There’s just 2 months to go until the Something More Weekend, and 2 be honest, we are just 2 excited 2 see you there.
9–12 August, Warwickshire
Join us at www.thereissomethingmore.com/weekend
God doesn’t tell you to follow your heart.
He says the heart is deceitful so follow Jesus.
God doesn’t tell you to live your own truth.
He says live for Jesus because He is truth.
God doesn’t tell you to make yourself great.
He says you must decrease, and Jesus must increase.
‘Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.”’ Matthew 16
What is the unforgivable sin?
Listen to ‘Ask us Anything’ on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
I’m most anxious about my life when I feel like it’s me trying to hold everything together.
I think that if I just try hard enough, work long enough, and think smart enough, everything will be ok. That if I really put my mind to it, I can lead myself into everything I need to be happy.
I find no peace here, because it isn’t how I was made to live.
I wasn’t made to trust in myself to provide everything I need. I was made to trust in the One who made me. I was made to be close to Him and depend on Him, to wait for all I need from Him. To enjoy Him as my greatest treasure.
This means I need to accept my weakness, give up on trusting in my own strength and wisdom, and surrender to the current of His will.
I need to start each day with Him, to meet Him in His Word and ask Him to guide me through the little decisions and the big ones, moment by moment, day by day.
I need to let Him lead me as my Good Shepherd to still waters and green pastures, to give me all I need and take me where I need to go.
This is living. This is peace. This is better than anything I could ever hope to do on my own, and it takes me somewhere better than I could ever hope to be without Him.
I don’t need to try and hold my life together, I just need to put my trust in the only One who can. Everything I need, I have in Him.
‘The Lord is my shepherd;
I have all that I need.
He lets me rest in green meadows;
he leads me beside peaceful streams.
He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
bringing honor to his name.
Even when I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will not be afraid,
for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
protect and comfort me.
You prepare a feast for me
in the presence of my enemies.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
My cup overflows with blessings.
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
Bow down before Him
For He is Lord of all
Sing hallelujah, Christ is risen
My sin upon His shoulders;
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished;
His dying breath has brought me life –
I know that it is finished.
Things in life will go wrong.
Relationships will break, people will let you down, your heart will hurt.
You can look to the world to distract you. You can run to it for comfort and validation. You can ask it to sedate you with easy pleasure and cheap dopamine. But ultimately, it has no capacity to meet the great need that sits at the bottom of your heart.
It cannot do for you what you need it to do: it cannot make you whole.
‘Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”’
You don’t need to be distracted, entertained or sedated. You don’t need to keep running from your pain. You don’t need to try and bury it with more things or experiences.
You can confront it. You can overcome it. You can deal with it, forever.
When you hurt, when you feel lost in your pain, before you turn anywhere else for comfort and relief, go first to Jesus.
He is the Healer, Renewer, and Restorer of the human heart. He came in love to lay down His life so that you could be free. He came to liberate you from the greyness of living in brokenness and emptiness away from God. With Him is where human beings flourish. It is how we were designed to live: in peace and union with God.
Jesus is the only way there.
Go to Him. Give up on trying to find life and wholeness outside of Him. Trust that He gave His life to reconcile you with God, to pay the debt of your sin. He loves you, He calls to you, come and be made whole in Him.
Whatever it is, whatever you’ve done, you can be free.
You aren’t too far gone.
You aren’t a lost cause.
You don’t have to carry your burden any more.
Jesus has done enough for you to know peace. He has done enough for you to be right with God, forever.
Come and lay down your burden at His feet. Look up and see Him as your King, your Saviour, your friend. Put your trust in Him, believe that He died in your place, and start a new life living for Him. This is Him calling to you, offering to give that life to you. Come to Him now, and live.
‘Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”’
Matthew 11
‘God elevated him to the place of highest honour and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’
Philippians 2
Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
Read Romans 8
Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Read Psalm 90
I, the Lord, made you, and I will not forget you.
I have swept away your sins like a cloud.
I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist.
Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.
Read Isaiah 44
You need more than what the world can give you. You need a source of life that is deeper and fuller than anything it can offer you. You need more than bread.
‘Jesus answered, ‘It is written: “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’ — Matthew 4
It’s what you were made for, to walk and talk and be close to God. His voice is life. It is food and water and oxygen for your soul. It’s no surprise that when you detach yourself from it and give all your time and attention to the world that you feel so dry, stretched and thin.
Stop looking to the world for life. Untangle yourself from its agenda. Its voice is the voice of self, of pride, of greed, of lies. You will find no life there, only death.
Come instead to Jesus. Come and be refreshed in Him. Come and be made right with God in Him. Come and eat and drink and breathe and be full in Him. He died to make a way for you to be free of the sin and shame that stands in the way of your access to God. Trust Him as the Saviour and King of your life. Walk with Him, listen to His voice, and live.
“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.” — Jeremiah 17
