I was thinking about people who say "I don't have enough faith or trust to believe in God" or "How do you expect me to give my life over to someone I don't even know exists?" These people say: "Why would I put my life, trust and faith in someone I can't see? Sure I can 'Hear God's voice', sure I can 'See God's works' but how do I know these things are from God and not just my imagination or the works of people? How do I know God isn't just some made up 'Story' designed to make people feel safe, loved and secure?"
As I thought about these things, I thought of this: "People can go hop in a plane, they put their lives, trust, and faith in the pilot and his abilities to keep them safe and well. They can't see this pilot, they can hear his voice over the speakers, they can see his work, in that he is flying the plane. But how do they know for sure that there is a pilot? How do they know that it isn't all just some 'story' to make people feel safe?"
In this analogy what is the difference between God and the Pilot? I simply cannot see a difference!!! Next time someone asks why they should put faith in something they can't see, as in God, mention an analogy like this, it's not made to prove a point, it's not made to judge people, it is simply to get them thinking about what faith is and how much of it they really have!
God Bless~ Jazz =)
Monday 25 February 2013
Tuesday 19 February 2013
Potential
Potential.. as I sat there, the word wouldn't leave my mind! Potential, it echoed in my mind getting louder and louder.. Potential... Then I began thinking. What is Potential? "Adj: Having or showing the capacity to develop into something in the future.
Noun: Latent qualities or abilities that may be developed and lead to future success or usefulness"
Then I realised, potential is something people struggle with everyday, I personally have been struggled with it. The way people struggle with potential is they begin to think they have no potential, they think "I am worthless", "I have no future", "How could I ever change the world?", "How could I do anything for the good of mankind?" ect.. They think "I have no potential"
That is one of the biggest lies anyone could ever tell themselves! Everyone single person on earth has potential! Everyone has the chance to change the world, everyone is worth more then they will ever know! The way you grew up doesn't determine whether you have potential, what you look like doesn't determine whether you have potential, your grades at school don't determine whether you have potential.. In fact, you don't need to determine whether you have potential or not, because everyone has potential!!! God has a plan for you and if you are willing to live by his plan he can help you reach your highest potential! :)
Hope you Enjoy,
Jazz =)
Noun: Latent qualities or abilities that may be developed and lead to future success or usefulness"
Then I realised, potential is something people struggle with everyday, I personally have been struggled with it. The way people struggle with potential is they begin to think they have no potential, they think "I am worthless", "I have no future", "How could I ever change the world?", "How could I do anything for the good of mankind?" ect.. They think "I have no potential"
That is one of the biggest lies anyone could ever tell themselves! Everyone single person on earth has potential! Everyone has the chance to change the world, everyone is worth more then they will ever know! The way you grew up doesn't determine whether you have potential, what you look like doesn't determine whether you have potential, your grades at school don't determine whether you have potential.. In fact, you don't need to determine whether you have potential or not, because everyone has potential!!! God has a plan for you and if you are willing to live by his plan he can help you reach your highest potential! :)
Hope you Enjoy,
Jazz =)
Wednesday 13 February 2013
Favourite Christian Bands/songs
Hey all just for something a bit different, What are some of your favourite Christian bands/songs?? comment below!
Here are some of mine:
Here are some of mine:
- Francesca Battistelli: her song "Beautiful Beautiful" is one of my favourites
- Britt Nicole
- Hillsong/ Hillsong United
- Chris Tomlin
- Matt Redman
- Relient K
- Switchfoot
- Tenth Avenue North: "By your side" is a great song
- Jesus Culture
- Tim Hughes
There are heaps more I could add to the list but these are the first 10 that came to mind :P
Sunday 10 February 2013
God's love :)
As I sat there praying, I suddenly had the urge to sing, so without even really thinking I started singing:
"Savior I come
Quiet my soul remember
Redemptions hill
Where Your blood was spilled
For my ransom
Everything I once held dear
I count it all as lost
Lead me to the cross
Where Your love poured out
Bring me to my knees
Lord I lay me down
Rid me of myself
I belong to You
Lead me, lead me to the cross
You were as I
Tempted and trialed
You are
Te word became flesh
Bore my sin and death
Now you're risen"
I hadn't sung this song for over a year, I hadn't even heard it for ages! I don't even know how I knew the words.. But somehow during that time of fasting and prayer on the Monday at APJ, God put the words of that song on my heart.. As I sang it, God's love for us, for me, was really revealed to me! I mean God gave his ONLY son Jesus to DIE on the cross for OUR sins, for MY sins.. The perfect sinless man, payed the price for my sin! But why? Why would he pay such a high price for me? Simple but true answer: Because he Loves me!"
