Look forward

  by  paul (dex) 

Today is Ash Wednesday the first day of Lent and I’ve decided to join the #BigRead12 the third in a series of Lent for Everyone.  This year it’s focusing on the book of Mark supported by a helpful study guide written by Tom Wright.

One of the key messages from today for me was the need to both look and move forward.  The first few verses of Mark recount how John the Baptist was preparing the way for Jesus, telling people it was a time of change and a new age was to begin.  The study guide highlights that for many repentance is about looking backwards.  We can dwell over past mistakes and be weighed down by regrets and guilt.  This can all end up bogging us down and making us stagnant.  But John the Baptist’s message of repentance was about looking forward.

We can also sometimes look back and think that a previous age was better.  The Israelites were delivered from Egypt, yet they kept looking back and wishing they were still there, thinking they had been better off in slavery.  Consequently they ended up wandering in the wilderness for 40 years before eventually moving forward into the promised land.

Thinking about this reminded me of these verses from Philippians 3:12-14

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (NIV)

So during this season of Lent, let’s not be held or dragged back, but press on, look ahead and move forward.

Joy to the world

  by  JonathanCohen 

It’s advent time again and today I’ve started a Christmas reading plan based on Christmas carols.  Starting things off is that Isaac Watts classic ‘Joy to the World’, written back in 1719.  The first verse encourages us to prepare for the arrival of the King:

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

As Christmas becomes more and more commercialised  it’s easy to end up preparing a room of  stress and worry.  Stress and worry about what gifts to buy, about money, what to cook, worry about family or the current economic and political climate.  Yet the message of Christmas is not stress to the world it’s Joy to the World!

Watts encourages us to prepare a room for the King Jesus, to sing and focus on the King.  As we do that we can celebrate Christmas and take hold of that Joy to the World, a joy that can be our strength.

The verse that was included with this reading was Nehemiah 8:10, which relates to celebrations at the Feast of  Tabernacles,

And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the LORD is your strength!”

It’s time to get ready to celebrate!

Our shade

  by  â–“â–’â–‘ TORLEY â–‘â–’â–“ 

Psalm 121 5-8

The LORD watches over you -  the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all harm - he will watch over your life;
the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

I was struck by the fact that this Psalm talks about God being our shade.  That shade is over us at all times day and night, protecting us, it’s like a banner or big parasol like the one in this photo.  In some cultures servants hold parasols over rulers and gentry to guard them from the sun.  We have something better,  God protecting us all the time with his shade and watching over us.

Soil and the gardener

I’m still thinking about Matthew 13 and the parable of the sower.  Sometimes I’ve thought of my life as being like a garden.  The thing with gardens is that the soil isn’t always good, it can be too sandy, too heavy, starved of nutrients.  There are things you can do though to improve the soil and this is what a good gardener will do.   The key thing is to see God as our gardener.  He will tend our lives and where we’ve not got good soil we can ask him to improve it, to remove those thistles and weeds that will choke his word, to water it and feed it.  He can help us grow and flourish.

Sower & the seed

by  Fraser Morrison

Matthew 13 : 3-9

Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.  As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.  Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.  But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.  Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.  Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.” (NIV)

The seed referred to in this parable is the Word of God. What kind of soil is the seed going to fall on in your life?

It’s important to listen to the word, understand it and trust God so that we can produce a harvest that yields hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.  I want the seed to land in good soil, to take root and grow and produce a harvest like the one below.  How about you?

by  ellenm1

It’s more blessed to give

by  technodium

Today’s readings on the advent plan are

Acts 20:35

And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’

1 John 4:10

This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

The theme here is giving. This is quite fitting for today as it’s the feast day of St Nicholas, who had a reputation for giving secret gifts and for seeing the miraculous.  One of the stories associated with St Nicholas involves him helping a poor man with three daughters. Wikipedia states:

However, in his most famous exploit, a poor man had three daughters but could not afford a proper dowry for them. This meant that they would remain unmarried and probably, in absence of any other possible employment would have to become prostitutes. Hearing of the poor man’s plight, Nicholas decided to help him but being too modest to help the man in public (or to save the man the humiliation of accepting charity), he went to his house under the cover of night and threw three purses (one for each daughter) filled with gold coins through the window opening into the man’s house.

Many of us are probably thinking about what gifts we are going to buy for family and friends this Christmas.  But are there other people that we can give to and bless this Christmas? What can we give them to bless them.  What acts of kindness can we do to demonstrate the love of God?

Light in the darkness

by  Alesa Dam

Yesterday’s readings in the Advent reading plan I’ve been following were:

Matthew 4:12-17

When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali — to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:

“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles — the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.

From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Isaiah 9:1-3

Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder.

Matthew 5:14-16

“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

The recurring theme in these readings is Jesus being the light and bringing light to those living in darkness. One of the key features in our Christmas celebrations is the use of Christmas lights. Crowds turn out to see the Christmas lights switched on in our towns and cities and we use lights to decorate our Christmas trees and homes.  At Christmas we are celebrating the birth of the light of the world – Jesus, so it’s quite apt that lights play a key role in how we celebrate.  I was speaking to some tourists in Edinburgh recently who thought the Christmas lights in the trees in Princess Street were quite beautiful.  The light of real beauty though is Jesus.

Over on Wikipedia the item on Christmas lights mentions that early Christians were persecuted for meeting together to worship. A candle in the window signified where worship would be occurring for Christians in a community.  In the third of these readings Jesus says that we are the light of the world.  Like these early Christians we need to display that light and not hide it.  This Christmas we need to be a light in the darkness and let people see Jesus.  Watch this video and think about how you can be a light this Christmas.

All things are possible

Matthew 19:26

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (NIV)

This verse comes from the section in Matthew 19 about the rich and the kingdom of God, where Jesus says to his disciples that it’s easier for camel to get through the eye of a needle than for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.  The disciples are stunned at this and ask then how is it possible. Verse 26 is Jesus’ response. We can’t enter the kingdom through any human effort, but we can with God.  We can also accomplish so many other things that we can’t  do with our own human efforts if we have faith and put our trust in God.

by  williamnyk

Light to the nations

I’ve started an Advent reading plan today over at YouVersion.  Today’s reading is from Luke 2:21-40. I was particularly struck by verses 25-33, subtitled ‘Simeon’s prophesy’.

At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying, “Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised.  I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people. He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!”

Jesus’ parents were amazed at what was being said about him.  Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby’s mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, but he will be a joy to many others. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him.  As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.”

by  Lawrence OP

From this section what particularly stood out was that Simeon saw salvation in the infant Jesus.  He saw that Jesus was a light to reveal God to the nations.  Let’s declare that this Christmas the nations will see the light of Jesus and a revelation of salvation.

by  loswl

Fearfully and wonderfully made

I am fearfully and wonderfully made, how can they say there is no God.

Psalm 139: 13-14

For you created my inmost being;  you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  (NIV)

Matt Redman has written some great lyrics inspired by this verse.  You can see them here.