Make it so!

This has been a revealing and challenging week 

There is a time to let things happen and a time to make things happen

Hugh Prather

This quote summarises my feelings about life just now.

For our monthly book read-and-review at North Kent Community Church ESSL we had to read 'The Ultimate Treasure Hunt' by Kevin Dedmon. I been on 'Treasure Hunts before and have to admit to having been rather half-hearted about them. BUT having read the book and being clearer about all that God can do and my part in it, I have felt more confident and expectant going out into the community and seeking out God's treasures - people out there whose lives God wants to touch and bring blessing or healing to them. There is actually a video online that shows some people being healed by the prayers of His hunters. It may well sound like a strange activity to you but when you actually experience some peoples' reactions to the impact on their lives of hearing that God knows and loves them, it is amazing. Yes, there are some folk who look at you as if you are a bit of a weirdo, but as I always point out after - 'I am still alive - it didn't kill me!' Today, there are people out there who have heard, maybe for the first time, that God loves them. 

I was only the mouth and body. Holy Spirit does the rest

This week, I had on my list, 'French'. Nothing of a french nature crossed my path in any way. However, as I drove home up the M25/M40 on Friday night, I was passed by a 'Patisserie Valerie' van and remembered that there was that very stand at the upcoming services at Beaconsfield. SO I wondered...'Has God got someone there who needs His compassion?' After a brief mind-tussle with myself, I pulled in and headed to the cafe, ordering a coffee from the guy there whilst I mustered my courage. 

'Excuse me,' I ventured. 'I hope you don't mind me asking but are you alright?'

This immediately drew a very quizzical look. 'Yesssss,' he replied.

I explained the treasure hunt briefly; told him I thought he was God's treasure and wondered if there was anything I could pray for him?

There wasn't!!

I felt a somewhat thrown and a bit of an idiot. Having been so convinced that I should be there, how come I wasn't going to see him undergo some amazing life-transformation and tearful call out to God right before my very eyes? Hmmmm!

'Well, do you know,' I replied. 'I really don't think it was an accident that I came here today. I believe God wanted you to know that He loves you and that you are on His mind so don't be surprised if some little something happens from time to time to make you think about that.'

He raised his eyebrows at me and waited.

'OK, thanks then,' I smiled and went to sit down.

As soon as I could make a reasonably-timed departure without looking like I was making a dash from prison, I exited gracefully stage right. 

'Well what was THAT about, Lord?'

I don't THINK I heard Him laugh!

Then at the weekend, I heard hubs preach on the Wedding at Cana from John 2. It's a well-known story but do read it if you are not familiar with this event. It includes Jesus' instruction for servants to fill six stone water jars to the brim with water after the wine runs out at a wedding Jesus is attending.

As I listened to the familiar scripture read out, I heard, and didn't remember registering this ever before, that Jesus told the servants, 'Now, draw some WATER out [capitals mine] and take it to the master...'

Jesus told them to draw water - WATER!!! but when the master tasted it, it had turned to the finest wine - and not just a few bottles worth but, according to hubs, who loves maths and worked it out, several hundred bottles worth!!! 

I was struck by the fact that the servants had to carry out the seemingly ridiculous instructions to take water to the master but somewhere ON THE WAY, it was changed into wonderful wine and transformed the end of the wedding.

That is certainly a challenge to consider. 

Can I willingly carry out what God asks of me, even though it seems madness? Even though I may not know the outcome immediately - because let's not forget, there were probably a little group of servants sniggering in the kitchen, waiting for their co-worker to return. Knowing nothing about the new wine, they anticipate the Master's cries of outrage when he is presented with a cup of water and predict their chum returning with a kicked behind at least!!!  Can I? I know what I want the answer to be.

In considering it, I can only wonder what has happened to that young french server since we spoke. I may never know. But God knows and He had His purposes for that encounter.

My answer?

I surrender!

'For the righteous man falls seven times and rises again

Proverbs 24:16

Impossible

This week has been a busy old one, hence my late post but I am prompted today to get something out there!

I came across a quote (what a surprise) and it hit me as being very relevant to something God spoke to me about in School last week. It was during a worship time when the band played 'Oceans' 

First the quote - and I add my own picture here because it feels more personal, more of my very own heart, deliberately, wrapped round and held there by the hand of the God of the Impossible

Use me, God.

Show me how to take

who I am, 

who I want to be, 

and what I can do, 

and use it 

for a purpose

greater than myself

Martin Luther King

...and I promise

still to go for it

even if is seems

impossible!

Me

Second - the song. As I listened to the words, silently mouthing them myself, I heard the words afresh.

 'Spirit, Lead me where my trust is without borders; 

let me walk upon the waters 

wherever You would call me. 

Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander 

and my faith will be made stronger 

by the presence of my Saviour.'

I suddenly realised that what I meant when I asked God to take me into the 'impossible' held the unspoken proviso of, 

'So long as I am comfortable doing it!'

I was taken aback! Especially since I had been speaking to Him about a situation possibly emerging in life that looked WAY unlikely - even impossible - so much so that I didn't know whether it was even worth the attempt! But here, now, I realised that if I wasn't uncomfortable, it wasn't likely to be impossible. Besides, if God takes us TO a situation, He certainly plans to take us THROUGH it.

Was I really willing to be in a place that felt like floundering in sea without sand immediately underneath my tippy toes, with currents flowing and waves crashing? Could I then trust that, despite things being apparently against a venture, I could experience a sense of water-walking and being stunned at where God could take me if I kept my eyes on Him and not on circumstances?

Looking at Urup Island, here, I am struck that, until we get up close and involved in a situation, things may look impossible. The island doesn't look the best or easiest place for a climb. At closer quarters, footholds, crannies or even a path may be available. But I'd have to be THERE to know properly. When faced with an 'adventure' that God lays before me, I would be stupid to say no. First, if He chooses me, He knows I am the one for the job. Second, if He is involved, I couldn't wish for better backup or safer hands. Do I take the risk? The end of the story is yet to come!

As Benjamin Franklin once said,

'When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on'

and if you've time for a smile....click here

No Eye has seen...

A bit of a rest from the New Year challenges (post of December 30th). 

Besides the fact that I have been away from my pc, I have spent the last few nights trying to remember all the questions so far and my answers so that it will not have been a fruitless or pointless task. I have committed to memory all the things I answered and can recite them back on request...slowly!

So today's post is prompted by this picture...

It is the Moon Tower, Dubai

I quizzed myself for a few seconds, 'How on EARTH did they do that?'

As yet, it is not a reality - just a plan in the making but as I first cast eyes on it, it made me gasp with wonder and a long 'WOWWwwwwww!' with its ambition and beauty.

As I gazed, I was suddenly struck by the thought that this construction, this wowness and innovation is nothing new to God. NOTHING is new to Him. Nothing takes Him by surprise. Nothing makes Him think, 'Aw shucks - I wish I had thought of that!'

He knew, when he made me, that making myself go cross-eyed would give me double vision and make me laugh. Maybe that's why He made me that way - He loves to hear me laugh. And even better, I reckon, if I laugh at something that is of His very own design. 

He knew that I would LOVE crunching my feet through dried Autumn leaves. Don't you know, that is why He made them that way - because He loves my delight? You all get to benefit too!

I was put in mind of the bible verse in 1 Corinthians 2:9, 

'However, as it is written; "What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived" the things that God has prepared for those that love Him'

Good - God has already made things and had plans to stun me. 

Better - He has more of each lined up for my future here on Earth - things to delight, amaze and excite me. 

Best - He has SO much lined up already in Heaven where we will be together for eternity. 

Jesus says He has gone ahead to prepare my rooms in the Big House. In Keith Green's song, 'I Can't wait to Heaven', he sings that, having created the Universe in 6 days, Jesus has been working on Heaven for 2000 years! My Room is gonna be the Bomb!!

I thank God for all His creation. I thank Him that He created His children with such imagination and creativity waiting to be birthed at the right time. He gave man minds to create and invent beyond our wildest dreams.

Just before I head for bed to have a mini dream, I leave you with this bit of fun......

And you never know, perhaps in our dreams tonight, God will show you or me the next big thing to invent. If He shows it to you, I claim dibs on a share in the profits and we will treat ourselves to a short break in the Moon Tower!!

It's time!

Now for the answer to the third question - the one I have most been dreading! (referring to my post of December 30th)

What habitual time waster will you eliminate?!'

Now the joker in me wants to say, 'My hubby' but that wouldn't be anywhere near the truth - not today anyway.

But why, I hear you ask, have I been dreading this question? 

Well...because I know my answer will work but it will be hard since I am easily ill-disciplined. HOWEVER, the benefits reaped will be great and I will list them at the end so that I will motivate myself.

