Letters to a younger sister

Earthly things for Eternal gain

2008-02-26T09:06:00.002+11:00

At church the sermon was on how we spend our money.
It was really challenging to me to think 'do I use my money for earthly purposes, or eternal purposes?' I hadn't ever thought that I could use money to help others learn about God, but really it seems silly that I hadn't.
Matt (the preacher) showed that while earthly possessions aren't bad, they have been given to us from God and we should use everything He has given us to further His Kingdom.

It's amazing to think that my little donation to Bible Society or to a missionary can lead to someone hearing the gospel and then we will see each other in heaven!

So this is my challenge to other young, unmarried women, to use this time God has given us (without much financial responsibility) to use what He has given us to further the work of the gospel.

How do you do a quiet time?

2008-01-26T11:14:00.000+11:00

This is what I do

Find a quiet place where I won’t be distracted. I start by praying to God. First I tell him everything that is on my mind. Then I ask him to quieten my heart and prepare it to hear what he has to tell me from the reading. I spend a bit of time praising Him for who he is.

I think it is really important to go through books of the Bible systematically. You can do this by picking a book and reading through it, or by working through a devotional guide. I use one at the moment called ‘Closer to God’. It’s by Scripture Union, I have always found their stuff good and has a solid Biblical base.
I look at what the reading is today, but I don’t read any of the notes on it yet.

I read through the passage, going straight through, to get an overview of the passage. If it is one that follows on, I like to read the passage before it to remind myself of the context.
Then I read it again slowly with a note book and pen. I jot down words that I don’t understand, and words/phrases/ideas that are repeated. I write down any verses that I think have a key idea in them.

I look up the words I don’t understand and then I write down the meaning.

I think, how does this passage affect my life? What is it teaching me about my Christian walk? What is it teaching me about God? What stands out? Dose it remind me of anything else I've read in the Bible?

After I have done this I read the notes from the devotional. Sometimes they pick up the same ideas I did, and sometimes they are not. That’s okay because God may want me to take a different meaning away then someone else has found. I like when they give me a bit of historical or cultural context to help understand some things a bit better.

I then talk with God about what He has taught me and ask for his help in the day ahead. I pray a bit for different people (I have a weekly schedule for different people to pray for each day).

So that’s a brief over view of what I do, what about you? Any tips for spending time with God one-on-one?

(Photo courtesy of http://www.sxc.hu/photo/743507)

Love when it hurts

2008-01-03T08:19:00.000+11:00

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

John 13:43-35

Doesn't that sound all lovely and warm and fuzzy? Jesus tells us to love each other, as a way of showing the rest of the world that we follow Him.

And yet, look at where those verses come in John 13. Jesus has just predicted that Judas will betray him and sends Judas on his way to do it. Jesus then reveals that Peter, one of his closest friends will deny ever knowing him.

Jesus isn't saying to love people when it's convenient, he doesn't say to love them when things are going your way. Jesus says to love people as He loved them.

To love people when they turn against you, when they betray you and do things to hurt you. To love the girl who spreads rumors behind your back, to love your friend when they say hurtful things and ignore you, to love your schoolmates who laugh at you for your faith. This is the kind of love that the world can not understand. This is the kind of love that will make people do a double take and hopefully realise who it is you are serving.

(photo courtesy of tvdberg at stock.xchng.com)

Looking onwards

2008-01-01T14:27:00.000+11:00

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Rather than copy and paste, I'll just say go read my post about about how each season in our life should be focused on God and where He wants us to be.

What will 2008 be a season of for me?

A season of uprooting?

A season of healing?

A season of Dancing?

A season of crying?

Am I willing to take the bad if it is to be used to build up qualities in me that God wants? Will I only praise Him for the good, or will I 'Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for [me] in Christ Jesus.'(1 Thes 5:16-18) ?

May it be so.

Who's watching you?

2007-12-22T08:49:00.000+11:00

You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 1:5-6

Working with young children you quickly become aware of how much they watch you and copy. Pick something quickly off your plate to taste with your fingers? - they'll take that as permission to forgo cutlery all together. If I don't like a behaviour I see I'll often sit down with the child and say "Oh Dear, that makes me very sad." only to have my exact words echoed around the playground.

It is a great reminder to keep my words loving, and my actions kind, not matter what I may be feeling (smile).

