Reason no. 588...

He's the provider who meets ALL our needs! He's the Father who loves pouring out His blessings on His children in abundance. Yesterday I heard an incredible story of a church having to pay only £1 for a building that they want to use to bless the community. Then, I was also reminded of my church back home having to pay something like £1 a year for rent for a building that is ultimately being a base for blessing the community. He's the Father who loves surprising us, the Father who loves giving and the Father who loves the town/ city that I live in. Reason no. 588 :)

Reason no. 587...

I should have got a library fine today...but somehow I haven't had to pay! How it's possible that I don't, I'm not too sure, but thank you God! Reason no. 587 :)

Reason no. 586...

It's exciting to imagine your future with God. I was thinking about what I'd love to see as a future Speech and Language Therapist walking with God. I'd love to see children 'find their voice'. I'd love to see restoration happen in families. To see God's presence in the clinic, when people step foot into my room peace, hope and joy come because God's in that room too. I'd love people to encounter God, make supernatural progress in communication/ swallowing abilities. I'd love my colleagues to encounter Jesus and salvation to follow. I'd love the clinic to be a place where people are welcomed and accepted just as they are. I'd love to see people who stutter have Moses experiences! I'd love it to be a place where people are built up and encouraged - after all our words create environments and when we speak we can bring God's heart into situations! I'd love to see waiting times drop and referrals decrease and NHS pressures to be released. Nothing's too much for our God and He says that it's okay to imagine, because He can do even more!! Reason no. 586 :)

Reason no. 585...

1 Corinthians 2:16...

'We have the mind of Christ.'

'Everyone who is a believer has the mind of Christ. This means that we all have the capacity and the opportunity to share the plan, purpose and the perspective of Christ...It doesn't happen when we become good enough, achieve some sort of karma or are more 'spiritual'. If you have accepted Jesus and have been born again, you have His mind.' 

Amazing amazing amazing! I'd never thought about it like that before! 

The Audacious Church Devotionals have been such a blessing! They arrive at 6:10 every morning to my emails (so to my phone), so before I even leave my bed I can read it and then think about what I've just read as I get ready to start the day! Reason no. 585 :)

Reason no. 584...

God has placed some incredibly generous people around me and through it I've  been reminded of God's goodness, provision and His heart to bless in abundance! Reason no. 584 :)

Reason no. 583...

Had a such a lovely day catching up with a friend from Horsham, who came over to Manchester for the day! Hearing stories of what God's doing in Horsham is so exciting! Reason no. 583 :)

Reason no. 582...

Based on Audacious Devotionals...

God has designed and built our minds to be a place where imagination flourishes. When we imagine, we prophecy our future. He promises to take us even further than our imagination can take us.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. 

Ephesians 3:20

This is incredible! The fact that God allows us to dream and imagine and the fact that He uses it for His glory is exciting! I want to be someone who dreams big because I have the faith that God can exceed the dreams and thoughts that come to mind and that nothing is impossible for Him! Reason no. 582 :) 

Reason no. 581...

'Peace comes to us as the balance between time spent 'staying on' Jesus outweighs time spent on worry.'

Reason no. 581 :)

Reason no. 580...

God knows exactly what He is doing even when I have no clue of what I'm doing. He is sovereign, He's working all things together for good and He holds time in His hands. Reason no. 580 :)

Reason no. 579...

I have some amazing housemates, who are so encouraging and so loving! They've been such a blessing to live with this year. I love how God allowed us to cross paths last year and now living together! From being really unsure of how it would all work out living with this group of people, God totally exceeded my expectations of what it would be like to live in a student house! Reason no. 579 :)

Reason no. 578...

It's the Easter holidays! I'm grateful for time off, even if there is still quite a lot of work to be done. There's lots of nice things planned for the next 3 weeks and I'm looking forward to seeing my family again next week! Reason no. 578 :)

Reason no. 577...

A friend shared this quote yesterday, I thought it was pretty amazing:

'People are equal the same way pennies are equal. Some are bright, others are dull; some are worn smooth, others are sharp and fresh. But all are equal in value for each penny bears the image of the sovereign, each person bears the image of the King of Kings.' 

GK Chesterton

Reason no. 577 :)

Reason no. 576...

'The ultimate utilization of our mind is for worship.'

John Cameron

It's interesting to think about where our minds wonder, what most of our thoughts end up being about. I know for sure that worship is not my default thought position, but it's definitely where I'd like it to be. For He is so worthy of my thoughts and my time, not just X amount of time in my busy day. Reason no. 576 :)

Reason no. 575...

Yesterday I was in bed before 9 and am now feeling so refreshed! I'm grateful for a good nights sleep! Reason no, 575 :)

Reason no. 574...

I find it incredible how our eyes and our brains enable us to read...if you think about it there are only small differences between letters, for example between i and l there's only a small gap which distinguishes them! It clearly takes such skill to be able to read, but for many of us we're blessed with it being quite an effortless task. Reason no, 574 :)

Reason no. 573...

This week has been rather hectic with an exam yesterday and various things happening, including a boiler gushing out water like a waterfall! It flooded the lower half of our kitchen, but through it there were so many things to be thankful for: such as having a 2 floor kitchen - it meant that the water was all contained to the lower half, not having a carpet floor, the plumber was able to come the same day, having no idea how to switch the water off a family we'd met a few times before came over and helped! Reason no. 573 :)

Reason no. 572...

