Be like Jesus.

People always say to me that being a Christian is an easy way out of bad times. But Christians are not spared bad times in any way shape or form. Ok, I have even said that myself and wondered if God was a way out or a way to take away the hurt and sadness I have be going threw. 

I have come to the convolution on fact, that being a Christian is far harder than having no faith. To try and keep away from doing bad, to try and do what god want and and trying to follow what the bible says is far far harder than having no faith not worrying about it. 

I for one am far from a good Christian and if we look at what it says in the bible I'm far from getting into heaven. But I hope it's work in progress and I'm trying my best to gain gifts such as being non judgementle, open minded, forgiving and loving. 

Of course Im not happy or complete yet bit by trusting in God and trying to find those skills I know one day my rewards will come. 

We can't come even close but we can still try to be like Jesus

Jesus in disguise

A guy walks down through town on his way home from work. The town was fairly quiet and the man slowly walked enjoying the peace. 

Later at home he heard the voice of Jesus call to him. "Why did you ignore me today" the voice asked

The man was stunned and answered "lord I would never ignore you "

The voice then said "bit walking through town on you way home, did you not see the old lady struggling with shopping, the blind man who dropped his wallet or the little girl crying cause she could find her mum?"

The man said "yes I remember, but I didn't see you lord, you know I'd never ignore you"

But you walk straight past those people who could have done with just a little help, the old lady just needed help to cross the road with here trolley. The blind man just needed help to see his wallet at his feet and the little girls mum was only 10 foot away look in a shop window"

The man paused for a second and said "but lord, I didn't see you there"

The reply came "he who gives his time to help others lends to The Lord"

From the beginning of the church at Pentecost, the people in church sold property and gave money to help the less fortunate than them. When they grew crops they would grow a little more to help feed the poor and when buying material to make clothes they would buy more to help clothe the naked.

Jesus says... When we hold out a hand for someone in need we hold out a hand to him. When we give food to the hungry we feed him and when we give clothes to the people that need clothes we dress him. 

When we do things for others to help them without asking for praise or anything in return we do it for god because god created every man and woman. 

Whoever is kind to the poor lends to The Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done

Proverbs 19. v17

Mother Theresa said about all the thousands she helped

"They where all Jesus in disguise"

Motivation.

So another long break from the blog. Not my intention just been in one of those situations where Ive be struggling to find the motivation to blog. which strangly got me asking the question ''What motivates us?"

I recently heard a story of a sailer that set out from spain heading for America. The guy in question called himself a moderately experienced sailer and had a good knowledge of the sea and good navigation skills. He had taken the time to prepare his course and gain supplys for his journey, and also prepared for all events.

afer 3 days at sea and making good progress his boat was suddenly hit by something. unsure of the damage he rush to the lower deck and saw his boat was rapidly taking on water. this was an abandon ship situation.

He released the life raft and got his emergancy racions together along with a bag of emergancy equipment. Having got himself and all his equipment into the raft he sat and watched as his yocht slowly sunk. 

He had well thought out rations and equipment which included a book on survival at sea, a harpoon gun, 18 litres of water, small amount of food and distress flares. 

He talks about how he tried to catch a fish to eat and it took him days of trying before he caught one. This was of course a boost but had now been alone in the raft for over a week. 

Water was running short too and luckily for him he had pack a divice that turns sea water into drinking water, however this hardly helped as was a very slow process. 

At one point he caught a larger fish and as he tried to get it out of the water it struggled and the harpoon gun pierced the raft. He was now in a worse situation and had to repair the raft as it was taking on water. 

This guy was reportedly on that raft for 120 day before being picked up by a commercial ship. When asked what kept him going he said that little things like catching a fish kept him going to some extent, but the knowledge that his family was at home waiting was the one thing that made every day worth fighting for. 

What motivates us. Well as a church member I have to say I take great motivation hearing testomonies from others and learning from others. To be a Christian also means it's important to spend time with other Christians shareing experiences and learning from each other 

Motivation comes in many forms, but the greatest comes fom people around us encouraging and being encouraged! 

Jose Mourinho

    

Jose Mourinho (Chelsea Football Club Manager) was once asked about the pressure of his job in top flight football. He answered "what pressure?, pressure is millions of people around the world, parents with no money to buy food to feed their children. Not football"

What Jose said was applauded by some, but others where not so happy about what he said. But what he said was probably a statement that has stayed in my mind for a lone time. 

If makeing money and winning trophies is as important than life then we have maybe got something twisted about face. The fact the question was asked after Chelsea lost a second game in a row made it even more of a strange question.

How do we act to pressure? And what makes us feel pressure?

I guess in today's world, money is gonna be hi on the list. Followed maybe by jobs or keeping up with what is expected from us. 

The famous old saying is that god won't put anything in out way that we can't handle. Bit of a clichè right? I'm still making my mind up about that, as maybe it should say God won't put anything in our way that we can't handle with him. Now doesn't that sound more realistic?

This week has been one of the lowest weeks in a long time. Infact I've not felt so alone and down like I have this week. But I picked up my bible and flicked it open and saw something I'd stuck in there a long time ago. 

Never had my bible ment so much and dispite all the tablets I take and then people people I see it was Gods word "the bible" that lifted me from what could have been a dangerous bout of depression. 

No matter who we are and where we are at in life's "rat race" we can always look to god knowing he can't always stop that bad stuff happening but he will to encourage and take some of the pressures away. 

Should I be Angry?

As a business owner I know I live I a corporate world where people can sometimes seem to think of nothing more than to make money. Don't get me wrong as a business owner I understand the importance of making profit and making money but I also believe there are certain values that should feature just as importantly as money making.

I try my best to treat every customer the same no matter how big or small the sale is. Also I feel its important to give customers a fair price and to be Honest to myself without judging others.

This morning I took a call from The East Anglian Dailey Times telling me of a new Magazine coming out. I was told it was to be selective and 5000 copies where to be delivered to selected residential areas where they have money to spend.

when I questioned this I was told that it is based on people income, number of cars, number of holiday abroad and other states that, to be honest should never really be used to judge people and choose who you want your customers to be.

I hope that people know I don't choose customers, and that I would never treat any customer different to another based on criteria that to be honest is none of my business or the business of The East Anglian Dailey Times.

I made it clear that as a Christian I felt that this approach to business was wrong and that I wish to offer my services to everyone ad not a selected few.

Should I be angry and annoyed?