Why We Worship 4

I am taking time each week to ask myself

 "Why we worship"

One of the things about God that we may find hard to understand is that God cannot be measured or defined.

Our minds are so finite that we can not really understand that there can possibly be something that is infinite.

Except if you are a Maths teacher as I was and then you have often had to talk about positive and negative numbers both going on to infinity.

 ( I love the symbol used for infinity  ∞ )

infinite adjective

1. limitless or endless in space, extent, or size; impossible to measure or calculate
2. 
   

Isn't that marvellous to think about?  

God has no limits!

So God has no start or finish.

 

                                                                                                       
  
Do you ever ask God to help you appreciate how different He is to us?        

What a Face! - A Dose of Encouragement

Having grown up (as some would have described me) as a Tomboy; I made it into my teens not too conscious of my looks or interested in make-up.

Then when I was 14 I met a boy!

    And I didn't change.

I met him at a youth meeting and decided he was the guy for me.
(There really is a bit more to it than that but that might be for a different story sometime).


 I didn't go to the youth meeting all the time but we got to know each other a little as friends over the next 2 years.  There were things I wanted to know more about from the Bible and he was the one I talked to.

Two years after we met there was a Summer Youth Camp for a week and I wanted to go.
My problem was the week before it I was going to be on a School trip to France arriving back into Belfast on the day the camp started in Bangor.  The Pastor of the church which ran the youth group approached my parents and asked if it would be ok with them for him to meet me off the boat in Belfast and take me to the camp and they agreed.  I was delighted and even though I had been promised for a few years that I could go on this trip in my 5th year at the grammer school I was now looking forward more to the camp than to the trip to France.

While on the school trip I found I had a little blister forming on my cheek but just thought it would be ok. By the time I arrived at the youth camp I was greeted with remarks about how I really should go to the chemist and get something for my face but it was Saturday evening and they weren't open.  By the time it got to Monday morning the blister had spread up my cheek and was not very nice looking.  Walking me along to the chemist were two of my girl friends and this guy I liked, but when I got there I just didn't want to go in.  I dreaded the thought of anyone touching this cheek and even though they tried to persuade me several times I would not go.

It got bigger and bigger and when I think back now I can't believe anyone would have wanted to be near me at all as it could have looked as if I was contagious with something.

Towards the end of the week this blister thing was quite a sight to see and was rather ugly.  I was not looking at myself all day so I didn't have to see the ugliness but others did.

Then there was the day that we all went to walk up Slieve Donard the highest mountain in the Mournes (I believe).  There was a bunch of us who got lost and headed the wrong way but had a laugh anyway.  I'm not sure that everyone else would have been too happy had there been any accidents; as I was carrying the First Aid Kit.


Well who was I sitting beside in the car on the way home?
You've guessed it, that guy I liked.


Well I sort of (cough, cough) fell asleep on the way home and whose shoulder was conveniently there for my head to slip down unto?
You've guessed it, that guy I liked.


All during that week I was in his company a lot but never alone, always with other friends.  Then the last night of the camp we did get the chance to be on our own for a very short time during which he told me he loved me.  Quick work for the quiet lad everyone thought he was.

When I arrived home my parents were startled to see the "thing" on my face.
The doctor was called immediately and he did a home visit.
Apparently I had caught a virus while sunbathing in France and it had caused my skin to develop several small blisters as it burnt and these then turned into a horrible scab.  I was prescribed an ointment which was very effective and the scab seemed to dissolve and most of it just slid down off my face.  My family were relieved that my face cleared up very quickly with no scars, while I was relieved that there was not as much pain as I had feared.  This virus still lies dormant under my skin and flares up now and again.


When I would think back to that time and tell our kids the story of how daddy told mummy he loved her before they even went on a date together; the main thing in my mind would always be that this was our special story.  But one thing that my sister had said to me all those years ago always made it more special to me in particular.  She said

She told me that she couldn't understand how I came back from camp with a boyfriend when I looked the way I did.

Later when I asked Fred (the guy I liked) why he hadn't been put off by my ugly face, he just told me that he thought I was beautiful and that something on my face didn't change his mind.

