Lesson 7

Lesson 7: "God loves me"

So, this is the last lesson – and ground-breaking stuff it is too… 😉

You’d have thought that being a Christian for 30+ years I’d have worked this one out a bit earlier. But I guess there’s a difference between knowing something in your head and knowing it in your heart

Sometimes it’s easy to slip into a misconception of what the Gospel is. In the past I think I’ve subconsciously believed that Jesus exploited some mystical spiritual loophole that bypassed our sin and let us sneak into heaven under God’s nose – but we’d better toe the line or watch out! But in the last few years I’ve grown to understand that the Gospel isn’t that – the Gospel is extravagant love in action.

I think I’ve spent enough years worrying about whether I’m good enough, or whether I’ve done something that’s going to ‘blow my chances’ of getting into Heaven.

Some time ago I was in the car with my daughter and she was expressing similar fears. It suddenly hit me that God just isn’t like that – He loved and sent Jesus to die for us ‘while we were yet sinners’. It wasn’t Jesus’ death that made Him able or willing to love us, or even look at us. Our Father is not looking for any excuse to keep us out of Heaven. He is looking for any ‘shadow of turning’ – any excuse to get us into Heaven, to be with Him forever. He wants us there!

In one of his books, Adrian Plass noted that often the words ‘God is good and He loves me’ can become stale and meaningless through familiarity. Surprisingly, the realisation of who and how God is can become more powerful when we realise ‘God is nice, and He likes me’.

If we truly understood how our Father in heaven feels about us, why on earth would we worry about anything?

Here endeth the lessons…

Lesson 6

Lesson 6: "Balance is important – you need times of rest, stillness, silence and solitude to remain in the race"

Genesis records that after God had finished creating the world, he rested on the seventh day. This wasn’t because he’d tired himself out, but to set an example of rest for us. This example was later formalised in the commandments as the Sabbath – a day of rest/non-work that was kept holy for God.

John 4:6 records, “…and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well”. Tony Horsfall uses this verse as the basis for his book ‘Working from a place of rest’, acknowledging that Jesus got tired like us, and pointing out that this verse gives us ‘permission’ to rest along our life journey.

I remember a colleague in Kenya preaching at morning devotions about the pattern of work and rest that is (hopefully) established in our lives: a night’s rest at the end of the working day; a weekend’s rest at the end of the working week, and longer periods of holiday (originally ‘holy days’) during the year. If we are only about the work, we won’t last – and we are unlikely to give God sufficient space in our lives.

‘Vegging’ in front of the TV or hanging out with family or friends, although not bad things in themselves, are not what I’m talking about. To really connect with God in your rest, you need times of ‘stillness, silence and solitude’. Elijah discovered that God was in the ‘still, small voice’, but to hear the still small voice you need to be still and quiet yourself, and in a place without distractions. In Matthew, Jesus talks about ‘going into your closet and shutting the door’ to pray.

In this world of many and varied demands on our time and energy, I think it’s good to be very deliberate about making sure these times of quiet rest happen. Are you intentional about spending quality time with God, away from it all? Do you regularly ‘go into your closet’, or periodically take retreat days just to be with God and give Him time and space to speak to you? Why not think about scheduling something like that right now?

Lesson 5

Lesson 5: “Life is a marathon, not a sprint. Take your time…”

Several times in his letters Paul refers to life as a race. For example in Philippians 3:14: “I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us”.

But just because life is a race, doesn’t mean that we have to be in a hurry. I think we need to recognise that it’s a marathon not a sprint, otherwise we’re going to burn out before we reach the end of the race – and I don’t think that’s what God wants.

I’m not saying that there aren’t times when we have to push that little bit harder and invest more of ourselves in a task – but that can’t be our normal. It’s just not sustainable in the long run; and the long run is what we’re about.

In some ways this is more about our internal pace than what is going on externally. As we have hopefully learned during our Day of Prayer, it is only when we are internally rested that we can really be effective externally and be properly focused on what God wants us to be doing.

I don’t remember any instances in the Gospels where Jesus did anything in a hurry – in fact, quite the opposite – I can think of several instances where people got frustrated because He didn’t do things as quickly as they’d have liked.

Do we do that? Do we think we have to push things along because God isn’t quite responding to the needs fast enough? Maybe we need to move ahead a bit faster and let God catch up with what we’re doing? If we don’t speed up, it might not all get done!

