Day 14: New scenery

I've only been back in Geneva for two weeks and I'm already off back to York for some wonderful studying... if it happens. Anyway I thought I would take this opportunity to talk about our every changing scenery of a life and how Jesus, and God, remain the same throughout it.
We go on a lot about how God was, is and will be in Church either in sermons or worship and I don't know about you but it doesn't really drive home sometimes what we are on about. As humans we have a fleeting life in comparison with the Universe, even the Earth. Yet we moan about the length of the day, sit in awe as we discuss how quickly a year has gone by and wonder if that boring hour long lecture will ever end. We don't really have a firm grasp on what time is. Looking at it one way, if the Earth was twenty years old man has not been around for more than an eye blink really. We are small and tiny compared to everything but our God has been there for ever, He was there when the Earth was nothing more than inkling in the corner of His mind.
Anyhow though that's not why I'm on about here, we as humans live in an ever changing world and it is easy to get swept up in it all if we don't pay attention, or have a rock to stand on. To use a verse that is otherwise used in normality:

⁴⁸ They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. -Luke 6:48

By putting our trust in Jesus we are building our lives on that rock. We are making sure that when the flood of the world comes sweeping in we will stand firm and hold true to who we are. Especially when we live in a world where finding yourself and being confident in your own image is important, being able to stand and say "I am found in Christ" is something that can set us apart, or rather will set us apart. We can't be constant through life because we are always growing, changing but what we can be is resolute in our greatest relationship with the unchanging Lord, yes unchanging. I think that is something we need to recognize daily really, I'm not expecting it because it is difficult to do something daily but we can only try and remember God's grandeur everyday.

God Bless

Day 13: 1 John 3:16

This how we know what love is: Jesus laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters - 1 John 3:16

I was about to misquote that verse by saying "This is how we know what true love is..." and I don't know, I would like to think my mistake suits it better. We all know love, we have had mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, girlfriends, boyfriends, best friends and enemies, we've learnt about the human interaction that is love. I'm going to tell you something amazing here though, you can know perfect love, true love. God created love and knows it in it's purest sense since He saw it's first movement and use. That's why I think that verse is slightly off, well at least in the NIV I haven't checked other versions, because it is through Jesus's sacrifice that we can know what pure, true love is.
So what is my natter about this week? Well it's simply this. We spend a good amount of time during our lives on earth searching for, or sharing, love. Yet whilst most of us do this we miss out on by not seeing the love that is freely given to us by God. We hold love on a high pedestal, in fact some people see a loving relationship on earth as success and the source of happiness, but I would challenge that viewpoint. Success does not come from being made happy by things on Earths, because ultimately most of it can be sourced back to you wanting to ameliorate yourself whether in emotions or in material gain or something not included in those categories. True love found in God drives us to do things that do not help us, albeit to the non-christian world they can be boiled down to something selfish, what drives us is not ameliorating ourselves but giving glory to God through them.
I realize that a lot of people reading this will have objections due to the fact I'm not delving deeply into this but I really just want to show the greatness, and difference, of God's love to human love. This really does raise the point of always putting God first, even in relationships. A relationship built around a mutual love of God and with God in it's center will always be more fortified than any other type of relationship. Now I'm not saying other relationships won't work and that without God you are doomed to failure in your relationships, what I'm saying is that with God as the center there is likely to be a greater sense of unity and I do think it will work better. I'm no expert though since I haven't had a girlfriend yet but I sure hope I can remember to put her second and God first if I ever do get one.
I could go on to all different kinds of love but I think whilst I narrow it to girlfriend/boyfriend at the end of the last paragraph, I do think it can apply to most, if not all, relationships. So I challenge us, as Christians, to always put God first at all times.

