What are you called to do?

As I prepare for this weeks cell group, I though I would revisit what was discussed at church last weekend. I find the topic that was spoken on being one which is practical to revisit at times. The topic in question is that of finding God's calling upon your life. It is said time and time again, but none of us have been put on this Earth for no reason. We all have a purpose, a reason for being here, goals that are set before us. But sometimes we may feel that we are unable to reach those goals, or that we are not equipped appropriately to face the battles that we are confronted with. But there is good news for anyone who is struggling with this...

Two years ago marked the final season of Brendan Fevola at Carlton. This guy was a freak when it came to kicking goals...whether he was 60m out on the boundary or laying on the ground with one leg free...he had an uncanny skill for finding the goals. He had an amazing set shot...and when he was switched on...he would excite the Blues faithful! But ultimately he got himself into trouble, gambling and alcohol were problems for him, and in the end he was sacked from the Blues. He had amazing talent...but he wasted it.

We are all blessed by God with natural and spiritual gifts. Just like no two people are the same, no two people are blessed with exactly the same gifts. But God doesnt give us these gifts for no reason, as with all things God does...there is a purpose. But beyond giving us these gifts for a purpose, God enjoys watching us discover and experience the gifts we receive. But unless we are moving in the the direction God is calling us, we are not able to make a difference around us with the gifts that we are blessed with.

Some people may ask the question what gifts have I been given or what is my purpose. I guess to answer these questions, you must look at 4 more important questions first.

1. What am I good at?
2. What am I passionate about?
3. What do I enjoy?
4. What is it that I am doing now with the gifts that God has given me?

 The final question cannot be answered until the first 3 have been answered first. It is then that you will start to see what God has given you, where your heart lies and what are your strengths and weaknesses.

In Matthew 25:14-28 we hear the parable of the talents. This is a perfect analogy for this topic of discussion. Here were three men given different talents, and we see how they used them differently based on different factors. Basically you can summarise it by saying that the attitude affected what they did and their concept of the master affected their attitude.

We need to acknowledge that there is no reason to be afraid of making mistakes with our heavenly father, for none of us are perfect and we are all bound to fall at times during our journey. For as mentioned earlier, God enjoys watching us discover our gifts, learn how to use them effectively and ultimately enjoy our talents. So how do we learn to use our gifts and talents that we receive from God?

Firstly we must accept responsibility for what God has placed in our lives. God has not called us to be survivors or live with a survival mentality. We are called to live bold and empowered lives, we are to rise up and spread the blessings of God. But if we just kick back and play it safe, how can any of that be achieved? We will not grow and ultimately we will be breaking the heart of God. You can liken it to if you were to give your best friend a gift, and they took that gift...looked at it...and then just put it to the side...neglected it...and never got to experience the joy that it could have brought their life.

In the parable, we see the wise servants had a sense of urgency, they wanted to bring profit to their master immediately. This is the same approach that God calls us to possess and this attitude brings joy and excitement to God's heart. But God doesnt select the people who appear to be the best choice, God enjoys taking the people that others deem hopeless and have given up on, and using these people for great things. Throughout the Bible there are examples of ordinary people doing extraordinary things through his power and grace.

A year and a half ago, I injured my shoulder. At first I was unsure what was the problem, but when I was in the gym I seriously struggled to do almost any exercise. An issue with one part caused the whole body to suffer. You could say that one part of my body was not functioning to its potential. This is same in God's family, the body of Christ. If one of us doesnt function to our potential, the whole body suffers. This is highlighted in 1 Corinthians 12:20-23 where we read there are many parts, but one body. We are to work together for the glory of God.

We need to continually position ourselves where we can gain wisdom and encouragement from one another. This is shown in 2 Timothy 1, where Paul writes to Timothy to remind him that he is being prayed for. He encourages Timothy to use his great gifts to the full potential. This is the same message for you and I today...dont live under the radar. Rise up and put the gifts to work for God's glory. Start exercising those gifts that you have been given, for we need to possess the passion to use our gifts!

It is when we say yes and put our gifts to work that we have the opportunity for our talents to make a bigger difference and shine more and more.

For it is our willingness that releases our ability to fulfill the calling of God on our lives!

