Author: Carol Purves

You Go First!

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One can only marvel at the wisdom of Jesus (no wonder considering who He is!) witnessed on so many occasions when the Pharisees tried to catch Him out. The accusations about the woman caught in adultery was one such occasion. The Pharisee had no compassion for the sinning woman, only glee at the chance to wrong-foot Jesus. But they had more than met their match; they ended up being the ones who were wrong-footed.

‘Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Jesus instructed. I imagine the stones clutched in angry fists being gradually dropped to the ground as each accuser thought ‘Am I the one who is without sin?’ Then the men quietly creeping away and as the Bible records ‘the older ones first.’ No stones were thrown that day.

Where would we have been in the stone-throwing crowd, leaving first or last? Are we gaining self-awareness as we get older? How aware are we of our own sin and the need for cleansing?

Together

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‘When the day of Pentecost arrived they were all together in one place.’ Acts 2:1

As the disciples were all together in one place it meant that they didn’t miss out on the coming of the Holy Spirit. Imagine if they had been elsewhere, as Thomas previously had been. If they had been attending to some business or couldn’t be bothered, or were tired as they had already been there ten days and nothing had happened. When Jesus was alive He had met this indifference by a man who had to go and bury the dead rather than become a disciple and another who had business to attend to.

Are there times when we are not ‘all met together’ when we should.? There is a time for being out there spreading the gospel and a time for meeting together? We need to get it right. It is sad to hear a Christian say ‘I don’t need to go to church, I can worship on my own. It is an unfortunate truth that a number of Christians in some parts of the world are forced to worship alone or secretly, but for those of us who can meet let us make sure we do when we should.

There is the illustration of the log removed from the fire; on it’s own it will burn out quickly.

Like a Feather

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‘This is the confidence we have in facing God, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.’ 1 John 5:14

My neighbour Evelyn was coming to me for a coffee. It would be her first visit to see me and I knew very little about her. I prayed to God about our morning together. Once in the past I had mentioned that I was a Christian and I think I heard her say that she said her prayers each morning. I had no idea whether this was just a throw away line or whether she really had a faith.

I knew so little about her but God knows all about her level of faith. I needed to devote to God every word I would say that morning. I felt like a feather floating about the room, I had no idea where my God-given words might lead. Would my words land on fertile ground or would they float out of the window without touching her?

Help in the Storm

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‘I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ Isaiah 41:10

The wind strength had risen to a howling gale and I was facing a car journey of over 100 miles. I knew that on the way i had to drive through a section of road that was always noted for it’s high winds. Along the motorway there were permanent signs which said ‘Beware high winds and sudden gusts.’ On the overhead gantries the temporary notices said ‘Red alert. High winds.’ Then I passed a sign which said ‘ Do not travel unless absolutely necessary.’

Too late.’, I was already travelling and home was nearly 100 miles away, so I was unable to obey that instruction. I gripped the steeling wheel more strongly. I also prayed, oh yes I prayed and felt like the disciples on the rough sea with Jesus asleep in the stern. Except Jesus wasn’t asleep.

In life storms come and they can’t be avoided, We can’t face them another day. Sometimes we are right in the midst of life’s storm. Then we need to pray and hand over the our Help and Shield. He will be our valuable Guide and Protector.

Tracey

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I have the privilege of visiting a neighbour who is house-bound and often bed-bound. When I visited her yesterday she was in bed with little to distract her from her feelings of weakness. Because she she did not have enough to distract her mind, her thoughts were going back to the past. There was a time when she had been treated very badly by someone and she was having a job to forgive.

Fortunately I didn’t know the person concerned, so I didn’t have a bias. She had been told that if she didn’t forgive that person, she wouldn’t go to heaven. I could have wept when she said this. Because i have been in a position of having had to forgive, I could understand her feelings of despair. I explained that although i had forgiven, I still had to go back on occasions and increase my forgiveness.

I explained that where possible she needed to forgive for her own sake. Unforgiveness would impact on her. In this respect. God is loving but for her own sake she needed to try to increase her forgiveness. God knows how fallible and weak we are, He knows our failings. It is for our own good that He encourages us to forgive. But it is not for another person to put their own rules on who should go to heaven.

