Christ is risen!

No one has greater love than this, to lay down ones life for ones friends. John 15:13
It would be so easy to now move on from Easter as we have had the celebrations on the day but in fact it will go on for more weeks yet and for now, its mingled with Anzac day. Two events which we reflect deeply on. There is the reflection of the ultimate sacrifice of  Christ and the sacrifice of thousands of  men and women in the war. I recall visiting the Somme some time ago. Heartbreaking, numbing,emotional, utter grief and disbelief  at the 1000's of lives lost and yet I felt a spirit of peace hovering over the Somme. Its almost sacred ground I was walking on. Indeed it was sacred ground.
I felt that day, as I looked  at 10,000 names of soldiers who had no known grave, of hundreds of cemeteries that lined the roads and battle fields that Christ was deeply  present. Because of Easter,  he knows our sacrifice, he knows our suffering, he knows our grief, our desire for peace and he is forever in it.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

The Villas Brettonneux Cross in the Perth Cathedral

Easter love.

God has poured out his love to fill our hearts, Romans 5:5
We have seen the great love of God at Easter. A love that caused Jesus to die on a cross for us, A love that goes on and on in our hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit. But what do we do with this love?  Is it just within us to fill our hearts or is it there for us to share and keep the love of God flowing, a love that brings with it compassion and loving care and life that can be shared around, given away, 'hugged'onto  another.  Its  love with action. Its like a river that keeps flowing  and traveling and nourishing, a river of God's love. Its  not like a pond where the waters go nowhere, where the waters are like a dam, contained and held within.This Easter love that we have received needs to bubble over, keep flowing outwards and  sharing it with others. What are you going to do with this Easter love?
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Is God's love in you a pond or a flowing river?

Good Friday

So Jesus came out wearing a crown of thorns and a purple robe. Pilate said to them. 'Here is the Man.' John 19:5
Let our minds transport us back to a part of the world that throbs with the words and wonder of Jesus himself.

In the 1800's William How wrote this hymn:
It is a thing most wonderful. almost too wonderful to be true.
That God's own Son should come from heaven, and die to save a child like me.
I sometimes think upon the cross and shut my eyes and try to see.
The cruel nails and crown of thorns and Jesus crucified for me.

let us gaze on the wonders of the day and see Jesus pinned to the cruel tree, not by nails, but by love for you and me.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

A heel bone of a crucified person with the nail driven through. Museum in Jerusalem

Seek God first.

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through the generations. 
Psalm 145:13
I was humming a tune last night that has stayed with me into this morning. 'Seek ye first the kingdom of God  and his righteousness.'(TIS 745) It goes onto say. Ask and it will be given unto you, seek and you will find, knock and it shall be opened unto you .  When I think of this song I am projected back in time to when I worked in the Pitjantjara community of Ernabella in South Australia and the rich harmonious voices of the aboriginal people at day break singing these words from their camp. Sung in their language with these timeless words that hold no bounds, no discrimination, no barriers. Every morning was a spine tingling God experience.  Having been given the gift of a new day how do we welcome it in the name of the Lord?  By song? by prayer?  Or perhaps by just sitting in the garden in the stillness with  God working the new day  around us, creating.  Any one of these will ensure our day is in God's hands.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Their voices rang out across the morning sky.

On solid ground we stand

Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born. From everlasting to everlasting you are God. Psalm 90:1-2
If ever I had a perception of the magnitude of God's existence it has been in two specific places. One place was in the desert of  South Australia where I stood on ground so ancient. It was ground that had been forest long before it became a sea and long before it became a desert. I stood there on blackened soil mounds that were petrified stones of ancient tree trunks  embedded with fossilised  sea shells  and was overwhelmed with the time span between when God created them and me standing on them in 2011 and yet I felt  a great closeness to God. The second experience was when I stood  at the corner of the Dolorosa in the narrow streets of the old city of Jerusalem. Standing on the same stone streets that Jesus had walked on as he drew closer and closer to the cross and his crucifixion. We can draw great comfort from knowing that God has always been and always will be. What a mighty God to surrender ourselves to!
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Ancient forest in the desert showing brown petrified tree stumps.

