For heavens sake.

' Never be lazy in your work but serve the Lord enthusiastically.' Romans 12:11

There is a saying which says: 'What on earth am I doing for Heaven's sake!' Now we can say that in the context of something we have done that hasn't quite gone the way we wanted it to or we can say it in a prayerful way, depends where we put the emphasis.

Yesterday I was sitting in 'Messy church' amongst many 'unchurched' families and I glanced across at a young couple. The dad was nursing their child . It was a sacred moment as I realised that through 'Messy church' this young couple were not only learning about God and the love of Jesus but they were giving this child an introduction to Christian life. The revelation almost put me on my knees before God.

What on earth are you doing for heavens sake?

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

God is present

' He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.' Isa. 53:12

Sometimes we forget that God is in the thick of things in the world. He doesn't sit in a place on high and survey, he is right in the midst with us.

He is in the thick of the earthquake in New Zealand, in the tsunami in Japan.

Every time you hold the hand of the dying, visit the sick, visit a day care centre, sit for bible study or a cuppa with a friend, in all you do in the comings and goings of your day...................there is God.AND, come evening when we reflect in silence on our day, God is in our prayers our thoughts and our sleeping.

As Lucado says:

He draws near,he is involved.He is as near to us on Monday as on Sunday, in the work place as in the sanctuary.

In all our comings and goings, like the tide of the sea, ever present, ever moving is our God.

Stop sometime during your day and acknowledge the presence of God in whatever you are doing at that moment and you will be blessed .

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

Walking meditation

' Seek, O seek the Lord while he is near.' TIS 464

Images in life surround us all the time but we don't often read into them anything of significance to our life journey in a spiritual way. I love the 'God' connection when I see a part of creation, in any of its forms be it God himself or his message.

Walking the beach earlier this year I saw many such images but one in particular caused me to stop and reflect. It was of three stones, clustered together and two or three separate from the group and into my mind came several thoughts like 'gathering and dispersing' or 'when two or three are gathered together in my name there I will be also.'

Reflective, meditation walks are so 'life giving' so connecting to God's Spirit. Recently someone told me how a large butterfly came and settled on his hand and stayed there for some 15 minutes in stillness and quietness. What a God moment.

To have such moments we need stillness, quiet and time alone with God.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

Harvest

' He said to his disciples.' The harvest is great , but the workers are so few. 'So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest: ask him to send out more workers to his fields'. Matthew 10:37-38

The summer gave us rains like we haven't seen for a long time and the growth of the grass was just amazing, in fact so strong that it caused verges and parkways to be overgrown and visibility limited, the place looked a mess.. There was a backlash at the local Government about not enough workers to keep up with the task, to reach the places that were becoming weed infested.

When I was out walking it was just coming on dawn and three tractors mowers passed me, lights shining bright, driven by men who looked like they were on a mission! They were on their way to cut back the overgrowth of grass in the area I live.

In our 'broken and cracked' world today there is a great need for more harvesters. Harvesters prepared to go out amongst the 'overgrowth' of the lost and take the Good News of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Go well as you yourself transofom lives today, in the name of Christ.

Anne

Lent

' They knew nothing about what was happening until the flood came and destroyed them. It will be the same when the Son of Man comes. Matthew 24:39

I had two thoughts on my mind this morning when I woke up. I was reflecting on the story of Noah's Ark that I was telling at Messy Church a week or so ago and also on the deep and meaningful Ash Wednesday service during the week.

What did those two thoughts have in common? my daily reading said it all. (to quote Lucado)

'Noah was sent to save the faithful. Christ was sent to do the same. A flood of water came, a flood of fire will come next. Noah built a safe place out of wood. Jesus made a safe place with the cross.

Those who believed hid in the Ark. Those who believe are hidden in Christ.'

This Lent, as we travel the journey to the cross, may it hold a sense of new revelation, new assurance, new discovery, a freshness like the gentle rain that's falling this morning to the chorus of bathing birds.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

Seek God first.

'Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through the generations.' Psalm 145:13

We often sit and spend time at the start of the day, writing the list of things that need to be done, the things we must do, the people we must touch base with, the ministry we must attend to and as the day wears on we work though this list, ticking of the tasks one by one often satisfied by evening that we have at least achieved some of them, or frustrated because the list still holds many tasks and the day instead shot off into another direction.

I stop and think. Whose day is it? Whose tasks are they? Mine or God's?

Having been given the gift of a new day it is wise to put on the very top of our list of must do items............'seek God's kingdom.' At the end of the day, what remains of the list doesn't really matter. The day has been in God's hands.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

footsteps of Christ

'This is the list of the ancestors of Jesus Christ...................' Matthew 1:1-6

It is a typical Autumn morning with a wisp of mist in the valley, blue, stark mountains and a freshness in the air. The dew is heavy on the grass and as I walked I could see foot prints where others had walked before me.

I thought of those footprints, and mine that were now imprinted with them, I thought of Jesus, who walked the earth and God who left his footprint on all creation and I thought how we all belong to the ancestors of 'the followers.' We continue, to walk in the steps of Jesus.

I don't see that walk as a step, by step, tiring journey one foot after the other but a daily step as a follower of Jesus, in making walls tumble..........walls of discrimination, injustice, exclusion, isolation.................in the name of Christ.

Think of your journey with Jesus. Are you marching on the spot or walking in his footsteps?

Catherine De Hueck Doherty said:

Those who follow in Jesus' footsteps, who never deviate from his teachings, find that these teachings are revolutionary.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne