderful

You are wonderful, fulfilling my wildest dreams.         You are there for me, helping me fight back the devil’s ugly schemes. You bring me verses for me to recall. You pick me up when I fall. You are my all in all. 

You’re the Alpha and Omega, the mighty one. You’re counsellor, comforter, God’s only son. You loved me, and gave yourself for me, and died upon a tree. 

You took my sin upon yourself. You suffered the shame and the scorn for my eternal house. You offer forgiveness through your blood. You canceled my debt, and your blessings well over me like a flood. 

Only one life

 

What God has promised

 God did not promise that we would have a smooth path to walk on.  He did not promise that it would be straight with no twists or turns. God did not promise that rain would stop falling, the wind cease from howling, and the waves stop tossing. 

Instead he promised strength for every hill, endurance for every wave, wisdom for every twist, and courage for every breath of wind 

Our firm foundation

 I love the song ‘How Firm a Foundation.’ It contains a few of my most favourite verses. But the end verse really speaks to me every day. I often sing the last verse on my way to work. 

“That soul that on soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, I will not, I will not desert to his foes. That soul though all hell should endeavour to shake, I’ll never, no, never, no, never forsake.” 

I’m so thankful that God is looking out for me, and that he will never ever leave me, or forsake me! 

Giving our weakness to God!

 

Your attitude is your choice.

A few days ago, I listened to a sermon about our attitude. Something that really stood out to me was this phrase, “your attitude is your choice!” I sorta laughed when I heard that. Like really?? My attitude is based on my surroundings. If work is going horrid, then so will my attitude. If it’s going well, then so will my attitude. Well I was quite convicted by this message, cause if what he said was true, then I was off course with my attitude. So I said to myself, well if it’s true, then I’m certainly going to try it out. So I tried it out. As I go to work in the mornings, I normally pray the whole way there. So this Friday morning, after a week off work, I said to God: everything in me doesn’t want to be here. I want to be at home. And I just know that when I walk into work things will quickly turn hard and I’ll have a bad attitude. So I’m gonna choose to have a good attitude right now for the rest of the day. Please help to remember my choice, and please work it thru me. 

That day was an amazing day. Sure things went wrong. But the Lord helped me keep the right attitude. And me and my workmate actually got along really well. 

But you can’t have a good attitude if your grumpy. You’ll never choose the right attitude if you’re not thankful. But if it’s hard you’re not gonna automatically think of your blessings. Soo I realised if I’m gonna choose the right attitude then I’m gonna have to “give thanks in all things.” Giving thanks is vital in choosing a good attitude. 

Your attitude makes or breaks your day. And it also makes or breaks your workmates day, or the people around you. You have a bad attitude, then the people around you will start choosing that attitude to. You gave a cheerful attitude, then those around you will choose to be cheerful to. 

Joseph had a good attitude even in the toughest times. But he had to make a conscious choice every single day   He chose to see God’s way instead of his own way. He said, “ what you meant for evil, God  meant for good.” He chose to see life through God’s eyes. And he chose his attitude. 

Your attitude does not depend on your circumstances or your feelings. It depends on you!!!

Matthew 20

                             Matthew 20:28-31

Here Jesus is telling a parable of a father and two sons. He goes to the first son and asks him to go work in the vineyard for the day. The son strongly replies "no!!" and keeps at what he is doing. But afterwards he repents of his actions and goes and does what he is told. The father goes to his next son and asks him the same thing. The son cheerfully replies "yes father," and goes about his business, not doing what his father asked him to do. After Jesus finishes this parable, he then asks the question "which of the two did the will of his father?" The answer is plain and obvious. The first son.

As I read it I kinda laughed. I had this picture in my head of what took place. 

Here it is:

"Hey Samuel, today can you work on the east side of the vineyard please?" The father asked.          "Naw Dad!!! I was gonna do something else today!! No, I can't work in the vineyard today!!" So the father, disheartened at Samuel's attitude, goes to the next son.
"Hey son, I'm gonna need you today. The east side of the vineyard needs doing. Lets start at 9!!" "Yes, absolutely, Dad!! I'll be glad to come." Jordon cheerfully replies. But come 9am, Jordon is nowhere to be seen. The father can only see Samuel, head hanging, walking towards him. Once Samuel gets to his father, he lifts up his head and says, "I'm sorry, Dad, for speaking like that to you today. Please forgive me. I am here at your disposal." And the father wraps his arms around his son and says, "I'm glad son!!! Because I only have your best interests at heart!! I have got your future in my mind. I'm teaching you how to work!!" 

How often we are like these sons. We happily say to God, "Here am I, send me!!" Yet when the time comes, we don't show up. We are nowhere to be seen. Or God gives us a job, and we stubbornly shake our heads and say "No way, Lord!!" Let's remember the words of Jesus in the garden when he was praying to his father in Heaven. He asked that this cup might be taken from him. But then he said, "Your will be done!" We need to say that to when God gives us a job to do. Of course it won't be easy. But remember that when God takes you to it, he'll also take you through it!!! 

Who we were…

Masks!!!

 Over in NZ we are in lockdown again. And it’s also mandatory to wear masks now when going to an open business or when your working. So today I wore a mask all day. This was probably the very first time I’ve ever worn a mask. I didn’t even know how to put it on. With the help of my workmate, I finally got it on and sitting properly. But it was so hot, itchy, and it kept falling down. I really didn’t enjoy wearing it, and I counted down the mins till I could go home and take it off. But we wore them because thats what was required of us, and we tried to do it without complaining. 

It reminds me of the Christian life in a way. We are to be separate from the world and we are to put on the new man. And Jesus Christ helps us put him on.  Sometimes it’s not always easy. We don’t always enjoy it. Sometimes you wish you could just give up and take it off. But we need to put on the new self without complaining or arguing, because that’s what Jesus requires of us. 

Remember, If God requires something of you, he gives you the means to supply it. 

Ephesians

Put off the old self: 

Falsehood 

Anger (Do not let the sun go down on your wrath) 

Do not give opportunity to the devil 

Stealing (do honest work that way you can share in time of need.) 

Corrupt talk

Bitterness

Clamor (demand from many people) 

Sexual immorality 

Impurity 

Covetousness 

Slander 

Malice 

Drunkenness 

Put on the New Self: 

Renew your mind 

Holiness 

Truth 

Honest labour 

Wisdom 

Words useful for building up 

Kindness 

Tenderheartedness 

Forgiveness 

Armour of God. (Breastplate~righteousness, shoes~readiness, helmet~salvation, sword~spirit) 

We should: 

Be holy and blameless before God 

Expose all evil works 

Address one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. 

