Living Sacrifices

 1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

 What does it mean to offer our bodies as living sacrifices?

 Dying to ourselves, to our will, our way of doing things, our thinking

 Saying not my will but yours be done on earth and in our lives as it is in heaven.

 It’s doing as Christ did and picking up our crosses daily.

 What does it mean by spiritual act of worship?

 John 6:63 - the spirit gives life the flesh counts for nothing – we are spiritual beings that reside in fleshly bodies,

so the desire to offer our bodies as a sacrifices has to come from our spirit because the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, so is how we worship God on a daily basis and its also how we do not conform to the pattern of this world because the world is focused on the needs of the flesh and doing things if they make you feel Good, when we are told that the flesh counts for nothing which means that we go against the pattern of this world if we are going to counted as children of God.

We also have to transform our thinking 

Proverbs 23:7 – as a man thinks in his heart so he is – if we are children of God then we must think that we are and also know it if we are to do the above of offering our bodies as living sacrifices, if we transform our thinking we can begin to think Gods thoughts which means we will begin to bless one another with our words and speak more positively and begin to speak life instead of having slander on our tongues,

This is the doorway of knowing Gods will his good, pleasing and perfect will.

 God has a will and plan for us no matter where we are, how old we are, what our family backgrounds or how much money we have 

A Cloudless Sky

We as the Ignite team spent last week at a conference held in City Temple church, the main speaker was Bill Johnson from Bethal Church in Reading, California.

Bethal church is experiencing what some may call an outbreak of Revival with Miraculous things happening on a daily basis with Healings and countless people coming to Christ.

One of the points Bill John spoke on was adopting a cloudless sky, an impossible situation, in which we can continue to pray into until we see a break through.

Elijah in 1 Kings 41 – 45 heard the sound of Rain in a time of great draught and Famine,

He prayed earnestly with his head between his knee’s and didn’t stop seven times he sent his servant to check beyond the sea and six times his servant returned and said he could see nothing, in verse 44 The seventh time the servant reported, "A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea.”  So Elijah said, "Go and tell Ahab, 'Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.' "

Our challenge as followers of Jesus is to find the cloudless skies in our lives, our situations that seem impossible and that feel like there are no answers to, be it a difficult situation that we currently face in our school, work, university or at home or if its our future and we’re facing difficulties in what path to take or direction to go, and to Grab a hold of God and to seek after him and pray earnestly as Elijah did until the answers comes and to speak things into being even though we cant see them, Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 17:20 “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.

So what are our cloudless skies and mountains that need moving?

Grab a hold of God and lets see cloudless appearing and mountains moving.

 The Walk

One day I took a walk
Where dreamers seldom trod.
And I could see the world
As it appears to God.

The Shepherd tips the cup
And feeds the hungry flock.
To see that they’re prepared
And ready for the walk.

He sends them on their way,
To choose a path and fate.
Some roads may bring them low,
While some could make them great.

But when the walk is done
And truth is finally known.
Some lambs will lose their way,
And face their fate alone.

While some will persevere,
Heeding the Shepherd’s call.
A call that guides them home,
And saves them from the fall.

A fall each could avoid,
By letting go of pride.
Had the Shepherd led them,
They never would have died.

But the proud never bow,
None are greater than they.
If God stands before them,
They might believe that day.

Until He comes to them,
They will ignore His call.
They’ll mock God as they go,
Defiant of the fall.

Can you really accept
The judgment of your deeds?
Even if hell’s darkness
Is where your journey leads?

Is anyone prepared,
To be one of the flock?
Or will you stand alone
At the end of the walk?

JOHN 10:1-18

“I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep.”  Jesus begins his message by comparing the thieves and robbers with the shepherd. The religious leaders were the thieves and robbers. They tried to steal the joy from the man born blind had received from his healing. They tried to rob him of the new life of salvation that Jesus had gave him. Instead of coming through the gate for the sheep to see, to help the sheep and to serve the sheep and take care of the sheep, these religious leaders came over the fence, climbing in and scaring and frightening the sheep by trying to exercise their power and authority over them.  

