The earth is the Lords

 The earth is the Lords

Ps 24 - The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof: the world, and they that dwell therein.


A passage of scripture I so easily forget. I know I am a child of God because of my salvation but this verse is telling me the whole world is the Lords. Not just the creature comforts of lush greenery, blue skies, turquoise seas, food in the fields but those who dwell there and that means me and you - everyone in the world. We are the Lords - and what a wonderful place it would be if everyone took that on board.


If everyone looked at scripture and saw the goodness and mercy of God. We were made in his image, to have fellowship with him but sin entered the world when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and that disobedience has passed down through the generations and so it goes on today. Oh that men would look to the Lord,
He that came down and dwelt among us;
He that was obedient while here on earth, obedient even to death on the cross;
Making a way for man to draw closer to his maker and fellowship once more with him.


Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? David asks.


The bible says He that has clean hands and a pure hesrt (the one who repented of sin and accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour) they can stand with clean hands and a pure heart before the throne of God, clothed in the righteousness of our great and wonderful Saviour Jesus Christ.  Trust in the Lord with all your heart and see the blessings that he bestows upon you.


Psalm 24:
The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof: the world and they that dwell therein.
For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.
Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?
He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob Selah.
Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting door: and the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.
Life up your heads O ye gates; even lift them up ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in,
Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.
16.8.12 

Changing Seasons

Here we are slap bang in the middle of winter and yet in the past we've had worse; rain, hail, sleet, snow, ice and frost. As the year ended and a new one was about to begin, the Lord gave me 2 words ... Seasons Change

Many people see the end of the year as a place for reflection, a place where they need to leave things behind. Some are sad to see the end of the year, it was all good and they're not sure what the new year will bring, others just can't wait for the new year to begin, they've had sorrow, lost loved ones, illness abounded, they've struggled with finances but seasons change and as Christians we too might find we have to change. 

Instead of worrying about what has gone before or wondering what is yet to come we must simply trust, embrace and look forward to a new adventure with the Lord - you see, SPRING is coming.

A season of new life when we see the first of the spring flowers pushing through the earth, bringing beauty and reminding us of the importance of life. 

It's a time for planting ... While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter and day and night shall not cease. (Gen 8:22).

For the Christian there is always something for us to do ...  and if the Lord doesn't show us immediately what he has planned with us in mind then we can plant. Wherever we are, a small act of kindness, an encouraging word are all seeds waiting to be planted; seeds waiting for someone to come along and water and then as the summer months arrive the seeds have grown into beautiful flowers filling the air with a sweet perfume. Even our prayers can be seeds waiting to be  sown and we wait to see the answer as we move into Summer with flowers in full bloom, the trees are full of luscious green leaves and fruit begins to appear on the trees.  The ground brings forth vegetables that have been planted, the birds are singing and Song of Solomon 2:10 reminds us that the flowers appear on the earth the time of the singing of birds is come and the sound of the turtle (dove) can be heard in our land and the song What A Wonderful World comes to mind.

Whatever it is that the Lord has planned for us in this season you can be sure it is for our good.  We don't need to fret that we are surplus to requirements.  The psalmist says that the blessed man is like a tree planted by rivers of water that brings forth his fruit in his season, his leaf also shall not wither and whatever he does shall prosper.  (Psalm 1:3).  The Lord will show us, if we wait on him, just what adventure He is about to take us on.  It may even surprise us and take us out of our comfort zone or He may have plans to use us just where we are.

I said back in the Spring that even our prayers can be seeds and as we waited for answers to them we had moved into Summer. We were in a place of warmth and beauty and it seemed  life was easier but now our prayers can maybe help reap the harvest as Autumn comes along with its abundant showers and spectacular colours of the leaves on the trees. 

Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.”

The fields are white unto harvest

Harvest comes and it is here scripture introduces us to the gospel through the autumn feasts among the Israelites. Feasts such as 

* Rosh Hashana the feast of Trumpets, 

* The Day of Atonement and

 * The feast of Tabernacles (Booths).

So a very quick run through 

1. Rosh Hashana marks the start of the Jewish new year, the trumpet or shofar is sounded to call the people to repentance and prepare them for God's great judgment. It is also a time of hope when their name could be written in the book of life for the coming year.  Ofcourse Rev 20 says the Lord wants to put our name in the Lambs book of life for all eternity not just a year..  

Lots of things point to the gospel, not least cleansing and giving of a new heart. A little story .. a young man with infantile paralysis used crutches to get around. Asked one day by a colleague  "why", he said infantile paralysis to which the enquirer remarked "how can you bear to go on and help others with such joy"  The young man replied, oh, the disease never touched my heart. we can learn from that nothing is too difficult.

2. Day of Atonement when the priest would enter the most holy place and sprinkle blood from one goat onto the altar to atone for sins and symbolically transfer the sins of the people to the scapegoat.    

3. Tabernacles begins at sundown  coinciding with the final harvest of the year.  This celebration is for God's provision in the wilderness, the manna from heaven and water from the rock and we know that Jesus is the rock and the living water.

Maybe we can go through the feasts at a future date but we see the trees letting go of what they no longer need, the autumn leaves begin to fall and the ground is a carpet of colour of reds, greens, gold, orange everything seems to be getting ready to slow down but Jesus at one point said  Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.”.

