The Longest Day of my Life

“Dave, wake up, mums not well and I need to go to the hospital, so pray now”

Those were the words that I was woken up to at 6.49am on the 17^th April 2011, and it is a day that I will never forget for the rest of my life. The day my Mum left me to go to glory.

For this post (of probably several about Mum) I just want to talk about how astounding God has been today (I wrote this on the 17^th but posted it later)

So after those words Dad woke me up to, I really did pray, for a lot of things, mainly that God would help us through whatever was coming along, obviously I prayed for mum too but part of me knew that it was the worst for some bizarre reason.

Then Dad came home and I heard him say ‘Hello’ in his typical happy voice, and I thought for a few seconds that everything was fine, but then he came into my room and said you need to come downstairs now.... So I threw on my clothes as quickly as I could and I was halfway down the stairs before I heard crying, that was when I knew she had gone. A lot of crying took place, but then we had a prayer time together, just asking for God’s grace, kindness and love to help us. Little did I know that we would be helped in a way I could never have imagined. We then had my minister come round and talk to us and pray with us, which was amazing, and then he read the following passage to help us:

Psalm 121: I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you— the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and for evermore

We then went to the hospital to see her which was incredibly traumatic, but at the same time I am so pleased I did go as I was able to say goodbye. We had even more prayer time by her bedside just calling out to God for help and thanking him for Mum.

Once we had finished at the hospital we went home not quite knowing what to do with ourselves, my sister asked if she could watch TV only to find a minute later her turning it off in frustration as there was 'nothing to watch' (and we have Sky+ so there’s always something to watch!). So we were a bit lost on what to do with ourselves. My brother was very keen on going to church to be with our family there, I was sceptical at first but came round to the idea. And man alive am I glad I did!

So off we went, the 4 of us (which will take me ages to get used to say), not quite sure what to expect. We went in late so we could sit at the back, which we did. In the middle of the service in my church they play a music video so people can go and talk to people and encourage each other while collection is taken. During the video I must have had at least 20 hugs from different people, with a lot of tears thrown in too, I felt Gods love and comfort more than I can explain, I have without a doubt in my mind how real God is and how incredible he is.

The whole day then went on from there, with the Sermon being about how as a Church we need to be like Heaven on Earth, and for me, even with it being one of the worst days of my life, it was one of the best, as I felt a slice of Heaven today, I felt Gods presence in a profound way. We as a family were so blessed with all the love and affection we had from our Brothers and Sisters in Christ. So thank you Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, I really do love you all.

But above all I have had God’s peace and grace today, people have been asking me how I am so much today, and I feel a lot better than I think I should, but that is all down to God just being with me. The thing that has helped more than any other, is knowing that my Mum is in Heaven now, I know that with certainty, she knew and had a personal relationship with Jesus in a very real way, which is so comforting to know.

It is hard to explain, but God has been with me and my Family in such a real tangible way. I have quite simply seen my God at work today.

If you are reading this, please pray for us as a family of 4, there's Dad (49), Me (21), my brother James (17) and my very little sister Bethan (11). We need Gods help, and we have only got this far with the power of prayer. Also pray for our extended family too as they need Gods help as much as we do, if not more.

Love you Mum!!!

David

Only relationship that counts

The relationship between You and Jesus doesn't matter!!! Sorry.... What?!

That was my initial reaction to that line in a recent sermon I heard. I was starting to think whether my minister had lost it.... he hadn't ... as usual, he had a very valid point, I just needed keep on listening.

He went on to talk about with Christianity you shouldn't be worrying about your feelings and how 'close' to God you are feeling at every moment of every day. As we are humans, and quite weak beings at that, our emotions get the better of us far more than they should, so you can feel really on fire for God one day and feel like you are going to tell the whole world about Jesus and how he died on the cross. Then the next day you're feeling tired or let down by God for not doing some selfish thing you wanted him to do etc.

What the minister then went onto say was that the only relationship that really counts is the relationship between God the Father and Jesus (The Son) as it is only through that relationship that we can call ourselves Christians. As I am an incredible sinner (and I am becoming more aware of it the further into my walk with Jesus I go), I deserve nothing but punishment from God the Father. But through what Jesus did on the cross and saving me from my punishment, he fully became all my faults on that cross and God punished his own son for me.

That is the only relationship that matters the one between the Father and the Son as that is what makes me a Christian, and I just need to constantly remind myself of that truth, that covenant. That is what Christianity is based on.

David

Encouraging others

When I was seriously struggling and went very much off the path in terms of having a relationship with Jesus while I was at university I went along to a church one Sunday (mainly to keep my mum happy). I remember going in and being welcomed by a familiar face. Which was really nice and encouraging but I then sat down to wait for the service to start, and no one sat down around me or tried to talk to me which stupidly upset me and put me off from going back to that church (petty I know!). But right at the last minute, just before the service started another familiar face had seen that I was on my own and came and sat down next to me, I remember the overwhelming sense of emotion and gratitude I felt that someone had cared enough to come and make me feel more involved.

Now that I know and Love Jesus and I am getting more involved in Church and serving him. I have been convicted that I do sometimes stay to my self contained group of friends a little too much and I know that I need to make more of an effort to welcome others, especially on how much it meant to me when those two people did the same for me.

So I hope and pray that God will use me to encourage others for his Glory.


David

I got out of my comfort zone!!!

As you know from some posts I did last week we had some Americans staying for a mission week. It really was an awesome time, I made some good friends who love Jesus as well as getting loads of people to hear the gospel. It really was so refreshing to have them around and hear their zeal that they have for Gods work.


