Melbourne Half Marathon and Survival Mode

Well I did the Melbourne half marathon yesterday, 21.1 km which trekked from the inner city up to albert park and around about, then back to the city and finished up with a lap of the MCG. Being my first run of this type, I was a little unsure of how to approach it and how I would go. In the end I finished it successfully and while I feel I could have done better if I prepared differently,  I am still happy with the outcome....even though noone was at the finish line cheering for me =P

As I reflect back on the run, there are elements that I feel I would have approached differently. In some ways I feel that for the second half of the run I was in survival mode, just looking to reach the end anyway I could. I wasnt enjoying the run as much as the first half and this made it all the more painful.

The interesting thing about this is that in some ways it relates to what was preached at church on Saturday night. Pastor David was talking about how we need to stop living in survival mode and stepping out into the blessings of God, grabbing the promises that God has made for us. We dont need to live a life where we are only just getting by. We should be living lives that are overflowing with the blessings of God. But sometimes we are just too focused on just getting by, just surviving, that we miss the bigger picture.

In John 10:10 we hear Jesus say the following:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

We must never forget what Jesus is saying here. We are to have life to the full, not half way, not partial, but to the full! We must not just look at what we need to get through another day. For we all have the blessings of God on our lives, for He wants to bless us in far more ways than we could ever imagine, just as it says in Ephesians 3:20 -

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,

 So when I reflect on this now, I know that next time, and there definitely will be a next time, next time I do a run of this type, I will just relax and enjoy the ride more...and i know that in the end I will ultimately enjoy it much more and hopefully get a better time while I am at it!

It is good to praise the LORD
    and make music to your name, O Most High,

to proclaim your love in the morning
    and your faithfulness at night,

to the music of the ten-stringed lyre
    and the melody of the harp.

For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD;
    I sing for joy at the works of your hands.

How great are your works, O LORD,
    how profound your thoughts!

(Psalm 92:1-5)

Doing Good Deeds

Yeah I know..."Doing Good Deeds" is such a simplistic topic...most people wont even give it a second read...but I encourage you to read on as I feel that there will be something valuable for everyone in this piece...I know you might think that there are more interesting things to do such as play Facebook...but give it a chance...and if you still dont like it after you finish reading...well bad luck =P

When we give our lives to Christ, we are transformed, we are a new being. Through this transformation we become more Christ-like and take on his characteristics...which include doing good unto others. While I trust that you all would at some point do good deeds for others in different forms, but what heart do you do it with? What about when you are in a bad mood and things arent going well for you? Do you still feel the passion to do good deeds for others?

God has a purpose for our lives, this is something I have talked about in the past. We are called to walk with Him, but this is not the extent of our calling. It is not God's desire that we spend our time within the walls of the church, but instead its His purpose that we also work with Him! When we bring the two elements of WALKING and WORKING together, its then that our lives begin to get exciting. This is evident in Matthew 4:19 where Jesus calls Simon Peter to follow Him -

"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."

He didnt just tell Peter to walk with him, but rather He called Peter to be a worker for the Kingdom of God.

Another piece of scripture which I really like on this topic is 1 Peter 2:9-15 - 

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.

One of the key things that always stands out to me when reading this is the point that we the chosen people and a people belonging to God! How awesome is that...we are the chosen people! Therefore despite the battles and negative influences we face in our daily lives, we are encouraged to continue doing good deeds which ultimately glorify God.

So we know that we were created for a purpose, which is to do good things, sowing seeds for the kingdom of God in the world.

One of the other encouraging elements of this is that doing good deeds is for anyone who has a heart who wants to make a difference. When Jesus came down from Heaven, He made a difference in this world, and as we are continually transformed in character to be more and more like Christ, we too need to possess a heart that desires to make a difference in this fallen world! God has given us the skills and spiritual gifts which are going to make a difference in the lives of others around us, and it is when we are out there making a difference that the world will know that we care from our works and actions. For we must remember that nothing we do for the Lord is ever pointless, as it says in 1 Corinthians 15:58 -

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Another example from the Bible that always held significant meaning for me was Acts 3:1-10 where it tells of when Peter Heals the Crippled Beggar. Peter were just going about their everyday, normal life, when they were confronted with the opportunity to do a good deed, to make a difference in the world.

