Shadows

Absolutely love this song! A friend of mine gave me a CD with it on which I forgot about but rediscovered it this weekend. Not only is it a major encouragement to remember Who we can turn to in times of doubt, despair and trouble, but it is also a great reminder of a totally amazing weekend :-)

So whether you are stuck in revision, having a hard time over something or just a bit miserable right now check this song out and REMEMBER who He is!

F.A.I.T.H = Forsaking All, I Trust Him.

God is bigger than any problem you have!

Pray

Had never heard of this song before today but it certainly means I see Justin Bieber in a new light and it raises an important point. If we want to see change in our world and our lives we need to realise that if we don't ask we don't get!

The Parable of the Persistent Widow - Luke 18:1-8

 ¹ Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. ² He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. ³ And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
   ⁴ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’”
 ⁶ And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷ And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? ⁸ I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Matthew 6:33

I was speaking to a dear friend last night and I read Matthew 6:26-34. Here in Matthew 6 Jesus makes a wonderful challenge to us to not worry in our lives. He cites how God provides for the birds of the air and the flowers on the ground and says this:-

^{Matthew 6:33}
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

I am such an idiot sometimes. No exaggerating, I genuinely am stupid. When trouble comes I try and solve it myself and often fail. God comes into my mind way too late or not at all. The times where I do put Him first He delivers and yet I still forget.

I just want to say to everybody:

If something bad has happened in your life and you are hurting and/or struggling - SEEK FIRST HIS KINGDOM & HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS.

If you are worried about something that is going to happen - SEEK FIRST HIS KINGDOM & HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS.

If you are having doubts about yourself or God or anything - SEEK FIRST HIS KINGDOM & RIGHTEOSNESS.

If you are happy and enjoying your life right now - SEEK FIRST HIS KINGDOM & HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS.

If you are seeking His Kingdom & His Righteousness but are like me and forget - SEEK FIRST HIS KINGDOM & RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Because as the prophet Jeremiah says ^'You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.' (29:13)

and as Paul says 'If God is for us, who can be against us?' (Romans 8:31b)

To be honest...

I am just going to come out with it today, today has been hard!

• Still not sleeping well because of the cold, constantly cold in the house and it is making me ill!
• Gutted about England losing the World Cup bid. I didn't think I would care at all, let alone this much. I think the fact we only got two votes when we clearly had the best bid was very hard to take.
• Got my university books today - four books, four hundred pages each! Lots of work to do, it was a big shock but I know I can do it. Going to be tough though and sacrifices will have to be made.
• Not feeling right before God, just was unusually bitter over the World Cup stuff earlier and constantly feel I am not going the right way before God. Judging myself & being harsh on myself is exactly NOT what God wants me to do so I feel worse! God even spoke that to me last week!

I don't like saying stuff like this because I feel it burdens & discourages others but I am not a liar and I refuse to be a dishonest person so rather than come out and pretend everything is great I will write the truth, which is a passion of mine. I love truth, Jesus is truth and I know I have to be a genuine & honest person too if I want to be like Him.

What is good about being honest is that the Christians among you will pray for me and God always answers prayer! Maybe not always in the way we would like. But I know for sure that He listens and our sometimes inane (well mine anyway!) ramblings are important to Him :)

What is also great about being bad is that God is so good in the bad times. Looking back, one of my favourite times of my life was a time of great sadness because God revealed Himself so much to me through it. He is always there, helping us get as much good from it as possible and come through it in His time :)

It is summed up in this:-

2 Corinthians 12:10
That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

One of my bestest friends loves this verse and I can definitly see why, it so true, so powerful & so comforting in our trials :)

Also (the verses are coming to me now!)

Romans 8:18 - I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

and my favourite right now:-

James 1:2-3 - 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.

Tomorrow's a new day! Bring it on...