A Heart Untroubled

I am currently reading through Judges.  I was struck earlier in the week by some things about Gideon.   If you haven't read it in a while, Gideon and his people are being oppressed (because they've turned away from serving God). God visits Gideon while he's in hiding and tells him he will lead the people in victory.   In chapter 7 we find that the enemy is gathered against the Israelites.  Gideon has already sent home most of his army.  He's left with just 300 men, so God would be sure to get all the glory for the win.  The Midianites and their allies are camped nearby; there's so many of them, they look like grasshoppers, spread across the valley. In the middle of the night, God wakes Gideon and tells him to take himself down to the enemy camp and listen to what is being said. (I particularly like the fact that God kindly tells him if he feels afraid to take his servant with him).  Gideon gets himself down to the valley and overhears a conve...

During lockdown I have found it hard to think about purpose.  What is the purpose of your life if you are isolated in your home?  What is the purpose of your life if you have you have been retired or made redundant? What if you can't do all the things that you usually do? Today John (my husband) reminded me that God is far more interested in our own transformation than he is about us arriving at a destination.  I think that I often focus on where I am going, how I am going to get there, but I never stop and think about what condition I will arrive in.    What I mean by that is, when we get to our final day on this earth, will I look back and see that I never changed?  That would be very sad, because God calls us to be transformed, to become more like him every day; to grow in wisdom and in our faith.   If a man grew to be 40 years old and still thought like a child, acted like a child, and reasoned like a child, we would think it wrong, but as Chr...

You may or may not know, but I am a qualified fitness instructor.  I am working on a plan to start teaching classes here again, but as I have been thinking about physical fitness, I have been thinking about this verse 1 Timothy 4:8 (TPT) For athletic training only benefits you for a short season, but righteousness brings lasting benefit in everything; for righteousness contains the promise of life, for time and eternity. I've been doing a lot over lockdown, running, weights, Zumba and even a bootcamp! We understand that in the natural, keeping physically fit don't just happen.  We have to exercise our bodies, lift weights, do some cardio and eat well.   When it comes to spiritual things though, we seem to think that if we do nothing, or maybe go to church, or watch a bit of worship online, that will be sufficient to grow in our spiritual fitness, but that's not the case.   In the verse above, Timothy says physical training is a little benefit but godliness ...

Hebrews is one of my favourite books of the bible.  It speaks of the better promises of the new covenant. In Hebrews 4:10-11 (TPT) we read: " As we enter into God’s faith-rest life we cease from our own works , just as God celebrates his finished works and rests in them. So then we must give our all and be eager to experience this faith-rest life, so that no one falls short by following the same pattern of doubt and unbelief." The bible speaks of a variety of different kinds of work , but one of the most important concepts we can grasp as believers is that i t's not through our own works or efforts that we can please God.                                                What pleases God is Faith.  What pleases God is faith, and without faith, it's impossible   (not difficult but impossible) to please God no matter how we behave or...

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...