A living God in our daily life

' ..........hold fast to him and serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.' Joshua 22:5
I recall reading a story of a family on a train trip. The child was enjoying going from one seat to another looking through the windows at life going by and talking to the various passangers and many wondered who he belonged to when the train started merging into darknes as it entered a tunnel. The child ran and threw himself into the arms of a young man and then it was known who his father was.

  I wonder do those looking on at our life , those we share the highs and lows with, those we reach out to each day  know who our Father is by our actions and reactions and then I though for personal self isnt it so comforting to know that when anxieties  of life creep up on us, we can run into the open arms of Jesus, remembering they are forever open and around us, ready to hold us. Safe, comforted and secure.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

solid rock

'The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock!  Ps 18:46

I was watching a fox crossing the paddock, cautious about his surroundings, cautious about the dangers about him but living his life and suddenly something wasn't right. He stopped, looked about and ran for his life, his safety, into a nearby crop of rocks. I thought of our Christian lives and how, through all the dangers and perils of our lives we can always run for shelter, comfort, and safety when our world is shaken and seemingly falling apart. We can run to the solid rock, our Lord. I see this so many times with people I spend my day with. People who are broken, frightened and confused, buried in the 'muck' of their life, yet God is central, he is the rock they seek, the rock they retreat too,the rock that enables them to survive.Thank God, we have a living God, solid as a rock!
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne, servant of the Lord

side by side with Jesus

'Tend the flock of God....willingly.' 1Peter 5:2
I find it comes automatically when I just look at things in daily life.
I see a vineyard and hear Jesus say, 'I am the vine.'
I see a river and hear Jesus say,' If you come to me you will not thirst.'
I see a paddock of sheep and hear Jesus say, 'I am the Good Shepherd.'
I reach for a piece of bread and hear Jesus say, " I am the bread of life.'
I see the needy, the lonely and the struggling and I hear Jesus say. 'tend my flock.' and I want to sing, 'Jesus, O Jesus come and fill our lives.'
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

God of the poor.

'Beauty from brokenness, hope from despair.........bread for the children, justice, joy, peace. Sunrise to sunset, your kingdom increase.' (Graham Kendrick song)

She looked absolutely in despair. All around her in her home was clutter, mess and chaos and amidst it all emerged two little dogs, coats matted,in knots, shivering yet much loved. How can I help was the first question as she lovingly cuddled one small animal. She was reluctant to make suggestions but said she usually has the dogs coats clipped but was struggling to save from her pension. We rang the dog groomer and the next day there was two beautifully clipped and cleaned dogs sporting their new woolen jumpers. Now, what next I asked her and through a prayer she asked did God send me to her home.

Lord, your kingdom increase.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

'be still for the presence of the Lord is moving in this place.'(Spiritual Song)

Pre dawn is such a blessed time. Deep in the fading darkness comes signs and sounds of light and life.  It is the tiny opening  in the curtain of my room that says the day is coming. Its the sounds of the birds waking and calling, checking on each other, that says the day is coming. Its the first step outside the door into the crisp morning frost waiting to be thawed that says the day is coming. Its the quarter moon aligned with two bright stars fading into light that says the day is coming and then slowly the wonder turns to awe as the sky turns lighter, the colours change to pink and gold to bright orange and all is alive with light that says the day has come. Be still for the presence of the Lord, the Holy One is here.
Blessed be your day.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

sacred in the ordinary

Great is our God and greatly to be praised in the city of our God Ps 48
There is a lady in the bank who is facinated with my work. She has never before had conversation with a clergy person so every time I go in she asks more about my life and work in a very genuine and interested way. I was telling her yesterday of my ministry amongst the house bound elderly and those society tends to forget. As I left the bank her parting words stayed with me.'Look after yourself in all aspects, we need you, the world needs the likes of you.' What encouragement, what affirmation, what a blessing, what a God.
Psalms now says: 'Consider with me the greatness of my God. Measure his judgements;embrace his eternal love, stand tall in your faith, courageous in your committment, for he is truly a great God.'
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Jerusalem from the city wall with the temple standing out amidst daily life.

ring the bells

Sun and moon bow down before him, lost in wonder time and space. (Hymn)

I am always stopped in my tracks when I see a sun setting in the west  and a full moon high in the sky in the north east all at the same time. 'How', I say to God, 'can you suspend them both there in the sky at once.' Its a real 'God moment' to see these two great icons of the sky bathing in each others glory and I want to shout out 'Look at the sky, look at what God is doing, look at its beauty and mystery.'.
I recall  a story about St Francis of Assisi who was 'awe struck' by the full moon, huge and luminous bathing the countryside with its radiance. There was no one in sight to share this 'God moment' with him so he ran to the bell tower and rang the bell. People came running anxiously wanting to know what was wrong. Francis called from the top of the tower, 'lift your eyes, my friends and look at the moon.'
 Can you relate to the actions of St Francis? There are many a God moment when I want to ring a bell for others to come running to see the mystery and wonder of God's at work.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord..

only a rose

'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see their God.' (Hymn)
I was taking a service at the local nursing home and I asked this group of faithful  older followers of Jesus   if they thought they were Saints and in my mind has stayed the firm 'no' of one beautiful lady. 'I am not good enough.' she said.
 I remember once taking a bunch of roses to this service and asking them did anyone want one. They looked at the beauty  of the rose and all said 'yes'. Holding up my rose I broke of the petals one by one until there was the bare bud, then I broke the stem in half and said.'Now, does anyone want this rose, withered, broken and flowerless?' 'No' came the firm response.and in the silence that followed I said,' But God does.'
Even in our brokenness, our sense of failure and being not good enough God wants us. He wants us as we are and all we have to do is believe.

Next time you look at a rose or  a beautiful creation of God, be affirmed God loves you for who you are, a believer, a saint.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

 '.........and who is my neighbour' Luke 10 29

We all know the saying  sometimes we cant' see the trees for the woods.  Well sometimes we cant see Christ for looking also.
In a busy, frantic moment in the day when all seemed to be getting away from me and I was focused on achieving, a woman wanted to disrupt me.Just a moment, was my response on several occassions.  She is a lady with a disabilty, profoundly stooped over and rearly sees more than what is on the ground below her stoop.
Finaly I stopped to hear what it was she wanted .'I just want to say that I pray for you every day.' she said.  Suddenly my world stopped as I was overwhelmed with this rich blessing from God. It was as if Christ himself spoke the words.
                                                                                                                             
 Neighbourlinees: a sacred gift in a torn world.(S.Kennedy)

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne, servant of the Lord.