Living a life worth while

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love simple things.
That is , good food, ( baking in particular,) and cats.
I have my brother down, and when I came back from work, he asked me what my dreams were.
A few days ago, he really talked to me about it, because sometimes for unknown reasons, I just can't stop crying, it's not that I am sad or depressed, I just get incredibly upset for reasons I don't know why.
So my good younger brother, asked me what is it that I just get upset about, and then he really hit on something, he said ''do you think you're relying on other people to make you happy.''
And that was from God, because I was, I was hiding from it, in texts, just to get a message back, and other ways.
I look up to him so much, but even that, couldn't be enough, then from that, we talked about, things, and probably all my life I feel like I am not good enough, I'm not a banker like my other brother, I don't write well, as my young journalist brother does, and all in all, it went on, and he was saying ''All I hear, is you're not good enough'' but how many times am I creative like you?
Then that got me thinking, how many times have we measured our own life up to others?
How many times have we lived in their shadow?
What if we take the risks of being our selves?
And taking the chance to get to know someone?
Most of us, spend heaps of time looking for that missing thing, how many of us actually find it?
I can't help but think, as we listen to the lasted gossip, and latest trends, we don't really have any substance.
How can we get back to where we've gone wrong?
That was the question of the lady at the well.
She thought that by believing in God, she wouldn't have to physically come to the well, all the time, a time in the day where people don't come to wells.
But Jesus came and he saw what she needed.
Are you trying to give up a addiction or other things, so that  you can be free from?
Addictions are hard, they sometimes feel like you're only friend, we think we need a treat, so we turn to them.
God said to that lady, Go and be free. he didn't say ''Oh you've slipped again, or you just can't do it.'' he took her in and saw what she was, and set her free.
Do you need that?
I did, I needed to see for myself, what my brother saw, but I couldn't, I was blinded by the way I was, the thing I wanted to do, I just couldn't.
It sounds cliche, but life is never going to be done in an ordered fashion, it's never going to be moulded or boxed, in tidy little bows ready for you unwrap.
It takes work and determination.
If we're always looking at the mess and being Martha's we're never really going to be Mary's.
Well that's all I have today, take hold of you're good times, go with God and let him see what you are, and see for yourself you really can be free to be yourself.
Chloe

Waiting on God

Hi there,
Good morning, i don't know about you, but this weather isn't particularly sunny.
So it's summer and we have fire lit, seems strange, but that's the way it goes sometimes.
Today I want to talk about waiting on God.
And speaking blessing over people
You might think it's 2 different things, and they are, but first lets tackle the first one.
Waiting on God.

Waiting on God can be hard because he is invisible, and sometimes even the best preaching, can be hard to listen to, if you're waiting on God, to do something.

Sometimes it feel like you're at the terminal of an air port, watching people come off the plane through the boarding lounge and get hugged and greeted, those people waited on the other end, to see them, what if God was there in person, you could ask him everything.
Now this conversation is going somewhere, I looked up in my bible, about waiting on God.
There's 8 references to waiting.

And we do a lot of waiting, we wait for direction from God, we wait if we've passed our exams or our tests, we wait to find a flat, we wait for the right life partner, well we girls do anyway.
So with that in mind, what does the bible say, about waiting?

Psalm, 27 verse 14 says.
Wait for the Lord.
And Psalm  130 verse 5 says, '' I wait on the Lord, my soul waits.

So with that in our heads what does it mean to wait on God?
Well we need to share with others, what we're waiting on God for, the prayers that have gone up, it might be for healing for restoration for things that have failed, or others that need God in their lives.
During that time, we're called to be actively praying, and looking for God in everything we do.
 Sometimes we just need people to stand by us, in that pain, or just in life, and point them in the right direction.
If we have people come to us, with things that can't believe in, or struggle with, it's important just to listen to them because they just want someone strong to believe, that they are doing the right thing.
Sometimes we just want to know that we're doing the right thing.
Waiting on God is hard, because it can take time just to believe God's voice and that he will carry out what he said.
It's ok, to be weak, it's ok to be human and to tell him, all that you've been thinking, about.
God knows the waiting game, he has been there with Adam and Eve, he's been there when people lied to him about weakness, and he knows everything about us, even the things that we would rather not tell or not let him see in our lives.
But with God everything works out for the best, which is hard to see, if you are in the middle of pain.
We all need each other, we all need to get together and encourage others, because out of that encouragement, we can turn corners that we probably haven't thought much about.
And while we are waiting, we have the blessed hope that is in us, that everything is going to be more than fine.

