Challenged to not be selfish

^{Phillipians 2:1}If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ²then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. ³Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. ⁴Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

⁵Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
⁶Who, being in very nature God,
      did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
⁷but made himself nothing,
      taking the very nature of a servant,
      being made in human likeness.
⁸And being found in appearance as a man,
      he humbled himself
      and became obedient to death—
         even death on a cross!
⁹Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
      and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
      in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
      to the glory of God the Father.

I’m challenged at the moment by the total unselfishness of Jesus.

His humbleness, his unselfishness and yet the immense power that He demonstrated. He surrendered his will to God, and saw God’s will happen.

I want my attitude to be the same as Jesus, I want to let go of my ‘rights’ as a person, my right to my time, my energy, my money, my right to be treated well, I want to let them all go, thinking not about me, but about other people. Learning to be completely unselfish, living for God, loving God and loving people.

Things have changed...

Things have changed and this really needs updating...

Reflecting!

My third year at uni has now come to an end, it's crazy to think that I only have one year left. So no more exams until January and an amazing summer to look forward to, filled with friends, family, God and hopefully some amazing sunshine!
At the last Radiate Big Sunday of the academic year we had a time of sharing what God has done in our life this year, and so I thought I would share my thoughts on here too.

This year I have felt stretched and challenged; particularly at CSM.
(by the way - you should all go!)
The first year at CSM had been so joyful, encountering God and growing in an amazing way. This year was still encountering God, and growing in an amazing way, but was a lot more challenging. It seemed like each time we prayed or had worship, God showed me something that I needed to hand over to him, let him take the hurts and desires so that he could restore and grow me.

I love the fact that God never reveals something to you 'for fun', he always does with the intention of restoring, healing, and showing you his love.

Surrendering my desires to God was difficult, but brought such freedom. More than that, God was incredibly amazing (as always :D ). Once I had truly surrended my desires to him, once I was at the point where, it didn't matter if it ever happended, because as long as I was in God's will that's all I needed - he fulfilled them!

It says in Matt 6:33
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

We always need to surrender to God. Sometimes the things we surrender are destructive desires, and they will never be desires that God will fulfil, simply because they are not his will for our life. Other times, it's not that God is withholding things from us, but more that we need to put him first in all areas of our life.

The second thing I shared, was being thankful for how much my friends have grown in God this year. It has made my heart smile, seeing people worship him, pray to him, give godly advice.

Something that I didn't share at Big Sunday, was being thankful for Joe. God has blessed me with an awesome husband, and it is always a privilege to share my life with him. He is so supportive and loving, and continually seeks after God. Marriage is awesome :D

delirious

John Ortberg - Love Beyond Reason - Being Loved means Being Chosen

Pg 162:
"In God's love my chosenness never comes at anyone else's expense. God chooses, or loves, each of his children with infinite uniqueness. His plan is for my chosenness to enhance the lives or others, not diminish them"

Pg 165:
"Live a life of comparision or competition, and you end up with no joy at all. God holds out joy for each of us. We are all made to do and see things in a unique way - God has designed you to know the joy or being a teacher or helper or encourager or designer - and when you find it and offer it up you will know joy. And God has made you to know the joy of receiving and celebrating the gifts of those around you. If you offer your gifts (let go of them) and humbly recieve the gifts of others, your joy will be made complete."

"For in Christ God is drawing all men to himself. God whispers on the cross 'I wish you belonged to me. I choose you'. "

Thankful for my friends :)

The title kind of sums up what this blog is about! (Feeling v soppy today!)

Since moving to Aberdeen, God has blessed me with a crazy amount of seriously awesome people. The sort of people you can laugh with, cry with, have fun with, learn from, be encouraged by, and just generally spend hours with and not get bored!

You all mean tons to me, I hope you know how much, and I am so, so grateful for you all.
Jessica

Jesus, Be the Centre

People influence each other, hang round someone for too long and you will pick up their lingo(or even accent!)

Christians are by definition, followers of Christ

What would happen if we all spent more time with Jesus, not because we have to, or because we are told to, but out of our love for him.

We would be influenced by him, we would see things through his eyes; people, situations challenges we face. We would be completely changed - and would have such a profound effect on the world around us.

The New Testament shows that this is true, 12 disciples then, and a huge amount of Christians 2000 years later.

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace"

What a challenge for us, to make Jesus the centre of our lives, to dwell in his presence, to see things the way he does and to love as he does.