Tag Archives: Christianity

The Reality of Crazy Big Dreams

Posted in Motivational, Uncategorized by

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Sometimes I have the weirdest dreams, like the one I had when I was driving in the car with a giant guinea pig.

Other times I have the worry and stress induced dreams, like the one where all my teeth fall out, or I’m running away from trouble, but for some reason I can only run backwards; or the one where I need to scream, but no sound will come out of my mouth.

Other times I have the kind of dreams that you just don’t want to wake up from. The ones where you shut your eyes, trying to press play again.

But the best dreams aren’t the ones you have when you’re asleep. The best dreams are the ones that won’t let you get any sleep.

The things you get so excited about that you just can’t shut your brain off for ten seconds and fall asleep.

I don’t know about other people, but for me these often involve big risk, big adventure and showing people big love.

Whatever these things that keep you awake are, they wont do any good if they are simply the things that stop your sleep. As I once heard, our dreams don’t bother satan, only our actions can.

Our dreams aare only any use if, when the daylight comes, you go ahead and live them out.

That’s the hard part though.

It’s easy to stay up half the night dreaming, but that’s not how dreams come true.

Dreams don’t become reality by accident.

Bread doesn’t rise without yeast, and grape juice won’t become wine on its own. In the same way our lives are like stale bread, or a wedding without wine, if we don’t live with intent.

Our big, crazy dreams probably aren’t going to become a reality without a lot of effort, a heap of risk and a good amount of time on our knees.

Every day we can make small steps: if we live on purpose, with purpose and for a purpose.

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Live life on purpose

If your dream is to be a missionary then start praying for the country you believe God has called you to. Start practicing trusting him with your finances. Start trying to live in a cheaper way.

If your dream is to write a book start writing.

Our God-given dreams often won’t be the easiest. They will normally require some kind of risk. A risk of security, or humiliation if it fails.

But even if these dreams never come to fruition. If they are the things God has called you to they well make a difference. Chasing them will bring you closer to Him.

So choose today how you are going to live. Are you going to live on purpose, with purpose and for a purpose or are you just going to keep on drifting through life. Like a ship with out a rudder.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. (Proverbs 13:12)

 

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2: 14-26)

 

 

The Truth about You

Posted in Motivational, Uncategorized by

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I can remember one evening when I was about thirteen years old: playing about with some make-up when no one else was watching. I was surprised when I looked in the mirror and realised that the face that was looking back at me was actually quite beautiful! I was so used to seeing something ordinary: too thick hair; a genetic disposition to blackheads and spots (thanks dad!) and glasses long before they were considered trendy; that I was shocked and embarrassed to actually think of myself as pretty. I so felt guilty that I quickly washed off all the make up before anyone could see me.

I guess that I didn’t believe I could hold onto that identity of being pretty, that even when  it seemed it might apply to me I was quick to rip it off again.

I was so used to my slightly geeky identity, that I simply couldn’t take hold of a new one.

Christ has given us all new identities. The problem is sometimes we hold on so tightly to our old ones, that we can’t take hold of the new ones.

One of the new identities Christ has given us is BEAUTIFUL: We are the apple of his eye, we are his perfect bride (and who would dare call a bride ugly!) and we are more precious than the most beautiful jewels. This is true whether it feels it or not. And I know that especially for women it will more often feel like not. But the great thing about what God says about us is that it IS true, no matter how it feels. No matter how hard it feels we can let go of our striving for beauty and worth and we can hold on to our true identity as a beautiful child of God.

Another of the identities that we can struggle to hold onto is that we are CHOSEN: God has chosen us. I know this can be hard to take hold of, if you were always the last one picked in PE, or someone who struggles to attract anyones attention. Christ chose you, not because he had to, but because he wanted to.

Christ has also given us the identity of LOVED: have you ever noticed how a shy woman can become confident when she knows she is loved? Or how an awkward child can transform when they know you care about them? Christ has loved you so much that he died for you. You can hold onto the label of loved, you can take this one and staple it onto your forehead or tattoo it onto your arm; because Christ has told you that you are loved.

The final label that I want to focus on is that you are FREE. The opposite of freedom is fear. And so many of us are still living in fear. Even though we have been set free. We have been set free. There is no captive, in their right mind, who would choose to return to their chains, once they have been set free. Christ has set you free, don’t tie yourself back up in those chains again.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here! (1 Corinthians 5:17)

 

 

The Crazy Kind of Christian

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Sometimes, when I walk past that man standing on the corner with his bible in hand (the one screaming and shouting about salvation) God speaks to me, and says: “One day, that’s going to be you.”

I laugh. I tell him I have my own ways of doing things. (Ways that don’t involve me looking like a lunatic, embarrassed,  being either ignored or laughed at.)

God says to me again. “One day, that’s going to be you.”

I argue, and tell him that I prefer to speak to people who I know about him. People I already have a relationship with, not complete strangers.

Truth is: I’m lying. I’m not afraid of looking like a loon. I’m afraid of sharing the gospel.

I’m afraid someone will ask a question I won’t be able to answer. I’m afraid I’ll look stupid. I’m afraid they’ll reject me. I’m afraid and I’m ashamed.

But what if they need me, and I don’t tell them? What if they go home tonight and sleep forever? What if they have to live the rest of their life without knowing they are truly loved: Without experiencing real peace and understanding hope?

Would my embarrassment be worth them having to live a life without Christ? Would it be worth them having to die a death without him?

If we can’t imagine a life without him; why should we expect anyone else to live without him?

