Go for Gold!!!

It's been a while since I've posted on here. And to be honest I have no excuse for this behaviour - I'm on holidays and have MORE time than I used to... I'm planning on fixing that.

Phillipians 3:13b-14: But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 


Remember those sports day's at school. The athletics carnivals, the swimming carnivals, the soccer and netball tournaments, the indoor sports carnivals and all those other carnivals that required us to split into factions and work together to get first place. It always meant so much if your team was to get first place.

In Philippians 3 Paul compares living life to running a race. He wants to receive God's gold medal, the prize which God has prepared for him. Paul forget's what is behind and strains toward what is ahead.  He doesn't think about what has happened previously, and focuses on the goal. He presses forward, not thinking about the past but focussing on the future. As I write this a quote from the movie Racing Stripes comes to mind, "Don't look back, leave it all on the track." In that movie also they are running a race, looking behind slows them down, you have to focus on what is ahead. 


In our life also, we  must not focus on the past. We must not think about our past failures because dwelling on them will stop us from doing our best and we must also not dwell on our previous success because thinking about what has been doesn't change the present.  Instead let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us (Hebrews 12:1-2). 


Christ also has enabled us to leave our sins behind. We can bring all our sins and leave them behind at the cross. They have all been paid for and in that way we are able to run with Paul and strain for the same prize.


What is the prize? The prize is what we strive for every day, it is what we work towards throughout our daily walk of life. Perfection. We seek to become like Christ. Perfect and without sin. This goal we cannot achieve in this life yet we work towards it knowing that we will one day receive perfection. That is not to say that we cannot work towards this goal now. We should strive each and everyday to be more like Christ, each day we work to improve our condition, we forget the past and reach forward with daily conversion and repentance, with focussed concentration, seeking to be like Christ - our goal and reward.

Thankfulness

Thankfulness. We have so much to be thankful for. As sinful human beings we deserve nothing at all. Every breath we take, every move we make, everything we see, everything we hear, smell, taste and touch, it is all a gift from God.  As sinners we don’t deserve anything, yet we have everything. Because of that, because of the abundance of blessings around us, we have so much to be thankful for.

While there is such an abundance of gifts, it is sometimes easy not to realise their true value. Recently I moved through a 30 day challenge, each day looking at a gift we have received from God. 30 days, 30 blessings. It made me realise how much we have and how much we can be thankful for. Especially because nothing we have done merits at all. We do not deserve anything. I strongly suggest you try listing all your blessings. It really makes you stop and think.

The biggest gift of all is the love of God. God loves us. Think about that. We are sinners, not deserving of anything despite everlasting judgment. Yet God still loves us, so much that he ‘sent his only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life’ (John 3:16). Jesus dies on the cross, he paid the price for all our sins so that we are pure in God’s eyes and he remembers our sins no more. Isn’t that wonderful. Our sins are removed ‘as far as east is from west (Psalm 103:2), all because of the immense sacrifice of one man.  That should be enough to make our hearts overflow with thankfulness and praise for the wondrous works of Christ.

Yet, on top of that we become heirs to the kingdom of God, we become members of Christ and heirs to life everlasting. In becoming heirs, we are also called children of God. We share in all His benefits and have the promise of life everlasting. We have the promise of a life here after with no more sickness and death, no more pain and suffering, all because God loves us.

Amazing!

God not only loves us and provides us with these gifts, but he continues to provide for us. Living in a land of wealth and prosperity we have plenty of food, shelter, numerous options of transportation, clothing, money, a secure job, a variety of educational opportunities, and a comfortable, warm bed to sleep in at night. Most of us are strong and healthy and have no problems in doing our daily activities. We have hobbies to do during times of relaxation and have the opportunity to go on holidays when we desire. Our friends and family form a strong support network around us and the Church community is also there to help us. The Church we attend has a strong history and background, providing a solid foundation of doctrine. All this we have in a country that allows us to serve God in freedom. Our God continues to provide for us, he takes care of us so that nothing happens to us without his will.

We have so much we can be thankful for. We have so much that we can shout praises to the Lord for.  

24/7 - Being a member of God's covenant congregation

That was the topic of the youth weekend I and 5 others well I suppose there was 6 of us, although not everyone actually helped, were responsible for organising over the last weekend. A LOT of work was involved but everything went well - I haven't heard otherwise anyway.

The topic was about what it means to be a member of the Church that we have been placed in. As a member of a congregation and as a member of a church we are all the body of Christ (Romans 12). And because we are all a part of that body we have a responsibility towards the other members of the Church family. Just like a hand or a foot doesn't work on it's own, we are all members of the church, members of a congregation, members of a family and we have to work together and support each other. Just like one body is made of many parts but all are one, we are all united together as the body of Christ (1 Cor 12).

On top of wonderful speeches we had some great activities, not the least of which was a country fair which involved a photo booth and a bucking bull and a car rally with a difference in which the idea was to get people involved more in the congregation. I think that everything went well. We can be thankful that everything went smoothly and everyone could have a good time.

On top of that a lot of good memories could be made.... especially on the Friday night. 

