Carol’s Blog

Anchored

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‘We have this hope as an anchor to the soul, firm and secure.’ Hebrews 6:19

My friend was telling me about her forthcoming holiday a cruise visiting many European ports. As she described her itininery my thought was ‘I’m glad it’s not me.’ Another friend of mine having spent a month holidaying in Florida is sailing back with her husband on a transatlantic cruise across the Atlantic. Again my thought was ‘I’m glad it’s not me.’ I can swim but I have a fear of the sea. It is so vast and unpredictable. As a child I disliked beach holidays, they were cold, sandy and the sea was wet and large.

I often have nightmares of being cast away on the cruel sea or even drowning. Therefore I realise that life itself is often like being cast adrift at sea. Nevertheless, when disasters and troubles come upon us, we know we have an anchor, we will be held secure and not drown in life’s stormy seas. Our Godly anchor is firmer than any human one, My security doesn’t depend on me, I might let go. Christ will hold me securely and safely. We will be completely safe.

So Help Me, God

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When newly elected public officers sware an oath they finish with the words, ‘So help me, God.’ We also sometimes hear it said in normal conversation.without much thought as to what is being said.

Life is difficult, daily we face many problems. Often we don’t have the knowledge or experience to be able to cope. Throughout the Bible we are told that God will help us. He will guard, us all we need to do is ask. So many Biblical characters have received this help and guidance from God.- Abraham, leaving his home land and travelling into the unknown, Moses, facing the stern Pharaoh and then leading his people towards the promised land, David facing Saul and his enemies, Joshua, being told ‘Be strong and courageous.’ How often must Paul and the other disciples have cried out, ‘Help me God.’

The same God is here for us today and facing many problems we dry out, ‘So help me, God.’

More than Expected

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The cripple begging at the gate called Beautiful looked expectantly to Peter and John hoping for a few coins. Would these men give him enough to buy his next meal.? His hopes would not have been very high as they didn’t look rich. Many people had already passed him by without a glance, but these men gave a strange request ‘Look at us.’ He was willing to look intently if it meant more money but in the end the gift he received was more than he could have possibly hoped for.

Are there times when we are willing to accept second best or doubt that God could do the big miracle? Although we have accepted Christ as our Lord and Saviour, are we satisfied with skating along on the surface of life? God is wanting to pour out numerous blessings on us , There is no end to His bounteous gifts. May we open our eyes to receive His gifts through the Holy Spirit.

T

Dust in Heaven

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f You love Me, keep My commandments.’ John 14:13

It is probably a human trait to want to please people. It’s a lovely feeling when someone says ‘Thank you.’ I don’t remember how old I was when my mother asked me to do the dusting for her. It was a very small task that I could do and maybe helped her slightly with her chores. I soon realised that doing the dusting for her made my mother happy.

Being young (and innocent) I then transferred that feeling of pleasure towards heaven. My young soul wanted to please God, so I prayed that I could do the dusting when I went to heaven! I was yet to learn that there is no dust in heaven, it was also too vast. My dusting skills won’t be wanted when I do get there. I’m pleased to recall that I had no doubt that there was a heaven and that I would be there. I had no knowledge then of Christ’s sacrifice and redemption.

Many years later I still love God but not for the hope of any reward. I just want to please Him. My loving service these days is not the dusting but an opportunity to share my good news with others and in serving them. There is nothing I can do to make God love me more or love me less.

Homeless

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It is said that in our communities there are so many people, mostly men, who are homeless and sleeping rough. ‘Sleeping rough’ is such a simple phrase to write but so tough for those concerned and involved in sleeping in a dangerous hostile place. In the big cities there are actual physical dangers. Their precious few belongings can be stolen, they can be physically threatened with a knife or other weapon. In my area it involves sleeping in a shop doorway or being in the park with a tent which is often not strong enough to withstand the harsh weather.

The road to homelessness can have many different routes – addictions, mental illness, ejection from the family home, waywardness or leaving the forces or prison. Some sufferers will have mental illness or a low I.Q. which means they haven’t the capacity to cope. Sadly each year can see a deterioration in their stamina.

Jesus was often homeless and had ‘nowhere to lay His head.’ He was blessed in having many loving friends. What can we do for the homeless ? – so little. We can offer those who beg a drink or snack (not money, that can be used on drugs), we can support homeless charities, or talk to those who beg when we see them on the streets. Remember that ‘there but for the grace of God ………… .We need to include them in our prayers.

