The best gifts

Covert earnestly the best gifts. 1 Corinthians 12:31 (KJV)
Its a glorious fresh morning after a night of soaking rain and that soft mist is hovering in the valleys of the hills and sometimes I think the smallest gifts are the biggest,

:
Gifts such as:
 On my desk calendar given to me by a friend there is a quote for the day that is written larger than the date or
A couple of words of encouragement can brighten a day, change a life.
A cup of tea on a cold day can warm a whole body.
Today the quote said: God puts each fresh morning, each new chance of life into OUR hands, as a gift, to see what we will do with it.
I wonder what you are going to do with your fresh morning?
For starters,I'm off for a walk to spend time with God.........to thank him for his gifts.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

The strength of God

Behold I am the Lord. Is anything too difficult for me?  Jeremiah 32:27
Life can be so hard for many people. In my daily round I come across so many who struggle through life due to hardship, illness. loneliness and isolation. For them it can be an endless road of seemingly going nowhere and my heart aches for them. Sometimes, like Job, there is nowhere to go but to God. Sometimes there is nothing left but God.  I received a card many years ago with these words on   it. 'What matters is not the size of the mountain but the strength of the mountain mover.'  So, if it is you or someone you come across who is struggling in life and feeling hopeless, pray that they will get to know the 'mountain mover' where all strength and hope abounds.What was it Jesus said? 'Come to me all who are weary and carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest.'
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Waddi Rum Desert  Jordan.

The perfume of God.

The great love of God, O how lavishly given. TIS 164
I am looking at the blue wrens in the tree outside my office and I know they are God sent just for me because God knows how significant they are in my life..
I stop and look as my breath is taken away by the opening bud of  a deep apricot yellow rose, perfect in its formation, dressed in beads of raindrops, glistening like sequins and the perfume of God is embedded in the folds of its petals and I know that is God's love.I stoop to smell the perfume of the deep, deep blue bearded Iris and am transported back to my childhood, memories of a garden to play in, memories of a mothers love and a fathers care, memories to treasure.God dose lavishly give of his love in so many ways and indeed it is 'the pearl of great price and the treasure of heaven.'  wherever you find it, either in the grandeur of the blue or snow capped mountains or in a thousand grains of sand on the sea shore or among the needs of the world be O so blessed.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

This is love

God's love has been poured into our hearts. Romans 5:5
I don't know what your diary looks like today but perhaps it is full of many things 'to do.' Perhaps its looking a bit rushed, or crowded. Perhaps you feel exhausted looking at it before you even set about the days work. So often the day can be crammed full of getting as much done as possible. I love this saying of Mother Teresa: 'We can do no great things. Only small things done with great love.' Lets not count the unfinished jobs at the end of a day, but count the love we have been able to share with another person.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

The vineyard

(God said) Son, go and work in the vineyard today. Matthew 21:28.
I stopped at the top of the rise and looked across the vineyards reminiscing  about past walks and my eyes fell on the newly pruned vines and I could almost see the new life pulsating through them getting ready to grow and bear fruit and I thought of the man in the hospital chapel who asked the question.'Tell me,' he said. 'How do I talk to God?'  What wonderful places God puts us in to help others to find the way. We never know when we step out the door each day, who he will lead us too. A prayer for today: Heavenly Vine, pour your life through me so that I may bear much fruit for your sake.(FB Myer)
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

Day by day

May the mind of Christ my Saviour live in me from day to day. TIS 609
Sometimes a line or two from a hymn strikes you afresh. I was reflecting on my past week and recalled a hymn we sang in the service at an aged care facility and was struck again by how lovely and profound the words were and one line in particular had this effect:
May the love of Jesus fill me as the waters fill the sea.
When I think of the weeks gone by, the funerals, the meetings with the families, the ministry with those in need in the community, the Sunday preparation and application of it, the hospital visiting I think without God's strength, without being filled with the love of Jesus, we can not do all that God requires of us. Not only do we seek the love of Jesus to fill us, but hear this, we seek and request it in no short measure. We seek the love of Jesus as the water fills the sea. That's massive love. Look at an ocean, a great span of water, waves  gently breaking on the shore with ebb and flow

and imagine that as God's love filling you.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

the candle flame

How precious is your steadfast love O God. Psalm 36:7
There is something about a candle flame that draws me into it almost like a sacred space. It has meaning, purpose and can be a draw card for reflection especially reflection on texts such as ' Jesus said: I am the light of the world.'  'Let your light shine before others.' Let there be light.' 'The Lord is my light and salvation.'  I  read this  thought about God's steadfast love by Gillian Peall. My love for you is as steadfast as a candle flame in a still room. It will never waver and will never end. When the sun is shining, you can not see the flame, but when all is dark, the flame brings light to the whole room. My flame will never be extinguished.

