The Lord loves the lost.

“Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand”. Jonah 4:11.


I've been so caught up in life this week.

Work from Monday to Friday, busy with school at night and catching up with friends.

Today was the only time I've really been able to stop and rest.

To consider the Lord, His ways, Himself.

To spend much needed time alone, with Him.


So beneficial.


I have been thinking about my faith today...

more importantly, sharing the Object of it with those who haven't yet heard about Him.


I don't know if it's that I am ashamed to bring Him up, or whether I'm just so caught up with everything else that's going on that, I don't even think about it.


I caught up with an old friend the other day who doesn't follow the Lord.

I came away from the meeting feeling this sense of sadness, sad because I can't imagine how she can live without the hope there is in Christ.


I suppose I ought to be praying, "Lord... give me the boldness to tell the lost how they can be found, in You."


but even then, you share your faith and if they choose not to believe...

there is still the knowledge of what the repercussions of unbelief are!


wow.


How glad I am to be saved.

How thankful that despite my wretchedness, God loves me.


How I pray that we might love the lost as much as God Himself does, enough to tell them about Calvary.


That our eyes might be opened to see the fields, in great need of labourers who will tell of His amazing love.


That the world and all it offers would be so dim, in comparison to the knowledge of our amazing God.


This I do pray,


in Jesus' name.

What a beautiful name.

'You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain'. - Exodus 20:7


I did not expect the Word of God to be thrust straight through me, like a sharp sword last night in church.

I don't believe there has been a week in all my life where I've been so careless with my words.

So hasty to speak, without considering the power of words.

I was reading Romans today over coffee, I came to chapter 10 and verse 13,

'For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved'.


There is something about His name.


Something Holy... something Glorious.

How often I use his name for humour's sake.


Today even, I muttered something which had me stop right there on the sidewalk and say...


"God, I can't believe I just said that"... "after last night's message".



It's crazy.



No matter how much I purpose to do something, I end up falling on my face.

I suspect this is the Lord's way of drawing my proud self back to Him.


To remind this kid of how lost she would be without Him.



Ahhh.


A good day.


My eyes have been lifted up... I have been reminded that without Him, I'm nothing.

I can't do life without His help.




and to be honest...





I kinda love Him.



Wouldn't want to live it without Him.



xx

ugh.

It's been a big week.

I'm in a little bit of a mood atm.

I'm sorely grieved by offences.


Careless words spoken, upset caused.


I'm just over it.


I want to take to my tongue with a knife.


A big, sharp knife.


Alternatively, I might stop speaking.



ugh.


Thank God we're saved by grace.



For I am hopeless without Him.

Begin the day with prayer.

I remember when I first came to Christ.

I was 14... full of guilt and shame from my wretchedness.

Back in those days Jesus was my everything.

I remember being so pumped about God, I would tell anyone who would listen to me waffle about how they could know Jesus too.


Funny looking back and thinking about how we used to be.

So much zeal, such limited knowledge about Christ.



But I knew He'd saved me.


That He'd reached down, opened my sinful eyes and said...

"Lizzie, come Home".


To be saved and truly know it is freedom indeed.

I'm up to another chapter in E.M Bounds on Prayer and am being brutally convicted each page that I read.


He touches on men of the faith who spent hours each morning talking to God.


Pleading with Him for souls.

Pleading with Him to purge those from within the camp.



I WANT TO BE LIKE THIS.



But the flesh is weak.


I sat on the tram home from school this evening and as I read this chapter I couldn't help but get teary thinking about the fact we cannot do this without His help.


We can't pray unless He enables us to be prayerful.

We're just so hopeless without His help.


The more He shows me this, the more I'm drawn to my knees to seek His face.



I pray He will reveal more and more to us how sinful we truly are and how much we need to spend time on our faces before Him.



Otherwise what's the point of it all?



Religious service?



God takes no delight in sacrifices.

He just wants us.


That's the 'real thing'.



A real and living relationship with the True and Living God.



That's what I want.

powerless without prayer.

The past couple weeks I haven't been feeling quite right.

Just not myself.

I am at home today, having found out yesterday that I've got an ear and throat infection and need to rest.

I woke up this morning, rolled around a bit and started chatting to God.


A much needed chat.

--------------------------------------------------------


A few months ago I purchased this book:




I've slowly been getting through each biography and recently I'd noticed that a chap named E.M Bounds kept appearing.

He was an author of choice for many of the champions of the faith I'd been reading about.

