What is a blueprint? It’s a plan that is complete and fixed and prepared before a foundation or a brick is put in place. A house, for example, is ‘built’ on the drawings of a blueprint before a brick is laid. I only found this out recently and it got me thinking.
Imagine a room – a very large room filled with filing cabinets from floor to ceiling and in these filing cabinets are the blueprints for everyone’s life, written up by God Almighty. Complete, fixed and prepared.
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
You are not a mistake.
My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
It’s not how we were conceived, but why. Everyone has a blueprint from God. Unfortunately for most, if not all, humans, it takes us time to get on the same page as God. Some of us come to him as children and some as adults. The older we are, the likelihood is, that we’ve messed up our original blueprint and there is serious clearing up to do. It’s also sad to say that even when we do get on the right page, in other words, get born again, we sometimes still ignore our blueprint and do our own thing – wrong choices; sin; adultery; pornography; apathy towards spiritual discipline and so on. We inadvertently say to God, thanks, but no thanks, I’ll make my own blueprint.
Man began this journey thousands of years ago:
For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh
We said, ‘no thanks, we’ll do it our way.’ Look where that got us.
God’s intent on the right, then we took over!
God has a blueprint for you – have you screwed it up and shoved it in a drawer somewhere? Are you trying to work it out yourself? Get back to the blueprint. Go and get it out of the drawer. God’s blueprint is dependable and perfect for you.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
You have a 100% chance of making it in life, if you follow His blueprint. He’ll be there for the bumps in the road too. So, if you took a pen and changed his plan, go and get an eraser – rub your plans out and stick with Him.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.[a] Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
P.S Thanks to Bill Green and Josua Omo for bringing the blueprint words into our church which helped me write this blog!
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What a crazy, sad, devastating world we are living in right now. There are so many things, at personal and world levels, that could cause us to say, ‘we want to get off’ even more so if you don’t know the Saviour, in fact, I’ll go as far as to say, I’m not sure how anyone is coping without faith. If that’s you and you’d like to know more, please get in touch, nothing would thrill me more.
For us who do know Jesus as our personal Lord and Saviour, there is no reason for us to ‘want to get off’ We just have to keep our eyes on Him. NOTHING that is going on is catching him out. And, even though the whole world is under the control of the evil one (1 John 5:19) The end of time, the big picture, is firmly in the hands of God Almighty. And that will only happen when HE says so.
Look what Jesus said in Luke’s gospel: “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (12:32) It’s a Kingdom that cannot be shaken! (Heb 12:28) Jesus spoke about this Kingdom many times while he was on earth. An alternative way to live and approach our lives. Of course, as is always the case, we have a choice whether to live there or not. That’s up to us. Jesus is the only firm foundation, but we have to choose to build on him or not.
I read a great verse in 2 Cor 10 this morning. Verse 7 says, ‘Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ’s, so also are we.’
What a great verse! What’s before your eyes today? What are you seeing around you? Maybe it’s sickness, maybe it’s financial or relational (the three usual areas) Maybe you’re overwhelmed with world events. But, if you are confident that you are Christ’s, you can overcome anything! We’re not promised a world without trouble, but we have one inside of us who gives us the power the overcome that trouble.
And, the ultimate bottom line is, if we are heading to the end of the world – and I’m not saying we are, but it will certainly come one day – those of us who are Christ’s, are going to live in a place that is beyond our imaginations, paradise – FOREVER.
If things have got on top of you, push them off and go to the rock that is higher than you. Things always look better when you look down on them. Be bold, be strong, for the Lord your God is with you! (if you’re a certain age, there’s a song there!)
If you’ve read much of my stuff before, you will know that I am a big cheerleader of the John 10:10 life. Of course, I believe that Jesus died ultimately for us to spend eternity with him – no tears, no pain, no death, no sickness, no lack, ever, ever again!! Do you ever think about that day? It’s going to be incredible (that word doesn’t do it justice) I, for one, will do cartwheels, who’s joining me?
But,I also believe that Jesus died for us to have an adventure before that day comes. If not, he’d have whisked us off to heaven on the day we said ‘yes’ to him. If you’ve ever watched adventure movies, you’ll know that the adventurous life isn’t a life without storms, fighting or drama – it’s not just about the romance, the happy ending and that ‘at last’ kiss that we girls long for (Pride and Prejudice comes to my mind!).
