Eyes and Ears and Mouth and Nose.

For quite a long time now, i've been doubting how well i listen to God. After speaking to a lot of friends, I now know that I'm not in the same boat on that either!

My biggest thing was the whole supernatural experience... something that everyone talks about, but i had never really experienced for myself! Everyone always speaks of how they've seen visions, dreamed dreams, supernatural healing, being able to speak in another language that they themselves dont even know - the list just goes on!!

I thought, "maybe i'm just too afraid," or "maybe my faith is just not strong enough" or even "maybe it's not real?!"

A few sundays ago, my heart just broke.

It was the end of a very powerful sermon, and without really being able to describe to you why, I just knew at that moment i had to be down at the mercy seat to pray.
I couldn't stop crying. This overwhelming guilt, undescribable weight in my chest, this pounding in my head, it was all just too much! My tears poured out over the clean white mercy seat - leaving stains of black from my running mascara. I was in an absolute mess!

And as i prayed. I prayed to God, saying "I need you so much. I've had enough of what this world keeps dishing up, please just come and make it a little more bearable"
And as my eyes were closed, and my head resting on my arms in absolute defeat, I saw them - Lips.

Now dont get me wrong, there was nothing romantic about these lips at all. But they were coming in for a kiss... on my forehead. Instantly the lines of a Delirious song came to my head, "you come and burn me with a kiss"

I believe the Lord burnt me with his kiss that day. and ever since I just keep seeing him working in and around me. It wasn't scary to me at all, it made sense to me. In fact, it made me realise that it wasn't at all the first time he's spoken to me in that way!

The thing that just astounds me is that God doesn't always give us the answer we want. He doesn't do what we expect Him to do. I like being vulnerable to Him. He never lets me down, and He always surprises me.

And when i thought i wasn't hearing from Him at all, I actually was... and had in fact been hearing from Him for quite sometime... It was just that it wasn't in the way that I thought it should be.

So let me encourage you, stick with God (aka the Big Man).  He knows what he's doing. And he loves you so so SO much! It's not always obvious, us humans have a habit of not quite getting it sometimes. But God is always there.

Peace xo

Call & Response

On the 23rd November, 2009... My church will be hosting a special screening of "Call & Response".

Be at 16 Rushwood Drive, Craigieburn for 7.30pm, with your $6 for entry...

It's time we take a stand against injustice!

check out www.callandresponse.com for more information about the film itself.

How Great Is Our God!!!

so my little sister became a Salvation Army Soldier yesterday. pretty cool huh?

made me think back to my enrolment at the beginning of this year. wow. so much has happened in my life since then - some good stuff, some bad.

i was thinking back to when i got enrolled as a soldier -  both my mum and my sister were not present.

At that time, my sister was going through depression. The day of my enrolment, she was admitted to hospital as she had attempted to take her own life (three times in total within about a month).

Now she is loving Jesus, and living for Him. Thanking him for the new LIFE he has given her.

Wow.

The change in her alone is incredible.

And you know what? he's doing it in others' lives aswell!!! God has the power to turn our lives around! And it's an incredible feeling to see so many people HAPPY...and LOVING Jesus!

At our church... we've had around 18 people (at least) give their hearts to the Lord for the first time. It's so exciting! and people are actually grasping on to the vision for our church too!

May i be clear though, this stuff doesn't come without a fight. Jesus said that this would never be easy... and it's not. Christianity isn't easy. Fighting for Jesus isn't easy.

But wow, it is well worth it!


Blessings!

GO FOR SOULS 2009!

well, well, well. (Three holes in the ground)

Go For Souls was this weekend! and MY GOODNESS, it was FANTASTIC!

God did some great things this weekend (he always does great things).
People were healed. People gave their hearts to Jesus for the very first time. Even better, we saw some people come in to our church on Sunday because of the evangelism efforts on Saturday.

WOW!

Praise God for all He is has done, and all He is going to do!

humble offerings..

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then i will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."      - God.

2 Chronicles 7:14

GO FOR SOULS 2009!

Hi All! Just a reminder about Go For Souls 2009... It's fast approaching. You WON'T want to miss this one!! Make sure you clear your diary for this weekend and get your butt down to Craigieburn for a God Inspiring weekend... great worship, fantastic teaching and preaching... and ofcourse evangelism tools to hold on to and put in to action! Check out the website for all the details!

http://www.goforsouls.com/

Check It Out

http://www.salvosoutthere.com/

another one of my songs... currently working on a tune

Distracted and lonely
Fear ripping its sharp teeth through the core of me
Cornered into nothingness
To the big black hole of emptiness
And it's there in that painful silence that i find you
My Rescuer

But when you save me, I don't see you .
I see your blood
as it slowly drips from your brow
That disgusting price that was paid for me
never would i believe
such love that saved me

it's your blood,
by your blood,
by your love,
i am free.

