The New Year

School starts next week. My brother's going into his final year of high school, and although this should freak me out - I mean, my little bro's gonna be out of school this time next year - I think change is slowly becoming the norm. No longer is there a feeling that the future is looming - I can almost see myself managing to cope with this gift God gave me called life :)

So hmm, what to share. I guess thoughts that have been going through my head recently are a good place to start.

I guess I've been finding myself wondering about what temptations to give into or not to. Whether its slacking off, eating, or more serious temptations like sin, there are always (seemingly) rational motivations in either direction. Generally when you give into a temptation though, it's for hedonistic reasons (if it feels good, why not do it). I slack off cos I'm lazy, I eat cos I like eating + I might be hungry, I give into sin because sin feels good in the short term. The only problem with giving into all of these things is that giving into things ...smooths the pathway, in a manner of speaking. Each time I give into eating, I make it easier for me to keep eating. That particular pathway is pretty much as smooth as it can get for me. What can I say, eating's good. But the topic of self restraint and self control has been on my mind, cos I don't tend to always exercise it. In some ways it does make logical sense not to exercise self restraint or control, but in a spiritual sense it is perfectly clear.

God asked us to put Him first in everything. To me, this means as a first priority above all other hardships and temptations. James 2:14-17 reads:

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

So if we say that God is above all trials and temptations, how is this extravagant statement proven? The only real way to prove that you put God first is to go through trials and temptations, and see what the result is. Will you profess God in not only your words but also your actions? That is the question.

Some people say that fasting is futile - a simple grab at attention from God when He's already given us everything (Jesus). I guess for me fasting is a couple of things rolled into one, but they're both completely the opposite of a cry for attention. Fasting tends to be an action which aids in focussing on God - not only are you saying, through actions, that God is more important to you than hunger & temporary good health, but during that time, whenever you get hunger pains, you're reminded that this time is meant to be God time. Anything that reminds and allows you to spend more time in prayer with God cannot help but produce spiritual fruit, just as plants grown with increased exposure to sunlight with the help of heat lamps grow much faster and stronger than other plants.

Many other religions rely heavily upon fasting as part of their faith. In Hinduism, fasting is a regular practice. Luqman, the wise once said, "When the stomach is full, the intellect begins to sleep. Wisdom becomes mute and the parts of the body restrain from acts of righteousness."

So yeah. What is everyone's opinions of fasting, self control and just general abstinence?

-Fin-

Meanderings

That's about what my mind has been doing for the most part, just trying to figure out what's going on. Since the last post, Planetshakers has been and gone. It's been a while since I've had a mountaintop experience with God, and just after my return from Cairns is possibly the best time I could have asked for it.

As much as having such a great experience is so awesome, it kind of hurts all the more when you come back to society to find friends not as enthusiastic for God to change this world, and not passionate for the heart of God. I'm not saying that I wish everyone was enthusiastic, but I'm just sharing with you how the gap is taking its toll already.

I hope everyone's ready for a big year, cos it's shaping up to be one. At planetshakers there were a couple of speakers which asked the congregation to really think about the future, and what we think God is speaking to us about. How we think God is going to be moving in the various walks of life that we're in - whether its in uni or school or business or life in general.

Now for all my close friends, if I haven't told you the following info, it's probably just cos I haven't had the chance to talk to you much in person or whatever. But yeah, I found a couple of things that I'm pretty sure are from God, cos they're definitely not things I would think of just out of the blue. One was to get more involved in the organisation of my church - which I would never ever think of myself. It just popped into my head.

So yeah... Coming into this year I already feel a bit overloaded, with the change of course, taking up more responsibility in my church (when all I want to do is lighten the load, possibly even change churches) and yet I'm excited. The winds of change are blowing, even if they're blowing a pretty cliched tune, and it feels good to be where I'm at.

Sorry to make this such a long entry, but a brief overlook of what else has been happening: I went to GE (the people who provide finance for my car) and they gave me a final payout figure - the amount of money I would need to be rid of debt. It comes to exactly the amount I would get if I sold my car privately, so I'm happy about being able to be rid of debt. I also got a job for the next two months, until march, working in the main helpline at QUT. It's full time hours paid at casual rates, so I'm a happy chappy.

That's about it, hope the wait was worth it.

-Fin-