Sing Praise

Music. One of the most powerful languages on earth. It's a language that everyone can speak mindless of where you are from. Together people from all around the world can sing praises to God and lift up his name on high.

Psalm 150:
Praise the LORD.

Praise God in His sanctuary;
   praise Him in his mighty heavens.
Praise Him for his acts of power;
   praise Him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet,
   praise Him with the harp and lyre,
praise Him with timbrel and dancing,
  praise Him with strings and pipe,
praise Him with the clash of cymbals,
  praise Him with resounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD

Praise the LORD.

There is so much that we have reason to praise the Lord for and as Psalm 150 says, music and musical instruments are such a great way that we can express this praise and joy for His wondrous works.

How are you singing praises to God today?

Mentoring

I haven't posted on here in a very long while. I don't have any sort of excuse for that, it's just happened but I do think that maybe I should take this up again. I should start spending more time meditating on Gods word and also sharing my thoughts, it helps me process what I read a bit better.

Just now I read an article published in the Reformed Perspective, a magazine published in Canada that we get here a month or two after the publishing date. The article itself was on the topic of mentoring. 

As younger members of the church and society, we have access to a lot of information. Information that we can gain via a quick google search, or by spending time soaking up the incredibly informative information found on Wikipedia. Information is at out finger tips, but this information doesn't always help us in our walk of life. 

The article, written by Michael J. Schout and titled Be Mentored, emphasises the necessity of turning to others who are more experienced in their faith and more mature, spending time with them an learning form them. It was a really great article and I suggest that if you can get your hands on it have a read of the wisdom that it has to offer. 

Reading the fine print at the end of the article now, it was originally published in The Outlook (which can be found at www.refromedfellowship.net) in the Novermber/December edition hopefully that can help you find it.

Love one Another

Love. It's a theme that comes back every now and then through my blog posts, but it is also a theme that is central to our lives as a Christian. God has shown us Amazing love and grace, (as we read in Romans 5:8 - God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us), and because we live in that love we love our brothers and sisters in Christ. We know what love is because Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our bothers and sisters (1 John 3:16)

We respond to the love of God with love ourselves. Our hearts should overflow with thankfulness and love for Him and we show that in our actions. One example of the actions that we do would be in keeping the 10 commandments. These are summarised in Matthew 22 where Jesus says: Love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, You shall love your neighbour as yourself. (vs 37-39). We love God and our neighbour. The two go together. Love for God for what he has done for us, and love for our neighbour because of what God has done for us.

In his book Generous Justice, Timothy Keller speaks about how it is only through our understanding of God's grace and in receiving of his love that we can give that same love to our neighbours. This is said in the context of providing justice and mercy to those in need but applies even more so to our church family. We have been shown the most amazing love, love that we didn't deserve, we must accept and understand that love so that we can show it to others.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:34

Project 365 grateful

Several weeks ago I was reading a blog post from someone somewhere (unfortunately I cannot remember as to provide a link) and they were speaking of a friend of theirs who posted a photo onto Facebook each day of the year of what she was thankful for.

This gave me an idea. So often I too am not thankful for what I have. I grumble, am not content, and always what something better while I am really not in any situation to do any of that. I am so richly blessed. So now, using Instagram (which one of my friends has been strongly encouraging me to get for a very long time now), I am challenging myself to stop, think and then take a picture of something that I am grateful for.

To think about something that God has given me and to remind myself that I have no reason to complain at all.

I just googled '365 grateful' and came up with a lot of links to blogs and such but I still think it is a really great idea. It makes us all stop and think of what we have, what we are grateful for and how great  and awesome our God really is.

Risking All that we Have

As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. "Truly I tell you," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave gift out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on." Luke 21: 1-4

This story from Luke 21 is a illustration of complete dependance on God. An example of risking everything for God. This widow gave everything that she had financially to God, she risked all her money for the service of God. Reading this we may see her actions as irresponsible and foolish. However, we are called to take risks in the service of God. Life itself is a risk and if we want to serve God we must continually step further out of our comfort zone to grow as a child of him. We must continually take risks

Now I could keep talking about this but most of what I want to say would be paraphrasing what John Piper says on the matter. See the link below for his sermon on Ch 21 of Luke. There he talks about taking risks for the service of God, how we must take risks in our lives for the service of God, we don't need to be comfortable, but what we do need to do is to serve God in everything that we do, and to take risks for him. Financial risks, relationship risks and risks for ministry.