Fog descends as if getting the earth ready, ready to see the frosty glow of a winter morning where spiders webs seem frozen in time and what a glorious picture they make.   The Lord has set all the borders of  earth and has made summer and winter  PS 74:17) and the seasons in between.

Seasons change but in all of this,  I  see the hand of an unchanging God.

Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Mal 3:6 For I am the Lord, I do not change

He is the one stability in an ever changing world. He is perfect and permanent in a world not so perfect. His nature will never change, he is ever faithful, loving, gracious, his mercies are new every morning the father of lights in whom there is no variation or shadow of turning James 1:17.

He will never be anything less than his word reveals him to be and his word stands unchanged for eternity.

He is God his power will never diminish. He can't be anything but who and what he says he is. He is in every one of these  books that make up the bible and while we may change and the seasons may change He remains the same. Unchanging

So whatever season you find yourself in this year, remember you have an unchanging God who has you in mind and will see to it that you are right where He wants you to be.  Will you breath new life into what you do in the Spring, will you flourish and blossom like the flowers in the summer, will you begin to slow down in the autumn to catch your breath  or will you shine like the frost on the ground in winter, like the lights as Christmas approaches and we celebrate again the birth of our wonderful Saviour and start all over again as we see a new year coming in with new adventures and a fruitfulness that only the Lord can give us.  

Dont worry or fret, don't hide away, don't ponder the what ifs just wait, wait on the Lord, he will strengthen your heart, wait on our unchanging Lord in your season of change.

 

First blank page

I'm one of those people who love journals. I'm about to start on my third and there is just something about putting pen to paper on that first blank page. It reminds me about my life in Christ. Before I knew Him my life was kind of ordinary. I had a family, friends went out to the pub for drinks but as ordinary as it was there was something not right. I'd given my life to the Lord at 12 years old and in a sense it changed but not where I had a real understanding of what had happened so as I grew I just did the normal things a young girl does. I did however read the John's gospel I'd been given and I prayed every night. As an adult the day came when a friend showed me scripture and then it was like a blank page in front of me, clean, new, refreshed. It's not all been rosy since then but I love the first blank page in my journal, knowing it will be filled, not just with my daily thoughts  but with the wonderful things my Saviour does and shows me in my daily walk with him.

If, like me, you love journals, keep writing, fill the pages with each step of your walk with Jesus. If you've never had a journal I'd encourage you to start one, for you, and as a legacy of what the Lord has accomplished in your life. The one I'm starting today has a lovely front page and is scattered with scripture and snippets of the author's thoughts but it will be filled with my own thoughts as we go through these strange times and hopefully come out of the mess stronger for it. 

15 April 2020

A little bit of shop talk

A few years ago I helped out in a quaint shop in the city centre so here I am only now sharing the thoughts I had some mornings.

As I look around the shop, I'm struck by the many lights and realise at this time of year people are fascinated by lights.  I wonder why then,  they aren't fascinated by him who said "I am the light of the world".

Jesus came to bring true light to a dark world, a world where sin abounded, and had done for years and years, but he came that we might be saved. Born in a manger where the animals were kept and 32 years later died the cruelest of deaths to take upon himself the sins of the world that we might be saved and have eternal life. What a Saviour.

He has called his followers to be a light too, a light in the darkest of days, to shine his light and love wherever we go.

For God so loved the word that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

122018

It Matters To God About You

I'm one of those people who have things tucked away in my bible case; tracts, poems, bible verses, little cards and I came across a tract I'd been given years ago when I was going through a really bad time and the storms of life were crowding in. 

I'd prayed on the way to the shops and asked the Lord "does it matter to anyone about me".  As I came out of one shop a lady handed me a tract which I tried to decline as someone might have needed it more but she was adamant it was for me. The front was entitled "It matters to God about you".

Wow, the Lord answered my prayer and let me see he was concerned about everything I was going through.

He impressed on me to that we often tuck things away, not just the paper things but we tuck things away in our mind; the trials, struggles we face, the storms of life, finances, marriage, children, work, the list is endless but I believe if you happen to read this "It matters to God about you" yes you.

Whatever you're facing, don't tuck the thoughts away, give them to Jesus. He might want you to bring them to the forefront of your mind so he can help you deal with them.

I get excited when I think of how much he cares. We might not have been around when he walked this earth or did miracles but one day he'll wipe the tears away, we will see him face to face and there will be no more pain, no more tears. Read what John says at the beginning of Revelation 21:1-7 - It really does matter to God about you.

May He bless your day. 

Wait on the Lord

I came across quite a few blogs I didn't get round to posting, so over the coming coming days I'll post as many as I can and hope they bless anyone who reads.

 Wait on the Lord, be of good courage and he will strengthen your heart, wait I say, on the Lord (Psalm 27:14)

There are lots of biblical references to waiting on the Lord and in life there are many things we have to wait for.  

I  had to learn to wait on the Lord when my grandson was taken into hospital as a youngster.

I had to wait to see if his temperature had returned to normal. 

I had to wait to see if he had meningitis or if he had just a virus.  

