Love and Forgiveness

We often assume it’s easy for god to love us. ‘It doesn’t matter what I do because god will forgive me, after all god is love’. Quite rightly god is love and his love endures forever but it’s dangerous to take this for granted and mistreat his gift of love. In Hosea 3v1 Hosea is instructed to go back to his adulterous wife and love her just as god loves those that turn away from him. Now I haven’t been in Hosea’s position but I can appreciate how difficult it is to forgive and truly love someone who has been adulterous. Trust is weakened and fear increased, it’s hardly the stuff of a solid relationship. But in our relationship with god we are on the other side of the fence. We are the ones who turn away from him time after time and do the things we know are wrong. The amazing part is that god doesn’t respond in the way we would do with fear or distrust. He accepts our mistakes and welcomes us into his outstretched arms.

How often do we appreciate what this means? I pray today that wherever you are and whatever is on your heart you will take time to reflect upon loving and forgiving. Thank god that he loves you so much that he sent his son to die in order to be in a relationship with you leading to eternal life. God firstly loves, then he gives us his full forgiveness, so must we.

Sand on the Sea Shore

Hosea 1v10 says that the Israelites will be like sand on the sea shore, which cannot be measured or counted. As I am currently on a beach holiday this verse really jumped out at me. Having spent the week at different areas of the coast and on various beaches I am greatly aware of just how much sand there is and how many grains it takes to make up a beach. The more I though about this the more connections I saw between sand and people. One their own grains of sand can be fairly ineffective and even arraying when they get in unwanted places. But together as part of one body they create a space where millions of people want to spend their time. Sand is also very versatile and looks different in different weather. Perhaps I’m overdoing the analogies now, but each grain of sand has travelled a different course and each has a story to tell. Yet to say we are like grains of sand doesn’t mean we are unimportant and insignificant. Together we can make a castle or be moulded into beautiful glass products. We can do anything we set our minds to if we work together.

Perhaps even more amazing when thinking about the sand analogy is that it gives us perspective on how small we are. Yet in Mathew 10v30 we learn that god has counted every hair on our head and he knows us intimately. It is humbling when we realise how small we are and yet we have a god that cares for us. So much so he sacrificed his only son just for ‘little old me’. Next time you begin to feel insignificant and small I pray that you will remember that however small you feel you are precious to god, so much so that he went to the cross just for you as if you were the last grain of sand in the world. We might feel small but god is big and this is enough for me!

Look and Listen

The other day I heard a talk about Philip and the Ethiopian (Acts 8v26). The talk was about looking and listening which really got me thinking. Those that don’t know Jesus, even if they want to, might not know where to look. So often I can’t be bothered to search for lost things, its much easier to ask someone else if they know where it might be, but its not always easy to ask about Jesus. I also realised how quickly I give up on looking for things if I don’t get the answers straight away. I’m not really sure who reads these blogs but I really feel that I should share something of Jesus just to help anyone who might be looking. I don’t claim to be any good in my explanation but here we go.

As a Christian I believe that we were made to be in relationship with God, that’s how he designed us. But because we are only human we messed up and damaged the relationship. God loved the world and the people in it so needed a plan to reconcile the relationship. To do this he sent his son, Jesus, to earth and although he lived a perfect life he sacrificed himself on the cross. This was because the real consequence of all our wrongdoings should be death, so Jesus died so we don’t have to. All we have to do is accept Jesus in our lives and our debt is paid. We can once again enter into a relationship with god.

Does it seam fair? Well maybe it does maybe it doesn’t but I know I make a lot of mistakes and I wouldn’t want to face the consequences for them. Jesus paid for all my mistakes so I can live in freedom.

Now if your reading this as a Christian you may have been picking out my mistakes or criticising how I presented the story. Alternatively you may have scanned over it thinking that you know it all already. I’m no saying these responses are incorrect but I want to challenge why you responded in that way. I pray that you will consider your attitude to hearing the gospel and maybe think more about what it means in your life today. We should never tire of hearing the amazing news of what our father did for us. We should never deny anyone the opportunity to hear and we should never take what we have for granted.

