Great love

Wide wide as the ocean, high as the heaven above, deep deep as the deepest sea is my saviours love. (Hymn)
When I look at the ocean I cant help this song rolling of my lips. I see  God's love as wide and as deep  as the ocean. We can look at the sea, a vast expanse of water and see as far as the horizon but if we were to sail to that horizon it will keep moving to another great expanse of water and another horizon.That is what God's love is like. You think you know how much he loves you - how vast his love is but then there is more and more, and more.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Gods love. Wide and deep and full of promise.

pearly shells

What are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them Psalm 8:v 4.
All the grains of sand - all the stars of the sky - all the beauty of the earth. We cant count it, we cant grasp its fullness and  we stand in awe of its magnitude and beauty.  Yet God says we are his greatest creation. Can you grasp that? When you look at things of beauty such as the  bold yet soft and beautiful fire red leaves on the Maple tree in Autumn that takes your breath away, do you realise you are more beautiful in God's sight. He gave us a world of wonderful creation for our joy and pleasure because he loves us.  O Lord, our sovereign, how majestic is  your name in all the earth. (V9)
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

Even all the pearly shells

My Lord and my God

The Lord is my rock and my fortress. Psalm 18:2
So many times when I visit this coastal town  my eyes have been  fixed on a huge rock protruding from the sea looking like nothing would move it.It was solid. It was firm.It was steadfast. It was a shelter place for the birds. A solid rock cant be moved. We can climb it. We can push it, we can dig around it. We can ignore it but it will stand firm. God is our solid rock,  a place we can lean on, lean into and he wont move, he wont fade away. He will always be there .He will always hold us up in the calm or stormy seas and that reminds me of  the childhood Sunday School song : 'The wise man built his house upon a rock.'
grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

The Lord is my rock and my fortress.

No exceptions.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, Jesus Christ, so that whoever believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. John 3:16
These words, O so familiar to us all carry so much comfort and power. They say,whoever believes. It doesn't say you have to be perfect, beautiful, complete and  are not excepted if you are otherwise. It say, whoever believes. I held a perfect rose in my hand. It was full of beautiful perfume . I passed it around the group of older, frail people and each person removed a petal until there was nothing left but one limp petal, a broken stem and a withered rose head. There was no longer anything beautiful about it. It was broken. God loves us all, we only have to believe. And what a message to take to the world. Pack that in your spiritual memory bank and take it out when someone needs assurance of the love of God, even if they are broken.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Beautiful, and packed full of perfume.

come fly with me.

The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1
That has to be one of the most comforting passages of scripture for life's journey. No way can anything be a threat or a risk when we know deep down we have salvation in Christ and his guiding light. We know we can trust him. Sometimes we might be in danger: he is there. Sometimes we need to take a risk in something that is on our heart: he is there. We need this reassuring passage of scripture to enable us to function fully as Christians in our personal life and in ministry but above all we need to trust its utmost truth. When we do, blessings often abound. Guillaume Apollinaire said this: 'Come to the edge' he said. They said 'we are afraid.' 'Come to the edge' he said. They came. He pushed them - and they flew!
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

Soaring high and free

And a new day dawned.

This is the day that the Lord has made. Psalm 118:24
Stillness and silence go hand in hand at dawn. There seems to be something mysterious and magical about it. Its a different silence to any other in the day and perhaps that is because it is 'still in the making' and things are slowly coming together in its formation like kaleidoscopes of colour in the sky and wakening bird calls and people stirring . It can all be dotted with personal experiences, with 'God moments'. Experiences like I saw this morning as I watched a single golden leaf fall from a tree, ever so gently, ever so slowly until it came to rest among a carpet of other golden leaves. I don't know what it was but it stirred something within me. It gave me a feeling of wonder, and peace even.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

Ever so peaceful, gently, falling.

A great millstone

If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. Matthew 18:6
I clearly remember sitting on some rocks around the ruins of the synagogue  of Capernaum and reflecting on its importance for Jesus as a place where he taught. I looked  alongside it to a very large mill stone that was lying on the ground. That image has not left me. I hadn't realised that they were so big and  this passage from Matthews Gospel came to mind. I looked hard and long at it and  prayed that God would keep me close to him in strength and integrity. Marcus Aurelius said: 'Never esteem  anything as an advantage to you that shall make you break your word or lose your self respect.'
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

It wouldn't be a case of swim with around your neck.

Certainty brings peace

In the Lord I take refuge. Psalm 11:1
It is so still and quiet at daybreak. Its like all the birds are still tucked up in their nests, asleep. Except one that sent a lone song  across the morning light. It is melodious, and beautiful and I believe its the Rufus Whistler. I read a quote from J.H.Jowett which said:  I heard a bird at daybreak sing from the autumn trees. A song so musical and calm, so full of certainties. No person, I think could listen long except upon their knees. Yet this was but a simple bird, alone among dead trees. That gave me such a sense of God's presence that I knew I was standing on holy ground and the space between  God, the bird and me was paper thin. It also gave me a sense that we are never alone even if we think we are because where we are, there God is also.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Sing a beautiful song to the Lord..

worship and wonder

 O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever. Psalm 30:12
There is a cactus near the front step of my office, just an ordinary round cactus that has some fine fur like growth all around it. It is nothing spectacular, nothing awe inspiring until suddenly you can see all around its top  tiny pink buds and a day or so later they turn into the most exquisite, most beautiful tiny pink flowers so beautifully crafted, so beautifully shaped and made.It catches the eye and draws the words on my breath to thank God for such beauty out of the ordinary. It somehow reminds me of our lives. Just ordinary lives that God has come to dwell in and change it from the ordinary into the beautiful. This quote from Lessin says: It is the light in your spirit that brings you into worship and wonder.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

Beauty out of the ordinary

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