It's what I've been reading about these last few days ... Peace! Actually something I've been thinking on quite a bit over the last 12-18 months! How many people actually live with peace? I reckon we think it's a pretty tranquil sort of peace - maybe we think peace is quiet - I'm in the house right now & it's quiet - i know strange - well it was; Eden's come back home :)
BUT PEACE - I believe December is a month for peace - specifically this December 2008 - in a week where things in Mumbai(pray for Mumbai, in particular Ps Biju Thampy who is doing such an amazing work there), Bangkok (kind of crazy for me, I was in the airport for 8 hours 2 months ago)have been wild - in the middle of the Chaos is where Peace is most needed!
I've been studying the names of God this last month - one of His more well known names JEHOVAH SHALOM the Lord our peace - The Lord, who possesses all divine power, who desires intimate relationship with us - HE IS OUR PEACE! What does it mean then to experience GOD OUR PEACE - some thoughts to think about (these are NOT complex)
1. Believe in Jesus
- It starts the same as every other way to truly experiencing God - believe in Jesus! Believing in Jesus - GOD OUR PEACE IS EXPERIENCED IN THE PERSON OF JESUS! Jesus - the one we love, adore, live to be more like, am indebted to forever: JESUS! Kind of makes it interesting then for people who have never heard of Jesus or maybe have him represented as someone he is not ... a rule giver, a guilt bringer, a good man but not God ... how do these people, millions in the world now & in times past, experience the real Jesus ... maybe we'll chat about that one later ... not meaning to rob u of peace :)
2. Trust in Jesus & therefore don't worry
- How easy to say is that! "Don't worry"! usually much easier to say than do! But it's true worry robs us of peace - take worry to the "end result" - the extreme of worry! If u allow yourself to worry until you have worried all u can worry what ru left with? Exactly the same result as when you started worrying ... nothing!!! Its a journey that takes us no where ... the treadmill of worry! It slims us of trust, faith & peace!!! Our options - trust in Jesus or trust in ourselves ... trusting in ourselves = saving ourselves & saving ourselves is the NUMBER 1 TEMPTATION WE ALL FACE - saving ourselves - something we could never do & that's why Jesus did it for us - even Jesus was tempted to save himself - quite a lot actually - in the wilderness with satan & then exactly the same words were used by the Pharisees & Criminal when Jesus was dying. Maybe today we can begin to get off the treadmill of worry & walk the road of trust! JESUS HELP ME WITH THIS AGAIN TODAY!
3. Pray
- Told u this was simple!
a) Tell God what u need - he already knows but when we tell Him we are paying Him a pretty big compliment - our asking is actually worship if done with a pure heart - would be like if I went to you "can i have a million dollars ... by Wednesday?" It's either a ridiculous request or a pretty big compliment saying "I actually believe you could do this for me ...& want to as well!" TODAY TELL GOD WHAT U NEED ... For me it's "God, I need your wisdom & strength in being a Godly Husband, father, mature, Christ-like person - with nothing to lose & no reason to hide"
b) Thank Him for all he has done ... take 30 seconds & thank Him 4 as much as u can possibly think - the really normal things - like your spleen works properly - that you have eyes to see, ears to hear, clean water to drink, a home to live in, in the "rich list" of the world compared to most, that your children are alive today ... & then for the intangibles - JESUS, His love 4u, His Grace, He will never leave u, He's here right now ... I'll leave u2 come up with the rest!!!
Such a simple thought today ... PEACE! Might do part 2 later in the week ... probably should & deal to the apathy I've discovered I am facing ... oh boy another blog ... apathy!!!
TILL NEXT MONDAY! (or this Wednesday???)
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
BLOG 4 - God has a Plan for My Life/Your Present is your present!
A Bit of a 'theological one' today - stay with me :)
Jeremiah 29 vs 11 "For I know the plans I have for you", says The Lord. "Plans to prosper you & not to harm you; Plans to give you a hope & a future."
