romans 6 anyone?

Several years ago when I was in Colorado, my friend and I decided that it would be a great idea to memorise Romans 6: 1-14:

¹What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ²By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? ³Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

⁵If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. ⁶For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— ⁷because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

⁸Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. ¹⁰The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

¹¹In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. ¹⁴For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

I had most of it down back then and when I was skimming though Romans the other day it jumped out at me again, I could only remember a few verses but I thought what a great passage, and as I am doing this whole memorise scripture thing I thought it might be cool to go back and memorise it again.

Anyone want to do it with me?

memorising scripture

SP has a new guy working with him on the project he is working on, and this guy is a Christian - hooray! He actually used to go to and do lay ministry at the church which our new minister came from and so knows him pretty well. Anyhoo, he has started to mentor SP which has been awesome, an older Christian man training and growing SP!
One of the things he has SP doing is memorising scripture. I think SP has about 20 or more down so far which is awesome. I too have decided to jump on the 'memorising scripture' bandwagon as I believe it is a good bandwagon to jump on. So far I have 3 down - I am going to try and write them out here to see how I go:

'had a blank for a minute'!

"And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life" 1 John 5:11-12 (Assurance of Salvation)

"Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete" John 16:24 (Assurance of Answered Prayer)

"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so you can stand up under it" 1 Corinthians 10:13 (Assurance of Victory)

I just checked them and I almost got them right, I just added one word to each of them - DOH! Guess I better keep practicing. I just corrected them so if you want to memorise them you don't start memorising my incorrect attempts!

I believe Aimee and Alison are also at it - You Go Girls!

born at 21 weeks and 6 days

In 2006 a baby was born at 21 weeks and 6 days in Florida.

This is the first baby to be born before 23 weeks gestation, click here to read the story.

It's amazing that doctors don't consider a pregnancy 'viable' until 24 weeks. I know this case is probably an exception but it just goes to show me that life begins at conception, not when the docs say 'now the pregnancy is viable'.

Just as a side note - people can have an abortion up until 24 weeks - just when the pregnancy is declared 'viable'. Hmmmm!

What an amazing story and look how little her feet are - what a miracle! Perfectly designed by our maker!

This is the little girl now - looks like she is getting chubby at one year old!

the 'welcome' course

Last Thursday night, my new church started the 'welcome' course which is put together by Evangelism Ministries and a couple of wonderful women I know!

There weren't all that many people there but it was still really great. There is a lot of work to be done but it's exciting that the church is taking the necessary steps they need to to improve welcoming and make people feel loved and cared for.

It's always hard starting a new church when you don't really know anyone, I have struggled with this more than SP. I think because I am an 'out there' person I crave friendship and bounce of it, not having it has been tough. Now I know that this takes time and on Sunday I did get to meet quite a few lovely women- I just don't really know any of them really well yet. Hopefully we will be starting in a bible study soon, which I am sure will help with getting to know more people on a deeper level.

If you think about it please pray for us as we adjust to our new church and as we meet new people.

So the first night was good and it was good that as SP and I are newcomers we were able to share our experience of being welcomed into this church, we looked not only at what happens once someone comes inside the building but we also looked at the exterior of the building - is it welcoming - is it 'open', do people know you are there, etc.

We started the night off with a bible study from 1 John 4:7-20, I thought it was great to start off with the word of God and to be challenged on how we ought to love, it helped put the evening and welcoming into perspective - in light of the fact that God loved us, he loved us so much he sent his Son to die for us, that love comes from God, God is love, we love because he loved us first, that His love is made complete in us and that if we don't love our brother we cannot love God.

We can't meet again or a couple of weeks, but I am looking forward to engaging in more conversations and ideas in how we might make our church a people loving, welcoming place for people to learn about God and worship. Please pray for our churches that we might put others first, that we might be willing to step out of our comfort zones, that we might be alert to the people around who might be new or on their own and that God might lay it on our hearts to love as he has loved us.

scripture

This week I am starting to help out with scripture, my good friend is teaching scripture in the area where I now go to church for the church I now go too, BUT she has 44 kids in her class - this is very exciting but far too much work for one person. She asked if I might be able to help out and after some consideration and a challenging sermon I have decided I would be delighted to help.

