Do You Hear Me?

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Peter and the other disciples were so intent on claiming that they would never fall away that they didn’t really listen to what Jesus was saying. They were busy justifying themselves. Even if others disowned Him, they never would. Furthermore there were arguments as to who was the most important disciple!

These denials and self-centered attitudes occupied all their thoughts. If only they had really listened, they could have saved themselves so much heartache. They would not have been so grief-stricken when He was crucified. But they just were not listening. No-one questioned or registered when He said ‘After I have risen, I will go ahead of you to Jerusalem.’.

Peter would later remember Jesus’ words where He had predicted that he would deny Him three times. The realisation after he had done so, brought anguish to his heart, But he hadn’t really listened to Jesus but no-one picked up the words

How often are we like that? Jesus speaks to as, or we read it in the Bible, or we hear the words in a sermon. Then we don’t really listen or we forget. We could save ourselves so much pain and sorrow. The Bible tells us many times ‘Do not be afraid.’ Yet we still fear. Jesus says ‘Follow me’ and then we go our own way. Listen to Him, He has the words of wisdom and comfort.

Wiped Clean

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The white board on my study wall was full of out of date messages. With my finger I started to remove the unwanted information. As I swiped my finger along the surface before long every message was gone; I had a completely clean white board again.

As I woke up this morning I thought about the day ahead. In my mind it was completely unblemished, but I knew that soon I would be making mistakes, saying unkind things or being completely selfish. My unblemished day would become mucky and spoilt. I would litter the day with mistakes, omissions and forgetfulness. The prospect of a perfect day would be scarred by my worthlessness.

Then I imagined the finger of God. It was obliterating all my dirty smudges. The whole white board of my life would soon be clean, back to it’s pristine whiteness. Back to the condition he wanted it to be.

‘What shall wash away my sin, nothing but the blood of Jesus.’ by Robert Lowry

Every day God gives us all a clean slate and we then mess up and spoil it, but by the death of Jesus, we will become ‘white as snow again.’ This is what God wants for us.

Wars

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‘You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed.’ Matthew 124:6

I’ve just been to a lecture on the Wars of the Roses that occurred between roughly 1453 and 1471. I was amazed at how many wars were involved, both large and small, with significant loss of life. It occurred to me that most of them were caused by people seeking power, money or land. They were wiling to kill and plunder just to get what they wanted.

Then I thought about the situation in the world today. Again there are a significant number of wars raging. There is fighting and destruction in so many countries. Human-kind does not change, we are still wanting power, land and dominion. Leaders are willing to fight, kill and destroy just to get what they want.

True dominance belongs only to God. All countries and dominions come under His domain. Countries that declare war, will themselves be defeated by other countries attacking them. Little or nothing is achieved by war, except loss of life, land, livelihoods and prosperity. Starvation is increased as crops are not tended, the standard of living goes down and the economy of the country is destroyed.

If only the world and its people would remember that every source of power belongs only to God. He alone has the right to rule the whole world

Edith Cavell

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‘Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.’ Hebrews 12:1

Edith Louisa Cavell was a British nurse who was born just south of Norwich in Norfolk. Before World War 1 she was a matron of a nursing training school in Brussels. When the war commenced she tended and saved lives of soldiers from both sides, German and Belgium, without discrimination. She also helped 200 allied soldiers escape from the then occupied Belgium.

Eventually the enemy caught up with her and in spite of an attempt by the British government to save her, she was executed by firing squad on the 12th October 1915. She was only 49 years old.

In her honour the British allowed her a state funeral in Westminster Abbey; she was the first commoner to be afforded this honour. She is now buried in Norwich Cathedral near where she was born. Her faith was firm right up to the end. In her final words she confessed to the chaplain, Rev Horace Graham, ‘they have all been very kind to me here. But I would say standing here as I do in view of God and eternity, I must have no bitterness towards anyone.’

Hot-Headed

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‘Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them walking on the lake. When the disciples saw Him walking on the lake, they were terrified. ‘It’s a ghost’, they said and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them ‘It is I. Do not be afraid.’ Matthew 14:25-27

We can imagine the scene, a ghost-like figure actually walking on the lake! Then when Jesus reveals Himself, Peter impetuously calls out, ‘Lord, if it is You, tell me to come to you on the water.’ After Peter jumps into the lake he takes his eyes off Jesus who stretches out His hand to take hold of Peter’s hand and save him. He is now safe.

For us to have the same experience we don’t have to plunge into freezing water, life throws up enough problems of its own. It is when we take our eyes off Jesus that we run into trouble. Jesus said, ‘Do not be afraid.’ I sometimes think that as human beings we are programmed to worry. But why do we worry when worry achieves nothing. It only makes the situation worse. We have medical tests and then worry about the results, which we can’t alter anyway. We think of every bad scenario but still nothing changes.

There are so many times in the Bible where Jesus, a prophet or apostle tells us not to worry. God has control of every situation. He knows the answers.