One of the reservations people can have when it comes to doing good deeds is the feeling that it will cost too much. It is true that good deeds will cost something, but they will not cost us everything. For God is only asking that we give back what we have received from Him. We are not called to give everything up, just as it states in 1 Corinthians 16:2 -

On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.

It is true that times we will feel overwhelmed thinking that we cannot meet all the needs around us, but God doesn't call us to meet every need, but instead just what we are capable of.

Going back to the example earlier from Acts 3, Peter and John didn't feel overwhelmed when they were confronted by the crippled beggar. They didn't have gold or silver to give him. But they gave him what he was truly in need of, they gave him faith, an encounter with God, a supernatural change in his life! They had something in their lives which the beggar needed.

Sometimes we need to stop and think about - what do we have in our lives that we can sow into someone else life?

Finally, good deeds start right where we are today! Some people automatically relate doing good deeds with going far away on mission. But great works begin at home,  a perfect example is Bridge Church reaching out to the local public housing estate. Opportunities to do good deeds exist right where we are now, in our everyday lives. But the important thing is we recognize these opportunities when they come. This highlights the significance of being sensitive to when the Lord speaks to us, prompting us in our situations.  The Holy Spirit will prompt us, the Holy Spirit wants to give us the opportunities to demonstrate the goodness of God in our everyday lives, in practical circumstances as we walk open to God.

Therefore we just need to identify the needs before us and do what we can, they may not be major events, but they are all significant before God. This is very evident in one of the most popular events in the Bible, the feeding of the 5000. It can be read in John 6:1-14, where we see Jesus feeds 5000 with very little. Many times we only focus on the great miracle that Jesus performed, but we neglect to identify one important element. It was a small boy playing His small part that ultimately led to this great miracle. A small thing was turned into such a big thing. A good deed was turned into a God deed. Our good deeds, our good works, it is when we play our small part that we realise we are all part of Gods great BIG plan!

It starts with ordinary people doing ordinary things, God, an extraordinary God turns it into an amazing thing!

Every good work done in faith will have a supernatural result!

Always remember that when you are serving, its all for God's glory. Always give God the praise, for we have nothing except from our Lord and Savior.

Random update for October

Okay I think I do one of my updates...whats been going on and whats ahead!

Since I got back from Canada a few weeks ago...I have been straight back to work, back hitting the gym and the likes. Life is back to normal now after an enjoyable time overseas, and despite the fact that it was fun being away...there is nothing like being back home amongst friends and family!

So what has happened lately?

Well there was the Carlton Best & Fairest! Last Tuesday night at Crown's Palladium! A really awesome night where we got to see Juddy take out the John Nicholls medal for the 3rd year in a row, although Jordan Russell put in a very solid effort and was leading for a large majority of the night...but it was always going to be a hard task beating our courageous leader and now DUAL Brownlow medalist!!

There were an array of other awards given out on the night and the food was delicious! The night wrapped up with the chance to mingle with the players...which is basically a chance to take photos with whoever you can grab a hold of...as can be seen in the photos below.

I have also been in solid training for the Melbourne Marathon which is on this Sunday. I am going to attempt the Half Marathon which is 21.1 km. Being my first marathon...its definitely going to be an awesome experience...just need to make sure Im well prepared come Sunday morning...no late night drinking sessions on Saturday =) The course concludes with a lap around the MCG...although I'm sure by that stage I will be totally spent and just want to finish!

Hmmm...what else...well I have been working solidly in the gym...although thats no real surprise! Currently sitting at 85kg...will be looking to do the body fat % test in the coming weeks...will be very interested to see how I measure up. Still doing my GVT program and loving it...! Although will probably mix it up in the coming month and move onto a new program.

Apart from that...life is pretty normal...no more footy now till next year...unfortunately.

