talking upwards.

It is incredibly telling when we sit ourselves down and take a minute to think about who would be the person or people we turn to in times of need and trouble. Maybe you have an incredibly close friend you feel you can tell anything, or perhaps it is a spouse or partner. Others may feel they don't have anyone they can come to. 

So what stops me from immediately talking to my heavenly father? Is it my selfishness and pride? Is it that I feel He cannot understand me in the same way that my best friends can? Am I ashamed? Is it that I can't string together a good enough sounding prayer?

All my excuses for not praying are hopeless, and quite frankly it is cutting how much I choose to rely on the world, and how little I choose to rely on God. 

The more I am stirred up to wonder at the fact that I can know God as my Father, the more I am humbled to know that I have no excuse whatsoever to not come to Him in prayer. Over the next couple of weeks I am hoping that I can exercise my faith in prayer, learning to rely more on my Heavenly Father, looking to him in all that I do. For what a privilege it is that we can come to our creator?! 

Maybe you struggle like me to fit prayer into your daily life, well may I encourage you to turn to Him who knows all things, has given us His good word, to be nourished by His word and turn to Him in thankfulness and  petition. 

And as always, if you are wondering what on earth I am on about, please feel free to get in contact with me. 

 

Psalm 145:18

fear of the future

Many of you will know that I love being organised. I adore planning, lists and feel lost without my diary. Because of this, I am thrown off course by uncertainty and tend to worry about the unknown future. It isn't a characteristic that I am proud of.

I am nearing the end of my degree and at 22 years of age, am beginning to wonder what life really has ahead. Should I really be a nurse? Will I ever get married? Do I stay in London? These are all questions that have been pressing on my mind in the last few months. In some ways this is a really exciting stage, but my sinful tendency is to express this excitement in worry and stress. 

Maybe you worry like me. God says it is wrong to be worrying. God is far greater than the things we worry about, and in Matthew 6:25 the Bible warns us that life is more than our meager earthly worries and burdens.

A beautiful picture of the birds is described in this passage and of how all their needs are addressed by the Lord God himself. It challenged me and caused me to ask the question 'what is stopping me giving these worries to God?'. 

I want to be in control. I want to organise my own life, and my own selfish desires have stolen the glory that is God's, and my joy in His marvelous plans. 

Over the next few weeks I am going to be praying that God changes this attitude, and that He will help me to fully trust in His plans for me. 

If you would like to know more about this wonderful God then please do get in contact with me. 

Easter Series - Part 3: The Empty Cross

... And He has surely done it!

Easter is very much a time of new life. New chicks, new lambs, beautiful spring flowers, isn't it such a joy?!
When Jesus died on the cross, for me, I can celebrate knowing that He didn't die forever, that He was the ultimate picture of new life. Jesus died, and rose again on the third day. He now reigns in heaven, to be our King forever more.

You may be skeptical about the resurrection of Jesus. Well can I urge you to look into the evidence, for if the resurrection is true, then that changes everything. It really is the most fantastic, wonderfully brilliant news, for our King lives, the promises were fulfilled in Him and we can live with Him!

So every time I look at the empty cross I am reminded of two things:
1 - that Jesus my King is no longer subject to death, that He lives: Christ is risen!
2 - of the new life that He has also given me, that my sins are forgiven, and I can spend eternity with Him.

Happy Happy Happy Easter everybody!

Easter Series - Part 2: The foretold cross

Are you someone who sticks by their word? Do you make false promises or are you careful to promise things? A friend recently got engaged, and I was thinking about how amazing a promise it is! The ring is the sign of that promise to be fulfilled. A day that is to come!

Yesterday I thought a bit about why Jesus had to die on a cross, and the beauty of it. Today I want to think a bit more about God's plan for the cross. 

Jesus was no last resort, God promised his people a rescue, He promised a King that would reign forever and would take away the sins of His people by dying on a cross. Sure enough, all through the old testament the big rescue plan was foretold by prophets who were messengers from God. One of my favorite parts of the old testament that points to the cross is in Isaiah 53. It writes:

'He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions ; he was crushed for our iniquities, upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.'

Wow God! Isn't it amazing that hundreds of years before, the death of Jesus was promised?! The King of the earth, humbled himself to die on the cross - these verses show beautifully the majesty of Jesus being rejected by the world, and yet He loved us still. God is a promise keeper, He promised that Jesus would come, that Jesus would die, and that we would be healed from sin, and He did it! 

Stay tuned to hear more incredible promises God makes! (And if you would like to know more, don't hesitate to get in touch!)

Happy Easter!

Easter Series - Part 1: The kind cross

Easter is my favorite time of the year! If you know me well, then you will know that I love seeing all the daffodils and little lambs. But I also adore spending time marveling at the greatest rescue plan there ever was. 

God sent His son, King Jesus, to die on the cross (John 3:16). I am not a parent, but I can only imagine that watching your child suffer causes unimaginable pain. God gave his son. God gave his son to die the most brutal death there ever was. What kind of a father would do that?

A father who wants to know and love his children. This heartbreaking scene had to happen. For all had fallen short of God's glory (Roman's 3:23). For man to be in a right relationship with God there had to be sacrifice. The bitter nails were driven through the hands and feet of the innocent, whilst I, the guilty, was set free. My King took my pain, that I could look to my God, and call him my Father.  Forgiven. 

The greatest love story ever told - God's love, deeper than the depths of the sea, greater than any eye has seen, or any ear heard. And he asks all to come to the cross, to come to know the pain that he went through, to call you and I his children. 

Please do get in contact with me if you want to know more, and do read the rest of this Easter series over the next few days!

 

when storms arise.

There are so many wonderful things in this life. But there are also so many things that shake me, that upset me and that tempt me to turn from my Saviour. Sickness and suffering, death and darkness, sadness, guilt and pain are everywhere, all around me, and all around you.

The storms in life can feel so big, so consuming. But I must remember that the creator of the winds is stronger than the wind. For He knows, and He cares, and He provides.

Would you like to know Him? Please do get in contact with me.

the lost and found.

To the unfortunate individuals who have witnessed me lose something, I am very sorry. I am a bad loser, in every way. But what gets me most upset, is having lost a precious item. There is no worse feeling.

If you are anything like me, then at this point, all other things will fly out of your mind, and you can only think about what it is you have lost, nothing else matters. Life has to be put on pause while you retrace your steps, turning your house inside out, and making everyone around you aware that you are not a happy bunny.

The joy of finding that thing is wonderful. For approximately 1 minute, you dwell in the joy and peace of it being found, and momentarily forget about the chaos you have left in your wake, it was worth it.

The bible says that every time one sinner turns to Jesus, that same joy is experienced in heaven (Luke 15:10). That sinner is found, and can now rest in eternal glory with Christ as Lord. That means that I myself was once lost, but I can joyfully say that I now am found.

Amazing Grace.

Again, if anyone is confused about what I have said or would like to talk through what it means to be found in Jesus, then drop me a line!