Day 30: the greatest gift of all

So here I am. Starting to write the last post of this 30 day challenge. I must say, this challenge has really opened my eyes to the riches I have in my life. I am truly blessed and by thinking of 30 blessings I have come to realised how easy it is to take for granted and how much I should be thanking God for.

So, Day 30: the greatest gift of all. The love of God. I have been planning this post in my head for some time now. All the other blessings that I have talked about fall under this blessing. All we have is a result of the love of God. As John Piper says:

"We simply take life and breath and health and friends and everything for granted. We think it is our by right. But the fact is it is not ours by right. We are doubly undeserving of it.
1) We are CREATURES, and our Creator is not bound or obligated to give us anything - not life or health or anything. He gives, he takes, and he does us no injustice (Job 1:21).
2) And besides being creatures with no claim on our Creator, we are SINNERS. We have fallen short of his glory (Romans 3:23). We have ignorer him and disobeyed him and failed to love him and trust him. The wrath of his justice is kindled against us. All we deserve from him is judgement (Romans 3:19). Therefore every breath we take, every time our heart beats, every day that the sun rises, every moment we see with our eyes or hear with our ears or speak with our mouths or walk with our legs is, for now, a free and undeserved gift to sinners who deserve only judgement."   ---- John Piper, Don't waste your life, p. 51-52

We have received so much because of the love of God. And the most important part of that love is that He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. For my many, many sins. For all of your sins. In that alone, we are more blessed than anyone else in this world. We did nothing, absolutely nothing at all, yet we have been chosen to be called children of God. We have been chosen by God to be saved from the eternal damnation we deserve. All the sins we have committed have been forgotten, in God's eyes they are no more.

We don't deserve anything, yet because of the love of God we have everything. Never forget that. Let your heart rejoice and overflow with thankfulness because we don't deserve anything we have, yet God has given it to us.

Continue to live a life of thankfulness to God.

Day 29: The providence of God - a blessing

This afternoon we had a sermon on the 4th petition of the Lord's Prayer. "Give us this day our daily bread." The sermon really highlighted how God provides for us everything we need for each day. Nothing happens to us which hasn't been sifted through God's hands first. Everything that happens to us happens because God has it all a a part of His plan.

It is such a blessing to rest in the knowledge that God is in control. He will provide for us. Everything that happens to us is for a purpose - even if we don't see it at the time.

I've written a few other posts about the providence of God, God is in Control and Be Still and know that I am God, yet it is good to be reminded once again of God's providence and the blessing it is for us as his children.

Day 28: the gift of life

I'm pretty sure that my 30 days are up. In fact, looking at the date I started this challenge, this blog post should read day 30, and I should be finishing up my last post of the challenge.  Instead, I have three more posts to write. If I'm good, I'll write them all today - I'm not so sure about that though.

The blessing for today  day 28, is life. Isn't it wonderful to wake up each morning and know that you are alive. Your heart is pumping blood around your body, your lungs are inhaling and exhaling air so that you can breath, your legs can move, your arms can move, all the muscles of our body work together so that we move. Our brain sends messages via the firing of neurones, so when we think of doing something it happens. We see, we hear, we smell, we taste, we touch, we feel. Isn't it so amazing to be alive.

Day 27: The gift of open space

I am writing this sitting pretty much in the middle of nowhere. The remoteness of the location means that this is currently a word document and will have to e uploaded at a later stage.  I have volunteered to take my brothers and cousin to my uncle’s block to ride the trail bike – on the condition that I also get a try. But of course I need to do lots of work so I have taken my computer along in the attempt to get more work done. Unfortunately, the serenity around me, the silence (which happens to be broken by the occasional sound of a motorbike and the chatter of those around me) and the beauty of the ‘open’ country is too much of a distraction. In fact what I want right now is my sketch pad and camera. I just have to concede to taking some (very poor quality) pictures with the camera of my computer (because I didn’t even have my phone with me, which I can't even figure out how to upload onto here)

It is such a blessing that we have access to so much open space. I have grown up on a 5 acre property and I cannot imagine living on anything smaller. With open spaces you can breathe. There isn’t the problem of neighbors complaining about your noise because they can’t hear you. You have beautiful, uninterrupted scenery.  And if you do live close to other people, In Perth there is the opportunity to take a little drive and find a national park and some wide, uninhabited space. Yes, open space is a gift that I have been blessed with, one that I often take for granted. Thinking about it, it is truly a wonderful blessing. Imagine living in a city where there is so much smog there is rarely a blue sky, then think about the space around where you live – isn’t that a blessing.  

Day 26: The gift of communication

As a Speech Pathology Student I have been taught the value of communication. I have sat in a number of lectures in which I have been required to communicate a message without speaking, only using gross motor movements, or only using non-verbal noises. When you are required to communicate a message with a constraint placed on you usual method of communicating, you understand the difficulty and frustration that some people face every day due to injury or disability.

