Adoration

I've been thinking about some things that have come up frequently recently. I want to share some of these thoughts and the theme I have been noticing in a few ways - through talks, people's actions, personal challenges. Be open about what this means in your life. Ready to be challenged?

What is most important to you?

Is it being well liked? Having enough money? Your girlfriend/boyfriend? What is it that you think about most and devote your most time to?

Which of these answers are really important when compared to eternity? How important to us do we let them become? They might be fairly important. For example. spending time with your family is a good thing, working hard is a good thing, but they can get to a point where the balance is not right. We can get to a place where not only is it unhealthy, but sin.

"Sin, at it's core, is misplaced adoration." - Christopher Witmer

If we look at some examples of sin, how does this look?

Stealing, adoration of things and putting your wants above others and what is often felt inherently to be morally right.

Swearing. Where does this come from? Your mind and your heart that aren't rooted in God. [For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Luke 6:45, Matthew 12:34]. So I think this could be adoration of image, trying to appear a certain way, or showing an adoration of self through the filling of the mind with things that you feel like seeing instead of focusing on the things of God and what is true and pure and lovely.

Adultery, adoration of your feelings and pleasure over what is right.

Laziness, for example laying in bed on a Sunday instead of going to spend time with God, adoration of self and of comfort.

If you read Romans 8:7-14 you'll see how the bible talks about if you are governed by the flesh your mind is hostile to God and you cannot please God.

We might say that something is important to us, but how do we show it? Do our choices display what is important to us?


I know that my choices don't always reflect what I say.  It is so easy to spend my time doing meaningless things, and sometimes resting and relaxing is important, but is this how I am going to spend the majority of my spare time?

The thing is, God is eternal. TV shows, fashion, money, games aren't. 

Besides God being eternal - and therefore our relationship with Him being eternal and vitally important - people's souls are. We have this opportunity to reach people, to be God's servants and reach the world. Again this highlights the importance of a relationship with God as you alone can't change a person's heart.

How can our actions reflect God's importance in our lives?

Obviously time is one way. The things we choose to spend the most time on are generally very important to us. I don't think this just includes Sunday services and weekly bible studies but time spent alone with God. I've said this before, but it's like spending time with a friend in a group as opposed to alone. You'll get to know them in a group setting and possibly quite well too but usually when you talk to a person one-on-one is when you really get to know them more deeply.

I've realised this year, having finished school, that although school is an important part of life it really isn't the most important. Once you're dead will it matter to you what grade you got or what you studied? It may have an impact on the world and other people, but will it be of eternal significance?

The one constant, the one thing that remains after all else is gone, is God. Nothing can seperate us from His love. You might become an amnesiac - however unlikely - and forget everything you learnt for your degree, you might lose an important person in your life, but God doesn't go missing, or forget us, or decide that we are too broken to love. He loves us just the same.

For I am sure that neither death nor life, not angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:38-39

The Bible In 9 Days

This year I am doing a program through a local church. It is a year of serving and loving the city, getting the church involved, and showing them that they can live missional lives even if they are busy and that they don't have to be missionaries far away to do it.

The first thing we did this year as a team was to read through the Bible. I was really excited for this. I have set out before to read through the bible from beginning to end, but hitting a lot of geneology a few books in took the excitement out of that plan somewhat. 

Having a set aside time to do it and other people to do it with helped a lot. Doing it alone requires even more self discipline than when you have other people along side you struggling through the same exhaustive lists in Numbers. 

We had an audio version that we listened to as we read. This kept us at a steady pace, had us all at the same section at the same time, and had us taking the Word in through two senses. This was also helpful when you got lost or distracted as though I can't honestly say I have read every single word of the Bible, I have heard it all. 

If I remember correctly, the audio Bible is 75 hours long. We split it up into sessions like this:

8:00 -9:30

15 minute break

9:45-11:15

15 minute break

11:30-13:00

45 minutes for lunch

13:45-15:15

15 minute break

15:30-17:00 

15 minute break

17:15- 18:45

Finished for the day

On the ninth day we had to do a few sessions in the morning only but I can't remember how many or how long they were as we changed it up a little bit that day. 