Maybe one of the most well known Bible verses - GOD HAS A PLAN FOR MY LIFE! There are so many thoughts to think about regarding this verse: If you are not a "Christian" or if you are not living with Jesus right now ... please don't close the blog now thinking this doesn't relate to you ... just keep reading & see what happens :) Maybe it wasn't an accident? Some thoughts to think about re "God has a plan for my life"
1. God has plans for us - In the joys, heartaches or very normals of what life may look like for you TODAY, God has plans for you! It's pretty wild to think that if God is real he has plans for your life. If He is who he says He is then our today is not a waste - there is purpose & plans to be found in living this very ordinary or extraordinary day! YOUR LIFE IS NOT A MISTAKE!!! Feel like these words are significant for someone on this day! Everything that has happened to you - every single thing - need not be a waste - At the very beginning of our earth the God who possess all divine power took nothing & made something out of nothing - & not only did he make something out of nothing - He was IN the nothing making something! Whatever seems like "nothing" in your life is where God is right now making something ... so if you're away from God perhaps & your walk with Jesus seems like nothing - God hasn't left you, He is still there in your 'nothing'.
2. God's plans prosper us & don't harm us. The word 'Prosper' here means God's plans are designed to being us peace which brings security, safety which brings satisfaction, well-being which brings contentment, keeping us intact in wholeness & maturity. Hmmmm MATURITY!!! Maturity means growth, development, discipline, correction, the unveiling of "I am wrong & I need help to change". Maturity - has been my key word in 08 - will have to chat about this b4 the end of the year
3. God's plans give us a hope & a future. FUTURE. A word I've been thinking about this week. Is there such a thing as "The Future" - in the way we often think about it? We can never live in the future ... because when we live in the future we are living in today - living for something that will come one day seems to never come - because we always end up in "Today" - maybe that future is reversing the "Monsters Incorporated" slogan ... instead of a "Better tomorrow today" it should read "a better today tomorrow". I lived most of life for "something in the future" ... this last 12 months that's been changing ... it's hard ... but it seems to be working ... as I'm embracing God's plans for my life & realising that God's present to me (after the gift of Jesus) is my present ... sure wasn't the way I thought 'my dreams' would be outworked ... but they are his plans & so they will be the best in the end! He is the Master Planner after all
TILL NEXT MONDAY!!!
P.S - If these blogs r helping, challenging or stirring you, maybe you could pass them onto friends, family, leaders - if they're not a help, I'll try something else :) gotta aim to make the most of THIS DAY hey!
Jeremiah 29 vs 11 "For I know the plans I have for you", says The Lord. "Plans to prosper you & not to harm you; Plans to give you a hope & a future."
Maybe one of the most well known Bible verses - GOD HAS A PLAN FOR MY LIFE! There are so many thoughts to think about regarding this verse: If you are not a "Christian" or if you are not living with Jesus right now ... please don't close the blog now thinking this doesn't relate to you ... just keep reading & see what happens :) Maybe it wasn't an accident? Some thoughts to think about re "God has a plan for my life"
1. God has plans for us - In the joys, heartaches or very normals of what life may look like for you TODAY, God has plans for you! It's pretty wild to think that if God is real he has plans for your life. If He is who he says He is then our today is not a waste - there is purpose & plans to be found in living this very ordinary or extraordinary day! YOUR LIFE IS NOT A MISTAKE!!! Feel like these words are significant for someone on this day! Everything that has happened to you - every single thing - need not be a waste - At the very beginning of our earth the God who possess all divine power took nothing & made something out of nothing - & not only did he make something out of nothing - He was IN the nothing making something! Whatever seems like "nothing" in your life is where God is right now making something ... so if you're away from God perhaps & your walk with Jesus seems like nothing - God hasn't left you, He is still there in your 'nothing'.
