Chinese New Year

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The people of China have just celebrated their New Year, this time it is the Year of the Dragon. The celebrations are one of the grandest and most joyful ancient festivals in China. Today the Christian church in China is estimated to have about 50 million believers which is only about 3-7% of the population, making it a minority group.

Lord,

We pray for the people in the churches of China, persecuted and oppressed. Give them hope and strength in the dark and desperate times and we pray for more Chinese people to come to know You.

Amen

Instant Obedience

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When God wants us to something now, He wants us to do it instantly.

A few years back I had been to a match following one of my favourite players. At that time he was ranked number one in the world and today is still at the top of his sport. As I entered the station to catch a train to London, I saw this man in front of me with his mate, probably his body guard. In my mind I fantisized, ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful if I could speak to him about the Lord.’ ‘Go on, then.’ God said. ‘Lord, I didn’t mean it, I was only dreaming.’ As the approaching train what was probably the last set of signals, prompted by the Holy Spirit, I approached the couple.

‘I enjoyed your match last night.’ A feeble approach, but at least I’d started. ‘Oh, Lord, what do I say next?’ ‘Do you find in spite of your fame, you still get lonely?’ That promoted a response. ‘Yes, I do.’ ‘Lord, help. I’m only an insignificant spectator. this man is known world-wide. What now?’ ‘There is an answer to your loneliness.’ And for the next how ever many seconds I told him about the Lord. I know he must have heard from many others before me, but this was God’s instruction for me on that day.

As the train puffed it’s way into the station, we exchanged a few sentences, then this very famous man said, ‘Are you travelling first class?’I reluctantly admitted that i wasn’t and the brief exchange was over. I still can’t believe that this happened, but it did. I haven’t heard that this man has become a Christian, though he is still in the public eye. Maybe it wasn’t about him, but was about my obedience.

Do It Now.

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As a child I would put things off. Anything that could be done the next day or next week, I would leave undone. My mother was so exasperated with me that she would repeatedly cry ‘Do it now.’ As a sometimes obedient child I took this to heart. I found a lovely piece of card and printed on it in bold letters ‘DO IT NOW, I then coloured it in with bright paints and hung it up in my bedroom. Did I act on the words, No, but it looked hanging there.

I wonder if I’m any better now that I am a grown woman. When God give me a nudge to do something, I put it off and find many reasons why I shouldn’t obey Him. It is not now my mother that is my conscience but God. Of course, life keeps getting in the way, but that is just an excuse. God doesn’t wait for obedience, He wants me to act now.

Who is our Leper?

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Leprosy wasn’t just a first century scourge, there are still sufferers in the world today and millions are permanently disabled by the disease. The cases today are mostly in Africa and Asia where there are cures if treatment is started early enough and continued. In biblical times there was almost no cure and because of the contagious nature, lepers were shunned and isolated

In Matthew 8 Jesus comes into the picture. We read the amazing words, ‘Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man.’ This was unthinkable, surely He would now catch leprosy! Jesus didn’t just heal by a word as did with many of His miracles. He actually placed His hand in the hand of the sick man.

Do we have lepers in our own lives; people we don’t want anything to do with. The list will be different for every one. – the physically dirty and smelly, the down and outs, or as we call them today, the homeless. Do we avoid people with different political beliefs, people with different religious beliefs or no beliefs at all. Do we keep away from people who will cause us problems? Part of our calling is to touch the untouchables.

Where do we Belong?

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Jesus needed times of retreat; so do we. It may not be a physical retreat by taking a few days away in a specially designed place, but even a short period when we set aside the trials and worries of the world and concentrate wholly on God, will be refreshing. Jesus spent time alone with His Father so that He could return to His friends and belong with them again.

We belong to the heavenly realm as well as belonging in this world. Time spent with God in the former will help us belong to the latter. As well as the real problems we have to cope with, there are ethical problems and opinions we have to navigate. What do we think about this and that and more importantly what does God want us to think about this and that? We belong to the world, whether we like it or not, but also need the wisdom of the other world.