So you see all these years I have been very happy and extremely thankful that Fred loved me when I was looking ghastly and I never would have thought I was beautiful.  He wasn't attracted by my looks,  he was attracted to me, the person I was.

Maybe I should explain that 4 years after this camp I married Fred and (at the time of writing this) we have been married for 36 years.

Even as the years have passed and I have not thought myself to be pretty, Fred has often told me that I am Beautiful.  That has always helped me to feel special.  This is just one of the reasons I still love my husband.

A lot of the attributes of God are hard for us to see, or to understand because we think as humans but He is God.  When I experience the love Fred has for me and how he sees me it helps me to see how God can love me and see me as beautiful just the way I am even though I am far from perfect for which I can never cease to be thankful.


Do you know that God wants you to know that you are beautiful?

Do you know that God loves you?

Why We Worship 3

I am taking time each week to ask myself "Why we worship".

I am not presuming that there is one overall right answer.

Perhaps because we are all uniquely different people we may also believe we have uniquely different reasons for worshipping God.

I believe we will have some uniquely different ways of worshipping but there are many reasons why we worship that must be common to us all.

In this series I'm really focusing on the attributes of God at the moment with

       
          God is GREAT

               
                    God is WORTHY 

                             

                                   

and for today I'm taking the bible verse   1 John 4 v 8

How do we know that He is Love?


The Bible tells us He is Love as in the verse above.


Our pastors and leaders in church explain to us that He is Love


But most of all our personal relationship with Him cries out to us that He is Love.

We would not even be able to have this relationship with Him if He was not Love.

We would not have been given the only way of Salvation through Jesus if He was not Love. 

We would never be able to get beyond our sinful nature if He was not Love.

I am thankful that God is Love and I have experienced His great Love for me.

Without a doubt God is Love!

Do you have this relationship where you can say without a doubt that 

God is Love?

Automatic Pilot - A Dose of Encouragement

Do you drive your car or does the car drive you?  

My car drives me more often than not.

          Sometimes for various reasons I had to drive my two teenage sons to school.  My oldest boy Jonathan had been working for his Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award and of course this involved hikes and camping which in turn meant rucksacks.  This is why one morning I had to drive the boys to school (there's hardly enough room for all of the pupils on their school bus, let alone a number of rucksacks as well). 

Everything went very smoothly and we even left in very good time and they were early for school and I was back in time for a 9am appointment.  The boys even praised me when we got to the roundabout on the way to school as I managed to go round and take the right road.  

Of course I'm perfectly capable of negotiating a roundabout and I do know where the roads in my city lead.  However my kids are quite used to me driving straight through that roundabout and taking the other road that I travel on each afternoon instead of the one that leads towards their school because I'm on automatic pilot.  You know those times when you are driving carefully enough but not concentrating enough to remember you have to deviate from your normal route - don't you?  My excuse is simply that the car takes over and goes its own way.  


Then there was the example of just the other day when I went round that same roundabout three times as I tried to remember which exit to take on that specific occasion, now I did have a friend in the car talking non-stop but I can't blame it all on her.

      

      Then there was the day a few years ago when as I was driving along I suddenly had to ask myself where I was going.  Was I going to collect my daughter from Primary school as I did each day at 3pm, or was I going to my mother's house (they are both in the same direction)?  As I thought about what day it was, and noted the time on the clock in the car I remembered it was neither of these, it was only 2pm and I actually was going to the Primary school but to collect my nephew not my daughter.  Then I was to call with my mother before collecting Linda.

                   

Obviously my mind wanders a lot. 

So it's no wonder God has to catch my attention repeatedly.
  
How often do we go along on automatic pilot and forget to tune in to where and what God is telling us to go and do?

Are we doing everything the same, each day, each week?  

• Do we teach Sunday School or kid's club in the same way each week?  
• Do we preach to the same format each time?  
• Is our outreach approached in the same fashion each time?  
• Do we plan our meetings in the same way each time?  
• Do we even read the bible and pray in the same way each day?
• Do we write our blog posts in the same way each time? 

Do you think it is time to stop automatically doing these things and treat each one as a completely unique event?

Maybe it’s time to consider the roundabout and carefully ask God which exit we are to take today, tomorrow, and the next day………….??