Well that is all from me...until next time I think of something moderately interesting to write about...

Second Chance

Watching the AFL Grand Final and Collingwood are running rampant again like early last week. It will be interesting to see if they can hold on unlike last week where missed chances and tired legs almost cost them the game. But at half time with the lead they have...its hard to see the Saints coming back...

For some players, like Cloke and Milne, today is a chance for redemption, a second chance. Had Travis Cloke slotted even one of his two easy chances late in the first half...we wouldnt be hear watching the Grand Final replay. In some ways they can count themselves lucky, despite the mistakes they made, they have a second chance to make things right.

But this is similar to life in general...there are going to be times during our life where we make mistakes and wish that we could go back and do it again...replay the event to make things right. But as we know...things dont always work out the way we want. But worse than the mistakes are those feelings of regret that we live with after the event...and depending on how we move forward, they can ultimately bind us and have a severe impact on our future.

One of the key things that we learn we first come to Christ is the good news of the redemption we have when we are born again, when we begin living for our Lord. Psalm 130:7 makes reference to this -

put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.

No matter what we have done in our past, no matter how many mistakes we have made in our past, we can look forward with the confidence that our Lord loves us unconditionally and when we repent of our sins. When we say to God with a sincere heart that we no longer want to live that way, we have the confidence that we are forgiven. It is said well in 1 John 1:9 where it states -

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

But I know how people can percieve this - "this is all idealistic...in reality its not always easy to move on from some mistakes?" This is a valid point, and before you fully understand the love of Christ, its hard to believe that we can be fully forgiven of our sin if we pray to God for repentance. But thats the thing about the love of our amazing Father in Heaven! I mean...simply look at the fact that He gave his only son for us, so that we could enter heaven, as we all know from that famous verse John 3:16 -

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 

But just because we have the promise of forgiveness, that doesnt give us the excuse to continue sinning. For we have not only been forgiven and have a second chance, we are no longer bound by the sin and we have the opportunity to move forward without the weight of sin on our life. This is said well in Acts 3:19 -

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord

To close, on a personal note, when I do find myself in a position of regret, when I reflect on something and wish that things had panned out different...I always look at things with the perspective that - despite the negatives that have gone on in my past, I am happy in the place Im at now. The people I have around me, close to me, the life that I have...I thank God for all things and praise Him for it.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 

(Ephesians 1:7)

Frustration and Praise

The past couple days have been full of frustration for me. I feel that things are all going along the hard road and Im feeling run down because of it. In my prayers I have cried out to God that things would run more smoothly, that doors of opportunity would open up, but I still feel frustrated that things are not going to plan.

But this is the time I should be praising the Lord...not feeling frustrated by my circumstances. For it is in my weaknesses that God's amazing love and power is made evident through my life. All I need to do is trust Him. For it says in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 -

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

But why is it then I become distracted and frustrated? After spending some time praying over the situations, I reflected over the point that God doesn't put me through anything without a reason and He will never test me beyond my limits, as is referred to in 1 Corinthians 10:13 -

The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

There are times in life where God is wanting us to develop in a certain area, maturing certain aspects of our character. It is through difficult times that we mature the most in my opinion. In 1 Peter 1:7 it talk about how our faith is tested in times of hardship, like Gold being purified by fire -

These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

So the more I spend time reflecting on these verses, the more my frustration is turned around into praise! While to some this may sound naive and unrealistic, but when you have seen the amazing works God has done in your own life, how through times of difficulty have concluded with miracles, it is impossible not to praise the Lord, for we have the promise that He will never abandon us, He hears our prayers! It highlights this in Philippians 4:6 -

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Why should we do this? Because the Lord hears our prayers and answers our prayers! 1 John 3:22 makes mention of this -

Whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.

Therefore...despite what our emotions tell us, how they make us feel...we need to continually rejoice in times of difficulty, as it is during these times that the real power of God is made evident in our lives. And it is ultimately through these trials that we develop our character into that which resembles our Lord and Savior!