Great Expectations

Drove across Scotland this weekend and yes, it is glorious in its autumn apparel. All the usual colours – oranges, yellows, bronzes, fading greens and all the shades in between. Sunglasses were required not because of the brilliant foliage but because of the sun beaming out of a mostly clear blue sky.

Arrived in Glasgow and checked into a hotel that was WAY past its best before date. I can put up with a lot of things, and it was clean, but a mattress where every spring has sprung is no joke. Replacement the second night was soggy but smooth. An improvement.

But the glory of the weekend was not in the colour scheme of autumn nor (absolutely not) in the accommodation but in the messages coming from the Healing Rooms conference team, through the worship music led so sensitively by Allan McKinlay, through the teaching of guest speaker from Bethel church in Redding, CA, Steve Backlund, through the teaching of Healing Rooms Scotland director Robbie Morrison, through the prophetic words and prayer and especially a word given to me by Phyllis who sat beside me through one or two sessions. Go God!

I am expecting transformation of my mind as I really lay hold of the promises of God and his declarations in the Bible of just who we are in Jesus. I am excited to see what this day holds and I am looking for opportunities to revive hope and instil truth into conversations and meetings with others.

I am rejoicing in the Lord this morning. He is a good God, who loves the world so much he sent his son Jesus to live amongst us as one of us. And he, Jesus, is perfect. 

Praise God. Happy Monday. Lots of opportunities this week to live out who I am in Christ. A challenging week ahead and I am full of expectation of what God is going to do in me, through me, for me. In you, through you, for you.

Amen.

PS Haven't forgotten about the Great Russian Adventure. Just a deep breath before plunging back in.

Glorious

The changing colours at this time of year are stunning. As I sat praying in the conservatory this morning, I was looking out at an acer which is just on the cusp of change. 

Jesus told us to abide in him because he is the root, he is the source of life in us. The leaves of the trees need to ‘abide’ in order to continue taking their nourishment from the roots of the trees. But of course the physical life cycle of leaves decrees that they change colour, die back, and fall off. 

Just before they drop, the leaves are more glorious than at the beginning of the cycle. 

Sometimes Christian leaders can look glorious, but if they are not remaining in Jesus, abiding in his love, they will eventually drop away. 

Sometimes we other Christians can look pretty good too, doing all the right things, saying all the right things, showing the gifts God has blessed us with, and as long as we remain in Jesus, connected to the source, we will indeed continue to bring the Kingdom of Heaven into the area in which we live. If we stop living close to Jesus, inspired and filled with his Spirit, we, too, will drop away.

The Christian life is organic. It’s not about head knowledge alone, but about combining the head knowledge which affirms our faith with the heart knowledge received through experiences in the presence of God. 

Jesus never did anything off his own bat. He only did what he saw his father in heaven doing. He lived close to his father in heaven. He abided in him, filled with the Holy Spirit. 

He said we will do more than he did if we abide in him, if we pray in his name. 

We don’t want to look glorious. We want Him to look glorious.

Thin Places

A glorious spring day in Scotland. As I rounded the stand of trees on our usual walk, I paused to wait for Dusty to catch up. The birdsong soared through the air – I don’t know one from another but together their chorus is beautiful. The sun shone down; the grass rippled, its heads rustled by the soft breeze, and the air smelled fresh and clean.

I gazed round the open park and marvelled that we live in such a place, where we can wander out into an uncultivated rough space and drink in the beauty without it costing us anything. We don’t have to pay for this privilege. We don’t have to work for it – wonderful that the ground doesn’t belong to us, and carries no responsibilities for us to meet. 

The earth is the Lord’s and everything that is in it. And he loves us to enjoy it, to appreciate it, to make the most of the beauty that is all around us. 

Enjoying it leads me to a deeper appreciation for its creator, awakening my senses to his presence and exciting gratitude and praise in my heart to him. Jesus advised that the most important thing to do is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, spirit and mind, and your neighbour as yourself.

A spot of natural beauty is one of those ‘thin places’ where it’s relatively easy to draw near to God and love him. And his love in me is healing to my soul, and helps me to love others – which isn’t  always easy to do in my own strength.

The joy of the Lord is your strength. May you glimpse some natural beauty today and consider the creator who made it. And give thanks.

Neon Rainbow

It was one of those blustery, showery days. Brilliant blue sky one minute; lowering black clouds the next. Walking back from watering my neighbour’s greenhouse plants while she is on holiday, I saw the foundational arc of a rainbow planting itself in one of the golden, harvested fields near our home.

As I watched in amazement, the rainbow completed the arc and then grew in intensity until the colours were truly neon. And above it stretched a second rainbow, paler and less vibrant, but complete as well. I just stood transfixed while I watched this show in the sky, a gift from God, and gave him the glory.

I know there are weather-related reasons for rainbows, but God made the weather, too, and when I see such a glorious sight as that rainbow, my heart beats faster with joy and gratitude to God for this world in which we live. I remember that the rainbow is the sign of God’s promise that never again will he wipe out the world in a cataclysmic flood.

I am grateful that I live in a rural location, where I am more aware of the wonders of nature. In the book of Romans, Paul argues that those who don’t know about God can see him in his handiwork, but I wonder about those poor children living on garbage dumps in Brazil or Mozambique or inner city squalor in Los Angeles or London. Where do they look to see God’s glory?

 Hopefully, in the faces of Christians there to help them.

Scotch Mist

They call it Scotch Mist apparently. Which is a surprise, because usually it’s only foreigners who don’t know any better who refer to anything as Scotch rather than Scots. The drink that others refer to as Scotch is called whisky here, and they don’t sell Scotch tape in the UK (or at least I’ve not found it) but the same sort of product is called Sellotape. And the people are Scots, not Scotch.

Well. Scotch or Scots Mist. Whatever it’s called, it’s still a fine rain – fine in terms of the size of the drops and not an assessment of its goodness. In fact, it may be very good for the crops and so on – certainly it’s good for the slugs and snails – but it sure isn’t very good for the mood of the dog-walker.

Having declared publicly a few days ago that I don’t allow the weather to dictate my mood, I have to admit that this morning, with those little sprinkles blinding my forward view, I felt my spirits slump and that silly prayer rising to my lips – please bring out the sun! 

I realized I needed to think creatively about this, and the creativity came in the shape of realizing that very few places in this world have perfect weather. Some areas are so dry they have to ration their drinks of water. Some places bake in relentless heat. Some places are subjected to fierce winds or daily rainstorms or whatever. 

I wish that God had designed the earth so that we all enjoyed perfect weather. A bit of rain overnight while we’re asleep.  Every day dawning bright, blue sky all the way. Temps moderate, so that only occasionally is a light cardigan called for. 

But God didn’t ask me when he was laying it all out, and I know the variety of weathers facilitates a diversity of flora and fauna which make this the fascinating and glorious world in which we live. And I know that the Scotch mist waters the countryside so that we have the many shades of spring green which are so beautiful right now. I know that it fills the lochs and burns, swells the tatties and plumps the raspberries.

But we need the sun to sweeten those rasps. And maybe to sweeten me, too.

I’m sorry, Lord. I don’t mean to moan. Change my heart, so that I rejoice in the day I have been given, for the gift it is. And may I overflow with gratitude for the day, however it shapes up weather-wise. 

Because however it shapes up, it’s still more than I deserve.