Give thanks always for everything 

Submit to one another 

Speak the truth in Love 

3:11

 

Ecclesiastes 3:11 is one of my favourite verses in the Bible. I’ve often read it when things don’t look pretty, and I remind myself that he will make everything beautiful in it’s time. I’ve often told myself that over and over again. But I realised something the last time I read this verse. It doesn’t say “he will make everything beautiful in it’s time” like I thought it did. Not at all. I mixed up one word in that verse. But that one word makes all the difference. It doesn’t say that one day he will make your circumstance beautiful.  To me that sounds like he will one day get around to making your ugly mess beautiful. It doesn’t say that he is making everything beautiful in it’s time. That sounds like he’s making it beautiful as you go. No no!! It doesn’t say any of that at all. It say “ he HAS MADE everything beautiful in it’s time.”  It’s already done. And one day you’ll look back and say: wow!! How beautiful. It was like that the whole time, and only now I’ve seen it. 

So if your going through something ugly or hard right now, remember, he has made it beautiful in it’s time!! 

Not enough time!!

As I was working the other day I couldn’t help but think of time. It seems like no matter how hard and fast I work, there’s never enough time!!! There’s never enough time to stop and say: we’ve done it all…let’s rest.

 I can work late or start early, yet there is still not enough time!!! How true the statement is for us as Christians. We don’t have the time to waste wishing for life to get easier. We are running out of time to get right with God. We waste soo much time holding grudges, and proving that we are right,  that it’s embarrassing!!! We waste soo much time wondering what would happen if we happened to push someone away from the edge of a cliff that falls to hell!! We are embarrassed!!! Oh how foolish we are!!!! We also waste time waiting for the right moment!! Now is the Right moment!!! Now is the accepted time!!! Don’t waste any more time, friends. We also waste time arguing and fighting with one another, while millions of sinners are filing unnoticed past you on their way to hell! Oh Christian!! Don’t let this happen anymore. Start doing what’s right now! Forgive now! You don’t have tomorrow!!! You only have today! Stop looking at others and how you compare to them, and start looking to Jesus. We are running out of time…we haven’t the time to waste sitting in despair. We must stand up and drag a sinner to the cross of Calvary. 

Application

 Well folks, here it is!! What we’ve all been waiting for!!! The application to the story. But I must admit…it was very hard to know what to write as there is just soooo much to learn from this story. So I decided to pick one thing from each section that really spoke to me. 

So let’s do a quick recap before we keep going…

So first we saw what happened. We read the story. Then we looked at her good and bad qualities.  And after looking at those, we dug a little deeper and found out what may of been some of her emotions.  

So now for the application!!!! Let’s go through each section and see what we can learn from each one! 

Bad qualities: I think something that is so easy for me to do, as it was for Martha to do, is to get distracted!! I get distracted from the goal. My goal is to honour and glorify my king, yet I get distracted and try to hour and glorify Mary instead of Jesus!!! Mary is my biggest distraction!! I want to please Mary! I want to make sure she is feeling comfortable and happy with me!!! I become so caught up with Mary instead of Christ! Oh may we all remember who it is in control, and who it is that we should have out eyes fixed on!!! 

Good Qualities: I think one of the big things I learnt from her good qualities was her servants heart. I learnt a few things here. She let her servants heart take her focus of Christ. Oh it’s so easy for me to do this. I get so caught up serving others! I end up trying to impress others. Yet that’s not the goal. I need to glorify God in everything I do! Don’t let your gift move your focus, dear friend! Focus on glorifying God through your talent. Give him all the glory and honour. Colossians 3:17 But then I also admire her servants heart. She wasn’t afraid of taking on the big task of serving the most amazing person she’d ever met. Like seriously!!! I wouldn’t have let Jesus come to my home. I would’ve thought up a thousand excuses as to why he couldn’t come. But she didn’t. Not once is it mentioned that she put up a fuss about Jesus coming to stay. She willingly had him. May we all learn from this extremely hospitable lady! 

Emotions: hmm…this was a hard one as each one of those feelings I’m very prone to. But I think probably what spoke to me the most was how she felt  overwhelmed. This is a very real feeling. I often feel very overwhelmed. And funny enough, sometimes the very talent you are given overwhelms you. Like we see with Martha, she got very overwhelmed in her job of serving. Whether it be in my gifts, life, or work, I get very overwhelmed very easily. And I find that when I get overwhelmed, then I react the same way as Martha. Resentment, self pity, and loneliness quickly set in! But how do you avoid being overwhelmed? Well, partly that’s my fault. I let so much happen to me that it is very overwhelming just to hear what I’m doing each day. But I think the key to keeping yourself stay in check when you start feeling overwhelmed is staying your mind on Christ. Feeling overwhelmed is sometimes something that you can’t avoid. But there is a way to handle it. And that’s by keeping your eyes on Christ. He is the author of our life!!! We can trust in him all the time. He is very trustworthy. So next time you start feeling overwhelmed…look to Christ. He will take what seems like the biggest problem ever, and he will turn it into something good. 

But that’s only a touch of what we can learn from Martha. It’s such a wonderful story with so many bits a pieces that’s it’s hard to compile into a few phrases. I also love good challenging questions. So here’s a few to chew on: 

What in your life is similar to Martha, and how can you change it? 

Where Are your eyes fixed and what is your goal? 

Who are you glorifying right now with what you are doing? 

A bad day

 By the time she got to Jesus, I think Martha was feeling pretty sorry for herself. Since she doesn’t want to be rude to the honoured guest, she starts of in a sweet, polite voice. “Lord…” but as soon as she speaks she cannot contain all the emotions. “DO YOU NOT CARE????” Here I think I hear a twinge of bitterness. “Do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to come and help me.” After hearing that, I’m picking she’s feeling a bit lonely too. She has to serve alone! It’s always easier and better to have someone there with you as you work. The company makes the work so much easier. But here she is, feeling overwhelmed with this huge workload. Slowly she starts feeling resentful towards her sister, which turns into self-pity, which turns into loneliness. Now being lonely often causes a lot of frustration, and here we see that Martha is pretty frustrated when she talks to Jesus. She can’t get her work done without Mary, and Mary is just sitting there listening. But to make matters worse, take a look at Jesus’ reply in verse 41. His reply also shows us two more of her emotions. ANXIOUS and TROUBLED. In verse 41, Jesus pointed out to Martha Mary’s focus. Her focus is listening to Jesus. But what is Martha’s focus?? Her focus is on Pleasing Jesus. 