Communicating with those around us is something we do every day. It is something which we have done since the day we were born. We learnt to talk at a very young age and by the age of 3 our vocabulary is expanding rapidly. We can verbalise our thoughts. We can have conversations with others regarding subjects as boring and simple as the weather, to those deep and meaningfuls involving deep biblical reasoning or our most hidden thoughts and emotions. We can ask questions when we don't understand. We can tell people good news. We can share bad news. We can teach others. We can argue with others, and we can persuade them to agree with us. Think about all of what we have. How much of our life involves communication. Now imagine your communication skills if you didn't have all of it. Imagine you had a stroke and as a result it is really hard to formulate what you have in your head and put it into words, or you have extreme word finding difficulties and by the time you find the word you are thinking of the conversation has moved on, or you may think you are saying the right thing but it comes out as gibberish and no one can understand you. And then there's the flip side where you can't understand what is being said or follow instructions. And then there is pragmatics, all the social rules of language. The use of tone in our voice, verbal expression, the volume in our voice, the use of facial expression, our body language. There is so much that we just learn automatically when it comes to language and we can imagine life without it. Being able to communicate is such a gift, it is something which we use all of the time yet we don't always realise the true value of it all.

The next time you talk to someone think about what you have and be thankful for it.

Day 25: The gift of art

I am a creative and artistic sort of person. That is why I see art as such a gift. The medium of paint, pastels or pencils is such a wonderful means in which a message can be portrayed. Like they say, a picture says a thousand words.

Day 24: The gift of the Holy Spirit

All those who believe in God have been given the git of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus left to go up to heaven, he promised his disciples that they will be given " 'the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.  For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' " (Acts 1:4,5). Already there the Holy Spirit is referred to as a gift. Then when the day of Pentecost arrived, all the disciples received him. 

The Holy Spirit is a wonderful gift. He is the one who works faith in our hearts, the faith that we need to be saved. It is by the Holy Spirit that we also receive the assurance of our faith, the assurance of our salvation. He works in us the fruits of the Spirit so that what we do on the outside is a reflection of the work that is happening in our hearts. 

Luke 11: 13 says "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!". Think about that. Isn't THAT such a wonderful gift, and all we have to do is ask our Father in heaven for it.

Day 23: The blessing of staying busy

I find it a blessing to keep busy. When I have lots to do I find that I am much more productive. I don't find the need to procrastinate. I have more energy, even though I'm doing much more. It takes shorter amounts of time to do the same thing. And LOTS more gets done. Don't ask me how or why, but, for me, being busy it a a blessing.

Day 22: The gift in a catalyst

I'm not really sure how many people reading this are chemistry buffs, OR even how many people can recall their (perhaps limited) exposure to Chemistry in high school. But if you stretch your mind back to it all, a catalyst is a substance that triggers or increases the rate of a chemical reaction, without actually undergoing change itself (and there was my inner nerd showing it's face once again :P). In titling this post "the gift in a catalyst" I was not actually referring to chemical substances which increase the rate of reactions, but I was thinking of objects, actions, events and persons which precipitate other reactions and events. They are a blessing.

On a (very) small scale, I was catalysed into cleaning my room last Friday night. My sister had vacummed  both my room and the study area we share and my slightly disorganised and messy floordrobe had been moved from the floor to my bed. That was the catalyst for me to clean my room. I could have taken everything from my bed and put it all back on the floor, where it was originally. That would have been much quicker and I could have gone to bed earlier. Instead, I put everything in it's original place (which actually isn't on the floor). Now my room is clean. The floor being vacuumed was a catalyst for me to clean my bedroom.

Now that was really a minor example. There are other catalysts in our lives too. Things happen to us so that we do things which we may not have done otherwise. They are blessings. They help us to achieve things which otherwise may not happen. A catalyst may be an inspiring sermon which makes us go home and do something that we had been putting off for a long time. It may be a memory or a photograph which makes you contact an old friend and speak to them again. It may be a deadline for a certain project which gets you into action so that once that project is done you are much more productive than before. Whatever your catalyst may be, be thankful for it, it certainly is a gift.

Day 21: the blessing of 'distractions'

.... And once again I am updating my blog several days late, thinking of writing several posts just to make sure that I am actually on top of it all again. But I think that I can justify my reasons for not blogging every day. I've been busy, and by busy, I mean studying really hard for the test I had this morning (and yes I did study hard for it), writing assignments (well at least I thought about writing them) working on the congress weekend that we are planning for 3 weeks time (AHHHHHH, 3 WEEKS!!!!!), but on top of that I have been able to catch up with friends for lunch (and say goodbye to one friend who has moved to start her job!!!), watch a wonderful production of Glibert and Sullavin's Gondoliers,  and this afternoon/tonight I went to the Perth Royal Show, and also had a good time.

So between all the stress and the business I have been able to have a good time. And that is what I am getting at with this post. Between all this work, I have been able to have some time out. I have been able to forget about all the work that I have to do and that is just piling up and have a good time. It is such a blessing that we are able to do that. That we can spend time away from the everyday hustle and bustle of life and not think about what needs to be done. Isn't that such a blessing.

Ps. I apologise for the really bad grammar in this post. I know it's probably everywhere but I'm too tired to really care. I hope it all makes sense...

