What are YOU wearing?

Isn't it funny that as a society we are often lead socially by what we are wearing. When we are younger and trying to socially fit, you tend to go with the look that most suits you  and your personality and then you go to the group that mostly fits that look you are currently wearing.

When I was a teenager (back in the 90's) I remember several social groupings, you had the "popular group" This mainly meant people who had money, either through their own work or their inheritance through their parental wealth. Either way the popular grouping wore designer labels at every event and you rarely saw them in the same outfits a second time. You had the "trying group" this group clearly wanted to be popular but if the truth was told their clothing was clearly the cheaper fashion than their popular friends having slight "knock off" designs so instead of having a fashionable logo on their tops they had a "normal placement" of an unrecognisable logo. I remember you had the group we called "sweaties" these consisted of alternative dress and wear; baggy t-shirts, baggy jeans, liked to hang around skating areas and have chains linked to their jeans and some important item like their keys. You had the "Goths", who if i remember correctly had everything black, clothes, hair, make-up and general accessories. Finally, you had the people who didn't really fit in any of the above grouping but tried to be bias and looked like they joined every group in some sort of way.

Now, I am not overly sure which group I fitted in, I think I was either in the trying group where I tried to be popular with dodgy knock-offs or I was the last group mentioned who tried to please everyone. I am not going to kid myself and say I was popular and I don't think I was a sweaty and definately too bright in colour to be a Goth.

But isn't it amazing that what defines the social setting, defines in someway either your character or the character that you wish to appear to be.

It isn't like it is a new thing either, my dad will quite happily tell me that when he was younger that there was a craze that meant you were a "Mod" or you were "Rockers". Mods would apparently dress in a "modern" dress and would ride Scooters, where Rockers would potentially have long hair, be dressed in black and leather and would ride a Motorbike.

Mods

Rockers

Its amusing to think that there use to be gang fighting with each group, especially when you think that we as a society would be beyond such a thing. But historically William Shakespeare mentioned Gang rivalry, we see in an alternate Shakespeare twist of Romeo and Juliet in West Side Story that there is gang warfare, and even recently you hear off football fighting, against an opposing team or opposing country, where one look at the football top meant that you would become aggressive. Social differences seems apparent to the way you dress, and then what character you must be like.

A friend of mine has bought a new coat, like all new things you try to wear it as much as possible. Which also sadly for the friends around them means that you get to be a little guinea pig to the possible combinations that the new item could be included with. This happened to me recently where I had to see this new coat and see of it presented well with some existing clothes for a morning church service. Strange really when you think of it, as going to church would make you assume that you wouldn't be judged on any social gathering that you are part of. Interestingly though this isn't the first time that being dressed in a certain way at church has cropped up. At my Confirmation service, my Godparents came in support of my progress in faith and they came "suited and booted" in their best clothes, me, on the other hands dressed comfortably as that was the way my home church encouraged. But when i questioned my Godparents, they said they were just "dressing in their sunday best" So as you can imagine when I now invite people to church I "warn" them to dress comfortably, if they therefore decide that they want to dress smartly they can, however, you very quickly see their dress code change on a later appearance within the church. But the more I think about it, the more I realise that I do it. I dress smartly, even though I may be comfortable, I still "make and effort" when I go to church.

Why?

How many coats do you have? I have lots of different coats. I have a light summer jacket, a waterproof fold away coat (or as my mum would say a cagoule), I have a thick winter coat, a coat that I would wear just when I am cold (yet it is lighter to wear than the thick winter coat) I have a dodgy denim Jacket, (that barely comes out) I have a light suit jacket that I wear for special occasions, a blue sports jacket that i would wear on a night out and a body warmer. I think when I counted it was 9/10 coats. Far too many I am sure for anyone, let alone any man.

We are so concerned that we have the right outfit or the correct coat for certain social situations, or public displays, we are almost fearful to wear the wrong thing at the wrong time. What we are wearing what we are allowing others to presume about our character by the things that we wear. I mentioned early that my dad was telling me about Mods and Rockers, and when questioned my dad would proudly admit that he was a Mod. So potentially following what my dad was telling my he would be "cool" and would be wearing the latest thing, the most modern thing to wear. Wow, I can't imagine my dad being so self concsious about what he wears. Especially when you see the outfits that my dad wears now!! Being a man in his 70's he has a "unique" fashion sense. He will quite happily wear tracksuit bottoms of any kind "Oh, they're just for comfort, easy to move, can get dirty and I don't mind working in them and sweating a little" (Nice Dad....Purely nice!) But with these tracksuit trousers on he will wear a 1950s style t-shirt or jumper, which clearly you can see he has had for the 40 plus years, that he clearly thinks suit him. Again on questioning his response will be "Well you always want to feel that you look good!"........and the worst thing here is he will tuck these into his tracksuit bottoms (which just for an extra mental image he has slightly too high up his torso) Now for the topping to this glorious outfit off, are clean, hard, and always sparkling black work shoes, something you would expect to wear with a suit. "Well son you never know when you need to look smart"

(This is NOT my dad...He would actually kill me if I put a picture of him up...This guy amused me though and I think helps with some visualisation!)

So a man who potentially was dressing to fit into a social group called Mods, who would dress to look fashionable and be ahead of the times, now wears "Shoes that you would only wear with a suit, polished and sparkling, a pair tracksuit bottoms that are pulled quite high up his torso, with an old fashioned t-shirt tucked well into his trousers. Now, as I stated early I don't think I have great fashion sense, I even think I have made some blunders, but seriously Dad!! My Dad no longer cares about his appearance, he would rather now just fit in to any scenario and not worry what he looks like, as potentially in his head he fits perfectly in to any social situation. But how great is it that my dad doesn't live in fear to be so conscious about what he is wearing? My father doesn't wear the coat of fear or social pressure any more. When you look at him, you may judge him as a crazy old man, with at times no sense. Well if truth be known, that kind of rounds my dad up to a Tee. But I look at him and see love and kindness that is also associated with such men, I look with envy that he has broken these social chains. He is not limited by that choice any more.