Short on Gratitude

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‘He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet.’ Luke 17:16

As I rise up in indignation at the lack of gratitude from the nine other lepers who were healed, I’m brought up sharp. I am often one of the nine.

My life is overflowing with gifts from God. I have a good degree of health; I have significant money for my needs. I own a lovely small home and my friends, of which there are many, are so loving and caring. Also I am blessed to live in a country which is not suffering from war. Furthermore, God has revealed Himself to me through His love.

Am I falling at Jesus’ feet in gratitude? Not always, I’m ashamed to say I sometimes forget. Life is busy, unexpected things happen and I just forget. To help me, when I start my quiet time in the morning, I always begin with a prayer of gratitude. I do that before I start on my list of petitions. As I write my prayers to God (writers, write prayers, not say them) gratitude is my first written word each day. A day that begins in gratitude is more meaningful. Gratitude brings me closer to God.

Stephanie

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At the age of ten i hadn’t learned or been taught about colour prejudice. My friends at school were my friends and I had no knowledge of different nationalities or skin colour. Stephanie had been brought up in India and the colour of her skin didn’t register with me. If I did think about it, the teachers had told us that her skin was dark because she had been born and brought up in India where the climate was hot. My eyes were opened when I met her father for the first time.

How sad that it was thought necessary to hide the fact that she was a different nationality and that she should be proud of being Indian. Why wasn’t it explained to me that God had made every nationality and loves everyone and that we were all equal? Why are we taught about our differences and not our similarities? Surely things are better now with the coming of so many refugees, though sadly I have heard local refugee Iranians abused. In most classes at schools now there are many different nationalities.

Although we had become good friends, at the age of eleven I changed school and lost touch with Stephan. I can only pray that she was well received as she grew up and that she was able to reach her full potential to be proud of her heritage.

Prayer and Perseverance

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As a free-lance writer one needs to be able to cope with rejection. Much of what I write never leaves my study or if I do send it off as a meditation or for a competition it gets rejected. Does that mean it’s a waste of time and I am no good as a writer. Not necessarily! No, it is not a waste of time but time well spent.

To write anything of a Christian nature or even secular work, I need to spend time in prayer. Talking with my Heavenly Father can never be a waste of time. Then there is the necessary time spent reading the Bible as I do research. I need to read round the subject as my mind becomes immersed in what is the subject matter. In my busy life I’m continually thinking about the work.

The final result, acceptance or rejection does not rest with me . With God’s help I have done what I can. I then need to move on to the next project.

God or Problems

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Twelve men went into the Promised Land to spy it out. Ten reported of unassailable giants and couldn’t see past them. Joshua and Caleb looked beyond them and with the help of God saw the possibilities. By concentrating on the giants and not on God the Israelites lost many years wandering in the wilderness. Life is not much different today; it is all a matter of where we look.

I had to look up something in last year’s diary. On this day last year I recorded a great problem I was facing. There didn’t seem to be any way through it, but twelve months later the problems I had then have been solved and have been forgotten. I then looked at a diary for two years ago and couldn’t even understand what the problem was then, the diary entry hadn’t explained it, though it must have been very real at the time.

Today’s problems may seem over whelming but it is all a question of where we look. I have to ask myself, is my problem bigger than God. Of course not! An old hymn says, ‘What the world needs is Jesus, just a glimpse of Him.’ Benjamin Baur. What my problems and I need is Jesus. He knows the answers and is the answer to all life’s problems.

Try Again

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‘My heart and my flesh might fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.’ Psalm 73:26

The pandemic has changed the lives of many. I was one of the fortunate ones to escape the infection, but my two neighbours opposite were not so blessed. Both Linda and Sheila were hit quite badly with the illness, though their recoveries were very different. The fit neighbours among us helped where we could. We shopped for them and left the goods on the doorstep, then rang them each day to encourage them. The time came when their infections were over and the time of healing began. That was when the differences appeared.

Each day we watched as Linda ventured more and more out of the house. As soon as it was allowed she was back to all her past engagements. Sheila on the other hand is afraid to leave the house for fear of the infection returning and even now she rarely goes out. Sheila is dependant on help while Linda is enjoying a full life again.

So much of our lives is overcoming fear and stepping out into the future. With God’s help this can be done and we can enjoy our loves again under His direction.