The Choice To Love

We often hear people saying that we can choose our friends but we can't choose our relatives, and that is true. However with God's help we can choose to love the ones you haven't chosen!

It can be very difficult at times to love some people, especially those who are bitter and disillusioned because it is definitely easier to love happy people, chosen friends or our own flesh and blood.

Sometimes the circumstances which we face in life make it very difficult for us to love and can often turn us from God. But these are the times when it is most important for us to turn to God as He will make us stronger people and help us to love those we find most difficult to love.

1 Corinthians 13:7
Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

We don't have it within ourselves to love everyone we come across. However God will give us His love with which to love those we find difficult to love.

Do you get discouraged when you try to love some people and they react as if they don't want to know you? I know I certainly do - it's difficult in these circumstances not to get discouraged. However God understands we are different people and we have our differences and loves the unlovable.

Don't forget that God loves all of us! This love is ours for the asking, the taking and the loving.

Count Your Blessings

Are you a positive or a negative person? Do you always look on the bright side of every situation or do you tend to see or focus on the things that could go wrong in every situation?

It's often said that if you look positively on every circumstance it will lift your mood. As we all live such busy lives these days, it can often be difficult to cope with what life throws our way. God can help us to be more positive in our lives. After all He's there and willing to share all our problems and help us through.

When your having a difficult time, do you stop to think about the good things that are happening or do you find yourself concentrating on your difficulties? No matter how bad you think your circumstances are, remember there's always someone worse off than you! Here's just a few example of a few things that may be positives in your life that you can be grateful for, even in your darkest times:

• enough food to eat
• a roof over your head
• family
• friends
• a job
• God's love

Remember that God is the one who provides for you, so thank Him for all that's good in your life. I'm sure that even during your lowest times you will still be able to find one blessing, one thing to thank God for.

The well known hymn Count Your Blessings" is one that expresses the sentiments I've stated. I hope you enjoy this version of this song...

When upon life's billows
You are tempest tossed
When you are discouraged,
Thinking all is lost
Count your many blessings,
Name them one by one
And it will surprise you
What the Lord has done.

Count your blessings,
Name them one by one
Count your blessings,
See what God has done
Count your blessings,
Name them one by one
Count your many blessings,
See what God has done.

Are you ever burdened
With a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy
You are called to bear?
Count your many blessings,
Ev'ry doubt will fly
And you will be singing
As the days go by.

Count your blessings,
Name them one by one
Count your blessings,
See what God has done
Count your blessings,
Name them one by one
Count your many blessings,
See what God has done.

When you look at others
With their lands and gold
Think that Christ has promised
You His wealth untold
Count your many blessings,
Money cannot buy
Your reward in heaven,
Nor your home on high.

Count your blessings,
Name them one by one
Count your blessings,
See what God has done
Count your blessings,
Name them one by one
Count your many blessings,
See what God has done.

So, amid the conflict,
Whether great or small
Do not be discouraged,
God is over all
Count your many blessings,
Angels will attend
Help and comfort give you
To your journey's end.

Count your blessings,
Name them one by one
Count your blessings,
See what God has done
Count your blessings,
Name them one by one
Count your many blessings,
See what God has done.

Centre Of It All

Do you plan your future?

I think most of us do to some extent and would agree that it is good idea to plan ahead.

But how far ahead should we plan?

Many business/management courses talk about planning for 5 or 10 years ahead, but is it really realistic to plan where/what you want to be doing that far ahead? What you plan just now for five or ten years from now may turn out to be something that you’ll have no desire for ten years in the future. So realistically is there any point in worrying about being in a specific place ten years from now when at some point, you might want to be somewhere else instead?

I certainly have planned things for my future which when it has actually got to that time, I find they are not what I want or is even is right for me then. As we go through life our circumstances change and often our perspective of things change. This in turn means that things which were important to us at one time, may not be as important to us later on.

So what does all this mean?

Well I think it just means we need to take life in small steps, not in huge leaps. In other words, don't rush through life not paying attention to the world, the people or situations around you, but take the time to experience each day for what it is - after all it is a day in YOUR life so make the most of it.

So how do we live each day to the full?

We must prepare for each day by praying to God and asking God to be with us, supporting us through the day. Living each day with God at the heart of all we do, is the best possible way plan our life. There will come a point in time when we will stand before the throne of God and give an account for the life that they have lived. Therefore, put God at the centre of all you do, and let Him take care of the future. After all, God knows what’s best for us and He will not fail us.

Matthew 6:25-33 (New King James Version)
“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

Checkout Tim Hughes' website: http://www.timhughesmusic.com/

Challenged

Last night I got around to watching the BBC's two part programme called Famous, Rich and Homeless, which puts homelessness in the spotlight by getting five famous volunteers to agree to swap their lavish lifestyles, fame and fortune for a world of sleeping rough, soup runs and hostels for 10 days

At a time when our economy is in recession and repossession become reality for so many, homelessness is a becoming a more frightening possibility for lots of folk.

In the programmes the volunteers are stripped of everything they value, given clothes more applicable to their new homeless status, and also a sleeping bag to symbolise their new life. We are then shown how they adjust to being invisible, vulnerable and desperate as homeless people living on the streets of London and then later in the programmes, living in a homeless hostel (some in London, others in Glasgow).
The physical and emotional experience of the volunteers during their ten days on the streets was plain to see during the programme. The volunteers found themselves challenging their prejudices and preconceptions of homelessness and the different reasons and circumstances that result in someone without having no home - something that we all take for granted.

I must be honest, I shed a number of tears while watching these programmes. It was soul wrenching to hear the stories of some of those of the homeless folk the volunteers encountered, and the circumstances which had caused them to end up on the street. I for one have been challenged by the programmes, as I am ashamed to say I feel embarrassed/awkward when I see/encounter homeless folk, and where possible would probably try and avoid having to speak to them. I cannot truly express how ashamed I now feel.

There is one thing that sticks in my memory that a number of the homeless folk said, and that was the extreme loneliness they feel when living on the streets. If I'm honest, I think that just added to my feelings of guilt as I know I often try to avoid homeless people when I see them on the street, as I'm not good at dealing with new situations or talking to folk I don't know. Just because I feel awkward or uncomfortable does not make it ok for me to avoid these people, after all they are the very ones who need my help, even if it's just to talk

I have forgotten that homeless people are in real people too, just like me and you! They are God's children just as much the rest of us!

So many of the folk who find themselves having to live on the streets, find themselves doing so simply because of the circumstances or situations they have found themselves in, often through no fault of their own. Having watched these programmes and found myself challenging my perception of the homeless, I spent a long time in prayer, not just for those who find themselves living on the streets, but also for myself, that God will give me the strength and guidance to approach homeless people and talk to them, rather than avoiding them.

We must thank God for giving us the kind of lifestyle we have. At times we may complain and think our lives are terrible, but out lives are luxurious compared to those living on the streets.

Please pray for the following:

• Those who find themselves living on the streets
• Those who work with the homeless
• The safety of of homeless and those who work with them
• The families of the homeless
• That those from broken families may find peace and reconciliation so can return home
  

We are all God's children. We must do what we can look after one another...those we know and those we don't, those who are doing well and those who have hit hard times.

You can see the two BBC programmes at BBC iPlayer : http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/search/?q=Famous,%20Rich%20and%20Homeless