A Heart Untroubled

In this day and age, we are all aware of the problems and stresses that occur when our identity gets stolen and our information is used to benefit someone else at our unauthorized expense! However, today I see that many Christians are victims of a different kind of identity theft.  Around the world Christians don't realize that someone has taken their true identity and left them with a lot of negative consequences, and they simply carry on living like that. John 10:10 says The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.    Satan has been the original identity thief since the Garden of Eden!   When the serpent appeared to Eve and suggested that she really could eat the fruit, he said  “ God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God , knowing both good and ev il.” (Gen 3:5) He challenged her identity, but in chapter 1:26, God said he was going to make man i n his image ! Eve was already like God, but satan tricked her out of

This is my first blog from the UK.  I am very excited about this next step in our journey. I've lived in 3 countries, travelled to many others, and been in Christian ministry for many years. One thing (though not the only thing by any means) that all people seem to have in common is the fact that nobody really likes change! It seems to me that for some reason we naturally gravitate towards routine and the familiar, and yet, change is all to constant in our lives! There's a lot that I've learned in the last 10 years with all the changes that we've experienced, and I am working towards find a way to embrace, and even love, change! I think God's view on 'change' is somewhat different to ours.  As far as God is concerned He never changes. He remains the constant, regardless of what goes on outside of Him. In this way, change never phases God.  We are made in His image and so I think that we are made to behave that way also; to be so secure in our ide

This week as we were running around Toronto finishing up the last errands in preparation for our move back to the UK, we were listening to the radio.    The speaker was talking about how, when we were kids, we used to have an infallible system to find out if someone liked us!!  It seems as though this system may have transcended cultures, as I definitely remember it! He was talking about the passing on of notes!! Do you like me? Yes ✓ No And you really hoped it came back like that! Did you ever send or receive one? I don't remember if I ever got one, but I certainly remember being the delivery person for one of my friends!! Wouldn't it be great if we could sometimes pass a note to God and ask him. " Do you love me? " I used to wonder that sometimes.  Did he really love ME.  Did he want to be around me?   Sometimes, I just didn't FEEL like He did. Since that time thankfully, I've realized that God knew what we were like, and so he gave us som

Over the years, I've spent a lot of time being concerned about whether I was "in the will of God" or not. Decisions would come up and I would mull over the options, and wonder which option was God's will.  I would pray and ask God for 'a word' and I would fret about getting it wrong.  My heart was sincere, but I was wrong to think like that!  I was reading in the Word in Acts 16.  Paul was going around and preaching, but in verse 7 it says " After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them . " Paul had PLANNED to go somewhere and THEN the Spirit stopped him.  HE PLANNED IT...  I suddenly realized that he hadn't fasted and prayed and sought the will of God to make that plan. He just made it, and went to execute the plan, and then Spirit stopped him.  Paul then readjusted his plan. I saw that most of the time we live our lives as we're sitting at a traffic light that is red .  We stop

If I was to falsely tell you that your house had burned down, how you respond would largely depend on what you think about my words,  even though it wasn't a factual statement .   If you thought I was serious you would be distraught; if you thought I was joking you might laugh; if you thought I was a liar, you might be angry.  There could be a whole gambit of emotions that you could express, all dependant on what you think of what has been said, but not based on truth because it wasn't real.  Your emotions are not always based on the facts, but upon a perception. Perceptions and thoughts are easily swayed, changing even moment to moment some days. This is the trouble with emotions!  Emotions themselves are not bad, but they are not concrete or certain.  They follow what we think. When we rely on our emotions, we're going to be lead astray because they are not always based on truth. I believe that God designed us with the capacity to experience emotions; the