Glory Lord and Honor

Sing praises to the Lord for he has done gloriously. Isaiah 12:5
Autumn is so special a time to see right before our eyes, the Glory of God. Magnificent autumn leaves, multiple hues, hanging, falling, blowing in the wind, carpeting the ground, glorious sun rises and sun sets that paint the sky in breathtaking colours  and bring the day onto its knees in stillness and quiet but have you taken your sight of God's Glory a step further?  Have you seen God's Glory in a single raindrop?
Tiny  dots of creation, and as  the sun shines through

 they become a kaleidoscope of crystal like colours, bubbles packed with God's beauty.
What a mighty and magnificent God we have.
Take the time, take the time to have many pauses in your day and see for yourself his Glory right there beside you. See him eye to eye in his glory.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

every day a day of thanksgiving

Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy. Ps 107:22

Its glorious, glorious, is the autumn morning. The pilgrimage to the pond brought joy and delight. There is a mist in the valleys of the backdrop of the mountains, pockets of mystery, soft, gentle mystery and in the paddock  I watch a cluster of blue wildflowers dance in the gentle breeze for a moment of utter delight. I survey it all and my heart kneels to pray. Thank you God for the beauty around me everywhere- the soft breeze, the autumn air, the dew on the grass, the sunshine - Help us Lord to remember that the key to life and living is to make each prayer a prayer of thanks and ever day a day of thanksgiving. (Steiner Rice)
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

solid joys

Glorious things of you are spoken, solid joys and lasting treasure non but Zion's children know. TIS 446

I can vouch for that:

The dawn of morning, fog ridden and silent
                     and a magpie sings.
The blaze of fiery red in the sunrise, glowing behind ghost like  trees
                     silhouetting, shadowing, illuminating
Deep blue mountains, contours clear and weaving
                      tips  touched and painted pink by the rising sun.
Autumn leaves, a kaleidoscope of colours
                        hanging, falling, carpeting the ground
Transforming beauty as the day breaks
                       and there is a sense that God is here, in the stillness and the quiet.
Glorious things that speak of God
                       solid joys and lasting treasures.

Peace.
Anne, servant of the Lord

Amazing

'Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear.' (Hymn)
I see it again and again, God is active and with us in the world today, revealing this in so many ways if we have ears to hear and eyes to see and a heart that's open.This week a young man asked me if I could help him. As he constantly wiped tears from his cheeks with the corner of his jacket he  told a story of trying to survive on a very low income job, restricted by a bridging visa and with a wife and baby to look after as well. I can't make ends meet, we are sinking, can you find me a job, I have aged care qualifications . My heart went out to him and I said I would do my best.  After he left  I immediately went to the Lord and pleaded his case to God. ' How,' I said' can we help this desperate young man, a pilgrim in our country?'   I went later in the day to the aged care facility and pleaded his case 'Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face and the things of earth will seem strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.'

 but God had gone before me, paving the way and at this moment it seems, this young man has a job, restricted still by a bridging visa but on a higher salary.  'What can I say but 'thank you God, thanks you.' and I say it on my knees. I came home singing
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

pilgrimage

Mat 26:36. Sit here while I go over there and pray.
I love that word 'pilgrimage.' Its a word that takes you on an adventure the moment you think it or say it no matter where you are heading. I go on a pilgrimage daily, sometimes several times a day, when I look at the pond across from my home. I can journey there and reflect and ponder and dwell and stay, for as long as I want, in fact, its often hard to pull myself away. There are, at the pond, countless moments of pure delight, beautiful red rumped grass parrots, the cheeky willy wag tail, blue wrens, flighty finches,wood ducks, frogs,dragonflies, reeds growing straight and tall housing shelter and places of nesting.. There is often a filtering of soft mist, mysterious and inviting.There is stillness and  quiet but most of all in the beauty and stillness there is God and isn't that what a pilgrimage is about, a place to go, reflect, cast off your cares, and see and seek and find God.Where is your favourite place of pilgrimage?
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne,servant of the Lord

Delight in the Lord

Take delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart Ps 37:4
It was so quiet out walking this morning. it was early and there was a nip in the air and even the birds were quiet. So peaceful to just be with God and I could see the cloud around the horizon with a ting of red and I waited for the morning to explode into the colour of an autumn sunrise.I was not disappointed.
Layer upon layer of red and orange and grey and blue that kept coming and coming like a tide to the shore and it rebounded across the sky in a repetition of colourful episodes.  Breathtaking, mind centering, God focusing and blessing upon

blessing as the Lord showered the day with his presence. My cup has been filled. The Lord is in his house.  How has your cup been filled ready for the day ahead?
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord.