Look for symptoms of this in your life today. I know my internal pace has sped up too much when I find myself striding around the office at top speed. I have learnt to catch myself when I notice that, and slow my pace down to a stroll. This has an internal effect as well, helping me catch my breath, gather my thoughts and remember that I can take my time. Life’s a marathon, not a sprint…

Lesson 4

Lesson 4: “Being with God is more important than doing for God”

My suspicion is that MAF people in the main tend to be activists – that is, we like to get on and get stuff done. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting stuff done – but like with all things in life, we need to find the right balance.

Nowadays, with all the ‘enabling’ technology that is available, we can do even more. We can be more efficient - doing multiple things at once, and doing all the things that were once only possible at an office desk anywhere, at any time. It is so easy to get sucked into the ‘vortex of busy’ – and suddenly all that efficiency means we actually have no really free time at all.

I believe that God has given us all work to do, but I don’t think that the reason He created the world and people was because he needed a hand getting stuff done. I believe He created us for relationship with Him. And as Christians working in MAF we believe that we are working with Him and for His glory – but the question is, do we still have time for Him?

When Martha got overly busy with the work and started resenting her sister ‘just’ spending time with Jesus, He said, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it…”

When was the last time you spent time just ‘being’ with God? I’m not talking about a ‘quiet’ time where you squeeze in a few Bible verses and a quick prayer, but really being with God. Just spending time in His presence – not even speaking, but just spending time together.

It’s a discipline that I still really struggle with - it takes time and effort to get somewhere quiet, to be still and to clear your mind of the stuff that swirls around in it. But it’s what we were created for, and it’s absolutely worth it.

Lesson 3

Lesson 3: “I can’t do life on my own – and that’s OK; I was never meant to”

I’m guessing that this lesson is one that applies more to those of us raised in the West – where self-reliance, independence and ‘standing on your own two feet’ are considered virtues.

When this kind of perspective is the backdrop to your life, it can be quite humbling to be brought down to a place where you actually feel like day to day living is beyond your capabilities. This was where I got to – and it was hard. But in the struggle was a lesson that makes life better: I was never meant to ‘go it alone’. God built us to be dependent on Him, and in relationship with other people. Being brought low just enabled me to see the truth that very little is in my sphere of control, but nothing is outside of God’s.

As Jesus taught us, God wants us to relate to Him like little children. Those of you who have children will know that ‘littlies’ (as they call them here in Australia) are 100% dependent on you as their parents. They don’t worry about what’s going to happen tomorrow, or where their next meal is coming from. They ‘know’ that their parents have everything under control.

How freeing is it to have that kind of relationship with God? To know that everything is under His control – that you don’t need to worry about anything?

I’m not saying it’s easy – but then nothing of value ever is…

Lesson 2

Lesson 2: “Just because I feel something doesn’t make it true”

This lesson was one of the hardest for me to learn. For as long as my memories go back, I hadn’t known that there was a distinction between what I feel about a situation and the reality.

Let me illustrate: I hated the first day of each school term. I used to get myself into a high state of anxiety and dread. In my mind, the first day of school was terrifying – and nothing and no one could convince me otherwise. In retrospect though, there was not actually anything about the first day of school that made it more dangerous or scary than any other day. It is only now that I realise that my feelings about the day had no basis in reality. They were just feelings.

So what I have learnt is that feelings are an unreliable indicator of reality. Apparently (and I can’t say I’ve checked) the Bible has 365 exhortations to ‘not be afraid’. That implies to me that God thinks any feelings of anxiety or fear we may have are unnecessary. If we really trust God that He loves us and cares for us as much as He says (and that’s a whole other lesson right there), then He is right – we don’t need to be afraid of anything. So it seems to me that if we can get a really accurate vision of God as our Father, than we can stand up to our feelings of fear and say with confidence, “I know you’re a lie”.

Is there anything in your life today that is giving rise to strong feelings – fear, anger, hurt, offence? Is it time to ask whether your feelings are telling you the truth?

Just because you feel something doesn’t make it true…

Life lessons

Earlier in the year, I (Daniel) joined the team in MAF that distributes our weekly PrayerPoints e-mails. Each week these go around MAF accompanied by a devotional 'blurb'. For my first seven blurbs I wrote about my 'life lessons', and I thought I would share these here over the next few weeks. So, here goes...
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God seldom allows the opportunity of us going through tough times to pass without teaching us something. There are several life lessons I learnt during my struggles with anxiety and depression. These are they…

Lesson 1: “My value is found in who I am, not what I do – I have nothing to prove”

I don’t know about you, but I find it very easy to let my identity and self-worth be defined by what I do. Essentially, that means I value myself based on the feedback I absorb (either rightly or wrongly) from other people.