That leads me to the next topic, about speaking blessing over people.
We all need that, and we need it all the time, because as I've been working it's very easy to agree with gossip, and speak about peoples weakness, and label them.
What do we do with those people who just can't seem to get there?
We encourage them, and by doing that, we are agreeing with the spirit of God, to lift them up.
We have no idea about what goes on behind closed doors, so it's important to lift them up in prayer and pray continually.
And pray in the spirit, because we all remember the times when we haven't been treated well, it might be at work, or at home, or have experienced the things that no one should  have or go through.
We as Christians, should go actively and see them.
And not just leave them there, but to be their friends.
And by doing that, we are hands and feet of God.
Don't wait for tomorrow, do it today, get in touch with people that might have fallen off the friendship list.
Take care
Chloe

Psalm, 124

Hi there.
Today I want to look at a short psalm, it is Psalm, 124.
Because, this year, I want to look to the Lord in everything I do.
As we start out the year, perhaps you've made up your mind to follow the Lord a bit more closely.
And sometimes that means to stand up and say that you're a Christian, not just wearing the name like a badge on your chest.
I came across, the psalm, that has several things in it.
It is about hope, and how it transcends everything.
The first verse is.

If the Lord, had not been on our side, let Israel say,  if the Lord had not been on our side while, men attacked us, when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive, the flood would have  swept over us the raging waters would had swept us away.
Praise be to the Lord, who has not let us, be torn by their teeth, we have escaped like a bird, out of the fowlers snare, the snare has been broken, and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the lord, the marker of heaven and earth.


Now it's quite a short  and sweet psalm but there's a lot in it.

You see, the lord looks over all the things that matter to us.
He doesn't leave us, alone for a long time.
Israel has always been in a volatile place, and there will be no peace until the Lord comes back.
When we feel like you're drowning, in waters, God's hand is on you, and he always, looks out for you.
And he always cares for you, even when you don't feel like you're loved or being loved, or cared about.
When you're back is against the wall, when you feel like giving up, God is your  comforter, and companion in that time, and he doesn't leave you just by yourself, he is there looking out for you.
If you're lost and far from reason you are loved, and care for, because he made the stars in the sky, and they don't need a light, to shine, they were made in the darkness, and if you're going through a dark time at the moment, God looks up and  he sees you and sees that you're loved.
Sometimes we need to be strong, but sometimes if you're been strong, you're loved, and sometimes it's good to be restless in the spirit, because that means that you should pray, pray for people who are struggling, even if they say that they are fine.
And you see the cracks you can be there when it looks like it's falling around on them
Sometimes we can't help people, we can't be their magical God mother, or father, to make it all better, but we can make one day nice.
When we go through pain, through the teeth, that might be ripping apart, we need to praise the Lord, because we are effective.
We are going to get torn when we're Christians, and we can get healed, and made new in Christ.
And that our prize it's not for popularity, or for fame.
In conclusion, where can we get help in times of trouble when it feels like no one can understand us?
Our help comes from the Lord, and he can set us free from anything.
And we know that we will never become slave or snared again, because the Spirit of God is living in us.
Chloe

Letting Go

Hi there,
How's things?
I hope that you're well.
Today I want to talk to you about letting go.
Yesterday, at work, was a good day, and when I came home, I found in myself a over whelming sense of grief, it wasn't that I was lonely, or sad, I just folded the washing, but all the time, had these words in my head.
"Did I not tell you to raise my hopes.''
And then I thought, where did those words come from, and then it came back to me, it was the widow in the bible that was hospitable to Elijah.
What sort of thing are you holding on to, that God is tell you to hand over?
As you know I've been reading, ''The Freedom diaries.'' written by Mark Holloway.
And I have to say, I thought, well I don't need this book, all I need is to be a good Christian, that sometimes with the best intentions, comes from our parents, from our churches and from our frineds, but in all honesty I wasn't really a Christian, and this book, broke down all the walls, that I thought that, I was.
I was only doing lip service to my friends, then gossiping, and this came home to me on a day when I was thinking how good I was at work.
God then told me about the little kid next door, who, well likes us, and that I needed to change my heart towards him, so anyway, I could see that he wasn't very happy, and was just outside, and I went and got some sweets and gave it to him, to cheer him up, and it worked.
You know when you're in a rut in your life, and you just not really getting where you want to go?
We will always be in that rut, but unless we get hold of God's freedom, by letting go with all our thoughts about life, we will never live our lives to the full.
Notice that you don't always have to be friends with everyone, but you can change the way you say and think  things.
You see, by thinking about the little kid who comes around, God showed me where I need to be understanding, letting go is hard.
It's trusting God with all the unknown, and I'm on a journey, to find out what that is.
If we're doing our Christian life, all nice and comfortable, we're not really living our lives to the full, and God came to us, to unleash greatness, in all of us.
If you're not feeling the best see what God requires of you, is he calling you to be nice to some annoying person?
Or say something encouraging to them, often when you do that, you find that they have changed their minds about you.
You're probably not going to be best of friends, but if you change how you think, you'll be able to see God for yourself.
The more you see and do that, you know it's God.
God never changes course, he's like a river, that's twists and changes direction, downwards to the sea.
We might think we've heard from God, and we might see if we can change his mind, but he is not like us, he knows the things we get ourselves into.
So going back to the widows words,  ''Didn't I tell you not to raise my hopes.'' God always works out for our ways, and he knows we're going to make it, we might fail a million times, we might have raised someones hopes, we might have come across excited in a relationship, only to get disappointed, we might just give up on any hope that we have.
But Gods name is hope, the hope of all the world.
We might be shaken, we might have dis pointed ourselves,  we might think all of it is gone.
It starts with our knees being on our knees, talking to him, praying for our friends, and people that we know, who are broken hearted. to be real with our friends.
Chloe

