“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
(Colossians 3: 17)
Recently I have been attending a Bible study which emphasised spiritual formation and its thrust was to deepen our spiritual lives and after each session we were all given exercises to practise during the following week. Some were more difficult than others and I struggled especially with the one that asked us to go a complete day without uttering one negative statement, but the final exercise was a very powerful one and one I am trying to incorporate into my daily life (I found it to be very difficult!) This exercise was to focus on the Lord in every action, spoken word or thought for a complete day, being conscious of his presence every minute.
Many years ago, I was introduced to the beautiful Celtic prayers and found this including the Lord in everything they did during the day, was their strength. I love this one that they would say before starting the day, ensuring his powerful presence surrounded them every minute.
Circle me, O God
Keep hope within
Despair without
Circle me, O God
Keep peace within
Keep turmoil out
Circle me, O God
Keep strength within
Keep weakness out
Paul has a wonderful way of encouraging us to be aware of the Lord all day, he recommends we keep in step with the Holy Spirit. If he is walking side by side with us we have a great ally.
“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5: 25)
Sometimes a sermon stays in one’s mind long after it is delivered and I remember one, in particular, given about this topic of allowing Christ in to every aspect of our lives, and the story the pastor told us went like this;
A young man on so touched by the Sunday morning service, he asked Jesus to be with him every day, as he went to get into his car to drive home, he was surprised to see Jesus sitting in the passenger seat, He drove home very carefully aware of his presence. That afternoon he felt very calm and peaceful with Jesus sitting across from him in his living room. Next morning, he was surprised to see Jesus ready to go to work with him and was a little nervous as he had a busy day ahead and suggested Jesus would be better to stay at home, but Jesus once again sat in the car. The man was aware all day that he had to control his anger etc. with Jesus listening to everything he said. 
At the end of the day he told Jesus that he and his mates were going to the pub for a drink and was horrified when Jesus said he was coming too.
The story is a simple one, but it does make us think that when we accept Jesus as our Saviour, we are inviting him into our lives, not just saying we will see you next Sunday. The Psalmists knew that proximity to the Lord brought great blessings on their day.
“Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord. They rejoice in your name all day long; they exult in your righteousness.” (Psalm 89: 15 – 16)
Just recently I was reading an interesting article on a web site depicting education for small children and one section was devoted to how effective it is to teach children through song and particularly, regarding manners and relating to others. All those who have watched that two-year-old wrench a toy out of another child’s grasp with a wild shout of MINE!!!, will agree that we are not born filled with love and concern for others. I was surprised to see how many of the children’s songs were about kindness, and became quite entranced with listening to the videos of children singing these sweet little songs. One was entitled. “You got to try a little kindness.” I listened to it over and over!
I can certainly relate to that statement and with the fast pace of life in our present age, it is easy to be irritated by others and driving seems to elevate the annoyance we can have with others’ perceived mistakes and the blasting of horns certainly does not improve matters or display any form of kindness.
indness
Our Home group is still fully immersed in our study of the book of Joshua and as we wade through unpronounceable names of people/ towns/ areas we frequently find gems of wisdom that surprise us and make us think more deeply of what it means to belong to the family of God. One such incidence happened this last week as we read the section in which the Lord was instructing Joshua to designate special cities to be cities of refuge to make sure that justice was always to be tempered with mercy.
Sometimes we can be overwhelmed with the injustices that scream from the media. We can feel totally inadequate to do anything about national disasters except in a financial way, but when we remember Jesus’ words we suddenly understand what that means for us personally;
have the most wonderful of place of refuge imaginable and we can run there whenever we have a special need and the Psalmists tells us we will be blessed when we do;
This last weekend our family celebrated at our church, the beautiful ceremony of dedication. Our two youngest grandchildren were dedicated to the Lord, in front of the whole congregation as a public declaration that our daughter and son-in law were promising that these little ones would be faithfully taught about their Heavenly Father, their loving Saviour, Jesus Christ and their powerful Guide through life, the Holy Spirit.