God's work of art.

Accept my offering of praise O Lord.   Psalm 119:108
Have you been  stopped in your tracks at the sight of a 'glowing' autumn tree in full dress of delightful colour? . It's like God says as he puts down his painting palette , 'There it is, I have completed the colouring of this one and it now stands for your wonder and delight.' I am so warmed in my heart by his presence in this way. The autumn confrontation of beauty, breathtaking revelations of multiple colours of his glory. I look from tree to tree with a sense of  'there he is in all his glory and only God can dress a tree like that.' its wonderful to catch his Spirit this way, its fuel for the day. Look about, don't lose the moment of the Spirits refreshing in the rush to get to yesterdays unfinished work. Pause a moment with God and thank him for giving us more than we expect.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne

layer upon layer

'I am the resurrection and the life.' says the Lord. John 11:25
There is something special about autumn. God brings a sense of freshness, of quiet mornings, of colour and emptiness, of fog and mist, of perfect reflections on still waters. A beauty so deep. I think in every season we can see the Glory of the Lord if we are looking. There are multiple layers of death and life, all seeming to die before living. Its resurrection' stuff' that brings to mind the Easter message. Take a moment, just a moment and marvel at a tree in colour, then look again in a little while at its emptiness and then, in spring look again, and see layer upon layer of the Glory of the Lord. Of death and dying and resurrection.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Multiple layers of life and death

ancestors of the followers

This is the list of the ancestors of Jesus Christ. Matthew 1:1-6
For many years I have been compiling the family history and through that I get a strong sense of who I am. I can see as far back as 1112 that we had a bishop in the family in Germany. 1112!! And since then there has been many,many clergy.Several of the women were Methodist mission workers among the poor and the orphans on the streets of Melbourne in the 1890's. So many faithful people. I have  several small books of reflections, written by a one of the women, and they give a great insight into her God and our family story. So many have walked in the footstep of  Jesus and still are. So many have lived their faith through great adversity, walking step by step with Jesus one foot after the other braking down walls of discrimination, injustice, exclusion. Feeding the poor and giving shelter to the homeless and holding the hand of the dying soldiers in the two World Wars.  I thought of Jesus who walked the earth. I thought of his list of ancestors and I thought of how we are all 'the ancestors of the followers' as we continue to follow in the steps of Jesus.
Dorothy De Hueck Doherty said. Those who follow in Jesus footsteps, who never deviate from his teachings, find that these teachings are revolutionary. 
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

A carpenter in Nazareth said to be a descendant of Jesus. 

My Saviors love

He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea. Job 9:8
I  think on this text and straight away I find myself singing the old Sunday school favorite 'Wide wide a the ocean, high as the heavens above deep deep as the deepest sea is my saviors love.' Some things never go from our memories and how blessed we are to have been taught by faithful people the grounding  of a Christian life. The ocean so vast, so wide  that its horizon meets the sky and its edges wash the uncountable grains of sand onto its shores. It gives me a sense that if God can encompass such a broad creation and control it, with its beauty and its storms then we his creation  are well included in his care through our beauty and our storms.There is a saying: I can face the waves for I trust the one who made the ocean.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Shine Jesus shine.

Your time - my time

Martha complained to Jesus because Mary visited with him while she worked. Luke 19:41
Prayer and work are two elements of faith that so often get out of balance. Sometimes its all work and little prayer, sometimes its prayer and a little work. I think of this and a picture comes to mind of a person in a dingy  rowing with one oar. Whats he doing? He is going round and round in circles and getting nowhere. Give him two oars and he rows with rhythm, the boat balanced and going in the right direction. There is no point  complaining to our brothers and sisters or to Jesus if the balance isn't right between work and prayer and really, you cant have one without the other! How do you know when you have the balance right? Is it something to do with an inner peace and quiet?
On this matter St Francis De Sales says: Each Christian needs half an hour of prayer each day, except when we are busy: then we need an hour.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

Take time to smell the flowers

In the light of Christ we go.