I imagine the feeling of disappointment when she hears Jesus’s gentle rebuke. She was doing her best, but as Jesus pointed out, she had the wrong focus.  He wasn’t telling her that she was wrong, but more showing her where her focus should be. He loves her soo very much, and only wants what’s best for her, and that means wanting her to have the right focus. 

 I imagine Martha hanging her head with hot tears running down onto the floor as she realises her mistake. 

Emotions

 So a quick recap: 

First we heard the story of how Martha and Jesus met. Then we saw her good qualities that made her stand out. Lastly we saw her bad qualities that got her in trouble. 

Now we’ll look into her emotions. Now you’re prolly thinking: what?? Martha has emotions??                     Well, yes, she does have emotions. 

I can just imagine some of the feelings/emotions that must’ve been running through Martha. I can just imagine her EXCITEMENT when she heard that Jesus was coming to town. But I also think it would’ve quickly turned to a NERVOUS twinge when it was decided that he would come to her house. Here is someone who loves serving others, and Jesus, the king of kings, accepts her invite to share a meal at her house. If she’s anything like me, then I think she would’ve definitely been feeling nervous. But I also think she spend would’ve started to feel overwhelmed once he arrived and she found out she was alone to serve!!! I have that feeling many a times, but it’s usually not started by excitement.  I always feel nervous when my boss comes into my department, and I feel nervous and overwhelmed when the big boss comes to inspect my work!! And sometimes I don’t keep my cool! And because of my reaction sometimes, I can kinda imagine what Martha’s reaction would be! “I mean, where is Mary anyways?? Doesn’t she know that chicken can’t get cooked by itself? And a table won’t get set without some hands!!! Oh yeah! That’s right, she wants me to do it all!!! Ok then!! Is that the way to treat the hard-working lady of the family?” Slowly her heart fills with RESENTMENT. So with a bang of a pot onto the stove, and a kicks at the chair to move it out of the way, Martha stomps off to find Mary! 

You’ll have to wait till next week to find out the rest of Martha’s emotions, and how Jesus deals with her!! (If I can wait that long!;)) 

Lord, don’t you care?

 Having a servants heart led her to be so caught up with serving that she took her eyes off Jesus and onto her serving. She wanted everything to be just right. Serving, however, is not her big sin. It was that her focus was on the wrong thing. She was so busy trying to impress Jesus that she had no time to listen to him.

So let’s dig a bit deeper into verse 40, and see if we can uncover some of her mistakes. 

So we see she was distracted with much serving. So she was BUSY and DISTRACTED!! She was using her amazing talent, but unfortunately, serving became a distraction to her. As soon as she allowed serving to distract her and make her become busy, she became BOSSY! She started telling Jesus what to do. This is also when her boldness became a problem. Her respectful voice quickly turned into a bossy tone. But Jesus gently rebuked her by pointing out some beautiful truths. 

HWSGRB

 Now as we read this story, try not focus on her bad points. You see we seem to put a lot of emphasis on her bad points and forget about her good points. So let’s try have a balance here. 

In Luke 10:38, we see Martha’s two amazing points. Notice that the story doesn’t start off with her bad points, but two of her amazing qualities. Now we don’t know if this was the first time Martha and Jesus had met, but imagine it was. Imagine Martha’s excitement of having a miracle maker coming to town. Her small little village for that matter!!!! The excitement would still be there even if they had met before. Martha’s immediate response was to be HOSPITABLE  and WELCOMING by asking him to come to her house. Martha probably had it all planned out what she was going to serve, and how she was going to serve it. 

But that brings me to another good quality of Martha’s!!! She had a SERVANT’S HEART! In verse 40 it mentions twice about her servants heart. Let me show you. 

“...distracted with much serving.” 

“...my sister has left me to serve alone.” 

She obviously loved serving. And if she loved serving, how appropriate that she was serving when Jesus came?? Or was it?? 

Verse 40 also tells us that Martha was RESPECTFUL. “Lord, do you not care...” She recognised her position under Jesus, and pointed out his true title. 

She was also BOLD by telling Jesus what to do. Now remember, we’re are focusing on her good points, not leaning on the bad.  So look at being bold from a good angle. Being bossy bold is not always the way to go, but being bold by telling others what you believe, and standing up for what you believe is a good kind of bold. 

Now while these are all good qualities to have, some of them led her into trouble. That is where Martha, unfortunately, went wrong. 

Introduction.

Well, here she is. Her name is Martha!! Haha now some of you are probably thinking: what can we learn from her?? Is there anything good about her?                              Well, yes, there are a few good things about grandma Martha. The first thing I want to say about her tho, is that she is human!! Your probably wondering why I even said that. I mean it’s quite obvious she’s human. But I mean it. She’s human!! There are some of you out there (I know this cause I was one of them) who think her as someone who lacked feeling. A bossy grump to put it bluntly!! But she’s not. She’s full of feeling!!! She’s full of emotion too!! And hopefully by the end of this study you will have changed your mind about her. 

As we do this study, I want you to imagine that you’re Martha! You will find that you and Martha have a lot in common!! How do I know??? Cause we both have a lot in common. She has a few good qualities as well as a few bad ones. And she also has a big generous heart!! 

I’m so excited to learn about her together with you!!!! I hope you’re ready!!!! 

Something exciting!!

So I’ve been wanting to do a study on someone in the Bible that wasn’t too popular. But I ended up with someone who was popular, but for the wrong reason. The more I looked into this person, the more amazed I got. But the more I looked into this person, the longer and longer my study became. So I decided I would break it up and spread it out over a few weeks. 

I’m very excited to introduce you to this person. But I won’t today. But I will say this, this person is a lady. A talented lady. But somewhere she went wrong?? We will discover where and how she went wrong. We will discover her amazing qualities, and look deeper into her feelings. Then we will apply it to our lives and see how we can learn from her. 

So do you think you know who it is?? 

Romans 4:22

“...fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.” 

What a wonderful verse to read, but when you meditate on those words it turns more into a convicting verse. Abraham was fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. I looked up the word fully, and the dictionary says it means completely or entirely. So in other words, he couldn’t have been more convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 

Life sometimes feels so overwhelming and uncertain. And it’s kinda hard to be fully convinced when you’re in frustrating circumstances. But when it’s easy, it’s easy to be fully convinced. Well, here is a way that helped Abraham be fully convinced. He grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God. Romans 4:20b. Giving glory to God even when life looked bleak and scary. Even when God required his son to be laid on the altar. Fully convinced also gave Abraham peace. Peace to know that whatever happened, God was in control and working it out for his good. Therefore he would leave it in his hands. 