Hearing from God

Over the past few months I have had to exercise discernment a great deal as the enemy has assaulted my mind. I have been bombarded with words such as "you are hopeless", "you are a failure", "you cant do anything right" and so on. Just like a wolf hunting a flock of sheep, he will wait till they are at their vulnerable time before attacking...this is the same as the devil. He will wait till we are at our low points and then unleash on us. Its in these moments we need to stand tall and not listen to the verbal bombardment, but rather focus on hearing from God. But how do we know that we are hearing from God? How do we know His voice when it comes to us?

A quick question for those who know me and have been reading my blog for a period of time...if someone else was to suddenly start posting on my blog without mentioning they fact it was a different person....would you know that it wasn't me writing the blog anymore? I think most people would agree that they would know that the writer was no longer me as they will no my style, my tone, my approach to topics, my value and most of all where my heart is.

This is exactly the same position we need to be in with God. We need to be able to distinguish which is God's voice. In today's society we are bombarded with so many messages as we go about our lives, how do we know which is the voice of God. Sometimes God tries to call us but we are too busy or distracted to answer...we ignore the call with the mindset that we will deal with it later.

I really like the story in 1 Samuel 3 where it speaks of when the Lord calls Samuel. We read that the Lord is calling Samuel, but he continues to think that it is in fact Eli calling him. It isnt till Eli explains to him that it is actually the Lord calling him that he responds to God and allows Him to explain what He has in store for Samuel.

We must realise that through the Holy Spirit we can hear the word of God speaking to us today! Even right now! For we are not just believers but we are followers of Jesus and to be a follower you must actually know the voice of who it is you are following! John 10:27 in the Amplified bible states the following:

The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice; and I know them, and they follow Me.

This is what Jesus is saying, He is telling us that His people know his voice, He knows who they are and they will follow Him! We are distinguished by knowing His voice and in order to know His voice we must hear it regularly.

So how do hear from God? How do we know His voice?

Position yourself to receive
We need to put ourselves in a position to receive from God. This is not an occasional thing, something we do when its convenient or we have a problem. We need to constantly be in his presence and in a position where we can hear His voice clearest. This means forgoing certain things of this world, prioritizing and spending more time in prayer and reading your Bible.

Practice helps
Like all things in life, practice helps. We don't get where we want to get to if we don't put in the effort. This means praying daily, reading the Bible daily...and doing this continually. It is through these things, that we are practicing hearing His voice. This will mean we are able to hear His voice more clearly and this will allow us to react more quickly when we are called to do something for God.

We need to hit the "Pause" button sometimes
God is usually heard in the still small voice. If our lives are full of distractions and constantly packed with activities, how are we going to hear the voice of God speaking to us? This is why its so important to pause and listen for God's voice. In 1 Kings 19:11-12 we read about where the Lord appears before Elijah. The following is written:

The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.”

   Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 

The Lord wasn't part of the big loud elements. Rather He was simply the gentle whisper. God doesn't always want to speak to us in the huge things. Although when we can hear Him in the simple things, it makes it easier to hear Him in the bigger things.

I believe that we make ourselves so busy in this life, we are always trying to do more and more. But it is in all this that we are taking away our attention on God and ultimately not hearing what He has to say to us. God calls us more than we probably realise, so we need look at what are the distractions in our life that preventing you from hearing God's voice? We need to tune into His voice again!

Be still, and know that I am God!
      I will be honored by every nation.
      I will be honored throughout the world.

(Psalm 46:10)

Dont let it drag on

I dont believe that I'm a strongly opinionated person generally. I have always been one to listen to others thoughts and consider them, even when they are in direct contrast with what I believe. But there are a few topics where suddenly something fires up inside of me and no matter what others say. Relationships and related topics in one such area...although based on my track record Im not too sure I should be too opinionated in this area.

One such topic that has come quite a lot recently is the thought that in a relationship, be it between husband and wife or boyfriend and girlfriend, the guy should be the one who is ultimately more understanding and show more compassion when things get heated. By default men are more logical and women are more emotional, and there is nothing wrong with that for that is just the way God has made us. But this can lead to issue when two are attempting to resolve a conflict and if this is not factored in, things will only get worse.