My Song.

When I sing, I sing your name
Freedom floods my veins
and I will never be the same

you are worthy of all worship
all praise

oh Lord, be so real to me.
Be so real. Be so close
I need you so much.
Be so real. Be so close.

You are faithful, you are glorious
Majestic. Amazing. Incredible!
Far out! You make me sing!!

Freedom floods through my veins.
And I will never be the same

WOAH!!! SUCH LOVE!!
How can I be but overwhelmed by all that you are!

Jesus Culture Song...

i don't wanna talk about you like you're not in the room
wanna look right at you
i wanna sing right to you


i won't relent until you have it all
my heart is yours.

a lesson i learnt at church recently.

Hi All!

won't claim this as my own message... just some words of wisdom i learnt recently at my church. 

We had Rev. Tim Brown at Salvos 3064 last weekend.

It was a fantastic Sunday! Everyone was just SO pumped for Jesus! It was so great to see! and every week i just see it keeps getting better! 

Rev. Tim spoke about "THE LOST".

The one thing that really stood out from this message (or to me atleast) was that Jesus didn't want Christians to speak of "The Lost"  in a negative way... but to VALUE them.... to LOVE them!

Luke 15: 1-7 ~  Jesus speaks of a Shepherd who loses a sheep - out of a flock of one hundred - the shepherd will leave the 99 to go and find the one that has gone missing....

VALUED

Luke 15: 8-10 ~ Jesus speaks of a woman who loses a coin.... coins were highly valuable back in those days.... the woman never rested until she found her coin....and when she found it she threw a party!

VALUED

Luke 15: 11-31 ~ Jesus speaks of the "prodigal son" who leaves his family with his own cut of his father's inheritance money; to run after a life of gambling, drugs, and promiscuity...

and when runs out of cash and integrity, he returns home.... to his Father who instead of unforgiveness - is full of love and forgiveness and wants to hold this massive party for his son who has returned home.

VALUED

Rev. Tim told a (fictional) story of a camping trip with his family... getting us to imagine what it'd be like lose one of his daughters, but not caring because he still had one at the campsite.... 

no! he would do whatever he could to find that lost daughter!!

VALUED!

The "lost" are those who are away from God.

If you are away from God, whether that's because you once were with him, or you have never even known what it is like to be with God; - please know this one thing -

He loves you SO MUCH!! He just wants you home with him!

peace be with you xo

GO FOR SOULS 2009

http://www.goforsouls.com/

24/7 Prayer

http://www.salvationarmy.org.au/corps_prog/24/index.htm

apologies.

so i just realised that i repeated the same scripture that i used only a couple of blogs ago... oops!

my apologies. just goes to show how often i update my blog.

money, health and all that jazz

Well hello there.

Thanks for checking out my blog. Just want to encourage you, don't be afraid to question your faith. A great place to start is the church.

Would love to see you at my church even! Craigieburn Salvos 3064... 16 Rushwood Drive, Craigieburn. We have services on Sundays at 9.30am and again at 7.00pm.

just a little something something i wanted to share wit' you...

Luke 5; 31-32

Jesus said "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentence."

song

okay. i'm assuming if you're reading this blog... then you know me personally.
and if you know me personally, then you are probably aware that i am a worship leader at my local church (salvos 3064... check it out, awesome church!)

i SO love to worship. I really do.

worshipping God is something i know I'm good at... I communicate with him in a very personal way and i can express myself unto him in a creative way.

getting up on stage sometimes makes me nervous though. because i know it's such a huge thing.
i know i'm not perfect, and i'm less than faithful. i sometimes feel like i don't deserve to come before the KING and sing in his presence.

i think i also get nervous sometimes because that I know God is in control of the meeting... and absolutely ANYTHING could happen. that whole "free fall" comes into play... when i lose control of the situation and all the glory goes to Him - but that's totally not a bad thing though! haha!

All the same, I love worshipping God.

Just wanted to share with you a Psalm that really stood out to me when i first gave my heart back to Jesus last year... it continues to ring true to me no matter the circumstance...

(I won't type out the whole Psalm since it's a bit longer... but please have a read of the whole thing when you get hold of a Bible.)

