Christmas past and present

My soul does magnify the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior. Luke 1:47
Christmas as a child was an event I wont forget.. We were poor like others in the immediate post war era and presents were a luxury. Never the less memories of Christmas were very much about the 'reason for the season' and that was to celebrate the birth of Jesus. That was the focus. All the preparation for His arrival were carried out with  excitement and a feeling of expectation. The church was clean and polished and the flowers  were the familiar ones of Christmas, white chaster daises, lavender stems and hydrangeas and the hot days were filled  with the smell of dry eucalyptus trees, back yard cricket, noisy cicadas and noisy baby galas waiting  to be fed. Christmas doesn't have to be what it has become.......one great rush to get the presents. Large debt  on credit cards and a sense of rush and business. It doesn't have to be a grand  event that leaves us exhausted and relieved it is over for another year! Look at Jesus, born in a stable... that's no luxury yet he was the best gift we will ever receive, not wrapped in glittering paper and tied in a bow...... but open and ready to be given and received and always available to us all. In the quiet spaces of Christmas reflect on the  most precious gift of all....the wonderful gift of Jesus.

O come let us adore him. Christ the Lord.

love and more love.

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 136:1.
I heard a song on the radio and one line in particular has stayed  in my mind and shifted to my heart and the line goes like this: 'Your love goes on forever' Just days out from Christmas and I think of the great love of God to us when he came down from heaven and rested in the manger in Bethlehem that first Christmas. A love that goes on and on through the 'God of life and Lord of love.'  A love that draws a response from us to love  back. In this song the verse goes on to say: (God) All I have I'll give you, everything you see. (me) What have I to give  you? All I have is me.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord.

God of life and love

Remembering Jesus

O what a gift what a wonderful gift...(TIS 278)
Have you been wrapping gifts in readiness for Christmas day or are you still shopping? It is so easy to get caught up in the hype of the last minute rush to prepare for our Christmas day and how easy it is for the pendulum to swing wide from the full focus of what Christmas is about and that is the most precious gift of all, the gift of life. I heard a conversation about this among some small children who were looking in the manger. One of them picked the 'baby Jesus' up and had a nurse. As she looked into the eyes of the 'baby Jesus' she passed him to the boy next to her. 'See, you can pick baby Jesus up and pass him around. ' She said. ' Here,you take him and pass him onto someone else.'
Grace and peace this Christmas as you celebrate with family and friends and in your heart and don't forget to pass Jesus around.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

Giving to those in need.

A still pond or raging waters.

There is a river  whose streams make glad Ps 46:4
Rain ,rain and more rain and how blessed we are to have had such life giving water on a drought stricken country. Its such a gift of life and always my mind goes to  what Jesus said, ' I am the living water. Whoever comes to me will not be thirsty.'
Then through us can come life giving water for others who God puts in our path.  I read this lovely reflection: (Jesus) 'Release through me, as rivers of living waters, your goodness, your truth, your love. Take my heart and fill it,take my hands and  use them, take my feet and guide them and may  your glory be the signature over all I do today.'(Lessin)
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Living waters.

O for a thousand tongues to sing my great redeemers praise. (TIS 210)
I watched it, a tiny river of water running down the gum leaf until it reached the tip and there it formed a bubble of life giving water ready to drop on the parched dry land. And the incense buds of the flowering gardenia filled the air with love and all around is quiet, is silence, and God is here. Yes God is here.
Horatius Bonar said: Oh this is life! Oh this is joy! my God to find thee so. Thy face to see, thy voice to hear and all thy love to know.

Rose buds, gardenias, whatever perfumed flowers are incense buds of God's love

The epic journey

Emmanuel. God is with us. (Matthew 1:23)
End of the year is looming. Christmas is on the horizon and I suspect the wise men might be getting ready for an epic journey of discovery and as for the shepherds they are going about their daily business of minding the flock unaware that their lives are about to change. We too are getting ready for the Christmas event, pausing in Advent and waiting for the coming of Christ. It can be a time of letting down and ramping up as some things come to a closure for the year and  other things demand our undivided attention to prepare for celebrating Christ's birth.  Tanks running a bit on empty? then try this for a mantra:
Breathe on me breath of God, fill me with life anew, that I may love what thou dost love,and do what thou wouldst do. (TIS 407)
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Shepherds field chapel door 

God's gifts

Opening their treasure chest,they offer him gifts of gold,frankincense and myrrh. Mathew 2:11
I am always struck by the wonder and graciousness of God in the distribution of his gifts for us. Glorious rain recently,not just a little in some places, but a lot. Beautiful flowers with splashes of colour and deep perfumes. The  colour would have been enough but no, he has added the perfume, an extra gift.  The beauty of the coloured birds would have been a delight in themselves, but again he added an extra gift of song, sweet, melodious song. A pair of swans on the lake waters would have been enough but again he added the extra gift of three fluffy baby swans beside their parents and even the gift from the eucalyptus in flower, a brilliant flower from a plain red nut. As we give gifts at Christmas to show our love of one another, so God gives us these gifts and so much more to show his love for us. I think we all know the saying: every day is a gift from God. That's why we call it the present.

Gods gift of a beautiful flower from a  plain nut.