Blessings of life

A friend recently commented to me, "I know i could do with some wonderful things this year", a simple statement that got me thinking.

I know that life offers it's challenges, but I wonder, do we sometimes miss some of the wonderful things because we're concentrating on the trials? Can we be too focused on the difficulties and disappointments to see that wonderful things have indeed happened right under our noses?

Life can be challenging, disappointing and despairing at times but i know that i don't wanna miss out on the great, exciting, wonderful things that are going on because I'm distracted.

One spring i remember walking past a wood. I hadn't really looked, but I noticed the big bare trees. They looked quite austere, frightening and strong. This reminded me that life can have some huge boundaries in our lives (like the trees) that we don't know how to tackle or overcome as they are so huge. I didn't really take a close look as the bare trees weren't very pleasant to look at to be honest.
But as I carried on walking, I glanced over at the woods and suddenly noticed these beautiful bright bluebells springing up. This really surprised me. There were hundreds of them.

How had i missed them?

I realised then that we can sometimes be overwhelmed/blinded by the few big obstacles in life, failing to see the hundreds of beautiful, bright blessings.

I was so surprised that I'd missed appreciating those gorgeous little flowers.

I don't want to miss the wonderful blessings in my life.

So, no matter what huge obstacles come my way i will endeavour to search for those beautiful, wonderful things that enrich life,

So, if this year you are hoping for a some wonderful things, try taking a closer look at your life and see what is already there that gives you joy. I challenge you to take a close look, inspect your life and recognise the wonderful things that are already blossoming in it.

"whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

Accessible God

At the moment I'm reading through a book of the Bible called Leviticus. The intro to this book states that Leviticus' central theme is the holiness of God.
It sometimes may be hard to read this book as it covers the instructions involving sacrifices and the law the Israelites had to follow. But let's look a bit beyond these instructions to why did God give them?

God is holy, pure and just. We are not. So we can't have access to Him as we are. Yet, God wants to be close to us. The purpose of the creation of mankind was that God wants relationship. So how can that happen?

For the Israelites, God's chosen people, God required animal sacrifices given in particular ways to remove their wrongs.
In our present day lives it may seem strange to hear about the particulars of animal sacrifices. But God had to have things done exactly, in a set order, in a set way. This shows how apart from us He is. God is holy.

God wanted to restore relationship with the Israelites (and us) so He made plans. He revealed to Moses how the everyday person can receive forgiveness and peace from God. God through Moses gave the Israelites instructions on how they could be made right with Him, even when they'd made mistakes - Blood had to be shed.

In Leviticus, God states, 'the life of the flesh is in the blood'. Blood has special purpose, it gives life to us, we are dead without it, literally and spiritually.
The thing is, you can only really get to the blood of something if it dies. Life can only come through death. Through the death of an animal (through the appropriate sacrificial ceremony), the 'life' of the blood was released so that in whichever area the people of God went wrong, life can be brought out of it instead of death.

This is how the Israelites lived, day in, day out, presenting themselves and their offerings to the priest in order to get right with God every time they did something wrong.

I don't know about you, but I think about how many times I get things wrong.
The truth is, I would be seeing the priest quite often in one day, animal in hand.

I love the fact that we have the opportunity to read about how the Israelites could get access to God. This shows how blessed we are because its difficult for us to understand as we haven't had to live like that.
We don't need to get access to God that way.

Because there was a man called Jesus. The Son of God, who is holy, pure, and just.

Jesus followed the law and fulfilled it. Jesus is the last sacrifice that we have to hold up before God.
Jesus is the; atonement, free will, peace, sin, consecration and guilt offering.

Jesus is the one sacrifice that removes all sin, past, present and future.

Jesus was not offered up by us, but by God. Jesus, an innocent, holy, pure and just man, chose to die horrendously and have his life blood shed by being crucified on a cross. So that we, in our everyday lives have the opportunity to have access to a relationship with God. Through faith in Jesus all our sins are removed, forever.

This is no small thing. This is something not experienced by those everyday Israelites.

We do not have to shed blood, we do not have to approach the Holy Place, we do not even have to go through ritual cleansing and wear special clothing.

