Our Light...

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."


This is a quote from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles by Marianne Williamson.


This quote has always challenged and inspired me to think about what my own light is, what does it mean to be a child of God? and what is this Glory of God within us?


So what does it mean to let our lights shine, simply to show the world who God is, his spirit is within us, the spirit that brings life, and I do not mean the everyday, I mean life in all that it can be, in fullness, after all Jesus said himself that he came so that we could all have life and life in its fullness. For me this means that that hole that I felt, always wanting to find something to fill it, but never managing to, has been filled. I have peace and satisfaction with life, knowing that God, who created everything, loves me and accepts me. That in itself is a humbling thought! "I am unworthy, but not worthless" is what someone said to me last week. In fact I am so very uniquely valuable, we all are, as God himself gave the most precious thing he could to save me. I think that living the truth of this is one way to let our light shine, not cutting myself down, but in-fact acknowledging that God actually does see me as valuable enough to give himself for me, he actually likes who I am. No matter what that looks like, he still loves me and accepts me.


The other way to live the glory of God that is found within us is to know what the purpose that God created us for, which is to be expressions of who he is on this earth. We do something on the YWAM (youth with a mission) base I work on that we call freedom prayer, which is basically asking God who we are, who he created, and then asking God what is getting in the way, what lies we have in our lives that stop us living this. Fear of what other people think is probably the biggest thing that holds us from living this as real! I know it has been in my life, but God is so good, and I love him so much, he has freed me from so much in my past.


I think that is the key to life, it is living in the love that God has for us, we can never be rejected by him, as he has adopted us as his children, and promises never to leave us, and God is always true to his word. And when we live in that love, other things do not seem so big anymore. There is great security in it, and all the things that God says about himself become more real. As we live in that freedom, that security, other people want to come round it, as they feel safe, it gives them a place where they can ask questions and find freedom also. That is what I see when I look at this quote. As we live in the reality of who God calls us to be, it releases others around us to also be able to live in that freedom. I have found this to be true in my own life, as I have spent time around people who are really on fire for God, I find they have a deep passion for living life, and it is infectious, I also want this. It challenges me, but also greatly encourages me that maybe I can also have that, and I have found over these last couple of years this to be true. As I spend time round people who are living in the freedom of God's love, I find it rubs off, and I am also able to live in that freedom, and then I notice people round me, who I can speak encouragement to also, and see them move into greater freedom. It is one bit cycle really...


Needless to say I love God, I certainly do not have all the answers, far from it, I still do not understand a lot of things that happen, but I love God and trust that he sees more than me, and I want to know more of who he is. It is a really exciting journey.

A Week In Cambridge

So we headed to Cambridge for a week with the April 2011 DTS (Discipleship Training School) which I am helping to lead. It was a time of real strengthening of friendships as a team, we all had such fun together. The city itself is so beautiful, with the university area and all the old town, buildings several hundred years old. We just don't make them like that anymore. The city is also full of bikes, simply because it is easier to get around on a bike.

We joined up with the YWAM team in Cambridge and got the chance to do a number of things during the week. The really cool thing about the week was that this is the first time that YWAM in Cambridge has had a team come and join them, and the week we were there another team had come over from the States, so there were a lot of us!

The first couple of days was spent working with a new church plant, we ended up going door to door to talk about the church and offer prayer for people. i was so surprised at how open people were, and how many people truly wanted prayer over some really significant things in their lives, we even got to pray for healing for people.

The other few days were spent doing a lot of prayer round the city, as the team in Cambridge have launched a new 24/7 prayer initiative for the next few weeks, with the aim of establishing a permanent prayer house in the city. This was really amazing, being able to write down things that God had said. I also found out that nearly 20 years before God had spoken about the establishing of a prayer house in the city, so to see the vision and dreams being walked toward is amazing.

All in all the team and I had such an amazing time, it was a really good way to be able to spend time together encouraging each other and actively practicing some of the things that have been taught during the school so far.

The team :)

Walking With God...

I am in Cambridge this week and found myself with an evening free so, since I lived here until I was almost 9 (which in actual fact is over 15 years ago!), decided that I would go for a walk with God round the area I lived. It was so much fun, and I got to see God do so many random things.

I started off popping into a local tesco, to get a couple of bits for the team I am with, and ended up having a conversation with a lady about the little pocket bags you can now get, and was able to bless her before she left. After that I walked down the main street and stopped to talk to a couple at a bus stop outside the church that my family was at when we did live here. I asked if they knew where the road that I used to live on was, and found out they were also visiting the area, but thankfully they had a map with them, so we were able to find it on the map, and we blessed each other as we parted company. So after I found my old street, I did a crazy thing and knocked on the door of the house I used to live in, and was greeted by a really lovely lady, who must have been in her 50's. We talked for a few minutes about the house and what had changed, and she said that If I wanted to see it I could come back during the day when her husband was also around, but I did et to bless her before wandering off. I headed toward my old primary school, but was not entirely sure where I was going, but I could not find anyone to ask, so asked God instead and then headed in the direction I felt was right, and got there without getting lost! Thanks God. It was so much smaller than I remember it, in fact everything was, but I guess I have gotten a bit bigger since. I then headed back to where we are staying and on the way asked God if there was anyone I could pray for before I finished my walk, and he lead me to a leisure centre, where i met two guys, Ben, who was about 3 inches taller than me and well built, and Dave, who was in a wheelchair. When I asked them if I could pray for them they immediately said yes, so I asked if there was anything specific, to which they said no, just a general prayer of blessing. So I got to pray for them, just like I had asked God, it was so amazing, to see an answer to prayer like that.

Like I said, I had so much fun, and even came away with about 30p in my pocket, as I kept finding coins whenever I stopped, God is just awesome. I think the biggest thing for me during this walk was taking a step of faith on those little prompts that I felt were from God, such as knocking on the door of the house I used to live in, or asking those two guys if I could pray for them. It's funny, when you do step out and follow what you feel God is saying, you see God touch the people you meet, but he also touches you as well, it is such an encouragement, such a faith boost.

I think this quote from William Temple sums up my walk.

"When I pray, coincidences happen, and when I don't, they don't."