But what about the shepherd? How does the shepherd enter? He enters through the gate. This shows that he has nothing to hide and his motives are clear. His motive is to take care of the sheep. His concern is only for the sheep’s well being.  Let’s read verses 3-4, “The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.”

But the picture here is that God is the shepherd and we are his sheep. God’s heart is that of a shepherd who takes care of the sheep. This means that we are sheep. What are sheep like? They are woolly and fluffy and cute creatures who mostly think about eating, (I have a particular soft spot for sheep) They are defenceless creatures and nearsighted and not very smart. However, as long as they are eating, they are happy. Sometimes they get lost in sheep heaven as they are eating away. Suddenly, they can become lost while they graze in order to find more grass or clover to eat. Other times, when they wander, they can become food to a hungry wolf. Sheep are known to wander very easily and to fall in a hole or off a cliff. Sheep really need a shepherd to lead them and to guide them and to protect them.

What Jesus is emphasizing here is a Biblical truth. We are all sheep and he is our shepherd with whom we dearly need to survive. If we don't get over our pride and accept that we are fluffy and defenceless then we are going to fall off the cliffs we can't see or get attacked by the wolf who stalks in the darkness.

Jesus Changes Water to Wine

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."

"Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come."

His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim.

Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet."

They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."

This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.

Running out of wine was a serious offence, Wedding celebrations could last for weeks and it was the grooms job to make sure the wine didn't run out or he could be charged a lot of money.

This is the first recorded miracle that Jesus did, and I think it gives us a good framework for how miracles come about.

First we have to realise Jesus is there for us

and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."

Jesus' mother realises there is a problem and she straight away turns to Jesus because she knows that Jesus can help in that situation. This may sound obvious but the first thing we need to do is realise we have a God who can help us and is capable of soooo much more than we can ever imagine!

Secondly we need to ask him

and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."

Again you might think this is obvious but for Jesus to do this miracle his mother had to ask him to do it. How many times do we get annoyed that God hasn't done something for us when really we didn't ask him. There is no harm in asking for anything, the worst you can get is nothing and thats all you'll get if you don't ask.

Thirdly we have to be obedient and be listening to the reply God has for us.

His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

It wasn't as simple as Jesus just producing the wine for them He needed something first. Sometimes in order to receive that which God has for us we need to do something for him first, so open up your ears to what God is saying and you will be surprised at the blessings you get!

We live in a culture that likes everything BIG! In my village there are far more huge landrover 4x4 vehicles than any other type of car, in cardiff we have just had a new bigger shopping centre opened, even the slogan for IgniteHope 2010 involves the word BIGGER.

So what about this question of small and big?  The thing is sometimes, not always, but sometimes, I feel like my faith isn’t “big” enough.  It’s too small.  Is that partly influenced by the “Supersize me” culture?  Even though I have been a christian allt of my life and have had a lot of time to grow in my faith, sometimes it seems too small in the face of the big problems around us. I often wish it was as simple as going up to the counter ordering some faith and getting the option to supersize it for an additional 50p. I’d feel a lot better about the situation if I felt like I always had the kind of faith that would “move mountains.”  We are living in a world where the rich are getting richer and where our ability to resolve cultural conflicts through peace and understanding seems strained.  I fear our consumption patterns and their impact on the environment are entrenched and I know I’m a part of that.  We also face many challenges as a church some of which revolve around size.  What do we do?  Is our faith too small in the face of big and complex problems in our lives, the church, or the world?

I think we need to change our perspectives, God's kingdom is built from mustard seed beginnings and when we look at problems and situations we face we need to see them with a 'God's-eye-view' “The Kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how.  The earth produces of itself….But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”   I am wondering where you see some small seeds of the Kingdom?  I think the Kingdom of God is in at least three different kinds of places.  First, the Kingdom, through Jesus is already right here!  It is here in your church.  Remember Jesus says in the gospel of Luke, “No the Kingdom is not here or there, the Kingdom of God is among you!”  What are the small seeds waiting to grow here among us?  Secondly, I see the Kingdom as something we strain toward not being “at home” as Paul describes it in 2 Corinthians.  In the Lord’s Prayer, we pray for the “Kingdom to come.” Where are the seeds of the Kingdom out in the world that we are waiting for and waiting for, hoping and praying that they will grow?  And thirdly, I see the Kingdom of God as something that lives and grows inside of us from what is often a tiny seed.  That is how a life of faith grows.  I believe in the light shining in each of us and in each person on this planet. 