I think a lot of us have forgotten just what we have been saved and set free from. If we truly knew we wouldn’t be able to help but be the crazy kind of Christian. The kind that just can’t shut up talking about Jesus.

The kind that knows that action do speak louder than words; but doesn’t use that as an excuse for not speaking out.

The kind that isn’t afraid to look daft sometimes, and who knows that when they take a chance on sharing their faith, that God always comes through for them, and gives them the right words to say.

The kind of Christian who knows that sharing the greatest message is the most exciting thing that they can ever do.

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. (Romans 1:16)

 

 

Unsettled Down

Posted in Motivational, Uncategorized by

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In my early twenties my aim in life was to settle down: get a good job; a nice house and become financially secure. I had spent so many years moving house from town to town, that I just wanted to stay in one place for a while, find a home and become rooted. I wanted a decent job so that I could afford to buy nice clothes and have a nice life. I wanted to look like I was successful.

For me the last year has been an incredibly difficult one. I now have none of those things, and at times I have felt like an utter failure.

I had forgoten that these things are not our measure of success.

I had forgotten that in Christ I am rooted; that he is my home; and that when I bank on him, I will always be financially secure.

God has pushed me out of my comfort zone; to the point where the only thing I can lean on is him.

We need to remember that a life following Jesus is not going to be a settled one. Bad things will happen, and some times we will go through years of trials; at times our lives might feel unsettled, but in him we will never be insecure or unstable.

Sometimes, although we’re not facing trials, God may still be pushing us beyond our boundaries.

There are so many things I said I would never do, that God has literally laughed at, because his plans for me are so much different and so much bigger. I always said I would never work with teenagers, or in the church of England: I have done both. I said I would never live up North, and once again, I find myself there. And finally, I always said I would never start a blog!

When you put your trust in God, he will push you further than you could have imagined. But he will also love you more than you could have dreamed; hold you tighter than you could have hoped; and lead you on a bigger adventure than you could have reached alone.

 

 

 

Sounds of Freedom Week 4

Posted in Real Life Stories, Sounds of Freedom by

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This week’s Sounds of Freedom comes from Lydia. She opens up her heart to share her feelings on worship music today.

Confession: I love worshipping. I don’t always love worship music.

After much discussion and debate with friends, worship leaders and pastors, I’ve concluded that I am not a lone wolf and that, in fact, there is a chronic affliction amongst this pack of the musically-minded in our inability to connect in worship.

Having grown up in a Vineyard church in the midlands, the core Vineyard value of worship and the emphasis on creativity within our movement runs through my veins. I’ve been blessed over many years with wonderful worship leaders, worshipful friends and different expressions and experiences of worship wherever I have visited or lived. I’m a passionate pursuer of Jesus and a bit of a music fiend, so I find it extremely irritating when I arrive at church to worship and find myself unable to concentrate, distracted not only by the thoughts of the week but by the musicality of it all: by bands lacking direction from their leaders, by arrangements that don’t quite work and by my frustration with myself for not seizing the opportunity to worship.

I often listen to secular music and find many of the lyrics and melodies easy to worship God with, so why is it that I sometimes find it easier to worship God in a basement full of sweaty twenty-somethings who are there to worship the band? I believe it is because God has made me for worship. If He has inspired creativity in me then no wonder I am drawn to places where heaven-given melodies flow and lyrics written by troubled souls unknowingly sing of His goodness. Of course I was also made for corporate worship, to come together with the body of Christ but I must remember I was made for worship in the everyday and not feel guilty for my current struggle to connect during a church service.

Through live albums, where the passion for Jesus is contagious, I am re-learning to worship without distraction.

When asked for secular album recommendations, it can take me days to consider a piece that has had an impact on my life and that might be appropriate for that particular friend at that particular moment in life. I do not want to give glib advice when my passion for music is so key to how I live! When I apply my rule of thumb to recommending Christian music, I struggle. I draw a blank because if I couldn’t recommend a piece of Christian music to my non-Christian friends then I often wouldn’t listen to it myself. Cheesy, poorly-produced, repetitive and boring are words that typically come to mind when thinking about such albums. There are, of course, many exceptions to my general dislike of Christian music that would make my friends cringe, and these have been reshaping my understanding of the sound of Christianity!

As Dave mentioned in a previous post, Elevation Worship have been turning out some beautiful things, Bethel and the new Hillsong albums have been inspiring in my worship times at home – usually in the shower where I can get away with singing as loudly as I like! Special mention should go to Dave Miller at Trent Vineyard for his role in the amazing live album ‘Rooftops’ from the national Vineyard youth conference ‘Dreaming The Impossible’ and to the Hillsong We Are Young & Free album from 2013, which reimagined and inspired youth worship in many churches across the globe.

If one thing pulls me out of this struggle to connect, it is the reminder of my God-given purpose. I was put here to bring Him glory and I will therefore continue to learn to engage in worship. The power of God’s presence as we worship together and in the quiet of our hearts will never cease to amaze me.

Through the trials of life I’m sometimes asked why I worship and in my response I am reminded of a quote I once heard: ‘Sometimes you worship because you believe it and sometimes you worship until you do.’ In my journey to reconnecting with worship music, I will continue pressing into God’s love, hungry for more of His presence, worshipping in spite of and also because of this life.

I will worship because God is ALWAYS good and that is reason enough to teach my broken human heart to worship Him.

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Lydia Johnston is 22 years old and studying Biomedical Science at York Uni. Her favourite worship song is Do it Again by Elevation Worship