O send out your light and your truth. Psalm 43:3
I love the still, quiet mornings, they have a real sense of peace as I imagine the Lord completing his daily task of creating yet another day. He puts the night stars away and brings out light from darkness with the rising sun,  often in a kaleidoscope of colour, that spreads across the morning sky.. The picture it creates reminds me of the light of Christ breaking through into a dark world as we his followers carry that light wider and wider into the world to those special places God has given us  to serve in.
May the Spirit of God
The Spirit of wisdom and strength
rest upon you and fill you with peace.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

The sun rises through the darkness over  the sea of Galilee 

Bless and be blessed

Blessed are those who have not seen, yet believe. John 20:29
Remember this lovely song we sang in Sunday school? Count your blessings name them one by one......
I woke up in the night to the loud sounds of the crickets 'singing' and I thought to myself, why are they singing in the middle of the night. Their song seemed to be very joyful  and there was another sound , a magpie warbling  from the branches of the tree near my window, why at 4 in the morning?  And then I heard another sound and realised it was raining. Steady, big drops, falling on the parched ground. I wanted to stay awake to listen to these songs but instead fell back to sleep so blessed  from  the blessings.So much of life is a blessing. I see blessings as something we receive or give away. In the morning I  was still full of these blessings I had received in the night and ready to share the joy of blessings in my day. I like these words from a hymn by I.B.Wilson.
Make me a blessing.
Make me a blessing.
Out of my life may Jesus shine:
Make me a blessing, O Savior I pray,
make me a blessing to someone today.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

Double blessing

Let us pray

There was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon: this man was  righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. Luke 2:22
Sometimes we hear a prayer and it resonates with us. We feel like it is 'our' prayer. We feel like it was  worked on with God's love and meant just for us.
 Take just a moment to slowly read the words of this beautiful, life giving prayer and once read, read it again slowly and let it sink in.

I will not die an unlived life.
I will not go in fear of falling or catching fire
I choose to inhabit my days:
to allow my living be open to me:
to make me less afraid, more accessible
to loosen my heart until it becomes
a wing, a torch,a promise.
I choose to use my insignificance to live
so that which comes to me as a seed
goes to the next as blossom
and that which comes to me as blossom, goes on as fruit.
(Davana Markova)

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

so that which comes to me as seed, goes out as blossom

Shinning light

'........and your right hand shall hold me fast. If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me and the light around me become night,even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day for the night is light to you.  Psalm 139:10-12
I shared these thoughts with an elderly lady who could not see her way through some anxieties and 'darkness' They were starting to overtake her especially at night time.  How often have you been scared of the  dark? I recall as a child running down the long hallway to my room where there was a light on. I recall waking up in the night and hiding under the bed covers because it was so dark. There I would hid, clutching the bed clothes, frantically pleading with God to be under the  covers with me. I was scared stiff. Then as I grew older and God filled my life more, I felt such fears  leaving me. Even when I  was rescuing a miner  many years ago down a very deep dark hole, sure I was anxious in the dark but not terrified because I had learnt to reach out for God's hand in times of need.
If fear or uncertainty creeps into the 'dark of life' I find myself reaching out to God and can almost 'feel' the light filtering through the dark. There is heaps in those few words from psalm 139, heaps of comfort.  - - and your right hand shall hold me fast.....darkness is not dark to you.....its as bright as the day.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

Shining light in the darkness

Morning light

I will bow down towards your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and faithfulness. Psalm 138:2
Often I am lost for words when I am out walking. There is just me, and those I take with me in prayer, and God. If its a morning walk or a quiet time sitting in the garden I see the last of the night stars fading into the day . The rising sun is still in its process of creating light for the new day bringing dappled colours  through the trees and all is quiet. It warms my heart, stills me, takes my breath away. It takes my words, leaving me in awe and I want to take my shoes off and slowly,  and beautifully a song rises up in my heart. With the coming of a new day new opportunities are opening up. I have sung. I have prayed and I have been in the presence of the Lord. I am prepared to' be ' the gospel and God knows my heart is blessed and I call it my morning prayer. What is your experience of morning prayer?
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

sometimes others join me.

