I bought xbox game on trademe the other day.
You probably will know that feeling of winning the auction and then the excited anticipation of waiting for your goods to arrive...
My excitement was higher than normal because I thought I had got such a fantastic deal!
So the other night when it arrived I got right into it as fast as I could.
Chucked the game on...
Looked at the manual...
And found the manual was so incomplete that I was at a lose to know how certain parts of the game worked.
I will learn over time, but it will have to be by lots of trial and error...
Which got me thinking...
Do we as people have the same issues?
Are you living your life by an incomplete user guide or do you have the whole thing?
Well the good news is that you do have access to one.
It is the Bible.
Now it won't tell you what colour socks to put on the morning, but it does give you what you need to make rights choices in life.
If you read it and let it into your life, over time you will have a knowledge base that will never let you down.
Read Esther and you will see that if you do what is right, not matter what the risk….that God will come through for you!
Read Ruth and you will see God’s heart for people, even if they don’t ‘naturally’ belong.
...the examples are endless.
In a song that David wrote, he says that he has hidden the word of God in his heart so that he might not sin.
David let the word of God into his life. He let it guide him as much as possible. He recognized the power it had to help him make right choices. And it can do the same for you if you let it!
In the immortal and paraphrased words of Dory from the movie Nemo…
“Just keep reading, just keep reading…”
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
A bus said sorry to me recently…
No I haven’t lost the plot completely!
But while I was driving down the motorway towards the city, a bus drove by the other way with that sorry word emblazoned on the front. You know, those little signs above the front widescreen which normally tell you where the bus is heading…
I had a little chuckle to myself.
I mean, why did they need that phrase on the bus as it drove at 100km down the road. Did they think people would be standing along the side of the motorway waiting to flag a passing bus down?
Later that day it started to rain real heavy…
As I drove down a busy road, a car turned in front of me and I got a little upset at them for supposedly cutting me off.
But then I realised I had left my indicator going, so they thought I was going to turn. I in fact was in the wrong.
Then that little word came out my mouth…Sorry!
I actually wished they could have heard me.
I wanted them to know I made a mistake, and that I felt bad about it. They probably continued on muttering under their breath about me being an idiot or worse!
And doesn’t it make you want to spit tacks when someone scratches your car in carpark. It is worse when they don’t leave a note or anything...it is like that are not sorry that they did it.
That simple word sorry is very powerful!
When someone offends you, hurts you...just their coming and saying sorry seems to make a difference.
You can probably thinks of times when you just wished someone said it to you...
The Bible talks about us dealing with stuff together.
That we should sort things out with people who have hurts us.
That we should confess our sins to one another…
...so that God can refresh us!
So this week, if you make a mistake...say sorry!
Give it a go...
No I haven’t lost the plot completely!
But while I was driving down the motorway towards the city, a bus drove by the other way with that sorry word emblazoned on the front. You know, those little signs above the front widescreen which normally tell you where the bus is heading…
I had a little chuckle to myself.
I mean, why did they need that phrase on the bus as it drove at 100km down the road. Did they think people would be standing along the side of the motorway waiting to flag a passing bus down?
Later that day it started to rain real heavy…
As I drove down a busy road, a car turned in front of me and I got a little upset at them for supposedly cutting me off.
But then I realised I had left my indicator going, so they thought I was going to turn. I in fact was in the wrong.
Then that little word came out my mouth…Sorry!
I actually wished they could have heard me.
I wanted them to know I made a mistake, and that I felt bad about it. They probably continued on muttering under their breath about me being an idiot or worse!
And doesn’t it make you want to spit tacks when someone scratches your car in carpark. It is worse when they don’t leave a note or anything...it is like that are not sorry that they did it.
That simple word sorry is very powerful!
When someone offends you, hurts you...just their coming and saying sorry seems to make a difference.
You can probably thinks of times when you just wished someone said it to you...
The Bible talks about us dealing with stuff together.
That we should sort things out with people who have hurts us.
That we should confess our sins to one another…
...so that God can refresh us!