I think about several verses in the bible.

Matthew 6:25;
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?

OR

Matthew 6:28;
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.

OR

Luke 12:27;
Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

We get told time and time again that we shouldn't worry about what we wear, and to just be aware that we are loved, loved by God. Yet we all still do it.

When we prepare ourselves to dress a certain way, to fit in to what society seemingly see us as, we are dressing to present OUR character or at least what we want people to see as OUR character. But are then presenting to the world a very limited view. It always makes me smile when I think about The character Indiana Jones, when we see him teaching in the classroom we seem him looking like a steady english university professor teaching boring Archaeology, then the next time we see him as a fairly robust cool adventure hunter with a hat and a whip.

Dressing in the original pretence limits are views on what and who we are, when we should only be concerned with allowing ourselves to grow in God not restrict our growth with what we believe.

We are warned of this:

1 Peter 3:2-5;
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.

Allowing God to dress us doesn't mean that we need to walk around Naked either, before anyone says anything. It means allowing Him to dress us in better things, things that will show our true character.

We can read in Proverbs 31:25;
She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.

We can be clothed in Strength, we can be clothed in Dignity, and being so allows us happiness, allowing God to dress us clearly allows to become a better character. Is this a one off verse that I am holding on to? No, of course not see below:

Romans 13:14;
Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

OR

Job 29:14;
I put on righteousness as my clothing; justice was my robe and my turban.

OR

Galations 3:27;
for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

OR

Colossians 3:12;
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

There as you can see there are many different ways that we can get dressed, dressed by God, wearing the things that He wants us to wear, the things that can reflect Him and truly show OUR character. We can change our look to fit who we are called to be, who we actually are, God is not dressing us or shaping us for the now, the current fashion, He is shaping us for the future. God doesn't want us to worry, He doesn't want us to "wear" worry, He says it clearly in the verse above in Matthew and in Luke about do not worry. He doesn't want us wearing that.

I know that I wouldn't wear my thick winter coat in the height of summer, when it is blazing Hot, would you? No? I doubt anyone would wear a coat that would burden them, that is heavy on them, that doesn't suit the climate and more importantly makes us uncomfortable. We wouldn't do it to ourselves, and God definitely doesn't want us to do the same. Do not wear worry, take that coat off, strip yourself and allow God to help dress you. God didn't design us to be limited, especially to be limited by things that we are creating for ourselves. Don't clothe yourself with something that you don't want to be wearing, or seen wearing, don't allow yourself to just fit in socially.

I quite happily listed all the different coats I own above, but as a child I had two. My summer one and my Winter one. I look back and laugh now as these coats became my everyday coat for all occasions, it didn't matter where i was going or what I was doing they were just my coats. It's a bad habit in some ways, because without the correct guidance by my mum I would have just expected to wear my winter coat all the way through into summer. This nasty habit has carried through into my adult life. When something bad or negative happens I shove that coat on. I put that coat of sadness, fear, negativity or self doubt, whatever it may be and I wear it, I wear it and take to whatever occasion that I am apart of. But what I need to be doing more is looking up to my parent and asking for guidance, asking for help to take that coat off, is it time to be dressed more appropriately.

In Isaiah 61:1 and the Isaiah 61:3 we see:

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.

to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

Each time we see that if we allow God to dress us, allowing the Spirit of God to be on us will change and turn the situation around. Allowing God to dress us might not create us to be the wealthy people in possessions but people will look upon us and see good, and they will see the goodness that God provides for us in our lives, He will make us Rich in spirit, Rich in Him. When things are difficult, when we are in the poorest moments, where we seem poor and low, it clearly tells us to praise, Praise God and allow Him to guide us and dress us as we will become Rich, we will become rich in him and allow him to turn our lives around.

Who wouldn't want to have good things in their lives? Who wouldn't want to be dressed by God and be ready in all situations? To be easily read bby others because the way we are dressed in Goodness rather than limiting ourselves to fit in with what others expect?

Dress well, dress in God and be comfortable in the situation you're in, as this will allow us to be good for God, ready not as a plain canvass for God to paint on, but a canvass that is stretched for growth to produce a better painting.
　
　
　
　
　
　

What happens when you die? Part 2

So continuing from my previous post.

Who would not like to have a home of his own, a place where he and his family could feel safe and secure? Having a house of their own remains a mere dream for them. Under Kingdom rule, the desire of every resident to have his own home will be fulfilled, for it was prophesied through Isaiah: "They will certainly build houses and have occupancy; and they will certainly plant vineyards and eat their fruitage." (Isa. 65:21) Yet, having a home of their own is not the only prospect but teh security that comes with it. There is always the worry that the home can be lost through some financial reverses or that burglars may visit, or even fire and water damage.

How different everything will be in this thousand year reign of peace and love, in Gods loving rule. The prophet Micah wrote: "They will actually sit, each one under his vine and under his fig tree, and there will be no one making them tremble." (Mic. 4:4)

In the process of creation, God had several things in mind for us, He made humans last, and for humans to work with a purpose. God stated his specific purpose: "Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and the domestic animals and all the earth and every moving animal that is moving upon the earth." (Gen. 1:26) Adam and Eve, and eventually all humans, were created and instructed to have dominion over the animals. Is it really possible for humans to have all the animals in subjection and to be at peace with them? Many people are very close to their pets, such as dogs and cats. So we should not be surprised when we read in the Bible that peace will come to prevail between humans and

animals.
(Read Isaiah 11:6-9; 65:25.)

