Category Archives: adoration

Beauty amidst the confusion…

Leave a reply

The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice. Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side. His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.

The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory. All who worship images are put to shame, those who boast in idols – worship him, all you gods! Zion hears and rejoices and the villages of Judah are glad because of your judgements, O Lord.

For you, O Lord, are the Most High over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods. Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name.

(Ps 97)

Praise and honour are due to your name, Lord our God. By your command, all things came into being and are sustained, moment by moment, each in their proper place. Out of your unfathomable wisdom and creative nature, you called forth marvels great and small, and they exist to glorify and exalt you!

Reverence and awe are due to you, Lord our God. In holiness and justice, you reign from eternity to eternity, and there are no shadows in the blaze of your purity, no flaws in your purposes. None can compete with you in perfection and power; nothing rivals your sovereignty and wisdom. 

Of ourselves, we dare not presume upon your favour. Our rebellious hearts have made us unfit for your presence, and deserving only of rejection and judgement – to be banished eternally from the light, from the fullness of life which is in you.

Yet in Jesus, the Almighty-became-mortal one, we find you inviting us into your presence, to live your life with you for ever. As I embrace the offer of transformation, confessing my rebellion and crowning Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, you call me ‘beloved daughter’, and bring me home. Now I may join all creation in praising you and knowing your joy!

Today, I give thanks that I may know you as Father, through Jesus your Son, and am being transformed into his likeness as your Spirit dwells in me. I give thanks that in all the confusion of my life, and of the darkling world around me, I may know your joy and have hope. I give thanks that each day you shower tokens of love upon me, and that in my uncertainty, I can receive these gifts of beauty, of love, of friendship and laughter.

Today, I give thanks that you are indeed sovereign and that you do not make mistakes – no matter how difficult it may be for me, or for wiser heads than mine, to discern the pattern of your purposes in these days and events. My Lord Jesus tells me that you are to be trusted, utterly. His life and death and resurrection are the pattern which guide my own walk of faith, and what made no sense to his followers then, is revealed now to be your great plan of redemption and unveiling of your coming kingdom! 

Today, I pray that your Spirit will continue to work your purposes in me through all that is happening. May I grow more like my Lord, in faithful obedience and quiet trust. May I be given the gift of a cheerful and contented spirit, which refuses to bring anxiety from tomorrow into today. Your gifts to me are so good, let me receive them and be encouraged by them, to trust you.

I cannot see the full picture; I cannot tell what you will do with my small life, let alone with all the millions of lives on our planet. Let me not strive for knowledge which is too great for me, but accept the beauty which I can see, in the world around me, and in the truth of who you are and what you have done. Let me, like my Lord Jesus say, ‘Not my will, but yours be done’, and this I pray now, for your glory and my blessing, Amen.

Finding the right words…

Leave a reply

By your words I can see where I’m going; they throw a beam of light on my dark path.. Everything’s falling apart on me, God; put me together again with your word.. You’re my place of quiet retreat; I wait for your word to renew me…. Every word you give me is a miracle word – how could I help but obey?

Break open your words, let the light shine out, let ordinary people see the meaning.. steady my steps with your word of promise so nothing malign gets the better of me.

(Ps 119.105,107,129&130,133, the Message translation)

God put me to work from the day I was born. The moment I entered the world, he named me. He gave me speech that would cut and penetrate…..The Master, God, has given me a well-taught tongue, so I know how to encourage tired people… Who out there fears God, actually listens to the voice of his servant? For anyone out there who doesn’t know where you’re going, anyone groping in the dark, here’s what: Trust in God. Lean on your God!

(Isa 49. 1&2; 50.4&10, the Message translation)

Then Jesus gave the twelve their chance; “Do you also want to leave?” Peter replied, “Master, to whom would we go? You have the words of real life, of eternal life….”

(Jn 6. 67&68)

I heard a loud voice behind me, trumpet-clear and piercing: “Write what you see into a book… ” I turned and saw the voice.. I saw a gold menorah with seven branches, and in the centre, the Son of Man, in a robe and gold breastplate, hair a blizzard of white, eyes pouring fire-blaze, both feet furnace-fired bronze, His voice a cataract, right hand holding the seven stars, his mouth a sharp-biting sword…. I saw this and fainted dead at his feet. His right hand pulled me upright, his voice reassured me..

(Rev 1:10-17, the Message translation)

Our words are so powerful, to wound or to heal; to discourage or to build up; to speak love or to spread hate. We are warned to beware of hasty speech, to guard our tongues from thoughtless utterances and to make sure that what we do say is kind, wholesome, constructive and God-honouring.. it is wonder that most of us dare to speak or write at all, and no surprise that we so often fail in courtesy, wisdom and gentleness, causing unnecessary pain and too often bringing our Lord into disrepute by our hasty words.

