Having courage like Joshua.

Hi there,

At the moment as a family were are reading the old testement.
And we have just finished reading Joshua.

And as I look out from the window onto the water, I can't but help that Joshua was so courageous, at a time when the Israelites needed a leader.

You have to think that at this point in time, that all the Israelites had was the 10 commandments, and they had leaders, and God.
Now we have new verisons of the bible, and all sorts of books about God, what we should be reading, what is reccomended to us.
And they are all helpful, but sometimes we need to take a step back and see God for who he is, and what he has done.

When God told Joshua to move, he did.

Sometimes we need ''Joshua's'' in our lives, people who instruct us and  tell us to move, and not be afraid of what lies ahead.

I was talking to my dear friend in Christchurch, and she is going away to PNG, for 7 weeks as a nurse, and on a short term misson trip.

We often think we're not called to the task, we think ''oh someone, will be better at the job than me, I'm not qualified, to do that.'' Joshua felt the same, he didn't have to fill anyones shoes, he was called to encourage the people to step forward into the promise land. and other tasks, like taking on their enemies, so they were living in the dessert that's number one,. but taking them from there into a place that God promised them.

Are you feeling a bit discouraged? are you thinking well other things just seem to work for other people, but I'm always left out?

Perhaps, too long you've heard other voices inside your head, and that that's what is stopping you from reaching your goal.
What's stopping you now?
What is stopping you from making that first contact to that organisation, or that dream of yours?
A kite doesn't fly along the ground it flies up in the air, but to get it up there, you need a weight, a tail, to get it flying.
Perhaps you're dreams are on the ground, and perhaps you're wondering if you're living 2 lives, a Christian church one and who cares about me on the week one.
I say, get in contact with a friend, a good friend that knows you well, a ''Joshua'' one that will steer you into the right direction, one that makes you move.
One that knows your ways, and know when you're stuck, and can't get back up.

Jesus carried a cross, and he stumbled while carrying it, no one helped him, because that was our sins on that cross.
And as easter has closed, we forget that that same power that rose him from the dead is in us.
We only need to look to him, to find our way.
There is a way back, and it is believing in a better outcome, not just because we need it, not because it's a ''good thing'' to do.
But when we hand our lives over to him, we are saying '' you know best'' and you know what I'm like.
We might be called for something bigger than our lives, we might be called to do a program in mission work, we might be called to fly planes to help M. A. F.
we also need people here on the ground to get our kites up in the air.
So believe that you can do it, believe that God can do more in your life, than what you're doing now.
Chloe

over coming what has happened in the past

Hi friends
How are you?
I hope that you're having a really good afternoon.
I trust for those who have found a church, that it was a blessing for you, and for those people who just need a little glimpse of hope at the end of the tunnel, you'll find it.

I went out to my friends farm the other day, and it was just a  wonderful thing to see, all the beautiful trees, and all the stories of hope, persevering.

And as a 29 year old, I have learn about being out on a beautiful farm. because with farming, you never know what the season will bring, it might a dry summer, and stock suffer, or it might be a wet summer which is great for growth, you see, with farming there's a lot of risks.
And our walk with Christ is like that.
How then if God is calling you to something that is way beyond you, how do you know it's time to move?
How did I trust in God that moving away from home for the year, how can I trust God for myself, not because my parents say so, no relying on their trust, that I've done for so many years.
But figure out for myself, that God  will meet every need.
Without of job, but have a rich collection of friends, friends that I can just say that I'm coming around and they'll accept me just the way I am.
Let me say this, your plan B is God's plan A.

WHen I was diagnosed with a disability at age 3, my parents worried about what life will have for me, I got super jealous of my brothers, who got what I thought was everything, but they were taking me up to Christchurch for trips, to the hospitals for brain scans,  homeschooling me because the reality was that I'd propbably not cope in a proper school.
I lost my friend at 18 to suicide, that was upsetting, cried out to God, because we had no idea what she was going through, then all of sudden she'd gone.
I had ideas of hopelessness.
I probably have secrets that I will have to learn from, and learn to give them to God.
So how do we overcome what has happened to us in the past?
You might have heard that God doesn't see the way that we see ourselves.
You might have been abused as a child, you might have thought you've made a big mistake and you want to turn around, you might feel all hope has gone.
My friend, all can be redemed, things can be mended.
When Jesus died for you on the cross he said it was finished. he said everything that has been done, things that you'll do it's all right, it's finished, you can close the door on it, and walk through another door, and it will be right.

My friend Rose who died, she knew that in her heart that she would be redeemed, her favourite song was how great thou art.
I'm not saying it was a right way of doing it, it's painful, sucide is painful, trust me, I thought about doing it, but each attempt, God stopped me.
Why then didn't I go for help?
Because I wanted others to suffer.
I wanted all the miss understandings to stop, I wanted to get free of my labels, free of the chains that had stopped me from getting to where I was wanting to be.
I wasn't depressed in this time, I had God, and through it all, Jesus was saying to me, that I'll be right, that Rose went because she couldn't face another day, even though, she had so many musical talents, so many things to just offer to others.
I hadn't really thought about, it until now, until last night, when I was wanting to go home for the weekend, as I've been very tired from no reason, and home sounded so good.
Sometimes you just need to head home, for a time, time to get perspective on, time to just see how things are, not doing anything for others, but just heading home, just because you want to.

I think in the Christian world, we really forget to care about ourselves, we get talked about numbers in church, we forget that God made his first church and that was teaching his disciples a group of people, normal men.
Jesus didn't need anything else, he just offered what he had.
We need to offer what we have and hand it over to Christ, and sit at his feet, not just at easter time, not just when it feels good, not when it suits you, but actually physically sit down and be with him, and be mended ourselves.

This is how we over come things in our past, that might have been too hard to go through, to hard to face, too awkward, to complex, to jolly impossible, perhaps was impossible, to hard to go back and say sorry face to face with the person who wronged you, who wasn't there when you need it most.
I don't know, but what I do know is.
That by going to Christ is the first step to overcoming things that has happened to you in the past.
Don't let another day go by, by being shackled in chains, don't set things to hard in your head, don't put it off for another day.
Don't become your own slave to things that you've been tied down to for too long.
Chloe