Of course, the problem with letting other people define your value is that they can also take it away - intentionally or unintentionally - with a look, a passing comment, or a poorly worded e-mail. Giving other people the power to determine how you feel about yourself can, in turn, drive your behaviour - you need to work harder and achieve that bit more, so that people applaud you and you can feel good about yourself again – at least for a while.

But God doesn’t think that way. We talk a lot about God’s ‘unconditional love’, but it’s easy to get used to the jargon and completely miss what that means. Our Father values us for who we are, not what we (or don’t) do. And who we are is defined by His love for us. The song ‘Good, Good Father’ expresses it well:

“…I'm loved by you. It's who I am, it's who I am, it's who I am”

The true origin and only reliable source of our identity and value is that we are loved and accepted by God - regardless. And He loved us ‘while we were yet sinners’. Nothing you do can make God love you more, or less.

Does that make you breathe a bit easier? Does that help you believe that maybe, even if you don’t work 10 hours today or meet that deadline, your world isn’t going to collapse around your ears? 

Obviously there’s nothing wrong with doing a good job, but if you only feel like a worthwhile human being when you’ve done a good job, then you are setting yourself up for a lifetime of unnecessary pain.

It is vital to realise that there is no relationship between our value as a person and our performance. I have value because God loves me and accepts me, uniquely and individually.

You might think this devotion is a load of nonsense - but I don’t care; God loves me anyway 😊

Mareeba

It's the winter school holidays, so, as we haven't been away for a long time, (not including our 'holiday' in Brisbane) we decided to have a few days in Mareeba staying in a colleagues house.

The kids enjoyed the animals, particularly the dog and the chickens. Ruben loves getting up early and 'hanging out with the chickens' as he calls it. Not sure that the chickens feel the same way!

We did a long hike up a hill and rewarded ourselves with diabetes in a jar. Not the actual name obviously. Bethany said it was the best cafe she had ever been too!

Daniel loved it too!

Ruben turns 6

Ruben turned 6 last week. He had been planning his 'shark' birthday for almost a year. Cairns has helpfully opened an aquarium in the last year to coincide with the event. It is not a cheap place to visit, so it ended up being just our family.  Tempting as it was to sleep with the sharks, at $199 per adult and $149 per child with a minimum of 20 guests, we'll float that experience until we are a lot richer!

.

Joshua decorated loads of balloons

Two boys snacking at the aquarium

Oceans

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy9nwe9_xzw

I was listening to the song, ‘Oceans’, by Hillsong today. Loved and listened to by churches all over the world, it’s a great song. Somehow we always seem to be able to relate well to all the water references in worship songs!

While Joshua was in hospital we had a line from the song stuck up on the wall, “Spirit, lead me where my trust is without borders”. That’s a powerful line, but for me it’s a hard one. I want to trust, but honestly, I want some borders. Maybe I’m not actually verbalising it, but I am sure when I pray for more trust and faith, what I am actually saying is, I want to learn to trust you Lord, but please don’t let anything happen to the kids. Please give me more faith, but please don’t let anything happen to me. Maybe something small and manageable, no death, dying and illness and definitely not too much suffering. Definitely not childhood cancer. Am I brave enough to pray, “Spirit, lead me where my trust is without borders”?

Fortunately, although we are called to trust without borders, God has clear boundaries. Jeremiah 5 v 22 says, “I, the Lord, define the ocean’s sandy shoreline as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross. The waves may toss and roar, but they can never pass the boundaries I set." We may feel in the midst of tossing and rolling, not always a comfortable place to be, but at the same time we can know that what may feel chaotic and out of control, is still clearly within God’s control.

Another line struck me today. “Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander”. Although we know we have a deeper intimacy and experience of God in pain and suffering - which we feel we lose to some degree in the ‘good’ times, we would never choose the suffering. My feet never willingly ‘wander’ into deep waters.

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Romans 8 v 28. He causes everything to work together, not just the big things or the hardest things or the ‘things’ of certain people, everything. Sometimes it’s hard to understand how this can possibly work, suffering often seems wasteful and pointless from our perspective. I guess we catch a glimpse of God ‘working it together for our good’, when, from our suffering, comes a deeper experience of him.

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Caleb won a colouring competition and got free tickets to go and see the new Incredible's movie. The promotions for 'the Meg' proved to be even more entertaining. 

Vision Christian Radio

I'm am sure you have similar things where you are, but just for those who are interested, this is a fantastic radio station.

You can listen to it live online or for those of you in the wrong time zone you can easily replay radio programs.

