Wednesday, May 25, 2011

New

I think if we are all honest...we would say that new is best.

If someone offered you a new car vs a old car you will probably choose the new one. If someone offers you a new house...same thing.

If you read up on some of God’s thoughts on this, He seems to be into it as well...

God considers giving someone new wine special.
Genesis 27:28
God likes the offerings we give to be new, not old.
Leviticus 23:15-17
God likes us to make room for the new as he blesses us with more new.
Leviticus 26:10
God is into new songs being sung to Him.
Psalm 96:1
God likes to do new things.
Isaiah 43:19
He created a new covenant for us.
1 Corinthians 11:25
God offers us new life
Romans 6:4
We are made into a new creation.
2 Corinthians 5:17
God encourages us to put on a new self.
Ephesians 4:24
God is creating a new Heaven and Earth for us.
2 Peter 3:13

Pretty cool!
At this point some people get uneasy.
Am I saying old or familiar is bad?
I guess the balancing act is that we don’t become obsessed either way. We are encouraged to be content. But while you are being all spiritual by being content, don’t forget to look to the God who makes all things new!

Let’s pray that new comes into our lives and keeps us truly living and fresh.
Let’s pray our world gets to experience the newness that only God can offer.
Bring on the new I say!....

Something to think about…

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Pie

I am one of those people who really loves bacon and egg pie...like I really, really, really, love it!
I am also really fussy about what goes into my b&e happiness.
The crust is just a yummy wrapper for the hearty goodness that awaits me inside. If it doesn’t have bacon, eggs, peas and seasoning it just doesn’t do it for me.
If you add something else not on my wish list then it is simply not as good as it could be.
Add something gross and then the whole thing is ruined.

Here is my point.
The filling is really, really, really important.
At the end of the day you can have whatever wrapper around your life that you like.
Dress nice.
Upgrade your look.
Copy someone else to try and fit in.
Your filling is what eventually decides your fate.

So what is your filling?
What are you stuffing inside of you?
Is it hearty goodness or something less?

You know I am not talking about food right?
I am talking about what you put into your life. The relationships you keep and the style of them. The things you watch and entertain yourself with. What you listen to... They are fillings that you have inside you.

What I know about God is that he wants to fill me with good things. Refreshing things. Peace things. Hope things.

I think you are worth more than pie...so why not treat yourself to a great filling?
Get some of his Word into you (maybe by the Essential Jesus programme we have started?).
Get some time with great people who you can encourage and they in turn can encourage you.
Get yourself to Church and Connect Groups as much as you can.
Give away something of yourself so more freshness can be added.

By the way...did you know that I love bacon and egg pie?

Something to think about…

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Lies

A very young boy in a movie a few years back simply leaned over his birthday cake...blew out the candles...and made a wish.
That wish?
That his dad couldn’t lie for just one day!

That movie was a huge hit. Yes because it was funny, but it was also very relatable for everybody watching it. It was because if we were all honest, we have all been or are right now liars.
I haven’t met anyone yet who has never done it.
Our kids have tried to lie many times and as a parent you try and correct and teach from that point.

The world can be confusing for us...
An old boss of mine regularly asked me to lie in order to win a deal. He would say things like “it’s just business”, and I would go away praying asking God to help me find another way.
We regularly watch politicians lie or try to distort the truth for their own means. Sometimes to avoid getting into trouble and sometimes to get what they want.
We see people on consumer shows lie and deceive to avoid doing what is ‘right’.
Some people even watch different forms of entertainment where lies are just part of the plot.

So what about you and me?
Is it ok for a Christian to lie?
At what point does an exaggeration turn into a lie?
There are lots of a questions to this challenging little area.

Well here is the deal…
Don’t do it!
Simple I know, but as someone who is a disciple we are called to a higher standard of behaviour and living in general...so we can indeed be salt to our world.

Colossians 3:9 simply says...Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices

Don’t stone me for bringing this up…
Maybe it is an issue for you or of course ‘someone else you know….’
Let us have our yes be yes and our no be no.
That’s the way Jesus would like us to do things.

Something to think about…

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Wednesday, May 04, 2011

seat

Around a year a go I found a really cool chair.
It looks like something directly out of Star Trek.
Your know that chair that Captain Kirk sat in?
That is a very cool seat.
I regret not buying it when I had the chance…

Someone told me about a chair for sale today.
A chair in that same style.
I went to go have a look, but found I was too late.
Someone else managed to get it before me.

Where you sit.
What you sit on.
Seems to be really important to us.

When you go to the movies, most people want to sit near the back...maybe in the middle a bit?
I notice people who go to church like to sit in the same seat each week as well. Even when people visit us at home, there seems to be a seat they go for more than others.

Now to get all spiritual on you…
The Bible talks about chairs and seats as well.
It says that God sits down and is so big he can use the earth as a footstall.
In heaven God sits on a chair called a throne, with Jesus seated on one side.

Check this out…
19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
Ephesians 1:19-21
...And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:6

God is interested in where you are sitting more than you think.
To the point where he wants the basis of your life to be seated in heaven, because that is where he ultimately wants you to be.
That is the foundation of your life.
Now if you start from heaven itself in a spiritual sense that means you have everything already. It means we can live out of that place and all the privilege and position it gives us.
Where you are sitting...is really important!

Something to think about…