A Heart Untroubled

Well, here we are in September again.  The summer is over (as marked by the torrential rain today), and life resumes a more normal pattern for many of us.   In our part of the country, there has been a bit of a drought through the summer, and as a consequence, our home town and other places have been put on a hosepipe ban, and t he local water company has been quick to encourage everyone to conserve water where possible.  It's been a little frustrating at times. Then, this morning, a friend pointed out that, on the news there were reports of three or four burst pipes in an area close to where we live that were causing chaos. This got me thinking about my spiritual walk.  My husband always says my brain works with weird connections, but hear me out.  The water company has been quick to try and get us to do something to solve the problem, while not actually spending the money to repair or replace old pipework, leading to many leaks and burst pipes.  The ...

There is so much pressure on us to determine our purpose in life.  Whether that's the career we will choose or what God has called us to do, we feel the need to get it right.    I remember when I was trying to work out which 'A' Levels to take, trying to figure out what I wanted to 'be', and it was tough. At other times I was worried about 'missing' God's plan for my life (as if the plans of God could be thrown off by me!! but that's another message). Whatever the expression of your purpose is, there is one main point to it!  We are called to become more and more like Jesus Romans 8:29  tells us that our destiny is to be conformed to the image of God's son. " For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son , that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." Your one goal in life must be to be like Jesus.  Being like him is not achieved by modifying our behaviour or by trying hard, but today ...

.   I have been thinking a lot this week about the simplicity of the gospel and how to explain it to others.  The following idea really spoke to me, and so, I want to share it with you. Historically, if you were a slave, you were treated as property to be sold, traded, mortgaged or willed.  Children inherited their parents' status as slaves.  You had no human rights at all.  Most slaves were not even able to earn any money, and so the opportunity to purchase their own freedom was rare.   In the beginning, Adam and Eve were created in right-standing with God, free, but they voluntarily sold themselves into slavery when they yielded themselves to Satan.  Roman 6:16 says that to whom we yield ourselves to, his servants we are.  The Passion Translation puts it like this: Don’t you realise that grace frees you to choose your own master? But choose carefully, for you surrender yourself to become a servant - bound to the one you choose to obey....

I love people watching!   I thoroughly enjoy sitting in a little coffee shop, observing interactions with people.  I like to guess why people are there.  Are they on a business meeting?  Planning a party?  Catching up with a friend or on a date? What really fascinates me is people's posture, tone and engagement with others.  You can tell a lot about a relationship by those things. Sometimes you can look at an interaction and see that one person wants something from the other, or you can tell that there is a playfulness between people, or there is a struggle - even if you can't hear what they are saying. Communication flows from relationship.  We will communicate differently depending on the depth of the relationship and the breadth of shared interests we have with someone.   I will talk differently with my husband, John, than with the lady who makes my coffee at the cafe. John and I have more than 30 years of shared history together....

Today I was at one of my favourite cafes. I paused from my bible study for a moment and indulged in a bit of people-watching, which I have to confess, I really enjoy.  In the cafe were a couple with a small child.  Given my estimate of their ages, I think it was grandparents with a little boy of about 3ish.  This little boy was chattering away, and he was talking absolute nonsense!   Going on about how crocodiles peel bananas and how the cafe needed to have a rope (I think it was to stop the chairs floating away??), but what struck me was how engaged his grandad was with the conversation; how he joined in with the chatter, with passion and enthusiasm and an evident love for the child. He never once corrected him for believing that crocodiles can peel bananas (I have to confess, I did Google it to see whether they can eat them, and apparently they do! Who knew?).  He just enjoyed being present with the little boy and being part of his world.  It made me...

I recently bought new glasses.   I decided to opt for ones that react to sunlight.  They are great.  They get darker like sunglasses when the sun is shining or even if it's bright outside, and go back to normal when I walk into a shop, or the sun goes in.  It's fantastic.  However, there are a couple of issues with them.   One small problem is when they don't change right away, particularly going from light to dark.  Sometimes, if I go inside, I have to wait a few minutes for them to lighten up before I can see clearly.   The second problem I have is that they don't react in the car through the glass.   I have to change into my sunglasses when I drive.   It's not the end of the world, but for whatever reason, there is something that stops them reacting when they should! Christians can be a bit like my glasses!   Sometimes, there is just something that stops us from reacting to the Holy Spirit when we sh...