Time

Carol Purves Carol's Blog

We are all governed by time from the moment we are born until the day we die. Most of us know our day of birth and the day of death is recorded on death certificates. Between those times everything is ruled by time. Having to be at school at a certain time, appointments and visits to the doctor needs to be spaced out and patients given an appointment time. My life at the moment is trying to get back to the parked car before the traffic warden.

In our time-driven world it is almost impossible to think of there being no time. For ever and ever is a thought alien to us. ‘A thousand ages in Your sight are like an evening gone.’ Isaac Watts. A thousand ages is like no time at all to You, Lord, even if You were governed by time. There was no beginning of time and there is no end. What an strange but joyful thought if we spend eternity with you. There will be no pain, parting or tears. I like idea that there will no sin either. It’s quite beyond our comprehension. ‘Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.’ Psalm 23:6 Wonderful!

I Prayed

Carol Purves Carol's Blog

Whenever I leave the house I always pray about who I might meet and the conversations I might have. On one particular day I had a worthwhile conversation with two people. One I knew but hadn’t seen for a long time, the other I had never met before. With one I had a talk lasting about half an hour, while the other was only a few sentences. God was mentioned and thought about both times.

I later reflected on why these encounters had happened. I faithfully pray each time I go out, but often, maybe most times, there is no opportunities to mention God, nor do I speak to anyone. I believe both these conversations would have had a friendly nod from God. He was being honoured.

I think it is because God is God and I am me. These meetings were nothing to do with me. They were planned by God. My God isn’t a person who does my will, I trust I am the one who does His will. He is not like Father Christmas who brings me the things I ask for. They might not be for my good. ‘My ways are not your ways, says the Lord. Isaiah 55:8. I just want to feel privileged that God is ever able to use me.

On a Journey

Carol Purves Carol's Blog

On some of our holidays the journey is the important object and sometimes it is the destination. Some of us choose to take a journey as our holiday. We commence at one place, then walk, drive, cycle or even swim to another place. Along the way we will see beautiful scenery, meet interesting people and encounter new experiences. Yet when the object of our holiday is the destination , that will be the important thing.

I think of the magi of the New Testament. Their journey was full of adventures as they went through various countries and met many interesting people. Yet their journey wasn’t the important thing, it was the destination, where they wanted to see baby Jesus. They were intent on meeting, Jesus, the baby born to be king.

We, too, are on a journey, from the day of our birth to the day of our death. we are travelling. We have no choice, we have to progress along the way. We can do it in a haphazard way wandering from one idea to another or we can choose to have a Guide. Our Guide will give us purpose and make the journey worthwhile. The importance is not the route we take but the destination. Our routes will be different, but our destination is heaven and God.

The Father

Carol Purves Carol's Blog

We know that the father of the Prodigal Son was extremely loving, but I wonder if he was wise. One of his beloved sons had gone AWOL, He didn’t know how he was getting on but he could guess that it wasn’t good. His son loved parties and wild living. He had probably wasted his money in that distant country and therefore was now friendless.

He couldn’t bring his son back but he spent most of the time looking, looking for his son to walk over the horizon. Therefore, he had no time to look after the farm, that job fell to his other son. At mealtimes the conversation was all about the missing lad. It seems he only had room in his heart for one son.

This earthly father was so unlike our Heavenly Father. His heart is large enough to embrace us all. While He is concerned about a war in one part of the world, He never neglects the others. As He gives us His love and attention, His other children are not being forgotten. We used to sing

‘Wide, wide as the ocean, high as the heavens above, deep, deep as the deepest sea. is my Saviours love.’

Everything and everyone is included in His care. No words are adequate to show our gratitude .’Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.’ Isaac Watts.

A Day Like No Other

Carol Purves Carol's Blog

We never know what any one day may bring. It promised to be a good day for this man. He had letters in his tunic which would help him on his mission about which he was so passionate. The weather was fine, he was nearing his destination and if he was a singing and whistling man he would have done that.

Suddenly, he was struck down so quickly and hard that he was thrown to the ground. As he struggled to get up he found his sight had gone, he couldn’t see. Confused and even frightened he stretched out his hands for his companions to hold and support him. They were equally mystified as they witnessed the man’s fall and heard a voice but couldn’t understand the words.

‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?, the voice of God cried out. ‘Who are you, Lord?, the broken man asked. This once persecutor of the Christians was felled by the God he had been riling against. Three days of blindness and waiting gave him plenty of time to think and repent.

What will happens to us today? It may be a day when long-awaited good news arrives. This might be the day when we are re-united with long lost friends. Today could be the day that God speaks to us giving us some new revelation or even being heard for the first time. Whatever it is, will we be ready and accepting?

Not Crushed

Carol Purves Carol's Blog

‘We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed,

perplexed but not in despair,

persecuted but not abandoned,

struck down but not destroyed. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

I was being borne down by small niggling worries, the kind that kept me awake at night, the sort of worries that paled into insignificance in the light of day. My mind went round in circles with no apparent solutions. In frustration I got my Bible out (I keep one on my bedside table).I opened the Bible at 2 Corinthians and read the above passage. The words spoke to my heart. I was being pressed on every side, a number of people had a claim on my time and help. I couldn’t satisfy them all but then I realised I wasn’t crushed, everything would be done in good time

I was perplexed, the demands of modern technology were stressing me. I then remembered I could get help from variious places and I didn’t need to learn things I would never use.

I was heavily persecuted for my faith and beliefs, but I was not abandoned, God was always at my side. I would never be alone. He was my helper and guide.

There were times when I was struck down, sometimes with ill-health sometimes by opposition and enemies but never was I destroyed. I lived to fight another day or rather God picked me up and in His strength, I continued the fight called life. Praise and honour to Him who will always get me through.

Burglary

Carol Purves Carol's Blog ,

A few years ago I was burgled; fortunately not much was stolen but the upsetting part was that someone uninvited had entered my home, my sanctuary. Home is where I’m safe from the world; the only people who enter are the invited, my friends and neighbours. It has made me fearful and untrusting.

I’m so glad i know of a place thieves do not break in and steal’ and that is where my heart is. My heart is not with my earthly possessions; when I die they will be of no use to me, they will all go in the skip. I have set my heart on things above. We all like to have a few good things, some have personal memories, some are from childhood. But it is unwise to love them too much. We often say blithely ‘You can’t take it with you,’ but you really can’t. Our possessions here will indeed be rusted, especially in hot, damp climates. As I’ve proved they can be stolen. Many break and deteriorate with age. It is so unwise to dote on these things. Let’s store up for ourselves character building things like kindness, unselfishness, self-control and love. These things will last into the next world, they will be of lasting value.

Knowledge versus Wisdom

Carol Purves Carol's Blog

On our television programmes there are more quiz programmes than ever. Some are for money, some are not. Some are light-hearted and some very serious. It seems more and more people are knowing more and more. But what is knowledge alone. Facts, numbers and statistics in themselves are of no use to us, they don’t equate to wisdom. Of what advantage is it to know a little about a lot of things or a lot about a few things.

We need to turn to the Bible. Just look at the book of Proverbs, ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. keep My commands in your heart for they will prolong your life’ Proverb1:7 ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path. 3:5-6. It doesn’t matter how much you know if you don’t know the Lord. It will do you no good. ‘Do not forsake wisdom and she will protect you. Proverbs 4:6.

Some very clever people can act in stupid ways, they don’t seem to have any sense. They have not learned how to live. God’s way is the only way, any other way is foolishness. To ignore or reject God is definitely foolish. Knowledge will not give salvation, wisdom will lead to it.

Laughter

Carol Purves Carol's Blog

I believe God has a sense of humour. I believe there will be laughter in heaven. We have been created in the way that when we laugh we feel better. There are the sayings ‘Laughter makes the world go round,’ and ‘Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone.’ A good laugh makes everyone feel better. Children laugh without thinking about it; a happy person finds it easier to make friends. People avoid grumpy and miserable people. No-one wants to hear about our worries. It is better to have laughter lines on our faces than frowning ones. Laughter is good for us, it helps create antibodies that protects us from germs.

Our God is the God of humour who made the giraffe with his ridiculously long neck, He could have just made trees with lower boughs. A centipede who is fun to watch with it’s hundred little legs as his boy moves up and down. Only a God with a sense of fun could have made a donkey who talked.

When I bring problems to the Lord He sometimes answers in a way I could never have imagined. He makes me smile at His workings out. My finite mind is not capable of sorting problems out. Maybe laughter is next door to love.