A process

A friend read this passage to me this afternoon from Romans 5:1-4, and talked about the 'process' of growth that each of us go through and how God uses our suffering to shape us into the people He wants us to be.

'...we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.'

On my way home I heard a song that's often playing on 103.2, 'Break My Heart' by Jonny Diaz. The words that are often ringing through my head: 'Let me see through the eyes of the hurting, come break my heart... true grace sees a face not a burden, come break my heart, Lord, break my heart.' It's one of those songs that reminds me of an older pastor in our church who often challenged us about the words we were singing, I can imagine him saying, 'Dangerous words!! Are we really ready for God to break our hearts?!'

I want to be a person who God uses to reach out to others with His love, but I get in the way. Little old me, focusing on my own pain, instead of on Jesus.

Delight

Been thinking tonight about that verse that talks about delighting in God. It's so easy to get distracted and to put our hope in other things. Searched Bible Gateway to find the verse (Psalm 37:4), and came across lots of other verses that talk about 'delight', but surprisingly (to me anyway) often in reference to the way God relates to us, rather than only the other way around.

This one in particular stood out to me in the context of a question Sarah asked today, 'Why does God love us?'. It still baffles me that the God who created this universe would 'delight' in us, that He would send His only Son into our world - though a King (the King of Kings), born in a lowly stable and laid in a manger - and that His Son would take our place, my place, on the cross, and pay the price for my sin, all those times I go my own way instead of God's.

Despite our sin, because of Jesus, He delights in us. Oh to delight in Him!

Psalm 147:11 'The LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.'

Decisions, decisions

Why are there so many decisions to make in life? Especially as a Mum. There are just so many considerations. Sometimes it's a little overwhelming.

I've really been struggling with the whole discipline thing, and spoke to my pastor and his wife a little while back, along with friends. A friend gave me a book, 'Don't Make Me Count to Three' which I started reading ages ago, but don't think I ever finished and didn't really have the energy to read before (sounds terrible I know). But recently I found it again and thought it'd be a good time to read it. Found it quite helpful to think through different issues, but I guess the biggest part I took away was coming back to what the Bible says, particularly in Ephesians 6. It tells children to obey your parents and honour your father and mother. I worry that my decisions may not always be the best, and whether it's fair for my children to have to 'obey' me. But I guess I have to realise that God has put me in this role, and He promises to give me His strength if I submit to Him. It's just so hard at times.

This afternoon I read a blog post from Bob Kauflin who recently visited our church and he highlighted the importance of coming back to the Bible as we think about how our churches should operate, in particular in terms of worship and music. He suggested it's easy to get distracted by what other people do or don't do and our opinions about that, rather than coming straight to God's Word and getting our views directly from there. Made me think how often we do the same with discipline.

Phew. Sometimes life is heavy. Sometimes I wish there weren't so many decisions I had to make.

Imperfect

I run an imperfect household. There are so many things I haven't figured out. Parenting is HARD work!!

Shine Conference

I went to the Shine Conference today, and had a great time. I haven't been involved with worship ministry in quite a while, and had almost forgotten how much I love it.

The morning speaker talked about the power of music, and the impact it can have on people and how we should be really wise in the way we use music in our churches - particularly in the selection of songs. Music has such a huge potential to point people to God and to remind them of His promises, even amidst the most difficult circumstances. I can attest to that - so many times I have ended up in tears when God has brought along the right song at just the right time to speak to my heart - He is truly an amazing God!!

In the afternoon I went to the vocals workshop which was fun, and very practical. Made me want to start singing lessons and join the worship team again soon!!

Had two good cups of coffee and met some lovely ladies, and was reminded again just how small Christian circles are!! Didn't meet any great single guys though... shame.

Elisabeth Elliot writes:

'The growth of all living green things wonderfully represents the process of receiving and relinquishing, gaining and losing, living and dying. The seed falls into the ground, dies as the new shoot springs up. There must be a splitting and a breaking in order for a bud to form. The bud 'lets go' when the flower forms. The calyx lets go of the flower. The petals must curl up and die in order for the fruit to form. The fruit falls, splits, relinquishes the seed. The seed falls into the ground....