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/risk-and-the-cause-of-god-today

Training

"Train yourself to be Godly. For physical training is of some value but Godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present and the life to come." 1 Timothy 4:7-8

Training. Not a word that I particularly like. It's something that I would associate with discipline, hard work and commitment. Things that I find difficult (especially when they are put all together). At the moment I am trying to build my fitness up, I'm not training for anything in particular but I try to run or workout every day, and that is really hard. My lazy human nature doesn't like the idea of pushing myself to to extra work each day. In the text written above (1 Tim 4:7-8). Paul talks about the value that training in Godliness has for us. There is value in training our bodies but even more value in training our hearts and souls to be Godly.

In her book Having a Mary Spirit, Joanna Weaver talks about training in godliness. She makes the comment that we like to be changed but we don't like to be challenged. We would love to be fitter, healthier and (probably) lighter than we are at the moment but we don't want to work at changing that, all the commitment and discipline that comes with the training scares us away. Even more so, we want to live more godly lives but we are lazy and don't want to work at changing our current lifestyle. We want an instant fix.

Singular purpose

Today I took out some library books. Not that that is really that amazing of an accomplishment but what I noticed is that they are all due back on my birthday. That means, in exactly three weeks time, I turn 22. Depending on who you ask, 22 is either a young and with my whole life ahead of me, or if you speak to my youngest brother, really old.

Mindless, of the fact that I'm going to be old or young, the point of this post is the comments and ideas lots of people around me have about being single at 22. Yes I did go to uni. I now have a degree, have done some travelling and am hoping to begin my career. That doesn't mean that I don't want to get married or find an amazing guy to spend the rest of my life with. I'm not saying that I hear these comments from everyone around me, I have an amazingly supportive group of friends and a great family who don't drop these hints at all.

Still, it's something that I think about a bit more now than I did a year ago. Some of my friends think and talk about it even more than I do and as a result we all get that little bit more discontent with where we have been placed in life. So what do I say to them? What do I say to my friends who are yet again talking about meeting guys or finding a boyfriend? What do I say to the well-meaning people in my Bible Study group who make comments regarding 'single females travelling and focussing on their career'? What do I say when someone makes a comment about 'homemaking' in contrast to a career? What do I tell myself when I start to doubt the plan God has for me?

To be honest, I don't know at all. But what I do know is God has an amazing plan for my life. Right now that plan does not include someone else and that opens a doorway for a whole variety of service in a different manner. Right now I might not be serving God in the role of motherhood and for all I know that might not happen for a while, but I can still serve God as an active single member in the congregation, reaching out to those in need. I can serve Him in the work place, witnessing to others of the great God I serve and doing everything to His honour and glory. I have the time and resources to volunteer in my local community, helping people and giving of what I have. I have opportunities to minister to people in other countries as I don't have any big commitments here. There are lots of other ways in which I can serve God without worrying about who 

Sometimes...

Sometimes things don't go according to the plan we have. Sometimes it's more than just sometimes that this happens. But then it's the fact that these things didn't go to plan that makes us stop and realise that God has a plan and his plan is amazing. 

I'm not really a planner but I did think that I had this year planned out. I would go travelling for the first half of the year and get an understanding of what is out there and then come back home, relax a bit and then get a job. The first bit of my plan went well but then I hit a bit of a bump. A pretty big one in the fact that I haven't got a job. It's been some time since I came home (over a month now) and the only work that I have done is write a dozen cover letters, some responses to selection criteria and some shifts where I worked while I was studying. Then today I got an email saying that the job interview that I had on Monday was unsuccessful. Yep. A big bump in the road. 

But then, when things don't go according to plan it's when we realise that God's plan is so much more amazing than ours could ever be. We are held in His hand and his plans and those plans are amazing. Nothing happens to us without the will of our heavenly Father. He controls everything. So instead of worrying about your plans and how they are turning out (or how they aren't) we should put everything in the hands of the Lord. It was a good reminder to have that today. The Lord is in control and his plan is amazing.

Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. Psalm 55:22

Let your requests be made known to God

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:6,7) 

It is so easy for us to worry, to be anxious and stress over what is happening in our lives. We worry about our relationships with friends, family and significant others; we stress over our studies and career or part time work, food, fitness, health, money, getting enough sleep, food, finding time to do everything, being happy, other people, and lots more things. The biggest thing that I worry about right now is finding a job. Our lives are full of stress and worry. We become anxious because we feel as if our life isn't working right and it all is going wrong.

But, we shouldn't worry. Paul tells us here in Phil 4 to be anxious for nothing. Nothing. Instead of worrying we should pray and lift our problems to God. In one of the books I am reading right now (A Praying Life, by Paul E. Miller), the author writes about how our worries should turn into prayers to God. Instead of worrying about our job we should instead lift it up to God in prayer. We should let all our worries and fears be made known to God.

By lifting our anxieties up to God we acknowledge that he is greater than our problems and we give them over to Him. We cant do anything with our problems but God can. He holds us in His hands and takes care of our worries and supplications. When we do that and when we rest in that knowledge we can stop worrying. The peace of God will guard our hearts and minds and we learn to trust in someone much greater than us.

Love your Neighbour

I was just going to write another post on loving our neighbour unconditionally. I wrote a part of it and then I realised that I had already written most of what I was writing. So instead of repeating myself, I have decided to think of a list of practical ways in which we can show love to our neighbours.

Loving our neighbours isn't easy to do. It is a big challenge to love unconditionally, to love those who don't show love in return. But if we start in the small ways then our love to others can grow.

Here I've listed three general ideas to begin with, and then following are some of my ideas for practical things that we can do

1. Reach out to others. Don't just talk to the same people that you always talk to - your friends. Step out of your comfort zone and be a friend to others. After church or Bible study, speak to someone that you might not normally talk to. Be a friend to them.
2. Listen. Listening to others is a great way to show that we care about them By this I don't just mean pretending to listen to others and then forgetting what they said, but actually take it in. Show that you understand and even empathise with them if they are speaking about something that might be bothering them
3. Look for needs that can be filled. It's easy enough to talk about filling need but actively look for people that you can help. Things that you yourself can do. Maybe it's mowing the lawn or making a meal or even just giving someone company.

Jesus told us to do unto others as we would have them do to us (Luke 6:27). Its not an easy thing to do but with the help of the Holy Spirit working in us we can. Some of the practical things that this can look like include:

• Smile. At others. It's amazing how a smile can change someones day, show them that someone cares.
• Buy a meal for a homeless person (don't just think about doing it) OR keep snacks in your bag so you have something to give them right there.
• Learn how to change a tire. Instead of thinking that we should help the car stuck on the side of the road, stop and help them. Carry jump leads for the same reason.
• Offer to babysit
• Mow your neighbours lawn
• Bake extra and give it to someone else.
• Pay for the person behind you in the drive through (or the person buying coffee after you etc..)
• Sit next to someone new in your Bible study group. Ask them how their week has been
• Pray for others
• Hold the door open for the person behind you
• visit a local nursing home and spend time with the elderly. They love it!
• Find somewhere local that you can volunteer at. Give as much time as you can however short or long it might be. For WA I found this website that might be helpful http://www.volunteeringwa.org.au/ otherwise your local church might also have some outreach programs set up.
• Ask questions when you talk to people, don't just talk about yourself
• Give up your seat on the train/bus
• Open up to others so they feel they can open up to you. Show that you are also vulnerable
• Be patient with others no matter how long they take
• Donate blood
• Help toursits or others who look lost (I've been on the receiving end here and it is greatly appreciated)

Step out of your comfort zone and reach out to those who God places in your path.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour other, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 

Unconditional love

We are saved because of God's great love for us. His great unconditional love for us. We didn't do anything, we cannot do anything that makes Him love us yet he loves us all the same.

