Step out of your comfort zone

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone 

~ Neale Donald Walsch 

Stepping out of our comfort zone can be hard, but really it's where the magic happens. Would we really learn anything if we didn't dare take a step away from what we know and are comfortable with, would we really have any new experiences that way? Would we really be able to achieve greatness and bring glory to God in everything that we did if we only stayed with what we were comfortable with?

My last post was about how to seize each moment and make the most of our time here on earth. A big part of that is to step outside of your comfort zone.  So my challenge for you today is to take a step forward, a step away from what you know and into the unknown. Move out of your comfort zone.

Make every moment count

God has given us many gifts, and we have the responsibility to use these gifts wisely. Think of the parable of the talents (Matt 25:14-30). The servants who invested their talents and multiplied them were blessed while the servant who hid the talent in the ground had it taken away from him. We have to use what we have been given in the best way possible; in the most God magnifying, God glorifying way.

Every day, every hour, every moment we are here on earth is a gift.  God has given us the wonderful gift of life and he has given us time to spend this life. Isn't that amazing? The thing is, how do we spend that time? How do we make sure that we invest the time that God has given us in the best way that brings glory and honour to His name?

This is something that I have been thinking about over this past week. I can't say that I have all the answers, and it's definitely something I need to word at. I've started writing a list to help me

• love EVERYONE
• Don't waste time, fill your days with purpose. Wake up each morning knowing what you will accomplish
• Count your blessings. You have so much, don't get caught up with what others have. 
• be content
• Laugh lots
• Be busy. That way you won't waste time.
• Pray constantly  
• Know that God is with you every moment of every day. 
• surround yourself with family and friends
• always have faith
• don't worry what others think of you, think about what God thinks of you
• Make at least 3 others smile (or laugh) each day
• Take time to breathe and appreciate the time you have been given

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge...

I just finished reading the book When people are Big and God is small, by Edward, T. Welch. It was a really good book that looked at how we value those around us and fear them instead of fearing God. Welch moved through helping the reader to see how they are dependent on others and their opinion and how we can replace that fear with the fear of God.

The point of this post is not to provide a book review(even though I found it to be good book and recommend that you read it). I just wanted to highlight that we are so often dependent on others. We value their opinions, we want to be loved and appreciated by others. BUT instead of being dependant on others, we should depend on God. Instead of worrying about what other people think we should be thinking about what God thinks. Instead of wanting to be loved by others we should want to be loved by God, want to love God and want to share that love with others.

So instead of worrying about others and what they think, fill your self with the fear of God. Learn how to be in awe of God, learn to be amazed by what he has done. Learn that even though he is an all powerful, all knowing God, He loves you and He protects his children.

30 ways to glorify the name of God

Hallowed be your name; the first petition of the Lord's prayer. How often do you pray that yet not really think of the responsibility you have in making sure that you do hallow the name of the Lord.

In my personal study last night before going to bed, I was challenged to think of 30 ways to hallow the name of God. I've decided to write that list on here to and would like to challenge you to do the same either by following my list or writing a list of your own.

