The road is open

 

On my way to work I pass a place where they're building a new house estate.  The other day the road through the estate was open for the first time.  At work someone said they felt that 'the road is open' was a word from God for someone.  Over the following few days, I felt God was reminding me that the road to Him is open.  He sent His son Jesus to open that road. However, I let so many different things block me from taking that road.  With me it is often a sense of unworthiness or shame over my lack of love for God that makes me feel like I might not be welcome. 

Then one evening my son got himself in a real state about his homework and ended up walking out the front door and sitting on the front step with his coat over his head.  I came outside and crouched beside him.  I just kept saying 'I love you.  Please come inside' and praying in tongues for him.  As I crouched there, I was just longing for him to come back in the house, to let me hug him and help him.   It struck me that this is what God is like.  He says, "I love you. Please come inside.  The road to me is open." 

I don't know what is holding you back from coming to God today, but He loves you as His own child.  He longs for you to come to Him.  The road is open. 

God's job offer to you

We moved to Southampton during the summer - a bit of a step of faith as neither of us had jobs down here yet.  At first, we were so thankful for the blessing of time to get the house sorted and settle in without also having to dive into a new job.  But over time - and a few rejections later - it became harder to keep my eyes on God and trust Him to provide for us. 

I've filled in lots of application forms and had a few interviews and this morning during my morning time with God, this came to me:

God's Job Offer to You

Position:  child of the King

Title:  Beloved

Salary:  every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus

Length of contract:  eternal, permanent, irrevocable

Hours: every moment of every day for the rest of your life

References:  not needed - He knows about every day of your life already

Responsibilities:

• accept the position
• receive His love for you
• trust His promises
• believe you are loved
• let yourself be who He made you to be, not who others tell you you should be
• stay close enough to God so that you can hear His heart beat and He can hear yours
• listen out for His voice which can come at any time of day or night - usually when you most need it

Benefits in kind:

• an eternal dwelling prepared for you
• treasure that is eternally secure
• the presence of Holy Spirit
• love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control
• many others too numerous to be listed here but which will be revealed to you day by day should you accept the role

Closing date:  none

Now there's a job offer I cannot refuse.  

Psalm 139 for the digital age

 I was reading Psalm 139 and this version just sort of came to me.

Sharing it for fun and also in the hope that it encourages (and challenges) you that God is with you whenever you are online and not just in 'real' life. 

O Lord you have searched me and you know me  - 

even better than Google

You know when I scroll and when I pause,

You perceive my ‘like’s from afar.

You discern me finding new apps and using old ones

You are familiar with all my browsing history.

Before I’ve typed a comment, you know it completely O Lord.

You are like a firewall around me—

whether I’m on my phone or my computer.

You have laid your hand like a protecting antivirus on me.

Modern technology  is too complicated for me, 

too technical for me to attain.

Where can I go from your tracking device?

Where can I flee from your key logger?

If I go on an incognito browser, you are there

If I browse the dark web, you are there

If I use websites from the far side of the sea, 

using google translate to help me

Even there you will guide me,

Your right hand will be on mine on the mouse

If I go online in the middle of the night, 

when it is dark and no one sees me

Even that won’t stop you being right

there, seeing all I do.

For you created every part of me and each and every person

You have seen the creation of each part of the internet.

You know how it all got joined together 

right from the beginning when no one had heard of it.

I praise You for the skill and wisdom you gave us 

to create technology with so much potential for good.

But Your creations are far more complex and wonderful—

the web of nerve cells linking our whole body

Nothing is hidden from You—not how I work 

or how any device or machine works.

You foresaw all this happening 

and knew the full code of every program before anyone typed ‘Run’

How precious it is that You not only think about all these things, 

but that You also think about me.

Your thoughts outnumber the facts on the internet.

Whether I have wifi or not, I am always connected to You.

O Lord, stop these technologies being used for evil—

for crime, abuse and greed. 

Do not let wicked people succeed in their schemes.

Search my browsing history, know my app usage, 

test me and see my hidden purchases.

See if there is anything dishonouring to You

And lead me to use technology in ways that have eternal  benefit. 

Amen

 

 

Bringing my 'to do' list to Jesus

I have a lot in common with my hamsters.  

I do a lot of running around, but I don't always get anywhere. 

I can sometimes feel like if I'm not exhausted then I've not been trying hard enough. Maybe some of you can relate. 

This morning I felt draw to the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42.  I tried to read it slowly and see what God wanted to show me. 

It says 'a woman named Martha opened her home to [Jesus]' in verse 38.

This reminded me of the teaching Jesus gave on the sheep and goats in Matthew 25:35 where he describes the evidence of those who are true believers: 'you gave me something to eat . . . and you gave me something to drink . . .  and you invited me in'. 

Martha's heart was to love and serve Jesus. She was truly His.