But it's not just children who are watching and copying, younger Christians around you (both spiritually and in age) tend to watch Christians they admire and imitate their behaviour. You have probably done it in the past (I know I have).

If we want others to imitate Christ, it's just another reason that we should be modeling Him to them. So look hard at your behaviour. Does it match the words you profess? Would you be happy for others to imitate you?

The King of Christmas

2007-12-20T09:28:00.000+11:00

Let the Christmas Tree remind you of the one who trusts the Lord,
who walks the path of Godliness and loves to hear God's word.
Pray that as you grow up that just how you will be;
Standing tall for Jesus like a Christmas tree.

Let the fairy lights remind you of that bright and shining star,
followed by the wise men who travelled from afar.
They can Jesus all their presents and they worshiped him that night;
Let your worship of King Jesus shine like fairy lights!

May the candy cane remind of God's amazing grace;
Red the blood of Jesus as He suffered in our place,
White the full forgiveness won as Jesus rose again.
You can tell your friends the gospel with a Candy cane!

May all the gifts at Christmas time fill your heart with praise.
God for all his goodness shown in all so many ways;
that every day in every way we'll be completely his.
Give your life to Jesus as a Christmas gift!

Let your love grow
Let your faith show
That everyone will know - Christ the King of Christmas!

- Colin Buchanan

Give God your best

2007-12-14T22:27:00.000+11:00

"You place defiled food on my altar. "But you ask, 'How have we defiled you?' "By saying that the LORD's table is contemptible. When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty.
Malachi 1:7-8

How true it is that we sometimes give God less than our best because we think he won't mind that much. We plan to make it up later. We say 'God will understand'.

When I read this verse I am challenged especially about how much time I give to things. If I have an essay due and am also teaching Sunday School I will give much more time to my essay and hardly do any preparation on my lesson. I am concerned about the immediate response that my essay will get, and feel that the response to my lesson is so far away. My perspective is so limited, instead of being eternal.

I forget that if others will not be pleased with what I have done/not done, then how can I expect that God will think differently? God deserves the best of me, not my left overs.

We have already won the victory

2007-12-03T22:54:00.000+11:00

"Hear, O Israel, today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not be terrified or give way to panic before them. For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory."
Deuteronomy 20:3-4

Today our battles are not against armies of armed men in chariots, but we are still battling against our enemies.
Whether it's doubts, illness, persecution, indifference, watering down of the gospel, the worlds acceptance of sin, greed or so many other things we can be secure in knowing we do not fight alone. In fact the battle has already been won and we are guaranteed of victory (though we may not see the results til the next life).

As for me and my house . . .

2007-11-28T20:07:00.000+11:00

I have often heard that verse from Joshua 24 quoted, or seen it in samplers hanging in peoples homes. But until yesterday I don't remember reading it in context.

Here, Joshua is speaking to the Isarelites, re-inforcing the law of Moses now that they were in the promised land and making the Isralites choose who they would worship.

"Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
Joshua 24:14-15

Joshua doesn't just tell the Isralites what they should do, he leads by example. He encourages them to do what is right, but his decision will not rely on them agreeing with him and his decision.

In all that we do, may we make an unwavering stand, may both our actions and words always delare "As for me and my family, we will serve The LORD"

The things we say in private

2007-11-25T22:00:00.000+11:00

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Matthew 6:6

In the quiet we can tell God anything - even the things we can't tell ourselves.

(photo courtesy of criswatk at stock.xchng)

A Desire to Lead

2007-11-22T22:59:00.000+11:00

Tonight at Bible study (it was on Marriage and Divorce) I was asked what I would look for in a husband. I could answer without hesitation (because, you know, I think about it every now and then. Ahem) "Godliness and a desire to lead."
I could go on with more minuet details such as mission minded, love children, open to living simply etc etc. But I think those two things (Godliness and a desire to lead) are two things that are especially important and non-negotiable.

Isn't a 'desire to lead' part of Godliness? I believ it should be. But in our modern society so many 'godly' men are willing to sit back and let women lead; in the church, the family and society. One of the things that the church has adopted from the world that I feel is especially harmful is women becomeing the spiritual leaders, while men take the back seat. We want to be politically correct instead of first seeing what God has to say about it.