Because of the tragic events, small and large, that befall us, beit sickness, diesease, sinfall acts by others, mankind is sorely in need of comfort and relief. That is what the Thousand Year Reign will bring to its subjects: "(God) will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore." (Rev. 21:4) As wonderful as it is that mourning, outcry, and pain will be no more, God’s promise even includes doing away with mankind’s ultimate enemy, death, created by Satan the devil. It has been an invincible enemy, the inescapable end for sinful humans, the source of immeasurable sorrow and grief. (Rom. 5:12, 14)

The Bible points to the time when "as the last enemy, death is to be brought to nothing." (1 Cor. 15:26) Two groups can be mentioned who will come in line to benefit from that. For the "great crowd," who live now, it will be possible to survive into the promised new world with unending life in view. For the billions who have already been snatched up by death, it will be possible to experience a resurrection. Can you imagine the joy and excitement when

those in the former group welcome back the latter? A close look at some of the resurrection accounts in the Bible can give us a foretaste of what it might be like.—Read Mark 5:38-42; Luke 7:11-17. Think of the expressions "they were beside themselves with great ecstasy" and "they began to glorify God." If you had been present on those occasions, perhaps you would have felt the same way. Indeed, seeing our dead loved ones come back to life through the resurrection will produce in us a marvelous sensation of joy and exhilaration. Jesus said: "The hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out." (John 5:28, 29) None of us have ever seen such a thing take place; it will surely be one of the grandest of "the things unseen." Though the grand blessings are yet unseen, keeping them clearly in mind will help us to focus on what is truly important and to avoid being sidetracked by the fleeting attractions of the present system of things. (Luke 21:34; 1 Tim. 6:17-19)

This will help us to keep these thoughts in our minds and hearts. The apostle Paul did just that in encouraging his fellow Christians. He took them, so to speak, all the way to the close of Christ’s Thousand Year Reign. Try to imagine the full significance of Paul’s words found at 1 Corinthians 15:24, 25, 28. With this, lead a better life knowing that good will come with you having a loving and faithful heart, and don't just rely on the fact that you're going straight to heaven because you repented on your death bed.

What happens when you die? Part 1

I was recently asked what happens when we die, do we go straight to heaven. I didn't think we did, b ut didn't want to give a bad anser, so I did a study on it and this is what I have come up with.

A Change, a revolution, it is coming, things will change for all of us.....Well some point in the near future at least. The Bible has many prophecies which help to confirm this fact for us, by reading many of these prophocies we see in Daniel and also in Revelations, we can conjour up some idea.

The apostle Paul tries to encourage us to "keep our eyes . . . on the things unseen." Yes, we need to bear in mind our reward of everlasting life. As the context shows, Paul wrote these words to encourage fellow believers, followers and Christians to focus on the happy outcome of their faithful course. When we see this written, many now a days concentrate on the idea that being good and soley good will mean that they get to go to heaven. Many churches still teach the doctrine that if you are good and believe in Jesusw and you subsequently die you go to heaven and if you are bad and you die you go to hell. That always seems very straight forward and due to that we see that many people wanting to focus on the happy that Paul mentions think and believe they are going straight to heaven. But teh Bible I believe contradicts this view point in places.

Why is it so easy to teach part of what the Bible teaches, when all it does is spread misunderstanding, although I can see that by doing so it would also help them and therefore othersx to cope with trials and persecution (2 Cor. 4:8, 9, 16-18; 5:7.) Paul’s admonition contains an important principle: To keep our hope firm, we must look beyond the things that are immediately before us.We need to focus on significant events that are still to come. (Heb.11:1; 12:1, 2)
(1 Thessalonians 5:2, 3.) In the letters we see that he mentions the coming of Gods day, the lords day. Saying that in between this stage to the day of armegedon that a change and a revelution and will ultimately come. After all false religion and interpretation has been stopped or even as teh Bible states "destroyed", God’s servants will still be found "dwelling in security" and "without wall." (Ezek. 38:11, 14) Knowing in advance about this attack on God’s people does not make us overly anxious. Rather, our main concern is, not our own salvation, but the sanctification of Gods name and the vindication of his sovereignty. In fact, He declared it for more than 60 times: "You will have to know that I am God." (Ezek. 6:7; see footnote.) Hence, we look forward with interest to the fulfillment of this concept brought to us in Ezekiel’s prophecy, trusting that "God knows how to deliver people of godly devotion out of trial." (2 Pet. 2:9) Meanwhile, what should we be doing? Does this mean that in teh time between now and that day we can do what ever we like, because we have a possibility for redemption later. How many times do we hear teh phrase its ok, I'll repent and find faith in God on my death bed?! What we want to do and I believe should do is use every opportunity to strengthen our faith so that we will be able to keep our integrity to God no matter what tests we may face. We should pray, study God’s Word and meditate on it, and share the message, the good news that we have been taugh with others. By doing so, we keep our hope of everlasting life firm. (Heb. 6:19; Ps. 25:21)

So what then, does God have in store for Satan himself? Satan will have to witness

from beginning to end his entire organization on earth being wiped out. Then, he himself will become the focus of attention. The apostle John reports what happens next. (Read Revelation 20:1-3.) the "angel . . . with the key of the abyss"—will seize Satan and his demons, hurl them into the abyss, and keep them there for a thousand years. (Luke 8:30, 31; 1 John 3:8)

So what are these thousand years?

As, what I believe I see myself as, an active Christian although I have read about these thousand years I have never been taught anything about them.

