Maybe this could be what you need to hear today?
I would like to encourage you to put a stake in it!
What I mean is this...
That if you have a past you are not proud of or happy about, a season of life you want to move past, something that just hasn't been working for you...put a stake in the ground today. Thrust a spiritual marker post in the dirt and create a demarcation from the old and move step into the new.
The moment you do this in faith and add the most important component, Jesus Christ, you can become what scripture promises - you can become a new creation, the old is gone, the new can come.
I truly hope this isn't coming across as to simplistic?
It is just that many struggle to let some key things, moments, hurts etc go...
I am not saying to walk away from a difficult season to simply escape. We have to be careful not to run away from a 'work' God might be doing in us.
My 'simple thought' is that if right now your history is not helping but hindering you, make that history history!
Find your identity in Christ.
Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you with words and opportunities.
And keep that stake in your rearview mirror...
Peter had to put a stake in the ground and move past being a denier of Christ to a preacher of the Gospel. Maybe becoming Jesus most vocal defender?
Paul had to put a stake in the ground and move from destroying the Church to being key to building the Church.
What will a stake in the ground do for you and who you are destined to become?
Something to think about...
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
What are you waiting for?
Paul is pretty famous in the Bible! But the beginning of his faith journey was pretty dramatic and not at all that smooth and comfortable.
After meeting Jesus supernaturally on a back road, where he actually ended up blind, he finds himself not long after in the home of very godly man.
Check out one of the things this man says to Paul...
And now what are you waiting for?
Get up, be baptised and wash your sins away,
calling on his name.’ Acts 22:16 NIV
As I was thinking about what to share with you this week, that phrase was in my spirit.
What are you waiting for?
So right now I wonder what you might be waiting for?
I have noticed many don't have a major issue with being part of a faith based family like a Church or a youth group.
In our christian culture you can many times find it to be a safe place, a place to enjoy, to find meaningful social engagement, even find some entertainment.
As part of this group many then identify as being a follower of Jesus.
Again many don't fuss too much over this "christian thing" during the other 6 days of the week, but come Sunday, if life and opportunities don't attract them elsewhere - they will be back into a Church.
Paul didn't just meet Jesus.
His life was totally transformed by Jesus.
And he wanted nothing else but to be part of Gods big plan!
The last thing he wanted was a safe place, he wanted to respond!
When Ananias uttered those words to Paul he didn't hesitate.
In fact for the rest of his life he continued to repsond.
He spent his days in glorious adventure with God.
God didn't seem to need to remind him to stop waiting and get up...cause he was already gone in a very good way!
So again today - what are you waiting for?
Get up my friend and enter into the Kingdom with everything you have. Don't wait.
People may not write about you like Luke did of Paul, but your life can have a lasting eternal impact if you stop waiting, get moving, believing, acting in faith.
I believe in you and God believes in you even more than that!
Something to think about...
After meeting Jesus supernaturally on a back road, where he actually ended up blind, he finds himself not long after in the home of very godly man.
Check out one of the things this man says to Paul...
And now what are you waiting for?
Get up, be baptised and wash your sins away,
calling on his name.’ Acts 22:16 NIV
As I was thinking about what to share with you this week, that phrase was in my spirit.
What are you waiting for?
So right now I wonder what you might be waiting for?
I have noticed many don't have a major issue with being part of a faith based family like a Church or a youth group.
In our christian culture you can many times find it to be a safe place, a place to enjoy, to find meaningful social engagement, even find some entertainment.
As part of this group many then identify as being a follower of Jesus.
Again many don't fuss too much over this "christian thing" during the other 6 days of the week, but come Sunday, if life and opportunities don't attract them elsewhere - they will be back into a Church.
Paul didn't just meet Jesus.
His life was totally transformed by Jesus.
And he wanted nothing else but to be part of Gods big plan!
The last thing he wanted was a safe place, he wanted to respond!
When Ananias uttered those words to Paul he didn't hesitate.
In fact for the rest of his life he continued to repsond.
He spent his days in glorious adventure with God.
God didn't seem to need to remind him to stop waiting and get up...cause he was already gone in a very good way!
So again today - what are you waiting for?
Get up my friend and enter into the Kingdom with everything you have. Don't wait.
People may not write about you like Luke did of Paul, but your life can have a lasting eternal impact if you stop waiting, get moving, believing, acting in faith.
I believe in you and God believes in you even more than that!
Something to think about...
Wednesday, August 07, 2019
5 words that WILL change your life!
Not so long ago, someone who professed to being passionate about Jesus, told that God had told them to get revenge on another believer for hurting them.
In fact they had a set number of days they believed God told them to seek this revenge.
When I as gently as I could reminded them that scripture (Hebrews 10:30) tells us to leave any revenge up to God, I was shot down as not knowing what I am talking about...
The reality of that situation and many others like it, was humility, grace and five small and yet infinitely powerful words could have saved us all so much grief.
Relationships could have been saved.
Good could have come from the bad.
With grace would have come growth.
Instead all we got was the worst that people can dish out to each other.
We live in a world it seems many times to me where we feel some need to defend ourselves. To make sure we are safe with being on the offence at best, getting defensive as the secondary strategy.
Maybe because we recognise there are it seems so many issues bigger than us, protecting ones self seems to many to be a priority.
The Kingdom of God shows another supernatural way.
Today I want to give you 5 words that WILL change your life!
They only work if you use them to the best of your ability and without over thinking, over analysing everything. They work because God honours them! And what God honours works!
The first of the five...
"I'm sorry"
For some reason I am discovering people are finding this harder and harder to say. They think those two words are a sign of weakness as opposed to strength.
We tend to fish for reasons for why not to say them instead of the opposite.
"I shouldn't have to because they started it"
"It wasn't my fault"
"They don't understand what I am going through"
"You don't know what it is like living with my spouse"
"People need to show me more grace"
I am always sorry. Why?
I recognise that I not as amazing and perfect and infallible as I might hope. Everyday I need to say sorry to someone at some point.
The second of the five...
"Please forgive me"
23“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:23-24 NIV
Have a think about this for a moment with me...
They other person has the problem with me and yet I am seeking forgiveness...
Why is Jesus asking us to do the opposite of what makes human sense?
Because you show strength when you make the first move, even if it not your fault, others don't understand, they started it etc.
You get be to Jesus in that moment to bring healing to all involved.
Grace like forgiveness is a living thing. Everyday. In every way.
Living to the point where it should be the first thing we think of, not the last.
Maybe you could put those 5 words into practice this week?
Maybe make them a habit?
It will change your life!
Something to think about...
In fact they had a set number of days they believed God told them to seek this revenge.
When I as gently as I could reminded them that scripture (Hebrews 10:30) tells us to leave any revenge up to God, I was shot down as not knowing what I am talking about...
The reality of that situation and many others like it, was humility, grace and five small and yet infinitely powerful words could have saved us all so much grief.
Relationships could have been saved.
Good could have come from the bad.
With grace would have come growth.
Instead all we got was the worst that people can dish out to each other.
We live in a world it seems many times to me where we feel some need to defend ourselves. To make sure we are safe with being on the offence at best, getting defensive as the secondary strategy.
Maybe because we recognise there are it seems so many issues bigger than us, protecting ones self seems to many to be a priority.
The Kingdom of God shows another supernatural way.
Today I want to give you 5 words that WILL change your life!
They only work if you use them to the best of your ability and without over thinking, over analysing everything. They work because God honours them! And what God honours works!
The first of the five...
"I'm sorry"
For some reason I am discovering people are finding this harder and harder to say. They think those two words are a sign of weakness as opposed to strength.
We tend to fish for reasons for why not to say them instead of the opposite.
"I shouldn't have to because they started it"
"It wasn't my fault"
"They don't understand what I am going through"
"You don't know what it is like living with my spouse"
"People need to show me more grace"
I am always sorry. Why?
I recognise that I not as amazing and perfect and infallible as I might hope. Everyday I need to say sorry to someone at some point.
The second of the five...
"Please forgive me"
23“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:23-24 NIV
Have a think about this for a moment with me...
They other person has the problem with me and yet I am seeking forgiveness...
Why is Jesus asking us to do the opposite of what makes human sense?
Because you show strength when you make the first move, even if it not your fault, others don't understand, they started it etc.
You get be to Jesus in that moment to bring healing to all involved.
Grace like forgiveness is a living thing. Everyday. In every way.
Living to the point where it should be the first thing we think of, not the last.
Maybe you could put those 5 words into practice this week?
Maybe make them a habit?
It will change your life!
Something to think about...
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
Own it
During my stint of a few years at boarding school it was common practice to make application for leave to go to things like appointments, extra activities, sports practices and the like.
The process was that at lunchtime you completed a form and then after school you looked on a special board to see if your application got accepted.
Lots of my fellow students would lie and put fake details down just so they could try and meet a girl in the local park. Invariably they would get caught. Get in trouble. Found it harder to get leave later.
In the course of time I too wanted to meet a young lady in the local park.
Instead of making up a story and risk getting caught out, I thought why not just be honest, stipulate on the form what I was really going to do, and see what happens. The worst they could say was no.
To my surprise when I checked the leave board later in the day my leave was accepted.
This was a practice I used for nearly a year.
Every time I was just honest.
And every time I got my leave accepted.
It used to drive the other guys crazy because they were always getting turned down.
Eventually I asked the Boarding Manager why I was always given leave. His answer was "you are the only one who told the truth so I accepted your applications".
Lately I have had some interactions with people that have left me a little cold. Some people have lied to my face recently.
While the truth would be potentially difficult for either of us, it would have been so much better.