What a relief then to consider how different is our God; to read of the power of his words, of their purity and truth; to reflect that where we fail, he never does. The Saviour of the world, the coming King and Anointed one who comes to fulfill God’s purposes of redemption is perfect in speech, in finding the right words to accomplish all that he desires for us. He can comfort, strengthen, rebuke and command – all in the right way and at the right time!

He speaks the words of life, and he is the Word of Life – by whom all things were made at the direction of the Father. What a wonderful companion for our lives, and what a guide to introduce to our fellow travellers as the infallible and unfailing support for the journey. How marvellous that we, as mere creatures and specks in a vast universe, can know the maker and sustainer of all that is! Because our God speaks, we can know him.

I am so thankful for all those who have taught and encouraged me over the years to trust the word of God, to handle it responsibly and to grow in wisdom in understanding it. I am so thankful to have the bible in my own language, and to have so many resources to help me use it well – a privilege which so many still lack.

Heavenly Father, I praise you for the Living Word, for the Voice that speaks truth and love, that calls me to come into your presence with confidence and to be at rest there. 

Living Word, I rejoice to know you as my Lord and Saviour, to hear you find the right words to comfort and restore me, to find fresh strength and new wisdom as I hearken to you by your Spirit.

Holy Spirit, may the word in me bear fruit for the glory of the Lord and the building of his kingdom. Thoroughly work it into my thoughts and understanding, so that no part of me remains unchanged, unresponsive or dishonouring to him. Amen.

Not just background noise..

Leave a reply

Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him all you peoples For great is his love towards us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures for ever. Praise the Lord.

(Ps 117)

In that day you will say: “I will praise you, O Lord. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.”

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. In that day you will say: “Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”

(Isa 12)

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

(Rom 15.5-7)

After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no-one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb… And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

(Rev 7.9&10)

The people of God are summoned many times in the great story of our salvation to sing, to make a joyful noise to our Lord and King. Singing in scripture is the proper response to the free gift of God to us – the gift of his love, his faithfulness, his forgiveness and most of all, the gift of Jesus Christ our Saviour by whom all other gifts come to us. We sing not because we like the sound of our voices so much, but because praise is absolutely the best way to acknowledge that we are beginning to appreciate all that has been done for us. The picture of God’s people from all around the globe joining their voices in song is deeply moving, and we long to experience it for ourselves. One day, we shall!

In the meantime, the song may be hard to sing, because our experience in the world feels so far removed from that triumphant rejoicing which is described in scripture. We are bombarded with accusations of bigotry, cruelty and arrogance from a culture that rejects the gospel; we grieve for the real pain, evil and destruction of God’s beautiful creation; and sometimes we are simply made to feel utterly irrelevant to the lives of those around us – as fools with nothing to offer. It can be hard to tune in to the triumph song of God’s saints when the world’s songs are so loud in our ears.

But as we discipline ourselves to return to God’s word regularly, choosing to preach the good news to ourselves in defiance of the world, we will find that the song of heaven sounds louder again and it becomes easier to sing it with confidence.

We are assured throughout the bible narrative that what is going on around us is far from the whole picture. I find it helpful to think of the scriptures of the Old and New testaments as a minority report on history – a counter-cultural understanding of events based on a conviction that God Almighty is on the throne, that He is faithful, powerful and purposeful, and that His plan is the redemption of a people for himself and the full  realisation of his kingdom.

As people who believe in the resurrected Christ, we have every reason to be certain that God will fulfill his plans, that we are as secure in our eternal future as if we were already through death and entered upon it. NOTHING can take that inheritance from us, and no experience of pain, abandonment, age, disappointment need silence our song. Rather, as the realities of this broken world press upon us, we can take comfort in that song which speaks of undying love, fulness of life, a reality more glorious and satisfying than anything we have known here.

Great Author of creation’s song, I praise you this day out of my full heart, and thank you for all that has been done for me in your plan, so that I have a place with you now in glory. Thank you that I can sing heaven’s triumph song here, in defiance of the dark, and in witness to the light. Thank you that as your people sing, they encourage one another and grow in strength. We are created to sing this great music together to your glory, and I pray that no matter what circumstances may weigh upon me, I may sing in harmony and with confidence. Let your song be the loudest in my life, no mere background music but the signature tune of my days. Let it be so, for your glory and the blessing of many, Amen.

Let me pay attention..

Leave a reply

David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,

“Praise be to you, O Lord, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendour, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honour come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name…. Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.”

(1Chron 29.10-14)

“I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things. You heavens above, rain down righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with it; I, the Lord, have created it.”

(Isaiah 45.6-8)

..for I am sure we ought to love God in our lives and in all the blessings he sends us. We should trust him in our lives, so that when our time comes, but not before, we may go to him in love and trust and joy… We ought to find God and love him in the blessings he sends us.. Once a man has found God in his earthly bliss and has thanked him for it, there will be plenty of opportunities for him to remind himself that these earthly pleasures are only transitory…. But everything in its season, and the important thing is to keep step with God.

