More!

Whether we realise it or not we are all looking of a touch from something that is greater than ourselves, a touch of the divine even.

Life needs to be more than a 9 to 5 existence. More than a survival of each day. There is more to life than merely existening.

We can find the divine many ways. Maybe it is gazing at the night sky, looking in wonder at the oceans or the mountains or listening to a piece of music that transports us to another place and time.

One of my most memorable experiences was, last year, flying over Africa above a spectacular lightning storm. Seeing the sky light up with the flashes of lightning was something I will never forget.

There is so much more to this life than work, eating and sleeping.

We don't know how long we have with this life. It is a gift that we should squeeze out every last drop and ounce that we can.

God wants to be part of your life, all parts. Not just to instruct and guide but to show us all that he has created. For us to enjoy and to experience. To soar and not to trudge. To drink ourselves full of all that He offers!

The Bible says this about Jesus. I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10)

Make a decision to live and not just get by. You owe that to yourself.

Andy

Authentic

One definition of authentic describes it as conforming to fact and therefore worthy of trust, reliance, or belief.

Our lives should be lived authentically. The world is crying out for authenticity.
We are all looking for that which we can trust, rely on and believe.

Quite simply there has only ever been one person who has truly walked and lived that type of life. Jesus.

The reason why Jesus is still talked about today is because He was authentic. Authenticity lasts the course. You cannot always tell whether something is authentic immediately but eventually over time it becomes obvious!

We are often told in this modern world that we should not conform that we can be who we want to be, but conforming to that which is worthy of trust, reliance and belief is surely worth a go. The world needs it now more than ever.

Andy

5 Stones...not a blog about Mick and his friends!

In 1 Sam 17: 40 we read the story of David and Goliath which says David took his shepherds staff, selected five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the pocket of his shepherds bag.

As we know from this and other stories David was a great warrior. He was not afraid of a fight and led from the front. He was such a great warrior that he was able to lead ‘the mighty men’ referred to in the Bible in 2 Samuel 23. These were men who defied the odds in many battles.

God has given five main ministry offices to the church. The Apostle, Prophet, Teacher, Evangelist and Pastor. All these offices can carry with them power and authority.

For me the five stones are symbolic of the five ministry offices that God has given to the church. But I have noted where the stones were carried before they accomplished their task of defeating Goliath. They were carried in David’s shepherds bag.

We need all of the five ministry offices operating in our churches, ministries and lives. But unless they are carried and held in the shepherds anointing they can at best be less effective and worst harmful.

We all need the heart of the shepherd, more so for leaders, in all that we do. So what is the heart of the shepherd?

Ultimately, as Jesus himself demonstrated, it is about putting others first, putting yourself in the way of the enemy for others sakes. Shepherds (in the east) at night would often put their sheep in a walled compound. This compound had a single gap through which the sheep would pass but there was no gate. At night the shepherd himself would block the gap. If any wild animal tried to get to the sheep they would first have to go through the shepherd!

For those of us in leadership and ministry we need to have the same heart and attitude in all that we do, especially in our dealings with people.

Andy

Grace

Heard this great description of grace the other week which was simply this....if you did nothing to deserve it what can you do to lose it!

We need to hear these words and stop judging ourselves .....dust yourself down, pick yourself up and forgive yourself just as God has forgiven you.

I will leave the final words to the Bible from the Message translation....So how do we fit what we know of Abraham, our first father in the faith, into this new way of looking at things? If Abraham, by what he did for God, got God to approve him, he could certainly have taken credit for it. But the story we're given is a God-story, not an Abraham-story. What we read in Scripture is, "Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was the turning point. He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own."
4-5If you're a hard worker and do a good job, you deserve your pay; we don't call your wages a gift. But if you see that the job is too big for you, that it's something only God can do, and you trust him to do it—you could never do it for yourself no matter how hard and long you worked—well, that trusting-him-to-do-it is what gets you set right with God, by God. Sheer gift. (Romans 4:1-5)

Andy

Decision or Reaction?

Too much of life can be based on a reaction and not a decision.

Often we let the circumstances of the day define our day. We all know that there will be days when things happen beyond our control and influence and we just have to roll with it. But often there are days where we let life happen to us as opposed to deciding what our life will be.

There are countless sayings about preparation and the positive effect preparation can have on our everyday lives. The problem with preparation is that it takes...well ….preparation! It takes time, often time we don't feel we have.

This is where we need to take the long view and not the short view. I am sure we all have areas of our lives where we desire to see change. Often that change can be painful leading us at times to give up on the process of change. We need to take the long view. Move from a reaction (to the pain of change) to a decision.

This is where time travel comes in. Take yourself five years into the future. How will you feel if your life is still the same? The change you so desired five years ago still hasn't happened. Regret then becomes your constant companion. Now travel back.

Remember the regret. Use the power of that regret to bring about the change, to keep taking the long view as opposed to the short view. Before long you will realise that change has happened. You are no longer just reacting to life but deciding your life.

Have a decision filled day!

Andy

Restore

Its time for you to receive the full Restoration that God has for you.

This Saturday we (Equip) will be holding the first of 6 monthly meetings (see flyer) at Broadmead Baptist right in the heart of Bristol city centre.

Thee meetings are based on the scripture in Joel 2: 25 that states God will restore us all that the enemy has stolen from us.

Specifically this Saturday we will be focusing on what we need to do in order to receive this Restoration.

In Genesis 26 we read of the story of Isaac and the wells of his Father Abraham. Isaac keeps finding that the Philistines have filled in Abraham's wells as they quarrel with him over the land, which God had promised.

After numerous disputes with the Philistines they find a well and settle but the well still has to be dug out.

This represents many of our lives at this time. We know the promises of God but we do not yet possess them fully in our lives. We need to dig them out! Hard, back breaking work. It needs to be done for us to fulfill the promise of God in our lives!

How do we do this? It will be different things for different people but starts with the words of Paul in 1 Timothy 1: 18 that we use the prophecies given to us through which we wage a good warfare or if you prefer ....to dig out the promises and possess them.

This Saturday come along and begin the process of Restoration for all that God has for you, it would be great to see you.

Andrew

New day...New You?

We are all carriers of all that has happened to us, good or bad. It has shaped us, defined us, made us who were are. Whether this has produced desirable or not so desirable characteristics, we are often the sum of our events. There are no standard rules for this process of cause and effect. The same event will not have the same effect on two people.

Psychologists have grappled with the question of ‘nature or nurture’ for years i.e.) are DNA / genes the dominant process in our lives or the environment that we grow up in. The debate will go on for many years.

The phrase ‘it’s a new day’ implies that no matter what happened yesterday (usually implying it was not so good) can be better. It is as though some magical process happens, that the connection between our past and present is severed at 12.01am!

If only it were so easy! The Bible tells us that God’s mercies are ‘new every morning’ (Lamentations 3: 22 – 23).

This is not where God releases some new promise each new day but explains the power and process of God's grace. Another passage in the bible sates ‘as far as the east is from the west, so he has removed our transgressions from us. ’

This promise is new every day! No matter what has happened yesterday, today can be different. We don’t have to let our past define our future. Easier said than done I know, but we need to start with the promise that all is not lost.

Indeed all is still to play for! Grace is both an instant act but a process to work out. But like all process’s it starts with belief. John 3: 16 is all about belief! God loves you…believe it….it will begin a process of change in your life that you forever will be grateful for!

Andy