Stepping into the water!!! The waters were still raging when these priests were told to trust God and wade into those formidable waves. I see their obedience to God’s word to be a wonderful example of commitment to the act of dedication. Sometimes what we are facing looks as terrifying as those wild waters, but as one of my friends once told me the act of “getting one’s feet wet” and still trusting God’s faithfulness is the way to tackle whatever faces us.
Sometimes when we commit to do something in our everyday life we can be overwhelmed and wonder if we will be able to fulfill our promise. This too can happen in our Christian walk and doubts can arise, yet again God’s word reassures us that we have that source of strength always available no matter how deep that water may look that we must step into.
When I was a child one of my favourite books was called, “Cole’s Funny Picture Book”. It was published in early 1900, and my first glimpse of this book was the one my grandmother kept at her house which had been my father’s when he was a child. My brother and I loved looking at the strange puzzles that you had to look very closely at and suddenly what you thought was very clear, would slowly change as another picture hidden, at first, would appear. My husband even brought his rather tattered copy with him when we got married! (I think every child we knew had a copy) I decided to investigate my book and the puzzles when similar images of pictures within pictures started to be posted on Facebook.
The other startling fact about our Saviour is that his other image is that of a gentle lamb. How do we equate these two vastly different images with that one perfect person we know as Jesus?
I was reading an interesting devotional on prayer, recently, and was intrigued when the author introduced a phrase that made me stop and think more deeply about. The phrase was this;
Sprit does, and we can all take great comfort in these words;
Last week I was holding my youngest, little granddaughter who was fast asleep on my lap, and beside me on a side table I could see a pile of newspapers and as I idly glanced at them, the top one had these bold letters taking up half the page.
I was quite disappointed when I was finally able to read the rest of the article which had given me so much to think about. It was about a region in Belgium which was voting against opening trade with Canada. What a let down! I learnt nothing, except, not to rely on the views of the world to solve problems, but to always rely on God’s advice.
My husband and I have finally reached that age where role reversal is taking place in our family. We have, up until now, always accepted our role as being the ones who take care of the rest of our brood, doing the worrying, making sure everyone is progressing safely through life, etc., but lately subtle little signs are making us realise that times are a-changing! The first sign came when we received a smart phone with strict instructions to carry it with us whenever we ventured out so the rest of the family could check on us. We were very touched at their concern, but a bit dismayed that these younger ones were taking over our former job of being the ones who did the worrying! We learnt a big lesson a few weeks ago, about smart phones and being responsible seniors.
Of course we are all are like David who cries out to the Lord, demanding that the Lord answers him, but we are also aware that one must listen for the answer to be given. In our very busy, stress filled lives we often cry out to God, but forget to actually stop and spend time waiting for the answer. God has a good message for us
One of my favourite verses to read when I am crying out to the Lord is in the book of Isaiah, but again the emphasis is on opening our ears to hear those words of guidance. Be ready to listen!
This month, Thanksgiving is celebrated here in Canada and many of the newspapers have various articles as to what that exactly means to people. I was intrigued by many of the answers, but not surprised by others that included giving thanks for family/ friends etc. Later I was reading a devotional about the subject and came across a quote that really caught my attention;
We can also slip into excluding the wonderful power God has in our lives by neglecting to thank him when inexplicably good things happen, and we put it all down to coincidence.
The most important thanksgiving prayer for all of us, when we think of the Lord Jesus Christ, is summed up in this verse.
When one of my daughters was a little girl, she seemed to be having a great deal of trouble relating to one particular school teacher, and every afternoon after coming home from school, would regale me with how terrible the day had been and how mean this particular lady was to her. One night after she had another bad experience, I suggested to her while I was hearing her night time prayers, that perhaps we should ask God about this problem and ask him to bless this lady in some special way. With that my little daughter pulled the sheets over head protesting “Oh no! I know what he will do, he will make me like her!” They say wisdom comes from the mouth of babes and these words from a little girl were loaded with wisdom way beyond her years in grasping the power of prayer, especially when laced with forgiveness.
when we have a grievance against someone.
The wise words of the Book of Proverbs, helps us to get this into perspective, as we realise by coming to the Lord with forgiving hearts for those who hurt us, we reap this benefit.
God Speaking 