I had to wait for news while doctors decided whether to do a lumbar puncture and head scan and 

I had to wait on the Lord to see him answer mine and many others' prayers as we were told it was his adenoids that had caused the problems.

In all of this I began to see that waiting wasn't simply just expecting something to happen, it was much more than that, there had to be an action on my part.

There are many instances in the bible of 'waiting'.  

In Genesis 8 I found that Noah waited.  The Lord had told him to build an ark, had given him instructions on how to build it and instructions on how it was to be filled with animals of every kind.  

Noah then had to wait for the rains to come and then wait for the waters to subside.  In all this time of Noah waiting the thing that struck me most was .... Noah TRUSTED. It wasn't just about the waiting, it was trusting the Lord, he had to continually trust the Lord. He trusted the instructions the Lord gave him, trusted Him to keep him and his family safe, trusted when the Lord said he would establish a covenant with him and trusted He would not destroy the earth again when the Lord said he would set his rainbow in the cloud.

I saw how we are meant to trust the Lord in all of our waiting. He has given us a blue print for the kind of person he wants us to be. In Jeremiah 29:11 it says 

for I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

As we wait and trust Him, the Lord has thoughts of peace for our life.  In his grace and mercy, he thinks only good things of us, thinks of our wellbeing, plans to give us a future filled with hope, but we need to trust him as Noah did.  

No matter how long it takes, no matter what it is whether difficulties, storms, trials or just leading our ordinary, everyday lives, we need to trust, to wait on the Lord, to be of good courage and he will strengthen us.

In Genesis 18 we read of someone else who waited. It would seem Sarah, after waiting so long, thought she was too old to conceive a child and in her long wait she took matters into her own hands when she came up with the plan to give Abraham a son through her maid Hagar, and Ishmael was born.  

I wonder if Sarah ever regretted her plan because when she and Abraham were very old she was told she would give birth to a son.  She laughed when she heard the news and despite seeming to doubt what God could do through her, Sarah is mentioned in Hebrews 11:11 where it says "through faith,  Sarah herself received strength to conceive and bear a child even when she was past child bearing age because she judged him faithful who had promised". Sarah had faith in the Lord, sh trysted Him..

 In Jeremiah 32:27  The word of the Lord comes to Jeremiah saying behold I am the Lord, the God of all flesh, is there anything too hard for me and 

In Luke 1 when Mary is told her cousin Elizabeth was with child when she was barren, the angel says for with God nothing shall be impossible. 

Sarah became somebody despite her old age, she became a mother despite her doubt about what God could do through her. She had faith and trusted in Him who said nothing was too hard for Him. 

So what is it today that you think is too hard for God to do in your life. Nothing, absolutely nothing in your life is too hard for God, no matter what you think he can't do through you or in you. 

I read somewhere that the Lord responds to faith even in the midst of failures, he isn't bound by anything and can cause unheard of events to happen.

Faith my friends can remove mountains, Jesus himself said so and if you wait upon the Lord, exercising your faith in Him, and trusting Him, then just look at what He might do in your life.

Sent from my iPad 14.7.15

Jacob's Well

 This is something I shared with our Sunday School Class. I love how children are eager to hear about Jesus.

1Jesus sat on the wall of Jacob's well.  He and his disciples had been travelling from Jerusalem to Galilee and they took the quickest route through Samaria. It took them hours and sometimes days to go from one town to the next.  

Tired and thirsty Jesus stopped in Sychar while his disciples went into the city to buy food.  

One of the Samaritan women came to get water from the well, lowering her water pot down into the well and drawing it back up again.  As she did so Jesus asked her for a drink.  

The woman was shocked because Jews had no dealings with Samaritans and she told Jesus this, wondering why he had spoken to her.  Jesus told her that if she knew the gift of God and who it was that asked her for water she would have asked and he would have given her living water. (Read John 1:10-14) 

The woman then asked Jesus to give her that water so she wouldn't be thirsty again and wouldn't have to come to the well. Jesus went on to talk to the woman telling her things about her life that only she knew and wondered how he could know.   (Read John 1:22-24)

The woman told Jesus that she knew when the Christ came he would tell them all things and Jesus said to her "I am he".

The disciples came back at this point and were surprised to see Jesus talking to this woman but none of them said anything and she went off into the city and told the people who she had met and that he knew everything.  The people started coming to Jesus to hear what he had to say.  

Jesus knew he had to talk to these people because they needed to hear the truth about God.  The people wanted Jesus to stay and he taught them for 2 days.  They all said to the woman, "we believe now because we've heard what he had to say with our own ears and we know he is the Saviour of the world",  and many Samaritans accepted the gift of God which is eternal life in Jesus. 

The woman at the well was changed.  She met Jesus and her life was never going to be the same.   

When Jesus touches our lives something inside changes and we want other people to know who he is, this is what happened to the woman of Samaria.  She was touched by Jesus when he spoke to her at the well and she went into the city to tell everyone about him. 

Sometimes Jesus asks us to do that, to go and talk to our friends to tell them about how much he loves and cares for us all.  If you hear Jesus in your heart asking you to tell your friends, don't be afraid ... Just tell them.  He will do the rest.