*** Note to self: Never commit to writing on your blog every day. It doesn't work

Day 20: the blessing of doctrine

I puzzled over the title of this post for some time. What I really want to talk about is the blessing we have in the doctrine and history of the Church, and how we can learn from that and use it and remember it.

Within the Free Reformed Church (which I am a member of), there is a strong emphasis on doctrine. Keeping in mind that too much emphasis on doctrine can detract from living a life to the glory and honour of God, the precepts and teachings of the Church are a blessing. Within the reformed Church, the youth of the congregation   receive catechism instruction in which they are educated about the confessions of the church and the history of the church. I went through 6 years of catechism and while I didn't always enjoy it at the time, it truly was a blessing and a wonderful experience. Throughout the history of the Reformed Church there are many different conflicts and disagreements of doctrine that you are made aware of and in catechism you are taught about these differences, why they exist, and why there are different denominations as a result.

Doctrine is a blessing. It is by the doctrine and confessions of the Church that people are taught. Although doctrine is something that can be a point of conflict between different denominations, it is what ensures that what is being taught is what the Bible states. In reading the book total truth by Nancy Pearcy, I was made aware of the fact that there are many evangelical Churches who really focus on their life and experiences, which is a good thing, but the author also drew attention to the need to teach the word of God as shown in the Bible. It is important that we do have a doctrine as it enables us to learn more about God in the way in which he has revealed Himself to us.

(I hope that I have made myself clear in writing this. It sounded better in my head than it does reading it over again) The doctrine and history of the church really is a blessing as you can learn from it and avoid making the same theological mistakes again.

Day 19: The blessing of prosperity

My computer is dying. So last night I went to the apple store online and bought another one. Just like that. I looked at the options I had, found out that I could have a student discount, filled in my details and it is now in transit, to be delivered tomorrow.

Isn't it such a blessing that we have the wealth and prosperity that we are able to do these things. I was able to get a new computer because I had more than enough money in my bank account, it was in stock, and it can be delivered by tomorrow. We can get so much in the society we live in. There may be those around us, or some people reading this who do struggle to pay the rent, who do have to scrape together the money to pay their bills, who do have a very tight budget due to their mortgage. But think about how much we have compared to so many others in this world. We have three meals a day, often with snacks in between. So many people don't know how they are going to get their next meal. They don't know what they are going to eat. Many of them are lucky to get one bowl of rice each day. We have clean clothes on our back and  shoes on our feet. Many of them have threadbare, clothing which doesn't keep them warm, and if they have shoes they are not the right size and completely worn down. We have a roof over our heads and a warm bed to sleep in each night. Many others do not. Many of us have a car, many households have 2 or 3 (sometimes even more). For many people in the world their means of transportation is walking.

Next time you complain about your clothes, shoes, food, house, car, bed, or computer. Think about what you have and what many others do not have.

We are blessed.

If you want to procrastinate productively and also 'advance' your knowledge, check out freerice.com and help feed the hungry.

Day 18: The gift of religious freedom

Every Sunday we go to Church two times. We are able to do this in freedom, without being afraid that we will be 'discovered' and stopped from holding more services. In countries around the world, Christians serve God in fear of their lives. In some places they meet in small groups in peoples homes, changing their location regularly so that they don't get discovered. They go to the meetings afraid that someone might discover the real reason that they are getting together. And if they are discovered, the people involved are imprisoned and sometimes even put to death.

It is a wonderful blessing to live in a country in which this doesn't happen, a country in which we can live without fearing for our lives because we serve a God whom the government doesn't respect or believe in. So often we are used to the freedom which we have because we do not know what it is like to live without it. In that way it is very easy for us to take if for granted. Please don't. Please also think and pray for those who don't have the freedom we have.

Day 17: The gift of friends

Last night was on of my best friends 21st and going away party (Although we didn't really think about the going away bit and are still going to see her before she moves). I had a great time. Good friends, good food, and  good laughs, make good times. In fact, just good friends make good times. I have had so many wonderful experiences with my friends. Pretty much every time we get together we end up in laughter and just having lots of fun. On top of that, my friends share the passion and love I have for my Father in heaven and in that way we have wonderfully deep and meaningful conversations surrounding all areas of life.

That is why my friends are such a blessing. They are there for support when ever you need it, they are there for you when you want to have a good time (most of the time anyway), they are there to make you laugh when you don't feel up to it, they are there to counsel you when you have problems that you don't know how to conquer and you can give it all back to them.

I love all of my friends and am so thankful for them.

Day 16: The gift of intelligent poeple

Intelligence. What I mean about the gift of intelligent people is the fact that ther are so many people around us who are deicated to learning more about a certain topic, people who have written books, articles, given speeches and conducted research surrounding what they are passionate about so that we can learn from them.

This is a blessing in all spheres of live. It is a blessing for my studies, I can read articels and reviews by otehr people while doing reserch instead of spending time and energy to find out new information. It is a blessing for my spritual life as I can read books and articles written by well learned pastors and professors in order to learn more about God and how to live a life of service to Him. It is even a blessing in my personal life and relaxation, a well researched book or movie is so much more enjoyable.