So this week, if you make a mistake...say sorry!
Give it a go...
Saturday, July 28, 2007
I read a story this week that really intrigued me!
It was all about a time in the history of the Israelites where they once again wanted to turn back to God.
Yes, I know there are plenty of examples of that happening…
But this one was a little different and it certainly got me thinking!
This was during the days where the Israelites were slowly returning from captivity. Ezra was a leader of a new group of returning exiles. He came back to Jerusalem with tons of silver and gold, intent on restoring the temple and hopefully the nation of Israel to some degree.
What he saw really bothered him.
He noticed that the current Israelite inhabitants were married to ‘foreign women’. They had given their sons and daughters in marriage to anyone else around them. For Israel this was something God had asked them not to do.
So what was the solution to issue?
Well they made the decision to get ‘rid’ of their wives if they were not Israelite! Which really impacted me.
It made me wonder what that would have been like?
I could imagine the distress for the families.
I could imagine the pain this caused.
The stress of having to make a call that would have been horrendous!
I sat there wondering how that story has application for my life right now?
Then a scripture came to mind…
Hebrews 12:1
...let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
All of will have times where we come to reflect on the state of our walk with Christ, the state of our lives. At those times you can realize an area of sin or something that is slowing you or restricting you in God.
God’s advice to us hasn’t changed!
Don’t go there to start with.
But if you have, get rid of it! Throw it off!
Make the change that you need to, so you continue to grow in God.
Can I encourage to simply pray and ask God if there is anything holding you back at the moment?
If there is, throw it away...
It was all about a time in the history of the Israelites where they once again wanted to turn back to God.
Yes, I know there are plenty of examples of that happening…
But this one was a little different and it certainly got me thinking!
This was during the days where the Israelites were slowly returning from captivity. Ezra was a leader of a new group of returning exiles. He came back to Jerusalem with tons of silver and gold, intent on restoring the temple and hopefully the nation of Israel to some degree.
What he saw really bothered him.
He noticed that the current Israelite inhabitants were married to ‘foreign women’. They had given their sons and daughters in marriage to anyone else around them. For Israel this was something God had asked them not to do.
So what was the solution to issue?
Well they made the decision to get ‘rid’ of their wives if they were not Israelite! Which really impacted me.
It made me wonder what that would have been like?
I could imagine the distress for the families.
I could imagine the pain this caused.
The stress of having to make a call that would have been horrendous!
I sat there wondering how that story has application for my life right now?
Then a scripture came to mind…
Hebrews 12:1
...let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
All of will have times where we come to reflect on the state of our walk with Christ, the state of our lives. At those times you can realize an area of sin or something that is slowing you or restricting you in God.
God’s advice to us hasn’t changed!
Don’t go there to start with.
But if you have, get rid of it! Throw it off!
Make the change that you need to, so you continue to grow in God.
Can I encourage to simply pray and ask God if there is anything holding you back at the moment?
If there is, throw it away...
Thursday, February 01, 2007
I bought a new shirt the other day…
It wasn’t the sort I would normally choose.
The colour, style, even pattern is a little different from my usual look.
While I stood in the shop looking at it I had a number of thoughts...
Do I want to try something new?
What will others think, especially my wife?
Will I like it once I have taken it home, or will I regret it?
Well I obviously pushed through the thoughts and bought it.
At the end of the day I wanted something new in my life.
I wanted to push myself a little out of my comfort zone.
It reminds me of some stuff that God says…
Psalm 33:3
Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.
Psalm 40:3
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.
Isaiah 42:9
See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you."
Isaiah 43:19
See, I am doing a new thing!
Isaiah 65:17
"Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.
1 Corinthians 5:7
Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
I guess by now that you get the idea that God is into new?
Sometimes the new can be scary, because it is not what you are used to.
As we begin 2007, how about asking God for something new in your life.
I think that is his heart for you!
You don’t have to accept the same old things as last year.
Try something new.
Maybe try something that is scary, not because it is bad, but because it is going to grow you and stretch you.