Psalm 40

"I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit; out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God!"

and then in verse 16...

"But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you;

may those who love your salvation always say, "The Lord be exalted!"

Peace be with you x

Free Fall.

I know a lot of people who like to be in complete CONTROL of their lives. and aren't so willing to let go of pride... to let go of the control... and give in to the holy spirit... i know that's what i was like before i gave my heart back to the Lord.

But you know what is soooo cool? when I just let go! it's like a free fall into the arms of someone who loves you so much! more than anyone of this world can love you!

In fact, i have to "free fall" over and over again... continually losing my pride and my own plans... my own control... and just leave it in God's hands.

I read this cool little quote from Rob Bell today that i thought i'd share with you...

"Jesus invites that part of us to die. the part of us that always has to be right. the part of us that always has to be better. the part of us that always has to look good"

- Luke 12:22-26 - Then Jesus said to his disciples: "therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens : They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than the birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?"


seriously peeps, let go. free fall.

Who ever said that you need to be a christian to step foot in a church??

The Hand To Pull You Out

Today, in my devotionals... I was led to an awesome piece of scripture... Luke 5:31-32

Jesus answered them "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

Wow.

Truth is folks, I am a sinner. I am a hypocrite. I am imperfect.

I have been so torn up inside about my sin... how often I let God down... about how "bad" of a christian I truly am!

Jesus came to save me! Who am I to deserve such sacrifice? Who am I to deserve such mercy and love?!?!

I am glad that I am not perfect. I am so grateful for Jesus' love : The hand that pulls me out!

"It's All Worth Reaching For!"

From Personal Experience...

This week i was having issues in a relationship where i was so worried of upsetting the other person but knew that if i were to make that person happy, it would mean compromising my faith.

Quite stressful.

For a lot of my life, i have been pulled down, almost suffocated by worry... mostly worrying about what other people think of me, of other people not accepting me.

God spoke into my spirit after my little situation this week.... it was almost like he was saying, "Who do you want to impress more... your friend? or me?"

That just put everything into perspective.

Why worry about what others think? Why do we do the things we do? do we do it to impress those around us? or are we motivated by impressing our heavenly father? Are we motivated by HIS WILL?

I look at the whole situation very differently now. I refuse to let this overcome me. I REFUSE to stand on rocky grounds just to keep other humans happy... I want to be living to please my God in EVERYTHING I do, not compromising for the sake of those around me.

Hope that helps...

SIT DOWN AND SHUTUP!

Just a little post...

Don't let the enemy win the battle, it's high time that we told him to sit down, shutup and get lost!

SONG LYRICS...... "Enemy's Camp"

"I went to the enemy's camp and I took back what he stole from me.
I took back what he stole from me.
I took back what he stole from me.
I went to the enemy's camp and I took back what he stole from me.
He's under my feet! He's under my feet! He's under my feet! He's under my feet!
He's under my feet! He's under my feet! Satan is under my feet!"

When No-one Is Looking...

Hey guys...

Thought I'd share a little bit that I've learnt this week. For those who know me best, you would know that the past month has been utter chaos. My family especially, are under constant attack from the enemy.

Recently, i had one rather massive spiritual attack... in fact, it made me physically sick.. still am in fact. Bad huh?

Tuesday night, we had our young adults group - i love it because it pushes my thinking beyond the norm... makes me think outside the square - and a comment was made about who you are when noone is looking.

I have made some bad decisions in my lifetime, decisions that I am not proud of. This was the very aim of the attack recently. I had feelings of being such a hypocrite. Of not being good enough. Of self-loathing even!

But who you are when noone is looking.... now there's another thought altogether!

It was quite encouraging, because I know when no-one is looking... although i'm sinful, i am not perfect, my thoughts are constantly drawn back to my Lord and Saviour and personally... i think that reflects in my alone time...

Please hear me out when i say... I AM NOT PERFECT.
I still stuff up, even when noone is looking. I am constantly being taught new lessons.

But Be Encouraged!!

Push in deeper. Pray more. Praise More. Read more of the bible.

I will be doing it too! Don't forget about sharing your alone time with Jesus. He sees you, even when no-one else is looking!

spiritual warfare

Has been quite some time since I've been able to write on my blog. The last two weeks have been rather chaotic. I'll keep this short and sweet.

Our God is a big God. He is bigger than my hardships. He is way more bigger and way more better than satan.

My God has already won the war.

