Identity

Identity.

When we visited my Uncle Bill long years ago, he had one or two of those Magic Eye pictures on his wall. He delighted in watching our faces as we struggled and strained to discern the hidden picture. He offered a few tips. Let your eye relax. Imagine a point beyond the picture. Sheer relief when the hidden image emerged, as I think we felt a bit foolish until we could pick out the picture.

Being with young grandchildren a bit, I often wonder just who these precious souls will grow into. God has given some hints with some precious prayer times before their births, which makes it exciting to watch as what he whispered is beginning to come out.

Flick loves all sorts of tales of fairy princesses, so we have encountered the magic mirror of Snow White’s stepmother. Interesting that her biggest concern was her appearance, and she demanded of the mirror to tell the truth of who was the most beautiful in the kingdom.

Often, our own insecurity of our self-image is as shallow as that.

But I’m thinking about Jesus, as a baby, as a toddler, beginning to awaken to the truth of his identity. He didn’t look into a magic mirror. He didn’t look into a Magic Eye picture.

He looked at Scripture. And the longer he looked at Scripture, relaxing in his Father’s loving presence, the more clearly he saw himself and understood his true identity and calling.

When we look long enough into our Bibles, we, too, see ourselves and understand better our true identity. Children of the King. Loved.

Out of our understanding of our identity, our callings emerge. Some callings are universal: to worship and love God, to share him with others, to be filled with the Spirit and be transformed daily into the best version of ourselves. Some callings are peculiar to us: to write, to speak, to serve, to sing, to raise children.

May God help me to look long into Scripture, and then move out in faith and confidence.

All my bags are packed

All my bags are packed, I’m ready to go...

The Mamas and The Papas crooned this out in 1969 when I was in my first year of university, and it has been a sort of theme song for my life. I do like the song...and understand the sentiment. Belonging in two places at once. Hating to leave someone behind. Anticipating what I’m going to do with other loved ones. Conflicting emotions.

We’re at a time in life where our theme song could be written about de-cluttering. There will come a time when I won’t need to hover over an empty suitcase and debate what sorts of clothes the weather will require. I won’t need to remember my moisturiser and pack my Bible. Whatever I take with me, I’m packing now, deep into my spirit. 

I want to ensure that what’s in there is life-giving, God-exalting, Jesus-loving, Truth. My goal is to memorise more Scripture. Memorise, not moisturise. I know my brain won’t be required in the next life, but I think that as my brain feeds on the Word my spirit will grow. 

Not all my bags are packed yet, and I’m not ready to go. But one day I will be.

Breakthrough

Breakthrough.

The word is resonating with me just now, and it feels like a divine resonance. My prayers are characterised by powerful petitions for breakthroughs on all sorts of levels: healing, provision, spiritual awakening, peace, circumstances, etc, etc.

God speaks to us in so many ways and I believe Scripture where it says that the Lord gives us the desires of our hearts. He delights to give us what he first drops into our hearts. Discerning which desires are from him is key to praying in power for these things to be released.

I sure don’t always get it right. But we walk with baby steps until we can run with confidence. So today I step out, knowing that this is a powerful word when applied to God’s heart’s desire for people. I am excited and expectant and can’t wait to see all the ways in which he moves TODAY. 

As they say in Scripture, ‘Yippee!’

Whisky

I fed the Christmas cake its weekly dose of whisky last night. I only made the cake about a week ago so it won’t really be as moist and marinated in the spirit as it should be, but hopefully it will still be juicy and tasty (and not put anyone over the drink driving limit!!)

Usually I use brandy but didn’t have any, so this year it is whisky. I hope it tastes ok as it isn’t your single malt variety but the cheaper blended stuff. Not for the connoisseur I guess.

Whatever we soak ourselves in is what we taste like. The steady drip drip of culture, of secularism, of watered down Christianity, which we are fed daily can overwhelm any flavour of Jesus if we’re not careful and vigilant.

Jesus warned us to be alert. He advised us to read and know the Scriptures, to soak in them. He himself soaked in Scripture and when he was under pressure, that is what came out. Words of the Bible. 

The steady soaking from our culture is there whether we like it or not. On the radio, on television, in the mouths of our politicians and friends. If we don’t spend time soaking in the Word of God we, too, will begin to taste like the secularist culture in which we now live. 

Instead of the pure unadulterated Truth of Scripture, we speak a blend of truth and lies. Only suitable for spitting out of the mouth.