What is "the abyss" into which Satan and the demons will be hurled? The Greek word abys·sos used by John means "very or exceedingly deep." It is also translated "unfathomable, boundless," and "the infinite void." Thus, it is a place completely out of reach of anyone except God and his appointed angel, who we saw above as teh one who held the keys "with the key of the abyss."

Can you imagine all the good that a loving and compassionate ruler could do for its subjects in one thousand years? Wonderful events await the unnumbered "great crowd" the loving and faithful of heart survivors of "the great tribulation," which will bring a total end to the present wicked system of things. (Rev. 7:9, 14).God’s Kingdom will take progressive steps to undo all the damage done to humans and their home, the planet Earth. The Thousand Year Reign will bring about the fulfillment of the heartwarming promise that was given by God: "I am creating new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be called to mind, neither will they come up into the heart." (Isa. 65:17)

What a lovely and truly wonderful thought.

I'll contiune to discuss this in part 2, if you have any other thoughst comment or message me, would love to know your views.

Self-esteem: Part 1

I thought I would write a few blog post about self-esteem.

I have a few rationale and irrational self-esteem issues, these although not an individual mental health problem does in fact contribute already occurring issues. Trying to turn and improve  on your self esteem and at the same time limit the negativity that contributes to your self esteem is incredibly difficult. This therefore is what I thought I would discuss.

I believe that every one holds certain thoughts and opinions about themselves, particularly when concerning the type of person that the are or at least believe that they are. This is usually then coupled with how much you value yourself, making the combined problem of self-esteem issues.  Doctors, counsellors and other therapist will say that it is possible to change this view of yourself, this is what I will try to explore.

I watched a while back a Derren Brown programme about luck. This programme was trying show the in "trick" was to convince people that their positive reactions to things increase a positive luck and negative responses will create a unlucky person. Self-esteem plays a massive role here as if you honestly believe that you are unlucky, or have low self-esteem that "negative energy" you will then concentrate negativity that focuses on your weaknesses and all the mistakes you make.

I often do this, something bad will happen and I will beat myself up over and over again, usually until the next negative thing happens. It is a horrible feeling and it is often difficult for me to think otherwise. We have all been in that relationship where when you argue with the person that you love all the little negativity thrives through your lips about the little things that bother you, because it is easier to focus on the reasons why you are bad, and these arguments usually starts because your stressed and feeling tired, worn down and ultimately having low self-esteem, you take that one criticism and run with it into an argument. It is easily done, and although I sit here writing about it, I still have the tendency to role the negativity thoughts in rather than the positive. You never click out of the thoughts thinking "oh they made me this lovely cup of tea this morning, spontaneously, that was lovely" or "they bought me flowers because they saw them and thought of me" Holding negative thoughts about yourself or from a previous event lowers your resilience and your ability to brush things off and cope with the stresses of day to day life.

Positive thoughts and compliments are easier to throw aside and this is what should change. Think about the positive things we have in life and be grateful for them.

So what can you do?

Well the first thing I believe is to focus on what you think are the negative influences in your life  and try to iscolate these from your day to day activities if you can. But most of the time you can usually find that the negativity is something you experienced through a "tramatic" experience as a child. When something happens that reminds you of these significant experiences, you expect teh worst and are likely to react badly. Creating a never ending circle of negativity and low expectations that push to the forefront of your mind.

You could have been exposed to physical, emotion or sexual abuse that then makes you insecure where your reminded by rejection or negativity in that particular area. You could have been bullied at school or made to feel like the odd one out or just generally having a trauma that causes isolation of loneliness.

If  you can recognise what is wrong then you can look at trying to correct it. If you identify with a few of these then you will start on the one that seems less daunting, something plausible to tackle. Set yourself a challenge that you realistically think that you can achieve. Start with something easy, small, but which will still show meaning for you. Tell others about what you are trying to do, so others can witness your achievements, and then although I know that it is difficult but accept their praise to you. Then when you do it once, then do it again, conquering all the small things that will help turn some of your negativity around. Whilst doing this remember to try these four things:

1: Stop comparing yourself to others and their achievements.
2:Get into the habit of saying positive things to others and then to yourself.Thinking positively in difficult times, trying to find the silver lining in the cloud. (I know it is difficult and gets tedious, but try it)
3:Accept others positivity to you, and try to take their compliments to you. Spending time with positive people will help you feel better.
4:Don't put yourself down, look at every activity as a benefit to yourself or others. Being helpful and considerate to others will help you to acknowledge your own positive qualities.

I know trying to tackle these things are hard, I often know the right and correct things to do, and yet i still fall into the same traps time and time again. I will start tackling one of my weakeness ( Allowing the little "off the cuff comments to hurt me") and in the meantime I will also do the four points I listed above. I will let you know how I get on and try to show you some features that might help you along the way. Comment if you find this useful and let me know how you get on!

A good dusting and a spoonfull of sugar

There is a story of two siblings that were brought up together. They were raised the same and we are to believe treated the same. Their outcome though was different.

Cain and Able have always interested me, I think mainly because it was their choices that led them to their outcomes. Cain chose to be jealous and angry and kill his brother, he ultimately allowed his thoughts and emotions of feeling that the Father was wrong, mean and subsequently treated him poorly, but certainly his next actions were within his own free will to make things worse. Able on the other hand is different, we know through what it says in the Bible that Able was good and behaved appropriately, and this is what I have been thinking about. Able just got on with it, and God rewarded this favourably to him.

Cain didn't have to do what he did, God did not show favour to Able because the thoughts that Cain had. Miracles can be recieved in any size, shape and form. Miracles can be given to who so ever asks. Anyone can be blessed.