2. God's plans prosper us & don't harm us. The word 'Prosper' here means God's plans are designed to being us peace which brings security, safety which brings satisfaction, well-being which brings contentment, keeping us intact in wholeness & maturity. Hmmmm MATURITY!!! Maturity means growth, development, discipline, correction, the unveiling of "I am wrong & I need help to change". Maturity - has been my key word in 08 - will have to chat about this b4 the end of the year
3. God's plans give us a hope & a future. FUTURE. A word I've been thinking about this week. Is there such a thing as "The Future" - in the way we often think about it? We can never live in the future ... because when we live in the future we are living in today - living for something that will come one day seems to never come - because we always end up in "Today" - maybe that future is reversing the "Monsters Incorporated" slogan ... instead of a "Better tomorrow today" it should read "a better today tomorrow". I lived most of life for "something in the future" ... this last 12 months that's been changing ... it's hard ... but it seems to be working ... as I'm embracing God's plans for my life & realising that God's present to me (after the gift of Jesus) is my present ... sure wasn't the way I thought 'my dreams' would be outworked ... but they are his plans & so they will be the best in the end! He is the Master Planner after all
TILL NEXT MONDAY!!!
P.S - If these blogs r helping, challenging or stirring you, maybe you could pass them onto friends, family, leaders - if they're not a help, I'll try something else :) gotta aim to make the most of THIS DAY hey!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
BLOG PT3 - Balance???
Balance - Hmmm now there's an interesting word! Living life with balance - is there such a thing?
Whether you are a follower of Jesus Christ or not we all live lives where balance at one time or another brings pressure - HOW MUCH TIME DO I GIVE TO THE DIFFERENT AREAS OF MY LIFE? In essence that's the journey of balance. Things I love, that I have to do & therefore do, things I should do but don't do ... so many different scenarios hey! how much time do i give to God, family, church, getting ahead financially, my own recreational time, not to mention development of the gifts God has given at the expense of doing things that could benefit others particularly time with my children for example.
It starts as kids - I watch my kids (I'll put some latest pictures of them on my blogspot for anyone who wants an update of The Puddle Clan) - they're trying to figure balance & its fruit & consequences - the balance of what they want to do vs what i want them to do, t & them trying to figure out the balance question - "should I do it?" - & if they don't should I (Daddy) give them as they always tell me with longing looks & loud crys "One more Chance, Daddy one more chance" - the balance of parental discipline (that's a whole 'nother blog - old testament vs new testament parenting :)
Doesn't change much as adults I reckon - today kelista (my magnificent wife) & I ... well we got into a pretty deep discussion (yes started by me) over a drain!!! I had planned to go to the Book Shop at 1:25pm then pick up Kilaya from school when Kelista at 1:20pm asked if I could fix a drain ... hmmm my day off, time to rest, recooperate, helps the family in the end vs laying my desires down for my wife, the call of every husband - now if I had been a child & my mother had asked me to do this my choice is pretty easy ... do what i'm told or suffer the consequences ... but as an adult I get to make my own decisions & must live with the fruit of my decisions ... I chose to stay home & try to fix the drain ... which I couldn't! I was a bit ... annoyed! Not at Kelista but at the tension of balance I had faced & my feelings of smallness & guilt as a result. That I'm still not 'adult enough' to be content with my final decisions & find the joy in the moment ...whether that joy be in that I have been secure enough in myself to do what I wanted to do (with in Godly reason of course) or that moment was something I wasn't expecting but could "go with the flow" & find joy in (like a better looking drain:)
Here's a few things I think I'm learning about balance
1. There are Balance Principles but they outwork differently in every life
- The Bible speaks very little about balance. Its main mention is to do with unjust weights or unjust balance - where the balance corruptly favours the rich for example instead of the poor. Balance Principles come from things like faith, hope & love - eternal things that last
2. Balance is about my choices for my life & not others expectations - even those closest to me
- So many of our decisions are reactionary & not out of purposed actions - we often do so many things we really don't want to do or believe we r called to do! At the end of the day I will stand before God & give account for my life. He will ask we about my life of worship unto Him - my worship is the way I live my life - I have got to live my life according to the revelation of God that i have - not my spouses, mother's, fathers, Pastors or anyone elses - MINE - I have to be true to what I know today.
It's pretty intersting that people whom in the past I have thought to be most selfish are actually people who are least intimidated by others & yet are actually pretty Christ-Like - they stand up for what they believe God would have them do, they don't blame the fruit of their decisions on someone else & yet they're pretty quick to give the 'glory' of their acolades to their teams or people they do life with - the Balance seems to be there!!!
