Christian

Haughtiness Doesn’t Save

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Why would anyone want to embrace something that would make them feel inadequate, wrong, judged and condemned?

People like to avoid religion. And quite rightly, because it is a judgemental, elitist ritual, that says you’ll only be good enough if you do ‘this, this and this’.

That’s not what Chrisitanity is about. It’s about relationship with the One who created you, through the ONLY acceptable sacrifice of atonement.

Jesus never condemned. He spoke in love. He lead in love. He was the perfect example and display of God’s love towards us.

That’s what we as believers are called to do and be. To display love. The world doesn’t need more condemnation and proud judgemental attitudes. It needs love. It needs to know that despite all the rubbish and sin, God still loves them, and He wants them redeemed, set free and restored to fullness of peace and hope through His Son.

It’s only God’s unconditional love and God’s Grace that causes and motivates people to change. Because love is forgiving and understanding, always seeing the best in others, and always putting others first, it is the only force that will make someone actually want to give up living in a sinful way.

Let’s just imagine… You’ve got a baby that is trying to walk but keeps falling over. Would you…

A) Push them down and curse them, telling them they’re wrong and are failing, and will never be good enough if they don’t hurry up and walk – explaining to them all the sorrows that lie ahead for those that can’t walk?

Or

B) Gently help them up again, with patience and kindness, encouraging and praising them every time they successfully take a step, and supporting them every time they fell over again?

Which baby do you think would grow up secure, strong and able to walk without fear or paranoia? The answer is obvious. So why aren’t we like this to those people we encounter who are lost and broken, searching for help? Or those that are so lost, they can’t even see they’re lost? Most people are not bad. They are not trying to do wrong things, they are trying to get by and live the best life they can – they just don’t know that there is a better and easier way than battling it out alone.

Just because we’ve been saved doesn’t make us ‘better’ than those unsaved, it means we’ve understood and embraced God’s love and made a choice to let Him heal us. We should be encouraging others to do the same, not condemning them for trying to fix themselves.

The only one with the right to condemn is Jesus, and Jesus comes to us in love, not condemnation. God’s message is that of love, forgiveness, salvation, peace, joy and restoration. What message are you sharing with the world today?

Self Discovery

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A journey of self discovery.
A trip into darkness.
A light forced to burn brighter,
My life held by hope’s harness.

It’s amazing how You know just what I need.
In You I stand complete.

Steadied in the rocky climb,
Growing in the struggle.
Holding onto peace,
Learning how to juggle.

It’s amazing how You know just what I need.
In You I stand complete.

Lodges, bonfires and trees.
Never-ending company,
Within the gentle breeze.
Your Love is calling out to me.

It’s amazing how You know just what I need.
In You I stand complete.

The Spirit helps me see
The way in which to walk
I’m learning to do and be –
Life is more than just talk.

It’s amazing how You know just what I need.
In You I stand complete.

Peace in the Storm

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A God that never changes,
Knows just what my name is,
Knows my story and my place,
Watched me grow throughout the days.

You didn’t bring me this far to leave me.

The noise is real, I’m saying “Peace, be still”
And I’m still waiting for this storm to blow over.
This heavy weight that’s on my shoulder.
The night keeps getting colder.

You didn’t bring me this far to leave me.

The rain clouds spill and I start to sneeze.
The fog clouds and mist are making me wheeze.
I’m looking for shade but there’s no leaves on the trees.

You didn’t bring me this far to leave me.

Those sharp drops of rain on a windy day.
I can hear the pain as I whisper and pray.
I’m holding onto Your Grace, I’m held by Your Love,
That sign of hope, that pure white Dove.

You didn’t bring me this far to leave me. In You, I have found peace.

Day 31: The Final Day

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THE CHALLENGE IS OFFICIALLY OVER.

It was going to be thirty days, but if you recall, on day three I just waffled, and said nothing. Therefore, chums, I have decided that this is the final day. Here are five things I’ve learnt during these Thirty (One) days:

1) It’s a bittersweet affair.

Have I enjoyed it?

Yes.

No. 

At times it was torturous and frustrating. Getting home late after a busy day, having dinner and then wanting nothing more than to sleep, but realising that I have to create interesting sentences with words and then publish it to the blogosphere. Eurgh.

