Real

Mark 5 :47-56

Yes it does look as if Tom is walking on water but in reality he was balancing on a slack-line strung over a lake. Not so Jesus. He was for real, his walking on the water and his healings.
Lord help my motives and actions be real expressions of your love.

Another busy day

Mark 6:30-46

Like me Jesus knew just what he wanted from the day. Today I was going to do some washing early, a little yoga, take the dogs for a walk and go on a bike ride to buy some milk. This afternoon was for cleaning and the evening for gardening. I might visit a friend too.
Jesus planned a quiet day with his friends. Did they have a rest? No, a crowd hungry for Jesus and then for food pursued them.
Often a day just does not go to plan but we can rest assured that Jesus knows how we feel.

Differing motives

Mark 6:14-29

Acts 15:36-16:5

Today Herod kills John the Baptist because of an oath he swore in front of his dinner guests and Paul circumcises Timothy because he does not want to upset the local Jews. As I see it neither action was the result of a deeply held belief.
I suppose Herod's was to save his own face and Paul because he wanted to be seen to be obeying the Law.

What I want to remember today is to examine the motives behind my actions.

CV

Mark 6:1-13

To get a job you need experience and qualifications. Experience is difficult without a job. Qualifications may sound good but to be of use it is necessary to transfer the knowledge gained during the course into the practical environment. How often do we rush to hear a famous speaker because we know his credentials
To the people of his home town Jesus was a nobody, no experience, no qualifications and no credentials. Hence even though they were impressed by what they heard they did not take him seriously.
Do I need to be more open to accepting truths spoken by those who are familiar to me?

Our Blackbirds

Psalm 50

We first noticed them in the winter when food was scarce and I had hung out bags of peanuts and balls of seed. We watched them gathering dried grass and moss for their nest. Now each morning as we sit drinking our morning tea Mrs Blackbird flits across our patio with a beak stuffed with worms or grubs. Never does she fly directly yo the nest. Sometimes to my disgust she stops off on the washing line, this particularly displeases me when the line is full of drying clothes.
It is strange if a morning passes by and we do not see either of our blackbirds.

We mere humans have a care for the well-being of a pair of blackbirds who happen to nest in our hedge how much more so does God care for his creation. If I am his hands and feet here on earth that gives me a responsibility too.

24/7

Mark 4:21-34

It is one of those days when I give you my opinion on a portion of the reading rather than share with you a real life experience of Jesus.

Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. When he was in private with his disciples he explained everything. Nowadays it is understood that 'the disciples' refers not only to the designated twelve but also to various hangers on such as the women who ministered to Jesus and his apostles.  I was wondering how one became a member of the inner circle. How did one get to hear the explanations of the riddles and parables? My conclusion was that the crowds were probably not real followers in that they did not travel daily with Jesus. They were from the nearby town of the day. The disciples had left everything to follow Jesus and were rewarded the jewels of the Kingdom.
How much have i left to follow Jesus and consequently how much can I expect him to share with me. I think I need to listen more consistently, to spend more hours of my day with him.

Restraint

1 Samuel 24:1-22

Sometimes, just occasionally I manage not to pass on a juicy bit of gossip which would have a detrimental effect on my listeners opinion of the subject of the piece of news.
David had the opportunity to actually assassinate Saul, not his character. He did not make the most Saul's vulnerability. He acted with restraint and respect.

Different circumstances

1 Samuel 22:1-23

Sometimes our circumstances change as we mature. David  refused a sword for his battle against the giant Goliath but as a fully grown man on the run from Saul he gladly accepted Goliath's over-sized sword.
What is good for me my not be the right thing for you and what was right for me yesterday might not be what I should do today.

Celebrate the Sabbath

Mark 2:23-3:6

They were laughing and having fun, obviously an after church party. They had not warned us; The hilarity travelled well through the thin walls of the student housing. What was worse it was one of the most Sacred Sundays of the church calendar, Easter Day. What a day to have a party.
I hope that over the intervening thirty-eight years our perception of Christian Celebration has changed somewhat now that we mix more with church people and learn about our party-loving Saviour.

David's idol

1 Samuel 19:1-18

I like Michal's devotion to her husband, rather than to her father but of all the times that I have read this story this is the first time that I have noticed the fact that David, that man devoted to God had idols in his house. I think previously I have always that that there were there because of Michal's dubious upbringing. But I think if David had not wanted them in his house he would have made that obvious. This set me wondering more about the nature of the idol.
The Hebrew word for the idol is "teraphim". The The Jewish Encyclopedia tells us that household idols were often in the shape of a human head, sometimes even a mummified head so it was an obvious choice to represent a sick David's head. My own spin on the article is that maybe the teraphim was a reminder of God's presence, you could chat to the head on the wall, ask his advice, just as we do with the invisible presence when we pray.
We have visible reminders of Christ's love for us. I saw a palm leaf cross in a friend's car. We have quite a few in our house too, I sometimes use one as a bookmark. I wear a gold cross. We have a cross at the front of our church. I like having reminders of God's presence, sometimes they jolt me into prayer.

Something important happened...

