We both love to hear a fresh word from God but we also have a scripture that as a couple we stand on every day.

Psalm 121: I lift my eyes up to the hills where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, maker of Heaven and Earth. 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 forevermore.

When we first read this verse many years ago, we instantly knew this was for us! For so long we had just tried to get through the day in our own strength and we found out quickly that by doing that we were soon feeling tired and burnt out.

Myself and Simon have been watching the TV series ‘George Carke’s Amazing Spaces’. What amazes me more than the actual spaces that I see, is the passion and determination that people have.

It really is infectious to watch; somehow the expectancy that the people have is dispersed through the TV and I sit there and literally get excited for them. I’m not sure why I like it so much but If I were to narrow things down, it's probably the fact that when problems arise and the cost gets greater, there is still a smile as they dig even deeper. There is no hissy fit, no throwing the towel in; they simply let nothing rob them of their joy!

Daniel has always been a person in the Bible that I have looked up to. I have honestly been genuinely inspired by how he lived.

Life can be tough at times and it’s obvious but still true to say that God never promised that we would go through life without any heartache and pain. The story of Daniel always manages to encourage me especially at times when I feel down. It really has helped to pull me out of a pit on quite a few occasions!

I believe it’s a common thing that when you go to a legendary singers’ concert, let’s say Lady Ga Ga for argument’s sake, that they, at some point in the concert, will address the audience and say with the utmost sincerity, “I love you”.

Now, of course, that’s very nice to hear, BUT, it’s best not to take it too personally! If you do, and, on the strength of that manage to evade security; go backstage; knock on her dressing room door; then tell her, when she opens the door that, “I love you too, Lady Ga Ga”, before then thrusting a bunch of flowers into her bemused face, I suggest it will not end well.

I received an email recently from America and it started like this…

“Heyyyyo Simon Rushton, congrats on making it through Blue Monday, the most depressing day of the year"!

I didn’t really want to say “Well, hello to you too!” In fact my initial reaction caused me to say aloud “why on earth would anyone start an email like that?” It quickly began to dawn on me that I had never even heard of Blue Monday! Where had I been when that memo went out? The only thing I knew about Blue Monday was that it was the title of a great song from my youth by New Order, however this specific ‘day of the year’ had totally eluded me! To be fair, I’m glad!

Back in the eighties, I went on a holiday to Norway via a roll-on-roll-roll off car ferry from Newcastle to Bergan.

Everybody was on board, the bow doors were closed, the engines started, and then, nothing! I looked up at the bridge of the ship and there was a guy…….

None of our journeys look the same; but He blesses and equips us wherever He wants us to serve.

How many of us have tried to hang on for dear life to what God is calling us to leave behind or get in God’s face waving our little fists, declaring that we can’t possibly make the change He is calling us to? How many of us have responded with resistance and rebellion when in fact we should respond as Abraham did? With faith, submission, and obedience.

I never ever thought that I would hear myself say that “it’s good to have convictions” but I am realising that it actually is!

Before accepting Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, my whole life was about not getting a conviction. No, that didn’t mean I behaved like Miss Goody Two Shoes but it did mean that I would do whatever it took to sway the jury so that I could hear the verdict of ‘Not Guilty’.

Recently I’ve been getting a little creative with Prayer!

Now anyone who knows me knows that I’m a morning person. For me ‘it’s the best part of the day’, which in hindsight as I type that statement it sounds like the rest of the day is downhill from there! So maybe that’s a bit of an exageration on my part, anyway back to Prayer.

I don’t know about you but I’m very good at keeping myself busy so that I can avoid certain things.

One of the ways I do this is through reading. Often I’ll start reading before I go to sleep and the next thing I know it’s 2am and I didn’t even notice. But it’s because I can get so invested in the characters and the story that it turns into a way to escape and avoid the storms that life throws at us.

The phrase ‘We live in a consumer led society’ is well known by most of us and on reflection it is possibly more apparent at this time of year.

Thoughts of what will Santa/Father Christmas bring consume many of our children and dare I say it even some adults…

The consumer society which we live in creates the belief that increasing our consumption of ‘things’ is desirable and through these desires, we can achieve emotional and physical wellbeing. The more we have the happier we are – right?

And let’s be honest, the waiting can be tough.

Not many of us enjoy a long wait, we find it a bit of a waste of time, and I know I often find myself wondering about all the other things I can be doing. But with God, waiting is not wasted, it’s quite the opposite.

So, I just get back home from the car wash.

My filthy car now looks as bright as a new pin, all is well, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, but then…SP-LATT! The bird, that was previously singing, makes a poo deposit on my now pristine car bonnet worthy of that of a pterodactyl with a tummy problem!

Over the years I’ve been in a constant battle in my mind, whether its been anxiety, depression, self-doubt or self-loathing.

If you ask my wife she’ll tell you I very rarely if ever, say anything positive about myself and once again I find myself doubting that I can do this.

“The world can no longer be left to mere diplomats, politicians and business leaders. They have done the best they could, no doubt. But this is an age for spiritual heroes - a time for men and women to be heroic in faith and in spiritual character and power”

Dallas Willard

She started off by saying..

everything that's unprofitable in your life must go, because it’s stopping the profitable from coming in.

Immediately I began thinking of things that are taking up my time and blocking God’s intended things from entering my life.

So what does leaving the Religious look like?

It doesn’t mean that God is calling us out of Church, out of friendships with our family and friends who know us, encourage us and build us up. But he is calling us not to be exclusive in those Relationships.

The truth is that with God on our side there is no Goliath that is big enough to intimidate us.

Our minds may feel as though they are being occupied by a powerful nation but God is with us and the victory is ours for the taking.