control

I went to the AOG church on Sunday evening with a friend. The pastor was preaching about our influence and what we have control over. So this week I’ve been thinking a lot about that.

What do I have control over? Myself. That’s it. I don’t control anyone else and I if I tried to, that would just be stupid. There is no point in focussing on what we have no control over. If I put my time and energy into what I do have control of then my influence will grow, and I will grow. If that’s what I’m concentrating on and looking to improve, then I can do more, and be more. I will become more of the person that God wants me to be, and that’s what I want.

So then we have to keep control and focus on what we are doing. Our language and the way we think has lots to do with this.

If we say “I have to ….” Then we have no control over what we are doing.

When we say “I will ….” Or “I choose to …” then we have taken the control into our own hands. It’s a choice we have made not something that we have submitted into doing.

Also how we react or respond. Despite what you think, these are not the same thing. When you react to something you are not thinking about what you do. You haven’t chosen your actions, but are merely reacting to the situation. When you think about it and respond, you have taken control and have chosen what you are doing. Often when you think of how you respond, you get a better response and do not regret what has happened later. You can learn also from it.

For example, I have lots of uni work and assignments to do. I can react without thinking and become over-whelmed, stressed and feel like I have no choice in the matter and totally hopeless. Or alternatively, I can choose to respond positively, make a choice to do them, control my feelings and not be a victim. In doing this I then can do them with a more positive outlook, and then I imagine that the finished product will be of better quality.

That’s the easy part. Now I have to put all this into practice.

lost...

What do you do when you are lost?

I’ve been lost with friends while driving in Melbourne and on our way to a party in Bendigo. Both times were very different to what I’ve experienced before with others.

In Melbourne my friend and I were distracted and talking and singing and missed some turn offs to get home. We ended up spending much more time in the car driving through Melbourne than we intended to. We were driving along talking in deep conversation and planning to take over the world. As we were deep in such plans we drove past turn off after turn off to get home. Each time we realized just after we went past the turn. This is not the time to recognise that such turn has gone. Se we just kept going. Neither of us too fazed about missing such a turn. We then just had more time to plan our take over….

Then the other night a different friend of mine and I were off to a party. We were already a fare bit late (just a couple of hours) and not exactly sure where we were headed. We just kept going. We stopped and looked at a map (where we were off to was not on this map so that wasn’t much help). Then kept going, not phased.

If we curse, rant and rave when such things happen we achieve nothing. If you are lost how do you react? Do you calming look at a map or keep going knowing that the way you need to go, a turn off or something similar will appear?

In these examples we kept planning, we kept going and were not shut down, and it didn’t stop us from loosing sight of the goal. but often that is exactly what happens...

story time

i decided that my blog needs a story. here goes...

i used to do lots of horse riding and at one stage i was looking at a new horse with some friends. we were out on a trail ride. i was riding an arab named sugar who i hadn't riden before. she was a lean horse and when we cantered it felt like i was floating....

we were riding along a track beside an apple orchid all of us happily cantering along. i was steadily getting faster and my firends further behind me when i discovered that she didn't want to stop. one method that i have found usefull when trying to stop is to turn the horse in a tight circle cos they have to stop or slow down to be able to. so i tried this. i pulled her head to the left.... got half way through the circle just to end up heading down a row of overgrown apple trees....

so here i am heading down a row of trees on a horse that i'm falling off head first over her shoulder as trees are coming quickly for my head. i was pushing myself back up just to find branches and apples heading for my head again. then i'd duck some more braches, and find myself falling off again. this process went on for a while with me still on the horse trying to stop her as we went along.

the rows of trees were long with an occational break in them to provide easier access for those who pick apples and do whatever apple orchid people do. as sugar and i came bursting into the openess of one of these breaks in the trees and i became very determined not to go through the whole process of ducking from branches and apples for another long row. we pulled up. we stopped. i took a deep breath and jumped off...

i looked around at the horses head... there she was happily munching on apples! while i was attempting to stay on and not get knocked out, she had been pulling apples off trees as we went along. she had saliva and foam all over her mouth and looked very pleased with herself.

my friends came around the trees wondering what i was doing off the horse and why i had gone down through the trees....

i got back on, and we kept going. the rest of the ride quite uneventfull in comparison. but i didn't buy that horse.

sacrifice

the way people are ready and willing to support others and sacrifice their time energy and money sometimes blows me away.

if only we were willing to do that more often to people who we don't know that well. that can be harder and yet can make a really big impact in lives. when some one willingly sacrifices for another person that is the kind of stuff that people remember for a long time.

we don't remember what people say but their actions and their character more than anything. people are attracted to those who are not selfish and willingly sacrifice for others. it's rarely seen today and we remember it when others do things for us that cost them something. Big or small, we remember.

The Spiritual Armor of God

I’ve been doing a bible study each week called Masterlife and we’re learning about the spiritual armor from Ephesians chapter 6. this is some of what I’ve been learning.

We are at war, and every day is another battle. We are part of Gods army and should be prepared for each attack. Prayer is the first step that we take in advancing Gods kingdom. We put on the armor of God in prayer then enter the battle of each day. God equips us to win and we can advance wearing the armor of God.

The Helmet of Salvation
We receive this when Christ saves us and can be reminded to –
Thank God for our salvation
Praise God for eternal life, the helmet protects us at all time
Claim the mind of Christ (1st Corinthians 2:16) we received it when we are saved

The Breastplate of Righteousness
This protects our heart and will and can remind us to –
Ask God to search our heart and reveal any wickedness (Psalm 139:23-24)
Confess sins (1 John 1:9)
Claim Christ righteousness to cover sins.

The Belt of Truth
This holds the armor in place. Truth is integrity and moral uprightness. This can remind us to –
Be true to yourself and God
Hold onto the truths of God, then we can’t be deceived by the father of lies
In knowing the truth we can master our emotions. Emotions can be guided by truth.

Gospel Shoes
Readiness of the gospel of peace can prepare us for battle. It’s the gospel of peace and can remind us to –
Be prepared and ready before the battle begins
Share the gospel and be prepared to speak what we believe
Intercede for the lost and attack the enemy in prayer and witness

The Shield of Faith
The Roman shield was long and oblong shaped so when the enemies shot fiery arrows they were buried and extinguished. The shield can be used to advance with as we are protected from any arrows of the enemy. This can remind us to –
Claim Christ victory (1 John 5:4) faith is the victory that overcomes the world
Advance in faith – faith without works is dead James 2.20

Sword of the Spirit
Jesus went and prayed for 40 days and when he was tempted he used Gods Word to defeat satan. The word of God as the sword is in our right hand reminding us to –
Grasp the Word, it’s a living weapon (Hebrews 4:12)
It’s the Holy Spirits sword and we should let Him use it in our lives
In prayer we can let the Holy Spirit lead us to pray on the Word

so each morning i'm going to put on the armor of God and go into battle