Author: Carol Purves

All Men are like Grass

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This is what we read in Isaiah 40. That’s bad news for anyone who thinks they’re important. Great statesmen of my youth are hardly known or remembered by today’s young people. Life has moved on. When i wrote a biography of a well-known missionary who worked in China who died about 70 years ago, someone asked me why I was now writing fiction. They had never heard of her. Our immediate family and perhaps a couple of generations on will remember us, but then we too will be forgotten. If all goes well we will live about hundred years, then it will be a matter of here today and forgotten tomorrow.

This is not a sad thought because there is One who will never forget us. He remembers us and loves us so much that our name is written on His hand. we are constantly in His thoughts and He only wants the best for us. We can’t really ask for more than that.

No Words Necessary

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A quiz question could be ‘What cannot actually speak but has a massive influence right round the world 24/7? I find the answer in Psalm 19 – in the heavens and the sky. Here we read ‘Day after day they pour forth speech, night after night they display knowledge.’ Words are not necessary, they pour forth speech just by their existence, by night they display knowledge.

When I think of all the words that are gushing out of everywhere, in every medium possible, it makes me stop and think. We probably have more words now than ever before. So many words are lies, half lies, harsh words and harmful words. We can’t stop this torrent. All we can do is make sure our words are like ‘apples of gold in baskets of silver,’ helpful, uplifting, God orientated.

Afternoon Tea

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Yesterday I went to have tea with my friend. She is not very mobile these days. The bones in her back are crumbling and she is in considerable pain. As we got talking she recounted stories of her time in India as a teacher in a Christian school which was a number of decades ago.

I sat enthralled, a different place and a different era. The scenes came alive as she told of tale after tale. When I returned home I thought about the good influence she must have been in those days and the part she played in spreading the gospel. It is only too easy to look at the old and sick and not realize how they would have been when they were younger. They would have been at the thrusting edge of Christian work, their endeavours in the past laying the foundation for the heritage we have today and for the future.

It is good that God doesn’t just look at our present condition. He knows all about us and knows that our hearts still beat for Him.

New Phone

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My mobile phone had become very slow in responding, so I organised to get a new phone. To be absolutely honest, my clever friend arranged for me to have a new phone. He knows all about the best deals. I’n not noted for my knowledge of technology! With my new phone I will be able to quickly send messages, receive messages, get into my website, e-mails and many many other things. Mobile phones are a comparatively new invention. I’m old enough to remember when it was necessary to walk down the road to a phone box to contact my friends!

Mankind is apparently so clever, we are now being threatened with the invention of A.I., with it’s blessings and curses. We feel we are so clever that there is no limit to what we can achieve. But there is a limit, a very real limit. We will not get ahead of what God is willing for us to discover. He knew all about these things since the beginning of time, in fact it was He who invented them, not us. When we take God out of the equation we will run into real danger. Mankind is only as clever as God permits us to be. And our knowledge is so very tiny.

Look at the heaven and the stars. Observe the wonders of nature and our inability to control storms, earthquakes and the climate. God is the all-powerful One, He made the earth and everything in it and He declared it very good.

Walk Beside Me

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‘Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow,

Don’t walk behind me, I won’t know the way,

Just walk beside me and be my friend.’

It was a long time ago that I first read this in a Valentine card and I might have slightly misquoted it but at the time the words meant a lot to me. Now I realise that this can be applied to our walk with Jesus. If Jesus walks in front of us, we might find it difficult to keep up. The things He tells us might be too difficult for us to understand. He may get so far ahead of us that we lose sight of Him altogether.

If He walks behind we will not know which way to go. We will not be able to see Him. It will be as if He is not there at all. We will stumble in the difficult places; we will go wild in the easy places. We will be walking in unproven places.

If He walks beside us our way will be safe and secure. He will hold our hand over the difficult places; He will place His hand comfortingly on our shoulder in the easy places. He will not only be our guide and encourager; He will be our friend!

Abiding

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As a fish abides in water and cannot live without it, so we need to abide in Jesus and not be able to survive without Him. How do we abide? We firstly need to know we are loved and therefore we become obedient to Him. We will abide more by investing in His word. That will tell us all we need to know. There needs to be a commitment to prayer, dialogue with God is necessary. Before there can be much fruit there will be much pruning.

This means that God will be glorified as we abide deeper and our prayers will be answered more clearly. Our joy will be complete as others will become included in our love. Nevertheless, the deeper we abide the more opposition we will receive. It is not the devil’s will that we should be closer to God or that we should grow spiritually.

Omission

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‘Go you into all the world.’ This is what the Great Commission tells us but all too easily the commission becomes the omission – the time is not right, I’m waiting for the call, Lord, not there, not now. We can make all the feeble excuses imaginable.

It might not be time for our Great Commission but what about the small commission, what about that un-glamourous call? The lady over t he road needs our help putting her bins out. We could write a letter of encouragement to someone or even send a text. We could become really expansive and make that a phone call or visit. There will be no accolades for doing these things but they are still a commission!

Great commissions are seen by everyone but small deeds of compassion are of equal value. Jesus made this quite clear in His sermon on the mount. God sees these actions and will give His own reward. May our commission become a submission.

Graciousness

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Proverbs 22:11 tells us ‘He who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious will have the king as a friend.’ As Christians we are to be gracious and show love to others. Again in Proverbs we read ‘A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.’ But I am not a Christian who thinks that I should keep quiet under any circumstances. The important thing is how I do it.

How can we keep remain silent when a medical appointment is cancelled without notice or essential medicines are not available at the chemist because of mismanagement? What about the door slammed in your face or a workman failing to turn up without any explanation? Although I can feel anger on my own behalf I am even more annoyed when a vulnerable person is badly treated. I have the verbal ability, mental capacity and courage to object. They do not always.

We know this is not a fair world and there are many injustices but as Christians we still need to be gracious. Proverbs again gives us an answer. ‘A gentle answer turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up anger.’ Proverbs 15:1

Balaam and His Donkey

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The life of Balaam is a complex one. He was thought to be a non-Israelite, a wicked prophet but not a false one. As he grew up in the area where Abraham had lived, it is likely that he had come to know about God in that way. As a soothsayer who foretold the future, the meaning of his name – Destroyer of People was not an auspicious one!

Being gifted and eloquent he came to the notice of Balak king of Moab, who was afraid of the power of the Israelites. The king offered money to Balaam to curse this nation. It would appear that in his heart Balaam wanted to issue this curse but seemed to ask God’s instructions first. Eventually God allowed him to journey along to carry out this cursing. This is where the donkey behaved with the wisdom of a man and Balaam acted with the folly of a donkey.

Balaam ‘s life was saved by the donkey who protected him from the angel with a sword. The cursing turned into a blessing. God was faithful to His chosen people.

Creation

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The other day I had the privilege to hear the oratorio ,’The Creation’ written by Haydn in April 1798. I think of all the oratorios this my favourite with the composer’s rhythmic and melodic harmonies bursting forth. Taking just over four minutes to perform it is based on the first few chapters of Genesis telling of the six days of creation and the time Adam and Eve spent in the Garden of Eden up to the time of the Fall.

The performance took place in the beautiful Carlisle Cathedral. The setting was magnificent, especially the famous blue and gold ceiling depicting the heavens. The atmosphere was sublime especially when the choir sang the chorus ‘The heavens are telling the glory of God, the wonders of His work.’

As I sat listening I was surrounded by the beauty of the cathedral built by the skill of man through the gifts of God and the beauty of God’s creation outside as the daylight gave way to the softer glow of the dusk.