As christians, let's start living like we know that. We know the outcome of the story, we've read the book (the bible). Let's start treating the hard times as being the winning champions rather than the defeated.

Praise the Lord for he is good, his love endures forever.

Soldier Chelsea

Last night, I became a soldier in the Salvation Army. I'm so stoked!

Let me tell you something, It wasn't easy. Not like I thought it would be. I agree with everything that being a soldier means, and normally have no issues getting up in front of a lot of people.

But a collection of personal attacks just made last night so much more fierce, and more important. I praise Jesus that he gave me strength to get through last night.

Part of the attacks I received yesterday were definately part of spiritual warfare, and definately were trying to stop me from making that stand for Jesus last night, including the fact that my mum and sister had to go to the hospital.

I am so blessed to have a Godly, earthly Father - whom stood strong with me last night.

I think it is safe to say i smacked the devil across the face, I plan to do a lot more of that in my journey with the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you don't know who this Jesus is and you want to, please get in touch with me. I am nmore than happy to talk to you about what I already know about Him. He is amazing, to be honest... if it weren't for JESUS I'd probably be dead already! No jokes!

oh happy day!

why hello there! and welcome to my blogspot!
I'm not exactly sure if people really do read this thing... but I keep adding to it anyways! haha ... "Whatever It Takes" right?

Wow! what a turn around for me! Jesus saved me. He saved me from my sins! How exciting is that!?!?! I don't have to live a life of numb-ness anymore, I dont have to rely on alcohol or even drugs to achieve happiness! There is TRUE joy and a peace that comes with knowing Jesus.

I remember hearing a story about some ladies from my church, who are all Salvation Army soldiers.. meaning; THEY DONT DRINK - who were making friendly conversation with some ladies who do not go to church.... apparently these ladies were completely SHOCKED that the soldiers do not drink alcohol and can still have so much fun!

On Monday, this week, I went to the Big Day Out with my sister. You know what? I didn't drink (which is normality for me these days).. and I had THE BEST TIME!

Praise the Lord for the Joy that he brings. simple but true.

BTW, 4 more sleeps until I become a soldier! SO EXCITED!

Official Announcement

Hey All!

It's offical; I'm becoming a soldier in the Salvation Army!!!

I get enrolled at the Craigieburn Salvos on the 1st of February at our 7pm church service!
Everyone is welcome to come!

yay! so excited! : )

much love x

I'm The Desperate and You're The Saviour!

I love my music. Generally, i love all styles too.

I also love the fact that there are so many different styles of music that reflect worship unto God.

Sometimes I love to turn to the lyrics from such bands as Underoath, Emery and Paramore (keep an eye out for quotes in blogs to come).

In fact I've had many times when I used this kind of "screamo" music as my own personal worship music... inspiring stuff.

Underoath have this amazing way of portraying (through song) us, mere humans, as weak... fallen from grace, living in sin. And God as the almighty, the Saviour, the King. I so love that!

My sister has this tattoo on her neck with lyrics from an Underoath song titled "In Regards to Myself";

"It's All Worth Reaching For"

Actual lyrics are; "It's All Worth Reaching For The Hand To Pull You Out"

Jesus is the hand that pulls us out.

No matter how many times I fail. Jesus still manages to yank me up from it all .... drawing me closer and closer to Him.


I'm the desperate, and you, Jesus, are the Saviour.

"You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?"

If you haven't picked it already, my heading is a quote from a popular tv show we like to call "Family Guy". Peter Griffin, a Family Guy who doesn't really think before he speaks at the best of times and has unrealistic expectations about life and of others, is asked to be part of a television segment where he rants on about things that annoy him most.

You know what? Us, as humans, we like complaining a lot. haha

We talk about WHO or WHAT annoys us the most. In fact we spend so much time dwelling, or maybe analysing these things sometimes... we forget what annoyed us in the first place!

I wonder what annoys GOD most... the fact we complain so much? or that we spend our time on focusing on other things (that "annoy us so much") instead of praising Him?

One thing I know must annoy God about me, is when I'm spiritually lazy. I forget what my purpose is (esp when I'm out and about) and I forget about just talking to God and maybe reading His word, I lose my passion.. if only for a brief moment. I know it definately annoys me!

There's a couple of directions I could head with this blog.... But I really feel the need to speak more about complaining...

The bible talks about becoming dead to yourself when you decide to follow Jesus. What if that meant forgetting about our earthly problems? What if it meant to stop dwelling on the things of earth that annoy us so much and start dwelling on our Eternal life?

