Friday, April 20, 2018

Love thou through me.

(God's revelations) They are more desirable than gold, yes than gold; sweeter also than honey, and the drippings from the honeycomb. Ps 19:10
What a magnificent God we have who can create a world for us. A world of heavens, of days,of sun and moon and shelter and wrap it all in his love. How many times do we stop and pause to thank him for the love he showers on us. We tell people we love them and sometimes its a bit like a cast away line like have a  'good day' we also cast away the line 'love you' But how much do we tell God of our pure love for him? Do we tell him we love him?   In the great love God has for us, so we love back with this greatness and share it with others. (L.B.Cowman writes) O blessed love of God, that all may taste and see. How good thou art, once more I pray. Love thou through me, even me.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Monday, April 16, 2018

you made yourself known to me.

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. Ps 23
This psalm is so familiar to us that we can say it with our eyes closed. Even many a  non church going person will know it. But I wonder do we all really know the shepherd. Do we really know the one that  guides us along the path of life, protects us and journeys with us through many a rocky place in life, many a brier bush, many a green pasture. Do we really know this shepherd? Bernard of Clairvaex  a 12th century writer said :  'How did I know God was in me? I couldn't miss it! my heart was softened and my soul roused from its slumber. He went to work in me. He cleared and cultivated the soil of my soul. He planted and watered and brought light to dark places. He opened what was closed and warmed what was cold. I have seen a fraction of his glory and it was awesome.'
If we read these words of Bernard and be stirred within then we can truly say we know the shepherd.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord.
The Lord's my Shepherd.

Friday, April 13, 2018

A small space

Let all the world, in every corner sing: My God and King. TIS 105
The early morning autumn mist hovered over the grass with a mystical beauty and trees stood like soldiers in a line seeming to have no base in the fog, just towering upwards from the mist:
still, quiet, peaceful, slowly moving in a gentle breeze which seemed to ripple down across the grass and up into my face, refreshing like the Spirit of God.
Calvin Miller said: Lord, I care not about positions in heaven. Let all those bent on having power rule as they may. Give me only a small place close enough to see your face.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord.


Monday, April 9, 2018

The Moses staff

My soul thirsts for the living God. Where can I go to meet you. Psalm 42
Every time I go out early in the morning I always come home with many blessings. It might be the blessing of a tiny wild flower tucked away in a clump of overgrown weeds. It might be the vivid colour of  an autumn tree, its colours, its beauty, lingering with me. It might be the beautiful song of a bird, sitting high on the power pole. Yesterday I was leaning on my walking staff watching two playful puppies romping with each other when a man came by in a wheel chair. He stopped and said: 'I had a walking staff like that one. I called it my Moses staff.' Therein followed a conversation about Moses and his rod, his staff, and God.' I don't know what he was thinking as he went on his way but I went home yet again with a blessing. A blessing of having encountered a fellow Christian also out and about to meet with God. 
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord.
Morning Blessing


Friday, April 6, 2018

This is love.

What are you doing down on your face? (Joshua 7:10)
Autumn can take our breath away with trees of multiple coloured leave, or just a single tree wrapped in yellow glory. And then there is the cluster of trees  with various shades of red among the changing greens, their base a carpet of  the fallen and again the child in me wants to walk through them, kicking them around in delight. And I think yet again of the creator of all this beauty. A God who showers us with such blessings. A God who goes 'all out' to please us with his creation in so many ways and I wonder why does he care for us so much. After all we are only a speck in a vast universe of his creation. He flung stars, the planets, the galaxies, and the sun and moon into their position yet he took it on himself to create our planet of infinite beauty and delight just for us. Just for you, and just for me.  His creation is his gift to us. To me this is  the unmeasured, overwhelming love  of God
and its enough to put me down on my face.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord.

God's gift .Just for you and just for me.

Monday, April 2, 2018

love shows the way.

As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 13:34
The last week in its mixed emotions of Holy week, with all its drama and reflections, the one word that stands out is love. Jesus gives us a mandate to love others as he has shown love to us. I recall a conversation from one of the volunteers in our community program who assists a client with a degree of disability requiring help sorting out her home. She said. ' I had taken a client out for coffee and while we were chatting she told me how the support we are giving her has changed her life
She now feels she has hope.This client even looks like she is standing taller. Lucado said: A little rain can straighten a flower stem. A little love can change a life.
Go in peace and tell the world Christ is risen!
Anne, servant of the Lord
comfort, comfort all my people