Where do you see a small seed of the Kingdom of God—in yourself and in your own spiritual journey or in someone you know?  Do we need to look again with a “God’s eye view” at those seeds, remembering what God is up to!  Jesus reminds us today that those seeds of faith within us or the seeds we scatter in hopes that they will grow and become signs of the Kingdom don’t depend on us. Even if we do the work of scattering the seed, and a little extra watering, weeding and fertilizing to help things along, it is always a miracle when something grows!   It is always a gift from God! 

We definitely live in a “Supersize me” culture that doesn’t usually think small seeds amount to much.  But Jesus said that is what the Kingdom of God is like and you never know what God will do with a few tiny mustard seeds!

"Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left" (Joshua 23:6 NIV).

The Hubble telescope, NASA's multi-billion-dollar "eye in the sky," was near-sighted.

Scientists had hoped the orbiting observer would photograph distant galaxies never before seen by the human eye. But a mirror, ground incorrectly by a few thousandths of an inch, kept the ground crew from seeing clearly. Eventually, a multi-million dollar space shuttle flight was able to replace the mirror and bring sight to the visually impaired telescope.

Just a few thousandths of an inch of imprecision had made the bus-sized telescope absolutely useless. In the same way, just a thousandth of a degree deviation from God's plan can make us equally useless to His Kingdom.

Remember parallel lines from maths lessons? A thousandth of an inch difference in the distance between two nearby lines, when extended far enough, create a huge gap between them. In the same way, the slightest deviation from God's straight and narrow line for a long enough time, will eventually create a destructive distance between what is right and what is wrong in our life

No matter what the ultimate sin, it always begins with a slight -- perhaps even imperceptible --"turning aside to the right or to the left."

But this isn't meant to be a restriction on our lives, after all God is God he made us so surely he knows exactly what is best for us. SO it's not about being forced to do something you don't want to do or that will harm you, its about knowing where God wants you to go and trusting that his plan for your life is amazing and the best!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future!" (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)

You taste the tears
You're lost in sorrow
You see your yesterdays
I see tomorrow

You see the darkness
I see the spark
You know your failures
But I know your heart

The dreams I dream for you
Are bigger that the ones you're clinging to
More precious than the finest things you knew
And truer than the treasures you pursue
Let the old dreams die
Like stars that fade from view
Then take the cup I offer
And drink deeply of
The dreams I dream for you

You see your shame
But I see your glory
You've read one page
I know the story

I hold a vision
Of what you'll become
As you grow into the truth
As you learn to walk in love

Let the old dreams die
Like stars that fade from view
Then take the cup I offer
And drink deeply of
The dreams I dream for you

 Matthew 28:18-20, “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

These are the last words Jesus said to his disciples, so obviously they are very important. This passage is called the Great Commission, because a commission is defined as:

An authoritative order, instruction or command, given to a person or a group of people

Jesus states right away that He is not only an authority, but the authority in the universe. The word for authority here means “power,” in the sense of control and ability. Jesus sets up his final orders with a reminder that He is the God of the universe, so His instructions override any other authority on earth. The instructions He then gives are very clear and straightforward – and they break down into three categories.

Let’s look at each one:

Go – This is a command in what’s called an imperative mood in the Greek, which is why we call this passage the Great Commission, not the Good Suggestion. It can also mean “as you are already going – and if you’re not, you need to.”

Make disciples – This has the idea of training people to be like Jesus. The word literally means “follower,” so our aim with every one in our world is to lead them to a relationship with Christ. 

Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you – This is the next logical step after leading someone into a relationship with Christ. In order for people to grow deeper in that relationship, they need to be taught how. And that’s where you come in.