1. Have a positive attitude towards uni work and assignments >> a positive attitude towards this show that you are glorifying God in what you are doing. This might be hard to do at times but think of your task here on earth, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31)
2. Wake up each morning with joy, ready to face the day >> if you're anything like me this one will be hard, but if we wake with energy and excitement for the day ahead we are one step closer to hallowing God's name throughout the day. Jump out of bed with joy!
3.  Think about the way you spend your 'free' time >> Don't waste time!! Think of something constructive to do!!!
4. By acknowledging that everything you have has been given to you from God >> God has given you everything!! The time we have, the money we have, the friends we have, our talents, EVERYTHING we have has been given to you from the hand of God. Remember that.
5. Work hard >> do the best that you can by putting all your effort into what you are doing.
6. Take every opportunity you can to learn more about God >> spend time reading the Bible everyday. Not just because it's what you're supposed to do but because you want to learn more about God.
7. Pray constantly >> speak to God every chance you can. You have LOTS of chances and if you take advantage of them then you are glorifying God by showing what an important role he plays in your life.
8. Consciously be thankful for the wonderful gift Christ has given us by his death >> stop and reflect on how wonderfully great this gift is. We are alive only by Christ!!!! How can we not be thankful for this. When we are consciously thankful for what we have been given we bring forth fruits of thankfulness which are ultimately glorifying God.
9. Think about the movies and/or TV shows you watch >> how do they glorify God? What are they saying about God? Think about this rater than just watching them.
10. Use your gifts to help others >> God has given you so much. Share what you have with others who don't have it. If you have the gift of music share it with someone who doesn't or would really appreciate it. You have the gift of time, spend it with someone who really needs the company. You have the gift of money, give it to someone who needs it. You have the gift of knowledge, share it with someone and support their own learning... ... 
11. Love your neighbour >> show love to everyone! 
12. Make the most of every opportunity you have to tell others about God >> see your interactions with others as opportunities to tell others about God. 
13. Be actively involved in Church life  >> don't be content to just go to Church each sunday. Attend Bible study, organise events or fundraisers, 
14. Be inspired by others >> read biographies and autobiographies about people who spent their life glorifying God. 
15. Listen to Christian music >> fill your iPod with music that glorifies God so that the songs that are stuck in your head are bringing honour to his name. 
16. Soak up the glory of God in nature >> go on bush walks or other adventures and soak up the scenery. Take awe in the majesty of God behind what you see
17. Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in your life >> it can be easy to underestimate the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Pray for him to work in your life so that you can do everything to the honour and glory of God.
18. Be open about your faith and share the struggles that you have >> have someone who you can talk to and who can support you in glorifying God in everything that you do. Speak to them about some of the struggles that you have with your faith - be open.
19. Show your faith by your works >> James 2:18. Remember that you show others that you are a Christian by what you do.
20. Show the fruits of the spirit >> love, joy, peace, patience, kindness ... ... 
21. Confess your sins >> don't just pray for forgiveness of sins but pray for forgiveness for each of the sins you have done. By focussing on the individual sins you become more aware of the wonderful gift of forgiveness that you have been given and then you are even more thankful.
22. Rejoice always >> we have so many things to rejoice in. Think about them and meditate on them. 
23. Praise God >> as my pastor said in his sermon on sunday morning: "Joy reaches it's highest when you praise God." 
24. Pray for others >> be aware of the needs of others both within your church congregation and in the wider community and pray for those people. Pray for your friends and family, even pray for those whom you don't have a good relationship with. In praying for them you become more aware of their needs and also you are more aware of them in your interactions with them. 
25. Be thankful >> think of everything that you have and be filled with thankfulness for it.
26. Interact with people who also want to glorify God >> spend time with friends and family who have the same purpose in life, they will help you to glorify God in what you do
27. Acknowledge that every situation we are in is from the hand of God >> God brings all the circumstances that we are in, be it health or sickness, poverty or riches... ... Glorify Him in whatever circumstances you find yourself.
28. Glorify God in the language you use >> speak positive words to everyone. Share the love of God in your words. 
29. Have purpose behind everything you do >> do everything for a reason. If you are going to do something think about the purpose behind it.
30. Ask yourself how you are glorifying God in what you are doing >> reflect on what you are doing, don't just do it without thinking. 

I hope that others will find these words as inspiring as I did when I wrote them down. It's a big challenge to keep!

I will show you my faith by my works - James 2:18

As Christians we bear the name of Christ. In bearing his name we have the responsibility to reflect christ in everything that we do. In what we are doing we are giving others an impression of who Christ is and how he has impacted our lives.

We can very well say that we believe that Christ has saved us and that it is such a wonderful gift that we have received,  but then if we don't live a life filled with the passion of thanking Christ for the wonderful gift he has given us what is that saying to others about the gift of salvation. Our workmates, uni buddies, tafe friends, neighbours all know that we are Christian. What we do and how we do if gives them an impression of us as a Christian, Christianity as a whole, and ultimately, Christ.