The point is, it’s full, exciting and not dull. I think it should be the same way for those of us who have put our faith in the Son of God, in the creator of the whole universe who chose to live in us, by his Spirit. Beware though, the adventure might mean you have to make saying, ‘goodbye’ a regular feature in your life. For us, we have had that life, and, to a lesser degree, still do. Our family lives in the South and we live in the North East because this is where God has brought us for our adventure to continue.
We began the ‘goodbye’ journey back in the late 90’s when we first moved to Tanzania with our six and seven-year-olds in tow. Everyone was fine until the moment came to leave for the airport, then we all lost it! It was tough.
When we went back to Tanzania in 2014, we had to say ‘goodbyes’ to our kids and their spouses and, to be honest, every time, got a little harder! Of course, modern technology made it easier for us to be in touch, plus the fact that we were mostly only away for a few months at a time, but even so, it was still difficult.
We’ve just returned from a few days at Center Parcs with our kids and grandkids, and it prompted this blog as I couldn’t help but remember the following story!
One of the last times we said goodbye to our kids was around 2018 and we’d just had a great few days at center parcs, and within a few days we would be back in Africa. The tears came before I’d even got to the car. It was tough. However, when we landed in Tanzania, I felt God talking to me about this side (the goodbyes) of the adventure and that it’s all part of it. If we’d never said goodbye to familiarity back in 1998, we would never have experienced the 1000’s of hellos that we have since that day.
If we want new ‘hellos’, it might mean some ‘goodbyes’. I’m not suggesting for a moment that you should all up and emigrate, (unless you want to, then do it), but I am encouraging you to find some new ‘hellos’. Ask yourself the question, when was the last time you said ‘hello’ to someone new? If it’s been a while, then I think you’re missing out. Get out there; there are a whole host of people to meet and to influence. We met and continue to meet some great people that we never knew existed, but we already know many of the people that we have met along our journey are life-long friends. Increase your circle and you will increase your life. Don’t let the thought of goodbye, hold you back.
I really love the phrase, ‘Hold the Line’. I’ve read it a lot over the last few weeks especially regarding the NHS compulsory vaccine case. Whatever we all think about this and there will be many different opinions, the NHS staff went all out to make their voices heard, they held their line, and they won. ‘Hold the line ‘gives a sense of togetherness, camaraderie and, ‘we’re in this together!’
Now, sometimes, ‘holding the line’ can feel like this:
When life is glorious, you’ve got your devotional times sorted and you feel like you’re on a direct line to Jesus, eating healthily is going brilliantly, the scales are going in the right direction, the kids are good, husband’s good, cat’s good, job’s good and so on! ‘hold the line?’ what line??
Other times ‘holding the line’ can feel like:
When the opposite of the meadow is happening – chocolate’s going down by the bucketload, cat’s being sick, kids are being sick and the washing machine is on the blink! You don’t even know where your Bible is! Life is hectic!
The everyday line, the daily challenges of life that we all have to face. Sometimes, they are our own to bare and at other times, we meant to carry one another’s burdens.
In Galatians 6: 2- 5, we read:
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. For each will have to bear his own load.
When you first read those verses, they seem like a contradiction, ‘Bear one another’s burdens’, ‘bear his own load’ which is it? Well, it’s both. We all have things that are ours to carry – our backpack, if you like. These are your responsibilities that you can’t hand on to anyone else. For example, if you’ve got kids in school, it’s your job to make their packed lunches, you don’t ring a friend to do that do you? It’s part of your job description.
And there are times when the burdens are to be shared with others. When what we’re going through, needs our mates to help.
Then there are other lines, the ‘What would Jesus think’ lines. How we speak, what we read, what we watch, what habits we form, how we spend our time?
I want to suggest to us then that we have many lines in our lives and ask the question, how often do your/my lines drop below how Jesus would want us to live our lives? I want to hold better lines and I trust you do too.
Let’s imagine we have a line for the various parts of our lives
Is it possible to get to the end of each day and ask ourselves the question, how did I do with my lines today?
My attitude line; My health line; My time line; My Patience line; My giving line; My depression line; My anxiety line etc.
We have so many lines in our lives and our aim should be to get them as straight as we can.
If you feel like some or even all of your lines are like are wonky, pick one to work on, if you need help, phone a friend! Find someone who you can be accountable to. Our aim in life should be to become more like Jesus every day! Staying close to Him gives you more of a chance of that. If you never spend time with him, your lines will be wonky! You might be content with wonky, but if you’re not, pick a wonky line and determine to get it straight.
This may seem a strange question but let me explain. I believe wholeheartedly that compassion is a very necessary gift that is needed for God’s church today and I am not speaking against that. What I am saying is that I think, for too long, the church has given compassion to people who maybe need – dare I say it – a kick up the bum instead!!
