A City On A Hill

Geographically speaking, Christchurch is far from being situated on a hill. We lay in more of a valley with surrounding hills and mountains that tower over us, but yet I felt God speak this phrase to me very clearly yesterday evening. I quickly hopped on the web and searched the passage of scripture that this came from.
In Matthew 5:14 it says

‘You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.’ (NIV)

February the 22nd marks the four year anniversary of the earthquake that destroyed this city, but it also marks a time where we became the most malleable form in which God can use us- I will touch in this more in a moment.  We were suddenly in the public eye, news channels jumped on this disaster and it spread like wildfire. I feel this is what really placed us as a city on a hill. This scripture will continue to ring true as we rebuild, slowly building up fresh infrastructure, birthed from minds that suddenly had a whole canvas of a city to work on. Community projects have blossomed like pop up dance-o-mats, poetry walls, and outside movie screenings have adorned this city with hope during this ongoing restoration project. This rebuild will not be a quiet task, it will draw attention no only nationally but internationally and it is pushing me to continue prayerfully that God’s hand is upon this whole process. If we are a city on a hill that cannot be hidden, I want to be a city that shines the light of Christ from every rubble ruined street corner, and every sleek new office building. I desire to be a part of something that has Christ as the centre, and know that if God can speak the stars into existence, he can take the brokenness of this city and make it whole again.

This leads me onto something I touched on before, being malleable in God’s hands. After the quake we became our weakest, as we mourned over loves ones and watched bricks that built up our homes and buildings, tumble around us. The city became a mess of road cones and tears, and we watched as we became very different versions of ourselves than we once knew. But not only did God speak to me about being a city on a hill, the thing that hit me the most this evening was two verses a few above that read,

³You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
⁴ You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you. (THE MSG)

How incredible is it that God loves our brokenness? A person who is willing to become completely undone for the sake of being put back together to become more like him is someone who is treasured in God’s eyes. This evening I began to see God’s heart in the way I view this city. I see how I am intrigued by the fading shop signs and smashed bookcases behind windows. I look upon broken dollhouse-like buildings, and I am reminded of my own brokenness and how lovingly God looks upon my every fault, knowing he has work to do in me. I see how when this city and it’s people are at the end of their rope, there is far more God can do because we are willing for him to take the reins. I see how when we have lost what is most important to us, the embrace of our father is that much more comforting and needed. But most of all, I see myself in these broken city streets and hear my Dad call me his child and let me know the passion I have for this broken city is the passion he has for me. He wants me to run into his arms when I reach the end of my tether, or when I feel I am crumbling in the way this city did, because in times like these he will grow me the most.
I encourage you to be attentive to what God is speaking to you about, and don’t ever feel discounted because of your faults of weaknesses. For when we are at our weakest, it is at this place we are most able to be used by our Father- and he can use you in incredible ways.

Creation

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1

A passage I'm sure everyone knows, it is one of the most well known passages of the whole bible. But in that short sentence its describing something we cant even begin to imagine. All of creation every star in the sky, every distant galaxy, every blade of grass, every tree, all the gems deep in the earth - everything - God made it all.  

I was recently lucky enough to spend the weekend away in Arthur's pass with TKY. Its roughly a 2 hour drive outside of Christchurch and is a beautiful place. As much as I love the city, with it's mixed bag of people and the different building styles and all, sometimes it's really nice to get out of the city and see more of God's creation. We spent one afternoon walking up to Devils Punchbowl, a stunning waterfall. Surrounded by mountains looking at the waterfall, my mind was again hit with the fact that God made it. Everything I was seeing was created by the same God that loves and knows me

So, if you get the chance sometime in the next week, leave the warmth of the house and venture out to find some of God's creation in nature. It really is breathtaking.

Gods Love

I have been thinking a lot about this topic over the last week for a few reasons. Firstly, I had an assignment to complete for the Training for the Future course (Training for the Future is a theology course I'm doing through the church). The assignment was picking an aspect of God and writing some information on it and I chose God's love. Secondly, I think it's something God put on my heart to think about this week. My mind keeps wandering to it and this coupled with the love filled worship music I have been listening to, have meant it has run through my mind a fair bit.

So, what is it about God's love that is so amazing that it can fill my head for a whole week? Well the assignment taught me a lot about and gave me a fresh look on 1 John 4:8. It says 'God is love' and this confirms to me everything God does, he does in love. It's one of the central parts of who he is. As well as it being central to him, it's also infinite. This part of it I have always found hard to come to grips with. How can God love us infinitely even when we sin and do wrong? I thought of it like this, imagine for a second you are a spaceship, not a huge planet eater but a small little cruiser of some kind. You look around from your spaceship window at the vast infinity of space, it's everywhere all around you, never ending and therefore you can't get out of it. You are in it. Always. That endless space is Gods love. It's all around us, we could fly our spaceships around it forever and never leave it, never even fully understand it, but it's there alright. 

As the week went on, I started to come to grips with this love and thought as a Christian I want to share this love with others. Now when I want to do something I often look for role models, people that already do whatever it is I'm trying to do and there is a perfect role model out there.

JESUS!!!

Jesus is a perfect role model for how we should show love to the world in our lives. Going to a public school, not everyone I hang out with is a Christian, in fact very few are. But I have no doubt I have been placed there by God to do his works. This is the kind of place where it's important to follow in Jesus' footsteps. Jesus hung out with tax collectors, prostitutes, beggars and generally people considered the lowest. My school doesn't have prostitutes or tax collectors - you will be happy to know - but it does have its fair share of people that are sometimes looked down upon in society. At school I do what I believe Jesus would do and talk to these people as much as any other person. I know sometimes just being a Christian in those situations can show to people what Christians are like and can lead to some awesome conversations.

So I leave you with the challenge to look further into Gods love. It is all around you, simply open yourself to receive and God will pour it upon you with joy.

Psalm 136:26 says "Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever."