Forged by life

 Here is my servant, whom I uphold.........a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench. Isaiah 24:1-3 (paraphrased)

There is something so peaceful about looking across a valley with rows and rows of regimented grape vines. Its a picture perfect scene and even the mist seems to be suspended in the air and I reflected on an elderly lady  I had visited recently.  She is a person of faith, forged by life and living with aging issues, failing strength and health. To look on her one would thing she may well be suffering yet her smile, when she lifts her arthritic neck is radiant and her eyes are alive.  She is an inspiration.  As I continued to ponder the vineyard I realised that like grapes there is a process to go through in life. Its a 'crushing' process, a refining process and the strength of faith is in the fact that even while we are being crushed, we are still being used, and we are still 'hanging in there 'with God and its then I see the strength of the elderly lady.

There is a profound saying which says:  It is the crushed grape that yields the wine.

Jehovah - shalom. The Lord is peace

Anne, servant of the Lord

'Peace'

Their trill lifts my heart

Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. (TIS454)

At times we only need a thought for it to be a prayer. Sometimes we only need a thought for it to be a meditation or a reflection. Sometimes words don't come but the trying is all of the above.  Stopping momentarily as if caught by surprise is one of the beautiful images I have of connecting with God, Deliberately I have grown native plants to try and encourage small birds into my garden and as they grow and flower I am more and more rewarded. Just working from my office, glancing out the window and there in the flowering Grevilia is a tiny honeyeater and he has brought along the family. The sight catches my breath, their trill lifts my heart.  Its a prayer. Its a meditation. Its a reflection.

The smallest of gifts in the running in life can be the greatest blessings.

Jehovah - shalom.

The Lord is peace.

Anne, servant of the lord.

                                            A surprise - a blessings when out walking.

God unchanging

Wind, wind blow on me, wind wind set me free, wind wind the Father sent, the blessed Holy Spirit (New Harvest 226) 

I was watching people flying kites on the hills of the arboretum and there was great delight and   joy  as the kites rose high and dipped low, dancing on the wind, until the wind stopped and the kite plummeted to the ground only to be picked up   and tossed sky wards again. As I watched it reminded me so much of life. The soaring and dancing, the dipping and falling and then I thought of God how he is there for us in whatever life throws at us be it joy, dancing,  feeling low or in crisis His love is unfailing, unchanging and always present, never dependant on which way the wind is blowing. Ever present, ever loving, ever unchanging God. May the wind of the Holy Spirit blow on you today.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                Kites in the wind

Comfort for you and for me.

 Your rod and your staff they comfort me. Psalm 23:4

Many of our days can be floored with little fractures of despair or worry. They can pull us down, distract us from enjoyment, take us away from our trust in God. We often cant avoid the issues in our days but we don't have to go them alone. God is with us always, even in the fractured bits. Now that's a great comfort.

That's a nice word, comfort.

 It gives me an image of being wrapped in a warm blanket and  held tight. Mecrina Wiederkehr says ; Between the cracks of daily life I find you waiting........you slip into my life like day and night, like stars and sunshine. I know that you are God.

Jehovah - shalom. The Lord is peace.

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                                    God's love in the cracks.

Secrets of a happy life

 The cheerful heart has a continual feast. Proverbs 15:15

We are never poor when our heart has a continual feast: 

The company of good friends around a picnic table sharing chocolate, sharing the beauty of nature, sharing life. Walking at sunrise, catching the 'making of the day., the fog, the mist, the colour. Walking a winters day, in the rain smelling the fresh earth and stepping in puddles. The blessings from God, the stranger we meet along the way, Godly encounters, our life, his comfort  and love.

I read this from Iris Murdock: One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats.(and I just saw another from my window, as a tiny blue flower on a spindly stem waved its joy in the breeze)

                                                    A morning 'feast;'

Today, tomorrow and every day.

 I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Jeramiah 31:3

Indeed, God does love us with an everlasting love and he shows that in so many ways; so many uncountable ways. As my eyes fall on the opening of each new day I am compelled to say 'thank you Lord,'  what a gift. So often we can be complacent about 'the gift of a new day' - almost take it for granted, as a given. But when we truly see it for what it is then our desire is to use it wisely in love for one another  and to the service of the Lord.  Jimmy Carter said: We should live our lives as though Christ was coming this afternoon. 

Thank you Lord for the gift of this new day.

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                               Not just another day.

Love letters from God

 God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish  but may have eternal life. John 3:16

What's a blessings? There is so much wrapped up in that word blessing. I can 'feel' it now in the quiet and still of the morning. I can 'hear' it in the trill coming from the tiny birds, little notes falling  and rising on the morning mist and  in the has been, once was, lingering beauty of the last rose of summer and its that little pond of peace, heavenly peace, that's deep in my soul, my whole being. I think I would call a blessing  love.  Peter Kreeft said: The whole world is a love letter from God:  I would say, every blessing is a love letter from God.