God of surprise

While he was speaking these words to me I was speechless. Daniel 10:15
Why should I be surprised when God steps into a situation with a solution. When he suddenly seems to be there on 'the same page' as me?  I have a client at the Day Hospice who I had promised a new wheel chair as the one he was using was not safe and then my funding ran out and on my mind was my promise to this man of his new chair. 'How Lord,' I asked in prayer,' am I going to honour this promise?' These thoughts were on my mind as I went to visit a family to discuss the funeral of their elderly mother. After the discussion one of her son's said to me, quite out of the blue.' I don't suppose you know anyone who could use an almost new 'Mercedes style' wheelchair do you?' It seemed an age before I responded with a 'yes I could', trying not to sound too excited and then explained I have a man at the day hospice I am involved in and...... They were so chuffed to think the chair was going to be used and I was so blessed that God came to that funeral preparation. I drove home almost in shock at the events that had unfolded. God is so good, so good.

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

God calling

Fill my whole life, O Lord my God. TIS 596
As a child I grew more and more fascinated in people who worked and devoted their life for God. I loved to see pictures in mission magazines of missionaries 'working' for God and when they visited our parish I was in awe of them. As I grew up this fascination grew with me and people like Mother Teresa became one I admired, respected and saw as one who gave her life totally in service to Christ..(Of course my father, a parish priest was well up in my books also.) What an inspiration these people and more have been in my life.
I read in a book called 'God Calling' a simple phrase that said, 'God's calling ......FOR ME.'  We can always draw inspiration from people around us who live extraordinary lives of love and service, who spark the best in us. When we hear of Christians exemplifying God's best best in their love for others, their service and their character..................learn their song......and sing it, calling out to God, 'Lord help me leave a legacy of love.'
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

He is risen

 On the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away but when they went in they did not find a body. He had risen.' Luke 24 (paraphrased)
What a glorious autumn morning. The golden sunlight crept across the last of the dark of night bringing light to the new day. Everywhere I looked the golden fingers of light brought colour and life to a dark earth.....across the dew laden paddocks and through the fog in the valley. I paused a moment to watch the mist rising from the pond as it reflected the reeds and bushes around itself. The two swans were just stirring from their sleep, slowly raising their long black necks in a stretch and the mountain tops showed a hue of pale pink as the sun tipped their peaks and the magpies called in the new day.  I thought of a poem I had penned...'soft soft the morning mist did rise.' Gifts from God, every one of them and I reflect on Holy Week and the great love of God and the risen Christ. What wonderful fuel for the day.

The tomb garden Jerusalem

(Steiner-Rice) I saw the dew glisten in crystal like splendor, while God with a touch that is gentle and tender, wraps up the night and softly tucks it away and hangs out the sun to herald a new day.
May your day be blessed with new beginning. May your life be refreshed by the Easter experience and God's peace be with you.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Jesus the Messiah

What should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?  Matthew 27:22

These words of Pilate have really sat with me this Easter. Its been an experience of previously 'unnoticed' words suddenly leaping off the page at me and sitting in my mind in reflection and meditation......'what should I do with Jesus?'
We have stood before the cross  this Good Friday and reflected and now look towards facing  the resurrection and we do so with a renewed 'life' and an even deeper desire to keep the risen Lord Jesus Christ alive.
Ask the question Pilate asked but ask it of yourself......'what should I do with Jesus?'
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne,servant of the Lord.

