Not in a Backwater.

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‘God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves received from God.’ 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

We probably all know of a backwater somewhere which is stagnant and smelly. The water has no means of escape and nothing lives in this pool of water; it is dead. As Christians we are not called to be like this, we are called to be streams of living water, made to spread the love of God. We are alive and vibrant. Our faith is to be shared not kept to ourselves. We are Christians who need to make a difference and we have the chance to do this every day.

When we are in situations where there is hatred we can spread love, the love of Jesus. Sometimes a single word from us can defuse a volatile situation. When forgiveness is needed, we can give it. If there is doubt and despair, we can share our faith to give hope. Some situations are dark and evil. The darkness will flee before God’s penetrating light. We can comfort the bereaved and find time to listen.

At times it will be our God-given spoken word that will be needed. It might be our love that can be given, the world doesn’t have time to give to the needy, we as Christians, do. Often it will be an inward prayer to bring strength into the situation. The world needs our God.

Romance

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It was very light reading, a romance with a happy ending. All through the book, although the reader didn’t know it, ‘he’ was madly in love with ‘her’. He had been willing to make every sacrifice for her, do anything, go anywhere. His love was so great.

As I closed the book with a contented sigh, I realised I had just read the story of the gospel. God loves us so much and would make any sacrifice for us, as witnessed on the cross. He never forces His affections on us. He just waits, everything He does is for our good as He wants the best for us all through our lives.

I realised that every book of romance is the story of God’s love for us. God is love as the Bible tells us. All the love in the world stems from Him. He has given us a world to enjoy because He loves us. He has given us the ability to love, be loved and form relationships. We love because He first loved us. He loves us through and through.

In the book I was reading ‘she’ slowly comes to realise that he loves her and she comes to love him too. So they fall in love together and ‘live happily ever after.’ And just like the love story in the book, we come to love Him and we ‘live happily ever after’ in His promised land for ever. In the words of James G. Small written in 1866

I’ve found a friend, oh such a friend. He loved me ‘ere i knew Him,

He drew me with the chords of love and thus He bound me to Him.

Holy Idleness

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My friend sent me a text telling me about her visit to Holy Island. Unfortunately prescriptive text was used and she was telling me about her ‘Holy Idleness.’ Do we all need more ‘Holy Idleness’ in our lives?

It does seem the world is getting faster and faster, everything is geared to happen more quickly and save time. Instant is an overused word. Coffee is now instant. Our microwave and air fryers are designed to give us food more quicker than conventional ovens. We can do our shopping instantly online, no more rushing round the shops. Young people speak quicker, no doubt to save time, though in some cases more time is wasted asking them what they actually said. ‘Miracle grow’ is used to make plants grow quicker. We can now get ‘drive though’ drinks and meals. Quicker and quicker. I feel out of breath just typing this all out. Since the phrase ‘Stop the world, I want to get off’ was coined, life has speeded u even more. Work can be more demanding, everything to save time.

The Bible does not tell us to rush through life. Just the opposite, ‘Be still and know that I am God’. Psalm 46:10. The world frowns on this idea, but our idleness can be holy. We can stop and appreciate the wonderful world God has given us, we sit and look at the birds and butterflies, stand and admire the scenery. We can be idle and holy. In our idleness, words of scripture drift into our mind, thoughts of peace and adoration float up.

Lord, supply me times of Idle Holiness.’ Amen.

One False Step

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‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.’ A old Chinese proverb. We all have times in our lives when we are afraid to take the first step, either through inertia or fear of making the wrong step. The first step is the most difficult.

We must make sure that the first step is in the right direction and is God-guided. Sadly we can take our next step in the wrong direction. The it is always more difficult to get back on track. . What can we do about this? Three things. The Bible has been compiled for us to read; it is for guidance . How often have we read a passage and felt it was just for us at that particular time.. The Bible is active and alive.

Prayer is readily available to us. There are no broken connections between us and God. He is always more ready to listen than we are to talk. By communicating with God He will guide our footsteps. And finally Christian fellowship is essential for Christian growth. By working with other Christians we will get comfort, guidance, encouragement and help.

Silent Prayers

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It would be great if we could speak the love of God openly, but there are many times when it would be counter productive. We would cause offence and hinder God’s work. But our inward attitude can be important. We see a mother who ignores her child’s words, ‘Look, Mummy,’ because she is busy talking on the phone. There is no way we can say anything but we can talk to God about this immediately. We can pray that the mother will pay more attention to her child . May the little one know she is loved.

We see a husband and wife arguing openly in the street. It is nothing to do with us but we can silently pray that they have a kinder attitude to each other.. God is our silent listener. Ecclesiastes 3:7 tells us ‘there is a time to be silent and a time to speak.’ We can spend as much time talking to God as we spend talking to others. His ear is always open to listen.

Nor should we be in judgment of others. We don’t know the full story. How many times have we been guilty of similar mistakes? And haven’t we sometimes ignored our youngsters and argued with our partners? At these times God might be showing us where we are in the wrong, so that we can mend our ways Maybe our prayer should be, ‘Lord, forgive us.’