Her sister Mary also truly loved Jesus and was His.  Her love for Him expressed itself in sitting at the Lord's feet listening to what he said (verse 39). She just wanted to be with Him, to worship Him, to drink in His words.  Her devotion was expressed by simply spending time with Him - giving Him her undivided attention.  

Martha's love for Jesus was expressed in service.  Verse 40 says that the preparations 'had to be made'. It was important and necessary to feed Jesus and his disciples. It was a valid way to express love for Him. It was good. 

What was wrong was her resentful attitude that Mary wasn't helping, and her sense of superiority about her own choices.  She felt that she was doing what was right by rushing around busily, whilst Mary was 'lazy'. Martha was judgemental of her sister.  

She also tried to publicly shame her. Rather than quietly whispering to Mary, "I could really do with a hand," she went to Jesus, who would have had everyone's attention.  Everyone would listen to His response and be guided by how He responded. 

Martha wanted to be publicly validated for what she was doing and her sister publicly reprimanded and shown to be 'lesser' or inferior.

Jesus saw straight into Martha's heart. He said, "You are worried and upset about many things."  He could see that this wasn't the only thing Martha was worked up about; it was one of many. Perhaps Mary not helping at this point was the final straw; the final irritation that released a whole dam of frustration and revealed the true state of her heart.

Martha was not casting her cares on Jesus here. She was asking him to validate her cares; to say she was right to be worked up about this situation. 

How humbling. Because Martha sought Jesus' approval publicly, she had to endure his rebuke publicly. 

Jesus starts by saying her name twice.  

Oh the love He expressed as He said her name. 

Oh the longing in His heart for her to be set free from her wrong attitude. 

Oh the kindness and gentleness with which He told her that He knew. He saw. He understood the 'many things' in her heart that were worrying and upsetting her.  

Oh the grace with which He pointed her to what her soul really needed.

There were so many things that needed to be done.  So many things other people were doing or not doing that were stealing Martha's peace.  Jesus cut through her priority list, her judgment call as to what was really needed.   

The bottom line is, no matter what is on your 'to do' list today, only one thing is really needed. 

That is to sit at Jesus' feet. Not performing for Him. Not achieving a spiritual 'to do' list of reading a number of chapters or going through a prayer list. 

Still yourself enough to hear Him speak.  

Yes, read His Word - but only to listen to His heart speak to Yours.  Not to earn favour or to feel pride in your accomplishment 'for Him'.  

Yes, pray - but not 'empty words' of duty; but truly, honestly opening up the mess of your heart to Him.  Because He knows it all already anyway!!

How many days I rush into my 'to do' lists, telling God I'll squeeze Him in when everything else is done.  But it never is. 

There are always more jobs to do. 

This is what I am starting to learn to do:

Lay your 'to do' list at His feet first thing in the morning. 

Ask Him what's on His list for the day.  

Here's His first answer:

'Spend some time with me.'

'Listen, listen to Me that your soul may live' (Isaiah 55:3)

'Receive my love'

Sometimes He shows me I have things on my list that don't need to be there.

Sometimes He prompts me about things I wasn't planning to do.

When I get that right - spending time with Him - first thing, it's amazing how I manage to accomplish things that matter with the rest of my day too. 

Thank you Jesus for what you have shown me in your word. Help me and my friends make this our habit - to lay our 'to do' lists before You each day and spend a few moments sitting at Your feet. Amen.

 

God's laundry basket

 

"Seek the Lord while he may be found;  call on him while he is near.  Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts.   Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon."  (Isaiah 55: 7-8)

I used to read this with fear.  Maybe it was already too late.  Maybe I've already messed up too many times.  I've read too much of the Bible to be allowed to get away with my poor behaviour.   

But now I read it in a different light.  'While he may be found' is any time that we are alive.  This is the opportunity we all have in our lives.  It is a promise - when we repent and turn to the Lord, he WILL have mercy on us.  He will FREELY pardon.  

Repentance looks like forsaking the things we've been doing.  It's not just saying sorry and carrying on.  However, when we do turn to Him in repentance, the promise of pardon is certain.

God is looking for us to turn to him because He wants and wills to have mercy and to pardon us. 

It got me thinking about my laundry basket.  My kids clothes get dirty.  I expect them to get dirty.  It's part of living and doing things.  I don't get mad at them for having dirty clothes (unless they spill something down their front just as we are about to walk out the door!).  

What does get me annoyed is when they don't put their dirty clothes in the wash but just let them build up in their rooms in heaps on the floor. 

My job as mum is to wash the dirty clothes. I go to the laundry basket, take the clothes from there, wash them, dry them, sort them and return them to the right rooms.  Everyone else's job is simply to get their dirty clothes to the wash basket.  Not much to ask you might think!  But somehow they find it surprisingly difficult.

It struck me that we're a bit like that with sin.  God is saying, "Bring your sin to me.  I will freely pardon.  I will wash them so that they are as white as snow."  But we let the sins heap up in our lives.  We kick them in a heap behind the door and try to forget about them.