Other days, I really enjoyed it, especially when the words would flow, or I had something in particular on my heart to share. I do feel I’ve grown as a writer by completing this challenge, especially in terms of discipline. Sometimes you can’t wait to be in the mood to write, sometimes you’ve gotta just make yourself write.

2) Forcing yourself to write can help you clarify what it is you want to write.

I really like poetry. I already knew this. But since the majority of my posts from this challenge have been poems, it just clarified, and reaffirmed that It’s probably my easiest/ go to writing form. Or maybe it’s because I really like making things rhyme…

I did find it a challenge to do reviews, and it’s only through doing this challenge that I could identify that. (Practise reviewing = added to To Do List)

3) Blogging frequently takes a lot of willpower, creativity and time.

It is possible, and I’m pleased that I’ve completed this challenge, however churning your work out without rest can limit the quality of what you produce. Writing interesting, unique and engaging posts can be hard to do on a daily basis. So, I’ve decided that I will blog weekly, on Thursdays. I may or may not blog more frequently than this, but I will blog at least once a week. That way I can really think about what I’m going to post, and hopefully say something of interest, value and merit.

4) Proof-reading is essential.

We all know this, but it only becomes an “I told you so” when you’ve posted something, all chuffed with yourself, and then find out a few days later that you made a completely fundamental error thanks to autocorrect, and lack of proof reading. Linking to my previous point, because I haven’t had a lot of time to proof read my work before posting it, I made so many mistakes – some of which I spotted early on, others of which I didn’t spot – other bloggers pointed them out to me. Oops.

5) You don’t always have to follow (or stick to) a plan.

After the failure of day three, when I couldn’t think of any topic to write about, I wrote out a plan for each day’s post. This however became a source of stress, as after the first couple of days, I would look at the plan and think

‘No, I don’t want to write that.’

or

‘That’ll take too long, and I’m too tired to make it interesting.’

or

‘I’m not in the right frame of mind to cover that topic.’

or

‘I haven’t the time to research.’

or

‘It’s 11:30pm. I need something short and sweet!’

After continually rearranging my plan (so that I kept pushing back the things I didn’t want to cover), I finally decided to scrap the plan. Mostly, I ‘winged it’, went with whatever had happened that day, drew inspiration from present/past experiences/observations and/or feelings.

Plans are great when it comes to writing, but they aren’t fundamental. They can keep you on track and inspire you, but other times they can hinder your creativity. There are also times when we can be too lazy to follow the original plan. I didn’t delete the plan, so I still have it as a reference point of some interesting things to blog about. I may decide to use some of the ideas. We’ll see.

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In honour of this special day

Here’s a little note to say
Thanks for reading my ramblings,
I’ll try to post more interesting things.

It’s been fun at times and tearful at others,
But it’s part of growth, break free from the covers,
And don’t let yourself be hindered by fear.
Write whatever you want to, my dear.
The keyboard and pen await.

🙂

Day 28: The Ground

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So fertile, yet crops wither.
All that’s needed is Light –
But not even a slither
Reaches the depths of the compact soil
And the pavemented streets.
They suffer and dry up
Without the heat.

The war isn’t over
They haven’t found their peace.

It’s only Your Love that brings release.
So why are we still fighting,
Struggling to see
If we really want the captives
To be set free?

Day 27: Slipping Away

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It’s a sorry state of being 
when you never make a choice.
you would rather stay silent 
than obey the knowing voice.

Your desperately searching
for the right and comfy way.
Morning breaks and darkness fades, 
oh look – another day.

Another moment wasted.
Another chance missed.
Not choosing is to choose against –
Is this really your last wish?

Have you really given up hope?
Are you clinging to despair?
Wear your floats and don’t you dare drown
‘Cause you’re too unwilling to care.

Make the effort to do the right thing,
Keep those evil thoughts at bay.
(Consequences do happen
Don’t be fooled by the pattern)
Don’t let this moment slip away.

Day 26: Keep Going.

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“It’s hard to know what I should do.”

Keep going.

“There’s hurt and pain and everything’s wrong.”

