Fading night and coming day.

May the mind of Christ my saviour live in me from day to day. (TIS 609)
Typical winters morning with a 'pea soup' fog, silhouetted images of the bare trees and fading night darkness as the day light pushed the stars away giving over to a soft pink sunrise and blue skies. The air was fresh and perfumed with a faint smell of winter gardens. I was struck again by the thought that every day is a profound God experience from the moment it begins and what treasure we have at our fingertips to lead others to  experience the presence of God.
I read this quote by Abraham Lincoln:
(After I die) I want it said of me, that I plucked a weed, and planted a flower, wherever I thought a flower would grow.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

 Haunting beauty of a winters day. 

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and a new day dawned..

Your  kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and your dominion endures throughout all generations. Psalm 145:13
 I wonder do we grasp the reality of a new day?  We wake up, we get up and engage with a new day but how often do we stop and say I am standing in a new creation, a new day just created by God. Its not yesterday, its not tomorrow, its just a newly created day for today. The birds are singing a new song, the frost is just that little bit thicker than yesterday. The last of the autumn trees have shed some remaining leaves and no one has walked today where you are putting your feet. Its not a new day arriving, its not just another day, its a new day created. I read this thought: Some days it is enough encouragement to just watch the clouds break up and disappear, leaving behind a blue patch of sky and bright sunshine that is so warm upon my face  that it is a glimpse of divinity, a kiss from heaven.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

A new day is created.

You are loved.

I am his and he is mine, here in the power of God I stand: (Hymn, How deep the Fathers love for us)
I   think these words make for a great mantra: 'I am his, and he is mine here in the power of God I stand'.Think of all the times you could grasp hold of that line as a lifeline, a means of strength or to express the power of God's saving grace. At a seminar I went to some time ago just at the foot hills of the Blue Mountains where peace and quiet, except for the 'ting' of the bell birds, was  so powerful and I heard a chaplain tell this story of a very frail elderly lady  with severe dementia and her conversation amid silences seemed to have no meaning. As the chaplain sat with her gently massaging her arthritic hands with fragrant oils the silences seemed at times  to be long and uncomfortable. This particular day the chaplain had brought with her a CD for background music. In the song was a repetitive one liner: 'You are seen, you are loved you are doing very well.' Then  the elderly lady looked up into the face of the chaplain and said as clear as the ring of the Bell Birds: 'You are seen you are loved, you are doing very well.'
Serve God with confidence in all you do for you are seen, you are loved, you are doing very well.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

The light of Christ shines in the darkness.

Not I might be, not sometimes.

I am with you always. Matt 28:20
It is so wonderful to know that God is with us always. That is where his peace comes from. I love sleeping with the blind open during the night so I can see the star studded sky. The glorious expanse of the canopy of the night and often the words of  the hymn that comes into mind is: I see the stars,( I hear the mighty thunder,) thy power throughout the universe displayed. Jesus said. I am with you always.' not just I will be, not I might be, not sometimes, not perhaps,but I AM with you always. How blessed are we when our thoughts  immediately go to God, in the day, in the night. How blessed are we to know his presence always. I recall this verse I read in a little pocket book. It said:
'O Jesus, make thyself to me, a living bright reality! More present to faith's vision keen, than any outward vision seen'
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Sometimes we may not see him clearly, but he is there.

I see him here, I see him there

You will find him if you seek him with all your heart. Deut 4-29
In everyday life there are wonderful opportunities  to catch the presence of God in the big and small things around us. He shows his true colours in the beautiful rainbow, in the magnificent night sky that leaves you in awe and wonder when you just stand under its canopy and look upwards. And the incredible breath taking grandeur of a magnificent desert landscape such as the Breakaways out of Coober Pedy where you catch a glimpse of the ancient. And then there is  the tiniest little wildflower growing beside the walking path. What a wonderful, glorious, spectacular creator God always before us, always around us, always with us in the big and small of our days and you will find him if you seek him.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Catch a glimpse of the ancient - Coober Pedy.

Awesome God.

Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds among mortals. Psalm 66:5
At times when we reflect on God there is no other word than awesome. He and he alone parted the sea for the Israelites to walk through on dry land, he and he alone created the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. He packed the flower with perfume and the acorn with a mighty oak tree. He put the laugh into the kookaburra and the quack into the duck -  and all that is beautiful before our eyes and we should find ourselves forever praising his name and rejoice with singing. Walk in the light of his presence and see, truly see, all he has to offer us. Come and see, come and see what God has done for us.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ,
Anne, servant of the Lord.

He put the quack into the duck

coincident or God?

Clearly you are a God who works behind the scenes. Is 45:1
Have you ever been surprised by joy?
Think about things like a chance meeting of a friend you haven't seen for ages or the phone call that was unexpected yet most welcome and the time you turned a corner and your breath was taken away by a beautiful autumn tree full of glorious, colourful leaves and the melodious solo of the Rufus Whistler, which draws you to just stop and listen and be blessed. Coincidences or the hand of an invisible God?
Lessin says: A coincidence is a small miracle where God prefers to remain anonymous. 
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne,servant of the Lord

A glimpse of God.

Trusting God

Nearer my God to thee,  (Hymn)
When I hear this hymn I often think of the little bird that sat on a tiny twig and sang and sang while the storm raged around yet this little creature held fast. What do we do in the storms of life that threaten to dislodge us, to cast us to the wind? Do we shout as the disciples did - 'save us Lord we are sinking' or do we sing in our trembling trust of Jesus, our Lord and our savior? Remember when the Titanic sank? The orchestra   refused to leave its post as water engulfed the sinking ship continuing to play 'Nearer my God to thee.'  What courage, what trust, what faith.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Stormy Seas.