Jay Mitchell

It's Christmas time. When Santa decides if you get something good depending on whether you have been naughty or nice...... I read an article recently, titled " 10 men Christian women should never marry " on a friends Facebook page and was relieved that my wife did not read this before she married me. If there is one thing I know for sure it's that I did not deserve a woman like my wife. She is a believer and loves Jesus. She has been picky and protective over herself about which men to date and not to date. She is everything and more that I asked God for in a woman. She looks after me and loves me to the max, always doing things for me and thinking of how to bless me in our marriage.

God tore himself apart for us. Literally. If you are a parent, you can only imagine what it would be like to lose one of your children prematurely. If you have lost a child, you know the pain (spiritual, mental and physical) of losing a child. To have your child literally torn away from this world, where you exist. Someone who you comforted, fed, directed, helped, encouraged, cuddled with, hugged, shared 'I love you' with and really became connected to. It's a closeness that is hard to explain and express.  As a Christian, I believe in a Triune God. Three in one. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All God. All One. Now this is vital if we believe that God showed His love for us through giving his only Son for us. You have to try and imagine the relationship between God the Father and God the Son. It's impossible to truly understand it fully  but we can to a degree. They have been so close for all eternity. There is no beginning to the relationship and there is no end...

"But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?" (James 2:20 NKJV) I have often been baffled by this scripture.  I would ask "but now that I am found in Jesus, by his grace, I am free from 'works' correct?"  I have worked out that there is a difference between working for your own right standing with God and acting out works  because  of your right standing (faith) in and with God. A while back, God said to me 'what you believe directs every one of your decisions.'   Here it is; what you believe makes your decisions and decisions lead to actions. Believer or not.  I recently had some trouble and friction with my bosses at work. Which happened because I believed they were treating people poorly. It made me unsettled and my friend noticed. As he was asking me what was wrong, I heard God say 'I AM for you'. My whole attitude changed. As I walked out of the office, I said to my friend...

6  that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you [ b ] in Christ Jesus. ( Philemon 1:6 NKJV) In my life group, we have been discussing what faith is and exploring how important it is for us to know who we are in Christ. It has continued me on an amazing journey of revelation and knowledge in Jesus. A journey that will never end.   Let me keep this short. How important is it? Extremely important. What you believe directs every one of your decisions, believer in Jesus or not. So who you believe you are in Christ and in turn Christ in you is not only important but critical to the direction that you take in your life. But I want to focus just quickly on how it translates into the effectiveness of you sharing Jesus with others. 6  that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you [ b ] in Christ Jesus. Paul clearly points out in th...

I have been on quite a journey the last 10 months of my life. God has ignited things in me that he told me 10 years ago, He has changed me, set my spirit on fire and over the last few weeks challenged me with trials to strengthen and concrete my faith in preparation of things to come.  As I stressed and struggled over my own ability to complete what God said I would do I got to the point where I said to God "I can't do this! I am not ready! I am not able! I am not worthy!"   At that moment, He showed me a picture of Him kneading and rolling out dough. Stretching, pulling, applying pressure but with care and purpose. It was clear I was the dough.  After being led to read the book of James (which I have never liked reading until now!) I came to this conclusion about what I was going through; God does not allow trials, disappointments or opposition in your life so you can prove your worthiness but so he can prove in you Jesus' righteousness,  Jesus wort...

 God has always shown me a picture (it is a picture to illustrate only) of Him in heaven before I was born and he is getting me off the shelf to put me on earth. He looks at the shelf which has a lot of other people on it and asks Himself “'What does the world need now? Ah Ha! What I created in Jay. He has in him what the world needs”.  And He picks me off the shelf and puts me in the womb.  You have been created and hand-picked for this moment. God cares so much for the people you meet and know that He sent you to make a difference in this world. You are made for this time. He chose you to dwell in. He is not far from you, He is so close. He lives in you. You are made for this moment. Don't hold back. Psalm 139:14The Message (MSG)   and Jeremiah 1:5, Eph 1:4 13-16  Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;     you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!    ...

I just had a flash back of when I was in primary school, (I would have been 7) of when my year level was on a Christian camp (wouldn't see that these days in a public school). We where traveling home on the bus and it broke down. The teacher on the bus to keep us entertained made us sing a song that we sang during the camp. It went like this; 'My God is so BIG, so BIG and so mighty there's nothing my God cannot do!'  And we sang that over and over and over. I wasn't raised in a Christian home but that stuck with me because something was different in the atmosphere and I knew it was because of us singing that song. Remembering it now (and I haven’t remembered that for years!), I realise that it was the Holy Spirit responding to worship. We where kids and believed what we where singing, well, I did and I didn't even know Him or who He was. My first tangible encounter was during singing on a bus full of kids. Can I encourage you? Go back to th...