Some Words for the Weekend.

The good life, as I conceive it, is a happy life. I do not mean that if you are good you will be happy - I mean that if you are happy you will be good.

- Bertrand Russell

Now how true is that!

Thursday Reflection

Been listening a bit to this song since I heard it sung in Church a few weeks ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4_lG-wSjxQ



As Nelson Mandela said: “There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires.”

It's nice to celebrate the freedom Jesus has given us and realise we are so amazingly blessed!

Time for some light.

Genesis 1:3-4

Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.

How great are our lives for what God has done in them? That's right! Absolutely fantastic! And the thing is with God in our lives nothing is impossible. No mountain is too steep to climb, no darkness so great that His light can't penetrate through it and shine through and show His glory. Our glory of overcoming.

When the darkness starts to surround us, when it feels like we are walking through the deepest, darkest valley there is, all we need do is call out to Him, our Saviour, and He will be there to bring light into the darkness.

It doesn't mean that the darkness won't still be there, but it does mean we know which direction the light is coming from, and His light will show the path we need to follow to leave the darkness behind.

Easy? Not all the time. We may have to change. We may have to do things we never thought we would. We may have to struggle against those who seek to take us down another path. But we will not have to worry about tomorrow, Matthew 6:31-34:

31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

And those who seek to bring darkness should know that when we have God in our lives we are strengthened by the light only faith in Him provides. That others who have light in their lives will also help them overcome, be there for them and strengthen them in their struggle and lead them to victory and freedom!

Our God is so many things. To me, He showed me His light when all around was dark. He took me into the light and into the truth. I am no longer content to sit still though, and am ever seeking ways to make myself a better, stronger man. Although this has not been easy, it has been worth every sacrifice and change because I can feel the light growing stronger in me every day. Thank you, yes you, for helping me too!!!

Always remember that all you need do is call out to Him, talk to Him, and light will come where there is only darkness. It doesn't mean everything will be fixed or solved, we have to do our bit too, but it does mean we can embrace all the wonderful fruits of the spirit.

I will always thank God for bringing light into my life, for letting me fellowship with others who also love the light over the darkness and who want to keep the light shining brightly in their lives by embracing Him and the things that make Him love us. I want share this blessing with others, to help bring light where the darkness mistakenly thinks it reigns.

For there is only one King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And with Him in our lives we will always know that light will triumph over darkness.

Thanks for reading and God Bless.

Just a second...

James 4:13-15

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will[a] go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”

In life time is one of the few commodities that God allows us to have some control over. Not much, but it is one of them.

So we can’t accuse or blame anyone else of wasting our time. It is we who allow our time to be wasted. As Lance Armstrong wrote in his book on cancer survival, every second counts.

But how we spend time is also a reflection of our priorities in life. One of my favourite sayings is never let the urgent stop the important but so often this happens to so many. I find it hard to prevent this from happening, but I do my best. If I make mistakes I want to make improvements, not excuses. To really make every second count.

For some work has become a priority that has no place other than no.1 in their lives. And those that don’t understand that are placed 2. And no one remembers who came second. So whilst these people are consumed by work and are consuming work everyone else who is just a second moves on.

Then one day the person who made work everything finds that work didn’t see it quite the same way, and then life changes. When they reach out to someone they find that they are no longer there because they got tired of being second. No one likes being just a second. And time is just too precious to spend being second.

There are so many ways we can spend time. As the US Declaration of Independence states, God has given us life, liberty and the ability to pursue happiness. Sadly we give God second best all too often. I do. And I want to do more, be better with what I give back to Jesus. To not place Him second. To make Him more than just a second.

For it is better to give than to receive. And this includes our time. It is better to give our time to Him, to loving others, to reaching out to others. The time we spend every second of every day is a reflection of how we feel about ourselves, our priorities and our motivation. To God we are not just a second.

But one day we will be accountable for all of our seconds. We already are but some have not realised this yet. Never be just a second. Never let God become just a second. As Romans 12:9-11 says:

9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honour giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;

As Psalm 100 says I serve God with gladness. I am gracious for the time He has given me. I am gracious that He has made me more than just a second. I want to make Him more than just a second. I want to bless others by telling them about how great God is, and why He should be first not second in our lives.

Thanks for reading and God Bless.

Hero of the Day

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear, Mark Twain.

There are so many people out there who are heroes to me. And they are not heroes of the day. Not that we should not have heroes of the day. But sometimes we place the heroes around us on a higher moral plane than others, and all of a sudden we find ourselves judging them harshly and being disappointed in them for their failings.

Sadly it is us who are at fault for being hypocritical and not realising that as people in the world as we are they too are sinners like us. Our heroes suffer as much as we do, and need help as much as we do with the issues in life.

My ultimate hero is Jesus. He endured more than I could ever imagine and not once did he run away. Some of my other heroes are some of my closest friends. And of late some of them have been buffeted by the strong winds of life. I have too. It is hard. Life is hard but sometimes it is only when we know how close we are to dying that we learn to fight for life, and in life. I want to become Superman strong in my faith, to bless others and help others, but don't worry I won't be wearing my undies on the outside anytime soon. It is growing strong but it still has so much further to go.

Stay strong my friends, my heroes, for you show not just courage but faith to many. Don't let circumstance or words break you. Reach out to our Hero of Life, Jesus. And love God and others with all your heart and soul and show them that Hero inside of you.

Quick post but I'll write more soon.

God Bless.