Speech

This was my speech for this year. I want you to read it, and I want you to act on it if you haven't. I wrote it before stuff happened, then when I finished, stuff happened, and it became very real to me: real in the parts of God being there for us.

Speech: The Extraordinary Taxi Ride

 Life is a taxi ride. In fact: it is an extraordinary taxi ride. It is extraordinary for many reasons: both good and bad. There are times where the road is smooth and easy to travel, and there are times where it is covered in potholes. There are times when your soaring along: head out the window, enjoying everything as it flies past, and there are times when it breaks down or overheats. There are times where the road is wide, and many can travel along with you, and then there are times where it is narrow, and only your closest friends can stay near you or understand what you’re going through. All these things make life and extraordinary, amazing and remarkable taxi ride.

 To begin with, you have no control over the taxi ride. It takes turns without your consent, and you have no control over which path it takes. One day, you will have to choose the destination of your taxi ride, of your life: to take the narrow road, which is found by few, yet leads to heaven, or to go through the wide gate, which many take, and leads to eternal destruction. This decision will affect your whole life: it is the most important decision you will make. No-one else can make this decision for you. You must decide whether to follow God, making him the driver of your taxi, believing in him, trusting him and repenting of your sins, ending up in heaven, or to live your own life, your own way, rejecting the truth, and the free gift of eternal life that he has offered you, and go to hell, with Satan driving you there.

 Whichever road you take, there is a cost. The cost is not for the ride to heaven or hell: the ride to heaven is paid for by God, through Jesus death and resurrection for us, and Satan is all too happy to give you a ride to hell. 1 Peter 5:8 says the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. The cost is in the way that you travel.  Both roads have good and bad times. The road to heaven, the life of a Christian, is easy and hard at the same time. It is hard because, as a Christian you will have to make sacrifices: you will have to obey God, even if it costs you. You will have to give up some things that you enjoy, because they are not honouring to God, and you will have to fight against Satan. But it is easy, because we know that when we fail, because you and I will fail, we are covered by Jesus, because he has already paid for the sin you have committed I have never heard of one Christian, when they are old and dying saying that they wasted their life serving God: I have only heard of them saying that they wished that they had turned to God and obeyed him earlier. If you take this road, heaven will be your reward: where there is no pain, or suffering, or sadness. No heartbreak, no hurt, no doubt and NO EVIL. The reward is definitely worth the cost.

 The road to hell gives the illusion that you rule your own life. It allows you to believe that you are in control of the taxi, that you can lead it wherever you want it to go. It lets you think that you are able to do whatever you want, but in reality you are in slavery to sin, which doesn’t last. It may be fun for awhile, it may look pleasing to begin with, but it doesn’t last. You can get drunk all you want, but you still have to wake up in the morning with a hangover, and all your troubles worse then when you started. You can go steal stuff, but after using it for a little while it gets old, or it breaks, and you get bored of it. This road leads to eternal destruction and hell: separation from God, from all that is good, pure and right, because God is those things.

Christianity is good for another reason. It offers the knowledge that God is looking after you. That you have an ALL wise, ALL loving, and ALL powerful God as your friend, and the CREATOR of the whole UNIVERSE protecting you. That you have a father, who always watches over you, because he never slumbers, or sleeps, and a friend, on whom you can cast all your anxiety, because he cares for you. He wont let ANYTHING happen to you, except what for your good (you becoming more like him) and for his glory. As a Christian, you can trust God 100% because you know that there is a purpose in everything that happens to you. No Pain or Suffering that you ever go through will be wasted. God is all powerful, and has complete control over everything that happens. He has the power to protect his people and he does so, every single second of every single day. If you don’t choose God, then you are his enemy, and he will punish you eternally for it.

So. Make your choice. Life is a taxi ride, it will come to an end, and you have to decide where it will end. Some taxi rides are shorter then others, some lives end unexpectedly. You only get one chance at life, and you only get a limited number of chances to turn to God and obey him. The more that you ignore God’s warnings to you, the more that you put it off, saying that you can do it later, the less chance that he will ask you again. God is offering you a chance right now. Take it, please take it, because it may be the last one you will ever get.