Thank you Lord for sending Jesus into the world
Thank you Lord that the price has been paid
I’m sorry Lord for all the wrong that I have done and will continue to do
Thank you for your gift of forgivenessThank you Lord Jesus, Thank you

Gods perfect Timing

Have you ever felt like everyone around you has something or is doing something and you’re not included? I seem to have reached an age where lots of my friends are getting engaged and planning weddings. Of course not everyone’s engaged but everyone seems to know where they’re heading and have jobs or secure futures. I on the other hand, am living in a world of uncertainty not know what’s going to come up next. Don’t get me wrong I’m very happy for my friends and this is not a blog about self pity. Being in this situation has just caused me to reflect on timing and planning. It’s difficult to know what the best choices are but really we are very lucky because god has everything planned and however hard we try or whatever mistakes we make, we cant mess up his perfect plan for our lives. Gods timing is always right. He knows what we truly need and when we need it. What’s more he doesn’t just know this he act on it and provides for us, often so much more than just what we need. Although it’s hard when others have what you desire I am trusting that I’m in this situation for a reason. I’m not sure what god has in store for me over the next few months and years but I’m trusting that in his perfect timing it will be revealed to me. You can look upon uncertainty with excitement or fear. I’m going for the first one – a child of God walking with him and trusting in his perfect plan. (well that’s what I’m trying to do anyway)

There’s a time for everything (Ecclesiastes 3)

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the sun,
A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
A time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
A time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
A time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
A time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace,

This is a commonly used passage (not always with good effect) but what’s important is that whatever we are going through god is there with us, guiding us and watching over every situation we find ourselves in. there is NOT a time when god isnt there with us!

Explaining the time delay

Ok, so it’s a long time since I set this up and I haven’t been updating it but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been blogging. Confused? Well I have been writing about various topics, but I’ve been too scared to upload them. You may think that’s silly, well yes I guess it is a little silly but one of my biggest fears is of people passing judgment on me and so that’s really the reason for me taking my time in uploading the blogs. Anyway, I’ve decided to do this regardless of what other people may think and I hope and pray that one of these days an inspiration of mine will speak to you and really help you on your journey of life.

Water

One of the most memorable things about being in India was the lack of water. The monsoon season was about a month late and although it was not a ‘drought’ there was a water shortage of extremes I could have never understood without being there. During our first few days we were asked to conserve water, which we did, but only in the most basic ways (eg shorter showers, not leaving taps on etc). To be quite honest I didn’t understand the seriousness of the water conservation and we didn’t really do enough. A few days later the water ran out. Bottled drinking water was bought in but apart from that we had only enough for essentials. Now until you have been in such a situation you probably don’t know how much water is used and wasted without really trying. We had to stop having showers, flushing the toilet, washing up, and so the list went on. When water began falling from the sky it was a mission to get all available containers outside and under any drains and drips so that we had enough for essential activities. After we collected a bucket of water (of which we tried to ration) a friend of mine washed my hair over the sink, we collected the soapy water in another container, which was then used for 2 people to shave their legs and finally was used to flush the toilet. Before this trip I didn’t know how a toilet works and how much water it needs to flush, and although I’m still no expert I certainly learned a lot about how water is used. I’m not sure I have a strong Christian message from this account, apart from that this really highlighted to me how much we have that we don’t appreciate. Now I know exactly how much water is needed to flush a toilet, to brush teeth to wash hair etc etc. God has provided us with so much, we need to step back and thank him for this. Living in the west we are so fortunate and yet so, so ungrateful.

Praise God from whom all blessing flow,
Praise him all creatures here below,
Praise him above ye heavenly hosts,
Praise Father, Son and Holy ghost.

Knowledge leads to excitement

That’s quite a bold statement but I think I have to agree. Next week I’m going to India and up until today I’ve been worrying about various things and feeling majorly underprepared. But today my visa came (Hallelujah! That was a major headache) and I also received my itinerary. Now that I know that I can actually enter the country and I am aware of the activities we are going to be doing I’ve really started to get excited. I don’t think I had realised how the not knowing had contributed to my anxiety and then the knowledge lead to excitement.
This can relate to the Christian life too. When we don’t know things or we don’t understand them it can make us anxious. Then as we discover and learn more our excitement grows. Recently I’ve been really interested by the book of revelation. I hadn’t previously thought much about heaven and the first reading scared me a little. Nevertheless, once I started reading I found that I had a lot of questions and as I learned more my excitement grew. Luckily for me, I had some very patient people who were able to discuss these things with me and answer my questions. Now I’ve gained some knowledge I’m not as anxious and I’m worrying less about my lack of knowledge. I’m aware there’s still so much I don’t understand and that I still have to learn but I’m excited and, I’m probably not making much sense but, I just want to encourage you to ask questions and find out more. I truly believe that learning and gaining knowledge leads directly to excitement. What do you want to know more of? What excites you? Don’t be afraid to ask the questions, find someone you can be honest with and grow in knowledge and excitement together. I’m praying for you xx.