Hey guys. So, I'm back. I've been so busy lately with exams coming up, youth camps, just about everything, and I haven't had time to get back to my blog, but I think it's been good to take a rest! I'm going to change it up a bit from here on in, I won't have a regular day I post on, It'll just be at some point during the week, because consistently committing to a Monday has proven to be a bit of a failure! Today's all about resting. Hope you guy's find some of this relevant!
Exodus 33:14
My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest
I went to a conference just over a week ago, where one of the things we spent time doing was finding out how we worship. You basically get into a spot where your comfortable- for some people its standing, for some its sitting, for some its flat on the ground, and so on and so forth. The central theme around all these though is that when you get to that spot with God, your with God. He is your shield and comfort- when you get into God's presence, it's not meant to be a hard push. It's simply letting God come down to you. Rest is mentioned many times in the bible. It doesn't even always necessarily mean lieing down, but it's taking your burdens, laying them aside and just spending tim in God's presence. When Jesus was on the water, in the boat amongst the storm, the priority on his mind was simply to rest. This also goes for how much of yourself you give to people. When crowds came to Jesus for prayer, even or messiah came to a point where he had to leave by boat to remote location to spend time resting. Matthew 13:36a- Then Jesus left the crowd and went to the house. Rest is such a vital part to out walk with Christ. We can spend so much time giving and get caught in this idea that if we're not putting out, we're not doing what God wants. I mean, look at the facts! God has designed us to spend 8 hours a day sleeping. that's a third of our lives, resting.
Time and time again we are taught in the bible to rest. Pray, and rest. By rest I don't mean lay around and sleep. But spending time in God's presence, laying your stress and anxiety aside, and letting God speak to you. If you get the chance, try and put some time aside this week for that. See what God want's to say to you. One of the most powerful things you could ever let happen, is to Let go, and let God.
Be Blessed
Mark 6:31
Monday, 24 October 2011
Monday, 19 September 2011
You are my Desire
If your reading this, then I have successfully posted this blog and you should probably do a victory dance of your room. You have 10 seconds. 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Back? Good. Now that you're tired, you should refresh yourself by opening Facebook and liking the page that I am going to post a link for HERE, and also here and here. There, you have 3 links to choose from choose wisely... they all do the same thing. Now that all that administrative stuff is over, let's get into the spicy salami. Or blog, whatever. Basically, keep reading. God Bless!
Proverbs 20:11
Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.
Let's not pretend we don't know what God's talking about here. God makes it pretty clear. We know when we're doing right from wrong! The problem we face, is sometimes we spend so much time in the wrong, ignoring God's voice and doing things out of our own "strength and knowledge" that we miss God's power and wisdom. It's not a blurred line. There are 10 commandments, when realistically, God could have simply put down the first two and expected the same results. If we really love God, we're not going to be wanting to sin, right? God has extended way beyond what he could simply demand of us. I mean, look, he wrote a whole bible to teach us right from wrong, and still has grace that covers us when we mess up! What I've been thinking this week, is I think, the most important thing to God, is our heart. You could go out and evangelize and serve God every day, but if deep down you had no desire to, like you really loathed serving God, he doesn't want your offerings. Proverbs 23:26- My son, give me your heart and let your eyes keep to my ways. God's desire is that your heart would match up with his. If you were locked in a room for the rest of your life, you could still enter heaven with a heart that hungers and thirsts for God's. But a cold heart gets turned away.
Luke 6:44- A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. What kind of fruit are you producing in your life? Or better yet, where is your heart at? I challenge you. This week, every time you feel tempted to say the wrong thing or act the wrong way, stop. Literally just stop everything your doing. Focus on God, even for just a moment, and pray two things. One, that he would harden your heart towards sin, and two, that he would increase your desire, your hunger, to know him and walk in his ways. I promise you, if you do this with a sincere heart, you will see a radical transformation in the way you act over even just the course of a week. That's my challenge for you. Do you want to be identified for your good fruit, as a child who knew right from wrong and chose to walk the straight and narrow, or a fool, who saw the narrow path and chose to enter the wide gate. Pray for a desire to see God. To know God! There is no greater prayer you could ever pray for anyone than to see their own heart long for God's. Be Blessed.
Lord I Give you my Heart- Anthony Evans
Psalm 119:97-104
Proverbs 20:11
Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.
Let's not pretend we don't know what God's talking about here. God makes it pretty clear. We know when we're doing right from wrong! The problem we face, is sometimes we spend so much time in the wrong, ignoring God's voice and doing things out of our own "strength and knowledge" that we miss God's power and wisdom. It's not a blurred line. There are 10 commandments, when realistically, God could have simply put down the first two and expected the same results. If we really love God, we're not going to be wanting to sin, right? God has extended way beyond what he could simply demand of us. I mean, look, he wrote a whole bible to teach us right from wrong, and still has grace that covers us when we mess up! What I've been thinking this week, is I think, the most important thing to God, is our heart. You could go out and evangelize and serve God every day, but if deep down you had no desire to, like you really loathed serving God, he doesn't want your offerings. Proverbs 23:26- My son, give me your heart and let your eyes keep to my ways. God's desire is that your heart would match up with his. If you were locked in a room for the rest of your life, you could still enter heaven with a heart that hungers and thirsts for God's. But a cold heart gets turned away.
Luke 6:44- A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. What kind of fruit are you producing in your life? Or better yet, where is your heart at? I challenge you. This week, every time you feel tempted to say the wrong thing or act the wrong way, stop. Literally just stop everything your doing. Focus on God, even for just a moment, and pray two things. One, that he would harden your heart towards sin, and two, that he would increase your desire, your hunger, to know him and walk in his ways. I promise you, if you do this with a sincere heart, you will see a radical transformation in the way you act over even just the course of a week. That's my challenge for you. Do you want to be identified for your good fruit, as a child who knew right from wrong and chose to walk the straight and narrow, or a fool, who saw the narrow path and chose to enter the wide gate. Pray for a desire to see God. To know God! There is no greater prayer you could ever pray for anyone than to see their own heart long for God's. Be Blessed.
Lord I Give you my Heart- Anthony Evans
Psalm 119:97-104
Monday, 12 September 2011
Sorrow vs. Salvation
Back once again this week, massive thank you to Jono for covering for me last week! As you may have seen in the last post, he has started his own blog, so you may want to go check it out! I'd love it if you spared a moment to check out and "like" my Facebook page, which you can find a link for here! I had the idea for this blog earlier this week, I was thinking about how God calls us to take up our cross and follow him, and I thought about what the cross means to me. When Jesus physically bore the cross, he bore the sin of the world on his shoulders and died on it at the end of the day. Surely this isn't what God calls us to do, carry the sin of the world on out shoulders until it overcomes us and kills us? Remember, this is only my opinion on it. Interested? Well, read on and find out!
Matthew 11:30- For my yoke is easy and my burden is light
This idea ties in well with a blog I have posted previously, where a lot of the time god's logic seems to be the opposite of what we think. How can a burden be light? Our English dictionary defines a burden as "a load, something worrisome that is difficult to bear, Responsibility, to weigh down and oppress." and associates it with words like Encumber, Grieve, Overload, Affliction and Sorrow. I don't care how light this burden is, this doesn't sounds like something God wants us to carry! Now, the cross, is a perfect symbol for a burden. The Cross burdened Christ as he made his way to his place of crucifixion. In Roman times the cross was the symbol you carried to your grave- It was literally a death sentence. I thought about this for a while, and then it began to sit uneasy with me. Luke 9:23 says- Then he said to them all: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must first deny himself, take up their cross daily and follow me". Why would Christ call us to carry a symbol of death, afflictions and sorrow with us daily? Considering this, I began to wonder, what does the cross really symbolize? I mean, I had thought it was anguish, sorrow and death, but did Jesus' crucifixion change this? Jesus is known for drawing water from rocks, turning water into wine and bringing the dead back to life, surely he can change a cross, a mourned symbol of death, into a joyous sign of salvation?
Well, I don't know about you, but I sure think he did. When God calls us to take up our cross, he doesn't call us to burden ourselves with sorrow, anguish and pain, but rather take up our salvation daily and follow him! Every day is a new day to spend in his presence. Every day people look at us outwardly and see us bearing a cross, little do they know is its not a burden, its our salvation lifting us up! Its like a magnet. We carry it daily, but it never ways us down. It is always pulled heavenward, so it is always easier to walk when we carry it. Have a look around your life. Do any of the things in your life match the description of a burden? If so, I challenge you to cast your anxiety on God, and take up your cross of Salvation. You thought you were flying now? Wait until that burden gets lifted. Be Blessed!
Romans 8:38-39
Monday, 5 September 2011
Blocking Salvation
This is usually the part where Josh tells you about something he has encountered this week. That's right - TWIST! I'm not Josh! This week the fine young man that usually chats to you is away on a camp! But as many of you know, he doesn't believe in "cooling off" for a week when it comes to God so he's asked me to take his place in conversing with you!
I'm Jono, born and raised in a christian family in the the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria. I love my sport, mucking around with mates and drumming! But believe it or not I'm reasonably educated to! I know right? Oxymoronic personality if I've ever heard one! I took a leaf out of Josh's book a week and a bit ago so if you wanna read anymore of my thoughts and encounters in my Christian walk feel free to visit my blog at http://resurrectingalpha.blogspot.com/. But as I'm a guest here and you're looking for some wise words, I'll take us into the meaty stuff!
Luke 19:1-10 - Zaccheus the Tax Collector (NIV)
1Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
8But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
9Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
I had no idea what to talk about when Josh first asked me to take his place this week, but I saw this bible story as relevant as any as I am a guest as much as anyone tonight, just as Jesus was to Zacchaeus. It's a passage in stark contrast to what Josh shared last week about knowing your limits in the world we live in. We definitely need to know our limitations in order to be of use for God. But in this story Jesus goes out of his way to really sit down and reach out to a tax collector and really connect with this man who is clearly heading down the wrong path.
Firstly we need to grasp why this is such a big deal. What we must understand is that Zacchaeus is just about one of the most hated and despised people in Jericho. He was the leading man in an area of work that already received money from the people, but then he went on to take more than what he should. He cheated and stole from people! And if you've ever been overcharged or taxed for something, you'll know how angry that makes a person! The people of Jericho that had listened to Jesus talk about them as sinners and had further interacted with Jesus also instructed him that he should not go to the guest of such a sinner as Zacchaeus. This shows an incredible feeling of superiority that the people of Jericho feel toward Zacchaeus, "we're sinners, but HIM - he's worse!"
These are the same people that go on and crowd around Jesus showing little concern for Zacchaeus and his shorter height as he is forced to climb a tree in order to see Jesus past the hundreds of people! I think this often reflects the attitude of Christians today. We keep Jesus to ourselves as if we're "better sinners". We often prove a road block for those who need a helping hand forward. What if there wasn't a tree there for Zacchaeus? He would never have been noticed, and might never have been guided to salvation.
Another view to be put under the microscope is within the phrase; "He has gone to be the guest of a sinner." We already looked at the arrogant attitude the people portrayed when referring to him as "a sinner". But when you look at this arrogance, clearly they do not entertain those they believe to be of lesser quality. So when Jesus becomes the guest to Zacchaeus - bringing himself down to that level - they are simply shocked!
Every man and woman deserves a chance at knowing our God and sharing in his salvation. Why should we stand in the way of them repenting and finding refuge in our Savior just as we have?
The thing that disheartens me most is when I see somebody that is obviously struggling for reason, they are lost for purpose or they are hurting and need assistance that could be as simple as helping them to the front of a crowd - and Christians just pass them by. I know I've done it. We just think our times of greater value to us than to them when really, this time we don't share is often used on things that aren't actually going to further the greater picture, God's Kingdom. We need to be guests to people like this. Put aside any feelings of superiority or arrogance we have and do just as Jesus did - reach out to them in a personal manner. If we don't we are just blocking others from reaching the amazing salvation of God.
My questions that I'll leave with you are:
- When have you been the road block in somebodies interaction with God? Why?
- Is there anybody in this state of mind you know, that you haven't reached out to?
- Have you ever acted in an arrogant way towards a "sinner"?
- Who's house can you introduce God's salvation to? WILL YOU?
Jono"He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation."
- Mark 16:15 (NIV)
Monday, 29 August 2011
Standing firm
Hello there! Once again, back on another Monday, if you haven't already, please check out the Facebook page by clicking ---> HERE <---, there's a voting poll to your right, so if you get the time I'd love some feedback! If you have any suggestions for topics, or anything of the sort, please let me know! I really, really appreciate feedback! From bible verses to read up on or even ideas to add/take away, anything, I so appreciate it! Anyhow, dig in.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God- Having a form of Godliness but denying it's power. Have nothing to do with such people.
