Posted by: Jo | June 22, 2012

Faithfully Waiting

Face to Face with Jesus (Part 1 of 10)

“They will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads” (Revelation 22:4)

imageI have always been intrigued by the people Jesus interacted with face to face in his time on earth and I have begun to look more deeply into each encounter to unravel the mystery of why these particular ones were chosen, and the significance of why they have been recorded for us, and how we can relate to what happened, and how we can apply the lessons learnt to our own lives. So I am about to experiment using a new format for my blog which will entail commenting on a specific theme rather than a random topic each week. So today is the first of a ten week series devoted to the theme, “Face to Face with Jesus”

The Heavenly Father sometimes chose unlikely (in our eyes) people to come face to face with his son. Beginning with a group of, probably dirty, shepherds who were the first to view his beautiful face, to prostitutes, lepers, dodgy tax collectors, to even eating in the homes of rich Pharisees, they seem a very disparate group, but when we study these encounters we begin to realise the wealth of knowledge they contain for us in our own relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We see, Jesus with deep compassion walk beside people in all sorts of everyday situations and take heart that he is doing the same today.

The two we are going to look at today are, Simeon and Anna. Their story is found in Luke 2:21-38. I love this story as we get a beautiful image of two young people, Mary and Joseph, imagebringing their precious new born son to be presented to the Lord. Even in that first image we have a great message for all young parents of the importance of ensuring that our children will know who their Heavenly Father is and his great love for them. When Mary and Joseph enter the temple we realise it is not just the priest on duty that morning who greets them. Again a beautiful message for us. Once we belong to the Lord there are no random happenings, no coincidences, we can trust our lives to his capable hands. The one who greets them is Simeon and as we continue to read we know at once this man has been especially chosen by the Holy Spirit

So what do we learn about Simeon?

“Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.” (Luke 2:25)

How we would love at the end of our lives to be graced with those words, “righteous and devout”. God’s gift to Simeon which had been promised to him long before, was that he would see the Christ the Saviour before he died. Simeon was now an old man, yet he never doubted, what the Lord promised, he delivered. On coming face to face with this long awaited child he bursts into jubilant praise for God. What wonderful encouragement for us who may be waiting for a promise from the Lord to be fulfilled or that answer to a prayer for a loved one, or perhaps waiting for good news about an outcome of an ugly situation. Take heart from Simeon’s faithful waiting.

The next beautiful character to encounter Jesus is Anna. Again we have another picture of a faithful lover of the God Almighty. We learn that Anna, who we are told is 84, had only seven years of marriage before her husband died. So is she filled with bitter resentment? Does she become angry with God for treating her so harshly? Is her cry one of, “poor me”? No. We read,

“..She never left the temple, but worshipped night and day, fasting and praying.” (Luke 2:37)

Anna also bursts into thanksgiving for the wonderful privilege of coming face to face with this Christ child.

I think both Simeon’s and Anna’s story is a loving acknowledgement of our imageHeavenly Father’s value of old age. Too often if we are old we feel we have not much to offer our Lord or if we are young we sometimes ignore the wealth of wisdom the old have to share. In the big family of God we need each other. If you are old, reading this, take heart at Simeon and Anna’s story. If you are younger, seek out an older person to spend time with, so we can praise and give thanks together just as Mary and Joseph did with Simeon and Anna.

Next week we will look at Jesus as an adult and how he comes face to face with two paralytics.

Personal Reflection

What is the most endearing part of this story for you? Does it help you to see the Father’s love for both the young and the old?

4 Comments

Posted in Challenge, Encourage, Face to Face with Jesus, Luke, Revelation | Tags: , , ,

Posted by: Jo | June 15, 2012

The Sweet Aroma of Christ

“For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.” (2 Corinthians 2:15)

imageThe word, aroma, falls easily off the tongue and evokes pleasant thoughts within our minds. If we close our eyes we can almost smell the heart-warming aroma of our mother’s cooking, wafting from the kitchen, and knowing with great anticipation that our favourite desert is being prepared for dinner. My grandmother’s house had its own special aroma that I always associated with her, a mixture of the lavender water she splashed on herself and the furniture polish she used that seemed to have been absorbed into her old furniture so it was always fragrant. I loved this strange combination of aromas because it always reminded me of how much she loved her grandchildren and how she loved us coming to stay with her. I was fascinated to discover that the dictionary definition of aroma was; a spice with a distinctive fragrance, an agreeable odor, persuasive quality or charm. So armed with this definition and our own memories and experiences of aromas, what does Paul mean when he urges us to be, “the aroma of Christ” and how do our actions in his name become pleasing aromas to our Heavenly Father?

