Encourage & Motivate

I just had a gathering of a few girls tonight to discuss what we as women are doing in the church and how we feel about the new "sisterhood" theme that has been announced at church. We began to talk about how what we can do to reach out in our communities and then how we can encourage each other in this. 

Encouragement and motivation are very important in anybodies life. Without encouragement or the help with motivation, somethings would seem too hard and many of us would just give us. I think many of us would know the feeling when you join the gym and you want to start getting fit. Having someone beside you and encouraging you makes going to the gym much easier. I think this can be the same in our Christian walk. Knowning that there are people beside you who are on the same journey and who can encourage you and help to motivate you makes it somewhat easier.

I was also thinking about how it is important to actually know a person. To be able to encourage and to motivate someone, you need to know them. You need to know where their struggles are, you need to know what it is they are wanting to do. You can't just go up to someone, and so "go on, you can do this" if you don't know what it is they are trying to do! It may help, but really knowing someone and being able to offer more personal words of encouragement can be quite beneficial. 

"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another —and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:24-25) 

Scripture tells us we should be encouraging each other, not just meeting up, but encouraging and helping each other through whatever it is we may be doing. The coming months I will be focusing on this and ensuring that I get to know people more, so that I can encourage them where they need it, and so I can spur them on. 

Thankful for: Blessing

Right now, I just want to be thankful for the blessing that is on my life. There's not much more to say except, that I am thankful for it.

Friends

Have you ever noticed when you go to a farm or to a zoo or really anywhere they have animals that the animals that are the same are kept together. How often would it be that you would see all the cows, sheep and chickens in one paddock all together? You don't! They each have their own separate things. It made me start thinking about the people that I am around. 

The people that we hang around can be a major influence in our lives, so we need to be aware of who they are. Taking the animals, for example, if we put a sheep in with the cows, I'm pretty sure it would not only feel out of place, but may start trying to change and act more like the cows that it should being a sheep. The people around us can affect the way we behave, and what we do. I'm sure I've mentioned it before that I used to try changing myself to try and fit in, but it never worked.

As a Christian, it is important that my close group of friends have the same beliefs as me, people that will encourage me in my walk, and people that are not going to try and fight back everything that I believe. Of course, this doesn't mean that I can't have non-Christian friends, if this was the case, no one else would ever get saved (and that's definitely not something I want to happen) but, I think that for all the friends that I have that are non-Christian I need to ensure that I have a group of people that are going to be encouraging, that have similar interests that I can share with and explore more with. Without them it would be fairly easy for me to be pulled away from Christ and for the life I have found. It would be easier for my non-Christian friends to deter me. I'd like to say that it wouldn't but we all have weak spots, and when we don't have the encouragement from some, it makes it difficult to stay on the right path. 

So basically, I guess the big question is.... who do you spend most of your time with? And how are they influencing your life? If they are helping you learn more in your spiritual walk, then that's great. If not, if they fight you on your beliefs, if they are not encouraging and try to pull you away, maybe you need to rethink the amount of time you spend with them, or just make sure you have others around you to encourage you when you feel pulled down. 

Thankful for: Emergency Services

As I sat here I listened to sirens, I'm not sure if it was police, fire or an ambulance, but no matter what it is I'm thankful for them. It's good to know that when facing an emergency there are people available no matter what time of day it is, that will do they're best to get to you as soon as possible and offer as much help as they can. 

Here With Me - Mercy Me

Here With Me - MercyMe

I long for your embrace
Every single day
To meet you in this place
And see you face to face

Will you show me?
Reveal yourself to me
Because of your mercy
I fall down on my knees

And I can feel your presence here with me
Suddenly I'm lost within your beauty
Caught up in the wonder of your touch
Here in this moment I surrender to your love

You're everywhere I go
I am not alone
You call me as your own
To know you and be known

You are holy
And I fall down on my knees

I can feel your presence here with me
Suddenly I'm lost within your beauty
Caught up in the wonder of your touch
Here in this moment I surrender to your love

I surrender to your grace
I surrender to the one who took my place  

Do you fall down on your knees in front of the Lord? It's a sign of surrender to Him and I believe it is something we must do every day. Just fall at His feet, fall down on our knees and put Him first. The song says... "you're everywhere I go, I am not alone, You call me as Your own, to know You and be known". I love the truth and simplicity of these words. Sometimes, what we need to say is just this simple! 