God Bless

Day 12: Nature's joy

Have you ever just stopped and looked at nature? Do you even take the time to slow down and look around as you walk from place to place? If your answer is no, then I invite you to. It is a great experience to have each day, I speak from experience as I walk quite slowly.
But anyway what I really want to talk about is the amazing-ness that is the creation of all this around us. I know I can walk in to town or campus of a day and end up stopping somewhere, noticing something I have not before. I certainly do think nature has given us a most inspirational playground to hang out in and check out. Now personally, I think God sorted all this out. I don't mean "SHA-BAM" and it's there sort of thing, but through the laws of nature and as science has proven it to come to being, but that is merely the way God brought it all into being. It is always an amazing thing that drives me to constantly thank God for what He has done, in the grander scale of things. In fact at late night worship I prefer to stand just outside of where we usually hold it because I can see so much more of God's work in motion, I know He is everywhere but 4 white walls don't quite cut it compared to the campus green. I also stand outside because I can't stand the heat inside but that's another matter.
I don't think I'm going to write anything long about conserving the planet  and stopping pollution but what I do want to ask you to do is to spend more time looking around and seeing this world in motion, it's inspiring and beautiful. I know people who say if God exists let Him give me a definitive sign He's out there, well I can't but imagine what a better sign  is but the beauty of nature and the world outside.

God Bless

Day 11: a well rounded heart

Our salvation is something we are happy with, I agree it's amazing and something I take have a great appreciation and comfort in but why are we happy with it? We concentrate on the side that says God loves us indefinitely and each person greatly, but what about the flip side. The other side of the coin says this: We were/are so broken, so fallen from what God had planned for us that we need someone Him to come and die for us so that we can be reconciled with Him. There was no way back for us so God had to kill Himself as Jesus so that we could be with Him. Now that is amazing but it shouldn't make us feel great about ourselves, which leads me to wonder why we hold ourselves in high regard and hope we can shed light on others people's lives. I'm guilty of this, I constantly think I know more than people and weigh in on conversations that don't need me and I'm content with who I am, I always will be because I have for the longest time had an attitude off "go with the flow". I suppose in many ways I'm flawed from a mental and physical point of view (slightly overweight and ginger) but what I can only be amazed at is the fact that because of Jesus my soul whilst it is still flawed, looks perfect to God. A lot of the time we sit back in our comfort that Jesus has sorted everything out, that's wrong.
Rogue new paragraph. We cannot sit back in comfort since we are saved and I think we lie to ourselves when we say we can't do anything. I completely understand, and agree, that we cannot save ourselves but that does not mean we cannot become better people and  that we cannot strive to be better. We like to say people a heart for something like serving, social action or teaching, but a heart has never been capable of feeling on thing or ever been fixed on one thing. We care too much for people exercising their passion for one thing sometimes and forget to let people grow into well rounded Christians. I'll put my hand up and say there are people who teach who I think shouldn't but just because they aren't that great doesn't mean that they can't keep trying.
Encouragement is key here. We praise people who do well and are good at things but I think we are slowly losing the memory of helping people out who aren't good at something. I for some reason unbeknownst to me constantly get told I can bring a smile to people's faces, I don't know why to save my life. I'm not trying to  boast but I think if we can nurture that in people then perhaps we can start growing well rounded people again. If we can bring about a heart for encouragement of the strugglers into our hearts then perhaps we'll see the world shine more.
I suppose my challenge for myself and others today is to stop concentrating on what people are good at all the time but to look at what someone doesn't do well and help them grow there. The allure to start getting annoyed with people after looking at their bad points all the time is there but that is why we shouldn't lose sight of what people do well.

God Bless.