In that same way we should love others. Because Christ laid down his life for us, because he loves us unconditionally, we should share that love. Christian love then is unconditional. It exceeds boundaries and has no expectations. We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). We love our brothers and sisters in christ, we love our friends in the work force, we love those who God puts in our path because of the wonderful gift of love that God has given us. 

How do we show that love? How do we show to others that we love them because of the love that we have been given?

God's artwork

U

The past several months I have had the amazing opportunity to travel and see some amazing sights. It was truly a real blessing and a wonderful experience. I was able to spend time in Thailand where I was in the magnificent jungles and on some beautiful tropical beaches. Then later in Europe I could see some amazing coutryside in Ireland, Germany, Turkey and Italy. The breathtaking Swiss Alps and the rugged coastline of Northern Ireland (including the Giants Causeway).

Now I love art. I took almost every opportunity I could while in Europe to see the artwork of others and to take as many photographs as i could to inspire my own art. But the beauty of what others have done and what I try to recreate cannot even begin to compare to the magnificent splendour of what God has done. Not only in Europe or Thailand or the amazing places that we have here in Australia, but all over the world he has given us so many different masterpieces and they are all there for us to enjoy.

What a great and awesome God we serve!

Learn to Discern

I will never forget one of the faded dog eared posters that we had hanging in the English classroom at school. I can still see it sitting there with the faded yellow words "Test the Spirits" on it. To be honest I'm not really sure why I remember it maybe it was because of the long hours we spent in that classroom or because we did have a large number of our TEE exams in there throughout year 11 and 12 and I would look around the classroom for inspiration and too see if anything had changed.

The words are important though. We must learn to be discerning,to test what we learn and compare it against what we know. We should all be able to evaluate what we hear, read and see and hold it up against the light of God's word. 

That is not to say that we should look over something because it may possibly have something contrary to our beliefs and understanding of Gods word, but rather we should look at these things and compare it with what we know as right. There may be parts of it that we find are not true or accurate but we can pass over them while still learning from the rest of what we have. Books, movies, speeches  and articles all present us with a collection of themes. We may not agree with all the themes but we can take and learn from those that we do agree with and pass over what we don't agree with.

God has given us the wonderful gift of his word. Study that and know it well so that you can use it to shine light upon what ever else you may read, watch or listen to.

Travelling,

So, at the moment I'm travelling the world and helping others. I won't be updating this blog much but you can look at my travel blog at footprints733.blogspot.com.

xxx

The way the light shines

It's raining at the moment. A little while ago there was a bit of a storm with some thunder and lightening  but now it has calmed dow and the sun is starting to peek through the clouds. The rain has slowed down and now its falling slow and steadily. Looking out the back window I can see it all falling down and soaking into the ground. But, if I look out the side window, it doesn't look like it's raining at all. It all depends on the angle I look at it and the way the light shines through. Looking out the front window I can even see a rainbow. The lights shining differently through those raindrops too, so that the whole colour spectrum can be seen.

The way God's light shines through us is like the way the light shines through the raindrops. Some people are like the raindrops I couldn't see. They might call themselves a Christian but you cant see this in their actions or the fruits of their actions. Others are like the raindrops that are sparkling in the light. The ones that I could see. They shine God's light in their lives and you can see this in their actions and the fruit of the Spirit that is evident in what they do. Then there is those Christians that are like the rainbow. A beautiful example of what the light of God can do with all of us. They might just be ordinary Christians, but the way in which God has used them, the way in which His light shines through them has made them stand out.

What sort of raindrop are you? Are you one that can hardly be seen, a Christian by name but the light of God is not visible in your life? Or does God's light shine through you in an beautiful array of colours like the rainbow? Are you a raindrop trying to be a part of the rainbow or are you content to just fall to the ground without being seen?

My prayer is that somehow and some small way, I can be a part of a rainbow. And I pray that everyone reading this may have the same prayer as me.

What do you do with what God has given you?

So I had set myself the challenge of spending the month of August thinking of ways that we can use our gifts for God. Now it is September, you can see how I lived up to that challenge. Still, that is not to say that I didn't think about what it means to give our gifts and how to use them for the glory of God.

