A PRAYER Pexels.com
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.
Great is Your faithfulness!
Lamentations 3:22-23
A-men.
May this flow over your life this day and during the week ahead.
PEACE!
A-men and A-men!
An image that inspires imagination
Life is in the breath we breathe and moments of wonder that seem to take this breath away, bring bursts of JOY.
What beauty will you SEE today…….either outside or in a book or calendar, in the face of a child or………. ???????????? A gentle mid-week thought.
PEACE!
In the midst of a chaotic world.
When shredding of values or lifestyles etc threatens to damage the very fabric of family life and society as a WHOLE
Different ideologies, political correctness defying even human logic, different lifestyles, violence and money, sport and achievements being idealized as the most ‘desirable’ attainments even at the extent of character and pursuit of beauty and quality.
What have we been called to be and do?
When Jesus Christ died and cut a New Covenant at Calvary, He said:
‘A new commandment I now give to you. You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, mind and spirit and you must love YOUR NEIGHBOUR as you love yourself.’
Who is our neighbour? The rest of humanity…….even if they are our enemies.
The Christian Church has failed much in past generations but NOW when the very fabric of society is becoming more and more chaotic and the Word (The bible is also viewed as being ‘fluid’ ie ……….able to be changed at the will of people to conform to their society’ not society conform to the Word…… this then means we must be”
CONSISTENT LOVE………….
LOVE TANGIBLE AND REAL IN ALL OUR LIFE.
Not OUR love BUT GOD’s Divine Love…..revealed in us.
We cannot compromise to societal ideologies and waxing and waning…….We must be free to HATE the things impinging on society but walk on knowing we must LOVE THE PEOPLE. LOVE and PRAY for ‘better’ in the lives of ALL.
Jesus also left a legacy,
John 14:27
My Peace I leave with you……..Not as this world can give. But, My PEACE.
BE STILL AND KNOW!
Blessings this day. A-men.
A -Thought to Ponder
Happiness, Joy and Oil of Gladness – similar but in many ways profoundly different.
In our town we have a new-age shop which specialises in massage, crystals, fortune-telling and various types of meditations. It has a street sign which reads. COME INSIDE AND WE WILL HELP YOU FIND YOUR INNER HAPPINESS.
My personal experience of happiness is not something which can be found . It is a by-product of being ‘content with my circumstances’ and ceasing to ‘struggle’ with the stuff I cannot change.
Joy the precious Gift of the Holy Spirit also can never be manufactured or artificially produced. It is the unexpected bubble which takes you by surprise even in the midst of difficult circumstances.
Then, thinking of the Oil of Gladness the scripture in Hebrews 1v 9 says:- Of Jesus Christ in His sinless perfection….You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness, Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the Oil of Gladness more than Your companions..
Should any of us desire to be anointed similarly. I know we can be anointed with oil for ‘healing’ . I am also sure that Oil in massage can be an aid to injury and ‘stress’
In our lives, we will constantly fall short of the PERFECTION of absolute righteousness and Holiness.
In that context I have come to believe that the OIL OF GLADNESS IS symbolic of absolute Holiness and Deity. It is about CHRIST. From Him and His font alone can flow gladness. (It has high restrictions…..is absolute righteousness and total allegiance to Him. ) This is the Way we walk. This side of eternity never there but one step at a time. repenting, journeying and living.
What think you?
Blessings and Grace.!
Something to think about.
I read an inspiring story this week about a young man who had a very serious accident. His previous life was out in the wilds and he loved to mountain climb particularly on dangerous and difficult paths.
A car accident left him severely disabled. He could barely walk and that only slowly and carefully. He knew recovery and achieving personal goals could only be obtained by effort. This he did and gradually his strength returned. His story however is not just about mountain climbing. He also made the comment…..”It is the same about my relationship with my Saviour Lord. I need to make an effort to improve this relationship with Him. ‘ The end of this man’s story was not that he ever again climbed the highest mountain. He did achieve many mountaineering goals.
He found a spiritual TRUTH. This is my TRUTH also. The greatest mountains in life you can aspire to when spiritual also require effort. (not physical but in a discipline of desire). ‘I want to know my Lord, More, I want to be CLOSER and CLOSER. ‘ This is about relationship. Then the mountains we can climb and the places we can soar are not achieved by our own WILL or STRUGGLE. Its a God Gift!.
Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
Isa. 40v31
Rest and Surrender..(living with and in Him) ……..Oh how glorious are the possibilities!
Good Morning!
Yesterday we went to town. All the stamped mail, including newsletters, worked on diligently ‘to complete on time’, were left behind.
The frustration of feeling personal incompetence was acute. We would not be back at the main Post Office for several days. “letting it go” is a great lesson at times like these, but not always easy to actually live.
Then, this morning David took a photo on his mobile phone of light changes on what is our backyard view of country.
The rain guage, often unnoticed on its perch several metres from the house on a gentle rocky escarpment, suddenly looked very different. My heart soared!
Stuff in life so much ‘stuff’ is not significantly important. This reminder today to me is that we must always look for Light and look for beauty and it will be found. Working and failing but ‘letting go’ of what we can’t change and finding something ‘better’ is a challenge for us all.
Peace to you as you grapple with your frustrations big and small.
Good Morning!
Something to think about in this new week.
Memories
Seek the Lord and His Strength, seek His Presence continually. Remember the wonderful works He has done, His Miracles. 1 Chron:16:11-12 NRSV.
