Watchful and thankful

I think sometimes we forget the immense power of prayer, I know I do. I forget in those heavy times in life how prayer moves the heart of God; how it changes our hearts, how it aligns us to what God is doing; how it wakes us up to God’s Holy Spirit, and how it makes us aware to the lies of the enemy.

Prayer is so powerful.

When I was a very new Christian my minister explained that prayer was just a fancy way of saying “talking with God”. I love that it is with God and not to God, because talking to is just speaking words and talking with is having a relationship. It’s implies communication, listening, taking in what the other is saying and responding to it.

In Colossians 4:2 the apostle Paul writes, so devote yourselves to… devote yourselves to prayer; devote yourselves to being a friend of God - conversing with God, communicating with God.

Then Paul says, being watchful and thankful. This idea of being watchful shows up in the New Testament several times.  The time that comes immediately to mind for me is when Jesus asks the disciples to be watchful when he is praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He wants his disciples to stay up with him, to be vigilant, to know what is going on, to keep their eyes open and stay awake… and that is what God is saying to us through Paul in this verse.

Be watchful.  God is saying know what is going on around you, take ground, be ready for when I open a door so you can run through it. Be ready for a moment for the kingdom to advance, and do it!

And also be thankful in your prayers.  It’s kind of two sides of the same coin…in one way we are taking ground like a soldier and in another we are looking back at God’s faithfulness saying this is who you are, thank you. As we thank God it increases our faith to be more watchful and vigilant for Him.

I encourage you today to devote yourself to prayer to be more watchful and thankful.It is so powerful, it will change your day. It will change your life.

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. (Col. 4:2)

Learn all you can/Love all you can

When I first became a Christian, I knew I was way behind in my understanding of who God is, not to mention my knowledge of the bible. All the Christians I knew were born into Christian families, raised in the church, and had learned all the biblical stories from time they could walk.

I decided that I needed to know as much as I could. So after completing my BA/BSC I decided to go to Tyndale University to get a Master in Theological Studies (instead of enrolling in teacher’s college). That decision came with a great number of issues (a story for another time), regardless, I soaked in all the amazing teaching. But, you know what the say, “the more you know the less you know”. It was actually a bit frustrating. I remember confiding in one of the professors over lunch one day. I shared with them my desire to learn everything I could about this God I believed was the anchor of my soul. And they said to me, “so often Christians are educated beyond the level of their obedience.” 

Boom. That was the end of the conversation.

I was left a bit mystified. Was I being insulted? Were they telling me to stop learning? Should I un-enrol? What were they saying to me??

It wasn’t until years later that I got it.

Learning all we can is not a bad thing, actually it is a great thing —to learn the original biblical language of Greek or Hebrew, or the history of the bible — it’s all great, but what I believe my professor was saying to me is that if we, as followers of Jesus are not doing the very thing we are called to do, then really, what is the point?

For instance, John writes in 1 John 4:11 “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we ought to love one another.”

Honestly, living out this verse is not easy - it may actually be easier to learn greek - because this verse means loving the co-worker or classmate that gets on your nerves. It means loving the family member who has a completely different belief system or ideology than you do.  It means loving the spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend or even child who deeply hurt you. It means loving the friend that disappointed you. It means loving the mother or father that walked out on you. It means loving the person who’s social media post is just digging at you and getting on your last nerve (because honestly, nobody’s life is that perfect. Ugh)!

Learn, learn, learn as much as you can about this amazing God we serve but let’s not be more educated than the level of our obedience.

Since God so loved us, let us love one another.

In the ordinary

When we are in the midst of a difficult time it is often hard to see and remember that God is in control. It is hard to see the beauty and hope when we feel we are rambling in the dark - but you are not alone.  God is with you.

At Amberlea we are working through the book of Ruth. It is a story of heartbreak, redemption and hope.  There are no big grand miracles of God, but throughout the pages you see God working in the ordinary. It is a great reminder that God is with us, in all of it — in the everyday.

Ruth is the daughter-in-law of Naomi, both women bound by grief, shared a history of loss. After the death of her husband and both her sons, Naomi decides to return to her homeland of Bethlehem.

Naomi, pleaded with her daughter-in-laws, Ruth and Orpah  to seek a new life among their people, the Moabites, where they would be welcomed and accepted but would not worship God. Orpah remained but Ruth embraced her mother-in-law. "'Where you go, I will go,” Ruth said, “Your people will be my people, your God my God. Death alone shall part us.’”

Imagine leaving the comfort of the familiar—the land of your birth, your mother, and the deity you've always known—to embrace your mother-in-law, her homeland, and her faith. It's the journey from the known to the unknown, from the familiar to the foreign. Ruth chose to leave behind the god of her upbringing to embrace the God of Judah, the God we serve today.

Each one of us will face pivotal moments that demand commitment beyond the ordinary. The question is: What principles will guide your decisions? Ruth's journey encourages us to boldly declare our loyalties, not just in words but in the deliberate actions that shape our lives and glorify God.

For you, what would it look like to embrace a life marked by a steadfast commitment to God’s leading?

We all will leave a legacy for those who walk behind us. Will yours, like Ruth, be a testament of loyalty to God?