Lord, help me to be fully convinced that you are able to do what you have promised, and then help me to give all the glory to you. You are in control and are always up to something good in my life. 

Open your mouth.

“...Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.” Psalm 81:10 

This verse definitely has spoken to me this week. Ive literally read and reread it over and over. I guess I find it quite easy to exaggerate and to make things bigger than they originally are. This week I’ve been tested with truthfulness... and I failed miserably. But afterwards I happened to come across this verse and I thought about how often I’m soo quick to talk instead of letting God speak through me. Sometimes I am tempted to lie and I don’t let God speak through me. Many different circumstances I can think of where I didn’t open my mouth for God to fill with his words. 

But do you realise that verse is another promise for us to claim?? He promises he will fill us if we will open our mouths to him. Sometimes people ask me something about my faith and I keep my mouth closed. God was waiting there the whole time to fill my empty mouth, to give me the words to speak, but I didn’t open my mouth to be filled. Instead I stubbornly closed it. 

Oh friend, don’t be foolish like I have been. Whatever the circumstance, open your mouth and let God fill you. Don’t be afraid of truth. Always put the truth first, for Jesus is the Truth. 

Psalm 1

                                                 

                Psalm 1

Have you ever wished you could get away with things like the world does? Like they seem to get away with everything they do wrong, whereas I end up with a seething conscience if I even think wrong. Don't ever be ungrateful for your conscience. It is a great gift that God has given you...dont waste it!!  Psalm 1 talks about a man who is righteous. 

 He doesn't look to the sinner for counsel, he doesn't look to them as friends. A righteous man doesn't agree with all the scoffers. Instead a righteous man delights in the law of God, and he meditates on it at all time. He is like a tree next to streams, he gives fruit in his season, and he doesn't wither. He prospers in everything he does. The Lord knows the way of this man!! 

There is something more that I see in this man, and that is that he uses his conscience for good. He sharpened his conscience by meditating on God's holy word. And he listened to his conscience. Have you ever had your conscience start to niggle you when you did something not right, or started to do something not right? And when you started to feel it, you ignored it thinking to yourself: It's not really wrong cause everyone else is doing it. 

Or you may of been under lots of pressure and you did something the easy way to save time, but it wasn't necessarily the right way, and that amazing conscience started to poke you, but you said to yourself: I don't have time to do it the right way. Besides, it's not like I'm the only one who does it. 

Well my friend, I have news for you!! God is not interested in knowing if everyone else is doing it right. He only wants you to do right. He sees everything you do, so don't think you're the only one who knows. He sees everything that you do!! 

Psalm 4:3 says,                                                                                                                                        "But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him."      Wow!! What a promise!!! The Lord hears us, but he has also set apart the Godly, the righteous, for himself!!! 

So the next time you are tempted to blow that conscience candle out when you are doing wrong, stop and remember about the righteous man, and that God sets apart the godly for himself!! 

Oh God, help me to keep my conscience sharpened!! Help me to listen to it when it stabs my heart!!

Be still and know

 “Be still and know that I am your God. In quietness and trust you shall find your strength!”

That’s part of a song that I’ve been listening to. All too often I find myself so busy that I don’t have time to be still before God. And then I find myself weak, afraid, and broken. God asks me to be still before him and know that he is God. But being still is not something I like doing. I like seeing action. I like being busy. I do not like being still. My life is full of action and music. I love music and I usually have that playing. So quite often I find myself soo busy that I have no time to be still and quiet. Another thing I find rather hard to accept is that he is God. He is the author and finisher of my faith. He has everything under control. He loves me and is up to something good in my life. He is the champion of the impossible. He loves me and wants to have communion with me. But I’m too busy to stop and talk, and all too often I put things in the too hard basket thinking: “that one is too hard for God, I’ll get back to it later and try sort it out.” Huh!!! Now you know what I think of myself. 

But the more I think if it, the more I realise how wrong I am. He, of all people, knew what it was like to be busy. He was busy healing the sick, raising the dead, forgiving sins, calming storms, and talking to Pharisees and Scribes. (That’s only a few) Yet even tho he was busy, he never lost focus, and he always found time to be quiet and still before his father. 

All too often I lose focus. I “flit about” (as my mum says) and never have time for what’s really important. It all of a sudden becomes all about me and what I want. I forget to take time to be still before God and listen for his voice. 

Oh Father, help me to stop being busy with things that have no eternal value, and to start taking time to be quiet and still before you. 

“So here I am, here I am! Like a child with its mother, quiet and still.” 

A Beautiful Day

                                                

                                              A Beautiful Day!! 

It is quite embarrassing when I think of all the times I've missed out on seeing something beautiful because I'm so busy looking at something ugly!! 

Right now I am on our deck and my view is so beautiful!! Over and over visitors have commented on how beautiful our view is. But so often I fail to see it!! I have lived here for 18 years, and have just gotten used to the view! I've never really realised how beautiful it was cause I have grown up with it. But as I was sitting here I couldn't help but notice the Pink, Orange and Purple flower borders, with a blanket of Green and Blue beyond it. The turkeys were making a pecking noise, a fly buzzed about while the puppy's whine could be heard around the house. The smell is absolutely amazing!! Its warm with an occasional cool breeze.  But not every day it is like this. This region is known for the amount of rain it gets. We like to say, if its not raining then its either gonna rain, or it has just rained! So when it rains, I wouldn't exactly call it pretty. But if we didn't have the rain, then we wouldnt get the color!! And the color is so beautiful! 

Our lives are the same. We so often neglect to see the beautiful things cause we are around them all the time. Beautiful things like Family and Friends. We expect them to be there all the time cause they are a part of life. And then when they're gone we realize how special and beautiful they really are. 

Don't waste your time looking at what is ugly. Instead use your time thanking God for the beautiful things he has given you. 

But just like it must rain for the grass and flowers to grow, then so must it rain in our life too so that our eyes can become clearer to what should be the most valuable thing in our life. 

Psalm 118:24 says: This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.  

Give thanks today, regardless of whether its raining or not. Look around at the many blessings in your life and rejoice in it. For God has made it, and has given it to you to enjoy!! 

