Unity

What an amazing day I've had today, I managed to get to church twice and I can't begin to explain what a difference it makes to be in the company of the lovely people who share in the love of God.

Our speaker today was Steve, he is a pastor in a church in Cambridge called C3, he originates from the Wirral and before he moved to Cambridge he was the pastor at our church. I'd never met him but I had heard about him from people who were members when he was there. I love to hear the different messages from speakers who come to our church, they all have their own way of bringing the word to us and it's interesting to see their own personality shine through the gospel. The messages never change, they stay the same, because God never changes, He is the same today as He was yesterday and will be tomorrow.

Steve talked about how our walk with God will not be an easy ride, we'll face many challenges to our faith on the way and at times we will feel as though the grace has been taken from under our feet, we will flounder at these times and it would be so easy to say 'it's not working for me, I'm out of here'. We have all been there and will be again but the difference is, if you have a community around you who have a relationship with God, they will sustain you in times of need because they, like you, are Blessed with the special gift that is to love. To love one another is second only to loving God and it is the most liberating feeling you could ever imagine. How great it is to be able to feel love naturally, without effort, without thinking, without embarrassment. That is what makes the meetings so special, you give love and receive love freely, how much better would our world be if we spent more time giving grace instead of grief.

I have struggled with where I am in life recently, it's been very hard physically and mentally to keep up with study and placement and I have wanted to throw in the towel and run away, but each time I've got close to doing that something has happened to keep me there. It's not an easy ride but unity within fellowship gives you the upper hand from God that defeats the efforts of the enemy who would quite like you to quit.

Faith

As we travel along life's path

Nothing ever stays the same,

All things must change at some time

Whether it be for ill or be for gain.

Yet, the one unchanging factor-

The greatest one of all-

Is that there is a mighty

Power that listens

To every human call.

It will comfort and sustain you

Whenever things go wrong,

It will take your hand and guide you

As life's path you walk along.

So, when dark clouds descend

Upon the path you tread,

Call upon this power to guide you

And He will light the way ahead.

The enemy

This morning Col talked about getting out there and sharing the gospel, it's what God tells us to do. But when we do we should be prepared for the enemy to move in and make things difficult because it's not in his plan for the message to be shared. It's fine if we're in church though, he's happy for it to be contained within a building where nobody but the usual congregation is listening, that's no problem. The reason why he doesn't want us to talk to people about God is because he knows for certain that it's the truth, otherwise, why would he bother.

Since I did an interview where I talked about my faith and shared my own experience of walking with God there have been no end of incidents which have threatened to take away, not only the amazing peace I'm Blessed with but also my self esteem, confidence and strength. However I was sitting in the garden reading the bible one morning last week, as always I'd written down where I was up to and was about to go back in the house when these words came into my mind 'stay with me my child' I replied 'I will Lord' and picked up where I had left off. It was Ephesians verse 13 which says "And you were also included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit"

I am where I am today because a friend took the time to share the gospel with me, it takes courage to speak out because you risk rejection and ridicule but if it helps just one person to build a relationship with God and go on to receive The Holy Spirit, then the enemy is stopped in its tracks.

The new generation

What a fantastic service this morning. One of the highlights (besides Col's amazing origami exercise) was a drama which was acted by some brilliant young people. We also got a taster from our future youth band and a very entertaining quiz. Our church is growing and it is so inspiring to see the young generation fired up for God. Loving every minute of Sunday's.



This is a version of the drama from youtube.

God is always there.

To hear God's voice
Turn down the noise,
The volume of the world
Sit quietly
Be still with Him
And you will hear His word
He is your refuge
And your strength
He'll keep you safe from harm
Feel His arms
Surrounding you
Filling you with His calm
Through each trial
And tribulation
He'll be supporting you
He's always there
Your guiding light
A comfort sure and true
Just listen
In the silence
For His answer when you pray
Feel the warmth
Of His true love
And the storms will drift away.

Turbo Power.

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted on here, it's the madness of being a student nurse that has taken over my life and man has it been a hectic time. Anyway, this is not the place to go into that, this is 'quiet time' and today has been just the top up I needed to produce a calm and peaceful me.

I managed to get to church today, the first time in a month or so. Now I know you don't need to go to church to be in the presence of God because if you have a strong foundation in your relationship with Him then He's always by your side. But what it does give me is the extra turbo power to carry on with what has been a very hard and testing time. It isn't just going into church, it's talking to all those people who are so inspirational, they're doing something with thier lives and more often than not they are doing that something for other people not themselves. The second commandment says 'Love thy neighbour' and if they ask something of you don't just give it, but give extra. If we live by this commandment in my experience we recieve far more than we ever give out. The last five weeks have proved to me that no matter how hard I am finding things I still feel free from the old me who would have given up and that's because I am protected, loved and made to feel special, the turbo power is that extra that comes as a bonus from God.

Our vision.

Today's message brought to us by Col could have been spoken for me alone, it was so appropriate that it made me cry, several times. Not the despairing cry that leaves you feeling lonely and sad but the joy filled emotional cry that makes you realise once again how glad you are to be alive and on the amazing path that God has planned for you.

I had a bit of a rotter of a week last week, doubt had started to creep back into my mind about where I'm at in life and I began to wonder whether launching into a three year university course was what I really wanted to do. I began to question the ins and outs of nursing. Will I end up doing lots of paper work and not have time to interact with patients? Am I too old to do twelve hour shifts? Can I keep up with the hours of study? etc.. In fact I talked myself into a right old state and consequently cabbaged my own head....again!

On the way to church this morning I wasn't really focused, but I silently prayed for direction and straight thinking and that is exactly what I got. Col said "God has a vision for every one of us" He gave each of us a gift and it's in our hearts and our minds. He asked us if there was something that kept coming into our thoughts, something that we have always wanted to do but never got round to it, well that is our vision, our gift from God. Sometimes we spend so much time on the negative things in life and worry our days away but that precious time could be spent looking closely at what our gift could be and taking active steps to make it happen. God has a plan for us, He had it before we were born and He brings those thoughts back to us time after time, it's just up to us to listen, and act.

My sister comes to church with me now, she's been there the last two weeks and I can't begin to say how special that is for me. Life has thrown it's fair share of tough times at her and recently she's had a really hard time, but the look on her face today as she contemplated what God had planned for her was amazing. I know my sister is gifted and God knows that too, how exciting the future is going to be for her when she opens up her heart and realises her vision in life.

It has been the most special day today and I feel so positive that the road I am on is the right one because if it wasn't then the passion to become a nurse would not keep coming back to me would it. I am truly Blessed to have been given such a loud and clear message through Col today. Praise God!