See the forest ….. not just the trees!
Be Still
Praise the Lord!
Everyone enjoys praise! We’ve praised our athletes for their amazing performances and hard work. We praise musicians ….. actors ….. chefs ….. artists ….. etc. But the one who deserves our praise the most is God! He created the universe ….. He chose us to live on planet earth ….. He provides everything we need ….. He is our Healer and Protector ….. He gives us gifts and talents! We should praise Him from sunrise to sunset ….. in fact the Bible says we are to praise Him continually! That just means that we are always aware of Him and thankful for all He has done. You will never run out of things to praise Him for!
One Step at a Time
Every Knee Shall Bow
Love Your Enemies
Have you been let down by someone you love? Has your trust been broken? Feelings of betrayal and disappointment can leave us very vulnerable. By all means ….. take some time to process and heal. But there’s a tendency to become self focussed and that’s when your mind can lead you down a slippery pathway. It may tell you that you are entitled to get even ….. that you deserve to hurt them back. And you can be sure that there will be well meaning friends who will encourage you along that path. But right now ….. your best friend is Jesus! And He said we are to love our enemies and do them good. Ouch! The point is ….. don’t allow their bad behaviour influence you to also behave badly. You ….. dear one who is hurting so badly ….. are In a better place than the one who did the hurting.
River of Life
We have begun a new series at Church on ‘The River of Life’. A river starts with a trickle of water ….. which forms a pool ….. that becomes a stream ….. which turns into a mighty river ….. that flows into the sea! You might not think you have much to give ….. you may not feel very influential ….. but when we give our talents or resources to God ….. He can multiply and use them to bring life to many. Your ‘trickle’ can refresh ….. enliven ….. and empower others!
Crown of Life
Fog
The fog had set in overnight, and by 11am it was still hanging around. We were driving in the car on our way somewhere, and were all a bit frustrated at not having had more than 150 metres of visibility for the entire morning. Suddenly our five-year-old daughter asked, “Mummy, why is the sun covered in fog?”. I replied, “Well, the sun is actually not affected by the fog at all. We can’t see the sun because the fog is around us!”
James 1:13 “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.”
Have you ever had a fog surrounding your heart or mind? You can’t see clearly, can’t make good judgments, can’t get a perspective, because there’s a heavy fog clouding it. It can take many forms… but it always comes with quiet whispers in our mind that try to make us lose our way. Unfortunately, we can’t blame God or anyone else really, for the problem is in our own hearts.
Recently I’ve had a fog set in… it came suddenly, quietly and unexpectedly, as fogs often do. It was called “stuff”. Now, I’m not a light-packer (despite my mother’s best attempts to teach me how to pack-light on our holidays!), but in general I don’t buy a lot of things. But recently, I’ve had this increasing desire towards materialism and, well, just buying things! Nothing too crazy expensive, just a new magazine from the supermarket here, another shirt from the thrift store there, more toys for the kids, another cute mug for the kitchen… and then I realised that slowly I was getting in a habit of thinking about wanting more, bigger, better… in my mind was the quiet but persistent whispering thought, “if you had more, you would be happier”. Then, like a fresh breeze, this verse helped to blow the fog away:
Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Our preoccupation with accumulating things in this world can cloud our perspective on what really matters, and what we really need. Jesus didn’t tell us to ignore our physical needs on this earth (Matthew 6:30-32), but comforted us that our Heavenly Father would provide all our needs as we continued to focus on and depend on Him: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you”, Jesus said (Matt. 6:33). When we leave this world, we can take nothing with us except what we have done with our time and resources on this earth (2 Cor. 5:10). It’s a challenge to keep this fog from setting in in our consumerist, materialistic world, but He is faithful to bring His truths to our mind when we need them to blow the fog away!
Is there anything clouding your mind today?