You are NOT your own.

  Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, “Get up and eat!” He looked around and there beside his head was some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again. Then the angel of the Lord came again and touched him and said, “Get up and eat some more, or the journey ahead will be too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God. There he came to a cave, where he spent the night. But the Lord said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 1 Kings 19:5‭-‬9 NLT Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’...

For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you . This gives you assurance of sharing his glory. Colossians 1:27 NLT In my last blog I was speaking about living in the vine, and thought I would share some of my thoughts and reflections that the Lord has laid on my heart. What does this look like?  As per John 15, we have to remain in the vine, which is Jesus, but how? Well one clue is to abide in the word, and we know that Jesus is the living Word that became flesh and apart from HIM we can do nothing.  You don’t get wormy apples off a healthy tree, nor good apples off a diseased tree. The health of the apple tells the health of the tree. You must begin with your own life-giving lives. It’s who you are, not what you say and do, that counts. Your true being brims over into true words and deeds. Luke 6:43‭-‬45 MSG If we are not in a place of relationship with Jesus (him abiding in me and me in...

  “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes  so that it will be even more fruitful.  You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.  Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.   “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.  If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.  This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. John 15:1‭-‬8  You did not choose me, but I chose y...

An aspect of forming my identity in Christ is to understand what I believe and filter through my world view into how I  should act or express myself in any given situation, or hold as values to work towards on a daily basis.  Does that mean I am perfect and get this right each time? Obviously not, but if I have values that I can strive to achieve, they form in a sence the banks of a river (boundaries) that bring me closer to the image of Jesus Christ and the works, and hope he has called me to.   These values help keep me on track and become part of who I desire to be, reflecting the image of God back to myself and God my Father. I share these in the hope that others may find them useful as I have and do. It is good to remind oneself of what God has revealed to us, it helps us recall who and what we are when the mist of doubts or trouble, which each of us will experience. I try and do a reminder of what I have recorded by reading my journals, and blogs on a regular b...