Day 10: Rediscovery

I'm not writing about rediscovery because I've rediscovered God today but rather so that if I do sit down one day and forget what God has done I can look back and go "Yeah, that's my God!" We have in front of us one of the most amazing people that we will ever meet, Jesus. He is there whenever we need Him and loves us all personally. Yet if we are honest with ourselves we don't do nearly enough because of that love. I understand we don't actually have to do anything anymore to gain acceptance into Heaven but why should we be stopping after receiving that gift? Surely we are driven by a desire to fulfill that love and do things for Him.
I have a friend who is meant to enthuse in prayer at my university and there is something he says every now and again that really does make this point. My university holds the second largest Christian union in England but we "consider it a victory when 5 people turn up to pray", now I'm not sure about you but that hits me where it hurts. Sure we can't turn up to everything, I don't really make it up in time for 8 am prayer but shouldn't we be taking every opportunity to pray? Here's the answer.
Yes.
We aren't just called to pray to God, we aren't told by Paul to do it because it something nice, something which as a Christian we do. We are instinctively called to pray because it is part of our spiritual nature to want to access and talk to the perfect man, the person who saved us by conquering death and loved us so much that He did despite the suffering it would cause Him. We have to rediscover a passion for Jesus in our every second lives. All to often I have thought got my one Christian thing for today that's all good, got my bible reading too, I'm sorted. That's wrong of me, my day to day life, and yours, should be seen not as how much you did every day for Jesus, how much was dedicated to Him but rather how much did you do every second, how many seconds were dedicated to Him. If it's less than all we've fallen short. Now here's the cool part, we will always fall short. What that's not cool? Oh I forgot to add, " and it doesn't matter" but even so we should be aiming to give as much as we can to Him, for Him, with Him because that is how we respond to His love given freely to us.
Okay I may end up sticking to prayer too much here but isn't it amazing what He has done for us. I know in the past year and a half I've seen Him get me through weeks without me spending anything, heal friendships, bring people I never would have thought of asking to events, control the weather (you may be skeptical but I'm rooting for God on them) and change the way I think. That is but a small, minute portion of what He can do, so really why aren't I giving Him more of my time? I suppose because I'm lazy, it's a part of me I haven't changed yet but I'd like to think I'm slowly getting better at it.

Lord, thank you for all you've done for me, don't let me ever forget that. I pray for my prayer life and prayer events on campus, I pray that you'll increase them both so that your will and presence can be felt in this world. I mean "What if we prayed?" would we then not be filled with the strength of the Creator and will we not vanquish our fears and the obstacles Satan may put in front of us. Help me to pray more Lord, help this world to pray more to You for the World, for this nation, for our city, for our campus Lord. We can but ask that your will is carried out and people start humbling themselves looking for your strength to fill them n everything they do. Thank you again for all you have done so far in my life, let me not forgot it and You in everything I strive to do. Amen

 So yeah I suppose what turned out to talk about not forgetting what He has done for us changed into rediscovery your passion for God, especially in your prayer life. What can I say but that shouldn't we all be seeking to come into the presence of the Creator, the Almighty, the True Living God more than we already anyway otherwise what a chance we are letting slip away!

God Bless.

Day 9: Being prepared

I've been talking about having the Lord in your life and giving your life to Him so that you may not succumb to the terrors this world will throw at us. I suppose I should tentatively sum up what has been an interesting week of trying to find a lesson each day. So here goes:
God is awesome, quite simple really, but He goes beyond what we imagine Him capable of. I suppose my lesson today on being prepared is quite simple from a Christian context; trust in God and He shall guide you and equip you better than you could. This however sounds easy but in all honest when I say trust in God, I mean give Him your all and don't hold even an atom back. Now that is a tall order.
I suppose when I say be prepared, it first comes to mind being prepared to face the world but I realize now that what I should be talking about is being prepared to give it all up for God, and to God.
We tend to gloss over this subject in many respects and so don't really give it the thought it should get. I'm actually trying to figure out how I should tackle this subject but the only thing I can think of is that God has great plans for us and He really does want what is best for us so we should cast out that fear of helplessness and not being in control and truly give it all up to Him. I'm sorry that this isn't really a guide on how to do it, nor are there any pointers but I'll tell you one thing. Pray. Pray with your heart behind it, don't hold back and say what you mean because when you do I am certain you are tuning into God's will and you'll see it come out in what you say.

