What drives your life?

"Unfortunately, those people who follow the crowd, tend to get lost in it."
Hahahaha I hope for my sake that God sees it like that! :)

Well, what struck me most about the idea of what the driving force of my life is, is that I really wanted to be able to say that it was solely God. But unfortunately, being the imperfect person I am, thats not true. But in some ways I could say that glorifying God is at the root of my life, and is the driving force for the future. In the past my life has been driven by an impossible aim of pleasing other people. It has taken me until now to realise that people will never be satsfied, and will always expect more, even when you have given all you have. Recently I made some decisions about the future,asking God what he wanted me to do. And I got the answer I was dreading. But at the same time it was the answer that gave me the most peace. I have a purpose, a God-given purpose, and as much as its not exactly what I would have had in mind in terms of career prospects, I am amazed everday at how renewed I feel in my relationship with God. Nothing matters more than fulfilling God's plan and desire. And as soon as I can get that sorted, I know that I'll be ok. Not expecting that life is going to be perfect, but that no matter what, I'm under his care. The words from the song 'Still' seem to fit. It says..."Hide me now, under your wings, cover me within your mighty hand. When the ocean's rise and thunders roar, I will soar with you above the storm, Father, you are King over the flood, I will be still, know you are God." Works for me. :)

I am NOT an Accident!!

Today has been challenging. And although I have had my doubts, I am now certain that I was NOT an accident. I was planned and created for God's purpose. He put the two people together, and they made me. As much as they might not have been overjoyed at my impending birth, God was, and he loved me already. He had advance warning of my social ineptitude and my total lack of common sense, but he loved me anyway. So much so that he gave everything for ME, and you and everyone else. Mad isn't it?

"While there are illegitimate parents, there are no illegitimate children." We are God's and he is ours. I just can't get my head around such an amazing God. I think in some ways I was trying to rationalise the idea and think of it in human terms. But its impossible. No human could ever love the way that God does. Unconditionally. Its IMMENSE!

I love that, despite whatever circumstances we were born into or out of, God was there. He knew the purpose. He "custom-made" us.

We are a pivotal part of God's plan.

The Purpose Driven Life...Day One. It All Starts With God.

It’s not about me. The purpose of my life is more than that. Its not about personal fulfilment, happiness or enjoyment. We have to start with God, and work from there. We were born by his purpose and for his purpose. The reason the search for purpose in life has been so fruitless is that we seem to start in the wrong place and focus on ourselves first.

Well, i’ve read the first days reading, and all I can think about is the very first sentence. “It’s not about you.” It actually made me laugh out loud because its so simple really, yet i seem to make it so complicated.
We are born for God’s purpose, not our own. Everything comes from God, so therefore surely all the glory needs to go back to him? Sometimes its like i’ve found exactly where i need to be, and i only ever get that feeling when i stop blocking God out, and let him in to make the changes he needs to. Spiritually i think everyone is on a constant journey, sometimes uphill. But then at other times, life with God is so simple. I love him, and he loves me. So where does all the complication come in? Why can’t i just stay in the place where i simply just believe? I want to. To believe in what He wants for me, and what He knows is best. Simple really. :)

But lets get down to the nitty gritty. Jeremiah 17:7 says “But Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.” So basically we need to simply trust. And that’s it. But not just trust, WHOLE-heartedly trust. Well now, that’s a bit different. I mean its easy to say you trust in something or someone, but how easy is it to say that you totally, completely, 100%, would stake your life on it; trust in something? Not very.
So all I can say is...I’m looking forward to the next 39 days. Discovering whatever God wants to tell me through this experience. And actually i’m really excited.

Don't hold back...?

"You must do it! You cannot hold back. You have enjoyed yourself in Christianity long enough. You have had pleasant feelings, pleasant songs, pleasant meetings, and pleasant prospects. There has been much of human happiness, much clapping of hands and shouting of praises - very much of heaven on earth. Now then, go to God and tell Him you are prepared as much as necessary to turn your back upon it all, and that you are willing to spend the rest of your days struggling in the midst of these perishing multitudes, whatever it may cost you. "William Booth.


I have been pondering on this wee piece of wisdom for a few days now, and the same message keeps coming at me! Am i too comfortable in my life? Am I a cosy Christian, content to saunter along, happily singing and clapping my hands but not really thinking about why I'm doing it?

The simple answer is probably yes. I think sometimes, we mistakenly see Christianity as a club. An exclusive VIP place where only those with queue-jump tickets get in. We treat people differently for heaps of reasons. If we feel they maybe aren't living as 'cleanly' as they should be or they don't speak a certain way or act the way we would like them to. But does that not seem to promote an ideal of exclusivity? What happened to just being yourself, and YOUR best before God? Isaiah 43:1 says "Fear not, for I have redeemed you, I Have summoned you by name; you are mine." God loves us, despite all the rubbish things we do. But that doesn't mean we should go out of our way to be horrible.

Even as Christians we are real people, with flaws, problems, and weaknesses. We are not sinless, and can never be so. God hasn't called a bunch of Lemmings. He called us all by name, individually to do our best for him, to fulfil his will and purpose in a vast array of immensely different ways. I think that one of the most amazing things about being part of a Christian fellowship should and could be that we can support eachother in this struggle to live the way we need to for God.
The wee song i used to sing in Sunday School has been floating around for ages...i think it says "I am me, simply me, just exactly the way God planned me to be.." and I love it. God doesn't ask for perfect people. He asks for our best.

I think that sometimes I get too caught up in the nice-ness of being a Christian, and forget the actual reason that Jesus came. He came to seek and to serve the lost. But who am I serving? Myself? The Army? I really don't always know.
The words of the Switchfoot song 'Instead of a Show' seem to sum it up for me.

"Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living
Let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show.

Your eyes are closed when you're praying
You sing right along with the band
You shine up your shoes for services
There's blood on your hands
You turn your back on the homeless
And the ones that don't fit in with your plans

...If your sins are blood red, quit fooling around
Give love to the ones who can't love at all
Give hope to those who don't have any hope at all
Stand up for the ones who can't stand at all
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show."

William Booth wanted us to be passionate about our aims and our work. "You cannot hold back." So why do we?