It is hard, women see a lack in an area and feel they could fulfill the gap, instead of encouraging a man to take up his responsibility. Men feel the need is being met without much effort on their part and are happy to keep it that way.
Soon women are heading up so many parts of the church; youth ministry, music ministry, outreach, and much more. Do I think women shouldn't be involved? NO! Women should definatly be involved in their church but men need to take up their God given responsibility to be the spiritual leaders.

So that is why I pray for a husband who is willing and able to be the spiritual and physical head of our family.

I also pray for godly men to take up leadership positions in our church, to lead our church and to help train up the younger men in their responsibilities. Will you join me in this?

Women of the Bible - Rahab: Prostitute used by God

2007-11-15T17:15:00.000+11:00

This is the second in my Women of the Bible series.

Rahab, one of the more infamous women of the Old Testament.

I never quite knew how to approach her, she was a sex worker that hid the Israelite spies, lived among the Israelites, is eventually one of the Great-great-great-something Grandmothers of Jesus and is mentioned as one of the people of Faith in Hebrews. (incidentally the only woman of faith mentioned by name in this passage)

Briefly this is her story;

(I've just included the basics, please follow the links to read the whole chapters)

Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies . . . they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there . . . But the woman [Rahab] had taken the two men and hidden them. [To the palace guards who wanted to know where the spies were] She said, "Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, the men left. I don't know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them." (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.)

Joshua 2: 1-6

[When the Israelites were attacking Jericho] Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, "Go into the prostitute's house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her." So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel
. . . Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day.

Joshua 6: 22-25

[The genealogy of Jesus] Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, Matthew 1 : 5

One thing that has always bothered me about Rahab's story was that she deliberately lied to the guards about where the spies were. Would things turned out differently if she had told the guards where the spies were or refused to talk to them? Obviously God had Rahab in his plan to save the world through Jesus, so I'm sure he would have still kept her safe even if she had told the truth. That's just an aside, something that I always think about. I'm no Biblical scholar so I have no answers.

Another thing; they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab What were two Israelite spies doing going into a prostitutes house?!! Did they know of her already? Was there knowledge of a woman in Jericho who had sympathies to the God of the Israelites? Did God lead them?

We aren't told these details so I guess they mustn't be that important, but I still can't help wondering (sheepish grin).

Okay, back on topic. What does the story of Rahab show us?

Rahab was, as you could, say 'ripe for the picking'. She knew a lot about God, in verses 8-11 of Joshua 2 she lists some of the miraculous things that God had done for the Israelites that she had heard of. (Perhaps her 'profession' meant she was in contact with many different men who told her these stories?) She feared God and wanted to become part of his people, eventually she lived as one of the Israelites.

We need to remember that God calls all people, we shouldn't be selective about who we share the gospel with because we think 'they wouldn't be interested'. You never know who God is planting seeds in right now.

Also when a person comes to be part of Gods family, who are we to discriminate? We should be all inclusive, becasue God is.

Rahab was available to God. She could have gotten herself into alot of trouble by taking in the spies. She opened her house to the spies and hid them.

Are we available to God? Are we ready to do what he is asking even if it's hard or scary?

Rahab had a past, but God gave her a future.

No matter what you have done, what sin you have in your past, remember that God has forgiven you. We are all sinners in Gods eyes and through Jesus we can all be pure before God. Some times Christians can be judgemental about different sins, but God never is. God took a Gentile prostitute and made her a Woman of Faith.

Praise Be to God.

(Photo courtesy of vivre at stock.xchng)

Amazing things

2007-11-14T20:23:00.000+11:00

Joshua told the people "Concencrate yourselves, for tomorrow The Lord will do amazing things among you."

Joshua 3:5

Do we expect God to do amazing things among us? Or do we settle for less than He offers us?

Traps

2007-11-12T20:47:00.000+11:00

There are two types of traps that Christians can fall into;

1. Assimilation

2. Withdrawal

Assimilation is living as if being a Christian makes no difference in our lives. These people follow the world in attitude, dress, behaviour. There is nothing about them to testify that they are living a life that follows Christ.

Withdrawal is living a life that is so separate from the world that you can not make an impact for Christ. These people live in a little Christian bubble - very legalistic, only interacting with other Christians who exactly follow their ideas about how to follow Christ and quick to judge those who do not live the way they do.

Of course these are extreme examples but we can easily have part in each way of living. Both can be a hindrance to sharing Gods love with people.

