I set off for the Soul Survivor festival with the youth group tommorrow. That's a whole 5 days of youth-leadering, going to massive worship & teaching events (YAY!), workshops and general hanging out with all the fun of camping. I'm really looking forward to it.
Last year's Soul Survivor was a very special time for me. It was great to get away and spend time with God. When I left for Soul Survivor I was still pretty dead-set against doing a DTS. I spent quite a bit of time looking at the christian gap-year opportunities and the suchlike but my main plan was to head off to Australia to work and travel. Within a few days of returning from Soul Survivor I was seriously considering DTS and within 9 days I had applied to Reef To Outback.
I am so incredibly grateful to God for what this year has become and what I have become in the last year. I could fire off Bible verses to try and describe it or use lots of words, but I'm not going to. I'm just going to say this: that I feel more secure in my belief in God, happier in day to day life and more confident about my future than I think I ever have. My outlook has changed and I think that's changing me more and more into the person I want to be. And so, I am grateful to God, who made it happen.
Friday, 15 August 2008
Wednesday, 6 August 2008
Guarding Your Heart
"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."
- Proverbs 4:23
I've heard this verse so often quoted in relation to guy/girl relationships. Over the last few days, I've started to consider its application in other areas. I believe hope is a great thing, it's good to have dreams and desire things. But at the same time, how do I guard my heart as I attend job interviews and dream about the life I want to be living in the coming months and years?
If I was answering my own question, I can't think of a better verse than this one:
"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 hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
- Philippians 4:6-7
This isn't to give a cliche answer. I've spent too long ignoring simple truths because they were too 'cliche'. As I practice going to God with my requests, thanking Him for His love and power I find Him guarding my heart. I find a peace entering into my life. I find myself able to say that I am "confident that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living" (Psalm 27:13). I don't have a problem with the same old answers when the same old answers are truths that really work.
May God's will be done.
- Proverbs 4:23
I've heard this verse so often quoted in relation to guy/girl relationships. Over the last few days, I've started to consider its application in other areas. I believe hope is a great thing, it's good to have dreams and desire things. But at the same time, how do I guard my heart as I attend job interviews and dream about the life I want to be living in the coming months and years?
If I was answering my own question, I can't think of a better verse than this one:
"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 hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
- Philippians 4:6-7
This isn't to give a cliche answer. I've spent too long ignoring simple truths because they were too 'cliche'. As I practice going to God with my requests, thanking Him for His love and power I find Him guarding my heart. I find a peace entering into my life. I find myself able to say that I am "confident that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living" (Psalm 27:13). I don't have a problem with the same old answers when the same old answers are truths that really work.
May God's will be done.
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