The Family of the King

"If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose."     Philippians 2:1-2


I've been away for weekends before, on holiday with with my family, visiting relatives and friends, even with my church but this weekend just gone I experienced a rare feeling. A feeling of being totally at home, even though I was away from Cheltenham, my birthplace, or Bristol where I now live. Over the weekend it dawned on me that home is not where you pay rent, or keep all your stuff, or even sleep. It's where your family are, it's where you are close to your Father, it's where you feel safest and most loved. 


On Friday I exchanged Bristol for a beautiful house in the middle of the Somerset countryside for a weekend of fellowship, worship and teaching with students from my own church (Pip N Jay) and our brothers and sisters in Christ from other churches in Bristol. This weekend was all about growing together as a community, as a family, learning to support on another as we build God's Kingdom in our "own little patches of earth". 


We were all enriched and taught by the word of God, through some amazing speakers, Tim Silk, Silas Crawley and Andy Stansbury. His word spoke of identity in Christ, seeking His agenda and community. We all sought Him in worship and cast out the things that were holding us back. We spent time meditating on scripture and in prayer. We made new friendships and old friendships grew stronger. We laughed, we walked, we had a quiz. At the heart of this weekend was a simple concept. Family.


God has a passion for family, and wants to see His own family grow, to see all His children take their place in His Kingdom. Just as we rejoice at the birth of a new addition to our human families, so does our Father as we come to recognise Christ as our King. Together we support and love one another as brothers and sisters, a closeness and familiarity that was clear this weekend. 


Being able to share what God is doing in our lives is so important, as is being able to share the things that keep us from seeking Him wholeheartedly. Vulnerability is the key to an intimate relationship with God, being able to come to Him with all our insecurities and sin laid bare. Knowing that the people around us are there as our family, ready to support us, forgive us, pray with us and rejoice in our blessings is a blessing in itself. God not only gives us Himself as our Father, Saviour, Protector and Redeemer but we also have brothers and sisters who can we can share his wonders with. 


This weekend I have felt at home. I have felt loved. I have felt enriched. I have felt relaxed. 


As I come back home and settle into life in Flat 202, I know that I am also at home because here is where my family is, it's where I am close to my Father, it's where I feel safest and most loved. 


God Bless.

Dancing on Strings

"A person's steps are directed by the Lord

How then can anyone understand their own way?" Proverbs 20:24

I never expected when I started this blog that my first few posts would be about deep theological questions that have had men and women, much cleverer than me, scratching their heads for centuries. But I write what God has planned and foretold I would write on this very day. Or did I decide to write it myself? Yes, you've guessed it. I'm going to use this post to explore the question of free will and the extent of God's control over our lives.

I know most of you at this stage are considering turning off your computer, or contemplating going to watch some paint dry. But I promise you there will be an extra specially good analogy later, so stay tuned!

Free Will vs Predestination. The classic debate that always manages to appear in conversation yet never gets resolved. This may be why I have consciously avoided it like the plague. Up until recently I have quite happily gone along with my life, knowing that God loves me (yay and all that), but not really bothering to work out whether or not I am in control. Does God truly know everything that is going to happen in advance? Does He know what decisions I am going to make and has He designed me to make those decisions? Am I just a robot?

The answer is not simple it seems. When challenged on this by a non- Christian friend, I was quick to say that God gave us free will, and that works into our day to day lives. I explained to him that God did not want us to love Him blindly and in a forced manner, He wanted us to choose to love Him. And that concept filters into our everyday lives, we need to choose to follow Him and His wishes in everything we say and do. But the point is, WE HAVE A CHOICE. 

On reflection, (and closer reading of scripture) God opened up His Word to me on His power and Sovereignty over my life and the whole world: 

"For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's 

       womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and 

    wonderfully made;

 your works are wonderful,

  I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you

   when I was made in the secret place,

   when I was woven together in the 

         depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed body;

    all the days ordained for me were

          written in your book

   before one of them came to be."  (Psalm 139:13-16) ---> a passage that                            
                                                   has appeared to me several times in the  
                                                   last week. Coincidence? I think not!

God wants each one of us to be aware of His loving, and guiding watchfulness over our lives. He has seen us before we were even conceived, and knew our hearts then. He has created us in the most wonderful way possible, and has created a plan for us that will lead us back to Him. 

But how does this play out in our everyday lives? For example, when I get up in the morning and decide that I want healthy wheetabix and fruit over yummy coco pops, have I really made my own choice? Or has God decided for me, way back before the earth was created?