Lord, I couldn't be more thankful for what you have done for me. You are slowly changing me into a better person and you are creating something new which I know nothing about. All I can ask for is this, that your will be done in my life. I hope that when the time comes I shall not be afraid of what you test me with or how you transform me but rather I can stand strong  in the knowledge of who you are and grow because of it. There is a world out there packed with people who don't know you, and I mean don't know you in their hearts, and when you are ready to send me out into the world daily to profess your name to them, send me because Here I Am Lord, here I am. 

Take this life, make it new and don't let me forgot what you have done for me! Amen.

God Bless

 

Day 8: Listening

We've all got a voice, some of use ours more than others apparently adults use 16,000 words per day. We spend a lot of time talking but how much time do we spend listening to the world. I can easily say I prefer to listen most of the day, generally to people loudly talking about their problems in my college's common room but also I'm happy to spend time listening to people's problems face to face despite my social ineptness in those situations. So why am I talking about listening now, well after talking about how we are slowly devaluing words and using them in circumstances when they aren't quite apt it only follows that I talk about listening to those words. In fact we, as Christians, are called to listen to one another and everyone we talk to rather than blabber in their faces all the time.

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, - James 1:19

To accompany this quote, the word listen is found at least 412 times in the NIV Bible. We are called to listen to what people say, there is a great calling for this in a world where people are generally turned away from Christ because of those Christians who just shove Jesus down other's throats. I am not trying to say that we shouldn't be courageous and that we shouldn't be proclaiming Jesus in this world, but to do it to the extent that people are getting put off, to be blinded to other possibilities and to arrogantly say people are wrong because of it probably means we are going to far. With some regret I'm quite cynical when it comes to God acting in people's lives, I can't just say "God did this" or "God did that" because it doesn't quite sum up the whole experience, it's shortening the facts. What actually happened is "God acted in this persons life as such to create this coincidence here which caused this to happen". I'm not going to have a rant at how easily people get excited by these things when sometimes there is something greater happening behind it but what it does mean is that I can look past that God-blindfold to see the situation a bit better and see where people are coming from with their ideas and experiences. I've talked to people who have had severe situations occur in their lives and an God-blindfolded person destroys them by saying "It's an act of God" or "If they had some more faith....". This is people not listening and acting on a life where they've not met these experiences before. Okay, I haven't either but I've done some reading around the topic at least. Yes, it is all within God's plan for people's lives but what you're doing to non-believers is not loving, in fact it's devastating. It is destroying their view of God. You may not realise what you are saying to them is "Well God wants you in this terrible situation, in fact He allows it to happen." That's not the God I know, my God loves me throughout everything, you see stumbling right in without listening (yes I have not forgot my original topic) is like throwing a grenade without watching were you are throwing it. You might hit or cause something you really shouldn't have. Listening allows us to identify where the real problem lies, look past just the words being said. Yes questions are to be asked but being calm, collected and peaceful will allow you to pass on the Gospel much easier then just shoving things you have heard in people's faces, Jesus or not.
I do realise at this point I should explain my God-blindfold, despite it's irrelevance to the challenge of today. A God-blindfold is this thing Christians appear to do by thinking everything is God. Now don't get me wrong everything IS God but when we immediately say "God did that" we neglect the time of day to see what He actually did and miss out on the amazing-ness that is His actions. In a situation where perhaps someone has offered you a job, we can easily go "God got me a job" which in all fairness is true but we leave it at that when it really goes much further than just that in what He has done. Now fair enough you could take this back to the beginning of time if you so want to but I think you get what I mean. It's not something that is terrible to have, it allows you to easily see God in everything and so I don't want to really annoy anyone who does easily see God's actions. It's commendable really, but it's a double edged sword really.
So I hope to leave with some food for thought in terms of what it is to actually listen, and that we should listen to people properly before jumping in with the evangelistic know-how we all contain.

God Bless.