And the answer is..........

When the date was getting close to my son taking his R.E. GCSE exam I asked him how his revising was coming along. His reply was there was no need to study because the only answers you needed for this particular paper were God, Jesus and The Bible. He bore this out by saying one of the questions in the mock paper was “who did the two disciples meet on the Damascus Road” so, not knowing the answer, opted for one of his stock replies, Jesus – and, of course, he was right. 

Whereas this might be a somewhat flippant response, typical of a teenage boy not wanting to waste precious moments going over old notes when he could be linking up with his friends on Xbox, and not particularly showing our education system in very good light if there really were only three possible choices for the answers in this subject, it did get me to thinking that he wasn't far from the truth. By turning to God, Jesus or The Bible the majority of today’s problems can either be solved or we will be given the strength, change of attitude or ability to work them through.

God is the creator of all things and, as I sit typing this in my garden on a warm May afternoon, it is easy to believe this. The birds are singing, the flowers are blooming and white fluffy clouds drift across the sky. The sound of my neighbours enjoying the day in their gardens with happy children laughing as they splash in a paddling pool while the mouth-watering smell of BBQ’s drifts through the air make for an idyllic picture of family life and it is natural to thank God for all He has provided. It is not always so easy to do this when the rain and wind come, the neighbours are fighting with each other and the kids are screaming but God is still there all the same, loving us through the good and the bad and He always wants the best for us whether we see it or not. We just need to trust in Him and focus on what He wants us to do, not what the world is telling us do. We have to remember that God has a different agenda to ours and His plan is far more intricate than we ever dare imagine. Do what you know is right with Him and everything else will fall in to place. It might seem impossible and you feel the task is too mighty but if it is from God the doors will open and He will give you strength and knowledge. With God all things are possible and He has the answer to everything.

Jesus is not only the Son of God, He is our friend, our brother, our Saviour and even acts as an intercessor between us and our heavenly Father. He is also very much alive and lives in every believer’s heart through His Holy Spirit. With this we are equipped to discern what is good and bad, what is from God and what is not and enables us to tap into the very thoughts of God. Jesus loved us all so much that He took our place on the cross and died for our sins. Just think, the very worst thing that you have ever done was the very moment that He died in your place – it makes me so ashamed to think that He even knows what I did, let alone took my punishment for me. All I have to do is believe who He is, what He did and that He was raised, victorious, from the dead and I will spend eternity with Him – how incredible is that? But while I am here on earth in my mortal body I can talk to Him and ask Him to show me the way He wants me to go. All the answers lie with Jesus so just fix your eyes on Him and you cannot go wrong.

The Bible is the very word of God in handy book form for us to delve into whenever we want. Whatever you want to know in relation to the way you live or about getting on with others, you will find the answer in this wonderful book. It never ceases to amaze me that I can read a particular passage of scripture time and time again, believing I understand what it is saying then, suddenly, the meaning changes and leaps at me off the page coming alive and becoming relevant to a particular circumstance I am in at that moment. Of course, this is not always a pleasant experience because sometimes the words convict me of something that is wrong in my life which I need to change. Just like old Jonah who’s first instinct was to run in the opposite direction from where God wanted him to go, I do not always want to obey what the Word is telling me and quickly turn the page. However, the Bible is no ordinary book, it might have been written thousands of years ago but it is just as relevant to me today as it was when it was first put on paper. This is the living Word of God and it will not let me go – every time I open my Bible the same message comes through loud and clear, wherever I turn – even when I am in church and others read or preach I hear that same message piercing its way into my heart.  In the end my only option is to do what it is telling me. And then I have peace.

Of course, as a more mature Christian I would also add the Holy Spirit and prayer to the list as they act as ‘telephone lines’ between the others but I don’t think my son was far wrong in his statement – the answer to all questions is either God, Jesus or The Bible!

Focus on the Details!

 I recently bought myself a new camera and have been getting to grips with all the features it contains. Yesterday was a beautiful day (unusual for a Bank Holiday Weekend) so I spend some time out in the garden playing with my new toy and really finding out what it can do. One of the features I had rather ignored was the automatic focus button and thought it was something that was beneath my capabilities as an experienced photographer - perhaps not in a dissimilar way to how we think we know better than God when we disregard that small, still voice in our heads in preference to doing something the way we want to do it. How many times when we have failed at doing it our way do we realise that simple idea that we pushed aside was actual the best way and the job would have been done in half the time had we tried it first?


