Procrastinate no more...

October 28, 2007

I Don’t Feel Like It

READ: Matthew 21:28-32

He answered and said, “I will not,” but afterward he regretted it and went. —Matthew 21:29

Have you ever faced an unwanted chore and felt as if it were the last thing on earth you wanted to do? Mowing the lawn, doing the wash, cleaning the house, or even preparing a Sunday school lesson after an exhausting week can make us feel like procrastinating.

When this happens, my wife and I have a motto we repeat to each other: "I don’t feel like it—but I’m going to do it anyway." There is something about recognizing our lack of motivation and then choosing to be responsible that helps us follow through.

God’s value on faith and obedience can be seen in the parables of Jesus. Christ spoke about two sons who were asked to work in the vineyard. The first said no, but "afterward he regretted it and went" (Matt. 21:29). The second said yes but did not follow through. Then the Lord asked His listeners, "Which of the two did the will of his father?" (v.31). The obvious answer is the one who finished the task.

Our Lord’s illustration underscores a key spiritual principle. God is interested in our faith and obedience—not just our good intentions. Next time you are tempted to shirk your duties, why not say, "I don’t feel like it," and then ask God for the grace to do it anyway. —Dennis Fisher

O help us, Lord, to heed Your Word,
Its precepts to obey;
And give us strength to quench the urge
To do things our own way. —Sper

Obedience is faith in action.

Towards Kenya

As it gets closer to my trip over to Kenya on a mission trip, I am getting more excited and looking forward to it even more. We have practically reached our target of $14,000 to build fish ponds and any more that is raised will contribute towards another project. Praise God for how it has all come together, He is at work!

I thought a good way in the lead up to my trip over to Kenya is to let you know a bit more about it. Here are a couple of the facts:

Capital: Nairobi
Official Language: Swahili, English
Government: Republic
Population: July 2005 estimate = 34,707,817
8 Feb 2007 census = 31,138,735
Currency: Kenyan Shilling


Here is the flag of Kenya...


and this is a map of Kenya...

Been busy

Over a month and I haven't made a post on here *shakes head* - not good.

In the last month a fair bit has happened including uni holidays coming and going. During these holidays I directed a kids holiday program in which we had 50 kids come along to by the last day. It went really well and the team of leaders was great. It was a growing time in our faith and a lot of fun was had.

Uni and work has definitely been taking a fair bit of my time as well.

I have been using facebook a fair bit lately too so my 'spare' time is used on it now rather than this.

Let me know if you want me to continue using this and having more worthwhile content than this post on here.

Listening to God

Gone are the days when a real person greets you on the other end of a phone call. It seems as though whenever we try to “reach out and touch someone,” we are greeted with a computerized voice.

I’m glad this isn’t true of our Father in heaven. He is always there. No voice-mail boxes, no “press 2 for more grace” and no “call waiting” interruptions. Thankfully, “Call to Me, and I will answer you” (Jer. 33:3) has not been replaced by, “All lines are now busy. Your call is important to Me. Please stay on the line.”

Yet I wonder what kind of access He has to us?

Communication with God is a two-way street. He speaks to us through His Word when we come attentively before Him in prayer and through the clear voice of the indwelling Spirit. He paid a great price to keep the lines open so that we can experience the joy of being still long enough to know that He is God (Ps. 46:10). As my grandmother’s favorite hymn “In the Garden” says:

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known. —Miles
© Renewal 1940 The Rodeheaver Co.

The joy of hearing His voice is a call you don’t want to miss! —Joe Stowell

Is God getting through to you?

http://www.rbc.org/odb/odb-09-05-07.shtml

My name

I got a key ring from a family friend and it was about my name and the meaning, etc. This is what it had:

On one side it has:

Aaron

• Meaning: "High Mountain or Exalted"
• Origin: Hebrew
  

On the other side it has:


~ Aaron ~

• generous
• understanding and wise
• gives of himself to all who need his help
• his openness and honesty lead to good friendships and lasting relationships
• can be counted on in a tough situation not to lose his cool or panic
• one of those lucky people
• things always seem to work out for the best

What do you think? Does that describe me well or not?

40 Days of Purpose

A friend of mine is doing the 40 days of purpose and is sharing what she learns and what God is teaching her through it on her blog. I recommend reading each post and then thinking about the question or point that it leaves you to think about or make a change to your life

Check it out at: http://scrapmezza.blogspot.com/

Blackle.com - Saving energy one search at a time

At IBM, we got sent this link about Blackle and I recommend checking it out just to see what it is about but I will give you the heads up anyway.

Blackle is a Google search engine with a black background instead of the normal white one, which saves power as the screen doesn't use as much power to display the page. It has a stat on the front page saying how many watt hours have been saved. Now I am not sure if it really does save power because it still has to display black but it may true in that black is the most energy efficient colour.

What are your thoughts and are you going to start using Blackle over Google?