There is no ongoing spiritual life without this process of letting go.' Passion and Purity, p163

Contentment

Recently I discovered (or perhaps finally admitted) bitterness in my life... bitterness about my current singleness. Perhaps it's more that I'm single again because I'm now divorced that's made me bitter. I don't know. Anyhow, after I identified it, I prayed about it and asked God what I should do about it... it felt awful and I realised it had really been eating away at me.

Then God reminded me of a well-known verse, that we also looked at in our series on Ephesians recently at church, 'Get rid of all bitterness...' (4:31). In my experience of this verse previously, the focus has been on getting rid of anger (mentioned later in the verse) - the bitterness part has been skipped over. But it's clear, this one's black-and-white, God tells me to GET RID OF BITTERNESS. It has no part in the life of a follower of Jesus. Bitterness = a focus on my circumstances not on Jesus.

I also thought more about contentment, that when we are content, there is no room for bitterness. As Paul wrote, 'I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through Christ who gives me strength.' Philippians 4:11b-13

Words

How encouraging a person's words can be.

Do not be dismayed

'So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.' Isaiah 41:10 NIV

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Be still

It's interesting reading things you've learnt in the past, only to find you're relearning them again,... and again... and again.

I looked back at a couple of my posts from a year ago. In one I asked how often we have a lack of faith as to what God can do. Even though I've seen God at work in the past - in the Bible, in the lives of friends and others, and in my own life - I still have a lack of faith a lot of the time. It's when I look at my circumstances, and forget to thank Him for all His gifts, and for who He is that I lack faith.

So to my heart in that moment, God says, 'Be STILL and know that I am God' (Psalm 46:10).

He offers us His wisdom

The last sentence in the devotion I just posted a link to really rang true for me. Recently I've been grappling with an issue in my life which many Christians spend lots of time giving their opinions about. In my head I knew where I stood, but my heart wanted to convince me otherwise.

Thankfully God has placed wise people in my life who have been able to give me good advice. One reminded me of Proverbs 3:5-6, where God promises to guide our paths as we seek Him. The verses always make me think of a song we taught at Crusaders Winter Escape years ago. Anyway, it didn't happen as quickly as I would have liked, but God did make my path straight - He very clearly guided me as I kept coming to him, doubts, concerns, emotions and all. Here's the sentence from the InTouch devotion for today:

'God assumes responsibility for offering His children sought-after wisdom and enabling them to keep walking on the right path (Prov. 3:5-6).'

How to walk wisely

Just read this great devotion. Daily Devotional

Answered Prayer

'Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.' Proverbs 3:506

I love God's promise to make our paths straight. I love that He answers our prayers, not always in the way we expect, but in the BEST way. I love that His wisdom rules supreme over my thoughts and feelings. I love that He is a faithful, loving, Sovereign God.

Though I don't understand why, I see a God who loves us immensely and who is 100% reliable, As a wise old friend told me recently, if we keep seeking God and asking Him for guidance, He will guide us - that's what He says in His Word. and He has. I can say with confidence, God does guide us, one step at a time, in His perfect timing. He makes our paths straight. :)

Email and new friendships

I'm starting to wonder how helpful emails are in building friendships. For friends you have an existing relationship with that has been built over a significant period of time, it's different - they know you relatively well (hopefully!) and should have a fair idea of how to interpret what you've written. You can pretty much just be yourself.

But with new friends I find myself in a different place. Initially I'm all gung ho and happy to be myself, then after a little while I start thinking too hard about everything and worry about offending them, or asking too many questions, or sharing too much... I write and rewrite and rewrite, delete, rewrite, delete, and then after clicking send I think more about what I wrote and wonder whether I should have included bits I deleted, or deleted bits I included.

I'm thinking emails are not such a helpful tool for me to build new friendships, but I'm not sure how to get around it as email is such a big part of how we do life and interact and organise everything now.

