A Heart Untroubled

Isn't it funny how easy it is to get busy and how hard it is to rest?  We plan a quiet day when we expect to be able to ready the bible, maybe take a little walk and pray and rest, and then suddenly we remember we need to go shopping, we have to mow the lawn, are neighbour drops off some wrongly delivered mail and then stays for a cuppa and a chat for an hour and before you know it, your day is done and it's time to climb in to bed.  But did you know you were meant to live with rest as a regular part of life.  In the beginning God took a day at the end of all that creating and rested.  Man was given the Sabbath as a day of resting, a blessing for us, and yet we frequently move our boundaries, reorganise our schedules and find things to fill that space instead of enjoying that precious gift. Jesus told us that in him we find the perfect rest: Matthew 11:28-29 (TPT) “ Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Then come to me. I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis...

Today I was chatting to a friend and we were talking about avoiding the trap of asking the questions 'D o I have ENOUGH faith? ' or ' Did I pray ENOUGH ?' or " Did I do ENOUGH? ".  When we start asking these sort of questions, we are really looking to see if we are self-sufficient.  We are wondering if our own actions, our own efforts, our own works are ENOUGH , but the truth we are not ever going to be enough!  No matter how much we do, or how many hours we pray or how much effort we put in, we are not going to be ENOUGH to achieve results!  Only Jesus gets results and only our faith in him takes hold of those results.  We cannot measure faith in terms of ENOUGH; we either believe or we don't.  The reality is when our focus comes off Jesus and on to ourselves we will struggle! Even the apostle Paul said that he was not enough but that his 'enoughness' (I know that's not a real word - but it just sounds right here - what I mean is sufficiency) ...

This week I have been thinking about this verse and while I love thinking about the fact that's God promises are YES and AMEN in Christ, today I want to focus on the last part "To the glory of God through us" . This really spoke to me!  Why?  Because the reason that his promises are SO dependable, is to give him the glory through us!   When people see God's promises in our lives, the glory goes to God.  We get to be an advert of God's amazing goodness, grace, love and mercy!  And all we have to do is believe his promises!!   He makes the promises!  He delivers!  All we have to do is believe, and then we get to not only experience the fruit of those promises, but in doing so, we get to give glory to God and shine his love in the darkness.  I don't know if today I am explaining that well, but as I am typing I am smiling!!  This excites me!  To be able to bring glory to God by simply receiving his promises!  That's reall...

Do you remember the TV quiz show Mastermind when it was presented by Magnus Magnusson?  Whenever the buzzer sounded signifying the end of the round, if he had already started the questions, Magnus would say "I've started, so I'll finish" and the contestant would be able to hear the question and respond if they knew the answer. The phrase 'I've started, so I'll finish' became synonymous with Mr Magnusson, but it made me think of this bible verse... Phil 1:6 "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." The thing that spoke to me is that sometimes we hear the 'buzzer sound'  and think it's all over... but Jesus says 'I've started, so I'll finish'... The buzzer can represent things coming to an end in our life - and sometimes we can think that we're beyond restoration, but Jesus tells us it's not over yet.  Until his return, we...

Of course this week we celebrated Easter, and remembered the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, the pinnacle of the Christian faith. I have been meditating on various aspects of the events that happened, and I was thinking about the phrase "It is finished!" John 19:30 (KJV) When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. I was thinking about 'what' was finished at that point. I did a bit of research and found that the it was a common phrase used at the time of writing and it meant different things in different professions In accounting terms the phrase referred to the payment of a debt, meaning that nothing more was outstanding, the entire debt had been completely paid. In military terms, the phrase meant that a battle was completely won. The fighting was over, and the victory complete. In a judicial sense, it meant a sentence had been completed. These are incredible in terms of our salva...

So, I was eating popcorn yesterday and drinking a fruit tea and I started wondering what makes a popcorn pop! (As you do). With a little help from Google, I found out that inside the kernel, the hard shell, there is a little bit of moisture and when it heats up inside, it turns to steam and as you keep heating it up, the pressure from the steam builds and builds until it cracks open the hard exterior and makes a yummy snack. And then I thought about my teabag (I do promise there will be a spiritual application to this, not just information on my food and drink habits).  The label had come off the teabag, so I didn't know exactly what flavour it was, until I poured on the boiling water and tasted it! As promised... the spiritual bit!  We are like teabags and popcorn!  This is a deep spiritual truth!  Really it is!  Read on and I'll explain why! Firstly we are like popcorn because when heated up, whatever we stir up inside us will burst out.  We're also ...

Have you watched any of the 'Karate Kid' movies.  If not, the gist is Daniel, the underdog, learns Karate and goes to compete against the bully on the block, who is being trained by the nastiest instructor around (Johny K) whose motto is 'No Mercy'.   Mr Miyagi, Daniel's unassuming teacher, shows Daniel a move against which there is no defence, and despite his opponents underhand tactics, Daniel goes on to win the competition, and the respect of his opponent.  In one scene, Johny K comes up against Mr Miyagi and picks a fight with him.  Despite being smaller and a lot older, Miyagi bests Johny K. At the end of the fight, has him in a precarious hold, where it looks like he's going to finish him with a swipe of his hand.  However... right at the end it goes like this... With a tweak of the nose! What has all this got to do with my blog for New Years Eve?  Well, how we finish something is how we start the next thing.   If you are leaving 2022 w...