Come away with me for a moment.

Glorious things of you are spoken. (TIS 446)
When I pause at the flowering gum tree  to look closer at the deep, deep red of its colour, a delicate flower of beauty on an otherwise grey tree, or see a  clump of violets growing through the crack in the pathway, or the blue wren dancing on the fence just waiting for me to pass on my daily walk, then I am mesmerized,  fixed to the spot. I don't want to hurry past that place. I just want to stay with the sense of 'meeting with God'. Its like looking into his face.Like making eye contact with him.
Helen Steiner Rice wrote: I come to meet with you God. I linger here, I seem to feel you very near,  a rustling leaf, a rolling slope.
May the glorious things of God stop you in your tracks today.
Anne, servant of the Lord

A delicate flower of deep beauty.

The light of Christ

An angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. Luke 22:43
Sometimes  we sense a void, an empty space within, that is usually filled with the warmth and love of God yet he seems to have left us. I was reading about St Ignatius and his struggle with this just when he was about to give his life to Christ. He described  the experience of his 'spiritual feeling suddenly disappearing like the sun behind a cloud, and all was dark.' He could not find God and the dark within was leaping about like shadows. I think of others who  experiences  this darkness, for example at the death of someone close to them they can sense that things spiritual and the love of God is not with them and I quote psalm 23 - 'Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for you are with me.'  That word shadow is interesting because to have a shadow there must be a light and we know, we truly know that Christ is always with us even though at times it may seem there is nothing there but shadows. Ruth Renkie says: Never fear the shadows. They simply mean there's a light nearby.'
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

and all was dark

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

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.

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 peace, think 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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

What a gift - what a joy.

I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first  in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure, lives in you.. 2 Timothy 1:5
God blesses us in so many ways that some days the blessings resound within our being like a very warm and fuzzy feeling deep inside our soul. I had a phone call from my youngest grandson all of six years old but very wise and his words were: 'Nan, you know the bible you gave me when you baptised me? Well Mum found it when she was cleaning out a cupboard and  I have been sitting on the lounge reading it and looking at the pictures and now I know the story of  how God made the world.'  I think there is no greater blessing than when we see the fruits of a seed planted. It may have been planted with caution. It may have been planted with hope. It may have been planted with love and prayers and someday that gift to a child will emerge and set them on a path for life.  Often these seeds are sown by a grandmother with a longing in her heart to see that the child will come to know and walk with Jesus and a longing to know that whatever life throws at you, with Jesus by your side you will be alright. That, I think, is the greatest gift a child can be given.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Blessed assurance Jesus is mine.

stormy weather

The voice of the Lord is over the waters: the God of Glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters. Psalm 29:3
Lately there seems to be a lot of thunder storms about us and sometimes I hear people saying there has not been enough warning about the severity of an approaching storm and they are caught out with flash flooding rain and damaging hail. Their immediate reaction seems to want to blame someone. We can read in Luke's gospel (12:54-46) 'when you see a cloud coming up in the west, at once you know it is going to rain....and it does. And when you feel the south wind blowing you know it is going to be hot....and it is....you can look at the earth and the sky and predict the weather. Somehow we have strayed away from straight out education and teaching about life as the Lord has taught us  through the words of the bible. I wonder do we just read such good advice and not take it to heart?  I was out for a short walk and saw the thunder clouds building and headed for home to prepare my place in case it came down with vengeance. It makes me also wonder what will happen at the end of time, at the second coming. Will peoples response be 'we didn't get enough warning?'
May our lives be such that they are pointers to God so those who see the signs can be prepared.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne, servant of the Lord

