Our Cross

I spent most of last week with my family in Saundersfoot and whilst there we went to nearby Oakwood theme park. I think following Jesus is a lot like going to Oakwood and this is why...

Theme parks divide opinions, there is those who love it and will go on anything and the scarier the better (me haha). There are those who have a limit,  they will go on a lot of the rides but some of them are just too much for them...or they go on ones they don't want too but don't enjoy them much and are glad when they get off. Then there are those who point blank refuse to go on anything remotely scary (used to be me! Which are you?).

I used to be really scared of theme park rides and would not go on anything too bad and wouldn't even enjoy those that were slightly bad. I got a bit ill but it was mostly in my head that I would happen to be on the ride that kills someone and it would be me. I had false preconceptions about how risky the rides were and what they were like. I was blind to how fun they were.

I don't know when I began enjoying rides but I know it began with me swallowing my fear and going for it and thus having my eyes opened to how good it was by how much I enjoyed it.

Christianity is like this. People have so many wrong ideas, that it is untrue, that it is boring, that it restricts you from having fun. I had some wrong ideas and only by swallowing my own ideas and going for it did I find that it was true and the most exciting, wonderful thing.

Luke 14:27
And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.


Jesus doesn't ask us to literally be crucified here, He is asking us to swallow our wrong ideas and trust Him, even when you think it won't be that good. The cross seemed like a huge defeat for the Disciples and followers of Jesus. Two days later, with Jesus having returned from the dead, it looked perfect.


I promise that if you choose to trust Jesus and swallow your doubts and fears, you will find a whole new reality and it will be so much better than you ever imagined.

Jesus Wants You For A Sunbeam!

This is a phrase often heard at Vacation Bible Schools for children and as a result it can become, in peoples mind, a cheesy slogan and something not thought of as a deep truth of the Christian faith.


In the Bible, Jesus makes two claims which seem contradictory...

John 9:5
While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”


Matthew 5:14
“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.


How can Jesus be the light of the world and us be the light of the world also?


I heard this be wonderfully put once before...Just like the Moon reflects the Sun's light we should also reflect the Son's light! 


Maybe it is a calling to stand by people in hard times...because when things are going well, sometimes people find it easier to love God and find Him in things. In the hard times, I know I have found it both harder and easier to know God and maybe our role is to be the light of God in people's lives when they are struggling to see the light of God at all?


This ties in nicely with something from my Bible reading yesterday:-



^{1 Corinthians 2:16} 
for,
   “Who has known the mind of the Lord
   so as to instruct him?”
   But we have the mind of Christ.

I believe that having the mind of Christ is having the desire to serve and love God and others. Are we doing this with all our heart? If not, you can do it!! :-)

Challenges

With difficult exams, a tough work schedule, developing relationships, mental, spiritual & physical exhaustion and busy times ahead all going on or coming ahead at the moment this is a time of real challenge.


I don't think a challenge is something we cannot do but something it takes an effort to do and my life is very challenging at the moment in that sense at least.


This is the verse that comes to mind, it is from the amazing chapter of faith in Hebrews 11...


 ¹ Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.


I don't know how any of the things I am doing are going to work out. Some will not work out as I imagined or hoped, some will be everything I wished for & more. But I know that whatever happens, God is in control and I know He will do right by me and more importantly right by HIM, and He is a Just God :-)


My devotion this morning was really sweet it was based on Hebrews 12:1 which is...


¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,


It linked the verse up to this beautiful poem...


'When the powers of hell prevail,
O'er our weakness and unfitness,
Could we lift the fleshly veil,
could we for a moment witness
Those unnumbered hosts that stand
Calm and bright on either hand;


Oh, what joyful hope would cheer,
Oh, what serene faith would guide us!
Great may be the danger near,
Greater are the friends beside us.'


ANONYMOUS

What are we 'Abel' to give?

Genesis 4 : 1-7

Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man.” Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”

This Bible passage has always scared me a little bit. That Cain's offering was considered not good enough for God. It makes me wonder whether I really give God as much as He deserves in my life. Don't me wrong, we go to Heaven and are saved and are in relationship with God because of GRACE not WORKS. But I still have a burning desire to please God & worship Him because of what He has done.


I was thinking about this today and I realised something:-


'If we can give God something better, then what we are giving is not good enough'. 


If someone appears to be giving more than to God than you, it may be simply that they have more to give than you do. Think of the widow who gave her only coin compared to the others who gave plenty out of their riches...whose sacrifice did Jesus appreciate more there?


Cain could have given God a better sacrifice, this is why his sacrifice was rejected. As God stated to the Israelites in Amos 5:21-24:-


²¹ “I hate, I despise your religious festivals;
   your assemblies are a stench to me.
²² Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
   I will not accept them.
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
   I will have no regard for them.
²³ Away with the noise of your songs!
   I will not listen to the music of your harps.
²⁴ But let justice roll on like a river,
   righteousness like a never-failing stream!


Even though the Israelites were making sacrifices, it meant nothing to me and as V24 suggests..they were neglecting offering God their all in not upholding justice and not living righteous lives. Offering God second best is just as good as offering Him nothing at all.


Let's challenge each other to give God our best! He is Worthy :-)

Psalm 46

I love my life, I sometimes think it cannot be any better. I believe that some might read that and think 'What? But how you can you enjoy your life? You are not having sex, you don't go out getting drunk every weekend, you are not cool!'

I have realised that the times when we as human beings enjoy our lives most are times of dependence.
I, Michael Woodington, cannot fulfill myself by myself. Buying a flashy car will give me a bit extra short term happiness but not JOY. Having a girlfriend might give me extra happiness for a few months but not JOY. Success in my exams might feel good, but it won't give me JOY.

I was having a hard time the other night. With all of my revision and other responsibilities plus really missing friends of mine...I was a bit down in the dumps.

I get complacent in my faith at times, when God gets me on top of things I'm like 'Thanks God, I can take the wheel from here', and funnily enough every time I end up needing Him again, sometimes even more than before.

I think this was such an occasion so I prayed and God said something to me, He said that He was with me in this, all the way.

I know what life is all about. I know where true happiness (aka JOY) comes from. It comes from surrendering all of my dreams, ideas, hopes and troubles and giving them straight to God and living life hand in hand with Him. When Jesus said He came to give us life to the full (John 10:10)..He meant it! Instead of worrying and trying to make our own way. Let God sort out our problems, trust His guiding Hand over our lives (Jeremiah 29:11) and let God instill in us His Spirit, His Joy, His Peace so that we can fully appreciate the wonderful life He has mapped out for us. God never lets us down.

The next morning my daily devotion book led me to this verse...it met me so much where I was (definitely a GOD-incidence!) and I felt God urging me to send it to a friend, who also said the same thing...so maybe it will really bless you as well today.

Psalm 46

    For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth. A song.
 ¹ God is our refuge and strength,
   an ever-present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
   and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam
   and the mountains quake with their surging.
 ⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
   the holy place where the Most High dwells.
⁵ God is within her, she will not fall;
   God will help her at break of day.
⁶ Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
   he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
 ⁷ The LORD Almighty is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our fortress.
 ⁸ Come and see what the LORD has done,
   the desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease
   to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
   he burns the shields with fire.
¹⁰ He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
   I will be exalted among the nations,
   I will be exalted in the earth.”
 ¹¹ The LORD Almighty is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Thank you Lord that you don't stop caring about us. That you love us so much. That you have promised to never let go of us.

"Take my life, let it be, everything, all of me. Here I am, Use me for your Glory."