‘Inattentional Blindness.’

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‘Blessed are your eyes for they see.’ Matthew 13:16

In the Bible we are sometimes urged to use our eyes to see. But there are stories of seeing people just not seeing. This happened to Mary Magdalene in the Garden of Gethsemane. She didn’t recognise her Master. Maybe His features were not clear in the morning light. Perhaps her eyes filled with tears were unable to focus. To see Jesus alive was not something she was expecting. This is a medical condition known as ‘inattentional blindness’. Not seeing because you were not expecting to see something.

The two disciples on the road to Emmaus were also unable to recognise Jesus. Although they were followers of him, maybe they had never seen Him close up. Perhaps the evening light was too dim. Their blindness did mean that they had plenty of time to listen to the preaching of Jesus without being distracted. It seems when they saw His nail-pierced hands, what they thought couldn’t happen, had happened. Jesus was alive.

On one occasion Brother Andrew had his forbidden Bibles in an open suitcase on the back seat of the car. When the guards searched his car, they completely failed to see them. How did that happen? Maybe it was part of God’s plan.

Unexpected Father

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Joseph was not expecting to become a father. He was only engaged to be married and although engagements were very binding in Nazareth, he hadn’t got round to thinking about children yet. As far as we know Joseph would become a good earthly father.

He had to cope with the fact that he was to be the foster father of the ‘Son of God,’ and then decide that by marrying Mary she would be shielded from shame. Under God’s guidance he did all he could to keep his family safe by taking them to Egypt and then a few years later back to Nazareth.

He taught his Son, and probably his other sons, to have a skill but then we hear no more of him. We note that he wasn’t at the crucifixion, as he was probably an older husband and had by then died. His role in God’s plan was not for him to play a leading but we assume him to be a quiet obedient man.

We don’t need to know about Joseph, but can use him as a role-model. Many of us are bit players in God’s plans. Like Joseph we just need to be obedient. I recall the words of Milton’s sonnet ‘On his blindness,’ ‘They also serve who only stand and wait.’

I

Today is Precious

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‘You do not even know what will happen tomorrow.’ James 4:14

21.4.2026 Whenever I write the date I realise that it is unique. There has never been a day before which has had this date and this date will never be used again in the whole of history. Today is unique and precious.

James urges us not to make plans without consulting God, all of time is in His hands. The seconds, minutes, years all belong to Him, they are not ours to be squandered or wasted. God has a plan for each of our lives, they are the best plans for us that can possibly be. Our own plans fall miserably short, our knowledge is so limited, our perceptions so narrow.

Only the God of all eternity knows the past, the present and the future. So let’s leave it in God’s hands. Tuesday 21st April 2026 belongs to God, to be lived by us. It might prove to be a very ordinary day, on the other hand it might be monentous and life-changing. Let us accept the gift of today, it won’t come again.

Rejoice with Me.

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‘Rejoice with me, I have found …….. Luke 15:9

Luke tells us of three losses in one chapter. We’ve all lost things at times, small items which are insignificant and tiny, a telephone number or pencil; others are almost life-changing, our credit card or phone. The loss of the items in the story told by Jesus were on the important end of the scale.

Sheep were a shepherd’s livelihood. Every one was important to hi; they were his livelihood and his source of income and he also loved them as individuals. Many a shepherd would have risked his life just to rescue the one who was in danger.

The string of coins round a woman’s neck were worth much wealth to her. They would have been of value if her husband had died and she could change them into money. In her anguish she had shared the news with her neighbours, who shared her sorrow and then shared her joy.

The third lost item was the most important. The prodigal son was lost, but then returned home and was found. We recognise that this story is referring to a lost soul from the kingdom of God. How much God loves each one of us and doesn’t want any to be lost. When a wandering soul returns we are told that there is rejoicing in heaven.

Small yet Mighty

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In the hands of God small, insignificant things can become great and far-reaching. The Bible is full of many examples of this. Abraham had been an ordinary nomadic herdsman. In the hands of God he became the father of a great nation. ‘ Matthew 22:32 tells us The God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob will be with you Gideon is another character who was made great by God. When told by God that he was going to be the leader of Israel, he protested ‘I am of the smallest in the nation of Israel and no mighty warrior.’ In his own strength he was nothing, in the hand of God, he was indeed a a mighty warrior.

In the New Testament we find that through the power of Jesus five small loaves and two fishes were enough to feed a multitude. Luke 9:16-18 They had been prepared to feed one lad, not 5,000. In all these cases we see what God can do with very little. Our little becomes His much.

I’ve just read the annual review of a children’s where I had some small involvement. Within the booklet was the obituary of a number of folk who I had known. They all had a difficult start in life. This Christian orphanhad given them a good start in life. I was amazed what they had achieved through God. God is the ingredient who make tiny and insignificant things, great and mighty. We are fairly small and unimportant but God can achieve great things when we surrender our lives to Him.