 Getting back to the camera, I had tried all of the other features and taken numerous trips back into the house to upload pictures I had taken and study them to see how they had turned out and thought I would do a comparison with the auto focus and scene selector button. I sat in my chair on the decking and zoomed in on various plants and features in the garden that were way quite some distance away and could not even make out clearly with my naked eye. I was stunned by the results. Everything came into sharp focus and really made things stand out in sharp relief as it clouded out the background. That button that I had discounted was simply amazing.

Once again I was reminded of Jesus. How often He is just a blurred image in our thoughts and minds - we know He is there but we just don't look very closely. But, oh, the wonders when we do finally fix our minds on Him and focus on him properly. He stands out clearly and the rest of the world seems to fade away - just in the words of that old hymn - Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of this earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His Glory and grace.

So, what lessons has my camera taught me? To begin with, never consider myself to be so good at something I have no need of being shown another way, especially without even trying it first. If I try it and don't like it or don't think it any better than what I am already doing then, fair enough, carry on as I was but I never know what delights I might discover if I don't try something new.

More importantly, I know I should fully focus on my Lord and King and spend time in His presence and concentrate on Him and, when I do, He will be there, magnificent and glorious. He truly is a beautiful Saviour and worthy of gazing at - the more I look, the more I see and the more I listen the more I learn. Ever patient, ever faithful, ever waiting for me to turn to Him, He is always there in the background of my life, often neglected and forgotten, but when I zoom in with that automatic focus He takes pride of place and He is simply wonderful.

God is my strength.

As I sat down at my desk at work today I had that feeling of rising panic that threatened to engulf me as I looked at all of the things I had to do and yet did not quite know where to start.

All of a sudden the words 'God is my strength' came into my mind rapidly followed by more phrases. As I was already sitting at my computer I quickly started to type and, for a few minutes, the words flowed. It was the strangest feeling that it was me praying the words to God but it was Him who was giving me the words to say. At the same time everything around me faded away, the chatter of people on the shop floor below me, the churning of the heating system and the drone of the fridges and freezers in the food hall all ceased to exist and I had a feeling of tremendous calm and peace. Time seemed to stand still although, in reality, it was only a couple of minutes.

When the world came back into focus I emailed myself the words that had flowed and it is only now, reading them back, that I recognise that they are not particularly words and phrases that I would have used myself and are interspersed with verses from Scripture. I am more and more convinced that the Holy Spirit was interceding for me, just as it says in Romans 8:26 - In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;.

As for the work load, it was nothing. I skipped through everything and cleared work that had been sitting there for weeks. God was in control of my life today and I feel Blessed.

Here are the words that came to me:

God is my strength my rock and my fortress in Him do I trust, He is a shield about me. I turn to Him in anguish, I trust Him with all my heart and lean on Him for understanding and let peace fill my heart. Blessed is His holy name. My heart sings for joy as His blessings shower upon me. Thank you my God and King you have saved me from the miry pit. O holy one, redeemer of Israel and creator of all mankind your greatness and righteousness abound for all eternity. Your loving kindness will last forever and I will sit at your feet in wonder and awe.

Butterflies!

Alive in Christ

Around three months ago two peacock butterflies came in on the same day and took up residence in a high corner of our bathroom where they have sat, side by side ever since with their wings tightly closed hiding their beautiful colouring within. After a few days they had not moved and I thought they had just died. I know this does not say a lot for my house keeping skills but I could not bring myself to get them down and there they have sat, two dead, colourless leaves. Until yesterday. As I was taking a shower I suddenly felt something gently land on my arm and, when I looked, found this beautiful butterfly sitting there. Not wanting it to drown I quickly removed it to the top of the shower curtain and from there is flew off and landed on the opposite wall from where it had come from.

Dead in Adam

Initially I thought that this was another butterfly just come in out of the cold but when I looked up, to my surprise, there was nothing where once the two lifeless butterflies had sat so I started looking round for the second one. And there it was, hanging from the light switch cord, wings closed once more. After such a long time of hibernation what had made them come to life, fly around for a few minutes and then settle back to darkness once again? This morning they were still in their new positions but a couple of hours later they have gone, disappeared completely. I do not know where.