Bounds wrote about prayer.

This is a book containing his writings:




About a month ago I bought this book for $12.99 from Koorong in Franklin St, Melbourne.

I couldn't get halfway through the Intro without busting out the highlighter and pen to draw and comment on his words.


A truly powerful book.


So I sent that off to a friend in Ireland. Last week I went down to get myself a second copy and am SO excited to continue reading this book.

I've realised how much I try to live my life without the Lord's involvement.

I go about my day without starting it in prayer, without committing the day to Him and asking Him to help me glorify Him by my words and deeds.

To bring the lost into my life and help me share the gospel with them.


Am I surprised that my life appears dull and flat?


(answer: No)

Because I've been trusting in my own abilities to get stuff done and am failing miserably.


I get frustrated and angry and end up getting confused at why nothing seems to work.


I know that when I stop praying, sin is usually involved.


There is something I am unrepentant about so I steer clear of God.

This is not good.


So if you're reading this, please pray God will help me to be a prayerful young lady.


I want to trust Him and lean upon Him to meet my needs.




So glad He is patient with us.



Where would I be without Him?

Touch not, taste not.

I love books.

Went down to Koorong last week and was fortunate enough to pick up R.C. Sproul's commentary on Romans for a sweet $39.

Considering I've been coveting the entire Martyn Lloyd Jones series on Romans for what seems an eternity, at twenty something dollars per chapter you can imagine my joy to find that Sproul covers the entire book for under fifty bucks.

SOLD!


It's hardcover, with a dust jacket.


I CANNOT STAND DUST JACKETS.

gah.

Never read Sproul before, but he's from the Reformed camp so I don't suppose there will be any sneaky surprises.

It was quite the timely purchase, as on Wednesday night bible study we had a bit of a dive into Romans 14:1 - 15:7.

Given the fact that Romans is my favourite NT book and I have an enormous bible crush on the Apostle Paul, I was quite excited.

Here is a link to Romans chapter 14 if you wanna looky looky.

For the past 12 months I've been sorting through issues of the Conscience and Christian liberty kind.

'Touch not, taste not', pretty much.


I have struggled immensely with legalism in the past, still do to be truthful. God has graciously shown me how foolish it is to set up rules in place of walking in the Spirit, trusting that He will guide us each step of the way.

I do struggle with the 'weaker brother' principle though. It's all too easy to finger point at brothers and sisters within the camp who aren't persuaded of things that we might be, whether music, clothing or food related. Whatever the preference, it seems pretty clear that God doesn't want us to cause other members within the body to stumble if they're convinced in a matter one way or the other.

I am so thankful that He has given us freedom to make choices for ourselves.

To be led by the Holy Spirit is a wonderful thing. To imagine that Jesus is always one step in front of us, guiding us along the narrow path.

Not be forced into following a set of rules created by men in order to keep us on the right track with God.


Praise God for Calvary.

I am so glad there isn't anything I can do to merit or lose my salvation, that God holds me tightly in His hand and He won't be letting me go.


This is comforting, for I fail all the time.

We all do.

That's the beautiful thing about the gospel.


He loves us, despite us!


Incredible, truly.

being still.

It seems that every December I purpose that the New Year will be one where time is allocated each week to doing absolutely nothing.

I have a day planner where I note down all my upcoming adventures, meetings, lunch dates, FRIDAY SOCCER! etc etc just so I won't forget.

This morning I got up and sat in front of my little gas heater, something I do each morning when it's absolutely freezing.

Winter draweth nigh, my friends.

As I was sitting there this morning, I recall thinking Lord... why does it seem I've been spending so little time with you lately?


Then I thought about all the activities I've been busy doing.

It doesn't matter how much I purpose to not be busy, I just can't help but fill in every bit of free time I have with something to do.


This can't be a good thing, I conclude.


I got the tram to work and was thinking about my thoughts, I remembered the verse from Psalms which says "Be still and know that I am God".

It was like God was saying, Lizzie... you can't be still when you're all over the place. Slow down, stop girl. Hang with me.


I miss this.


I miss going to the park and sitting under a tree and just thinking about Him, thinking about life and trials and all that He is.


I don't do this enough.

I am having a good week therefore I'm 'okay' so am not needing Him.

^ This is what my heart is really saying.


How up and down we humans can be with our affections.


With one another, most importantly with God Himself.


Breaks my heart.


