Hope

' From the rising of the sun to its going down: let the name of the Lord be praised. 'Psalm 113

Often we come home at the end of a day and shake the dust from our feet as we reflect and mull over its events and see where God has been and where his name has been praised and where hope has been given.

Lucado says about hope: 'Its not what you expect, its what you would never dream. Its like the two Emmaus-bound pilgrims reaching out to take a piece of bread only to see the hands from which it is offered are pierced.'

Our daily lives offer hope to many, and fire us up in greater hope, like someone adding kindling to an already burning fire.

A visit to a lonely house bound person gives hope

A hospital visit, gives hope

Welcoming the stranger or

faithfully turning up to our daily ministries, all give hope to many.

'From the rising of the sun to its going down: let the name of the Lord be praised.'

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

Sharing God

' Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds amongst mortals. ' Psalm 66:5

When I read this psalm I am touched in many ways. To mind came the words of the familiar song we sang in Sunday School: 'wide wide as the ocean, high as the heavens above, deep deep as the deepest sea is my saviours love.'

and don't you just want to share that love of God.

I took a funeral of a disabled man. '(No, we don't really have a faith, said the family,something there perhaps but we don't think about it much..) and as always I concluded the funeral with the words of the Aaronic blessing: 'may the Lord bless you and keep you.....' before we even began moving out of the chapel a family member , came to me in tears, so touched, saying she really felt God was there in those words. He felt so real and I know, I just know, my brother will now be with God.

Come and see what God has done; He is awesome in his deeds amongst mortals.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

Blessings

' Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure,pressed down, and shaken together, running over, will be put in your lap, for the measure you give will be the measure you get back .' Luke 6:38 NRSV.

I tried to find a definition of a blessing and I couldn't, but Luke gives it plain and clear in his Gospel. What drew me to blessings this morning was that they were on my heart when I got up today. I was thinking they are like boomerangs.........you give one out, and it comes back to you and the blessing then becomes yours, as well as theirs.

Last night I was at the Aboriginal church, sharing the love of the Lord and I came away thinking its me that has been blessed .

Friday I 'did' a funeral for a rough and ready lot yet I was so blessed to be with them at this time as their acceptance of me was beyond my expectation.

God can give us a cold and frosty morning, shrouded in mist, yet the beauty of it all takes our breath away and becomes a 'blessing prayer' of thank you Lord.

Blessings are something we don't forget, they are powerful, collected and saved in the soul.

May the blessings fall like rain on your day.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

Take time to be Holy

' ............can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ' John 3 :12b

When I glimpsed the autumn tree in passing I found myself going back to look again. Something touched my soul, something put me momentarily on sacred ground. Although a rather insignificant tree the passage of the autumn tones is what touched me. There was a mass of green leaves, a mass of changing leaves and then those that were in full colour.

It spoke to me of our journey of faith.

It spoke to me of life's journey

It spoke to me of God's glory

It took my breath away.

Gave me a glimpse of God.

A window to God, a flash,

in a moment, in a day.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

in wonder and awe

'Say only what is good and helpful to those you are talking to, and that will give them a blessing.' Ephesians 4:29

We sit in such a privileged place in life. A place that is open to sharing the love of Christ with all who cross our path in the day.

My 3 year old granddaughter was looking at a model of the 'Last Supper' on my dining room table and she asked, 'Is that a cake?' She knelt on the chair, to get a closer look, and was in awe of what it could be if it wasn't a cake. There followed the most wonderful conversation. Her last encounter with Christ had been the baby in the manger at Christmas time, now she was looking at the 'adult' Jesus and the questions flowed. 'What are their names, why are they with Jesus, why does one have his sandals off his feet, look what they are eating. To her, the model came to life, it came into her life in a very real way just for those moments of conversation until she ran back to her previous activity.

What a treasured moment. A moment when Christ became real to her, when Christ held her and the wonder and awe captivated her, touched her.

Encounter with those who do not yet know Christ is a rich blessing and we have that opportunity within our reach each and every day when we step outside the door and into the world to share the 'realness' of Christ.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

Riveted to the spot with God

' Be still for the presence of the Lord, the Holy one is here.' (Christian song)

That's how it is with those special moments that emanate the presence of God. The moments that take your breath away, put you on your knees (if you can!)

They are there for the taking, for the offering if we just stop a moment and see.

As I stood at the waters edge at Bateman's Bay I had one of these moments and I didn't want to draw myself away from it. I was riveted to the spot with God.

The silver moon like sun was endeavouring to push its way through the thick morning light and the silence was so 'quiet' you could hear the seagulls stamping their footprints on the wet sand and God was present in all I saw and heard, in the quiet and in my heart that sang , ' Be still for the presence of the Lord, the Holy one is here.'

See the moments with God ,seize them, and let your heart sing.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

Breathtaking God

'See the streams of living waters, springing from eternal love.' (Hymn 446 TIS John Newton)

I stepped out early for a walk. It was fresh and the morning mist was rising from the dew laden grass, the autumn trees were so colourful that they took my breath away and I was left with a song on my heart, a song of morning praise that set the pace for the day:

'Glorious things of you are spoken.'

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

vinyard pruning

' Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers, such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned.' John 15:6

As I stood looking at the vineyard in the morning fog I couldn't help but think of the pruning that is about to take place, but more so about the branches that will be pruned. I had an image of a pile of cut and abandoned branches

outside the vineyard.

That said something to me, in fact, it bothered me.

As I walked on I couldn't shake the image of the pile of branches destined for the fire.It reminded me of many I walk amongst each day.Those outside God's love.

Those outside his kingdom .

And it made me more determined in my daily task of bringing Christ to others.

I wonder what 'bothers' you when you read John's story of the vineyard?

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

God is everywhere

' You shall rejoice in every good thing which the Lord your God has given you.' Deut 26:11

I can watch for ages the variety of birds that flock to the garden for their morning hand out.

Sulphur crested cockatoos, rosellas, mountain lowries, top knot wood pigeons, black birds ,willy wag tails, sparrows. Their antics are worth watching, their pecking order is fascinating and you cant watch them without thinking God has a sense of humour especially when you say hello to the cockie and he answers you!

Every one of these creatures has the mark of God's hand on it. Sometimes we only see God in the grandeur of majestic mountain ranges and brilliant breath taking sunrises but he is there, right there, even in the little sparrow and the busy willy wag tail and the yellow sulphur crest of the cockie to say nothing of the very tidy topknot of the wood pigeon that looks like its constantly groomed with brill cream.

I cant look and see without a conversation with God. I cant look and see without rejoicing. Its so reassuring to know that God is so close.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne