Time for a Change

Last Sunday at youth group I spoke passionately about how; 'I'm so sick of wasting my time! Why do I need to spend hours scrolling through Facebook?' And I was so ready to change everything, and to get rid of worthless things and fill my life with things that are entirely worthwhile, read good books, and think deep thoughts, and catch up with old friends. But do you know what I did as soon as I got home? Yep, I spent hours scrolling through Facebook.

But for reals, I am SICK of wasting my life, and I do want to fill my life with books, and thoughts and friends. I don't want a life jam packed with meaningless, but overflowing with things that are actually worth my time! Come on, its time for a change.

Heavenly Father; Dad, take it all. Take my whole life, and fill it with You.

Spare Change

This afternoon I just became ridiculously frustrated at my helplessness to right the worlds wrongs, and fix the worlds problems. I literally thought; 'I'm a broke teenager, what can I do? No matter what I do, I'm just chipping away at a wall with a tiny pick-axe, and it's too big for me to tackle. It feels like the statistics of hunger, poverty, child labour and slavery just climb higher and higher every time I look at them.' Its always unsettled me, but never quite to this extent, I basically didn't speak (which, trust me, is a big thing) for quite a while and wore a hoodie and other crazy teenage rebel things. It was a deep frustration, much deeper then probably ever before.

Call me a wide-eyed, dreamy teenager, but I was thinking about what my spare change could do, seriously, if I saved every 5c piece and dollar coin, what could I end up with? Well, it only takes $7 to free a slave, so I'd say a lot, and I also realised that it's not just me (duh), there are entire organisations committed to eradicating injustices in this world, and as corny as it sounds; the only way we can make a difference is by working together. (What did I tell you? It's corny.)


*I feel like blog posts can often get really long and arduous without a break, so right here, right now, get up, go for a walk around the room, and then continue reading :)*

Also, in a kind of related but not really way, I've been getting weirdly anxious about things post-school, like money and how I'll afford everything in life and who I'll marry and how I'll handle the job I want, and balance everyday life along with work. I worry about that stuff all the time! I didn't realise how much I did until I was thinking, (at the time I was feeling really worried) 'I feel like a 16 year old with a 20 year olds problems.' And then it hit me, I didn't have to worry about these thing; I knew that I had a creator who had planned out all my days. If Igo without money, he planned it and he is still good, and if I get a different job, he is in control, and he is still good. And so I've prayed that God will give me rest from my burdens, and I know he can do just that!

'Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.' - The biography of Jesus, according to Matthew (chapter 6 verse 34)

   'Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.' - The biography of Jesus, according to Matthew (chapter 11 verse 28)


P.S. Once again, I feel like I've said a lot of words without really saying anything, but sometimes my heart says things that my mouth just can't express. And tonight is one of those nights, there are so many things I just wish I could express, but my inarticulateness gets in the way.

The 'Wizard Of Oz' Christian

I have this little analogy in my head, its been in there for a while, so I thought I might share it with the entire world on the internet.

I think that the Wizard of Oz actually relates a lot to the Christian, sounds random, I know, but bear with me:

- We need a new heart: I think that all sins comes down to the heart, if someone has a proud heart all their sin will be proud. If someone has a lustful, greedy heart, all their sin will be done in lust and with greed. I think for someone to cut sin out of their lives, they must change their hearts first!

- We need a new brain: A perspective that seeks to constantly bring glory to God and work things out to bring us into a closer relationship with Him, and is basically on he same wave-length.

- We need courage: Courage to boldly shout the gospel to everyone, and to spread the word 'as we go.'

- We need to go home: We are not citizens of this Earth, we only inhabit it for 80 years or so, and then we head home, home to our eternal Father, ruling over His eternal estate.

I'm really sorry if this makes little sense; I've had far too little sleep, and far too much to do!

The Real Jesus

'Gentle Jesus, meek and mild.'

Its weird, often when people think of Jesus they picture this really weak guy with flowing brown hair and flowing robes and smooth soft skin, maybe cradling a small adorable child on his lap or cuddling a cute, fluffy lamb and just spoke about things like forgiveness and love . Go to google images and search Jesus. You'll find that guy.

BUT, thats not what Jesus was not like that at all. He was a carpenter for about 18 years of His life, he didn't have the tools of today, so he would have had to use His hands and a few simple tools, maybe a blade, a chisel. But thats all. So, lets just say he would have been ripped. He would have had massive muscular arms and calloused hands.

And yes, its true, you could find Him speaking of forgiveness and love, but the words He spoke were entirely controversial. 'Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.' (found in Matthew 5:44) and claiming that He was the Jews' promised Messiah; which was SO controversial in the Jewish community that it led to His execution on the cruelest instrument of torture.

That doesn't sound like 'Gentle Jesus, meek and mild' does it? I'll let people a lot smarter then me finish this off:

'True, He was the Poet who spoke beautifully of the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. True, He was the folksy storyteller who spun yarns of women baking bread and fishermen hauling in a catch. True, He was the the gentle Nazarene who bounced little children on His lap and made them laugh. True, He was also the silent Prisoner who stood in perfect ease before kings and suffered bitter insults without uttering a word. But Jesus was nonetheless a man. A carpenter with calloused hands. An outdoorsman accustomed to long period in the wilderness. A man who courageously spoke out against the corrupt authorities of His time, calling then "white washed tombs", "blind guides" and "serpents."'

- Josh McDowell & Bob Hosteller in their book: Don't Check Your Brains At The Door: A Book of Christian Evidences

Joy

delight - gladness - pleasure - mirth - rejoicing

Joy can be a difficult thing to find.  Even harder to keep. And almost impossible to get when you're  searching for it. As 'cliche' as this sounds, I think its true: I think you need to find something or someone that gives you joy, rather then go looking for it.

I've been struggling pretty hard with 'finding joy', and let me tell you, getting more 'stuff' doesn't help. Filling life with more 'things' also doesn't help.

Anwyay, I was watching a program in which they followed the lives of 4 white, mostly racist Australians as they lived the lives of refugees, and the thing that I noticed is that a lot of the refugees had unwavering smiles. And they were genuine. They'd seen the horror of war, been stuck in a crowded, rather terrible units, often with confines of about 10msquared. And thats all they had. 10msquared, all day. Every day, but they were smiling and happy... joyful. I don't think there's another word to describe it. And I think it helped me find a solution to my problem, the words of one of the refugees say it perfectly (I wish I could say it in his accent, it was so ridiculously cool):

'We should not ask give us more, but give it more, give life more.'

So maybe, all along, I've been searching for more 'things to do' to make me more joyful, and just 'stuff' to make me more joyful, when really I need to 'give life more'. And so maybe I've been searching in all the wrong place.

'I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.' - Jesus quoted by John in chapter 10 verse 10 of his biography of Jesus' life.