Thankful for: The weekend

Imagine having to work 7 days a week. I know some people possibly do, but I am thankful for my 2 days which I don't have to work allowing me to have the day of rest that I can dedicate to the Lord. 

 

Worship With Your Heart

Have you ever started doing something thinking you'll just spend five minutes doing it, and then an hour and a half later realise... you're still going. Well, this happens to me when I pick up my guitar and start singing. 

Plans that I had for this morning got pushed back to the afternoon which left me with a few hours with nothing to do, I thought I'd pick up my guitar for a bit and then go shopping. The problem is once I pick up my guitar and start singing and playing, I lose track of time. Usually when I pick up my guitar I start singing worship songs and get lost in worship. 

I think that's what being in God's presence does though. When you are there you don't want to leave, and there is nothing better than singing praise and worship to Him knowing that He is there listening and loving. 

So often I think we get caught up in our lives we forget that He is present in them, but stopping and just focusing on Him just puts everything back where it is supposed to be, and once we're there, there is something about the peace and the rightness of it that keeps us there and makes us not want to leave. 

But then there are those times where you don't feel like worshiping, you don't feel like singing to Him and you can't get into it... so where is He then? This may not make sense, but He is still there. The problem is not that He is distant, the problem is that your heart is distant. We cannot worship without our heart, so when we try, it becomes more of a head decision and it can be difficult to hear Him and feel His presence, but when we give Him our heart, when we want to sing out His love and His praise, we can feel Him there faster and easier, and that's when we get caught up in it. 

I'm not sure exactly what I'm saying, it's just my thoughts right now. I guess just that we need to worship from our heart to experience Him and not go into worship not loving Him and still expecting the same things. It comes down to a decision we make in our heart to worship, not in our head. 

Thankful for: Friends

I have had a very socialable 2 days. Tonight I went to 2 different peoples birthday parties which was crazy, but fun! So I'm thankful for the friends that I have in my life, that they are all just amazing people that love one another and love me. Apart from having God's love in my life, there is nothing better than knowing I have the love of friends also. 

Let's Blossom

"Within each of us, just waiting to blossom,

is the wonderful promise of all we can be"

This was just a little quote that was on my calendar and it stood out to me so I made note of it. I guess the question worth asking is 'do you realise the potential that lives inside of you?'

When God made us, He filled us with gifts and talents. He filled us with potential, and gave us all we need to blossom in His world. The problem is that many of us do not see what lives within us, we doubt the abilities He has given us and we doubt ourselves. Some people think they are just plain and boring, nothing special. Well, we couldn't be further from the truth. We are so amazing, there is so much promise and potential in each one of us, God can't wait to see us bloom. So let's not hold it in, let's let it grow. Let's nurture what we have so that we may become all that God meant for us to be. 

Thankful for: Safety

I am alone at home for the next week, so I'm thankful for the safety that I feel knowing that God is looking out for me. Being alone in a house can be a scary thing, especially when you hear funny noises in the night, but I know I am safe, because I have a God who cares for me, and He will not let anything happen to me. He will keep me safe.  

Are You Excited?

It occured to me today that we really should always be excited about something... when you think about it... there is a lot to be excited for. 

She just looks really excited!

Many people might be thinking 'but I'm stuck in a rut and can't get out' what is there to be excited about? Or you may think that life is not going how you want it to so why should you be excited. Well you should be excited for what is going to come out of it. If you're stuck in a rut, be excited for the new, valuable things you will are learning, be excited for the strength you are building as you make your way out if it with God. If things aren't going as planned be excited that God obviously has something bigger and better for you, be excited to learn what it is. Even in the toughest of times, we can be excited for something better. 

The Bible tells us we are all going to experience trials.

"See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction." (Isaiah 48:10)

"This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The Lord is our God" (Zechariah 13:9)

Just as gold and silver is refined, so are we. Obviously, God is not going to put us through a furnace, but He will put us through trials. These trials aren't made to ruin us, they are to make us stronger, to refine us into the gold and silver that we are meant to be, the holy and righteous and perfect children of God. So when we go through trials, we should be excited knowing that we are coming out a better person. 

"And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a 

little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast" (1 Peter 5:10)

God will help us through our trials, He will restore us. 

"Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him." (James 1:12)

At the end of our trials we receive what God has promised to us. 

"Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." (Romans 5:3-5)

Suffering only leads to good! 