What is really great is Jesus doesn’t give the orders and ride off into the sunset. He promises His presence and power until the end of the world, as you undertake this huge task.

So the Great Commission is the job of every believer, which is why we need to have it in mind wherever life takes us. When this happens, you get a whole new perspective on life. School and work become your mission fields, and unsaved friends become your responsibility to lead to Christ and help grow in Christ.

Acts 1:8, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

These words from Jesus to the disciples indicate what fulfilling the Great Commission would look like. The word for witness used here is where we get our word “martyr” – and it meant someone who would testify like a person on the witness stand about something. The disciples were to testify about who Jesus is and what He’s done in ever increasing geographical circles until the whole world was reached with the Gospel. What Jesus means for us is that fulfilling our part of the Great Commission is to start with those closest to us, then moving outward to everyone we meet as we go through life.

We’re called to be witnesses, not lawyers. A witness just tells what he/she knows.

 Although living a Christian life is good, at some point we have to use words, either verbal or written, to share the Gospel. Otherwise, our life testimony is no different than a good Mormon’s life testimony.

 The Great Commission is meant to be one of the things that gets you out of bed in the morning, because you will never have a class at school or a career in the future that is more important than this responsibility. There really are people who are dying and going to a Christless eternity, and we have the cure. Every morning should start out with a prayer for God to empower you as a witness, so you can do your part in the most amazing mission on earth. The key to fulfilling the Great Commission is found in one simple word: GO!

 Don’t expect people to come banging on your door asking how they can be saved. Jesus didn’t, which is why He commanded us to get off our butts and start telling people about Jesus! Think about it, you come into contact with the unsaved EVERY DAY. Pray for them by name, invite them to youth group, witness in a chat room, IM the gospel, write a letter, share your testimony, support a missionary, or come up with your own strategy.

What is the message we’re sharing?

God created us to be with Him (Gen 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God (Gen 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again (Matt-Luke)

Everyone who trusts in Him alone has eternal life (John-Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with J
 

 “He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us…” 2 Corinthians: 10

“Deliver” is a funny word – it makes me think of postmen or Amazon payment pages. Paul wasn’t talking about post when he wrote about Jesus being our deliverer – like Superman pulls Lois Lane from falling off a sky rise building, Jesus pulls us out of the desitination we were traveling to when we weren’t covered by his forgiveness. He pulls us out of our death sentence, our ‘deadly peril’ and pays for us to have life by His death on the cross. More than this, when we have our hope set on Jesus He continues to be our deliverer every day. He provides ways out of difficult, tough and upsetting situations; out of temptation, lust, greed, anger; out of any hot spot that life and our human nature can throw at us. He never promises that life will be comfortable and easy - to need to be delivered you have to be in a problem! - but he does promise to guide us when travelling through things that are too big for us to handle.

It seems to me that tough moments in life can be like being stuck in a room with no windows or doors, there feels like there is no way out. It could be that your friendship group at school are being catty and leave you out (that’s the room of rejection). It could be that you keep messing up with your boyfriend (that’s the room of guilt and temptation). It could be that your brother is driving you insane and those nasty comments that hurt him more than a punch in the face keep slipping out (that’s the room of anger). Jesus promises to be our deliverer, to be the door in whatever room you find yourself stuck inside. The Bible says we will walk though valleys – however, we don’t sit there, make camp and start knitting – we are supposed to keep going!

Paul is amazing. He writes these astonishing words from a life with Jesus that has entailed battering, bruising and mocking to the point that sometimes he was just about alive. He knows that life is not easy, yet he does not give up and sit under his duvet with a hot choc and toffee crisp – he puts his hope in Jesus, that He is the one who delivers, who gives us ways out.

Trusting this, can transform our lives – in tough times at school, with your friends, your family – in fact there is nothing that cannot be transformed by Jesus. He is so powerful, so good, so faithful, so creative – and he loves you (times all the love anyone has every had for you by one hundred million billion trillion and you are still nowhere close to how much God loves you).