30.1.14

WALLS

I sat in my favourite cafe and as I looked around one of the first things to catch my eye was the word 'walls' written on the side of an icecream cabinet. As I looked at it I was reminded of another wall in the bible;  the wall in Jerusalem, that half a century after the rebuilding of the temple, we see Nehemiah weeping over, weeping, fasting and praying before God because the wall of Jerusalem was still broken down.

Here in Nehemiah the fact that the city wall was broken down meant there was no protection from marauders / robbers. The people were at risk of being attacked and without a wall for protection even the temple was at risk of being ransacked or worse and if there was no temple the presence of God would have nowhere to dwell, so it was on Nehemiah's heart to rebuild the broken down wall.

Walls seem to represent safety and I wondered can we relate any of this to our spiritual walk?.  Is there a wall in our life that we've built to help us get through the day.  Did we build a wall to keep others at arms length or perhaps to hide behind to prevent us being hurt. 

When a wall has been built there's a tendency to want it knocked down but that isn't always easy because the wall helps us feel safe.

Now just say we've pushed through, we've managed to knock down some walls but we're feeling a little exposed, we don't feel quite as safe as we did with the wall there, what do we do?  

I'm going to suggest that we quite simply trust, trust the Lord to keep us safe and that perhaps he wants us to rebuild some of those broken down places in our life because he wants his presence to have a place to dwell. 

"Do you not know", Paul says,  "you are the temple of God and the spirit of God dwells in you" (1 Corinthians 3:16). 

Nehemiah was about rebuilding a literal broken down wall: with the Lord's help should we be about rebuilding a spiritual broken down wall. .

I don't know if you've already knocked down a few walls:

I don't know if you're still hiding behind a wall of years of hurt or broken relationships and still have a sense of dread, distress, disappointment:

I don't know if you can't even name the reason you built a wall in the first place but it's still there and it's never coming down.

I don't know,  but I do know the God who loves us and wants what's best for us. He wants those walls to come down and he will help us rebuild those broken down places of hurt, disappointment, sadness, addictions and many more and his presence will really be seen in our life.

I cried when I read Nehemiah. I saw his sadness as he wept then spoke to the king about what was troubling him,  but I also saw his heart as he set about restoring and rebuilding the broken down walls of the city after talking with the Lord.

Is it time to be asking "which walls need to come down Lord, which ones are preventing your presence to be really seen in my life" and then to ask "where do I start the rebuilding".

God turns a negative into a positive.

I shared this with my Life Group and thought I'd share it again on my blog as its a long time since I shared anything so here goes ...

I wanted to bring something today that could have given us a nice discussion. I looked at the suffering servant but nothing came together, I don't know how many times I looked at Genesis but again it didn't seem to be coming together and I thought, well we'll just sit and chat, but then I came across something I'd spoken on at my old church and I think the Lord wants me to share part of it with you. I'm hoping if I heard right it will encourage you so I'm sorry if its more of a "preach" than a discussion. It came about from two words. I spoke at my other church on 'God turns a negative into a positive'.  It was a good 20 minutes talk but this bit isn't that long phew I hear you say. Within those 20 minutes I mentioned a card I'd received years ago from a very ageing uncle in Canada.
I can't remember how long I'd been a Christian or even if I was going through a tough time but I'd never had a card off Uncle George before, it may even have been a birthday card and I still have it somewhere I'm sure but can't remember when I got it.  He had though, for some reason, chosen to send me this card and he'd written on the back of the card, you know where you usually get the who made it bit, well he'd written ... two words ... Only believe ... I've never forgotten those two words because there was something meaninful in them.
Only believe .... In God? ... in love? ... for me, in those 2 words alone there was a bible study in the making but I didn't know what he was wanting me to believe  'Only believe' ...  in something so precious, maybe; in the greatest treasure on this earth the Word of God.  I chose to think this is what he meant.
So many positives, so many promises in it because that's what Gods positives are, promises. The Lord impressed on me as I read through my notes that He doesn't want us to dwell on the negatives and believe me  we often have so many to contend with but

You say: “I can’t do it.”
God says: You can do all things (Philippians 4:13)
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

You say: “It’s impossible.”
God says: All things are possible (Luke 18:27).                                                                 
And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.

You say: “I can’t go on.”
God says: My grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9)
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me

You say: “Nobody really loves me.”
God says: I love you (John 3:16; 13:34) 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

You say: “I’m too tired.”
God says: I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28-30)
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your soul.

You say: “It’s not worth it.”
God says: It will be worth it (Romans 8:28)
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

You say: “I’m not able.”
God says: I am able (2 Corinthians 9:8)
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work

You say: “I can’t forgive myself.”
God says: I forgive you (1 John 1:9; Romans 8:1)
*If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
*There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

You say: “I can’t manage.”
God says: I will supply all your needs (Philippians 4:19)
And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

You say: “I’m afraid.”
God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7)
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

You say: “I’m always worried and frustrated.” Peter says of the Lord (1 Peter 5:7)
Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

You say: “I don’t have enough faith.”
The word says: I’ve given everyone a measure of faith (Romans 12:3)
For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

You say: “I’m not smart enough.” God says: I’ll give you wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:30)
But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption

You say: “I feel all alone.” God says: I will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)
Every negative thought you have  can be turned into a positive by the Word.

