Patience is not the ability to wait, it's how you act while waiting

Patience is not the ability to wait, it's how you act while waiting

How any times have you waited for a bus, a phone call or that special present or for something to arrive?

You wait around, keep looking at your watch, tapping for foot and you start to think, will it ever happen, will it ever arrive.

The thing is we tend to be a society that wants everything to happen straight away.

Patience (or forbearing) is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances,
which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without acting on annoyance/anger in a negative way; or exhibiting forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with longer-term difficulties. Patience is the level of endurance one can take before negativity.

Trust in God
Proverbs 3:5-7 NIV

Trust in the Lord  with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight..

If you put your trust in God then you can enjoy your life, whilst God is at work sorting your life out.

Have you ever seen a picture of God with a wrist watch or clock?

No because God's time span is infinite and his timing is always perfect

God has a plan, God has a timing, and God has a wonderful, unique plan for your life.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 NIV

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord , "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

So what should you do whilst waiting for God?

Pray. To God, because he is listening always.

Study. God's word for guidance

Give thanks. Even if you think that God hasn't answered your prayers or is listening to you, it just seems God is at work on a bigger and better plan for your life.

Also keep your words in line with God's word.

And stay busy helping others, because the devil makes work for idol hands.

The quickest way to get your blessing is to, be a blessing to someone else to who needs a blessing.

"God it's your will, your way and your timing and in the keen while I'm just gonna enjoy my life".

Psalm 106:12-15 AMP

Then they believed His words [trusting in, relying on them]; they sang His praise. 

But they hastily forgot His works; they did not [earnestly] wait for His plans [to develop] regarding them, 

But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted  and  tried to restrain God [with their insistent desires] in the desert.  

And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their souls  and  [thinned their numbers by] disease and death.

Psalm 31:14 AMP

But I trusted in, relied on, and was confident in You, O Lord; I said, You are my God.

There have been many times in my life I have wanted something and kept on at my mum "oh please can I have it, I really want it." and when I received it, I realised  that I didn't need it or want so much after all and that my mum had just given in to keep me asking all the time.

What if you had a child that kept on asking you for sweets and you just gave them to them every time to stop them asking all the time, and when you gave in and gave them the sweets the never said thank you?

We must remember that sometimes God also says no.

God answers three ways.

Yes, because he knows it's something that we need, that will benefit us,

No, because we don't need it or it is something that could harm us.

Wait, Because he knows that if we wait for it we will appreciate it more when we receive it.

There have been many times that I have gone through testing times and have been wanting something and have had to wait for it, and for some things I am still waiting, but I now know that If it is something that God feels that I need and will benefit me then he will provide it for me.

Because i know that in these times i draw closer to and rely on God more

James 1:2-4 NIV

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

The important thing we must also remember is to say thank you, not just for what we receive, but also for what we don't receive

So i hope and pray that the next time you are waiting for something you stop and think, is it something I REALLY need, and if you don't receive it then hopefully you will know that God is working on something better for you.

Answers to pray

As some of you know I am engaged to the most amazing beautiful young woman, who a couple of weeks ago surprised me at work whilst I was having a rather stressful day that she had gone out and brought the wedding dress, It was a bit of a shock but I was both happy and a bit sad.

Happy that she had found the perfect dress,
Sad that because of my low wage I had not been able to put much towards the wedding fund yet, so I prayed for God to help me find a way to put some money towards the wedding fund.

A few days later after another stressful day at work, dealing with a member of staff who I didn't get on with too well, I got home to find a brown envelope on the door mat when i got in.

I looked down and thought, oh great now what, another bill.

I bent down and picked it up, and opened it. The top of the letter read Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. I thought to my self great now what have I done wrong, I read down further to find that I wasn't in trouble, but I had been given a tax rebate out of the blue.

I'll be honest the temptation had been there to just blow it on something nice, then I remembered the prayer I had said for God to help me find some money towards the wedding, so I put the money into our joint account and prayed for guidance on what to use the money for towards the wedding fund.

Last Friday (19/9/2014) I was working an early shift at work (8-12) so i arranged to meet one of my friends for lunch (one of my fiancees brides maids), whilst having lunch I decided i was gonna have a look at the price of the tuxedoes for the wedding to at least get an idea on how much it would cost me.

I went to one shop and asked, but i really didn't like the young guy who I spoke to and didn't really like the suits he offered me, plus the price was quiet high in my opinion.

So I decided to take a look at another shop in town, I went in and explained to the young guy what i was after and he couldn't have been more helpful, he made a few notes and then asked would I like a quote for the package, so I said yes as it would give me an idea of how much it was gonna cost me.

When he turned the piece of paper round with the quote on I was stunned, it was for the exact amount that the tax rebate had been for, I have no doubt that God had listened to my pray and answered it.

Also later that day I heard that a family that I am good friends with had received a great answer to pray as well, they had been facing eviction because the council said that were in serious arrears with their rent, I told them to trust God that he would sort things out and that a solution would be found, they went and spoke to the council and it was found that the council had made a mistake and that they were not in arrears and they were not going to be evicted.