Do you watch TV shows or movies without thinking about whether it is healthy to let those images into your mind (I don't just mean inappropriate things, but also violence, or attitudes such as materialism, self importance that are glorified by the themes in the movie/show)? Being out of the loop around friends might not be fun, but there are better things for our minds to think about.

Do you worry about having enough money to get a house, have a large savings account, have the latest gadget? In our society materialism creeps in so easily without us knowing.

Do you buy clothes because they are in fashion or they make you look good without considering if they are appropriate, modest, honouring to the Spirit of God that lives in us?

Do you talk about other people behind their back - pretending to be sharing and showing concern but really gossipping?

All these and more are small ways that we can start to assimilate to the fallen world.

Do you spend most of your time with other like minded Christians (Your life consists of only people at church, close Christian friends, go to a christian school/home school) and have nothing to do with non-Christians? Jesus spent so much time with ordinary non-religious people. How are we going to build relationships with people to share with them the gospel if we only interact with Christians?

Do you immediately shout down anyone who says something against Christianity? The Bible says to tell the truth in love, if you don't present the gospel gently are you scaring people away from finding out more about God?

Do you secretly judge Christians who do not live as you do?

Is the way you dress and the way you live out your life so alien to the people around you that people stare and avoid you?

These and more are some ways you can be withdrawing.

(I struggle with things from both assimilating and withdrawing and I don't want people to feel judged in anyway, it's just something to think about.)

(photo courtesy of Ayla87 at stock.xchng)

2007-11-08T14:35:00.000+11:00

As for man, his days are like grass,

he flourishes like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone,

and its place remembers it no more.

But from everlasting to everlasting

the LORD's love is with those who fear him,

and his righteousness with their children's children-

with those who keep his covenant and

remember to obey his precepts.

Psalm 103; 15-18

Women of the Bible - Anna; A patient prayer

2007-11-04T19:34:00.000+11:00

After our women's lunch I was inspired to learn more about the women of the Bible and also share it with you.

Anna's story is told to us in 3 short verses in Luke.
(Context: Joseph and Mary are presenting baby Jesus at the temple.)

There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

Luke 2:36-38

What can we learn from Anna?

It could have been easy for her to sink into despair when her husband died after only 7 months of marriage. Instead she devoted her life to God, worshiping in the temple for many, many years. When we face a difficult situation do we sit and yell at God, or do we praise him in all things?

Anna waited on God's timing. She had been praying and waiting for the Messiah for ages! It would be so easy to give up after a year or two. But Anna waited and continued to pray - and God rewarded her by allowing her to see the Messiah she was waiting for.

Prayer is such a powerful thing. It is so 'easy' to do that we sometimes forget it's significance. When we feel there is nothing we can do about a situation - pray about it. When we have so much to do - pray first.

The prayer of a righteous man (or woman) is powerful and effective. James 5:16

And finally, Anna told everyone around her about the Good news.

Fellowship

2007-11-04T16:09:00.000+11:00

Today we had a women's lunch after church. It was so nice to have all the different women coming together to have lunch and share time together. Most of the Dads were nice and took the kids home so the Mum's could have a few hours of peace.

Our student minister's Mum (Patricia Weerakoon) spoke to us about different women in the Bible and how they lived out their faith. We looked at what things we can learn from them about being women of God and applying that to our lives in the 21st century.

When you actually start digging the Bible has so many amazing women that we can learn from.
We looked at;
Martha and Mary
Anna
Rahab
Deborah
Ruth
Esther
Louis and Eunice
Lydia
Priscilla

(yep, all those women in one afternoon)

Other women I would have loved to also look at would be;
Moses Mother
Eve
Miriam
Hannah
Mary Magdalene
Mary Mother of Jesus

Why I seperated my blogs

2007-11-03T21:26:00.000+11:00

Why have two blogs? Wouldn't it be easier to have just one? Probably - but I've never been someone to do things the easy way (unfortunately).

Letters to a Younger Sister (this blog - it's name kind of relates to Titus 2, and being an 'older' girl at church I want to start trainging up the younger girls) started kind of for myself. I wanted a place to keep all the things I have been learning and verses I like. Normally I have so many different notebooks and pieces of paper that I can never find that thought, or verse or idea when I want to. Hopefully the categories/tag things will help with that.
I also wanted a place that I could send girls to and know that the links would be stuff I had read and thought was useful. I didn't want lots of fun, but ultimately distracting links. I wanted everything to be encouraging or edifying.

