Day 5

Deuteronomy 6:5 reads, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." How can we do this in today's world? Well, here's how I attempt to follow this command.

I feel that without God, I am nothing. God is what makes me 'be'. Were it not for his power and might, I would not be here at all. It therefore makes sense for me to love Him. And in all honesty, it is often not hard to love God with everything I have - I am grateful for so much.

Yet at the same time, it is so easy to be angry with God. Take the awful events in Japan over these last few days. Some would say 'But surely if God loves the world, he wouldn't do terrible things to it'? And I agree - it is, at times, hard to understand the 'logic' behind these actions. I'd love to be able to answer this question - I've been searching long and hard for an answer but haven't yet found one that truly answers 'why does it happen'? However, what I will say is that.... there are Christians who say that because there are still 'sinners' in the world, the world continues to be punished. And it is up to you to decide whether this is true or not.

God DOES love the world. I don't want to 'go on' about prayer again, but it does come back to that. Prayers are answered every day. God, after all, cannot provide if you do not ask. And prayer is another way to love God. Prayer is also a fabulous way to build up your strength as a Christian - it is empowering. It builds an even closer relationship to God.

And finally, I think you can love God in your actions. Try to be the sort of person He desires. God doesn't want the world to be full of sinners -

Jenesis 1:27" So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

God modelled human beings on himself, and consequently by being, acting and loving as God would do, we are demonstrating our love for Him.

So to summarise - in loving God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might, why not try to consider these 3 points? Be grateful for all that God has given you; pray regularly and remind God that you love him and finally, act as God himself would act.

Day 2

According to the Canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus spent forty days fasting in the desert before the beginning of his public ministry, where he endured temptation by Satan. As Christians and indeed, as human beings, we face temptation every day. Through the Bible we are taught that the strength we need to avoid succumbing to this temptation can be sought through prayer and repentance.

Mark 1:12-15

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the Good News of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the Good News."

I used to be scared of prayer. I used to think that it had to be done in a certain way and in a certain place. Neither of these things are true. Prayer can be anything from a few thoughts in your head to a long, rambling 'conversation' with God in church.

Matthew 18: 20

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

What greater promise than this is there, that God is forever with you? Prayer can be a very personal thing or something which you join together with fellow Christians to undertake. I personally favour both solitary and group prayer. I am blessed to live with 4 other Christians, and gain a huge amount of strength from being able to pray with them and know that they are praying for me. I also love to pray in church and in those moments of quiet where I feel most in touch with God.

But here is my challenge to you. If you have never prayed before - try it. Just a few simple lines, asking for God's presence in your life. Nothing fancy. :) If you haven't prayed for a while - start again. And if you pray regularly - please pray that those who know little of God's goodness may be shown his way.

My Lenten Pledge

Just about everyone I know has given up something for lent. Usually chocolate, biscuits, crisps, wine - all of life's essentials. ;) I've done this in the past, but this year thought I'd take something up instead (also, I failed at what I gave up on day 1... doesn't bode well). So this year during Lent I'm going to work harder to share God's word with those around me. You may not want to hear about it, may be downright against it, but for those of you who are on the fence or are already aware of God's greatness, I hope my rather down-to-earth accounts will help you in some way, be that spiritually, emotional or in any other way.