So how about asking God for something new to do or something new from him in your life?
I dare you!
It wasn’t the sort I would normally choose.
The colour, style, even pattern is a little different from my usual look.
While I stood in the shop looking at it I had a number of thoughts...
Do I want to try something new?
What will others think, especially my wife?
Will I like it once I have taken it home, or will I regret it?
Well I obviously pushed through the thoughts and bought it.
At the end of the day I wanted something new in my life.
I wanted to push myself a little out of my comfort zone.
It reminds me of some stuff that God says…
Psalm 33:3
Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.
Psalm 40:3
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.
Isaiah 42:9
See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you."
Isaiah 43:19
See, I am doing a new thing!
Isaiah 65:17
"Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.
1 Corinthians 5:7
Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
I guess by now that you get the idea that God is into new?
Sometimes the new can be scary, because it is not what you are used to.
As we begin 2007, how about asking God for something new in your life.
I think that is his heart for you!
You don’t have to accept the same old things as last year.
Try something new.
Maybe try something that is scary, not because it is bad, but because it is going to grow you and stretch you.
So how about asking God for something new to do or something new from him in your life?
I dare you!
Thursday, January 25, 2007
When I was growing up I loved the idea of ‘space’…
No not time away from everyone, but that amazing stuff we see more clearly in the night sky!
I grow up on a diet of books, movies and my uncles national geographic magazines about the moon race and landings.
I knew of a comet called Haley and was really looking forward to it coming...but it was a huge disappointment for me. You didn’t see much and it was probably around then that my dream of becoming an astronaut one day died…
Now here we are 21 years later, and a comet is in the sky.
Not a comet that anyone thinks has been past us before, but a one off
special...and boy does it look good.
Jack (my oldest boy) is a huge space fan, and thinks this comet is
‘so amazing’.
Last night Suze and I took the boys and a little friend to the Stardom Observatory. We sat quietly in a presentation learning about how big space is.
My kids were amazed at the stars and how it all seemed to fit together somehow.
Then I have the opportunity to think about what I am seeing…
It is actually quite hard to get your head around!
The whole idea that we live on a planet that in the perspective of the universe is a dust spot.
The Bible even says “that the earth is the Lords footstool”
OK, you don’t see God’s feet hanging over head, but it is a perspective thing.
Just how big is the world outside of our little world?
And how amazing it is that God has shaped all things in his vision to one minute point in
the Cosmos?
That in all the beauty in Gods sight, he chooses to focus on us first and foremost...
So as you look at the final days of McNaught’s Comet...think on how amazing God really is…
How much more important you are too him, than all he has created!
No not time away from everyone, but that amazing stuff we see more clearly in the night sky!
I grow up on a diet of books, movies and my uncles national geographic magazines about the moon race and landings.
I knew of a comet called Haley and was really looking forward to it coming...but it was a huge disappointment for me. You didn’t see much and it was probably around then that my dream of becoming an astronaut one day died…
Now here we are 21 years later, and a comet is in the sky.
Not a comet that anyone thinks has been past us before, but a one off
special...and boy does it look good.
Jack (my oldest boy) is a huge space fan, and thinks this comet is
‘so amazing’.
Last night Suze and I took the boys and a little friend to the Stardom Observatory. We sat quietly in a presentation learning about how big space is.
My kids were amazed at the stars and how it all seemed to fit together somehow.
Then I have the opportunity to think about what I am seeing…
It is actually quite hard to get your head around!
The whole idea that we live on a planet that in the perspective of the universe is a dust spot.
The Bible even says “that the earth is the Lords footstool”
OK, you don’t see God’s feet hanging over head, but it is a perspective thing.
Just how big is the world outside of our little world?
And how amazing it is that God has shaped all things in his vision to one minute point in
the Cosmos?
That in all the beauty in Gods sight, he chooses to focus on us first and foremost...
So as you look at the final days of McNaught’s Comet...think on how amazing God really is…
How much more important you are too him, than all he has created!
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