Thirty Years

Today, 30 years ago, I became a Christian. I openly declared that by shedding His blood on the cross, Jesus paid for all my past, present and future sins. But this year my Freedom Birthday means much more that just saying that I gave my heart to Jesus. This year it means more.

As some friends close to me would know, I haven't been to church much over the last two years. I've attended three churches in the last eight years and while I grew in my faith and discovered a lot about myself, I also found that I lost part of myself along the way. Now, I'm not wanting to bag any of the churches I've attended. They each served a purpose in God's grand plan for me as a Christian. But I'm now at a point where I need to be alone to hear what exactly it is that God has planned for me. I need stillness. I need quiet.

"You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realising who you are at the deepest level." - Thomas Merton

http://www.kylerichardson.com.au/

This quote adequately describes where I am at right at this very moment. I've tried to fit in, add new things, remove old things, and generally fluff my way through. Now, however, I've reached the point where I need to take what I have before me right now - motherhood, university study, homelife, friends, family - and build on those things. I truly believe God does not want me to have the added responsibility of anything else at this moment. He wants me to concentrate on what He has given me, and to concentrate on Him. 

So that is why this year's Freedom Birthday, aside from being my 30th, is so very important. God is trusting me to go out on my own, with Jesus by my side, to forge out my own faith journey. To free-range. To discover, To grow. To not settle on doing what everyone else is doing, but to find out where and what is the right fit for me. The journey will certainly be interesting.

In Him Always,

Paula

27 Years...

He has loved me with an everlasting love...

He has drawn me with unfailing kindness...

The words in Jeremiah 31:3 speaks so eloquently of the love that my Heavenly Father has for me. And this short post is to say Thank You to Him for planting His seed in my heart 27 years ago today. That seed has been slowly growing into the branch of His tree that I am today.

Thank You Father for my 27th Freedom Birthday.

Happy "Freedom Birthday" To Me...

Tomorrow marks the 26th anniversary of what I affectionately refer to as my "Freedom Birthday" It's the day when I became a Christian in 1984. Don't cheer too soon though, as in these 26 years, I have only actually walked closely with the Lord for just under eight of them. Yes, disappointing, I know...

However, I am not disappointed, and neither is God. Actually, what I look back on as a crazy 18 years of doing my own thing, now forms the basis of my message. But, it's not just those 18 years that were crazy as the last 4 years have been too. A Keanu “Whoa!” moment here, if you please!

While I had the foundational knowledge of God, Jesus, Christianity, etc when I returned to my walk with God four years ago, I did not actually know the true mean of the freedom that faith, and more importantly trust, in God provides. There is an obvious difference between saying that you believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins (anyone can say that actually), to actually feeling it in your heart, living it and having the true freedom it provides.

I grew up adhering to the rules that are in the Bible, or more to the point trying to adhere to them but failing miserably. The notion that I was being a naughty girl by not doing as I was told led me to feel guilt and shame. I rebelled majorly when I was eighteen and I now wish, in some aspects, that I had not.

I’ve learnt over the last four years that adhering to the rules of the Bible is not what it is all about. That is legalism. That is living by the law that was set down in the Old Testament when the Israelites only had sacrifices to give. I now live by grace, which was given to all of us who accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour when the ultimate – and last - sacrifice took place. It was when God in Flesh, Jesus, died on the cross for our sins – past, present AND future.

I will not be able to live the next thirty plus years living by the law, but I know that I will be able to live by grace. The relief of knowing that God has forgiven me of my sins, loves me anyway, and wants me to share this forgiveness and love with those who do, and do not, know Him.

So…Happy Freedom Birthday to Me!

Thank you God for creating me, thank you Jesus for saving me and thank you Holy Spirit for guiding me.