So, as you read on, please understand that I am not taking about when peoples’ storms are severe – during those times, the church needs to show compassion. BUT, there are times when compassion does a person no good whatsoever and those are the kinds of issues I want to tackle today.
When we first came into the pastoral ministry, we really didn’t have a clue how to do it. John did it because he loved people and we both naively thought that if we just loved people, all would be well! How wrong we were! You see, when you are loving one person or a group of people one way, you’re not loving the other person or group! ‘Loving’ your congregation by having a short sermon, for example, is not loving the part of the congregation who want longer! Fast songs, slow songs, communion every week or once a month….the list could go on and if you try and love everyone in the way they want, you are heading for a padded cell! (OK slight over exaggeration) But, having said that, there are too many pastors and pastor’s wives on anti-depressants which is serious enough and, as far as I’m concerned, shouldn’t be.
John 10:10
We have had so many people pass through the churches that we have pastored, who have said things to us like, ‘this is the best church we’ve ever been to!’ ‘top drawer sermon Pastor!’ ‘What a great church!’ and then, as soon as we have said ‘no’ to something, e.g. their ministry being developed in the church, or leadership position, or music ministry position, or practical help, they leave.
If your pastor, and spouse, for that matter are not tickling where you’re at right now, will you give them a break! If they don’t visit you because you’ve got a cold, let them off! If they didn’t speak to you last Sunday, so what? You have no idea what they might be dealing with. They are fighting the devil every day to advance God’s kingdom on earth and they don’t need you pouting because you’ve got the sniffles! Is it possible that you could/should stand on God’s word for your own healing? And here’s a challenge, don’t talk about them more than you pray for them – Ouch! that’s one for me too – Although, I don’t talk about my pastor, I think he’s awesome!!
Just thought I’d put a picture of my pastor in! (if you don’t know me, I’m married to him! 🙂 )
Ministers are under great pressure to ‘love’ everyone who walks through the doors and, for some, if it means the people will stay, sadly, they will give in to their wants and needs. How many men/women have been made elders, or given leadership positions because of their perceived success in the workplace and then made the Pastor’s life ‘hell?’
The pressure to please people is enormous. Once you have given a position to a person, it is much more difficult to remove them. If you’re in ministry reading this or you lead a team either in church or in your work place, don’t feel pressured into giving anyone a position who isn’t in alignment with your core values. It’ll probably end badly.
What about a Christian who is constantly up and down? One minute they’re on fire for the Lord and the next minute they think they’ve lost their salvation, one minute they’re at every meeting and the next you don’t see them at all! Maybe an arm around the shoulder the first few times is necessary, but if we keep just putting our arms around these kinds of people, I believe we do them a dis-service.
What about long-term depression? I know that depression is a real illness and I know it’s an earthly reality for many Christians, (John was there 20 years ago – so we know all about it) BUT! BUT! BUT! If you’re still depressed after years, then something is wrong, and it isn’t God. Just imagine, if you will, a world where no Christians are on medication for depression? Is this far-fetched? Read John 10:10 again and I have to say, I don’t think so. I think the world would notice and look on in amazement! Now, I am not saying throw medication away, I am grateful for the NHS, and, if it’s necessary, for a time, to help, then go ahead, use medication. I just long for a day when the church is victorious in these kinds of areas. Is it possible? God seems to think so ……Luke 1:37, “For with God nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment.’
Caroline Leaf, who is a fantastic Christian pathologist and cognitive neuroscientist says, ‘admit it, quit it, beat it!’ Fantastic advice. You don’t say ‘there isn’t anything wrong’ if there is! You must admit it, then quit it and beat if for good! Hallelujah!
The world in which we live in today is changing and the ONLY hope for our nation is Jesus. He isn’t on earth in bodily form anymore, he’s left it to us! and if we produce a church that only delivers compassion and not victory then we will simply get weaker, and our message won’t convince anyone that we have the best way to live.
Come on Church, it’s time to grow up and head to that place where we are mature and complete, not lacking anything! (James 1:4) When we get there, the World will know that God is real!
At our connect group this week, we were talking about what we like to have for breakfast! Small talk before diving into Isaiah and, when you’re studying Isaiah, light chat is needed, right?
It was so interesting how different we are! Some liked soggy cereal, others, crunchy, some put water and milk on their cereal, others didn’t have breakfast – one person, who shall remain nameless (haha!) admitted to having a chocolate bar for breakfast that morning. Yummy! Shredded wheat was a hit with one or two whereas others said it tasted like cardboard!