Jehovah - shalom. The Lord is peace.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                What's a blessings?

A splendour all around.

 There was a splendour all around like the bow in a cloud on a rainy day.. Ezekiel 1:27-28

The carpet of leaves on the ground were thick and colourful and full of moisture from the recent rain and silently some fading leaves were still falling without any ceremony but there was a  look of a dance about them. and looking at them was like a sudden gift. I read this quote from T.C.Clark which said: 'Lord, give me joy in the common things.' 

May you find joy today in the ordinary, the common things.

May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                                                A carpet of leaves.

Reconciliation

This is my Son the Beloved; listen to him.  Mark 9:7

Tjukarpa  palya Jesunya is the name on the New Testament I have in the language of the Pitjantjatjara people of the far north west of South Australia. In English it reads : This man Jesus is good. The ancient peoples in that area still speak their native language and they have added new  words and actions that they value from our language, words like Jesus. Their timeless stories of creation blend with ours and fit in likeness and they have a very deep and rich spirituality.  For them and for us, surly  the name of Jesus must be at the point of reconciliation.

I like this line from the Prayer for Reconciliation from APBA. Lord God, bring us together as one, different in  culture, but given new life in Jesus Christ, together as your body, your church, your people. 

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                Lord God, bring us  together as one.

Light is sweet

 Light is sweet; how pleasant to see a new day dawning. Ecclesiastes 11:7

A new day is magical. Its a miracle really and God does it for us day after day after day. and I always pray that I never take this gift for granted. And  so I love to pause and take it in with what it has to  offer and the potential it holds. I was thinking these thoughts, or are they prayers? as I watch the early sun beams run across the lawn and catch a shimmering, dew laden cobweb in its path and it glistened and sparkled  like a diamond necklace. What delight in such a simple image, what magic in its creation.

Lord give me an open heart to find you everywhere, to glimpse the heavens unfold in a bud, and to experience eternity in the smallest act of love (Mother Teresa)

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                             cobwebs glistening like diamond necklaces.

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Held in a sacred space.

 Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. John 1:29

I was listening to the beautiful piece of music  'All in the April Evening' being sung by the Glasgow Orpheus Choir and though I have heard it and sung along with it for many years of my life I still come to one line that holds me in a sacred space. Its one of those sacred spaces you don't want to leave. It says:

'I saw the sheep with the lambs and thought on the Lamb of God.'

Do you have a sacred space that holds you?

May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times and in all ways.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                               Dwell on the Lamb of God.

Holding the branch with spindly legs

 Their hearts are firm, secure in the Lord. Psalm 112:7

Regardless of our age God just keeps on giving and giving and I see that so much in creation. I marvel that during a storm with the wind blowing enough to shake the trees wildly even the tiniest of birds, with their spindly little legs can hold onto a branch and sleep and not fall off. I saw the wonder of God's creation when I learnt that when  a bird settles on a branch to sleep it bends its little knees and clutches the branch with its claws and in that movement the tendons in its legs form a lock and the bird is secured to the branch. I mean really, only God could create such a mechanism  of safety for the birds. I am reminded of how we, in a storm of life or as we lay down to sleep can bend our knees before God and be secure in his love and safety. 

May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times and in all ways.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                            A little bird on a twig

To behold the beauty of the Lord. Psalm 27:4 

So many times and in so many places we have the opportunity to behold the beauty of the Lord if we are looking for it. Yesterdays frost was as white and almost as thick as newly fallen snow. Everything was glistening, sparkling, crisp white. The bird bath water was frozen including the fallen leaves that lay in it.

All so beautiful, all so of God and as I looked I found these words falling from my heart in prayer. 'Lord show me your beauty today.' And he did, in a far grander way than ever expected. God shows his beauty to us from frosty mornings, to a beautiful flower, breath-taking scenery,  and wistful mist to a tiny bird, the smile of a baby and in the face of the elderly.

Watch out for his beauty in this new day. What have you seen of it already?

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                            Colourful leaves in the bird bath.

The cushion of God's love.