This week why don’t you have a go? Offer those tough rooms to Jesus, let him show you that he is your personal deliverer – and see what journey He takes you on.

Faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains! - Matthew 17:20 But why? How does that work? It's a crazy statement, how does it make sense? It's not about how big our faith is, its about what our faith is in.

HEBREWS 11 This chapter talks about all the well known people from the Bible who have done great things 'By Faith'. 

FAITH has hands 

When God spoke into Noah's life Noah built a boat. When God speaks into his life he needs to do something about. We should all be building because of our faith, and this in turn will build up our faith. But it won't always make sense...the Ark didn't make sense, but as long as you are building on the foundation of God you will be successful!

FAITH has legs

 God told Abraham to go, and though he had no idea where he was going he went. So if God asks us to MOVE will we go, even if we don't know what the outcome of the journey is?

FAITH has eyes

 We have to hold out for a miracle from God, seeing with spiritual eyes and trusting in God. It looked like nothing was going to happen for Sarah and Abraham, no children, God's promise seemed to be far away and lost. But Abraham and Sarah are blessed with a child! It might not look like its going to happen but when we look with our trusting eyes we see the truth that is God's promise!

It's not about how big your faith is but what you put your faith in!

If we have enough faith for today then thats enough for today and don't worry about tomorrow until it happens.

A story is told of a man who found an eagle’s egg. He put it with his chickens and the mother hens. Soon the egg hatched. The young eagle grew up with all the other chickens. Whatever the chickens did, the eagle also did. He thought he was a chicken, just like them. Since the chickens could only fly for a short distance, the eagle also learnt to fly a short distance. He thought that was what he was supposed to do. So that was all that he thought he could do. And that was all he was able to do. One day the eagle saw a bird flying high above him. He was very impressed. “Who is that?” he asked the hens around him. “That’s the eagle, the king of the birds,” the hens told him. “He belongs to the sky. We belong to the earth — we are chickens. So the eagle lived and died a chicken, for that’s what he thought he was. 

How often do we look at people and wish that we could do what they do, but stay with what we think we are supposed to do?

God has amazing plans for all of us, but they don't just happen; we have to do something about it. If the Eagle in this story had stretched his wings and tried to fly further he would have, because he was an eagle. So how often do we forget to stretch our wings and fly into the plans God has for us. 

Jeremiah 11:29 says:

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

But these are only plans not promises so we need to act and step forward into these plans.

Stop being a chicken and become the Eagle God has planned for you to be!

 We take about 26000 breaths a day, that amounts to about 14000 litres of air. Experts say that we should breathe about 4 to 6 times a minute but in reality on average we breathe between 16 and 20 breaths. We should always breathe from our stomachs not our chests, but when we're distracted, when we're stressed, when we're moving too fast we tend to breathe a lot quicker and from our chest. We get practically 99% of our energy from breathing but we only access between 10% and 20% of that. But with all that all of us have going on every day, how many of us stop to think about our breathing?

Now there was a shepherd boy called Moses who lived in a place called Mideon, one day God appears to him and speaks to him through a burning bush. God says: 'Moses take off your sandals because you are standing on Holy ground.' Now Moses has been walking this land for 40 years, I mean it isn't as if the ground has suddenly changed, the ground didn't all of a sudden become Holy, it is that Moses has become aware of it. 

Which raises the question for us; are we standing on Holy ground all the time and we don't even notice, walking past burning bushes on the left and the right, and because we are moving too fast, because we're distracted we miss them?

When Moses worries about the questions the people will ask him about God God simply responds with: 'tell them the Lord has sent you.' Now this word Lord if you are reading from most English translations is spelt capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, and this name appears over 6000 times in the Bible. But obviously it wasn't originally written in the English language but in Hebrew. In Hebrew Lord is spelt YHVH, these letters are said Yod, Hey, Vah, Hey. Many of us now pronounce this as Yahweh, but in some traditions the name isn't even pronounced because it is considered so sacred, so mysterious, so Holy. The ancient Rabbis believed that these letters were essentially a breathing sound that ultimately could not be pronounced because the letters together are just the sound of breathing.

