The Perks Of Being A Wildflower

“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.” Matthew 6:30-33

Over the past two weeks I have come to realise what it means to be in your lowest low and highest high, what it means to call on Jesus for answers and direction, what it means to lose the things closet to you and not understand the reason for it. But through all this I now know that Jesus is my provider.

He Always Provides A Way:

Moses, set apart and called by God to free His people from slavery, oh the things I have learnt about Moses. Moses didn’t know God when he was called “What is his name, what should I tell them?”, Moses doubted himself “Who am I?”, he doubted his ability “I am not eloquent or a man of words”, He doubted his calling "Lord, please! Send anyone else."

I love that every time Moses states why he can’t do something God always provides an answer.

I was in a really tough season recently trying to figure out whether I wanted to volunteer full time at my church or go back to working permanently, it was a decision that scared me as I knew the calling that God placed on my life and where I wanted to be but at the same time I needed money to survive. Until a couple days ago God asked me “Do you want to pursue your calling or your career?” God sent Moses with a staff and Aaron, God will not send you empty handed or without support, God says “I know the plans I have for you” this includes provision because a plan covers ALL areas.

He becomes all that is necessary to complete our need. Knowing this I made my decision and told my boss I wanted to volunteer full time, but my boss asked me to stay on for two days a week which was exactly what I wanted, provision and volunteering at Church.

With this I realised that God is NOT an either/or God He is an exceedingly, abundantly, above, all I can think, ask or imagine God.

He Always Provides Freedom:

Rejection can be a stronghold in many people’s lives, whether it be rejection in relationships or even in friendships. I was struggling to understand why God kept placing people in my life only to take them away and make me feel unappreciated, insecure and unloved and then I read this:

“And I will make Pharaoh's heart stubborn and hard, and multiply My signs, My wonders, and miracles in the land of Egypt.” Exodus 7:3

God sent Moses to Pharaoh to ask him to free the Israelites knowing that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart. God is in control of people’s emotions, God is in control of everything, and He will keep hardening the hearts of those who don’t belong in your life to make you grow and surrender to Him just like Moses kept going back to God and calling upon God for direction. When God finally softened Pharaoh’s heart, Moses walked into his Destiny. When God softens the heart of the right person at the right time, you will experience true freedom, with God at the centre of your relationship, knowing that He was with you and fought on your behalf even if you did not get what you wanted first time round.

He Always Provides Healing:

God provided several plagues, from frogs and locusts to boils and hail, before Pharaoh finally softened his heart and let the Israelites go. Sometimes God will let the same thing happen to you over and over again, the same issues disguised as different situations, so that you will realise that God is more worried about your heart condition than your situations. He wants you to keep coming back to Him just like Moses did, until your heart conditions become your heart convictions. If God gives you what you want immediately you would harden your heart and God would not be able to work on it. Let God do His work in you to prevent the same pattern from occurring over and over again.

He Always Provides Strength:

Moses Said “For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people, neither have You delivered Your people at all.” Exodus 5:23

Sometimes we don’t understand why we go through difficult situations, why we lose opportunities or people yet we are still expected to keep on moving forward.

The path only gets tougher when you start walking on it, like climbing a mountain. It’s only when you deal with it, push through and the end is in sight that you have the will power to move forward. God is motivating us to never give up, so that when we go through the same things it will be easier to keep going. A God plan: Process + Pain = Progress

The only thing God wants for us is to trust Him and make Him the centre of everything in our life and the only way we can do that is to want God more than what we want in life. He wants to be our Joy, our hope and our first love, He wants this because He loves us, made us and chose us to fulfil our God given plan and purpose…

Prison Break

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a prison as a place or situation from which you cannot escape or a state of confinement or captivity. Every day we are exposed to situations where we may feel imprisoned, either kept in the holding cell of a temporary situation, held captive for an extended period of time or even isolated in solitary confinement.

The Holding Cell:

The holding cell are those temporary situations we can’t change, but somehow ends up affecting our emotions and reactions. The holding cell can be as simple as traffic or even petty arguments with your siblings, parents or friends. The holding cell can lead to long term imprisonment of your feelings, emotions and reactions if you don’t learn to deal with it there and then. People will always irritate you, time will always go faster than you’d like, there will always be someone who is better than you, richer than you and smarter than you and you won’t always get what you want… but Jesus will set you free if you learn to surrender everything to Him on a daily basis and choose to respond in love as an ambassador of Christ.

