I will be thankful!

Hey dear friends/family! I've restarted Monday Manna again after an extremely extended xmas/new years break (we did move from Brisbane to Gold Coast though and we spent last week at the Great Ocean Road for Wayne's charity cycle www.25000spins.com   - Craig did an amazing job organising this again).

A verse that stood out to me yesterday:

"Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul would almost have settled into the silence of darkness.

When I said, "My foot is slipping,' Your mercy, oh Lord, held me up.

In the multitude of my thoughts and anxieties, your comforts delight and cheer my soul."

Psalms 94:17-19

We often kind of run on 'automatic', dealing with things our old way, the way we know best. But God has a better way..He wants to teach us new things, so that we can experience greater joy, peace and fulfillment in our life. He wants to enlarge our hearts and our perspective on life. He wants to free us from the little things that rob us off peace and joy each day. Though God has a specific plan for our lives, I know that something He wants for each of us is to have a new attitude in life so that even though we might still be doing the same job/work and having the same relationships, it will all be transformed by having God's love, patience, strength and wisdom living in us. One of the things that God is helping me to 'relearn' is to be free from a complaining attitude.  I am so used to complaining and being stressed out and I do tend to exaggerate things and be dramatic. I was really challenged by what I read in an amazing autobiography recently (check it out, you can read a short bio about Nick Vujicic, who is one of two people in the world to survive being born with tetra-amelia, a condition that causes you to be born without limbs: http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/    ... you can also order his book online).

In his book, Nick says, (paraphrased) "If you complain to others, at best they will pity you and at worst, they will try to avoid your company."  Do we want to inspire pity in others or hope and faith?

Considering that we can claim for ourselves the advantage of having the God of the Universe as our personal Saviour and Helper each day, is there really reason to complain? 

"Be anxious for nothing but pray about everything, with thanksgiving." Philippians 4:6 and 7 (abridged).

Even in the most difficult circumstances, we can have a transforming positive attitude by saying to God, "Thank you that I know you care, thank you that I know you will help me to get through this without losing my faith. Thank you that this is making my character more like Yours- thank you that you are preparing me  to live in Your Heavenly courts above!"

Next time I want to complain to someone, I'm going to strive to turn to God instead and pour out my worries and concerns to Him. Though my circumstance might not change, I know that the power of a positive attitude/perspective will transform the situation for me.  Nick is an incredibly inspiring example of that! 

God bless and have a happy week!

Anger management

Are you an angry person? 


How often do you get angry?


How do you get angry?  Do you just 'let it all out' or do you bottle it up until one day you have a massive breakdown? Or perhaps you let your anger seep out in a passive-aggressive way, making snide remarks or behaving sulkily, hoping the other person will notice?


Here's some things I've learned about anger, both from God's Word and also practical life experience. P.s. No, I am not the Hulk. 



(the emotional, impulsive, raging monstrous alter-ego of Dr. Bruce Banner in the Marvel Comics Universe. How do I know this? Let's just say that me and my friend M once made an unwise decision that led to an afternoon spent watching the Hulk in a theatre filled with 13 year old boys). There is always room for imrovement as far as managing our emotions goes, the history of humanity indicates it's an area we struggle with. Here's my top 3 tips:


1. Decrease Pressure.
At least for me, stress=getting angry/irritated more easily.  Of course, you can't eliminate all of life's stresses and annoyances and shut yourself up in a comfortable little bubble. However, (and especially if you struggle with anger), it's a good idea to really rethink your schedule, time management and priorities if you are habitually getting angry and irritated. Pray to God and ask for wisdom to cut out any unnecessary burdens/stresses from life. Sometimes we think we have no choice but we do- there is nothing we have to do (except pay taxes and die, right?).