It has got me thinking that these butterflies are a little bit like our (or my) Christian life. We bring it out into the sunshine every now and again, flutter around, touching everyone who sees us, doing good and living the way that Jesus wants us to but, all too often, we hide ourselves away in a dark corner with the shutters drawn where no one can see our best bits and we don't tell anyone about the love that Jesus has to offer. I would like to think that those two butterflies are now dancing over the gardens and flowers in the sunshine making everyone who sees them wish that they could be the same as those two beautiful creatures and seeing they have something special inside them that they want too. That is exactly what we should be doing - going out and making disciples of all nations and taking the gospel to all the world and not hugging it to ourselves. Once in a while we have to let go of our cosy little hidey hole and trust God to guide us to where He wants us to be and to do what He created us to do. We should be like a butterfly and leave a little mark on everyone we touch, whether they choose to take any notice of it or not we will have done what God wants.

God changes hearts

I was once told that, when you are finding it hard to cope with someone or a situation, if you trust in God and follow His commandments, He will either change the heart of the other person, take you out of the situation altogether or change your heart. It has just occurred to me that all three of these things have happened to me in the last few years.


The first time I came to know the reality of this was quite a long time ago when I had to work alongside a lady who was making me very miserable, although I would be hard pressed to put my finger on why, and I often wonder if there was some sort of evil spirit in her that was conflicting with me. It was really making me doubt myself as a Christian. How could I possibly be a Christian if I felt this way about another person? I was not the only one in the office to feel unsettled and the whole situation was becoming so unbearable that I was seriously considering finding another job - having been in the same employment for 20 years meant this was a major decision to make, but I was prepared to go. I happened to go along to a prayer meeting one evening and there it was mentioned about praying for your enemies. I knew what I had to do immediately and, that night, I prayed for her and asked God to bless her and make her happy. The next morning I went into work to find the lady had handed her notice in and she left the company within the week - God had answered my prayer and taken the situation away.


More recently I was involved in making a difficult decision (I cannot explain the exact details here for confidentiality reasons) and had to place a vote which was in direct opposition to everyone else involved. The vote was whether we should take legal action against a third party and everyone else wanted to go ahead with this route. All of my Christian principles screamed at me to forgive this person and just let things go, although I knew that we were, legally, in the right and should this person be allowed to keep something that was not rightly theirs? After some very sleepless nights and a lot of praying I took the stand of saying 'no' to the prosecution route and placed my vote. Needless to say that everyone else voted to take it to the small claims court. Strangely, I was totally at peace with this and it was no longer keeping me awake at night and I knew I had done what God wanted me to. This was over six months ago and I think God must have been at work again and changed peoples hearts because everyone has been too busy to sort out the paperwork for this and nothing has happened.


I have now been at the same company for 34 years and, over that time, people have come and people have gone. The majority I have got along with very well and rarely have I worked with anyone that I did not like. However, the company has grown a lot in the last year rising from 60-70 employees to the present day 109 so it is no longer the small, family business that it once was. Amongst the new recruits there have been two members that I have found it difficult to feel comfortable with although both seem to be very proficient with their work so there would be no reason for them to go. I just thought it was simply that you can't get on with everyone and there are bound to be a few people you don't gel with in a company of that size. Then God reminded me of the time when I prayed for the lady I once worked with so I began to make a very conscious effort to go out of my way to be helpful and supportive of them - I have also prayed the same prayer as before, that they will be happy and blessed. I think God has decided that, this time, it is down to me to change because I suddenly realise that I now quite like these people and actually enjoy their company.


Only God can change your heart (or the heart of someone else), you cannot do it yourself, but, when you ask for help, be prepared for that to happen. We have one Mighty God who will always do what is best for us.

Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. Ezekiel 37:26-27

A Free Gift!

Hi Everyone

I have some good news and I have some bad news.

Firstly, the bad news. We are all, each and every one of us that have ever lived (and those that are still to come) sinners. God, who is the mighty creator of all things, is so pure and perfect that He cannot let us be in His presence and our sin has separated us from Him.  We all know that sin entered the world by the very first man that God created, Adam. God gave him just one rule to obey (to not eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden) and what did he do? He broke that law and ate the fruit and so began the fall of man and his separation from God. As we are heirs of Adam we inherited that sin, which was in us even before we were born.