“But what does it matter, so long as either way, whether for personal ends or in all honesty, Christ is being proclaimed? And in that I now rejoice, yes, and I shall rejoice hereafter also.” Philippians 1:18

Long-Term Imprisonment:

Long-term imprisonment can mean several things to a number of people. Mine more specifically being insecurity, impatience, fear and frustration. Even memories of one’s past can hold one captive for years on end, like the wrong relationships, bad decisions, distrust, abuse or failure. I believe that it’s in the long term imprisonment that we can either choose to lean on Jesus, accept His grace and let the joy of the Lord be our strength or we can choose to give up hope and not experience the abundant life God has set out for us!

“This is in keeping with my own eager desire and persistent expectation and hope, that I shall not disgrace myself nor be put to shame in anything; but that with the utmost freedom of speech and unfailing courage, now as always heretofore, Christ will be magnified and get glory and praise in this body of mine and be boldly exalted in my person, whether through life or through death.” Philippains 1:20

Solitary Confinement:

This can be defined as a form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact. Ever felt like you’ve had to make a decision or go through something completely alone, that turning to friends and family or even to Jesus felt somewhat impossible? Ever become so consumed with your life that you have forgotten to spend time with the one who gave you your perfect life in the first place, and you go to bed wondering why you have a yearning for something that can’t be satisfied? The moment we isolate ourselves from God, we find ourselves in solitary confinement. The only way to set yourself free is to make a choice, a choice to run towards Jesus at all costs knowing that the confinement you are in is only temporary! Sometimes we are put in an environment to show the deliverance and salvation from God as seen in Philippians 1:28

“And [also] most of the brethren have derived fresh confidence in the Lord because of my chains and are much more bold to speak and publish fearlessly the Word of God [acting with more freedom and indifference to the consequences].” Philippians 1.14

Time and time again Hollywood has shown us the impact imprisonment can have on an individual but Jesus and Paul teaches us that our imprisonment can lead to someone else’s empowerment. Sometimes by us being bound, just as Paul was, we have the ability to set others free. We just have to choose to rise above every and any situation and set an example for others to follow. We can’t choose our situations or the length of our sentence but we can choose the way we react and deal with it. Prison will reveal your true motives and the true motives of others in your life.

“It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.” Philippians 1:15

You can preach the Gospel through your spirit and willpower to overcome.

How can you set yourself free? It’s simple;  Let your prayers and a bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ turn your prison into your preservation (for the spiritual health and welfare of your own soul) Philippians 1:19

Your prison can develop patience, and patience can develop peace and peace will set you free! My prayer is that in 2015 you will let God give you the keys to unlock peace in your life and to open the gate to freedom in every situation and circumstance.

Check Please!

Over the past few months God challenged me with one simple question; “Do you live to please people or do you live to please Me?” Life is a constant battle, we seek acceptance from friends, desire attention from loved ones, strive for the appreciation of leaders, yearn to be acknowledged by the one and long for the approval of our parents while on an unmerited pursuit to earn the favour of God.

“Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life! One man said no to God and put many people in the wrong; one man said yes to God and put many in the right.” Romans 5:18-19 (MSG)

Adam and Jesus were both created by God and purposed as life giving vessels, Adam and Eve vessels for humanity and Jesus a vessel for eternity, created for the same destiny, but resulting in different destinations all because of one simple decision.

Why the different outcomes one might ask? Adam bowed down to the created (Eve) and Jesus bowed down to His creator (God). Adam lived for one and all died, but Jesus lived for one and died for all.

 “And to the man he said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you.  All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.” Genesis 3:17 (NLT)

Every generation from that point onward was cursed as a result of Adam’s one act of disobedience. He was in good council yet he didn't seek the council of God when faced with a simple choice. If you choose to make decisions based on your feelings towards the people around you, it will steer you away from all God intends to accomplish through you. Our reason for living is to make others happy without letting our happiness depend on others. If you strive for the approval of people and receive it, you will always be striving to maintain it, you might start to feel like a burden and eventually burn out.

When you are a people pleaser you will in-turn become a people praiser; thanking people for the recognition they give you instead of thanking God for using you as a vessel of His goodness.

“Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.” Romans 6:16

Then God sent Jesus, whose decisions to follow God’s will above all else gave us eternal life. People tried to distract Him from His destiny, He, however, decided to follow God’s will instead of the people’s pleas.

“From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” Matthew 16: 21-23

Often those closest to us think they know what’s best for us, but our future extends far beyond us therefore we need to be selfless in our decisions. We are just a spec in God’s spectacular plan therefore we need to surrender our life to God and not to people to live in true freedom.

“Human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need.” Acts 17:25

God doesn't need us to please Him either. He didn't create us to serve Him, He created us to serve one another. God said it is not good for man to be alone so He created Eve the trouble comes in when we turn to others before turning to Jesus. All God desires is our gratitude in exchange for His grace and every act of obedience is an act of gratitude. Instead of staying in the season we are in to make others happy, we should continue reinventing ourselves in the identity of Christ.

The only way to explain it is to look at those who create, Peter, Paul and the rest who established the early Church, artists, authors, and poets such as Emily Dickinson, Anne Frank, Vincent van Gogh and John Keats. All of these created because they had a passion and love for their craft but only achieved recognition long after they were gone. Just like God created us but only received the proper recognition He desired after the death and resurrection of Jesus. If we continue to serve people and love God because we have a passion for Jesus and an innate desire to see the world know the same Jesus that saved us, I believe that our will, will always line up with the will of God.

“Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God.” Matthew 5:8 (NIV)

I Can See You Now

He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. John 1: 10-11 (NIV)

The Bible tells us over and over again to have faith in the things we do not see, to have hope in the promises that have not come to pass, but today my question to you is, do you have faith in the things that you do see? Let me explain, if a man came up to you right now with all the characteristics of Jesus, would you believe Him? I doubt I would, and I feel guilty for it. Sometimes it’s easier to have faith in the things that we do not see than believe in the things that we do see. Jesus has always looked at us with love in His eyes but due to our impaired vision of trust in today’s modern world we may find it difficult to recognise the full extent of God’s glory!

I sometimes wonder why we don’t see miracles to the extent of those in the former days; like people being raised from the dead or others surviving the pits of fire? You see God hasn’t changed, we’ve changed! His word hasn’t dissolved, the world has evolved. It has evolved to the extent that every day miracles are written off as coincidences or close calls and the power of success is as a result of our hard work rather than His favour. If we continue giving the works of the world credit for the goodness of God then we will keep evolving until we don’t recognise God at all.

So how do we recognise the work of God amongst the works of the flesh?

No man has ever seen God at any time; the only unique Son, or the only begotten God, Who is in the bosom [in the intimate presence] of the Father, He has declared Him [He has revealed Him and brought Him out where He can be seen; He has interpreted Him and He has made Him known]. John 1:18

God will ALWAYS make Jesus known. Just as our eyes are drawn to anything light in a dark room, we need to continuously recognise that anything good in our life or in the lives of others is as a direct result of His grace! It is our responsibilities as “witnesses” of Christ to not only recognise Him but to give Him recognition for every good work.

Recognising the Holy Spirit in Another’s Life

John's Account

Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.” John 1:32-24

It is important for us to have a great intuition when it comes to recognising Christ followers within our everyday walk of life. When we realise we are not alone we are able to strengthen each other making the battle for salvation a whole lot easier.

Recognising Jesus Through an Intimate Relationship

Mary's Account

They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. John 20:13-14

Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). John 20:16

If you close your eyes and someone speaks, you can easily identify who is speaking. If we have a close relationship with God, we can recognise His voice without the need of having to see Him. The better you get to know someone the easier it is to sense their presence; from their footsteps to their laugh to their cough and even their sneezes. Just like each of us are unique, so is God. His voice is unique amongst all the other sounds in our head, if we spend more time being attentive to His voice I believe we will be able to hear God’s voice before standing in His presence.

Recognising Gods Workmanship

Thomas' Account:

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” John 20:27-28

We are provided with miracles yet we still say statements like “I don’t believe it”, “How could this be”, “It won’t last” “Something bad is bound to happen” Sometimes a touch of God is not good enough, we find it difficult to believe in the power of a miracle, we think our blessings will be rob if we “jinx” it and we need to touch wood if we speak something bad over our lives or the lives of others. A touch of God is greater than being strangled by hopelessness, God gave us everything so why would he take away anything, Jesus’ life was laid down so that we could rise up.