God is offering us pure white shining robes of righteousness, bought at the price of Jesus' blood.  Don't walk around in dirty clothes. Don't let sin pile up in your heart.   Bring it to Him.  He'll do the rest. 

Who are you stuck behind?

 

Yesterday morning my daughter Charlotte was ready for school early.  

"Wow! How did that happen?" I asked.

"It's because of Peter!" she replied.

Peter had bounced out of bed on the dot of 7am.  He'd efficiently done all his jobs and helped the rest of us with ours and got himself ready for school in super quick time.  His motivation?  He wanted to look something up about a computer game and knew he would only be allowed to do it if he was all ready for school with enough time to spare.  And because he was up and being efficient, somehow it rubbed off on the rest of us and we all found ourselves ready early too!  

It reminded me of a joke where a man arrived to work late and his boss asked, "Why are you late?"  He replied, "Sorry, I was stuck behind a tractor."  The next day he arrived to work early and his boss asked, "How come you are early today?"  The reply came, "Oh, this morning I was stuck behind a Ferrari!"

I thought about how birds fly in a V formation because it's easier to fly just behind another bird.  My husband tells me cyclists do it too - cycling in the other person's slipstream makes your ride easier. 

This got me thinking about how we influence one another and also how we are influenced by the things we watch, read and listen to.   I heard a preacher a number of years ago talking about how each film you watch 'takes you on a journey' that influences and colours you - just a little, but all those 'just a little's add up over time.  

So I reflected - who am I 'stuck behind'?   And what is it like for others who are 'stuck behind' me?

It made me want to be more intentional about what I let influence me.  

There are so many ways to do this. When I want to be inspired and strengthened in my spiritual walk, I read the blogs of people who point me in the right direction.  I love biographies and autobiographies that flesh out what following Christ looked like for that person.  You can use apps and social media to keep bringing things in front of you that point you back to God.  There are YouTube videos, podcasts, radio and TV stations and no end of other ways to connect with Christian encouragement - especially now all our churches have begun putting their services online. In the past year I've found an app that has really helped me listen to scripture too.  Nothing like hearing the message straight from God Himself!

So what could be a model, example, encouragement, inspiration to you today in your spiritual walk?  

And maybe you could share something - in a message, in person, on social media?  - that might encourage someone else?  If you find something encouraging or helpful, chances are someone else will too.  

'Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today.' Hebrews 3:13

Let's help one another fly further and higher!

A feast with Jesus

The other day I was reading in Mark 14 the story where Jesus sends his disciples to get the Passover meal ready, which was to be his last meal with them on earth.   He gives them instructions of how to find the house and tells them that the owner of the house 'will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready.' (verse 15).  

When I read that I started to wonder about this owner and his family and how come he had a large room, all ready for Jesus to use. 

I thought about Passover, and how all the Jews would be celebrating it on the same day.  They would all be gathering together with family to eat this special meal together.   My guess is that large rooms were at a premium.  

I imagined the owner of the house and his wife.  He must have been reasonably well off to have a large room upstairs that could just be used for entertaining.   I imagined his wife planning who she would invite, the decorations, menu and seating plan.  Then I imagined God just whispering to the owner's heart, "I have another use for your room.  Don't use it for your own Passover celebrations.  Just keep it free. You'll see why later."

I imagined him telling this to his wife and her possible reaction - indignation, frustration, incomprehension, even scorn maybe?  I imagined her protesting, "But where will we eat?  Just down in the kitchen like an ordinary meal?  How will that make it special?  I was going to invite your brother and his family - they won't be able to squeeze in to our kitchen!  What is God going to use it for?  Is it just going to sit empty? You're crazy!  What am I going to say to my friends! I'm never going to live this one down."

As with all true offerings to the Lord of significance, I believe there was a cost and a spiritual battle that owner had to fight to obey that word and keep that room free without knowing what for.  He would have looked like a fool.  But God greatly honours those who are prepared to look like fools for Him. 

And when Jesus' disciples turned up at his house?  That's when God whispered to his heart, "This is it. Say yes."  And he did.  What an honour.  What a privilege. He got to offer Jesus his best room in which to eat his last meal on earth.

Then I imagined meeting this man in heaven.  I imagined how he would be boasting, "Did you know, it was my house Jesus ate his last meal at!?"  I imagined if I were him, that would be the thing I was most proud of; most glad I had done in obedience to the Lord. 

And God has honoured him by this mention of him in Scripture, read by millions 'wherever the gospel is preached'. 

I thought, "I wish I could somehow do something like that for Jesus."  And immediately God said, "You can." And he reminded me of this verse:

Revelation 3:20 (The Passion Translation) "Behold, I'm standing at the door, knocking. If your heart is open to hear my voice and you open the door within, I will come in to you and feast with you, and you will feast with me."