Keep going.

“I don’t see the way.”

Keep going.

“I’ve fallen before.”

Keep going.

“I feel so helpless.”

Keep going.

 

One thing I can tell you

His word is true.

One thing I can tell you

He will come through.

One thing I can tell you

It’s not over yet.

One thing I can tell you

Have no more regrets.

 

For there is One who

Will make the darkness light

There is One who

Does everything right.

 

So you’re broken, lost and hurting

Keep going.

This one thing I can tell you –

There is One who can save.

Day 24: In Need of Saving?

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You’ll soon be overwhelmed by all you cannot do 

For the battle is too big for me and for you.

But there is One who came to save,

And there’s power in His name.

He’s our Strength and Song.

Will you let Him in?

Depression is misplaced focus.

You can’t do it, and you know this,

So stop trying in vain,

Call on His name,

He’s willing to save.

Will you let Him in?

“It’s my problem and my strength

It’s me who’ll fix it in the end.”

This isn’t how God taught us to walk

This isn’t how we ought to talk.

God is faithful and true,

And He’s waiting for you 

To let Him in.

We’re living by Grace, because He saves

This is not something we could ever gain.

We can’t be so focused on ourselves

That we miss the chance to help someone else.

Our strength and source is God alone.

So turn your eyes, look to The Throne.

The King is calling you to Him,

Will you answer?

Will you let Him in?

Day 22: Social Media Problems

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There’s a few particularly pathetic problems I’ve been having. They’re in the category of petty, pointless, and superficial, but nonetheless they are problems.

1) Why is it so hard to delete ‘friends’?

Why do we pretend that our friendship is real, when we never talk?! And no, snapchat is not a form of communication. There are many people I’d like to delete, from Facebook for example, simply because we don’t ever speak. But there’s a part of me that is concerned it might be awkward if I delete them and then bump into them in the local shopping centre. It’s very popular to like each other’s statuses, say happy birthday and all that, so the world thinks we’re friends. Really, who are we fooling, if not ourselves?

2) Do they really care, or are they just keeping tabs?

Its discomforting to think that I could be sharing my business with a bunch of strangers, or to people who have ulterior motives. It’s frustrating when it feels like certain people are keeping tabs on you. Especially when those people should be the ones to love and respect you, but instead they put on this facade to find out details, and then gossip about you. It’s as if they don’t care about you at all, and they just want to snoop, judge you and keep you in a labelled box.

3) What will they think of me?

Sometimes we can hesitate when we’re about to share something godly, or when we’re sharing something new that’s happening in our lives. We shouldn’t be ashamed of who we are. If we’re ashamed of Jesus, then He’ll be ashamed of us. Ouch. I think that’s motivation enough to spread the word! Don’t hide your light, just because ‘so and so’ is following you. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what they think. We’re living for an audience of One. Don’t be a sell out.

And actually, if they have nothing better to do than to keep tabs on what you are doing, judging you for moving forward or changing for the better, then don’t hide away. We might as well just keep living life to the full, so they have something to keep tabs on!! We can’t keep trying to please others, otherwise we’re the ones who lose. We can only please God, and He’s the only One we should be seeking to please. People will talk, whatever you’re doing. Maybe it’s time we stop trying to control what they say, and prevent them from talking, but maybe we should keep walking right, and give them something good to talk about.

Sow into what you want to produce. Don’t be concerned about all these people and situations that don’t matter. Ultimately, we have one heart, and we’ve been commanded to guard our hearts, for they are the wellspring of life. Let’s not subject them to unnecessary aches.

Sometimes I don’t want to go through the trouble of typing happy birthday to all those people that I never actually talk to. But then I’m reminded that we should owe no man anything but love. So I have to remember that even if they don’t respond, it’s really not a big deal. Do it out of love, not pressure.

I guess what I’m trying to say it that although it’s almost impossible to get away from social media, if we understand that the different platforms, apps and sites are tools for different purposes, we can use them in a meaningful and fruitful way.

It’s been said that Facebook is for people that you used to know, Twitter is for people that you want to know, and Instagram is for people that you want to be…. Do you agree? And have you faced any seemingly pathetic social media problems?