Something I have heard a fair bit recently is: "Why did God create us? Because he wants to share his love with us!" And that is so true! God didn't just make us to keep him company, to have dominion over the earth, or glorify him! He also made us so that he could love us!
#Reflection,
Jazz =)
"Savior I come
Quiet my soul remember
Redemptions hill
Where Your blood was spilled
For my ransom
Everything I once held dear
I count it all as lost
Lead me to the cross
Where Your love poured out
Bring me to my knees
Lord I lay me down
Rid me of myself
I belong to You
Lead me, lead me to the cross
You were as I
Tempted and trialed
You are
Te word became flesh
Bore my sin and death
Now you're risen"
I hadn't sung this song for over a year, I hadn't even heard it for ages! I don't even know how I knew the words.. But somehow during that time of fasting and prayer on the Monday at APJ, God put the words of that song on my heart.. As I sang it, God's love for us, for me, was really revealed to me! I mean God gave his ONLY son Jesus to DIE on the cross for OUR sins, for MY sins.. The perfect sinless man, payed the price for my sin! But why? Why would he pay such a high price for me? Simple but true answer: Because he Loves me!"
Something I have heard a fair bit recently is: "Why did God create us? Because he wants to share his love with us!" And that is so true! God didn't just make us to keep him company, to have dominion over the earth, or glorify him! He also made us so that he could love us!
#Reflection,
Jazz =)
Wednesday 6 February 2013
Randomness :P
OH MY GOSH!!!!! I just discovered the fact that you can make the text different colours on here.. :P I am so slow sometimes :P well I haven't actually done much blogging on the actual computer as of yet, most of its been on Mobile Phones.. I love different coloured text!!! :D :P
LOL ok ok, enough with the craziness!!! :D I just feel so happy at the moment and I can't explain why, or express the happiness... its like... During January while attending APJ-Sydney.. Everything suddenly clicked and now I understand God soooo much better!!! Its just simply amazing!! :D *I'm not saying I understand God completely or anything.. more like I have gone from totally not understanding him, to having a basic understanding of him* I hope that made sense :)
One day (the Monday) at APJ, I kinda had a facepalm moment where it was like "Duh!! See how good God is!? See how awesome he is?! See how he has always been here looking out for you and loving you even when you neglected him!?" And now I can see how he HAS always been there for me!!! Its a bit eye opening :)
Anyways this is all just really random!!! All I know is I love God, he is awesome, and he makes life soooo much more worth it!!!! :D
Lol, enjoy :P
Jazz =)
LOL ok ok, enough with the craziness!!! :D I just feel so happy at the moment and I can't explain why, or express the happiness... its like... During January while attending APJ-Sydney.. Everything suddenly clicked and now I understand God soooo much better!!! Its just simply amazing!! :D *I'm not saying I understand God completely or anything.. more like I have gone from totally not understanding him, to having a basic understanding of him* I hope that made sense :)
One day (the Monday) at APJ, I kinda had a facepalm moment where it was like "Duh!! See how good God is!? See how awesome he is?! See how he has always been here looking out for you and loving you even when you neglected him!?" And now I can see how he HAS always been there for me!!! Its a bit eye opening :)
Anyways this is all just really random!!! All I know is I love God, he is awesome, and he makes life soooo much more worth it!!!! :D
Lol, enjoy :P
Jazz =)
Sunday 3 February 2013
Some Thoughts!
As I filled in my Prayer Journal, I was forced to stop.. the deep realisation hit me.. I am So blessed!!! I am blessed to even be able to read and write, I am blessed to live in Australia where I am free to be a Christian, I am blessed to have been brought up in a Christian home, I am blessed to have a place to call home! I am blessed!