Is the name of God the sound of Breathing?

The book of Genesis says that when God made the first human He took the dirt from the ground and shaped it and then breathed life into it. The Hebrew word for ground is Adamah, the first man God created, his name was Adam. Dirtman. There is a paradox in the human heart, we are vulnerable, fragile, we come from dirt but we have the breath of the creator inside of us. Life is fragile but the divine breath is in every single human being ever!

We are sacred, divine dirt clods, with untold power and potential.

In the Bible the word for breath is the same as the word for spirit. In Hebrew it is Ruah and in Greek Pneuma. So is the spirit of literally the breath that lives inside everyone. In Romans 8 it says that when the spirit of the living God lives in us he gives us life. So as we let God in, as we breathe in we become aware of everything we need to let go of and breathe out.

If you were totally honest about what was going on inside you right now, what would we find out? What would you say if you just kind of opened up? What's inside? What are you angry about? What concerns do you have? What is making you anxious? What's bothering you? What's filling up your headspace? What's stressing you? Is there anything you need to breathe out?

The Bible says that God gives the spirit without limits! Is there anything right now that you need to breathe in?

Based on the teaching by Rob Bell (Nooma)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Lets brake that down a bit:

DO NOT - this is a command, not just a suggestion. God doesn't just think we probably shouldn't be anxious he KNOWS we shouldn't and lets face it He's God who are we to argue with Him. He made us, surely he knows what is best for us. So lets not even question this we definitely shouldn't worry.

BE ANXIOUS ABOUT ANYTHING - that says ANYTHING, this means everything matters to God, nothing is too small for Him to care about, if it is bugging you then you can be sure it bugs Him too, He hasn't designed any of us to suffer or even let one frustrated sigh out. Everything big or small matters to God and He will always protect us. So if we are anxious what does this mean about our relationship with God....do we trust Him to have our best interests in mind or do we think He can't be trusted to care for us, His children?

BRING EVERYTHING, WITH PRAYER AND PETITION - Can you imagine what a difference it would make to our lives if everytime something went wrong, before we phoned our mums, turned on our angry music or cried we actually chatted with our Father.

AND THANKSGIVING - Be thankful! Not necessarily for the situation, you don't have to be happy if someone you loved is sick, or you are being bullied; but you do need to be happy that God loves you, and He loves you all the time. So be thankful, not FOR every situation but IN every situation.

PRESENT YOUR REQUESTS - Not the word request here, we are not talking about taking your shopping lists of demands to God we are talking about asking Him to help you out with each individual situation because you know He loves you and promises to look after you.

THE PEACE OF GOD THAT TRANSCENDS ALL UNDERSTANDING - Transcends simply means to pass, exceed, to beat or be better than. So you know how peaceful you feel when you sleep or are lying in front of the TV watching your favourite film, the peace of God is far far greater than that, it is so great that we could never imagine how it feels, does that not sound like something we should want!?

IN CHRIST JESUS - Its a relationship, we trust in God because we know he has a great plan for us and because we know Him and know He loves us, and because we chat to Him on a daily basis and lift all our worries to Him we can be sure of a Hope for the future!

  A rainbow symbolises God's promise to protect the people He loves, so we need to trust Him because He is God and He knows what to do!

So Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Some see a prisoner
Alone before his judge
With no one to defend him
Some see a victim
Beaten and abused
With all the world against him
Some see a martyr
Carrying his cross
For what he believes
Some see a hero
Who set his people free

But I see love (I see love)
I see love (I see love)
Light of heaven breaking through
Well I see grace (I see grace)
I see God's face (I See Gods face)
Shining pure and perfect love
When I see you

These are lyrics taken from ThirdDay's song 'I see love' and they make me wonder how do we see Jesus? When we read about him or hear about him what do we think of? Jesus is more than a martyr for a lost cause condemned as a sinner with nobody to defend him, he is the son of God who loved us so much that he endured that suffering for each of us. Because of his blood we are free, because of his grace we have a hope in heaven, all because He loves us.