Have you ever found yourself around people like this? Or, maybe, do you see any of these character traits being reflected in your life? I know in this verse it asks is to have nothing to do with such people, but that kind of left a question in my mind... who does this leave us with to evangelize to!? If we are not supposed to associate ourselves with such people, why are these the kind of people Jesus spent so much of his life around? I thought about this for a while, and another bible verse came to mind- John 15:19- If you belonged to the world, it would love you as it's own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. that is why the world hates you. When you put these verses next to each other, you see what God means to us- to be with these people, but not of their nature. Do not fill yourselves with what these people bring to the world, because we only get out what we put in- we "reap what we sow", but, be among these people, transforming their lives. It's like the proverb of the wineskin- Mark 2:22- And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the bottles destroyed; but new wine is to be put into new wineskins. Basically, not only are we told not to fill ourselves with what these people bring to the world, but we are warned that to be of them would "burst the wineskin", or more literally, ruin us. We can not be part God, part Sin. God's grace removes the sin when we repent and seek his heart, but it is stupidity to think God's grace extends to the unrepentant- He still loves you, but continuing in sin won't save you. You need to fill your wineskin with the wine it was intended for, or bear the consequences.
One of the troubles I have with this, Is not to reflect what people like this can bring to you. Hanging with the wrong crowd too often leads us to begin to conform and fit in with what and who they are. It's good to be there and reflect a light, but only when you know your not going to fall over! I had to move school recently, I to'd and fro'd with the reason why, but ultimately, and admittedly, I didn't have a strong enough foundation to stand in the place I was standing. I was persecuted, that didn't stop me loving the people there, many are still my friends, but I couldn't cope with what was going on. I was becoming more and more "of the world" as I spent more time with them, and it was literally tearing me apart. I'm still dealing with this now, but I suppose what i'm saying, is don't let pride get in the way. If you need to remove yourself from somewhere, you can. If the people you are with are hurting your faith, you can step back and refocus for a while. God always provides a way out. Sometime our foundation isn't ready to face the storm we're standing in, and it's okay to step back. Remember being a Christian isn't about the comfort life. Luke 9:23- Then he said to them: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" We're called to serve, often in conditions that can harm and hurt us, but just because that's our calling doesn't mean you need to risk losing your faith for the cause. Make sure your heart, and your faith, is in the right spot before you start evangelizing, if not, you may end up doing them, as well as yourself, more harm than good. Be Blessed.
Until the Whole World Hears- Casting Crowns
Romans 10:9-10
2 Timothy 3:1-5
But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God- Having a form of Godliness but denying it's power. Have nothing to do with such people.
Have you ever found yourself around people like this? Or, maybe, do you see any of these character traits being reflected in your life? I know in this verse it asks is to have nothing to do with such people, but that kind of left a question in my mind... who does this leave us with to evangelize to!? If we are not supposed to associate ourselves with such people, why are these the kind of people Jesus spent so much of his life around? I thought about this for a while, and another bible verse came to mind- John 15:19- If you belonged to the world, it would love you as it's own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. that is why the world hates you. When you put these verses next to each other, you see what God means to us- to be with these people, but not of their nature. Do not fill yourselves with what these people bring to the world, because we only get out what we put in- we "reap what we sow", but, be among these people, transforming their lives. It's like the proverb of the wineskin- Mark 2:22- And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the bottles destroyed; but new wine is to be put into new wineskins. Basically, not only are we told not to fill ourselves with what these people bring to the world, but we are warned that to be of them would "burst the wineskin", or more literally, ruin us. We can not be part God, part Sin. God's grace removes the sin when we repent and seek his heart, but it is stupidity to think God's grace extends to the unrepentant- He still loves you, but continuing in sin won't save you. You need to fill your wineskin with the wine it was intended for, or bear the consequences.
One of the troubles I have with this, Is not to reflect what people like this can bring to you. Hanging with the wrong crowd too often leads us to begin to conform and fit in with what and who they are. It's good to be there and reflect a light, but only when you know your not going to fall over! I had to move school recently, I to'd and fro'd with the reason why, but ultimately, and admittedly, I didn't have a strong enough foundation to stand in the place I was standing. I was persecuted, that didn't stop me loving the people there, many are still my friends, but I couldn't cope with what was going on. I was becoming more and more "of the world" as I spent more time with them, and it was literally tearing me apart. I'm still dealing with this now, but I suppose what i'm saying, is don't let pride get in the way. If you need to remove yourself from somewhere, you can. If the people you are with are hurting your faith, you can step back and refocus for a while. God always provides a way out. Sometime our foundation isn't ready to face the storm we're standing in, and it's okay to step back. Remember being a Christian isn't about the comfort life. Luke 9:23- Then he said to them: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" We're called to serve, often in conditions that can harm and hurt us, but just because that's our calling doesn't mean you need to risk losing your faith for the cause. Make sure your heart, and your faith, is in the right spot before you start evangelizing, if not, you may end up doing them, as well as yourself, more harm than good. Be Blessed.
Until the Whole World Hears- Casting Crowns
Romans 10:9-10
Monday, 22 August 2011
Bring me Justice
I'm back! Well, duh. Anyway, if you haven't already, please follow THIS LINK!!!! and like the Facebook page for this blog, check out the little features around the page, like the voting poll to the left -----> and, if you get the chance, do leave some feedback! You have no idea how much I always appreciate it!!
Amos 5:24- But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!
When you think of Justice, what's the first though that springs to mind? Punishment, dealing out what people deserve, teaching someone their lesson so they learn and move on? I'm reading a book right now, that talks about a guy who married his high school sweet heart. He goes through the whole story of his relationships with her prior to dating, the night he asked her out, all the way up until they were happily married with 3 kids. The marriage began heading downhill from there, until one day in a marriage counselling session, she turns to her husband and informs him she never really loved him and that she was seeing one of his friends behind his back. Reading this story, you can't help but feel for him. I'm not even in his situation and my thoughts switched straight to how he should break up the relationship with the friend and bring himself justice. To be fair, they we're the same thoughts he shared at the time. But after months of praying and seeking God, he began to ask himself- What does justice actually look like?
Fill our heart with the love of Christ so that only truth and purity can come out of the mouth- Warren Wiersbe
Jesus came to earth, down to his own creation. We, as his followers, mess up every day. We sin, we fail to trust God, we turn from him and trust to our own devices almost every day that goes by. If anyone had a right to serve justice, it was certainly God. You know what? He does. He sends his son, to die for us and bring us salvation. God's idea of justice isn't to hurt, harm and punish us all the time. Of course if you continue to turn from him that may come, but God's heart is to forgive you and pour blessing out over you. This man experienced the same with his Wife. He new it was beyond his power to repair the relationship, so he served justice, praying a blessing over her new relationship so the children could grow up in a stable environment. Can you imagine doing that? That's what God calls us to though. To swallow our pride and search out hearts for the strength to forgive. Is there someone in your life you need to forgive? Have you been seeking for justice and praying God deal out his judgement on someone? You know the truth of it is, often his judgement is to forgive and bless them. Can you find it in your heart to accept that and trust God?
Lord I Give You My Heart- Hillsong
Matthew 18:21-22
Amos 5:24- But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!
When you think of Justice, what's the first though that springs to mind? Punishment, dealing out what people deserve, teaching someone their lesson so they learn and move on? I'm reading a book right now, that talks about a guy who married his high school sweet heart. He goes through the whole story of his relationships with her prior to dating, the night he asked her out, all the way up until they were happily married with 3 kids. The marriage began heading downhill from there, until one day in a marriage counselling session, she turns to her husband and informs him she never really loved him and that she was seeing one of his friends behind his back. Reading this story, you can't help but feel for him. I'm not even in his situation and my thoughts switched straight to how he should break up the relationship with the friend and bring himself justice. To be fair, they we're the same thoughts he shared at the time. But after months of praying and seeking God, he began to ask himself- What does justice actually look like?
Fill our heart with the love of Christ so that only truth and purity can come out of the mouth- Warren Wiersbe
Jesus came to earth, down to his own creation. We, as his followers, mess up every day. We sin, we fail to trust God, we turn from him and trust to our own devices almost every day that goes by. If anyone had a right to serve justice, it was certainly God. You know what? He does. He sends his son, to die for us and bring us salvation. God's idea of justice isn't to hurt, harm and punish us all the time. Of course if you continue to turn from him that may come, but God's heart is to forgive you and pour blessing out over you. This man experienced the same with his Wife. He new it was beyond his power to repair the relationship, so he served justice, praying a blessing over her new relationship so the children could grow up in a stable environment. Can you imagine doing that? That's what God calls us to though. To swallow our pride and search out hearts for the strength to forgive. Is there someone in your life you need to forgive? Have you been seeking for justice and praying God deal out his judgement on someone? You know the truth of it is, often his judgement is to forgive and bless them. Can you find it in your heart to accept that and trust God?
Lord I Give You My Heart- Hillsong
Matthew 18:21-22
Monday, 15 August 2011
The Hidden Truth
Hey hey hey! Powering through the casual admin stuff, we got the Facebook page link ---> HERE, PLEASE click and like, send it to your friends, show your cat, your dog, neighbor, whoever!!! Haha as usual, do check out some features around the page and so on, I'm thinking about running themes, like, spending a few weeks diving into some more specific topics or something, so if you think that would be cool, leave some feedback and suggest some themes! Anyways, less talk more blog.
St. John of Damascus- The spirit of God is direct, authorative, the foundation of wisdom, life and holiness.
David Brinkley- A successful man is a man who can build a foundation with the bricks men have thrown at him
2 Timothy 2:19- But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: "The Lord knows those who are his", and "Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity."
I wanted to move back more to the central theme this week, all about Foundations. I spent most of this week building a chicken shed with my brother. One of the guys we had with us was saying the whole time how building the foundation was the most boring part. You know what? He was right. Digging holes and putting concrete in, building some frame work, its a lot of digging, going deep, and clearing the ground, getting all the debris out of the way. And even then, no matter how much work you put in, no one ever see's it. No one walks up to a shed and goes WOW! Look at that foundation! I mean, there's no real reward for it anyway. All anyone see's is the glitz and glamour (or in this case, chicken coops and fencing), but never the foundation. However, the point was stressed that whilst it is perhaps the most boring part, it is the most vital. The whole structure is built off this underlying truth that no one else ever see's, and ultimately, nothing will stand unless the foundation itself has been put to the test. Do you ever see a great preacher get up, and think to yourself wow, what a gift they have for preaching! You're right, but that's the glamorous side of it. The truth is that behind that, is a person who has gone through trial upon trial and spent years upon years honing their skills, and that effort isn't something anyone else will ever really see or appreciate, but it's vital for what you can achieve later in life. You know who does see it though? God. Jesus himself is called the cornerstone. Isaiah 28:16- So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; The one who trusts will never be dismayed." Remember, that whilst no one else see's the work you do in secret, God does, and he blesses that.
How long do you spend on a foundation though? Spending so much time on something no one see's is so hard...
It is hard. That's something I struggle with everyday. You spend so much time praying and psyching yourself up, but when push comes to shove, you realise you still haven't got it all right. Ultimately, spending time on a foundation can take as long as you like. You could do it in a month, but you'll only reap a months worth of preparation That can spread from there, but look at it like a building. You may only spend a day building the foundations, and you can build it as high as you like from there. But, when a storm comes, the foundation can only support a tower that goes so high, and often you'll find it inadequate. Not only that, but a days worth of laying doesn't cover a lot, you can't spread the base over more areas of ministry. How long you spend depends entirely on what you (or God) want's to achieve. Like I have said before, Jesus spent 30 years building his, despite all his authority. He could have stepped into it from day one, but if even Jesus spent time building faith and learning to trust God, how much more should we! Don't be discouraged if you're not seeing the fruit of your hard work yet. The harvest will come in time, just keep preparing those fields! The longer you spend preparing, the greater the harvest will be. Too few put time into the labors, Matthew 27:19 says- Then he said unto his disciples: "The harvest truely is plentiful, but the laborers are too few."- Yet expect the same reward. I promise you, that reward will never come. You need to plant if you want to see growth. If you trust God has his hand in everything, you can trust him enough to put everything in his hands, and build that foundation. You are the only person that can do that for yourself.
Savior Please- Josh Wilson
Luke 6:48
St. John of Damascus- The spirit of God is direct, authorative, the foundation of wisdom, life and holiness.
David Brinkley- A successful man is a man who can build a foundation with the bricks men have thrown at him
2 Timothy 2:19- But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: "The Lord knows those who are his", and "Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity."
I wanted to move back more to the central theme this week, all about Foundations. I spent most of this week building a chicken shed with my brother. One of the guys we had with us was saying the whole time how building the foundation was the most boring part. You know what? He was right. Digging holes and putting concrete in, building some frame work, its a lot of digging, going deep, and clearing the ground, getting all the debris out of the way. And even then, no matter how much work you put in, no one ever see's it. No one walks up to a shed and goes WOW! Look at that foundation! I mean, there's no real reward for it anyway. All anyone see's is the glitz and glamour (or in this case, chicken coops and fencing), but never the foundation. However, the point was stressed that whilst it is perhaps the most boring part, it is the most vital. The whole structure is built off this underlying truth that no one else ever see's, and ultimately, nothing will stand unless the foundation itself has been put to the test. Do you ever see a great preacher get up, and think to yourself wow, what a gift they have for preaching! You're right, but that's the glamorous side of it. The truth is that behind that, is a person who has gone through trial upon trial and spent years upon years honing their skills, and that effort isn't something anyone else will ever really see or appreciate, but it's vital for what you can achieve later in life. You know who does see it though? God. Jesus himself is called the cornerstone. Isaiah 28:16- So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; The one who trusts will never be dismayed." Remember, that whilst no one else see's the work you do in secret, God does, and he blesses that.
