Merry Christmas to you all my dear family and friends. Two years ago today on the 23rd of December, a hippy collided with the Good News of The Gospel of Jesus Christ. That hippy was me of course and on this special day I received a true revelation of what Jesus had done for me on the cross. He stood in the gap so I would be forgiven for all the terrible stuff that I have done throughout my life. Of course I didn't deserve to be forgiven but God in his grace and unconditional love forgave me the moment I asked Jesus into my heart and surrendered my life to him. Therefore the Good News that I had a revelation of two years ago is not that I had to do any good works to get into heaven but simply confess in faith that I believe in Jesus Christ as The Lord and Saviour of my life. This of course makes no sense to our logical minds but that is why God has asked us to live by faith and not by sight. Don't misinterpret this message though as when you are born again and filled with the Holy Spirit you should naturally display good works and show compassion to all.

When I realised the truth of The Gospel I was beyond stoked, I was blown away by how awesome Jesus is. Jesus himself said that he is the truth and the truth will set you free. Therefore I felt a freedom and an excitement like nothing I have ever experienced prior to this. I still feel this daily but I am learning to calm down and not get carried away with it. Therefore, I need to apologise that in my over zealous state over the last two years I have said and done many things lacking wisdom. I have been self righteous, arrogant and full of pride on many occasions and I'm so sorry. I truly am so so sorry! I am not perfect and I will never be but God in his grace forgives me for my many weaknesses and faults and I hope that you can find the strength to forgive me for the hurtful things I have said to you in the last two years and in the many years before I became Christian. God is both perfect and blameless so please don't blame my imperfections on him. I hold myself accountable to God in how I represent him before all of you and I hope and pray that I can disappear so that he and be glorified through my life.

Our short lives on this beautiful earth are a gift from God. We must value our lives and as we walk and run at times on this journey of life it's important to know we cannot do everything by ourselves. We cannot take on challenges and difficult situation by ourselves. That is why we have each other. That is the joy of friendship and the blessing of having family and friends. I ask you to consider how blessed you are on this day with the amazing family and friends you have around you who love you and want to support you. You are not alone and you never will be. Life is not about finding shelter from the storm but learning to dance in the rain. Don't look at your circumstances no matter how overwhelming and scary they may appear but look to the people around you who love and are there to support you when you ask them for help. Dance in the storm together and rejoice in the loving friendship you have with one another which cannot be robbed from you by your circumstances. Our material wealth may erode and disappear but our friendships will not and they are true wealth.

As this is Christmas and a special time of the year I also ask you to remember why we celebrate this special date. Christmas signifies the day that Jesus humbled himself by his incarnation here on Earth. He did this out of love, to set us free from our sins and to give us access to an eternal life in heaven with him. As he went to such extreme measures to save you from your sins, you can be assured that he will graciously give you all you need. He will never leave you or forsake you. I have learned that by inviting Jesus into my heart I am never alone and that I will always have my best friend with me no matter what my circumstances are. My friendship with Jesus can never be robbed from me and he provides me with peace in all situations. As some of you may know I returned to Perth in faith expecting to get a job or some how raise the money to do a course in community service work. Four weeks ago after hunting for a job for five weeks and having completed four interviews I was offered the job of a recruitment consultant. I'm presently waiting for my 457 working visa to get processed and I was told last Thursday that it may still take another four to six weeks. In the mean time I've taken a loan of $2500 to float me till I start working and my generous housemates have agreed to let me back pay the rent once I start working. I'm sharing this with you in the same paragraph of my short message on Christmas because my journey with Jesus testifies to how faithful he is in every way. He has blessed me with an awesome job, a place to live beside the beach, money to float me till I start working, a beautiful girlfriend who has been an amazing support and hopefully a working visa that will give me four years to work here all paid for by my employer. The visa is with immigration right now so please pray that this will be granted without any issues.

Jesus is so awesome but I have learned, as I will continue to for the rest of my life, that there is a time to share about Jesus and a time to keep quiet and let my actions do the talking. The reason I write this blog is not to boast about what is happening in my life but to share with you all how awesome Jesus is by testifying to what he is doing in and through my life.

I'm very excited about Christmas. I have a big package from my parents which I can’t wait to open but I'm trying to be obedient by waiting until Christmas morning. My Church is doing a Christmas day brunch for all the backpackers and homeless people in Scarborough and I'm looking forward to helping out at that. Liz and I are going buy a load of small presents today for those who attend the brunch. I have attached a number of videos and photos to this blog as I want to start putting in more effort and give you a greater insight into my life here in Perth. You can find the photos and video in the photo and video section on my blog site in the above links. I have also attached a link to a podcast on forgiveness below that I think everyone would enjoy hearing as it's very healing. I hope you have enjoyed this message and I do hope that you can remember why we celebrate this special time of the year. God bless you and Merry Christmas.

Check out this great Podcast: http://podcasts.ibethel.org/en/podcasts.rss