Phileosophie

Two quick things for today. Pretty sure that the lesson for this point in time, is for me to wait on God. I think God speaks to me through repetition. When he's trying to teach me a particular thing I see it everywhere. On Youtube, in the bible, through my friends and through the pastor at church. Today's AM sermon was on timing - how God's timing is not our timing. Today's PM sermon was on letting our lives be the upper room. The second thing is... I really hate being sensible when my heart is in pain. Someone who I had on a little pedestal has kinda turned out to not really be who I thought he might be. Ellie called me today about it. She said she "thought he was a player" from the start and was glad nothing happened between us. I dunno.. he sure seemed like a great guy to me. God, may I come out of this stronger, as I did after the first half of the year. You have challenged me, broken me, strengthened me, and moulded me. May I be who You want me

Lately I have been trying to learn how to slow down and wait. I haven't yet figured out why waiting is a good thing but it brings about patience, and patience is listed as one of the fruits of the Spirit. I know God is working in my life this year. He's chiselling off those edges and it hurts and is uncomfortable but alls well that ends well. Here's a sermon about waiting.

Last night I was pondering over the notion of sin. We have all sinned - against God, against our friends, our family, our spouses. I thought back to some of my own transgressions and wondered if they would be held against me by God or by my fellow Christians. Romans chapter 4 speaks of how Abraham was justified by faith and not by law. Romans 5 goes on to extend this gift of forgiveness to the rest of us who believe in Christ. However, I suppose as people we are not as forgiving as our Father in Heaven, so perhaps my fellow man will not be as quick to let go of my past. Nonetheless, on my part, if I am trying to be more like God, then I myself must learn to forgive . And in the same way, I must have hope that my brothers and sisters in Christ are also on the same journey. Romans 5 1. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.  3. No

I spend a lot of my evenings watching YouTube sermons and I'm going to start sharing some here. This one is from Transformation Church. Here's the summary. Before a relationship, God gave us: 1) Place - God has placed you where you are for a reason. You are in your particular school, place of work, etc for a purpose. 2) Purpose 3) Provision 4) Identity - God made us in his image. The enemy's number one tactic for you, is to have you not know who you are. You will never be completely comfortable in the identity of someone who is not you. 5) Perimeters - If you don't have a standard before you get into relationships, then the relationship will create the standard by which you live by. I really like this sermon because when you're single it can be easy to think that having a partner in life would somehow make your life more exciting/more complete/more meaningful, but really, the only person who can provide all of that is Jesus Christ.

Do Not Judge Sometimes in life, people do things to us that seem, or are, unfair and the tendency is to try and get back at them - achieve some sort of poetic justice. I don't think that is what God wants us to do, for two reasons. Firstly, if we consider the reason we feel unhappy or wronged, it will often be due to our hurt pride, and God doesn't love pride. So even in these trials, we have an opportunity to grow in our identities as children, made after God's own image. We have a chance to learn humility, practice patience and work on forgiveness. The second reason, is because it is not our role to judge. We are not qualified to. Romans 2:1-4  You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgement do the same things.   Now we know that God's judgement against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere human, pass judge

I had a great day today. Was apprehensive about getting back to the ward after 3 months hiding out in Echo Land but it was a really nice day and I. Am. Pleased. :)

Finally made it through the book of Acts. As dry as it was, I felt encouraged by its ending. Paul faced a storm during his journey to Rome but God promised to spare the lives of all the men on his ship (albeit not the boat). Ironically, the journey appears to have been made so he can arrive in Rome to be judged (?) by Caesar but perhaps it is still better to live and be judged than to die at sea. I am now in the book of Romans and am excited. I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jews, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed - a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith".  Romans 1:16-17 I have been feeling a bit anxious this past week - about work, and about some difficulties in my personal life. But I know that if I keep my eyes on Jesus I will walk on water and be saved. See you on t

Was chatting with Jono and Phil two or three weekends ago, and one of them said I should write a list of things I wanted in a future partner. I think the second part of that was to write down what I thought such a person would in turn want in a partner but that's for another day. Also how would I know what a man wants?! Anyway, this is my list. 1) He must love God deeply and have an intimate relationship with God. - Why? Because for him to be in the position to lead me and our family, he must himself be led by God. 2) He should be kind, generous and compassionate. 3) He should be intelligent and should engage in conversation. He should be willing to share his thoughts on life, goals, dreams and direction. 4) He should above all be loyal and faithful! 5) He should have a desire to participate in or achieve or work towards a goal that is greater than ourselves. 6) He must love me and want to know me, do life with me and explore everything the world has to offer. 7) H

For the past few weeks I have been trying to make my way through the book of Acts. I can't say it's been a riveting read but two things stood out to me. The first is that God often seems to choose the unlikeliest of people to do his work. Paul was chosen to go from city to city, preaching the word of God to the Jews and Gentiles but he was not even an "ordinary" believer - he was someone who had gone out of his way to persecute and torment Christians. And yet God chose him. I wonder what the other believers thought. I could hazard a guess, but then perhaps "ordinary" believers these days could be likened to the Pharisees and Jews in Paul's day. They abided by the usual customs and appeared to do things the "right" way but were also judgemental and rejected God's word through Paul. I was thinking about how perhaps this was also the case with celebrities like Kanye West. They have behaved in ways that seem contrary to what a lot of us would

Tonight I turned on my piano for the first time in 2019. I have always wanted the ability to use music as a means of expressing myself - in sadness or in worship. Even though the notes came haltingly today,  it still meant something to me. "I'll never know how much it cost,  to see my sin upon that cross." It often feels like I have lost myself in life's journey. It has been the wildest and grandest adventure , but I know that part of my life is coming to an end. And yet, truth be told, there are many times when I still feel very much alone, in Brisbane, as I was in Sydney, in Kuching or in Tasmania. But of course I would feel this way - I haven't stayed still for long enough, for very much to matter. I've not really committed myself to any place, anyone or anything. It wasn't that I was afraid of being hurt or anything like that, but rather that I just hadn't been at that place in life where one becomes ready to settle into one thing, one person

I was talking to a friend recently about my old passion project and it led me back to this long-forgotten blog. Having spent the past few years scrubbing the internet of my existence (existential crisis you see), I no longer have many online memories of the years gone by. I'm somewhat grateful that this little grotto escaped the wrath of my online cleansing. It was interesting to revisit the memories from 2016. That was a tough time, going through stuff at work, and dealing with the uncertainties of the season. I've come through it fine, and while life's curveballs will keep coming, one thing I know for sure is that God is faithful and His love endures forever. (Ps 136) I am currently living in Brisbane. It is an unexpectedly fabulous place with great weather, wonderful people and a brilliant lifestyle. It is such an unassuming city - I don't know why it took me 33 years to find it, but I like it and hopefully will have the opportunity to stay for a while.