The time has come The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news

Thoughts?

Random, but true.

 I have the best friend anyone could ever ask for :D Go Brother, get through this. Love you Bro (friend love/bromance for those wondering :P) - looking forward to Monday, so I can talk to you more....hope that doesn't sound weird...hahaha.   I thank God for you heaps, and I pray for you every day. Brave face, Never give up.

 And thanks Mik; without you, I don't know what I would do. You're wise and you understand exactly what people are going through. Thanks for helping me during sport, I needed it and REALLY appreciated it. Love you as well. :) Thanks for being there for me and him. Keep it up.


:{D         (Me in year 7)


Hope that got a smile.


“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33


P.S. So you definitely don't get the wrong idea: 
Bromance - Describes the complicated love and affection shared by two straight males. 
                 - The relationship between two straight guys. They enjoy each others company and even though they may constantly joke about being gay they are not.

Psalm 71

I read this Psalm today, and found it immensely encouraging. I might blog about my week, but I think for now, it is sufficient to say that it has been the hardest one of my life, so far.

Anyway: this is not for sympathy, but for encouragement. So here it is.

Psalm 71

 ¹ In you, LORD, I have taken refuge; 
   let me never be put to shame. 
² In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me; 
   turn your ear to me and save me. 
³ Be my rock of refuge, 
   to which I can always go; 
give the command to save me, 
   for you are my rock and my fortress. 
⁴ Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked, 
   from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel.

 ⁵ For you have been my hope, Sovereign LORD,
   my confidence since my youth.
⁶ From birth I have relied on you;
   you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.
   I will ever praise you.
⁷ I have become a sign to many;
   you are my strong refuge.
⁸ My mouth is filled with your praise,
   declaring your splendor all day long.

 ⁹ Do not cast me away when I am old;
   do not forsake me when my strength is gone.
¹⁰ For my enemies speak against me;
   those who wait to kill me conspire together.
¹¹ They say, “God has forsaken him;
   pursue him and seize him,
   for no one will rescue him.”
¹² Do not be far from me, my God;
   come quickly, God, to help me.
¹³ May my accusers perish in shame;
   may those who want to harm me
   be covered with scorn and disgrace.

 ¹⁴ As for me, I will always have hope;
   I will praise you more and more.

 ¹⁵ My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds,
   of your saving acts all day long—
   though I know not how to relate them all.
¹⁶ I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign LORD;
   I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone.
¹⁷ Since my youth, God, you have taught me,
   and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.
¹⁸ Even when I am old and gray,
   do not forsake me, my God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
   your mighty acts to all who are to come.

 ¹⁹ Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens,
   you who have done great things.
   Who is like you, God?
²⁰ Though you have made me see troubles,
   many and bitter,
   you will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth
   you will again bring me up.
²¹ You will increase my honor
   and comfort me once more.

 ²² I will praise you with the harp
   for your faithfulness, my God;
I will sing praise to you with the lyre,
   Holy One of Israel.
²³ My lips will shout for joy
   when I sing praise to you—
   I whom you have delivered.
²⁴ My tongue will tell of your righteous acts
   all day long,
for those who wanted to harm me
   have been put to shame and confusion.

Thoughts anyone?

The Girl I Forgot.

Ok. This blog is dedicated to Tahlia, because I haven't mentioned her yet and she was feeling left out :P. 


I have known her for about 5 year now, and they have been fun years. Tahlia. I like your sense of humor. You always laugh at anything I say (thats intended to be funny) and you also have a balance of knowing when I'm serious and when not to laugh. Your a great friend, and I wish I knew you better. Sadly, we haven't been in the same classes in ages, and in the ones that we do share, we hardly talk. This annoys me, but thats OK. :)


Ok, so - short blog.


I also want to make a public I'm sorry, to Meghan. She has been a great friend to me, and never given up on me, and yet I went off at her today. I'm sorry.

