Beliefs – Timothy West

Do all that necessary to get Wisdom

By adminBeliefsOne Comment

Get skillful and godly Wisdom, get understanding (discernment, comprehension, and interpretation); do not forget and do not turn back from the words of my mouth. (Proverbs 4:5 AMP)

I would like to take this time to write what God has been putting on my heart recently. I have been challenged by the whole area of Godly wisdom. In going through the first part of the book of proverbs it is so clear that wisdom is a hugely important part of life. The author of Proverbs (Possibly Solomon) says…..

Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom.

Though it cost all you have, get understanding. (Proverbs 4:7 NIV84)

So it’s clear that have to take this whole area of wisdom seriously. It’s interesting how it will cost allot in fact all you have. This I have seen in my own life there is definitely a cost involved. Are you prepared for this?

The benefits and rewards are just wonderful, it is so amazing to read what the scriptures say about this. Have a look …

Esteem her, and she will exalt you;

embrace her, and she will honor you.

She will set a garland of grace on your head

and present you with a crown of splendor.” (Proverbs 4:8, 9 NIV84)

There will be a reward for those who lay hold of Wisdom. Many rewards in fact just read through 3 and 4 for a glimpse of them….

• Wisdom will give you a clear path to walk on,
• your foot will not stumble or be hampered
• it will be life for you
• all her paths are peace
• there is more profit in wisdom than silver or gold
• nothing you desire will compare
• there will be health to your body and nourishment to your bones
• the wise will inherit honour
• she will watch over you
• the years of your life will be many

And one that is so needed in everyday life is quoted bellow

when you lie down, you will not be afraid;

when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. (Proverbs 3:24 NIV84)

Those promises are great so great I mean how good are they. It seems like everything people strive for in life could be summed up in those promises. Life would be so much better if we all used wisdom more.

We must be aware that without wisdom there will be problems. There is such a clear distinction between the two.

The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,

shining ever brighter till the full light of day.

But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;

they do not know what makes them stumble. (Proverbs 4:18, 19 NIV84)

So let’s do our utmost to understand these scriptures and to ask the Lord for wisdom. I truly believe he will give it freely if we feel we lack it. James1:5. It will transform your life… You will never be the same again…. you will see the fruit of wisdom as you start to incorporate it in your life… It is a good thing… an amazing thing… An imperative! Ask the holy spirit to help you with this he will do it. It will bring you closer in line with Gods heart beat and into what his plan and destiny is for your life.

Dear Lord give us wisdom so that we may walk in your ways more closely. Amen.

Ecclesiastes 8:1 WHO IS like the wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his countenance is changed.

I do hope that has blessed and challenged you. Please let me know our thoughts and comments. Cheers.

My next blog post will be on… On how we need to understand that God is bigger than us and that His ways are higher than ours. Isaiah 55. The concept of how we won’t really ever be able to grasp the way the Lord works but that through that there can be faith and freedom.

07/05/2012

Know, recognise, and understand that the Lord is God

By adminBeliefs, ChristianityNo Comments

So today I woke up and within a few minutes I was thinking about all the things that I have to get done. Ref a rugby match, write 150 Reports, fix my bike, go shopping etc.

I then had to stop and consciously say no I’m not going to think about organising that but actually do my quiet time.

This morning whilst reading www.odb.org something jumped out at me. The start of vers 39 says. “Know this well, then. Take it to heart right now: God is in Heaven above; God is on Earth below.” “Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below.” “Know, recognize, and understand therefore this day and turn your [mind and] heart to it that the Lord is God in the heavens above and upon the earth beneath; there is no other.”

My thought to ponder on for the day is how well do we “Acknowledge” “Know this well” “Know, recognize, and understand” That God is in control and that he is above ALL. Does our mind stay fixed on him or on our own busy lives and worries? Mostly the latter if we are honest. I would say we need to get into a habit of Acknowledging that God is so much bigger and better than all that we think is important.

How do we do this? Well read on! It says “Take it to heart right now” I think that we sometimes say ok well thats ok for you but my situation is tough i’ll take heart later. NO take heart now. Understand God wants to heal you now not tomorrow or next week. Then Live by his commands be obedient to him.Keep his decrees. Do you best to live a pure a blameless life as christ has done.

Why Because the reward is great. “so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the LORD your God gives you for all time.” God wants it to Go well with us. Its a lie of the Devil that he doesn’t want us to succeed. Its interesting its not just a short lived promise but something that goes on for generations and generations. God is with us for the long distance the long haul the Marathon not just the trip round the corner or the 100M Sprint.

Deuteronomy 4:32-40

^39-40 Know this well, then. Take it to heart right now: God is in Heaven above; God is on Earth below. He’s the only God there is. Obediently live by his rules and commands which I’m giving you today so that you’ll live well and your children after you—oh, you’ll live a long time in the land that God, your God, is giving you.

