What should I do now!? (Balancing life)

Acts 2: 46-47

(http://bit.ly/1jL4uqx)

Have you even just stopped and just watched a clock as time passes? Or seen the sand in an hourglass fall? Its kinda scary sometimes just how quickly time passes, there is just so much that needs to be done sometimes but there is just never enough time to do everything. Is it possible for us to do everything that needs to be done?

For myself I know there are definitely times when I feel incapable of doing all that is expected of me, and I have no idea what to do about it. To quote the opening song from Disney Lion King, "there is more to see than can ever be seen, more to do than can ever be done"

So what can we do about it? Perhaps its a matter of priorities? If we make sure that we are doing the most important things then surely that enough right? But how do we know which thing to focus on most? Do we focus more on family or the work to support the family? What about that game that I promised I would watch with my friends, what should I do about that? there is just so much to think about that at least for myself it's impossible to know what I need to be doing when.

This is why I think the scripture above is really telling, It starts by talking about what each of the Apostles did and ends with the phrase "the Lord added to the church daily"

At the end of the day, if we are aiming to follow the lord, then he will guide us to do the most important things, it may not look lie much to us, but it will be exactly what the lord needs and that is what really matters. So are we doing all we can to follow the will of the lord? Or are we panicking thinking that whatever we do now is not enough?

What makes a father? (Who is God)

Matthew 7:9-11 (http://bit.ly/1dN4LlH)

Hebrews 12:5-9 (http://bit.ly/19c9Fvt)

What do you need to do to become a father? Is it something that you go to university to study for years on end? Do you need a lot of money to be able to buy the term father? Or maybe being a father mean being better than other people at what they do and that is what makes them a father?

Being a father requires none of the above.Being a father means having someone that you are responsible for and that look to you for support..

So the next question that comes to mind is, "What makes a good Father?"

For myself, what makes a good father is knowing that he is always there when I need them, he will be there when I'm have something great I need to share or in those time I am feeling really down and just need to talk. He would be very involved with my life, always trying to teach me something new (letting me make my own mistakes so that I learn my own way). And as much as I hate to admit it he would be there to hurt my when it was best for me whether that just be sending me to the doctor to get a shot, or letting me hurt myself on my bike after repeatedly warning me. He will always do what he thinks to be best for me.


So if these are the things that I look for in a father on earth, how does that compare to the father of our spirits? God in heaven is perfect in every aspect, including how much he loves us and wanting/doing the best for us? These scriptures I have shared today make this comparison. They really help me understand who God is in my life. I used to think of God as some big person in the sky with cloudy throne. (yes it was a very Greek idea, I think I watch too much Hercules) but I've been learning just how personal God is to us individually.

When we think of God, what do we think of? Is it someone that we know loves us or is it more some great person in heaven that seems so unapproachable? Why do we think of God the way we do?
 And what can we do to know God and who he is better?

Kingdom builders (Individual roles)

1 Corinthians 12:28-31

(http://bit.ly/1gsaPVB)

How many of you have seen the Egyptian ruins?

Either as a picture or the lucky ones of you might have seen it in person? I am always amazed at what they where able to accomplish. It is absolutely incredible to see how much time end effort they must have put into building their kingdom; there is just so much detail on everything that they did and they worked so hard to build this place for each of them to live in. Theses people were able to accomplish things that have lasted for thousands of years and I don't know about you guys but I have to ask; HOW ON EARTH DID THEY DO THAT???

To start with they must have had people to quarry all the stone that they used for all these buildings.Once they had that stone they needed people skilled enough to shape the stones to the exact shape and sizes they needed (Very difficult, I know I've tried...) then they would need people to move the stone from the quarries to whatever building they were working on, and they didn't have big vans in those days so this would need a lot of horse and chariots, both of which needed people to take care of them, then for all
 these people need to eat so you need farmers to grow the food; I haven't even mentioned all the people needed to plan, co-ordinate efforts, and quality check the work.... these a lot to be done to build a kingdom, and every part is needed otherwise things start to fall apart. So if this kingdom took this many different workers to build it and make it last a few thousand years; how many workers will it take to build Gods kingdom?

Paul in his letter to the Corinthians (see above scripture) talks about this, "do all have the gift of healing?" Everybody has been given very specific abilities from God for a reason, we have a responsibility too use these gifts the best we can, there is no point being given a Christmas present only to leave it there. Whatever gifts we have been given God will be able to put to good use, just like the chariots are needed to move he stone from the quarry to the build site, just being a friend to a person is just as important as someone to teach Christ's word.

Are we using our talents they way God intended or have we just left them in a corner and neglected them?Or perhaps a better way to put it, Have you helped anyone today by doing what you can no matter how little it seems?

What do you see? (How to learn truth)

Matthew 7:15-20

(http://bit.ly/1fu43eB)

If I were to say the words "waka waka waka" I'm willing to guess a good chunk of you would immediately recognise the noise of 

"PAC-MAN"

This game has been on of the greatest games/time-wasters for the past 35ish years, and is just as popular now as it was when it first came out.

(If you have never heard of this game I would suggest typing it into Google and playing a free version they have)

So first, to answer that question you are asking yourself. Yes I am very much a nerd but that just makes life fun. More importantly; there is a very interesting gospel point that I would love to make between Pac-man and the scripture in Matthew. In Matthew 7:16 Christ is teaching how to recognise whether what people teach is really his word or something else to get gain, and the phrase that he uses is "By their fruits ye shall know them, Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?"

Now we know there is a big difference between a grape vine and thorns, but imagine a young child sees them both for the first time, How would the child learn which one hurts? Anyone with children will know that just telling the child will not be enough. 99 times out of 100 they will go up to both of them and grab them and learn that hard way.

The same thing applies to Pac-man, for those that have never played before the best way to learn how is to open a game and start playing, the best way for anyone to learn anything is to experience it for your self then you know for sure what ghost will kill you and how to avoid them (the fruits of playing the game).

Also I should mention here that I have nothing against going and asking someone you think would know the answer for help, that is a brilliant idea always, but we will not know if what they say is true until we try it for ourselves, having someone tell us that the tree in front of us is a fig tree won't help us until we go up and check it for ourselves, for all we know it could be thistles.

Are we searching for the fruits ourselves? Or are we trusting that people know where the fruit is already and hoping there will be some for us when we decide to go there ourselves?