Being victorious and being positive are probably 2 of the hardest things to be.  But they are very much intertwined.  How can we not be positive or victorious when we know the God of the bible, the creator of the universe.

Christ died, how negative must that have seemed. Crucified between two thieves; followers and family devastated because they'd seen in him something positive and yet now, well, I can't begin to imagine how lost and afraid they must have felt, negative thoughts running through their mind. All the positive things Jesus said, perhaps forgotten in that moment in time when they saw him on the cross. When they saw him die.  But what appeared negative God turned into something positive and on the 3rd day Jesus rose again victorious. Positivity in action, victory over the grave.
I did a bible study and I'd like to read something to you that David Wilkerson wrote  ...

We are warriors -- blood-bought, blood-saved, more than conquerors through Jesus Christ! We are not in a courtroom with the devil, pleading a case. No -- we are victors! Jesus has won the victory for us; His blood has prevailed. And I believe our battle cry should be, "I proclaim the victory of the blood of Jesus! I am blood-washed, blood-bought, blood-justified, blood- safe, blood-ransomed. And I proclaim the victory of the blood of Jesus!"

Positive words indeed. We don't need the name it and claim it positive confessions some preachers tell us about, our positive confessions are rooted in Christ, in His death and resurrection and in the Word he has given us.

Sometimes we can have a head knowledge of God but we need to have much more than that, we need heart knowledge too and that is true of scripture we need heart knowledge as well as a head knowledge of the truth of the word, we need it to dwell in our innermost being.

Bible positives are more often than not bible promises .. we need to 'Only Believe'.

God is building his church, we are his church and the gates of hell can not, will not prevail against it as long as we stand on the word of God.  When those negative thoughts come in, remember God can turn every one of them into a positive.

In Luke 18 Jesus talks to the 'rich young ruler'. When he went away those who heard asked "who then can be saved" he answered "The things which are impossible with men, are possible with God".

Did you notice that ... Jesus doesn't say are possible for God, Jesus said the things which are impossible with men are possible WITH God - and that takes on a whole new meaning.  We often say, with God all things are possible and to be honest I've just thought yes, everything is possible for God, he's God after all so he can do anything but only now have I looked at this differently ... Only now can I see something a little different in this verse ... The word with ... With God - there are lots of meanings for the word 'with' and I'm sure in the Greek it means something different but in the good old English dictionary one of the meanings is 'to be accompanied by' so what this said to me was that if we are WITH God then everything is possible. On our own things are impossible, and maybe it's where negative thoughts creep in but with God, accompanied by him, then everything is possible

I read somewhere that We go through 60,000 thoughts each day and 80% is negative, well, I'm saying to you  remember you are, accompanied by God, so of those 60,000 thoughts don't even let 1% of them be a negative. Remember who you are in Christ, stand fast and proclaim that you are blood bought, blood saved, and more than conquerors.  Let God turn your negatives into positives and Only Believe

Producing Fruit

I don't know much about growing trees but for some reason I began to think about the apple tree when I saw the one my neighbour has in her garden.  

It doesn't appear to produce much fruit but it got me thinking that after a long hard winter a lot of trees look as if they are dead. There doesn't appear to be any life in them whatsoever and I often wonder at the miracle of seeing, as the months go by, new life appearing - leaves beginning to appear on the trees.

 I'm sure that as the ground has become warmer these first signs of life begin to appear and I read somewhere that the warmth encourages the flower buds to swell and they are flushed with pink before pure white flowers appear.  This is called blossom.  

It reminded me that we need to blossom.  Galations 5:22 says that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. When we have this fruit in our life we will begin to show the pureness of the one who lives within us.  The warmth of Jesus love encourages us to grow and as we do we will be like the apple tree producing a good crop.  Our crop will be the fruit we share to others, the love we show in helping our neighbour and everything else that comes with living a spirit filled life.     

When the tree begins to bud and blossom then the one who cultivated the tree knows there will be a bumper crop and the more blossom there is the more fruit there will be.  

The apple tree is much like the vine and we know who the vine is, it is Jesus and we are but the branches.  It is those branches that the Lord enables to produce the fruit so let us never tire of producing more fruit in our life as we follow our Saviour. As we listen to him and as he cultivates each area in our life. Let's think of ways in which we can be a blessing to others as we bud and blossom.

Rose Bud - Hope

 A few years ago I bought a rose bush from Hope for Justice, a movement that exists to bring an end to modern day slavery/human trafficking. I noticed a rosebud last week clinging to one of the branches. It's seen wind, rain, hail sleet, snow and is looking rather wet and weather beaten. 

As I looked out of the window the Lord seemed to be saying that no matter how harsh conditions are, there is always HOPE. He reminded me of my need to cling to Him just like the rose bud was clinging to that branch, and we will get through these uncertain times.

I read John 3:16 a number of years ago in the Amplified bible  - For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in, clings to, trusts in relies on him, should not perish but have everlasting life.  