I do hope that using a blended whisky on the cake won’t make it taste bad.

Scotland Decides: Frozen Shoulder

Just back from another visit to the physio. We first got to know each other through the slipped disk in the back. We’ve moved on now to the frozen shoulder.

Well. So, a frozen shoulder occurs in stages. First there may or may not be an injury, but whatever triggers it, the shoulder becomes intensely painful to move. That may last any length of time, depending on ... nobody knows what it depends on. Just is.

Then it becomes restricted in its ability to move. The pain diminishes except when the arm tries to move into positions which the shoulder refuses to allow. Frozen. This may last from 4 to 24 months depending on ... nobody knows what. Just does.

That’s where I am right now. Stuck. Unable to move in certain positions. It could be much worse. I can still do most things and maneuver pretty well if I avoid putting my hand over my head or behind my back. 

The physio explained that the problem lies in a bit of soft tissue which embraces the socket, and which has thickened and thereby restricts movement. The body needs to reabsorb the thickness so it is thin enough to allow free movement. 

Sometimes pain locks us into certain mindsets. Emotional pain. Mental anguish. Psychological hurts. Childhood traumas. 

We want to avoid triggering the pain, so we learn to avoid thinking about certain things. We just don’t go there. We wall ourselves off, and as we do so, we become frozen, diminished in our ability to move, to think ‘outside the box’, to be compassionate perhaps, or forgiving. 

Frozen emotions lead to all sorts of problems. God addresses one in Scripture when he talks of our hardness of heart. He understands how hard it is to change our hearts ourselves, and as a tender and loving Father he promises to do it for us. ‘I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit in you...’ Ezekiel 36:26

My prayer for this day when Scotland decides its future, independent or united in Great Britain, all who feel passionately on both sides will be blessed with hearts of flesh, compassionate and understanding of one another’s points of views and ready to work together under whichever government wins, for the good of the people of this land.

We all struggle with areas of our hearts, of our minds, of our memories, which we’ve hardened off and which have frozen. May God renew and soften all of our hearts so that we may live lives of mercy, grace and love, inspired and enabled by his Spirit living in us.

Peace to you.

Squirrels

Squirrels are busy at this time of year, gathering and storing food to see them through the winter months which they know are coming. It is an annual event and they have a rhythm to their year which, if they ignore, will cause them suffering, misery, and probable death.

Nobody who has a radio, television or internet access can be unaware of the serious darkness that is palpably spreading across the Middle East, driving out life and light. Where this darkness will end is an unknown, but our need to stand against it is obvious. 

As Christians, we worship Jesus, the Light of the world, and now more than ever we need to be praying that his light will penetrate the deep darkness wherever it manifests, abroad or at home. We need to be vigilant and persevering in prayer and never give up.

Our faith should lead to action, and we should be speaking out against abuses, injustices, and discrimination wherever and whenever we see it. Secularism will reduce everything to a very low common denominator and we believers need to call out the gold in people, to refresh their memory of God or introduce them to him for the first time. We need to be more active than ever just now, like the squirrels preparing for winter.

And on a personal level, we should be storing up Scripture in our memories for a time when we might just not have Bibles lying all over the house. I’m speaking to myself there.

Jesus said to keep alert. Keep busy. Focus in on God, grateful that he has the power to change everything.

Amazing Technology. Amazing Grace

Technology has transformed our experience of life. Obviously. But two personal transformations are affecting me:

I am sitting in my kitchen in a (momentarily) sunny Scotland writing these words on my laptop, and when I post them on my blog my mainly Russian audience (don’t quite know why, but there you go) and others round the world will be able to read what I’m thinking about. Instantly. Almost 300 people every week look at my blog, which is exciting and hopefully keeps me focused and relevant.

Yesterday, one of our sons and his wife emailed us the 20-week-scans of our first grandchild. He or she was sucking his/her thumb, legs akimbo and ankles crossed. (no, we couldn’t see the gender...)

The shape of the head, the wee nose, the arms, the legs – even the heart and the brain – all there within a few minutes. How on earth anyone can condone aborting a baby at this (or really, any) stage is incomprehensible. There’s no doubt that my daughter-in-law is carrying the first of the next generation of this family. Not a bunch of cells. A baby. Sucking his/her thumb. Wow.

‘Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you,’ God says in Scripture. This child is already a glint in his/her Father’s eye, a much-loved individual who will be born here for a purpose.

Technology is amazing. But not as amazing as God.