Something I need

Hi there,
How are you?
I hope that you're going well,
Tonight I want to talk to you about, love/
Haha, it's not because I don't feel unloved, it's because it's on my mind all the time.
Love can be hard at times, it's hard even to navagate through your daily life.
How do we love those around us, that don't see our way of things?
What happens if sometimes our mouths get the best of us?
What happens, when we just leave the door closed and not open it to other people?
We live in such a hungry, pop culture world, that we're just wanting time in  the sun,
That sometimes we walk in shadows.
I'm not wanting to be the next Joyce Meyer, but I just want to get somethings off my mind.
Love is hard at times, it's hard to see some one that you would give everything up for, to be nearer to you, or to be healed, or helped or, perhaps they've closed off that, and you're trying to make it new again.
What happens then?
What is happening now?
Do we just break the trust, break all that hopes that we have  and say to God, ''Well God, that didn't work what do you have in store for me now?

Sometimes you get can take all the advice in the world, but it has to be from the heart.
I was once walking along the beach wtih my frined, and we were talking about trips, that we could do, and all of sudden, my friend said,  "Chloe how come you can't keep guy friends?
I don't know what happend, but somewhere in my heart, something just broke, it felt like a emotional river, just flooded and broke it's banks, inside of me.

and I have to say, it is hard, to love, because people do have partners, at work, and when you do heaps of weddings, there's one every saturday at larnach castle, until the end of April.
And I can't help but think to my self about my friend.
Now I have to say this, I haven't had boyfriends, or even one.
so it was a very sweeping statement, it's a matter between me and God.
God knows because he made me, and I'm not looking at any particular thing or person, to help fillfull that other half as they say now.
I know it sounds brash, but I'm not.
So what is your ''something I need.''
What are you looking for in God, or praying about, or just asking him to do in your life.
Do you see it as a closed door, or a door only with one, handle and that handle is on the other side of the door where God is, and only he can open it?
Are you looking for the wrong thing at the wrong time?
It's not a matter of holding on, but letting go, letting go and trust God what you need, and when you need it, because he knows the right time to give it to you.
And the more you speak to him the more you know more about him, and the way he works, and the way you understand him, the more he understands you.
He's always there, always there in your darkest of nights, through the fearsome storms, wondering if you're going to get to the other side.
Wondering if you're going to reach the other side, all in one piece.
No matter what you're going through, or how lonely your walk is, keep walking, keep the faith, keep that ''something I need.'' Tell God.
Tell him that you need more trust worthy friends,  who stick beside, you, who don't back down at the last minute.
Tell him you need a change of direction, or how you're going with your walk with him.
Is it a run? a walk? or perhaps just a slow steedy slog, if it feels like a slog, perhaps you need to change a few things, and get real with him.
On your knees, yes on your knees at night and really ask him to help you with what ever it is. ask him and he will be there.
He never leaves you to your own devices, or own schemes, because one day they will fail.
Tell him what you need from him and all will be ok, made right, and new every morning.
Chloe

Grace wins every time

Hi there,
How are you?
How's your life going?
What have you been up to?

As my uncle says, how's your walk with God going?

When he asks me that, I tell the truth, because we all stumble, and fall,  so this is going to be a personal entry.
I've picked up a book, called, "The freedom diary.'' by Mark Holloway.
And it is freeing, because it is a diary, that God encourages us that we're doing something right.
And other ways we Christians need to do a bit better on.
So in a way, I'm touching on a gray area  about Grace.