How long do you spend on a foundation though? Spending so much time on something no one see's is so hard...
It is hard. That's something I struggle with everyday. You spend so much time praying and psyching yourself up, but when push comes to shove, you realise you still haven't got it all right. Ultimately, spending time on a foundation can take as long as you like. You could do it in a month, but you'll only reap a months worth of preparation That can spread from there, but look at it like a building. You may only spend a day building the foundations, and you can build it as high as you like from there. But, when a storm comes, the foundation can only support a tower that goes so high, and often you'll find it inadequate. Not only that, but a days worth of laying doesn't cover a lot, you can't spread the base over more areas of ministry. How long you spend depends entirely on what you (or God) want's to achieve. Like I have said before, Jesus spent 30 years building his, despite all his authority. He could have stepped into it from day one, but if even Jesus spent time building faith and learning to trust God, how much more should we! Don't be discouraged if you're not seeing the fruit of your hard work yet. The harvest will come in time, just keep preparing those fields! The longer you spend preparing, the greater the harvest will be. Too few put time into the labors, Matthew 27:19 says- Then he said unto his disciples: "The harvest truely is plentiful, but the laborers are too few."- Yet expect the same reward. I promise you, that reward will never come. You need to plant if you want to see growth. If you trust God has his hand in everything, you can trust him enough to put everything in his hands, and build that foundation. You are the only person that can do that for yourself.
Savior Please- Josh Wilson
Luke 6:48
Monday, 8 August 2011
Rejoice, for Salvation has come!
Pizza, a good glass of milk, and I'm set to write this blog. How is everyone? I'd love to make a shout out to Amy Dawson, a wise friend of mine, who gave me the idea for this weeks blog! As usual, Facebook page, click here, please like or leave comments, I absolutely love feedback! check out some features around the page, like the voting poll, subscription bar and so on. This week i'm looking into the idea of Sadness and Grief... so, dig in!
2 Corinthians 7:10- Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
Have you had a hard time lately? Or are you even at one of those points where nothing is actually going wrong, but, not a lot's going right either, so you really don't know what to do with yourself. I get like that sometimes. It's not a sin to be sad, or grieve. But what can turn it into sin is to revel in that misery. To take on this stance that everyone's against you, or to simply get to a point where you accept sadness as a "normal" in your life. If 2 Corinthians is right, that kind of wordy sorrow can bring around death. What God does for us here is paints a picture of the kind of sorrow that can actually benefit us. If your sorrow or sadness is in response to sin or something in your life you know is not of God, you can actually rejoice! John 16:22 says- So with you, now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, so no one will ever take away your joy. I don't know about you, but I'm ready for some of that joy! A few good, practical ways to break out of that sorrow cycle, coupled with prayer, can totally change your perspective and put you in a new place with God, ready to step forth and serve him. Music helps, a LOT! There are so many songs i can chuck on and instantly transform my mood. Go for a walk to clear your head, read the bible- especially a lot of the Psalms, or even chat to some friends and share whats on your mind.
I've tried so many things, but i'm finding it easier to just revel in sorrow. Its much easier to just cope with it. Can't I just do that?
Truth of it is, yeah. You can. But in the end, it doesn't achieve anything. A few pro active actions can totally turn your life around. Even if what's going on is no big deal, it's so much more powerful to revel in God's joy. Proverbs 17:22 shows you just how powerful Joy can be in your life- A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Anyone else here up for some spiritual medicine? Joy is like an adrenaline rush to the soul. Start now! Rejoice! Gos is so much bigger than what you're facing. Luke 4:7- Therefore submit to God. Resist the Devil and he will flee from you! If the Devil is putting earthly sorrow on your heart, I say its time we fought back with Joy! Even if your not feeling it, fake it till you make it. Rejoice, be glad, and watch what happens in your life!
Joyful Joyful- Casting Crowns
Psalm 30:5
2 Corinthians 7:10- Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
Have you had a hard time lately? Or are you even at one of those points where nothing is actually going wrong, but, not a lot's going right either, so you really don't know what to do with yourself. I get like that sometimes. It's not a sin to be sad, or grieve. But what can turn it into sin is to revel in that misery. To take on this stance that everyone's against you, or to simply get to a point where you accept sadness as a "normal" in your life. If 2 Corinthians is right, that kind of wordy sorrow can bring around death. What God does for us here is paints a picture of the kind of sorrow that can actually benefit us. If your sorrow or sadness is in response to sin or something in your life you know is not of God, you can actually rejoice! John 16:22 says- So with you, now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, so no one will ever take away your joy. I don't know about you, but I'm ready for some of that joy! A few good, practical ways to break out of that sorrow cycle, coupled with prayer, can totally change your perspective and put you in a new place with God, ready to step forth and serve him. Music helps, a LOT! There are so many songs i can chuck on and instantly transform my mood. Go for a walk to clear your head, read the bible- especially a lot of the Psalms, or even chat to some friends and share whats on your mind.
I've tried so many things, but i'm finding it easier to just revel in sorrow. Its much easier to just cope with it. Can't I just do that?
Truth of it is, yeah. You can. But in the end, it doesn't achieve anything. A few pro active actions can totally turn your life around. Even if what's going on is no big deal, it's so much more powerful to revel in God's joy. Proverbs 17:22 shows you just how powerful Joy can be in your life- A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Anyone else here up for some spiritual medicine? Joy is like an adrenaline rush to the soul. Start now! Rejoice! Gos is so much bigger than what you're facing. Luke 4:7- Therefore submit to God. Resist the Devil and he will flee from you! If the Devil is putting earthly sorrow on your heart, I say its time we fought back with Joy! Even if your not feeling it, fake it till you make it. Rejoice, be glad, and watch what happens in your life!
Joyful Joyful- Casting Crowns
Psalm 30:5
Monday, 1 August 2011
Street Sweepers
Welcome back!!! Now, im hoping to get this post (or my views in general) over the 500 mark for one month. Im sitting on 410 right now for this month, and I really want to see if I can break that cap! So, if you get the chance, please share a link to this with someone you know who might like it, but don't just sit there tapping the refresh button, I'd prefer they were actual views! If you haven't already, please take the time to check out and "like" the Facebook page for this blog, you can find a link HERE! As always, check out the song and bible reference down the bottom, vote on the voting poll to the right of this if you get the chance to, and all that other stuff. Thanks to all of you who voted, I will work on some more bible verses in my blogs, as well as maybe posting more (and shorter) blogs! Anyway, lets get into this...
Do you have a Spiritual gift? I don't always mean praying in tongues or anything like that, I mean, what are you gifted at? Perhaps its caring for people. Blessing people. Listening to them, there are so many ways we can serve people it's just crazy. What I mean to ask though, is are you really using that gifting to the best of your ability? Mark 12:41 says this- Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. but a poor widow came and placed in to very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a dollar. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They gave out of their wealth, but she gave out of her poverty, put in everything-- all she had to live on." See, it doesn't matter what your spiritual gifting is. You could be good at cleaning toilets for all I care, but, if you take what little you have, and offer it to God, he will use it. Trust God and give him the best you have to give, and he will bless you NOT for the gift you give, but the heart you have that says "God, I give the best of my life to you, because the best of me is worth nothing compared to your love" Martin Luther King put it well- If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of Heaven and Earth will pause to say 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well'". It doesn't matter what you have to put on offer to God. you offer him your life, and honor him in all you do, and he will use what little you have to do incredible things!
But Josh, I don't even know what I have to offer God, and really, It makes no sense as to how he can use that.
I don't care if you're a student, stuck in a retirement home, poor, rich, whatever. God has a place for you, and when you choose to take all you have, and trust God, ultimately, it doesn't matter what you can or can't achieve out of your own strength, because God will work out of your weakness, as you surrender all, to do a work far beyond what you could achieve alone. You can trust God with your gifts... I promise you no matter how stupid he sounds, he always has a plan. Jeremiah 29:11 says- "For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans for a hope and a future. Wherever you are in life, pray and ask God how he wants you to reflect his Love. Take what he asks of you, and trust him to use that. Even if others think you're crazy, if it's really God's plan, he has a purpose. Psalm 118:8- It is better to put trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. If you don't know what you have to offer God, start with your heart. Love him, seek to serve him no matter where you are. I guarantee he'll start to show you what you can do for him. Be Blessed.
I'll show you how to live- Sanctus Real
1 Timothy ch.4
Do you have a Spiritual gift? I don't always mean praying in tongues or anything like that, I mean, what are you gifted at? Perhaps its caring for people. Blessing people. Listening to them, there are so many ways we can serve people it's just crazy. What I mean to ask though, is are you really using that gifting to the best of your ability? Mark 12:41 says this- Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. but a poor widow came and placed in to very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a dollar. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They gave out of their wealth, but she gave out of her poverty, put in everything-- all she had to live on." See, it doesn't matter what your spiritual gifting is. You could be good at cleaning toilets for all I care, but, if you take what little you have, and offer it to God, he will use it. Trust God and give him the best you have to give, and he will bless you NOT for the gift you give, but the heart you have that says "God, I give the best of my life to you, because the best of me is worth nothing compared to your love" Martin Luther King put it well- If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of Heaven and Earth will pause to say 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well'". It doesn't matter what you have to put on offer to God. you offer him your life, and honor him in all you do, and he will use what little you have to do incredible things!
But Josh, I don't even know what I have to offer God, and really, It makes no sense as to how he can use that.
I don't care if you're a student, stuck in a retirement home, poor, rich, whatever. God has a place for you, and when you choose to take all you have, and trust God, ultimately, it doesn't matter what you can or can't achieve out of your own strength, because God will work out of your weakness, as you surrender all, to do a work far beyond what you could achieve alone. You can trust God with your gifts... I promise you no matter how stupid he sounds, he always has a plan. Jeremiah 29:11 says- "For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans for a hope and a future. Wherever you are in life, pray and ask God how he wants you to reflect his Love. Take what he asks of you, and trust him to use that. Even if others think you're crazy, if it's really God's plan, he has a purpose. Psalm 118:8- It is better to put trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. If you don't know what you have to offer God, start with your heart. Love him, seek to serve him no matter where you are. I guarantee he'll start to show you what you can do for him. Be Blessed.
I'll show you how to live- Sanctus Real
1 Timothy ch.4
Monday, 25 July 2011
For Men- Holy Spirit Boldness
So, I went for something a bit different this week! One blog for guys, one for girls, with some more gender specific topics. Well, not so much gender specific, but aimed at a specific gender. Wow. I basically said exactly the same thing, backwards....... Anyway. Please do check out the voting poll to the right of this, and vote if you would be so kind! Be sure to check out the song and bible reference at the bottom of this page, and, as always, PLEASE jump on the Facebook page by clicking ---> HERE! Share it with a few friends, you know the drill. Thanks bro's! You guys have no idea how blessed you are going to be if you read this and actually put it into action. I'm serious. I hope you're ready for a total revolution in your life. By the way, grab a bible out or open Google so you can search up some of the bible verses in here. There are a lot. Anyway, enough of this chit chat. Dig in.
1 Peter 3:13-14- Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear, do not be frightened."
1 Corinthians 16:13- Be on your guard; Stand firm in the faith; be Men of courage; be strong.
There are way too many boys in society. I'm serious. Some are 10, 20, 30, even 40 and 50 years old. Because they lack what it takes to be Men. I mean, real men. God fearing, Old Testament style manly men. What makes the difference? Well, there are so many things. I believe though, one major thing, is courage. Not just your everyday courage that can be defined as stupidity, but a real, God fearing, Holy Spirit Boldness. Young Men have an immense impact on society. Who pops into your mind when you think Drug Deals? How about people in Jail. Nightclubs? Bars? What about Street gangs, people who start street fights and go around stealing goods? If you were doing a public speech, who would you be the most concerned about in the crowd? I can almost guarantee that for almost all if not every one of those I mentioned, the group of people you would have immediately associated them with were... you know it... Young Men. You even look more upper class, so many young men who get so spoilt that they never learnt to grow up. I'm not saying this to discourage you, but rather encourage you to stand apart from the crowd. If young men can have an influence THAT massive on society without God's blessing on their actions, how much more can we do when we do it in his strength! The youth of this generation has the power to completely transform this whole nation, and that's just our warm up act.
2 Timothy 1:7- For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self discipline. It's all summed up in that one verse there. God has given us the power, to drive the darkness out of this Earth. The Love, his own heart, to share with others as we see more and more won to Christ, and self discipline. I know as well as you do, we need that more Self Discipline than we would care to acknowledge. It's like a Racehorse, running down a track. Huge power and potential, but we are so easily distracted by the things around us and earthly desires. Pray every day that God would keep you focused on the race, and you watch what you begin to achieve. I so hope you guys can catch some of my passion for this if you haven't already, I'm like jumping out of chair and running around my room yelling (don't judge me, I'm a child at heart!) even thinking about what we could achieve, united together as an army under God's banner!