So when you think there's nothing to be excited about... think again!

I have a whole list of things I am excited about... here's just a few of them.

• Seeing how He moves within the church. 
• Seeing our community experience God. 
• The future He has planned for me. 
• Seeing the improvement in my relationship with my family. 
• Getting to see my family members saved. 
• Getting to see my brothers married. 

 That's a very small list of things, I know that there is a lot more, but I would be here all night. There is just one more that I want to make mention of. As I've mentioned before, I am a single woman, and for some women that is a downer but it struck me today that God is working with a man, making Him into the perfect man for me. And I shouldn't be rushing Him or annoyed that I am still single. I should be excited knowing that God is preparing and man and making sure he is right with Him before getting into a relationship. I'm also excited that God is doing a work in me, that is preparing me to be the perfect wife for this man. Being single isn't so bad when you realise that God is just making sure everything works perfectly for you in the right time. 

Thankful for: His provision

I have set myself a very tight budget over the past few weeks. I have decided I need to get my debt paid and get my finance sorted. Well, this doesn't leave a lot of room for "fun" money to go out and hang out or buy new music. But this fortnight God has blessed me and I was asked on 2 occasions to do some extra work for the church performing arts academy, making me an extra $60. And today, I received an email which is giving me the opportunity to take on some singing students which will be extra ongoing money. God is good!

Drinking... Yes or No?

This can be a somewhat controversial topic for some Christians, there are mixed feelings towards it but it came up in conversation today so it's what is on my mind right now. 

I'll start with the story of my conversation. 

I was talking to a few young girls aged about 12 - 15. One of which was texting her friend a lot and mentioned he was drinking, and getting drunk. What saddened me was the fact that she was laughing about it, and thought it was great, and she wanted to join him. I simply said to her that I've been there, before I was Christian, and being drunk isn't all it's made out to be. You say things without thinking which can then hurt others, you make decisions without thinking, many of which are not very good decisions, decisions that you cannot take back, and not only that, but you feel terrible in the morning. Hangovers are not wonderful. I tried to share what I could of my own experiences without obviously going into too much details. I had to be careful what I was saying due to the differences in the girls that were in the room, if it was one on one conversation it would be easier. But then we got onto the conversation about whether it was ok as a Christian to drink.

My own personal thoughts on this is that it is a personal revelation. I don't feel it is a simple yes or no answer. I know that we should not drink to get drunk however, is there anything wrong with having the occasional drink? Putting it down to a personal revelation, I guess if we do not know if we should allow ourselves to have a drink, we should first seek God. I believe if we are not supposed to have a drink, He will tell us. If God says clearly 'No', then there's your answer, but if he says you may have a drink well then there's an answer too. I've come to the conclusion that it comes down to your obedience. If God says no you shouldn't drink and you go and have one then you are sinning, which is not good. If God says you can have one, and you go ahead and have 2 or 3, again, you have disobeyed God which is a sin. But if you stick to only what He says you can have at that time, then I don't believe there's a problem. 

I also believe it depends on your heart, why is it that you want to have that drink? If you want to drink to try and drown sorrows or to just cover up a bad patch in your day, then why turn to drink? If there's a problem, your first point of contact should be with God, not with a beer bottle or wine cooler. Really... they are not going to be able to help you with your problem... but God can! If you want to go out and have a drink to get drunk, well that's foolishness. And if you think thats the only way you can have fun, think again. Put on some praise music, go crazy for God instead. He can fill you up with more joy than any alcohol can, and His joy lasts much longer too! 

So that's my thoughts... but I guess the question is... what does the bible say?

"Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18)

I guess this goes along with my last point, let the Spirit fill you, don't fill yourself with alcohol that is short lived. Fill yourself with the Spirit that is ever lasting! 

"Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags" (Proverbs 23:20-21)

This tell us not to join drunkards. I find it interesting to read that it says they become poor. Alcohol is expensive, and when you start drinking more, you find you'll want more of it, and soon enough... you'll be spending a lot of money on alcohol and will have less money for not only the necessities but also on clothing. I feel this is not preventing us from drinking, however, to stay away from drunkards. It is a warning to stay away from too much. 

"Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise" (Proverbs 20:1)

This verse to me is warning us to not let the evils of alcohol take over our minds. As I said earlier too much alcohol leads to poor decision making and bad judgement. Letting this happen is letting the alcohol lead us astray and this is not wise. 

