Love embedded in life

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. Break me, melt me, mould me, fill me. Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. (New Harvest 173)
The crispness and depth of beauty of the morning frost carpeted the ground in white and hung from the dew drops on the wire fence like tiny crystal balls. There is a stillness. There is quiet and its as if the day has frozen just so I can enjoy it a bit longer and it  'smacked' of those beautiful words from Psalm 46:10 'Be still and know that I am God.'  We are living in a changing,troubled and anxious time where for some, fear is very real but the one thing that never changes is God and his love for us.Steven Foster wrote, The unchanging spirit, that indescribable force of love,  is like a flower rising up from the secrecy of a small seed. One spirit, one heart, but only those who make peace with change will see it.
May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Stillness and peace

The light that brings change

A little child shall lead them. Isaiah 11:6
One, two, three red and yellow leaves are all that remain on the trees before  the last of the autumn splendor is gone. What a magnificent display of colour those  trees have given so many, they brought so much joy and delight to their onlookers and given themselves a wealth of food stored in their roots for the new life in  spring. A Sunday school teacher asked her class why the leaves change colour  and a small boy said such a profound thing. He said: 'I guess they are like us, they need light to change them, like Jesus brings his light to us and we are changed.' How special it is when we can take nature and all it has to offer, into the spiritual realm  and see God in it.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

What joy, what delight.

It may not be what it seems.

Open my eyes Lord, that I may behold. Psalm 119:18
Sometimes something can take our attention and hold it in mystery for it means more than it is. I am thinking of the large wooden cross behind the glass sanctuary at church, wet from recent rain but all along its cross beam was a row of rain drops, so visibly, so prominent, so beautifully formed. It seemed to hold a greater meaning than just raindrops on a piece of wood and its like an image I treasure from a fellow deacon that is a play on light in the sanctuary of his church, but is it? its so like the dove of the Holy Spirit.. When you open your eyes what do you see that appears to be just something ordinary but bring God into it and what a God moment, what a blessing.
May the Peace of the Lord himself give you peace at all times and in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Just a play on light?

Your name and mine

See, I have engraved you on the palm of my hands. Isaiah 49:16
Fear is something that can come into our lives and steal our joy but in reality with God by our side we have nothing to fear. I recall being out and about in the community when I was given a message to call a person when I had a minute. With nothing to write on I drew my pen from my pocket and wrote the persons name on the palm of my hand. I don't think I will ever forget the feeling I had as I penned the words of the name on my hand. Imagine for a moment God opening his fisted hand and sees your name. Push fear away, God has got us in the palm of his hand.
May the Lord of peace himself  give you peace at all times in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord

Be at peace

Day by day

Show kindness and mercy to one another.  Zechariah 7:9

The beautiful flower was almost begging me to take hold of it and share it with someone, to give someone joy. As it was, I was on my way to visit an elderly lady who has no family and no visitors,  I  did just that. Picking it with God's love in my heart.

I love the prayer by Richard Bishop of Chichester ( 1197-1253)

Day by day,dear Lord, of thee three things I pray; to see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly,follow thee more nearly, day by day.

In a troubled world where even our neighbour can be so alone may our light of Christ shine.

Anne, servant of the Lord

A Camellia's love

love changes everything

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: love your neighbour as yourself. Mark 12:30-31
Beauty is to behold and how it shines in nature and creation and how it opens our eyes to see more than what it is. Everything, every creation is made by God in the image of God. We can look at a flower, say a tough stemmed,  rough leaf and candle like flower of a bottle brush and think how beautiful, how 'neat,' how unique a flower is that and walk away or we can look at it and not only see its uniqueness,and its beauty but also its creator. Translate that into all things, including loving your neighbour (regardless of colour or race) and in doing that we all have the ability to love and include as Jesus did and as Jesus asks us to do and one by one we can change peoples lives including our own.
May the Lord of  Peace give you peace at all times and in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Made by God

All for Jesus

Lay hold of those words that enable us to truly live life. Proverbs 4:4
The small boy who was visiting his grandmother was looking all over her lounge room as if searching for something. His grandmother asked what it was he was looking for and he said. 'I know God lives with you and I am just trying to find him.'  When my grandson was looking for God I took him to the garden and there we found God in the bell shaped flower of the Lilly and the bud and bloom of the roses and the perfume of the violets and the wonderful creation of a praying mantis and I said to him, 'whenever you see all these lovely things you see God,'  and as we went for our walk we were singing 'All things bright and beautiful the Lord God made them all.'  How lovely, how precious,how heart warming is the thought that what we are and what we do before our children and grandchildren will have an impact on our great-grandchildren who we may never know.
Let the light of Christ shine through your life.
Anne, servant of the Lord

What a creator God.

Moments of love

For in him we live and move and have our being. Acts 17:28
Can you see the deep life within life? Sometimes experiencing God is overwhelming. We can look at a cobweb in the wire the fence covered in frost, its beauty, its work of art outstanding or we can look at a mother bird feeding its baby with love and that can take our breath away in wonder  but sometimes we can have a 'God' experience that is overwhelming like when I was whale spotting with my family off the coast of Queensland and the boat was right in the middle of a pod of about 6 wales. It was when one breached right before our eyes at the front of the boat that our wonder turned to words of 'Oh my God, my God, my God' The gift of the whales was too enormous to take in  silently. (Paula D'arcy).  I had been taken in by God's nature and love.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

The wonder of God.

Prayers from the garden.

You also join in helping us by your prayers. 2 Corinthians 1:11

The  Fuchsias  in the garden were blowing gently in the breeze as if in a dance. Some are miniature bushes with dainty flowers and some are larger bushes with larger flowers and they are 'dressed' like miniature ballerinas in colourful tutus. But what I find is the flowers always have their heads down as if in an attitude of prayer and they remind me often to pray. Prayer can be under valued but O how prayer changes things. I recall a story of a small boy who was struggling with his homework and began crying loudly. His Father came and asked him to stop crying because that wont help. 'Yes it did,' he said, 'It brought you.'

May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

Let us pray.