I realised, I do actually have an opportunity to offer Jesus a room to eat in. In fact, he wants to eat with me!  My heart is that room, and he waits for me to make it available for him. 

So, I want, when I meet that owner of that house in Heaven, to be able to say back to him, "How wonderful! What a privilege!  I made the room of my heart available to him also, and we ate together every day.  It was the most wonderful privilege of my life." 

My prayer for myself and you today is that we will walk through today with our hearts open to His whisper as to how He wants to use the 'room' we have in our hearts today.  

Lord Jesus, please come in. Please feast with me in my heart today. Amen.  

God's love is everywhere

 

I was going for a walk this morning, when I caught sight of this petal that had got caught on another plant that was sticking out into the path.  The pink petal looked just like a pale little heart and immediately it made me think of God saying "I love you."   I stopped to take a photo and as I looked I saw that there were actually loads of heart shaped petals on the ground that I'd been walking over, not taking any notice of. 

It made me stop and think - how often am I walking over expressions of God's love without even really realising it or thinking about it? 

God's love for us is 'hidden in plain sight' all around us, if only we would stop and look. 

The petals came from these beautiful flowers.  The heart shape of the petals is more hidden while they are still on the plant, but it is still there.  

I just encourage you today to stop for a moment and look around you for evidence of God's love.   I guarantee you will find some! 

The trust is the help

Psalm 28:7

The Lord is my strength and my shield;
My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore my heart greatly rejoices,
And with my song I will praise Him.

I came across this verse the other day and was turning it into a prayer. 

So I prayed: "God you are my strength.  You are my shield.  I trust in You."

And as I prayed I committed a particular situation to God and chose to put my trust in Him about it. 

I felt a real release and sense of a burden lifted. 

Then I came across the next part: "and I am helped"

At first it felt like the deal was: I trust in God and then He helps me i.e. He will then do something that will change the situation and be helpful. 

But then I realised that I had already been helped.  Actually putting my trust in God was the thing that helped me! 

The situation hadn't changed, just my perspective on it. 

I basically recognised that God is in charge and that I couldn't sort it.  I reminded myself that He is good and He loves me.  He knows everything about the situation and He is able to do whatever is for the best in this situation. 

And then the final part of the verse is also the natural consequence of trusting God - 'Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him.'

When you truly trust God, you can rejoice, even when the circumstances haven't changed. 

I realised the importance of rejoicing and praising God, and singing even when I'm still in the middle of the challenge.  

God is good.  Put your trust in Him and see what He will do in your heart!! 

It's okay to be you - God made you on purpose

So often I listen to a great speaker or read a great book or hear about someone doing something amazing and think "Wow, if only I was a good enough Christian I would be like them."

It's easy to think that great leaders, speakers, writers, evangelists etc have somehow 'earned' their position by their effort.  This is not to belittle their effort, obedience and faith.  But unless God called them to the job, they couldn't do it.  

Joseph in prison couldn't make himself ruler of Egypt.  He just faithfully served in whatever ways he could in his circumstances. 

As Jesus travelled around, the Bible mentions some women by name who went along and helped meet his needs.  But some of them are just referred to as 'and the other women; and we know nothing more about them.  

Were they fulfilling God's call on their lives? Yes!  

Was their call to be famous? No!  

Was their work and service important and significant in God's eyes? Yes!

The widow with two mites is famous, although we don't know her name. God honoured her in this way because the rest of her life was lived loving and trusting God and all of that lead to the moment that is recorded in Scripture.  

Yet how many other widows have there been that have never had their story told down here but will receive great reward and recognition in Heaven because of their great faith, trust, love and service of the Lord in the small unseen things He called them to. 

I'm realising I need to stop seeing Christian leaders as 'better' than 'ordinary' Christians.  Christian leaders are simply Christians following God's calling for them to be leaders.  But God does not call all 'good' Christians to be leaders.  

Christian leaders didn't earn or deserve the 'right' to their position.

Paul says at the beginning of Ephesians:

'This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.' Ephesians 1:1

What he's saying is: I didn't choose to be an apostle.  It is what God chose for me. 

Some of the mostly godly women I know have no position of leadership but humbly, quietly serve the Lord in many hidden and unseen ways.

God wants people in all different situations of life to be able to minister to all sorts of different people.

Don't strive for a 'better' calling.  Accept the gifts, limitations and situations God has given you for now and serve Him in that. 

When God told Samuel to anoint Saul as king, Saul was looking for his father's donkeys. In fact he'd spent three days looking and was at the point of giving up trying to find them.  Not exactly thrilling stuff.  But when God decided Saul would be king, God gave Saul the anointing and gifting to the king:

1 Samuel 10:6-9  'The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you . . . you will be changed into a different person . . . do whatever your hand finds to do for God is with you . . . God changed Saul's heart.' 

God called Saul.  He gave Saul his Holy Spirit.  He changed Saul's heart.  