Speaking about passion and knowledge, on wednesday, I was able to view this amazing, mind blowing, throught provoking documentary. The research and knowledge of Ray Comfort is really a blessing. I wont say much more as I don't want to stop you from watching it.
Have a look at it. It might be 33mins but it is a 33mins worthy of your time.

Day 15: The gift of love

Hmmmmm, several days behind. Here I am on Saturday and I need to write posts for the last two days and then think about todays post aswell.

Anyway, right now I am talking about Thursday, day 15: the gift of love.

What I mean by the gift of love is not the romantic love that is between boyfriend and grilfriend or the love between husband and wife. Infact, I can't really say that I have that blessing as I do not have anyone special in my life right now. But my life is still full of love. I have the love of family, my parents and my brothers and sisters, the love of friends, the love of those I care for and I love them all back.

For many people love is a feeling or an emotion. When I looked up the definition of love on dictionary.com, I came up with a large selection of definitions, all of them relating to a feeling or affection.  it was defined as a 'profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person', a  'feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection' and some more to the same effect. As Christian's we know that love is so much more than that. Love is not just a feeling or an emotion. It is a essential part of a giving and recieving relationship. God gave us the model of love when He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for the sins of His children. "For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life' (John 3:16) God loves us! Jesus loves us! He showed that love in the biggest sacrifice ever. In the death on the cross. As Jesus says in  John 15:13, "greater love has noone than this, than to lay down his life for his friends" and He did that. Not for his friends but also for his enemies. For sinners.

We have this example of love. And we can follow this example by giving of ourselves to those we love.

Day 14: the gift in a normal day

I have to laugh at the irony of that title. A normal day. Well to be honest I don't know if I ever have a normal day. The life of a uni student doesn't really have that much routine or normality in it. Some days I wake up at the break of dawn in order to get to uni on time, other days I sleep in and then stay home all day doing whatever as I have the day off and other days I work, which is usually a sleep shift. Yep, I don't really have much routine or normality in my life. Because on top of that I have a tendency to forget things, loose other things, and just make things go wrong. For example, on a road trip I pack a thermos but when we get to opening it is jammed shut because I didn't think of the fact that the warm air will cool and create a suction, so  instead we spent 15mins or more, trying to open the thermos.
Nevertheless, there is still something about the normality of a day in which everything goes according to plan.

For those that do have some more routine in their lives than me, a normal day will consist of waking up, driving (or travelling in some other way) to work, working for the hours that you do work, coming home, having some dinner and then doing some thing relaxing like watching TV afterwards. Well that's my guess anyway. That doesn't sound to exciting or amazing. But look at it from the other perspective and it is a blessing. Nothing bad happened. There were no car accidents driving to or from work. No one was fired or laid off at work. Dinner tasted good. The power didn't go out. There were no unexpected delays with flay tyres or cars that didn't start. Nothing was forgotten in the rush to get out of the house early in the morning. There was no sudden illness or unlikely deaths in the family. So much can go wrong and yet everything happened to plan. That is such a blessing.

For me, today was like that.  I even made a dinner which tasted amazing and nothing went wrong (being somebody who seems to make LOTS of mistakes with things like that, that is really amazing). When so much can happen in a day to make it turn from good (or average) to bad it really is a blessing when none of that happens.

I am so blessed.

Day 13: The gift of warmth

It's cold outside. Even though it is September and there is evidence all around us that spring has sprung (you can smell it in the air, the flowers are in full bloom. flies are flying in squares...) the last few days have been rather cold and rainy. It's wonderful when outside the rain is pelting down and the temperature is dropping (not that dramatically but it still is going to be cold tonight) and you can curl up in front of a wood fire with a nice drink and a book.

So many people in the world do not have the luxury of staying warm and dry during the wet winter months. Some may not have the money to keep the gas connected to run their heater, or they want to save money so that is one of their first cut. Others may not even have a roof over their heads, let alone a heater or a nice thick blanket to keep them warm. Tonight, when you snuggle under your covers, think about those who aren't as warm and dry as you, pray for them, and be thankful for the warmth and protection that you have. For it is indeed a wonderful blessing, which we don't deserve.

Day 12: the blessing of inspiration

And ....I missed another day in this 30 day challenge... here I am to make it up

On the 27th - 30th of October our Church is hosting a youth weekend (we call it a Congress). The idea is that it is going to be lots of fun but right now the amount of work isn't that fun at all. Especially when you are one of the main organisers. Last night I met with two of the other organisers (there are 6 of us all together) and we got lots done! It was great that we could just sit down and let the creative juices flow and be inspired. In fact, we replanned a whole 3hr activity last night. That's how inspired we were.

Inspiration is usually the thing that hits me late at night when I'm supposed to be sleeping or when I'm out in the middle of nowhere with a few good friends and my camera. That's when I plan my next painting in my head or have this incredible desire to pick up my sketch pad or guitar. Part of success is inspiration. As Thomas Alva Edison once said: "Success is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration". Although success involves a lot of work, that 1% of inspiration is very important. Without that inspiration, a lot of the perspiration wont follow. That is why inspiration is such a blessing.

