Mercy is when you don't get what you deserve. Grace is when you get more than you deserve.
You know very often we use words like Gods Grace and mercy loosely and without giving the words much thought, as if they were the same thing. These words on closer inspection take on two very different meanings.
I am a sinner and deserve to die but God showed me mercy by forgiving me of my sins. However it doesn't stop there and this is the incredible thing about Grace. He also gives us much more! Psalm 23 says "...my cup runneth over". We don't just get pardon for sins but we also receive blessing way beyond what we deserve. That is what grace is.
It is very possible to live in Gods mercy and yet not live in the fullness of his grace. The writer of Hebrews in chapter 12 says "see to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many". God wants to show us more of his grace and it increases every day of our lives. I can say that today I have experienced more of Gods grace than I did any other day of my life. The reason I can say this is because we grow in grace and knowledge. It says so in 2 Peter 3:18.
So how to we grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord? Well the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and so I suggest we start to pray for wisdom. Prov 8:35 says "whoever finds me (wisdom) finds life and receives favor (grace) from the Lord".
Next weeks lectures cover the topic 'Fear of the Lord' so yippee this is all well timed. God is good.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Oz Death!
So I arrived back from Oz Quest on Wednesday evening and man what a crazy few days it was! A little background to what Oz Quest is and why its on the Discipleship Training school programme.
Its a three day adventure/torture trip where you are supposed to be physically/mentally/psychologically/emotionally/spiritually/sexually challenged. Ok not sexually but all the other ones! We left on Sunday evening and as Bear Grylls would say, it was relentless!!
We spend three days living in the wild in some forest and had to undertake a number of tasks. As a reward we could win money to buy our daily food. If we didn't win money, we had to go without eating. This was the biggest challenge for me because after a 22km hike with a backpack on back up mountainous terrain, I needed to eat. All we were able to get was half a tin of tuna. The people running Oz quest are supposed to treat you horribly throughout the duration of the trip and so its easy to get frustrated. We do daily punishments for lots of different things like being late or if at any time we leave our team members. Any distance more than 2 metres counts as leaving your team. You do all your toilet business with your team members and there is no toilets to use. We had quite a few interesting toilet stories over the three days.
We were awoken during the night after only 1.5 hours sleep to go on a hike and then back to bed for 3-4 more hours and then up again for punishment! It was exhausting and physically draining.
Quite a few members of the team were physically sick throughout. A few suffered dehydration, others collapsed from exhaustion, and others vomited the three days straight, such was the level of intensity. I had a bit of a fever the first night but was ok the next day and generally loved the whole experience.
For a few challenges we were put on the spot and given 5 minutes to prepare a 15 minute sermon and then deliver it to the rest of the group. I quite enjoyed this and when we go on outreach some tribes will expect us to preach on the spot so it was good practice.
So what was the point?
Well I guess, when you spend a few days living in close quarters with a team and learn each others strengths and weaknesses, you grow closer and have a greater understanding of what makes people react the way they do. We had a few arguments, a few tears and very little sleep but once it was all over, we knew each other so well.
We will be going on outreach to Cambodia in a little less than 2 months time. We will never experience anything as tough as oz quest during that time but some things will be the same and so we need to be prepared. We also learned how to deal with our frustrations and how to help each other along when people are struggling. I cant wait to go on outreach with my team. I love the different characteristics and strengths that people will bring to the team.
I really enjoyed my Oz quest challenge and would love the opportunity to do it again sometime, but right now Im just eager to get to Cambodia!
Its a three day adventure/torture trip where you are supposed to be physically/mentally/psychologically/emotionally/spiritually/sexually challenged. Ok not sexually but all the other ones! We left on Sunday evening and as Bear Grylls would say, it was relentless!!
We spend three days living in the wild in some forest and had to undertake a number of tasks. As a reward we could win money to buy our daily food. If we didn't win money, we had to go without eating. This was the biggest challenge for me because after a 22km hike with a backpack on back up mountainous terrain, I needed to eat. All we were able to get was half a tin of tuna. The people running Oz quest are supposed to treat you horribly throughout the duration of the trip and so its easy to get frustrated. We do daily punishments for lots of different things like being late or if at any time we leave our team members. Any distance more than 2 metres counts as leaving your team. You do all your toilet business with your team members and there is no toilets to use. We had quite a few interesting toilet stories over the three days.
We were awoken during the night after only 1.5 hours sleep to go on a hike and then back to bed for 3-4 more hours and then up again for punishment! It was exhausting and physically draining.
Quite a few members of the team were physically sick throughout. A few suffered dehydration, others collapsed from exhaustion, and others vomited the three days straight, such was the level of intensity. I had a bit of a fever the first night but was ok the next day and generally loved the whole experience.
For a few challenges we were put on the spot and given 5 minutes to prepare a 15 minute sermon and then deliver it to the rest of the group. I quite enjoyed this and when we go on outreach some tribes will expect us to preach on the spot so it was good practice.
So what was the point?
Well I guess, when you spend a few days living in close quarters with a team and learn each others strengths and weaknesses, you grow closer and have a greater understanding of what makes people react the way they do. We had a few arguments, a few tears and very little sleep but once it was all over, we knew each other so well.
We will be going on outreach to Cambodia in a little less than 2 months time. We will never experience anything as tough as oz quest during that time but some things will be the same and so we need to be prepared. We also learned how to deal with our frustrations and how to help each other along when people are struggling. I cant wait to go on outreach with my team. I love the different characteristics and strengths that people will bring to the team.
I really enjoyed my Oz quest challenge and would love the opportunity to do it again sometime, but right now Im just eager to get to Cambodia!
