Coming and going

This is how it feels my head has been this last couple of months. It’s been busy in a good way, but has meant that I have been a bit abcent from Word press for which I am sorry. But…..

I am so excited to tell you all that I have spent time writing my first devotional 21 day book! I am releasing it as a Kindle ebook and should be available soon. I am keeping the price low to make it as affordable as possible. 

I will let you know as soon as it is available and will try to link it through my page. 

It has given me some new perspectives on things while writing. Giving a lot more thought to what I am putting down in my notes and my pages, has had made me think so much more about my own head and what others see in me. Do I care or should I care? Should I only care about what God sees? 

Thank you to all who have supported me on this journey, and all the lovely messages I gave received. They mean so much to me. 

Blessings to you all.

Butterfly

How beautiful are butterflies? Their gorgeous wings all the different colours of nature. So delicate and light as they float from one flower to the other. All the many colours and sizes. Amazing.

I think they are such a beautiful sight. But, the little butterfly doesn’t see itself as beautiful, if it even cares about what it looks like. Does it see the colours? Does it see the beauty that everyone else sees?

Are you like the butterfly? Beautiful but can’t see it? All around you can see your beauty, you seem to look in a different mirror or look through clouded glasses. Walk your life journey without realising how stunning and colourful you are. All who have their lives touched by your quiet spirit will remember it. 

You are beautiful. More than butterflies. No one is like you. You are bought by the King of Kings. He has clothed you in His glory. 

What do you want to show?

All churches are full of culture, personality, vision and character. Church is a living, breathing organism of people from all different backgrounds, jobs, ages, and even old age “social classes”. We all bring something with us and each member has their own talents and gifts to enrich their church family.

But what do we look like from the outside? What do we show the local area?

Every church has a vision, and a statement of how they want to fulfill that vision. When was the last time your vision statement was updated? Is it still a valid vision for your area? Has there been a change to housing, new estates been built or knocked down? Has there been a big drop in the local economy, a loss of jobs, a number of jobs created? Has the number of families increased or decreased since your statement was created? Has your church grown or seen a number of people left? Has the leadership changed? These will all have some affect on the vision of the church in some way, even if the change is a positive one.

Does your church want to be relevant to the local community? Then from leadership down, it must been shown and lived out. Devotion? Be devoted. Live what you preach and teach, live and breathe the Word.

St Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary use words”.

Actions speak louder than words, so what we live and communicate is vitally important. We can be watched by our communities, and if we are living different to our vision and teaching, then how do we differ from the world? How do we show ourselves to be the Bride of Christ in a world that lives the opposite of what we see in the Bible.

Think about how our fellowships are coming across to the outside unchurched locality. Welcoming? Accepting? Bible believing? Christ filled? Empowering? Devoted? Loving? Teaching?

The praise that John saw

We read in Revelation that John was taken up to heaven, and he wrote down what he saw and heard. The book is amazing and one of my favourites. To see eternity and where we will be going, must have been breathtaking. I can’t wait for eternity and spending it with my Father God.

As well as all John saw, he writes down what he heard as well. He listened to the angels praising and the sounds of heaven.

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come…”

This is reality. This isn’t some dream John had. This is what goes on 24 hours a day, as a constant praise to God going on in the heavenlies. We hear lots of noise, lots of bustle and business. To go somewhere where there is total quiet to sit and wait on God is near impossible. There is music everywhere, but not the music of God. Not the music that praises Him alone.

The best we have is the praise and worship songs that are written by those who love God and some lived many centuries ago. Fill your mind with these songs of worship. Fill your mind with words of praise from the Word of God. Take your focus away from the world that is full of self pleasure and brokenness. Redirect it towards heaven and fill yourself with the images of glory that we can read in Revelation. It may cause you to fall face down in total worship and honour to the Heavenly God. He reigns in heaven and earth, and deserves our devotion.

As we worship Him more and more, we become less like the world, and more like Him who we worship. We become more like Jesus the more we devote time and pleasure to reading His word and face down in front of Him.

When we get our priorities right and put God and the worship of Him first, then everything else falls into place in our lives. As soon as that priority changes away from Him, then things can start to fall apart.

Keep your eyes focused where they should be. On the Most High God.