I realised just how much I take things for granted! I’ve talked about this before, how we take things, especially the simple things like water for granted! But I forget to mention giving thanks.. where is our thankfulness? How often do we thank God for that cup of water we just drank? How often do we thank God for the piece of Chocolate we just ate? I can honestly tell you that I quite simply DO NOT thank God for these things, I just use the fact that I have them for my own good! I seriously need to change that, it is a simple thing to do:
1: Start off by Thanking God EVERY time you eat or drink something! Get that? EVERY time! I’m not even joking, you will be amazed how thankful you become for food and drink!
2: Make a Thankfullness wall/book! A thankfullness wall can be a sheet of carboard paper stuck to your wall in your bedroom or anything like that! There are two main things I suggest you do with your thankfullness wall! The rest you should be able to figure out yourself!
A: Every morning when you wake up, write one thing you are thankfull for, one thing!
B: Whenever you feel discontent with something, counter that by thinking of one thing you are thankful for and write that down!!!
I realised how much I had been relying on ME not GOD! In everything I was looking for answers within myself, not trusting in God! As soon as I had changed that, as soon, as I had surrendered my life, my problems and my questions to God, I noticed/saw the answers to my prayers be revealed! And the key here is: Only two things changed! 1: I gave God control! 2: I started being thankfull for things and having a more optimistic attitude towards life, rather then being so pessimistic! Nothing else has changed, the amount of prayers answered hasn’t suddenly sky-rocketed, things haven’t suddenly gotten easier, its not like 2012 was a bad year, so now 2013 has to be amazing, because that’s not how it works!
I have reason to believe every year is as hard as the one before and after it, some things may affect us a bit more then others, but its not like God goes ‘Yep, I’m going to make you have a miserable life this year, so that you can have a happy one next year’ It is definitely all in our attitude towards God, towards other people and towards life!
I’m not saying that if we get that Thankful heart and give God control that things will be easy, but they will help so much! And I can’t stress that enough! When you take yourself out of the equation, it works so much better!
So in summary: I encourage you to give God control, make a thankfullness wall that you write something you are thankfull for on every morning and everytime you feel discontent! And make a Prayer Journal, write down your prayers and when you receive an answer to your prayer write it down also! And its hard I will admit it, the simple truth is that is is very hard to do these things and to stick by them, so don’t think its all going to be sunshine and lollipops, its going to be a difficult ride, but if you trust in God he will help you, no matter what!
I hope nothing I said was incorrect or anything, this is just what I was thinking about :) Thanks for reading!
Jazz =)
I realised just how much I take things for granted! I’ve talked about this before, how we take things, especially the simple things like water for granted! But I forget to mention giving thanks.. where is our thankfulness? How often do we thank God for that cup of water we just drank? How often do we thank God for the piece of Chocolate we just ate? I can honestly tell you that I quite simply DO NOT thank God for these things, I just use the fact that I have them for my own good! I seriously need to change that, it is a simple thing to do:
1: Start off by Thanking God EVERY time you eat or drink something! Get that? EVERY time! I’m not even joking, you will be amazed how thankful you become for food and drink!
2: Make a Thankfullness wall/book! A thankfullness wall can be a sheet of carboard paper stuck to your wall in your bedroom or anything like that! There are two main things I suggest you do with your thankfullness wall! The rest you should be able to figure out yourself!
A: Every morning when you wake up, write one thing you are thankfull for, one thing!
B: Whenever you feel discontent with something, counter that by thinking of one thing you are thankful for and write that down!!!
I realised how much I had been relying on ME not GOD! In everything I was looking for answers within myself, not trusting in God! As soon as I had changed that, as soon, as I had surrendered my life, my problems and my questions to God, I noticed/saw the answers to my prayers be revealed! And the key here is: Only two things changed! 1: I gave God control! 2: I started being thankfull for things and having a more optimistic attitude towards life, rather then being so pessimistic! Nothing else has changed, the amount of prayers answered hasn’t suddenly sky-rocketed, things haven’t suddenly gotten easier, its not like 2012 was a bad year, so now 2013 has to be amazing, because that’s not how it works!
I have reason to believe every year is as hard as the one before and after it, some things may affect us a bit more then others, but its not like God goes ‘Yep, I’m going to make you have a miserable life this year, so that you can have a happy one next year’ It is definitely all in our attitude towards God, towards other people and towards life!