Day 11: The gift of music

I may or may not have written about music earlier. I do know that I have thought about it.

For me, today was a day filled with music (not to say that my days are not normally full of music). I went to church twice and of course there was the singing in Church, I played my guitar and sang at Graceford, the aged care facility when I accompany devotions every second week, and then I went to a singalong after church this afternoon hosted for the residents of the place I work at. All in all a day full of music and enjoyment.

For me music is a wonderful gift. A gift which I and my family have been blessed with. We all play an instrument and some of us more than one. In fact, the count of instruments in the house at the moment include; two clarinets, two trumpets, a euphonium, a flute, a piano, two guitars, an accordion, a harmonica, oh and a recorder :). Yes, we are quite musical. At times the house is filled with music, not always the same piece and not always from the same room. But the house is filled with music nevertheless. It is so wonderful to just be able to escape in a world full of music, a world in which nothing but the sound, expression and feeling of music exists. For me, music is a way in which I can express my joy, vent my anger, channel my frustration, and just forget about everything else for a little while.

Indeed, music is a wonderful gift.

Day 10: The gift of good health

Today we had the grand final for our soccer team. No, we didn't win. And yes, I am tried, but it's a good kind of tired. Running around on that soccer field (and being centre mid, I do do a lot of running) is tiring but it really is a blessing that I have the health and fitness to be able to play a whole 90min game of soccer.

It was lots of fun. But the real blessing is that I and all the other persons who played today, had the health and fitness to play a game of soccer without injury. So often we play a game of soccer and don't really think about how much energy we are expending and how difficult it may be for some people. So many people cannot do that because they are not healthy or because they are not fit. In that way we really are blessed.

Day 9: The blessing of others who share your faith...

Friday night is youth club night. For two hours each Friday, I, with a group of other youth from my church get together to discuss a section of the Bible. Instead of partying all night we spend nearly 2 hours discussing the wonderful word of God. It is wonderful to spend this time talking about what the Bible is teaching us, encouraging one another and building each other up in our faith. Being able to support and share ideas with other youth in the congregation is wonderful, they are there to encourage you in your walk with God and in turn, you can help them also.

Tonight's 'blessing' is named "The blessing of others who share your faith..." Imagine if you were the only person you knew who is a Christian, the only person who believes that Jesus is their saviour and who lives a life of thankfulness to Him. Imagine how hard that would be. There would be so much temptation around us. There would be noone who can support us when we have doubts or problems, noone to turn to who can mentor and guide us and help us to understand the Bible. Being a member of a congregation, having others around you who have the same faith as you is a wonderful blessing. One which I am reminded again to be thankful for.

Day 8: The gift of laughter

I don't think that I have ever spent a day without laughter. This may have something to do with the fact that I have three brothers who all enjoy being in the centre of attention and usually get there by the use of wit and humour (and then they just stir each other up). Or possibly the fact that I constantly find myself in awkward, silly and crazy situations in which I just have to laugh at myself.

I cant see myself going through a day without laughter in some shape or form. To be honest I think a day like that will be slightly sad. They do say that laughter is the best medicine...

We can see laughter as a a gift. The ability to laugh at those things in life which are either hilariously funny or sad is a gift. After the fall into sin, sadness and misery became a part of life. With laughter, the sad parts of life aren't so oppressive, and we can still face the next day.

(P.s. I apologise for not posting this yesterday, I was working a sleep shift and didn't have time to do this.)

Day 7: the blessing in the beauty around us.

"The heavens declare the glory of God" Psalm 19:1.  We can see the glory of God in the beauty and marvels of creation all around us. I see that as a blessing. There are so many marvels in creation. We can look at the awesomeness of the universe and the numerous galaxies or the awe-inspiring majesty of mountains and gorges and they are a reflection of the glory and majesty of our God. We can look at the intricacy of the human eye or the precise way in which the human body functions, down to the function of the tiniest platelet in the blood stream and we can see them as a reflection of the greatness of God.

Isn't it such a blessing that we can look at those things around us and be assured that they are all a result of intelligent design? Isn't it such a blessing that God is reflected in His creation so that we can see him? We can be comforted by the knowledge that God is there when we see how his glory is shown in the creation around us. We can be reassured that there is a God when we see the awesomeness of creation which surrounds us, (because really, it is not at all possible that it could have evolved to be that way).

I pray that I will continue to have the eye to see the beauty that surrounds me so that I can continue to see the glory of God which is always with me.

Day 6: the blessing in a hobby

Today I was reunited with my paints, easel and canvas. It was a wonderful reunion and I spent the whole day immersed  in a world of creativity and paint. I had a day 'off' from my usual business of study, work, planning for the upcoming youth congress our church is hosting and all the other little things that I seem to be doing and absorbed myself in my painting. I love painting, well I love anything creative really, but painting is one hobby that I can loose myself in and forget about everything else.