These are just a couple of scriptures and I know there are a lot more. Feel free to share them and share your opinion. As I said I really believe it is a personal revelation, so what God may be talking to me about and what He's showing me in the Bible may be different to what He's telling you and showing you. And depending on the seasons in my life, God may change what He is saying to me. I don't drink often at all, but I have had the occassional drink, but the moment I hear God tell me not to drink, I will stop. As long as I continue to put Him first, I feel I am safe with Him.

Thankful for: Patience

I realised tonight at times my patience needs some work. I found myself getting frustrated and annoyed because girls who I needed to take home were taking their time, and then hiding. They were having a bit of fun but I became impatient. It made me realise later how important patience was. I don't know what these girls lives at home are like and that little bit of fun they tried to have may have been the last bit of fun they would have until next week. I don't know. I also began to realise how patient God has been with me, it took me 22 years for me to finally reach out to Him. He waited that long for me, and I struggled to wait 5 minutes for these girls to get ready. I'm thankful for patience and aware that I need more of it!

Be The First To Move and The Rest Will Follow

There are times in our lives where we feel like God is telling us to go somewhere but we worry that no one will follow and that we'll be left out on our own, going after something that we then feel may be wrong. But how will you know if you don't go. A movement of hundreds always begins with the one. 

God took me to a particular passage in the Bible tonight, John 21:8, which when I first read it, didn't make much sense on it's own, so I read the story before it. 

"Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”

“No,” they answered. 

He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread." (John 21:1-9)

Looking mostly at the final part of this story we see that when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he got out and started making his way to Jesus through the water. It was then that the others started to follow. When they got to the shore, they found not only was Jesus there, but He was there with some prepared food. 

Sometimes we can get the strangest lessons from parts of the Bible we don't expect, but this is what I feel God is saying to me at this point. It didn't take much for Simon Peter before he made his move. He didn't wait around for the others, he didn't wait for someone else to go first, he didn't even discuss with the others what they wanted to do. He knew what to do, and he went for it. It was then a group effort for the others that followed. When they got to the shore they found not only was Jesus there, but there was prepared food. 

I think sometimes making that first move can be difficult, being the leader is hard work but if you're not leading, who will? Someone always has to make that first move, and if it's a move towards Jesus why should you wait? Make the move now, and the others will follow you! When you make it to Him, you will be rewarded! 

Thankful for: Nice words

We had a women's event at church tonight, and as I was chatting to 2 ladies they somehow got into a discussion about the great things I have done for them. For me, I always find these times a little awkward, and don't know what to say. Really, I am just being the best person I can be and it's not really any trouble to do the things they talk about. But I always find myself smiling afterwards. It's nice hearing good things about myself, knowing that what I am doing is making a difference in someone else's life and hearing how they can see the influence of God in my life makes it even better. 

Amazing God-Filled Day

I would have shared this yesterday but due to it being Sunday, I thought I would stick to posting a song and share my story today. 

Basically, yesterday was Sunday, which means I was at church for 2 services, morning and evening. Both services were amazing, I could feel the presence of God and I really didn't want worship to end. I would just like to share a couple of things that happened yesterday. 

Firstly, I am one of these people that seems to have a very short attention span. After ten minutes of a sermon, my mind is usually wandering. I try my best to concentrate but find this extremely difficult, but yesterday, I managed to focus the entire time. I didn't find myself wondering what I was going to have for lunch or if I needed to go shopping. Full focus on the sermon. Some of you might think, well it must have been an entertaining preacher. Well, it was our senior pastor and his message yesterday was obviously a new message but no different, no more or less exciting than the others, they are all great, they are all equally as entertaining, so what was it that helped me keep focus? I really do believe that it is due to my constant seeking of Him. The more we seek Him, the more we find Him. When we are seeking Him more and spending more time with Him, it becomes more difficult for the devil to distract us. It becomes easier for us to hear what He wants to say and we just become closer and want more of Him. It's been almost 7 weeks since I started this journey in trying to get closer to Him and I am seeing the difference it has made in me and my walk with Him, and I love it! 