First of all,  what is grace?
Is Grace, that thing that is always there, as a safety blanket, that we use God as a safety net?
 we can fall back on?
Should we take grace for granted?
God calls us softly, true he does it in a gentle way, but sometimes he has to change things in our lives, that we need to see for ourselves.
And if we're prentening to be Christians, and we all go with the flow, what happens if we're doing this, and we're going in the wrong direction?
Does Grace, win  then?
It takes a little time to recognize that, we're wrong, when we know we're wrong, we come to our knees and know that the spirit of God is coming with his grace, to make it all new again.
We're all being made new, every day, so don't think for a single moment, that  you're not perfect, or have made to many mistakes, because that is from the enemy, and he gets stronger every day.
God looks at you, and he looks at you like you're a picture framed to perfection, and he sees that you're good.
That's grace.
However, how do we show grace to others?
We pray, we need to get more down on our knees to pray, and pray in the spirit to be strong, to keep committed to our friends, and to each other.
We pray, and we pray hard, we pray into the things that God tells us to pray into, the things that we forgot that God sees, yes it will hurt, but sometimes it hurts to see the pain, but after the pain, there's healing.
And when we do that, we know that we're forgiven, and we forgive others, rather than hide, away, because our friends can see it, those close to us.
We need friends that stick with us, and those who, break trust, we need those friends that are rock solid, that won't run away when we tell them the truth.
We don't need to be perfect that's Gods Job, but what we really need to do is, have a heart of Grace, and of love, and trust.
If you're feeling that you don't have grace, love or trust, pray, with people that you know, that you can trust, pray into the areas that you need to experience God's love in.
Pray for your friends, who ever comes your way, because they've come to you, because they need to experience Trust, and Grace.
They need to be on your team, and you've got an assignment from God to pray, not to change the world by being a super hero, but to pray under all things.
To lift them up in prayer.
Grace will be there, and the more you experience grace in your life, you'll be changed, not for just today, not tomorrow, but forever.
Chloe

Have you hit the wall part 2.

Hi there,
How's things?
I hope that you're well.
Well i'm typing on a different computer, because some how I put my computer onto  type lock.
And I can't seem to get it off.
So here's part 2.
 Carrying on from where I left off, sometimes we can't be correct, and it's ok.
I was thinking about life, and life is blessed, scared, cherished.
But what about if we feel like we're not blessed, that life isn't all that bright?
Sometimes we can sit in church, and still feel empty, what happens if we get to the point where church is just a place to go on sundays?
What happens if we get told to be happy don't worry?
God is working in the broken, and we don't have to strive to be someone else, we can't always, be the person, moulded to other peoples way.
We're not supposed to be moulded, into what others think we should do or be.
The women at the well, begged Jesus, to give her water, water that would always be there, something that she wouldn't have keep coming up to the well, a well that she was using, but in biblical times, was for jewish people.
She was out of the human mould, Jesus saw her, and knew all about her, and my challenge is for you, that Jesus is calling you to be un moulded, you don't have to keep proving yourself,  because it won't work.
And it's in that stage, in the broken, perhaps you're wondering if you can be made whole again, Jesus can, and he can bring the most broken person and make them whole again.
He starts by going  back to the pain, to the pain of the cross, and you see, to see the blood of Christ, the pain, blood isn't nice to see, but he was blameless, yet carried his own cross, to save this world, to stoop down and say to us, ''there is another way'' and that way is Christ.
The pain you're feeling is human, yes even in church, and that is, because people in church hurt too.
God sees that, and we're a picture perfect church, we're not really doing our job.
God loves you, the way you are you, see, because of our weakness, he is the other side of us, the side that we can't be, perfect.
God sees that,  he sees how hard we work, and he blesses us, and talks to you in your lonely times, and he even sends us friends, that we don't walk the sadness path alone.
Grief can be a lot of things, it can be grief of lots of things, and sometime and half the time we don't know that we're grieving, or perhaps don't even know how hard your week has been, because you're right in the thick of it.
God sees it, we can get through it, and we will with God on our side.
How can we  make the right decisions with what we're going through?
Well it starts by being honest.
And if you're don't doing to well, tell someone that you're struggling.
Because, if you tell someone we can change it, and lets face it your closet friends probably aren't surprised when you say that you're not doing that well, because that's true love, true love means that they are there for you, concerned for you, because you know that they will carry you through the storm, and only to reach the shore.
When sometimes you feel like you're drowning, God isn't an impossible God, he never runs away, from you, he doesn't laugh at your mistakes or your plans, the more you hear his voice, he is always there.
And you can stand, up, and be strong, because you know, that without a sniff of doubt, you can make it
And you will.
Well that's all i have time for you today.
Chloe

Have you hit the wall?