I’m not saying that if we get that Thankful heart and give God control that things will be easy, but they will help so much! And I can’t stress that enough! When you take yourself out of the equation, it works so much better!
So in summary: I encourage you to give God control, make a thankfullness wall that you write something you are thankfull for on every morning and everytime you feel discontent! And make a Prayer Journal, write down your prayers and when you receive an answer to your prayer write it down also! And its hard I will admit it, the simple truth is that is is very hard to do these things and to stick by them, so don’t think its all going to be sunshine and lollipops, its going to be a difficult ride, but if you trust in God he will help you, no matter what!
I hope nothing I said was incorrect or anything, this is just what I was thinking about :) Thanks for reading!
Jazz =)
Saturday 2 February 2013
Mentors
At 'A Passion For Jesus- Sydney' One thing we got told was 'You should get a mentor' But what is a Mentor? I guess for me personally a mentor is:
1: Someone older then me, even if it is only by a year or so!
2: The same sex as you, if you are a female get a female Mentor, If you are male get a male mentor!
3: Further rooted in their faith then you
4: Someone who has proved they are trustworthy to you and can relate to you and your feelings
5: Someone God has chosen for you!! This is a big one!!! Don't go and choosing your own mentor, ask God for guidance and give it over to him! He knows better then anyone who the right person to be your mentor is!!!
Why should we get a Mentor? What are the advantages to having a Mentor? Again in my personal opinion, we should have a Mentor:
1: So we have someone to share things with, it helps us to keep open and stop any hidden sin entering our hearts!
2: So we have someone who can tell us when we are going wrong and we will know they are saying this in our best interests, not to hurt us!
3: To help us grow in our faith, because they will share their wisdom/knowledge of God with us!
4: We can ask them about their past experiences and learn from their mistakes/trials!
5: Because a good mentor will encourage us, even when we are feeling at our lowest!
Some guidelines we might need to follow with Mentors:
1: Don't put your complete trust/faith in them, they aren't God!
2: Don't forget they are human too, they have their own trials to go through, they make their own mistakes and sometimes they just may not be up to giving you all their support!
3: Don't pressure them with your burdens, this will just bring them down! Instead of just telling them whats wrong and dumping it on their shoulders, help them, with God, sort out your issues, after all they are your problems!!!
4: Pray for your mentor!!! Like I said, they have issues too!
I think that's about it from me! If anyone else has any thoughts or disagrees with anything I said, I'd love to hear back from you in the comments below!
Jazz! =)
1: Someone older then me, even if it is only by a year or so!
2: The same sex as you, if you are a female get a female Mentor, If you are male get a male mentor!
3: Further rooted in their faith then you
4: Someone who has proved they are trustworthy to you and can relate to you and your feelings
5: Someone God has chosen for you!! This is a big one!!! Don't go and choosing your own mentor, ask God for guidance and give it over to him! He knows better then anyone who the right person to be your mentor is!!!
Why should we get a Mentor? What are the advantages to having a Mentor? Again in my personal opinion, we should have a Mentor:
1: So we have someone to share things with, it helps us to keep open and stop any hidden sin entering our hearts!
2: So we have someone who can tell us when we are going wrong and we will know they are saying this in our best interests, not to hurt us!
3: To help us grow in our faith, because they will share their wisdom/knowledge of God with us!
4: We can ask them about their past experiences and learn from their mistakes/trials!
5: Because a good mentor will encourage us, even when we are feeling at our lowest!
Some guidelines we might need to follow with Mentors:
1: Don't put your complete trust/faith in them, they aren't God!
2: Don't forget they are human too, they have their own trials to go through, they make their own mistakes and sometimes they just may not be up to giving you all their support!
3: Don't pressure them with your burdens, this will just bring them down! Instead of just telling them whats wrong and dumping it on their shoulders, help them, with God, sort out your issues, after all they are your problems!!!
4: Pray for your mentor!!! Like I said, they have issues too!
I think that's about it from me! If anyone else has any thoughts or disagrees with anything I said, I'd love to hear back from you in the comments below!
Jazz! =)
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