That's not the only great thing that came out of yesterday though. I was rostered on to sing and I haven't been 100% well over the past month. I had a bad cough for a couple of weeks and my throat just doesn't seem to have recovered fully yet. Most days are good, but I have a couple of not so good days and it just happened to be one of those days when I woke up yesterday morning. All through rehearsal I would sing a line, then cough, I wasn't sure I was going to make it through the service. I didn't want to be singing on stage coughing every five second, I didn't think it would be the greatest thing to do. So I went on a search for something to help, I ended up with a glass of warm water and then went looking for honey, as I've been told this helps. I couldn't find the honey and had to get to our pre-service prayer meeting. During this meeting I felt God say to me "Don't worry about your voice, I will take care of you, I will help you through, your voice is beautiful". Sure enough, the tickle that had been in my throat since I had gotten up was gone, and I made it through the entire service. Not only that, but it didn't come back during the afternoon so I was able to make it through the evening service also.  

But that's not all, during the evening service, the presence of God was just so amazing in the church. We had praise and worship at the beginning, then heard the message, then had some ministry time. As I stood on the stage looking at the congregation and started to worship God, I just had this image of  this rain of red start pouring down on everyone which soon enough turned to sparkling silver rain and it just continued to pour out. So what do I think this meant? The red rain was Jesus blood. His blood covers us and makes us whole, but as it turned to sparkling silver rain, He was pouring out His goodness, making us like new, no longer stained, cleaning off that sin, cleaning off everything that we had held on to. It really was an amazing experience!

So that was my amazing God-filled day yesterday. Each day I seek Him more, I experience more of Him and I just want to get closer. 

Thankful for: Learning from experience

The only way I can explain this one is with a story. I was talking to a guy yesterday who asked me, "Do you have a boyfriend? Have you gone out on any dates?" and then asked "Why not?" when I responded with no to both of those questions. Now, previously this has made my mind go crazy with questions about why he is asking these questions, and then I begin to make things up in my head. I have learnt however, that some guys are simply just asking because they are curious and they are not asking with other motives in mind. This guy I know is one of those types of guys, that asks these questions. So I have learnt from experience, to take the question, answer it, then put it aside. No more thought required and letting me not start thinking things that will take my mind away from God and what I should be focusing on. So I'm thankful that God gave us the ability to remember and to learn from experience. 

My Everything - Gateway Worship / Kari Jobe

My Everything - Kari Jobe / Gateway Worship

Rendered speechless by Your beauty
Lord, I'm blown away
With everything that's in my heart
A million words could never say all there is to say

You're more than just a song, You're more than just a whim
You're more than just a passing fantasy
You're my Everyday
You're my Every Way
You're my Everything

If I could see forever
In just one moment I would say
These todays are worth tomorrow
When I will see You face to face

I want to be with You
I need to be with You
I long to be with You, precious King
So with every day, Lord, in every way
You're my Everything

You're my Everything
You're my Everything
You're my Everything, Oh Jesus
You're my Everything

You're my Everyday
You're my Every Way
You're my Everything

I heard this song for the first time this week and immediately fell in love with it. It says so much of what I feel at the moment and more. 

Is Jesus you're everything? That's what I'm aiming for. I want to know 100% that Jesus is my everything and that I trust him in my every day and every way. Each day as I walk with Him, I feel I'm getting closer. Giving a part of myself up each time, and pushing in to seek Him more. 

The lyrics "I want to be with You, I need to be with You, I long to be with You" get me every time, and I find myself crying out for more of Him. Each time I've played it, and I have to say that I've played it A LOT in the last few days, I find myself just wanting to open my arms and be filled with His presence, it's a great feeling knowing that it's what I want and not hiding from that anymore. 

He is my every day, He is my every way, He is my everything! I will keep believing this and I will keep reminding myself this each day as I wake. 

Thankful for: Craziness

Sunday night has become the night I call my family back at home. My relationship with my family is something that I've started working on since starting this new journey over the past two months of drawing closer to God. I knew that I needed to also draw closer to my family, I had to let go of the past and just love them, I can't witness to them without loving them and showing them that love. So anyways, back to being thankful for craziness.... my family is kind of crazy. Our Skype conversations don't have a lot of meaning to them and are often filled with my brothers pulling faces, waving things at the screen or just saying silly things, but I love it. And it makes me thankful for their craziness.... without it our Skype calls could be boring and extremely short rather than fun. I love that they can be themselves!

Do You Know God's Voice?

I was listening to some other teaching today and had another bible scripture mentioned that jumped out at me.