That word CLING was like being glued- sticking tightly to Jesus just like this little rose bud looked glued and was sticking tightly to the branch 

In January, after prayer, I named my year REFLECTIONS and FLOURISH. I realised that first word wasn't about reflecting on what's gone - on the past - but it's reflecting on the HOPE to come - the hope in Jesus.  As I cling and hold tight to him, I also need to be a reflection of him in the days ahead. However  harsh the conditions, in Jesus, I will continue to grow and flourish 

Just Journaling

Humble journal pages

More journalling pages

My Bible Verse Journal

I've been keeping a journal of bible verses over the last few years and stopped for a while. Having all of this time during lockdown and having a good sort out I came across my journal again so thought I'd post a few of the pages I do. I am by no means an artist so these are just my simple thoughts and drawings

When Jesus Passed By

When Jesus passed by.  Have you ever wondered just what you would have done had Jesus passed by.

Jesus passed by Samaria and Galilee and entered a village and ten men's lives were changed.  They stood afar off as he came into the village.  Perhaps someone had run on ahead to say that the master was coming.  Perhaps they'd just simply come to see what he looked like or to hear him speak or maybe they'd heard about the miracles he'd done.  Ten men coming together on this particular day, at this particular hour, for such a time as this.  Ostracized by society, living on the outskirts of town, their faces marred and disfigured by the tumours.  These ten men had leprosy.  They knew only God could heal such a disease as the one they had.

Had they perhaps heard how Namaan of old was healed of leprosy by the prophet Elisha.  You can read the account in 2 kings 5.  There were very strict levitical laws surrounding leprosy. 

 Lev 13:46 says  And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean.

All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be.

These men would have known that they couldn't get too close, there would be the fear that the disease would be passed on to others, so from afar they watched.

Ten men living in conditions that would not be good, ten men who, when Jesus passed by would never be the same again.  Ten men who literally cried out to God on that road,  "Jesus, master, have mercy upon us".  Jesus did have mercy he simply looked at them and said, go and show yourself to the priests and as they went they were cleansed. 

The fear, the hurts, the tumours gone, they surely would have gone leaping and praising God at such a miracle.  But we don't hear anymore about them, did they go to the priest, the priest would have been the one who declared them clean and free of the disease.  Even though Jesus had done the healing he didn't prevent the work of the priest being done. 

Nine of these men just went on their way, changed completely because Jesus passed by but the tenth,a Samaritan, he came back to give thanks and to praise God. Now normally the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans but it didn't matter to Jesus. As the man fell at Jesus feet  Jesus said  "Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?

There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger."

And he said unto him, "Arise, go your way: your faith has made you whole".

You know friends Jesus didn't even have to touch these ten men, he only had to speak the words and today we still have those very words of Jesus that can be spoken to every disease there is .. We have his word in the bible .. Words that have been spoken to many people throughout the ages .. Go your way, your faith has made you whole.  The same words were spoken to the woman with the issue of blood in Mark 5

Here was someone else ostracised by those in the community because of her uncleanness, makes you wonder how she coped all those years.  She'd been put outside of the camp, In her need to go and fetch water from the well for her daily needs, did her friends and family cross to the other side of the road to avoid touching her.

But now today, she heard and saw the crowd,

Here was the master physician himself, hadn't she heard how he'd healed the sick.  Just earlier in the day he had cast out demons from the mad man and now he was on his way to heal the ruler of the synagogue's daughter, if only she dared, if only she dared follow and touch him, she had been treated as unclean these 12 years, oh to be free from this infirmity, this plague that had been with her all these years, oh to be like her friends and the other women in her family, to be able to feel clean again, Did she think in those moments if I can just get near, just touch the hem of his garment.  She did just that as Jesus passed by, she drew closer until she could reach out and touch the hem of his garment and immediately the issue of blood stopped.

When Jesus turned and spoke to her he didn't condemn her, didn't tell her she was unclean, didn't move to avoid her, he simply said 'daughter' your faith has made you well, go in peace and be whole from your plague.

And as As Jesus went throughout galilee preaching  ...

And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.  Here again another man cast out from society, from friends, family life having to live a life of misery having to walk around shouting unclean unclean if anyone was to cross his path.  Not only the pain of having a disease, but the pain of knowing you might not see your family again, living in conditions that not even the dogs would like. And now here he was falling to his knees in front of Jesus asking the master to heal him, to make him clean.

41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.

42 And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.

43 And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away;

44 And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

We always tell someone

Jesus passed by and this mans life was changed, no longer an outcast by society, no longer having to hide away.  He'd be able to spend time with his family tomorrow, be able to walk the road and not shout unclean. Perhaps just shout hello to the people he met. 

Whenever Jesus passed by men and women's lives were changed, the woman at the well living in sin, the young boy whose loaves and fishes fed five thousand, the woman taken in adultery about to be stoned. These people were all changed in some way when Jesus passed by. 

Some commentaries say that leprosy is a metaphor for one of the greatest diseases of all time ... That of sin ... If that's the case then we were all lepers at one time or another.

Leprosy is truly an awful disease, it's an infection that damages the nerve endings and so in time the leper feels no pain, areas on his hands and feet become numb and because of this if he hurts his foot or hand he wouldn't really know it hurt and the wound would become infected so badly that it may have to be amputated

and just as the leper cried out for God to have mercy so too have we cried out for the very same thing.  Mercy from a saviour who cleansed us and healed us from the ugliness of sin.