TILL NEXT MONDAY!!!
Whether you are a follower of Jesus Christ or not we all live lives where balance at one time or another brings pressure - HOW MUCH TIME DO I GIVE TO THE DIFFERENT AREAS OF MY LIFE? In essence that's the journey of balance. Things I love, that I have to do & therefore do, things I should do but don't do ... so many different scenarios hey! how much time do i give to God, family, church, getting ahead financially, my own recreational time, not to mention development of the gifts God has given at the expense of doing things that could benefit others particularly time with my children for example.
It starts as kids - I watch my kids (I'll put some latest pictures of them on my blogspot for anyone who wants an update of The Puddle Clan) - they're trying to figure balance & its fruit & consequences - the balance of what they want to do vs what i want them to do, t & them trying to figure out the balance question - "should I do it?" - & if they don't should I (Daddy) give them as they always tell me with longing looks & loud crys "One more Chance, Daddy one more chance" - the balance of parental discipline (that's a whole 'nother blog - old testament vs new testament parenting :)
Doesn't change much as adults I reckon - today kelista (my magnificent wife) & I ... well we got into a pretty deep discussion (yes started by me) over a drain!!! I had planned to go to the Book Shop at 1:25pm then pick up Kilaya from school when Kelista at 1:20pm asked if I could fix a drain ... hmmm my day off, time to rest, recooperate, helps the family in the end vs laying my desires down for my wife, the call of every husband - now if I had been a child & my mother had asked me to do this my choice is pretty easy ... do what i'm told or suffer the consequences ... but as an adult I get to make my own decisions & must live with the fruit of my decisions ... I chose to stay home & try to fix the drain ... which I couldn't! I was a bit ... annoyed! Not at Kelista but at the tension of balance I had faced & my feelings of smallness & guilt as a result. That I'm still not 'adult enough' to be content with my final decisions & find the joy in the moment ...whether that joy be in that I have been secure enough in myself to do what I wanted to do (with in Godly reason of course) or that moment was something I wasn't expecting but could "go with the flow" & find joy in (like a better looking drain:)
Here's a few things I think I'm learning about balance
1. There are Balance Principles but they outwork differently in every life
- The Bible speaks very little about balance. Its main mention is to do with unjust weights or unjust balance - where the balance corruptly favours the rich for example instead of the poor. Balance Principles come from things like faith, hope & love - eternal things that last
2. Balance is about my choices for my life & not others expectations - even those closest to me
- So many of our decisions are reactionary & not out of purposed actions - we often do so many things we really don't want to do or believe we r called to do! At the end of the day I will stand before God & give account for my life. He will ask we about my life of worship unto Him - my worship is the way I live my life - I have got to live my life according to the revelation of God that i have - not my spouses, mother's, fathers, Pastors or anyone elses - MINE - I have to be true to what I know today.
It's pretty intersting that people whom in the past I have thought to be most selfish are actually people who are least intimidated by others & yet are actually pretty Christ-Like - they stand up for what they believe God would have them do, they don't blame the fruit of their decisions on someone else & yet they're pretty quick to give the 'glory' of their acolades to their teams or people they do life with - the Balance seems to be there!!!
TILL NEXT MONDAY!!!
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Blog Pt2 - The Times are a Changing!
Hey Everyone,
Well it's been a big week! So much change in just one week! It's been a massively historic week & one we will never forget with the election of Senator Barack Obama as the first African-American President of the United States. Pretty Massive with masisve consequences & change. It's not the only big thing tho!
I'm sure you are going through some sort of change as well - it might be at home relationally, financially with reevaluation of your savings & spendings, work & the possible reality of retresnchment, socially & what you're community is going to look like under new leadership or spiritually & where you are (or seemingly aren't) heading right now as far as the purpose of your life! My change right now is ME - I am growing from a teenager inside to an adult inside - long story & will talk about that another time ("Changes that Heal" by Dr Henry Cloud - WHAT A BOOK!)