It was a lot more tiring than I expected. It was also harder to concentrate than I anticipated, even in the New Testament where it seems like there is a lot more to take in than some of the Old Testament books that had more facts than things you got distracted thinking about. This was also a challenge, not having time to think on a particular scripture too long, but continuous reading. To be honest, I did fall asleep a few times...

However, it was very interesting to read through the Bible in a short period of time. I found it fascinating to see things like how Jacob had his name changed by God to Israel and that name was used for the tribe of Israel, God's chosen people; how Jacob's sons names were used for the 12 tribes of Israel through the Bible and how this thread carries on into Revelations. 

If you'd like to read through the Bible too but don't have a number of whole days to set aside there are some plans here: http://therebelution.com/blog/2014/12/reading-gods-worda-new-years-resolution-for-the-rebelution/  that are for a few months or for a year and this site: http://www.howlongdoesittaketoreadthebible.com/  can give you an idea of how many minutes a day you have to read to finish it within your time frame.

I would encourage you to read God's word in it's entirety. 

Tagged

As this is a year of firsts I guess it makes sense that I have been challenged to do my first tag. It's called the Liebster Award, and as far as I can tell, is for the purpose of recognising and promoting blogs that are of a good standard but have few followers. I am quite honoured that Bonnie of Bonnie's Blessings tagged me. I recommend that you check out her blog. It is honestly an awesome place with many interesting articles ranging from faith, to a sky diving experience, to fun Awkward & Awesome posts. Besides, Bonnie is a lovely person and I am happy to know her even though we have never met in person.

So on to the tag. I have a series of 11 questions to answer and then I shall (attempt to) tag 11 (I honestly don't even know 11) bloggers to continue this challenge.

Alright, let's go!

1. What is the scariest thing you have ever done?

It may sound strange, but I think the scariest thing I have ever done was a performance. I have been involved in a number of dancing shows; whether studio shows, shows that incorporated dance, shows at festivals, etc. This one was a youth ballet and had auditions for the various parts. I didn't audition for it as I was writing my first academic exams ever during the auditions and first rehearsals. After a few months of rehearsals and people dropping out for various reasons, they decided they needed an understudy for some of the parts. To try and explain which parts and the details is too complicated for here, but I basically had to learn 6 dances in four different people's places in 6 weeks. That was hectic, but wasn't the scariest part. On the morning of a performance day one of the girls that I hadn't understudied for was sick. I had to learn her parts and placings in an hour or two before the performance without a run through and without the rest of the cast. I think waiting to go on stage that night was the most nervous I have ever been for a show, or anything! But it was exhilarating to be on stage dancing a part that I had just learnt, and I did it! I managed to do a whole performance in a position I had only learnt that day and not make too many mistakes. I honestly wouldn't have thought I was capable of that!

2. If someone asked you to give them a random piece of advice, what advice would you give them?

Something I have been reminded a lot of lately is that doing anything without love is just doing a good deed. God doesn't want us to do things begrudgingly but with love as this is what others will see and will bring Him glory. So I guess my advice would be to remember what is important and why you are doing it. 

3. Who are some famous people (currently alive) that you would like to meet someday?

Hmm, I think it would be interesting to meet Richard Dean Anderson from MacGyver (my favourite series) although I know that meeting people in person might not be as you expect. As it says some, Anthem Lights and the performing arts group Enra. 

4. Do you like to plan things out in detail or be spontaneous?

This depends on what it is and the mood that I am in. If it is an event or trip or something important, plan it. However it is also fun just to do things sometimes. 

5. What is your favourite joke?

My favourite joke is probably one about people discussing going into space and to the moon and someone says that they will be the first to go to the sun and that they won't burn up because they will go at night. I also really like the jokes that appear between friends that you can laugh about for years and sometimes don't even make sense. 

6. Who or what in your life has influenced you the most?

What: Dancing. I still want to do a post on the many things that dancing has taught me. Who: Jesus. I can't imagine my life without Him and I know that He will always have an influence on my life. I always want to keep growing and with that comes new challenges that will influence me and will put my life on a completlely different path to that which it would be if I were to blindly choose it. 