But before I want to share that I have some questions, questions I find myself asking myself many times... Do you know the voice of God? When He speaks, do you know without a doubt that it is Him? How do you know it's God and not just yourself thinking these things?

“My sheep hear my voice and they know me and they follow me, and they will not follow the voice of another” (John 10:27) 

We are His sheep, we should know His voice and follow Him, not the voice of another, so how do we know the voice of God. 

There's no simple answer, if there was I would share it but what it comes down to is how much time you spend with Him. How many people's voices do you know and recognise before you see a face? For some of us, there could be a large number of people, for others not many, but for every single one of us, those people, those voices that we know so well are always from people that we know well, people we have spoken to on a number of occasions. When your parents call you on the phone, you know it's them just by the sound of their voice, when you're best friend calls to you from the other side of the room, you know it's them before you can see them. It's because we know them, we spend time with them. 

So... do you know God's voice?

If you don't, then begin to think about how much time you have spent with Him and how much time you have spent talking to Him and listening to Him. Maybe you haven't done much of this at all and you just need to sit back and spend a small amount of time each day just talking to Him and giving Him space to respond. I have faith and believe that you will soon be hearing so much from God that you will be unstoppable for Him and you will continue to want more of Him.

Maybe you've given up after trying to talk to him after just giving it one go, maybe you thought it was silly and you couldn't possibly hear someone you can't see. Well, try it again and have faith that you will hear from Him. You may not hear Him straight away, but give it time and His voice will become clearer. Have faith! Faith is the belief in things we cannot see. We cannot see God's voice, but believe that it's there and you will hear it. You are not going to hear Him if you refuse to believe and have faith in it. 

Whatever you do... don't doubt yourself. As soon as we begin to doubt our abilities, we begin to doubt God in our lives. We cannot hear Him if we allow ourselves to doubt Him.

And one last thing... If you believe something is blocking your ability to hear from Him speak to a leader, ask for some prayer, it's possible there is something spiritual that is stopping you from hearing, but with warfare and prayer that can be gone and you'll soon be hearing clearer than ever. 

Thankful for: Vegetables

I had just a plate of vegetables for dinner today and they were amazing. I forget sometimes how much I just love roasted vegetables, today I was reminded. And as I think about it, there are all amazing things that God placed on this earth for us all those years ago... how great is He!  

Love and Worship

I'm sharing another quote by Kim Walker-Smith from the same message I was listening to yesterday. Seriously, it was full of great things. 

 

Her whole message was about worshiping being about our relationship with God and about love, how much He loves us and how we can return that love through worship. She finished with her own testimony which I must admit surprised me. You know when you see how people that are so confident in who they are and what they were born to do, you don't think that they ever had any doubts. That was my thoughts about Kim, but she shared a story that completely changed that idea. But that's not what I was going to  talk about. Here is something she said...

"You shouldn’t need a fast praise song to get you excited to worship Jesus." Kim Walker Smith

For myself, I've always loved worship songs because I find I can get lost in His presence easier. But there have been times where I have not felt like worshipping. Something has been holding me back, and a good praise song can be the kick start that I need. This doesn't happen often for me, but it does happen. I know there are others that like to start with the praise songs because it gets their focus on God. Some people just like praise songs because they are generally more upbeat and I guess in some people words "fun". But, if we're not excited to worship Jesus without the praise songs first, then do we really understand the love and the relationship He wants with us. 

Kim says "If you are not passionate about your relationship with Jesus, if you are not passionate about worshiping Him, it is because you don't know yet how much he loves you." If you knew how much He loved you, you would want nothing more than to love Him back, to share all you have with Him. I have to admit myself, I am still learning of His love which explains why I sometimes don't "feel" in the mood to worship as much as I should. So... what am I going to do about that? Am I going to just sit back and wait for Him to show me how much He loves me until I have that full revelation. NO! Of course not, sitting back and waiting will get me nowhere. I will praise and worship Him with my everything, I will give Him my everything. I will continue to pray for further revelation. I will continue to spend as much time as I can with Him. And I know that His love is going to overtake my heart and then there will be no stopping me! I wish I could say I was there now. I'm getting there, but I don't believe I'm quite there yet. 

I've decided to post the video of her message and testimony, I suggest you watch it. It does go for just over 45 minutes so make sure you've got the time! This will completely open your eyes to the love that He has for all of us!

