Fireproof

Daniel 3:25 “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”

How fireproof is your life? Will it be able to stand up against a furnace 7 times hotter than normal?

I was watching Holmes Inspection last night and they were going through a house that when they peeled back the ceiling had this highly flammable material shoved in all the space. All it would take was a little flame and their whole house would burn down in just a short amount of time. With it all taken out and replaced with fire retardant material it made the house more fireproof.

It got me thinking about our own lives. Last week I spoke about the puzzle's frame being like a foundation and we need to make sure our foundations are strong so that what is built on it will be built well. Well the next step would me to make sure our lives aren't hiding flammable materials and that we are fireproof.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nigo were ordered to bow down and worship a golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had made. They refused and this got the king very cross and he threw them into the fiery furnace to be burnt to death. But what happened instead amazed everyone. They were all sure they had put 3 men into the fire but there stood 4 and what's more none of them were burning up.

We need to know what we will stand for. Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nigo knew it was wrong to bow down to idols and they stood firm no matter the cost.

Is your marriage fireproof? Is your faith fireproof? Are relationships with others fireproof?

When we make Christ the focus and center of our lives and all we do we are transformed. Things that would've incinerated us before do not even make us smell like smoke.
When we become followers of Christ who follow Him wholeheartedly not because it is cool or for the wonderful experiences we have but that when things have not been good and when life isn't fair we still choose to follow no matter the cost.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nigo followed God no matter the cost. They were ready to die in the flames for what they believed. They disobeyed a king.

Flammable things can be our attitudes. How we handle situations. Are we handling them with Grace and Forgiveness or do we handle them with unforgiveness and hardened hearts?
Do we know what we believe? Is Jesus a celebrity or is He your Master. Do you want to be served or are you where you are to serve Christ no matter the cost. Is it all about you and your needs and rights or is it all about who Jesus is and what He requires you to do and how you may best serve Him and others in His name?
Are you a slave for Christ or are you His groupy?
There were a few groupies following Jesus about but the minute they didn't agree with Jesus and they realised that Jesus wasn't who they wanted Him to be they left and turned away. John 6:60-71

We need to keep Jesus the center of our lives and make Him our foundation so that when the fires come we will not so easily be burnt.

Puzzle Pieces

Luke 6:46-49 46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? 47 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.[h] 49 But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell.[i] And the ruin of that house was great.”

Well my husband has gone back to work so it is just me at home with my girls. One starts back at Kindergarten next for three days of the week and the older two will only go back to school in the first week of February.
Please excuse the sporadic blogging. I will try get back into the routine of writing every Wednesday but cannot make any promises as it is really busy with all my girls home.

I have a room in my house just for my things. I do a lot of arts, crafts and sewing etc. Whatever I can get my hands on I do. While my husband was home I got stuck into cleaning this room and tossing out all the stuff that was dumped in there and that didn't belong. I was even given a few more desks to put in there. It has really come together nicely. There is still more work to do on it but I now have space.

I am currently typing this in my room at desk. Before I was in the lounge usually with a kids programme on to keep my toddler entertained (ok bad mummy I know but I will get over it).
I have a desk in the middle of my room where I built two puzzles in the last 2 weeks.

It got me thinking about how life is like a puzzle. You have all the pieces (you hope) but some are corner or side pieces and some are middle pieces. When they are tossed out some are upside down. Some pieces look the same but aren't.

I don't know about you but when I start building a puzzle I sort out the frame first. I go through all the pieces and get all the side pieces out. This your foundation point. God does this in our lives He gives you a foundation. The Bible tells us about foundations and we must make sure it is solid. If the puzzle frame is not completed properly and you have pieces in the wrong place the other pieces in the puzzle will not fit and your foundation will keep on breaking.

Now that the foundations are put together correctly you can start building. I keep on referring to the picture on the box to guide me. This is like a blueprint or map. God has also given us a blueprint or map. The Bible. The Bible is packed with things that will build you up and encourage you.

A few times a puzzle piece got knocked onto the floor by a helpful child and I would find it and wonder whether it was from the puzzle I was making or the one I did before or neither. I went back to the picture on the box and matched it up. If it didn't match then it was put where it belonged.
There are a lot of puzzle pieces in our lives that are not apart of what God has planned for us and we need to seek God on. Sometimes it is a piece from someone else's puzzle that needs to be given to them.

While I was building my puzzle I had help from my husband. He would come along and help put some of the pieces in and it would help me fill in other areas. We are here to figure put pieces into our puzzle and do what God has called us to do but we should help others with their puzzles. Don't try and use others puzzle pieces to complete your own puzzle. Your puzzle is as unique as theirs is.

Some pieces in your puzzle you will have to put in the general area of where they should go until you find other pieces that will go with it to attach to the foundation. Sometimes these pieces just do not go there but go elsewhere.
Sometimes something is part of your puzzle but isn't for now. You will have to lay them down until God tells you to pick it up again and place it in.

1) make sure your foundation is built and is solid
2) make sure the pieces are for your puzzle
3) don't take someone elses puzzle pieces
4) help others with their puzzle
5) put aside pieces that are just not for now and wait until God tells you to pick it up.
6) keep on referring back to the blueprint, the Bible
7) Seek God


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