Holy week

'Take our lives and let them be, consecrated Lord to thee, take our moments and our days, let them flow in ceaseless praise.' Hymn by Alan Wilson 1945
Palm Sunday or as its  known these days as  Sunday of the Passion, the beginning of Holy Week. When I think of the word Passion in relation to this event I think of the great passion, the great love of God who was prepared to sacrifice his Son Jesus for us...for ME. That's huge.That love is unimaginable.And all the while Jesus walked to Jerusalem he knew he was walking to his death but he also knew that in doing so it would give us life. As a child Palm Sunday was exciting. The gathering of the palms, the Saturday spent making palm crosses, the bright red liturgical dressings in the church sanctuary, the procession of palms and  hymns that raised the roof  and we would go home after the service clutching our treasured and so meaningful palm cross but more meaningful I think is the fact that we went home with a 'fire,' a passion,' an excitement that has stayed with me all my life and which is ignited and relived  every time I open my prayer book and am faced with a fading,discoloured, aging palm cross, a perpetual reminder of God's love for me. Imagine the scene in Jerusalem when Jesus arrived; palms, excitement, people everywhere to greet him shouting 'Hosanna to the King,' then imagine the heart of Jesus.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

The road from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem

stone of help

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah and named it Ebenezer, for he said,' Thus far the Lord has helped us.' 1 Samuel 7:12 NRSV
I am often reminded of this text when I reflect on a small, round, smooth stone that I have on my prayer desk with the word 'peace' carved on it. Somehow when I look on the word on that stone I have a sense of the ever present help of the Lord and how that word alone, set on a rock can calm what ever storm might be raging and affirm the victories won. It reminds me of God's faithfulness throughout my life.It reminds me that Jesus came into our world to bring peace and peace comes to us when we surrender to his will.

I like this translation from the TEV. 'The Lord has helped us all the way......and he named it 'stone of help.'
How good to remember that God's help is just a stones throw away. As he was for Samuel, so he is for you and me.

The secrets and beauty of God

Let everything that breathes praise the Lord. Ps 150:6
Its seems the older we get the more meaningful the seasons of the year become to us, in a spiritual way. Its like we dive deeper into the secrets and beauty of God as we see the depth of his love in creation. The autumn at the moment is  just coming into its best looking glorious and each year I find myself saying it just gets better. There is something about a tree of multiple colours with the sun shining through it that always wants me to say 'now there is God's glory ' and yet I can look at a leafless tree silhouetted in the fog and see the same glory. I feel my spirits rise when I see the new growth in the springtime and the magic of blossoms and the shade trees

                                             

                       

                                                               Grounds of St Saviours Cathedral Goulburn

provide in the summer. It seems that trees can portray their beauty whatever the season.
I think of our lives and work, the people we encounter each day and trust that we may reflect God's beauty throughout our lives and appreciate it in others. May we truly see God's glory in one another.
My prayerful thoughts today include those people who can see no beauty in their lives.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

For Jesus

May I never boast about anything except the cross of  our Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians 6:14
We had a lovely time together in the service at the aged care facility. We had talked about the beautiful roses I had brought in from my garden to put on the table . We sang hymns that touched our spirit and went deep into our souls, we had a small bracket of interactive reflection on 'the man born blind.' before we prayed for the world and for  every head bowed in that small group and for  those who had 'gone to be with the Lord ' from among us. Following the service we went into singing for fun and the roof raised when we sang' Jesus Loves me this I know'.I always come away from that service knowing exactly what it is that God requires of me and that is to not only love one another  especially the older people but to raise them up in spiritual strength. At the conclusion of the service the roses were passed onto one of the ladies to put in her room. As I was leaving one of the congregation tapped me on the arm and quietly  said: ' I love it when you come, I get so much more out of the service and go away encouraged with so much to reflect on.'
May we thoughtfully minister to our older people beyond  just  'maintenance.'
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne Servant of the Lord

and heaven gave earth her fines gift

Christ carried our sins in his body on the cross. 1 Peter 2:24
Lent, a time of additional reflection, repentance, forgiveness, redemption. All words we should be familiar with. Words all essential to our spiritual growth, our journey, our future, our future with Christ Jesus our Lord.There should be no situation that blocks us from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We can always come to him with bowed knees and bent head, or running with arms outstretched, to seek his forgiveness. He will always welcome us.We should avoid at all costs a situation that creates a chasm between ourselves and God that leads to a sense of abandonment. Christs death saw to that.
' In an act that broke the heart of the Father yet honoured the holiness of heaven, sin, purging judgement, flowed over the sinless Son of the ages, and heaven gave earth her finest gift, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
My God, my God, why did you abandon me? Why did Christ scream those words?............so you don't have to.' (anon)