It's on Thursdays - which is my day. What a privilege to be able to share the gospel with the kids in our local area.

It's been several months since I have done any kids ministry, plus scripture is going to be quite different to Adventure Club but at the end of the day it is all about teaching little ones about our Lord and Saviour - I am looking forward to starting.

Please pray that we would get to know these kids quickly and that we might be godly in the way we teach, and speak to them.

I will keep you posted!

bah, humbug!

I am sorry but I find Christmas in Australia not like Christmas AT ALL!

It's not cold, it's hot, it's not the same as England, it's just not right! I want to feel Christmasy but I just don't!

Ultimately I know that Christmas is not about whether it is cold out side or whether they play cheesy carols in shops. BUT, there is that feeling of excitement that Christmas time brings that I miss here in Australia. The familiarity of Christmas in England is just not here. BUT it's kind of good it doesn't feel like Christmas because then I don't feel as sad or miss my family as much as I would if it felt Christmasy and I was so far away from them!

I know Christmas not about the feelings and the weather it's actually ALL about Jesus the son of God becoming man to save his people from their sins.

Jesus gave up his place on the throne to die the death, death on a cross so that we might be reconciled to God, that is the best gift that we could ever receive - no matter where in the world we are we all need this gift..

In the midst of the 'busy-ness'* this season brings let's not forget to remember the gracious and precious gift of Christ. This universal message of salvation is the same whether celebrating Christmas in England, Australia, Indian, America, Indonesia or China!

* how do you spell 'busy-ness', is it the same as business?

why go to church?

I read this this morning and liked it!

A churchgoer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. "I've gone for 30 years now, " he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."

This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:

"I've been married to my wife for 37 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this.... They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritual dead today!"

leaving church

Some of you may or may not know that we are leaving church in a few weeks. It has been a hard decision but a decision we have been thinking and praying about for over a year now and we have decided the time is now right. We decided at the beginning of this year to leave but had a few commitments including Bible Study that we wanted to continue with until the end of this year. We love our Bible Study and have so enjoyed these past couple of years learning more about God with them.

I have really enjoyed my time at CIM and I have learnt so much about ministry, God has grown me in so many ways for which I am enormously thankful and CIM has given me the opportunities to do so many new things that I would have never tried before.

It hasn't been an easy decision, I have been going to church there since I arrived in Australia over 3 1/2 years ago and SP joined me about 8 months after that. Most of my friends go to CIM and although I know leaving churches doesn't stop the friendships I know it will change some of them a little so it will mean really making the effort to catch up and hang out, which we are very keen to do. I will miss seeing everyone so much each Sunday.

There are a few different reasons why we are leaving, one of which is we are keen to go to a morning church closer to home. We have checked a couple of churches out over the past few months and are swaying towards one church in particular but we haven't totally made up our mind as yet. Both of the churches we have tried have been amazingly welcoming and the word of God was preached clearly and with conviction, we also felt looked after, but we can only go to one.

Please pray for wisdom as we think through what church we go to next, we want to be godly in our decision, we want to go to a church that is community/outward focused where we can use the new skills and gifts God has given us to build and grow God's kingdom and of course we want a church that preaches Christ crucified.

I am going to try and organise a little get together before we leave so keep posted and I will let you now about it when I have the details.

thank you

I just wanted to say how thankful I am to all of you that have commented on my post below and also to those of you who have been praying for us. The power of prayer is amazing and we have really felt your prayers during this time. God has given me the strength and the attitude to get through this past week and a half and I really am thankful to him for that.

The last 10 days have been interesting and full of varying emotions from - 'totally lost it I can't speak' to 'calm, collected, at peace with God and his will for us' (praise God that this one has been the one I have experienced most).

This whole situation has taught us a few good but hard lessons. Thanks for praying for SP too as I think it can be so hard for the husband as the experience of early pregnancy - where you can't see or feel anything and you don't go through any of the physical changes the wife goes through - makes it not very tangible. He also had such a tough week at work last week and has been so stressed - he needs prayers for this too.