Smile

Smile, God loves you: well he does if your a Christian :)


But really, while I am smiling at that, I am also smiling at the fact that a friend of mine has taken the first (hopefully of many) steps forward, to 'turning back' to God


WOOOOOOOOOOOOO Excitement :D :D


So, I encourage you t pray for this friend of mine, Like many others I know are doing - but please, only pray for her if you are a Christian: if your not, then pray for your own salvation: repent and believe the good news (Mark 1:15b). Anywho:


WOOOOO again.


See, Thankyou for taking this step forward, because I know your reading this. Please keep it up, and don't wait. RUN the race marked out for you :D


SMILE. 

Saw this, and decided it deserved posting.

For My Friend.

Read the post before this first, If you want: doesn't really matter. This is for one friend in particular (She knows ho she is), but really, its for all my friends, and for all the people who read this blog. I just read this Psalm. Psalm 31, and I believe God led me to do so - So I can post it here.

Psalm 31^[a]

    For the director of music. A psalm of David.

 ¹ In you, LORD, I have taken refuge;
   let me never be put to shame;
   deliver me in your righteousness.
² Turn your ear to me,
   come quickly to my rescue;
be my rock of refuge,
   a strong fortress to save me.
³ Since you are my rock and my fortress,
   for the sake of your name lead and guide me.
⁴ Keep me free from the trap that is set for me,
   for you are my refuge.
⁵ Into your hands I commit my spirit;
   deliver me, LORD, my faithful God.

 ⁶ I hate those who cling to worthless idols;
   as for me, I trust in the LORD.
⁷ I will be glad and rejoice in your love,
   for you saw my affliction
   and knew the anguish of my soul.
⁸ You have not given me into the hands of the enemy
   but have set my feet in a spacious place.

 ⁹ Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am in distress;
   my eyes grow weak with sorrow,
   my soul and body with grief.
¹⁰ My life is consumed by anguish
   and my years by groaning;
my strength fails because of my affliction,^[b]
   and my bones grow weak.
¹¹ Because of all my enemies,
   I am the utter contempt of my neighbors
and an object of dread to my closest friends—
   those who see me on the street flee from me.
¹² I am forgotten as though I were dead;
   I have become like broken pottery.
¹³ For I hear many whispering,
   “Terror on every side!”
They conspire against me
   and plot to take my life.

 ¹⁴ But I trust in you, LORD;
   I say, “You are my God.”
¹⁵ My times are in your hands;
   deliver me from the hands of my enemies,
   from those who pursue me.
¹⁶ Let your face shine on your servant;
   save me in your unfailing love.
¹⁷ Let me not be put to shame, LORD,
   for I have cried out to you;
but let the wicked be put to shame
   and be silent in the realm of the dead.
¹⁸ Let their lying lips be silenced,
   for with pride and contempt
   they speak arrogantly against the righteous.

 ¹⁹ How abundant are the good things
   that you have stored up for those who fear you,
that you bestow in the sight of all,
   on those who take refuge in you.
²⁰ In the shelter of your presence you hide them
   from all human intrigues;
you keep them safe in your dwelling
   from accusing tongues.

 ²¹ Praise be to the LORD,
   for he showed me the wonders of his love
   when I was in a city under siege.
²² In my alarm I said,
   “I am cut off from your sight!”
Yet you heard my cry for mercy
   when I called to you for help.

 ²³ Love the LORD, all his faithful people!
   The LORD preserves those who are true to him,
   but the proud he pays back in full.
²⁴ Be strong and take heart,
   all you who hope in the LORD.

I hope this encouraged you allot, or at least showed you that God's word applies to what your going though. Jesus knows what your going through. He went through it himself. On the cross he was 100% separated from God. Please pray for help.

My Friend

 I want to be 100% honest here. But i'm not sure that I will be. I want to say exactly what I think: the good and the bad, but I don't think I can, because other people will read this, besides you my friend. But I feel the need to post this here, to take the time, to show you that I care.