Scripture tells us that the very first occurrence of sin happened as a result of a lie.
The devil acting a serpent said to Eve, "Did God really say..." and "you will certainly not die" in reference to tempting her with fruit from a tree in the Garden of Eden.
The lie hurt everyone involved. Nothing good came from it.
Lying is a short term reaction that actually restricts you later.
Many people from childhood learn that lying can potentially get you out of a fix. But it doesn't most of the time. It robs you of relationship. It restricts you going forward.
I have noticed that we use lying as a protection mechanism. But yet again it only restricts us further.
Truth is the only thing that will set us free!
Check out this simple and yet 'true' statements from Scripture for a moment...
Proverbs 12:22 niv
The Lord detests lying lips,
but he delights in people who are trustworthy.
Colossians 3:9 niv
Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices.
My heart for you is that you are able to enter into everything that God has for you. Lying won't help your cause.
Please be brave and honest and then you will more and more free!
Something to think about...
The process was that at lunchtime you completed a form and then after school you looked on a special board to see if your application got accepted.
Lots of my fellow students would lie and put fake details down just so they could try and meet a girl in the local park. Invariably they would get caught. Get in trouble. Found it harder to get leave later.
In the course of time I too wanted to meet a young lady in the local park.
Instead of making up a story and risk getting caught out, I thought why not just be honest, stipulate on the form what I was really going to do, and see what happens. The worst they could say was no.
To my surprise when I checked the leave board later in the day my leave was accepted.
This was a practice I used for nearly a year.
Every time I was just honest.
And every time I got my leave accepted.
It used to drive the other guys crazy because they were always getting turned down.
Eventually I asked the Boarding Manager why I was always given leave. His answer was "you are the only one who told the truth so I accepted your applications".
Lately I have had some interactions with people that have left me a little cold. Some people have lied to my face recently.
While the truth would be potentially difficult for either of us, it would have been so much better.
Scripture tells us that the very first occurrence of sin happened as a result of a lie.
The devil acting a serpent said to Eve, "Did God really say..." and "you will certainly not die" in reference to tempting her with fruit from a tree in the Garden of Eden.
The lie hurt everyone involved. Nothing good came from it.
Lying is a short term reaction that actually restricts you later.
Many people from childhood learn that lying can potentially get you out of a fix. But it doesn't most of the time. It robs you of relationship. It restricts you going forward.
I have noticed that we use lying as a protection mechanism. But yet again it only restricts us further.
Truth is the only thing that will set us free!
Check out this simple and yet 'true' statements from Scripture for a moment...
Proverbs 12:22 niv
The Lord detests lying lips,
but he delights in people who are trustworthy.
Colossians 3:9 niv
Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices.
My heart for you is that you are able to enter into everything that God has for you. Lying won't help your cause.
Please be brave and honest and then you will more and more free!
Something to think about...
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Bring It
Where ever you go.
Where ever you end up.
It is never an accident!
And God has designed it to bring His blessing.
Jeremiah 29:7 says...
Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper. NIV
You are pretty amazing in Christ!
You have the divine opportunity to make somewhere far better than the way you found it. Even it feels kind of like a place of exile to you, God is with you, and wants you to begin to pray for its transformation.
God isn't asking you to publish its faults on Social Media in a vain hope to bring change.
God isn't asking you to do all you can to escape your current locale.
What God wants to do today is encourage you to pray for His blessing, His mercy, His grace, His goodness to be poured so much into it and onto it, that it actually begins to prosper.
Your prayer today will begin a course of chain reactions that sees heaven move and transformation begin.
Super exciting isn't it when you think about it?
Amazing that God is waiting potentially on you before He moves...
So right now, are you happy in the place you are?
Does it appear to be prospering?
Your marriage, your job, even your Church might not be all you hoped and dreamed it could be...
Your task right now my friend is to just pray.
Please know that prayer will make all the difference!
Something to think about...
Where ever you end up.
It is never an accident!
And God has designed it to bring His blessing.
Jeremiah 29:7 says...
Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper. NIV
You are pretty amazing in Christ!
You have the divine opportunity to make somewhere far better than the way you found it. Even it feels kind of like a place of exile to you, God is with you, and wants you to begin to pray for its transformation.
God isn't asking you to publish its faults on Social Media in a vain hope to bring change.
God isn't asking you to do all you can to escape your current locale.
What God wants to do today is encourage you to pray for His blessing, His mercy, His grace, His goodness to be poured so much into it and onto it, that it actually begins to prosper.
Your prayer today will begin a course of chain reactions that sees heaven move and transformation begin.
Super exciting isn't it when you think about it?
Amazing that God is waiting potentially on you before He moves...
So right now, are you happy in the place you are?
Does it appear to be prospering?
Your marriage, your job, even your Church might not be all you hoped and dreamed it could be...
Your task right now my friend is to just pray.
Please know that prayer will make all the difference!
Something to think about...
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