Saul's part?  'Do whatever your hand finds to do'

Don't try to be someone you're not.  Accept the calling, anointing, equipping and provision God has given you for the place you are in right now and situation you are in.  Just do what God gives you to do.  Serve Him faithfully in that.  

When it is His right timing, He will lead you to the next thing. 

David was anointed as king but it was 15 very tough years before he actually became king.  He demonstrated his understanding of God's calling on his life because he did nothing to try to make himself become king.  He just tried to keep serving God and trusting Him through all the things that happened. 

What is my calling?  It can be many different things, but this is true for us all:

Trust Him in the situation you are in.

Praise Him in the situation you are in.

Serve Him in the situation you are in. 

Let Him lead you on the paths He has for your life. It's ok to be you. 

 Psalm 23: 3

'He leads me along paths of righteousness for His Name's sake.'

Waking up in the middle of an overly familiar verse.

 

When you first start learning to play scales on the piano, you start with the easiest scale - C major. It's the one with no sharps or flats.  Just the white notes.  It's easy.

But actually, by the time I got to Grade 8, I used to find it the hardest.  Why?  Because it was so hard to actually stay awake and concentrating while you did it.  You just fell asleep in a sea of white notes and would 'wake up' with no idea if you had done two octaves or three yet or whether you were remotely on track to finish with your thumb on the final note. 

It can be the same with certain verses of the Bible too.  Do you know the ones I mean? 

The ones you've heard a MILLION times.

They are so familiar that you can barely even stay awake as you read them - 'For God so loved . . . '  - and you zone out because you can't believe there's anything new to hear.  It sounds terrible but it's true. 

This morning I felt like I 'woke up' in the middle of a familiar verse.  And I realised I'd been getting it so wrong for so many years.  

Here is my old 'soundtrack' or 'internal commentary' on Matthew 6:33

'Seek first' - It's hard work Claire. You've got to put the effort in. It's really down to you to try hard enough.  You've got to make this happen.

'the kingdom of God'  - Well this is about people being saved, so I must do evangelism and bring people to church and feel guilty about all the people I've not converted or tried to convert.  I'm really not trying hard enough here.

'His righteousness' - Basically I've got to try really hard to be as good as Jesus.  Which I will definitely fail at. So my duty then becomes to feel guilty about this and beat myself up about it sufficiently to hopefully please God that at least I'm sorry about it. 

'all these things will be added to you' - This means you get a nice, easy, comfortable life with no stresses or difficulties.  This means you will always feel content and cheerful because things will go your way.  If I don't experience this then it's because I'm not doing the first part right. 

THEN GOD DONKED ME ON THE HEAD WITH A LARGE STICK (metaphorically speaking) and gently suggested that this verse actually means this:

'seek first the kingdom of God' - Let go of trying to be your own king and run your own life. Just seek God Himself and let His wisdom guide you. Stop trying to be the boss and make it happen. Just ask Him to be Your King and teach you how to live His way.  His way is generally better!

'and His righteousness'- Actually Jesus offers us HIS righteousness as a FREE gift.  Lay your sins down at the cross.  Ask Him to forgive and cleanse you. And RECEIVE the incredible robe of righteousness He bought for you at the cross.  You don't have to earn it. You don't have to deserve it. Let yourself be forgiven and live in the joy and peace of that. 

'all these things will be added' - Let God pick what things HE wants to add to your life.   His choices are better than ours. Always. 

Thank you God that it's really all about what You do for me.  Help me live in the joy and freedom of that truth. Amen. 

Enoughness

 

    Sometimes new words get added to a family's vocabulary.  Like this summer, meeting up with another family, they encouraged their children to do an 'adventure wee' behind a tree while we were out on a walk in the woods.  We loved this fun, upbeat description and have adopted it for ourselves as well.

    But that is not what this post is about.  I just thought I'd share in case you liked it as well and want to adopt it too! 

   ANYWAY.  I digress.

    Our family runs on hugs.  We are a very 'huggy' family. There has been a lot of change and uncertainty around over these past few months. And we have all needed more hugs more than usual.  

    One day my daughter came to me, feeling down and not really knowing what to do with herself. 

    "I know what the matter is!" I declared, "You have a serious case of 'hugged-not-enoughness'. But it's ok, because I know the remedy."  And she laughed and we hugged and enjoyed some close mummy-daughter time. 

    Anyway, she loved this little phrase and it stuck and so now she will come to me and say, "Mum, I've got hugged-not-enough-ness!" And I'll sigh and say, "Oh dear, not again.  We'd better do something about that."

    My son thought he could adapt it the other day and came to me declaring, "Mum, I have 'screen-time-not-enough-ness." 

    "Nice try, " I replied, "However I think it is rather the closely related disease 'screen-time-too-much-ness'." Which was not the answer he was hoping for. 

    ANYWAY.  I digress again!