Quite a few thoughts came out of this, the first reminded me of a story. And Yes for all my Donkey reading fans out there it is another donkey story.

The farmer and his donkey would go out to plough the fields each day, whatever the season or the weather. One day the donkey fell into a hole.

The farmer stood and pondered a while as to what he should do. The donkey couldn’t get out under its own steam, the farmer wasn’t strong enough to get him out on his own and the nearest village where he could get help was a good couple of hours walk away.

So the farmer finally and reluctantly decided that the donkey was near enough to the end of his life that he probably wouldn’t last much longer so he might as well just bury him in the hole. He set about the long hard task of shovelling the earth over his shoulder and into the hole. Now the donkey was understandably not at all happy about this stuff landing on and around him and anyway had no intention of dying. So he started moving around, shaking the earth off and gradually tramping it down under him. The farmer, intent on digging and hurling in the earth, didn’t notice.

Some time later the donkey walked out of the hole.

So the moral of the tale: If something’s getting you down, you’re not happy about it and have no intention of accepting it, learn from the old donkey:

Shake it off, put it behind you and get on with life!

So much possibilty is in front of us, so much we are capable of achiving, and when we reflect back on this it seems apparent that we have performed miracles in our darkest moments, often apparent that they are little miracles but miracles none the less.

I had my car taken away from me today.

It is horrible, there has been some confusion with the warrenty on the licening that the disability team from the motability. They had very kindly extended the date for the cars return but the dates being muddled up caused a lot of problems, and now for the next three weeks I do not have a car. (I do have several options available to me that i have been working on) Now, this plus a lot of negativity last week would have normally have sent my depression in to a downward spiral. I would be feeling bad, negative about my health, where I wouldn't be able to get around, sad that I have lost the car and generally having low self esteem. Yet instead I rung around, found out all of my opions available, relied on friends to talk to and help leveate some stress. And I now have several options infront of me without being depressed and spiralling out of control.

I honestly believe that the holes we get into can be avoided, we can act better and avoid some situations, ignore negativity, do not rise to arguments and continue being the good person that you can be. In allowing the devil the little bit of satisfaction of getting you to the ground is difficult to avoid because he is so good at doing it. But I heard a phrase at a Christian conference recently that stated that we should avoid the devil putting the spear into our necks when we are concentrating on everything else around on, as we lay motionless on the ground. This made me think that the bigger things that happen can be avoided.

Stop blaming other people for teh things that are bad that happen and blame yourself for your problems. Just because things are not going right in your life now does not give you the right to blame others. Because things have not gone right before and you are haunted by things in the past shouldn't be anyone else's fault. Stop worrying about the past and concentrate on the future, look forward rather than the problems behind you. Look up (to God) rather than allowing the devil to keep you focused motionless on the ground. God will hold His hand out to help you, He will strengthen you in all of His ways but He will not do it for us, because we have the free will choice. Just because life is hard shouldn't mean we should sit and wait for a mirale. We need to get up dust off and climb out of the hole.

Keep the thought "I can do what I can do"

David had 5 smooth stones but killed a giant. Moses didn't think he could do the things God asked out off him. Trust that God will help you and when you wiggle and dust yourself off God is with you helping you make a bit of progress. The reality of living our lives can be hard, very hard, but sometimes we need to act like Able and get on with it, see the miracles unfold, be aware of the bad that is around us but continue for God, because in that case God will still provide and give us a helping hand. Sitting and waiting for the miracles to happen in front of you or waiting for God to do teh task for us is never going to happen. As the saying goes "A watched Kettle doesn't boil" If you want to heat water until it boils, then you watch it while you wait, then it seems to take a very long time. In the same way, anything that we wait for with eager attention seems to take a very long time: like waiting for someone to arrive, waiting for the phone to ring, waiting for a letter to come. This Miracle watching reminds me of the scene from Mary Poppins when the children tidy the nursery, The boy Micheal sees Mary and his Sister Jane perfom the magic and he tries and tries again to do it himself but once everything is busy around him he is slightly distracted and then he just gets on with it.

Sometimes we can get into terrible situations in life, sometimes we can be angry about them, but try and not let the devil allow you to concentrate to much on them. Get up, wiggle, dust yourself off and climb out of the hole. Click your fingers and pray to God and instead of waiting or getting tied up with His answering of your prayer get on with your life and do good.  More importantly Miracles can be given to who so ever asks. Anyone can be blessed.

Who is taking you for a ride?

"Any one can hold the helm when the sea is calm."

Publilius Syrus

Being in control over a situation is always easy when you know things are safe and carefree. I hear so many stories from people who tell me that life got hard when they least expected it. I have always felt that was a silly thing to say because you are never expecting it.

This got me thing that sometimes maybe you are.

When you know bad things are going to happen in a situation, however horrible that situation then seems, is sometimes easier to cope with, you can almost control what is coming head on. But the moment you stop taking control of life and let go of what is steering you, because you think that everything will be good, you are more likely to steer in to trouble. You need to have a clear focus on who is guiding you, and then when the trouble or burdens come your way you have an emergency back up to help you out.

When I was a child I use to really enjoy going to the seaside with my mum and dad. It was such a lovely event, as long as there was good weather in the sky there was something I use to really enjoy seeing, and when I was really young (and well-behaved) something that I really would enjoy doing, going on the seaside Donkey ride!

It sounds strange to people who are not use to this custom, but going to a British Sandy Beach in the height of summer and seeing a Donkey/Donkeys on the beach, letting the children ride them up and down, was sheer excitement for me. You would usually see 6 to 8 donkeys lined up in a row on the beach and depending on the type of people running the event you would have a variety of Donkeys, each possibly with a specific, yet funny name, and some dressed up or even wearing hats.