You, God and peace

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your mind in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4: 7
A profound and deepening peace with God often comes after a major life changing event that takes you to such a place within yourself that there is nowhere else to go but to God.
That's my understanding of that peace that surpasses all understanding and at times I 'see' this peace in the face of the elderly in the nursing home. I was given a book called 'The Mission Walker' by Edie Littlefield Sundby who had been given 3 months to live and she said this: I came to realize we are held in the arms of God and are utterly completely safe - in life and in death;whether walking alone or with others.' The only thing I would add  is words of Max Lucardo,  when he says, 'Get the word out. God is with us; we are not alone.
Grace to you and peace from God the father.
Anne, servant of the Lord

God's peace

Morning Glory

Yes, I'll sing the wondrous story of the Christ who died for me.' (TIS 233)
I woke up singing this  morning. I marvel at why that happens. I was singing 'I will sing the wondrous story  of the Christ who died for me.'  And at the same time I looked out the window to see dry grass in the heat wave yet there was a tiny pink flower surviving. It's called 'Morning Glory' and I thought in an instance how its glowing pink colour stood out above the dry grass and as the hymn continued to flow I thought of the words of Helen Keller: 'I am only one, but still I am one. I can not do everything, but still I can do something: I will not refuse to do something I can do. '  One little flower shining its joy in the world and now I know why I woke up singing because you and I all daily sing of the Christ who died for us as we go out in the world.
I read a Celtic prayer which said: May every task be done with joy and every word that we employ show the Lord in heaven above that all we do we do for love.'
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

Not morning glory but the same symbolism.

What a friend!

O come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Psalm 95:1
There is something refreshing about a New Year. Its a great opportunity to reflect on the past one and set some goals for the new one.  In the 'rush' of life so often the most important things get pushed to the bottom of the 'to do list.'  We so much like time out with our friends, catching up, chatting, sharing story but lets not forget the greatest friend of all: Jesus. Waste time with him, hang out with him. Lie down with him in green pastures and be guided by his rod and staff. I think its called 'holy loitering.'
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

In pastures green he leadeth me

Christmas past and present

My soul does magnify the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior. Luke 1:47
Christmas as a child was an event I wont forget.. We were poor like others in the immediate post war era and presents were a luxury. Never the less memories of Christmas were very much about the 'reason for the season' and that was to celebrate the birth of Jesus. That was the focus. All the preparation for His arrival were carried out with  excitement and a feeling of expectation. The church was clean and polished and the flowers  were the familiar ones of Christmas, white chaster daises, lavender stems and hydrangeas and the hot days were filled  with the smell of dry eucalyptus trees, back yard cricket, noisy cicadas and noisy baby galas waiting  to be fed. Christmas doesn't have to be what it has become.......one great rush to get the presents. Large debt  on credit cards and a sense of rush and business. It doesn't have to be a grand  event that leaves us exhausted and relieved it is over for another year! Look at Jesus, born in a stable... that's no luxury yet he was the best gift we will ever receive, not wrapped in glittering paper and tied in a bow...... but open and ready to be given and received and always available to us all. In the quiet spaces of Christmas reflect on the  most precious gift of all....the wonderful gift of Jesus.

O come let us adore him. Christ the Lord.

love and more love.

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 136:1.
I heard a song on the radio and one line in particular has stayed  in my mind and shifted to my heart and the line goes like this: 'Your love goes on forever' Just days out from Christmas and I think of the great love of God to us when he came down from heaven and rested in the manger in Bethlehem that first Christmas. A love that goes on and on through the 'God of life and Lord of love.'  A love that draws a response from us to love  back. In this song the verse goes on to say: (God) All I have I'll give you, everything you see. (me) What have I to give  you? All I have is me.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord.