Any thoughts?

Friendship

I've been thinking a fair bit about friendship lately - particularly friendship between males and females. Friends have the potential to teach us so much, to share life with us, to help us grow, to support us, to tell us hard words that we may need to hear at times... They are people who accept us just as we are - yes, we may frustrate and confuse them at times, but they still stick by us and continue to walk through life with us.

But when it comes to the opposite sex, friendship can be confusing... but I remember speaking to an older lady about it last year, and she reminded me of the importance of enjoying and appreciating the here and now, of seeing the value each friend brings to my life now, and the value I can bring to theirs. It's pretty special really. I'm very thankful to God for new and old friends, so many people who continue to shape me and support me, who can help me learn to relax and who I can enjoy life with. So many memories yet to be made. :)

And his heart was filled with love

Sarah asked me to read the book, 'Ragged Bear' to her this morning. It's one of my favourite stories about a toy bear who gets left behind in the rain one day, but is later rescued by another child. He is then mended and cared for.

The youth group girls gave the book to me and the girls almost two years ago, along with a huge box of other goodies. They were so thoughtful - I had a good cry when they dropped around with the surprise!!

I love the end of the story, '... he was the happiest teddy in the world. He was still old - and a little bit worn - but he was no longer ragged and torn. And his heart was filled with love.'

Sharing Life

Life is better shared.

This is real life

As a significant birthday approaches, I look back over the last ten years or so and wonder whether it all really happened, sometimes it feels like a movie - surely this isn't my life! But it is. Here I am today, having been through a whole lot of experiences I never thought possible. But the future is filled with new possibilities, and new opportunities to share other people's journeys with them.

It's out of my hands

This 'Jars of Clay' song keeps running through my head. Just found this interesting article about the background to the song.

I wasted a rescue
Abandoned the mission
I've failed by my own hand
And watched it all go wrong
You said You could save me
That I couldn't save myself
You said that You loved me
No matter what I've done

When the light is gone
And life is just a dare we take
Still the fight goes on
To give my heart away

And it's out of my hands
It was from the start
In light of what You've done for me
In light of what You've done for me
You lifted my head
Set me apart
In light of what You've done for me
This is what You've done for me
It's out of my hands

You grow where the light is
Like trees in the highlands
We're bent by our own plans
To keep us in the dark
And I act like an orphan
Forget that You found me
But You came like a whisper
And saved me with a spark

When the light is gone
And life is just a dare we take
Still the fight goes on and on
To give my heart away

And it's out of my hands
It was from the start
In light of what You've done for me
In light of what You've done for me
You lifted my head
Set me apart
In light of what You've done for me
This is what You've done for me
It's out of my hands
It's out of my hands

There's nothing in the world that I can offer
Nothing in the world that I can stand apart
Apart from You
Apart from You
There's nothing in my life
Nothing in my life that You Haven't given to me

It's out of my hands
It's out of my hands
Everything I have, Lord
Everything I have
It's out of my hands
It's out of my hands

Oh, It's out of my hands

Just keep trusting, trusting, trusting

It's one of those struggling along kind of days. Loved reading the verse of the day on Bible Gateway this afternoon. I can hear Dory singing these words, 'Just keep trusting, trusting, trusting'.

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” - Jeremiah 17:7-8

Friendships

I'm really enjoying studying Child Development & Learning this semester - thinking about the effects of nature and nurture (temperament, personality, family background...) on the way children develop, and all the interrelating social aspects.

I like to think of it as learning about what makes kids tick. It's very interesting!!

I read this today:

'Healthy friendships come in many forms. Some are brief liaisons, others last a lifetime. Some are relatively casual, others are deep and intimate.' Child Development & Education, McDevitt and Ormrod, p556

Reading about friendships has made me excited about the potential for future friendships, and it's made me reflect a bit on past friendships and how much I've appreciated the input of different friends at different points in my life.