This has been a British tradition since Victorian time, with a recorded start in 1790 at Margate, in Kent, although I am sure it was going on before then. This seaside event has become less popular over the years, I would assume mainly because of the cruelty aspect of using animals in this way. However you can still find these events at more popular seaside resorts. You would queue up, along the "carpet" track, looking for the most brightly coloured donkey, or the donkey with the best name (The names were clearly on show, they would usually be put across the saddle and then highlighted on the donkey's harness and reigns.

But now as an adult I see the whole thing slightly differently. When you think about it, this little adventure for the children puts the adults in a strange position. The Donkey, although apparently a docile creature, is still an animal and all animals are spontaneous, with anything able to happen at any moment. So realistically we are putting a child, our child, aged below 8 (usually) on the back of this animal is rather careless. Especially when you consider the height that the child could fall from. But come on, I must be ridiculous and completely overreacting here, realistically it should be OK, when we then see two things in front of us.


1: The Donkey has reigns on, so we must assume that there is a certain amount of control over the animal.


2: That the Donkey is controlled by the person who is walking a long side them. So again, we must assume that it is safe for our children to ride as there is control over the situation.


But could the Donkey still lose control?

Yes, of course it could, the Donkey could kick or run. Especially when you see the previous points differently, when you look at the reigns that the Donkey has on, if it was completely safe and controlled then you wouldn't need the reigns, but the real truth is that it is still an unpredictable animal.


But the next important thing is the person, the Donkey guide, we don't know these people, these people are complete strangers, yet we are happy to pass these people our child, to man handle.

When we send children to school we, as a society, are completely obsessed with what is best for our children, what is the best and safest! We become obsessed with Ofsted reports and qualifications of staff. When our child becomes sick, automatically Doctors have to be the best in the country to even be considered to look after your children. Yet when it comes to Donkey rides at the beach, we are happy to allow complete strangers to look after our young child. We allow them to pick up and put our Child on to a Donkey, without even checking if they are C.R.B checked, or have childcare regulations, are they first aid trained? Are the animals checked and treated by the R.S.P.C.A? But yet they go and walk the Donkey up and down the beach with a child, our child, sat on a flimsy but incredibly colourful saddle.


Now, as a parent I am in two minds, I would love my two boys, when they are older, to go on to the beach and ride a Donkey up and down it. It is fun and exciting for the first few times that you do it. Yet, my children are also my most precious and valuable items that I “posses”. I would die for them without any hesitation. So when my two boys go to the beach and go for their Donkey ride I will be looking at the two points raised earlier, the Donkey and the Donkey guide. The Donkey is carrying the most precious thing in the world to me, but is also carrying the weight of my son and the saddle that is on its back. (One of hundreds I am sure the Donkey has or would have done that summer)

The weight must be a burden.

Then the Guide now has taken that burden of responsibility. That is a lot of responsibility, but is so easily given over. But in reality, we as humans do this time and time again.


But when we look at the Donkey, it always looks very sweet and nice. We never really hear any stories of Donkeys attacking children. And at times I have even seen Donkeys wearing cute little hats (which I am pretty sure is probably against the law now) saying "Kiss me quick" or some other seaside slogan. So we look on at these animals and at this stranger and look around and are drawn in to the world of Donkey rides, with Donkeys that look trust worthy because they are wearing a hat!

Sadly, we are often the Donkeys in this scenario, mainly due to the fact that we are carrying these very heavy burdens. We are so use to carrying something that is precious to us, however irrelevant they might be to others, of which the precious load; the load that we want to protect is sometimes the heaviest. We as a society find it easy to pile on more precious items for others to carry. We are plodding along with our normal burdens, our normal loads, continuing with our normal lives our normal jobs, which is never easy. It isn't like we were designed to carry extra jobs, loads and burdens to carry and then for us to comfortably walk on hot sand. But alas, we still do it, we dress ourselves up, sometimes sparkle, pushing our pride out, with our pride on show, our name on show. But only because it is who we are, and what is expected from us, however hard we carry on plodding along.

But it is hard, so we need a good Donkey guide, someone reliable, even if they appear to be complete strangers to the on lookers. In reality the Donkey knows the guide. The guide would have handled, fed, groomed and cared deeply for these animals (even if the only reason for doing so was just so they could make money from them, but none the less they are cared for) So, for the donkey, however much it is expected from him, and us, the truth for him should be that the people queuing up to "burden" him more are probably the strangers, putting even more precious items on them to carry.

So, if you are buying this analogy and are following with what I have been saying the question then to be raised is, if you are you Donkey, who is your Guide?

This is such an important role, because they wont just care and look after you in the winter months when things seem easier, they will also be on the beach, in the hot weather helping you walk, whilst they hold on to your reigns.

Ideally I would say allow God to be your guide, let Him get a firm grip on your reigns, but the truth is that He already is.

We all know the lovely footprints in the sand poem but if you don't, I will briefly outline it here, but I would recommend you actually find it and read it: A person has been promised that if he follows God, God will always walk with Him. He is walking on sand and occasionally there are two sets of foot prints, and at other times there is only one pair. The person questions it to God, accusing Him of leaving him, but God points out that He was actually carrying the person in that time and is why there is only one set of footprints. This would help me think that God is the person that has a good grip on your reigns, who is always your guide, even when you think otherwise.

But we sometimes break free.

The problem comes though when you end up being burdened by others, and they start to guide your actions and choices, because you are carrying something that although might be irrelevant to you, it is also precious to them. So these people take charge, you allowing them to take control stops your guide, when it should be God. This is really the concept of giving authority. We should at all times acknowledge that God and Jesus are Authority over all, but the moment you let someone else take charge you are then allowing them to have Authority over you.

