Listen and take heed.

1 Peter 2:1-10

I did stumble, I did fall, I did break my elbow and all this after I had had a thought that I must remember to pick up my feet when passing of the debris fallen from the derelict buildings. Perhaps I need to be more consistent in following pressing thoughts. God might have put them there for a purpose.

Protected

Exodus 14:21-31

I always travel the same way to Charleroi Airport. I devised the route myself, partly in the arrogance that I have for the GPS. I have persisted in using this route even though the new GPS shares my opinion of the best route.
On Wednesday an impulse caused me to try the other, signposted route. I did, it was OK. However I took my usual route home, there being no awkward left turns in that direction. As we approached the tricky intersection there was a helicopter hovering overhead. We wondered what was causing the interest. The answer, an accident right where I would have driven ten minutes earlier.
Maybe coincidence, maybe I listened to the little voice. Whatever the reason I was protected. I am sure that God protects us from unknown calamities in many unseen ways.

Tents

2 Corinthians 4:16-5:10

My first night camping was at Dinas Head. It rained, it thundered and the large marquee was blown down. I slept through it all. To me camping is about wet grass on sunny mornings. The memory of such times is a 'thin place' for me. It is a time to worship and praise, to give thanks for life and dedicate myself anew to God's service.

View of Dinas Head from Garn Fawr

Taken from the rocky outcrop at the western end of Mynydd Dinas, looking north.

   © Copyright Bob Helms and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

The unexpected

Luke 24:1-12

Jesus was dead. The women went to the tomb, to minister to the needs of his dead body. Where else would they expect to find it? Jesus was not there.
In which unexpected place will I find Jesus today?

As you wish

Mark 16:9-20

This passage is not included in some of the early versions of Mark. You read the discussion here. I like to think that everything in the bible is more or less true and thus the passage is included for a reason. Maybe some of the bible compilers did not think it was genuine. We take or leave the stories as we wish.

Easter Minto, thus named by non-church going parents because she was born on an Easter Day, used to say "I've read the bible. I know the bible stories. I want to know what God is doing NOW."

I do believe that God is at work in my life. Last Friday I went to a busy place and there was a parking place ready waiting for me, in fact one that I had in the past declared to be my favourite space. You may believe this or not. That is your choice, as with the rest of the stories of the resurrection.

Dinner

Exodus 12: 14-27

I like to eat. It is not just the food but also the conversation of gathering around the table with friends and family. Preparing food is thus not a chore but a pleasure for me as it is the means to a delightful end. I am therefore comforted by the words hidden in the instructions for the celebration of the Passover that it is quite legal to prepare the feast.
There is no mention of pressing buttons in lifts on Sundays pushing a baby's pram or any of the other ways that the Sabbath Laws have been extended by the development of Jewish doctrine over the last few thousand years. Honouring God by celebration of his saving from us death is the object of the ordinance. Cooking and eating are part of this labour of love.

Psalm 150

Palm 150

Today is a Psalm 150 day, a day to praise. Easter Day is a especially a day for giving praise and thanks to our father, Maker, Saviour, brother and friend.
My past few Easter Sunday afternoons have been spent playing Sudoku but since I did not give it
up this year I did not spend the time playing. It was not that I have kept spending the odd few minutes playing through Lent but that I did not take it back up at the end of Advent and so did not have the opportunity to shed it from my daily round. I am thankful to God for this.
What else....

The Throne of Grace

Hebrews 4-16

Before today I always interpreted verse 16 to mean that God would help me when I needed it. However today perhpas he means that through continual prayer I become aware of the help that God requires me to give to his other children.

New Every Morning

Lamentations 3:1-9, 19-33

It was quite a shock tp find these uplifting words in the reading for Good Friday. I associate them with sunny mornings and damp grass at girl Guide Camp.

But New Every Morning is our Saviour's love, particularly today when when 'celebrate' his dying on the cross. This cross is our invitation to the Royal Banquet. The Queen has a reason for each invitation to a Garden Party. Thus it is with the cross and me.

I am  sorry this is written in haste but I wanted to share the thought but I am a servant today.

Prayers

2 Corinthians 1:8-22

We telephoned everybody we knew who prayed, all over the country and they in turn passed our message on to those whom they knew prayed, and sometimes to people they did not know. There was a prayer meeting of over a hundred people, they prayed, we did not know them but they knew of our plight. the answer was not what we wanted. Matthew was deemed to be brain dead. They tested him and turned off the machines.

Twenty-nine years later I am telling you the story because I believe in the power of prayer. We were comforted by the knowledge that many were holding us up to God and saying " Show your love to these people". So I do the same today. I pray for those I know and those I do not know. I pray for God to be with them on their journey, that they may know his love and comfort, that he will heal their hurts as he has healed mine.

Station 8

2 Corinthians 1:1-7

Yesterday we had an opportunity to wander through The Stations of the Cross. The ones used were those based on scripture by Pope Jean Paul II. Station 8 was where I returned.
The cross was too heavy for Jesus after the indignities he had suffered during the night, his trial, the taunting and the flogging.

Eighth Station: Jesus is Helped by Simon the Cyrenian to Carry the Cross

Reader: They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.
(Mark 15: 21)

Minister:
Lord,
grant us willing spirits
that we may be your instruments on earth.

