Character over Comfort

God is more concerned about with your character than with you comfort

This is something that is evident throughout the Bible and is something that God is repeatedly bringing to my attention.

In one of the Narnia books by CS Lewis, one of the children asks whether Aslan, the Lion, is safe. The response is something I will never forget when thinking about how God interacts with us. The response is that 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good

 

Following God is not really a "safe" thing to do. And those who follow him don't always end up in the most comfortable places. People have ended up in a den of lions, in terrible storms, in the stomach of a whale ... You get the idea.

God is calling us to step up and sometimes stepping up means stepping into situations which we are not comfortable with. God is going to stretch us. It's gonna hurt.We need to embrace the situations. This is because it is these storms God is using to teach us. God just doesn't give us the gift of Patience, he puts us in situations where we have to develop patience. 

Instead of running away we need to be asking how can i be growing? We need to embrace these storms.

We don't go through these trials on our own. Time and time again, God proves that he is by your side and all you have to do is fix your eyes on him and everything else will fade into the background... 

Go on, embrace it and you'll never know what God will teach you

Widows and Prophets

On Sunday, the preacher at my church told a powerful story of a widow giving up everything that she had in order to follow God. 

In 1 Kings 17, we are told a story of Elijah, during a major Drought being provided for by a poor widow. First, he called her and asked her for some water... this did not cost her as she just went to the well. But he also asked her for some bread... this did cost her. She replied  "As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.”

This is kinda intense. Elijah is asking for the widows last remaining food. This is the food she had put aside so that she could have a final meal with her son before dying. Elijah responds by telling her not to fear, but to go and make the bread for him, herself and her son, saying "For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’”. And this is what happened...

She had to show the faith before the results of faith were shown... this is being really impressed onto me at the moment. I have been reminded that if we are going to walk on the water, we have to get out the boat... we have to make the first step... and sometimes the results of our faith are not as obvious and sometimes we falter... but we need to remember to live by faith and not by sight and not react to the things happening but to what we know God is telling us.

A Wizard is never late...

I am loving life at the moment, but the future is ever present in my mind. I am in the process of trying to sort it out so I can stay in the Area and work for Urban Promise. I know that God has it in his hands but i'm not blessed with an abundance of patience.



I'm reminded of this scene from Lord of the Rings (i know, I use Lord of the Rings for many examples), and it speaks of the Character of God, that he won't be rushed by our narrow-minded, short term vision.God is never late, or early, but instead God arrives exactly when he planned to, seeing the whole picture not just the immediate.

God is the Alpha and Omega. He is the First and Last. He sees the breadth of Human history and has my life in his hand, along with the timing. It is very frustrating though. Its like standing on top a mountain, where the view should be spectacular, but everything is covered with mist, not revealing the incredible things underneath...

Home

I've been told from time to time that where my heart is, there also i'll find my treasure.

Well, It is here, amongst the broken sidewalks and pain filled lives that I find a potential without measure.

It is in a city invincible, ignored by the great. In the shadow of Brotherly Love, yet marred by hate.

It is here that i find my heart alive. It is here that I feel in synch. But remember, Beauty in this small city is shy, and you'll miss it if you blink.

I've been told from time to time that home is where my heart is. And this know for sure. It is in this city with a people so strong, that I find the home that I've been looking for, all along.

Some ancient, invisible, Saint Nick in the Sky

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

$10 Billion to give everyone clean water. $450 billion spent on Christmas?

Enough said...

Hope is Kindled

Matthew 5:14-16

14 “You are the light of the world. A [beacon] built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

              

 

I was really inspired last week. UrbanPromise, the organisation that i work for, despite being formed in Camden, NJ, it has not been contained to this city. Beacons of Hope have been spread to the whole world.  Last week we had the UrbanPromise Summit, in which the UrbanPromises from Malawi, Honduras, Miami, Toronto, Vancouver, Wilmington and Trenton gathered together.

To hear the stories from all around the world is amazing. In Matthew we are told that we are light of the world, that a "beacon" on a hill cannot be hidden. At the summit it was incredible to see so many beacons lit.

I remember the scene from Lord of The Rings where the Beacons of Gondor are lit, and it struck me that one tiny flame, can produce a chain reaction which cannot be stopped and cannot do anything except drastically change the world that we live in.

So whatever you do, be this "beacon" that spreads light, because you never know what effect it will have.