Aromatic spices have been very much a part of cultures for centuries so Paul’s readers would have been aware of the deeper meaning behind his word. The use of perfume and fragrances are often mentioned in Scripture,image the Song of Songs is sprinkled with verses about fragrant perfumes. God himself says he is pleased by the pleasant aroma of Noah‘s sacrifice (Genesis 8:21) and we know how spices enhance flavour, so when we belong to Christ our lives take on a whole new and strong flavour. People become aware that we are different from the rest of the world; we become distinctive by how and what governs our everyday actions. When we are filled with the grace of our Lord, our very presence brings about a change in whatever atmosphere we find ourselves. Sometimes the atmosphere may be one of despair. It may be one of anger. It may be one of sorrow. It is up to us to be that aroma of Christ in whatever situation we find ourselves. Henry Thoreau put it this way,

“Behave so the aroma of your actions may enhance the general sweetness of the atmosphere”

Aromas have the ability to stimulate a want that perhaps we were not aware we had. For example walking past that coffee shop and suddenly smelling your favourite blend, drifting through the door, is enough to immediately think, “I need a cup of coffee!”

Our Christ like aroma can have the same effect on those who don’t even know they need his love, by attracting them first to our sweetness then to the One who is so anxious to make Him known to them.

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.” (2 Corinthians 2:14)

imageWhile we are spreading the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ to others, that same fragrance rises up to our Heavenly Father. Somebody remarked that the stench of evil is only obliterated by the sweet aroma of Christ.

When we exhibit this pleasantness in our own lives, I get a mental picture of the pleasure we bring to our Creator as if he receives a beautiful bunch of flowers from us, and on smelling the perfume, smiles at the gift from one of his children.

Related articles

4 Comments

Posted in Challenge, Corinthians, Genesis | Tags: , ,

Posted by: Jo | June 8, 2012

Finding Strength in the Lord

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)

imageWe had a visit from a young friend last week who shared with us how unsettling her work place had become. She works in a large office and has done so for several years, but lately felt that the whole atmosphere of where she worked had changed. Rumours had begun to circulate and the rumours contained ugly words like, downsizing / cost cutting / eliminating unnecessary personnel. Tensions in the office spread like wild fire, people were becoming fearful. There was certainly no joy in coming to work. Life had become precarious with everybody now being forced to assess what their future was going to hold. I was thinking with great sympathy about our friend, when I came across a quote from Corrie Ten Boom,

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God”

We may not be facing the same dilemma as our young friend, but countless fears can arise in our lives where the same terror can grip us when we contemplate what the future holds for us. We may be so overcome with worry about the future, which we forget about the One who has our future firmly in his hands. Over and over again God spoke to the prophets telling them to remind the people of his powerful strength,

“Because he loved your forefathers and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength” (Deuteronomy 4:37)

As the psalmists learnt to trust God with their lives they began to sing of his great strength, “The Lord is my strength and my song;…” Psalm 118:14, which was a great way to remind them of who was always standing beside them. They also realised that the Lord couldimage endow them with this wonderful free gift, just for the asking. So how can we draw from this powerful strength so freely offered by our Almighty God, to overcome, sometimes very real problems that arise in our own lives? Connie Ten Boom uses a very telling word to describe our Lord, “a known God” Knowing God is the first step in being able to partake of this generous outpouring of support.

To know God means an intimate relationship with him. Just in earthly relationships which are built up by trust and confidence, so too with our Heavenly Father. We build this trust by spending time with him in prayer and reading his word, worshipping him with others, learning about him with others, beginning to share our deepest thoughts with him.