I don't know about you, but im so sick about the view on Teenagers in this world. We're all bad, evil, we're gonna bash you if you're out after dark, you know what? That's absolute crap. Let's show them who we really are! A powerful, disciplined, loving generation! I'm ready to change it, are you? I know you are. That's the truth of it. I KNOW you are. Its the courage to meet God half way with a response, to put your faith into action and start to make a difference between Boys and Men. Trust me, once you start to see what we can do, you'll be glad you made that choice. God's just about ready to start a work that's going to flip society on it's head. Admit it, there's no way your missing out on that. One of my favorite authors for men, J.C. Ryle, wrote a book "Thoughts for Young Men". One of my favorite (a growing list, I may add) quotes in the book goes like this- There is nothing finer than the point of a needle, but when it has made a hole, it pulls the whole of the thread through after it.- J.C. Ryle- Thoughts for Young Men; p. 66. He closes the book with 5 special rules for young men. I hope you find the courage to apply these in your life Be Blessed.
1. Resolve, at once, by God's help, to break off any sin in your life. No matter how small. Galatians 15:19-21
2. Resolve, by God's help, to shun anything which may lead to sin. Proverbs 4:14
3. Resolve never to forget the eye of God. Proverbs 15:3
4. Be diligent in the practice of your Christianity. Isaiah 55:11
5. Resolve that wherever you are, you will pray. Psalm 55:17
Joshua 1:3-9
For Women- Seeing yourself through God's eyes
So, I went with something different this week, one blog for Girls, another for guys, with some more gender-specific topics! I have some other people helping me out with this, so hopefully it goes well! As always, check out the features around the page, the voting poll to the right of this, and as always be sure to check out the Song and Bible verse at the end of the blog! If you haven't already I'd totally love you to check out the Facebook page- Finding that Foundation, by clicking -->!!HERE!!<-- Thanks a heap! Anyway, enough of this admin stuff. Let's get started.
1 Peter 3:3-4- "Don't be concerned about the outward beauty that depends on fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry or beautiful clothes. You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God"
The biggest, most obvious thing I see girl's struggle with so much, is self confidence. So many girls are SO harsh on themselves, judging themselves and just generally putting themselves down. I would not be joking if I said that convincing a girl she's pretty, skinny, kind, funny and just generally cool, MUST be one of the HARDEST jobs on earth! The bible says in Leviticus 9:18b- "...you shall Love your neighbour as you love yourself". How do you expect to love your neighbor, if you have no love for yourself? One of the coolest things you will ever see, is a Woman totally confident of who she is in God. Not to mention, you girls would go through so much less pain if you stopped lowering the standards on yourselves! So many girls end up going out with a guy simply because they want to feel loved and respected, so they lower and lower the standards they have on themselves until they'll settle for just about anyone. You girls are God's treasured possession!!!! He loves you SO much more than I could ever hope to explain to you.
Picture your body and who you are, as a temple, like in 1 Corinthians 6:19- Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. God actually lives in you. He ADORES YOU! If you visited a church, would you be more likely to visit because its a cool building, or because you hear that the whole church is alive with God? Its the same for you. If a guy is ready to settle for you, regardless of who you really are on the inside, then what they say about you or feel towards you shouldn't matter, because they don't like you for who you really are. What really matters, is who you are on the inside. Don't wear the Labels society sticks on you! On the inside, you're all beautiful, amazing, incredible and totally covered in God's love. On the outside, it doesn't even matter. Don't settle for any less than what you're worth in God's eyes! You don't have to worry at all about what anybody else says or thinks about you! The only opinion that matters is God's! You are unique, you are yourself, and no one can change that. If anyone doesn't like something about you, that's their problem, don't change who you are for somebody else.
I hope you girls are able to put some of this into work in your life, and start to see yourselves through God's eyes! Cause you are totally loved!!! I mean, he did choose a woman to bring on the greatest miracle of all time, the birth of Jesus himself! You're all absolutely amazing!!! Be blessed.
You are for Me- Kari Jobe
Proverbs 14:1
1 Peter 3:3-4- "Don't be concerned about the outward beauty that depends on fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry or beautiful clothes. You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God"
The biggest, most obvious thing I see girl's struggle with so much, is self confidence. So many girls are SO harsh on themselves, judging themselves and just generally putting themselves down. I would not be joking if I said that convincing a girl she's pretty, skinny, kind, funny and just generally cool, MUST be one of the HARDEST jobs on earth! The bible says in Leviticus 9:18b- "...you shall Love your neighbour as you love yourself". How do you expect to love your neighbor, if you have no love for yourself? One of the coolest things you will ever see, is a Woman totally confident of who she is in God. Not to mention, you girls would go through so much less pain if you stopped lowering the standards on yourselves! So many girls end up going out with a guy simply because they want to feel loved and respected, so they lower and lower the standards they have on themselves until they'll settle for just about anyone. You girls are God's treasured possession!!!! He loves you SO much more than I could ever hope to explain to you.
Picture your body and who you are, as a temple, like in 1 Corinthians 6:19- Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. God actually lives in you. He ADORES YOU! If you visited a church, would you be more likely to visit because its a cool building, or because you hear that the whole church is alive with God? Its the same for you. If a guy is ready to settle for you, regardless of who you really are on the inside, then what they say about you or feel towards you shouldn't matter, because they don't like you for who you really are. What really matters, is who you are on the inside. Don't wear the Labels society sticks on you! On the inside, you're all beautiful, amazing, incredible and totally covered in God's love. On the outside, it doesn't even matter. Don't settle for any less than what you're worth in God's eyes! You don't have to worry at all about what anybody else says or thinks about you! The only opinion that matters is God's! You are unique, you are yourself, and no one can change that. If anyone doesn't like something about you, that's their problem, don't change who you are for somebody else.
I hope you girls are able to put some of this into work in your life, and start to see yourselves through God's eyes! Cause you are totally loved!!! I mean, he did choose a woman to bring on the greatest miracle of all time, the birth of Jesus himself! You're all absolutely amazing!!! Be blessed.
You are for Me- Kari Jobe
Proverbs 14:1
Monday, 18 July 2011
Blessed to be a Blessing
Hahaha, you guys are the best. Broke the record, 1000 views... and counting! Thank you guys so much, and keep it up! You guys mean the world to me! I'm starting up a thing with my Blogs, where i co-write them with other members of my Youth Group, so, if you're interested, give me a yell. Basically, we'll think if a topic together, brain storm it, write up a draft for the blog, and i'll post it the following Monday! Seeing as the blog is about Empowering Youth, I figured there was no better way than to empower them by letting them speak out! Not that you can't do that already, but I'd love to be part of it! Be sure to check out and like the Facebook page if you haven't already, by clicking ---> !HERE! <--- And of course, check out the song link and Bible reference at the bottom of the blog. Anyway... Dig in!
Galatians 6:9-10 says this-
So we must not grow weary in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the family of faith.
We are so blessed to live where we live. I'm talking about Australia, especially all my fellow Melbournites (people who live in Melbourne, Australia, for those of you who don't know)! Clean water on demand, Food, Shelter, Friends and Family, Healthcare, and so on- we are a hugely blessed generation. But who, if given a light, would hide it under a veil? God doesn't bless us so that we can sit on our backsides and reap the rewards of out faith. Too many people, Leaders included, are so content just being content. You set up a big church, become pre-occupied with retaining members and making money, and ultimately, you can become dragged into a spot where your happy to sit back and simply take in what's been achieved. To be honest, this isn't the kind of lifestyle I'd expect from a people who's leader came from Heaven to Earth to both serve us and die for our own failure. God doesn't pour his spirit out on us and expect us to sit there and become spiritually fat, gorging ourselves on his blessings and holding it all to ourselves. God requires us to take the light we've been given and share it, he blesses us that we may bless others in his name. It's not always easy, to go out and do things that make you uncomfortable through service, especially when we are so easily drawn into a mindset where being a Christian makes us above other people. In truth, becoming a Christian means stepping up onto authority, but down in humility, in service to others. Matthew 25:40- The king will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me'". We are called to serve God, right? What better way than to serve the least of these. I know, it's not always easy. A lot of you probably don't want to, but here's the truth. If you honestly think you are in a position to complain about it to a king, who stepped out of Eternity, bore your sin and death and was crucified for you're redemption, then go for it. What's that? He did more for you than you've done for him? I thought so. I'm not having a go at you, but i'm trying to get the point across- we are called to serve. ALL of us.
But Josh, I don't think Jesus can use me. You have no idea what's going on in my life. And what would he want me to do for him?
Well, for one, Luke 6:31- Do unto others as you would have done unto yourself. What do we do? We serve. We love. We go out of our way, to care for and bless someone else. ALL the time. It's a life style, not a one off. We need to be constantly looking for ways to serve other people. Listen in to God's voice too. You'll know when he wants you to bless someone. It's not always easy, and you won't always get it right. Keep striving for it though. You'll get there, and reap so many blessings on the way! As for "I don't think Jesus can use me", well, here's the truth. Noah built the ark at 600 years old- Genesis 6-9. David, as a young boy, is the only person in Saul's army willing to face Goliath... and win- 1 Samuel 17. John the Baptist walked the desert eating Locusts- John 1. The boy with the loaves managed to feed 5000 people- John 6. Joesph was a slave boy who had been exiled from his family. He became the most powerful man in Egypt, next to Pharaoh Genesis 30. Moses was born into a society where the male babies were being killed, placed into a reef basket and left to float down a river. He delivered all of Israel out of Egypt- Exodus 1-12. Rahab was a prostitute, who played a pivotal role in delivering Israel into the promised land- Joshua 2. Jesus calls the children to stand by his side- Isaiah 54. And Lazarus, well, he was 4 days dead. Don't tell me Jesus can't use you. Truth is, he already is. Be blessed.
War Drums- Jake Hamilton
Psalm 67
Galatians 6:9-10 says this-
So we must not grow weary in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the family of faith.
We are so blessed to live where we live. I'm talking about Australia, especially all my fellow Melbournites (people who live in Melbourne, Australia, for those of you who don't know)! Clean water on demand, Food, Shelter, Friends and Family, Healthcare, and so on- we are a hugely blessed generation. But who, if given a light, would hide it under a veil? God doesn't bless us so that we can sit on our backsides and reap the rewards of out faith. Too many people, Leaders included, are so content just being content. You set up a big church, become pre-occupied with retaining members and making money, and ultimately, you can become dragged into a spot where your happy to sit back and simply take in what's been achieved. To be honest, this isn't the kind of lifestyle I'd expect from a people who's leader came from Heaven to Earth to both serve us and die for our own failure. God doesn't pour his spirit out on us and expect us to sit there and become spiritually fat, gorging ourselves on his blessings and holding it all to ourselves. God requires us to take the light we've been given and share it, he blesses us that we may bless others in his name. It's not always easy, to go out and do things that make you uncomfortable through service, especially when we are so easily drawn into a mindset where being a Christian makes us above other people. In truth, becoming a Christian means stepping up onto authority, but down in humility, in service to others. Matthew 25:40- The king will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me'". We are called to serve God, right? What better way than to serve the least of these. I know, it's not always easy. A lot of you probably don't want to, but here's the truth. If you honestly think you are in a position to complain about it to a king, who stepped out of Eternity, bore your sin and death and was crucified for you're redemption, then go for it. What's that? He did more for you than you've done for him? I thought so. I'm not having a go at you, but i'm trying to get the point across- we are called to serve. ALL of us.
But Josh, I don't think Jesus can use me. You have no idea what's going on in my life. And what would he want me to do for him?
Well, for one, Luke 6:31- Do unto others as you would have done unto yourself. What do we do? We serve. We love. We go out of our way, to care for and bless someone else. ALL the time. It's a life style, not a one off. We need to be constantly looking for ways to serve other people. Listen in to God's voice too. You'll know when he wants you to bless someone. It's not always easy, and you won't always get it right. Keep striving for it though. You'll get there, and reap so many blessings on the way! As for "I don't think Jesus can use me", well, here's the truth. Noah built the ark at 600 years old- Genesis 6-9. David, as a young boy, is the only person in Saul's army willing to face Goliath... and win- 1 Samuel 17. John the Baptist walked the desert eating Locusts- John 1. The boy with the loaves managed to feed 5000 people- John 6. Joesph was a slave boy who had been exiled from his family. He became the most powerful man in Egypt, next to Pharaoh Genesis 30. Moses was born into a society where the male babies were being killed, placed into a reef basket and left to float down a river. He delivered all of Israel out of Egypt- Exodus 1-12. Rahab was a prostitute, who played a pivotal role in delivering Israel into the promised land- Joshua 2. Jesus calls the children to stand by his side- Isaiah 54. And Lazarus, well, he was 4 days dead. Don't tell me Jesus can't use you. Truth is, he already is. Be blessed.