When God first made Adam they enjoyed a close and personal relationship and we are told that God used to walk with Adam in the cool of the evening. Adam’s sin put a stop to all of that and he was thrown out into the world and that relationship was lost forever. Or was it?

The good news is that God loves all mankind so much that He still wants to have that close relationship with us, regardless of our sins, just like He did with Adam in the Garden of Eden. The problem is that there is nothing that man in his own strength can do to reconcile himself to God – he cannot earn his way back by good deeds or buy his way in with all the silver and gold in the world. The question is, how does man get back to God? The answer is through Jesus Christ.

God sent His beloved Son to earth in the form of a man who lived among us yet managed to remain pure and blameless. What did we do? We beat Him and hung Him on a cross to die. But, don’t worry, this was all part of God’s wonderful plan. As Jesus hung on that cross He took all of the sins of the world on Himself for each and every one of us that have ever lived (and those that are still to come). He became the ultimate sacrifice for all mankind. Isn’t that fantastic? He died for everyone, and I mean, everyone, regardless of whether they accept that is what He did or not. He died for us collectively and He died for us individually.  On the third day after He was buried, He rose from the dead and appeared to many of His followers. He is alive!

This resurrection is God’s proof to us that Jesus is no longer dead – He is not in a grave, He is not sill on the cross, His body cannot be found. Why? Because He is alive and sitting with God in heaven ready to intercede for us! We can have that relationship with God back again.

This was God’s gift to us but we do have to do something to receive it. The answer is so easy it is hard to imagine there is not more to it but it really is true – simply believe. Believe that Jesus is the Son of God, believe that He died for you, personally, believe that His blood covers your sins and believe that He rose again after He was buried. If you truly believe all of this and are deeply sorry for all you have done wrong, ask Jesus to come into your heart and take control of your life. It will be the best decision you have ever made. You will be saved from death and destruction and will spend eternity in Glory with your Lord and Saviour.

I still find it hard to comprehend. That Jesus died for ME! He didn’t have to, He chose to so that all my sins, ones I have done and ones I haven’t even though of yet, might be forgiven and I could be reconciled to God. Without Jesus I would never be able to stand in God’s presence – my sin is too great. My faith that makes me believe Jesus died for me brings me God’s peace and hope in His glory. Jesus died for me at just the right time – when I was doing the very worst thing that I have ever done, that is the moment He died for me. Thank you, Jesus.

All that God asks of us in return is to go out into the world and spread this message to others, so that is what I am doing now and make no apologies if it makes you feel uncomfortable – that is God at work in you, convicting you of your sins.

With much love

Stella

Worship the Son not the sun!

I took the dogs out for a walk rather late last night and was surprised to see how many cars were parked up on Selsley Common when I got there. Normally, at that time of day, the Common is empty except for cows. As I began walking up towards the ridge of the hill I suddenly remembered why all those people were there. It was the longest day of the year, Midsummer solstice, and they had come to see the sun setting. When I got closer to the edge I could see a lot of people there all standing and starring. Admittedly, the view was wonderful, the sun just sinking below the skyline and the sky turning brilliant shades of orange and red, truly a wonderful site.

I instantly thought what a wonderful God we have to provide such a spectacle and thanked Him for allowing me to see it, made even more special because I had not been expecting it. However, it did tinge me with sadness when I thought about the other people watching who had come with this one sole purpose in mind who, at best, had just come to see a pretty picture but, at worse, had seemingly gone back to some primitive time when human kind worshiped the sun. They were watching in awe this big ball of fire that, yes, provides us with heat, light, allows plants to grow and stops us spinning off into outer space but they were forgetting who put it there in the first place.

Isn’t it amazing that God ‘flung’ the stars and planets, sun and moon into space and provided the solar system in which we live. We all refer to the sun setting or rising when, in actual fact, the sun stays exactly where it is while the earth revolves around it. How can it stay put and not fall? I like to think that God is holding the universe in His hand, just the way He does us, and it gives me a feeling of security and protection – if God doesn’t let the largest thing in the sky fall, think how much more He will hold me up.

I have been reminded of that verse in Romans 1 ‘for they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the creator’. We must always remember that the One who created the world, nature around us and even mankind itself is far greater, more powerful and more magnificent that all these things themselves and He is the One who should receive all the praise and glory and not the objects He has formed.