When the trouble hits, even when the guy may believe he is right, I think that it is the mans responsibility to put his pride aside to compromise and comfort his darling. This isnt a sign of weakness, but rather a sign of love for his woman. Too many times people will fight, both people will think they are right so they will not back down or make a compromise for the other person and in the end they will walk away resenting the other person.

This exact situation happened to a friend of mine at the start of the long weekend. His wife did something incorrectly, it lead to a fight where neither would give way and in the end they walked away from each other in anger, refusing to back down and ultimately not talking to each other. This went on for the whole long weekend....and into the next week! Come Tuesday...and Wednesday...they had still not spoken to each other! Now I have to say...both the husband and wife are fantastic people...happy, funny, caring and wonderful people...and as a couple I believe they are an awesome match. But here neither was willing to back down so they had basically wasted a week of their life being upset with one another.

As my friend updated me on the non-progress...I implored him to approach his wife and say sorry, tell her that he loved her. Initially he was against the idea because he felt he was right and she should say sorry. This is where I believe they man needs to show the compassion that the woman deserves, humble himself and remember that this is the woman he loves. So as I chipped away at suggestions as to ways to approach his wife and end this horrible situation, he finally decided on Thursday afternoon he was going to head home that evening with a treat for his wife...a peace offering I guess you could say.

And it worked. Come Friday things were back to normal. They were happy again. But the problem is they had wasted so much time being angry with each other, they had missed the whole long weekend where they could have enjoyed the time together.

I guess it just takes understanding and some patience, we must not allow arguments to draw out like this. Actually this is stated in the Ephesians 4:26 where it says:

Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry

Im not saying that we should pretend everything is okay and ignore the issues, for in the end I told my friend that he still needs to talk about the problem that started it all. While its one thing to be the calm person in the heat of the argument, when both parties have cooled down, its important to discuss the problem. For you do not want issues being swept under the rug and allowing them to build up inside you. But I believe that the man should make the first step to calm things down. This isn't a sign of weakness, but rather a sign of love!

In the end, we are here for such a short time. We need to enjoy life, not let fights and arguments get the better of us. Especially in a relationship, you should enjoy the time you have together...for this is the person you love. Make the most of every day and don't allow yourself to go to bed angry with unresolved issues.

God's Angels

This post is going to sound really soppy...but I really want to highlight something that was in my mind...which is how grateful I am for those people who God has surrounded me with. There are specific people...some of which read my blog and others who dont...who have been such an encouragement to me! When I have been met by trials, they have always been there with me...they have walked with me as I have gone through the tough times...they have laughed with me during the happy times.

I guess you can call these people God's Angels. I really want to say how grateful I am to each and everyone of you! I guess it was all summed up tonight when I received one particular message and as I read it I couldn't help but think how blessed I am to have this person as my good friend! To this person the message would have been a trivial thing...but to me it really made a difference.

This is something that we should reflect on at times. I know that personally I can get so wrapped up in the problem, that I forget to acknowledge the people that God has placed around me through these times. It is quite often discussed how God will never allow us to go through a trial without all the elements we need and this is highlighted with the people we have in our life.

So to wrap up...I want to thank you guys. Your care, your words of encouragement, simply your time is all appreciated greatly and I am so happy to have such wonderful friends such as you!

Reflecting on where to go

What haven't I achieved in my life yet, that I sincerely want to achieve before my days finish up?

I guess sometime we reflect on our lives, where we are at, what we have achieved to date and what are the things we are still striving for?

I guess right now reflecting on these questions for myself it highlights the things that are important in my life and the things that have priority in my life.

I guess one of the biggest achievements in my life was to serve on a mission trip. It may sound insignificant, but being given the opportunity to go to China and bless those children along side a group of amazing people was an unforgettable opportunity and an experience which will stay with me forever. That's not to say I would not go again...I sincerely want to do it again in Gods timing, but that is one event in my life so far that I'm glad I completed.

On a smaller scale, but just as significant is serving in Kid's Alive. Again God has given me an amazing opportunity to serve Him in such powerful surroundings. I praise God for giving this chance and again my passion for this area of service only continues to grow.