This week is going well and I am feeling pretty good, church prayed for us on Sunday night - we weren't there but we have since received emails, text messages and phone calls from our lovely church family sending love, prayers and support. This has been so nice, we feel very much loved and taken care of by our church.

If you get a minute here are a few prayer points:

- That God might be glorified through this whole experience.
- That we might continue to trust God and his will for us.
- Praise God that my body seems to be getting back to normal.
- That God may bless us with a healthy pregnancy and baby next time around and that it wouldn't be too long before that happens.

Thanks again to all of you for being so great!

sad news but trusting God

The reason I have not really been writing much or commenting lately is due to a very sad time in our little family. The reason I really want to share this is so that as brothers/sisters in Christ you might pray for us but also as my friends I want you to know about this important yet sad time in our lives, it's important to share the good and the hard with each other, to build each other up and to encourage each other in God's word.

We found out about 5 weeks ago we were pregnant! We were very excited at first but when I reached 6 weeks I started spotting, I felt really uneasy about this and it didn't sit very well with me. Pregnancy + bleeding = bad news to me!

Anyhow, the doctor requested I go for a 8 week scan which was last Monday. For a whole week and a half I had stopped being excited and was actually preparing myself for bad news. I guess a glimmer of hope always remains but as a women I think God has most definitely given us an intuition and I just knew in the bottom of my heart that things didn't look good.

Monday was a really tough day, we went early for the ultrasound. I had two ultrasounds but no fetal heartbeat could be found, the sac and fetus were only measuring 6 weeks and I should have been 8 weeks. I was very certain of my dates and also with the spotting starting at around 6 weeks I just knew what the outcome would be. There were many tears and I felt sick in my tummy at the prospect of the results.

An hour later and I collected my results and it was confirmed that it was a nonviable pregnancy. I felt awful and I cried a lot on Monday, seeing that everything was there but not growing was tough - you try not to get too excited especially knowing that 1 in 4 women miscarry but there is a part of you that can't help but think through having a baby and what that might look like...

Then the process of the miscarriage started all by itself, it was like my body was given permission to do what it needed to do, the news having been confirmed.

Although I have had a few really bad days and today being my first day back at work I feel a little fragile I want to say that through all of this - I have felt God's peace and his comfort at this time. He is in control and the reason this has happened is because he wants what is best for SP and I, even though at times it might be hard to understand - right here right now I trust him and his will for us!

I know God is already teaching me so much and I am sure once we get through to the other side there will be even more he has taught us... God wants us to lean on him, to trust him, to follow him. When things are going well and when life is good it can be easy to forget our need for God. It is when something like this happens where we are totally out of control that we seem to cling to God more than ever. I guess ironically we need God for the very breath we breath each day - it can just be easy to forget!

I see this as an opportunity to glorify God, to show friends and family that we trust God even through the hard times, that even through the hard times we believe that God is in control of everything... Maybe I will also have other opportunities to speak to other women who have been though the same thing, that I might be able to encourage, love and speak to them about this experience.

Please pray for us as we grieve this loss, as my body does what it needs to do and as we think ahead to the future. It has been so stressful and the thought of going through this again freaks me out - please pray that God might be gracious in granting us a healthy pregnancy and baby in the near future.

I hope you don't mind me sharing, it's good to write it all down when it is fresh so I can look back at how God has been working and is working in my life right now.

holidays = fantastic! God = good!

I have a list of things to write about but I just haven't had the time to write down everything buzzing in my head.

Firstly though I would thoroughly like to recommend holidays. I feel refreshed and it feels good. Before I left everything was an effort, everything was hard, my fuse was shorter than it normally would be, I didn't have the energy or desire to do things that I would normally love to do, SP and I were 'existing', I didn't have many interesting things to write about and I was finding prayer and reading God's word hard.

It is amazing what a holiday can do! We won't be leaving it that long between holidays again = lesson learnt.