I love that God created us to be relational beings - that He offers us the privilege of a relationship with Him, but also that He provides special people for us to share life with - some as 'brief liaisons' and others as friendships that 'last a lifetime'. He is an amazing God!!

Perspective

Matthew 22:36-38 (New International Version, ©2011)

³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.

Confused

We human beings are complicated creatures. Sometimes I really struggle to make sense of things. But then God reminds me to fix my eyes on Him.

Just read The Message version of Hebrews 12:1-3, good stuff!

'Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!'

Longings

Sometimes my heart is filled with longings.

Healing for the Broken-hearted

This weekend I'm going to my first wedding since being divorced. Though I'm very excited for my friend and her fiance, I'm struggling a bit emotionally. After having a good old cry tonight I remembered reading a verse about God healing the broken-hearted so did a search on Bible Gateway (such a fantastic tool!!).

Psalm 137:3-4, The Message

' He heals the heartbroken

and bandages their wounds.
He counts the stars
and assigns each a name.
Our Lord is great, with limitless strength;
we'll never comprehend what he knows and does.'

Our God is truly an awesome God.

Just wondering

Sometimes I wonder if people would treat me differently if they knew nothing about me, or at least if they didn't know I was divorced and have kids. It's so easy to judge people, we do it all the time. Oh to love people like Jesus did, to accept and love them just as they are.

Thanks God for Hope

I'm slowly learning that thanking God takes the focus off me and my worries, and reminds me of how awesome He is and how good He's been to me and how I should be sharing that with others. I don't thank God anywhere near as often as I should.

I love it when I ask the girls what they'd like to say thanks to God for and they come up with things like rainbows and butterflies, different people in our lives, and our cat.

Today I'm thanking God for hope. :) :)

Sometimes I wish

I said to Mum and Dad tonight that sometimes I wish I was a guy. A guy can ask a girl out if he's interested in her.

In my mind, it's not an issue that's clearly black in white in the Bible, but I like it when the guy is the initiator. If my feelings were removed, that's the way I think it should operate. Unfortunately though, God gave me emotions. I'm slowly learning to try not to listen them, but to listen to God and His Word.

The Assessment Bureau

I need a break from reading about 'research' for a bit - it's probably better known as procrastinating.

Last night I saw 'The Assessment Bureau' with some friends. We didn't realise till we were buying the tickets that it was an advanced screening 'Chicks at the Flicks' session. I wanted to see 'The Kings Speech' as so many people have raved about it, but we were too late to see that. It worked out well in the end, I enjoyed it. I liked Matt Damon's character and thought he played it well.

It was interesting observing the power of his emotions. It made me wonder how we can practically hand over our emotions to God, so we don't let them rule us. Very hard at times.

Understanding in trials

Here's an update on my last post. A friend just sent through some info from the message yesterday morning. The ten points made at the end were 'ways to cultivate humility and battle pride', and the one that stood out for me was ' Guard against trying to understand everything in trials - sometimes it's a mystery!'.

Understanding, or lack of

Yesterday morning I missed a large proportion of the sermon as Sarah wouldn't stay in her class. I ended up sitting out the back with her, where I could hear bits and pieces when the preacher was speaking loudly and Sarah wasn't making noise. Heard bits about humility its importance in church unity (Eph 3). At the end, he made ten points that he found practical, I'm assuming to help us be humble.

One point was to not try to understand everything. I didn't hear how this fit in the context of humility and unity, but it made me think about how easy it is to waste time trying to understand everything. I can look at what's happening in the world, and my past and analyse different aspects to try and understand how a good, gracious, merciful, loving, all-powerful God could allow such things to happen. Or I can look at God and His actions as recorded in the Bible and realise that this God and His ways are beyond my comprehension, but I know that He has immense love for us, that would lead Him to give His Son's life for us, and I know that He is faithful and can be trusted.

Yes, there are times to work things through, but we don't need to understand EVERYTHING. Even though we might like to!

God's purpose will prevail

You know that feeling when you've made an impulsive decision and you're not sure it was the right decision? I hate that feeling.