I also went on to say how I should be looking to let God use me, not just be content in my little comfortable group of friends but I should be actively looking to talk to others and share the Gospel, obviously I can't do it by my own power, but at least let God use me, get myself out there so I can be used rather than expecting God to save with me sat down doing nothing.


After I wrote that post on getting out of my comfort zone I gave someone at church a text to ask how I could help out. I quickly got a reply asking for me to go in at 10am to help the Americans go out into Swansea and invite people to meetings as well as some other little jobs. 


So I went in for 10am, we were doing door to door which I have always found terrifying, especially in the particular area I was sent to, which was only compounded by the block of flats that I was sent to. I was with two of the Americans so we took the lift up to the 10th floor and then began knocking doors, asking people to meetings and working our way down. 


We didn't get one person to answer the door for the first floor and a half, then one of the Americans asked for us to pray together, so we did, asking that people would answer the door. Unsurprisingly we then had about 60% of people answering the door and people were really receptive towards it, which was awesome. But what was really sad was to see some of the people in complete states, and what's worse is they have been on my doorstep for years without me even paying attention to them.


Even though I was very anxious and pretty terrified (if I'm honest) of going out and talking to people I did get out of my comfort zone and I was amazed that God answered my prayers, he kept me safe and he used me.


I know I have only touched the tip of the iceberg in terms of what God can do with me, and I am not wanting to leave it at that. I just pray that God will continue to use me.


David

Earthquake and Tsunami

Today when I woke up I had no idea what the day would bring, following my usual routine I got my phone out and checked Facebook in bed, I quickly saw several people posting links about the earthquake and the destruction that it has brought. My heart was quickly very heavy for all the people of Japan and everyone who has been affected by the disaster. I then spent the rest of the morning looking at the BBC live coverage on the internet and seeing the utter chaos that was unfolding on the other side of the planet.


I then started thinking on what this meant in the bigger picture and my mind was drawn to the verse in Mark talking about when Jesus will return.


Mark 13v7-8: When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.


This is quite scary as it does talk about the end of the world as we know it. Obviously I don't know when it will be, as he will return like a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5v2). However what has happened in Japan, Egypt and Libya in the past few weeks is just a reminder that Jesus is coming back.


I really like that in that verse it says 'do not be alarmed' as I was definitely initially alarmed about these things but it is very comforting knowing that God knew I was going to be alarmed and tells me not to be. I am not scared for myself as I know I have been saved through what Jesus did on the cross and I know where I am going, but my heart aches for people who haven't been saved, who don't know Jesus and are going the wrong way.


Even with all this destruction and sadness that is going on in the world I was really comforted today (so much so I tweeted about it) by the evidence that people (in general) still deep down believe that there is something out there, as on twitter there was the hashtag of #prayforjapan which hundreds of thousands of people used, where I'm guessing that the vast majority would not call themselves Christians (or any other religion) yet when there is a disaster as catastrophic as this people do call on God to help, which I found to be really encouraging.


My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Japan and neighbouring countries through this disaster and I pray above all things that people would call on the name of Jesus to help.


David

Why am I not crying?!

Last month we were reading Ezra and Nehemiah in RBT and countless times through these books people were so in touch with their emotions they broke down and cried when things happened (not in the sense that they cried for no reason but they cried in a God centred way). One example of many is: 


Ezra 3v12-13 - But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.


I was really spoken to with this verse as they were so in-tune with their emotions and open hearted they knew the significance of what was happening and it brought them to tears. I am not sure that if I was in that situation whether I would be brought to tears. Not only did they cry, they 'wept aloud' in the sense that they were so upset by what they saw that they screamed with anguish, so much so that they could be heard far away.


I am not saying that I am a macho man (I used to be the king of moaning about everything when I was little and I got upset and started crying at most things) but now I have grown up a bit, I rarely cry, yeah I get upset from time to time but it is very rare that I actually break down into tears. However I have seen from reading that verse and many others, it is good to cry and I am seeing that being emotional isn't a sign of weakness which is how I have been lead to see it. It's actually a really good thing to cry, especially when there is just cause for it.


This has also been backed up with the Americans coming over, it has been amazing to see how emotional they are (in an inspiring, God centred way) and how they really do have a heart for God, it is so amazing to see how they love Jesus and they get upset at things that I have come accustomed to (e.g the state of Swansea and how sad it is for people to go on living their lives without Jesus).


I will continue to pray that God will continue to cultivate my heart and I won't be blind to things that I shouldn't ignore.


David 

Out the comfort zone

We have had some Americans over this week for a mission week (which when said out loud sounds very 'American'...). However it has been such an encouragement to hear people talk about Jesus in another accent, I know that sounds really stupid, but sometimes I find it so easy to think that it is me, my Church in Swansea and God against everyone else. Amazing as that may be, I forget that there are millions upon millions of other Christians who love Jesus all over the world and with these small group of Christians coming over it has reminded me of how many brothers and sisters I have in Christ. Which is AWESOME!


I have been thoroughly encouraged by their servant attitude, their zeal and the way they have a heart to change Swansea, the way I should have a heart to change Swansea. Last night in the prayer meeting the youth leader from the church over in a America talked about how we should be wanting to change the world, get out of our comfort zone and not do it for our gratification but so that we can change the world for Jesus. 


It is very much in the same vein as how we should be missionaries in the places we work, which I did take to heart however I haven't really done much about it. I haven't talked to anyone about Jesus apart from Christians. Which is really challenging, I shouldn't be content in keeping to my little group and staying 'comfortable' but I should be looking to let Jesus use me. I've really been challenged to get out of my comfort zone and let God use me in a way I can't begin to comprehend.


David