Time Waster 1:  My computer and in particular reading my emails and posts on Facebook

Elimination Solution: I will check my emails only twice a day - first thing in the morning because I have my Bible in One Year come in there and to make sure there is nothing urgent come in overnight; and in the evening - before 10pm - so that I can sleep at night without wondering. I would like to get that down to just once a day but I don't know if that is realistic at the moment. 

Facebook really doesn't need to be checked throughout the day so I will commit to visit it just once a day in the early evening or whilst I am blogging.

Time Waster 2: Reading online newspaper...and I am going to shame myself and admit it is the DailyMail!!! - I like lots of pictures...however, I spend a stupid amount of time reading all sorts of rubbish on it. I can sit down and intend to have a quick 5 minute check of the headlines and still be there an hour later! (Confession is good for the soul but can make you feel like such a moron!!)

Elimination Solution: SO it is going completely! I am not going to click on that dreaded page. To get news I will either watch it on TV, listen to the radio or look at the BBCNews.

Time Waster 3: DoodleJump on my phone. 

Oh my gosh - this innocuous little game! With my old phone, I couldn't get this little app and could only play occasionally on Hub's phone. But I got a new phone before Christmas and one of the first things I did was 'see if I could get DoodleJump'. BIG mistake! Huge! So it beckoned me every time I opened the cover. Sometimes I could resist. Sometimes, I would opt for a 'quick' game. Whilst I was never on for an hour or even half an hour, it was still time wasted but as is the subtle way with these 'little' things, it ate away some of my precious time two or three times a day. Time that could never be redeemed. Time that did nothing to better my world. Time that could make a good difference somewhere else. but of course, there was a 'best score' to beat with 'just one more try'  Time wasted. 

Repeat comment above about confession/moron and maybe add 'hypocrite' since I am mainly beyond understanding of how Candy Crush takes so much of folks' time!! *embarrassed eyebrow-raise*

Elimination Solution: I am not even going to indulge myself with recording my top score on DoodleJump but I have just got Gorgeous Daughter to uninstall that thing from my phone (I couldn't even suss out how to do it!) I am not going to play it again! Finito!

SO!! How much time do I reckon I will save each day? 

Difficult to say but I am going to suggest between 2 and 3 hours!

I KNOW!!! 

I can hardly believe it myself and if it is true, I feel shame!! but time adds up and those five minute 'Justs' accumulate. 

BUT, what will the benefits be? Here are a few to start me off and help motivate me.

• Books I have, begging to be read, will be read.
• Walks I keep intending to take will help fitten me up and smooth my outline!
• Me and God will get some quality time together.
• I will experience less frustration that tasks aren't getting done - because I will do ! The house will benefit from this also.

SO, my friends, please do feel free to check up or challenge me.

I'll let you know how I am getting on in about a month - I have set a reminder on my phone!

Plan A. Number One.

The second question posed in my blog of 30th December was, 

'What is the most important thing you plan to learn this year?'

This answer could well have made an entrance during my last blog post about things I am saying Yes to this year. The most important thing I plan to learn this year is how to keep God in the Number One spot in my life and how that affects my world around me and all that I do.

I listened to a talk by Bill Johnson late last year during my commute to School in Kent. In the message, I heard Bill challenge a belief I am sure many of us have or have had in our Christian lives.

I was discipled to believe that in life, my priorities in my walk with God should be: God at number one, then family at number two, followed by work at three and rounding off with other people/issues and myself. What Bill suggested was that as God fully takes the number one slot in our lives, there is then no need for numbers two, three or four etc. because all that will fall into its right place as we seek God and His priorities. Jesus didn't put aside His relationship with His Father in order to go and spend time with His disciples or give a sermon. He did those things BECAUSE of His relationship with His Father. WOW!

I am not exactly sure how that will work out in life day to day but I love the Amplified version of Galatians 5:16 which says, 'But I say walk and live habitually in the Holy Spirit; responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh, of human nature without God.'

Paul challenges us, implying it is wholly possible, to be alert to God every second of the day. This connection with the Father is how the man, Jesus, was able to live the life on earth He lived and to shock His disciples (and us) with the statement that they would not only do the same things that He did once He had left them but go on to do greater things!!

I know some reading this will think of that as an outlandish, maybe even arrogant presumption to make in the present day. I would have thought so myself several years ago. Feel free to ask how and why I have changed my thinking; 

I may have quoted this before but to me, this whole challenge is inspiringly summarised by a quote of Bill's in his book, 'When Heaven Invades Earth'. He says,

"I will spend the rest of my life exploring what could happen through the life of one who is willing to cultivate the God-given appetite ro see impossibilities bow to the name of Jesus. All my eggs are in one basket. There is no 'Plan B'."

