A Heart Untroubled

When we were kids, we used to pick daisies and pull the petals off one by one saying "He loves me.  He loves me not?" This week, sitting in a friend's garden, I saw this lovely big daisies growing and as we were praying, I felt like God saying "When you do this for me it is.." Loves me Loves me so Love me Loves me so God never has a moment when he doesn't love us.  Not ever.  He isn't angry with people (his wrath against sin was poured out on Jesus) and He never ever can stop loving us, because he is love! It is only as we understand this, that we realise the truth that we are unable to love any other individual in a selfless, unconditional manner without the love of God inside of us. Even the love of a parent for a child, while close, is still ultimately temporary in that our children may disappoint us or make us angry.  God is never even disappointed with us, as disappoint can only come through an unmet expectation.  As he knows the very number of hair...

I remember when I worked in a naval base many years ago, one of the officers would always call me Jesus' little sunbeam!   While there was an element of the derogatory in that, the reason behind it was that I was always upbeat, happy and positive. I try to live my life from that place.  Of course I have days when everything feels wrong, or I feel angry or miserable, but that's not a place I like to stay in, and indeed, as a Christian, I don't think it's God's best for us to live out of that space.  One of the keys that I have found to help me stay in that place of peace and joy, is 'focus'.   It is so crucial to our spiritual life (and emotional/mental wellbeing) what we focus on.  It can mean the difference between a great day and a bad day.   YOU have a choice on what YOU focus on.   No one controls that focus  other than you!   I meet so many people that are negative about everything, or who are living just a nominal Ch...

When we first lived in the US, I remember a conversation I had with a friend that went something like this: Me "You alright?" Her "Yes.  Why do you keep asking me that, don't I look alright???" Me "Well yes, it's just a figure of speech I guess..  While we're on the subject, why do you keep asking me 'what's happening?' when we're just sitting doing nothing?" Her (laugh) "Same figure of speech I guess!" We laughed realizing it was just a way of asking how you were, and whether it's those phrases or 'How are you doing?', 'What's going on with you?" or something else, the point is the same, we're expecting a response about how a person feels .  In the bible though in Hebrews 10:23 (KJV) we read: " Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) " It doesn't say that we hold fast to how we feel!    God does not call us to lie ab...

It's very easy to look around us and see what is going on and make decisions based on what we see, especially at times like this.  But the bible directs us to be people that are not moved by what we see, but to walk by faith. 2 Corinthians 5:7 tells us that we " walk by faith and not by sight. "   How do we live by faith and not by sight? Thankfully God has given us the bible so we can learn by example.    There are so many people in the pages of the Word, that had to make a choice to not live by what they saw.Let's think about a few.  Abraham and Sarah were promised a son, but they were old and were passed child-bearing.   They could have looked at their bodies and said " God don't you know that we couldn't have children before, and now, well it's not all working you know !" There's Noah.   God told him to build an ark.  He could have challenged God " Uh God, you do know that it doesn't really rain around here, and we're not on ...

This verse (see picture) was sent to me this week.  The preceding  verses in this chapter are quite negative!  The writer is truly lamenting over what a terrible plight he is in.  The very word 'lament' means 'a passionate expression of sorrow or grief'.  He wasn't in a good place at all!  But after all that lamenting, we find in verse 21-23 of Chapter 3 the writer says this: Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing: The Lord's unfailing love and mercy still continue, f resh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise.  Lamentations 3:21-23 (GNT)  Despite the fact that Israel has turned away from the Lord and there is great mourning and sorrow, the writer comes back to this point: God's mercy has kept us from being destroyed, His compassion never fails and His faithfulness is great! We are not in such dire straights as this scenario in Lamentation.  Judgement for our own sins has been poured out on Jesus on the cross.  If we have accep...

Happy Saturday! I was enjoying some sunshine in the garden today and this verse really caught my attention. 1 Peter 1:8 (KJV) Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing , ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: What struck me was the simple phrase YET BELIEVING.   The passage is speaking of Jesus who we haven't seen in person.  However, despite that fact, those of us that are Christians have chosen to still (yet) believe in him. Many times we cannot see how God can get us out of this situation or that problem, and so we go to worrying or fear, or our own devices to try and figure it all out. A fan of golfing was watching Tiger Woods play.   He was near the hole and had brought his putter out. He spent ages walking back and forth, looking this way and that; crouching down, standing up.  The fan was getting a bit frustrated "Take the shot!!!"  If Tiger Woods was so good what was he messin...

Today, I was just enjoying the beauty of my parent's garden.  We are staying with them for a season, and I really love looking out and enjoying the beauty of the flowers, the pond and the plants that they have cultivated over many years. It made me think: I get to benefit from the work of someone else's labour!  Felt like there must be a sermon in there somewhere. We, as Christians are set apart from any religion, because our success is not based on our efforts and labour.   We get to enjoy the fruit of someone else's labour; that of Christ Jesus! While the lockdown continues, one of the biggest temptations is to focus on ourselves, to consider how we can survive; how we can make it through; how we can work out our finances, but as believers in the finished work of Christ we enter into the rewards for his work and get to enjoy them without striving.  This doesn't of course mean we sit on our butts and eat chocolate all day, but it does mean that at th...