Why We Worship 2

If someone were to ask you today why you worship God would you know how to answer?

We dealt more with that in the first one in the series featuring GOD IS GREAT                             
         Today let's look at                          

Revelation 4 v 10 - 11

        the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

If the 24 elders who are before the throne of God worship Him because He is worthy then we can not disagree but need to proclaim exactly the same thing now here before we need to do it in Heaven.

   

Some people might say
  

                              "Let's Practice what we will be doing for eternity"

                       

               
 but instead we should say

"Let's worship and let's do it now" 

Let's declare it now "God is Worthy to be praised".

because

                                                         

                                                              now and for eternity.

Forty Winks - A Dose of Encouragement

One Sunday afternoon we went to visit Fred’s aunt in hospital.  

As we were sitting chatting Fred’s uncle nodded off to sleep for a few minutes,  later that afternoon his dad nodded off sitting in our house and in the early evening Fred himself nodded off.  

Does it run in the family or what?  Well I remember when my dad used to nod off on occasions too, so is it a “Man” thing?  

We usually laugh about it but sometimes I get annoyed at Fred because I don’t think I’m that boring really.

The next morning when I sat down to read my bible, I found I had got to Psalm 121.  Well because it’s rather well known I immediately thought I’ll read this one quickly and get on to the next one. 



However, verses 3 & 4 made me sit up and take notice.  

It says God will neither

slumber nor sleep

and I of course thought back to the day before.  

This was now much more meaningful because suddenly I felt that I had the proof that I’m not boring to God, He is always interested in what I’m doing and is always listening and attentive to my needs and fears and anything else I’m thinking about. 

         

We may sometimes think things are boring or uneventful or going on the same, day after day, but God doesn’t.  He doesn't find us boring because He loves us. 



So remember that you, yes you are loved by God and you are so important to Him that 

He isn’t nodding off at any moment at all.

I am so thankful that God doesn't slumber or sleep, are you?

Have you read Psalm 121 recently?

If not maybe you could just take a little moment to read it now and be encouraged.

A Simple Christmas Cards Upcycle - Organising My Home

Got lots of Christmas Cards that were nice this Year?

I did so I had an idea!

Today is the first Monday of the new year, 
   

 So today is "Back to Normal Day" for me.

I both like this day and dread this day.

Like it because I get my house back in order (it just never is completely tidy or in any sort of routine over the Christmas Holidays).

Dread it because I have to be the one to get it back in order.



Like it because it means all the decorations get put away until next year and I am really ready for that after 3/4 weeks

Dread it because it means all the decorations having to be taken down and wrapped up and put away mostly by me.

Just some of the Lounge Decorations 

Like it because it is the start of the year and I feel like making changes and promising myself I will keep all the household things up to date.

Dread it because to get things up to date is a tall order after the slack time of the holiday and I think of all the things that I am always saying I must get round to doing but don't do them.

I bought this TUIT for my husband years ago because he is just as bad as me

AND

Like it because I can sort out the Christmas cards, cut out parts of the cards I want to keep or take pics of the cards I think I might want to use as illustrations and make a list of who I should be contacting by phone, email or letter from notes and letters that came with the cards.

Dread it because then that list either has to be worked through and I am hopeless on the phone etc. or it will eventually be abandoned and I will feel bad about that.



But then I had an idea that brightened up the day.

Something I could do with the cards I really liked, because normally I just cut off the picture part and put them away thinking I will use them someday.

So today I did something different

I cut off the pictures I liked and laminated them and then put some magnets on the back and now I can use them as Christmas magnets to decorate the large fridge freezer next year.  That was after I had taken photos of them because you never know when those would come in handy.

The new Christmas Card Magnets

If I had been willing to spend more time I could have cut them into different shapes or placed them on different coloured card slightly larger than them to make a sort of surround or frame effect but I just took the easier and quickest option.  

Maybe some day I will hunt out the pictures I have kept from Christmas cards in previous years and make better magnets with them.

Only problem with all that is it means   -    MORE DECORATIONS!

AND  I didn't get everything done that I should have!

What have you done with your Christmas Cards this year?
I would love to hear more ideas.


Do you have a back to normal day like this?