One thing that did strike me and that I thought was worth sharing was the concept of stealing from God if we do not use our gifts in the right way. If we don't use the money that God has given us responsibly or in a way that is not demonstrating good stewardship we are stealing from God. If we don't use our talents to the best of our ability as God has commanded us, we are stealing from God. If we don't use the time God has given us to his glory, if we waste time, we are stealing from God because we are not using what he has given us in the right way.

This brings to mind the parable of the talents (Matt 25:14 - 30). In that parable, the servants who invest their talents and use their talents to the 'glory' of their master are rewarded and praised for what they do. But the servant who didn't do anything with what he had received had it taken from him and was "cast into the outer darkness". Everything that we have has been given to us from God and we have to invest it in a way that gives Him glory.

So, what do you do with what God has given you?

The Secret of Contentment

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. (Philippians 4:11-12)

If only... ... ... If only I had an amazing (real) leather jacket. If only I had more reading books (and an amazing library to put them all in). If only I was finished my uni degree. If only I were healthier and fitter. If only I didn't get sick so often. If only I were 5kg lighter. If only there were more time in each day. Does any of this sound like you? How often do we catch ourselves thinking about what we don't have, or what we aren't?

Last Saturday (the 4th of August) I went to the Perth Women's Convention and the topic was Contentment. It was an amazing day filled with motivational speeches and inspirational life stories. The speaker for the day was  Sarie King. She had three speeches, each of them focussing on a passage from the Bible which focussed on being content and how we have to work at being content.

So what is the secret of contentment. In Philippians, Paul says that he has learned to be content whatever the circumstances. Contentment is not based on our personality or the circumstances that we are in. Contentment is something that we have to learn. We have to learn to find contentment in every circumstance, despite the circumstances. So how do we learn to be happy and satisfied in all our circumstances?


As Jerry Bridges says in His book The Practice of Godliness: 
"Contentment is one of the most distinguishing traits of the godly person, because a godly person has his heart focussed on God rather than on possessions or position or power.
The idea of contentment in the Bible is most often associated with possessions or money, but ther are other areas of life in which we need to be content. After possessions, probably the most common need it to learn contentment with our place in society or in the body of Christ.
Still a third area that demands our practice of contentment is the providence of god in such varied circumstances such as physical limitations and afflictions, privations and unpleasant neighbours or living situations, trials and even persecutions. 

If we look at the next verse in Philippians 4, we read I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength (vs. 13). It is by the strength of Christ that Paul has learnt how to be content and it is in the same way that we can learn how to be content. We can find satisfaction regardless of our circumstances because Christ is working in us. Knowing that Christ is working in us, we can rest in the assurance that all things work together for those who love Him (Romans 8:28). We can be content and know that God is looking after everything. That is not to say that overnight we can be content. It is something that we should continue to work at because it doesn't come immediately. We have to grow in trust with God and know that we can give all the worry to Him, because he is in control.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, with prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7). Bring everything before God, knowing that he is in control. Know that we have everything we need in Him, He is sufficient for all.


**** The convention was run by the organisation Christian Conventions of WA (ccowa.org) and I strongly recommend that others become involved. There is a mens one coming up on the 8th of Sept on the topic of Temptation and there are other events that they run as well. Have a look at the website for more details.

Showing thankfulness for what we have been given

On this blog there are several posts about how much God has given us and how much we have to be thankful for. Last year, I went through 30 days, each day counting another blessing and there are also other posts speaking of how much we have been given and how our hearts should be overflowing with thankfulness for it all. There is so much that God has given us! There is so much that gives us reason to be filled with thankfulness and gratitude to God.

If we are given a gift that we love from a friend or family member, we show that we are thankful for the gift by using it with joy. How do we show that we are thankful for the gifts God has given us? How do we use these gifts? What does God command us to do with these gifts?

My challenge for myself, and to all of you reading this, is to focus on how we use the gifts that we have been given. Study the Bible to see what we are commanded to do with these gifts, read books and use them. Over the next month, I plan to post updates and ideas and passages from the Bible about how we are to use the gifts God has given us. I hope that you will also join me in this challenge.

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