My mum reminded me of Proverbs 19:21, that God's purpose will prevail, despite my failings and sin. Just been thinking of this song by Hillsong:

'Falling on my knees in worship
Giving all I am to seek your face
Lord all I am is yours

My whole life
I place in your hands
God of Mercy
Humbled I bow down
In your presence at your throne

I called you answered
And you came to my rescue and I
I wanna be where you are

In my life be lifted high
In our world be lifted high
In our love be lifted high'

NAB Breakup Ads

On the whole, I've been very happy with NAB. My experience with them has been pretty good. But I am not impressed with their recent 'breakup' ads. I don't think they send a good message about relationships. But maybe I'm too sensitive?!

Questions and more questions

Having one of those days filled with questions, lots of questions. Desiring that my heart would engage with the truths that God tells me in His Word, that He is with me and that He gives us hope. Reminded last night to come to God and give our emotions to Him.

Be at rest oh my soul

Psalm 62:5-6 (New International Version, ©2010)

⁵ Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
⁶ Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

Immeasurably more

'Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.' Ephesians 3:20-21

Why do I so often limit God? Why do I forget that He is Almighty God, who created the heavens and the earth, who created us!

He is able to do IMMEASURABLY MORE than we can ask or imagine... to HIM be the glory!!

Anticipation

'The feeling of looking forward, usually excitedly or eagerly, to something that is going to happen.'

Hoping in Him

Last week our Pastor preached on Psalm 23, and emphasised the end of the Psalm, 'Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life'. Part of me gets a bit skeptical when I read this - I think it could be interpreted to mean that everything will be easy and wonderful if I'm walking with God. I don't believe it means this at all, and our Pastor didn't imply that's what it meant either.

He highlighted that our God is a good, merciful God, and these character traits are what will remain the same. Because of who He is, I can put my hope fully in Him - I often don't, but I should. I love how David in Psalm 25 says that God is his Saviour, and his hope is in Him all day long.

Psalm 25:4-6 (New International Version, ©2010)

⁴ Show me your ways, LORD,
teach me your paths.
⁵ Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.
⁶ Remember, LORD, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.

Handing over the wheel

Unless I hand over the wheel completely, I may as well say I don't trust God, that I don't believe He is in control of everything.

I love the way Elisabeth shares her heart and part of the journey God took her on in Passion & Purity. The caption on the cover stood out today, 'Learning to bring your love life under Christ's control'. Handing over the wheel.

Elisabeth quotes S D Gordon who describes waiting in his Quite Talks on Prayer:

'Steadfastness, that is holding on;

patience, that is holding back;

expectancy, that is holding the face up;

obedience, that is holding one's self in readiness to go or do;

listening, that is holding quiet and still so as to hear.'

She then writes, 'How long, Lord, must I wait? Never mind, child, Trust Me.'

Revel in me. Find your joy in me. Delight in me. Trust me.

Getting to know the real you

Growing in friendship involves learning through conversation who you are as individuals. It's having fun together and spending quality and quantity time together... The strategic question to keep in mind is: How can you let each other see the 'real you'?

From Boy Meets Girl, p86 by Joshua Harris

Just do the next thing

Read this on the girl talk blog today, quoted from Elisabeth Elliot:

“Many a questioning, many a fear,
Many a doubt, hath its quieting here.
Moment my moment, let down from Heaven,
Time, opportunity, guidance, are given.
Fear not tomorrows, Child of the King,
Trust them with Jesus, ‘DO THE NEXT THING.’
Do it immediately; do it with prayer;
Do it reliantly, casting all care;
Do it with reverence, tracing His Hand
Who placed it before thee with earnest command.
Stayed on Omnipotence, safe ’neath His wing,
Leave all resultings, ‘DO THE NEXT THING.’”
--author unknown

Being settled down

I've had this passage open in Bible Gateway after a friend shared last week how she taught her daughter the well known verse 6 when she was younger. I looked up a few different versions of the passage, and came across the one below in The Message. As someone who has a tendency to worry, I found it really practical.

