Hi friends,

Hope you had a great weekend! I led worship at Cottonwood Church, Los Alamitos, just outside of LA. It was a really special time – I made some great new friends and came home feeling really encouraged! Brandon and Matt, my drummer and bass player, loved it too. Matt even got his long curly hair cut short on the Saturday night – video clip to follow! So it was quite an eventful weekend!

I was chatting with my friend Wendy on the phone today (you can follow her on Twitter…. she’s “wendybeechward”). (She is also a friend of another of my Twitter/Blog buddies “AussieJoy”)

We were discussing how you strike the balance in life between living as a person “crucified with Christ” and therefore dead to your own will, choices and desires, and yet living a “purpose driven life” and “your best life now”… all of which are really good things to aim for – to find your place in God’s plan and to be fulfilled, joyful and energized.

Bonhoeffer is a favorite author of mine. One of his greatest works is “The cost of discipleship”. In it he writes “when Christ calls a man, he bids him ‘come and die’”. It’s so true. The Apostle Paul said “it’s no longer I that live, but Christ who lives in me… for I have been crucified with Christ…I am dead to the world…”

Joel Osteen writes: “God wants us to prosper financially, to have plenty of money, to fulfill the destiny He has laid out for us” .Rick Warren writes that God has a definite plan and purpose for each of our lives, where we will be energized as we find our eternal purpose. I love Bonhoeffer, Joel Osteen and RIck Warren…they are all awesome, but how does all this fit together?

How do we know if we are walking on the right path or in the right place? If life is tough, does that mean that we are outside of God’s will, or inside of it? When is a tough situation something that you stick out because we are called to ‘die’ and when do you step out of it because you don’t feel like you are joyful or prospering? How do we know when a situation is like ‘refining fire’ for the growth of our character, and when it is something we need to move away from for the good and health of our hearts?

How do you personally see the balance between living the “crucified life” where we have given up our rights and our desires… yet living the “abundant life, life in all it’s fullness” that Jesus promises us?

Thoughts..?

Love,

Vicky