Not the picture I painted today - but one of my paintings which now graces the walls of Dad's office.

Do you have a hobby? Hobbies are a wonderful gift which we can use to escape from all the other requirements of our life. Dictionary.com defines a hobby as an "activity or interest pursued for pleasure and relaxation and not as a main occupation." I also feel that a hobby is more than that. We are called to honour God in everything that we do, and that includes our hobbies. Especially because hobbies also are blessings from God. The fact that we have the time and resources to pursue a hobby is a blessing from God.

Day 5: the gift of educational opportunities

Today I slaved hard all day and managed to hand in two assingments. Both of which were about 10 pages long. Honestly, I did not enjoy this one little bit. In fact I hated it. The assignments were long, they took ages and there was so much more interesting things that I could be doing instead of writing assignments. Yes, I admit it. I procrastinated. A lot. I always procrastinate. It's just something I happen to be good at (and something that I probably shouldn't be good at). I will spend time on facebook, write a blog post, draw a picture, read a book, watch some pointless clips on youtube, listen to some new music, download some more music, make dinner, help my sister finish her art project, maybe even dig out my own paints, all before I will actually sit down and write my assignments. If that's not procrastination I don't know what is.

As a uni student I have such a wonderful opportunity to advance my education. Not every person is able to spend that much time learning. In some countries children don't even finish their primary schooling because they are needed at home. Other families don't have the money to send their children to a university (or even a secondary school). And others don't see the reason or purpose in further study. I have such a wonderful opportunity to advance my knowledge. Such a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the world in which we live in. And how do I use that opportunity? By procrastinating. Something I really shouldn't be doing.

I have such a blessing to be able to advance our learning in a University. If your reading this and you have the same blessing as I do, use it well.

Day 4: The blessing of Being a Church Kid

Today is Sunday. For my whole life Sundays have been a different day from the rest of the week. Every Sunday, for as long as I can remember our whole family has gone to Church. Twice. (Unless of course somebody is sick, we are somewhere on holidays or for some other unexplained reason). To put it simply, I'm a church kid. I grew up going to church each week, the same way my parents and even grandparents grew up.
I was taught the Bible from a very young age and then by the time I was in High School, I went to Bible Study, or youth group, each week, had catechism classes up until the age where I made a 'public profession' of my faith, went to a Christian school for the all of my schooling life where each day began with devotional Bible reading and prayer.

As a church kid, I don't have any amazing conversion experience which I can share with everyone, I don't have a particular point of time in my life where I can say that, that is where I decided to live my life for God. BUT, I do have a wonderful knowledge of the Bible which comes from the instruction I have received throughout my life. I do have parents and grandparents with an even deeper knowledge of the Bible, just because they have been studying it longer than me.

Looking at this, I realise how often I am not thankful for what I have been given as a Church kid. So often I take for granted that I have learnt so much about the Bible. So often I take for granted that for 7 years I had catechism instruction every Tuesday/Wednesday night and that I still have the opportunity to meet with other like-minded youth to discuss the wonders found in the Bible. So often I take for granted that I have parents and grandparents that have so much wisdom and knowledge about the Bible and that they have been imparting this wisdom to me my whole life.

In being a 'Church Kid' there is SO much that we can be thankful for.

Day 3: the blessing of family

Tonight's post is going to be a short one. It's late, I'm kinda tired and my computer has limited battery remaining.

I love my family. But so often I forget to appreciate how much they mean to me. Those long talks we all have at the dinner table. Those deep and meaningful discussions I have with my parents late on a Friday night after youth group, when the decent time to be in be is long past. The heart to heart talks I have with my sister. The friendly and happy teasing that my brothers are so good at. It is all a part of my life and so often I don't see how much of a blessing it really is. So often I take it all for granted.

I am so thankful for how much my family means to me. I pray that I will continue to recognise it as the blessing that it is.

Day 2: Taking technology for granted

Only day two of this 30 day challenge and I am sitting up late at night trying to meet the deadline. I'm going to blame it on my assignment. 2500 words, 12 journal articles and 2 more days (well technically less because tomorrow is my b'day and Sunday is a day of rest so I don't do any uni work then anyway). As I was pecking at my laptop, flicking through the very large stack of papers I printed off from a data base last week, headphones in my ears, listening to some new music I had just downloaded, it struck me how much we rely on technology. If it weren't for technology I would most definitely not be writing a lit review the way I was doing it today. It would have been much much harder. I would have to go to the library, manually search through different journals, copy/take notes on the articles I need and then hand write the whole 2500 words (believe me, my handwriting is not neat, especially when I'm writing lots or in a hurry).

Technology is all around us. We use it all the time. If it wasn't for technology, I wouldn't be able to be writing this and you wouldn't be able to read it. If it wasn't for technology, I wouldn't have any contact with a number of those friends who I went to school with and am still friends with on Facebook. If it wasn't for technology, I wouldn't be able to let my friend know that I will be late for whatever it is we are doing (although I have given up on that because I am often late). We use technology all the time. Take a look around you. There is probably a lot of technology right before your eyes. Most definitely the computer, your phone, perhaps your iPod, some ear phones, maybe a camera...