 Jessica Anne Lawless-Rodger. Great name don't you think? Well this person, this living, beautiful example of a human being, who was created in God's image, is my friend. And, I think I can say this: If I have any choice in it: she always will be. AND I am glad of it.




 Well Jess. This is what I wanted to say. You are beautiful. You're beautiful inside and outside. You have an amazing sense of humor, and can make friends with anyone, even if you've only known them for 10 seconds. You know what's considered normal, and you don't really care if you stray a little from it. You care about others, and you understand the deepest of emotions. You are crazy. You're crazy in the good way: the way that makes people like you, because they cant possibly not like you. You can make anyone laugh. You have a great taste in music :) although the band names are a little weird.... :P


So, I've said all this: but it doesn't convey my feelings for you. I suppose the only word for it is love. I know I'm taking a huge risk in saying that word, but I don't mean love between husband and wife, or boyfriend and girlfriend. I mean love that is pure and deep, that cares for you from deep within me: from a place that I didn't know existed until a few months ago. You're an amazing friends, and I suppose words CANT convey what I want to say. I care deeply about you in every aspect of your life: even though i probably don't know half of them.


Well I hope that this has encouraged you. Im sorry, as it is imperfect and perhaps not as helpful as it could have been. To those who aren't Jessica Anne Lawless Rodger, My friend,  I don't expect you to understand. I don't expect you to know how I feel. But I do expect you not to take this in the wrong way. I expect you to leave this alone, or if you want too, then ask about it. 


You, Jess, are my friend. Once my friend, always my friend. You're family too me: and that is a great thing: Sometimes you have friends who are closer then some of you're family. You're one of those people. You will never be alone. I will always seek to make time for you. Yes I will fail. I will fail miserably: I already have, but that doesn't mean it isn't true. I don't care what you think: I'm here and so is God. Never will he leave you, never will he forsake you Heb 13:5b, Psalm 94:14. If you are a christian then this is true, and it always will be. If you are, then you're GOD'S DAUGHTER. He loves you, God is love, remember?


I beg you to remember that. I know that without God, I wouldn't not still be alive, and if I was: I'd be completely messed up. I think the same is true for you...and well - for everyone in the world. Without God, there would be no life, no love, nothing good.

Spurgeon

Hey. I haven't posted in awhile :(. Ive been really busy, and probably wont have much time any time soon either, but I have heaps to blog about...I read this today, and thought it might encourage people: especially my friends who might read this. Sorry about the old English, but if you concentrate it should make sense... :)

Spurgeon's Daily Devotion

"The love of the Lord."

— ho 3:1

Believer, look back through all thine experience, and think of the way whereby the Lord thy God has led thee in the wilderness, and how he hath fed and clothed thee every day-how he hath borne with thine ill manners-how he hath put up with all thy murmurings, and all thy longings after the flesh-pots of Egypt-how he has opened the rock to supply thee, and fed thee with manna that came down from heaven. Think of how his grace has been sufficient for thee in all thy troubles-how his blood has been a pardon to thee in all thy sins-how his rod and his staff have comforted thee. When thou hast thus looked back upon the love of the Lord, then let faith survey his love in the future, for remember that Christ's covenant and blood have something more in them than the past. He who has loved thee and pardoned thee, shall never cease to love and pardon. He is Alpha, and he shall be Omega also: he is first, and he shall be last. Therefore, bethink thee, when thou shalt pass through the valley of the shadow of death, thou needest fear no evil, for he is with thee. When thou shalt stand in the cold floods of Jordan, thou needest not fear, for death cannot separate thee from his love; and when thou shalt come into the mysteries of eternity thou needest not tremble, "For I am persuaded, that neither death; nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Now, soul, is not thy love refreshed? Does not this make thee love Jesus? Doth not a flight through illimitable plains of the ether of love inflame thy heart and compel thee to delight thyself in the Lord thy God? Surely as we meditate on "the love of the Lord," our hearts burn within us, and we long to love him more.