A Friend

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‘What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear.’ Joseph Scriven. We are told that to have a friend we need to be a friend. With our earthly friends, the friendship must not be one-sided. We need to open our hearts to share our problems with those we love as well as remembering they too have problems. With God we can lay all our problems on Him. Our God is big enough to take it all and guide and lead us as well.

‘Do your friends despise, forsake you?’ There are times when our friends can be the problem. Even the best can let us down. They can neglect us, fail to keep a promise or just not understand what we are trying to convey to them. We very much need our friends, but they are only human. As we have proved time and time again, God will never let us down.

‘Can we find a friend so faithful?’ This hymn tells us repeatedly ‘Take it to the Lord in prayer.’ Why, oh why, do we sometimes use prayer as the last resort instead of the first? God is only a breath away. He wants to hear from us, to communicate with us. We can trust Him to be our most important friend. ‘Take it to the Lord in prayer.’

Revival

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How we long for revival. We think of areas where it has been witnessed – the Shetlands, Wales, the north east coast of England. For a period of time life was completely turned up-side-down and although the intensity of these revivals has lessened, they are still impacting life in those areas today. I got to thinking of the changes that would have been made to everyday lives.

Because there was less crime, the prisons would have emptied dramatically. Did prison wardens lose their jobs? No doubt there was more useful employment for them. What about the pubs and bars? Maybe they became more friendly. In my own area many years ago there was the State Management Scheme which definitely brought families into pubs with more suitable entertainment for all the family.

Would people have been kinder to those in need, the old, the poor, the sick, the handicapped and the lonely? The news would no longer have been filled with stories of murders and the tragedies which tear at our hearts today. No longer would we stab each other in the back on social media. The television programmes would be very different. Are we ready for these changes as we pray for revival?

A Messy Hug

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He had been renovating his new house, taking down ceilings and walls, those that weren’t down already. Everything was filthy and so was he. He returned to his family home looking forward to a shower and change. When he got there he was met by a friend he hadn’t seen for ages. She was so delighted to see him that she rushed to him and was prepared to throw her arms round him in a great big hug. ‘Stop’ he cried, ‘I’m filthy.’ ‘I don’t care’, she replied, ‘I’m going to hug you anyway.’

This is so like God with us. We are filthy with the stains of all our sins. Sin which is an anathema to Him; sin for which He suffered on the cross. But He loves us so much, as evidenced by His death, and He was willing to suffer and keep on loving us.

I am at a friends house as I write this and notice on a cushion the words, ‘Hug Me,’ embroidered across it. Thank you, Lord, that You want to hug me and keep on loving me.

Blind or Seeing

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In Mark 10 we read about the rich young ruler who had everything going for him. In two separate chapters we are told he was young, he was rich and he was a ruler. But he wanted to know from Jesus what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus said he needed to sell all that he had. Sadly, he couldn’t do that and he walked away unsatisfied.

Later in Mark 10 there is the story of blind Bartimaeus. ‘Jesus Son of God, have mercy on me,’ he cried. ‘What do you want,’ Jesus asked. Obviously he wanted to see, but it soon proved that he wanted to see spiritually as well. While the ruler was running away from Jesus, Bartimaeus was running to him. The seeing man went away blind, while the blind man went away seeing.

The Lost Pen

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Whenever we have any different experience it is amazing how many people want to tell us about their experiences in similar circumstances. When I was packing up to move house, I heard many ‘moving’ stories. One neighbour told me that she numbered every packed box and itemized the contents meticulously. I don’t know if I could have been so concise. Though I was envious when after my move I repeatedly misplaced things. I would put them in a safe place and then forget which safe place I’d used. I now only have three unpacked boxes, mainly because I’ve run out of space to put things.

I have another friend, who on packing before moving, tasked his wife with the job of labeling and sealing the boxes. That was fine until she packed the marker pen in one of the boxes and then sealed it. I never did find out how many boxes she had to open to find the pen but it made me smile. During our spiritual life do we pack away our ‘marker pen?’ The one we use for reading our Bible, the one to connect us to God in prayer and the marker for Christian fellowship?