Diverse cereal choices from a group of 8 women!
I’d already kind of decided where my blog would go this week and this chat helped me.
Cereal choices don’t matter when it comes to life in the Kingdom – when we quote the scripture – ‘Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will direct your paths’ I don’t think God is really interested in what cereal you eat, although He would be if what we’re eating is doing our body damage, but that’s another blog!
What does matter though is what kind of character we are. This does matter, really.
When I did my BA in theology, one of the discussions we had was what was most important in the life of a leader. The lecturer put a list of qualities (all important) on the board, one of which was ‘charisma’ and another was ‘character’. There were others, but these are the two that I remember because I was the only student who put character above charisma which was quite alarming. Charisma is important, for sure, but it is possible to have charisma without character which is never a good mix!
The question I want to pose today is, are you a ‘cactus plant’ or an ‘aloe vera’ plant? No offence to the real cactus plants! I don’t think they need any explanation, but just in case! – Cacti are spikey and you can’t get close to them without getting hurt, Aloe Vera is a miracle plant that can heal many things!
We are living in a world where confusion is reigning in so many areas – Covid; vaccinations; parties; Gender; wars; government; police; church; it seems to me like confusion is shouting so loud right now especially into the younger generation. And, if ever there was a time for truth to scream the loudest, it’s now! We have the truth. We have light. We have boundaries which I think most people want and need. Confusion is blurry, there are no lines where confusion is.
I once worked in a school as the receptionist and many teachers used to check with me what the mood of another staff member was before they would go into that office! If it was a bad mood, they would avoid her!
Back in the day (think Pride and Prejudice) society knew what was what, I’m sure the ‘rules’ were broken, but by and large everyone knew, for example, the rules of courtship, there were procedures to follow – there was a waiting and a patience before the wedding day that was magical, that final kiss between Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett! (If you know, you know!) was so special because for those who’ve watched it, watched their journey from their first frosty meeting to the church on their wedding day.
It would be ridiculous to think that we would ever go back to the upstairs, downstairs kind of world, but the way I see it, the more that we have moved away from the Genesis mandate, (Genesis 2:24) the more confusing this world has become. Take a moment to think about what wouldn’t be in our world if we’d stuck to it. Here’s two things to set you off – pornography and human trafficking – the absence of just those two things would be transforming for the world wouldn’t they?
Back to the plants! IF we want to change the world around us, Christians have a responsibility to be Aloe Vera not cacti. Can you change your plant species? If you want to, yes you can! Pray and ask a friend to point out any ‘cactus spikes’ that might be in you.
We’ve all heard the question and maybe asked it, ‘Does my bum look big in this?’ Any man worth his salt would tell you the truth at this point, but the problem is whether or not the truth is really wanted! When a question like that is asked, the question bearer has to seriously ask ‘do I want the truth or am I looking for a compliment even if it’s not the truth?’
The Bible says, ‘Speaking the truth in love, we will grow up in all things’ (Eph 4:15) Having the truth told to you is no easy thing – no-one wants their weak points pointed out because it’s an intrusion into areas of life that can be sensitive. Body odour, bad breath, sharp tongue, lack of patience, to name just a few! Who wants to broach such subjects? You are likely to suffer backlash and you may even lose a friend either permanently or for a time…. Speaking the truth can be risky business! BUT if we want to grow up in ALL things, we need someone in our lives who will be bold enough to tell us the truth whatever the reaction. If we want to be the best we can be, then we have to realise that there are things in our lives called blind spots – things that everyone else can see, and we can’t, hence the reason they are called blind spots!
So, here is the question: Who tells you the truth? Have you got anyone? Or, did someone try it once but, because of your reaction, backed off and has never done it since! Have you got someone in your life who is ‘allowed’ to tell you stuff that may sting a little but, if they are right, and if you will listen and take it on board, then you take a step closer to being a better person.
It must be stressed that the person who tells you the truth must be a person who loves you and also wants the best for you. It CANNOT be a person who just wants to be mean and continually point out your faults! Who wants that?
Everyone needs a coach – their job is to help you get good things into your life and bad things out! If you haven’t got one, get one!
And, if you’re not sure you want the truth, think twice before you ask, ‘does my bum look big in this!’
There have always been seasons in my life when I have started a discipline and I’m pretty good at seeing it through as long as I have made a deep decision to do it. I don’t call it a diet because frankly I don’t like the word. It’s more of a decision to give something up or do something like intermittent fasting etc… I will admit that it is normally because my jeans are tighter than they once were and I want to sort it out, so I brush the dust off the weighing scales or ‘liars’ as John and I like to call them! haha! And here we go – again – I write my starting weight in the journal and usually accompany it with a sad face and with determination I go into a healthier life style.
