Some years ago I learned about managing energy levels over time management and how it leads to a more peaceful lifestyle from an article and research undertaken by Harvard business school.

 For me I have for the last 30 years lived a crash and burn lifestyle throwing myself into everything I do 100 miles an hour. However there comes a day when we get revelation that long term living that way can hurt our body not to mention hard work to live with, best you ask my husband!

One of the great skills that Jesus Christ had amongst others was that he was a philosophical thinker/ practitioner and could communicate to all types of people. An area of life He spoke about was work life balance. Documented in the Bible we find Him living what He spoke about.

He stated that we could speak directly (pray) to God and call Him father Matthew 6: 5-13 5“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9“This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

10your kingdom come,

your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

11Give us today our daily bread.

12Forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.’

After a long day of working healing the sick, discussing kingdom concepts with people, having dinner with people he would remove Himself to a private place to be with the father for reflection. The first thing in the morning he would again be in a hidden place speaking and hearing from the father of all things.

In fact sometimes He would send people away or hide from them by crossing a lake. I can really relate to his thinking in that instance “I need to rest and gather myself” after all He was fully human – not superman!

The question I am left with is what will help us create energy when we need? Jesus has said we can still speak to him and give all our stress and anxiety to him as He cares for us.

Matthew 11:28“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”.

So maybe some private time would help us each day in the midst of this crazy reach anyone, anywhere, anytime world.

What I have discovered is that I am an introvert who has been trying to function as an extrovert hence space and solitude is what I need to restore peace. As I write this I am sat in a cafe, with a book, coffee having solitude (not speaking to anyone) to prepare myself for the day ahead, gathering my thoughts, enjoying watching the world, recapturing my creative energy.

I am not locked away in a room praying or banging my head against the wall to trying hear God speaking. I am being doing something normal but enjoying Gods presence right here.

It has taken me years to of practice to implement this and not feel guilty for being like everyone else; able to keep going and doing more! So I encourage you to think through who God created you to be and enjoy that and manage your energy levels rather than your time.

 

 

 

 

Have you ever noticed how our buttons can be pressed over silly little things revealing a weakness of the heart?

Probably if we work or live in community we will be more exposed to this. Normally I am really good at taking rubbish that people often fling my way and deal with it by ignoring them. However last week was this was not the case and on reflection I have to say I have learned something new about forgiveness.

I received an unhelpful text that at first glance I laughed at. As I thought about the wording more and more I began to feel anxious as I realised that the person was sticking an accusation on me.

So then I couldn’t get it out of my head and thought this time I am going to have to confront and challenge this to get to the bottom of the real issue behind the accusation. So I called the person explained how I felt (for once) and realised that it was all about
miss communication. Afterwards I should have felt less anxious but no I still spent the entire day letting it eat away at me and found it so hard to forgive. The wound had gone deep. I couldn’t let it go in my mind I had no peace.

I was so desperate to get rid of the inner pain I felt led to chat to Jesus eventually. I prayed and said if I had done anything wrong to forgive me also asked Him to help my mind and heart be peaceful and let it go – I suppose you could say I gave it over to Him and asked Jesus to take the horrible feeling away.

Peace came and I realised a strange thing – I had chosen to forgive: His grace (ability) on the situation brought clarity to my mind and heart and I felt free and happier on the inside.
Unfortunately I am one of those people who show their emotions on the outside – my husband said its been written all over your face today but now you look better.

So here is my thought really on forgiveness. Most books etc say that forgiveness is not a feeling but a choice of the will. However I think it’s both with a process to go through. The choice I made was to speak to Jesus when I couldn’t handle it any more (note to self – do that sooner) and then the feeling of relief comes and mind stops thinking about the person in a negative way.

So I am grateful that I have learned how to forgive. Jesus did say in Matthew 6:14-15 “forgive others so we can forgiven” and the how to is in Matthew11: 28-30 put your heavy weights and problems on Jesus and a divine swap happens you get His weight which is light and He takes yours.

This is the benefit of living through the Cross of Jesus Christ and getting a grip on living out our faith.

Life is to be lived in seasons. I have had seasons in my life of different experiences study, work, rest, illness, fitness, travel, Churches, writing, family, counties I have lived in, friendships, singleness, marriage one thing is for certain nothing stays the same and nor should it!

But how come then we find ourselves doing the same old thing year in and out becoming rigid about how life should be and what we should be doing “living by the rules” and “controlling our environment” springs to mind. There are three great questions we could ask of ourselves.

1.What are the rules that I am living by?

2.Who made these rules?

3.Why do we insist on the right way of doing things (as far as we are concerned)?

I will let you ponder those….

Don’t get me wrong some boundaries are good and without laws any society would not be able to function. But I mean the rules that you live by on the inside that maybe limiting your life.