The Message

³⁹ Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. ⁴⁰ Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the LORD your God gives you for all time.

The NIV

³⁹Know, recognize, and understand therefore this day and turn your [mind and] heart to it that the Lord is God in the heavens above and upon the earth beneath; there is no other.

⁴⁰Therefore you shall keep His statutes and His commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord your God gives you forever.

Amplified Bible (AMP)

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Be blessed as you read the scriptures and let me know your thoughts. If you have any questions then please do ask. I want to say that I’m not perfect in doing the above but I do my best. So i encourage you to do your best at remembering his truths and Acknowledging that he is Above ALL.

26/11/2011

Kids teaching themselves

By adminBeliefs, TeachingNo Comments

I just watched an inspiring video on how kids can teach themselves. Sugata Mitra shows how kids teach themselves by giving them technology and computers. These kids had no previous experience with computers or even the english language but as he showed over 3 months the kids from rural villages where able to teach them selves over 200 words of english albeit slightly wrong but non the less they did know how to use the computer. It was amazing to think that kids can just teach themselves in groups and by trial and error. Kids are able to problem solve on their own given the chance. “What we do allot of in IT teaching is instruction but that is quite flat and this doest always engage the higher level of learning. Think of yourself as a facilitator of learning not an instructor.” Andy Hutt.

So group work and self learning will be something that i will try in my next teaching practice.

The other aspect that i really think was amazing is how amazing Gods creation is and how he has created us a human beings to be able to work and figure out things like technology. It just shows how remarkable the human brain really is. God has created us in an amazing way and its so refreshing to see his handiwork on children across the world.

15/02/2011

Horizon: The President’s Guide to Science: Christian Review against Dawkins

By adminBeliefs, ChristianityNo Comments

Tonight i watched an incredibly well made documentary on BBC on channel 2 at 9 pm. It was very well shot and the cinematography was outstanding… Please read down and on for my point of view on the content and message.

I started watching it and just liked the look and the way it was put together and wasn’t taking much notice of what content was being said as they had some great shots and montages of equations and cityscape’s

and an interesting way of using screens to show parts of the documentary.

I Have only just got back from and i don’t actually watch much tele?? i know its strange but seems i just don’t as not much of it meets my fancy but this definitely did. It was so nice to watch and see all the uses of clever camera work and shots to make it look so professional and sleek. Below is one of my favorite shots.

The use of blur pull focus and depth of field was excellent and just choosing some great stock footage was also important to the way this moved along.

I didn’t start taking in what was actually being said until they started going into the biology part of this argument and i was shocked to hear what i heard. It was from a particularly biased view point and this was the evolutionist one. I would like to say that I am no scientist and that i don’t know half as much as these clever guys but i do know one thing and that is that God does exists and that he created this world that we live in as you read this.

I found it very interesting that Evolution was presented by Richard Dawkins as a fact and that, I quote, ” In order not to believe in Evolutions you must be either Ignorant, Stupid or Insane” These are very strong words and rather insulting really as though i don’t have a clear line on this i do know that we were created in the Image of God and that means that we did not derive from shell fish.

Earlier in the Documentary he says that “evolution is the only way to explain the illusion of design that we se in the living world” to me this is completely wrong as he is obviously acknowlaging that ther is design but stating that it is an illusion. This seems to contradictory as he would obviously argue against the fact that there is Intelligent design.

What ever the process i believe that we have a creator and that God has intelligently designed every single one of us and that this world surely can have just come about due to chance and that we cant have just morphed into what we are as incredible beings purely out of what is virtually nothing, single cell organisms.

The other really astonishing statement is that he dismisses that every soul is unique and just fluffs away that idea by saying that because something doesn’t suffer it is ok to kill an unborn baby that could grow up to be the next president of the United States. This is a terrible things as if you based life on this fact then it would mean it would be ok to shoot someone in the head with a sniper. Surely that’s ok as the person would not have suffered as they have not know its pretty instant a shot to the head. Surely not??

Also i think that it is very sad that he is ruling out God by saying that the day Darwin brought out the book on the origin of species 150 years ago on a Thursday… does this mean he existed before that??

You can find the video at this link

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00dlr2j/b00dlqy1/

I am no obscuratist but i do feel that things need to be addressed as people are being fed one point of view and not the other side of the argument and the truth is that we are are loved and created by God and that he did send his son Jesus Christ to Die on the Cross for us.

Please do let me know what you think and what your thoughts are on the matters above christian or non christian.