But looking more at those things that I am still yet to achieve, I guess there are really four things that standout...and while they may seem silly or trivial...I guess it just reflects what I find significant.

Establish a legacy in my serving of God
What I mean by that is, when I am finished serving in my current capacity, I pray that I have left some form of legacy for others to follow. I'm not talking about revolutionising the church or something like that, I'm simple saying that when I have finished my time I pray that I have made a difference, a difference as God has called me to.

Marry the right woman
One day when that woman walks into my life...or maybe she is already in my life...I'm going to take care of her...forever. I guess this is the promise of everyman when he finds that woman. I wont bore you with the details...but to sum it up...I would be her man and protect her, care for her, nurture her and love her. And when she reaches the end...I want her to be able to say she was happy she married me.

Start a family
I'm not putting a number to how many kids I plan to have, but at some point after I'm married I want to start a family. I want to be the loving father that God has called me to be. I want to model myself on the perfect example of what a parent should be...our heavenly father. That's not saying that my parents were bad...but just we have the perfect example of how we should be as parents when we look at God.

Finally...

Watch the current Carlton side win a Grand Final
Its been a while coming...but as we move closer to that specular day...the anticipation builds more and more! To be able to sit there in the crowd after riding out the lows of the past 10 years will be just spectacular. The feeling of being there just cannot be matched.



I guess the last one sounds a bit silly...but I guess its just one of my passions. But one side note...while I pursue these...I pray that God continually checks my heart and that I don't make a move without it being confirmed by God as part of His plan for my life. I pray that my heart is in line with God's heart and that my desires match up with His.

The point of this post...I guess I could basically use this as a checklist...a few years down the track...I can look back and see how many of these I have been able to tick off and how far away I am with the other ones...

What do you really want?

We all have dreams when we are children, whether it be to become a great sporting hero or to be a daring Police man or even an adventurous space explorer. Whatever it was that you dreamt of in days gone by, a lot of us find that as time goes by, those dreams get left behind. We take the easy path, we take the path that the world expects us to walk. We stop focusing on what we really want and we start focusing on what the world wants.

When you think about it, this is really sad because there are many times that God will place a dream in our hearts, he will put a desire inside of us to pursue a course that we may think by our own understanding is impossible. But this is the exciting part...God has given us a dream...He hasnt given us the map to our destination, He hasnt told us each obstacle that will come before us...He has given us a dream and its our adventure to reach the destination.

But this is where some people will drift away from their dreams...because they think its too hard and they dont see the path to reach the destination.

I guess you could say that God is asking us "what do you want?" and "what is your desire?". We must not allow ourselves to get caught up in the question of "how"...because this is something we are to leave up to God. By asking "how", we are basically saying we have little to no faith in our Heavenly Father. For we all know that nothing is impossible for Him, so why do we question how we are going to reach our dreams, when in the scheme of things, they are tiny!

So today I pray that you look deep into your heart, ask yourself what is it that you desire? What is your passion? What is the dream that God has placed inside of you? Once you have remembered what the dream is...go out there and fight for it! Dont ask the world what it wants...but rather show the world the person you are!

Cutting off the communication

I used to be with Optus for my mobile provider. One thing that always annoyed me about them was the fact that whenever I was at the football, I would get no reception whatsoever! Something to do with the fact that there was a lot of people in one place meant that Optus' network just couldnt cope! So basically for the 3 hours I was at the game, I was uncontactable. It was like the communication had been cut off

This is very similar to a something that we must commonly battle with as Christians also. How many times have you been praying, only to have your attention taken away, on to what you will eat for dinner, what you will do tomorrow or what to watch on TV later? How many times have you been reading your Bible, only to find your mind thinking about your work deadlines?

When we are praying, when we are immersed in Gods word...basically whenever we are in communication with God...the enemy wants to distract you, he wants to draw your attention away, he wants to cut of the communication!

But its up to us to take authority over these situations, for the devil will attack us at the most crucial moment. It says in 1 Peter 5:8 -

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

The devil know us well and that means he knows when we are at our most vulnerable moments. That is why its imperative that we are on the ball and awake to his attacks!

