How do you find God? Where is Jesus?
These are questions I have heard many times.
There is that classic line from the movie Forrest Gump, where the now wheelchair bound Lt Dan asks Forrest "have you found Jesus yet Gump", to which he replies "I didn't know he was lost!"

But how do you find God?
Is he living in heaven millions of light years away?
If he is so far away, how are we supposed to have a relationship with him?

The Bible talks about God not in terms of being far away, but in actually being right here, right now!
In Genesis, the very first book if the Bible, it says that God was around to create the world, that his spirit hovered over the waters (Gen1:2).
It also says this really cool phrase regarding the time when the people of earth decided to build a really big tower..."the Lord came down to see the city and the tower" (Gen11:5).
That doesn't sound like a God watching from a distance!

Gods plans have never changed. From the beginning of time he has been working to get closer to us.
He walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day (Gen3:8-9). It was something he wanted to do, something he looked forward to do.
Now he is doing the same...

God isn't just looking for you to check up on you and tell you off or stuff like that...
He is looking for you because he, the creator of the universe, wants to spend time with you.
So when we talk about spending time with God, it is not about looking for him!
It is about being in a position where you can realise he is already there...

For each of us that 'position' can be different. For some it doing some sort of outside sporty thing, while others it sitting quietly on your own. I know for me, it is when I go for a walk, or when I worship with my guitar.

I used to think that if I read the Bible completely a few times through that maybe I would find it hard to still read.
Like if you have a favourite novel. Once you have read it once or twice it stays on a shelve because you can't bring yourself to read it again. Not many people have read War or Peace or the Lord of the Rings Trilogy many more times than once, because it lived for you once. You may have loved the experience...but it is never the same again.

The weird thing with the Bible is that I have read it through at least 4 times completely (no, I am not boasting, just illustrating my eventual point) and I am still learning stuff from it all the time. Currently I have been working my way through Proverbs and have got stuck on one chapter. In chapter 18 I am reading the same passage again and again.
Now I haven't gone crazy. It is just that no matter how much I read, it still comes alive for me.
One particular verse has caught my imagination. It is challenging me and provoking my life.

The Bible actually says in the Book of Hebrews that "the word of God is living and active"

God promises us that it should never get boring. That his word will always be something that is alive and doing something.
So what is doing? That same verse in Hebrews talks about the Word of God getting deep into our lives. Deeper than any earthly thing can go. God's word will feed you from the inside out. It is not something you apply to your skin and hope it will change you.

So whatever you read this week, whether one verse or many...
Can I encourage you to let this living word get into your life and feed you, help you, inspire you and make you more and more like Christ.

Isn't it always the simple/small things that stand out in our every day lives.
If you think back over your day so far, what can you remember? I bet it is stuff like whether you were late for work, or the fact you forgot something or maybe someone said something to you that helped you to get through the day.

When someone says something that helps, it is simply called 'encouragement'.

Now, after many years of searching, I have not found anyone that doesn't like some 'encouragement'.
We may shrug our shoulders and act a little embarrased when someone does it for us, but we really do like it!
Man, I would say that I love it!!!

The little notes people send me, the emails, the comments in person, can stick with you for more than that moment.
They can lift you up for days, weeks, even years!!!
Things my old youth pastor said to me and shared with me set the course of my adult life up to now. He had no idea that it would have such a lasting effect.

For me personally, the encouragement many of you have shared with me keeps me going. It helps me to go further with what God has called me, even what it gets tough. I only hope we can be this to each other all our days. We all need it. It is part of the fuel of life.
A discouraged person is empty even if their tummy is full.

The Bible says this...
1 Thessalonians 5:11 (niv)
"encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing"

Finally here is a little link to something you might find 'encouraging'...

I mentioned last week about Jack going to school now...
Well that is a new part of my daily routine. I take Jack to school on my way to work, which I really enjoy.
For at least 10 minutes it is just us two...our little time together.

On monday we were driving there and Jack asks me a question...
"Daddy, how can I go to heaven, cause I don't know how to get there."
What made this question a pivotal one is that Jack was getting upset thinking about it. He was truly concerned he was going to miss out because he didn't know the directions. He knows simple things like where Nana's house is, where the school is...basically because he has already been there many times before. But in his mind he was panicing...because he hadn't been to heaven before.

So here I am...on the spot, feeling like I have 2 seconds to give him the perfect answer and I have no idea what to say!
I open my mouth and these words just fall out...
"Jack, you know that when you die your body stops right?"
"Yes Daddy"
"Well God also made you with a spirit that lives inside you and can never die. When you body stops your spirit knows how to get to heaven, so you don't need to worry about it"

Jack was stoked with my answer. I was simply stoked that I had a answer!

The Bible says this statement:
"be prepared in season and out of season" (2tim4:1-3)

God wants you to have answers for people when they really need some answers...

So how do you get prepared/be prepared?

If you want to have have answers you need two things:
To know some of the "Word"
Notice I didn't say the whole bible. I would encourage to learn as much as you can at whatever stage of your walk you are at. Keep learning, studying, letting it get into you. That is a well you can then draw from.
Trust that the Holy Spirit will guide you
The Bible talks about the Holy Spirit helping us with answers when we don't know what to say.
So just trust that that will actually happen for you.

An amazing thing I have found is that the answers affect you and the hearer.
When God uses you like this you learn at the same time.
There is also an amazing feeling for you when you are a mouth piece for God. Nothing else matches that feeling.

Don't be afraid to let God use you...you will actually enjoy it!

My holiday was a little different this time. Jack turned five at the end of January and started primary school along with the school term beginning. Now what I am about to share may mean more to the parents out there, but I know it will means something to all of you???

The first day was something I will never forget!
Here is my 'little buddy' off to school. It only seems like yesterday that he was a premature baby struggling to live. Now he is this little guy hungry to learn and start a new phase of his life. I will admit I found it hard. All his 5 years of life I have helped him, loved him, cared for him...and now he is beginning a phase I can support yes, but also only watch from a distance. I can't be there every day/all day of school. And that thought hit me as I walked to the school gate after leaving him there. I told Suze to talk about anything else but Jack, so that I didn't loose it. Sunglasses can hide so much!

Isn't this like life?
We spend so much time in similar circumstances that changing those circumstances can be very uncomfortable in deed!
Jack needs to go to school for him to develop into the man that God will make him. As a parent I have to let go a little. It is a new season. The old one is gone and will never be again. And it is exciting and upsetting at the same time.

Seasons are weird. Some of us have favourites, but they are always changing. You never see one season for all your life.
Imagine if it stayed summer all the days you are on this earth...you would cry out for a break from heat!
Imagine if you stayed at high school all your life...you would go insane!
God knows how we need seasons/change and brings it about just when we need it. We don't need to understand it, it just happens.

Trust God and his seasons for your life.
He knows your beginning from your end and is committed to you, to bless you and make you more and more like him.

Jack trusts his 'daddy' that this season is good for him...

Ecclesiastes 3 (niv)
1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
9 What does the worker gain from his toil?
10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men.
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time.
He has also set eternity in the hearts of men;
yet they cannot fathom what
God has done from beginning to end.
12 I know that there is nothing better
for men than to be happy and do good while they live.
13 That everyone may eat and drink,
and find satisfaction in all his toil
—this is the gift of God.