Letting Go

So I play for a football team called Ambassadors FC and tonight we played in the final of the shield in a competition we are in. It was a pretty good game, competitive, end to end stuff but unfortunately we lost.

Yeah it was really disappointing especially how we got back in the game really well. And it got worse because I think I was kind of responsible for their winning goal. That sucks. I felt crap about it. I felt like I had let the whole team down. I just wanted to get changed and go home.

But I realised that how I treated this game is a lot like how I treat life. You see I played pretty well otherwise. The whole team did. But I did my bit and worked hard. One short moment of lacking in concentration was the only major mistake I made the whole game. And yet that one moment ruined the game for me. I instantly forgot about all the good things I did and how I helped the team the rest of the match.

I treat life the same. I am not suggesting that I am so amazing and I never put a foot wrong in life, because I do. A lot.

But a lot of the time I sin. I can go through life doing pretty well with God and then do something stupid and I beat myself up for ages. I can't seem to get rid of the thought that I have let God down and the people I love and who love me. It taints everything else in my life. I just want to go home and forget about God and what I did.

And this brings me to the match. I made a mistake that cost us the game but afterwards nobody mentioned it. It wasn't brought up. I left imagining the rest of the team staying behind to have a go at me. But yet nobody had a go at me or blamed me. That's pretty special.

My favourite verse at the moment is Romans 8v1 (NLT)

"So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus"

All the thoughts I had in my head about everyone blaming me were false. And the same is true of God. When I mess up and stray from the path he intends for me he doesn't blame me. He doesn't rub it in or remind me of it to make me feel bad. Becuase right now, in this moment, in every moment I'm not to blame. I can carry on knowing that there is nothing on me.

And that means I can get on with becoming more who God wants me to be without becoming so inward thinking that I simply come to a standstill. God wants us to remember that there is no more blame to dish out so why waste time dwelling on our mistakes. We can let them go. They are not ours any more. And that motivates. It motivates me to keep going. I hope it motivates you too.

Read More

Evolve or Die

OK. So first things first. I don't really want to moan on here but I want to get something off my chest. When you are at a concert and insist on clapping (don't get me started on that one) please ensure that you do so in time with the music. This is for the girl sat behind me on Friday night. Phew! Glad that is out in the open. Anyway..

On Friday I went to one of the most amazing concerts I have been to. I was at the Opera House in Belfast to see the Swell Season. If you don't know who that is, then why not?? If you haven't seen the movie Once then why not??

Don't read on. Check out Glen Hansard singing "Say it to me now" unplugged from the concert. Awesome!

But I want to talk about something he said as an introduction to one of the songs. I can't remember the name of it but he used a phrase that stuck with me. It was "evolve or die." How when we find our lives in trouble or we are stuck then we have a choice to make. We either move on and up or we die. We either start to make our life count or we continue down the road we have been heading.

For many of us we feel like we are at that place where we can't see any hope. We just see a dead end and we can't imagine getting out. It seems we have only one option, to die. But I think that Glen touched on something pretty amazing. That that is not the only option. That we don't have to carry on banging our head against a brick wall.

For me at one point in my life, lust was that wall for me. I couldn't see a way out especially with porn. Many times I chose to die, but I realised that through God I could change. I could evolve. I decided to not die any more and I evolved. I got accountable, I started letting God get involved and things changed.

What is even better is that it wasn't just down to me. I decided to evolve but on my own I wouldn't have been successful. But I can be because I have help. There are people who help me and their is a God who helps me.

Romans 6 v 22-23 (The Message)

But now that you've found you don't have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God's gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master.

It won't be easy but sometimes we need to take a conscous step in the right direction and when we do, we will be surprised that it can be achieved. If anyone tells you that you are stuck and trapped it is a lie. If you tell yourself that, it is a lie. No matter how hopeless it seems, there is always hope, there is always a way out. We just need to want it.

If you are in that place right now, do yourself a favour and watch this video.

Read More