War Drums- Jake Hamilton
Psalm 67
Monday, 11 July 2011
Opposites Attract
Hey howdy hey guys, How are you all? *pretends I can hear you replying*.... That's great! So good to hear from you! I thought before I started, I'd make mention of the significant day that today is. The Author of Valid Opinion Fest, a good friend of mine and a fellow blogger, is celebrating his Birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Now, into the politics just before the blog. If you haven't already, I would love you to check out my Facebook Page, Finding That Foundation, and if you could like it, then I promise to buy you a Ferrari If I ever win the Lottery. Well.. a Ferrari or a Goldfish. No promises... Check out some of the features around the page, and, of course, be sure to check out the song link and bible verse at the bottom of the blog! Enough of this chit chat. Dig in.
I really love how God is so incredibly logical, the only way to comprehend his logic is to think in the illogical. Let that sink in for a second. If you look throughout the bible, time and time again, the answer to the problem you face isn't to go about it from a Worldly perspective, but rather flip it on its head, do the opposite, and trust in a God you may never have seen before. Lets look at a few examples. Jesus became obedient to Death, in order to break the hold of Death. Jesus Died, to bring Life. We die to ourselves, to come alive in Christ. Matthew 5:5 says this- Blessed are the Meek, for they shall inherit the Earth. Matthew 20:16 says this- So the last will be first, and the first shall be last. and, again, im taking it Matthew had the right idea, in Matthew 19:24- I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a Rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Lets go a little deeper here- Ultimately, In order to inherit the Earth, we have to die to ourselves out of Humanity. Cool thought, to imagine Jesus made Satan the Prince of Earth. Jesus has placed the Earthly realm into Satan's hands, and chose to abide by the rules of this Earth. becoming obedient to even Death. Doesn't sound like an all powerful God to me, but, is it simply because, the Earth will be inherited by the meek, or "Humble". In the end, Satan having ownership of the Earth now, and Jesus, being humble, now, will reverse the order when it comes time for God to inherit the Kingdom of Earth once more and restore his reign. We can't win the race by running the race, but rather coming last. Putting others before ourselves. Becoming so, totally, week, that God becomes out Strength in everything. Being humble is often associated with Spinelessness and an inability to stand up for yourself. Let me tell you, it requires much more Strength to turn the other cheek, than it does to hit back. It requires a much stronger person to die to themselves, than it does to satisfy your own flesh.
That's a cool idea Josh, but, how can I apply this to my life? I can't become so weak I never stand up for myself. Where is that fine line?
I wish I just had the answer to this for you, but, to be honest, its a journey im not sure any of us have found an answer for. I'll do what I can to help you with this though. Becoming humble and weak does not mean becoming ignorant of God's strength in you. Never forget that. Neither does being humble make everyone around you so much better than you are. It's about knowing your place, where you stand, how to retain a mutual respect for someone, and managing to serve them all at the same time. It's putting yourself in a position not where you're better than them, but in a position to serve them. Loving your neighbor as you love yourself as it says in Galatians 5:14. The best way we can love God is by loving his Body, which is here on Earth. Us. Each other. We are his hands and feet. The Church, is God's body. Jesus is the only person to ever have walked this Earth, in a position where he had no obligation to serve anyone, yet he chose to do nothing but serve, and went so far as to endure Death for our resurrection. When the Power of Love over comes the Love of Power, the world will know Peace. The Prince of Peace. Our saviour, redeemer, father and Lord. This may not make a lot of sense, but if you have an issue this week, rather than solving it normally, try praying about it and doing the opposite. If you get argument with your parents, don't argue back. Try agreeing with them and serving. Even if you're right, and they're wrong. It's all about loving them, as you love yourself. Remember also to love yourself in serving. If you don't love yourself, you can't love others as yourself, because you have no love to give.
I really love how God is so incredibly logical, the only way to comprehend his logic is to think in the illogical. Let that sink in for a second. If you look throughout the bible, time and time again, the answer to the problem you face isn't to go about it from a Worldly perspective, but rather flip it on its head, do the opposite, and trust in a God you may never have seen before. Lets look at a few examples. Jesus became obedient to Death, in order to break the hold of Death. Jesus Died, to bring Life. We die to ourselves, to come alive in Christ. Matthew 5:5 says this- Blessed are the Meek, for they shall inherit the Earth. Matthew 20:16 says this- So the last will be first, and the first shall be last. and, again, im taking it Matthew had the right idea, in Matthew 19:24- I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a Rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Lets go a little deeper here- Ultimately, In order to inherit the Earth, we have to die to ourselves out of Humanity. Cool thought, to imagine Jesus made Satan the Prince of Earth. Jesus has placed the Earthly realm into Satan's hands, and chose to abide by the rules of this Earth. becoming obedient to even Death. Doesn't sound like an all powerful God to me, but, is it simply because, the Earth will be inherited by the meek, or "Humble". In the end, Satan having ownership of the Earth now, and Jesus, being humble, now, will reverse the order when it comes time for God to inherit the Kingdom of Earth once more and restore his reign. We can't win the race by running the race, but rather coming last. Putting others before ourselves. Becoming so, totally, week, that God becomes out Strength in everything. Being humble is often associated with Spinelessness and an inability to stand up for yourself. Let me tell you, it requires much more Strength to turn the other cheek, than it does to hit back. It requires a much stronger person to die to themselves, than it does to satisfy your own flesh.
That's a cool idea Josh, but, how can I apply this to my life? I can't become so weak I never stand up for myself. Where is that fine line?
I wish I just had the answer to this for you, but, to be honest, its a journey im not sure any of us have found an answer for. I'll do what I can to help you with this though. Becoming humble and weak does not mean becoming ignorant of God's strength in you. Never forget that. Neither does being humble make everyone around you so much better than you are. It's about knowing your place, where you stand, how to retain a mutual respect for someone, and managing to serve them all at the same time. It's putting yourself in a position not where you're better than them, but in a position to serve them. Loving your neighbor as you love yourself as it says in Galatians 5:14. The best way we can love God is by loving his Body, which is here on Earth. Us. Each other. We are his hands and feet. The Church, is God's body. Jesus is the only person to ever have walked this Earth, in a position where he had no obligation to serve anyone, yet he chose to do nothing but serve, and went so far as to endure Death for our resurrection. When the Power of Love over comes the Love of Power, the world will know Peace. The Prince of Peace. Our saviour, redeemer, father and Lord. This may not make a lot of sense, but if you have an issue this week, rather than solving it normally, try praying about it and doing the opposite. If you get argument with your parents, don't argue back. Try agreeing with them and serving. Even if you're right, and they're wrong. It's all about loving them, as you love yourself. Remember also to love yourself in serving. If you don't love yourself, you can't love others as yourself, because you have no love to give.
John 16
Monday, 4 July 2011
Hope for Every Man
Hey guys! I didn't post last weeks blog, I'm digging Deep, on Facebook or anything last week. You'll see whyif you check out the blog, with a link here. Feel free to check it out now! Incase you haven't seen the Facebook page, or, are yet to like, it, please do, by following the link HERE! Be sure to check out some features around the page if you get a moment, and please vote on the voting poll, to the right of this! As usual, please do check out the song attached, which is down the bottom of the page, and read up on the Bible Verse accompanying it! In case you wonder why i don't accompany the scripture with the reference down the bottom, its so you have to actually go get your Bible out! SO DO IT! Enough of these administrative details now, that's not the reason you're here! Dig in folks.
How often, do we get called "average". Like, ohh, that's just Josh. Yeah, pretty average bloke. Or, you say you have an average day, you feel average, ultimately, you can be lead to the point where you believe everyone is just "Average", and it takes either a fool, or a hero, to rise above the expectations and actually stand out. To be extraordinary. Note that word- EXTRA-ordinary. Even then, the word leads you to believe there are just "ordinary" people out there. You can probably relate to this. I'm here to tell you, there is no such thing as an ordinary fingerprint. There is no such thing as an ordinary you, and, more to the point, there is no such thing as an ordinary legacy. What you choose to do, right now, on earth, is your legacy. And there is no such thing as an average mark on the world. God made you to be YOU. He didn't create you to be more like your Pastor, more like your Friends, or the cliques you hang around with, he made YOU to be YOU. Truth be told, if Jesus wanted you to be exactly like that famous preacher you love, or amazing Worship Leader, he would never have made you. Think about that for a moment. If God really wanted you to do exactly what they did, you wouldn't exist. There would be two of them, because, well, God doesn't need you. But, guess what. That didn't happen. Because you, are a vital piece to God's plan. God doesn't call you to be anyone else. God calls you to be you, and to let him be God inside of you. Gods promises, all of the, in the bible, belong to YOU. But God can't give them to you if your trying to be a part of everyone else. You turn yourself into a spiritual Picasso. The best bits of everyone else, and nothing of yourself. And no matter how hard you try, the picture is messed up. Because you are an original Masterpiece. Mark 2:21 says- No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old Garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. Making yourself into someone else won't help you grow. Stand apart for God, not on someone elses annointing, but in your own anointing. Live as who God made you to be.
I'm so lost Josh, I just don't know where to go. I'm caught in the storm, and I can't find my way out. How do I know I have the Strength?
I know, it's hard. Often we have no idea that we have the strength. Often, we don't really believe we can do it. God does though, God does. Pray for Humility and Confidence, pray you may be taught to stand apart from the life you have been leading, and learn to live as who God made you to be. You know the best way to understand a painting is to ask the Artist. Maybe its time you asked the Artist what's good, what's bad, and what needs changing. A good question to ask yourself is this. Where do you stand now, Where do you feel God is calling you, and why aren't you there yet. Maybe it's time you made a change. I can't tell you how, but I can show you who can. If you want prayer for this, go back and like the link to this on Facebook i posted, or comment on the Facebook page wall. I would love to pray for you. Peace be with you, as peace calmed the storm in me. Mark 4:35-40- Later that day he said to the disciples "Let's go across to the other side". They took him in the boat as he was. Other boats came along. A huge storm rose up. Waves poured into the boat, threatening to sink it. And Jesus was in the stern, head on a pillow, asleep! They rosued him saying "Teacher, is it nothing to you that we're going down?". Awake now, he rose and told the wind to be still, and he said to the waves "Quiet! Settle down!" The wind ran out of breath, the sea became smooth as Glass. Jesus addressed the disciples- "Why are you such Cowards? Don't you have any faith at all?". Be Bold, Calm the Storm, and Walk on the water. You have been ordained to do so. Be Blessed.
Every Man- Casting Crowns
Romans 5:1
I'm so lost Josh, I just don't know where to go. I'm caught in the storm, and I can't find my way out. How do I know I have the Strength?
I know, it's hard. Often we have no idea that we have the strength. Often, we don't really believe we can do it. God does though, God does. Pray for Humility and Confidence, pray you may be taught to stand apart from the life you have been leading, and learn to live as who God made you to be. You know the best way to understand a painting is to ask the Artist. Maybe its time you asked the Artist what's good, what's bad, and what needs changing. A good question to ask yourself is this. Where do you stand now, Where do you feel God is calling you, and why aren't you there yet. Maybe it's time you made a change. I can't tell you how, but I can show you who can. If you want prayer for this, go back and like the link to this on Facebook i posted, or comment on the Facebook page wall. I would love to pray for you. Peace be with you, as peace calmed the storm in me. Mark 4:35-40- Later that day he said to the disciples "Let's go across to the other side". They took him in the boat as he was. Other boats came along. A huge storm rose up. Waves poured into the boat, threatening to sink it. And Jesus was in the stern, head on a pillow, asleep! They rosued him saying "Teacher, is it nothing to you that we're going down?". Awake now, he rose and told the wind to be still, and he said to the waves "Quiet! Settle down!" The wind ran out of breath, the sea became smooth as Glass. Jesus addressed the disciples- "Why are you such Cowards? Don't you have any faith at all?". Be Bold, Calm the Storm, and Walk on the water. You have been ordained to do so. Be Blessed.
Every Man- Casting Crowns
Romans 5:1
Monday, 27 June 2011
I'm digging Deep
So, first up the usual. Check out the Facebook page, like it, and so on, just follow this link here! Also, check out around the blog page, vote, you know the drill, check out the song and Bible verse at the bottom aswell! Interact with the page!! If you would be so kind. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, check out my good mates Blog, Valid Opinion Fest. This mans words of.... "alternative" kind of Wisdom may well change the way you view the World! Hope your all well. This weeks about humility, and i have had a little trouble with this lately. I find a lot of what happens with this blog, I do out of my own strength, promoting it on Facebook, getting friends to spread it, and I thought about it this week. This weeks blog is up to God. I'm not going to post this to Facebook, i'm not going to link it, i'll just see how it goes and who God leads to read it. If you are reading this, well done and Thank you. Hope you're blessed by this, and challenged. Dig in.
*Sidenote; I was challenged by the author of Valid Opinion Fest, the aforementioned blog, to incorporate a Snowboarding Walrus into this.... so don't get a shock.