We...... just...... come.

God is accessible whether you're at work, home, cleaning or eating. I am so grateful that I can come to God even before I've brushed my teeth or had a shower! I don't need to go through a process to be with my God. He's there! The real question is; how often do you meet with Him?

He's waiting.

Doing it all alone?

Was really challenged by this clip (watched up til 2:04); http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sxaoRAZ2c8
Most people are busy, including me, and don't have a lot of time for themselves. But what is that keeps us so busy? Who has told this woman and us that we need to do all this stuff? Have we put unrealistic expectations upon ourselves about what we should achieve?
Think about the guy's response in the clip. Is there anyone else that can help bear our loads? i thought about how the man's response is probably like God's response to us when we feel overwhelmed with what's going on. He is there and willing to help. We need to talk to Him, let him know our internal discomfort and He can help us, just ask.
Be brave when doing that though because God may suggest some changes! Maybe re-prioritising some things. Are you prepared to let a few things go that are important to you if God says so? That's the real challenge. Seeking what God wants and doing it, despite how you might feel. Let me assure you that if you choose God's way, He will never let you down. He can provide the peace that surpasses all understanding.

Life can be a mess...

I was doing a shift in the hospital when a Dr dropped his bleep and it broke into pieces. He was panicking and anxious.
So i took a look at it, though I am no electrician (in fact I don't know the earth from the live), but I looked at it anyway and the speaker wires were completely detached. I couldn't see where they should go, as i'm pretty useless with that stuff. My conclusion was; "you'll need an electrician to fix that" the wires needed sorting and soldering. So, I picked up the bits and shoved them altogether in the case so that it was ready to be mended.

I realised that sometimes life can feel like that, a few random things thrown together, no rhyme or reason. Life can be confusing and messy.

A few minutes after shoving the bits back in the case, we heard the bleep go off. We all just stood and stared at it! How did it do that??? why does it work???

Do you ever feel like that? In the midst of life, how do things end up working out?

Our lives can often feel like a bunch of bits thrown together. we sometimes have no idea how all the pieces fit. But i believe God does, and He can do astounding things. He can fix the broken and piece things together when life feels like it's fallen apart. God cares about the things that cause us to be anxious, fearful or panicked, and he has a solution though we may not see a positive way ahead. He cares about us, all the parts that make up our lives and what effects us. So, if your life feels messy, unpredictable and confusing, you are not alone.
No matter how messy your life, through mistakes or bad experiences, something amazing can come out of it.

Decisions, decisions...

I was challenged today when I was reading Genesis. It states that God put the tree of life (good tree) and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (bad tree) in the centre of the garden of Eden.

It struck me that both of these trees (or these decisions) are right next to each other. Why did God do that?! The choice to do the right thing or the wrong thing are very very close.
Often our decisions like that.
The choice to eat one piece of chocolate or several, or the choice to have another drink or not. Even the more difficult choices of where to live, you to marry (or not), what treatment to have if you're ill.

The fact is, even if we try not to, we all need to make choices. Sometimes we'll make good ones, other times not so good. It's not always easy to know the right path to take. So how do we go about it? we have a book of truth to instruct us, a Father in heaven to talk and hear from and the Holy Spirit to guide us. Sometimes we'll have a clear understanding of what we should do, other times it may be a discerning sense of which path is right for you at that time. Occasionally nothing seems to indicate what we should do so we just have to have a go!

I don't expect to always make the right decisions, even if I have good intentions and have searched for God's heart. We shouldn't expect ourselves to always get it right. (If we do, who are we comparing ourselves to?)

Adam and Eve saw that the fruit was good to eat.
Sometimes the things we see look good, but ultimately won't do us much good. Like with Adam and Eve the after effects can alter our vision and relationship with God. Thank God that He gave us Jesus to restore that relationship! It is our responsibility to admit when we've made a wrong turn, repent, and get on with it (With God of course).

I challenge you and myself to take time to consider which decisions you make and why. (I'm not talking about the menial things such as which shoes to wear or what to have for breakfast.) Seek God's heart for you, not your own appetite and see what happens....