Reconciliation

This is my Son the Beloved; listen to him.  Mark 9:7

Tjukarpa  palya Jesunya is the name on the New Testament I have in the language of the Pitjantjatjara people of the far north west of South Australia. In English it reads : This man Jesus is good. The ancient peoples in that area still speak their native language and they have added new  words and actions that they value from our language, words like Jesus. Their timeless stories of creation blend with ours and fit in likeness and they have a very deep and rich spirituality.  For them and for us, surly  the name of Jesus must be at the point of reconciliation.

I like this line from the Prayer for Reconciliation from APBA. Lord God, bring us together as one, different in  culture, but given new life in Jesus Christ, together as your body, your church, your people. 

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                Lord God, bring us  together as one.

Light is sweet

 Light is sweet; how pleasant to see a new day dawning. Ecclesiastes 11:7

A new day is magical. Its a miracle really and God does it for us day after day after day. and I always pray that I never take this gift for granted. And  so I love to pause and take it in with what it has to  offer and the potential it holds. I was thinking these thoughts, or are they prayers? as I watch the early sun beams run across the lawn and catch a shimmering, dew laden cobweb in its path and it glistened and sparkled  like a diamond necklace. What delight in such a simple image, what magic in its creation.

Lord give me an open heart to find you everywhere, to glimpse the heavens unfold in a bud, and to experience eternity in the smallest act of love (Mother Teresa)

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                             cobwebs glistening like diamond necklaces.

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Held in a sacred space.

 Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. John 1:29

I was listening to the beautiful piece of music  'All in the April Evening' being sung by the Glasgow Orpheus Choir and though I have heard it and sung along with it for many years of my life I still come to one line that holds me in a sacred space. Its one of those sacred spaces you don't want to leave. It says:

'I saw the sheep with the lambs and thought on the Lamb of God.'

Do you have a sacred space that holds you?

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

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                               Dwell on the Lamb of God.

Holding the branch with spindly legs

 Their hearts are firm, secure in the Lord. Psalm 112:7

Regardless of our age God just keeps on giving and giving and I see that so much in creation. I marvel that during a storm with the wind blowing enough to shake the trees wildly even the tiniest of birds, with their spindly little legs can hold onto a branch and sleep and not fall off. I saw the wonder of God's creation when I learnt that when  a bird settles on a branch to sleep it bends its little knees and clutches the branch with its claws and in that movement the tendons in its legs form a lock and the bird is secured to the branch. I mean really, only God could create such a mechanism  of safety for the birds. I am reminded of how we, in a storm of life or as we lay down to sleep can bend our knees before God and be secure in his love and safety. 

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

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                            A little bird on a twig

To behold the beauty of the Lord. Psalm 27:4 

So many times and in so many places we have the opportunity to behold the beauty of the Lord if we are looking for it. Yesterdays frost was as white and almost as thick as newly fallen snow. Everything was glistening, sparkling, crisp white. The bird bath water was frozen including the fallen leaves that lay in it.

All so beautiful, all so of God and as I looked I found these words falling from my heart in prayer. 'Lord show me your beauty today.' And he did, in a far grander way than ever expected. God shows his beauty to us from frosty mornings, to a beautiful flower, breath-taking scenery,  and wistful mist to a tiny bird, the smile of a baby and in the face of the elderly.

Watch out for his beauty in this new day. What have you seen of it already?

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                            Colourful leaves in the bird bath.

The cushion of God's love.

 The peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7

The sky with its tinge of  pink of the dawn sunrise has now changed to a clear sky of blue. Its quiet and all I can see of movement are a few random autumn leaves still hanging onto the trees suddenly deciding to let go and on the ground are the beautiful Crimson Rosellas having breakfast. The whole scene emanated  the quiet and stillness of the morning and a peace, a God filled peace was present.         There are many places to find the deep peace of God. L.B.Cowman  says that there is a part of the sea known as 'the cushion of the sea' and it lies beneath the surface that is agitated by storms and churned by the wind and it is so deep that it never stirs. The peace of God is an eternal calm like this cushion of the sea, or the  peaceful 'God present' in  the new day. It lies deep in our heart undisturbed by what is happening around and within us. It goes beyond the storms in our lives. I like this quote from Pilgrims Progress which says: 'Pilgrim was taken to a large upper room that faced the sunrise and the name of the room was peace.'

May the deep peace of God's love and presence be the cushion for you today.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                A quiet breakfast.

Wide wide as the ocean

 As the water fills the sea, the earth will be filled with an awareness of the glory of the Lord. Habakkuk 2:14

On a recent trip to the South Coast I spent some time just looking at the ocean. Its vastness and seemingly never ending space and I recalled some statistics I had read which said: There is approximately 326 million, trillion gallons of water on the earth and 98% of that is in the ocean. Habakkuk the prophet compares God's glory to water that fills the sea. That's one heck of a lot of God's glory!

How often do you  think about the glory of the Lord  and try and take in its magnitude, its richness, its blessings. Next time you walk on the beach or paddle in the sea, reflect on Habakkuk' words and try and grasp some sense of the magnitude of the glory of the Lord.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                            Seemingly never ending like the Lord's glory

Just to be.

 How lovely is your dwelling place O God.  Psalm 84:1

Just sit with these thoughts for a moment in gentle meditation.

As the morning sun shines its light on the dew of the morning so may your light shine on us Lord.

May it warm our hearts, brighten our thoughts and lift us into the new day. As the sun shines  your love through the colours of the last of the autumn leaves may we know your love as light and colour in our lives. As the gentle breeze crosses our face may we be reminded of the breath of your Spirit within us.

May your love always abide deep within.

Jehovah - shalom. The Lord is peace.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                            

                                            Morning Glory

Glory Lord and Honour

 Sing praises to the Lord for he has done gloriously. Isaiah 12:5

Autumn is such a glorious time to see God right before our eyes. Magnificent autumn leaves -  multiple hues, hanging, falling, blowing in the wind, carpeting the ground and glorious sunrises and sun sets that paint the sky in breath-taking colours and bring the day onto its knees in stillness and quiet, but have you taken your sight of God's glory a step further? Have you seen God's glory in a single rain drop? Tiny drops of creation and as the sunshine's through they become a kaleidoscope of crystal colours, bubbles packed with God's beauty.

What a mighty and magnificent God we have.  Take the time to take many pauses in your day and see for yourself his glory right there beside you.

Grace and peace from the lord Jesus Christ

Anne, servant of the Lord.

     Shine Jesus Shine