Monday, February 25, 2019

God is here. God is there.

O sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things, his right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory. Psalm 98:1
You know you cant do a single thing outside the presence of God because every second, every minute, is in the presence of God. All that is, is God and has God in it. The beautiful flower created by God and anointed with his perfume. The leaf of every tree has the hand of God in it. Every conversation, God is present. Every dying God is there. Every living, God is there. Every which way we turn, there is God. Even in sleeping - 'Now I lay me down to sleep I pray the Lord my soul to keep.'-  there is God.  Steiner Rice says: God's mighty hand can be felt every minute, for there is nothing on earth that God isn't in. Cary these thoughts in your heart as we move into another day, and all the nights and days that follow knowing that  God is with you, everywhere, in everything.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.
every flower, every leaf , there is God

Friday, February 22, 2019

See his fingerprints

For your steadfast love  is before my eyes, and I walk in faithfulness to you. Ps 26:3
What a magnificent moon there has been in the night sky these last few days. Perfectly round, its mountains visible and its shine sneaking in an out of grey thin clouds. To look up and see it is a wow factor. Then in the light of day, as if caught unawares of the coming change of seasons, there was a tree covered in thick green foliage and from a closer look there were some branches of changing colour, bright red leaves. A faithful God who night after night brings out the moon and season after season brings out his glory. Patsy Clairmont wrote these words: ' Experience God in many different ways - I could see his handiwork. The bible says  that the heavens declare his glory and I see the glorious things about God. I could see his fingerprints of creation and I feel these fingerprints inside my own heart.' 
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.
Autumn coming.......ever faithful God.

Monday, February 18, 2019

Wow, God is awesome.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. John 14:27
We know what it is to have God's peace but I am often aware of  many in the community who do not know what it is to have  peace, let alone God's peace. I am a gardener and I love to be in the garden planting, pruning, pottering about and enjoying. Its one of my favorite places to meet with God among his handiwork and an abundance of  biblical imagery. You know the ones I mean; 'I am  the true vine,you are  the branches(John 15:1) - unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground. (John 12:24) - I have given you every plant yielding seed.(Gen 1:29)  The garden is such a place of peace and an awareness of the magnitude of the  love of God who blesses us with so much beauty and awe.  Lucado says: 'Want to see a miracle? Take a seed the size of a freckle. Put it under several inches of dirt, give it water,light and fertilizer and get ready. A mountain will be moved. It doesn't matter that the ground is a zillion times the weight of the seed. The seed will push it back! Never underestimate the power of a seed.' Just think for a moment. If you need peacethink of a seed, think of the magnitude of God, wait for the miracle, and be at peace.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord
The miracle of a seed.

Friday, February 15, 2019

God's created world

He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Acts 17:24
I still marvel at the mysteries of God. Those things that set our mind in motion like the acorn on the tree with their  caps on and how they become a full blown oak tree covered in acorns, a feast for the parrots, a delight for children to crunch the dried ones underfoot and mysteries like why do the eucalyptus trees shed their bark, reveling a smooth,  white trunk. How do they know when the time is right to do that, let alone when a tree knows its time to change into their autumn dress. So many mysteries that speak to us of God and his created world.
I read these lovely words by  M.D.Bascock. 'This is my fathers world; he shines in all that's fair. In the rustling grass I hear him pass: he speaks to me everywhere.'
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord
How does the eucalyptus tree know when to shed its bark.

Monday, February 11, 2019

dark and light

The Lord is my light. Psalm 27:1
During a wild storm a few days ago there was a blackout and all of a sudden homes were in darkness. Its rather a scary place to be in, that total darkness. Even when the lights came back on again the pathway to my home was still in darkness. I couldn't help thinking what it would be like to not have  the light of Christ in our lives. It must be something like that darkness that we experience in a blackout. ' At the  Oxford University,  that  great seat of learning,  their motto is  inscribed in Latin with these words:  Dominos illemi-natio mea. The Lord is my light.  May it also be the theme of our lives, inscribed upon our hearts.heart.' (Gariepy)
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord.

The light shines in the darkness


Friday, February 8, 2019

Oh, this is joy

Oh Lord, I love the house in which you dwell, and the place where your glory abides. Psalm 26.8
It couldn't be a more perfect day making. The sky is blue with a few white clouds about. The white cockatoos are on the lawn looking for seed and the magpie warbles in the background calling in the day.The deep purple  rose bud that opens bit by bit over the day offering a rich perfume of memories. The deep green and red of the king parrots, The busy pee-wee gathering worms for the family and after recent rain the earth is fresh and green.  I  reflect on the presence of God in all I see and feel that 'warmth' that 'love' within my heart..
(anon) Oh, this is life! Oh, this is joy! My God to find thee so; thy face to see, thy voice to hear and all thy love to know.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.
The white cockatoo looking for seed in the grass.

Monday, February 4, 2019

the highway to Zion

Happy are those, whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. Ps. 84:5
I am often fascinated by a bridge, especially old ones that have such character. They say so much about access and stand as a symbol of hope, reaching from one place to another. They have a strength that endures. When thinking of our own lives, a bridge from Christ to us,us to Christ, and us to others, it carries the same feeling of bringing life, of having access and presenting as symbols of hope.. There is such opportunity for us all to be bridges.One of the images of a deacon is that of a bridge builder, building a way for people to cross and connect from community to church. I recall a time when I had several funerals over a few weeks of people on the edge of faith, just needing help to cross the bridge to Jesus that brought hope and access and  life.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord
The  old bridge at Gundagai

Friday, February 1, 2019

God and me and top knot pigeons

The Lord is good to those who  wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. Lamentations 3:25
Sitting outside in the cool of the evening just God and me,when two topknot pigeons came to join us. and a little poem came into my mind as I watched them.
Pluck the grass, pull at the seed
scratching around for a feed  - the immaculately groomed top knot pigeons.
nestling down in the grass, another stops - he doesn't pass
Ah, the cool evening blessing  in the grass - nestling
O bother, now they have been disturbed, by another pair of another bird
and off they go - all in flight, flying off into the night.
And I was left with a fullness of joy, a pleasure that will never fade and again I was reminded of the power that is in silence.
(F.B.Mayer said )' O for the grace to wait and watch with God.'
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

Showering and nestling in the grass