When weigh day comes around, it’s with hope, that as you tentatively get on board, you will see a smaller number than the last weigh in. When it’s the same reading as last time, it’s rather depressing isn’t it? I’ll admit to moving the scales around the bathroom, even taking it into another bathroom just in case it’s not correct, alas, it’s the same unless you do it on carpet and then you’ve lost half your body weight!
The temptation (after you’ve thrown the scales out the window) is to quit, eat a whole chocolate gateaux and forget the whole thing! STOP! That’s the last thing you should do. Don’t quit. I’m not only talking about health here, I’m talking about anything that takes determination which is just about everything in life! You won’t get anything without determination.
Jesus did promise an abundant life but he didn’t mean we don’t have to do anything in order for it to come to pass. Back to the wise and foolish builder’s analogy, building takes hard work, building a foundation isn’t fun, no one sees it – ever – no one sees the hours of private prayer, the fasting, the travailing, most don’t see the training, swimming, walking, running. When the scales don’t tip in your favour, the easiest thing to do is to quit. Quit praying, fasting, eating good things, training etc…
Some advice before we get to the encouragement bit. I’m doing you a dis-service if we just go straight to the encouragement. Two things to always check. 1. Is there anyone in my life that I need to forgive? 2. Is there any unconfessed sin in my life? I firmly believe these things really matter. They disconnect us from God. Not from our eternal security, but from our clear communication with the head. Someone brought this illustration to our prayer meeting recently, if you put a light switch on, but it isn’t connected to a power source, the light is NEVER going to come on. Same is true with God, if you’ve lost your connection, until you reconnect, I believe you’re wasting your words in prayer.
Encouragement for this week, if you’ve ‘fallen down’ in any area of your life, get back up, keep ‘getting on the scales’ until you see the tipping point, it will come, don’t take no for an answer. Until you’ve clearly heard God say no, keep going. We sold our house in Wales back in December 2021. We’d been praying, declaring it’s sale ‘right price, right time, right person’ for almost 10 years. Now, it is done. There’s a tick by that prayer.
And, if you have eaten a whole chocolate gateaux recently in response to the ‘liars’, don’t worry about it!
In the movie Harry Potter (just humour me for this example – don’t throw stones! haha!). When the students need to get the train to get to school, they have to go to a train platform that is in between platforms 9 and 10 and they get to said station (9¾) by running against a wall and if they ‘believe’ that it’ll open, it will and they find themselves on a ‘magic’ station which houses the train to take them off on their adventures. Stay with me!
I believe that Jesus died to give us a John 10:10 life, but many of us settle for John 10:9¾. We may say things like, ‘everything is great, except my health, my finance, my friendships, my marriage and so on. We become content with our lot and so often choose to keep a ¼ of our life and not sign it over for God to complete the fraction.
Of course, life can throw daily storms and hurdles to overcome, but I’m talking more about the long term problems that we’ve carried for years and we’ve just accepted as John 10:10 doesn’t apply!
Just like the characters in the fiction that is Harry Potter had to believe in order to get through the wall, we have to believe in John 10:10 too. If we don’t believe it’s for us, we won’t fight for it. We won’t look that ¼ in the eye and ‘take it down!’ God is a great father and he loves to look after His children just as we love to look after our own.
I was reading just this week about abundant life and the thought came to me that if you want it, you have to obey the rules of it. What do I mean? Well, for example, if you want abundant life in the area of your health, but you don’t look after your body and soul, then you’re disobeying the rules which then negates abundant life in that particular area. You can’t just pray and eat donuts – that won’t work! If you want abundant life in the area of your finances but you’re not a good steward, you’re disobeying the clauses of God’s promises which will negate abundant life in your finances.
Even though we are in a new covenant, God has still given us rules of life to follow – above are just two examples of that. Maybe the ¼ is an unanswered prayer that you’ve given up on. Pick it back up – God answers prayer, don’t give up. He will say ‘yes’ ‘no’ or ‘wait’. Some prayers won’t be answered in our life time, but they will be answered. Isaiah was prophesying Jesus who came long after he was gone – around 700 years! I hope you won’t have to wait that long, but if you do, you’ll be in heaven so it’ll be OK!
Be encouraged, go for your dreams, don’t be scared and surrender that ¼ over to God and abundant life!
debbullock 