Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Surprise

Yesterday morning I heard a vehicle come down our driveway and then back out quickly again…
Sounded like a courier van.
But it wasn’t…

Next minute my mate Chris from Auckland walks in through the door! Surprise! And it certainly was...
I never guessed he would just turn up to spend a day with me. That was a good surprise!
We got to spend some time hanging out.
Many hours were spent at Prawn Park catching as many little prawns as we could for a feed later in the day.

We all understand there are two types of surprise:
Good Surprises.
Bad Surprises.

Bad for me are things like surprise bills in the mail or some unexpected news of someone’s ill health, that sort of thing.
Good surprises will still leave you feeling a little caught off guard, but will make you feel good eventually.
They help make life that little bit more interesting…

God from what I have seen, seems to enjoy a good surprise every now and then.
He surprised a lot of people when the salvation He had planned for centuries appeared as a baby to begin with.
He surprised Pharaoh by displaying His power and glory by all the miraculous events that happened through Moses and Aaron.
He surprised me one day by introducing Himself to me when I was definitely least expecting it.
He will surprise the world in the future when He sends Jesus to come for His people.

One scripture we encourage ourselves with in our house is this one…
I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you. Leviticus 26:9 niv

God has promised to bless us with many good things in our lives, including being fruitful! One day it will come to us like a good surprise...and I can’t wait to be honest.
God has great things in store for you as well.
Good surprises...God surprises are being prepared for you this year

Something to think about…

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Clean Up

Maybe it was because of having some spare time?
Maybe it was because we had run out of space?
Whatever the reason, we decided the other day to start doing a big clean up.
That means a trip to the tip with junk from the garage.
That means rearranging the house a little and getting rid of things we don’t really need.
To be honest we should have done this ages ago!

While a clean up is messy and not that much fun, the end result of what our home could be like is the motivating factor.
I can imagine all the extra room in the garage.
I can picture less clutter.
That actually feels quite good.

Our lives can be like that can’t they?
Over time we can pick up things we didn’t really need.
We can pick up baggage that can start to slow us down.
One day you can wake up and realize things are just a little too messy for your liking?

As people, sometimes we need a clean up as well?
Time out to clear our some baggage.
Time to reset our priorities.
Time to get life a little tidier…

1 Timothy 4:16 says
Watch your life and doctrine closely...

Simply means it is a good idea to review your life sometimes and to make sure you are doing the right things, believing the right things.

Maybe this week you could take a few moments to pray and ask God is there is anything you need to clean up in your life.
Have the courage to follow through with what He might show you...it will make you feel a whole lot better.

Something to think about…

Friday, January 13, 2012

Note To Self...

Note to self...you are not always the best judge of your energy levels or your capacity.
You need to have something else at work in your life to make sure you don’t overdo things.
You need great advice.
You need people around you who will tell you to take a break. And they need to be people you will listen to!

When I first started training for sports events, I used to think you just had to work really hard. That you just needed to work harder and harder and then at the end of it all you would automatically succeed.
A friend I listened to was Lynette.
She told me that you need break weeks in your training to refresh yourself.
I listened. Found out she was right.
And things went well.

While I get the sports thing, I have to admit I am not so good at other areas. I love working hard and take pride in the fact I am not lazy.
But the flip side to that is that you can be blind to how tired you can be getting or where you need to schedule a break. This last week has reinforced that for me.

This year I want to be different in many ways…
I want to work real hard.
I want to play real hard.
And I want to rest real hard.

A great plan for me...and maybe a great plan for you?

Something to think about...

Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Topping

You would never know by looking at me that I grew up on a farm...
Farming and I were never destined to be a lifelong match so I decided as a teenager to be a Rockstar instead. Funny how now I am a Pastor of a cool Church here in Taupo.

When I was growing up on a farm, as soon as I could reach the pedals on a tractor I was put on one for hours a day.
I did every type of field tractor work there was including ‘topping’.
Topping is when you drive around cutting all the heads of the grass seed with a mowing type attachment.

One of these times I had just about completed a whole paddock after several hours, and briefly looked behind me to admire my handiwork. I loved seeing the mowing patterns made and took pride in how tidy I could make them.
Unfortunately I misjudged the gateway being so distracted and managed to mow right through a concrete fence post.

There is an old proverb that goes... ‘Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you’.
Great advice for ‘topping’ and for life!
As you enter a new year it is best I think to leave the old one behind.
In fact it is best to leave your past in the past.
You could even take it a step further and fix your gaze on Jesus in 2012...I bet you would never regret it!

Something to think about…