May you know the  light of Christ and  the steadfast love of God in your life, today and always.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

Blessed assurance Jesus is mine.

As it says: 'In all places where I cause my name to be mentioned, I will come to you and bless you.' Exodus 20:24
All my life I have hummed the song we learnt at Sunday school; 'Count your Blessings name them One by One' and every time that song comes to mind its because I have received yet again a blessings from God. I have always wanted to see the blue wrens come to my garden and stay and now they do. Every morning I wake to their call, that lovely trill and they are so happy playing and living in my garden and watching what I am up too as they sit on my kitchen window sill.
I read this poem ( extracts) .A family of Blue Wrens came to play and stayed outside the door. They whistled and sang as they built their nest.......they called at the window with joy and pleasure and pride ......as they flew and chattered and trilled their song I listened with beating heart.
 Can you count your blessings? can you name them one by one?
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

Hello from God.

Psalm 16:11. In your presence there is fullness of joy In your right hand are pleasures forever more.
This morning was magnificent......one almighty 'Hello' from God expressed in a sky of deep red and orange sunrise.' 'Here I am,' it was saying 'Here I am, right here with you.What you are looking at, what you are in awe of, is me'
Meister Echkart said:  'Who ever possess God in their being, has him in a divine manner, and he shines out of them in all things:for them all things taste of God and in all things it is God's image that they see.'
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

in the bulb, a flower

It is the Spirit that gives life. John 6:63

Have you spoken to anyone lately who is a new Christian? Someone who for the first time in their life has had a light switched on, the light of Christ. Someone for the first time in their life feels like they have been struck by lightening and propelled into faith with a massive awakening?( Come Holy Spirit Come!)  I met such a person recently, an older man who had been an atheist all his life and now as he put it, 'at 80 I have found life.' Its just so wonderful to be around such people. Its so wonderful a 'faith' booster for us all when we see God's Spirit still working today. I read a poem and its opening lines said this: In a bulb there is a flower, in a seed an apple tree; in cocoons, a hidden promise; butterflies will soon be free! In the cold and snow of winter, there's a spring that waits to be, unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.( In the bulb there is a Flower. anon)

Catch me off guard Lord

The Lord bless you and keep you. Num. 6:24

How lovely are the spring flowers. Its like God opened a window in heaven and poured out a blessing. Joyce Rupp says: 'The loveliness of a single flower in radiant bloom can sing my drooping spirit into joy.'  How true. How very true. I can't look at an anticipating rose bud, or poppy capsule, or pending daffodil or tulip pod and not sense the blessing that is to come. I read this prayer by Frederick Buechner: Lord, catch me off guard today.Surprise me with some moment of beauty or pain so that at least for the moment I may be startled into seeing that you are here in all your splendour, always and everywhere, barely hidden, beneath,beyond, within this life I breathe.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne,servant of the Lord.

Book of life

In your book were written all the days that were formed for me. Psalm 139:16
A very elderly, very Spirit filled lady at the nursing home, the one who so sincerely says she has seen Jesus walking towards her so often,asked me if God has a book in which he writes down all our names. 'Could you imagine the size of that book.' I said. 'To hold all of the names of all who have been, all who are.' She thought a moment and said. ' 'Isn't it wonderful to think though, that your name and mine, my family and yours since time began are recorded in that book. We aren't just born,live and then die. But we will forever be remembered by God and that's because  loves us. Sunday school teaching has stayed with that lady for all her 90 years and brings her such moments of reflection and peace.Its a true blessing to pause awhile with her...and God.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Thanks be to God

So faith comes from what is heard. Romans 10:17
I have among a special shelf of books a collection of treasures. A collection of faith journeys, a collection of helps in time of grief and loss, in times of such sadness during the war, a collection of joys and celebrations. These treasures are in the form of the Book of Common Prayer belonging to family members going back four generations. In the worn tissue thin pages of the bible that belonged to the grandfather I never knew who now lies in the soil of the Somme. There are snippets of newspaper cuttings marking births and marriages. So much imagery and story of what sustained them during the highs and lows of life, their solid, unsinkable faith and that I know has rubbed off on me as I handle and sometimes use their books of prayers and read from their bibles alongside my own. What a gift I have been left, the gift of example and way of life,Who has influenced your faith journey?  Give praise and thanks today and always for the wonderful inheritance that they have handed to you.The path to eternal life.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

displays of joy

For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling,that I may walk before God in the light of life. Psalm 56:13
Winter has that feel about it  like all is stationary, all has stopped,all has gone to sleep,all is lifeless,cold like the earth is wrapped in death. But then, and we are seeing it now, a bulb or two breaks through the hard soil and showers the dull with bright colours. There is a new, yet familiar perfume at the front door as the Daphne fills the air with incense and have you noticed the Prunus tree? Its buds of pink have burst into individual displays of joy and the brightness of the wattle adds to the spirit of awakening of all the senses.  This is healing. This is reminiscing. This is assurance. This is hope. We can take this image and use it in so many ways to see the hand of God, not just in nature, but in our lives. In our days of joy it gives more joy. In our days of struggling it gives great hope. Changing seasons in nature and in our lives are gifts from God that we can constantly unwrap.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord.

