One body, Many parts

We all have good days and we all have bad days. Life's like that. Sometimes you're soaring above the clouds and sometimes you're face down on the ground just wanting it all to end. Some days you're strong and feel like you could lift a car, some days you can barely get your head off the pillow. Here's something God brought to mind for me about all this... The next time you're having a great day rather than just enjoying every single second for yourself - take a look around and see if there's someone you could maybe help. Maybe God gave you an awesome day so you could help someone and bring light and life to that person who isn't having such a great day. Imagine if we all did that... It would be a very, very different world. It would be like a body that looks after itself and tends to the parts that aren't doing great just like the Bible says we should behave as believers in 1 Corinthians 12. Have an awesome day and feel free to like, share and tag a friend. God loves you for who you are. 

The Fire Inside

I wish I could tell you, of this fire inside. More than feel, see or hear - like the sea and it's tide. A force more mighty than the essence of life - a truth not for sale but that's paid with a price. Not something to show, to act, or to play - but a truth that you live once your heart knows the way. See, those ones who know this - will know just what I mean. It's a filthy stained heart that's made blood soaked clean.  †

Like a seed I am nothing

      Like a seed I am nothing,
      Without your earth, sun and rain.
      Just potential locked up
      Greatness locked in a grain.
      But with your care I can flourish,
      Like a tree in the field.
      By your Word I am nourished,
      And like the crop I will yield.
      So I lean on your graces,
      A humble seed in the ground.
      It's by your truth I am fed
      And by your love I am found  †

God is good and has good plans for His children

This verse reminds me that despite how I feel, despite how things look, despite what I've done... God is a good God who loves His children and has awesome and unimaginable plans of good for everyone who follows Him and His ways. He's faithful and true to His promises and will save and help all who humbly call out to Him. God loves you. 

Be Nice

Be nice. Honestly there's enough evil in this world already. Imagine if we all truly considered each other and decided to take the path of kindness, honesty, respect and love instead of hatred, rivalry, pride, deception, fear and revenge... Resist that urge to "settle things" yourself and instead follow the greatest teacher that humanity has ever known... Jesus. He is God in the flesh and He taught us to love your enemies - a concept that cuts against the grain for every single human alive - yet what if it is truly the answer to all of humanity and it's conflict? At the end of the day the real question is what is love and what is it to love? The answer is simple... Love is sacrifice. If only we could all surrender to love then this world would be saved...

Way of the Pearl

Simple and humble carbon is transformed into priceless diamond through a process  of time and extreme pressure on all sides. A blacksmith uses the extreme heat of the furnace then drowns the blade in water over and over to harden steel into a weapon that is reliable, tested and worthy for battle. A precious pearl is created in response to the irritation of a simple grain of sand entering the abode of a humble unattractive clam. Do not give up. These trials are sent to test you, refine you and strengthen you. Stand through the fiery trial not in your own strength or with faith in yourself... But in the knowledge and strength that Jesus will only allow these things when He knows through Him you can stand and endure. So stand soldier. Don't give up or give in and see God transform you and produce something truly amazing from the fire. God loves you. 

Kindness has a reward

Revenge leads to death in far more ways than you can imagine. You may think you are in control but walking that path is to submit to and serve evil itself. Instead of taking the dark, easy and accessible road of retribution choose the path of kindness and doing right then leave the rest to God. He promises to repay and avenge and is the only righteous judge that sees all - motive and actions. Jesus taught us to love our enemies by choosing to not return evil for evil, to show kindness when it's undeserving and to pray for those who only show us hatred and harm. Jesus never said it would be easy and but He does promise to walk with us, help us and reward those who choose His ways. Choose to follow Jesus - the source of life and seek His ways and He will reward you with life, righteousness and honour.

Two Kings

The story of two different Kings. Proverbs 22:4 "The reward of humility and the fear of the LORD Are riches, honor and life."

God spoke to me tonight while reading this verse and brought to mind two Kings from the Bible that I've studied quite a lot. One King was chosen by the people. He was tall, handsome, strong, popular, self-confident and from outward appearance perfectly looked the part to be an awesome king. His name was Saul. When he became king it quickly went to his head and in his pride and arrogance he forgot about God and thought he no longer needed God's help. His pride led to direct disobedience to what God asked and as a result he lost his mind, his kingdom and ultimately lost his life dying dishonourably on the battlefield as a coward who killed himself rather than fighting to the death to protect his people. 

The second king God brought to mind was a young teenage boy. He wasn't the obvious choice among his brothers as a candidate for the throne. He held down the humble job of looking after his fathers sheep in the wilderness outskirts near his home. One day this boy visited his brothers on the battlefield to deliver supplies to his brothers as requested by his father who cared for them. This boys name was David. On the battlefield he heard and saw the giant Goliath badly dishonouring his country, his people and his God and said it needed to stop. God put it in David's heart to face the giant and as I'm sure you know - he won. 

The first King Saul wasn't humble and he didn't respect God and the result was that he himself was dishonoured and lost everything including his life. The second king David was humble. He feared and respected God and acknowledged that he needed God's help. The result of his choices was honour, riches and a long life as one of the most memorable and celebrated kings of Israel. 

So which king will you be? Just like the two kings above - your choice will determine the outcome. God is no liar and His Word is always true. What He says may not always happen right away it will ultimately end the way He says and as a result of your choice. I'll leave you with the verse I believe Joshua put extremely well...

[ I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live. - Deuteronomy 30:19 ]

God is our safe place in the day of chaos

I was reading this verse tonight to my kids before bed and explained it like this to them... "The Psalmist says that he sings about our God being a strong God. He sings out loud first thing in the morning because it just consumes his being about how good God really is. He is thankful to God for being the safe place and the shelter of peace to Him in the days when everything around him is crumbling down and chaos and hatred surround him like a flood." I pray that you too can know God like the Psalmist spoke of because the words he wrote about God completely echo my heart for what I know God to be. My refuge, my strength, my peace, my clarity, my hope, my destination and my Father in Heaven. 

Simple Wisdom

I was putting my kids to bed tonight and God put it on my heart to read them this verse. I get these daily bible verses on my phone every day and usually wake up and read them first thing in the morning - not out of religious repetition but out of a relationship with God and in an expectation of Him talking to me from it and teaching me something new. The Bible says in the proverbs "A wise man will increase in learning..." so the day you stop learning from God - you also stop being wise. So I read the verse out loud to them tonight and then asked my kids if they knew what it meant. My oldest boy says "No one has fully seen, heard or imagined heaven with God". The funny thing is that when I read this verse myself I mostly had an earthly view of it - not that reading it that way was wrong as God does promise us a lot of amazing things in the life we walk down here. He promises His presence that will never leave us, He promises healing for our hearts and our diseases, He promises provision of our needs, He promises the gift of the Holy Spirit to live inside all who believe in Jesus and so, so much more. But the way my little boy understood it is far more powerful than any earthly view. He was given wisdom straight from God to see the direct eternal perspective of what God promises in this verse. This world and all we see will one day be gone but the Kingdom God has built and prepared for us will last forever and ever. No one can possibly ever dream or imagine how good it really is going to be in Heaven with God until we get there. But that's just it - we walk by faith not by sight. It's amazing how God can gift such young children with the very simple yet profound wisdom He gives to teach an old fool like me another way to view His goodness, faithfulness and His promises. I hope this encourages you too. Have an awesome night. God loves you.