In a few of the Gospels we see that Jesus restores a demon possessed man. This shows ideally the concept of allowing others to take over our lives.

Taken from Mark 5 we see that Jesus got out of a boat with his disciples following him, a man at the time called Legion was possessed with an evil Spirit or Demon. Legion came running from the tombs and “prison” where he was kept to meet him. No one in the neighbouring village could help him and stop Legion from doing horrendous things, not even when they tried to bind him with a chain. No one was strong enough to subdue him. When he saw Jesus from a distance, Legion fell to his knees in front of him. He started to shout at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” When Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”

This next point I find really interesting, Legion begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. Jesus, taking pity cast them into some neighbouring pigs, but ultimately Jesus gave them permission, then Legion came out and went into the pigs.

The man that was possessed had someone else taking control of his actions, to the point that Legion became powerful, we see this in the way that the neighbouring villagers could subdue or control him and even then they ultimately buckled and allowed him to live on the outskirts, chained very poorly. The possessed mans authority was no longer in God; the Demon was currently guiding his actions. God seemingly was no longer in control. But what we do see is that the authority is always left with Jesus. Legion recognised this, recognised the power that was within him, why else would he have begged the way he did.

And then the most important part, Jesus cast him out with HIS permission.

Showing that His authority is the highest and actually however much something else takes control he is the person who is guiding you.

So think about the winter months in your life, when you are not carrying others burdens. Who is feeding, grooming, giving you somewhere to sleep and comes and sees you everyday? Ultimately remember that this person is standing there with Authority to guide you correctly.

So next time you are at the beach and you see donkeys lined up or walking up and down the beach think. Even, if you are lucky enough to be the parent holding the reigns of the donkey that your child is riding, the Stranger that is standing a few feet from you, walking with you, is also walking with their precious load.

To start an adventure, you need perseverance

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time."

Thomas Edison

Perseverance and persistence is always easier said than done and then when you do persevere, often to others confusion, you are more than likely to be called stubborn. Yet perseverance in spite of all obstacles, difficulties and all types of discouragements, however impossible it may seem, is what distinguishes the strong from the weak.

Nearly every man, woman and child who thinks of an idea and then works at it until they get up to the point where it looks impossible, will start to feel discouraged and want to stop. When in reality that is not the place to get down heartened and stop, if anything that is the place when you need to take a deep breath and carry on. Yet again, this is always easier said than done, so it is on these times when you ask for help, use the most reliable person to help you, ask God, with His help, to persevere should be easy.

For a while I have been thinking about writing this, I have had so many ideas and thoughts that have run through my mind, but I have been scared to formulate them.

I have always been the type of person that doesn't like failure, but then who does? But to fail for me is often to get a knife and to be stabbed, to be gutted, OK, maybe a little dramatic, but it hurts and it is always difficult for me to ever let go of it once I have failed. It doesn't take me that long to be thinking negative things, putting myself down and then entering a spiral of self hate, and hate of others. But I don't want to be that way. I want to be better, I want to be more Christ like, and most importantly I want to fight.

The difficulty we face is that failure is usually set in our minds early on in the task. We find it far easir to want to give up than persevere, I would assume because to perserve is to stand firm and work harder. If you are anything like me though the thoughts of giving up enter my mind quicker then the resolution to persist. I find it easier to hold on to the negative things people say to me or about me, rather than the good. So why on earth am I meditating on the bad rather than the good?

Yet with me the thought of failure captures me so easily. Even when I pray and ask God for help when I realise that I am thinking negatively (Most of the time I don't realise it until I'm deeper into the thoughts, thinking of anger, sadness even at times revenge) To save myself from this hurt I tend to only enter into activities, talks, discussions where I know or assume to know about the topic. Although many may see this as arrogance, my way of thinking is, if I know the topics then I have less chance of being wrong. Very egotistical I know, but actually all I am doing is safeguarding myself against being hurt by the embarrassment and then by the hurtful negativity my brain starts to think up.

So for me to start writing this was a challenge because I needed to cross a threshold that I was scared of crossing, an area where I could be setting myself up for failure.

The thought for this book came to me about two years ago when I was writing a post for my blog, (Which has eventually been turned and edited into one of the chapters) The concept of the Donkey started to fascinate me, and although I haven't done this mad study for all relevant Donkey related items in the last two years, God has shown me so much more, lots of which has helped me have a back ground knowledge, at least for me some very thought provoking points.

I think the hardest battle with this in general is the concept of a Donkey (especially when they are not even an animal I particularly think of when I think of an animal that I like)

But in some ways this whole project is exactly a Donkey.

One of my first thoughts of Donkeys is Eeyore, from A. A. Milne's stories of Winnie the Pooh.

Poor Eeyore, he has such a hard time, and things just never seem to go well for him. For those unaccustomed to Eeyore he is usually characterised as a pessimistic, gloomy, depressed, old, grey stuffed donkey who is a friend of the title character, Winnie the Pooh. When something bad happens in the Hundred Acre Woods you can usually bet that poor Eeyore is in the middle of it, looking sad and gloomy.( Apart from my own personal connections to Eeyore, I feel that this writing had been a bit like his existence.) The saddest thing of all though is where he lives, in the darkest, gloomiest and possibly the dirstiest part of A Hundred Ache Wood; The boggy swamp land. Amusingly to the Wnnie the Pooh francise we even read on the given map of A hundred Ache wood the reference for Eeyores house as "Eeyore's gloomy place, rather boggy and sad",

No wonder with all of this going on, that poor old Eeyore is gloomy and depressed and constantly having to build and rebuild his home made of sticks, if this is where he lives!

