This Day

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‘This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.’ PS 118:24

As I pull back the curtains, the sky is still dark. I can’t even see the view outside. Gradually the sky will lighten and I will be able to pick out the at present unseen items in my garden. God has been gracious enough to give me another day. I have various things planned to do but I don’t know exactly what will happen. Good or bad, the events of the day are only known to God.

I need God’s mighty right hand to hold me. Peter didn’t know the day he was going to walk on water. It wasn’t in his plans and when he took his eyes off Jesus he began to sink. When Gideon was on his threshing floor expecting an ordinary day, he didn’t know God was going to have an encounter with him and call him to service. David wasn’t to know that an interview with the prophet Samuel would lead to him being anointed king.

If it isn’t raining, we can watch the sun rise higher in the sky and we will be living the day that God has given us . Only He know the outcome. Working with him can be a day of fulfilment or going it alone it can be a day of no worth.

What Were They Praying For?

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If the disciples were praying for Peter’s release, when they heard knocking on the door, surely they would have declared ‘Our prayers have been answered, Peter has been released.’ But no, they were baffled when the knocking came late at night and when Rhoda told them it was Peter, they declared that it must be his ghost. Stephen had been martyred, James had been martyred and they were expecting Peter to be the next. Maybe they had they been praying that he would die a good death and be true to his faith?

We should not judge them. How often do we pray for the wrong things or are amazed when God gives us what we have been praying for. Our thoughts are not God’s thoughts. We tell God what we want and the thoughts that we have but our ways are not God’s ways.

Peter had quite a different mindset from his apostle friends. He was so much at peace and trusting God that he was able to sleep deeply and peacefully. When he was free and staggering along the road, he thought he was dreaming. We know that Peter was prone to dreams, think of the large sheet of unclean foods and God’s lesson to him then.

We need to pray that God’s will be done and not our inferior will. He alone knows the end from the beginning and knows how things will work out.

God Knows Best

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My time-line is not the same as God’s, my plans have not been His. I did not plan to have the career I had, I didn’t plan to have the marital status I now have. And I didn’t plan to live where I now live, the complete opposite end of my country. The life I now live bears no resemblance to to what I had thought it would be. That all boils down to saying, God knows best. I had never considered I would have the joys I’ve had and known the wonderful people I’ve met. It seems that none of the events I had envisaged have come to pass but other unforeseen things have happened.

Life has been better than I expected and in some cases worse. But it has been God’s plan and not mine. Many of our Biblical characters must have felt the same. Moses expected to live a life of comfort in the royal palace. Instead he got to lead a rebellious nation and never set food in the Promised Land. Gideon certainly didn’t want to be a ‘glorious warrior.’ And King David’s ambition was to be a good shepherd.

What of the last period of life? God won’t give up on us. The Bible tells us in Isaiah 43:19 ‘See I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up, do you not see it?’

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Every Day

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‘Read your Bible, pray every day, if you want to grow.’

This was a chorus we used to sing as children and as a small child I don’t think I followed this edict, but I certainly do now. By doing so I hope and trust that I will grow spiritually. Of course, I will still fall far short of what God would like me to be but Bible reading and prayer is now part of my every day life.

We are so blessed to have the Bible, God’s very own message to us. Reading and studying it gives us guidance, comfort, knowledge and purpose every single day of our lives. We can have a daily Bible reading scheme, read round a topic or join a Bible reading group.

‘Pray constantly,’ the Bible says and it can become as natural as breathing. What about praying for others? Every time someone comes into our minds, that is an opportunity to pray for them. Sometimes it will just be our own thoughts that makes us think about that person, but at others times God will put that name into our minds. That means they need prayer at that particular time, instantly. Our God organises things like that. World troubles can take up much of our praying and well as more local events. If we want to be closer to God, let us talk with Him now.

Spiritual Awakening

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When I was younger most of my friends went to Sunday School and many of their parents attended church. It was considered the normal thing. Religious Knowledge was a subject taught in schools and Gideon visitors were welcome. During the last sixty or so years things have changed and church attendance has dropped with the name of Jesus forbidden in some public places.

But praise God, there seems to be a change. When one wonders what has caused this change, it is the hand and grace of God. It is not better publicity, presentation or money spent. All these things are good but without God they are a waste of time. Numbers in my church are increasing, but ours is not the only church. We are hearing the same story all over the country. Of course, with any revival movement there is also increased oppression . Looking round the world we can see we are in a bad and serious place.