Jesus passed by and turned the ugliness of our life into something beautiful, we were cleansed, made whole and like the one leper who went back we too fall at the Saviour's feet, giving glory to God for the changes in our life.

 When I think of the scars of leprosy, how gross a disease it is, I am reminded of my life before Jesus passed by. 

My sin must have been as ugly as that disease, if not uglier and yet Jesus reached out as he passed by and he touched me.

Most of us can say that we were changed and our lives were never the same when Jesus passed by.  Do you know that moment in my life when I was born again is something I'll never forget. I was clean, really clean, every horrible thing I'd ever done had been washed away, every lie I'd told, every swear word I'd uttered every single thing was gone and I was clean and made whole.  The leper and the woman with the issue of blood had been told your faith has made you well. Is that what had made me whole and clean, my faith.  Well it certainly wasn't faith in anything I could do and I don't think I really had that much faith then either I just knew Jesus was who he said he was and I knew he'd forgiven me.

I think  he wants to remind us of who we were and wants us to know who we are and who we can be in him.  He came to save that which was lost.  We were lost and he found us.

He's here just waiting to touch lives once again, lives that have been marred by sin, lives that have been broken by harsh words that have hurt and scarred, lives that seem empty and unused or old and unneeded, lives that are in pain from disease, illness, addiction, lives saddened by loss, lives that are just hurting.

Today Jesus can and does still pass by, but he doesn't just pass by and do nothing, He stops and does everything. He stops and touches and changes so many lives, whatever the need. 

If you have a need don't miss out on a touch from The Saviour.

I have finally been able to access my blog again and so thought I'd start writing in these very strange and difficult times. So much of the news is scary and there's an eerie silence outside as I type and we are into our second week of lockdown.
In all of this there is one thing as a Christian I know, the Lord is going through it with us. He is and always will be in complete control  I need not fear with him by my side. He will never leave me nor forsake me (Heb 13:5) and He has not given me a spirit of fear but of power and of love and a sound mind (2 Tim 1:7).
My prayer today is that we all stay safe and look to Him who sees the beginning and the end.  

Nemo and Pictures of gold in apples of silver

Every few months I hope that I'm going to be able to blog a lot more regularly and then a few months later I'm still hoping ... and here I am today still hoping I'm going to be able to blog more.  It sometimes just seems I have too much crammed into the week to find time to blog and just recently I got myself an ipad and for a while it took over my life.  This is what I shared when I had to speak at church one Tuesday evening and I had nothing prepared, the reason being my iPad.

I haven't been prepared at all for tonight and after hearing Sue speak yesterday, I saw how things can keep us away from God and from really studying the word.  It's surprising just how quickly things can get in the way and I've found it to be so true over the last few days. You see I got myself an iPad.

I love it! I've downloaded bible apps, Christian music, games for my grandchildren to play on, word games to keep my mind fresh and alert and games for myself like tennis and bowling but then I found NEMO. 

Yes, a lovely little game for children, or so I thought.  You can help Nemo build a reef and grow algae and marine plants all in the hope of attracting little fish to the reef.  It's lovely, colourful, there's soothing music playing, the plants on the reef sway to the sound of the music and it is sooooooooo addictive.  So much so that I spent 2 hours happily growing plants and adding beautiful things to my reef and really did forget the time on Saturday.  If my grandchildren are on their ipods for any length of time I'm usually telling them they're antisocial or that it will fry their brain and make their eyes go funny .... and yet here I was hours later still building my reef.  When my grandchildren asked if they could help collect the algae I said 'yes' but then proceeded to tell them what they could not press just in case they didn't collect the right things.

For 3 days the thing uppermost in my mind had been my reef and apart from church on Sunday I realised I hadn't spent any quality time with the Lord.  In fact I hadn't spent much time with him at all, never mind quality time, and I certainly hadn't spent any time in the word.

When I realised I was speaking tonight I also realised that because of Nemo, I had nothing at all to share ... how could I, when, for the last 3 days, I had left out Him who I wanted to talk about.

As I searched for something to share my thoughts kept coming back to my iPad and I saw that it was a very useful piece of equipment but in the wrong hands it could be next to useless and not do anyone or anything any good.

A bit like with the, the word of God.  It can calm a soul, help heal the sick, bring a sinner to repentance, it's like Proverbs 16:24 says but even more so ...Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul and health to the bones.

The words of the bible are indeed health to the bones.  We need to study it's truth because even Jesus himself knew the word of God. He quoted many times from what we know as the old testament.

2 Tim2:15 says study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman not easily ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.   We need to study, to memorise it so that it goes deep into the very fibre of our being  so we can draw on the words in times of need.  

I learned some verses of scripture when I was younger and also when I was a new Christian that I can still recall today and it seemed easier to do it then, it takes me much longer to memorise now.

Our own words too can heal or harm - Proverbs 25:11 says a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.  That's a beautiful verse. 

I looked up the word 'fitly' in the dictionary and it said; in a proper or suitable manner'.

Our words, if spoken kindly or properly in a suitable manner can be like apples of gold in pictures of silver.  When I thought about this I thought that apples of gold would be costly, can you imagine golden apples, very precious and most certainly costly ... so too our words. If we use scripture then very precious indeed because Jesus himself is the word of life and he is above all, precious to those who believe.  Our own words too then need to be precious, we need to put a high price upon them and speak only good. 

