bubbles in a bottle

wow,

   feels like i haven't been on here for ages, i've missed it quite alot. Is that sad?
anyway, the blog today is about bubbles in a bottle. Ever heard of anger being referred to a bottle of fizzy being shaken up and finally coming to a point that when someone begins to release the anger, it all comes out. Anger is just like this, it builds up and builds up despite the fact we may believe we've let it go and moved on but over a lifetime it can stir within us till we break.

over the past few months, Anger is just one of the many emotions I've felt and I've learnt that the best way to deal with anger is to release it when it comes and deal with it. In particular, we tend to feel anger towards other people who have betrayed us or hurt us in some way. God is a forgiving God.

One thing i've learnt about anger towards other people is to recognise that it can only be released through forgiveness, if we never learnt to forgive our hearts would become cold and this would affect our other relationships in the future. Forgiving is hard but it's a release of emotions that stop us damaging ourselves in the future.

'Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us'

 As Jesus forgives us for the wrong things we do daily, we should also forgive others. This is what Jesus calls us to do in order for us to love.

"Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud; love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs; love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. love never gives up; and its faith, hope, and patience never fail."

 "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."

love me.  



be high and lifted up

it's a new beginning. 

summer's now ended and blimey has it gone fast, recently I've been reflecting on what God has taught me over the summer and to be honest, i just wouldn't be able to write it all down but he's opened my eyes up to alot. 


my passion for him is slowly growing, it's almost like i'm a firework, i literally cannot wait to burst out into the world and show God's awesome beauty and power to everyone. 


I start a new school tommorow and i'm so nervous it's crazy but after alot of prayer my nerves have been settled and God has shown me a purpose. I've always been the kind of person who doesn't see the point in going to sixth form because i've got to a time in my life where I hate being stuck in the system. It just feels like I could be doing something alot more worthwhile in the world! I'm guessing some of you feel like that? If i could, i'd jump on a plane right now and start helping the world, or i'd start organising mission teams in the community. Sometimes I forget that by going to school i'm a missionary. 


God's been giving me a reality check recently and he's taught me alot about my attitude towards school and in the bible it says that whatever we do on earth should be worked at with all our heart as if we were working for the Lord. This has stirred up within me to work as hard as possible in everything I do at school, obviously that won't last for long but i'm just gonna pray God keeps putting this situation on my heart. 


This blog's called 'be high and lifted up' for a very significant reason. I've been listening to it for about 20 minutes now over and over again, the song almost sends me into a trance so i have to listen to it a few more times to really dwell on the words. 


'be high and lifted up, be high and lifted up jesus, it's you we glorify, it's you we're lifting high, your name be glorified, HALLELUJAH'. 


the words it's you we glorify are extremely powerful words and we can learn alot from them. God's been placing this song on my heart for a while now, everytime i'm doing something and God isn't in the centre of it, he almost nudges me and says 'hey, wait a second' and then plays this song in my head constantly. it sounds hilarious but it's so true. 


In whatever we do, we should be glorifying God. Even if we feel so tired, fed up, useless and have no drive or passion for anything, GLORIFY GOD IN WHATEVER YOU DO. 


i'll talk about this more on my next post/blog/whatever you wanna call it but i'm so tired and i would quite like to not have bags under my eyes for the first day of school, i probably wouldn't make the best impression!

  love me. 

losing myself in bringing you praise.

over the past few years, i've learnt that following God is probably one of the toughest things we face each day. I remember when i first became a christian at the age of 11. I was quite young then and I have to say I didn't understand anything. The idea of following God appealed to me because it looked like the easiest way of life, you get to live for like 60-70 years, die and then get to live for eternity in heaven, WHY WOULDN'T THAT APPEAL TO AN 11 YEAR OLD?

Since then, i've learnt alot about God and what being in a relationship with him is like and what it costs. Understanding how my relationship with God would grow happened through a worship song. The song was 'from the inside out', if you've never listened to it before you're seriously missing out. I believe for me it sums up alot about what we should be saying everyday of our lives.

"My heart and my soul, I give You control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
Let justice and praise, become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

Your will above all else, my purpose remains
The art of losing myself in bringing you praise

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame."

The second verse I believe is so powerful as it talks about losing ourselves in bringing him praise and putting his will above ours. How can we possibly live for God if our will comes first. As the song says, we need to let God consume us from the inside out, this means listening to what God has to say for our lives. This doesn't mean we have to leave behind our passions and dreams, God wants to use our passions and dreams but he wants to use them according to his will, not our own.

Sometimes this thought can be scary because most of the time I'm unsure of what God's will is for my life. I find it hard to give God my gifts and abilities, sometimes I worry God will use them out of my comfort zone, I'm scared he won't use them in the way that I want him to.

Jeremiah 29v11 -

"For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."

This verse challenges me everyday to trust that God has a plan for my life and to grow in a relationship with him involves me giving myself to him. All my hopes, desires, thoughts, dreams, passions, worries, anxieties. 

