There's no sync button

I recently bought a new computer, and even more recently upgraded the hard drive. What makes it easy to not lose any information during these upgrades and changes is the ability to sync things. All your old files, web pages, passwords, nearly everything can just be synced so you are right back where you were before the upgrade.
The Holy Spirit doesn't like sync buttons.
When he 'upgrades us' through the process of the Cross, even what we considered the best part of our old lives, the bit we think of as 'not that bad' is unwanted by the Spirit. He doesn't want any of that old life coming through.
What I mean by that is, sure you may have been a good accountant before you were saved, and after you probably are still a good accountant. But, whatever skills you bring with you, or think will be an asset to the body...aren't.
It is only when there is sacrifice (death) does the fire come. Or to put it another way, only after the Cross has done it's work on you or any part of your flesh that has tried to cling on does the Spirit empower.
I know that's not the best news to all those working merrily away in their own power, in their own strength to their own ideas and agendas, but unless the Cross does a thorough work the Spirit will not place his seal of approval in empowering on your work.

Time to stop and think

I was recently sent to Norwich with work. I am being made redundant and my mind was in a whirl. I went for a walk to find a place to have a chat with God and talk through everything. I sat down on a secluded bench I spotted hidden away behind some trees. As I sat I wondered if there was a plaque on it. There was, and even more, I was surprised by what it said. If you have trouble reading the picture, it says:

Rest awhile - Ponder anew what the almighty can do.

So I did.

John Daniel Lawtum: Press On

I keep coming away from my prayer times with this very old John Daniel Lawtum song in my head:

Let us know, let us press on

To know the Lord

For His coming is as certain as the dawn

He will come to us, just like the rain

Like the spring rain that waters the earth.

Nothings gonna separate us from the love of God

No darkness, no evil entity,

Nothings gonna separate us from His saving grace

Whom the Son set's free is free

Jesus my Lord gave new life to me,

Who the Son set's free is free

Let us know, let us press on

To know the Lord

For His coming is as certain as the dawn

He will come to us, just like the rain

Like the spring rain that waters the earth.

Time Keeping

"To be early is to be on time.
To be on time is to be late.
To be late is unacceptable."

Commit your work to the Lord, and then your plans will succeed.

Prov 16:3
Commit your work to the Lord, and then your plans will succeed.
Read also 1Pet 5:6-7
 
Out of baseball for good?
 
Traded from the Montrel Expos to an AA team in Nashville, pitcher Tim Burke, in his worst starting inning, allowed Chattanooga to score four runs.  His wife recalls:
    "That evening Tim said, 'After tonight, there's a strong chance I'll be released.  I could be out of baseball for good.'
    "'Tim', I told him, 'maybe we need to turn your career over to the Lord.'
    "Tim responded without hesitiation, 'That's a good idea.'
    "On our knees by our kitchen table, Tim prayed: 'Lord, I never even thought about you caring about this stuff.  If I'm holding on to baseball too much, help me to let it go; but if you want me to keep going, I'll fight to make it.  You know best.'
    "Then I said, 'Lord, if you'll give Tim the strength and opportunity, he'll give it his all; but if it's not your will for us to stay in baseball, please show us what you have next for our lives.'
    "When we finished, we still had no idea what lay ahead, but we had a new sense of peace" - and Tim didn't lose another game all season.  Christine Burke in Major League Dad.
 
 
It sounds so simple: "commit your work to God" then you "will succeed."  But this requires more from us than a simple nod of the heart towards God.  It's more than asking him to approve and bless our efforts before we go our merry ways.
 
The power behind this verse is in the word "commit".  When one commits to the Lord, he turns over the project and lets go completely.  Then, of course, the plans succeed because God is in control of both the work and the results.
 
For many of us, it's far from easy to turn things over to God.  But success depends on your willingness to humble yourself "under the mighty power of God" (1Pet 5:6).  Then, "in his good time, he will honour you."  In other words, take your hands off the wheel, peacefully sit back, and leave the driving to the one who knows the road ahead.
 
 
The Moravians had a wonderful symbol.  It was a bull standing between an alter and a plough, below were the words "Ready for either".

Being Lonely

I usually cycle to and from work.

A very regular site on my cycling trips are the (what I call) 'Gadget Zombies'.

Gadget Zombies seem to waddle in a strange zig zag pattern, not looking where they are going, because there attention is fixed to their phone. Or they do not hear me asking to move over on the cycle path because they are plugged into their iPod.