Pictures of silver ...  reminded me of being pure and the refining process when it has taken place, all of the dross, the impurities have surfaced and been skimmed off to show the pure silver beneath.  Our words, just like those of Christ, ought to be pure, ought to be truth. 

John 14:6 Jesus said of himself that he was the truth ... I am the way the truth and the life ...his words were truth and all that we say must be truth too.

When his hour was come, Jesus spoke to the Father and one of the things he said in John 17:17 was Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth... He is the word of God He is truth.

Because of using my iPad the wrong way and putting it before the Lord, He really showed me that he wants me to use whatever I have to draw close to him, to put him first and in whatever I say to remember that 'A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver'.

Needless to say my reef is not the centre of my days, Nemo has been deleted and I am using my iPad as it should be used and I am enjoying listening to some of the wonderful Christian music I have downloaded.

Zoe Challenge - Hope for Justice

This was the month of the Zoe Challenge with Hope for Justice (check out their web site).

 

Hope for Justice exists to see the end of human trafficking and slavery in the UK, in our generation. 

 

This group of guys are cycling from Latvia to Southampton - they hit the UK today - day 16 -  and have 4 days of cycling still ahead of them before they can rest.  They have gone through so much to raise money so that people like Zoe can be set free.   Take a look at the web site or check out their facebook page by typing Hope for Justice into the search box.

 

http://vimeo.com/67104952

 

The Source Youth Club decided to to help - HOW? by doing a sponsored exercise bike ride covering the 345miles of the UK leg of the journey. 

 

We are a small church with a big heart.  Our Youth Club, made up of young people from the community, who are not particularly church goers, cycled, sponsored, baked cakes, painted nails, and cheered on others who were cycling during a 2 hour youth club session and a 4 hour Zoe Challenge event.  They gave up their time and raised over £800 to help end Human trafficking.  I'm not able to put pics of the young people on here but here are some of the leaders of the Youth Club and also the Act for Justice team all doing there bit.

 

Please support this fantastic charity and if you can give please go to facebook or the web site and see what these amazing guys have gone through in their  bid to end Human Trafficking and to make your donation.  It isn'tjust happening in the UK it's in your country too. Thanks

 

Mark and Ruth (leaders of Act for Justice, Cannock) about to start the group off on their sponsored exercise bike ride.

Jean doing her 5 miles

Gary and Ruth (leader of the Source Youth Club) doing their bit

Gary and Mark still cycling

Pastor John happy to be taking part



Ruth has had her nails painted inbetween cycling

Keith giving Vikki a few words of encouragement

Rebekah feeling the heat

Andy having a great time

'We're just about there Ruth, keep going' says Mark



Ruth knows we've made the 345 miles

Source Youth Club leaders -we made it and we're still smiling



Yeah we did it - Act for Justice Team



Sandra (Pastor's wife) came along to encourage and help serve the tea and cake

Mary, Chris, Marlene and Gary enjoying the tea and cakes

Marlene and Gary came along to cheer everyone on


I know I speak for everyone when I say a Huge Thank you to all who took part, especially to the young people who gave their time and, a special thanks to Josh, Sasha, Olivia, Hannah, Steven, Elliot, Tom, Joe, Shannon Charlie, and a whole host of others.  Thanks everyone.  

Just Waiting

I happened upon the blog of a young Christian friend of mine today and what I read inspired me greatly.

 

A  favourite verse in the bible is Psalm 27:14 Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait I say, on the Lord.

 

I read on my friends blog that when things are hardest and our energy is gone and we're tired and weak and feel that the battle is at it's worst, then we know we're nearest the end.

 

It's been like that for me over these last few months.  I've prayed but don't seem to be seeing the answer to any of my prayers.  I have felt some days that I am in the midst of the battle and that it will never end but reading this today has spurred me on.  Spurred me on to be steadfast in my prayer for the situation my family is going through.  You see my friend went on to say that when we feel there's nothing left of us to give, there is because inside us dwells the fulness of Christ and that he gives us the strength to keep going. 

 

In all that's happened, I have forgotten the one thing I often tell others to do.  'Wait on the Lord, be of good courage and he shall strengthen thine heart, wait I say on the Lord'.  How could I forget to wait on Him, forget that in me all the fulness of Christ dwells.  He is my strength, when I am weak, he is strong, when there seems to be no hope, he is my hope.  When I am in the midst of the battle he is right there with me.  In Him, I can do all things and that means not giving up.  My friend said she was waiting on God and I am waiting too.  I am waiting to see how he answers my prayer, I am waiting to see how he brings about the desire of my heart as I delight myself in him.

 

I have so many people that are praying with me that are praying Matthew 18:19 with me

Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven

 

We don't much like the trials that come our way but as my friend said, if we don't have them how can we ever start to be purified into His likeness.  My God is an awesome God, he has not once left me alone to face the trials, not once has he left me to go into the battle alone and I know without a shadow of a doubt that he will bring to pass all that is right, as I wait on Him.

 

He cares about each little detail in what's going on around me and I will quite simply WAIT ON HIM.