Carol Purves

As I wake in the morning my mind is sometimes involved in a negative spiral. I worry about climate change, the pandemic, my own health and that of friends, how I will cope in the future. This morning my mind was drawn to the words of Philippians 4:8 words I needed to hear.

Whatever is true – the media often peddles lies, leaving us not knowing what to believe.

Whatever is noble, ‘turn my thoughts to noble actions, ministries of love.’

Whatever is right, through God’s conscience we know right from wrong, let us pursue it.

Whatever is pure – the sacrificial love of Jesus, love ‘so amazing, so divine.’

Whatever is lovely, God has given us creation, my sunrise this morning and the tracery of the snow laden branches.

Whatever is the pursuit of excellence and praiseworthiness will bring peace.

She could have had half the kingdom as a gift instead she had a bloody head; instead she had a bloody head. This was the head of one of the most important preachers ever – John the Baptist. The daughter of Herodias would have had a tragic upbringing. Brought up in the royal palace it is likely that she would have had no choice in her request for such a gift. In the first place she was forced to do an erotic dance in front of a group of drunken old men and then had to carry in the tragic trophy on a platter.

Thousands today have no choice in how they live their lives, their choices are dictated by others. This is especially true of Christians in oppressed countries. As ordinary people we may not have much power but we can pray for these people. God knows and God weeps.

Since the beginning of the pandemic more books than ever are being published. A number of these are Christian books and these are excellent and well worthy of a read. But they will never take the place of the Bible. Our reading cannot be either or; the Bible must be included in our reading.

As a published Christian writer myself I have a vested interest in these books, but if we only read about the Bible and not read the Bible itself, our Christian life will be stunted. Nothing can replace God’s Holy Scriptures. It must be admitted that God’s writing is far more powerful than ours can ever be. His words give eternal life. As King David said in the psalms ‘Your word have I written in my heart.

The other day a large section of the British Isles was affected by Storm Arwen. Many thousands were without power for an unacceptably long period. Their suffering must have been intense. Travel disruption was great. It was often not possible to get from A to B safely. A few people lost their lives, impacting their families and friends with grief and sadness.

My own suffering was tiny. My friend and I were visiting another friend in Kendal. We decided to visit parts of Lake Windermere. We were alright until we decided to return home. Then nearly every road we tried to travel along was blocked by fallen trees. Some had been moved off the road but being only two or three days after the storm it hadn’t been possible for them all to be cleared. At one time we drove over a live cable. We became three praying-hard ladies at that point.

The storm reminded me of life. The storms of life are sometimes so devastating that we are thrown off balance, unable to stand or cope. The winds of grief, persecution, illness and loneliness are almost too much to bear. Sometimes life is a live cable, almost ready to destroy at any time.

We do not need to fight the storm alone. We have a Master Road Clearer, a Storm Calmer and a Navigator. Jesus came to guide us through the storms of life.

I now have long standing real friends and now newer zoom friends. Of course, my zoom friends are also real but I only see them in a little square on my computer. they don’t seem real people with lives of their own. Then the other week I met a zoom friend in person along with all her family. What a difference. I was actually seeing them in 3D, moving about and with a profile instead of full face. There was hardly any comparison.

Do we see God in a box, not moving much or acting on our behalf? Does He look a few inches tall with only that much power? Have we made God into what we want Him to be? We need to release him in our minds and give Him full reign in our lives. His is the world and everything that is in it. Praise be to His power.

I read an article the other day about ‘middle age’ and wondered when middle age actually was. For those who live to about 80, it will be around 30-50. For someone like Methuselah it would be about 500. With some refugee children middle age would be about 4 years old.

None of us know long we will live. Whether we are now young, middle aged or old we need to give every minute to God, whether we are alive or resting. He alone knows the number of our days.

The older need ways of keeping fit. As well as for physical fitness we need to keep spiritually fit by prayer, Bible reading and Christian fellowship.

It seems a fashionable thing these days to compile a bucket list of things to do before one dies. Things like swim with dolphins and travel on the Orient Express seem to crop up regularly. What about making a different type of bucket list – a list of 100 things to praise God for. This could be an uplifting and more rewarding list.

It could include items common to everyone, the sun, rain, health, food, friends and family. It will also include items personal to each one of us, a special healing, a restored friendship, the coming to the Lord of a loved one. Every day I record three things for which I can especially praise God for that day. Looking back it makes rewarding reading. Some items are repeated but others are once in a lifetime thanks. Some are large and some are small. All praise and thank my God.

Change is something we all seem to resist. If we look at the Bible we see many stories of change. When their change or ours is guided by God it can only be good.

Abraham had a great change. He was told by God to leave where he was and travel to live in an unknown destination. His obedience led to great blessing. Gideon was pulled out of his way of life to become, under God, a leader of men. Moses certainly didn’t plan to lead a rebellious people for 40 years in the desert. David only wanted the life of a shepherd, not king.

If God’s change was good enough for these great Biblical characters it should be good enough for you and me. God’s plans are always best., we only need to open to God’s leading.

Am I an armchair Christian? I am an armchair sports person. I’ve never played football but I watch it regularly on the tele. Other sports I’ve never played but again some of them I follow from my armchair.

But what about my Christian life. I need to be hands on with that. There are the sick to be visited, the lonely to be entertained. Meetings should be attended to learn more about my Saviour and certain jobs that require me to roll up my sleeves. As a Christian I can never retire.

The only time I can use my armchair is at my computer (even then an office chair would be better)or when I pray (kneeling would preferable, or at least in an alert position) There is an excuse when I’m ill, but illness doesn’t stop praying. I never want to be an armchair Christian.

My brother and I were mischievous teenagers. In our church were two retired missionaries but over the gulf of time I have no idea where their field of mission was. I think we were too young to realise that there was life outside our small town.

These two old ladies regularly attended every meeting, always sat together but at coffee times or meals they never volunteered to help. Whenever asked they had a stock reply, ‘No sorry, we’re resting awhile.’ No doubt they felt by being missionaries they had done their service for the Lord.

I’ve now learned that older people need to rest, but Christians never retire, they can still serve in many ways. Our church has just started a Prayer Warriors group. Anyone over 70 is automatically in this group and can serve the Lord by praying for the needs of the church.

My brother and I nicknamed these two ladies ‘Rest’ and ‘Awhile’ but we could never agree which was which.