Giving

Money. It's never an easy topic to talk about, culturally we don't talk about our finances, Jesus also makes it clear in Matthew 6:1-4 that giving to the poor should be a private affair, so it comes as no real surprise in the age of bank transfers that no one knows if anyone else is even giving. 

I always found that the biggest areas of growth in my spiritual journey has been I heard a testimony on something and realised that actually this is something I need to be doing in my own life. So I'd start asking questions, I'd copy what others do and I'd grow in that area. For example; in my first year of University I realised people our age actually went to prayer meetings and that they are important. So I went (I even used to go to dynamic prayer) and in watching other prayer warriors I learnt to pray in different ways and into new things and it's not real surprise that my own prayer life grew. 

However, when no one talks about giving, how can we be challenged? How can we step out in faith and trust God when we have no one to learn from. When we are completely unaware if anyone our age actually gives, isn't it easier to just listen to the voice in our head that says that we can't afford to give. That we're struggling to get by as it is (whilst buying a coffee on campus each day) because let's be honest, that amount I could give wouldn't make a difference to anyone. So I might as well keep the money myself and enjoy my daily coffee. But the problem there isn't the lack of giving, but the heart behind it. For some of you, your financial situation will mean you can't give and that's okay, but for most of you it will mean sacrifice, but when we give to God it always involves a sacrifice. And as the sacrifice gets bigger, it'll be harder to do, so my suggestion would be to learn now when the sacrifices are smaller. I'm not saying we need to be giving away our student loan, but I would like to challenge you all to give something. Learning to give when you are a student is important and remember it's not the amount that matters but the heart behind it.

(This blog was originally posted on www.belfreystudents.org/blog)

Injustice

It’s a topic I regularly struggle with, whenever I read the news; I’m so often hit by the injustice of this world. Some many of our problems arise from human greed for money and power, and they leave behind countless people in the chains of poverty they cannot escape from. Recently, our attention has been brought to the Thai fishing industry, built on slavery, reminding us yet again that slavery, despite being illegal, is still so apparent in our world, still destroying so many peoples’ lives. And the question I find myself asking: why does a just God allow this to happen?

I recently read this

“Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?
Why are you silent while the wicked
swallow up those more righteous than themselves?”

Habakkuk 1:13

This verse struck me for two reasons.

God cannot tolerate the evil of this world. It’s an obvious statement, but so often when I am caught up in a situation I forget that it’s breaking God’s heart too. God didn’t design this world to be like it is, the world we live in is a consequence of the Fall, and it’s not how God wants it to be. When you read the law in the Old Testament you see God’s heart for the widow, the orphan, the foreigner. You see his heart for those who were powerless in society.

“Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.

“Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry.

Exodus 22:21-22

Therefore, when I look upon the injustice of this world, not only do I see those injustices, but I see a world that it is not how it ought to be. And I need to recognise that God cares, and like the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8) who kept crying out for justice, so we need to get upon our knees and call out to God for his justice to come. 

The second thing was that sense of liberation. I don’t need all the answers; I can ask God the big questions. All through the bible you see God’s people struggling with the big issues. Some like Habakkuk are trying to comprehend how God allows injustice, but he’s faced the greatest injustice – he’s faced the punishment we deserve in order to allow us to stand in his righteousness. Others like David and Job struggle with suffering. They’re big topics and God knows that, he knows we’ll struggle with them and he invites us to struggle through them with him.

I recognise that this blog probably hasn’t answered any questions, and in a way it’s not meant to. So I’m sorry if you came here hoping for answers, but there are two important things you call do. Pray for those who face injustice and suffering and wrestle through your questions with God, because he is the only place where you will find the answers.

(This blog was originally posted on www.belfreystudents.org/blog)

Playing the comparison game

This blog post has mostly been inspired by a talk entitled ‘Stay in Your Lane’ by Robert Madu at the HTB Leadership conference. It was a very challenging talk, but also spoke to a number of us who went so I really suggest you give it a listen.

Comparision.

It’s all around us, just a “natural” aspect of our life, and it’s relatively harmless right? I mean everyone does it, and unless you start being jealous of someone because of who they are, it’s not ungodly, or is it?

Whenever I used to receive marked work at Uni, my first response wasn’t to praise God for the mark, but to compare it against my friends. I’d judge myself academically against them, but that would also lead into comparing their lives against mine and then just comparing myself up against anyone. I’d question God why I wasn’t like X, or have Y’s character or look like Z. Suddenly, comparing myself against others wasn’t just a mental comparison between me and them, but me questioning, doubting God about who he made me to be.

Let's put this in prospective, this is the God who designed the Universe, and I’m trying to tell him that I think he made me wrong!?!

A lot of us are probably familiar with Psalm 139, but it’s good to read the words again.

“Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;

you formed me in my mother’s womb.

I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!

Body and soul, I am marvelously made!

I worship in adoration—what a creation!

You know me inside and out,

you know every bone in my body;

You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,

how I was sculpted from nothing into something.

Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;

all the stages of my life were spread out before you,

The days of my life all prepared

before I’d even lived one day.”

I love the line “Body and soul, I am marvelously made!” I find it really hits home for me. Why? Because God designed us to be exactly how we are. There are no mistakes, no missing pieces. Yes we can and should grow in character and spiritual giftings, but God designed you to be you so stop trying to be someone else.

