See the Light

So my mother-in-law is an amazing woman - having spent a few days with her recently, she really is such an encouragement and role model for me. Despite having gone through various difficult circumstances, she is somebody who infectiously oozes hope & joy. There is something about her mindset, that she just sees the light in everything - I on the other can sometimes get caught up in to much of the darkness of this world. Not that discernment is a bad thing, but what is it that prompts a response from us, light or dark, God or satan? We should never act purely in response to darkness, or else we are allowing satan to control our paths - instead we willing respond to God's truth.

But before I digress, back to the point, which is a bit more than just "seeing the light". Living in the UK, where there are many aging churches with beautiful architecture, I could often say to myself that (in my view) men built these not to glorify God but themselves. However I felt challenged by this, as going to one of these little churches, my mother-in-law was so thankful for it all. God lead me to Phillipians 1 where Paul talks about Christ being preached, regardless of intention or motive, he still gives thanks that Christ is preached. Now not that our motives can be wrong, but who are we to judge others? Therefore when we hear the gospel being shared, regardless of the context, I should give thanks and pray that the message is empowered. No matter if it is a church which might have been built to glorify man, or if it is a person on the side of the street preaching, I should see the light and pray that it catches fire on this earth.

Shadow Glory

Just before Easter we were in a coffee shop in London, when outside there was some commotion, so being a guy and intrigued by the gathering crowd I went out. To my surprise it was Zach Braff, the actor from Scrubs, who was part of a musical in a west end show and had come out to meet his fans after a showing. I tried to grab a photo of him, but failed to do so. What struck me was the way people were interacting with him – they were either getting signatures or getting a photo with alongside him. So here is this guy who is fairly well known and respected, and the “normal folk” – including myself – just wanted to “catch” some of that recognition and respect he carries by just being captured briefly in his shadow. There was not anything deeper than that, people were not chatting to him or trying to give him things – quite possibly because of the limited time – but there was something about trying to use this time with this person for our own personal recognition and status. I might be wrong, but I am just being honest about what I was thinking.

Ultimately it prompted me to think about my motives when partnering with people in life, especially those who have something I feel I want or need. What are your motives?

Identity Lie

So something which God has been correcting in my heart & mind recently has been around this thing of identity. I have realised how subtly the devil can twist this, and we begin to believe something about ourselves which is not of God.

As a young boy I often got very sick, nothing serious, just colds & flu's. In this season, I grew to know myself as "a sick boy". As I grew up, I carried this identity as a sick person with my, so much so that when I got sick I did not feel empowered to fight it, as it was part of who I was. It was only in marriage when I started to get sick, and my wife when asking me why, said that it was not part of my identity, that I began to realise the lie I had believed. As I started to realise actually God's will was not for me to be a sick child, I felt empowered to come against the lies, and therefore in the moments when I felt like I was coming down with something God gave me the resolve to fight it, and to speak and pray against that thing which was fighting my health.

My identity is being renewed, and there is a long road ahead of me, but I am thankful that God, through my amazing wife, showed me that lie which I had long believed.

Is there something the father of lies has told you, dear reader, and you have believed? If so, I pray that the truth would wash over you, break any bondage or broken thoughts, and that you would be set free in Jesus name.

Water Divinity

So I was chatting to my family in Africa, who are currently drilling for water - water in Africa is always such a big deal, almost a scarce commodity. They had hired a water diviner to come and find the water, and on arriving he had said he could "feel" the water, and then predicted that it would be found at 60m below the surface. Now that sounded a little strange to me - was he consulting spirit mediums to do it? No not at all, this guy was a farmer who had many years struggled to find and dig for water for his farm, and so through his extensive experience he had built in an internal sense to discovering water. So when they hit some water at 58m and had reached a sufficient depth at 61m, I realised how accurate that "sense" of his was.

I felt after this, that there is so much that God has created in this world which we do not currently access. Do I lock God into a box and limit him to my worldly understanding? God created all things for our good, but it does all ultimately point to Him and give Him glory.

God, would You stretch my understanding of You, would You stretch my expectation of what You want to do, around and through me, as You gracefully partner with me as I get to journey with You, living life in abundance. May it all return to You and give You glory. Amen.