Great lyrics...

'You hold the reins on the sun and the moon, like horses driven by kings. You cover the mountains, the valleys below, with the breadth of your mighty wings. All treasures of wisdom and things to be known are hidden inside your hand.

And in this fortunate turn of events, you ask me to be your friend. You asked me to be your friend.'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lwiKg3qQDA

Reason no. 572 :)

Reason no. 571...

'Our praise is a powerful weapon. The word of God says that 'God inhabits the praise of his people', in other words He lives and dwells in our praise. So whenever we praise His power is present and therefore the potential for breakthrough and the miraculous is also present'  

Audacious Church

Reason no. 571 :)

Reason no. 570...

Encouragement has so much power and so much value: it releases truth, brings hope and breaks off lies. Encouragement acts as a reminder of how God sees the person and who He's called them to be. It can release joy and build a person up. Over the years I've been put around certain people who are awesome encouragers and for that I'm so grateful! I definitely want to be someone who encourages! In the bible Jonathan encourages David (1 Samuel 23:16...'And Jonathan, Saul's son, arose and went to David at Horesh, and encouraged him in God.') and that's what he's known for now - many many many years/decades/centuries later! Reason no. 570 :)

Reason no. 569...

I love the contrast of light and dark, day and night, sun and moon, waking and sleeping! It's great how it's not random, but God designed! Reason no. 569 :)

Reason no. 568...

'There's beauty in my brokenness,

There's true love, instead of pain,

There's freedom though You've captured me,

I've got joy instead of mourning!'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9xtmj8Zgc4

He's in the business of transformation!

Reason no. 568 :)

Reason no. 567...

There's beauty in brokenness. So often brokenness is associated with rubbish, failure and being despised. If something is broken it has lost its function and purpose, for example a broken plate can no longer hold a meal upon it. As people we can become broken too. Things people say, things that we do, things that happen to us, things that we think can all affect us. They can have a positive impact or a negative impact. As humans, we often try to hide all signs of brokenness, all the signs of things going wrong, cracks which reveal things that have happened in the past or who we really are. We can try to put up masks to hide it or try to fix our brokenness ourselves.

But, something God's reminded me of this weekend is how He takes our brokenness and He makes it into something beautiful! He takes our failures, our short-comings, our weaknesses and He displays His glory through it. He takes the cracks in my life and brings wholeness and fullness (if I let Him!). 

In Japan, there's some amazing artwork called Kintsugi. Essentially broken pottery is repaired through use of a special lacquer mixed with gold, silver or platinum. Instead of disguising it, the cracks are used to make this piece of artwork even more beautiful. Instead of forgetting about the breakage, it's incorporated into its history. Instead of using an invisible glue to mend the cracks, gold is used - something of immense value!

Throughout all of today, this is what I've been thinking about! The brokenness, the weakness and the struggles are not something to hide for they can display something of Jesus - His love, His healing, His grace and His abounding goodness. He's takes the mistakes, He's takes the insecurities and  He takes the broken-hearted, the broken families and the broken in spirit and He can bring the restoration! 

Reason no. 567 :)

Reason no. 566...

Spring! I love the different seasons and how everything changes within them. It's a little bit warmer, a little bit more sunny and the flowers are starting to pop up! Reason no. 566 :)

Reason no. 565...

A 4 day weekend (due to changes in my timetable!)! Reason no. 565 :)

Reason no. 564...

The bus system near where I live is great! If I've just missed a bus a new one arrives within minutes. Reason no. 564 :)

Reason no. 563...

It's amazing to think that on an average day we swallow over 500 times and the majority of the time nothing goes wrong. The food and liquid end up in our esophagus - not our lungs! The fact that our airway is automatically sealed off when we swallow is amazing as we don't even have to think about it! If we did, eating and drinking would be a much greater life/death experience! Reason no. 563 :)

Reason no. 562...

One of today's lectures was on Language Processing. We were thinking about just how complicated language really is...the fact that spelling (graphemes) of a word don't always correspond with the right speech sounds (phonemes). This means it can be really complicated to learn English, but it's incredible that our brains can process all of this information and allow us to communicate! Reason no. 562 :)

Reason no. 561...

I love how when the Magi found Jesus their response was to bow down and worship him. At the time Jesus had done absolutely nothing, but they knew who he was, what the prophecies had spoken of him and knew what he'd go on to do. At the same time Herod's response was fear, he planned to kill all the boys who were around Jesus's age. 2 responses to a little baby being born. I love how people can't help but have a reaction when they encounter him! Reason no. 561 :)

Reason no. 560...

Thank you God that I can sleep and I can wake up because You sustain me! (Psalm 3) Reason no. 560 :)

Reason no. 559...

I love how after God made everything, He saw that it was good. There was no disappointment with His creation. It was all made as He intended it to be, with no mistakes or errors. He is a creative God and we are made in His image! Reason no. 559 :)

Reason no. 558...

I'm grateful for one of the near-by roads opening up last week. It means that my journey to uni is much quicker than before and means I get to walk through the park too on a lovely spring day. I'm grateful that today my friend was walking back with me as there were some slightly 'strange' people around! Reason no. 558 :)

Reason no. 557...

Good weekend in Blackpool with the Navigators: some great bible teaching, some really good application ideas and it was nice to just get to know some of the people from church a bit better. Reason no. 557 :)