So I started Letters, but then I wanted to post things like "Look at what I made!" (As if I wasn't egotistical enough, I had to share it with the world - shame : )) and decided that I didn't really want that on this blog. So I started Purple Frangipani. (named so becasue purple is my favourite colour and frangipani's are the most gorgeous flower in the world - according to me anyway)

That's not to say Purple Frangipani won't have lots about my faith on it, or that Letters will be void of any personal details - trying to separate my faith and my life is impossible!

They just have different intentions, but I hope you enjoy them both :)

Why I don't write in my Bible

2007-10-31T20:54:00.000+11:00

I use to, which is crazy because I hate it when people write in books. It is one thing that will always annoy me. So why did I start writing in my most precious book of all?

I was at a Christian youth camp and everyone else was doing it. I think there was a bit of 'superior spirituality' going on - the more verses you had underlined and the more notes you had in the margin the better Christian you were - or so we thought.

But later on I realised that if I started to read a passage that had a verse underlined or a note next to it I would always stop and read that. Often that verse would be the thing that stayed in my head. This is fine, but I would rather be hearing what God has to say in the passage to em right at this point in time, not what someone I heard preaching had to say a while ago.

Don't get me wrong, if you do underline and write in your Bible, that's fine. Just for me, I have decided to stop. I'm glad that I only ever wrote in my big Bible. My small-print,leather -bound, so-cute-and-small-you-can-pop-it-in-any-bag Bible is as clean and fresh as the day I was given it (besides the usual wear and tear from being used and popped in bags). I use that one the most because it's most convenient and also because I can read it and listen to what God is telling me in each passage without distraction.

Lord be my battle shield, sword for the fight

2007-10-29T11:10:00.000+11:00

There are two types of Christians. Those that Satan can ignore and those that he has to fight against. (see quote in this post)

These are the people whose every waking moment is used for growing in a relationship with God, who can not keep the gospel to themselves, who strive to be full of the Spirit.

Even if it makes me a target I'd rather have Satan as my enemy than for him to think he can ignore me.

2007-10-27T20:20:00.000+10:00

The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.

James 5:16 (the message)

Lord, help me to grow more each day in living right with you.

Everything we need

2007-10-25T11:04:00.000+10:00

Our church is small, and unfortunately is getting smaller as a few people leave. They are moving from the area or 'moving on with their life'. We do have a committed group of key people but the things they are able to do is getting less as they get older, not physically able to do as much as they use too, or they have having families and understandably their children are taking up a lot of their time.

At the same time as this is happening we have decided to reach out more purposefully to the people in our community. Many of us feel that we just don't have the resources to keep doing all that we are doing and then do more.

I was reading Luke 9:1-9 ; in verse 3 Jesus sends out his disciples out with deliberately restricted resources. This restriction makes them focus on God instead of their own strengths and trust Him for everything.

Even though we are a small church, if we are doing God's work then he will provide everything we need; be it people, time, money, knowledge, resources. We need to just trust him and not worry about things from a earthly perspective.

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 2 Peter 1:3

2007-10-20T23:20:00.000+10:00

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Psalm 19:1

Blogging in step with the Spirit

2007-10-20T11:23:00.000+10:00

Dear Sister

While going through some older articles on Boundless I came across this one about blogging as a Christian.
It made me pause and think about why I blog, and who I am to be sharing with others. This blog is specifically to share what God is teaching me. I do not want people to feel that I think I am perfect. Far from it. I am reminded day after day what a sinful person I am. I can only trust that as I strive to grow closer to God He is changing me to be more like him.

Blogging is another form of talking and so all the commands God gives us regarding our words should be followed just as closely when writing.
I seek to encourage rather than criticise, and I pray that if I stray from that goal, God will send someone to rebuke me in love.

I also think it is important for me to remember the comments that I leave on other peoples blog. It is so easy to react angrily to something I disagree with, instead I should remember that just because I can comment doesn't mean I should.

One of the downfalls about blogging is that it is written. We can't always see the emotion that a person would be able to communicate in person. It is so easy to read things the wrong way. I need to be clear in what I write, and give people the benefit of the doubt about what they have written.