As James writes in his letter, "I will show you my faith by my works" (2:18). As the saying goes: Actions speak louder than words. We are called to be a shining light in this world so that 'by our works we may win others for Christ.' It isn't by our words that we shine out into the world. It is by our actions. Our actions are what show others that Christ is in us. They show others that he has changed our lives, that we have been converted. By our actions we show to others how Christ's love has impacted our lives in the joy and love that we show to others.

In reflecting Christ in our actions it is not just WHAT we do but also HOW we do it. Our actions should be done out of joy and thankfulness because of the love of Christ.

How are you showing to those around you that you are a Christian? What do your actions say about Christ?

Procrastination

At the moment I am trying to convince myself that I have work to do and that I should really get my assignment finished and out of the way so that I can do a lot of other, more productive things. But the thing is it is not due for another 3 weeks and I have the next 2 weeks off prac so that gives me LOTs of time to write it. To make matters worse it is a real pain of an assignment. Seriously, I have to go through each of the 'competencies' I am assessed on at my placements and write how I have demonstrated competency in each of these competencies for the areas of: Language, Speech, Swallowing, Voice and Fluency for both Adults and Children. Believe me when I say that it is horrible assignment.

For that reason I spend lots of time doing all sorts of other things. Some of that I can think of are:

• Watch all sorts of unnecessary videos on youtube, and then look at the related videos and watch some more.
• Making myself cups of tea, and drinking it too (of course)
• Spend time on Facebook looking at photos and talking to others.
• Looking at links people post (or like) on Facebook and then looking at other links
• Finalising a photo book as a present for a friend
• Making more tea
• Reading other peoples extremely waffly blog posts about car problems 
• Listening to music
• Sleeping in
• Fiddling around with what ever
• Eating food
• Making tea
• forgetting that I was making tea and then going back to making it again.
• Writing emails
• Drinking tea
• Talking. I do a lot of that actually, just talking. About anything that I can think of. We almost anything. And then when I start talking I don't normally stop in a hurry.
• Looking at SLR cameras online
• Buying more music and listening to it
• Many more things that I can't think of right now 
• And (as you can probably see) writing my own blog post.

Really, if you think about it I would probably be the queen of procrastination, or maybe at least one of the princesses. The problem is I know that I can do so many more exciting and wonderful things such as painting, drawing (although I left my sketch pad at work), playing my guitar, filling out my application for volunteering next year, planning my trip after volunteering next year, soaking up some of God's wonderful creation by going for a bush walk and lots of other things. I plan to do all of these after finishing my assignment. Only I have to stop procrastinating first.

We are called to live a life of glory and honour to God. "Whether you eat or drink, do it all to the glory of God." (I Cor 10:31). If I spend time procrastinating and avoiding my assignment I am guilty of not honouring God in what I'm doing. There are some days packed full of lots of different things, days where I am busy doing all different things, all things that have a purpose and in that purpose I am glorifying God. 

Now to get back to that assignment...... ... 

The Crayon Box That Talked

I came across this poem in some of the church papers I was reading today. I though it was a beautiful description of the command that we have to love one another.

The Crayon Box That Talked


While walking into a toy store the day before today


I overheard a crayon box with many things to say



"I don't like Red!" said Yellow and Green said "Nor do I"


"And no one here likes Orange but no one knows just why"



"We are a box of crayons that doesn't get along


Said Blue to all the others "Something here is wrong"



Well, I bought that box of crayons and took it home with me


And laid out all the colors so the crayons all could see



They watched me as I colored with Red and Blue and Green


And Black and White and Orange and every color in between



They watched as Green became the grass and Blue became the sky


The Yellow sun was shining bright on White clouds drifting by


Colors changing as they touched becoming something new


They watched me as I colored - they watched me till I was through



And when I finally finished I began to walk away


And as I did the crayon box had something more to say



"I do like Red!" said Yellow and Green said, "so do I"


And Blue you were terrific! So high up in the sky



"We are a box of crayons each one of us unique


But when we get together the picture is more complete"


By Shane deRolf 

All the crayons play a part in creating the picture, and in the same way, all of God's children play a part in his congregation. Everyone has a role to play and a gift to share. So next time you don't appreciate someone or don't like them, think again, they have an important role to play too.