God of life and love

Remembering Jesus

O what a gift what a wonderful gift...(TIS 278)
Have you been wrapping gifts in readiness for Christmas day or are you still shopping? It is so easy to get caught up in the hype of the last minute rush to prepare for our Christmas day and how easy it is for the pendulum to swing wide from the full focus of what Christmas is about and that is the most precious gift of all, the gift of life. I heard a conversation about this among some small children who were looking in the manger. One of them picked the 'baby Jesus' up and had a nurse. As she looked into the eyes of the 'baby Jesus' she passed him to the boy next to her. 'See, you can pick baby Jesus up and pass him around. ' She said. ' Here,you take him and pass him onto someone else.'
Grace and peace this Christmas as you celebrate with family and friends and in your heart and don't forget to pass Jesus around.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

Giving to those in need.

A still pond or raging waters.

There is a river  whose streams make glad Ps 46:4
Rain ,rain and more rain and how blessed we are to have had such life giving water on a drought stricken country. Its such a gift of life and always my mind goes to  what Jesus said, ' I am the living water. Whoever comes to me will not be thirsty.'
Then through us can come life giving water for others who God puts in our path.  I read this lovely reflection: (Jesus) 'Release through me, as rivers of living waters, your goodness, your truth, your love. Take my heart and fill it,take my hands and  use them, take my feet and guide them and may  your glory be the signature over all I do today.'(Lessin)
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Living waters.

O for a thousand tongues to sing my great redeemers praise. (TIS 210)
I watched it, a tiny river of water running down the gum leaf until it reached the tip and there it formed a bubble of life giving water ready to drop on the parched dry land. And the incense buds of the flowering gardenia filled the air with love and all around is quiet, is silence, and God is here. Yes God is here.
Horatius Bonar said: 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.

Rose buds, gardenias, whatever perfumed flowers are incense buds of God's love

The epic journey

Emmanuel. God is with us. (Matthew 1:23)
End of the year is looming. Christmas is on the horizon and I suspect the wise men might be getting ready for an epic journey of discovery and as for the shepherds they are going about their daily business of minding the flock unaware that their lives are about to change. We too are getting ready for the Christmas event, pausing in Advent and waiting for the coming of Christ. It can be a time of letting down and ramping up as some things come to a closure for the year and  other things demand our undivided attention to prepare for celebrating Christ's birth.  Tanks running a bit on empty? then try this for a mantra:
Breathe on me breath of God, fill me with life anew, that I may love what thou dost love,and do what thou wouldst do. (TIS 407)
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Shepherds field chapel door 

God's gifts

Opening their treasure chest,they offer him gifts of gold,frankincense and myrrh. Mathew 2:11
I am always struck by the wonder and graciousness of God in the distribution of his gifts for us. Glorious rain recently,not just a little in some places, but a lot. Beautiful flowers with splashes of colour and deep perfumes. The  colour would have been enough but no, he has added the perfume, an extra gift.  The beauty of the coloured birds would have been a delight in themselves, but again he added an extra gift of song, sweet, melodious song. A pair of swans on the lake waters would have been enough but again he added the extra gift of three fluffy baby swans beside their parents and even the gift from the eucalyptus in flower, a brilliant flower from a plain red nut. As we give gifts at Christmas to show our love of one another, so God gives us these gifts and so much more to show his love for us. I think we all know the saying: every day is a gift from God. That's why we call it the present.

Gods gift of a beautiful flower from a  plain nut.

Pick me up and dust me off

Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do,do it all for the glory of God.. 1 Cor.10:31
Every little thought,every big consideration,every feeling transformed into action,every act deliberately carried out,everything that I do, may they all be to the Glory of God. And God forgive me when I fail. Pick me up and dust me off and give me the courage to start again. And then I thought of the flowers in the garden and shaking my head I said to myself naught is impossible to him who trusts always.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne,servant of the Lord.

                                Naught is impossible to those who trust God.

