Still learning something new every day...

This 'blog-land' has created a new opportunity of learning in my life. For example, I just learned how to insert photos into my blog:



Of course this photo is a year and a half old, but still new to most of you. The interesting thing about my new learning curve is that there will be much more to share with you in the near future... intrigued?

Personal Retreat: Day 2

Again today I started with Lam. 3, which lead into some significant silent time. It's really amazing how waiting silently before God can open the door to taking our thoughts captive and submitting them to his Lordship. Kit was saying just last week that this is one sign of maturing in Christ, the increased capability of capturing our thoughts under God.

Later I continued on in my reading through Mark. Midway through ch. 28 Peter comments on how the disciples had left everything to follow Christ. Jesus responds to Peter by saying that when you leave family and houses for his sake (and that of the gospel's) how you will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age. As I have journeyed now with YWAM for the past two+ years I can certainly attest to this. It is absolutely incredible the extent of my families and houses around this globe. God has blessed me so richly with these various relationships, and it is such an honour.

I also started reading a great book called "Revolution Within" by Dwight Edwards. This book was given to me by my friend John McAuley last summer, but it's taken several months to get into - and I will say the timing has been incredible. Edwards is here talking about how our chief purpose as humans is to bring glory to God. That our life under the New Covenant is about Christ working though us, not us trying to appease God - which we could never do anyways. God does not exist for us; we exist for him. Too often in our materialistic/humanistic world we become wooed by some gospel that says Christ's purpose is for the betterment of our lives. Though this may be the case in some situations, it is not the chief aim of Christ. His goal is God's glory manifested through us in this broken world. How amazing would it be to have our Christian communities actually consumed with glorifying God! What kind of impact would a community like this actually have on this world?!

God is trustworthy, but do our lives reflect our trust in him? When the bills come around, when trials arise in the family, when unexpected challenges arise... does our response resemble trust in the almighty creator of the universe that sustains all things?

Are our careers an attempt to bring glory to our lives, or are we using our God-given gifts to bring him glory?

Here's one quote from the book:
"Our mind was given to discover and ponder God's character and truth, but we've used it instead to produce and embrace poisonous philosophies and self-centered rationalizations. Our intellect has become "darkened," to use the New Testament word. We don't think as God thinks. Our thoughts have become so clouded by innate sinfulness that we're incapable of God-honoring rationality." (p.45)

Oswald Chambers once said that the root of sin is unbelief in the goodness of God (Edwards, pg. 49). And John Calvin stated "The human heart has so many recesses for vanity, so many lurking places for falsehood, is so shrouded by fraud and hypocrisy, that it often deceives itself." (Edwards, pg. 52).

So let us wait silently before the Lord and allow him full reign to bring glory to him through the gifts he has placed within each one of us.

Personal Retreat: Day 1

Day one of my personal retreat weekend is drawing to a close. It has been a very restful day. Much sleep, plenty of letting my mind roam, and most imporatantly a lot of the Word.

My theme for the day, and likely for this whole time, has come from Lamentations 3. The one verse in particular that stands out: "The LORD is my portion, says my soul". Portion, my share, my all, my sustenance, my need. So often I live my life as if this view is not actually an intrinsic part of my existence. I seem to get my feeding (and feed) from other aspects of life, that just simply pale in comparison. Last night Kit was teaching on road-blocks and detours we face in life. One way that the Lord uses these in our lives is to change our direction and align our intentions. I can see so clearly how I have allowed things, thoughts, in my life that have prevented my intentionality for God. The Lord is calling me to find my portion in him - and him alone. I need to seek him, and ultimately REST in him - to wait patiently for him. This is the life he is calling me to, to rest and wait. I've seen hints of this before (Ps. 37), but it seems as though it's going to deeper depths now.

Finances as a face of frustration is one that was smashed again today as I was reading from the Gospel of Mark. Here the disciples had witnessed two mass feedings from next to no food and shortly later they start discussing how they had no food. Jesus responds to them, as if they were grumbling, and challenges them by saying "do you not remember?" (Mk 8:18). Oh, how I forget. The Lord's faithfulness has been unfailing, and yet I get rocked by a postage problem. Who is this God I really believe in anyway, and what am I concerned about? Forgetting is too much of a problem with us humans. We need to spend more time remembering and much less time worrying - at least that's what God seems to think.

Later I came across Mark 8 where Jesus says to us that if we want to come after him we must deny ourselves (vs. 34). This brings me back to the Lam. 3 passage about him being my portion. Not feeding myself, or feeding on what I want to feed on, but denying those things for his sake, adn for his insight; trusting in his deliverance and provision. Allowing him to save my life and to give me life.

hmmm...

I often have thoughts, ideas or little instances on my journey of life that some may find interesting to read from time to time. So I've decided to embark on the 'blogging' world. I'm not too sure how it will go yet, but I may as well try and see...