Moments

"You are wrong if you think that the joy of life comes principally from the joy of human relationships. God's place is all around us, it is in everything and in anything we can experience. People just need to change the way they look at things." -Christopher McCandless, Into the Wild

I absolutely love watching God work and particularly enjoy it when he uses me in his plans, that I get to see small parts of his plans and workings in not just my life, but also in others lives!

As I shared earlier, the past week has seen me getting out of a spiritual slump of sorts. Strengthening my awareness of God and what he's doing, I have had the privilege of seeing the beginning, middle and ends of various journeys. It's also special how often they link up - that one meeting flows from another or that you'll be made aware of a few people sharing similar circumstances and as you see parts of one, God uses it to show you how best to approach the next.

I was recently part of TeenStreet, a 6 day camp aimed at Christian highschoolers (ages 13-17). For 6 days, life consists of a main meeting where the teens are taught the principle of double vision: loving God (through God time - prayer and Bible reading, walking the narrow path, and having a net of mentors, peers and people to disciple around you) and loving others (serving, supporting and sharing your story). This is backed up with quiet time, small groups, activities/games and worship. The small groups were 6 teens and 2 leaders; this was an incredible time of sharing about God and seeing them learning about him in different ways and coming to know and want him as a bigger part of their lives.

Through TeenStreet I have also formed some incredible friendships for life. This week, one of the campers from TS opened up and shared about some of the challenges he has been facing over the past few years and how he feels that God has been setting him free, culminating at TS!

Another perk of being involved with something such as TS are the connections you can make. I was invited to help out at Shift2010. This was a Christian youth music event with over 3000 teens in attendance! Twice during the night, a gospel presentation was made through the Lifehouse Skit (if you have a few minutes, check this out it is incredibly powerful and moving) which was then explained, a testimony was given and the youth were offered a chance to respond. I had the privilege of praying for the first time with 2 teens that I had earlier connected with at the TeenStreet stall we had been running.

At school this week, I had a spare hour where I was able to connect with one of my students. I am not allowed to proselytise at school, however if a student asks a question then I am free to answer. This girl was asking about Christianity, what is prayer, sharing her journey and asking how Christ fit into that - I was overjoyed to be able to answer her questions and share with her!

A friend I haven't seen since highschool reconnected with me this week. She is going through interesting times, having declared herself a lesbian and living with her girlfriend (15 years her senior) and her girlfriend's 2 children. As we shared about our lives and she discovered that I follow Christ and yet had continued to talk with her even though I know about her choices, she has started asking questions as to why that is and many more things about God.

As we make ourselves available to Christ's leading in our lives, we will be part of special moments and see incredible things. I hope I have been a blessing to some of these people - they have certainly been a blessing to me! What special moments has God been showing you recently?

A Lesson in the Form of a Poem

When I was at school, I was known for many things, but NEVER for my poem-writing. "That's nice dear, but it's supposed to rhyme", one teacher told me, or "That really isn't

in iambic pentameter", another pointed out. Truth be told, I never really cared about writing in iambic pentameter - firstly learning how to spell it, then enjoying it in Shakespeare and finally finding situations in which I could say that delightful phrase were all I really cared about regarding poetry. In fact, having written the words 'iambic pentameter' three times in one paragraph has given me an odd satisfaction!

Imagine, then, my surprise when during creative worship tonight in my cell group God gave me a few lines underneath a drawing that turned into a poem. Once I became aware of what He was trying to do, I said to Him: "Now, really, Lord - you know I don't do well with p

oetry". "That's okay", He replied, "you're not writing this one, I am." I decided I would be wise to not argue with the Lord and thus came about this poem:

The height, the width, the depth, the breadth,

The good, the bad, the thick and thin

What was, what is, what is to come

By His death is all undone.

He lived, He breathed, He died for you

There's naught that you must do.

That's all you need to know, my friend.

That's all you need to know.

"Father, forgive them," Jesus said;

"For they know not what they are doing".

Even on that cross He was

Our loving, Holy King.

Said to His Father, "Take this cup"

"I want not what it contains".

But He bore it all, that truth you see

To this day still remains.

On the day that Jesus rose

The angels, they did sing.

All in heaven, with one voice proclaimed:

"Jesus Christ is KING!"

Obedience to God

"The golden rule for understanding in spiritual matters is not intellect, but obedience."

-Oswald Chambers

"Our love is a response to God's love. Likewise our obedience flows from our gratitude of what He has done for us".

Jack Kuhatschek

How much does my obeying or disobeying God affect things? There are the big things and the little things. The big things such as listening to the direction He has for your life or if He shouts "NO!" but you decide to go your own way... If I had been disobedient to God in the big things, I wouldn't be qualified as a school teacher or heading out to the mission field next year. But what about the little things? (I know one could argue that the little things can have a huge impact also, but please just go with me on this one for the moment!) If He gives me a word to share in church and I don't step up and do it, then He will often give it to somebody else to say and it will get said either way, so the church doesn't miss out however YOU then miss out on the blessing of having stepped out and been obedient, of knowing that really was God speaking to you and of being a blessing to somebody else.

However in other situations - such as in the supermarket and God gives you a word for a random person. Fear may hold you back - fear of rejection and ridicule, what the other person may think. However if you hold back in such a situation, is somebody else then going to step into the aisle and say, "well I have a word for you" in your place? Not usually. So then it affects the other person - if God truly has His hand on their life and you were supposed to be a step towards bringing them into relationship with Him, He will use other stepping stones, however how does that impact things? Our God is a big God and He can do things without us yet usually chooses to include us and offer us the opportunity to be a part of His plan.