17/09/2008

Guilt and Christianity | Getting caught up | Becoming immobilized

By adminBeliefs, Christianity, Cool Things, Issues, Me121 Comments

I just read a great post by Pete from http://withoutwax.tv a Pastor.

pleas read it first its only short… HERE

it is related to the main article found here by Relevant magazine.. HERE

My comment on the post is this

Gosh there are allot of posts so ill keep mine short…

I think that as a Christian we should focusing much more on the things mentioned…
we should be driven to lives of holiness by passion—passion for God, passion for the lost, passion for the Gospel, passion for each other.

i think we get seriously caught up on what we are doing wrong and what we have to fix rather than striving to more like Christ…

hence we can end up getting caught up in a downward spiral of depression and guilt that it actually stops us doing what is right and what God has planed for use hence we can become immobilized and actually end up not doing anything at all..

please check out my blog.. http://trwest.com/blog/

It was really interesting as i was talking about this with a friend about an hour ago and now this post pops up in my reader and is exactly the same thing… God must have been involved on that one…

do let me know if anyone can relate to this or just comment on Petes blog but it would be nice to see some comments..

25/08/2008

Make Child Poverty History

By adminBeliefs, IssuesNo Comments

I have just added an animation to my portfolio page and i think everyone who reads this should go have a look at it as i think its pretty good and powerful.

It is basically a short animation that is trying to raise awareness with all the issues with Child Poverty.

Portfolio PAGE

Animation Site

I was in a maths lesson and my Teach Dr. Pomeroy had a bracelet that was the make poverty history one with a little hifen or accent that added in the word child marked in red. I was really challenged by this and took it on as the basis of this project. I have never yet managed to thank her but I will do.

I think that children are the worst effected by poverty and is clearly evident with all the terrible pre famine warnings that are coming from across the world. Namely Ethiopia and India. As children cant defend them selves against this it is up to us to actually make a difference and help as much as we can to alleviating the problem.

One of the ways you can do this is by supporting a child through Compassion .

Please can we talk about this issue and can people tell me what they think of the animation i made?

Do people realise how many children are actually dying due to starvation and disease??

Should we be using Scare Tactics with the statistics??

Lets discus

13/06/2008

What is the plan for my future with the grand scheme of things…

By adminBeliefs, Christianity, Me, PersonalNo Comments

This blog post is a follow on from a comment on Anne Jacksons Blog

Wow that is very humbling and inspiring as i am 21 at the moment and about to finish Uni. Thankfully i am not in any dept through the fees and costs but in a years time i am going to be out in the big bad world with a Good degree under my belt and some potentually good jobs up in London or Anywhere even. Just if i take a stop and think what am I supposed to do with my life that is where I get stoped dead in my tracks I mean i could make lots of money and even end up running my own company with the sole aim for “Profit and Gain”

Thing is i dont want my drive and ambition to be in Money and Personal gain. I want to be able to give something back that will be eternally lasting and worthwhile. My mate Keith Mason and i were recently talking about this… I think this comes about when our perspective goes from being a taker and consumer to a Giver and Maker and though this the focus is not so much what i can get out this bit of work but what it can do to help other people in one way or another.

I do feel that there are many different areas that i would like to go into but i do think that i want to Help my parrents with the work that they are doing in Africa. take a look at rfmafrica.com . Its for me more about fulfilling the great commission that Christ has place on each and every person.

The great commission is very simple it is about spreading the Good News of Christ.

Matthew 28:16-20

The Great Commission

16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The good news of Christ is that he gave his only son to die on the cross for our sins so that if we believe in him we would have eternal life…

John 3:16 16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,^[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

I know that i have digressed but what i am trying to say is that for me, Anne and many others, there is more to life than just making lots of money, taxes and death. There is something that is eternal and it is that future hope that i look forward to and I would encourage everyone who reads this to really think about.

Do people think that you go down a career path that can make a ton of money but not get caught up in the system and ultimately fail to help people???

05/06/2008

The Image Bearer of God

By adminBeliefsOne Comment

I was watching two short video clips by a Evangelist called Reinhard Bonnke that talks about our true image and where our true identity come froms. Along with knowing who is our actual author. This is a brief sumary of what they are about

Part 1

Do you know what it means to belong to God? Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke, in Part 1 of this 2 part bible study, introduces the concept of “bearing the image of God” and the power of being in his image.

The second clip is the more important of the two: Part 2….

Did you know that Satan’s Goal is to wipe out the Image of God? In this concluding segment Evangelist Bonnke shares how both sin and Satan relate to the image of God and how you, by surrendering your life to God, can live every moment in His Power, …as an image Bearer of God.

I would urge anyone one and every one to view these clips as they are extremely thought provoking and potentially life changing. I don’t want to impose anything on you but if you do have about 14 minutes then do as they are really great or if you cant manage that length do pleas watch Part 2

Part 2

Links to Video Clips

17/05/2008