Maybe some of the rules have been made by ourselves or whatever, whoever has been socially influential in our lives has set down some rules that we find ourselves living by. However we are not sure quite why we still feel obliged to do the same thing but often for the sake of tradition we continue.

This can be a soul-destroying experience and an unfulfilling way to live, possibly we feel that are not allowed to do things differently fearing the consequences. The Bible calls this “ the fear of people”

Controlling our environment often comes from fear of the unknown. We may fear death, isolation, poverty, wealth and so on. We have been fed a lie that says we can’t trust anyone but ourselves, so we must control as much of our world as possible and those who connect into our world – so they don’t get hurt, again this is a hard place to live in.

So maybe it’s time to lay some rules down and forget controlling your life. As someone once said “let go and let God”. Lets start living in seasons embracing the good of change. 

If your struggling with the fear of people simply think through the scriptures below and allow God to bring direction for our thinking: –

Psalm 55:22 Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths 

Ecclesiastes 3: 1 There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under the heavens

 

 

My parents taught me at a young age the value and virtue of having excellent manners. To have good manners honors others and also makes you feel happier about yourself knowing that it others appreciate it. This week I have been thinking and pondering on a fresh way of revealing the love of God to those around us and so was asking myself the question: “How are we being good news to people”?

Jesus has asked us to go into all the world and speak of the Good News as He himself did informing others that He has come as a light into the darkness. As followers of Jesus we are to do the same.

I have found that by being Good News to people we can share the Good News of Jesus. Because of Jesus there is now opportunity, the chance to live an extraordinary life now. The painful wrong choices we have made can be forgiven, the wounds of disappointment we have lived with can be healed, and the sense that something is missing that often we hear people speak about can be found through relationship with Jesus Christ. This is really Good News for people!

Unfortunately sometimes sharing the Good News looks and sounds more go and bible bashing only presenting perceived rules, making it very hard for anyone to hear anything apart from hostility and hypocrisy. From my observations as we read the accounts of Jesus in the Scripture we find that He came to people with compassion, healing, kindness and acceptance, the Bible calls this the fruit of the spirit of God. We could say that these are the manners of Gods people.

Galations 5:22 -23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

The Bible explains that we are carriers of the Holy Spirit ( Gods spirit) once we are in relationship with Jesus. So therefore we are to carry and act in such a fashion as Jesus did. In other words we follow what He has shown us and are capable of doing so, walking with the manners of the Kingdom of God as a value would be a great thing.

So in light this lets ask the question again “how are we being Good News”?

As we go about our day today lets intentionally think, “how can I be Good News and bring light into someones life right now”?  

 

 

Have you noticed that we have ideas and dreams that we want to achieve or aspire too and yet we never seem to fulfill them. They remain in the “one day I want to” section of our lives for one reason or another.

Mostly it would seem that two reasons stop us moving on in life. Firstly we don’t have the money or secondly we lack the confidence to have a go. 

I personally seem to spend most of my days in the “ I don’t have the money” or “will it work” seat. But I refuse to let those too objections dominate my choices in life. What changed for me was when I came into a fuller understanding of Gods plan and destiny for me. Below are some observations to think through:-

1. God pays for what he orders. 

When God has someone He wants to reach and reveal His love to there will be a way and means. Our role is to be prayerful about such things and open to going where He sends Mark 16:15.

The Key here is openness.

 2. God sees me from my full potential. He has designed me in such a way that He knows I have the skills and ability to accomplish what He places before me (Jeremiah 1:5 & Psalm 139:13-16).

The Key here is to trust in that God given ability.

 3. God has granted me a renewed mind, this comes through prayerfulness and living out of the word of God. Therefore according to His word (Matthew 4:4) therefore I need not live in fear but have faith that God has good things for me despite life feeling uncomfortable sometimes.

The Key here is live as God intended. 

Don’t let life pass you by and don’t wait for things to change. Our lives need our input to bring a change. Gods door is always open so what are we waiting for?

 

 

 

 

 

How do we get help when we need it? 

Have you ever felt that you need help with something or realise you’re not going to make it without the input of others? The problem is that we live in a world that promotes independence and self – sufficiency so when we need help we either cant ask or don’t have anyone around to ask.

The good news is that we can break this poor habit by following the ways of Scripture. The Bible mentions in Galatians 6:7 whatever a man sows he will reap. Even though Scripture has a spiritual emphasis it is also a practical road map for our lives.

When we sow friendship in a time of need or help someone else just because we can we begin to develop a different practice. People will sense that maybe we are more approachable to receive help and give it in a time of need in other words we reap what we sow in life. The diversity in people means that we all need each other and we can all help each other… this would appear look like micro and macro community in other words local and global.