Behold our God

1)Who has held the oceans in his hands?
Who has numbered every grain of sand?
Kings and nations tremble at his voice
All creation rises to rejoice

Behold our God, seated on his throne
Come, let us adore him
Behold our king, nothing can compare
Come, let us adore him

2)Who has given counsel to the Lord?
Who can question any of his words?
Who can teach the one who knows all things?
Who can fathom all his wondrous deeds?

3)Who has felt the nails upon his hands?
Bearing all the guilt of sinful man
God eternal, humbled to the grave
Jesus, Savior, risen now to reign

I have been replaying this song over and over again on my phone the past couple of weeks. The second verse of that song has really convicted my heart cause its so me all over. I sometimes forget myself and say to God "Jesus, I know you are working this out for my good, but how about I give you some advice here." or "Jesus, didn't you know that you could have done this differently, and to be honest, you did this part of the puzzle all wrong." 

When I say these things, do you know what I am forgetting? I am forgetting that this same Jesus who is putting together my puzzle is the same Jesus that had nails pounded into his body by cruel men. This same Jesus took my cloak of guilt and shame that I should be wearing, and placed it on himself so I could come before God's throne forgiven and set free. This same Jesus was humbled by being put into a grave. Yet he didn't stay in the grave, but rose triumphantly from the grave so I could be washed and sanctified!!!! 

Do you ever question God? Do you ever think you know better? Well, what better time than Easter time to remember what God has done for us! And when you have remembered what he has done for you, then ask yourself if you really are in a position to question the Almighty and All-powerful Jesus. 

Running this race with JOY!!!!

 I'm reading through Acts at the moment, and I've been analyzing two men that I've been reading about this week. They are such an awesome example for us to follow as we live for Christ. 

The first man I found fascinating was Stephen.  

Here is a list of some of the things he was. 

1) He had a good reputation and was wise. (6:3)

2) Full of Faith and the Holy Spirit. (6:5) 

3) Full of grace and power and did many wonders. (6:8)

4) He was truthful in word and deed. (6:13) 

5) He was bold. (7:1-53) 

6) He was at peace. (7:54,55)

7) He believed in God. (7:59) 

8) Selfless. (7:60) 

9) Martyr for the cause of Christ. (7:60) 

The other person that caught my eye was Philip. 

We all know him as the person that helped the Eunuch. But he was much more than that. In Acts 8 we see how obedient he was to God. God told him to go to a desert place, and Philip obeyed God. There God used him to minister to a poor dying soul that thirsted for the knowledge of God's saving grace. Philip not only obeyed God, but acted in obedience by opening his mouth and speaking to this Eunuch. And the Eunuch was saved!!! By the obedience of Philip, someone was brought to the light.  

The lives of these men were undoubtedly difficult!! And so were the lives of others. Take Paul, Peter and James for example. Paul's chronic imprisonment, and Peter's amazing escape from prison. James was martyred for his faith in God. 

But something that really stands out to me with these amazing men is their attitudes!! They were obedient and selfless when it came to obeying God's call. All they wanted was for the human race to be saved, so therefore they were willing to go wherever God told them to go. 

A few chapters later Paul tells of his attitude, and it so convicted me. Let me share these following verses with you. I will emphasize the verses that stood out to me. 

Acts 20:19-24.

You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I lived among you, serving  the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews; how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance to God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulation await me. But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. 

I have read those verses over and over this past week. You see, Paul expected trouble. Yet he still determined to run the race that God had designated to him with JOY!! He wasn't distracted when he didn't know what was going on, but instead he took the uncertainty and ploughed on ahead, doing what the Lord had required of him. Preaching and teaching even though it meant imprisonment.

This past week for me has been tough. I have someone in my life that is frustrating me to the core, and I feel like giving in to the enemy and exploding. But that's not the way to handle trouble. This person is part of my race, and I need to run it with JOY! So I need to have joy when I deal with this person, not hatred!! You see, Jesus says that in the world we will have trouble, but he also says he has overcome the world and that he will also send to us a Helper. His Holy Spirit!!! 

Another thing that I need to remember, and that is, just like these martyrs thought of nothing else except pleasing their master and fulfilling the Great Commission in reaching the lost for Christ, I need to see this person as a soul that needs to be saved. A soul that is dying a slow painful death that will one day end in eternal damnation. This person needs the love of Christ shown to them. They don't need my anger, but God's love. 

Oh God, fill my heart with your love and mercy!! Don't let me forget how much you loved me, and demonstrated it by dying a painful death on the cross for me. 

God's amazing promise

This devotional is from KJ, a friend of mine. 

 My best friend and I were individually reading the same book and sharing with each other by email what we had learnt from it. One day, as I was reading a chapter, I paused after this phrase: “Dillon was trying to not remember what he couldn't forget.”Oh, those words stood out to me in red capital letters. I tried to read on, but I couldn't stop thinking about it. It wasn't what the author wanted to point out, so why did it bother me so? The Holy Spirit uses things that can seem strange and odd to teach truths and bring back memories. For me, there are some good memories, yet others are sad and regretful memories.

I was recently at a conference where the speaker spoke about the phrase: “Remember Lot's wife.” Or you could say, “Do not forget Lot’s wife.”  Forgetting is when there is something you don't think about, but it is still filed somewhere away in the back of your brain and then something triggers it, and bang, it all floods back into your head as if it happened yesterday.  All those feelings, emotions and disappointments weigh you down all over again.

God doesn't keep a record of our past sins. He doesn't file them away. He chooses not to remember them. Isaiah 43:25 says, “I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake and I will not remember your sins.”

I find that so amazing. Not only will He not go and count up all our sins, but He also won't blame, accuse and hold these sins against us on the final day. He sees us as white as snow; without blemish. Jesus bore ALL of our sins on Himself; not one of them was missed out (Isaiah 53:6).  What freedom and joy we can have as we come to God, knowing that His love doesn't change depending on how good, bad or wicked we have been. If we are His beloved child, He will forever hold us in the palm of His hand.
WOW!! Now that is a good, amazing, comforting memory I had temporarily forgotten. ;) But like Dillon, I have sins - things of the past, that I try not to remember but can never forget. If only I could remember them no more.  But I was born into a sinful and fallen world, and Satan works craftily and brings these thoughts back to haunt me.

"Oh, you've done it before; it won't hurt to do it again"

"Look how many times you've done what you thought and knew you shouldn't do. You'll never be able to reach that high standard. What's the point in trying and then not reaching your goal and failing one more time?"