The world can be a very scary place and the media blasts us constantly with new fears to worry us and for our loved ones. The economy of the world is shaky. How do we invest for our future? Health issues raise ugly questions. Are we next in line for that dreaded disease? Who do we believe about even the effect of global warming? Will there be no beauty of flora or fauna left in nature for our future children? We can easily become slaves to fear. Paul realised the ugliness of fear and wrote in Romans…

“For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship…” (Romans 8:15)

When we can shake off that debilitating fear and feel the strength of the Lord supporting us we can then offer what we have learnt to others. Jesus gives a beautiful directive to Peter in these words,

“But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:32)

imageWhen we are filled with confidence it is amazing how strength giving that can be when we are facing trials of any type. Confidence only comes with trust. We can confidently trust the One who promises to never leave us and leave our future in his capable hands knowing that his right hand is extended towards us ready to uphold us.

Related articles

5 Comments

Posted in Deuteronomy, Encourage, Inspiration, Isaiah, Luke, Psalms, Romans | Tags: , , ,

Posted by: Jo | June 1, 2012

A Friend of Jesus

“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends…” (John 15:15)

imageBeing a friend of someone has taken on a whole new meaning since the advent of social media. Now with a click of the mouse we can add a friend to our already bulging list of friends on Facebook, and it is not only the young indulging in this addictive communicating with others. I read with great interest the results of a recent survey that showed that 53% of people over 75 were users of Facebook. Thanks to my eldest granddaughter, who was able to unravel for me all the secrets of the mystery of how to participate, I at the ripe old age of 77, fall into that category. Even though I have enjoyed catching up with old friends, I was thinking wistfully of how the word, “friend”, has now lost its deepest meaning. When we boast of having hundreds of friends through this avenue, we weaken the very meaning of “friend”. The other interesting statistic I also noted about this topic was a similar survey where people were asked the number of best friends they could name in their lives. The number had dropped considerably from a similar survey 5 years before and the conclusion being that we are becoming more isolated from each other as technology replaces face-to-face communication. Chatting online pales in comparison to seeing that dear friend’s face breaking into laughter, or equally, sharing tears, with mutual understanding of each other.image

The timeless wisdom of Scripture always reminds us of the best way we function and the book of Proverbs in particular has lots to say about what makes a true friend;

“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” (Proverbs 17:17)

All of us need that friend who will love us despite of ourselves. We all need a special person we can trust when chaotic circumstances upset our lives. We all need to be that special person when our own friend needs us.

“A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24)

Companion is a lame substitute for friend. We need to be able to distinguish between the two and perhaps Facebook should have used companion instead of friend so any blurring of what true friendship means would not have occurred.

One of the most telling descriptions of what it means to be a friend occurs in Proverbs 27:6,

“Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.”

Only a true and trusted friend is able to lovingly point out something wrong in one’s life. It is easy to listen to flattery, even false advice from one who does not love you deeply as only a true friend can, and again we need to be able to distinguish between the two. It takes great courage and a lot of prayer to step into somebody’s life when we can see trouble looming ahead for a dear friend. It takes equal courage to listen to those who love us when we need to examine a part of our own lives.

imageWhen we delve into what constitutes a good friend we are suddenly able to grasp the enormous privilege offered to us in Jesus’ words, “…Instead, I have called you friends…” (John 15:15) No need to worry if we will be confirmed as his friend. He has issued an open invitation to all who would follow him and blesses us with these words, “You did not choose me, but I chose you…” (John 15:16) His friendship will last forever. No need to worry that he has so many friends you may be deleted at any moment. He cares about every detail of your life. No need to worry that fervent prayer was blocked from him. He hears every cry of his beloved ones and responds with loving comfort.

Jesus is the supreme example of the perfect friend and exhibited this in these words;

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:12 – 13)

Related articles

4 Comments

Posted in Challenge, Encourage, John, Proverbs | Tags: , , ,

Posted by: Jo | May 25, 2012

Bind Us Together

“I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them” (Hosea 11:4)image

The hymn, “Bind us together, Lord”, is a favorite in many churches and is often chosen to be sung at Christian weddings. It’s words evoke a deep longing in one’s innermost being, the need to belong in a special sense to others; not because of necessity; not for convenience; not out of fear, but as the beautiful verse from Hosea says (Hosea 11:4 ), tied to others with ties of love, just as the Lord binds us to himself. As I was thinking along these lines, I was intrigued to come across this quote from John Milton;

“Loneliness is the first thing which God’s eye named not good”

I quickly had to go to Genesis to read for myself the truth behind his statement and found the verse;

“The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him” (Genesis 2:18)

We were never created to live apart from others. The Creator had decided right from the beginning, that he would instill in us a need for each other, but even so unfortunately, loneliness especially in large towns or cities, is very much a part of our present day society. To our shame it sometimes also exists within our church families. This beautiful hymn is urging us to seek out those who feel outside the circle and lovingly include them so they feel tied in to the family by love.