I'm not going to stop posting, but pray that God will continue to bring out the fruits of the Spirit in all that I do, whether in my daily life or in what I write.

Dearest of Ones

2007-10-18T23:08:00.000+10:00

Dearest of ones, why are you sad?
Why do tears fall from your eyes?

Because I want to feel loved
I want someone to think that I'm special

Dearest of ones, don't you remember?
I loved you before you were formed

I want someone to love me so much
that they would give up their life for me

Dearest of ones, I gave up my son
He died, so that my love could reach you

I want little children to hold
little ones nurture and to love

Dearest of ones, I've asked you to care for the motherless,
and doing so, show them me.

2007-10-13T21:44:00.000+10:00

I have made a decision. No more romantic movies for me. They are meant to be harmless fun to relax with on a Saturday night, but really I just end up feeling awful and depressed and angry at God because I want a family of my own so badly.

And it's not about what I want, it's about God's perfect timing and will for my life. And being willing to accept that whatever he has planned.
So for me, it's easier to just stay out of temptations way.

Mobile Bible

2007-10-12T19:40:00.000+10:00

Dear Sister

I admit I quite like my mobile phone. I'm not glued to it like many people I know, but it's cute and white and I have a pic of frangipani's as the background/wallpaper. Seeing as how I'm not a real social butterfly I don't even use it that much. It's my alarm clock, I talk to Mum most nights (yay, free minutes!) and i text a few friends. But that's about it.

Reading a mission newsletter I was struck by a small article. (I don't have it in front of me so I'll have to just write from memory)

"Imagine if we treated our Bibles like our mobile phones. What if we turned back after locking the front door when we realised we left it inside? What if we turned to it the second something goes wrong? What if we got upset if we dropped it? What if we pulled it out and just flicked through it when we have a few minutes to spare? What if we checked it a few times a day just to see if we got any new messages? What if it was the first thing we popped in our bag?"

The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

Let the Little Children Come

2007-10-05T21:39:00.000+10:00

Dear Sister

I have been so busy doing prac for uni. Working all day is definatly one of the most exhursting but most rewarding things you can do.
So often people don't think much of the many, many childcare workers we have in Australia. But they work long hours, without much reward, day after day, looking after other peoples kids.

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." (Matthew 19:14) and "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me" (Mark 9:37)

I love that I worship the God who loves children.

Stuff

2007-09-30T16:51:00.000+10:00

Dear Sister

I am a mix of contradictions. I'm a hoarder but I hate having stuff around. I like collecting things, but I also feel a great sense of achievement when I throw out/give away a whole lot of junk that I don't need.
A while ago a friend of mine wrote about simplifying her family's unit. Paul reminds us "Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction." (1 Timothy 6:6-9)

In our western culture it's so easy to get caught up in needing stuff. Life is about relationships, not accumulating things. The amount of time I have spent using my stuff when I could have been building godly relationships with people makes me cringe. How I long to have 'food and clothing' and be content. Of course having possessions in itself isn't wrong, it's the importance we put on it. Today I spent a few hours getting rid of things I don't need, I still have a awful amount of things in my room but it felt good anyway.

I'll keep working on it, and hopefully be more cautious when I'm about to bring my stuff into my room, deciding if I'd be better off without it.

It's all about Perspective

2007-09-26T18:27:00.000+10:00

Dear Sister

My bed room is on the second floor, and because one of my windows face west I get full on sun into my room in the afternoon. To stop this I pull my blind down, just leaving a gap that's big enough to let a little light in but not blind me.
If I'm outside and look up to my window I can see a small sliver of my room. A few centimeters of the back of my computer, a few candles, but not much more. But when I go to the door of my room I can see everything. I see my bed, desk, book, computer, wardrobe, craft stuff and more books.
I guess it's kind of like how much we can see of our life. We only see the small amount that is visible at the time, just like when I'm outside and looking into my room. Not all the bits join together to make sense. But God is in the room. He can see everything - and he knows what it's all about.

We'd do so much better to just relax and trust God has everything in our life worked out and it will all make sense, one day. He's got the big picture, we don't. Might as well accept that and go on living with what he's shown us so far. for He said "I know the plans I have for, plans to proper you and not to harm you" (Jeremiah 29:11)

Missionary?

