Pressing On

Of all people that have known hardships, perhaps the first apostles are amongst those that have known the most or the hardest. After all, the only one that did survive to die of old age rather than stoning, crucifixion or another form of execution lived through being boiled alive in oil. They often faced jail or death, and still one of them, Paul, manages somehow to write the following verse:

Romans 8:18 – “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us”

This coming from a man who has endured 3 shipwrecks, whipped, beaten and jailed many times, has been hungry, tired and hated even by his own people.

All I can say is this: if Paul, through all that he went through considered his sufferings so little compared to the glory God is bringing, how amazing and precious must that glory be.

Press on.

Breakable

Of late the verse below has become one of my favourites, and one that I have been contemplating a lot:

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.  But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.                                                   - 2 Corinthians 4:6-7 -

I find if inexpressibly beautiful that they speak of such a beautiful blessing, and then our fallibility and sufferings side by side. For God has given us this amazing gift, which is to know and be known by Him, which supplies us with live, love and hope. But we carry around our amazing gift in bodies, hearts and souls that are so easy to break. I think that if Paul lived now he would have used the words glass jars, rather than jars of clay.

We’re the glass; the breakable and often the broken. But through our fragility it is possible to see God’s light shine all the more, and that it’s his power not ours. I don’t think this makes suffering through our fragility and easier, but it is beautiful.

May God bless you, whatever is going on in your life right now.

I sit in the corner,

And my mind travels the world.

How it has been,

How it is,

How it might be.

Thoughts follow each other,

Like carriages on a train,

Racing, ever faster,

Through the confused darkness,

Until the inevitable...

Derailment

Thoughts collect,

Like colourful, round, balls,

Filling a children’s pit,

And I go diving.

Drowning,

Deeper and deeper,

Darker and darker,

Until I cannot breathe.

I reach,

Clutching for safety,

But I catch only smoke,

And it slips through my fingers.

I kick,

But there is only void.

Until at last

A small spark,

At first so frail,

Yet growing ever stronger,

Invades the darkness.

At first I shield my eyes,

Then surrender,

Trust,

In it’s all encompassing,

Saving embrace.

I open my eyes.

I sit in the corner,

And watch as the people stare,

And I wait.

Rush of Love

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

I am willing to bet (though I am not a gambler by nature that most of the Western Christian population could recite the first verse of this passage off by hear, and maybe some non-Christians besides. Love is patient, love is kind. It could be that we hear them so much that they have ceased to be meaningful to us anymore as we no longer think about their meaning as we hear or recite them.

I’ve been thinking about love more recently, and it has been the words that come after these that are so familiar that have begun to stand out. Love keeps no record of wrongs, it protects, hopes, perseveres and trusts.

Perhaps it’s time we reflected on these things too.

 

Love is a Positive Feedback Mechanism

I  have been learning this semester about the feedback mechanisms that our body uses to bring about certain results. Most of these responses use negative feedback mechanisms. Put simply that means that the body detects something that’s not quite normal, let’s use high body temperature as an example, so it does something make the body temperature lower. When the body temperature is low enough, the body stops that response. But a select few things use a positive feedback mechanism, and one of these things is childbirth. When the uterus contracts this causes the baby to move down putting pressure on the cervix. When the cervix detects pressure, a signal is sent to the uterus telling it to contract more, putting even more pressure on the cervix, until it finally opens to allow the baby passage to the world. This is positive feedback.

I believe love is a bit like childbirth. It uses a positive feedback. Or at least this has been my experience. When a person is shown love in it’s true sense, this makes them want to show love also. So that person shows love to someone as well. It could be to a person that has shown them love, or to someone completely different. But this causes the person that they show love to, in turn to want to do the same, and so love increases.

There is one major difference between love and childbirth. There comes a point when childbirth ends. A baby has been born and it continues no further. Love, though, does not have to end. Love can go on forever.

On Sunshine and Rain…

If there is anything that I have learnt recently it is that we are never abandoned. Not ever.