    This morning I was reading Romans 10:2-4 (The Passion Translation):

    "although they are deeply devoted to God . . . they've ignored the righteousness God gives, wanting instead to be acceptable to God because of their own works . . . For Christ is the end of the law. And because of him, God has transferred his perfect righteousness to all who believe."

    And God showed me that this is all about 'not-enough-ness' too. 

    This is what the gospel is:  We bring God our 'good-not-enough-ness' and He gives us Jesus' 'perfectly-good-enough-ness'. 

    I have a tendency to beat myself up for my 'not-enough-ness'. To think that post-salvation I am somehow meant to get it all right.  

    However, God offers me His 'enoughness' every day, every moment that I turn to Him.  It's ok to have not-enough-ness. It is the human condition. God knows.  He has made provision for it.  He doesn't want us to struggle on by ourselves.  He made us to want Him, to need Him. He wants to be deeply involved in our lives; loving us and providing for us.  

    So let Him.  Today, bring Him your 'not-enough-ness' and lay it down at His feet so that your hands are empty to receive His enoughness today. 

Everything we need

Yesterday I was grumpy with my husband.  I felt very justified.  I also felt cross because I knew shouting at him about it would only make him dig his heels in. 

Thankfully I went to God with my grumps.  I told Him how awful my husband was.  How he needed to change.  

God listened.  God waited for me to listen.  

Which I did . . . eventually . . . after a good wallow. 

I asked God what I should do.  How could I correct him and show him the error of his ways?

When God finally had my attention He reminded me . . . how much He had forgiven me.  How He continues to love me despite my ongoing flaws and failures.

His instruction was not what I was hoping for:  love him. 

I realised that my own love for my husband was inadequate and that I needed God to give me His love for my husband.

I came across this verse:

"His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness" 2 Peter 1:3

Oh gosh!  No excuses.  He gives me everything I need to live a godly life.  I don't have to have it myself already. I need to come to Him. He has all I need.  He doesn't download it all in one go for the rest of my life though. I need to come to Him each day - even each moment - and receive His resources for whatever situation I'm in. 

Thank You Father for loving me and for your patience with me. I come to You now, so thankful that You have everything I need and more.  I open my heart to receive Your immense love. Please fill me to overflowing so that I can love those You give me to love - especially my family!!  Amen.

PS Please note that my husband had not done anything more terrible than lose his patience over spilt drinks and bad table manners.  No need to call social services!!

Do it just for Him

Psalm 32:8-9
"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Don not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you."

God's guidance is gentle. He instructs, teaches and counsels in love. He does not want to control us like a horse, forcing us in the direction He wants us to go. He desires for us to willingly come to Him, to still ourselves to hear His gentle whisper and that we choose with freedom how we respond to His loving counsel.

I've always written lots in journals. I've always sung lots at the piano. I feel God has said both 'write' and 'sing' to me a number of times over the years. I know there are things He has given me to share. But I get hung up on it not being good enough.

Well, who am I doing it for? The applause of the world? Or the pleasure of my loving Heavenly Father? He is just like an earthly dad who takes great pride in the scribbled efforts of his child because his child presents him with a piece of paper and says, "Daddy I drew you a picture." The father's heart bursts with love and pride because of the love offering the picture represents.

So it is with all our offerings.

He paints the sunsets every evening.  How could we possibly paint anything to rival or impress Him?

He created music, gave the birds their songs to sing, gave every musician and composer the skills they use to make incredible music.

Yet I believe He takes real delight in my writing and singing for Him - however imperfect.

Psalm 32:11 "Rejoice in the Lord and be glad you righteous; sing all you who are upright in heart!"

Sing!  He wants you to sing.  He loves to hear you sing.  You don't have to be an incredible talented musician.  Do it for Him. He loves to hear your voice.

I'm not very techy, but below is a link to a song by Joni Eareckson Tada which is about just this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTXqiodq3ik

The lyrics are:

If I could dance, if I could glide across the floor in perfect time
If I could spin in graceful circles you would find
I'd dance for You Lord, I would dance for You.

If I could sing, if I could lift the golden notes up to Your ears
If I could send the music up for all to hear
I'd sing for You Lord, I would sing for You

Chorus:
But oh, Your love has no limit and when I am in it I can, Lord it's true I can
I know it's not only small things, but I can do all things,
Lord in You I can.

If I could fly, if I could spread my wings and soar through time and space;
if I could rise above the world to see Your face
I'd fly to You Lord, I would fly to You

Each life has a song and a dance of its own
And each heart has the wings and the will to fly home



So - whatever you do - do it for Him. He will love your offering because it is your unique offering to Him. 