Jesus poses this question "I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?" John 3:12

At the end of John Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him, Peter replied yes consecutively. Then Jesus instructs Peter to feed his sheep. In order to feed the sheep of Jesus, Peter needs to recognise who the Shepard is so that he can take on a similar role. As disciples we are called to bear witness to Christ, a witness gains knowledge from observation or experience. The more observant we become of Christ in our daily lives the better we fulfill our God given roles. When Jesus comes again, may it be tomorrow or in a thousand years from now, I want to be able to recognise Him without a doubt… do you?

Keep Calm and Carry On.

"Then He said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” Luke 9:23.

Take up your cross daily, is a phrase that carries a lot weight. We stand at a cross road of choice, we can chose to make the cross heavy and somewhat of a burden or we can embrace the weight of responsibility knowing that our life and the lives of others will be better because of it.

After Jesus was sentenced to death, He experienced a beating that made Him unrecognizable. Sometimes we go through things, to take us to things. When we turn from our selfish ways we may become unrecognizable to many people from our old life but as long as we know that our identity remains in Christ, we have the courage to get up and carry our cross, leaving behind the people who don’t want to familiarize themselves with our new identity.

Know where you are heading:

Jesus knew what was awaiting Him at the top of Golgotha, but He had a choice, either to focus on His pain or to focus on His purpose.

"And just as my Father has granted me a Kingdom, I now grant you the right to eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. And you will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Luke 22:29-30

Become Kingdom focused, choosing to die to yourself daily and focusing on the bigger picture, only then will you have the strength to endure to the very end.

Take small steps:

"If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones.” Luke 9:23.

I’m sure every step Jesus took wasn’t easy but it was necessary to take Him to where He needed to be. Most Sundays at Kid’s church I chose to prepare the offering message even though they stare at me with blank expressions. I say yes when asked to pray in public, at connect groups, or at church even though I hate it, I give 100% in all my design work even though I can barely keep my eyes open, I am devoted to spending time with God no matter how busy my day gets, I share the passion I have for Jesus on social media and my blog in hope that atleast 1 person will come to know Christ because of it, even though I have been deleted or unfollowed by a numbers of annoyed people. I trust that if I am faithful in the small steps I need to take no matter what, God will entrust me with greater, life changing, opportunities to contribute towards His Kingdom.

Pick up your own cross:

If you are in church long enough you tend to see many familiar faces leave, and not come back, I struggled to understand why, and I tend to take it upon myself to try and bring them back, without any luck. After seeking council from God, I realised our responsibility is to carry our own cross and not the cross of others.

“Whoever does not persevere and carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” Luke 14:27

Let me explain; If we have to carry our own cross as well as the cross of others how much more difficult are we making it to reach our final destination. Our responsibility is to disciple ours not discipline others! Discipline is self taught with a willing heart. We should continue pointing people to God, encouraging them that there is hope in the midst of their hardship, but He simply wants us to direct them not dictate to them. As leaders we should take responsibility for others but to a certain extent. We can’t save anyone on behalf of God, in the end it is their decision. We can lead a horse to the water but we can’t force it to drink, our duty is to plant the seed and let God do the watering.

You are not alone:

With that being said, God will never let you carry your cross alone, even Jesus had Simon from Cyrene to help Him carry His cross up the mountain. We have Jesus right beside us carrying our cross every single day, His burden is light and His yolk is easy.

Get up when you fall:

Yes we might trip and drop the cross along the way, Jesus fell three trips before He reached the top, but all we need to do is pick it up daily and continue walking and we need to encourage others to do the same. With every fall we become stronger because we have the greatest encourager of all!

“But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:32

It’s never to late:

Just like Jesus saved the resentful criminal who hung next to him on the cross, Jesus will use every bit of his energy to pull us out of our pits of despair, and we should have the same mentality with others. Those who seem hopelessly lost will always have a glimmer of hope and it’s those people that God has called us to reach. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

What is the cross?

#CrossEqualsLove. We should carry our love for Christ daily, as well as our love for others. We need to set out with a purpose to passionately seek and serve no matter how hopeless a situation may seem. If we fall along the way God will always be there to lift us up again. Lets keep our eyes fixed on the cross as a reminder that we are victorious because of what Christ has already done.