Sometimes, it's hard to be humble. I mean, If i were a Walrus, capable of Snowboarding, i would be incredibly tempted to go and brag to my friends about it, put them down, and build myself up. I mean, i'm a pretty special Walrus. But thats the sort of Foundation God requires us to break, and change. Pride, is easily the oldest sin in the book. It is pride that caused Satan to fall, and as such, should be concerned with special regard. You may not see it in your life, but, I almost guarantee its there. Even if its just small, an initial reaction to seeing a Homeless person, or someone who annoys you, that disgust, that feeling that just says "Get away from me". It's so wrong. I won't pretend i'm on top of this, usually I avoid writing blogs about something i haven't been working on, but this is honestly something I struggle with. But if God, Lord of all, could humble himself enough to serve the least of these, how much lower should we go! In the end, God doesn't call us to climb mountains with him. He requires us to fall on our knees. Zechariah 4:6- Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit" says the Lord God Almighty. To go SO low with God, to kneel before him, and be so humble, out faith, which moves mountains, moves the mountain straight over our heads. A backwards way for dealing with such an experienced sin, but it seems fitting. A new strategy for an old foe. Don't climb the mountain, you can't. You do what you can out of your own strength, and thats simply to bend those knees before his throne, and watch as he does the bit you can't. Moves Mountains.
I don't see how going low is going to get God to help out anymore? Like, doesn't God require us to make a Stand for him?
The truth of it, is yes. He requires you to make a stand. But, that doesn't always mean standing up, and going high. He requires you to take a stand, to be set apart, from society. And sometimes the best way to do that, is to go backwards. In a society that seeks to serve the self, you seek to serve others, and reflect Christ's own heart. As for getting God to help out, yes. He will help. 2 Corinthians 12:10 says this- That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Yeah, it's backwards logic, but God doesn't work in Logic. In our weakness, God will be strong. Why would you dig deep? Why would you find that foundation of humility in your life? Because you need to know where something started to know where it's going. Why does Jesus choose the meek to inherit the Earth? Because they are exactly the people society would least expect. They are the people who are always looked down on. The meek do not look like the people who will inherit the earth, which is precisely why they are overlooked. Following Jesus doesn't mean being ignorant of his strength, or even your own. It's taking that strength, and using it to serve. Its taking your two hands, and lifting them high, a sacrifice to God. Give the Youth of your life to serving, and watch the fruit you produce. How do we beat pride? We serve, not for gain, or profit, or for recognition, but simply because we are called to love others as much, if not more, than ourselves, and to seek God's own heart. When god's heart is to save the lost and broken, that's where we're going. Philippians 4:13- I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Is God your strength, leading your path, or is he the crooked stick you lean on when you need support? Learn to rely on him, always. Be Blessed.
Psalm 20:7-8
Monday, 20 June 2011
In the midst of the Horizon
Hey, how is everyone!? Hope your all well! If you guys get the chance, please check out and like the Facebook page for this blog, Finding that Foundation. Loving the views the blogs getting, not so much loving the amount of feedback, so if you do get the chance PLEASE take some time to post it! Its always SO appreciated! As always, be sure to check out the Bible Verse and link at the bottom of the page, both of which are relevant to the Blog entry! This one's a little left of field, but i figure rather than dance around the topic, I’ll just type it, I have hinted towards the idea of Revival in previous blogs (for more information on Revival, click here). I'm just gonna drop my 2 cents in on the whole topic of Revival in this blog. Of course, this is no where near long enough to get the whole point across, but if you're interested in hearing more or sharing you views, contact me via the Facebook page, happy to chat! This Blogs a little more out there than normal, and probably a little uncomfortable. But, I really feel it needs to be said. In all seriousness though, look up the Bible Verse at the bottom of this Blog. It's perfect for this.I didn't stick any verses in the actual Blog, cause that Chapter covers it all, and of course, the song I post a link to! And check out the features on the page, if you would be so kind! Anyway, Dig in.
I take it you have heard the term "Revival" tossed around in the Church lately, especially you fellow New Hopers. Accompanied by the phrase "Revival is coming". Now, bear with me, but, in all honesty, that phrase is so wrong. Revival is here, it's not still coming. It's like when a tree gets planted, but starts as a seed. Many people are too happy to sit back and jump around, pumped that a Tree is coming. There are two things wrong with this picture. Firstly, far too often, people get so excited, they forget to water it. Secondly, is that the Tree isn't actually coming. It's already there, our job is to grow it. We are in the midst of a huge Revival in Australia. I don't know how long you've been aware of it, I'd like to think for quite a while now! The problem the church seems to have though, is they are all too happy to sit back and just Pray for revival, and far too rarely meet God half way with the response that is required. Praying for Revival is like asking for the Seed God has already planted. God won't respond to that kind of foolishness. Our job, isn't to ask God for a seed he has chosen to plant. Our job isn't even to know the seed is there, it's to cultivate the ground, water the seed. shine the light, and expect it to grow. We do the little we are capable of, and God, provides for what we can not. The seed, and the growth. I am SO passionate about this. STOP STARING AT THE GROUND! God never sent us out without a promise. Never, ever does he ask you to just pray for sick people. He tell you to HEAL them! He doesn't ask you to pray Demons leave a person, he COMMANDS YOU TO SEND THEM RUNNING!!! He has sent Revival, in each of our hearts. Revival isn't some abstract concept, it's simply taking the veil off the Lantern, and letting God step in.
Ok, Josh, sheesh I get it... But I don't know if I can step out. I'm scared, and even if I did, how could I do it?
Firstly, you can step out. Stepping out is a step of Faith. You're not always required to know where you're stepping, but when you know God is calling you, you take the step and meet him half way with the Response. He'll do the rest. Pray for the courage to step out and God will provide for you. How, on the other hand, is even easier. Just listen in to what God speaks to you. Sometimes, it's easy. Sometimes, it gets a little lost in translation and you get it wrong. Don't worry though, everyone gets it wrong, you just need to learn from that and keep walking in God. If what you feel you're being called into is a big thing, have a few other people pray about it with you. How does this relate to Finding that Foundation? In the end, you're foundation is Jesus. And Jesus, is Love. And Love, will revive this fading World. That, is my challenge for you. This Week. Stop praying for revival, and start praying for the strength to usher in the Revival. Open the floodgates, in response, meet God half way, and watch as the Holy Spirit does what you can not. Breathes Life into a thirsty earth. Stop looking for the coming Revival as if it's just over the Horizon, and start to see that the answer is in your heart. We are in the midst of what we have convinced ourselves is just over the Horizon. And if we squander our time, praying for something that has been granted, we'll miss the opportunity. I mean this in no way to discourage what’s happening, it's awesome, all I’m saying, is its time to take the Next Step, and start living in the Revival, as oppose to waiting for it to happen. Hope this spoke to you. Well, in truth, I know it did, I just hope you find it in yourself to respond. Be Blessed.
I take it you have heard the term "Revival" tossed around in the Church lately, especially you fellow New Hopers. Accompanied by the phrase "Revival is coming". Now, bear with me, but, in all honesty, that phrase is so wrong. Revival is here, it's not still coming. It's like when a tree gets planted, but starts as a seed. Many people are too happy to sit back and jump around, pumped that a Tree is coming. There are two things wrong with this picture. Firstly, far too often, people get so excited, they forget to water it. Secondly, is that the Tree isn't actually coming. It's already there, our job is to grow it. We are in the midst of a huge Revival in Australia. I don't know how long you've been aware of it, I'd like to think for quite a while now! The problem the church seems to have though, is they are all too happy to sit back and just Pray for revival, and far too rarely meet God half way with the response that is required. Praying for Revival is like asking for the Seed God has already planted. God won't respond to that kind of foolishness. Our job, isn't to ask God for a seed he has chosen to plant. Our job isn't even to know the seed is there, it's to cultivate the ground, water the seed. shine the light, and expect it to grow. We do the little we are capable of, and God, provides for what we can not. The seed, and the growth. I am SO passionate about this. STOP STARING AT THE GROUND! God never sent us out without a promise. Never, ever does he ask you to just pray for sick people. He tell you to HEAL them! He doesn't ask you to pray Demons leave a person, he COMMANDS YOU TO SEND THEM RUNNING!!! He has sent Revival, in each of our hearts. Revival isn't some abstract concept, it's simply taking the veil off the Lantern, and letting God step in.
Ok, Josh, sheesh I get it... But I don't know if I can step out. I'm scared, and even if I did, how could I do it?
Firstly, you can step out. Stepping out is a step of Faith. You're not always required to know where you're stepping, but when you know God is calling you, you take the step and meet him half way with the Response. He'll do the rest. Pray for the courage to step out and God will provide for you. How, on the other hand, is even easier. Just listen in to what God speaks to you. Sometimes, it's easy. Sometimes, it gets a little lost in translation and you get it wrong. Don't worry though, everyone gets it wrong, you just need to learn from that and keep walking in God. If what you feel you're being called into is a big thing, have a few other people pray about it with you. How does this relate to Finding that Foundation? In the end, you're foundation is Jesus. And Jesus, is Love. And Love, will revive this fading World. That, is my challenge for you. This Week. Stop praying for revival, and start praying for the strength to usher in the Revival. Open the floodgates, in response, meet God half way, and watch as the Holy Spirit does what you can not. Breathes Life into a thirsty earth. Stop looking for the coming Revival as if it's just over the Horizon, and start to see that the answer is in your heart. We are in the midst of what we have convinced ourselves is just over the Horizon. And if we squander our time, praying for something that has been granted, we'll miss the opportunity. I mean this in no way to discourage what’s happening, it's awesome, all I’m saying, is its time to take the Next Step, and start living in the Revival, as oppose to waiting for it to happen. Hope this spoke to you. Well, in truth, I know it did, I just hope you find it in yourself to respond. Be Blessed.
Luke 21
Monday, 13 June 2011
All Consuming Healer
First things first, check out the blog's new Facebook page, i figured its an easier way of keeping in contact and getting feedback- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Finding-that-Foundation/234389696575066 - Like the page, comment, post some feedback, I'll also weekly post my blogs there aswell if you want to re read them or anything like that. Please, please leave feedback though, like the page, you know, just spread it. The Blog can only be as good as its fan base!! Also, check out some of the features around the page, i'm working on making it more user friendly. Now, on to the Blog... for those of you that know me well, or, even not at all.... it was this time last year that i caught fire and burnt my leg at State Youth Games, which was followed by a week or two in the Hospital, surgery, the whole sha-bang. I'm not sure what lesson I was meant to learn from that, God heals, or, as the sermon suggested the night before i burnt my leg, to be on Fire for God. I got a feeling they may well go hand in hand. God's cool. Like, seriously cool. Not the average, everyday ohh yeah you can come chill with me cool. He's very, very cool. Funny that a God who's so cool, calls us to catch fire for him. Not literally, please, PLEASE don't catch fire physically. It kinda sucks. Catching fire for God, however, is a whole other thing. But to catch fire, not only for God, but even in the Physical, you need three things. Heat, Air and Fuel. Be sure to check out the link and bible verse at the bottom. Dig in.
Turn up the Heat
First up, you need to be ready to put yourself in a position, where God is the only answer. You need to be able to take situations in your life, and cast them entirely in God's hands. And that, requires trust. The heat component, the crazy miracles and awesome encounters can only be provided for by God, but we need a heart that's willing to meet him half way, trust, and believe, that he will show up. Notice in this verse, the question was never whether or not God can move that mountain, it's whether or not you trust him to. Miracles require a two way relationship with God, because a one man show requires no Faith to witness. Matthew 17:20- He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
A New Breath of Life
With a steadfast heart, and the heat turned up, we look to seek God's strength. Watch, as God breathes into a new life. This can be as simple as turning your life to Christ, or even just asking God for a new strength, and goes right up to being Baptised into Christ. A second Wind. A new breath of strength in your life. The "Breath of Life", is supposed to revive someone. Let God take you, the person you chose to die to, the old you, and breathe into it, not an old life, but a new breath, for a whole new life. Become dead to your old self, and ask God for a new life. God will revive you. God will bring your revival. Our revival. The world's revial... Notice in this bible verse, for us to witness God's hand, we need to renew our mind, not scrub it clean, but completely renew it. Understand that we know nothing, empty our cup, and let God fill it. Romans 12:2- Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Prepare the Fuel
Ever tried to start a fire with wet wood? Or, have you tried starting with a spark, and just throwing a log on? You notice you need to nurture it, and build it up, from a spark, to tinder, to kindling, and onwards, before God can start chucking the logs on? Don't expect God to suddenly just appear to you. He'll provide a spark, and build you from there. It may be fast, it may be slow. But it will be exactly what you need. He's not going to throw you straight into the deep end- unless, he knows you can swim. Don't get scared that by catching fire for God, you're suddenly going to be walking through the streets praying for people. You may build to that, or you may have a different path, in the end, we're all going to get there, but God won't just set a spark on you and expect a bonfire. Notice too, that because we, our souls, are the fuel, we need to prepare ourselves, dry out the sin in our life and remove the branches, break our life down into smaller parts, and give it to him, piece by piece. God will help you prepare yourself, but ultimately, it's upto you to be ready when he calls you. Your body is a temple of Christ, and Christ lives in you. He'll help you prepare the temple as an Altar, to sacrifice the sin in your life, and set ablaze the building with the fire of God. Not a damaging, painful fire. It's hot, but it won't harm you. Like Moses and the burning bush, a fire that consumes sin, but not soul. Demons, but not Family. A fire, on fire, for your heart. Exodus 15:7- In the greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you. You unleashed your burning anger; it consumed them like stubble.