It is my belief (not necessarily the uniform belief of all Christians, there are many that would disagree!) that God has a plan for us, a path to follow, which is the best possible way for us to live. It is a life close to Him, fulfilled and happy. But there are alternative paths we may choose to take if we wish. This is when Sin comes in to play. When we choose the path that God has not chosen for us, then we take control of our own lives, often finding that it is barren and empty compared to the life God has preordained. But the great part is, God always manges to find us and put us back on the right path! Time for an analogy? I agree.

----> Life is like a car journey, in which we are the driver and we have an unlimited amount of roads to drive along. God has designed the roads that we are driving on, from smooth long stretches of motorway, to bumpy difficult off-road terrain. Along the way we come to a series of crossroads. The signpost pointing left says "eternal life", whilst the signpost turning right says "lots of money and success". Now you would think that an idiot would choose the financially beneficial path over eternity in heaven, but sometimes we have a back-seat driver, whispering in our ear, reminding us that we have loans to pay off, or that we could have that high-powered job we always wanted. (three guesses as to who that is) So we choose to turn down the wrong path. Sooner or later, we manage to get lost. 

BUT after our satnav reconfigures, we realise that to get back on the right path, we must go over some rocky terrain. The best part is, God already knew this was going to happen, and designed our car with four-wheeled drive. So there we are driving our beaten up Jeep back onto God's path, with God looking down smugly from above saying "see, I told you my way was better!" like the true Father he is. ( because we all will learn sooner or later, that our Dad's were always right) As for our back-seat driver, he got left behind at a petrol station.

So, after that incredibly long and complicated analogy that would make Top Gear proud, we come to our conclusion:

God is amazing.

He knew our hearts before we were born.

He wants us to choose to love Him.

He has an AWESOME plan for our lives.

We need to choose to live on His terms!

Goodnight and God Bless!

WELCOME

“Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me." Matthew 10:40


I have been thinking a lot lately about new beginnings. I can't help but feel that we all as human beings, constantly go through a process of welcoming in new beginnings. Although change can be a scary thing, especially if it includes a major upheaval, like moving home, changing jobs or starting a new relationship, somehow the idea of progress agrees with us more than the worry that we could just stand still or get "stuck in a rut". 


We all relish the fact that we can let go of our past, and proclaim a new, shiny existence that is going to be better than the former. In fact many of us do this on a yearly basis, as new years eve rolls around we rush to think up extravagant resolutions , self-improvements, the "new year, new me" transformation. How many of us reach February feeling that our lives have changed quite so dramatically? 


We are, by nature, obsessed by change. The new sport we will take up. The new hair colour. The new wardrobe. The new language we will learn. The new blog. I will be the first to admit I have attempted each of these, multiple times. I will also admit, that I have never felt in any way transformed by any of these life changes. None of them are long-lasting, or the magic ingredient that will make my life better, healthier, happier. In fact, if we spend our life chasing after that better life, that "new me" that everyone will like better, we never will be happy. 


Maybe the problem is motivation. If I was motivated enough, by now I would speak French fluently, play the guitar effortlessly, be 2 stone lighter and have saved up enough money to go travelling in the United States. Alas, these resolutions of years gone by have never been fulfilled."What's your point?" I hear you cry. "Isn't this just a bit depressing?" you moan. "Is there no hope for self-improvement?" And the answer is, well, no. Not from us anyway. 


(Analogy Time --->) An artist is painting a mural on a brick wall. He spends hours and hours, carefully getting it perfect, the blue sky, the green grass, the bright shining sun, and when he looks at the finished image he finds it is good. What if over night, whilst the artist is sleeping, someone else comes along and vandalises his masterpiece, spray painting blue on the yellow, red on the green and orange on the blue? Can the mural itself erase these bits of graffiti? Can it wash it clean and repaint the damaged parts? It is the artist who scrubs it clean and fixes the mural. It is he and only he who can make it as beautiful as it was before. Can you guess who the artist is?


God is our creator. He made us perfect. Not only that but when we became dirty and damaged, He sent us part of Himself in human form to scrub away at those flaws and sacrificed Himself to makes us shiny and new. We were created again. The ultimate transformation. An infinite amount of second chances, of new beginnings. We are constantly renewed, recreated by the LOVE of Jesus. And if that didn't seem enough, He even gave us His Spirit so that we can have a part of Him within us; the new clean, shiny, happy us. 


"Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." Isaiah 1:18


SO to turn from one infinitely incredible new creation to another slightly less impressive one, I would like to WELCOME you to this blog. I don't claim to be an amazing writer or  theologian or have any form of insight, but I hope that the posts here will be filled with words from God, guided by His spirit. I'm not entirely certain on the form that this blog will take, but it will be a space for my thoughts on life as a student, as a Christian, as a resident of Bristol, England. 


With that I say Goodnight, God Bless and Welcome!