The other quote that speaks to this problem was made by John Wesley;

“The Bible knows nothing about solitary religion”

imageWhen we are bound together for a common cause, nothing we do for the Lord becomes a solitary effort. This is the uplifting theme of the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah’s valiant effort to restore Jerusalem and to help the return of the previous exiled people is a wonderful example of being bound together. Those who had returned were fragmented; terrified of their enemies; depressed about ever being able to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem, but with Nehemiah’s fervent prayer(Nehemiah 1 : 5 – 11) and his absolute trust in his Mighty God and urging the people to be bound together, this was the result;

“So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart” (Nehemiah 4:6)

What are the lessons we can learn as followers of Jesus Christ from Nehemiah’s success story? Firstly the people all worked with all their heart. Secondly the lesson of unity seems to be the next powerful message here. Being bound together means being unified. Nothing can fragment any group of believer’s quicker than division and Paul urged the Philippians to be like minded and to be one in spirit and purpose. Being united often means thinking beyond self for the common goal and if our goal is to represent Jesus Christ we need to quickly quash anything that would unravel the fabric of our faith. Being united means that everybody has a place on the team; there is nobody who feels left out. Being united does not mean being forced to join a particular group, the verse from Hosea emphasizes human kindness and gentleness so we need to remember John’s words,

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God…” (1 John 4:7)

When we remember that the Lord himself has bound us to him with ties of love, we will sing with great urgency these words,

imageBind us together, Lord

      Bind us together with cords

            that cannot be broken.

Bind us together , Lord

      bind us together, Lord

           bind us together in love.

Related articles

4 Comments

Posted in Encourage, Genesis, Hosea, Nehemiah | Tags: ,

Posted by: Jo | May 18, 2012

Guideposts and Guardrails

“Set up road signs; put up guideposts. Take note of the highway, the road that you take.” (Jeremiah 31:21)

imageJust recently in Vancouver, we have had a spate of senseless killings of young men involved in the ugly world of drugs and gangs. When I read of yet again a young man losing his life in such a way, I want to cry out….Why did this young person travel down this road that leads to destruction? Was there no one to guide him? Have we as adults ignored what the Lord has asked us to do in his word? Are we neglecting to put up “guideposts” for our young people? Are we at the same time forgetting to heed the guideposts for our own walk of life? I mourn to think that hundreds of years ago Solomon warns his son and it is recorded for future generations, the folly of pursuing ill-gotten gain and yet the words go unread and unheeded and we are still losing those who wander down the wrong path.

“Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the lives of those who get it” (Proverbs 1:19)

In Ancient Times travelers, who did not have the advantage of maps or GPS, had to transverse unknown territory and when they found a safe and easy path they would leave behind some form of direction for those who were to come along after them. This often took the form of cairns (piles of rocks) or roughhewn wooden sign posts which pointed the traveler in the right direction. Hence the term “guide posts” and the words of Jeremiah (31:21) still hold true for us as adults as we direct the young people in our lives to follow the safe and trusted road.

I read a sweet story of one such traveler that came across a swollen, raging river that with great difficulty he was at last able to cross. When he reached the other side another traveler was surprised to see him begin to gather and chop sturdy wood and saw that he was constructing a bridge. The surprised traveler asked him, “Why build a bridge now? You are safely over”. The man replied, “My son will be following along behind me. The bridge is for him”

Just as the father in my story was preparing the way for his son, so does our Heavenly Father go before us. David in his well-known Psalm 23 reminds us, image

“.. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3)

We can safely follow where he leads us. He has already built the bridges.