I feel totaly different - Nixter has reentered the building! Not to say I was a totally different person but my energy levels and desires were overtaken with tiredness... I have been praying more and God has rekindled a joy in my heart. There have been certain things that have been on my heart to pray for and if I wake up in the night I start to pray or when I am going to sleep I pray - I love that!

SP and I are having more fun and have had the opportunity and time on our holidays to reconnect and just hang out.

Bible Study was great on Thursday (Rev 8-11), I know if you read it you might wonder how I get the word 'great' from this passage, but really God is a merciful God who loves us and has chosen us for himself. Even though there are horrendous things we see in this world and even though life can be really hard at times - the fact that God has sent his son to save us who don't deserve saving is AMAZING! He has spared us!

There are many things I want to say here but I have just got to work so I it will have to wait until later or the weekend.

Praise God for holidays and his mercy!

Have a great Friday.

waiting only upon God

After the talk on James 4:13-5:6 Sunday night it made me think a little of what I had a read a few days earlier in my 365 days with Spurgeon and so I thought I would share it.

"My soul, wait thou only upon God.” Psalm 62:5

We must mark God’s providence leading us; and then let us go. But he that goes before providence will be very glad to run back again. Take your trouble, whatever it is, to the throne of the most High and on your knees put up the prayer, “Lord, direct me.” You will not go wrong. But do not do as some do. Many a person comes to me and says, “I want your advice, sir; as my minister, perhaps you could tell me what I ought to do.” Sometimes it is about their getting married. Why, they have made up their minds before they ask me, they know that; and then they come to ask my advice. “Do you think that such and such a thing would be prudent, sir? Do you think I should change my position in life?” And so on. Now, first of all, I like to know, “Have you made your mind up?” In most cases they have – and I fear you serve God the same, We make up our mind what we are going to do, and then we go down on our knees, and say, “Lord, show me what I ought to do;” and then we follow out our intention and say, “I asked God’s direction.” My dear friend, you did ask it, but you did not follow it; you followed your own. You liked God’s direction so long as it pointed the way you wish to go; but if God’s direction led the contrary to what you considered your own interest, it might have been a very long while before you had carried it out. But if we in truth seek God’s guidance for us, we shall not go wrong, I know.

Charles Spurgeon

worship

I am reading a book for bible study on Revelation called 'Apocalypse Now and Then' by Paul Barnett - it's not to thick and daunting so if you want a good but not too 'full on' commentary on Revelation I thoroughly recommend this one. Anyhoo, I was reading it this morning on the bus and found a really cool definition of 'Worship'. Here it is:

"Worship is not to be thought of, primarily, in either aesthetic or emotional terms, though aesthetics and the emotions may be involved. Worship is the expression of agreement by the people of God about the truth of God. Worship is based on the evangelical declaration about who God is, and what God does."

Paul Barnett

journaling

Yesterday was as follows:

Clean house - check.
Do clothes washing - check.
Do food shopping minus falling over in front of strangers and getting big bruise on right knee - check.
Have laundry and cabinet installed - check.
Play tennis with friend - check.
Beat said friend at tennis - check.
Go out for dinner with SP even though I didn't know he was going to take me out and it was a nice surprise - check.
Speak to Caroline who is getting married tomorrow - check.

Sooooo, yesterday was pretty crazy but I got heaps done - Hurrah for me!

I went rummaging around in our garage yesterday to find my old journals and voila - I found them. For some reason I have about four journals (none of which are full) from various times over the last 8 years, why I started new ones without finishing others I have no idea! Anyhoo, I flicked through them and found some of my entries from when I first arrived in Oz, it was cool to see how God has answered prayers and I must share some of them with you when I get time to sit and type a few out.

It can be so easy to forget the ways in which God has worked in my life, sometimes I wonder if and how I have changed so looking back was cool, I intend on going back and reading them over the next few days/weeks. Some of them are quite powerful prayers - I could hardly believe it was me, I mean the Holy Spirit (through me) who wrote them!

I used to be really good about writing in journals, I am not talking everyday but it was a heck of a lot more than I have done since being married. Please pray that I might be committed to writing things down, I find I articulate myself so much better when writing prayers and such down.