Thankful for: His love

Following my post, I felt it was necessary to just be thankful for His love, His amazing love for me. A love that is never failing, a love that completes me, a love that makes me whole. A love that is not mistaken, a love that He pours over me, a love that gives me life. No one other than Him could give me this love! 

Worship is About Relationship

I came across a video on YouTube today of Kim Walker (from Jesus Culture) preaching, and I just wanted to share some of what she had to say. For those who don't know who Kim Walker is, she is a worship leader with Jesus Culture, and has a great gift from God which brings worship and praise to many people around the world. She has an incredible talent in her singing and song writing but what's more important is the love she has for God and the passion she has in sharing that love. Here is a snippet of what she had to say:

"Worship is not songs, and worship is not instruments, and it's not dancing, and it's not painting. All of those things are expressions of worship. But worship, just simply defined is this relationship, this connection that we have with Jesus. It is all about a relationship. It is all about a connection to Him and to His presence. In worship, it is Him pouring out His presence and His spirit on us, and His love on us. And us, in turn, responding with love that we pour back out on Him. It's this never ending cycle happening and to be full is not to the rim. To be full is to be overflowing, and to be overflowing there's got to be a constant pouring in and a constant flowing out, because what would the music be without His presence, what would the words on the screen and all the instruments be apart from Him, it's just noise. But it's all about His presence, it's all about Him."

Notice how much she mentions Him, because as she said worship is all about Him. Worship is not one sided, it's not a matter of, I'll worship you if you give me something first. No, it's "I'm going to worship You and love You no matter what". It's a type of faith, I guess. A faith that we know that everything will be ok, a faith that knows when we give Him all we've got, He is giving us everything He has.

One of the things that really stood out to me was the idea of the overflowing. Ever tried overflowing a cup without it pouring out, well you can't because to overflow it needs to be pouring out. God wants to fill us to the overflowing point, so we can continually be pouring out His love. God will continue to fill us up through worship, when we worship we are refilled again, if we spend our lives in worship, doing everything for Him and with Him then we will never stop overflowing, and His love will always be flowing out of us. To me, that sounds amazing! I want that. I want to live my life in overflowing, so I will continue to seek Him and I will continue to work towards a life of complete worship. 

Thankful for: Silence

I sat down today to eat dinner, the house was empty, it was just me and my dinner, no music, no noise. And I have to say I felt peace. The silence was peaceful, and I had a moment of just complete thankfulness towards God. For a moment, there was nothing on my mind to hold me back form anything, there was nothing on my mind that was worrying me. I sat in the silence just thankful for Him, which makes me thankful for the moments of silence we often don't allow ourselves to have. xx

Why Do I Do That? My Own Realisation

So this is just a realisation I had tonight at our worship team training night which made me realise that I need to spend some time with God trying to figure why I do certain things. 

Here's what happened...

We had a worship team training night so all of the worship team (or those that were able to make it) came along and we spent some time just mingling and catching up with everyone, and then had a small meeting together and listened to some teaching by one of the seniors in our team and then we broke off into our separate parts. Band, singers and dancers. I went with the singers, because that's what I do. 

Firstly, something that I've really only just thought about as I started writing this is during the time of mingling, I found myself just wandering, never really fully engaging in conversation. Almost like I wasn't there. Now, I don't feel left out or ignored, but I now find it strange that I don't engage more. Could there be something inside that is afraid? Could there be a spirit of fear? I can't say it's shyness because those that know me know that I am not shy. I can be shy around new people, but these were all people that have known me for most of the last 5 years. So why do I do that? Why do I find it easier to not engage? Why do I find it easier to just sit by myself or wander back and forth? I don't have answers, but I know that there must be an answer and only God can help me figure it out. It looks like I will be spending some time asking God about that one over the coming weeks. 

Then secondly, when we broke off into our parts, myself with the singers, everything was going fine. We sang and learnt about dynamics. When our leader asked if anybody knew the song well that we were singing, I nodded my head and seemed to be one of the only ones in the room that knew it, so they asked me to start it off and lead everyone out. My immediate response, no thought taken, was... 'I can't sing on my own' which then resulted in lots of responses telling me I could and I had a lovely voice, and then I went bright red. So again I ask myself... Why do I do that? I knew I was capable of singing the song, and I know that all of the people in the room had heard me sing before, so why was I afraid. Not only that, I don't like all the attention being on me and reacting the way I did only caused more attention to be focused on me than necessary. The funniest thing is that there are times when it's me and my guitar and I've just sung no matter who is around, so I'm not afraid of singing in front of people so when I'm asked to what is it that makes me feel nervous suddenly and insecure? Again, this is definitely something I will have to speak to God about. It's not something I am going to fix myself without knowing what is making me do it. 