Spiritual C.V.

“After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. Luke 10: 1 – 4

We are appointed by God to bring in the harvest, with that being said I want you to look at what your goals are for this year. Many of you have given up a lot since you got saved, whether it be an amazing job that didn't line up with the calling God has placed on your life, maybe a season out of your original 5 year plan, or even giving up a lifestyle that hindered you from stepping into your new life. We did this because we all believe that Jesus has a greater plan for us, that we are set apart to bring glory to His name by pursing our divine purpose and destiny.

As we take our relationship further we step into the calling we believe God wants to achieve through us from serving in a specific department at church or even taking a leap of faith to share His gospel in a different country, learning the ropes and being the new kids on the block can be a bit intimidating almost as if God is sending us out like lambs among wolves. We step into our season of faith with knowledge and understanding from our previous experiences but God tells us not to take a purse or bag or sandals. God warns us to not lean on our own understanding!

“For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” 1 Corinthians 1: 19

In Luke 10:5 - 7 it says “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.”

Live out your calling with peace, peace in the sense of listening and learning no matter how challenging people or situations become. Learn as much as you can, take in every opportunity that is given to you and stay planted no matter. When you are content, you will be given the opportunities that God has specifically set out for you and you will excel at these tasks and bless many with your innate abilities! If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large things.

When I read that passage in Luke God spoke to me in a really odd way, he asked me this question, are you doing the internship to grow your personal C.V. or your spiritual C.V.? Let me explain, if your intention is to grow your personal C.V. you serve to obtain position, however if you focus on growing your spiritual C.V. you serve to position others.

Personal Information

When we gave our life to Christ, we had to deny ourselves and follow Him. God has given us a new identity, He has renamed us as his sons and daughters, He has given us a new birth date, He knows the finest detail of our lives from the of the amount of hairs we have on our head, He has already reserved a place for us in Heaven, and we have a direct line to Him through prayer.

Education

He trains us up in His word, using vessels like the church, servant hood, connect groups, leaders, pastors, conferences and events, Godly conversation, bearing witness to the testimonies of others and giving thanks for our own answered prayers.

Professional Experience

We gain experience every time we act in obedience, doing the things God has asked us to do and every time we step out in Faith regardless of the outcome. Whenever we are employed to bring hope, light, encouragement, life and love to a hopeless situation its added experience.

Skills

We gain skills and bear good fruit if we continue to educate ourselves and grow in experience. God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness, he equips us with all the necessary skills we need to fulfil a specific task whether it be the correct words to say in a prayer, the right advice to give in counselling or what steps to take when leading a lost person home. We may feel that others have more skills or “talents” than us but we should always make use of the talents we have been blessed with, God promises us more talents in return. In order to become a better you have to give your best.

Achievements

God will always elevate you and make you achieve in every area of your life if you make yourself available to be used by Him. God wants our availability instead of just our ability, that way he will be able to use us way more than a person who is too busy pursuing their personal desires. If we give God access to every area of our life we will impact and influence way more situations than a talented, busy, person can.

References

Always make sure that there is someone who you can seek good counsel from, someone you can confide in and people who will always bring out the very best in you. You are only as good as the company you keep.

Covering Letter

Jesus is the author and finisher of our spiritual C.V. therefore he also has our covering letter covered. He makes all crooked paths straight so that when you venture out into a new season, a new challenge and new opportunity he has already set you up for success.

If we have a strong spiritual C.V. and make ourselves available to God I believe we will see things and experience things people can only dream of witnessing.

"Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.” Luke 10:23-24 "

You are set apart for a reason, go into each day with the passionate desire to learn something new. The more knowledge, skills, experiences and achievements you gain through Christ Jesus the more employable you become in your contribution to building the Kingdom. God will never place you in a situation you can’t handle, although He had confidence in you from the very beginning you need to learn to have confidence in yourself.