Thank you God that you listen to our prayers and you give us all we need, I know some times you put us through tough times, but it is in these tough times that we can grow closer to you, and put our faith in you that even in these tough times you are working on a greater good.

A couple of my favourite verses are

James 1:2-3 NIV

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

Jeremiah 29:11-12 NIV

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord , “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

Ripples

Have you ever stood at the waters edge and thrown in a stones and watched the ripples spread out, sometimes the smallest of stones can have a dramatic effect and cause loads of ripples.

The same thing can be said for our daily lives, the smallest of actions can have the greatest of impacts that ripple though our lives and the lives of those around us.

A couple of years ago I was doing the rounds of my local charity shops trying to find any cheap bibles (I buy them and then pass them on to people who don't have a bible), and whilst i was in my local Oxfam shop a lady and her son came in looking for an old style King James bible, a few weeks earlier i had picked up a stack of bibles cheap and amongst them was an old King James bible, I listened as the lady asked the person behind the till if they had anything suitable and explain that she had been everywhere looking for a suitable one for a christening present, the person said "sorry all the bibles we have are on the shelf, and there doesn't look like there are any suitable." She look so sad and said that she would have to try in Cambridge and most probably end up paying a fortune for one.

It was at that point i remembered the bible i had brought a few weeks earlier, I said to the lady "excuse me, I may have something like what you are looking for, meet me outside poundland in about 30 mins." She looked at me like i was some crazy person, her son who was with her persuaded her to meet me.

I biked home as quick as i could and hunted out the old King James bible i had brought and made my way back into town, by the time i got back into town she was just about to walk off, I called her back and showed her the bible i had in my bag.

Her face lit up, and tears welled in her eyes, she said "that is the exact bible I am looking for, if you had took a picture of what was in my mind you are holding it in your hands right now, she asked me what i wanted for it and I said "you can have it, I don't want anything for it."

At that point the tears really started to flow down her face (and few welled up in my eyes  as well), she explained that she wasn't religious and didn't really believe in all this stuff but she said that she was getting so desperate that she had said a little prayer of sorts and that within a few minutes i had said that i had a bible that might be suitable, she asked me if I was an angel I just smiled and said no i just like to pass on God's word to people as it's the best gift that you can pass on to someone.

She still couldn't get her head round how a complete stranger could do something like this and how he little prayer could be answered so quickly, I said to her because it was a prayer from the heart God heard it and answered her.

She took the bible and insisted that i took something for it, so I told her i would give the money to my church and that i would pray for her, she walked off with her son and i could hear her still saying to him "I don't understand, I don't really believe in all this kind of stuff and yet this happened." Her son looked at her and said "well maybe it's like that guy said"

The next few weeks i could not get the lady out of my mind and continued to pray for her that the christening went well and that she might come to know God more.

A few weeks later and I was doing the rounds of the charity shops again and went into Oxfam looking for more bibles, when a voice came from behind the till "excuse me, but aren't you the guy who gave my mum a bible for a christening?" I looked, it was the ladies son. I said "yes, how did things go?"

He explained that in the few weeks following what i had done, that his mum had started to ask questions about faith, Jesus and God, and eventually started going to church. I was so happy, but there was more he explained that whilst in church she decided to come to faith, and that a major part in her decision was what i had done with the bible that day.

I was so happy to think that from what i thought was a small action, that the lady had come to know God and come to faith, it was like I said at the start the smallest of stones can make the largest of ripples.

After it was a stone being rolled away several thousand years ago that had a pretty major effect on the world.

When Jesus suffered and died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, it was this act of love that changed the world, I ask today that you pray and ask God for chances to throw your stones in the water and see what ripples spread out in the world around you.

WOW WHAT A WEEK

Well this has certainly been an interesting week.

It's been really busy at work this week (I work at Game) what with the kids going back to school and gearing up for the first big release of the year (destiny), I've been given full time hours which is great.

But the BIG announcements this work on a more personal note is that my fiancee has brought her wedding dress!!!!

There is still no confirmed date as to when we are getting married, we have set a rough date as the summer of 2016, the other big announcement is that on 29th September i am starting a a preachers course with East Anglian Preaching Academy, this was a big prayer point as money has been very short up til now, but my church (West Road Church) have said they are willing to help fund the course.

So as you can see I have had an exciting week so far, I am continuing to pray and rely on God to get me through the next few days at work leading up to a the midnight opening on Monday night for destiny, but i Know that God will be there with me through it all and when i get home from work i will have my loving fiancee there to give me a hug.

I hope and pray that your weeks is going well and God is with you all.

More updates coming soon so watch this space.

:-) Man1cMonkey :-)

Getting to know me

Well if I want people to read my blog I suppose I better tell you a bit about me.

First BIG revelation is I'm not really a monkey!!!

I'm actually a 40 guy who lives in Bury St Edmunds who worships the living God.

I become a christian about 5 years ago, for many years I was totally opposed to the church and Christianity, I thought that Christians must be mad to worship a God that you can't see.

Well about 8 years ago my mum was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer and the doctors gave her 6 months to live, typical mum she wouldn't give in and fought it for 3 years before finally loosing the battle.

