Our Own Way

Does the blame lie with us?

Our news is full of dreadful stories.

Bombings Suicides Murders Fires

It is easy to point the finger at individuals

The unstable

The truly Evil

Extremists

Activists

But are we not all to blame

Have we pushed people away that much

Have we neglected the lonely and the desperate

Have we caused such ferocious anger in others

Has our greed and arrogance pushed people to this drastic action

We do not feed the poor

Yet we are surprised when they steal to feed their family

We have abundance yet half the world have but scraps

Can we really be shocked when they rise up against us

We neglect to care for those around us

Can we not understand when people crack and do horrific things

Have we abandoned all that is good

Exchanged it for a false reality of rights

Made our own rules by which we all fail to abide

We cry out and blame individuals

We cry out and blame God

Yet we have thrown God out and all His ways

We have forbidden Him in our schools and workplaces

We have taken His wisdom from our laws

We have made money, intellect and selfish desires our God And now, do we not reap the consequences?

Have our broken homes created broken lives

Have our fragmented communities led to desperation

Have our sinful desires been at the expense of others

Have our grey churches created sceptical onlookers

We have abandoned God

Has God honoured us and given us the desires of our heart

Has He left us to our own vices

Have we finally got it all our own way…

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No Conditions

God accepts you just as you are – no conditions attached. God loves you completely – no conditions attached. God desires good for you in every circumstance – no conditions attached. God pours grace and mercy into your life – no conditions attached. God longs for you to follow Him, love Him, trust Him – no conditions attached.

Past and Future

No matter what your past holds it doesn’t need to control your future. The power of God can set you free, the grace of God can bring you total forgiveness and the wisdom of God can set you on the right path. Don’t let your past rob you of your future.

A Plan

Do you have a plan for your life? Do you know where you are headed? Do you know your final destination? God says that He knows the plans He has for us. He says that they are good plans, plans to prosper us. Jesus said that He is preparing a place for us. A place where there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. Our job is simply to seek God for those plans and follow them. Will you spend time today seeking God?

We Cannot Be Static

We cannot be static

Yet we must stand firm

Movement is required

And stillness as well

Constantly changing

Changeless

We must never remain the same

Fluid

And at the same time solid

We must be more of a body

Far less of a building

It must be less about religion

And far more about relationship

Don’t make it about rules

About laws and “do nots”

It’s not about who’s in and who’s out

It’s so much more about love

About acceptance and grace

More about a God who is love

Than a church that is about judgement

It’s not about points of theology

As if out intellect were king

It’s about respect and mercy and… .

..and about acknowledging that we all fall short

Every one of us

We are all in the mire

We have all fallen in the gutter

It’s about knowing that all our futures are bleak

Bleak and dark

Without someone to rescue us

We have all fallen

Yet some are yet to be helped up

The standing have had their helping hand

The standing can’t laud it over the fallen

The standing have no right

No place to judge each other

The place of the standing is to stand in thankfulness

And in that thankfulness to help one another

To restore the fallen

And point all to Him who rescues

Together we are stronger

Together we are wiser

Together we have great power

Great power to make the difference

We have the power to change the world

We have the opportunity to change…

…to change from fighting each other

To fighting for justice

For peace

For life

We can make the difference that we long to see

We can be that difference

We can be the answer to our very prayers

To rise from the gutter and go out to the streets

To the poor

To the unloved

To the hurting

And to those still lying in the gutter

There is an army to muster

There is a battle to be fought

There is a war to be won

A victory to be had

A world to change

A difference to be made

We cannot be static.

Prayer

If God answered all your prayers in the way that you wanted Him to would the world be a better place because of them?

Worry

Worry says that you are not trusting God to be all-powerful, ever present and capable of overcoming any and every situation you face.

Trust

Lord, today I choose to trust you, help me to trust more. Amen

Power

Weakness is one of the greatest opportunities when surrendered to God. When we come to the end of ourselves, it is then the God can work with great power.

Doubts

It’s OK to have doubts. Thomas had doubts, but he took those doubts and worked them through. He took those doubts straight to Jesus and Jesus allayed his fears. We need to do exactly the same. If we live with these doubts they will eat away at our faith, if we take them to Jesus He will help us put them to rest.