I love that we're told to 'let petitions and praises shape our worries into prayers'. When I've actually done what God tells us to do in the verse, I have experienced a feeling of peace and being 'settled down', knowing that He is in control.

I also love the idea of God making us into His most excellent harmonies - sounds beautiful!

Philippians 4:6-8 (The Message)

^6-7Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

^8-9Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

Holiday Dreams

Watching 'The Holiday', and enjoying it on the whole. Though in some ways watching chick flicks can be rather unhelpful... but it's nice to dream.

Last year I had real trouble letting go of my dreams so that God could reveal His dreams and plans for my life. Now I have new and different dreams, but they're dreams I want to be prepared to give to God so He can reshape them and guide my steps. Cause His plans definitely are the best.

An old ad

Do you remember this ad on TV: 'When will I see you again? When will we share precious moments?...'

I think it might have been a chocolate ad. Anyone else remember it?

Memories

This morning on the way to visit a friend who lives in a retirement home I was sitting at the lights near El Rancho at North Ryde. It brought back memories of a 'date' with a guy who took me there many years ago. I ordered a lovely big steak. He then took me for a drive, I think to the beach and we had a good walk and chat. He was a nice guy, but I don't think we were right for each other.

Anyhow, thought it was interesting how I've driven past there many times before, but today something triggered the memory.

Memories are nice. Well, some of them anyway. Looking forward to more good memories. Trying to trust God for the future, hard as that is at times!

This is our awesome God

Psalm 77

¹¹ I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
¹² I will consider all your works
and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”

¹³ Your ways, God, are holy.
What god is as great as our God?
¹⁴ You are the God who performs miracles;
you display your power among the peoples.
¹⁵ With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

¹⁶ The waters saw you, God,
the waters saw you and writhed;
the very depths were convulsed.
¹⁷ The clouds poured down water,
the heavens resounded with thunder;
your arrows flashed back and forth.
¹⁸ Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,
your lightning lit up the world;
the earth trembled and quaked.
¹⁹ Your path led through the sea,
your way through the mighty waters,
though your footprints were not seen.

²⁰ You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Ants in my pants

Sometimes I feel like I've got ants in my pants.

Where have all the good men gone?

I gave a friend a copy of a book with this title for her birthday last year. I'd heard that it was an interesting read, and the title grabbed me.

I reckon as we get older, we make life more complicated - we think more and are more calculated about taking risks, which ultimately is probably a good thing, but it means we don't enjoy the moment as much as perhaps we could.

My brother's much better at enjoying the moment than I am, and he's encouraged me to analyse things less. It's a very hard habit to break though!

Blessed or Happy?

I heard a message on Psalm 128. From the very beginning when the preacher outlined what he was going to cover in the message I struggled with what I heard. Saying that, there were some great points made about fearing God as He is, an all-powerful God, and standing in awe of Him.

The verse says, 'Blessed are all who fear the Lord'. The preacher suggested that 'blessed' is the same as happiness, that the Psalmist was saying that to be happy you need to fear the Lord.

I realise it's semantics, but I don't believe 'happy' was the best word to use in its place. I actually came away from the message feeling kind of depressed because I know I don't feel happy all the time, yes there are times I do, but not all the time, and I don't read anywhere in the Bible that God tells me to be happy all the time. He tells me to rejoice in all circumstances, but that's different to being happy. When my marriage ended, I was seeking to fear the Lord, but I certainly was not happy. I was able to find joy in God, yes, but I was not happy.

My concern is that there were no doubt others hearing the message who were in a difficult patch and not feeling happy, who needed to hear that they are blessed because of what Jesus has done for them, blessed, not that they need to be happy.

I am incredibly blessed, there's so much to be thankful to God for in my life. I often don't thank Him enough, and fall into the trap of just seeing my 'wants' and unfulfilled desires, rather than seeing His blessings. These blessings are a reason to rejoice and to praise God, but they don't mean I always need to be happy.

