The Less Travelled Path

We have two Jack Russell Terriers, Milo and Millie who can be quite reactive to other dogs, Milo in particular, and I tend to choose the path that others are least likely to go on to limit any outbursts.

If I take the more popular path Milo will go wild when he sees another dog, which invariably sets Millie off too. They are barking and pulling and generally making a nuisance of themselves, the peace is shattered for miles around and I get anxious, hot and bothered, embarrassed and ultimately angry with them. All while trying to apologise to the other walkers whilst hanging on to two rabid creatures. Not a happy experience.

So having surveyed the land in front of me, I usually take the less used path walking three sides of a square before joining the main path rather than going straight down to it. Although further in distance it actually is easier doing this extended route as the dogs enjoy sniffing and mooching whilst I get peace and quiet listening to the skylarks singing overhead. In winter it has the added advantage of not being as muddy or slippery as it has less footfall. We all come back happy.

As I was walking them on Minchinhampton Common this morning the words "the less travelled path" came into my mind. In Jeremiah 6:16 it says: Thus says the Lord, "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it, and find rest for your souls". In this verse God is telling us to search (study the scriptures) to find "the good way". If we do we will be rewarded by having rest for our souls. It is up to us to make that choice, we can either follow HIs ways or keep heading down a path that will end in misery and destruction. Keep walking the less travelled path.

As I am writing this I have the words of an old hymn going round in my head. They probably have no relationship with what I have said but they are such beautiful words I am adding them here:

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord!

Unnumbered blessings give my spirit voice;

tender to me the promise of his word –

in God my Saviour shall my heart rejoice.

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his name!

Make known his might, the deeds his arm has done;

his mercy sure, from age to age the same –

his holy name: the Lord, the Mighty One.

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his might!

Powers and dominions lay their glory by;

proud hearts and stubborn wills are put to flight,

the hungry fed, the humble lifted high.

Tell out, my soul, the glories of his word!

Firm is his promise, and his mercy sure:

tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord

to children’s children and for evermore!

The Vine & The Branches

Picture credit to my earthly
 father, Robert Allen.

I was reminded today of the analogy my old boss, Bonham Bazeley, would give to demonstrate why you should prune a fruit tree and what happens when you do. He would tell you to imagine a hose pipe connected to a tap. When the tap is turned on water flows from the end of the hosepipe just as sap flows through a plant causing the tip to grow. If you then make slits in the hose pipe to represent the tight, dormant fruit buds along the stem, the water, initially will continue to flow from the end of the pipe. Put a bung in the end of the hosepipe and water will then be forced out through the slits - this is what happens when you prune the end of the branch so stopping the flow of sap to the tip and pushing it into the buds instead making them grown out.

In our house group we have been discussing the vine and the branches as Jesus talked about in John 15 and how God prunes those branches to produce fruit. Consider then that we are dormant buds and Jesus in the main stem with His feet firmly planted in the good soil. The Holy Spirit is represented by the sap and God is the gardener who comes along and lops of dead or unproductive branches that do not produce any fruit. The Holy Spirit comes and wakens us dormant buds and brings us to life so we burst forth bearing lots of beautiful fruit.

The process of being pruned seems painful at the time but God is the perfect gardener and knows what needs cutting out of us to produce fruit for Him.

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit." John 15:1-2

Slow down and listen

As I work my way through the Bible I have decided to intersperse each book with a few Psalms. As they are so varied it does not matter if they are not done continuously and I feel that doing all 150 in one go might be too much. So, having finished the book of Philippians, I thought I would easily do my first ten this morning. Wrong!! Psalm 1 only contains six verses but after an hour and a half I was still finding lots of different things to think about. With so many Psalms to turn to we all have our favourites and I suspect, like me, this first one often gets missed although it is well worth a look at.

Perhaps God is trying to teach me about my "selfish ambition and conceit" which I only wrote about yesterday. I said I was going to study and finish ten Psalms this morning but He said, "No, one is enough, and do it well!"

This is what I learned from that Psalm today. You can choose to walk in one of two ways, either wickedly or righteously. The wicked will be driven away "like chaff that the wind drives away, and their way will perish." They will not be able to stand in the presence of God or even amongst the righteous on judgement day. How awful to be banished from the comfort and love of God's arms forever! It does not say they will perish (which would actually be a better outcome than living without God) but their ways will perish - no more sin. 

