Fancy a quick fix?

A  couple of weeks ago in church my pastor made a comment that stuck with me and fuelled some thought.

Microwave miracles.

I once had an overweight acquaintance who said they wanted to loose weight.  She went for a 20 minute walk once, and said exercise is useless because nothing changed! I was gobsmacked! What did she expected to happen? That suddenly she would drop 7 dress sizes overnight? Without doing any thing? She didn't change her diet, she didn't sweat, she didn't want it enough to actually do anything about it. She wanted a quick fix, a microwave miracle!

Miracles are miraculous because in my view they are tools. You are worried about money, you somehow receive money. How you use that money is up to you. Do you buy a takeaway meal or go the supermarket?
You want a family, you are blessed with a child. Do you raise the child to be a family, or are you a group of people related to each other?  Miracles are platforms for change.

Anything that holds true value takes time. So you can appreciate it. Nothing can be appreciated fully if you don't know what goes behind it.

In the western world especially, where the lazy culture is prominent it is impossible for some people to wait for things. We take the pleasure of anticipation away because we settle for something perhaps not even good let alone great or that we really want because it's quick!

What is patience? With exercise and cooking it's the process of pro active waiting.
If I am patient enough, the chicken will defrost itself and turn into a first class meal for me to eat. All I need to do is be patient, I am ready, I am ready for it to come to me! I haven't eaten chocolate all week! Why is it not coming to me!

Maybe because YOU have to cook it. You have been given the power to bring it to yourself, so why don't you?  So many people ignore their power, because it's easier to let someone else do it for you.

We are all guilty of laziness or wanting to be lazy. We all wish someone else will do it for us. If I wait long enough so-and-so will do it for me. #lifefail in my view. And then wonder why you spend time complaining about your life circumstances. The thing is you can change it! It's in your power, you have the control!

You can't wait for God to speak to you, you have to speak to him. You can't just say "Jesus, I want this, thanks" and expect to get something. You have the tools to follow, and the choice to be pro-active, and you will be gifted with what you need as a reward for faithfulness.

My mother has a saying which I heard frequently as I grew up, "I wants', never gets. Never gets, what's not needed".

I believe God has the same phrase. That He knows what you need even if you don't know it yourself.

If you want change in your life, you need to be pro-active.
Appreciate your small miracles, be thankful for what you have, and the good things that happen.  Remember that when you receive your gifts, they will be platforms for change, and not microwave miracles.

Thank you for reading ☺

Do I really care?

This post is another inspired by another preach I heard at Rocknations Conf 1 2016.

Chad Veech spoke on original Hebrew and Greek words used in the bible for praise and Worship.

Very briefly, just to offer a small reference point, here are the words and meanings.

BARAK - To kneel or bow  showing adoration, a blessing. This is easily visualised, when we think of praying we often think of being on the knees and placing palms together.

ZAMAR - Singing along with instruments for music of praise. Again, hymns, praise and worship music are something that most of us are familiar with, whether we are Christian or not.

YADAH -  to hold out/ raise hands, to let go of something, to basque in the Lord love and Grace

TODAH -  raising hand/hands to God in adoration, sacrifice of praise and to give thanks

TEHILLAH -  to worship in song spontaneously

HALLAL -  to rave about, to be boastful about Gods glory, to be perceived as foolish by other humans in your worship for God

SHABACH -  a loud form of  worship,  to shout praises, exclamation!

This got me thinking about how I praise, and when I show worship to God, how much of me is thinking about what someone else will think. It is like anything, the hardest thing to do is to begin. The journey of life and the journey of a Christian will never be easy, but you always have to break through first. Its the voice in your head that makes you feel 'embarrassment' when you are praising.

People who now praise with their hands up, there is a set of steps that I have observed and have done myself before we quiet our own heads.  Its starts with palms open, facing down, which slowly raises to one hand facing up, but close into the torso, like you know the answer to a school problem, but don't want the teacher to see or ask you.  But Jesus sees the judgemental part of ourselves,  and asks us to follow, reminding you there is no shame in pure love.

Where did all the judgement come from? Especially in my part of the world, there is always a negative mindset pushing against any definite choice.

"What you doing that for?" 

 It can be from anything from a change of beverage or even a hairstyle. Anything that gives you temporary joy. This quite often stops that decision being repeated and haunts other decisions to come.

I have heard this spoken to myself, to others I love, to strangers in passing, and I think it is the most nonsupporting phrase, it is rarely followed by positive phrases like "How are you going to make it happen?" "What can I do to help?"   

And so I ask myself, and urge you to ask yourself, answering honestly, do I really care about following Jesus Christ less than I care about the other stuff? 

If it is No, he is the most important, then remember that God holds you, the other stuff will be looked after by Him. 

If it is Yes you care about stuff more, and you consider yourself a Christian, you have to let your self-preservation to be approved of man go, and stop caring about the judgements of others. God holds you too, but he is hurt by fair-weather friends.

God doesn't care if you go to church every Sunday, and dress like you think a Christian should dress, if you don't strive to follow Christ in your life. He loves you if you are covered in tattoos, he loves you if you have sinned (no one Jesus, so no one is perfect and without sin), and want to come home. Don't think you have to get your life sorted before you listen to the Teacher, he's teaching you how to sort your life. Such silly humans that we are, always doing things backwards.  

Thank you for reading. :)