A Heart Untroubled

This week at our bible study, we continued in our series on worship , and one of the questions was "What hinders you from fully entering into worship?" We discussed it in small groups and then came back together to feedback. There were a variety of answers, including things like not liking the songs or style of worship in a church setting, being embarrassed in front of others or not feeling like it, but one theme kept recurring, whether for personal moments of worship, or corporately, every single group reported that the biggest hindrance to fully engaging in worship was about being distracted . I want to think about that.  In Luke 10:38-42 (NLT) we read "... Martha welcomed him (Jesus)  into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her

If someone came to you and offered you a cheque for £10 million.   How you felt about that would depend on the character of the person giving you the cheque.   If they were constantly in debt, your first thought might be "Is the cheque going to bounce?"   If the person was a con-artist, you might think it was a scam.  If the person was a bit loopy, you might think it was kind , but was a bit unrealistic. If they were truthful, honest and generous you might begin to be quietly optimistic. If they were all that and affluent and you knew they had the money, you would get excited and thankful, even before the cheque had cleared.  One of the reasons Christian don't get excited about the promises of God (healing, provision, acceptance, deliverance, protection etc) is because we don't really KNOW the character of God!   In Hebrews 11 (17-19 NLT) is says " It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had

All over the world I've meet Christians who seem to act as though what they do Monday to Saturday doesn't really have any affect on life.  They go to a church on Sunday and join in with the worship, listen to the sermon and then go home, and their 'faith' gets put back in a box for the week.  They aren't bad people, but they haven't let the word, transform their faith (faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God). What we do Monday - Saturday matters.  The verse for this week (Mark 11:23) talks about a believer shall HAVE WHATEVER HE SAYS.    We know that we don't take any verse in isolation, but the word teaches that we shall reap what we sow.    The Lords prayer speaks of ' daily bread '.  Luke 9:23 also tells us we are to take up our cross daily .  Our walk with God is a day by day deal (sometimes even minute by minute to be fair).   What we do day to day is significant. We can't go to church one day per week and h

As I was reading in my quiet time this week, this verse jumped out at me. (Don't you think it's amazing how you can read passages over and over, and yet sometimes it's like you've never seen it before?) " Faith empowers us to see that the universe was created and beautifully coordinated by the power of God's words!  He spoke and the invisible realm gave birth to all that is seen ".  Heb 11:3 (TPT) It jumped out at me, because it is FAITH that empowers us to believe the account of creation! Without faith, we can come to all sorts of other conclusions. This is not just true of creation, but of other things too. Hebrews 4:2 (KJV Strong's) For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. Even God's word,  when it's not mixed with faith will result in nothing. Without faith it is impossible to please God.  Faith is the key.  Faith is w

My Father's House (Lusaka) School, Zambia  I'm back after my 2 weeks away on a mission trip to Zambia.  I apologize for the missing blogs, but electricity and internet were intermittent, and our itinerary was full.  We had an amazing trip.  Personally, I overcome a lot of challenges, but God is faithful, and the experience was fantastic. While we were there, we stayed mostly with our friends in Lusaka, but for 3 days we went to a village called Mkushi about 7 hour from the city.   Mkushi has no electricity and no running water.   The place we slept in had no real floor (just the ground) and no toilet (a hole in the ground). When we met the children, we gave them a football. Their smiles lit up their little faces, and they had an immediate impromptu game with John. There were many instances like this during our trip, and it reminded me of when Paul the Apostle wrote: (Philippians 4:11 NKJV) " Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever stat