It is really easy to start something and not finish it, and it is usually the things that take the smallest of time or ease that becomes the most difficult. I am horrible at this. I personally hate the little things because they become the big things, just as I mentioned above a small negative thought for me can easily balloon into a large negative obsession rather than a good positive action or thought for God.

Even in everyday life it is the small things.

I wish I had a dish washer; it would make my life a lot easier. If the truth be told, what is a 2 minute activity turns into a 15 minute activity. Only on the pretence that I have made myself some toast and a cup of coffee, so that is, in washing up terms, a small plate, a cup, spoon and a knife (as I stated a 2 minute washing up task) Oh no, the thoughts that run through my mind are "well it wont take me long I'll put it on the side and do it later" then without me noticing the washing up acquired has multiplied! Then becoming a horrible chore!

Life can easily turn out of control and it is because of that, that we tend not to finish the things that we start. But I think Eeyore actually has the right frame of mind, Eeyore in truth is a prime example of many people in the world today. Apparently sad, gloomy, a little bit stuffed, but plodding a long to complete whatever task they are doing.

Allowing circumstances to take control of our lives and letting simple things quickly run away with us reminded me of the story of David. The David from the Bible that most people will recognise as the boy that defeated Goliath, or as the man that became King. At the time teh current king, King Saul was so annoyed with the Glory and attention that David seemed to be receiving that he tried many ways to get to him, to kill him, or even for him to be expelled from the city. He tried to kill David 6 times, David the Hero, was no longer a hero, he was now a fugitive and because of this his life quickly span out of control.

David soon gets the message and he kisses his wife goodbye and runs off. He didn’t dare run to his family for support, with the fear that they too might be hunted and killed. He really couldn’t seek refuge and hide within another city, as again being known as the great defender of King Saul and his people, he has more than likely got a price on his head and would be hated and even hunted there. He wondered and eventually he came a cross a church where he met a priest called Achimelech. The priests at this church would save their bread as an offering, set out for every Sabbath and a week later they would eat the bread. David, our hero, goes against his previous character and deceives Achimelech to get this sacred bread, stating that it was Royal command! Why lie? Why has our hero who clearly understood Gods love and power, suddenly turning against what he knew was right and right for God?

Sheer desperation has sunk in. He needs somewhere for sanctuary; he needs a place to eat.

David thought he wouldn't be under God's protection and he would die. The man that refused King Saul's armour to fight Goliath now picks up Goliath's sword from a priest. With the faith that David had, he fought and survived ten of thousands of battles, killing tens of thousands of men.

What could make us so desperate to lose focus?

I came to the conclusion that there is quite often so much pressure we have on this life that we fall under it. I know the pressure of trying to afford to live, trying to do the right thing, trying to be a parent and look after others. This is the pressure that makes us so desperate; this is the pressure that makes some people lie, cheat and steal. But, we need to remember that even at the darkest moments, God is our focus, turn to Him and ask for His help. David stumbled, but David stumbled into God. God provides us with nourishment and equips us to cope in life.

In Davids case he eventually escaped to the cave of Adullam. Where his brothers and his father's household heard about it and on this news they went down to him there.

Even with the events that happened here David’s family, with their love, persevered and went to him; this would have been at great risk and betrayal to King Saul.

More importantly so did God.

He never gave up on David; he persevered, knowing that David would be great for his people. God sent men, who were seen as criminals by King Saul to David, where eventually he mounted an army of around 600 men and eventually they fought back.

Even when things are the most difficult and you feel that life is falling down around you and out of control, persevere. Others around you are persevering for you, even if you are aware of it or not. God is persevering for you, constantly wanting the best for you.

One of my all time favourite verses of scripture is from Philippians 4 verse 5.

“Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near."

This verse, plus the story of David, reminds me to be a Donkey and in this back to the case of Eeyore, possibly seen as the most docile and gentle characters in the stories.

In most of the Winnie the Pooh adventures, Eeyore's house is always falling down. His house is very poorly made out of a few sticks. (I think if anything it is a very poorly made shelter, often with massive gaps throughout.) The important thing is that he doesn't give up, even to rebuild his stick house in the rather boggy and sad looking corner of Hundred Acre Woods. Donkeys have a notorious reputation for stubbornness, and I often think that if anyone ever tried to help Eeyore move into a nice warm brick house, he would stubbornly stand their and carry on building his stick shelter. Most think that the stubbornness has been attributed to a much stronger sense of "self preservation" than exhibited by horses; therefore it is more difficult to force or frighten a donkey into doing something it perceives to be dangerous for whatever reason. Yet I think the case of Eeyore is different here, I don't see it as being stubborn (of which I think is probably a poor illustration of Donkeys) but more a sense of perseverance. He is standing there in the darkest moments, darkest parts of the woods, feeling worn down, depressed and gloomy, yet what does he do? He bends down in all of the distraction around him and his life and picks up the fallen sticks and rebuilds his stick house. Eeyore is not allowng his surroundings to destroy the one thing has has left, he has faith to rebuild, even is at times he thinks it is a losing battle.

It is the principle behind the actions; he is not stubbornly rebuilding to prove a point. Eeyore has found a place that reflects who he is, and because of that he is persevering to survive there in his means.

However difficult things should get, I think we need to think about Eeyore and David, try to persevere through to finish what we have started, even when it is difficult and looks like stubbornness. If it was something worth doing then God will be there every step of the way supporting you in whatever it is. So hold on and pick up that next stick, even when your last attempt has fallen down, as it should never be seen as failure. Try and see it as it is written in the book of James. “As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy."

What are you doing, that reflects you? That reflects God? That you should honestly be thinking I need to pick up that next stick and carry on whatever.