Can you imagine life without technology? We rely on it all the time. Yet there was a time when people didn't walk around with mobile phones in their pockets. There was a time when it took a week to send a letter to a friend on the other side of the world. There was a time when everything was written by hand. Technology really is a blessing which we can so easily take for granted because it is all around us.

Day 1: The blessings found in words of encouragement

How often do those around us provide us with encouragement to continue with what we are doing? How often do we receive support from our good friends or family? We probably receive it everyday, be it in a compliment from a friend or colleague about our clothing choice for the day, or a compliment on the effort we put into our work. And then there are the bigger more notable words of encouragement from our close friends and family who say what a good job we are doing and encourage us to continue with it, or who provide the support needed to keep going when we are finding it hard to continue.

How often do we truly thank them for this support? How often do we really appreciate what it is that they are giving us?

I was struck by this yesterday when I read a message received from an old friend that I used to go on the school bus with. I came back from an amazing 3 days away in the beautiful south-west of Australia, and when I logged onto Facebook I was greeted by a wonderfully inspiring message. Once again: thank-you Suzanne.

Throughout this year I have struggled to continue with my studies or to even just keep going with anything of what I was doing. Earlier this year I was sick for an extended period of time and the doctors did not have any idea what was wrong. There was a stage when became so discouraged that I was willing to throw away 2 1/2 years of study and just wanted to curl up in a corner and forget about anything related to my studies and focus on my art and music. But my parents especially were extremely supportive and encouraged me to continue. They helped me to refocus on my studies, made me go to a natropath who was actually able to help me get better, helped me look at everything that was happening in my life and prioritise, and made me realise that throwing away 2 1/2 years of study is not the best option.

At the time I took these words of encouragement for granted. Thinking back, I am really thankful for the support and words of encouragement I received from those around me. And I think I better finish this before I burst into tears and can't concentrate on the lit review I'm supposed to be writing. I never said it at the time but looking back I am extremely thankful for those who supported me then and continue to support me. I would like to thank you, and I thank God for placing you in my life. xxx

"Seeing through" the world around us...

C.S. Lewis once wrote:
"You cant go on "seeing through" things forever. The whole point of seeing through something is to see something through it. It is good that the window should be transparent, because the street or garden beyond it is opaque. How if you saw through the garden too? It is no use trying to "see through" first principles. If you see through everything, then everything is transparent.  But a wholly transparent world is an invisible world. To "see through" all things is the same as not to see.

While I have not read C.S. Lewis's book Mere Christianity, the author of a book I'm reading has. In reading this book I became aware of the fact that there are so many things around us which we take for granted. So many things which God has blessed us with, yet we are not truly thankful for everything we have.

I hereby declare that for the next 30 days I will be spending a little time thinking about one thing that I easily take for granted and sharing these thoughts here...

The motions...

There are times when we worhship without putting our whole heart in what we are doing. We might go to church, read the bible, pray, and sing the psalms and hymns,  but our minds are elsewhere. Our heart isn't in our worship. There may be times when we really don't want to be going to church early on a Sunday morning but we go just because it's expected of us. And then we doze through the service, not really processing a word of what has been said because Saturday night was kind of late. 


Is that truely worshipping God in the way that he wants us to?


We are commanded to do everything to the honour and glory of God (1 Cor 10::31 - Whatever you do do it all to the glory of God). As John Piper says in his book Don't waste your life:  “God created me – and you – to live with a single, all-embracing, all-transforming passion – namely a passion to glorify God by enjoying and displaying his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life” and we have to have this passion throughout our whole life. 


When our late Saturday nights make us doze through the Church on Sunday morning are we living with the passion God has created us for? When we have the Bible open in front of us and are looking at the words but not really processing them or applying them to our lives are we really being transformed by the passion of glorifying God? When the word of the psalms and hymns fall from our lips but we do not really feel the power and meaning of them are we really embracing the zeal we are commanded to show in all aspects of life? When we bow our heads in prayer and our minds start to wander are we consumed by the desire to glorify God in all that we do? When we worship God are we embracing and allowing ourselves to be transformed by the passion that he has created us for?


Think about it.

Blessed Assurance

Blessed assurance Jesus is mine,
Oh what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.

We live in a world full of uncertainty. So many people around us live in the certainty of only two things. Death and taxes. They spend a life time giving money to insurance company just in case something happens to their house or their car that they won't be able to afford. However, as Christians, we have certainty. As the song says, we have the assurance that Jesus is with us. We have the certainty of Spirit living in our hearts. We have the certainty of everlasting life. We have the certainty that when we approach him in prayer he will hear us. We have the reassurance that God will hold onto all of his Children. We have the confidence that everything that happens to us has come through the hands of God first. We have to assurance of all the blessings and promises of God and can rest in these certainties.

A believer who places their trust in the Lord can have the certainty that He is with us, He hears our prayers and will continue to be with us. With this in mind we can continue singing the song:

"This is my story, this is my song,

praising my Savior all the day long;
this is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long."