Counting It All As Joy

How annoying is it when things don't work out? Or when reality doesn't quite meet your plan? It's hugely frustrating and disheartening. I speak from experience and say that no one ever thinks that it won't work out when you are so excited for the opportunity in front of you. But sometimes, it just doesn't.

Psalm 30:5 says "The nights of crying your eyes out give way to days of laughter", and I honestly cannot express the reality of this enough. When things don't go to plan or when things go wrong, there will be pain, hurt and I'm sure plenty of tears, but when that season is over, laughter and joy come. There is a quote that goes something along the lines of 'only in the darkest night can you see the brightest of stars', meaning that in our darkest or most challenging times, is where we learn to grow, to let go of baggage, and to step into the glory of a good God, where we can live in joy, laughter and goodness. 

People often say that God's plans are greater than our dreams, and I have only recently learnt what this means. Whatever we plan and whatever we strive for, God can out do us a hundred times over. Goodness is the breath of God, and as his children, he just wants to lavish love and goodness on ALL the days of our lives, and if that means that we have a season of pain then so be it, because when you walk through to the other side you will see life not from your eyes but through the eyes of a loving father. Life is quite like a tapestry, we only see the messy knots and tangled threads of the back, but God sees the full picture, in all its beauty and glory, and it's time we started to truly believe that God's plans really are greater than our dreams. 

To be quite frank, I have no idea what I want to do in life, what I'll be doing this time next year, or what career path I want to take, but I know that if I chase God each day and trust in his timing, then my life will always be full of joy because that is what follows each trial. Don't be disheartened, God doesn't say it'll be easy, but know that what he has planned for your life, will always exceed what you have dreamed.

"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." - Jeremiah 29:11. 

He's got your back.

J

Fierce, unconditional and relentless. But do you really know it?

Thought that I would jump the gun and just tell you what gets my heart more than anything. It's something everyone knows about, everyone talks about, and deep down something that everyone is created to want, feel and give. LOVE. 

Now, I don't know about you, but I hear the word 'love' being thrown around a lot. 'Ahh I love that', 'yeah I love you bro', 'I'm so in love', the list is endless. But I want to talk about a different kind of love, a life changing love. Now if you're reading this and thinking that I'm going to be talking about a guy that's captured my heart over summer, then I'll tell you that I am not about to spill the beans of my love life, instead I'm going to tell you about the love of father God, the love of his only son, and the love of the Holy Spirit. 

So let me set the scene. I have the most incredible, supportive and encouraging family who love me in every situation, in every condition and without fail show me love every day. I also have a pretty incredible network of friends who daily show me love and teach me what it means to love, and how to give it out. Now, I'd say I am deeply moved and challenged by my friends and family as they push new levels of love each day. That love is pretty powerful and incredible right? 

Now I want to take it that little bit further and say, if that is what earthly love is like, where my heart blossoms and jumps when they build me up and show me love, imagine what HEAVENLY love is like! I don't want to put a box around it because it's just simply too beautiful to even begin to describe the extent. But here's a few words I'd use; fierce, unconditional and relentless. 

Our Heavenly Father, papa G, daddy God, whatever you like to call him has FIERCE love for us. I mean he's constantly fighting a spiritual war, just so he can spend eternity with his creation. Even the ones that don't yet love him back, he calls us home to him, and greets us with adoration and embrace. To fight for a people that can't even love him equally as he loves us is pretty darn fierce I'd say! 

Jesus, the one and only Son of God, hung on a wooden cross, with nails through his flesh, blood dripping from the spear wound in his side, and a crown of thorns shredding his scalp, just so that you could be loved by an UNCONDITIONAL love is pretty breath taking right? An extremely unjust, painful and bloody death, just so that he could love on you unconditionally. Leaves me pretty wrecked to think that someone would do that for a sinner, a broken person, me. 

The Holy Spirit, well heck, it just doesn't know how to leave us. It is RELENTLESS in its pursuit to constantly be around us, constantly showing us love, and constantly bring and being the love we need. The Holy Spirit is in us and never leaves us, and is relentless in all of its ways in loving us.

Isaiah 62:5 says, 'As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you'. The happiness and love I see at weddings is only an earthly glimpse of the happiness and love we get from God. 

Catherynne M. Valente once said, “After love, no one is what they were before". And you know what, it's true. When you experience and feel that fierce, unconditional and relentless love that the living God has for you, you'll be forever changed. So I leave you by asking one question, what's the harm in letting in a love like that? 

J 

A Beautiful Soul

So I came across this list on the Internet called "Compliments that aren't about physical appearance". As I read through the list, I couldn't help but smile at the simplicity but beauty that each one held. In today's culture, to be told 'you're a very warm hearted person' or 'you are so kind', seems to be taken that the person is not physically pleasing to the eye, or that compliments about your character are less valued than those of physicality. Don't you think this is a little messed up? 

