Maranatha!

The sun is out and the conservatory is warm! Spring is here, and so is my birthday. I thank God for the blessing of life, for the gift of a wonderful husband, children, family and friends, for drawing the boundaries for me in very pleasant places. I thank him for the joy of church family, the blessing of his presence in my life and for his incredible patience with my sometimes chaotic walk with him. I am excited for the next chapters.

Life is a gift, though for so many today it may not feel like one. Thinking about and praying for all those in the firing lines of super powers and tin-pot dictators, whose suffering is unimaginable and heart-breaking. We need the Prince of Peace now more than ever.

Praying he comes in our hearts, in our churches, in our communities, in our countries, today, in new and maybe surprising ways. Keeping my eyes peeled. Maranatha!

No More Violence!

Presidents shouting across the world at each other, threatening and bragging that each has the firepower to bring the other country to its knees. Each feeling superior.

Through the streets of Charlottesville they marched, dressed in basic costumes which send chills down the spine, brandishing flags and bristling with arms as massive as AK-47s. Feeling superior. 

‘As long as there is gender inequality, we will have domestic abuse.’ Words I heard today at an informative session run by Grampian Women’s Aid, in which we learned the appalling fact that 1 in 4 women in the UK suffers domestic abuse, and 2 women die from such assault every week.

Jesus said to love our neighbours as ourselves. We are all children of God. In Christ there is no Jew nor gentile, no male nor female, but all are the same in God’s eyes. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. 

Praying tonight for his kingdom to come, his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

New experiences

New experiences. We are getting ready to go share Eid with some of the refugees newly settled in our area. No idea what to expect, or who to expect.

So I’m still here in my jeans, not ready in my dress or appearance (though not too sure exactly what is expected). But I spent twenty minutes in my prayer window getting ready.

Jesus is the light of the world. Praying his light emanates from my eyes, my lips, my attitudes. God is love. Praying his love is tangible through the work of the Holy Spirit. 

Going to meet people just like us, but not. People who have grown up under other value systems and who have experienced traumas I hope never to experience. 

Praying that the Prince of Peace is powerful in that place today, in us, through us, in others, through others. That traumatised and weary people will be drawn to the one who can really give them rest.

Peace

Peace.

I grew up in the sixties, when the hippies all wore necklaces with the peace sign on them, greeted each other with the word ‘peace’ and two fingers pointed upwards (not in the way considered rude here in the UK!). Of course it was the era of the Vietnam war and my generation were generally not happy about what was going on over there. ‘Make love, not war’ was the common bumper sticker in those days.

Peace is not just the absence of conflict. Real peace comes from within and can be elusive, especially when life is busy or events are worrisome or perplexing.

Last night I couldn’t sleep, so I went to my Bible. My mind was whirring in a circular treadmill and I realised that life has been so hectic recently that I haven’t had my morning times alone with God. I was telling myself ‘peace, peace’ when there was no peace within me. 

Jesus is the Prince of Peace. He is the source of comfort. Even in the midst of storms, if we abide in him we can maintain our conviction that all will be well because he is always good, he is the beginning and the end, and he is love. 

I read Psalms 62 and 63, then 104, and when I lay back down, I restricted my thinking to repeating the first verses. ‘Praise the Lord, o my soul, and forget not all his benefits.’ I slipped into the land of nod.

Peace.

Peace, peace

Peace, peace

This is the time of year when songs abound on the theme of peace. Ironic, that it is also the time of year when peace is far from many of us as we scurry around making preparations for the Christmas extravaganza.

People cry peace, peace, when there is no peace.

How do we recapture the peace, and what is meant by it? The Biblical word for peace is shalom and it means much more than absence of war. It means a deep pervasive wholeness and lack of agitation or anxiety. A wholeness deep in one’s heart which then radiates outwardly and spreads to the situations in which we find ourselves.

There is no real peace until we have peace in our hearts. There is no real peace in our hearts until Jesus is Lord of our hearts. Crazy that as we Christians celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace, we so easily neglect that Prince in a frenzy of shopping, cooking, baking, buying. 

Be still in the presence of the Lord, the psalmist wrote (37), and wait patiently for him to act.

Be still. Wait patiently. Trust God, and he will help you. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust in the Lord and do good. Trust in the Lord and do good. Profound words. 

I am about to embark on my day, a day in which I hope to trust in the Lord and do good, to be still in the midst of crowds, to wait patiently in queues, to commit every purchase to God. 

Happy Advent.

Hope springs eternal

‘Hope springs eternal’ was a favourite phrase of my mother-in-law, usually said in relation to a raffle or lottery ticket. 

In our world of conflict and spreading darkness, hope is a mind-set in short supply. I hear people expressing fears about the outcome of the conflict in Ukraine, whether it will draw us all into an Armageddon scenario. The news jerks from one nation under siege and in a failing way to another. World leaders wring their hands, make pronouncements, but after the disastrous interventions of recent years are reluctant to do more than impose sanctions. Indeed, what can they do?

They could do as King Hezekiah did several thousand years ago, when the threat came from Nineveh and he knew his own small country hadn’t the power to resist an all out attack. He went to God. He threw himself on his knees before God and asked that God would intervene on their behalf. And God did.

In these days when a black tsunami seems to be gaining momentum, power, and is headed our way, as a Christian I place my hope and trust in the Prince of Peace and the Light of the World. I call on Jesus to penetrate the darkness with the light of his truth and to speak the words of power which he uttered on the Sea of Galilee, ‘Peace, be still’. I expect to see the approaching tsunami collapse, subside, and for peace to be restored.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. God does not want us to crouch in fear but to walk in faith. He is an Almighty Father, a powerful Lord, whose very essence is love. Put your trust in him today, and stay alert to notice the differences that makes to the smaller tsunamis in your life.

Peace

Peace

Christmas has been wonderful. Filled with laughter and love. Food and drink. Family (not all of them though ...) and friends. Music. Dusty barking with excitement. Indy running for cover.

The last word you might use to describe these last few days would be peace. And yet, in the midst of it all, peace reigned. Peace between family members. But most of all, a deep, grateful peace as we all received Jesus Christ afresh into our hearts. 

The Prince of Peace. However much activity and noise might swirl through the rooms of the house, at its core is a deep peace.

Praise Jesus.