It was shortly after that, things got even worse for me, I felt as though i couldn't cope, couldn't go on, even though I had a wonderful fiancee who had been there through it all with me, one night I sat down my flat that i had and found all my mum's old tablets and got a carving knife and tried to kill myself.

It was just as I had the knife at my wrist I heard a voice say "STOP!! think of what you have got to live for and all I have done for you".

I thought i was going crazy so I put down the knife and ran up to my fiancee's house (only a few doors up from my flat), I didn't tell her what had just happened, I went on MSN and spoke to my `sister, Trish' and told her what had just happened, she told me that God had stopped me and that I need to pray, there was a bible verse that i knew the name and numbers but i never knew what it read, so she told me to look it up and I would see what God had done for me, because at that point I could only see that he had taken my mum from me.

The verse was John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

When I went to bed that night I prayed the best I could and over the next few weeks things slowly got easier, the next step for me was to go to church, I thought that after all the things i had done and said in my life that if I went into a church I would be struck down or it would burst into flames.

The first church I went to was Westgate Chapel, however that church wasn't for me, even though I was made to fell welcome i couldn't wait to get out of there, but Trish said "don't give up, there is a church that is right for you out there, you just need to find it."

Well as a rebellious youth I used to go to West Road Church youth club, after all it was somewhere to hang out as there wasn't much to do on the estate that I lived on, so I thought I'd give them a look and see what they are about

The first Sunday I went to West Road Church, I pretty much snuck in the door so that no one would notice me going in, but as I entered the church I felt a real warmth from within the felt almost like getting a really nice hug, I sat at the back and stayed for the whole of the service, at the end of the service a few people came up to me and had a chat and asked have I been to the church before, one of these people being Graham Jack, little did I know at that time the part Graham would end up playing in my path to finding God.

After going to church a few more weeks Graham got up at the front of the church and spoke about something called an alpha course ( http://www.alpha.org/try) he said that it might not give all the answers but might help people to get their heads round Christianity and faith.

Well at that point I still had loads of questions i wanted to ask, the main one being if god is so great why did he take my mum form me.

Whilst on the course I began to grow and slowly come closer to God and I realized that some times even in the worse of situations that God is working on a greater good, one night on the course we did a session about forgiveness, well my Dad had not always been the best Dad in the world (I'll expand on that another time maybe), but I thought if God can forgive me Dad for all he did why can't I, so at the end of the session I asked Graham to help me pray and forgive me dad, I did and it felt like a great weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

Things where going ok, I had got myself a job, but i really didn't like it and I kept on praying that a different and better job would come along, then early one morning I couldn't sleep so I got up to get a drink and on the way back to bed I heard that same voice I had heard that night down my flat, " 2 Corinthians 6" at that point I still had not read the bible so didn't know what this verse was, I book marked it on a bible app that I had downloaded and the next morning I read it and this is what it said.

Companions as we are in this work with you, we beg you, please don’t squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us.

God reminds us, I heard your call in the nick of time; The day you needed me, I was there to help. Well, now is the right time to listen, the day to be helped.

Don’t put it off; don’t frustrate God’s work by showing up late, throwing a question mark over everything we’re doing.

Our work as God’s servants gets validated—or not—in the details. People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly . . . in hard times, tough times, bad times; when we’re beaten up, jailed, and mobbed; working hard, working late, working without eating; with pure heart, clear head, steady hand; in gentleness, holiness, and honest love; when we’re telling the truth, and when God’s showing his power; when we’re doing our best setting things right; when we’re praised, and when we’re blamed; slandered, and honored; true to our word, though distrusted; ignored by the world, but recognized by God; terrifically alive, though rumored to be dead; beaten within an inch of our lives, but refusing to die; immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy; living on handouts, yet enriching many; having nothing, having it all.

It reminded me of the night that i was down the flat, and that what I tried to do maybe that was my call out for help, it was at that point that I finally accepted that God had stepped in and saved my life and that he had a plan for me, I phoned Graham and Trish, (it was about 5:30 in the morning), but even though they both had a good chat with me about things and after their chats I decided that I was gonna give God a chance and give my life to him.

It as been the best decision i have ever made, because he has turned my life around completely.

Two years to the day after my mum died my Fiancees dad died suddenly, that really shook my faith, because I prayed so hard the her dad would live, but over the next few days I realized that all I went through with loosing my mum helped me to be able to be there for my fiancee and understand all that she was going through, it was a pretty rough time for all of us, but some good come out of even that situation, my fiancee has now also come to faith and we have both been able to be there for those who have lost someone.

Well I have now been baptized (a year to the day after first going to West Road Church) and my fiancee is now considering getting baptized as well.

I'm gonna leave things there for now, because as you can see I can talk for ever once I start.

I hope you have enjoyed what you have read about me and my life so far, trust me there is a whole lot more to come :-)

First blog

Well here we I go I'm entering the world of blogging, not really sure people will want to hear my random ramblings.

But if you are interested in finding out what goes on in my crazy mind then watch this space or that space or any space you feel like.

Right I think that's enough for now.

See you all again soon :-)