I mean, are we really saying that someone that has pretty eyes is more beautiful than someone who is incredibly kind and constantly helps others because they care that much? Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you can't compliment people on their physicality, but wouldn't it be much better to tell someone that they have a beautiful soul, a beautiful character and a beautiful heart than just complimenting them on something that will fade. Realistically and biblically, physical beauty fades. We see it through old age, we see it through illness, we see it through the times where life drags us down and we look tired, or 'let ourselves go'. Proverbs 31:30 says 'Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting'. When you die, no one will remember your hairstyle, or how good your skin was on that one day, they'll remember the condition of your heart, they'll remember the beauty in your character and the sound of your laughter. 

They saying goes 'see with your heart, not your eyes', and I don't think it could be more accurate. Yes physical beauty should be admired, but so should the soul, the one thing that is sustained and keeps its beauty and grace through all of life, because when the body is ugly and limp, the soul is what brings life and laughter and THAT is what should be praised and admired aye? 

So I close with this, "You are more than dust and bones. You are spirit and power and the image of God. And you have been given today". Stop worrying about your physical appearance and start loving the beauty of your soul. 

J

John 19:30

'When he had received the drink, Jesus cried, 'It is finished'. With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit'

Grace. A word that everyone knows, yet few understand. I want to say that I am one of the few that fully gets it, but then I'd be lying.

I'm just going to jump straight in and say we all experience grace daily. The King of Glory doesn't know how NOT to pour it out. I recently came across this quote, 'Every twenty-four hours, God has a fresh supply of grace, of favour, of wisdom, of forgiveness'. EVERY TWENTY-FOUR HOURS. Crazy right? In the words of Jonathan and Melissa Helser, God is an endless ocean, a bottomless sea. His grace engulfs us constantly, and we cannot run, hide or escape from it.

Now lets backtrack, when Jesus cried 'It is finished' what did he mean? There are probably a lot of theological reflections on this, but I'm going take a whack and say that what Jesus was saying was the battle is over. You don't have to follow rules and rituals to win his love or his grace but actually you are a child to the King of Kings and that means when Jesus took the place of you, and wiped your slate clean, you were set free with the abundance of Gods grace.

This therefore means, that sin has NO grip on you. In the Rend Collective song "More than Conquerors" it says, 'We are more than conquerors through Christ, You have overcome this world, this life, we will not bow to sin or to shame, we are defiant in your name, you are the fire that cannot be tamed, you are the power in our veins, our Lord, our God, our conqueror'. Through Jesus dying so that we can be free, and fresh grace being supplied from our loving father, we are victorious over sin, we will NOT bow to sin and shame because we have conquered our own grave, through nothing but the blood and grace of a father and son.

You don't have to win Gods love and grace, he already gave it to you 2000 years ago when Jesus hung on the cross and cried 'It is finished', but what he does offer is an invitation into knowing his freedom, and knowing his love. Louie Giglio sums it up pretty beautifully. 'God is always seeking you. Every sunset. Every clear blue sky. Each ocean wave. The starry hosts of night. He blankets each new day with the invitation, I am here'.

J

Psalm 23:3

'He refreshes my soul,
He guides me along the right paths
For his names sake'

Refresh: to give new strength or energy to; reinvigorate. There is something really beautiful in the phrase refresh my soul. It is almost like a burst of energy that awakens and breathes back life into the very core of you. The fact that the author and creator of life can do that for me is pretty crazy, don't you think?

The past two years, have been somewhat of a dry season spiritually. Living in the countryside has been a bit of a challenge, not having a vibrant church full of students and youth, or mentors that I could meet with for coffee on a regular basis and without a community of encouragers it has been quite the desert.

But, where there is a desert, there is always an oasis. Despite lacking the above, the two years have made me press more into God, and pursue his heart no matter my surrounding. It has been a testing season, but God has led me to the oasis now and I am beginning to feel more awakened and alive spiritually than I have ever been.

This summer, as I have been preparing my heart for my upcoming trip to New Zealand for ten months, I felt it was really important to invest in friendships and go deeper and more vulnerable with people to build real community no matter where in the world we would be. God also happens to have exceptional timing. Having had one to ones with a few people the past couple of weeks, I have been completely overwhelmed, inspired and enriched by their dreams and pursuit of creating a Jesus culture. The fragrance of Jesus is all over them, and not only has he clearly refreshed their souls, but by just encountering these people, it has completely refreshed mine.

As New Zealand approaches, I feel like Gods timing could not have been more impeccable. Sometimes, he pulls us out of our comfort zone, and into the desert because His will is to be done, and when His will is done, we are led to the next step of our journey, back on track with even more zest for life.

J