Turn up the Heat
First up, you need to be ready to put yourself in a position, where God is the only answer. You need to be able to take situations in your life, and cast them entirely in God's hands. And that, requires trust. The heat component, the crazy miracles and awesome encounters can only be provided for by God, but we need a heart that's willing to meet him half way, trust, and believe, that he will show up. Notice in this verse, the question was never whether or not God can move that mountain, it's whether or not you trust him to. Miracles require a two way relationship with God, because a one man show requires no Faith to witness. Matthew 17:20- He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
A New Breath of Life
With a steadfast heart, and the heat turned up, we look to seek God's strength. Watch, as God breathes into a new life. This can be as simple as turning your life to Christ, or even just asking God for a new strength, and goes right up to being Baptised into Christ. A second Wind. A new breath of strength in your life. The "Breath of Life", is supposed to revive someone. Let God take you, the person you chose to die to, the old you, and breathe into it, not an old life, but a new breath, for a whole new life. Become dead to your old self, and ask God for a new life. God will revive you. God will bring your revival. Our revival. The world's revial... Notice in this bible verse, for us to witness God's hand, we need to renew our mind, not scrub it clean, but completely renew it. Understand that we know nothing, empty our cup, and let God fill it. Romans 12:2- Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Prepare the Fuel
Ever tried to start a fire with wet wood? Or, have you tried starting with a spark, and just throwing a log on? You notice you need to nurture it, and build it up, from a spark, to tinder, to kindling, and onwards, before God can start chucking the logs on? Don't expect God to suddenly just appear to you. He'll provide a spark, and build you from there. It may be fast, it may be slow. But it will be exactly what you need. He's not going to throw you straight into the deep end- unless, he knows you can swim. Don't get scared that by catching fire for God, you're suddenly going to be walking through the streets praying for people. You may build to that, or you may have a different path, in the end, we're all going to get there, but God won't just set a spark on you and expect a bonfire. Notice too, that because we, our souls, are the fuel, we need to prepare ourselves, dry out the sin in our life and remove the branches, break our life down into smaller parts, and give it to him, piece by piece. God will help you prepare yourself, but ultimately, it's upto you to be ready when he calls you. Your body is a temple of Christ, and Christ lives in you. He'll help you prepare the temple as an Altar, to sacrifice the sin in your life, and set ablaze the building with the fire of God. Not a damaging, painful fire. It's hot, but it won't harm you. Like Moses and the burning bush, a fire that consumes sin, but not soul. Demons, but not Family. A fire, on fire, for your heart. Exodus 15:7- In the greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you. You unleashed your burning anger; it consumed them like stubble.
Monday, 6 June 2011
Whatever it Takes
Hey, how are you all? I'm really loving how this blogs doing, i'm checking out the Stats every day, getting a growing base of support, just wanted to say Thanks HEAPS guys, it means SO much! After you have read the blog, please feel free to scroll to the bottom of the page, there's a Poll open down there for you guys to leave some feedback on, or leave a comment, inbox me on Facebook, you know, just get into contact with me, I get a lot of positive feedback (which i love don't hold back) hahaha but not too much critical, analytical kind of stuff, so feel free to leave comments, feedback, even if you read this but don't have a way to contact me, catch me in person, add me on Facebook (I understand i have a few viewers in Germany, UK, America, Iran and Malaysia) and let me know what you think of it. I SO, SO appreciate feedback. Even if its not big to you, or you think i won't care, I really would appreciate it. It'd be cool to know what the viewers are thinking! And please, PLEASE spread it! I am trying to break last months record of 375 views!!!!! Go guys GO! As always, be sure to check out the Bible Verse and Youtube song link that both tie in well with this Blog, and when is say look up the verse, go old school and grab a Bible, that way you can quite easily read on! Thanks heaps, and may the Force be with you. Now, dig in! haha
God, will do WHATEVER it takes, to save you. I'm serious. He isn't a God like we see in the modern Religions. You know, the God's who sit back, and never get their hands dirty, the ones that let their followers do all the work, I was speaking to a wise young friend of mine earlier who put it well- "It's not like God's out of the way, we don't need to have ceremonies and go through Rituals to hear from him, it's a Relationship." -This is so true. Our God is a God who became human, like us, stepped down, put aside his infinite power, suffered, and died, for us. And nothing we could have ever done could put us in a position where we deserved that. Thats huge, right there, Stop and actually consider that, we could never, ever, even if we gave our entire life to God and never held back from him, we would never earn that. We would still fall SO short, but he chose to do it regardless. Put yourself in God's shoes. If you had infinite power and glory, wouldn't it be so tempting to just sit back and do nothing? I mean, who's going to tell you off? Your own creations who you love so much are turning from you, isn't it SO much easier to forsake them and punish them? My heart breaks for God. Its like, he is standing there, his entire self exposed, and its like were just sitting here, even now, shouting Crucify him. But never, ever does he raise a hand back against us. He cops it all, because he loves us that much, knowing, that maybe one day, we'll start to love him too. Now, you, if you're a Christian and reading this, thats awesome, Well, well done. I Commend you for choosing to walk a hard road. But, i'm challenging you today, to make it a little harder. If we want to Love God, and start to reverse that process of pain, we need to tune our heart into God's. We need a servants heart. If he were willing to serve us, we should be at the very least, as willing if not more willing to serve than he was. He served us before we had even earned it, and yet we stand still.
So many people stand and pray, and beg for God to start to work around them in their lives, but when Push comes to Shove, they back off. When God say's, yeah, dude, of course i'll bring Revival, you just have to be ready to be my hands and feet, we often back off and go whoa, God, aren't you going to do it? God's not a one man act. We gotta get down in the ring and work with him. Believe me, he will give you the Strength, Motivation and Tools to do what you need to do. Here's what you need to do- Luke 19:10- "For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost." That's right. Get out there. Don't just ask God to save the lost, go, you are in a perfect position to go save the lost. Find the lonely kid in your class, and go out of your way to Bless them. Give money to that person who maybe can't afford their bus ticket, little things, and big things, but go out of your way to not only seek the lost, but save them, and intervene in their lives. Luke 11:9 puts it well for us, look it up. Soon as we go seeking, God's going to open the door.
But Josh, it's SO hard, and sometimes I really don't want to. I mean, there's just NO way what I do is going to make a difference. Is everything i do just in vain?
Thats the thing, when you sow a seed, you don't always wait around to see it grow. But, i promise you, it will. If you sow God into someones life, it doesn't always remain your responsibility to watch over. If you can, thats great, but just because you have a random encounter in the street doesn't mean its over. God will cultivate that seed and grow it, whether or not you see it. Like that Parable in Mark, that says- Just because you plant a seed in your backyard, doesn't mean it stops growing at night simply because you can't see it. It's always growing, and God's always providing- New King Josh Version (Haha yeah, that was it put into my own words Incase you can't find those exact words, its in Mark 5 though). 1 Corinthians 15:58 says this- "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."- Notice that last part? ".... your labor is NOT in vain". I like to think whoever wrote this got a little excited when they wrote that. Just because you don't see a purpose, doesn't mean it holds no purpose. I challenge you, this week, to go out of your way to make a change in someones life. Be ready to serve, and have a servants heart for God, Whatever it Takes. Even if its minor, guarantee you'll find that if you do it with the right heart, you'll discover a passion for it. God will enable you too; If you see someone sick, go pray for them. God may not heal them straight away, who knows he may, but your faith, and you stepping out, is meeting God half way. All we have to do is believe, God brings the response, and Healing will come! Believe it! Thanks for taking the time to read this, I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I did typing. Be Blessed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiHSDcx_3IE
Luke 14:12-14
(As for the Star Wars reference in the opening paragraph, that was for a mate)
God, will do WHATEVER it takes, to save you. I'm serious. He isn't a God like we see in the modern Religions. You know, the God's who sit back, and never get their hands dirty, the ones that let their followers do all the work, I was speaking to a wise young friend of mine earlier who put it well- "It's not like God's out of the way, we don't need to have ceremonies and go through Rituals to hear from him, it's a Relationship." -This is so true. Our God is a God who became human, like us, stepped down, put aside his infinite power, suffered, and died, for us. And nothing we could have ever done could put us in a position where we deserved that. Thats huge, right there, Stop and actually consider that, we could never, ever, even if we gave our entire life to God and never held back from him, we would never earn that. We would still fall SO short, but he chose to do it regardless. Put yourself in God's shoes. If you had infinite power and glory, wouldn't it be so tempting to just sit back and do nothing? I mean, who's going to tell you off? Your own creations who you love so much are turning from you, isn't it SO much easier to forsake them and punish them? My heart breaks for God. Its like, he is standing there, his entire self exposed, and its like were just sitting here, even now, shouting Crucify him. But never, ever does he raise a hand back against us. He cops it all, because he loves us that much, knowing, that maybe one day, we'll start to love him too. Now, you, if you're a Christian and reading this, thats awesome, Well, well done. I Commend you for choosing to walk a hard road. But, i'm challenging you today, to make it a little harder. If we want to Love God, and start to reverse that process of pain, we need to tune our heart into God's. We need a servants heart. If he were willing to serve us, we should be at the very least, as willing if not more willing to serve than he was. He served us before we had even earned it, and yet we stand still.
So many people stand and pray, and beg for God to start to work around them in their lives, but when Push comes to Shove, they back off. When God say's, yeah, dude, of course i'll bring Revival, you just have to be ready to be my hands and feet, we often back off and go whoa, God, aren't you going to do it? God's not a one man act. We gotta get down in the ring and work with him. Believe me, he will give you the Strength, Motivation and Tools to do what you need to do. Here's what you need to do- Luke 19:10- "For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost." That's right. Get out there. Don't just ask God to save the lost, go, you are in a perfect position to go save the lost. Find the lonely kid in your class, and go out of your way to Bless them. Give money to that person who maybe can't afford their bus ticket, little things, and big things, but go out of your way to not only seek the lost, but save them, and intervene in their lives. Luke 11:9 puts it well for us, look it up. Soon as we go seeking, God's going to open the door.
But Josh, it's SO hard, and sometimes I really don't want to. I mean, there's just NO way what I do is going to make a difference. Is everything i do just in vain?
Thats the thing, when you sow a seed, you don't always wait around to see it grow. But, i promise you, it will. If you sow God into someones life, it doesn't always remain your responsibility to watch over. If you can, thats great, but just because you have a random encounter in the street doesn't mean its over. God will cultivate that seed and grow it, whether or not you see it. Like that Parable in Mark, that says- Just because you plant a seed in your backyard, doesn't mean it stops growing at night simply because you can't see it. It's always growing, and God's always providing- New King Josh Version (Haha yeah, that was it put into my own words Incase you can't find those exact words, its in Mark 5 though). 1 Corinthians 15:58 says this- "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."- Notice that last part? ".... your labor is NOT in vain". I like to think whoever wrote this got a little excited when they wrote that. Just because you don't see a purpose, doesn't mean it holds no purpose. I challenge you, this week, to go out of your way to make a change in someones life. Be ready to serve, and have a servants heart for God, Whatever it Takes. Even if its minor, guarantee you'll find that if you do it with the right heart, you'll discover a passion for it. God will enable you too; If you see someone sick, go pray for them. God may not heal them straight away, who knows he may, but your faith, and you stepping out, is meeting God half way. All we have to do is believe, God brings the response, and Healing will come! Believe it! Thanks for taking the time to read this, I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I did typing. Be Blessed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiHSDcx_3IE
Luke 14:12-14
(As for the Star Wars reference in the opening paragraph, that was for a mate)
Monday, 30 May 2011
Little Things
How are we all? Few new features, there is a search bar to the side to search for things in my blog, please leave any comments for feedback, and down the bottom there is a voting/opinion poll if you guys have any suggestions! Thanks for the support guys, the "Fan Base", so to speak, is growing, sitting on around 420 views, SO pleased! hahaha keep spreading it, if you would! You guys are ALL so awesome, God Bless each and every one of you. I hope you get as much out of this one as i have, so, dig in.
Little things. Its amazing how so often we can overlook all the little things in favor of the big thing. If you see a flood, no one looks at it and says "I wonder how many raindrops went into making that flood". No, you kind of just look at it as a whole. But thats the thing, Without rain, or, "small things", that big thing, that HUGE flood, so much more than any one ran drop could achieve, would never have happened. We are so quick to look to a big job, because we want a big reward, but somehow all the little jobs slip through our grasp. And that's so wrong. In fact, its the little jobs, the little things that may never actually pay off, that require the most faith to go through with. Faith to move a mountain, comes from faith to move a hill, or even just a stone. You need to build up, like building muscle. Start small, and be faithful in repetition of doing the odd chore here or there for your parents, that they may not even notice. Pick up that bit of rubbish at your school, save someone else doing it. They aren't big things, at all. But its so easy to ignore God's voice in that, because, well, you can't see a purpose in it. God does, but you don't.
