Wow, I can’t believe that we are now into the middle of January – my doesn’t time fly when you are having fun, or in this case busy, busy, busy! I seem to have lost track of time totally as of late, so hence, a lot of catching up to do here. With the rush of the days passing by, I seem to find it difficult putting pen to paper which is unusual for me to say the least. My brain is still working on overboard though with tons of ideas which keep flooding my poor head. Instead of writing these thoughts down on paper, which is what I should be doing, I carry on with the daily tasks in hand. It would be much better if I carried a small pocket notebook and pen around with me all day long – as then I would have no excuse whatsoever, would I!

Years ago, when I was travelling by coach up to London from home for work – I would always carry a notepad with me no matter what. This time of the morning used to be my favourite time of day when my “creative juices” would flow very easily. In the stillness of the early mornings (and we are talking 5 – 6am here), this would be my time, where I found it so easy to put pen to paper. There would be very little traffic on the roads until we hit the M3, then that was a different matter, fellow coach travellers would still be tired and therefore be asleep within half an hour of the coach’s journey and therefore, I could just sit back, relax and write – pure bliss.

As the years have gone by I have found that evenings are now my best time to sit, relax and yes, you have guessed it, write. I can be sitting reading a book or just relaxing with some music in the background when tons of ideas come to mind. I can even go to bed in the evenings and my head is sometimes still buzzing and/or some lyrics etc come into my head which I just have to jot down, but, more often than not this means getting up to go and get something to write on but, I have to say, I can’t always be bothered. Again, it would really help if I kept a pad and something to write with by my bed as I am sure you would agree!

I have always enjoyed being able to write. This is something that is so therapeutic, satisfying and at the end of the day rewarding.  Having the ability to just go with the flow of something the Lord has given me and/or ideas, thoughts –whatever; I really enjoy having the ability to do this. My father used to write songs, poems and limericks all the time and he had an amazing gift. His writings, used to be quite funny at times especially the limericks, oh, these were a hoot.

Throughout my childhood and teenage years, I was constantly being encouraged to write in one form or another which was on the whole great. Like most children though, there were times when I much preferred doing something else, especially during the summer months where I would prefer to be outside with friends, like most children I guess!

I love this way of being able to express myself and I hope I don’t sound conceited here by the way, as this is the last thing I intend. This is one of the best ways in which I feel able to express myself and communicate what I am trying to say or get across, much more so than by any other means!

There is one goal I had at the beginning of this New Year and that was to begin a “one year bible reading plan”, to me this was a good start for 2006. This is something that I have attempted before but it has never gotten very far at all, in fact probably not beyond the first few chapters of Genesis!

I was filled with determination this time, that not only was I going to stick to this but it wasn’t just going to be “I must read the allotted chapters every day” but it was going to be a real wanting to get more out of God’s Word, to really let His Word soak into my very being and I wanted to be filled with excitement and a new zest for the bible that I had never known before.  I was determined that no matter what, I was not going to miss out on what I knew God was going to teach me on a daily basis.

Now, not every day is easy and this definitely wasn’t easy to start with. Now, I look forward to finding out what God has to say to me through His Word. There are days that I read more chapters than the day before, there are days when I only read a couple of chapters, but this doesn’t matter as I am still soaking up His Word. Quite often I have to ask friends what certain passages mean (if I don’t get the answer from the footnotes on the bottom of each page).  There are times that I have found out things that I should have known and I think “wow, this is how this started” and so on.  Every day I have to backtrack over the verses that I have been reading especially when I don’t understand something.

For me, The Lord has opened up something new and exciting here and I can’t wait to sit down with a cup of coffee, it is amazing what God will show you!

I really would encourage anyone to start a yearly bible reading plan and there are resources you can find for doing this on the internet, through devotionals or even start up your own!

Always have a pen, bible marker and a piece of paper handy, so that when you want to mark a verse that really speaks out to you, then you have a marker handy.  Again, if you need to make notes, then you have the resources at hand to do so. 

Start with prayer, and ask The Lord to help you understand the chapters you are reading, ask Him to speak to you and if there is a verse you don’t understand then ask The Lord to show you the meaning.   Again, if you don’t understand something then make a note of the verse and question and ask perhaps, a pastor, your house group leaders or friend within your church will be able to answer your question!.  Another recommendation, purchase a good concordance and other resources to help you understand God’s Word, there is a lot out there that will help you via the internet and also in Christian book stores.  Again, if necessary ask for guidance on this.

When you do your daily readings during the day is up to you, some people prefer to start the day getting into the Word, for others it can be at the end of the day – it is up to each individual!.  I personally do mine at the end of the day and this can vary in time from evening to evening.  I find the evenings easier and it is a good way for me to soak in The Word before going to sleep. 