So next time you are spending time with God and you feel the devils attack on your mind, submit entirely to God and and rebuke the devil, for he has no power over you when have the spirit of God with you!

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)

Are you a judge?

Tonight my friend told me a sad story about her parents. She spoke about how her father was abusive towards her mother, how he would hit her and become horribly angry with her over such trivial things. This is all despite the mother treating the father very well in almost every way. This ultimately leads my friend to blaming herself for the trouble, and since she is not in the same country as her parents, she is unable to be there for her mum physically.

Now I may not know the whole picture to this story, but when I heard all this and more, I felt both mad and upset. I felt mad because a man should never physically hurt a woman, a husband should love and appreciate his wife. I felt sad because there is nothing I can do to help this woman, there is basically nothing I can say. But above all else, I began having angry thoughts towards this man.

At this point I felt myself reminded of what we are taught in the gospel. As it says in Luke 6:37 -

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

We should never take on the responsibility of judging others for their actions. While I would never treat a woman in this way, most of all my wife...I do understand that Im in no position to cast judgement on Him. For that is entirely up to God...not me!

That doesnt mean I dont care about this womans trial...but rather than cast blame on this man, I will pray for her, I will pray for him. But most of all...I wont cast judgement.For I have my own flaws to deal with, and if I want to analyse something...it should be my own faults, not others.

So I finish with this final piece of scripture which I like to refer to in these situations:

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:1-5)

Am I performing at my best?

Last night after I finished work and gym and dinner...I decided that it was a perfect night to go for a run. As the Run for the Kids get closer...I need to be pushing myself harder and harder in order to post a good effort on the day. So just after 10pm I hit the pavement for what was supposed to be a solid run. Not being as cold as the other night, I felt i should extend my run a bit more, taking my path a bit futher out and around the neighbourhood. But fairly early I realised that I wasnt as energetic as I was the other night I ran. My pace was not as good and I didnt have the same buzz as my previous effort. After getting home I looked at my stats and my time was definitely off the mark, which although was frustrating...made me wonder what was the cause.

Of course it didnt take long to reaslise that the massive work combined with the total lack of sleep I have been getting topped with hitting the gym on a daily basis would no doubt contribute to my lack of performance. But it got me thinking...how much better could I really perform if I was at 100%? How much better would I perform at the gym if I had a good nights sleep? How much better would I perform at work if I wasnt up till midnight reading documents and the likes?

I guess in the next week  I really need to get some solid rest...eat healthy...and see if makes a difference...because if I throw out another performance like I did last night when I get to the start line next month...its going to be a very disappointing day!

Back on the road again

Tonight I went for my first run in two weeks...yeah I know it sounds like I have been slacking...but its actually been due to two reason...the first week I didnt run because I was down with a horrible cough and fever...the second week I didnt run because of course I was in Singapore. But now with about 46 days left till my Run for the Kids effort in April. So despite the fact its amazingly cold...that was one poor effort Summer...I threw on my shorts and one of the new singlets I bought while shopping in Singapore last week...and I hit the road again....

(actually this is a shot of the running shoes I have been using for the past year and half....really good quality running shoes!)

In the past I would usually take the time Im out there running as a chance to clear my head, reflect on the goings on of the day...or just ponder someone that is stuck in my head. There was another period where I actually used my running time to memorise Bible verses...as strange as it sounds...it actually worked quite well.

But lately...to be honest...I have been thinking about absolutely nothing. I get out there on the track...pump up my playlist of the day on my iPod...and just run. There will be moments where my mind will wake up...but its usually for nothing more than to decide if I feel energized enough to take the long route today.

The funny thing is...Im really hitting some good times out there...today I averaged just under 14km/hour for my 6km effort. Maybe its because Im not allowing myself to be distracted....rather all my energy is going into getting myself through the run. All my focus is going directly into pushing myself to the limits.

But it makes me wonder at the same time...am I just pushing myself hard to keep myself occupied? To keep my mind distracted?

Whatever it is...if I can keep this effort up until the run...and I can post a decent time as part of the run...I will be pretty impressed with the efforts and I will use it as a springboard into my preparation for the real event this year....the Melbourne Marathon!!