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Update
Ok so the weekend has finally arrived and Im exhausted!! Our week runs from Tuesday to Saturday and so Sunday is really the day of rest. This morning I will be checking out a new church called Metro. Its a large church filled with mostly young people and as the name suggests and from what Im told, a very Metro-sexual gathering of people. Unfortunately none of my clothing will fit the bill so Ill have to go out and invest in a bright pink fluorescent shirt if I want to go back there after today.
This week was very good although the early part was a bit of a struggle for me. Last weekend was a scorcher and we went spear fishing. My pasty Irish skin could not take the extreme heat and I ended up very badly burnt. In fact I think I had second degree burns. I was told this by one of the staff who seemed to know what she was talking about. It was pretty disgusting actually because my skin all started to bubble and I looked like some sort of mutant. Anyway its not too bad anymore, just a few scars on my arms and hopefully they will soon disappear.
We do outreach in Surfers every Saturday and yesterday was beach volleyball. So we rounded up some Japanese students that were close by and spent a couple of hours playing, getting to know them and sharing our faith. They were lovely and they might even come by again next week. Last night we all went for a coffee and I met some new people, a Liverpool fan in fact. We had a bit of a slag and then talked about where we could watch the big game on Sunday....
On tuesday we leave for Byron Bay. It will be a full week of lectures and other activities but should also be a great opportunity to meet some new folk. Three other DTS bases will all be there too so I am excited about that.
Anyway no other updates but be sure to keep me posted on any news from home, like if Enda Kenny has burned the country to the ground yet, if Galway beat Cork or the Bank of Ireland executives get a change of heart and donate all their bonuses to charity. You see, I do read news occasionally!
You stay Classy, Ireland!
This week was very good although the early part was a bit of a struggle for me. Last weekend was a scorcher and we went spear fishing. My pasty Irish skin could not take the extreme heat and I ended up very badly burnt. In fact I think I had second degree burns. I was told this by one of the staff who seemed to know what she was talking about. It was pretty disgusting actually because my skin all started to bubble and I looked like some sort of mutant. Anyway its not too bad anymore, just a few scars on my arms and hopefully they will soon disappear.
We do outreach in Surfers every Saturday and yesterday was beach volleyball. So we rounded up some Japanese students that were close by and spent a couple of hours playing, getting to know them and sharing our faith. They were lovely and they might even come by again next week. Last night we all went for a coffee and I met some new people, a Liverpool fan in fact. We had a bit of a slag and then talked about where we could watch the big game on Sunday....
On tuesday we leave for Byron Bay. It will be a full week of lectures and other activities but should also be a great opportunity to meet some new folk. Three other DTS bases will all be there too so I am excited about that.
Anyway no other updates but be sure to keep me posted on any news from home, like if Enda Kenny has burned the country to the ground yet, if Galway beat Cork or the Bank of Ireland executives get a change of heart and donate all their bonuses to charity. You see, I do read news occasionally!
You stay Classy, Ireland!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Does God really want to give me what I desire?
"Seek first his Kingdom and his Righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matt 6:33)
God wants to give me good gifts. I always when reading this verse read it wrong. I focus all my attention on the first part, the "seeking the kingdom and his righteousness" part and I guess I don't fully understand the "all these things part".
Do you ever feel that you should always be praying about the kingdom of God and his will and your being selfish when you pray about things you want? I certainly think that way but guess what, if we don't ask for things we want, we won't receive!
Psalm 37:4 says "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart" He wants to give us our desires, if we first put our trust and faith in Him. I always thought that this meant, the closer we get to know Gods character and nature (seeking him first) then His desires become our desires. Man, how wrong was I!! His desires are actually my desires now. He has put them there in the first place. This was so freeing when I received this revelation. I don't have to change my desires to appreciate his desires and slowly grow to love them. His desires and my desires are the exact same!!
How do we get these desires? Well God can't wait to give them to us because he loves giving good gifts so if we seek him out and his righteousness and make them our number 1 goal, well then all the rest he will grant us. In Matthew Jesus says "Oh you of little faith" just before the above passage and in Psalm 37 David tells us to "Trust in the Lord". I wonder does having faith and trusting have anything to do with receiving good gifts from God? Me thinks so!!
Man its so exciting. So can I encourage you readers to surrender every area of your life to him. Trust and have faith that he will bless you and grant you all your hearts desires.
God wants to give me good gifts. I always when reading this verse read it wrong. I focus all my attention on the first part, the "seeking the kingdom and his righteousness" part and I guess I don't fully understand the "all these things part".
Do you ever feel that you should always be praying about the kingdom of God and his will and your being selfish when you pray about things you want? I certainly think that way but guess what, if we don't ask for things we want, we won't receive!
Psalm 37:4 says "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart" He wants to give us our desires, if we first put our trust and faith in Him. I always thought that this meant, the closer we get to know Gods character and nature (seeking him first) then His desires become our desires. Man, how wrong was I!! His desires are actually my desires now. He has put them there in the first place. This was so freeing when I received this revelation. I don't have to change my desires to appreciate his desires and slowly grow to love them. His desires and my desires are the exact same!!
How do we get these desires? Well God can't wait to give them to us because he loves giving good gifts so if we seek him out and his righteousness and make them our number 1 goal, well then all the rest he will grant us. In Matthew Jesus says "Oh you of little faith" just before the above passage and in Psalm 37 David tells us to "Trust in the Lord". I wonder does having faith and trusting have anything to do with receiving good gifts from God? Me thinks so!!
Man its so exciting. So can I encourage you readers to surrender every area of your life to him. Trust and have faith that he will bless you and grant you all your hearts desires.
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