A Heart Untroubled

Today I was thinking about the overall intelligence level of humanity, and you gotta admit that we can be kind of dumb! Of course there are varying degrees of stupid, but what I mean is that we are just not as smart as we like to think. Really think about how many times you have found yourself in the same position over and over again.  We just don't seem to learn. As I was reading this verse, I thought of how true that is regarding the fact that we seem to believe that God doesn't know who we are. We think somehow we have fooled him, and that can be the only reason why he would possibly have anything to do with us.  We think him shocked when we make a mess of things or disappointed when the mask comes off and we reveal who we are.  The truth is God knows EXACTLY who you are and what you're like!  He made you! This passage in Hebrews says that there's nothing hidden from God.  While some might cringe at that statement, I think it is actually one of great freedo

Tomorrow I am speaking at St John's Church, and unlike other places I preach, they run from a liturgy and give me the scripture passage to preach on, rather than a theme or leaving the choice to me. This time my theme is a passage from Jeremiah.  It's not the one on the picture, but as I was preparing for the service, I read through Jeremiah, and it's really quite discouraging for about the first 29 chapters (There are some odd snippets of hope, but not a lot). Two things caught my attention. First, is the constant reference to the idolatry of the people.  In this day and age, we probably think about idolatry as bowing down to funny statues, but it's really about putting something in the place of, or above God.   In today's society, we still have idols, they just look a little different; iPhones, Laptops, TVs, Hobbies to name but a few.     In Jeremiah's day,  the problem was that God was there, but they turned to something else instead.  Sound famili

As the weather changed this week (and then changed back for the weekend, yay)  I was thinking about the fact that for everything there is as a season, and what's really important is we know what season we are in and act accordingly.    For example, when we were living in Canada, it got down to -40 where we were. On one occasion it was about -20C. We worked in a row of buildings and kind of diagonally opposite us was a fast food place.  I wanted to pop out to the fast food place and grab some chips and a hot chocolate.   It was literally 100 yards across the car park. I didn't bother to grab my coat or gloves. When I got back my face and hands were so cold they were burning.  It was stupid, but in that instance, no real harm done, but I learned my lesson.  When it's cold, act accordingly!! The same is true in life.  We need to know which seasons we are in.   In the book of Ecclesiastes we see in chapter 3 that for everything there is a season.   In the second half o

As I was reading the bible this week, this verse from  Psalms 94:19  ministered to me.  It say "In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul." (KJV) Some other versions read 'anxiety' instead of 'thoughts' as the word use there actually means 'disquieting thoughts'. Have you ever had days when your thoughts all seem troubling?  Maybe not a big serious problems, but all the little stuff that gets you down.  I have had days when everything seems to be stressy or difficult, and my thoughts just go over and over these things.  The good news is that we don't have to live in that place, The Psalmist says that the Lord's comfort brought him joy.  To me that's encouraging. The Lord gave consolation (comfort) in the first place, but that comfort also brought with it joy.  God's comfort isn't simply a 'there, there, there' moment.  It brings real relief for our situations, regardless of what is