Lord this blog post is for You.  May it bring You pleasure Lord.
If You choose to use it to bless others as well, that will be a wonderful added bonus.
But I write this for You, because I love You. Amen

Milk drunk on God's love

Psalm 23 v 5 (The Passion Translation)

"You become my delicious feast . . . you give me all I can drink of you until my heart overflows"

When I read this this morning, I got an image in my mind of a milk drunk baby.  Babies drink milk until it starts to leak back out of their mouths and they are so full they cannot manage any more.  Then they just smile and doze and dribble milk down their chins while their little tummies try to digest it all. They are floppy, sleepy, happy and totally stuffed.

It struck me that God's love is like that.  There's so much more of it than we can manage. But when we drink as deeply and fully as we can of it, we just dribble his love back out from a place of fullness. And there is always more - so much more than we can manage.

So keep drinking!  Get 'milk drunk' on God's love.

Vanish will not be necessary

Foreword: I have a perfectionist streak that would mean I wouldn't ever publish this because of the many flaws I see in it, but I am trying to step forward in obeying God's prompting to write something and to do it without delaying because then it ends up not getting done. So here are my ramblings, which I'm writing with the prayer that they may encourage and help someone who has maybe struggled with the same thing that I have. 

I have a memory of someone (I don't remember who) explaining repentance and forgiveness to me like this:

"When you ask God to forgive you, He washes all your sins away and gives you a white robe to wear, that is pure and spotless because you are completely forgiven of your sins and they have gone.   However, as you go through life, you do wrong things and this is like you getting that white robe dirty again.  When you realise that this has happened, you need to come back to God and repent and ask for His forgiveness again and He will again take your sin away and make your robe perfectly white again."

The problem I had with this was, that I couldn't keep my robe white for very long. In fact, I discovered that the greatest commandment of all is to love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and don't think I've managed to do that fully ever so my white robe was going to instantly start turning grey as soon as I'd finished getting it white again, even without me doing anything!

And so it felt like this. I'd repent (and I was taught it had to be true sorrow for my sin - so probably I needed to cry a bit to make sure I had done it properly). But even as I was given the white robe, I couldn't enjoy it because I knew I was going to get it dirty again pretty soon and I'd have to go through the whole thing again. In fact, it became like a terrible burden. I thought I ought to be so grateful for my white robe that this would motivate me not to get it dirty again but I just couldn't manage it.

Then I used to think "well I couldn't have truly been properly sorry enough or repented hard enough if I repeated the same sin so soon again afterwards".  Then I'd run out of energy to repent "properly" and feel like it wasn't worth it because I was only going to sin again.

I remember being jealous of the thief on the cross getting saved just as he was dying so he didn't have time to mess up again. I wished I could know the minute before I would die so I could just become a Christian then and not have the terrible burden of guilt and condemnation I was carrying around.

I remember walking up my hill to help with a toddler group where we were meant to be reaching out with the gospel to the other mums coming along, but thinking, I wouldn't wish my Christianity on anyone. It is such a terrible burden. I feel so condemned all the time. I feel like God is so disappointed in me.

This past week I've been reading and re-reading Ephesians 1 and trying to get the truth of the gospel back into myself.  Here's what God's infallible word says (I'm using The Passion Translation which I know is just the work of one man, but I believe he just helped me realise afresh the glorious truth of the gospel by expressing the same truth in fresh words - check out a more 'sound' translation to see if it lines up if you're not sure):

Ephesisans 1v 2 "believers . . . have been made holy by being one with Jesus'

If I believe in Jesus, I have been made one with Him. If I am one with Him, I have been made holy.  I'm loving that past perfect tense verb - it happened in the past and it is finished. It has been done. I have been made holy.

How does God see me?

Ephesians 1 v 3 "he sees us wrapped into Christ"

And Jesus is sinless, spotless, perfect.

Then this next verse really is the one that changed my picture from the one I described at the top of the page:

Ephesians 1 v 4 "Because of his great love, he ordained us, so that we would be seen as holy in his eyes with an unstained innocence"

I looked up the definition of 'ordained'.  There were two key meanings:

1) appointed; established; settled; decreed
i.e. God has settled it and decreed that I would be seen as holy in his eyes

2) invested with authority to act as a priest
i.e.  a priest is one who can come before God without needing a go-between.  He made it so that he would see me as holy so that I can come into His presence like a priest.

Those last words - 'unstained innocence' really hit me.  Because if the first picture is right, then as soon as we sin in any thought, attitude, lack of love etc etc then our innocence is 'stained'.  So this verse would only apply to perfect believers (I don't know of any - do you?).

Then I realised - I am covered in JESUS' righteousness.  His righteousness doesn't get stained!  His robe is forever pure. If God is looking at me wrapped up in Jesus' righteousness He does not see my sin.  He does not see stains. He is not measuring my performance.

This does not mean that I can just do whatever I want and it won't affect my relationship with God - 'by no means!' as Paul said.

What it means is that I can truly rejoice in the robe that I am given. It will not need a 90 degree wash with Vanish to keep it white.  Jesus has made it pure and white for all time.

