Here is an example of applying the Gospel to stages of all of your life. This is the very earliest - but you would start with the one before the stage where you are at right now.

This is my own journey - you may well have something quite different come into your mind - it is your own thoughts and feelings that are important to God.

POINT ONE, STAGE ONE: How does this apply to me as a pre-born, then new-born baby, learning everything through my five senses, and my feelings?

i) Thoughts: God has created a world of wonderful beauty and interest which use all of the five senses he has given me - color, texture, sounds, smells and tastes... As a baby, my world is a bombardment of experiences, which I know nothing about, but I am created so marvellously [Psalm 139:13-16] that I begin to connect and sort all of this with great speed. Particulary I notice eyes, and those of my family become recognisable. I associate mother and milk, the smell and feel and sound of voice and movement.

ii) Feelings: Wonderment, intensity of awareness of self and everything that affects my senses. I see the beauty of creation and it lifts my heart, I feel thankful that in the perfect balance of elements, that life is possible, and often enjoyable, that there are even wonders to experience! I feel God's care for me, and for his world, and that there is a mystery of the next world of eternity to consider, when things don't always go like I think they should. I sense the world of the spirit - that there are things that I can't see, that God exists because of the wonder of creation, and I feel like a child, it humbles me, because I am a beginner in the contemplation of it.

iii) Praying: "God, what would you like me to see about how your creation, about you being a spirit, when I was a wee baby? For me, a sense of something very wrong, but of God gently picking me up and holding me, looking at me, loving me - secure, accepted and significant in His eyes!
Revelations: God has put everything in place for me to be safe and cared for - he has provided all I need, if anything is missing, it is not his doing. In the womb, it is warm and cushioned, and afterwards too, my food is on tap, and what shelter and clothing is enough for my parents, is also enough for me. If my parents know the love: the security, acceptance and significance God has for them, I will feel that too, from them, and it will do me good. I feel very grateful to God for this, because it means he loves me.

POINT TWO, STAGE ONE: God is love. He wants to care for us as his dear children. How does this apply to me as a pre-born, then new-born baby, learning everything through my five senses, and my feelings?
i)Thoughts: I'm thinking that God has taken a lot of care to make me, and to put things in place for my care, he is very focused on me, he wants me and wants the best for me.

ii)Feelings: This makes me feel secure, loved, hopeful for the future

iii)Revelations: I am seeing something like a wall of protection, that no matter what, I will survive, according to what God wants for me, and each person. Nothing can change this because He is God.

Then go through points 3 - 12 in the same way...
[Now have a go at filling these in for yourself.] Each point at each stage can be considered like this:

(If you have not reached a stage of life, there's no need to work through it - young children don't need to go through the adult stages either...)

POINT ONE, STAGE EIGHT: How does the first point apply to me as a retired person, taking life slower, contributing my wisdom and experience to younger ones, doing voluntary work, enjoying life, relaxing, travelling, slowing down, a time of peace, of looking ahead to the next life, of sickness and preparation for dying?

i)Thoughts:

ii)Feelings:

iii)Revelations:

Then go through points 2 - 12 in the same way...

POINT ONE, STAGE SEVEN: How does the first point apply to me as an adult with responsibilities of work, homemaking and permanent relationships?

i)Thoughts:

ii)Feelings:

iii)Revelations:

Then go through points 2 - 12 in the same way...

POINT ONE, STAGE SIX: How does the first point apply to me as a serious student, preparing for adulthood with its challenges?

i)Thoughts:

ii)Feelings:

iii)Revelations:

POINT ONE, STAGE FIVE: How does the first point apply to me as an early teenager - all pimples and puberty, popping out into the first stages of adulthood?

i)Thoughts:

ii)Feelings:

iii)Revelations:

POINT ONE, STAGE FOUR: How does the first point apply to me as middle school child, using my reading skills to explore what books have to say about the universe?

i)Thoughts:

ii)Feelings:

iii)Revelations:<

POINT ONE, STAGE THREE: How does the first point apply to me as I begin to move into the wider world of schooling, learning to read and write?

i)Thoughts:

ii)Feelings:

iii)Revelations:

POINT ONE, STAGE TWO: How does the first point apply to me as a toddler, exploring my small world of the family environment?

i)Thoughts:

ii)Feelings:

iii)Revelations:

Click here to return to "Good News"