Imagine a world like that... I think a lot of counsellors/psychologists would probably go out of business!!

Psalm 40

I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord. Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare. Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced ; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, “Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll. I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, as you know, O Lord. I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and salvation. I do not conceal your love and your truth from the great assembly. Do not withhold your mercy from me, O Lord; may your love and your truth always protect me. For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me. Be pleased, O Lord, to save me; O Lord, come quickly to help me. May all who seek to take my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace. May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!” be appalled at their own shame. But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, “The Lord be exalted!” Yet I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay.

My Testimony. Raw.

For those who don't know me too well....

I have grown up learning the truths about God. Learning about his will for my life. Learning about how he sent his Son to die for me. How could I avoid such important lessons when my parents are in fact Salvation Army Officers?!

But then, the worst happened.

I couldn't tell you the exact day it happened... but i turned away from God.

I had married young, and had moved to Brisbane, two whole states away from my family.
To begin with, the journey interstate was all about taking risks for God.

Slowly, and without awareness, the lies started to flood into my mind. I began to search elsewhere for answers, for independence. I became so critical of the christians I had around me, that I stopped going to church. Blaming them for my troubles.

Everyday, i sunk deeper and deeper into this depression. Every weekend, I made myself available to the alcohol and the party life just so i could forget my troubles.
My marriage began to suffer also because of my bad decisions (no surprises there). I began looking to other men for acceptance and affection.

Even my friends, that I had been partying with all that time, were beginning to get sick of my ways!

I headed back to Melbourne, hoping for a fresh start.

But my bad decisions continued! I partied harder. Was out getting drunk most weekends, still looking for the "male attention". Seriously, I'm no saint. I was sleeping around, doing drugs, lying about almost everything. I was pushing myself to the physical limits of how much I could actually take - every single weekend.

My family life suffered most from this, and the people I love most, got so badly hurt by the things that I had chosen for my life.

(Here is where the story gets good...)

One day, whilst at my desk at work, the Lord breathed truth back into my spirit.

There was no fancy, over-the-top, worship songs "persuading my thoughts" (as some critics may love to say).

There was no preacher yelling into a microphone telling me to repent.

Nothing.

Just the Lord asking me to Come Back.

WOW.

Why had I been wasting all that time?

Why was I even worthy of GOD to ask ME to come back to him?

I'M NOT WORTHY OF HIS LOVE!

I surrended my life back to Jesus that day.

So far, the road has been so hard! I have had to loose bad habits, one thing at a time... I have had so much criticism because people have only known the "bad-decision-making Chelsea".

I now choose to live for the Lord, am learning new things about him every day.

I have completely stopped drinking, smoking and drug-taking and the sleeping-around.

I am in church every single Sunday. I am telling people about the love of Jesus. I'm soon to be starting out in Youth Ministry and I plan to become a soldier in The Salvation Army within the next month.

Please hear me out, I AM NOT PERFECT.
I screw it up all the time! And I'm continuely asking my Lord for forgiveness. I am learning everyday how I can live more holy, how to be like Jesus.


My LORD is perfect. I choose to serve him. He is the single most best thing that has ever ever EVER happened to me! He is worthy of all praise!

I have been finding, so far, that a lot of my inspiration for my blogspots are coming from sermons i here at my church. So let me state plain and clear, these ideas aren't original... not my own... just sharing with you that which inspires me... that which is on my heart... i hope that in some way they might encourage you aswell.

Today at church, my Dad (Captain Gary Grant) preached. Such a legend that man! love him to bits!

Anyways, he was talking about the 7 letters, to 7 churches, 7 'Overcome Instructions', 7 rewards.
Now to get what I'm talking about, you are definately going to have to pick up a BIBLE (yes, this requires extra reading, so do it!) and you will need to read Revelation 2 & 3.

John wrote to the early church, giving them each instruction on 'how to' and 'what to' overcome... and in turn if they overcame these things what their rewards would be from our heavenly father.

We each have things to overcome, whether that might be laziness, anger issues, sexual immorality, pride, gossiping, being "spiritually dead", etc. (I'm sure I could list a lot more!)
Truth is, God wants us to OVERCOME those things that hold us back! HE WANTS THE BEST FOR US! God is FOR us, not against us!!!

Overcoming these things might not exactly be easy! But you know what? when we overcome....we have the Eternal kind of rewards!!! I'm so excited about that!

Please guys, read up on Revelation 2 and 3... some brilliant stuff in there!!!

Remember.... JESUS IS COMING!!!