The devil uses half-truths to make you believe him. Once again you find yourself falling down the slippery slope of sin.  But guess what? Now there are more regrets that Satan uses the next time to display your weaknesses.
No matter how much Satan reminds you, no matter how many times you forget and then think about those thoughts again, the devil is not the one we should have our ears tuned too. We must sharpen our conscience to hear and listen to God's quiet voice, His Spirit. He says, "I did it for you. I have defeated the enemy. I have won the battle with victory, and remembered your past no more.”

So put your full armour of God on, clothe yourself in God’s Word, and stand firm against the schemes of the devil. Satan will threaten and throw his fiery darts at you. But you must run to the cross. Lay your burdens, your yoke, your emotions, and your thoughts down on Christ. He dumps them deep into the sea and puts a sign up saying, 'No Fishing'. Trust in the Lord, because He remembers none of your short comings, but sees you as righteous through the blood and sufferings of His only Son. Meditate and dwell on the Word, and you will live and have peace".

Prayer

 Prayer

A lot of kneeling will keep us in good standing with God. 

Why worry when you can pray? 

Take time to be holy; speak oft with thy Lord. 

Spend much time in secret with Jesus alone. 

We have to pray with our eyes on God, not our difficulty. 

The "good warfare" is waged on ones knees. 

Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will make a man cease from prayer. 

Your job is to pray for that person, not change him|her. 

Time alone with God is like a cool, refreshing breeze on a hot summers day. 

Prayer is a powerful connection between our needs and God.-and he is ALWAYS more than enough. 

Do not pray that it would be easy. Rather that he would give you strength. 

God always answers prayers. But often the answers are different than what we expect. 

When life gets too hard to stand, kneel and pray! 

  Who prayed in the Bible? 

(These are just a few of the people mentioned in the bible that prayed.)

Genesis 20:17  -  Abraham prayed 

Job 42:8,  -   Job prayed 

Psalm 55:17  -  David prayed

Daniel 6:11 - Daniel prayed

Habakkuk 3:1  - Habakkuk prayed 

Matthew 14:23, John 14:6, John 17:9, - Jesus prayed 

(Jesus offers prayer on our behalf. 14:6) 

James 5:17,18 - Elijah prayed. 

I read somewhere once that prayer is how we talk to God, and reading the bible is how God talks to us. Therefore, prayer is how we communicate with God. Our thinking of prayer gets so mixed up now tho. We think of prayer as a means of getting what we want. In fact we don't even pray anymore unless we want something, or we are in a crisis and want deliverance. And then when God doesn't answer the way we wanted, we think he's dead and didn't hear us, or he has decided that he doesn't want to listen to us anymore and therefore doesn't answer prayer. But God always answers prayer. He's always there listening to us. And he always has an answer for us. In fact, it says so in Isaiah 65:42. "It shall come to pass That before they call, I will answer; And while they are speaking, I will hear."

Again in Jeremiah 33:3 "Call to me and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you did not know."

His answers are "yes, no, and wait." Therefore, the way he answers may not always be what we want him to answer. 

But prayer is also how we build our relationship with God. Prayer shouldn't just be asking what we want. Prayer should be our way of getting to know God fully. While bringing our needs before God is not wrong, in fact, he asks us to as he is our Father, we should not put our focus just on our needs and wants when we are praying. 

Prayer, also, shouldn't be a once a day thing. It should be an all day thing. God is with us all the time, so it doesn't make sense to only to talk to him at night before we go to bed. No!! Rather, we should talk to him wherever we are, all the time. Remind yourself over and over, that he is there all the time, so you can talk to him even in the car driving to work. 

Prayer should also be a time where we can thank God for everything he has done for us. He suffered on the cross so we could be clean before God. He bore the shame that we should of carried. He suffered on our behalf. 

We can thank him for his love for us. He suffered and died because he loved us. And yet, so selfishly, we refuse to love him back. Or else we only give half our love to him, and keep the other half for ourself. 

In fact, we have become so cold in our love towards him, that we barely think of him during the day, and at night we stagger through a prayer that sounds something like this: Help me God to do everything right. Help me look good to the people I meet. Help me not make a fool of myself. 

Well, how selfish is that? God sent his son to 

this earth to suffer the most unbearable pain you couldn't even imagine so you could be forgiven and free, and you just stagger through a sloppy little prayer praying that you will be benefitted. 

Remember, I am speaking to myself here. Its so easy to think of what is happening around me, that I forget to talk to the one who is watching over me 24|7. 

Now I want to list a few reference on what the Bible has to say about prayer. 

2 Chronicles 7:14-16. We need to be humble when we pray. 

Psalm 122:6. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. 

Matthew 5:44. Pray for our enemies. 

Matthew 9:38. Pray for more labourers in the harvest.

Matthew 26:41. Never cease from praying. 

Romans 8:26. Jesus helps us pray by interceding for us with groanings too deep for words. 

Romans 12:12. Be faithful in praying. 

Ephesians 6:18. Pray all the time.

Philippians 4:6. Pray about everything instead of worrying about it. 

1 Thessalonians 5:17. Pray without stopping. 

Now of course these are just a few of the many verses on prayer. These are more tellling us how to pray. Like when it tells us to be faithful in praying, and never stopping. They tell us about some of the things we should be praying for also. 

I challenge you to look at your prayer life and see what shape it is in. 

Is it empty and sorry looking? Or are you constantly tuning in to your blessed saviour? 

Out of control, and into his arms.

 So I was figuring out what devotional I wanted to do this week. I had two that I wanted to post. So I decided to combine them together. So here’s two for you :) 

No. 1) Mum came to me this morning and told me how my room stunk because of my bird. Now I had been meaning to clean his cage out, but hadn’t had the time. I didn’t think it was too bad. But boy, was mum right. It was pretty bad. But I thought to myself, how easy it is for me to become like this bird cage. I get so dirty and stinky on the inside. Anger, resentment, bitterness, hate, ect, start filling my heart, and pretty quickly I become a filthy cage that needs to be cleaned out. I used to think that as a Christian, we wouldn’t struggle with those things. But it seems like the enemy attacks us with those feelings even more so when we are saved. That’s what it feels like to me anyway. But what is frustrating to me, is that I can’t clean my heart of those things by myself no matter how hard I try. Only God can. But all too often I want to do clean it by myself, so I don’t take those feelings to God. Then I end up a mess. A mess over due to be cleaned.  Instead of trying to clean by myself, I need to run to God and tell him my feelings, and ask him to clean me. Here’s a few verses from Psalm 51:   Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgression and my sin is ever before me...Behold I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me...Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow...hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit...The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 

No.2) If you’re anything like me, you like to be in control. Controlling even the most smallest details.  If you are like me, then you will also like to have everything figured out and organised. I have to watch out with this, cause while it’s good to be organised, organising God is not good. And I’m very prone to doing this. I think I know what God should be doing, so when he doesn’t do what I wanted or asked him to do, I think he has disappeared, therefore forgetting his promises that say he’ll never leave me or forsake me. I like things to happen without trouble and to happen right then and there. So when God doesn’t work in the my timeframe, I get angry and frustrated at him and tell him he’s too slow.                                                            But it says in the bible that God is unchangeable. Therefore, he will not change to fit in with what I want. Instead, I need to change. I need to change in my attitude. Instead of telling him what to do, instead of telling him he’s so slow, I need to humbly submit to his authority and timeframe. Maybe what I’m asking for will only come to pass in heaven, so I need to change my will to his, humbly submitting to his authority, knowing that he knows what is best for me. 

