God is still here!

It's been a looooong time since I have last posted so it seems very fitting to update you on what's going on in my life.

You may have noticed (and even 'liked') the following verse posted by my Facebook page earlier today:-

Isaiah 41:10

So do not fear, for I am with you;    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.I will strengthen you and help you;    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

I think this verse is one I will attach to the last two years. In these two years I have had to make some difficult decisions, struggle through some difficult moments and endure pressure beyond what I have had in my life before.

In these years I have been far from the ideal servant, whilst everything has eventually made it's way to God's hands sometimes I was reluctant. Sometimes you think you can handle it or it's too small for God but when it's too small for God it often then snowballs into becoming too big for you. The pressure and time needed to concentrate on my exams has meant less time for God and important disciplines in my life being disrupted, many of which I am still trying to rebuild now.

However I can comfortably, easily and safely say that despite my shortcomings, despite my reduced situation at some points, God has been here. He has been my God. He has strengthened me and upheld me with his righteous right hand!

Around last October God gave me notice. He told me that my life was going to change and I should expect it. I appreciated this because I always find change hard to adjust to.

God has again been as good as His word. I managed to pass my exams and become a fully qualified accountant. My girlfriend and myself found an opportunity to serve God in one of the most deprived areas of Cardiff, Tremorfa. She is moving to this country to live and serve there in 11 days time. I will be joining her in serving and striving to join her living there as soon as I can. It is something I have always dreamed of doing and since we have started going up there seeing the area, the Church and the fellowship it has only further confirmed that this is where God wants us each time. I am very excited to have Caitlin in the same place but even more excited for how God can use us and the people already serving in Tremorfa to further His Kingdom.

Furthermore, since I am qualified my role at work is set to advance further which is exciting but also scary since I am certainly having to come more and more out of comfort zones.

Lastly and more trivially, our much loved family cat sadly passed away and our much loved football team, Cardiff City, made it to the Premier League.

So, as you can see, change is afoot!

Cardiff City are a good symbol for the last two years of my life. It was a long, long struggle with much patience needed and many low points along the way but they finally did it and whilst I have needed much patience and had some low points over the last two years, God hasn't let me down and has me exactly where He wants me. Only by His Grace and Power.

My message simply is, don't give up on God, don't even be negative about the state of your life. God is looking out for you, He is there for you, His righteous right hand is upholding you at whatever moment you are at in life right now.

Our individual 3-2 wins over Man City are coming in that blind but beautiful future ahead of us, but only by God's Grace.

The power of prayer

I think after the weekend I had, the tiredness and aches took hold a little today and led to my mind driving me crazy a bit in work today.

There is only one answer to this and so often it is the last thing I do - prayer!

I sat in Ponty Park and just let God speak to me, within 15 mins my mood went from troubled to overjoyed as God gave me love, guidance and a joy that seemed to come from nowhere for no reason.

If you are ever looking for an answer or comfort in a tough time...there's no better to turn to too than God Himself :-)

Psalm 9:9
The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.


Psalm 61:3
For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.


Psalm 118:8
It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.

Video of the Day!

The speaker at Church this morning made a great point today and I want to repeat it on the blog today.

We have high points in our lives and in our faiths. Today we looked at Abraham with him getting to meet God and for God to tell him about the great plan God had for his life. But Abraham fell after this high moment and went back to Bethel, the place where he had this great moment with God.

In football the moment when the team is argubly most weak is right after they have scored a goal (hence the video haha). It is the same for us with our faith. Right after great events that bring you so much closer to God such as Soul Survivor or Camp you can immediately have a bit of a downer. I've experienced it and know others who also have. Right after having God show Himself and overcoming the Baal-ites so amazingly on Mt Carmel, Elijah was scared away by Jezebel.

In these times it is great to look back on our 'Bethels', when God revealed Himself to us and the places where He did that....whether it is at a certain place, or a certain Bible verse or through a certain person or whatever.

1 Timothy 6:12
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

It's just a bit of hard work...or is it?

Today was one of those extra hard working days. I try and work hard normally but today I had to give that little bit more to get things done. Added onto a very busy schedule and I am pretty pooped tonight.

In life we are, quite rightly, told that success is usually the result of hard work. People such as Sir Alan Sugar have worked extremely long hours to get where they are today.

The greatest gift ever in my opinion is the gift of forgiveness, relationship & eternal life from God. Some people wrongly assume that we have to earn this gift through doing good things or great things.

I was reading Romans 3 this morning and it was great to be reminded that Jesus has already done all the work, and these great gifts are given to us freely by trusting in Him!

Romans 3:21-26
²¹ But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. ²² This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ²⁵ God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— ²⁶ he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Ephesians 2:8-10

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

A Blessing

Some bad feelings resurfaced within me today but God is Good and this is how He Blessed me through it:-

Firstly my wonderful and beautiful friend Kathryn sent me an amazing blessing through e-mail, reminding me that unless I love myself, how can I love others as I love myself? It also reminded me of how Jesus is not about condemining us or waiting for us to mess up so He can cry 'Sinner!'. Actually Jesus takes great joy in everything we do for Him, no matter how small, and that we want to be in relationship with Him.

John 3:17 ^- For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Then my daily devotional book reminded me that God can use our suffering to remove the things in us that are not of God. I have a lot of things in me that are not of God so it was a great encouragement to think that there was a purpose in my sufferings. It also called me to not try and get rid of my suffering or battle it but to graciously accept it and see what God does!

I would say lastly but God never stops working, In prayer God reminded me of who I am. I am so hard on myself and don't see a lot about myself that is loveable so for God to tell me that I was His Servant, His Boy was very precious to me.

I hope everyone reading knows how precious they are to God and how God finds lots to love about them that they cannot see.

God Bless you all

Hard times

Today was one of those days where I just feel really down about myself. Wasn't sure what exactly caused it but I had a few ideas and was hoping it wasn't a mix of all of them as that would be a mess to sort out!

My only hope was God, and it's a wonderful thing that all I have is Him as He is all I need. He blessed me with the most wonderful verse, softly spoken to my heart in a time of reflection in His Presence.

James 1:2-4 

Trials and Temptations

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

 

Sometimes I fill my life up with so much sin that I need to be emptied and to be built up again and I realised that is what God was doing today. Perfect timing too, as my ministries begin tonight with Football training and an extra long PCY tomorrow!

 

I think if I died and got to choose what my gravestone would say I would have, 'He rocked my world'...because of the way God has changed my life, keeps changing my life and helps me when I am in need :)