I thought of it today because I was listening to Elizabeth Kendell, a religious liberty analyst, talking about the Trump - Kim Jong Un Summit. For those of you interested in those kinds of things it's worth listening to. The program '20 Twenty' discusses lots of current political issues from a Biblical perspective. In these days of fake news, it always worth listening to another viewpoint, plus it makes the cleaning more interesting!! ( I listen while I clean).

The website is: vision.org.au

or to listen to Elizabeth Kendell go to  vision.org.au/radio/20twenty-podcasts and look for the podcast from the 13th June 2018.

Or look around the website for other things that interest you. There is even a talk about Fortnite. Parents of teenage boys will know what that is! Another guy I really recommend on Vision is an American preacher called Jeff Vines. Hope this is useful for somebody. Happy listening!

Fishing

Some of us quite enjoy fishing, although we aren't very good at it. We went a couple of weeks ago and caught nothing, but the people next to us caught a stingray. They were talking about making soup, but in the end, they threw it back. I I think if we are to improve, we need to take it a bit more seriously, using live bait for starters.

Update continued

A few photos taken on walks around Cairns. We are blessed to live in a place where there are beautiful view wherever you look!

Walking along the Esplanade last Friday evening.

Copperlode dam, where Daniel likes to go for his retreat days!

Sunset from our house. God produces a masterpiece every morning and evening and sometimes a bonus rainbow!

Walking the 'Yellow Arrow', a hiking path in Cairns.

View from Glacier Peak, another hiking trail.

 'The fields are ripe for the harvest.' Sugarcane near school.

Near another walking path.

Update

Well, what else has happened in the last few months? Joshua had his 8th check up this week and got the all clear again. 4 more monthly ones and then they will space them out a bit more. He is driving at every opportunity. Here you can start driving at 16, but you can't take your test until you are 17 and have driven 100 hours. We have done around 40 so far! Driving to school and back every day is helping with the hours. 

Ruben has lost his first tooth and discovered drawing. Up until now, he has barely put pen to paper, but now he is an unstoppable drawing machine. With the help of guidance from youtube, he has produced a few masterpieces!! He even won a colouring competition at school. He also won the cross-country race for his age group! Australians are obsessed with cross country and all ages in all schools do it. Ruben's age group run 1 km, Caleb's, 3km, Bethany's, 4km and Joshua's, 6km. Next week he will turn 6 and is planning a 'shark'

birthday.

Odd picture, but good colouring.

What else would you draw in far north Queensland!

Caleb ran fast enough to go on to the next level and compete against the other schools in Cairns. He didn't win, but he had fun.

A week ago we went to Ruben's school fair where Bethany and I helped on the cupcake stall.

She also did some of her own baking for ANZAC day.

update to be continued...

Guest blog

We are still here and a few people have been asking for a blog, so I will try and resurrect it! Starting with a few photos from Easter when Wendy and Farhad came to visit, (My sister and brother in law) and followed by a guest blog written by Wendy. We had a lot of fun seeing the sight of Cairns and just being together.

Going to Australia was never something I wanted to particularly do. That was however before my older sister Libby and family decided to move there from Kenya. The only new problem was that Australia was ‘down under’ and very far away, whereas in comparison Kenya was only ‘down the road’! It took me 4 years for me to actually get there due to family circumstances and I was there just 2 weeks. 

I had a great time with my husband enjoying the outdoor life that good weather brings with walking, cycling, playing table tennis and swimming. Cairns itself is a very tropical place with beautiful hills and quiet, sandy beaches lined with palm trees. It has a more overtly Christian society than the UK. 3 Christian films were showing at a cinema as one example. Our trip coincided with the Commonwealth games so fireworks were displayed from near the lagoon, the central point of Cairns to swim and bbq. It was also wonderful to see Joshua so well. In fact it is only the monthly checkups that serve as a reminder that he was seriously ill just a few months ago. Amazing. 

The trip also served to emphasize for me the sacrifice that those who ‘go’ experience as well as those that ‘stay’. Those that ‘go’ somewhere like Australia can look as though they’d have ‘no worries’ as the Australians often say.  But other than crocs, typhoons and jelly fish there are other sacrifices that are made in order to live there! There is guilt of not being on hand to help family, only seeing friends and family in the UK every 2 years at best, unless they visit Australia. There have been many birthdays, Christmases, family days out missed now over nearly 13 years. Those that stay also feel that gap, that family are missing. But this is taking up our cross to follow Jesus. Libby and Daniel and family have given up house, parents, brothers, sisters for the sake of the kingdom of God and I love them for that. It is worth every sacrifice....when we look to Jesus and eternity. 

““Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, will be repaid many times over in this life, and will have eternal life in the world to come.””

‭‭Luke‬ ‭18:29-30‬ ‭NLT‬‬