Someone once told me that the three essential C's in a good relationship are as follows:

COMMUNICATION

CONSIDERATION

CONSISTENCY


If I apply anything he taught me, it's gotta be this.

Communicate with Him daily.

Consider His Word, His ways, His Son.

Consistently seek His face.


It's the only way to be successful in this crazy thing called Life.

swift to hear, slow to speak.

I caught the 9:30am V-line train back to Melbourne from Geelong this morning.

There were no spare seats, so I had to huddle myself up near the door with a bunch of other people.

Standing right in front of me was an elderly couple.

These situations are kinda funny. You do that awkward smile, acknowledging that the situation is sucky, the weather is cold and it's a long, uncomfortable journey ahead.

Then you look out the window and there is an awkward moment of silence.

A few seconds later your eyes meet again so you ask, "You heading to Melbourne?".

They respond with a polite, "Yes" and then you nod like you care, waiting a few more awkward moments before throwing out the next question.

This went back and forward for a few minutes, then the man decided he'd like to tell me a story about his visit to America in the sixties.

I do love a good story, so I listened intently and when required sought clarification as his thick Italian accent made it a challenge to follow on.

His wife was standing there next to him, clutching on his arm so she wouldn't topple over when the train rattled.

Whenever she stumbled, she'd hold on tighter and her husband would say... "What's wrong Mama?!!" followed by this cheeky Italian giggle.

He was completely adorable.

Not really my type but I imagine if I had a Grandpa, he'd be it.


I got off the train thinking about the fact that the entire trip I barely said three words.


This is highly unusual for me.


When I got to Southern Cross I jumped on the next Upfield train and pulled out a book I bought at Word on Saturday. I'm up to the chapter on Authentic Communication and had to laugh when I came to this:

'Why is it that when we think of communication, we usually picture ourselves talking? The answer is fairly clear. We think what we have to say is pretty important - more important than what others have to tell us. But often the best thing we can do with our lips is to keep them sealed'.


I am so guilty of this.

Communication isn't all about talking, it's about listening.


The more I read of the chapter, the more convicted I felt about the need to spend more time listening and less time talking.


I don't know if you do this, but when I read Proverbs I have a tendency to think 'pity the fool' when I come to a part which describes a foolish man or woman.


The book quotes Proverbs 18:2, 'A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but delights in expressing his own opinion'.


Shame.


I was later at a cafe on Sydney Rd, jumping between Proverbs, my Mocha, croissant and this book.

it didn't take long to hit me quite hard.


Liz, your problem is Pride.



I can be so self-deceived sometimes.


I feel so confident that I am right to judge situations as this or that until I open the Book and He says, "No child, you are wrong".


His Word shows us up every time.


Sharper than a double-edged sword?



You bet.

the spirit of meekness.

I've been thinking a lot about forgiveness this past week.

It's interesting we touched on it in bible study on Wednesday, as it's a topic that's been on my heart quite a lot lately.

Not holding grudges, but building a bridge and getting right over it.

Relationships are a tough one, whether personal or work related... there is always someone hurting us or we're the one causing offence and needing to be forgiven.

I struggle with this often.


God has really been showing me that I need to be gentle and meek, not so abrasive and opinionated.

:-(

It is really hard.

I am not, by nature a gentle person.

I am actually quite brash and it bothers me a lot because I don't want to be an obnoxious person. Nothing irks me more than obnoxious people and you know when you say something you shouldn't have and then think, I've just offended someone, again. Crap.


It's the worst.

Sometimes I cry about it.

Truthfully, there are just some sins we can't seem to get on top of and for me... it's taming that wild beast.





hehe.


Was reading James this morning, trying to get my head around it.

'The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity... that no one can tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith we bless God , even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing. My brethren, James writes... these things ought not so to be.' - 3:8-10

ugh.

and when I measure myself up against the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, still stuffed.

'But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.' - Galatians 5:22-26


Ok Liz... checklist time.

LOVE - when I feel like it
PEACE - maybe
LONGSUFFERING - hardly
GENTLENESS - *coughs*
GOODNESS - who is good but God?
FAITH - how often do I pray?
MEEKNESS - do I control my strength?
TEMPERANCE - definitely not.

Ok, so there's clearly some work needing to be done.

THANKFULLY I don't have the resources to carry out the work.


But He does.

:-)

Philippians 1:6 says, 'Being confident of this very thing, that he which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ'.


amen.

We are weak.


But HE is always strong.

so comforting.