consider the wondrous work of God

Hear this, O Job: stop and consider the wondrous works of God. Job 37:14
This morning I want to say, stop and read all of chapter 37 of Job. If we think we might have  a problem in life, in ministry, in self then this chapter should ground us and bring us back to focus, then again if we have met the new day with joy and thanksgiving;have seen the day arrive, pushing the night away and filling it with light and beauty and a chorus of the voices of his creation, as early mornings tend to do, then we can be in awe of this chapter in Job.stop and consider the wondrous works of God..........do you know the balancing of the clouds......can you like him,spread out the skies?  We have a mighty God, far bigger than we can imagine, yet so personal its like he is there just for me yet I know he is there for everyone in the same way. A chorus comes to mind for those still uncertain of the mighty God we have, it goes like this: 'O taste and see that the Lord is good.'
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

the power of Jesus

Jesus power working in us is able to do so much more than we can ever ask for, or even think of. Ephesians 3:20
Do you ever feel it? do you ever experience the power of Jesus working in you?
Caryll Houslander wrote: I was in an underground train, a crowded train in which  all sorts of people jostled together, going home at the end of the day. Quite suddenly I saw in my mind,but as vivid as a wonderful picture, Christ in them all.......living in them, dying in them, rejoicing in them, sorrowing in them. I came out into the street and walked a long time in the crowds. It was the same thing there, on every side, in every passerby---- Christ.
How do you experience Christ in the world?  For me, its in every face of the older people and its in the focused eyes of the Rosella only inches from my face, looking as intently at me as I him. Its like looking directly at God.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

The Lord is good.

O taste and see that the Lord is good. Psalm 34:8 
Sometimes there is nothing better in the moment than sharing 'how to love the Lord' with others who want to do likewise. Its like an electricity among us all.
I was at Wagga Wagga yesterday talking to a lovely group of pastoral carers on matters to do with spirituality and aging and it was a Christ filed day with the added 'showers of blessings' in the travel:Rich green paddocks dotted with mother sheep and lambs, paddocks chequered with bright yellow canola, naked trees filled with white sulpha crested cockatoos, wattle trees lining the roadside, hills standing proud and everything so fresh with the fallen rain. The biblical imagery was racing through my thoughts: I am the good shepherd, I know my sheep. Lift up your eyes unto the hills from whence comes your help. In pastures green he leadeth me. The hills and valleys clap their hands. And God created, and the seventh day he rested. Don't you love it. Don't you love to take the Lord with you when ever you go out. Don't you love to taste and see that the Lord is good?

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

bridge building

Jesus said: I am the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
So often in our daily life we are there for others helping them over some difficult situation or just being there to see them through.
Something struck a cord (must be the deacon in me!) when I read this Aotearoa psalm. It said:
There are times in life when we are called to be bridges, not a great monument spanning a distance and carrying loads of heavy traffic, but a simple bridge to help one person from here to there over some difficulty such as grief, fear, loneliness: a bridge which opens the way for ongoing journey.  Our daily life is such a God given privilege isn't it?  Building bridges for others and what a blessing when someone else is a bridge for us.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

in God's strength

Behold, I am the Lord.Is anything too difficult for me. Jeremiah 32:27
Visions and dreams, goals and aims, hearts longing and desires and at times the dreaming seems too big for us alone.
The value of putting God first in all things is what enables the dreaming  to become a reality and a song of all sorts to sing in our heart.
'What matters is not the size of the mountain, but the strength of the mountain mover.' (anon)
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

volcano's, Capadocia Turkey

spreading the gospel

I want you to know, beloved, that what has happened to me has actually helped to spread the gospel. Phil 1:12
I think of us all and how we have got to where we are, Christian believers,servants of Christ. I think of the road, the journey,that has led us to a solid faith, one so convincing that we can not help  but spread it everywhere we go and particularly in the areas immediately around us and with those we reach out to with the love of Christ. I was listening to the garden show on the radio and they were talking about a particular weed that develops a seed pod and once you touch that pod its seeds go 'woooooosh' up in the air and outwards and land all over the ground around the plant. The name of the plant is 'Jumping Jesus.' What imagery. What a parable,   I want to say, go jump for Jesus!!
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne,servant of the Lord.