The righteous are blessed by not mixing with the wicked but, instead, "delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on it day and night". Verse 3 says, "In all that he does he prospers", which I don't think is meant to be a 'prosperity gospel' but by reading your Bible daily and meditating on it you more likely to be tuned in to what God's plan for you it and will follow it. If you do what God wants He will make it a success and provide everything you need to make it happen. It says you will prosper in all that you do, not that you will have lots of material possessions. Think of Paul - he certainly prospered in spreading the gospel and glorifying God but he definitely didn't have an easy life with lots of money and nice houses. He suffered physically but was spiritually very rich.

So, to conclude, to be blessed we should study our Bibles, listen to what God wants us to do and do it. By so doing He will help us succeed. Do not be rejected, worthless, empty and without God, like the chaff blown away by the wind. And do not be conceited and think you are able to race through your studies - God wants you to slow down and listen.

Rejoice in the Lord, always.

As I started a study of the book of Philippians I thought it would not take me long as there are just four chapters and I would quickly whizz through them. How wrong I was! One of the things to do in the study was to record all the instructions that Paul gives to the Philippians and, boy, was I challenged as I worked my way through the book. 

There were three of these instructions that particularly stabbed at me. The first was in Chapter 2, verse 3, "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves". I know that I am guilty of pride and like 'showing off' how much Bible study I have done compared to others, and I am not always that patient or kind. I will pray on this and work to not boast (except in the name of Jesus). I should give my time generously and make an effort to listen to those who aren't always included or who find it hard to understand things.

Further on in this chapter in verse 12 it tells us "to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure". Those who know me are aware that I sometimes doubt my own salvation but here it is, saying that it is God doing it all - how awesome!

Chapter 2 verse 15 chides us into "doing all things without grumbling or disputing", (yes, that does include emptying the dishwasher for the third time that day!), And why? So we are "blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom we shine as lights in the world and holding fast the world of life".

Despite this book being full of personal challenges, there are at least twelve mentions of the words "joy" and "rejoice" and for the majority of the time I was studying the book of Philippians, that lovely, lively chorus was going over and over in my mind - "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice" and comes directly from Chapter 4 verse 4. Although I have lots to think about and address, I still found that wonderful, uplifting joy that can only be found in our Lord.

Unlock Your Heart

Lunchtime today saw me sitting in my car in the gateway to a field waiting for my son to walk the dogs. It was a beautiful sunny day and very peaceful with few cars passing on the road behind me. The sun was warm and there were early signs of spring showing in a haze of faint colour on the trees and hedges around me.

As I waited I pondered on the sermon given at chapel earlier today. The subject was taken from Matthew 7:23 when Jesus says, "I never knew you". What a terrifying thought! I prayed that Jesus really does know me and, when the time comes, I will not be left behind. I asked for Him to show me He was with me. As I opened my eyes I was aware of the gate in front of me, topped with barbed wire and held together with a sturdy padlock and chain. Beyond was the glorious field surrounded by trees and I hoped this was not the message God meant for me! Is my heart locked and guarded against letting Him in leaving me with just glimpses of the wonderful paradise beyond? No! Jesus has the key to that padlock and will throw away that chain flinging wide the gates so I can walk through into His arms. 

Prayer: Lord, come into my heart and teach me your ways. Amen,

Make a Joyful Noise

I am sometimes asked to read out the notices at the beginning of our morning service at chapel, which I am happy to do. However, I always feel slightly inadequate as others who do this task usually bring a word, scripture or testimony as well and I have not felt comfortable doing that. This morning I am to read the notices again and for the last couple of days I have been looking for something suitable to bring but to no avail.

This morning I was looking at the Psalms when one little phrase stood out to me as I found it repeated in three fairly close together. I know the words might be different in other translations but the phrase in my Bible is 'make a joyful noise'. This made me smile as I imagined God having to listen to the screeching, growling and misplaced notes that invariably occur during our singing of hymns, all far from the heavenly choir of angels mentioned in the scriptures. But God is not like us, He listens to the heart producing these sounds. As long as we are doing these things joyfully and full of worship for Him, He will accept these praises like a proud father listening to their child playing their first tentative notes on the recorder or violin (and we all know what that sounds like!).