Journaling is a great way to Praise God, to come before him in prayer and to look at how he works in your life, I thoroughly recommend it.

Do you journal?

feels like home

It's raining, it's pouring,
the old man is snoring!

We prayed for it and now we have it!! Rain, rain, rain and some more rain to go with that buckets loads of rain we have been getting. What an answer to prayer, I am also glad that we have been acknowledging and thanking God for this rain at church, as the whole of Australia was praying for it. I know for me, I can be quick to pray for something and slow to thank God if and when he answers my prayers in the affirmative. So it is great to be thankful for this great answered prayer.

I can be quick to grumble about the rain, I mean I grew up in a country where is rains A LOT but it never used to really chuck it down like it does here, it was more consistent dribble... I really don't mind the rain too much as long as I don't' really have to go out in it, I like it if I can watch movies and drink tea on my sofa with a nice warm blanket. BUT, rather than grumbling about the rain I am seeing it more as a blessing from God - a relief from the drought. There are still many places that need rain and so we need to keep praying for God to continue to provide rain for these places, also pray for the farmers who have been severly affected by the drought (and those who still are) that the rain might mean great change for them.

Let's rejoice in the knowledge that God listens to his people, he cares for them and let's pray many people might acknowledge that this rain is from his hand...

church and stuff

I spoke a while ago about a cool sermon one of our student ministers had preached at church called 'We are Family' on the book of Philemon, you can now listen to it here...

On Sunday night we had one of the best sermons I think I have heard in a long time on James 1, it had me in tears at the end I was really appreciative of AB's honesty, you can listen to his talk here... The sermon was on how we should act when facing trials and suffering - IT WAS SO GOOD. I have some things I want to write about church on Sunday but I will do that later... SamR has 5 things to say about church on Sunday!

Last night we went to visit my friend who is in hospital, she has a nasty illness and the drugs she is on haven't been making her better so she was admitted to hospital yesterday and SP and I went to visit her last night, I burned a copy of the talk from Sunday for her, I took some CD's and flowers to cheer her up. When I spoke to her on the weekend she was pretty disheartened as she has had this illness for 7 years and it effects her life pretty badly every 6 months or so. On Sunday night when I heard that sermon I just kept thinking of her and I pray that the sermon will encourage, uplift and help her think about her trials and suffering in a different way. She is a Christian but this illness sometimes makes it hard. She was in good spirits when I saw her last night, sick but in good spirits, she had had a big prayer night, if you think of her please pray.

The storm that was suppose to hit last night hasn't, we were meant to be getting hurricane like weather, there is still a chance it could come in the next 24 hours - so we shall see.

Hope you all have a great Wednesday!

now you see it, now you don't, now you see it

Thought you might like this encouraging story of how God answers prayer:

One day while working on Oxford Street in London I was walking to the store and when I got to work I discovered that my wallet had been stolen out of my bag - Grrrrrrrr. I was more annoyed at losing all my receipts, drivers licence etc - I mean canceling your cards and being robbed is annoying but I had receipts etc that I needed and a receipt for my new passport that I had ordered (which had my address on). So I prayed to God that I might get my wallet back, at least all my bits and bobs that I needed because they were important to me.

So five or so days later I received a package in the mail - lo and behold it was my wallet. The receipt for my new passport which had my address on it came in handy as it meant I someone knew where I lived to send my wallet back. I couldn't believe it. I mean this is so rare being London for one and also the amount of people who pick pocket etc and then throw the evidence away is huge - absolutely unbelievable, it was against all odds that I received my wallet back. I jumped around my house and told my non-Christian housemates all about it - at this point I think they thought I was crazy BUT I bet they must of also thought 'WOW' too.

Anyhoo, stay with me folks, a couple of weeks ago one of the girls that works in my office told me that her friend had had her wallet stolen. So I told her my story about how I had my wallet stolen and how I had prayed that I might get it back and how my wallet got delivered to me (minus money!) but with everything else. She called her friend to tell her my story and then the other day she came into the office and told me her friend had received her wallet back in the mail!! Praise God for that! She is now going to use this answered prayer as an opportunity to share what God has done for her!