Simply Believe

Ever heard of the term K.I.S.S.? No, it’s not what you planning to do on Valentine’s Day, it’s the marketing acronym that stands for Keep It Simple Stupid. As humans we live busy and complicated lives, complicating the uncomplicated. We have a knack for making hurdles out of tiny bumps in the road but we tend to forget how simple our God is. Okay yes He created the heavens and the earth, yes Jesus explained the truth in complex parables.... but God simply spoke the world into existence, He created us with a simple breath and Jesus healed with simple phrases like... “Get up and walk”. Jesus simply chose to love the unloved, include the excluded and use the unusable. If it was me the gospel would’ve been a pity party about everything I had to endure, and that is exactly why I am not Jesus.

You see if God is a simple God who takes on the form of a simple man, to spread the good news in a simple (and small) country then why do we as Christians make it so complicated to be a Christian? God has spoken to me over the past few days on how to live a simple life and can be summarised as follows:

Simply Love:

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves” Philippians 2:3 (NIV)

Love people and love God without the continuous need to prove that love and earn it in return. Jesus already chose us, so why do we continue to pursue His acceptance? Jesus loves a pure heart, someone that passionately chases His purpose in their life simply because they love Him and acknowledge His love for them in return. Jesus’ love is everywhere you just need to allow Him to love you, only then will you be able to sense God’s love for you in the simple moments of life.

Simply Serve:

We are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ. We should learn to simply serve and serve simply. Just like you don’t think about the next step you about to take or how you are going to use your hand to pick something up, serving should be natural and birthed out of the passion we have for building God’s Kingdom and seeing change happen in our community. If we simply serve we are making a commitment to set time apart to give back; to serve simply means to make a decision not to serve to obtain position or to serve in all areas of church life at the same time without giving each area the necessary attention it deserves, it means to select an area or two that God has placed on your heart and give it your all. Remember our goal is to serve the lost not only to socialise with the saved. Church is not about us, it’s about Christ and we should always be prepared to simply serve no matter what our leadership role entails.

Simply Pray:

If you know me, you would know how much I hate to pray in public but Jesus tells us to pray simple prayers. Simply just talk to God as often as you can no matter where you are or what you are doing.

“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Matthew 6:7-8 (NIV)

God has really worked on me in this regard over the past couple of months pushing me to pray in public for selected people but I believe in the power of a simple prayer that comes from the heart. Don’t pre-think your prayers, don’t post-criticise your prayers, just enjoy the presence of the Spirit during your prayer, that way you can ensure that each word that comes out of your mouth was perfectly placed by God Himself.

Simply Praise:

Worship God without feeling the need to raise your hands in the air and shake it around like you just don’t care. I raise my hands only as a sign of surrender when I feel the prompting of the Spirit to do so, but if raising your hands and speaking in tongues becomes nothing more than a religious act, something you feel you need to do to reach out to God then you have it all wrong my friend. God is already in us, if we do these things out of an act of love and gratitude then you won’t feel convicted if you don’t do it. Honour God with the way you live your life, the words that come out of your mouth and the compassion you have for people. It should be a way of life, not a way just to do life!

Simply Play:

We are free and a new creation, we are called to simply have fun and enjoy every minute of our new life. If you love and understand something it becomes simple to do because you want to do it. They say the narrow road is complicated, but I say it’s exciting! I love not knowing what God has in store for me next but I simply trust that His plans are far greater than anything I can think up for myself. If we enjoy life and live it in abundance, people will be drawn to our joy and enthusiasm which will ultimately result in one of the simplest and most effective ways to introduce people to Christ.

Simply Believe:

“But Jesus, on hearing this, answered him, Do not be seized with alarm or struck with fear; simply believe [^[a]in Me as able to do this], and she shall be made well.” Luke 8:50 (AMP)

Everything that I have shared with you can be simplified to two simple words… simply believe. We have a God to pray to, a love to cling to and a home to look forward to, all of this if we simply believe. Our simple actions have extraordinary reactions.

Take a look at the woman with the blood problem:

“When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.” Mark 5:27-29 (NIV)

She chose to believe that simply touching the hem of Jesus' clothes could heal her and with that simple faith Jesus was greatly moved. When people pray for breakthrough in our lives don’t think of it as just another prayer. Choose to believe that chains can be broken, choose to believe that God loves you enough to ensure that you live a life with His stamp of approval on it. If we simply believe then all the “duties” of being a Christian will come to us as easy as inhaling and exhaling or the blinking of an eye. God doesn’t want to burden us, He wants to elevate us so that we can live a simple life just like the post-sin days of Adam and Eve, living in peace, joy, hope and love.