Small prayers. . .

I haven't blogged in a week or two. But I was having a think and I needed to get some thoughts down on 'paper' so I felt urged to write. I have just read Job 42 v 2:

"I know that you can do all things;
No plan of yours can be thwarted."

Several thoughts have flown into my head:

I believe in a God who can do anything. I believe that God created the universe with a word. I believe that that same God can move in mighty ways in our lives and in our land, but maybe we just don't ask for enough? We pray such small prayers, and while God cares for the smallest details of our lives are we missing out on something? I believe in a BIG God - but we often make Him smaller so that we can fit Him into our circumstances. (I remember thinking in Romania that God seemed to feel bigger out there - where people relied on Him for every single thing with total and unwavering faith that He would provide! That is faith in a BIG God!)
And as I sit in NI trying to think and pray slightly bigger prayers I struggle to think of anything. How about a life totally devoted to God, where my only aim is to glorify Him and to dwell in His presence from the moment I wake to the moment I sleep? How about a totally pure heart, that truly seeks first God's kingdom? How about radically changed lives in 2020, or in Waringstown? How about a changed country, or a changed world?

In Matthew 21:21, Jesus talks of the power of a prayer of faith to move a mountain. Maybe it is time I stopped praying for molehills, and started praying for mountains? After all, I believe in a God who can do all things...!

Awesome...

I stumbled across a fundamental truth today that sometimes we seem to forget: that God loves me!!!! The fact that the Lord God Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, who made the mountains and the seas and who holds the stars in place and knows each and every one of them by name loves me is nothing short of awe inspiring. It is Awesome - although I use awesome in the sense that it fills me with Awe, rather than its less powerful modern meaning! God looks at me and wants to spend eternity with me!

And so when I look at myself that is where I should find my value. I'm not valued because of what I do or what I have or how I look, but rather because God says I AM VALUED! He says I am His most cherished of all creation. To Him I am more valuable than all the diamonds and rubies in all of the world. When Almighty God looks at me and says 'I Love You', that means He Loves ME, and there's nothing that can ever change that!!!

That's nothing short of awesome. . .

Andy Flan - Wise Man. . .

I had the privilege of hearing Andy Flan playing in church on Sunday. He seemed to be full of wisdom and he seemed to be full of God. Every song he sang seemed to carry real weight and power - I've no doubt that God was there! Here's just a few of the things that I remembered afterwards:

- We can spend a lot of time thinking about where God is taking us, as if it is only the goal that matters. Maybe the journey is just as important. Maybe all we need to do is trust, and then keep on living and loving while we discover where God is bringing us. Sometimes we can be so focused on where we'll end up we maybe don't take full advantage of where God has us NOW?!

- In this busy world we spend far too much time doing, and not enough time just being. Even when our time is spent in the Father's house or doing things for the Father, sometimes we totally miss out on the Father's presence. I think we need to slow down. This week I am trying to 'Be still' and know that God is God.

- Lastly, God loves me. He loves me unconditionally. It never decreases. It never changes. I am never beyond His love and forgiveness. And it is that truth that should change how we live every single day. Nothing is ordinary when I know that the Creator of the Universe in all its beauty loves ME!

Be still and know that I am God. . . (Psalm 46:10)

Giving thanks. . .

On Sunday, I found myself being taught a lesson by a group of 11 year old theologians! I was leading Bible Class and we read some of Psalm 103 together.
The Message puts it like this:

He forgives your sins—every one.
He heals your diseases—every one.
He redeems you from hell—saves your life!
He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown.
He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal.
He renews your youth—you're always young in his presence.

We have so much to be thankful for: family, friends, food, a roof, education, peace, the chance to worship God free from bullets and beatings, health, the chance of a long life and enough resources to meet all of our needs. As well as these things, we should thank God for who He is. To take from Psalm 103 again:

God makes everything come out right;
God is sheer mercy and grace;
He doesn't treat us as our sins deserve;
He knows us inside and out;
God's love is ever and always!

Those 11 year olds had such a childlike, innocent view of the providence of God - they just thanked Him simply and honestly for who He was and for what He does for us! May we do the same!

What a glorious, awesome, powerful, worthy God we have. May I never ever cease to worship Him with all that I have. May I wake each morning and lift my hands to heaven in thanks for another gift of a day - another chance to live and breathe in His presence, another chance to walk with Him!

Looking forward. . .

So I am entering my final year of study! I have a distinct feeling deep down inside of me that God wants so much more from me than the ordinary life. And so, as I ponder what the future holds I see my goal as nothing less than a life devoted to God. I want to seek Him. I want to bask in His presence. I want to live life on my knees, in awe of Him. I'm excited and scared when I think about where God may be bringing me, but I try to keep remembering that whatever His plan for me is it is so much better than anything I can imagine for myself! This blog is a record of my journey as I try my very best to seek relentlessly after Jesus. When I fail, then this blog will be a testament to the all-encompassing grace of Jesus Christ. When I succeed, then it will be a testament to the power of the risen Jesus living in me. My hope is that in years to come I will look back with praise and thankfulness for where God has brought me! Be glorified Lord!!

It says in Romans 8 v28 that 'for those who love God all things work together for good!' God is in everything that happens to me. Every celebration and every tribulation becomes part of God's purpose for my life, and part of my journey. With that in mind they become more than just ordinary, they take on a God quality! My whole life can become a reminder and the stories of my life can become Signposts to our unchanging, all powerful, all loving God who is worthy of all that I am and have!

This is really more for my own thoughts than for public viewing. However, should you come to read this I pray you will see signposts to a God who loves you and be encouraged!