He is not the first to adopt this stance to the glory of God....

I'd like to learn to be another 'that woman'

and that is is the most important thing I plan to learn this year?

As mother would say, 'God help me!'

Say 'No' or say 'Yes'?

SO, in looking back at my post of December 30th, I am going to answer the questions one by one over the next series of posts so that I can think about the answer carefully and take it all in slowly.

The first question was, "What are you going to say 'No' to this year?"

During our visit to Bethel Church in Redding California late last year, Kris Vallotton said that when we are trying to avoid doing something, the second we say 'no', it will be the first thing we think about doing or the hardest thing not to think about doing...you know, like me saying to you now...'DON'T think of an elephant!'

What Kris suggests is that we decide instead what we are going to say a big fat 'Yes' to. That way, we fill our minds and lives with positive things rather than negative and set ourselves up better for success rather than failure.

Therefore, I am going to turn the question round and ask myself, 'What am I going to say "Yes" to this year? So here goes. I am committing myself to black and white...well, black and purple!

1. I say YES to reading my Bible every day.

     

Even if it is only a verse. The Word of God is living and active. Holy Spirit can use the word in my life if it is planted in my mind in the first place. He sits with me as I read, testifying to my Spirit first, then to my mind and comes with me through the day to remind me of what God says. I can expect my life to change!

2. I say YES to eating healthily and YES to moving more.

This is often how I want to feel but don't. It's how I want to be able to move but can't...YET! My body is the temple of God. As I get older, I want to fulfil the urges I have to dance gracefully before God in my worship, to chase around after my grandchildren, to run out of exhilarating joy and to healthily encounter the great age that I have asked God to grant to me. At the moment, I am carrying extra weight equivalent to between 6-10 reams of paper (Yeahhhh - I am confessing!!) I say GOODBYE to it now - it is going because I say YES to right choices. 

3. I say YES to Love.

 I want to choose to love people as Jesus would. One thing some difficult circumstances of this year have taught me is the biblical truth that love covers a multitude of sins. Loving people is HARD sometimes. In our family, we laugh at the saying, 'That person needs a high five..in the face...with a chair!!' as we refer to folk who have upset us or hurt us in some way. But Jesus asks us to love our enemies and pray for those that persecute us. I still struggle with it but God never says His commands are easy but He did say they would work.
Therefore, I say YES to making a conscious choice to treat people the way Jesus would and trust that He can help me handle any wrong attitudes and change them. I want to know His love through me.
Seth Dahl, also of Bethel church commented that 'Curiosity will keep you out of judgement.' If someone upsets me, instead of presuming they spoke/acted/dealt with me badly on purpose, I say yes to choosing to be curious to ask them what they meant to convey; choosing to seek the best outcome for our relationship and if they continue to treat me 'badly', to choose to show love and kindness to them and choose to set aside any desire to take revenge. I want the best for us. With God, nothing is impossible.

SO LET ME SAY...if any of you think I have acted badly in any way at all to you or others, if you feel my relationship with you isn't the best it can be, please be curious and check things out with me. Likewise, if I think you have something against me or if anything needs to change, I will check it out with you and trust that you will share truth back to me.
In saying YES to love, God gets the glory and people will benefit
Saying YES to Love will also influence what I do with my time, what I give my life to.

4. I say YES to seeing myself as God sees me.

God delights in me. I am His celebration. I bring a song to his heart. Today He is singing His love song over me. He sees me as His beloved girlie, clothed in righteousness, blameless, beautiful, blessed, powerful, talented, creative. He trusts me. He believes in me. He approves of me. He thinks about me all the time. He rejoices over me.
I want to be the best I can be for Him because I love Him and He loves me. I am His.

YES! YES! YES!

A quick comment......

I just posted this on my Facebook Page ... so thought I would mention/copy it here...

OK...as part of my review of the last year and plans for the coming year, I would like to make public my blog which I started a couple of years ago. Its original purpose was to leave a record for my Sweeties to see what God was up to in my life but...
a) I have been inconsistent
b) I thought that, because I only told the kids, it would be private. Late last year, I found out that if  someone is seeking to find out about something or someone and it is mentioned online somewhere [i.e. my blog] it doesn't necessarily remain private...so I may as well blow my own cover!
SO...in the hope that some will be encourages and that I will be a more faithful blogger...my blog is [here]

and an extra wee piccy to brighten up the post...