2007-09-24T16:09:00.000+10:00

Dear Sister

Yesterday at church I heard one of the most thought provoking and challenging/encouraging sermons in a long time.
We don't have a minister at the moment so we have had a few visiting ministers. Today was a guy who's family use to come to our church but they are now church planting in an area of Sydney where there is a large Muslim community. It's so great to hear about all that God is doing through them, but that's a story for another post :).

Anyway he was talking about how the early church had an attitude of mission. Even though they sent out 'missionaries' they were very mission minded in their own churches, communities and homes. It got me thinking. Do I act just as mission minded at home as I do on mission? Short answer; no.
I grew up in a missionary family overseas, I've been on a short term mission and I've helped out with family missions at our church. When on mission I am consciously thinking about how I can lead the conversations toward gospel things, I talk about what God has done into everything I do. I pray constantly about the people I will meet that I can share with them about God. I don't always say as much as I should, but at least I'm trying and praying and I believe God can use even a broken person like me.

But at 'home' I'm not like that. I don't even think about leading conversations I have towards the gospel, even though I pray about my non-christian friends, I don't expect things to happen. It was a huge rebuke to me.

Why don't people become Christians? Because we don't tell them how.

When doubts creep in

2007-09-22T18:49:00.000+10:00

Dear Sister

Today, in my devotional time I was reading Luke 7:18-35. John sent messengers to Jesus to check if Jesus was the Messiah (v 19-20). And I'm thinking 'Um, John aren't you the prophert sent to prepare people for Jesus? Didn't you just baptise Jesus? (Luke 3:21-25) Shouldn't you know who Jesus is?'
I guess it shows that everyone has doubts at times. It's not the doubts that are the problem, it's what we do with them. John took his doubts to Jesus. Jesus reminded him of who HE was.

When we have doubts (and I mean when, not if) we need to go to Jesus. We need to be remined of who He is. Read the Bible, remember times he has been faithful in your life, listen to others tell of when he was faithful to them. Then cling to the truth of who Jesus is.

get out of bed

2007-09-21T20:29:00.000+10:00

Dear Sister

With an essay out of the way, and a night to myself things are looking good. It's nice to have a few hours every now and then to yourself, just to take a breath and get ready for the next day.

I went through a rough time last year when getting out of bed was often a major achievement. During that time I learnt a few things that help to get you up and ready to face the day.

1. Take a shower. It is amazing how much better you feel after a shower.
2. Brush your teeth. For some reason having that minty taste in your mouth makes it easier to face the day.
3. Get dressed. Even if it's just a new pair of track pants, put on something clean and crisp.
4. Plan something for the day. whether it's going for a walk around the block or cleaning out your wardrobe, plan something you will accomplish.
5. If I was one of those super-doper Christians I'd say have a quiet time. And yes, if you, can do that. But some days facing pages of tiny script was just too much. So instead I'd put on a favourite, uplifting worship CD. Good music can help lift your mood and praise music helps turn your thoughts to HIM.

God Answers

2007-09-20T22:06:00.000+10:00

Dear Sister

Something that has been bothering me for a while is a simple phrase, that I'm sure many people don't even think about when they say it.
You've probably heard it before 'I'm so thankful to God for answering my prayers' or someone may ask 'Has God answered any of your prayers lately?' The reason this bothers me is it makes us think that God only 'answers' our prayers when he gives us what we want.
The truth is, God always answers our prayers. But it might not be the answer we wanted or were expecting.

In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed about what he knew was about to happen. He asked not to die. "Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." (Mark 14:34). But we all know that wasn't in Gods plan. Does that mean God didn't hear Jesus' prayer? No. Does it mean that He didn't answer Jesus' prayer? No. God gave his answer according to his will. He said 'no' to Jesus' request because Jesus needed to die to take the punishment for our sins.

A more important question to ask is if our prayers are in accordance with God will. Ask God for what is on your heart, but also add 'May your will be done'

Introductions

2007-09-15T22:09:00.000+10:00

Dear Sister

How lovely it is to take time out of my day to write to you! There are times when we all get weary in this life, times when we need encouragement, which I hope this will be. I hope that through these letters "we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds" (Hebrews 10:24) I've been through life and while I don't clain to have all the answers (far from it!!!) I do hope to share with you things I have found helpful and encouraging.
Besides that I hope we can share some fun things as well.