Since then our roads and highways have become much more sophisticated, but some of the basic needs to safe travel are still apparent. We still need those sign posts; SLOW DOWN ; SHARP CURVE ; STEEP INCLINE and perhaps one of best safety devices has been added; GUARDRAILS

Guardrails have saved many lives. Their purpose on the road is to warn of danger, but also to protect life and irreparable damage. A common place to see them is perhaps on a sharp curve around a cliff face. The idea is not to have the guardrail right at the edge of the cliff, but several feet away so the guardrail’s purpose is more for deflection and prevention. Having guardrails firmly fixed in our own lives and that of our young people, would prevent so much pain and sorrow. They can be seen as personal boundaries of behavior, boundaries that become second nature. Warning signals that go off when we move into areas of temptation; a light that flashes when what we are involved in has a dark side; a soft whisper, “this is not right”

imageGod’s word is the most powerful, indestructible guardrail of all time, offering all sorts of protection and when we follow his guideposts to his chosen path we and those young people in our lives will not be led down the road to destruction.

The Psalmist‘s knew this incredible truth and the importance of knowing God’s word.

“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. (Psalm 119:11)

Related Podcast

We see them every day and barely notice them, but guardrails keep us on the road and protect the disaster on the other side. In this series we want to talk about guardrails we can setup inside our personal and spiritual lives to keeps us practically on the path to Jesus.

1 Comment

Posted in Challenge, Jeremiah, Proverbs, Psalms | Tags: , , , ,

Posted by: Jo | May 10, 2012

Waiting Upon the Lord

“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope” (Psalm 130:5)

imageA few weeks ago our church set aside one Sunday to concentrate upon The Stephen Ministry which is very active within our congregation, but because of the very nature of its personal and private caring role, is not always noticed by the majority of the people who worship every Sunday. The Stephen Ministry is based on Jesus words, “Love one another” and is an outreach to the hurting whatever that may mean in an individual’s life, and is always on a one to one basis. I was very impressed with the speaker and the way he stressed the need to be trained for this special ministry and the need to be especially trained in the art of listening. I was intrigued by the clever way he reminded himself that “listening to someone” meant exactly that and used a clever acrostic phrase to constantly remind himself of when he should be silent; WAIT! Why Am I Talking? During his talk I was thinking that I should use that same phrase to help me in many of the relationships I find myself in when it suddenly occurred to me that perhaps the most important of all my relationships is the one I have with my Heavenly Father. Why am I doing all the talking whenever we get together?

I began to think more deeply about the phrase that occurs frequently in Scripture, “Waiting upon the Lord” and how being silent before him can be an enriching experience. My father had a sweet phrase he used when after a hot day he would sit quietly outside to catch any cool breeze that would waft across our garden and if asked why he was there would reply, “I am just savouring the evening breeze”. As I remembered that phrase I thought that is exactly what we would be doing if we could be silent before the Lord and spend time savouring just his beautiful presence and in turn be refreshed by being still.

The Psalmists knew the importance of taking time out of our busy lives and to be just still before our Maker,

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;..” (Psalm 37:7)

Being still means lack of any movement so waiting patiently means actively being engaged in listening to what our Lord would have us hear. Max Lucado put it this way,image

“To wait is not to worry, fret, or make demands or take control. To wait is to live in prayerful expectation”

The Lord himself reminds us that if our lives are one frantic activity after another, we are in danger of forgetting who he is and gives us this directive;

“Be still, and know that I am God;…” (Psalm 46:10)

One of my favourite choruses we sing in church is based upon a passage from Isaiah 40:31 ESV and assures us of the benefits we gain by waiting upon the Lord;

Those that wait upon the Lord

Shall renew their strength

They will rise up with wings like eagles

They will run and not grow weary

They will walk and not faint

Teach me Lord teach me Lord to wait.

The most important line in that chorus for me is the last one; “Teach me Lord to wait” I need to repeat it to myself over and over again.

Another lovely quote that I associate with the word “wait” is from an old man who frequently absented himself from his family with these words, “I am going to sit awhile with Jesus.”

imageIt is a wonderful exercise to practice what that old man had come to cherish; just spending some quite time with our Lord, savouring his presence, waiting upon him, listening to that still small voice, allowing his love to flow over us, being still in joyful expectation and knowing who our everlasting Father is, will bring about such a time of refreshing we will be soaring on eagles’ wings.