7. Do you like spicy food?

I do, although not extremely spicy. 

8. If you could try out any job for a day, which job would you pick?

I think it would be fun to see what an actress's day is like. I think it is one of those jobs that aren't normal and also will be different each day and expose you to many new experiences and views of life. 

9. If you could learn one random skill, which skill would it be?

How to pick a lock. Somehow that seems like a fun skill to have. I'm not sure how useful, but interesting. 

10. What is the biggest personal change you have ever made?

Wow. What a question. I guess deciding to do a missions program this year was a change. It was definitely different from what I thought I would be doing and has exposed me to many new things that I haven't done before. I'm not sure if that answers the question specifically but I can't think of any very personal change that was significantly large.

11. If someone were to make a movie about your life so far, what would that movie be called?

I can't think of a suitable title so I'll just choose my favourite word: Nefelibata. It kinda fits because I sometimes feel like I spend to much time in my imagination and I don't think I fit a cultural norm. 

Okay! Done! 

So now for those tagged below, these are the rules:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you

2. Answer all the questions

3. Tag 11 bloggers (if you know that many) that have less than 1000 readers

4. Ask them 11 questions

5. Let them know that you have tagged them

The people I would like to challenge are:

1. Amy from Aimzpaiges

2. Cari fom Dance In The Rain

Feel free to go look at their blogs! Amy has a lovely way of writing and using it as a form of expression with beautiful imagery and symbolism.

Cari is a lovely person that I had the pleasure to meet at a Dance Intensive. She has a bright smile, lovely heart, and though I haven't read a lot of her blog posts, she has some very interesting topics to discuss. 

And now the awkward part where I realise that I really don't know many people with a blog that has less than 1000 readers, or has the time to complete this...

Questions: 

1. What makes you feel most alive?

2. If you were to live in another place for a year, where would you choose?

3. Why is your favourite book your favourite?

4. What is the biggest change you would make to the world if you knew it would work?
5. What is your favourite way to travel?
6. Are you loud or fairly reserved?
7. What is one food that you could almost not live without?
8. What are you looking forward to?
9. What is the strangest place you have been?
10. Tea or coffee?
11. What makes you happy?

Enjoy :)

A challenge to myself

This year I am a part of a team that works in the church and in the city. It's been great and also challenging. One of the things I have for some reason been struggling with the past few weeks is having a consistent quiet time. 

It's not that I doubt the importance of it or think that I don't need to spend alone time with God, but it has been difficult to do it every day. 

Over the past few years I have had my quiet times at different times of the day. I would have it in the morning so that I could think about what I read throughout the day, I would have it at night because that's when I prefer to have it, I would have it at night and recap in the morning, I would have it at random times of the day, or I would neglect to have it at all. Recently we had a lecture on time management and one of the points was about giving God your first fruits. This also applies to your time and doesn't necessarily mean that because it says first fruits you must spend quality time with your Father in the morning the moment you open your eyes, but to give Him your best time, when you are most alert. As a night owl this is definitely at night for me. I also much prefer night time as it is quiet, there are less distractions as there probably won't be anybody coming to talk to me (just in writing this post I have been interrupted four times) or anyone running through the house. This comes with other distractions though as this is also my most creative time, the time when I want to paint or write or create. This is also the part of the day when if I have had a busy day and am tired I just want to watch a movie or simply sleep. 

Somebody brought up the fact today that in ministry you can feel like you are spending the whole day talking about, thinking about or serving God, yet these can't replace your time alone with God. Even though these are all good things and I think that they can help you to abide in God and be mindful of Him, your relationship with Him comes first before the service. You can do good things but it is hard to do them out of love without spending time with God. I thought it was interesting to compare that to human relationships. You can spend time with someone in a group of people and get to know them, and enjoy spending that time, but it won't be as meaningful, or as special, and won't develop as deep a relationship as if you were to spend time with that one person. Groups just have a different dynamic, and preparing lessons, having lectures, talking or teaching about God are like that group time. I think they will teach us more about Him and can help us to fall more in love with Him, but not without that deep relationship which comes from focusing on Him alone. 

