The Hope of the Bigger Picture

Ever feel like your life is just a random puzzle piece with a few splotches of colour that makes no sense and you don't know where you're supposed to fit in? Or maybe you feel like you've been given the wrong pieces for your puzzle, like you've been given the wrong story to live. Or perhaps you feel like pieces of your puzzle have been stolen from you, leaving you with gaps that will never be filled.

I know I have. But I've also discovered this:

God designed the picture that your life would paint, and he made every piece of life that you go through to fit perfectly into that picture and create something beautiful. When life makes no sense and nothing seems to fit, know that God sees the cover of the box, he sees the end result, what he's making you to be. He knows how it all fits together. Let him place the pieces of your life together.

God holds the puzzle box of your life in his strong hands; not a single piece is ever missing. No one can take that box out of his grip. Not your parents or colleagues, not friends or enemies, not your bully or your ex. Absolutely nothing can take away from what God is building with you. Ask Jesus to fill your gaps. Trust Him to give you the perfect piece when the time is right.

Your pieces are different to my pieces. I can't put my pieces into your puzzle, they wouldn't fit. Don't try and be a puzzle that you're not, it will just turn out a mess. Build your life into the plan and picture that God has designed for you, because that's the perfect picture.

Sometimes we need another perspective. When you've been looking at a piece for too long it becomes distorted and you need someone else to give you a fresh clear view of it. Chat with someone, tell them about the piece of your life that won't fit. Not saying that they'll fix it, but they can encourage you, broaden your perspective, pray with you and help you through.

Maybe you think no one will understand. And to be honest it is possible that we won't. But in Psalm 44:21 it says that Jesus knows the secrets of your heart. He understands fully. Not only does he understand, but he also sees the end. So you can trust him with everything, even the darkest pieces of your life.

There's also more to life than just building your own puzzle. In God's huge universal puzzle there is a place reserved just for you If you don't join us, connecting in and bringing everything you have to give, we're left with holes. We end up holey, not holy. No one can fill the gap that you leave because no one else is the exact shape and size and colour that God created you to be. So bring and come and watch God create something incredible with you!

Psalm 18:20-24

"God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him.

When I got my act together, he gave me a fresh start.

Now I’m alert to God’s ways; I don’t take God for granted.

Every day I review the ways he works; I try not to miss a trick.

I feel put back together, and I’m watching my step.

God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes."

Do Hard Things

At the end of last year, a friend challenged me with words that have stuck with me ever since she jokingly said: "Not everything in life can just be easy for you, Kelsey."

I love easy. Easy is easy. It doesn't require anything of me. And for the majority of my life, I've been able to get by with only doing easy things. But for 2016, I made it a goal to do hard things.

Why? One, because Jesus did the hardest thing for me, and I want to live in honour of that.

Two, because when I'm 42 I want to have achieved and experienced a whole lot more than now at 22, and easy won't get me there.

Three, because I don't live in a vacuum, and my actions have an impact on the people around me. Perhaps by doing hard things I can challenge and encourage and strengthen and inspire.

And four, because I know that we all have so much more potential than we even dare to dream about. I want to grow into all I was made to be, not just what the world says is acceptable for me to be.

I've been inspired by some winner quotes in a book by Brett and Alex Harris called Do Hard Things:

• We aren't called to be successful all the time. We're called to be faithful, to take those first difficult steps— and leave the results up to God. 
• All effort—even failed effort—builds muscle.
• If you measure success only by other people's standards of what is acceptable, you will never reach your true potential. 
• Do what's hard for YOU. 
• We fall short of our true potential because we aimed only to be bigger than the next fish in our small pond. 
• Sometimes you have to take a stand for the sake of someone else. 
• The attitude with which you take a stand says just as much as the stand itself. 

The hard things I do this year will be different to the hard things you have to do this year. But I encourage you, let's do whatever we do to the best of our abilities and with smiles on our faces. Let's put ourselves in situations where we can grow and learn and become stronger and more like Jesus. Let's do hard things!

The End Of Your Rope

Sometimes, at the end of your rope is the best place to be, because it is there that you find your anchor. An anchor that holds firm in the raging seas. An anchor that does not tire of holding you. An anchor that will never fail. 

"This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls." - Hebrews 6:19

This hope has a name. His name is Jesus. 

Orange Juice

Matthew 5:8

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Jesus talks about the pure in heart, not the pure in body, not only the virgins or the holy priests. It’s the ones who hearts are open before God, who, through the fire of the Holy Spirit and Jesus' perfect love, have been purified.

To be pure is to be made up of one single thing, no added extras, like pure gold, or pure orange juice. To be pure in heart is when your desires and faith and love is made up of God alone, your heart set on Jesus, and only Him. Not that you only do "Jesus things" all day, every day. But it's a way of thinking, a way of living that is fully built upon and centered around Jesus and His truth.

And when we do that we will be pure in heart. We will see God. We will be blessed. Whole, perfectly satisfied, at peace with God, and lacking nothing. 

Time Value of Money

Matthew 6:19-20

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal."

The theory of the time value of money teaches that money is more valuable now than it will be later. Jesus turns that on its head and teaches that the things of the future, of eternity, are so much more valuable than anything we could ever own on earth.

On top of that, Jesus also promises a return that, although delayed for a while, is 100% guaranteed [there are no heavenly recessions] and way, way exceeds any investment that you could ever put in. It's a genuine win-win situation!

As any financial adviser will tell you: the best time to start investing was 20 years ago; the second best time is right now. Invest your life into Jesus, into the Kingdom of Heaven and do it today.

The Shortfall

Romans 1:29-31
"They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy."

First thoughts when reading this:

• What horrid, wicked, all round bad people
• Surely God doesn't love them
• If there was a bursary program for hell, these guys would be sorted
• Definitely not me.

But as I read it over a couple times, I had a sinking feeling that maybe I'm not too far off from these people. And I'm sure as you go through this, you'll agree that we all really have fallen way, way short of the glory and holiness of God [Romans 3:23].

To The Left

Geoffrey Rush (Captain Barbosa in Pirates of the Caribbean) has a theory that people watch the screen from left to right, in the same way as they read a book. Therefore, when filming Pirates, he tried to be on the left side of the screen as often as possible, especially in scenes with Jack, the monkey, and Keira Knightley. He thought if he was on the right, people’s attention would get stuck on Jack and Keira’s beauty and charm and they wouldn't carry on to look at him. So he put himself on the left of the screen that people might notice him first.

Who’s on the left of your life? What’s the first thing that people notice about you? Is it your looks, your smile, your sarcasm, or your jokes? Maybe it’s the not so great stuff in your life like your pride, your language, or your lack of manners. 

And where’s Jesus at on the L-R scale of your life? Is He right there on the left, His beauty and charm capturing people’s attention the moment they meet you? Or is He somewhere over on the right, hidden in the corner, that very last thing you get to after everything else has been looked over?

Jesus needs be on the left, at the front, in the first place of our lives, so that people will see Him and come to know Him.

Matthew 5:14-16
“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  
In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”