Related articles

3 Comments

Posted in Challenge, Encourage, Isaiah, Psalms | Tags: , , , ,

Posted by: Jo | May 4, 2012

Dare to Draw Near

image“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you….” (James 4:8 ESV)

I was trained to be a school teacher and I loved my profession and I especially enjoyed the young children in grades Kindergarten to Grade 2. Their enthusiasm and excitement about everything new was very infectious and no day was the same as the next, so being bored with my work never occurred. I was thinking back with nostalgia on those sweet days when I remembered one little boy in particular. He was very much a free spirit and found any sort of structure to the day to be very hard and he had difficulty in conforming to a classroom setting. The afternoon story time was a very difficult time for him. Whereas the others were all seated on a mat in front of me ready to listen, he was still engrossed in some puzzle or game. Not wanting to disrupt the rest of the class because of him I thought of a way to gain his attention. I began to whisper the story to those on the mat and only those close to me could hear the words. If my little friend was to hear the story he would have to draw close to where I was or he would miss out altogether. The ruse worked! I saw him out of the corner of my eye, edge closer and closer until he was seated on the mat like the rest of the children. He and I developed a very close relationship as the school year progressed and imageI was thinking of him in re-reading the verse in James 4:8 where James urges his readers to “draw near to God” and felt our Heavenly Father also wanted our full attention and wanted us close to him so we did not miss one word he was saying.

Drawing near to someone means an actual step in their direction. We have to come into their space and that is sometimes daunting as it requires sharing an intimacy with another. We sometimes use the expression “I was drawn to her”; meaning one took pleasure in being with that person and was happy to be in their company. It is also used as an expression of deep love “he drew him close to his chest” and when I read those words I see the Father in the story of the Prodigal son (Luke 15) embracing his lost son. So when we read James’ words we see a combination of all those meanings. If we draw near to God we are opening up ourselves to the most intimate relationship known to mankind and it will require us to be willing for God to also draw near to us. Just like the little boy in my classroom, it will mean not being distracted by activities that will block out what the Lord is whispering to us. It will mean having open communication with him; trusting him with our most inner thoughts; sharing our joys, our sorrows, our fears.

I came across this very thoughtful hymn that is a beautiful response to when we feel that tugging at our heart and realise it is the Lord longing for us to draw near, so he can encircle us with his love. It begins with this chorus;

Draw, me, dear Lord,

Draw me today.

From everything else, dear Lord

Draw me away.

1. O, Lord the whole world

Seems to weigh me down

All the cares, the strife the sin

Within and all around.

2. But, Lord, I want to set my heart,

And, Lord I want to stay with you

‘Cause only when You’re with me

Is everything okay.

3. And though everything may fall apart

Or everything go my way,

It doesn’t really matter, Lord

As long as I gain you today.

When we take that big step and dare to draw near to our Lord, we will hear him whisper;

“..I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving kindness” (Jeremiah 31:3 NIV)

Related articles

1 Comment

Posted in Encourage, James, Jeremiah | Tags: , , ,

Posted by: Jo | April 27, 2012

Stay With Us

“But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.” (Luke 24:29)

imageOne of the joys for my husband and me in owning a holiday cabin was being able to borrow our grandchildren and take them with us for fun at the lake. Our granddaughters loved coming as much as we loved having them and half the adventure was getting there. As soon as the two eldest girls were old enough, we began taking them for short stays. The daylight hours were packed with all sorts of activities ranging from fishing with Grandpa, to sighting the return of the resident loon and trying to copy her haunting cry, to catching a glimpse of the muskrat, to checking out the frogs and sometimes even seeing a black bear nonchalantly wandering down by the lake, but when evening came there was always a reluctance to actually going to sleep. Perhaps they then realised they were far from home and grandparents were not quite the same as Mommy and Daddy so bedtime was always a drawn out affair. They were happy to go to bed as long as I stayed with them until they fell asleep and repeatedly urged me to “Stay with us”, if I tried to slip imageout of the room. I was reminded of the two disciples meeting Jesus after the resurrection on the road to Emmaus and how this was their cry to the Risen Lord, “Stay with us” (Luke 24:29)

This story has always fascinated me as to why the disciples did not recognise their risen Saviour; even while he explained scripture to them and I thought that perhaps their own sorrow had clouded their vision. The more I thought about their emotions I began to see a whole range of conflicting thoughts that must have been racing through their minds. Fear was probably one of the major ones troubling them. Jesus had been killed, were they perhaps the next ones to be persecuted? Disillusionment was right behind, perhaps they were thinking that Jesus was not the Messiah after all, and sweeping over them a deep feeling of loneliness at the loss of a much loved friend and then the most destructive of all thoughts, despair.

