Author: Carol Purves

Communion

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Yesterday afternoon I had the privilege of taking communion with a group of friends. We were able to remember the sacrifice in Jesus giving His life for the redemption of our sins. We remembered with gratitude and thanks. There is no greater sacrifice and no thanks on our part that can ever be too much.

On the morning of that same day I visited my friend who was dying. I looked at her lying almost unconscious in her hospital bed with her daughter sitting beside her and I realised she would never again be taking communion in our group as she had so often in the past.

Then another thought struck me. In no time at all she would be having communion in heaven. I’m not sure how they would celebrate up there, but she will be in the presence of her beloved Saviour. How wonderful for her. By the time you read this blog she may well be there. The time will come when we can join her. Oh blessed day!

Exceedingly Loved

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‘I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.’ Jeremiah 31:3 . When I had one of my doubts about being good enough for God, this verse came to mind. Why do I struggle so to please God? Why do I not love him and rest in His love to me? I don’t need to strive for God’s love like I might for an earthly father. Why do I worry and fret and tie myself into knots?

I am told He has loved us with an everlasting love for us. He has drawn us with loving devotion. There is nothing we can do to make Him love us more. There is nothing we can do which will make him love us less. We can rest, He is faithful and constant; as He tells us ‘Abide in My love.’

Child Aid

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This is a fairly small charity which I support. They care for orphans, handicapped children and families in need in Eastern Europe including Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and Russia. It was so helpful to be able to Zoom with the charity recently to hear how they are faring in extremely dangerous and difficult situations.

There were stories of hope, survival, bombings, dangers and witness to God’s mercies. We feel so helpless in face of so much hardship; to be able to pray with others was a blessings. We know God hears our prayers and it is good to pray with more knowledge. Again today I pray for those who are suffering, that God will choose to stop death and destruction. It is in His name we pray.

My Garden

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I sit in the garden with my weed removal up-to-date. More dandelions will appear tomorrow but today I rest. A variety of birds are collecting their supper from my newly-mown lawns Others are chattering in the nearby leaf-sprouting trees. Yes, lawns in the plural, I have four but they are small.

School has finished and young voices shout ‘Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye.’ Do the repeated words mean they are still insecure at missing their friends? They need to be sure they will see them again tomorrow. I sit and revel in the moment. Once again I thank God that He has blessed me with a garden. It kept me going and gave me hope during lockdown.

Dawn Chorus

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How I love these spring mornings! I am lying in snugly in bed with my eyes shut tight; it is probably getting light but I cannot see. It’s about 5.15 as the first bird gives his tiny tweet, followed in song by all his mates, and we have our dawn chorus. Along with the birds I praise God. He is so good. Quite soon this first song dies away to be heard again a little later.

I must be honest. I’m back to sleep by then. 5.15 am is not my rising time. My further praising of God will have to wait until later.

The Empty Tomb

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Such a great event deserves to be remembered even after Easter. What does the empty tomb mean to me? Everything; His birth, life and death were momentous but needed His resurrection to complete His work here on earth.

Can I explain what it means to be a ‘new creature’ in Christ? For those with faith no explanation is needed, for those without faith no explanation is enough. Why did the disciples doubt when Jesus had told them that He would rise again? I wonder when God is talking to us today are we hearing and understanding?

He Was There

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I’m always amazed that how many times I read a passage from the Bible, I discovered something new or notice a different aspect. I re-read recently the story of Jacob sleeping in a place he later called Bethel and seeing angels ascending and descending on a ladder reaching up to heaven. This is a picture children love to hear as they can imagine the angels going up and down the ladder and even make models of the ladder and the angels. The descending angels are often depicted up-side-down.

I read this passage again but this time it seemed to have greater significance; in Genesis 28:13 God was was speaking from the top of the ladder. It stands to reason that He must have been there as He spoke. The angels and the ladder are important but the most important fact is that God was there speaking to Jacob.

Focussed

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Helen Howarth Lemmel was inspired to write the hymn ‘Turn your eyes on Jesus after reading a book by Lilias Trotter entitled ‘Focused’. In this book Lilias writes ‘Turn full your soul’s vision to Jesus and look and look at Him and a strange dimness will come over all that is apart from Him.’ Lilias was a talented artist who Ruskin admired. He contented that she couldn’t be a famous artist, for which she had the talent, and also follow her Christian work. After much prayer Lilias chose God and went to Algiers as a protestant missionary. Her work among the downtrodden woman of that country still has its effect today.

She could not have known that the words in her book ‘Focussed’ would be turned into a hymn which is so well-known today. It was used as the theme-song of the Keswick Convention in the Lake District in 1924. In an age where life is demanding and complex with many demands on our lives, we need the words more than ever ‘Turn your eyes upon Jesus.’

Target Fixation

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I’ve only just come across this phrase. It seems t be used mainly about driving. An individual becomes so focused on an object that they inadvertently increase their risk of colliding with it. The person loses sight of the bigger picture. The solution is to force your attention elsewhere.

Is it possible for us to treat sin in this way? All our concentration is focused on avoiding sin and when our minds are thus engaged, we find that sin multiplies. The answer is to stop looking at the sin and failings and to concentrate on God. Helen Howarth Lemmel put it so clearly when she wrote,

‘Turn your eyes on Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.’

Traditions

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Olivia watched her mother preparing the meal.

‘Mum, why do you always cut off the end of the joint before putting it in the oven?’ ‘My mother used to do it, so it must make the meat cook better.’

‘Grandma, why do you cut off the end of the joint before putting it in the oven?’ ‘My mother always used to do it.’

‘Great grandmother, why do you always cut off the end of the joint before putting it in the oven?’ ‘It’s the only way I can get it in my small baking tin.’

Do we treat our church traditions in the same way, sticking to what has always been done without knowing the reason why?