Answers

 Are you in a situation right now where you want answers? You want to know why. You may want to know the cause, or the reason. 

Well, I want to give you the answer to all your questions. His name is Jesus Christ.  He’s the answer to all life’s questions. 

He is the hope for the hopeless, the water, the giver of life. He is the strength for the weary, love for those cast aside. He gives rest to the restless, freedom from fear. When things seem impossible, know that he’s near.     For all of the problems of life, the answer is Christ. 

Workers

 We, as workers, are to be: 

1) Submissive; doing what we’re told 

2) Well-pleasing; not argumentative. 

3) Honest; not even stealing that of the least value.  

4) Loyal.

5) Showing perfect courtesy; respectful. 

6) Peaceful; avoiding all fighting. 

7) Self-controlled in our speech; not speaking evil of others. 

Live each moment as if it were the last!

 Psalm 39:4-7

Life is like a vapour. It vanishes away, and eternity starts.  Life is so short. David describes it as a few hand breadths. We stand at a mere breathe. We do things, not knowing if we will reap the rewards of our labour, and if not us, who it will be.                                                We do not have enough time to waste on ourselves. We cannot live life for our own glory and pleasure. No. We must live it for God’s glory and honour. We do not know where we will be tomorrow, or even if we will be alive tomorrow. We can plan, but it is the Lord that directs our way. 

Live life for God. Don’t waste it on yourself and your pleasures. Seek to honour and glorify God with the time he has given you. You don’t have one or two years. In fact, you may not even have one hour. Or even a minute. Do all for the glory of God. 

Live each moment as if it were the last. Think to yourself: if I were to meet God the minute I said or do  this, would I be embarrassed, or will he be pleased. Don’t put things off for next time. There may never be a next time. 

Suffering

I’m reading a really good book at the moment. It’s just what I need for what I’m going through. So I thought I’d share some notes from what I’ve read so far. 

It’s called “A Place of Healing” by Joni Eareckson Tada. 

 Sometimes he delivers us from the storm, and sometimes he delivers us through the storm  

Suffering restores a lost beauty in Christ.     Suffering doesn’t teach you from a text book, but by experience.                                                       Suffering can strengthen your thirst for Christ

I can go on cause God moves through time with me.  

I can go on cause I know that God can use broken instruments to make incomparable music. 

Wait on the Lord

 Tho the pathway before you uncertain maybe, trust the Lord, no good thing to withhold back from thee. He is perfect in wisdom, and faithful to bless. Trust his word; in his time he will give you his best. 

They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not grow weary; they’ll walk and not faint. Wait, I say, wait on the Lord. 

Be not weary in waiting, for love suffers long. If you faint not, you’ll reap when the harvest is come. Run with patience the race as you rest on his word, for your testing will teach you to wait on the Lord. 

I was looking through my journal from past years, and I came to this song. Obviously I was in a season of waiting. Isn’t it funny how we seem to always seem to be waiting. And then finally that waiting period stops, and God sends us another waiting period. Well, use that time of waiting. Don’t waste it wishing for ‘it’ to come. Cause ‘it’ may never come. Instead, use your time of waiting to glorify and honour God. 

The person who never succeeded in life was the person who waited his whole life for the waiting season to end. 

John 15:1,2,4-7

 God is our vine dresser, and Jesus is our Vine. 

If a tree has branches that are rotten and don’t produce fruit, then that branch is cut down and completely dies. But if a branch does produce fruit, and is fruitful, then it will get pruned so that it may bring forth more fruit. That pruning period is tough for the branch, but eventually the good is revealed when it produces more fruit. 

If we do not bring forth fruit as a Christian, and we are dying, then God will cut us down, and we will wilt and completely die. But if we are fruitful, then he will prune so that we bring forth more fruit. Pruning is a painful process in our lives, but eventually we will see the good from it when we produce more fruit. 

A branch cannot do anything by itself. It must abide in the vine. 

Jesus is our vine, and we are the branches. Unless we abide in Jesus, we cannot bring forth fruit, and eventually we will be cut down and we will wither, because God is that Perfect vine dresser. 

May we abide in Jesus Christ. May we bring forth fruit for his glory. 

God’s smile

 This morning when I woke up to go to work I had this really depressed feeling in side. It was like everything in me said: not another day of this please!!!  

What horrifies me is that my attitude will stay the same throughout the whole day if something is not done about it, and it will affect the people I meet. But what can you do when so frequently you wake up and think: not another day!!! 

Well, I heard Joni Eareckson say how she asks Jesus to give her a smile for the day. So I decided If he can give Joni a smile, then he can give me one too. 

Since my work is serving customers, I have to have a smile ready and waiting. 

But sometimes it’s so very difficult to have a smile for them. Cause everything inside of me just wants to cry or be at home in bed. But instead of crying or hopping in bed, we need to cry out to God and ask him for his smile. His smile will brighten another’s day. His smile will encourage others. His smile will draw the people you meet to himself. So I encourage you, if you wake up feeling depressed and smileless, cry out to God before you leave your room and ask him for his smile

God’s grace

 When my strength is all gone

And I can't carry on

He comforts with peace from above

With the valley so deep

I trust God's word to me

My grace is sufficient for thee

My grace is sufficient for thee

For my strength is made perfect in weakness

Gladly therefore will I glory in infirmities

That the pow'r of Christ rests on me

My heart gladly will sing

Of the treasure I seek

As I seek his face day after day

Though the testing seems long

In his grace there's a song

I long to know him, never question his ways

My grace is sufficient for thee

For my strength is made perfect in weakness

Gladly therefore will I glory in infirmities

That the pow'r of Christ rests on me

Our thoughts

 For me, I find idleness a very easy trap to get caught in. What I especially struggle with is when I have nothing to do, so I think. Now this would be alright so long as it was always good thoughts. But it’s so easy to start thinking in a way that Jesus would not be glorified. 