Needless to say, this is the message I gave to the church this morning and ended by saying that is does not matter if you can't sing in tune, just make a joyful noise!

Psalm 95:1-2 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving. Let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise!

Psalm 94:4 Make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!

Psalm 100:1-5 Make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into His presence with singing! Know that the Lord, He is God. It is He who made us, and we are His, we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him, bless His name! For the Lord is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations.

Here I am, send me!

Do you ever feel that God is trying to tell you something? Over the last month or so there have been a series of suggestions that He is trying to get my attention - I can imagine His frustration as I quietly amble on my way, oblivious, whilst He is throwing hints at me with the force of a sledgehammer!

Before Christmas I started a Bible Study on Isaiah which, to be honest, I am finding quite hard. The study is broken down into three sections and, two months into the course, I am still working on the first twelve chapters. Although the subject matter needs a lot of concentration to understand what is being said, a few verses pop out at me, as often happens when you read the Bible, which I feel are meant for me at this time. The one in particular that keeps hitting me is Isaiah 6:8 - Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” I have prayed about this, asking God to reveal to me what He wants me to do or where He wants me to go, I told Him I am open to whatever He suggests but have not had an answer (or one that I have heard). I thought I must have been imagining things and carried on as before.

In early January my husband had to go for a routine kidney scan - he had bladder cancer a few years ago and has to have annual tests. The last test was all clear but they wanted the kidney scan done as part of the process. Although the results for the kidneys came back all clear we were horrified to hear that a lump had been detected in his breast and he was immediately sent to the Breast Cancer Clinic in Cheltenham. The prognosis was not looking good. After a mammogram and biopsies the doctors were pretty certain this was cancer, and the biopsy results should confirm this in a couple of weeks time - he was told he should bring me along with him to that appointment. The good news was that the cancer hadn't spread to the lymph nodes and should be treatable. He was already on our prayer chain from chapel and as I told them of the results I said we were just thankful that it had been picked up by chance and it had not spread. I also specifically said to one friend that I was praying that when we went to the appointment they would be proved wrong and it was just a cyst or something benign. I also said that the chorus the children had song that morning in church had bought me great peace and comfort - Fix your eyes on Jesus - and that's just what I was doing. A week later my prayer was answered (why am I always surprised by this?). Martin had a phone call from the hospital to say the test results had come in, the tumor was benign and he did not even have to go for the appointment on the Friday. I felt like I was walking on air and kept praising God for what he had done. I even told my non-believing husband that he had been on the prayer chain and that God had healed him. God had heard my prayer.

The following Sunday at chapel the worship team played two songs - firstly one with the chorus Here I am, wholly available - as for me, I will serve the Lord, shortly followed by "I the Lord of Sea and Sky" which has the chorus Here I am Lord. Is it I Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go Lord, if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart. Yes, Lord, there is definitely a theme going on here but I still don't know what I am to do. I did a little study on 'Here I am' as I knew is was elsewhere in the Bible but the only think that I could glean from that was Isaiah was the only one who volunteered to go whereas the others were responding to their names being called. A subtle reminder to be ready when God calls.

Last Sunday morning I was talking to my dear sister in Lord, Rosie. She said she thought she had a message for the church but there had not been an opportunity to give it that day so she proceeded to tell me about it. She had been driving to the service that morning and been stopped by a set of temporary traffic lights and she feared she was going to be late. As the lights changed she went on through the lights and, looking in the rearview mirror she saw a stream of cars behind her and thought, "come on through", the road is clear. As she drove on further all the lights were green so she could "come on through" - and she arrived at the chapel on time. As she was telling me this I just knew the message was meant for me and told her I thought she had told the person who needed to hear it. Again, this week I have been praying for clarification and meaning to all of this but know I must be patient as God will reveal all in His time.

A final nudge this week was in the daily scripture that pops up on my phone every morning. The one on Tuesday was a paraphrase of Ezra 10:4, Rise up ...... take courage and do it.

God has my attention! Here I am Lord, I will go if you lead me, I will come on through when you call. I will rise up, take courage and do it. I just don't know what 'it' is but I hope to recognize it when it does arrive.