I give thanks that I have been spared to see this day. My parents only lived to see Christianity in decline. With this spiritual arising, there is also a responsibility. God wants us to be in partnership with Him. There is a part for us to play. We mustn’t say we are never going to tell others about God because they have never listened to us in the past. Our God is not a static God. The Bible tells us ‘See I am doing a new things. Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it?’ Is 43:19

Deeply Troubled

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‘The Lord regretted that He had made human beings on the earth and His heart was deeply troubled.’ Genesis 6:6

This is so sad. The plans of God had been dashed, He was heart-broken as He had given Adam and Eve the beautiful Garden of Eden , everything in the garden was supposed t be wonderful. Then sin had entered the world and it was all completely ruined. Then in a later period we read that because of continuing sin, all the creatures and people were to be destroyed except Noah and his family. No wonder He was deeply troubled. Even then when all the other animals and people were destroyed, sin appeared again.

Even today it seems we can’t hep sinning. God must love us so much to keep putting up with us. The serpent of the Garden of Eden, the devil, is still visiting us and leading us to sin. We need our second Adam to come and save us. But He has come. ‘Sin will not have dominion over us,’ We have been saved from the powers of the devil. We must turn to the Saviour, our Saviour, He will rescue us.

All Shall Be Well

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I was reading a large and profound book explaining the many deep mysteries in the book of Revelation. As I read page after page I found it very disturbing to read about the terrible events that are to come. There are already signs that we are approaching these end times.

I then switched on the news, that was also disturbing and worrying. We have got the world into a terrible mess with wars and rumours of wars, earthquakes and famine. But it does not stop there, that is only half the story. The terrible times foretold in the book of Revelation are not the end of the story. The sacrifice of Jesus ensures that the victory belongs to God.

There will be an end to the suffering and pain. Wars will cease and there will be peace. We need to lift our eyes heavenward and not get bogged down with the woes of this world. It was Julian of Norwich who said ‘All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well.’

No Light

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‘It is when a person walks at night that they will stumble, because they have no light.’ John 11:9-10

Much is written in the Bible about light, God’s light. Jesus is our light, He once said ‘I am the light of the world.’ John 8:12. We know of the Holman Hunt’s picture of Jesus knocking on the door of our heart with a lantern in His hand. We are surrounded by God’s light, the sun by day and the moon by night. I recently bought a standard lamp because the light in my living room was not sufficient to read by . God also gives us electricity and solar power.

Lack of light is how I imagine hell to be. God will not be there, therefore there can be no light. God is light, He will not be in hell, therefore hell will be complete and utter darkness for ever and ever. Can anything be more hell-like? There are other dreadful things we read about hell in Revelation, some of which are difficult to understand. Absolutely no light is easy to understand. But let us think about light and not darkness.

‘Gods said ‘let there be light,’ and there was light.’ Genesis 1:3

‘The light shined in the darkness but the darkness has not understood.’ John 1:5

‘There will be no more darkness. They will not need the light of the lamp or of the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. Rev 22:5

Peter and the Transfiguration

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We read in Luke 9 that Jesus took three of His disciples up the mountain to pray. It was the usual three – Peter, James and John. The appearance of Jesus’s face changed and with Him stood Moses and Elijah, all appearing in glorious splendour. The disciples had been feeling groggy but when they came to themselves Peter, the impetuous one, blurted out, ‘It is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters, one for You, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ As the Bible explains, he didn’t know what he was saying.

We can understand Peter feeling as he did. He wanted this miraculous moment to last, as if putting up three shelters would prolong the visit! There must also have been times like that for us. When we have had a time of great blessing or spiritual experience, we want it to last. I remember many years ago where a time of worship had been so uplifting and other-worldly that when I came out of the building I couldn’t think why the world was going on in the same way. Shoppers were still shopping and traffic was still proceeding. I had had a taste of heaven but the world was just the same.

That’s the point, the world is still the same with its sin and problems. But we thank God that just sometimes, we have a glimpse of what life here on earth could be like. And what it will be like in the world to come.

Choose this Day

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Gideon told the people of Israel that they had two choices. They could chose the gods of the Amorites where they were now living or they could chose to worship the true living God. Joshua made it quite clear that his household would be serving the Lord God, Yayweh, No doubt, sadly, some of them did choose the ineffective Gods of the Amorites.

We too, have choices to make every day, some decisions are small as well as the large, life-changing ones. Do we pick up the rubbish lying on the ground even though we didn’t drop it? Do we make a phone call to give encouragement to a friend in distress even though we are too busy? When we see a person looking dejected in the street, do we break with British tradition and speak to them? Can we be bothered to buy a copy of the Big Issue?

The choices we make in small things will influence decisions in the larger ones. We will not be acting out of character. To pick up rubbish will lead to a better environment and may discourage further offences, the friend will be encouraged, the Big Issue seller will be able to afford a small snack.

The world will never know of our decisions, but we will and more importantly, so will God.