The blackbird sang

Praise with elation, praise every morning. TIS 156
Eleanor Farjeon writes in her lovely hymn, Morning has Broken,'blackbird has spoken like the first bird.' Isn't it true, that sometimes we look but don't  see what we are looking  at and sometimes  we listen but don't hear what we are listening too. In the first moments of dawn  I sometimes hear  the melody  of the blackbird, high on a power line singing, and singing, and singing......is it just the blackbird singing or is it 'a God thing?' Perhaps his perpetual singing is praise for the new day and praise for his creator......or is it just a blackbird singing? I recall being at a small rural church when an elderly lady said to me,' I was baptized in this church.' In those few words I saw and heard a lady of deep faith, of loyalty and faithfulness to her God, one of the great crowd of witnesses, running the race.  How blessed are we when we listen and hear, look and see 'the God thing' in everyday life.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

A tiny rural church

Singing in the rain

His praise will always be on my lips. Ps 34:1
What wonderful rain and our minds are on the drought stricken areas that  they too can sing praises to God for rain, at last, at long last. So be it Lord. Rain dose something for all God's creatures. Its life giving, refreshing water. I read this quote from G.A.Leichliter:
I heard a joyous strain - a lark on a leafless bough sat singing in the rain and Jehovah  Shammah - the Lord was there.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

A top knot pigion enjoying  the rain

Such a wonderful God.

Remember the wonderful works he has done, his miracles, and his judgments.1 Chr:12
An acorn, weighing less than an ounce falls to the ground  and  can produce an oak tree weighing  more than two tons. Bury one minuet kernel   of corn and watch it grow from a green stem popping through the soil to a plant around six feet tall that produces cobs of hundreds of kernel. And that tiny pea shaped seed that grows and flowers into beautiful scented sweet peas.Ah, we have such a wonderful God of miracles.Miracles all around and yesterdays bulletin at church held a few powerful lines of a miracle. It said, caterpillar-cocoon-butterfly-can one not believe in miracles?  Look and see and enjoy all of the miracles around you in this new day.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Believe what you believe

Just believe.  Mark 5:36
Living in the outback many years ago I often wonder at a lone tree that had fallen in the desert where no one was for hundreds of kilometers, would it make a sound as it fell?
J.H. Jowett said: 'Does the wildflower bloom less carefully and are the tints less perfect because it rises beside the fallen tree in the thick woods where mankind never enters?
Its all like belief isn't it? While we cant 'see' faith  we know its there. While we cant 'see' Jesus, he is there. This simple statement from Marks Gospel says,(paraphrased)  'Just believe.'
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

Did the tree make a noise when it fell and no one was there to hear it?

Restoration

Beauty from brokenness,hope for despair. (TIS 690)
For several days I have looked back on the reflection from Friday November 2 'Spring back into life.' and the imagery I used of the dormant, seemingly dead rose bush in winter that springs into life with love and care, water and tenderness, and blossoms in spring.  I called a modern day parable.  It strikes me how something can come out of what seems  to be dead and I pondered the idea of life, death, and new growth and I wonder, do the people we share our lives with see this new growth, this change in our  lives as we grow from what we were to what we are now, fruits of our journey with Christ. 
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne,servant of the Lord.

New life 

What can I say

How good is it to give thanks to you, O Lord. Psalm 92:1

Sometimes we forget to say 'thank you' to God. Sometimes our prayers are all about our needs and our wants and the thank you can become lost from our thinking. When I start my day I try to remember to say. Thank you for the roof over my head. Thank you for the new day. Thank you for food. Thank you for the beauty that surrounds me with spring flowering gardens and the peace and quiet. Thank you for being there with me when I need you most. I think that often we can forget how life is so good for us especially when I reflect on the homeless woman on the streets, the young man racked with mental confusion, and those who have no trust in Jesus to guide their lives. Lourdes Ruiz wrote: What can I say as I live each day. What can I say to you, my God? All I can think is thank you. 
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

For the beauty of your creation, we thank you O God.

Spring back to life.