We may have experienced some or all of these emotions as we travel life’s journey. imageWe may have been so consumed by something outrageous happening around us, that we have been temporarily blinded to the help that is so close at hand. We may have been overcome with despair, thinking our problems are unsolvable. This is then we need to re-read this beautiful last chapter in Luke’s gospel and find how closely we relate to these two followers of Jesus. Jesus opened their minds and their hearts through scripture and this is a good place for us to start, but the compelling message I see in this passage are the words , “Stay with us”. In the story we read,

“As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther.” (Luke 24:28)

The two then realised their need to keep this source of comfort and hope with them and their need generates that urgent plea, “Stay with us” Jesus does not intrude upon our lives. He wants our relationship to be two sided. He wants us to want him as much as he wants us.

Brennan Manning in his Reflections for Ragamuffins puts it this way;

“Grace stands waiting”

Jesus is always right beside us waiting to be asked to flood us with his grace. We only need to say, “Stay with us” and our eyes will be opened and our hearts will be burning within us, as joy replaces all the ugly emotions that blind us to his incredible, unconditional love.

image

Related articles

6 Comments

Posted in Comfort, Encourage, Luke | Tags: , , , ,

Posted by: Jo | April 20, 2012

Grow Where You Are Planted

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18)

imageBoth my mother and father were avid gardeners and I inherited their passion for all growing things. I was born in Australia in the moderate zone where plants grew easily in the warm climate with plenty of sunshine and the only necessity being lots of watering. I can remember awakening to the sound of my mother watering the plants outside our bedroom window so they were soaked long before the sun reached its hottest times and the reverse at night, when the sun dipped down, my father would start the sprinklers for the lawn and the swish, swish of the water going back and forth, was a mesmerising pleasant background noise to whatever we were all doing. When we were married my husband and I left Australia and began our wanderings around the world and I was exposed, not only to different cultures, but to vastly different climates and I began to see great differences in what grew in these different countries. Where we lived ranged from the heart of London (England) to Nauru, a tropical Pacific island, to eventually Canada where we now live. My most difficult challenge to grow trees and plants came when we bought a cabin on a lake in British Columbia. The cabin was 1400m above sea level and during the winter the ground was covered in snow for several months. I was thinking back on all the gardens I had experienced while standing on my balcony (my gardening prowess now limited to what will grow in a pot) while I looked at one of my Azaleas which was determined to be the showiest bush ever, as every inch of it was covered with deep pink flowers. It didn’t seem to mind that it was confined to a pot. It didn’t seem to mind not being able to spread its branches into some big garden. It didn’t seem to mind that its glory was only seen by my family. It was blooming to the best of its ability. It reminded me of how we are considered “ a planting of the Lord”

“…They will be called oaks of righteousness , a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendour.” (Isaiah 61:3)

and as I thought of my Azalea, I could see a comparison with how we live where the Lord has planted us. Some of us may be like lush tropical flowers always needing constant watering. Some of us, like my sturdy trees near the lake, are battling harsh winters to survive.image Some of us may be like my plants in pots on my balcony perhaps confined to a small place. The astounding truth came to me that when we are a planting of the Lord we are just where the Heavenly Gardener would have us to be. We may want to cry out to the Lord, “Look at all the obstacles in my life that will stop me from growing” but when we accept that we are “the planting of the Lord” our cry changes to, “Show me how to bring glory to your Name wherever I may be.”

I love the verse from 2 Peter 3:18 where Peter is urging his readers to grow in grace. It does not matter in what circumstances we find ourselves, being God’s gracious people to all those around us brings glory to his name. We might be asked to do this in our family setting; in our workplace; in our school; in our neighbourhood; wherever we have been planted.

Peter also urges us to grow in the knowledge of the Lord. When we strive to do this we long to be more like him in our every day to day, and we will begin to blossom and bring joy to all those who the Lord has placed in our lives and we will rejoice to be called, “a planting of the Lord.”

“And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way ; bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,” (Colossians 1:10)

image

Related articles

4 Comments

Posted in Colossians, Encourage, Inspiration, Isaiah, Peter | Tags: , , , ,

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »

Categories