I'm real intrigued by our world at present. I'm intrigued by our responses to pressure, mine included. My Pastor Brian Houston has been teaching on this subject of pressure as of late (you can get these messages by simply going to www.hillsong.com, Brian's Podcast will be on the front page & have a listen - well worth it!!!)
So on a very big subject that's probably gonna take a lot of weeks I will just put a few things out there & see what comes of them - remember the whole purpose for this blog are thoughts to think about, chew on & be challenged to live our dreams everyday
1. The New President of the USA - I have some American friends who are pretty upset - scared for their nation & its morals. All I know is that God has included this as part of His plans at this time for His reason & His purpose - & that purpose is always a fresh revelation of who God is & what he is like - God has chosen leaders before in the past regardless of their public moral standing for His plan & purpose - if u don't believe me just look at King David - a far more 'imoral man' than King Saul (the way they figured out David was dead is pretty interesting ... they sent a virgin into his bed & when she came out 'untouched' his closest men basically said 'He must be Dead!) - & at the same time a man after God's own heart. Is the New President a man after God's own heart - I don't know - I'm not saying he is & I'm not saying He isn't (just don't believe everything you read on the Net or on the Prophetic Emails either :) This hasn't taken our God by surprise though & He has His plans & purposes right in the middle of it all!
2. Where I live - my brother-in-law Paul & his wife Karrina have just moved, today, from Sydney back to Mount Isa, in the outback of Queensland, Australia - where the biggest shopping centre is K-Mart (for some of you that's suffering & pestilance right there!) Our family & close friends r gonna miss them a lot - & we are real pumped for them, its a good & needed decision at this time for them in a number of ways! Where i'm living or situated reflects my present in life, where I am settling, thriving, excelling, becoming apathetic, offended or lost - it's all occuring in the context of where I live - my present! If we know the purpose for our present we will have a strong sense of hope about our future - so where r you living right now (not 'Sydney' or 'Mt Isa but within yourself)? In clarity or confussion, in hope or hopelessness, in peace or anxiety? If you are struggling with why you are doing what you are doing PLEASE get a copy of this book "Changes that Heal" - I cannot recommend it enough! It is causing me to actually become a big person in a big person's world & not remain small within myself.
This has got way too long already - they say a short blog is much better cos it leaves people wanting more... so i'll stop now & see how this goes ... i'm enjoying getting my thoughts out nonetheless
TILL NEXT MONDAY!!!
Well it's been a big week! So much change in just one week! It's been a massively historic week & one we will never forget with the election of Senator Barack Obama as the first African-American President of the United States. Pretty Massive with masisve consequences & change. It's not the only big thing tho!
I'm sure you are going through some sort of change as well - it might be at home relationally, financially with reevaluation of your savings & spendings, work & the possible reality of retresnchment, socially & what you're community is going to look like under new leadership or spiritually & where you are (or seemingly aren't) heading right now as far as the purpose of your life! My change right now is ME - I am growing from a teenager inside to an adult inside - long story & will talk about that another time ("Changes that Heal" by Dr Henry Cloud - WHAT A BOOK!)
I'm real intrigued by our world at present. I'm intrigued by our responses to pressure, mine included. My Pastor Brian Houston has been teaching on this subject of pressure as of late (you can get these messages by simply going to www.hillsong.com, Brian's Podcast will be on the front page & have a listen - well worth it!!!)
So on a very big subject that's probably gonna take a lot of weeks I will just put a few things out there & see what comes of them - remember the whole purpose for this blog are thoughts to think about, chew on & be challenged to live our dreams everyday
1. The New President of the USA - I have some American friends who are pretty upset - scared for their nation & its morals. All I know is that God has included this as part of His plans at this time for His reason & His purpose - & that purpose is always a fresh revelation of who God is & what he is like - God has chosen leaders before in the past regardless of their public moral standing for His plan & purpose - if u don't believe me just look at King David - a far more 'imoral man' than King Saul (the way they figured out David was dead is pretty interesting ... they sent a virgin into his bed & when she came out 'untouched' his closest men basically said 'He must be Dead!) - & at the same time a man after God's own heart. Is the New President a man after God's own heart - I don't know - I'm not saying he is & I'm not saying He isn't (just don't believe everything you read on the Net or on the Prophetic Emails either :) This hasn't taken our God by surprise though & He has His plans & purposes right in the middle of it all!