You are God’s masterpiece, so stop complaining about the pieces you don’t have and praise him for who God has made you.

(This blog was originally posted on www.belfreystudents.org/blog)

....So what are you giving back to him?

“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.”

1 Chronicles 29:14

In my blog last week, I focused on the fact that everything belongs to God, nothing you own is truly yours but a blessing from God. So here’s a challenge: what are you giving back to him?

Being a student is financially challenging, but is also an amazing time to learn how to give. As a student every penny is precious and because of that we also know the importance of budgeting. How often are you willing to sacrifice one thing in order to do another? For example, do you spend less on a weekly shop in order to go on a night out? And therefore, how much more are you willing to sacrifice to the God who has given you everything?

As students we justify our lack of money as a reason not to give, when in actual fact we just don’t want to give. The first step towards changing our attitude to money is to recognise this; once we have acknowledged this, we can ask God to change our hearts.

“Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few pence.

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on.’"

Mark 12:41-44

In the passage above, Jesus makes it quite clear, he’s not concern about the amount that we give, but the hearts that give it. The widow trusted that God was ‘El Shaddai’ The All Sufficient One. She trusted that if she gave God everything she had, he would provide for her, so she gave everything. This trust probably came from years of giving and being provided for; it probably didn’t spring up overnight, and yet we often put giving off until we have developed that trust. This trust will only develop if we put our faith in God into action. 

So here's is my advice: start small, but start somewhere. Work out what you can give and what you’re willing to sacrifice, it might mean bringing a pack-up and a thermos flask to campus rather than buying lunch, or fewer take-aways and nights out, giving up your spotify subscription and listening to the music you already own. But start somewhere and most importantly ask God to change your heart towards giving.

(This blog was originally posted on www.belfreystudents.org/blog)

Everything belongs to God...

You are rich

So often as a student I saw myself as poor, having to carefully consider what I could do due to their financial cost. I forgot that actually I am rich. You’re probably reading this off your laptop or smart phone, or maybe even a tablet. All signs of our wealth that we ignore. We have food in our cupboards (even if its the basic range) and clothes to wear, we are able to go out and socialise with friends. Yes, we have to budget, yes we have to turn down opportunities, but no, we are not poor.

Whilst as students we don’t really earn a salary, most of you will either have a student loan or receive money from your parents and I’m suggesting that you start to think of that as your income. It is a gift from God.

If you receive a student loan of £3500, you are in the top 25.09% richest people in the world. That means that 74.91% of the global population are financially poorer place than you. So stop comparing yourself against those who are richer than you, and start seeing what God has blessed you with, start being grateful that you have money to budget, rather than ungrateful because you have to budget.

God has blessed you with so much, and yet how often do we say “Is that all?” Everything you have belongs to God, it is a blessing from him, but when was the last time you gave anything back to him?

“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.”

1 Chronicles 29:14

The verse from 1 Chronicles comes after David calls upon the Israelites to give gifts to God to build the temple, and I love that David recognises the dependency of the Israelites on God for wealth and material goods. Over the next week I would like to challenge you to also ask God for this outlook upon your material wealth, remember that everything comes from God, and that he has richly blessed you. Rather than watching the bank balance decrease, focus on thanking God as you spend your money.

Also, if you have the time, work out your income (including maintenance loans/grants) and check out this website to compare yourself against the rest of the globe.

This is the first in a two part series, if you want to be challenged further read ....so what are you giving back to Him?

(This blog was originally posted on www.belfreystudents.org/blog)

Thoughts on Jonah

Last week whilst I was sat in the service, a thought pop into my head. There is a fairly impressive miracle in this book which isn't really mentioned. Jonah gets swallowed by a huge fish, and survives for three days in a stomach of a whale.

How did he survive the stomach acid or more importantly the lack of oxygen for three days?

In Matthew 12:40, Jesus says:

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

As Jesus clearly believes that Jonah was:

• Swallowed by a huge fish
• Was there for 3 days
  Survived the ordeal

I think that we also should believe it, therefore (from my admittedly limited research and knowledge about huge fish) I’ve come to the conclusion that surviving the ordeal was in equally impressive miracle on God’s behalf to providing the fish to swallow Jonah and then vomiting him onto dry land. And therefore, this story can be one of encouragement and hope to us today.

Whilst today in our lives we're not likely to be swallowed by a giant fish, we're are likely to be in places that really pretty tough. Places where we get to rock bottom, and can't see any favourable way out (let's be honest being vomited onto a beach isn't great but is considerably better than the other option), places where we can't see a way of surviving let alone thriving.

If God stepped into to prevent Jonah from dying, he can step into the situations we find ourselves in today and will help us survive. As Christians we should expect life to get tough in places, and therefore when survival seems challenging remember these words of Jesus from John 16:33:

In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

We believe in a God who has immense powers, who can control the natural world. But that same God came to this earth and went through suffering greater than we can imagine by dying on a cross. So when we go through suffering we can cry out to a God who understands and goes through our suffering with us, and we can take hope that Jesus has beaten death and will one day return in glory.

(This blog was originally posted on www.belfreystudents.org/blog)