I challenge you to look for someone to help today, this week, this year. Whose life can you invest in right now?

 

 

 

 When you travel your hitting opportunities for experiencing new people and challenging situations. We have just returned from traveling overland by car and covering 1,000 miles in distance.

That 1,000 miles has brought much change in our lives. Our eyes have been opened to the lack of healthcare availability in rural Uganda. The things we take for granted in the developed world are a privilege in the underdeveloped world. 

As I sat in a waiting room of a small clinic desperate for medicine, I realized I was sat with people who were desperate everyday living in extreme poverty. To them this is how it is and they learn to cope in this unjust world.  Holding no malice to those who could be a channel of blessing; US.

For me I have learned that when there is no medicine, no home comforts, no finance there is only God. His kindness and mercy toward us on this trip has been  heart changing. 

Only one question remains now, what is my response now I know?

Confidence, Calmness and Contentment

Last year was the year of setting goals and achievement. I set myself a goal to join a gym, get fit and loose weight. I did achieve that and much more as I have maintained a healthy lifestyle and rhythm of training. This year is a year of transition personally, the thing thats once inspired and motivated me no longer do so. I have been seeking for something more than just goal orientated living – this is a new perspective for me.

So I thought it would be good to focus this year on transitioning to a new perspective one that challenges me and yet opens new opportunities. Ever since I can remember my life has been about running at things 100 miles an hour, the consequences of this are:-

1.You crash and burn all the time
2.It is never enough

Paul wrote about living a different way – He had been shaped on the inside by knowing Jesus and living daily from such a source.
Philippians 4:12-13 “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

For myself I have identified 3 areas; Confidence, Calmness and Contentment which I would like to walk freely in. To make this possible requires two actions:-

1.A change in lifestyle (making sharp decisions and checking the motivation).
2.Creating a constant awareness of my daily source Jesus and connecting with Him throughout each day or hour.

These two changes are practices of discipline. Just as I was able to discipline myself physically. This year I am disciplining my heart.

I wonder if you have a focus for this year and what is the new thing that God is birthing in you? We must remember that change is inevitable so preparing for it is a better way – nothing except God and His ways stays the same forever.

“Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law” Proverbs 29:18.

We are living in the busiest and nosiest time in history so far. People have instant access to each other, demands and expectations are becoming greater, the pressure to attain something whether material or personal goals are in the forefront of our minds often. The question people often ask me is “ What is next?” As if the now is not enough.

The scriptures encourage us to keep the eternal perspective that our life as a disciple or follower of Christ is not about what we do but about the quality of our friendship with God the father. Our vision should be one of devotion not driven into the doing.

Jesus left us with two commands:
‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself'” Luke 10:27.

Busyness doesn’t get us any points in heaven but knowing Jesus does and Him knowing you – quality relationship. Plug into the quality and ditch the busyness treadmill you might be on. God wants to know you, “your name is written in the palm of His hand” Isaiah 49:16 to God you are worth so much!

Don’t get distracted by the seductiveness of self-importance leading to high expectations and driveness. Let the vision of devotion to the person of God become once more a priority and from there God will direct the pathway of your life.

Preparedness

 

There is a great power and authority that comes with being prepared. So many people ask, “how do I do all that I am doing? “ or comment on how I always seem calm and spontaneous. My secret is that I am always prepared.

 

Being prepared saves others and myself around me negative experiences. There is nothing worse than walking into a room of stressed out emotions, it will never go well! There is a difference between stress and excitement. When I am with people in any context I will always want to give them quality and my full attention, this takes some preparedness.

 

Getting Prepared. 

 

1. Stop rushing around; the world won’t stop if you do!
2. Imagine yourself in the situations you have before you today, what will you say, where will you sit, whom will you meet, are you happy with what material you are presenting today?
3. Practice the art of being still and restful on the inside
4. Prioritize the things you have to do today and defer the other until a priority.
5. People will often be the biggest demand on time and energy. Make a decision we don’t have to see everyone and spend ages with them. We are allowed to say, no.
6. Be around people who are inspiring and creative. Iron sharpens Iron!
7. Make quality time for reading scripture. Hanging out with Jesus days are amazing and most needed, how can we hear Gods direction unless we create hearing room. So get off the treadmill and be at peace.
8. Do something practical and use it to think. When was the last time you went for a walk, run, cycle ride, washed up or a drive etc.  Just to allow thinking time?

 

So then…

 

When we are sharper we can do more in less time and with less energy used, leaving room for fun and time with family and friends. When we are stressed it not only hurts us but those we come into contact with.

 

Follow Jesus example he achieved much in His life, healing the sick, teaching followers, building communities, travelling, teaching in religious institutions, ran a business, being with family; He was a prepared man who learned that spending time with His father (God) brings revelation and peace, true preparedness.