2. Where I live - my brother-in-law Paul & his wife Karrina have just moved, today, from Sydney back to Mount Isa, in the outback of Queensland, Australia - where the biggest shopping centre is K-Mart (for some of you that's suffering & pestilance right there!) Our family & close friends r gonna miss them a lot - & we are real pumped for them, its a good & needed decision at this time for them in a number of ways! Where i'm living or situated reflects my present in life, where I am settling, thriving, excelling, becoming apathetic, offended or lost - it's all occuring in the context of where I live - my present! If we know the purpose for our present we will have a strong sense of hope about our future - so where r you living right now (not 'Sydney' or 'Mt Isa but within yourself)? In clarity or confussion, in hope or hopelessness, in peace or anxiety? If you are struggling with why you are doing what you are doing PLEASE get a copy of this book "Changes that Heal" - I cannot recommend it enough! It is causing me to actually become a big person in a big person's world & not remain small within myself.
This has got way too long already - they say a short blog is much better cos it leaves people wanting more... so i'll stop now & see how this goes ... i'm enjoying getting my thoughts out nonetheless
TILL NEXT MONDAY!!!
Friday, November 7, 2008
My 1st Blog
So here I am .. sitting in my usual computer chair with my wife next to me ... & her hassling my typing ... I have written about 16 spelling errors in the first two lines ... started with Blog being blob .... & here I am showing one of my usual qualities (not always good) .. I talk ... a lot!!!!
Must be a little bit of female I have in me ... that & I do ask for directions! Words .. I can speak a lot of them ... and people that know me would know that potentially i could write the longest blogs known to man ... but ... I want this Blog & my words to actually be significant, not just plentiful ...to inspire people to change ... changes that heal ... It's the title of a book i'm reading ... the most challenging, confronting & impacting book i've ever read!! It's about why we do what we do, in a really specific way ... & that all the challenges we face in life usually have something to do with bonding, separating, boundaries, figuring out how to live with the concepts of good & bad & adulthood - which many of us including myself are in body but not in our inner person (if the definiton of an adult is going through the normal growth development from childhood to adolesence to adulthood)
So these blogs will hopefully stir someone's thinking which will stir emotion which will stir choice which will bring change - & whether you're a follower of Jesus or not I reckon there's some stuff we can all chat about that will bring positive change in our respective worlds & the collective world in which we live ... Ps Gary Clarke said at our Mens Conference this weekend "what is the thing that has taken u off the stage where u were making your 'I am going to change the world' speech?'" ... well maybe we can figure it out together & then in our everyday, normal lives go out together & ... change the world .. one bite at a time!
TILL NEXT MONDAY :)
Must be a little bit of female I have in me ... that & I do ask for directions! Words .. I can speak a lot of them ... and people that know me would know that potentially i could write the longest blogs known to man ... but ... I want this Blog & my words to actually be significant, not just plentiful ...to inspire people to change ... changes that heal ... It's the title of a book i'm reading ... the most challenging, confronting & impacting book i've ever read!! It's about why we do what we do, in a really specific way ... & that all the challenges we face in life usually have something to do with bonding, separating, boundaries, figuring out how to live with the concepts of good & bad & adulthood - which many of us including myself are in body but not in our inner person (if the definiton of an adult is going through the normal growth development from childhood to adolesence to adulthood)
So these blogs will hopefully stir someone's thinking which will stir emotion which will stir choice which will bring change - & whether you're a follower of Jesus or not I reckon there's some stuff we can all chat about that will bring positive change in our respective worlds & the collective world in which we live ... Ps Gary Clarke said at our Mens Conference this weekend "what is the thing that has taken u off the stage where u were making your 'I am going to change the world' speech?'" ... well maybe we can figure it out together & then in our everyday, normal lives go out together & ... change the world .. one bite at a time!
TILL NEXT MONDAY :)
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