Hi there,
How's everything going?
I hope that by knowing Jesus every day, he is showing you how to live your life, and live it to the fullest.
How's your week gone?
Have you stopped this week to look back on how you're doing?
If not, why don't you take 5 minutes now, and just breathe deeply?
I want tell you today, with whatever you're doing it's ok to stop and have look back, because by looking back to see how far you've come with God, and knowing that he has carried you through this week, it's ok to loose it.
To tell him, all the things that you've gone done all the things that you thought that things could be, should have been there, yes even the ugly things.
The things that made you tired, and the things that anoy you.
Because that's what I've learnt this week, it ok, to just have some time out, and enjoy, the things that you do.
You see, that God is a God of freedom, and not a God of slavery, and bitterness, and always good.
This week, in fact today is the day in a long time that I've looked back, and really saw the week.
And I'm glad that it's over.
Because I really forgot to breathe.
In fact it got so bad, I had my first breaking moment in the kitchen, and I had to walk out, and have sometime by myself, because I was doing everything wrong, but I wasn't going under, I was still fighting the game.
No matter if what was happening, it had to break, because when we break, mentally, we break ourselves,  and its in that breaking point, we find our inner strength.
You know it's better to ask for God's help and do what others say to do, and obey them, because by obeying the commands we are doing the right thing.
Instead doing everything wrong, trying to think what we're doing is the correct thing, and have someone else come along and correct our mistakes.
And that is what I was trying to avoid, there comes a point, where not being prideful, or condensending, but when we obey our workers, we are respectful of them.
We don't always have to be a doormat, for the things that aren't going down well, there comes a point, to speak up.
And in this life, it's hard enough to not hear all the voices that we're listening to.
Now no matter the bumps or the bruises, the Cross has made us flawless.
And yes it's at that time in our lives that when we crash, we reach out to Christ, to make us strong again.
No matter if people are 100

what sort of person are you?

Haha, fancy that I put a title up but didn't do a thing about it.
I hope that you're well.
What have you been doing?
Today I want to talk about looking into a thing I've been thinking about.
About character, and all of that.
Where are you wanting to head for this year?
Today I got thinking about a lot of things.
And as I'm reading the freedom diary book, I thought about life.
And how God has blessed us in a lot of things.
In your own lives and in the lives of others.
Perhaps you find the greatest of pleasures, just cheering someone up, like a free coffee or chocolate or something else that they like to do.
God loves it when we have an open heart, not a prideful one, because we are wonder why things are such a struggle.
I can't help but think of being clay in the potters hands, you see, clay needs water to mould, to be work able, if it becomes dry, it becomes cracked, and near useless to bring back, you have to work the clay adding a bit of water bit by bit to stop the cracks.
My friend, if you're wondering where you are, mentally or physicaly or emotionally, check for cracks.
They will be there, it's not anyones fault or your own, you weren't a mistake.
You maybe wondering, where you've gone wrong or wondering if you should have been a better friend, or lost contact with the ones you were close to, perhaps something happened there, and you're wondering if you should get in touch again.
My friend do it, because no doubt they are thinking the same thing.
God is a God of restoration, and making things new, and complete, now we maybe not new and we maybe feeling incomplete, but we have a God who trusts us.
A God who says to us, '' Kid you have exactly what it takes to do the job.''
Have a think about people who encourage you, you want to be around them don't you.
And you want to get what they have, and when you encourage people you encourage yourself, you build yourself up, not in a cocky way ,or a self righteous way, you get into the flow of things, and then nothing can stop you.
The point I'm trying to make, is, when you tell of what God has done in your life you are testifying things, that he has worked out for you.
We pray but we forget to tell others of that answered prayer.
Can I gave you a challenge?
When you pray, and you get that prayer answered, tell others what the Lord has done, because you are encouraging them to keep in the game.
It takes a lot to just keep in the game, if we get told that we're not good enough, or being critical, because we just get told that we're doing things wrong.
And it doesn't take too long, to just go down the wrong path.
And you can win in this game, because we know the over comer, because he in fact is fighting for us, praying that we will keep in the game,.
God is good all the time, we might just not see it, but he is there.
Sometimes in life we might wear blinders, and it takes time to see the truth behind the lies.
And when we see how God works in our lives, we see what he's been doing.
Well that's all I have for now.
Chloe