The chorus of Matt Redman's new song 'Here for you' is amazing and sums up some of what I want to be shouting every day.

"To You our hearts are open
Nothing here is hidden
You are our one desire
You alone are holy
Only You are worthy
God, let Your fire fall down

Let our shout be Your anthem
Your renown fill the skies
We are here for You, we are here for You"

If you haven't bought his new album 10,000 reasons you're seriously missing out on some insane music.

love me.

 

blame it on the aaaaalcohol.

before i explain the title of this blog, i'm a christian and believe that as christian's we should use our bodies as a blessing to others, keeping it holy and clean for the use of God. In 1Corinthians 6v12-20, it talks about our bodies being God's temple and something that belongs to God, after all he did create us and he bought us through his precious blood. 


so one thing I've struggled with recently is the need to drink alcohol when socializing with my friends whether they're christian or not. In today's society, drinking alcohol has become a normal thing for teenagers and as years go by, the average age a child begins drinking gets lower and lower. I've always been told I'm not allowed to drink till i'm 18, the legal age and to be honest i've never really realised why i've been told this till a couple of months ago.


i've never felt a significant pressure to conform to society and drink but i have felt the pressure to give into what i believe. Various thoughts go through my head when i'm at a party and usually i give in and have a drink. I don't believe there is anything wrong with having a drink but as a christian i believe drinking can do alot of damage to how you present yourself and how you keep your body holy and sacred for God. 


every time i'm at a party I see girls thinking that drinking will help them and drinking will enable guys to see them differently. every time I see this, it makes me angry that girls think that alcohol is the only way for them to achieve attention. After seeing girls drink themselves to the point where they can no longer walk, think straight or act wisely, i've come to a conclusion. 


as Christians, i believe it's important we don't conform to our society of under age drinking. when we're at a party, how can we possibly stand out as revolutionary young adults if we conform to the usual human being going to a party, having a drink and saying things you normally wouldn't say unless you were under the influence of alcohol. As the next generation, i believe God calls us to stand out, so much so that people ask why we're not following the crowd. Not drinking allows people to ask questions and look deeper into why we're so different. 


God calls us to live a life that doesn't please people but pleases God. How can we be pleasing to God if we drink in order to bring pleasure to ourselves and to other people we're trying to catch the attention of. 


As I said, i'm not saying alcohol is bad, i'm saying that as the new generation of young christians, we need to stand out in a society where going against the crowd is rare. It's a challenge we'll face plenty of times in the future as we pursue our careers in university and when we move on in the world. So I challenge you. Can you be a revolution in your town? You can be a part of a revolution, all it requires is to recognise the fact that God doesn't call us to please people but to please God by using our bodies as a temple, holy and pleasing to God.

^"12Some of you say, "We can do anything we want to." But I tell you that not everything is good for us. So I refuse to let anything have power over me. ¹³You also say, "Food is meant for our bodies, and our bodies are meant for food." But I tell you that God will destroy them both. We are not supposed to do indecent things with our bodies. We are to use them for the Lord who is in charge of our bodies. ¹⁴God will raise us from death by the same power that he used when he raised our Lord to life.
    ¹⁵Don't you know that your bodies are part of the body of Christ? Is it right for me to join part of the body of Christ to a prostitute? No, it isn't! ¹⁶Don't you know that a man who does that becomes part of her body? The Scriptures say, "The two of them will be like one person." ¹⁷But anyone who is joined to the Lord is one in spirit with him." 1Corinthians 6.

             
                              love me.

listening.

i thought I'd write a blog about something I've learnt quite recently.

it sounds weird to write about something so simple as listening. we're told quite frequently every day to listen to instructions or we're naturally expected to listen. The reason for writing a blog about it is because it's become a usual topic in my conversations with my parents. 


i believe it's important we listen to what people say and take it in board even though we may feel like it's irrelevant to us. for example, i wish i'd listened to those older than me in education and done my coursework as soon as i'd recieved it, then it wouldn't catch up on me. I wish i'd listened to those who told me to chase my dreams as fast as I could. I wish i'd listened to those who told me that when you eat a chocolate gateau to yourself it usually catches up on you. it sounds funny but it's one big regret LOL. 


so all i'm trying to say is LISTEN. no matter if you feel like the advice is completely irrelevant to you write now, it will come in handy in the future when you endure new challenges as you grow. 


you'll have to get used to my random blogs, it's just a piece of myself that i can't contain and that has to be expressed, whether it's viewed twice or 20 times a day. 


what did I say? LISTEN.

love me

i'm a blog virgin.

i've just decided to begin blogging, when a thought pops into my head, i tend to expand on it and end up writing a good few pages. So instead of keeping my thoughts to myself i've begun to blog so others can read my thoughts. 


these blogs won't reveal much about my personality but will show my thoughts and how a tiny thought can develop into a belief. 


i'm pretty excited for my future in blogging, basically it goes from here upwards. 

love me.