Psalm 36:4 describes this exactly. While on our bed at night, when we can’t sleep, the wicked starts to plot trouble. It starts with the mind. 

It says in 2 Corinthians 10:5 to take every thought captive to obey Christ. Get rid of that evil or dirty thought. I heard a pastor say that if you leave it for a couple of seconds, it’ll stay. You need to get rid of it immediately. 

So something I try do every time one of those dirty or wicked thoughts come up is immediately take it to God and say: God, take this thought and replace it with something beautiful that will honour and glorify you.    It takes a conscious effort to remember to get rid of it, cause our enemy, the devil, uses subtle thoughts that are hard to see at first. 

James 4:5-8 

Contentment

 

                         Contentment!!

                            (1 Timothy 6:6)

A lot of people don't really understand the meaning of the word 'contentment.' 

Content= a state of happiness and satisfaction. 

1) Luke 3:14b (being content with the wages you're  given.) 

2) 2 Corinthians 12:10 (content with hardships and trials.) 

3) 1 Timothy 6:8 (content with what you wear.)

4) Hebrews 13:5 (being content with the things you have.)

5) Philippians 4:11 (content in everything.) 

1,2,3,& 4 seem to be easier. But 5? EASY!!  Nah uh!! More like OUCH!! No way am I content in everything!! 

So many hard things crop in our life that make it hard to be content. We cannot be content on our own.

The world is so discontent. They think that SOMETHING can fill that empty hole inside, when really only that SOMEONE can. 

How true that is also for us christians today, too. We are so discontent. We forget that Christ is the only source of our contentment. 

We think we have the secret to contentment, but unless it is related to a spotless person, then we don't. 

Sometimes as christians, we are content with the wrong things. 

We are content to: 

1)Forget the people out on the street are going to an eternity full of fire. (Its an unhappy thought anyhow!!) 

2) Sit down instead of standing up for what is right. (After all, people might mock us!!) 

3) Stay in a situation that is totally displeasing to God, instead of leaving. (How awkward it would be if they asked us why we left!!) 

God doesn't want us to be content in these areas. He wants us to be discontent in these areas. 

So many christians are content in the wrong way.

Can we rely on God for contentment? If so, why don't we? 

We as christians tell the world: God loves us, he helps us when we are struggling. 

Why then do we turn to the world for contentment? 

The world's slogan is: If you have the latest...you will be content!! 

God's slogan is: If you have me, you will be content!! 

But we don't think so. We think that 'if only I had...' I would be content! But God says NO!! HE is the only source of contentment! 

Our key verse says that "Godliness with contentment is GREAT gain." 

No one in this world can offer you contentment. Only God can. 

The world offers a lot of TEMPORARY stuff!! But what God offers is ETERNAL!! (2 Corinthians 4:17,18) 

As christians we need to take God seriously when he says: I will supply all your needs.

He doesn't say all our wants. He doesn't always give us what we want, but he does always give us what we need!!

Having the right attitude

 

Having a I-get-to-be-here instead of a I-got-

to-be-here attitude.

Having an attiude that says "I get to be here," is a whole lot different to a the attitude "I got to be here."

Wherever it is  in life, whether it is a financial problem, a health problem, or even a contentment problem, we are there for a reason. God wants us to learn something from it, too. 

You might be in a place right now where you are thinking: I GOT to be here cause God wants me here.

Oh man, you have it all wrong. In every situation you can and should have the attitude that says: I GET to be here cause God wants me here!! 

Here are some things that can help us have a I-get-to-be-here

attitude. 

1) Realise God's Providence. Isaiah 55:9,10

Remember that God has you where you are for a reason. He is your guide. He is guiding you to a place that you did not know existed. 

At this present moment, you may have a I-got-to-be-here attitude. Listen friend, if you have that attitude, you are not alone!! I have had that same attitude. But it is not the attitude to have!! 

Remeber also, friend, life is not a destination, it is a journey. 

2) Experience God's presence. Matthew 28:20.

Its not about who you are, its about who you are with.

It is not about where you go, its about who you go with. 

Remeber who you are travelling life with. He is the important one. Without him, you do not have a purpose to life. 

Spend time with God alone. Not a hi-and-bye talk. Get to know him personally, and what he wants for your life. Spend each day with Jesus. 

3) Steward God's postition and possesion. Matthew 25:23.

God has given you eveything you have. Look after it. For example: your room. If you have your own room, God has given that to you. Clean it, keep it tidy, keep it fresh,ect. Whatever you have, look after it. If you are the piano player for church, practice hard. Remeber who you are playing for. Give God the glory. Whatever God has put in your charge, whether it be school, job, church,ect, give your all to it. 

Position prepares you for the future. 

Here are also a few DON'TS that will help you change from a I-got-to to a I-get-to attitude. 

1) Don't doubt in the night what God has shown you in the light. 

God may have shown you at one  point of your life what he wanted you to do, but then when things get tough and you're having a hard time, you start to think: Is that really what I should be doing?

Don't doubt in the night what God has shown you in the light. 

2) Don't spend your life trying to be out of prisons, spend it staying in God's presence. 

We can spend a lot of our time trying to stay out of something, when God says: Hey, I want YOU!! 

Spend your time listening to what God wants you to know. You can do that by reading his Word often. Don't skim over it!! Fall into it!!! Meditate it!! 

3)Don't compare yourself to others. Be content with where you are. 

All to often I find myself looking at others seeing what their life calling is. Or I see how far ahead they are. Or how skinny they are compared to me. Then when I see how much better they are than me, I start being DISCONTENT! DON'T compare yourself to others!! God puts people in different circustances, he gives different jobs. Everyone isn't the same. Instead of comparing and then despairing, look to God and ask him what he wants you to do. 

4) Don't pick up other peoples offences.

Why someone is hurting because of another person is NOT your business!!! If someone has offened your friend, you don't need to be offended too. Picking up someone elses offences divides people. You may never of had a problem with that person until you took over your friends offence. 

Also, if you are in a church situation or job situation or whatever, and someone else is leaving, it is not your place to leave too. Just because God may have called someone away, that doesn't mean he's calling you too. WAIT for God's perfect timing!!

Lastly, Live to serve others. Not yourself. Serving others brings more JOY than serving self