 The peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7

The sky with its tinge of  pink of the dawn sunrise has now changed to a clear sky of blue. Its quiet and all I can see of movement are a few random autumn leaves still hanging onto the trees suddenly deciding to let go and on the ground are the beautiful Crimson Rosellas having breakfast. The whole scene emanated  the quiet and stillness of the morning and a peace, a God filled peace was present.         There are many places to find the deep peace of God. L.B.Cowman  says that there is a part of the sea known as 'the cushion of the sea' and it lies beneath the surface that is agitated by storms and churned by the wind and it is so deep that it never stirs. The peace of God is an eternal calm like this cushion of the sea, or the  peaceful 'God present' in  the new day. It lies deep in our heart undisturbed by what is happening around and within us. It goes beyond the storms in our lives. I like this quote from Pilgrims Progress which says: 'Pilgrim was taken to a large upper room that faced the sunrise and the name of the room was peace.'

May the deep peace of God's love and presence be the cushion for you today.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                A quiet breakfast.

Wide wide as the ocean

 As the water fills the sea, the earth will be filled with an awareness of the glory of the Lord. Habakkuk 2:14

On a recent trip to the South Coast I spent some time just looking at the ocean. Its vastness and seemingly never ending space and I recalled some statistics I had read which said: There is approximately 326 million, trillion gallons of water on the earth and 98% of that is in the ocean. Habakkuk the prophet compares God's glory to water that fills the sea. That's one heck of a lot of God's glory!

How often do you  think about the glory of the Lord  and try and take in its magnitude, its richness, its blessings. Next time you walk on the beach or paddle in the sea, reflect on Habakkuk' words and try and grasp some sense of the magnitude of the glory of the Lord.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                            Seemingly never ending like the Lord's glory

Just to be.

 How lovely is your dwelling place O God.  Psalm 84:1

Just sit with these thoughts for a moment in gentle meditation.

As the morning sun shines its light on the dew of the morning so may your light shine on us Lord.

May it warm our hearts, brighten our thoughts and lift us into the new day. As the sun shines  your love through the colours of the last of the autumn leaves may we know your love as light and colour in our lives. As the gentle breeze crosses our face may we be reminded of the breath of your Spirit within us.

May your love always abide deep within.

Jehovah - shalom. The Lord is peace.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                            

                                            Morning Glory

Glory Lord and Honour

 Sing praises to the Lord for he has done gloriously. Isaiah 12:5

Autumn is such a glorious time to see God right before our eyes. Magnificent autumn leaves -  multiple hues, hanging, falling, blowing in the wind, carpeting the ground and glorious sunrises and sun sets that paint the sky in breath-taking 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 rain drop? Tiny drops of creation and as the sunshine's through they become a kaleidoscope of crystal colours, bubbles packed with God's beauty.

What a mighty and magnificent God we have.  Take the time to take many pauses in your day and see for yourself his glory right there beside you.

Grace and peace from the lord Jesus Christ

Anne, servant of the Lord.

     Shine Jesus Shine

 For your steadfast love is before my eyes. Psalm 26:3

The flow of the autumn mist was like a whisper on the breeze as it lifted to give way to light and clear and bright of the new day and never more glorious were the colours of autumn.  It is such a special time when we pause and take in the sights around us,  not only take them in for their beauty but for the footprint of God that has created for our pleasure.  As little sanctuary's of God we need this fuel for the day - these times when the Lord's presence is marvellously before us. Stop, pause, see and give thanks.

Jehovah-shalom, the Lord is peace.

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                                God's love

One could say its just Autumn

I said to myself, 'Come now, I will take a test of pleasure; enjoy yourself.' Ecclesiastes 2:1

This time of the year brings with it different sights and sounds. Red, yellow and crimson carpets cover the ground where the last of the autumn trees have shaken their fading leaves and playful gusts of wind can be seen chasing so many down the gutter of the road. Its a playful season is autumn but the sound that catches my ear is that of the acorns tumbling down the tree, bouncing off the branches sounding far more like a rock falling than a tiny acorn, there to lie with hundreds of others on the ground to be crunched and cracked playfully under my feet. One could say it just autumn, just another season but to me its God. Its God with his paint pallet out and he is painting and playing.  How do you see God in the season of autumn?

Jehovah - shalom. The Lord is peace.

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                                    Autumn and acorn trees.

Drops of living water

 Jesus said: Everyone who  drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I give them will never be thirsty. John 4:13

I was looking at a large pond of clear crystal water embedded in the paddock and surrounded by long stems of dry grass all gently swaying in the wind, and so it was for as far as my eye could see. But on the edge of the pond were tuffs of green grass obviously close enough to the water to be fed by it. As I looked I thought this is a modern day parable. Central to  our Christian  life is the living water offered by Jesus that sustains us  so we can move out  into the barren dry land where others are searching for that life giving water, or need to be refreshed, taking with us 'drops' from the great pond we know so well, to quench the thirst of others. Who might you be taking 'drops' of the life giving water to today as you go out into the world to 'love and serve the Lord?'

Jehovah - shalom- the Lord is peace.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                Long stems of dry grass