He is God not of the dead but of the living. Mark 12:27
I was admiring the new beauty of the buds and blooms of the rose bush and thought how can it be that something so dead and lifeless a few weeks ago can spring back to life and blossom with such beauty. And I thought of God and our lives. People of God who have sprung  into life through the love of God and the power of living water. I look again at the rose bush flourishing with love and water from its gardener  and think this is a parable and I want to tell the story over and over again of how God's love can come into our lives and raise us from death to  life.

Covered in God's love

Eyes open.

.......then their eyes were open and they recognised him. Luke 24:31
The disciples walking on the road to Emmaus were startled to find that their companion was the risen Lord Jesus and the disciples on the Sea of Galilee were startled to see the figure walking towards them was the risen Jesus. Sometimes we to are startled to find the Lord is with us. He presents himself  and shows himself and reveals himself in the beauty and in the pain of our daily life. Sometimes the realisation is sudden and sometimes, like with the disciples it can be a slow awakening. Frederick Buechner said: Lord, catch me off guard today. Surprise me with some moment of beauty or pain so at least for the moment I may be startled into seeing that you are here in all your splendor, 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.

The beauty in a dry arid place.

Will I go this way

Whether you turn to the right or the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, 'this is the way,walk in it.' Isaiah 30:21
Sometimes I have a discussion with myself when I set out for a walk. Will I go this way to the open  walking track, or will I go via some streets and lanes, or will I just take the direct path that will get me to where I am going. The aim of the walk is to be with God, to walk with him in the freshness of the early morning even before the sun has kissed the capeweed into flower,   So often, when I deliberate about the path to take I think of this passage from Isaiah because  I often answer myself with 'walk this way.'  Sometimes at a funeral people use  the chapter from John's gospel(14)  and ask if they can leave out verse 6 'I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except through me.'  My response of course is 'no.' The inner voice that we hear is the voice of God, directing, guiding and leading, along the right path, the right way, to him.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

Which way will I walk

who we are

I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord. John 1:23
There is always a bird that heralds in the morning. Its call is like a prayer, breaking the silence, welcoming the day. Its a joyous call that straight away I sense it is of God and I thought of John the Baptist heralding in Christ, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'prepare the way of the Lord.' I wondered in my quiet time this morning, in unseen unison with each other , how many of us are readying ourselves to 'prepare the way of the Lord' as we think and pray for the day ahead. You know we wear the name Christian not because of what we are or who we are or where we are but because of whose we are (Rick Ezell.) Go forth in confidence and faith.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

Preparing for the day

Live Christ

The world wants something that has God in it. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is. 1 Corinthians (the message)
I was going out with family for a meal and we were stopped in our tracks by one of the poorest ladies I had ever seen on the streets of Canberra. While warm with ample clothing on she had no shoes or socks on her worn feet. She looked tired and very much in need of a shower. She apologized for all the fur on her coat saying it was from the cats she sleeps with. In talking to her all she wanted at that moment was a meal, nothing more, just a meal. After providing her with this request and a 'God bless you.' we moved on. It took sometime to get past the image and wondering of this  lady as I counted my blessings.
Lucado says: The greatest thing that any of us can do is not to live for Christ but to live Christ.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

Live Christ

 

The sweetest song

There is a place of quiet rest, near to the heart of God (Hymn)
If I had to choose a favourite hymn I don't think I could single out one above another but some do sit in your heart and bless you. Some seem to draw us into the lap of God. This particular hymn does that. There is a place of quiet rest, near to the heart of God. A place where sin cannot molest, near to the heart of God. O Jesus, blessed redeemer, sent from the heart of God, draw us who wait before you, near to the heart of God.   Sometimes words and thoughts and   places draw us so close to God that we don't want the moment to go. We want to remain in that space. Its like you are one with God and cant get any closer to his heart.
Where are such special times for you where you find that deep closeness.
This morning I have to say it was in the sweetest song of a tiny bird singing at day break.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Singing at daybreak