Remembrance of that grim Friday

'Whom do you seek?'  'Jesus of Nazareth.' ' I am he.' ( John 18)
Good Friday and we are in the depth of Easter. For some its been a 'full on' Easter journey of services, remembering and engaging in foot washing and the Last Supper of the Pascal Mass and reaffirmation of vows and today brought the remembrance of that grim Friday when Christ was crucified in what must have been the most horrible of deaths possible. I think this death is the greatest example of 'tough love!' May we, in the quiet  of this day catch a glimpse of this suffering, this sacrifice, that enables us to live. May we do this 'living' well.  A living that leads to eternal living. A prayer in my morning prayers that draws me  to our way of living. " Lord teach me to pray: Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful people and kindle in them the fire of  your love. '
May the death and resurrection  of Christ continue to live through us in word and action.
Have a Holy and blessed Easter
Anne, servant of the Lord

Stain glass window. Grafton Cathedral

The cross of love

All glory praise and honour, to you redeemer king. TIS 333
Each time I open my prayer book at the front page I see an old faded, graying palm cross, I gaze at it and reflect and remember a journey.
 Christ's journey.
 My journey.
I remember as a child making palm crosses. A wonderful activity of gathering palm branches and sitting around a table in the parish hall with a group of ladies from church. There was lots of chatter and laughter as it was the day before Palm Sunday. I remember it as one of the many treasured steps of my faith journey. As I look at this palm cross I think of the crosses of life. The crosses I have had to bare. The cross that enables me to bear them. The cross that saved me. The cross of love.
Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim, till all the world proclaims his sacred name. (TIS 351)
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

The mark of God

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. Psalm 19:7)
We cant miss the mark of God on his   handiwork. The beauty he created. The orderliness he  formed and the massive grandeur of the night skies. The stillness of the stars, the  silence in the sunrise. If we want to see his glory then just look about you. its all a love letter from God, his priceless gift to us.  Socrates said: 'Speak that I might see.'
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

The mark of God in creation

My Saviours love

This love that surpasses knowledge. Ephesians 3:19
The world is full of God's love but we really only see the surface of it. Take the ocean for example. We look at the wide expanse of water and think we see the ocean but there is so much more to it. There are the hidden bays around the corner of the shore line. There is water going on and on beyond the horizon we cant see from the beach that lap the shores of other countries . There is a depth to it that is full of the mysteries of sea life that we can not see from where we stand. God's love is as immeasurable as the ocean. We catch sight of it in our lives, in the creation, in the times we feel God's love around and near us  but we have never seen it all. We have never seen what depth it holds.
(L.B.Cowman)  We can only see a little of the ocean, just a few miles distant from the rocky shore, but out there - far beyond our eye's horizon. there's more - immeasurably more. We can only see a little of God's loving - a few rich treasures from his mighty store: but out there - far beyond our eyes horizon there is more - immeasurably more. If you are like me you will at this moment be humming - Wide, wide as the ocean,high as the heavens above, deep, deep as the deepest sea is my Saviour's love.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

A glimpse of God's love

Going about your business

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. Psalm 8:1
Do you recall a moment that filled your mind with awe and wonder?  Its one of those moments when God reveals himself . There you are going about your business and suddenly there is God....in the beauty of the wild flower by the walking track. In the beauty of the one bright red autumn leaf on a tree of fading green. A friend was telling me about the moment she saw the most beautiful butterfly in a most unexpected place. A butterfly with colours like she had never seen before and it filled her with awe and wonder that has stayed with her even to this day.  These moments are moments of precious discovery, discovering  deeper, our God, and they stir our spirit. Howitt wrote:
When forth I go upon my way a thousand  joys are mine, the cluster of dark violets, the wreaths of the wild vine.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ,
Anne, servant of the Lord

wildflowers by the wayside.

God's embrace

Yes I have loved you with an everlasting love, and it is in this love that I embrace you. Jeremiah 31:3
If I could paint a picture of the morning it would go like this: The soft light of dawn filtered through the leaves of the ghost gum, sending shades of gray and light through the window of my  room  as the wind played  with its leaves.  A Currawong, a true sign of autumn, called from among its branch breaking into the silence and as the dawn parted like a curtain to let in the light of day I hear God's call to 'come walk with me'.  What a precious moment it is when we realise that God is with us always, embracing us with his love, even when we wake up in the morning. I often say 'Have you been there with me all night watching over me since we said our good night prayers together?  (I sometimes think that is why I have an empty chair in my room, so he can rest while watching)
God's love, his everlasting love surrounds us always. Embrace it with him.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

God loves us with an everlasting love

All day I thought of God

Morning by morning O Lord you hear my voice. Psalm 5:3
My grandson, in his first year at 'big school' was telling me that every morning they say prayers and on Friday morning they go to the big church and he said it was there he saw 'God on the piece of wood!!' ( Oh to be 6 again)  He said: 'I couldn't stop thinking about God all day.' Isn't that so true. If we meet God in the morning he is with us all through the day. Gariepy says: As the grass and flowers of the morning are refreshed by the dew that comes before dawn, quietly from  above, so the soul that waits upon God on the first hours of the day is refreshed and nourished by the heavenly dew of God's grace. Besides the wisdom of a 6 year old who says he saw God in the morning and he thought of him during the day,  it is Jesus great example of morning prayer we model: 'Very early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up and went off to a solitary place where he prayed.' (Mark 1: 35) That morning dew of prayer is what sustains our day and keeps us 'God focused.'
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

God on a piece of wood!

Creative hours with God.

He was going there on foot. Acts 20:13
There are times in our day when we just want to journey with no one other than God. It might be a quiet spot in the garden,a comfortable chair by a window, or  on the bed.  My morning walking is one such time. Its a time of just 'me and he' alone, chatting, pondering, listening. Its a time that I feel God very near and the conversations are real. I ask him about the beauty of his creation, about helping Mrs Smith to get back on her feet and to comfort the lonely and isolated. Its a time to ask about the plans he has for me and how best I can serve him.  Moses was alone when God showed him the burning bush and his commission. Joshua was alone as he walked around the walls of Jerico  and  the Lord of hosts stood before him. Mary was alone when she encountered the angel who came with Good News.
I was alone when the Rosella in its suit of blue and red came so close I could have touched it and the Glory of the Lord was in it as one soft, quiet, blessing. So special, so revealing are the times alone with just 'me and he'. Journey with no one at some stage of the day and God will join you.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Morning walking . Central Australia

Talk to the shepherd

The Lord's my shepherd I'll not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures: He leads me beside still waters. Psalm 23: 2
I love nothing better than seeing a mob of sheep in a paddock. It says something to me about God. They draw me to biblical verses such as in Psalm 23 and John 10. Loved and memorised passages of scripture that have been a part of my life. Recently I saw a mob of sheep all in a line  and I was compelled to stop the car, get out and just watch them.  The sheep didn't seem to have a care in the word. Is that because they are cared for, have food, have water, have a 'shepherd' a farmer, who takes care of all their needs? Jesus, our shepherd provides for us in this way and I always remember a line from a Max Lucado book which simply said: ' If you cant sleep - don't count sheep - talk to the shepherd.'
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

Mob of sheep along  Cooma Road