National deacons conference 2012

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

O the honour

We were eye witnesses of his majesty. 2 Peter 1:16
God came near to be seen and those who saw him were never the same again.
'We saw his glory,' exclaimed one follower. 'We were eye witnesses of his majesty.' whispered a martyr.
Christianity, in the purest form is nothing more than seeing Jesus. Christian service, in its purest form, is nothing more than imitating him whom we see.
It never ceases to amaze me when I reflect on the diaconate and how we have been entrusted with the servant ministry of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. What a treasure we hold. Daily extending and continuing what Christ began for the lonely,the sick,the outcast,the lost of our  world, a continuation of history,Christianity, the story HIS ministry.
God has come near to be seen. He came  so near to us

 that he touched us on the shoulder and whispered in our ear: 'Come, follow me and do likewise.'  What an honour, what a privilege.
May you walk humbly and serve justly in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Anne, Servant of the Lord.

O the wonder of God

I passed a garden when out walking that was very drought effected and in the midst was a drooping bottle brush shrub with the most magnificent 'bottle brush' looking  flowers, soft, soft orange a midst the brown bush and on a twig a little jenny wren sat and sang her song, just momentarily.

'He heard things which cant be put into words.' 2 Cor 12:4

A field of cobwebs

That verse draws my thoughts into what it is that we 'hear' and cant put into words. That magnificent scenery in a special place, a perfect reflection on a pond, the peel of a church bell, the chorus of morning birds when all else is asleep, time and history etched on the face of the elderly, the colour of autumn leaves,the quiet spaces, the reaching out of hands to receive the sacraments. They cause a small voice in our hearts to say'Ah' and sense the presence of God that cant be described.
Matthew Henry said: The ground of our hope is Christ in this world but the evidence of our hope is Christ in the heart.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

God's wonders

'Be still and know that I am God.' Ps 46:10
There was so much to take in this morning as I stepped out the front gate. A glorious still  morning, soft light of day break and the classical autumn mist across the creek and valleys topped by green hill crests.The sunrise was florescent red outlining the clouds and to mind came the hymn, 'When morning guilds the sky my heart awakening cries, Jesus Christ is Lord.'  That's the effect it has on me, yet I can pass another out for an early morning walk who is totally unaware of what is going on about them. Ear plugs in and focus on the phone texting, totally oblivious and no idea what they just missed.
Gariepy says: 'Life in the fast forward mode can keep us from an encounter with the wonders of God all around us.. Like the sound of a distant  bell comes God's call to man: Be still and know that I am God.  It is a call in our daily life to be aware of the barrenness of too busy a life.'
How did you encounter God's wonders this morning?
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

encounter

Encourage one another with these words. 1 Thess.4:8
Glorious morning with a soft, subtle hint of an autumn mist on a still countryside with  cows grazing quietly on the hill  green and fresh from recent rain, a family of kangaroos lift their heads and look as I pass and the two swans who had been feeding on the pond gracefully take flight on their next adventure and as I walk I see my   foot prints leave a mark on the dew laden grass. And my thoughts go to God. There is a sense that he is so near that I dare to say he is walking with me unfolding all I see and hear as I walk into the gift of this new day. At  church yesterday we were asked did we see the rainbow as we came to church. I did, a perfect arc, brilliant in colour, a 'pause' moment. How and where do you encounter God and have you wandered off on your own journey and become a little lost from him, so much so you didn't see 'his face' and' feel his presence'

in the gifts of the new day, the beauty of the rainbow?
Spend time this Lent, closing the gap between yourself and God making it a series of encounters that are life giving and life lasting.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Blessings on blessings

See, I am setting before you today a blessing......you can choose to take it. Deut.11:26 (Paraphrased)
There is nothing better than starting the day talking to God. Thanking him, praising him, walking with him. Even when life is tough, and I think of the farmers in drought situations, so many blessed by the gift of hay for their stock  and  I look at the farm across the road from me all dry and dust and after a few showers of rain is now so bright green. Wood ducks are grazing on the grass and swimming in fresh water on the pond. The garden, full of multiple blessings as I bend to smell the perfumes of the old world rose, the deep purple budlia, the lemon tree blossom and watch the visiting blue wrens shower among the wet plants.They seem so happy and full of life (I think they are blessed by it) and know a welcoming garden when they see one.  Its difficult to say more than just a deep felt and simple' thank you Lord.'
Try and find a blessing today, even if you are struggling to go look for one and really, it will change your day.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

spot the blue wren!