I just wanted to show you how powerful God is and how he does listen to prayer, I need to remind myself of this truth and also wanted to remind my lovely friends who have asked for prayer for various issues. Our God hears us, he delights in the fact we talk to him and he WILL answer our prayers - it might not always be in ways which we would like but he does answer. May God answer all our prayers in ways which will bring him glory.

1 Thessalonians 2

Last night at bible study we had an awesome time, it normally is awesome but it was partiularly awesome last night. Last week we started looking at 1 Thessalonians, last night we got to 1 Thessalonians 2.

Paul continues to remind the Thessalonians that is isn't about him, it's about God, that it isn't about pleasing men, it's about pleasing God. I think that it is so easy for me to always think, it's about me, it's about doing what I please and what is pleasing to me. What can I do for me!!!!! But oh no this passage and Paul's example shows us that it isn't about us at all. It is all about God, about living for him, pleasing him and giving him the glory.

Even though Paul wasn't with the Thessalonians very long, a deep admiration and love between him and the Thessalonians had developed, he cared very much for them, and particularly for their relationship with God. What an example he was for them the Thessalonians, and for us too.

Two of the verses that stuck out for me from this passage were:

"For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory." 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12

This is my prayer, that as we meet together at church, at work, in bible study or even socially that we would be people who encourage each other, comfort each other in times of need and that we would urge and spur each other on to live lives that are pleasing to God and worthy of God.

is that all he thinks about?

My beautiful friend Marla has recently been to a book signing in Indiana for her new book 'Is that all he thinks about', I bet you can't guess what this book is all about???

Marla's first book 'From Blushing Bride to Wedded Wife' was the first and so far the only book of hers I have read, the new book is getting posted out soon ;) I have to thoroughly recommend 'From Blushing Bride to Wedded Wife' - it is awesome.

I first read it not too long after I got married and have been raving about it ever since, Marla has a way of meeting you where you are at, I breathed a sigh of relief when I read her words, she understood what being married was like, she tells it how it is and lovingly shares her experiences of what married life is like. I found the book encouraging, biblical, practical, hysterical, a relief and challenging. It was great to read that you are not alone, and I was given biblical godly advice on how I can love my husband more. There is so much in this book to take and apply to my marriage so many little golden nuggets to treasure. Marla's humour is fantastic, her compassion and honesty on various issues were insightful and encouraging.

I am not saying that marriage is now a doddle, or that we have no problems whatsoever, this is never going to be the case. BUT it was helpful in encouraging me to bring the things that are hard to God and think of things from a godly perspective and not from my own selfish perspective.

I recommend every women who is married, whether it's been 1 month or 60 years to check out this book, I am sure that you would find this book both helpful and a joy to read.

You can read a little of each book by clicking on the links at this site and you can order the books from this website

I will let you know how 'Is that all he thinks about?" is when I have read it. Stay posted!

wrong way go back

I have always found it quite funny since living in Australia that they have a road sign for people who have taken a wrong turn and are going down the road the wrong way, the sign says "Wrong way, go back". I thought this was hysterical when I first saw it and still find it amusing. As I was on the bus yesterday I was thinking about that and how in our walk with God, we too can often be going the wrong way...

I guess if you go the wrong way on the road and you see that sign 'Wrong way, go back' you have 2 choices. Listen to what the sign says and turn around 'go back' OR keep going and see what dangers are ahead. As with our walk with God, we can continue down the wrong way - I feel like I have been going down this road a little, not even in a HUGE way but just in little things. Forgetting to talk to God in prayer, not reading my bible, not trusting God, not bringing things to God and I really miss it. Some of these things are not commanded of us BUT they are things that draw us closer to God and keep us going the 'right way'.

So when I saw that sign yesterday it made me think about my relationship with God, am I trusting him with all that I am and all that I have? Am I talking to him regularly in prayer? Am I reading his word to hear what he has to teach me? Now I am aware that all of these things don't make me right with God but they are the things that keep me focused on God. My prayer is that I might go back and turn to the one who made me, who loves me, who died for me and who will one day return to give us eternal life.