The Proof is in The Pudding

2 Peter 1:16 NKJV

"For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty."

If you are a Brit, or friends with one, you probably know and understand the title of this post. If not... a quick explanation..the saying comes from the original saying 'the proof of the pudding is in the eating' which means that the quality of something is unsure until it has been tested (or in the case of pudding tasted!)

I love this verse in 2 Peter (in the picture it is written from the Message in Swedish) because it says that what the disciples are talking about they didn't just make up, they experienced it for themselves.

In much the same way...all of us as Christians, all of us who have caught a glimpse of God and felt Him touch and change our lives are also talking from experience. It happened to us, that's how we know.

I have not to this day met a Christian who doesn't want to tell you how they met God and He changed them. We call this testimony, because as 'eyewitnesses of His majesty' we are able to stand up and testify that He is for real.

If you are a Christian reading this, never stop sharing with others how you got to know God. If you aren't a Christian (yet) and you're reading this, ask someone who is how they got to be.

One more thing to say on this...no matter what your testimony is, whether you grew up with Christian parents like I did, or you grew up in completely different circumstances, your testimony is important and of equal importance.

I used to think that because I grew up in a Christian home my testimony about finding God was redundant, but it isn't. The fact that I grew up in a Christian home meant I was exposed to my parent's faith a lot and that they did their best to encourage me to have a relationship with God but the truth is...I know the day when I finally encountered God and He changed me so that I began to live out of that...and THAT is my testimony, and it can and will bless others just as much as the testimony of a former atheist can.

P. S. I'll share it another time. x

My Vision - "Your Kingdom come... on Earth as it is in Heaven"

Have you ever thought about what the last part of the prayer in Matthew 6 is all about?

"Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven."

-Matthew 6.10

It's about bringing heaven to Earth. It's about doing things on Earth, the way God does them in heaven. As I move abroad to start a church with others, here are some of the ways I would really love to see heaven come to Earth:

1. SELF SUFFICIENCY WITHIN THE CHURCH - Acts 4.32: "Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common"; Acts 4.34-35: "Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need."
2. LOVE DEMONSTRATED, ALWAYS - John 13.34: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another"; John 15.12: "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you"; John 15.17: "These things I command you, that you love one another."
3. GRACE OVERFLOWING - Colossians 4.6: " Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one"; Proverbs 16.24: "Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body."
4. MARRIAGE AS GOD INTENDED - Ephesians 5.25: "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her"; Ephesians 5.28: "So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself"; Colossians 3.19: "Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them"; Ephesians 5.22: " Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord"; 1 Peter 3.1: "Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives"; Titus 2.4: "...admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children..."
5. MERCY AND FORGIVENESS - Matthew 6.14: "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you"; Luke 6.37: "Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven."
6. SELF-DISCIPLINE, RATHER THAN OVER-INDULGENCE - Proverbs 25.28: "Whoever has no rule over his own spirit Is like a city broken down, without walls"; 1 Peter 1.13: "So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world"; 2 Peter 1.5-6: "And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;"
7. HONESTY - Ephesians 4.25: "Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,”for we are members of one another"; Proverbs 12.17: "He who speaks truth declares righteousness, But a false witness, deceit."
8. DEDICATION AND COMMITMENT - Deuteronomy 6.6: "And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today"; Deuteronomy 11.18: "So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders."
9. LIVES TRANSFORMED - Romans 12.2: "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what isthat good and acceptable and perfect will of God"; 2 Corinthians 3.18: "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."