I pray that like Simon I will help to carry the cross, to be God's instrument. 

The right time

1 Timothy 6:12-16

This morning there was no sermon in church, the gospel filled in the time. Since the adoption of the Revised Common Lectionary the gospel reading for Palm Sunday has been the retelling of the whole Passion, not just the triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
At Jesus' trial, and while he was on the cross the sceptics asked for him to defy death and come down from the cross in one flamboyant miracle. He did not. Instead he waited fo rhte right time and three days later walked from death to life. The miracle which had been demanded happened and was ignored. God's time is different from ours.

Childhood songs

Psalm 137

My grandmother sang "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam" and "What a friend we have in Jesus". I was too young to understand before she stopped her singing and just sat in her chair.
At Sunday Schools, led by Mr Stephens it seemed that we sang "The King of love my shepherd is" every week. I wanted a change. I was ungrateful for the time and energy which Mr Stephens gave to us. Now I realize how important sharing his faith was to him. I wish that I am was as vocal now. I wish I could tell him how much I appreciate his enthusiasm which I did not recognize, probably degraded  at the time.
Yes childhood songs are important.

Clay Pot

2 Corinthians 4:1-12

Judging is easy. Fortunatly God can see the inside of a person and not just the outside. It is not up to me to decide by my experience of a person whether they are 'in' or 'out' of God's kingdom. I only see the outside. God sees the contents.

Canal Mirror

2 Corinthians 3:7-18

Tuesday.
It was a beautiful sunset. I watched the sun creeping towards earth as we went at dog's pace ( fast spurts of energy with prolonged sniff stops) to the canal. I wanted to take a photograph to share the glorious golden edged clouds and the great amber orb as it descended. There was always a tree or a hill obscuring the total view. Then we came to the canal, the fire had gone but I looked at the water and saw what I thought was an awesome sight, the still water tinged with rose coloured light reflecting the glory of the previous moments.

Today.
God may not seem close to me today but I hope that in my face there is at least a slight reflection of the love of God that I have experienced through you my fellow mirrors.

Perfume

2 Corinthians 2:14-3:6

I like perfume, it is always a standby gift for me but whatever concoction I spray on myself it is not as pleasing as that of a single sniff of a primrose or the heady perfume of a wood of bluebells. The perfume that I wear though is probably more nose catching in a crowed lift. Is this how easy it should be for people to know that I am a Christian, a witness to the fact that God loves them?

Lies?

Exodus 5:1-6:1

This passage has worried me for a long time. We all know that God was intending the Israelites to return to Canaan and make it their own. Why then did he tell Moses to say to Pharaoh that they were only going for three days? I assumed that in the culture of the time 'a three day journey' was a euphemism for going away and leaving. However, on Sunday we we reminded about the Israelite midwives telling Pharaoh that they never got to a birth on time to kill the baby ( Exodus 1), a definite lie. Perhaps the three days here is a lie too. Maybe God lies. Maybe God has his agenda of which we are not aware. Maybe God sees sin in a completely different light from us who are so set on rules and obeying them. Lies for my own selfish ends are what they are, lies.

"Actions speak louder than words"

1 Corinthians 14:1-19

"Actions speak louder than words", a saying that we were taught as children. I do not recognize love by words but by the sacrificial actions of my friends. Their thoughtful generosity, the allocation of their time helping others in need, their smile, greetings and above all encouragement.
Catherine, who lends her car whenever she goes away without it, Susie who cooks for the sick and organizes others to do so too, Priscilla who helps with women in need, Pam who it is difficult to contact because she is always elsewhere doing something for somebody, Ann who opens her house, Ann who is gives her time and is always willing to help, Lynda for her quiet thoughtfulness and wonderful smile, Rie who always has a welcome cup of coffee. There are many people who touch my life, some of whom speak in tongues and some who do not.
I think I will spend today thanking God for the ways in which you share his love. I will remember the many, living and dead, who have been helping hands in my life and through whom I have seen God's love.

I have wanted a camellia plant ever since I first saw one, probably in my mother- in- law's garden. Last year one of the ladies above gave me one. We show God's love in many ways just by following little thoughts that he plants in our minds. Help me to be aware and act upon those nudges.

Growing

1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Today we were awoken by quarreling next door. We are visitors in an apartment in Hildersheim, Germany. There were the long sentences of the father and something between a cry and shriek from the child. How are method of arguing changes as we age. We have more tools and skills available.
So it is with our faith.

Godly tools

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

How often did we attempt to treat our children equally. If one girl had a new dress, then so did the other. If a son went on a trip then the other went somewhere too. Of course we often failed but we wanted them all to know that we loved, in fact still do love them equally. They are each the product of the same loins yet each is a different person. None of them live in the same country, none of them has the same job.
God loves each of us but he equips us for our day, not our brother's.

Psalm 100

Psalm 100

It is a Psalm 100 day. The psalm that I had to learn in my all age primary school when I was of infant school age. How I hated the learning; I found in difficult, in fact I still find learning by rote tough. However, how I love the familiar words. How I love the comfort of the psalm. I want to be God's sheep in his tender care.