And what about in my own home? God has made it clear to me that I am to speak with my father about his beliefs and to go back to the healing that occurred in his life a few years ago from cancer. Back then I didn't use it as a step towards spiritual healing (yes he was physically healed, but I believe it's better to be a sick person going to heaven than a healthy one going to hell...) however God has brought it up to me in recent times saying it's not too late. In fact, if I had brought it up with dad back then it may not have done much except perhaps tear us apart. Now, it may do the same thing, however my parents already think so lowly of my beliefs and the fact that I choose to cling to them and live my life accordingly that it can't get any worse and the only thing at stake here is my parents salvation - something worth making myself look foolish for.

I believe it's also a test of my obedience; when that moment comes, when God nudges me and says "now is the time, speak up", will I be obedient or will I chicken out? That's also when the matter comes up: is it being courageous and brave, or merely trusting and having faith? Being obedient to God shouldn't be about us, about me, but simply stepping out in faith, albeit a bigger step than usual! I sincerely hope I will be obedient and act upon the measure of faith given to me, however it's a real possibility that I may chicken out. I have no real idea what to say to dad beyond the initial question. I guess it's just a case of trusting that if God tells me to say something that He will then give me the words...

John 15:9-10 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love."

This is where the question of obedience stops being a question, in my eyes. It's a command - "remain in my love". How do we do that? "Obey my commands". It's as simple as that really. In theory, anyway...

Please pray that this will be the case, that I won't chicken out when God says it's time, that I'll be sensitive to His guiding particularly as this conversation takes place and continual prayer for both my parents would be appreciated if you have a moment.

His Power is Made Perfect in Weakness

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" - Phil. 4:4.

"But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." - 2 Cor. 12:9-10.

So once we assess our motives in what we do, the other side of things is that when stuff happens, how do we react?

EVERYTHING SHOULD LEAD US TO WORSHIP. Definitely the good things that happen, but even in the negative - that is when it's hardest yet most important. Of course it is easy to worship when all is well, but the thing is to let the negative situations push us into the comfort of God's arms, to acknowledge our lack of control and reach out for God's help as Jesus did.

He is our ultimate example. Recently, God gave an amazing insight to a friend of mine and it is now slowly sinking itself into my mind: What was Jesus' hardest moment? The cross. Imagine what He must have been going through and thinking in those last moments when He called out, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" (Matt. 27:46). A time of ultimate pain and separation from the Father. Yet the last words out of His mouth were "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" (Luke 23:46). In Jesus' darkest and hardest moment, He chose to commit Himself to the Lord.

Let us be led, guided and prompted by Jesus' example.

All of You, none of me

So... I went down to Melbourne for pre-field training last week. Perhaps the best and the most challenging week of my life. They taught us much on purpose, however what I came away with was so much greater than that - the experience was the sum of it's parts, really. The parts consisted of 11 people whom God had called to mission and the OM families who taught, supported and befriended us. Alongside those people, we spent a week in God's presence.

We came together, united by the same God, worshipping Him, learning from and sharing about His word, discussing His works in our lives and those around us, all there for the same purpose with the same heart. Everything during that week was offered up to God; our lives, hearts, bodies, thanks, praises, worship, time. It was a discipline, yet I know that for me personally, there was nothing else I'd rather do - now and forever; and I'm pretty sure it was the same for all of us there.

In Luke 9:28-36 Peter, John and James went up the mountain to pray with Jesus. The transfiguration of Jesus must have been a huge spiritual experience and in fact they wanted it to last longer - Peter suggested setting up tents and "camping out" for while. This period of time in Melbourne was a mountain-top experience and I did not want to leave that mountain-top and have had struggles while coming down. What God has constantly been reminding me of is that it's not about me, it's about God. Just like a cloud overshadowed the disciples, our personal feelings need to be overshadowed by our true worship (24/7) of God. And just as God said, "This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to him," we need to also give our ears and hearts to what God is saying. Spiritual highs are all about praising God, not about us. But I'd like the closeness to God that happened during that week to stay always.

I totally understand that, as the essence of what I learnt this week was that it's all about God. But how to come down off that mountain-top and put that to work in our earthly lives. The experience was so amazing and God's revelations have been awesome (as I pray they will continue to be) but how to share that with others? No-one else can truly understand if they weren't on that same mountain top with you and sharing your walk as they had their own.
How does one go about sharing an experience like that with others who weren't there? To maintain a renewed mind in Christ while walking on the earth here and now? There are the mundane things that happen in life; bills need to be paid, shopping happens and a myriad of other such things. They don't seem very spiritual, but I'm learning that it's your attitude and having Christ in your thoughts as it happens.

He lived on earth in human form - he knows what it's like and did it all while maintaining that constant connection to the Father. Jesus lived in constant availability to God and so should we. We need to learn a way of being that is contextualized in a larger frame than the current situation, seeing a picture that's bigger than what meets the eye. By always being a little outside our situation, we are actually made more available to be present to the situation; this is an aspect of the freedom we gain by dying to self and becoming alive to God.

More of You, less of me - all of You, none of me, Lord God.

How does one do that? Pray constantly, immerse myself in His Word (Psalm 119) and constantly be asking questions of God. Lord that I would have the eyes to see and the ears to hear, not only what is actually said and shown, but the true picture of what You know is going on. I pray for an overflowing of Your Holy Spirit in my life, that I would be a bucket to be moved and the overflow would wash onto anyone with whom I come into contact - that You in me would rub off onto others. Lord I pray that as I am with others, that they would not be seeing and talking with me, but with You. "Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long." Psalm 25:4-5