Thankful for: Trust

My friend left me in her house for a while today cooking dinner while she did some errands. It doesn't seem like much but to leave someone alone in your house while you're not there shows a real trust. I am thankful that my friend trusts me, and not only that but I have complete trust in her. She has often borrowed my car or borrowed things of mine, and I trust her and know that I'll get things back the same way I got them. Imagine a world without trust for anyone, we'd probably never go out anywhere. 

Battling The Devil

As I read through 1 Samuel 17, I found myself relating David's battle with my own battles. I never had to defeat an actual giant but I consider all the devil's attacks on me, and all those hurdles I have to get over as giants in my life. The things that prevent us from doing what God wanted us to do can all be considered as giants, or the sins that keep pulling us in. So here is my walk through 1 Samuel 17. (Not all verses are included.)

 “Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled and Socoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah. Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them” (1 Samuel 17:1-3)

We see at this point that both sides are camped out ready and waiting for battle. We can never think that the devil is not out there waiting, because he is. If we're not standing at our post, on our side, it would be too easy for him to sneak in. We need to always be on our side, ready for battle. The devil is waiting for the opportune moment to strike, and he wont find it if you stay at your post.

“A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philstine camp. He was over nine feet tall. He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighting five thousand shekels; on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back” (1 Samuel 17:4-6)

Not only will the devil be waiting for the opportune monent to strike, he will be armed and ready. The devil is not going to run straight into something unprepared because he knows the power of God will overcome him every time. He will be prepared to fight, so we need to be prepared and ready to fight, and know that God is on our side. We need to clothe ourselves in the amour of God so we are armed and so the devil cannot hurt us.

“Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, ‘Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you are not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” (1 Samuel 17:8-9)

The devil will call you out and tempt you. He will make you feel small if you don’t do things his way. He will do his best to make you think you cannot win.

“For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand” (1 Samuel 17:16)

The devil isn't one to try once and then give up, he will keep trying. When we are faced with temptation, we don't just say no once and never face it again. We continually come up against the same choice. This is the devil's way of teasing you and tempting you until you go his way or until you respond.

“Now the Israelites had been saying, ‘Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his father’s family from taxes in Israel’.” (1 Samuel 17:25)

There is always a prize when we fight the temptation of sin. We need to keep our eyes on the reward. We need to continually remind ourselves of God's eternal life, and His promises for us. When we take on the devil and win our battles side by side with God, we are rewarded.

“But David said to Saul, ‘Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.” (1 Samuel 17:34-36)

You are never too inexperienced to take on the devil. God has equipped you throughout your life. Your life experiences will have prepared you for the battle. There is never a situation that you can't handle, just look to what you have been through and see what you can take out of it to help you through the next situation. And always remember, God is on your side.

“Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:40)

It's important that we are prepared. We should never go into battle empty handed. For David this was picking up his weapon, the stones and his sling. We need to know our weapon, which is the Word of God.

“David said to the Philistine, ‘You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (1 Samuel 17:45)

We need to know that the Lord is on our side. He is always with you and He will help you to overcome the devil. Be prepared to speak it out, it's when we admit and speak things out that we begin to overcome. God is powerful, know and remember His power, have faith that He is stronger than anything that will come up against you.

“As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him” (1 Samuel 17:48)

Just as David did, we need to go into the battles without fear or hesitation. We need to go into battle with confidence.

As 1 Samuel 17 continues we see that David wins the fight with just one small stone, and then he chops off the Philistine's head with the sword that belong to the enemy. The things that come against us may seem like such giants in our lives but when we trust God completely we find that what was meant to hinder us, will only make us stronger. When we defeat the enemy, we can use that to help build us in confidence and faith for the next battles we face. 

Thankful for: Will Power

I am trying to save money and be healthy today and one thing this requires is a lot of will power. Have you ever gone shopping while your hungry? It's really hard not to buy yourself junk food (well it is for me). It takes a lot of will power to say no to some things. It was like that for me today as I went food shopping. I needed a lot of will power to say no to the things that were on special that I didn't need. Without will power, I'd probably be overweight and broke!