I really would recommend starting a plan like this, it is an excellent way of being fed on a day to day basis and to be soaked with the word of God and the more you get into His Word, the more you want to read.  The bible is the most important book we will ever need as it has everything in here about day to day life, so why not start now, it isn’t too late!

Free to worship

Worship, is such an intimate way of coming before our Precious Father. This should be should be a part of our daily lives no matter what.  I don’t know about you but I love to put worship music on when I’m at home, close my eyes and let the words of the songwriter soak into my heart, into my very being.  I love to be able to allow God to move and to speak to me whilst praising him. Too sometimes bow down before Him, raising my arms up to Him in thanksgiving. Telling Him how much I love and adore Him, how special He is to me, how thankful I am that He is in my life……. Sometimes I put instrumental or soaking music on and just allow the Holy Spirit to work in me. I love these times where I just wait upon God. I love being able to just listen for His still small voice.  There have been a couple of times where I have felt such an intimate and powerful presence of the Holy Spirit; there have been tears streaming down my face at the wonders of His love. There was a time last year when He gave me a vision and it was amazing.  There really is nothing like freely giving ourselves up to Jesus in worship and praise.  When listening to worship, you can’t help but be brought into the presence of Jesus.  How important is worship to you? Do you enjoy the freedom of being able to express yourself by worshipping our loving Heavenly Father?  To express who you are in God?  Do you make time and space for worship in your own personal daily walk with Him?

Within my church we are extremely blessed as we have so much freedom in which to worship, and so much space! We have two worship teams that rotate each week and no one Sunday is the same. We never know what God is going to do or how He is going to move. We go with an air of expectation knowing that He is going speak to us, through worship or through His Word, or both!

There is so much freedom within our church to freely express our praise to Him and each Sunday the vast areas of space are filled with an array of worshipers including children. Children express their worship through dance and through flags and banners.  It is such an awesome sight to watch these little ones with no prompting from their parents, to go up on stage and just dance before Jesus. It is truly a wonderful sight.

We are encouraged some Sundays to get up out of our seats and our comfort zones, to go and use the vast amount of space down the front of the church, at the back and also the stage area. We are encouraged to allow the Holy Spirit to move in each of us, by dance, by giving words of knowledge, singing prophetic songs and by speaking out words that the Holy Spirit has prompted us with.  The sounds of God’s people coming together as one in worship and praise is truly amazing. We have so much freedom and space to express ourselves in the area of dance and sometimes you can’t see the floor at all!

So wherever you are, be it at home or at church, allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you through worship.  Make use of the space you have to spend time in His wonderful presence and see where God takes you!

Wow, I can’t believe that we are now into the middle of January – my doesn’t time fly when you are having fun, or in this case busy, busy, busy! I seem to have lost track of time totally as of late, so hence, a lot of catching up to do here. With the rush of the days passing by, I seem to find it difficult putting pen to paper which is unusual for me to say the least. My brain is still working on overboard though with tons of ideas which keep flooding my poor head. Instead of writing these thoughts down on paper, which is what I should be doing, I carry on with the daily tasks in hand. It would be much better if I carried a small pocket notebook and pen around with me all day long – as then I would have no excuse whatsoever, would I!

Years ago, when I was travelling by coach up to London from home for work – I would always carry a notepad with me no matter what. This time of the morning used to be my favourite time of day when my “creative juices” would flow very easily. In the stillness of the early mornings (and we are talking 5 – 6am here), this would be my time, where I found it so easy to put pen to paper. There would be very little traffic on the roads until we hit the M3, then that was a different matter, fellow coach travellers would still be tired and therefore be asleep within half an hour of the coach’s journey and therefore, I could just sit back, relax and write – pure bliss.

As the years have gone by I have found that evenings are now my best time to sit, relax and yes, you have guessed it, write. I can be sitting reading a book or just relaxing with some music in the background when tons of ideas come to mind. I can even go to bed in the evenings and my head is sometimes still buzzing and/or some lyrics etc come into my head which I just have to jot down, but, more often than not this means getting up to go and get something to write on but, I have to say, I can’t always be bothered. Again, it would really help if I kept a pad and something to write with by my bed as I am sure you would agree!

I have always enjoyed being able to write. This is something that is so therapeutic, satisfying and at the end of the day rewarding.  Having the ability to just go with the flow of something the Lord has given me and/or ideas, thoughts –whatever; I really enjoy having the ability to do this. My father used to write songs, poems and limericks all the time and he had an amazing gift. His writings, used to be quite funny at times especially the limericks, oh, these were a hoot.

Throughout my childhood and teenage years, I was constantly being encouraged to write in one form or another which was on the whole great. Like most children though, there were times when I much preferred doing something else, especially during the summer months where I would prefer to be outside with friends, like most children I guess!

I love this way of being able to express myself and I hope I don’t sound conceited here by the way, as this is the last thing I intend. This is one of the best ways in which I feel able to express myself and communicate what I am trying to say or get across, much more so than by any other means!