2. Be flexible-   If things don't go your way or as you had hoped/planned. 


3. Ask yourself, "Why am I angry?"
This is a dangerous question to ask because if you start asking this, you may just learn some things about yourself that you didn't want to know (but probably need to know).  Firstly, just asking a rational question can help get you thinking at a time when angry emotions are completely clouding your logical/rational thinking. And then you can start using rational thinking to problem solve yourself out of whatever has gotten you upset. Secondly, asking yourself why you are angry is a reminder that you are responsible for your emotions, regardless of who/what triggered it. Have a look at this verse where God uses this strategy with Cain, after Cain becomes angry at God and his brother Abel:


"Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at your door and it's desire is to have you but you must rule over it."  Genesis 4:6


God said, 'your anger wants to control you but you must rule over it!' God would not tell us to do something if it wasn't possible to do it! It's a command but also a promise: "You can rule over it!"
If we are in a right relationship with God, He will help us to be in control of ourselves at all times, no matter what our circumstances are or how other people may behave towards us.


* a great online resource for Bible verses about anger and also some helpful articles. http://www.dougbrittonbooks.com/onlinebiblestudies-irritationandangermanagement/whatgodsaysinthebibleaboutanger.php

Faith despite circumstances...

(Rembrandt's Christ in the storm on the sea of Galilee, 1632)


One of the most astonishing faith statements in the Bible:


Job says: "For I know that my Redemeer lives and He shall stand at last on the earth...in my flesh I shall see God. I shall see Him for myself- my own eyes will behold Him...oh how my heart yearns within me." Job 19:25-27.


Context/Circumstances: Job loses most of his family, his home and even his health. Everyone around him thinks that God has cursed him. Much like today, people assumed that when bad things happened, it was because God willed it, rather than taking into consideration the existence of God's enemy, Satan, and also the role of human choice. However, despite his circumstances, Job refuses to believe that God has abandoned him.


Some of us have difficult circumstances in our life whilst others of us (myself included) have not met with much suffering or hardship. One thing that is for sure in this life though is that God wants to give us the opportunity to walk through this life with peace, security, confidence and hope. He wants us to know that He is on our side: "..if God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" Romans 8: 31, 32.


What do you think about Job's attitude? What has been your experience? What would you like it to be in the future?

Am I growing?

One of my all time favorite promises in the Bible:

"May He grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith...may you know the love of Christ which surpasses [theoretical]knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3:16-21

I sometimes worry about how I represent God as someone who calls themselves a Christian. God has been so misrepresented by religious people and groups throughout history, so I want to show the fullness of His character and truth in my life. But this verse in Ephesians makes it clear that it is His love and care towards us that fills us with God's glory (i.e. His character) rather than something I have to create for myself.

Do not worry as to whether or not you are growing. Plants do not grow through any conscious effort or worry. They grow by just being in the sunlight. We need to live in the sunlight of God's presence and then we will grow. Jesus said, “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin...Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life.” The children of God are to cease worrying, cease looking at themselves and they are to take an earnest interest in others... (paraphrase from my devotional book).






Image: Van Gogh, Field of Flowers.

happy photo!

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/panda-babies-have-the-cute-market-cornered-20110928-1kwux.html

This photo made my day!

A love that does not change...

                               

God is often described in the Bible as the One who never forsakes us. In Jeremiah 31:37, God says that He would reject His people only "if the Heavens above could be measured." (which they cannot be). God never leaves us, He never rejects us, He is always there for us. 

 "The people of Zion said,

   "The LORD has turned away

   and forgotten us."

    The LORD answered,

   "Could a mother forget her nursing child

   and not have compassion for her own infant?
Even if a mother could forget,

  I will never forget you.

   I have engraved you on the palms of my hands,

    You are continually in my thoughts."

 Isaiah 49:14-16

http://www.linkwitzlab.com/orion_challenge.htm

Monday Manna Promises

Some of my favourite promises from the Bible (some old, some new):


"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro the whole earth to show Himself strong in the behalf of those whose hearts are loyal to Him." 2 Chronicles 16:9


"For the weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of this world but are mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds." 2 Corinthians 10:4


"Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." James 1:12


"For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody." Isaiah 51:3




image: http://wordlesstech.com/2011/03/12/perfect-rainbow/