A Heart Untroubled

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...

Yesterday at church, the preacher concluded his message by mentioning the concept of WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) that began back in 1989.    The idea behind it was that you should ask yourself that question as you went through your day, to help you decide how to act or behave.  It was a great idea, but the preacher said he didn't like that. "After all", he said, "we're not Jesus" A few sentences later, he spoke on the need for us to forgive those who have wronged us.   It got me thinking!   Why is it that the Body of Christ only seems to apply the WWJD concept to certain things? We are told to be 'Christ-like' when it comes to loving our neighbour, or forgiving those who have hurt us, but when it comes to miracles, casting out demons, speaking the truth, we seem to be discouraged, with every excuse you can think of!  So which is it? The truth and reality is, I can't forgive one who has wronged me in my own strength any more than I can walk on wa...

A friend and I have been chatting recently about how easy it is to get in the 'wrong lane'!   Not necessarily with regards to falling into sin, but about the fact that it is so easy to move into someone else's lane, which may take us off on a detour, cause a delay, or mean we take on more than we were meant to.     It's not easy to 'stay in your lane'. Instead, it's far easier to allow ourselves to be distracted from our own journey than it is to focus on what is right in front of us.   'Distracted'  can take a lot of different formats: getting busy doing other things, worrying or overthinking, criticism of others, and procrastination, to name but a few.  When we embark on our spiritual journey, we find out quickly that there are others in the race. Have you watched an athletic race?  You look on as the runners start and then gradually move to the inside lane, which is where you see most of the calamities happen as everyone is trying to ...