With the coming of Autumn the rain from the sky has not been the only rain falling in my life. And I think in some way each of you could sympathise with that. Life has struggles. We may not be going hungry or thirsty or cold, but life still has troubles. There is still rain.

But though we are burdened we are not crushed, and though we struggle we are not in despair. There is always sunshine to be found with the rain. There are always blessings alongside hardships. We are blessed with love.

We are never abandoned.

God bless you friends.

F.R.O.G.

Have you ever heard of the acronyms FROG (Forever Rely on God) or DOG (Depend on God)? Perhaps if you haven’t heard of those you have hear someone utter the letters WWJD (What Would Jesus Do? or Walk With Jesus Daily).

At times I think that Christians are obsessed with such acronyms (after all, we also pray through TSP (thanks, sorry, please) and ACTS (adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication). But there is a reason for it. Quite simply, making an acronym for something does help us to remember it. But that is less than half the battle. Once we’ve successfully managed to remember an acronym and with it the message behind it, we’re then faced with the far greater challenge of actually responding to it by living it out.

Take Forever Rely on God for example. In a highly individualist and independent society, in which almost everyone has enough money to not only satisfy their needs, but to go above and beyond and live with luxuries such as ipods, laptops, nice clothes, and their favourite chocolate bars, do we really rely on God? Can we honestly say that we depend on God to feed us, clothe us, provide us with shelter and give our lives a purpose and direction? In so many cases, I don’t think we can. So often we instead take it upon ourselves to earn enough money to provide the first three, and appoint ourselves our own purpose and direction. We’re fooled into thinking that we don’t need to rely on God, because we can take care of ourselves.

But what happens when it all goes wrong? When we find ourselves in a situation that we can’t possible control? All of a sudden, we’re confused and frightened. We lose our purpose and direction.

But God can give that back to us. Our direction can be towards Him, and our purpose to love and serve Him. And whether everything is going right, or you’re lost and despairing, it’s never the wrong time to turn to God for that.

To everyone out there who have God in their hearts and strive to follow Him: please don’t give up! I know it is hard, but stick at it and He will refine you like silver.

Peace be with you.

Running Back To You

The ‘Planet Shakers’ start their All That I Want album with a song called ‘Running After You’. It’s about running after God no matter what other people think, which is great. But what happens if you do turn away? What happens if you give in to the world and start listening to it instead of God?

It’s so easy to feel ashamed, to try and hide because you know that you’ve slipped up and gone against His wishes. And if when we do return to God after that, often it’s as if we’re slinking back, waiting for the reprimand, scared that we’re not going to be accepted back again.

But even when we slip up, screw up and turn away, I believe that what God wants for us to do most is to run back to Him. If you want proof of this, take a look at the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). Although we do need to be sorry enough about our mistakes to change so we don’t repeat them, we don’t need to be ashamed or afraid. We can run right back to God, because His arms are open, whether we’re on our 2nd chance or our 100th.

God bless.

Panorama!

Dear photography junkies, I know this is a little different from what I would normally write, but I am pleased to report that I’ve made my first ever panorama!! And I am posting it here. Please don’t be too critical!

 

  Peace Out

There Goes The Sun

If you live in Adelaide you may have noticed lately how wonderful the sunsets have been. I for one, have been awed by their changing colours in the evenings! Part of the reason that they are so beautiful and captivating are that they are in a constant state of change. Before you know it bright pink has faded to a pastel peach and peach to soft purple; the clouds reflecting these colours also in a constant state of flux. Perhaps this is also the reason that they seem to be over so soon after they have begun.

It is impossible to capture a sunset just the way it is, whether with a camera or paints or pencils, it just cannot be done. However, there is a consolation. We know that in 24 hours time there will be another sunset, different but no less beautiful, for our eyes to feast on.

It is easy to feel wistful at the end of a sunset, longing once more for the beauty and warmth of the sun. But thought the sun has been hidden, we are never without light. The moon and stars, just as beautiful as any sunset soon dot the sky.

Just as we are never without light, likewise are we never without hope or love. They are always there, even in the darkest moments, if only you lift your eyes and look.

 

  Peace and Hope