It seems gadgets in and especially out of the house are becoming more and more prolific. And although they can be extremely useful I think for the most part they are causing a lot more harm than good.

I'm not talking about radiation or unseen waves of some sort, not even ear or eye damage, I'm talking about loneliness.

I think if asked, 100% of people would say loneliness is not a good thing, and I would probably say the same, except there is a part of life where loneliness is healthy.

There are times in life when we feel alone, apart from everyone else, we feel a hunger in us for something we can't put our finger on. These are times that are designed for human beings to crave and long for their maker. That is a very healthy thing to do. Not just healthy, but essential for life. I mean real life.

Unfortunately, those times are becoming scarcer and scarcer as we fill them up with Facebook and music and what is, on the whole, just inane.

Try this: Turn your phone off. Leave your MP3 at home. Don't bother with the TV or PS3 tonight. Turn the PC off. Go for a walk, or just sit quietly. Let your hunger lead you to the Lord.

"It's an inspirational story about never giving up."

'Miracle recovery' of teen declared brain dead by four doctors

A teenager who was declared brain dead by four doctors has made a "miracle" recovery after his parents asked for another medical opinion, just moments before his life support machine could have been switched off.

Steven Thorpe, then 17, suffered horrific injuries in a multiple car crash, leaving him in a medically-induced coma and another man dead.

Doctors told his family he would never recover and asked them to consider donating his organs before his life-support machine was turned off.

Instead, Steven’s father enlisted the help of private GP Julia Piper to check his son again as doctors at University Hospital in Coventry, West Midlands, agreed to let a neurologist re-examine him.

Remarkably, he detected faint brain waves indicating Steven had a slim chance of recovery and medics decided to attempt to bring him out of his coma.

Just five weeks later, he was discharged from hospital having made a near-full recovery.

Steven, a 21-year-old trainee accountant, has now spoken of his progress for the first time and paid tribute to his family and the GP who may have saved him.

He said: "My father believed I was still there.

"He expressed his views to Julia Piper and I think she listened very closely to what my dad had said.

"My impression is maybe the hospital weren't very happy that my father wanted a second opinion.

"I think the doctors wanted to give me three days on the life support machine and the following day they said they wanted to turn it off.

"The words they used to my parents were 'you need to start thinking about organ donations'.

"I think that's what gave my dad energy, he thought 'no way'.

"I think if my dad would've agreed with them then it would've been off in seconds.

"If my parents hadn't asked for the second opinion, and if Julia hadn't been there, I wouldn't be here today."

Steven, from Kenilworth, Warks., was been travelling home from nearby Leamington Spa in February 2008 when the vehicle he was in was involved in a collision with two other cars and a horse that had run loose.

The horrific crash left one man dead and the horse was also fatally injured.

Steven was rushed to hospital and surgeons performed a craniotomy to help alleviate any swelling on his brain.

But despite the operation being successful, brain scans failed to detect any electrical pulses and he was declared brain dead.

Steven said: "As far as I am concerned, living is a full recovery. From how I was to how I am now, I think it's a miracle.

"I drive to work every day, I don't think anything is holding me back. There's no point dwelling on it, I just pull my socks up and get on with it.

"Hopefully it can help people see that you should never give up. I've had so much positive feedback about it.

"If you believe it then follow it, that's the motto. My father believed I was alive - and he was correct.

"It's hard for me to even ask my parents about what happened.

"They do cooperate with me because they want me to understand it all but they don't want to be reminded about it."

Dr Piper, who runs a private practice in Leicester, said: "They had doctors saying he wasn't going to live but the parents felt there was flickers of response and it wasn't just wishful thinking.

"I had this strong feeling that this wasn't right and then eventually I got someone else to look at him and of course it proved to have been the right thing to have done.

"It's an inspirational story about never giving up.

"He's a remarkable young man and his recovery has been astonishing."

Since leaving hospital four years ago, Steven has had four operations to reconstruct his face, including having his nose rebuilt and an artificial eye socket made.

He also has physiotherapy session to improve the movement in his left arm which was badly injured in the road smash.

In a statement, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust said: "The injury to Steven's brain was extremely critical and several CT scans of the head showed almost irreversible damage.

"It is extremely rare that a patient with having suffered such extensive trauma to the brain should survive.

"However, critical care and other specialist teams continued to support his systems through his critical period and we were delighted to see Steven recover and make progress against all the odds.

"He is truly a unique case."