The seemingly never-ending renovation project.

Colossians 3 teaches us to "put on a new self" - a bizarre image. This isn't about pretending to be someone you don't think you really are, its about becoming the person God intended you to be when he designed you. Following God involves a choice, to turn away from activities that don't reflect God's intentions or desires and begin to ensure all your activities are in obedience to God and form your worship to him. There's a clear difference between the two sides of that conscious choice and if you know the differences for you then its relatively easy to understand what it means to put on a new self. But that choice isn't just a moral or ethical endeavour, it overflows from realising a need of Christ and salvation.

What I like about this passage is how it says your new self is being renewed (verse 10), as if being made new once isn't enough. John Gill's "exposition of the Bible" (whatever that means) says it's a daily renovation that comes from an increase of spiritual, experimental and saving knowledge of God.

Gill says that this constant renewal sees you increase in holiness and righteousness, grow in grace, and particularly in knowledge.

The more you know God, the more you love God; I find myself consumed by his sheer awesomeness when I reflect on all that I know of him, what he's done and continues to do in this life - yet my knowledge of God is a mere glimpse of his fullness, but I'm so ready to put my faith in even just that glimpse of him.

As I put in my previous blog post, when you gain an actual understanding of that knowledge and apply it in righteousness, then the result is wisdom (sounds mathematical!). I want to be wise, I want to know God more, I want to love him more.

Everyday I need to ask myself, "is this the beginning of a new me?" Not because everyday is a new chapter in my life, but because everyday I should be striving for newness in God by seeking to increase those spiritual and experimental moments with him that lead to my personal growth in holiness and grace.

However, do also recognise those chapters in your life, they are milestones of the work God is doing in you. Know God's will for you, his calling on your life, and identify a plan (obviously a plan that you allow to be fluid as God reveals new things). When St Paul's did a 5-year plan, I had my own personal 5-year plan involving uni, getting a job and the dream of becoming a Senior Manager by 23. Marriage wasn't a part of that plan, but God set us up! Claire and I now have a 2-year plan to the end of my graduate scheme which ends later this year; buying a property was part of that plan, but Claire convinced me to do it sooner than I thought we would, and I'm pleased about that, I believe it was God's intervention. Together Claire and I commit our lives and "idealistic" plans to God praying that in all of it his will is done and in his timing. So I guess although I say we have plans, really it's by God that we live.

So here it is, once saved in Christ we are each a daily renovation project where God is the Architect and you're the Project Manager. If you want to see the Architect's previous work that you're modelled on, look to Jesus. We're not never-ending renovation projects because the day will come when we will be restored to perfection, the day when we meet Jesus face-to-face.

In the meantime, plan. Either to advance yourself so that you are prepared to respond to God's call, or so that you have some idea of how you are responding to God's call - I think that's what Claire and my next focus will be.

Above all, give it to God.

Ignorant, inactive or in order?

5 points to fast-forward this blog to today:

• God is unchanged (no surprises there). He is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.
• I still worship, serve and have excellent fellowship at St Paul's church, Weston-super-Mare
• I married Claire on 16th April 2011 - she's incredible and I thank God for using her to keep me close to Him
• I graduated from Plymouth University in 2012 with an upper second class honours degree in Economics
• I have been working in Commercial (Procurement and Contract Management) for almost 2 years with Magnox Ltd, a civil nuclear decommissioning management company

Monday and Tuesday this week I went with Claire and a huge group of leaders from our church to the HTB Leadership Conference at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
There were some fantastic speakers there- very senior figures in society, business and churches. God spoke to me through them to reaffirm my calling and I believe he somewhat put my next foot forward to walk with him in this calling. I wanted to streamline the output of my thoughts and encouragements from those two days into something I can easily refer back to that will help focus me going forward, hence the resurrection of my blog as a means for doing that (and I hope my experiences may hold value for others).

Almost seven years ago now I was privileged to travel to Rwanda and Kenya and witness two new concepts to me, Kingdom Business and Business as Mission - that's doing business God's way and doing business with a view to meet the needs of people and lead them to know Jesus. I am thankful to Jon Air, a successful entrepreneur, for inviting me to join him on that trip. From that trip God confirmed for me a calling to be in business and do Kingdom Business. Since then, over the last seven years I've been trying to understand how to do Kingdom Business here in the UK, an already developed country where starting up successful businesses appears at first glance to have more, tougher challenges than somewhere like Rwanda. I've been troubled by and wrestled with the ideas of success and failure; profit maximisation and wealth creation; working conditions, treating employees and contractors correctly; scarcity and stewardship of natural resources; greed and selfishness; competition; imposing faith in organisations - all of which are commercial/business issues I hope anyone involved in business has given at least some thought to. I don't have all the answers on how to get these huge (mainly ethical) issues "right", but I do know that business can be built on a foundation of love, of God - I've seen it and I believe God will reveal the rest.

I see wisdom as the output when righteousness meets knowledge and understanding (Proverbs 2 verse 6-7). Looking back, God has been working on each of those three factors in me and continues to do so. At the Leadership Conference I saw a successful business man who has an incredible personal relationship with God that shapes his worldview and the way he shapes his business. I also saw a successful QC who prays for God's will to be done through her as a vessel in the judicial system. I've always wanted to be in a highly influential business position to employ the aspects of Kingdom Business I am passionate about seeing. However now, after seeing these successful Christian people being obedient to God in different ways to influence their business and work, I realise that I already am in an influential position. My sphere of influence may not be as large as Julian Richer of Richer Sounds for example (the businessman I mention), but I do have a sphere of influence and I am doing business, so I need to start doing Kingdom Business. It seems such trivial knowledge, but I've suddenly grasped an understanding of it and I count it as wisdom because of my confidence that I have been made right in God (Romans 5 verse 1).
I will always strive to be the best I can be and see myself as my own competition. In God's strength I can do better than I have already. So while I start exercising Kingdom Business now, I remain ambitious to reach higher positions with greater spheres of influence to see Kingdom Business result in Kingdom Growth.

For the last seven years I haven't been ignorant of God's calling on my life, I've been very much aware of it and have been waiting on God. I certainly haven't been inactive, I've strived to put myself out there taking advantage of open doors and opportunities that would advance me in business knowledge and understanding. This is all "in order". It is God's order, God's timing, and I believe God knew I would have this seven year chapter in my life. Be encouraged if you know there's a calling on your life but don't feel as though you're fully exercising it yet. Continue to pray about and try the opportunities that arise in front of you.