You Go First!

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One can only marvel at the wisdom of Jesus (no wonder considering who He is!) witnessed on so many occasions when the Pharisees tried to catch Him out. The accusations about the woman caught in adultery was one such occasion. The Pharisee had no compassion for the sinning woman, only glee at the chance to wrong-foot Jesus. But they had more than met their match; they ended up being the ones who were wrong-footed.

‘Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Jesus instructed. I imagine the stones clutched in angry fists being gradually dropped to the ground as each accuser thought ‘Am I the one who is without sin?’ Then the men quietly creeping away and as the Bible records ‘the older ones first.’ No stones were thrown that day.

Where would we have been in the stone-throwing crowd, leaving first or last? Are we gaining self-awareness as we get older? How aware are we of our own sin and the need for cleansing?

Together

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‘When the day of Pentecost arrived they were all together in one place.’ Acts 2:1

As the disciples were all together in one place it meant that they didn’t miss out on the coming of the Holy Spirit. Imagine if they had been elsewhere, as Thomas previously had been. If they had been attending to some business or couldn’t be bothered, or were tired as they had already been there ten days and nothing had happened. When Jesus was alive He had met this indifference by a man who had to go and bury the dead rather than become a disciple and another who had business to attend to.

Are there times when we are not ‘all met together’ when we should.? There is a time for being out there spreading the gospel and a time for meeting together? We need to get it right. It is sad to hear a Christian say ‘I don’t need to go to church, I can worship on my own. It is an unfortunate truth that a number of Christians in some parts of the world are forced to worship alone or secretly, but for those of us who can meet let us make sure we do when we should.

There is the illustration of the log removed from the fire; on it’s own it will burn out quickly.

Like a Feather

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‘This is the confidence we have in facing God, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.’ 1 John 5:14

My neighbour Evelyn was coming to me for a coffee. It would be her first visit to see me and I knew very little about her. I prayed to God about our morning together. Once in the past I had mentioned that I was a Christian and I think I heard her say that she said her prayers each morning. I had no idea whether this was just a throw away line or whether she really had a faith.

I knew so little about her but God knows all about her level of faith. I needed to devote to God every word I would say that morning. I felt like a feather floating about the room, I had no idea where my God-given words might lead. Would my words land on fertile ground or would they float out of the window without touching her?

Help in the Storm

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‘I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ Isaiah 41:10

The wind strength had risen to a howling gale and I was facing a car journey of over 100 miles. I knew that on the way i had to drive through a section of road that was always noted for it’s high winds. Along the motorway there were permanent signs which said ‘Beware high winds and sudden gusts.’ On the overhead gantries the temporary notices said ‘Red alert. High winds.’ Then I passed a sign which said ‘ Do not travel unless absolutely necessary.’

Too late.’, I was already travelling and home was nearly 100 miles away, so I was unable to obey that instruction. I gripped the steeling wheel more strongly. I also prayed, oh yes I prayed and felt like the disciples on the rough sea with Jesus asleep in the stern. Except Jesus wasn’t asleep.

In life storms come and they can’t be avoided, We can’t face them another day. Sometimes we are right in the midst of life’s storm. Then we need to pray and hand over the our Help and Shield. He will be our valuable Guide and Protector.

Tracey

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I have the privilege of visiting a neighbour who is house-bound and often bed-bound. When I visited her yesterday she was in bed with little to distract her from her feelings of weakness. Because she she did not have enough to distract her mind, her thoughts were going back to the past. There was a time when she had been treated very badly by someone and she was having a job to forgive.

Fortunately I didn’t know the person concerned, so I didn’t have a bias. She had been told that if she didn’t forgive that person, she wouldn’t go to heaven. I could have wept when she said this. Because i have been in a position of having had to forgive, I could understand her feelings of despair. I explained that although i had forgiven, I still had to go back on occasions and increase my forgiveness.

I explained that where possible she needed to forgive for her own sake. Unforgiveness would impact on her. In this respect. God is loving but for her own sake she needed to try to increase her forgiveness. God knows how fallible and weak we are, He knows our failings. It is for our own good that He encourages us to forgive. But it is not for another person to put their own rules on who should go to heaven.