CityLight Church

I remember as a child, at one stage one of my favourite toys was the magnifying glass. I would do all sorts of things with it - some not so productive things (which I won’t go into) but also some very interesting things.
One of the things I noticed was how we can look at things in much greater detail. I could focus on an ant… and see how much detail I could see... before…
Anyway, I noticed that through a magnifying glass I  could see things that I couldn’t with the natural eye. I noticed that the detail increased. The object not only looked larger, but clearer. The further away I took the glass the more detail I saw, until I took it to a point where it became blurry, and I could no longer focus on it. I also noticed that I needed to be close to the object in order to see it. Looking at the world as a whole through a magnifying glass, depending on where you hold it, does nothing more than blur the image, or turn it upside down. 
It’s interesting that as we get older, we never really put away the glass. We don’t physically hold onto one, but we do regularly use an internal glass a lot more often than we realise.
The question we need to ask ourselves is, “What am I focussing on? The things we focus on are what become magnified. It’s really quite simple: Focus on problems, they will only get bigger. Focus on Jesus, and He will get bigger. The things you ‘focus’ on will be the things that you will focus on and they will ultimately control the direction of your life. 
Have an awesome week, 
Adrian Nyhuis.

Our oldest son turned 16 this week and it is interesting to reflect back on how fast time has passed. I remember the day he was born, his proud Uncle brought in a toy basketball and was very excited at the fact that already, at one day old, he could “palm the ball”. Yes, even at that age it was a sure sign of things to come…
It’s amazing though how fast time progresses and how quickly our kids want to grow up and be released as an adult so that they can make their mark on the world, but along the way there are things that are determined for them, because they are just not ready to handle them any earlier. At one day old, our kids aren’t ready to walk, talk and play, let alone go to school, do exams, drive a car, vote, or get married. But gradually, as we get older, we are released to do more and more things in life. Now that he is 16, our son has graduated through different stages of life, and is now at the stage where he can begin leaning how to drive a car, but there are other learning stages of his life that are still some time away.
Have you ever noticed that God does the same thing for us? Can you imagine what it would be like if on the day we said “yes” to making Him Lord of our lives He was to turn around and say, “Right! Now I need you to preach, lead worship on Sundays, teach the Sunday school kids, heal the sick, travel all over the world and get people saved wherever you go not to mention…” (and he keeps on going).
God doesn’t expect us to be perfect and mature in a day. He takes us on a journey, day by day, and assigns specific things (not everything) for us to do. There will be lessons we learn that are fun, some are boring, some will no doubt be painful, but they are all lessons that He will bring us through so that we can grow into maturity to serve Him with effectiveness.
Psalm 37:4-5 says, "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give (or assign to) you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass".
Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
God has an amazing plan and timeline for each of us that He works to. Trust Him. He knows what He is doing.
Have an fantastic God-directed week!
Adrian Nyhuis