Funny thing happened to me a little while back at Kids Church camp. I have this nack for chewing on things with my front teeth and seeing what i can chew through. I did this for like, a few months, chewing through pen lids and stuff, i thought i was pretty cool. Then, you go for the big fish. I was soo confident i could chew through this big piece of copper wire, about 1ml thick. So, i started chewing, give or take, 10 seconds later? Yeah, i chipped my tooth. But thats the thing, yeah, i failed this time, but, what if i had gotten through? Theres no way i could have come even close, if i hadn't had a shot at the smaller things. Now, if you try something bigger and fail, dont worry. Even failure builds muscle, but when you do the small things, and trust God to answer you with the little things that don't matter so much to you, you start to see God for the person he is. The things he asks you to do, those little things, give you faith and confidence to land something big, WHEN you're ready. A cool reference i hard to this was on a website called http://www.therebelution.com. Check it out, amazing website. They were talking about Vikings, and how they were the most incredible super power in their times. But do you know why? They rowed themselves to shore, in their longboats. Yeah, those 20 tonne longboats, they CHOSE to row by themselves. They had slaves who could do it, but, the Vikings did it. they rowed the whole way. So, basically, these guys are RIPPED. They are absolutely covered in muscle, because they had faith in the small, little act of rowing to shore, which in turn, built muscle, which, in turn, gave them strength to do big things. These guys rocked up and made a mess of things. Its no wonder half of England was terrified of them. They had faith in small things. THATS something to be scared of. Matthew 25:21 says: "You have been faithful with a little, so I will give you much". When God see's that were going to take EVERYTHING he asks us to do seriously, even the little things, he'll start to trust us with big things.
But, like, Josh, how do i know when enough is enough? How do i know when to push for bigger things? I'm so over small things, I can't see any point in it at all.
2 Corinthians 5:7- "We live by faith and not by sight". That should answer the latter. You don't need to see God's hand to know its there. Its like air. You don't see it, in fact, you probably take it for-granted, but, its always there. How do you know when to settle for little things though? Psalm 32:10- Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.Well, thats the thing. You never stop, and steadfast love will surround you and strengthen you. If God gives you something big, you'll know if you have the strength to tackle it. If not, ask him. But always, always, through repetition, build that muscle. Eventually you'll land something huge, whether by yourself, or in a team, and you'll reap a huge harvest. I don't care what you do, you can clean toilets for all I care, but trust God with it, and when you clean one super messy toilet bowl, give god the praise. hahaha that gross, but seriously, Try it this week. Do a few small things, don't tell anyone, but trust God with little, insignificant things. Whether its paying for a randoms train ticket, thanking the crossing lady, whatever, i challenge you to go out of your way each day to do something small, and watch how God honors that. Be blessed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06ZGaFkyl0U
Luke 12:22-34
Little things. Its amazing how so often we can overlook all the little things in favor of the big thing. If you see a flood, no one looks at it and says "I wonder how many raindrops went into making that flood". No, you kind of just look at it as a whole. But thats the thing, Without rain, or, "small things", that big thing, that HUGE flood, so much more than any one ran drop could achieve, would never have happened. We are so quick to look to a big job, because we want a big reward, but somehow all the little jobs slip through our grasp. And that's so wrong. In fact, its the little jobs, the little things that may never actually pay off, that require the most faith to go through with. Faith to move a mountain, comes from faith to move a hill, or even just a stone. You need to build up, like building muscle. Start small, and be faithful in repetition of doing the odd chore here or there for your parents, that they may not even notice. Pick up that bit of rubbish at your school, save someone else doing it. They aren't big things, at all. But its so easy to ignore God's voice in that, because, well, you can't see a purpose in it. God does, but you don't.
Funny thing happened to me a little while back at Kids Church camp. I have this nack for chewing on things with my front teeth and seeing what i can chew through. I did this for like, a few months, chewing through pen lids and stuff, i thought i was pretty cool. Then, you go for the big fish. I was soo confident i could chew through this big piece of copper wire, about 1ml thick. So, i started chewing, give or take, 10 seconds later? Yeah, i chipped my tooth. But thats the thing, yeah, i failed this time, but, what if i had gotten through? Theres no way i could have come even close, if i hadn't had a shot at the smaller things. Now, if you try something bigger and fail, dont worry. Even failure builds muscle, but when you do the small things, and trust God to answer you with the little things that don't matter so much to you, you start to see God for the person he is. The things he asks you to do, those little things, give you faith and confidence to land something big, WHEN you're ready. A cool reference i hard to this was on a website called http://www.therebelution.com. Check it out, amazing website. They were talking about Vikings, and how they were the most incredible super power in their times. But do you know why? They rowed themselves to shore, in their longboats. Yeah, those 20 tonne longboats, they CHOSE to row by themselves. They had slaves who could do it, but, the Vikings did it. they rowed the whole way. So, basically, these guys are RIPPED. They are absolutely covered in muscle, because they had faith in the small, little act of rowing to shore, which in turn, built muscle, which, in turn, gave them strength to do big things. These guys rocked up and made a mess of things. Its no wonder half of England was terrified of them. They had faith in small things. THATS something to be scared of. Matthew 25:21 says: "You have been faithful with a little, so I will give you much". When God see's that were going to take EVERYTHING he asks us to do seriously, even the little things, he'll start to trust us with big things.
But, like, Josh, how do i know when enough is enough? How do i know when to push for bigger things? I'm so over small things, I can't see any point in it at all.
2 Corinthians 5:7- "We live by faith and not by sight". That should answer the latter. You don't need to see God's hand to know its there. Its like air. You don't see it, in fact, you probably take it for-granted, but, its always there. How do you know when to settle for little things though? Psalm 32:10- Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.Well, thats the thing. You never stop, and steadfast love will surround you and strengthen you. If God gives you something big, you'll know if you have the strength to tackle it. If not, ask him. But always, always, through repetition, build that muscle. Eventually you'll land something huge, whether by yourself, or in a team, and you'll reap a huge harvest. I don't care what you do, you can clean toilets for all I care, but trust God with it, and when you clean one super messy toilet bowl, give god the praise. hahaha that gross, but seriously, Try it this week. Do a few small things, don't tell anyone, but trust God with little, insignificant things. Whether its paying for a randoms train ticket, thanking the crossing lady, whatever, i challenge you to go out of your way each day to do something small, and watch how God honors that. Be blessed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06ZGaFkyl0U
Luke 12:22-34
Monday, 23 May 2011
Take a Stand
Im going to be honest with you now, and leave you with a choice. If you read this, you're going to be challenged to make a few changes with your life. And, well, if you're not up for a bit of a shift, I'd simply suggest you close the page. I'm not here to please you, but I promise you, you'll be blessed if you read up on this! Check down the bottom in the comments section after you read if you want too, I'll leave a comment you may want to read, i would include it in the Blog but that may be a bit long! Check out the Bible Verse and Link too (bit of a girly song this week) down the bottom of this blog. Anyway, enough flattery. Dig in.
Do you stand out? And i dont mean the Wear a crazy shirt jeans down to your knees glasses at night freak who everyone looks at and backs off, I mean, can people look at you, and see a difference? When people, your friends, go out clubbing, see a movie you know you shouldn't see, gossip about someone or are even just rude in general, do they look at you, and see a difference? Or do they see a "Christian" who'll wear the tag, but go on living life how they want to? I tell you, honestly, If your faith hasn't changed the way you act on the outside, then it sure hasn't changed anything on your inside. And, yeah, that's hard to hear. but if you accepting Jesus into your heart never caused you to make a change in your day to day life, then i'm saying its time to take a good, long look at where you stand, and ask yourself, If you had the strength to change anything and everything in your life, what would you change for God? That thought you just had, yeah, you know. The one that popped in but you immediately dismissed because you were afraid of a bit of Conflict. God is bigger than that. Does God honestly define you, as a person, or is he just there? Check out Matthew 7:3-5- “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." Will God's word be a Spotlight on your life, lighting your path and guiding you down the straight and narrow, or a night light that flickers in the darkness, only lighting up when things get hard? You know what. In the end, standing for God is easier. Your friends who get drunk and do drugs, see movies and sleep around? Give it 20 years, and think about where they will be. You do a few little things now, set your foundations straight, and think about where you will be in the same amount of time. Guarantee, those friends, in 20 years time, will think you made the easy choice. Not that Christianity is easy, no, we're called to die to ourselves. But its a lot easier than ending up homeless, depressed, divorced, alcoholic, jailed, or worse. Michael Angelo puts it well- "The danger is not that our aim is too high and we miss, but that it is too low and we hit it.".
But Josh!! Standing up means, well, work. Things will get hard! Can't i just sit down with God and relax? I mean, i'm not the working type anyway. God understands that.
You know the coolest part about standing for God? You start to cop it from all angles. Yeah, I sound like an idiot. But you know when you come under trial, you must be doing something right. John 17:14-16- "I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do.". If you died, right now, ask yourself, would you be happy? You know that old saying, its not whats on the outside that counts, its whats on the inside. Now, yeah, that's so true, but honestly, who wants to hide a light? If you died today, would you go to Heaven because your heart, on the inside, saved you, or would God race down to you and bring you to Heaven, because you were the kind of Child who didn't just know right from wrong on the inside, but lived it out. God doesn't call you into a comfortable place to sit with him. No, we have an eternity for that. God calls you to work, to pick up your cross and die to yourself, and work from him. And not only because its right for you, but you help others. You set the standard for Christians. When people look at you and know you're Christian, you need to be a role model to them. And you know the coolest thing? He is the best boss. I mean, he supplies your tools, strength, works outside your schedule so you won't always miss out on what you want to do, and, he always pays overtime. Thats my challenge for you, simply change whats on the inside, and let that reflect whats on the outside. Its time to make a stand. Show people who you are. God doesn't call the able, he calls the available. Let him do the rest for you, just put your heart out for him. And, even more so, LISTEN TO HIM, DO HIS WORK, AND BE BLESSED! Yeah, thats right. I'm telling you to be blessed! Why? Because you're awesome. Thanks for Reading :) Be blessed!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKSQjSdU8VA
Mark 8:34-35
Do you stand out? And i dont mean the Wear a crazy shirt jeans down to your knees glasses at night freak who everyone looks at and backs off, I mean, can people look at you, and see a difference? When people, your friends, go out clubbing, see a movie you know you shouldn't see, gossip about someone or are even just rude in general, do they look at you, and see a difference? Or do they see a "Christian" who'll wear the tag, but go on living life how they want to? I tell you, honestly, If your faith hasn't changed the way you act on the outside, then it sure hasn't changed anything on your inside. And, yeah, that's hard to hear. but if you accepting Jesus into your heart never caused you to make a change in your day to day life, then i'm saying its time to take a good, long look at where you stand, and ask yourself, If you had the strength to change anything and everything in your life, what would you change for God? That thought you just had, yeah, you know. The one that popped in but you immediately dismissed because you were afraid of a bit of Conflict. God is bigger than that. Does God honestly define you, as a person, or is he just there? Check out Matthew 7:3-5- “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." Will God's word be a Spotlight on your life, lighting your path and guiding you down the straight and narrow, or a night light that flickers in the darkness, only lighting up when things get hard? You know what. In the end, standing for God is easier. Your friends who get drunk and do drugs, see movies and sleep around? Give it 20 years, and think about where they will be. You do a few little things now, set your foundations straight, and think about where you will be in the same amount of time. Guarantee, those friends, in 20 years time, will think you made the easy choice. Not that Christianity is easy, no, we're called to die to ourselves. But its a lot easier than ending up homeless, depressed, divorced, alcoholic, jailed, or worse. Michael Angelo puts it well- "The danger is not that our aim is too high and we miss, but that it is too low and we hit it.".
But Josh!! Standing up means, well, work. Things will get hard! Can't i just sit down with God and relax? I mean, i'm not the working type anyway. God understands that.
You know the coolest part about standing for God? You start to cop it from all angles. Yeah, I sound like an idiot. But you know when you come under trial, you must be doing something right. John 17:14-16- "I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do.". If you died, right now, ask yourself, would you be happy? You know that old saying, its not whats on the outside that counts, its whats on the inside. Now, yeah, that's so true, but honestly, who wants to hide a light? If you died today, would you go to Heaven because your heart, on the inside, saved you, or would God race down to you and bring you to Heaven, because you were the kind of Child who didn't just know right from wrong on the inside, but lived it out. God doesn't call you into a comfortable place to sit with him. No, we have an eternity for that. God calls you to work, to pick up your cross and die to yourself, and work from him. And not only because its right for you, but you help others. You set the standard for Christians. When people look at you and know you're Christian, you need to be a role model to them. And you know the coolest thing? He is the best boss. I mean, he supplies your tools, strength, works outside your schedule so you won't always miss out on what you want to do, and, he always pays overtime. Thats my challenge for you, simply change whats on the inside, and let that reflect whats on the outside. Its time to make a stand. Show people who you are. God doesn't call the able, he calls the available. Let him do the rest for you, just put your heart out for him. And, even more so, LISTEN TO HIM, DO HIS WORK, AND BE BLESSED! Yeah, thats right. I'm telling you to be blessed! Why? Because you're awesome. Thanks for Reading :) Be blessed!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKSQjSdU8VA
Mark 8:34-35
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