Even the Birds

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The tree in my neighbour’s garden beyond the bottom of my own garden gives me great pleasure. I delight in the stark white blossom in the spring and the beautiful autumn colours. When the leaves fall they add nutrients to my garden soil. I have placed my ‘prayer chair’ so I can see this tree at all times, I don’t know what kind of tree it is, I love it and so does God, He made it.

This year I think the birds are nesting in this tree. There is added activity as the birds are flying in and out of the branches. At most times of the day I can sit and watch birds of every shape and size flying in the sky and sitting on top of the posts of my fence. Again I don’t recognise every type of bird but it doesn’t matter, I can enjoy watching.

The God who loves the birds, loves me. That is such a comforting thought, He know my good days and my bad ones. He knows when I please Him and when I’m prone to wander . He knows me through and through and still loves me. In some of the birds I notice almost human characteristic. Especially the pigeons. They quarrel and peck each other. Sometimes they chase each other or prevent one from having a drink or wash in the pond. But ‘His eye is on the sparrow and I know He cares for me.’ Civilla D. Martin

The Plans of God

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It was decided to have a group walk. Our ages spanned from four to the late eighties, nineteen of us, plus two dogs,. The four year old would be cycling the two and a half miles, accompanied by her uncle, the older ones would be driving right to the lunch place without the walk. It was forecast to be a very wet day, more complications! The planned place to eat lunch was cancelled at the last moment. Various other places were approached without success. Everyone prayed. Then God spoke to one particular man. This man received a message from God to chose a particular place, but he was the only one who hear a message from God. I know God heard all the prayers, but I was struck by the fact that only one person heard a reply. This man was successful in obtaining a booking. I pondered that God spoke to one man and not the others.

As an answer to prayer everything fell into place. The day wasn’t as wet as had been forecast, the new eating place proved to be exactly what we wanted and was dog friendly; a most enjoyable and safe day was had by all. It was a blessing and we felt that God was in the plan, the most important aspect. How often do we go our own way. Even if we pray we don’t listen to God. We are in too much of a hurry.

Obedience

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A discipline of Jesus in Damascus was praying and listening to God. He was so close to God that he actually heard Him speaking. ‘Rise and go.’ He was alright with that instruction, he was used to obeying God. What about the other part of the message? ‘Lord, I’ve heard about this man, how much evil he does to your saints at Jerusalem and here he has authority from the Chief Priest to bind all who will call on Your name. Act 9:13

The next thing we read is ‘Ananias departed.’ Obedient. And we read the first words that he said to the blind man was ‘Brother Saul.’ What a commission from God and what a reaction. Ananias recognised that God was at work and he obeyed knowing God was in the instruction so he was able to call the man, ‘Brother.’

On the whole we won’t be asked to go and heal a persecutor of the church. Probably God won’t ask such a difficult task. But the same obedience is requested on all matters big or small. God will ask a lesser task of us but require the same obedience. Maybe, at God’s timing, He will ask us to tell a neighbour about our Saviour or visit and help a person whose home is filthy and it needs a thorough clean. May we be as obedient as Ananias.

If Jesus came to our church…..

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Imagine you are sitting in your church, whether in a village, town or city and there is a buzz in the air. An unknown young preacher is coming to speak to you, what will he be like? You settle down in your usual seat, nod to your usual friends, observe the usual band is in place. Everything is ready for the usual Sunday morning. Then the young preacher confidently walks in. Wait a minute, this is no stranger, don’t we know him. Jesus said, ‘No man is accepted in his home town.’ They asked how dare he come and preach to them, they were doing very well thankyou. .

So is it the same with us? I still have a book of a narrative poem I received as a child. The first verse reads

‘ IfJesus came to my house and knocked upon the door,

I’m sure I’d be more happy than I’d ever been before.’

Would we be happy if Jesus came to our church? He would know of any tensions within the congregation, He would know that Mrs H only came for the coffee after the service. He would know everything about us and all our hidden thoughts. In fact He does come to our churches but does He receive a welcome? Do we receive Him with open arms or do we manage without Him?

No Retirement

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‘And you will be a blessing,’ Genesis 12:2. This was God’s message to Abram; he wasn’t to keep his talents to himself, they were to be shared. We read at the beginning of the Old Testament that Abraham was certainly a blessing to many.

We too, have many talents and abilities and they are to be used as a blessing to others. What about you and me? I don’t know about you, I only know about me. I recall the opportunities I have had to serve the Lord during my life; but now because of age, my active serving is limited. But there is no such thing as retirement for Christians! I have a Whatsapp group of 18 church members to whom I send a Biblical text each day (modern technology is great.) So God is still using me. Praise the Lord.

I have more time to write. (I read more, all writers must read a lot) I have small opportunities to get my work published which would never have happened years ago. There are a number of musicians who died and left unfinished work and artists who died with unfinished work. I expect I’ll be one of those.

As our countrey’s retirement age goes up, remember there is no retirement for Christians.