So that is my challenge to myself at the moment, not to get so busy and distracted by everything else I want to (or need to) do and set aside time each day to have alone time with God. 

Why I don't believe in love at first sight

A few years ago there was an email going about my friend circle with a number of questions. One of these questions was: "Do you believe in love at first sight?" I don't remember what I answered, but at the time I wasn't sure. It wasn't something I had given much thought.
A few years later and I know that I don't - not in a romantic way anyway - in most cases. Perhaps there are those exceptions and extraordinary times when people meet for the first time and just know that this is the person they are going to get married, but in general I don't think love at first sight happens. Here's why:

There's more to a person than looks
Can you really see someone and just know that you will be happy with them? That they are a nice person and that you have enough similarities and dissimilarities to be together for the rest of your life?

How you see a person changes
Perhaps this is just me, but the first time I see someone they physically look different to how they do after I have gotten to know them. I guess this is because as you get to know people you notice and appreciate different things about them. The flaws become less obvious and you look for the beautiful eyes you noticed or the pretty smile that makes them look even more lovely. A few years ago someone said something about a friend's physical appearance and when I thought about it it was there, but I had ceased to notice it.

Love
Love at first sight is linked to eros, one of the greek words for love. It is a passionate love. One explanation that I read says that: "Though Eros is directed towards another, it actually has self in mind. For example: “I love you because you make me happy.”" Eros has to do with emotions. Emotions change. There are other loves (the greek had many words for love) that also need to be present.
Maybe a marriage that is started on eros can survive by developing the others, but if not, it probably won't last long.

I think a lot of what makes you like people is their personality. Their humour, their idiosyncrasies, the way they treat you and the way they act. It takes time to get to know them and to learn and appreciate these things about them.

If "love at first sight" is all you have to go on, you're only looking at what you see when you first meet them. Yes, this is a part of them, but is it enough to know that you are in love with them and will love them for the rest of your life?

How much changes in a year?

12/11/15

One year ago today marks the first post of this blog. I have learnt things and grown in the past year so today I'll share with you one of these things.

At the beginning of last year I was scared of the future. The funny thing is I thought I knew what I was going to do, it made sense, lined up with my passion and though I was open to God changing that idea, every time I was asked what I was going to do after school I would give the same answer. Yet I was scared. Where would I go? How would it work out?

About halfway through the year the realisation dawned that it didn't matter if I knew. It didn't matter because God knew and that was enough for now. Around the same time I started to wonder if this plan was really what I was supposed to do. It wasn't what I wanted to do every day anymore. Some days my passion was not even enjoyable. That was really hard, but I slowly learnt to trust God with that too. Now not only did I not know where I was going I had little idea what to do when I got there. That was towards the end of last year. Over the past half a year I have tried to plan what I am doing next year. I have some ideas and I have gathered information and I have prayed. And now I wait to see which direction God leads. And actually it is not that bad. Going from someone who was worried because she didn't know the details of the next stage of life to now not knowing for certain where I will be or what I will be doing in 2 or 3 months time and being okay with that (most of the time) is, well, strange. I don't mind not knowing as much anymore and though some days I am very stressed because I feel like I am running out of time to figure it out, it is easier to wait than it used to be. I find it very fascinating how I now see that it was a step by step process. God didn't just throw me into complete unknown, out-of-my-depth water, but slowly lead me down a step at a time whilst I learnt to trust Him a little more at each step.

How much changes in a year? A lot and a little. In some areas there has been a large shifting and in others, not as much as I would like. I still have a lot of the same flaws and weaknesses as a year ago, but life is a journey and as long as I am continuously changing to become more like Jesus and more like the person God wants me to be then it is okay.

Like puffs of wind

Psalms 78:39 "God remembered that they were made of flesh and were like a wind that blows once and then dies down." 

Have you ever thought about how out of everyone God is interested in you? And wants a relationship with you? Never does he write you off as a lost cause, even when you mess up pretty badly. Out of 7 billion plus people he doesn't just give up and move on to the next one. Like in the story of the 99 sheep where the 100th one was missing, the shepard left 99 sheep to go and find the 1. He looked for the last one and saved it. He hasn't given up on you. He's not going to give up on you.