Joy would be more closely aligned to 'blessed' in my opinion, and joy is something we experience when we fear God, and we can experience it even in the coldest of winters when life is at its most difficult. It's something we experience deep in our souls, that may not be displayed outwardly in a smile, though it definitely can be. Happiness, I believe is a feeling. Which is why I struggled so much with what was said - the last few weeks we've been reminded of the importance of trusting God and the truth in His Word, not our feelings. This seemed to contradict that.

I guess his concern with the term 'blessed' may have been that it's often associated with prosperity doctrine, and we often interpret it as gaining what we want. So I understand being careful about it's use, I just don't think happy really defined it well.

What are you thoughts?

Dreams

I've had some great dreams recently, sure they're only dreams, but it's nice to dream sometimes. I love that God is Sovereign, and that He has power to do anything... He parted the red sea, He raises the dead to life, He calms the storm.

Yesterday I came across a great version of Ephesians 3:19-21 in The Message and it says that God can do far more than we can request in our wildest dreams. Yes, His dreams may be different dreams to those we come up with, but He has good plans for us - though there is difficulty and adversity, His plans are good and He promises to be with us and to guide us if we seek His wisdom.

^14-19My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.

^20-21God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

Glory to God in the church!
Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!
Glory down all the generations!
Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!

Becoming a better and more whole you

'Instead of a person causing you to lose parts of yourself to be around him/her, the relationship helps you find more of who God created you to be. You expand, grow, stretch, and become a better and more whole you.' Henry Cloud in How to Get a Date Worth Keeping writing about people who are good for you.

A hard lesson

Emotions can be confusing - up and down, up and down.

God's patiently teaching me not to trust my emotions, but to trust Him, that He will be my strength. Hard lesson to learn though. Very hard lesson at times.

Psalm 28

⁷ The LORD is my strength and my shield;

my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
and with my song I praise him.

⁸ The LORD is the strength of his people

His grace really IS sufficient

God says it in His Word, and He's a faithful God who keeps His promises. I can say with confidence that His grace truly is sufficient. Everything in me was screaming, 'I can't', but He reminded me to keep leaning on Him, to keep holding on to His promises - His power is made perfect in our weakness. His grace IS sufficient!! What an awesome God!!

2 Corinthians 12:9 - But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Eager

I just looked up the meaning of 'eager'. And it reminded me of a friend (who's now married) telling me a number of years ago he thought I was like a beaver. I said thanks sarcastically, assuming he was saying I had two big front buck teeth. But he said it was more the way the eager beaver goes about life and busies itself.

In the Encarta World English Dictionary, eager is defined as:

1. enthusiastic and excited about something and impatiently waiting to do or get it

2. expressing enthusiastic interest and expectation or an impatient desire to do something

Sounds about right really. :( I wish I wasn't so much like a beaver!

Smile

:) There are some things in life that just make me want to smile, and to jump for joy... this morning when the girls both stayed in Sunday School and had a great time... when my little girls tell funny jokes and laugh... when Sarah runs up to me for a big hug when I arrive home...when Lucy asks for Indian for her 3rd birthday dinner... when I eat a well done steak... when my cat sits on my lap for a cuddle... when God reminds me that He is completely sovereign and in complete control of even the smallest details... :) :) Thank you God for things that make me smile :)

Hope

'A chance that something desirable will happen or be possible.'

With God all things are possible. Matthew 19:26

Puzzled

There are lots of things that puzzle me, especially when it comes to the ways God chooses to work.

Two things (well at least two) I never learnt in Sunday School when I heard the story of God parting the Red Sea that are a bit puzzling:

1 'God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter.' Exodus 13:17 I'm guessing the Israelites would have preferred the shorter route, but God lead them on a different road. Why?

2 'God will fight for you, you need only be still.' Exodus 14:14 Be still?! Are you serious?! Then comes the reassurance, 'GOD will fight for you'. And He did. He delivered on His promise, just as He always does.

Break

Decided to take an official facebook break.