Remembering is a wonderful human emotion. What amazing memories we can choose to think upon when life is a struggle. Wonders, joy, and moments of incredible Grace and beauty bring with them both Peace and Hope for ‘better’.
Time of reflection, quietness and prayer are vital to quality of life……ever SEEKING for Higher.
Blessings and Peace to you in this week!
Good Morning! – An unexpected and unplanned blog.
This week for me began with high hopes and a positive attitude and Joy and Strength of God propelled me forward.
Grateful for healing and for past valleys I set out looking forward to gentle ongoing recovery and ‘life’. Not to be. I had a medical check up – all fine – and a Pneumonia and Flu injection. Also blood samples taken at request of my Eye specialist. My arm became hot, heavy and swollen during the night . I also had an injection in my eye the next day so midway through the week found me with a heavy useless left arm and difficulty ‘seeing’ through the right eye. This was not conducive to the JOY of God being my strength.
Then I revisited my doctor. She was so kind, and sympathetic and voiced my own inner thought…….not fair! not fair! More silly stuff yet in no way (gratitude to God..life threatening).
Inside Grumpy, Grouchy emerged but when the Doctor gave me a hug and compassionately said ‘You are still smiling, Darling. What an encouragement you are to me.” a lot of ‘self-focus’ disintegrated. What a sham! Smiling on the outside but wanting to smash something on the inside. That’s Grace!
Then, one by one other gentle images of Grace occurred. At the clinic where David had to go for a physio appointment, there was a huge picture on the front desk. A baby kangaroo was carefully opening its mother’s pouch before climbing back inside. The expressions on both baby and mother were so realistic and tender, I was heart stirred.
On the back wall was a sign …..’Please only bring JOY when you visit here’. I looked at the receptionist and she gave me a ‘thumbs’ up when I said to her……’The joy of the Lord is our Strength’. To have a faith connection in that place was a real Gift of Grace and I returned home to sitting with an arm wrapped in a frozen block, wearing sunglasses and praying for our granddaughter who had been admitted to hospital with appendicitis.
Not the week I had imagined and I feel for so many of you – It has probably been similar. My prayer then for us all is that we will simply one foot at a time go ‘onwards’ ever looking ‘upwards’ for future Hope.
Blessings! and Peace! to each one.
I like bananas.
Give thanks today for all the unknown blessings already on their way. This quote is apparently from a Native American Proverb.
May JOY ………….a powerful and wonderful Fruit of the Holy Spirit surprise you today to bring unexpected Peace, Hope. and LIFE.
‘The joy of the Lord is our Strength!’ Neh.8v10.
Good Morning!
The marriage of Prince Harry and Megan, actor, American, of mixed race and with all the usual pomp, splendour and pageantry of a ‘royal’ wedding occurred on Saturday May 19th, 2018. Just another royal wedding? For those with eyes to SEE, ears to HEAR and hearts to be truly receptive this day should be REMEMBERED.
FIRE and ICE.
Kingdom of God – Kingdoms of mankind.
In every way this was a beautiful wedding. Like thousands of people around the world I marvelled at the pageantry, the absolute beauty of what only the British are able to do when it comes to splendour and pomp. People in the street responded. I personally loved every moment of it. It was a glorious day. The streets and the people were happy and millions around the world were focussing on this ONE OCCASION.
The marriage in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor proceeded with its traditional beauty, rituals of ‘holiness’ and ‘rightness’. Everything progressed smoothly, organised and precisely programmed. The Anglican Archbishop and the Dean spoke on sanctity of marriage and mentioned the ‘unique’ and unusual joining of these two young persons (from very different backgrounds when joined could together be a new vehicle of change in the world by their recognised authority and status.). The Archbishop then invited the Archbishop from the American Episcopalian church to speak.
His face when he came to the podium was radiant. It was obvious to all who had eyes to ‘see’ beyond the ethnicity of the man (ie is an African/American) the light on his face was of the Spirit of God.
He spoke with such power, authority and deep, deep, conviction many of the faces in the congregation were held in ‘rapt’ astonished fascination. He spoke about the redemptive POWER of LOVE and the absolute need for this love to sweep the entirety of our world. He spoke from the book of Solomon and quoted from Martin Luther King on a few occasions. He looked at the young couple and said they could go on to be symbolic of what redemptive love is all about but first………Everyone must LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH YOUR WHOLE HEART, MIND,SOUL, SPIRIT AND BODY…..and then, then. love yourself and LOVE THE PEOPLE OF THIS WORLD WITH THIS LOVE.
In that place where it was usually not ‘seemly’ to be passionate about things. “stiff upper lip” your courage. when something happened. expressions on many faces changed. Dawning on many faces seemed to show what we should be as CHRISTIANS suddenly registered.
Some remained ‘shocked’. (Others had a look like …..this is a trifle unseemly.)
The bride and groom appeared gently contented and smiled. An American gospel choir then sang STAND BY ME. The music of Handel. and violin pieces played by a gifted musician streamed around the church followed after by what usually occurs at such special occasions.
But…….but…. I am left with the strong heart conviction that God spoke through that man in that place……beamed to millions around the world………LISTEN! listen!
The message for our day is clear. One God, One Kingdom, all must accept the REDEMPTIVE POWER of LOVE……..(found only at the CROSS of Christ).
Wow! Something to think about as this new week progresses.
PEACE!
Another fire and ice image …when the two meet real change IS possible.