He knew when He died for me, every single sin and failure that I would commit in my whole life and He died to wash them ALL away.  When He died on the cross ALL my sin was in the future. Now some of it is my past but all the times I will fail Him have been forgiven too so I can live in joy and freedom to know that I won't ever surprise or disappoint Him - He knows already.  He chose to love me knowing already all that I would and wouldn't do. 

So when the enemy whispers condemnation in my ear, I'm now telling him, "I have an unstained innocence" in God's eyes.  His loving sacrifice has covered it all already.

Now that is a gospel that IS good news worth sharing.

God's masterpiece

About six months ago at housegroup, I was given my cup of tea in this amazing mug which revealed things God says about me as I drank down the drink. It blessed my socks off and I looked on the internet for it, only to find it was out of stock. 

(Possibly rather disturbingly) Facebook did not forget that I had wanted that mug and popped up an advert for it on my feed the other week once it was in stock again.  So I duly ordered it (of course, their marketing strategies have NO effect on me whatsoever!) intending to ask my husband to give it me for Christmas. 

Today, a delivery company that will remain nameless tried to deliver that parcel to my house while I was out.  As they got no answer at the door, they threw the parcel over the side gate. 

This is what I saw when I opened my parcel:

I took out the pieces and tried putting them together, wondering whether it was at all feasible to glue it back together somehow. As I tried to match up the words on the pieces, I was struck by what I saw:

The word 'piece' was in pieces!

It made me reflect on the truth of that statement.  

I am God's masterpiece.  However, I am also broken. But even in my brokenness I am still a masterpiece that He has made.

I am made in the image of God has the last bit of the word God missing.  It reminded me that I am not God. I am less than God. I bear His image, but imperfectly.

I loved the way that the word 'progress' was in so many pieces!  Yes! Still a lot of progress needed to piece me together, but God is working on me - Hallelujah!

It just made me laugh the way that the word 'over' was literally over the word 'comer' in 'overcomer'.  It reminded me to keep it in perspective. It's just a broken mug after all.  I need to get 'over' it! 

'I am grateful' at the bottom came as a challenge.  The mug I'd been wanting all these months and especially anticipating for the past few days after ordering it had arrived broken. But that doesn't need to break my gratitude.  There is always SO MUCH to be grateful for.  

So if you feel like your life is in pieces, just remember that you are STILL God's masterpiece. That truth holds firm even in the brokenness.  

And for those of you who like the idea of the mug, you can get one at:

https://cheerfullygiven.com/shop/i-am-so-many-things-yellow-mug

Just make sure someone is at home when you expect delivery of it!!  😂😂😂😂😂

Trading

So, I have a son who gets passionately into any crazes that are going on.

At the moment, most people with children know that Sainsburys is giving out packs of Lego cards for every £10 spent. An awesome way to get children to pester their parents to shop at Sainsburys!

There are 140 cards to collect and so you end up with multiple copies of some and then there are others you don't have at all. The way to complete your set (short of your parents spending thousands of pounds at Sainsburys) is to trade with others.  You give them a card they need and they give you one you need.

For each of you, the other's card is more valuable to you because it's one you don't have. So you both end up happy. (I have also been teaching my son the joy of generosity and of giving cards away free to those who don't have any that he needs.)

Similiarly in an online game in Roblox, you have pets that collect coins and then use the coins to upgrade your pets or buy better ones. You can also trade pets with other players.  When my children first wanted to play this game, I said I'd check it out. I ended up frittering away over an hour of my time collecting coins, trying to understand the game and wondering if there really was any more to it than that. I totally didn't get the whole trading thing so I didn't really do it except for once to check out what it was.

It seemed fine so I let my children play it. When they went on the game, within 10 minutes they were way further on in the game than I had got to because they did some really awesome trades where they gave a basic pet away and were given multiple super duper pets in return.  These pets could collect coins way quicker and enabled them to get into areas of the game that are blocked off to people until they have collected enough coins.

I don't know why those other players wanted my children's rubbish pets and were so generous in giving away amazing pets.   I've been wondering about whether later on in the game you need a basic pet again for some reason.   Or maybe they are just super kind players helping new people along to get into the game.  Right now, I don't know.

But it got me thinking about trading.  Trading works because the other person has something you want and you have something they want.

It got me thinking about the most awesome trade of all.  The one of Jesus' righteousness for my sin.  This trade enables me to get into Heaven, which is a place I could never get into by trying to earn 'coins' by my own efforts at being good.

Why would God want to make that trade?

The Bible says the answer is: love.

Does God really want my sin? Not really.  But He does want my heart. He wants my love in return. That is so valuable to Him that it was worth sending Jesus to die on the cross for.

In the game my children play, when someone wants to trade with you, you can accept or reject the trade. 

And that really is the biggest question of all:  will you accept this trade or will you continue to rush around trying to collect as many coins as you can in your own strength?

My children were delighted to gain so much by their trading.

Why do we find it so difficult to accept this trade with God?