Mark1:14-28

Journalists have been waiting for two weeks outside St Mary's Hospital, Paddington. They are waiting for an event which is scheduled for mid-July. Each one of them wants to be the first to spread the news that Princess Kate has arrived and that the royal birth is imminent. The news will spread rapidly around the world. No doubt we shall each do our part ensuring that our friends know the news.

News of Jesus spread fast too. The mentally and physically sick arrived to be made whole. Other people arrived just to hear Jesus preaching, his style was different, he spoke as if he really knew what he was talking about.

With what fervour do I tell of Jesus' working in my life?

Godly Set-Up

Acts 10:17-33
Sometimes unrelated circumstances seem with hindsight to have possibly been orchestrated from above. Maybe for i,stance Naomi's longstanding ambition to attend a British university even though she was in Junior high School in Texas and David being offered a job in Belgium after Naomi had already completed her application for university.
Like Peter you can ask ¨Why?¨ Maybe, sooner or later, like Peter you will know the answer. Maybe you will just have to wait and see, never really knowing the definite answer but trusting in the words that Julian of Norwich heard ¨All shall be well¨.

I don't believe it.

Luke 23:56- 24 :11

Yesterday there was a news item on the BBC that many sub-postoffice  workers had been wrongly accused of stealing money, some had even been imprisoned.My heart ached for the injustice dealt to those misjudged men. What am I going to do about it? Probably nothing. At best I might have a discussion with God about the problems faced when little people are accused by big business. If I hear any small voices which might prompt action I will probably ignore them and continue with my own agenda for today.
The underdog women told their tale of the risen Lord to the important men who did not believe their incredible account.
Why do I believe the illogical story? The only way to attempt the agenda is with Jesus at my side.

Godly Bandage

Psalm 147

I fell. The pain was intense. I tolerated it for ten days. When Turning on the indicator of the car was too much I went to the doctor. My elbow was put in a cast. Almost immediately life was bearable.

I wish I went to Our Father with the pains of daily life.

Steps and trust

1 Samuel 13:19-14:15

Under the tree we have Saul with the priest and the ephod, looking as if he is a true follower of God. Then there is Johnathon sneaking out of the camp with his armour-bearer. Following on from yesterday I wonder if God planted the desire in Johnathon's head that he should go and have a look. Whether or not that was the case he saw an opportunity and took it, not knowing what the next step would be. He went trusting God for guidance as they went.
Sometimes we just have to take an opportunity and trust that God will be in the outcome.

Meetings

Acts 8:26-40

Maybe I have told this story before.
I felt prompted to go to a grocery store that was not in my area of town. It was more hispanic than my usual store so it was interesting to go there occasionally to buy their freshly made tortillas and mexican cheese. On this particular day I was headed for an even unusual shop, one that specialized in wholefoods but as I was passing the more hispanic shop I turned into the parking lot.
The array of vegetables, as usual for that shop was amazing, more varieties of peppers and tomatoes than in my habitual shop. Food with which I was unfamiliar, and still have never tasted such as cactus leaves. I browsed my way around to the cereals and inadvertently dropped my coupons. Somebody picked them up for me, we spoke, we realized that we were both English, both strangers in a foreign land. I was well established, she was newly arrived. We became friends.
Yes I have recounted this before. I still find the incident amazing, how God can work if we only respond to persistent thoughts. My shame is that I do not have such a story for every year or week or day.
I wonder what Our Father really wants me to do today.

Me Too

Acts 8:14-25

The youngest of four children with a childminder who had four children all of whom were older than her some of the first words of our last child were "Me too".  She wanted to do everything just like the big kids.

I have an empathy with Simon. He was a spiritual babe who wanted to do everything that the big boys were doing. I just hope that he got it sorted out in the end. Meanwhile I too can learn from Peter's rebuke and pray for forgiveness and a right spirit within me.

My heart's desire

Psalm 122

"Where does the sea stop"? America. That was my mother's answer as we stood on the Pembrokeshire coast watching the gentle ebb and flow of sunlit ripples on the Atlantic Ocean.  America was an imaginary place far, far away. A place to occupy a space in a dream world. As my horizons grew America extended to the other shining sea, the Pacific. Then details began to be filled in. There was the picture of the car driving through a giant redwood tree in California and the depth of the Grand Canyon.

We went to America, we went to live in America. The first summer there we flew to Hawaii. I was going to see the Pacific. I wanted to savour the first sight. I kept my blind open over New Mexico and then California watching for the moment when brown earth gave way to shimmering sea.

However for seasoned long-haul flyers the excitement of the flight is what movie will be shown. No simple excitement in the beauty and magnificence of Our Father's created world, no wonder at the fact that travel is so easy.

My neighbour asked me to close my blind, the golden sun obscured her vision of the silver screen. I was a pouting child whose toy had been removed.

I can imaging the joy of a Jew as they saw the golden Temple atop the mound, as they saw the blessed city, their journey's end. Those who lived in Jerusalem probably had a different impression of the city.

I would like to judge my neighbour but the truth is that we were on different agendas.

Lost in the baggage

1Samuel 10:17-27

All packed and ready to go. Going, driving along, where is my passport. Find a lay-by, stop, telephone home, ask is it there, where I last remember seeing it? No. Search bags, find passport in moderately sensible place. The baggage was not a sensible place to find the newly appointed king.

Today, what am I pretending does not exist?