Embracing change

One thing about life as we know it here on earth that will never change is that change will happen!

Life changes ~ daily sometimes or so it seems. As we get older our priorities change as our circumstances alter ~ for example we may find ourselves alone after spending countless years caring for others or we may find ourselves jobless and maybe even unemployable.

Change is something most of us dread even fear, yet it is change that forces us out of our comfort zone - it is change that pushes us to do our best regardless of the circumstances.

What are you facing at the moment ~I know personally I am facing heaps of changes in my own life as I grow older. Some changes  for me have been for the better and some have been for the worse. Depending on how I look at it from my own little window of the my world.

Change is no respecter of persons. Change, no matter what it is has an adjustment period that can make or break you depending how dramatic that change can be. Change can rip us from our comfort and will force us to follow even if we keep on refusing to let go,  or change can be a welcome guest giving us confidence and flexibility.

Change can force us into an "endurance trial" often involving some mental anguish, heaps of worry and a "when will it ever end" sort of treadmill, which if not unchecked can send some completely over the edge.

Change can be great and change can be so so rewarding it can also be so very awkward. Change can require an adjustment period which can vary from minutes to hours to days to years. If we are in a time warp of not wanting this change to happen, time can seem so slow, yet for those embracing change it can seem like  a tornado of super-fast speed crashing into our lives and changing us for good.

Change in our lives can certainly impact us and indeed can effect all who are closely connected to us. We can learn from change and when change is forced upon us we have to learn very fast indeed!

As we get older this change can effect our bodies as well ~ for example change in our health or sleep patterns can have marked effects on our lives and these things can certainly change the very dynamics of our lives in dramatic and often hard to cope with ways.

We have choices here ~ we can embrace whatever changes that are happening in our lives and recognise them for what they are or we can resist with all of our might and often cause us endless years and years of pain.

Forced change, regardless of what it is that you are dealing with is often here to stay and we can flow with it or paddle against it depending on your resistance

The good news is that God has a plan for our lives if we can trust Him and allow change to grow us even if maybe in a different direction from what we first thought. Jesus said that all things work together for good for those who love and obey Him. Even change.

How is your courage and boldness when it comes to change? I must admit that my courage is somewhat limited when it comes to some changes occurring in my life.

I can't help thinking about Mary the mother of Jesus and what God's plan for her life actually meant. Her reputation would be shot and in those days, as is now in some parts of the world, she could easily have been stoned to death.

Her relationship with Joseph was be jeopardised. Her whole future was thrown into uncertainty. Then she had the terrifying responsibility of raising THE most single important child ever born.

Through all of this what was her humble response?  "I am the Lord's servant".  Whatever it took for God's will to be accomplished, Mary was willing to do regardless of the personal cost to her.

As followers of Jesus we all must be prepared for God to initiate extraordinary changes in our lives.

Let's set out this week to embrace changes and welcome the differences in our lives and may you have peace and encouragement as you face the ups and downs in your life.

YAY!! Jesus Won!

Because of Jesus sacrifice where He actually killed off sin and death, anyone who aligns with Him can genuinely claim Christ as his/her personal Saviour.

Obviously sin and evil still exist in the world! Otherwise extreme evil like ISIS and terrorism wouldn't be here and we would all be living an idyllic lifestyle.

Evil does exist and will continue to exist until Jesus comes again.This unfortunately means we still have battles to fight.

This us what Spiritual warfare means ~ there are Christians and those who purposely pursue and persecute Christians ~Satan is alive and well and loves to "put the boot in'' where he can ~ even though Jesus has already won the Battle for us when he died for us on Calvary all those years ago.

On saying that, does that mean we have no further battles to face? Of course not ~we have to pick up our swords, put on our armour and set out to conquer and win the battles we have to face daily.

Every day we fight battles to limit the impact of sin in our lives and in the world around us. And speaking very personally ~ these battles can get pretty nasty indeed!!!

We can fight battles in our workplace!  When we get the cold shoulder or sniggered at because of our faith, or we can fight battles in our our own mind when Satan tells us that we can't possibly do this or that ~ and what Jesus did on that cross years ago just wasn't enough.

We can fight battles with doubt and hypocrisy ~ when we are even driving in traffic and someone cuts in on us ~something wells up inside of us and we are fighting a battle.

When we consider it all our battles can read like an adventure novel. The good against the bad ~ our impulses for bad can fight against our knowledge of what is right and good and how the Holy Spirit is leading us.

When you think about it, we as Christians have been given a mission from God. That mission will expose us to all sorts of dangers and apprehensions, doubts and fears, humiliation and scorn ~in fact all sorts of horrible risks.

We have other believers depending on us to carry out our God given missions and unfortunately we have an enemy who will stop at nothing to prevent us carrying on the mission and completing it.

Satan is definitely NOT God's equal! Often we may think that he is because the warfare we are involved in seems to know no end ~ it is an on-going trial by fire. But the fact remains that Satan's power has been trounced at the cross and his eternal doom is certain.

Furthermore in his ongoing guerrilla warfare against heaven, Satan is vastly over matched.

Because of our union with Christ, we do not have to fear Satan or anything that he throws up at us in the evil world we live in just as long as we are wearing the armour God has provided to us (Ephesians 6:10-18).

So yes! we are on a mission ~ a mission from God but He has supplied all we need. How will your story end? Will you be able to say "mission accomplished"at the end of your life? Will I be able to say that? Or will our old enemy celebrate our thwarted mission ~ or even worse, write us off as a "non-threat".

Please pray this prayer with me:-

Lord, I often get so confused about the power of darkness, especially inside of me which I know is lurking there just beneath the surface. I just know I'm not really in the place where you would want me to be.
I really want to be victorious for you in our walk together so please equip me to be so.
Please open my heart and mind to your leading ~ strengthen me for the battle which I know I will have to fight. Thank you Jesus Amen

God bless you this week as you pick up your armour and ready yourself for the battle.