(Dietrich Bonhoeffer;  from Letters to a friend, in ‘Letters & papers from prison’: SCM 1953)

I have been privileged these past few years to live in one of the loveliest places, where the view from my kitchen sink is a panorama of mountains and water, with ever changing light, and a richness of colours and textures that intoxicate the heart. The lavish outpouring of beauty is a constant challenge to my capacity for thanksgiving, and at times I am moved to tears, overwhelmed by the generosity of the Lord who gives good gifts to his children.

I believe that our future as believers holds something even better, even more glorious than what I now enjoy – a new creation where all that moves us now will be found to be a faint echo of what God plans, and we will need our resurrection bodies in order to contain and express the joy that we will feel as we live there without sin or grief or death.

Even as I anticipate that future though, I am called by God to live in the present. I cannot be in two places or times at once, and He knows that! It is my task and joy to live here, now, to be fully present for those around me, and also – wonderfully – to enjoy all the good things he has provided for me in the present. Yes, these are all gifts which, having been given, may be withdrawn – but that is in His hands, and how churlish, thankless and downright foolish it would be of me to refuse to enjoy them now because one day they will be gone! I honour and praise the King of heaven most fully when I receive and use and appreciate what he has given me each hour and day.

It is my experience that in the midst of grief, and even of near despair, the Lord of my heart is offering me his good gifts – whether in the love and kindness of friends, the power of music to speak comfort, the beauty of the tiniest detail in nature – and I am so thankful that he has taught my eyes and heart to be attentive, so that I can receive these messages of love and the assurance they give of his presence, his power, his faithfulness and his greatness. I rejoice that the human frame is so fashioned by our God that we can experience joy in the midst of sorrow, and light in the midst of darkness, and even as we acknowledge our limitations and needs to Him, we are held and loved and known – what inexpressible comfort there is in such intimate care.

May the Lord give us attentive hearts to receive all the good things he has provided for us today, may he give us thankful hearts to use and appreciate his gifts, may he give us grace to fully enjoy those gifts while never forgetting that the best is yet to come.  Though it may lie on the other side of pain and loss, yet it is guaranteed to us as his beloved children. Dear friends, take hold of your days as gifts, relish and cherish them and lay them at his feet each evening as a thank offering, not fearing what the morrow may bring because he will still be with you when it comes.

Joining in the chorus!

Leave a reply

Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvellous deeds among all peoples.

For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendour and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary.

Ascribe to the Lord, O families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to his name; bring an offering and come into his courts. Worship the Lord in the splendour of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.

Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.” The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity. Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy, they will sing before the Lord, for he comes, to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth.

(Ps 96)

Today, the world has been singing. Today, the Lord woke me to a glad heart and a thankful spirit, as I looked out on spring and the miracle of renewal after winter. Today, the Lord put a song into my heart, a song of thankfulness for all the many gifts which I have received, and all the ways in which He makes my life sweet. Today, I joined the chorus of creation, from the great striding bass notes of mountain and ocean, up to the top line melody of birdsong and delicate flowers. Today, I sang too.

Friends, it is not always easy to lift our eyes beyond our troubles, and those of others, in order to be reminded of the truth about our God as He reveals himself in creation – in its complexity, beauty and power. But when we are able, it is surely one of the most refreshing and encouraging experiences. To celebrate our Creator and delight in his creation is to do what we are made to do. To choose to praise him in spite of the very real trials and troubles of our lives and our world, is to glorify and honour the only one who can rightly address those troubles, and perfectly work all things together to fulfill his plans.

To praise God is to defy the devil. To praise God is to proclaim his greatness to a world which doesn’t want to know him. To praise God is to affirm the faith which He has given us in His character and promises, and to offer an acceptable sacrifice to the Almighty. To praise God in the midst of our messy and broken human lives is to shout aloud that we believe the best is yet to come, and that through our Saviour, Jesus, we will be alive to see it – more alive than we have ever been!

Let us then pray for one another, to be granted the strength and vision to praise our God, no matter what else is happening to us. Praise restores our perspective; praise puts our focus on God – who alone can aid and does sustain us. Praise enables us to affirm with Paul these wonderful truths:-

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No!

In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Rom 8.35)

When it all comes together

Leave a reply

Of the Father’s love begotten ere the worlds began to be, He is Alpha and Omega, He the source, the ending He, of the things that are, that have been, and that future years shall see, Evermore and evermore.

O that birth forever blessed, when the virgin, full of grace, by the Holy Ghost conceiving, bare the Saviour of our race, and the babe, the world’s redeemer, first revealed his sacred face, Evermore and evermore.

This is He whom seers in old time chanted of with one accord, whom the voices of the prophets promised in their faithful word; now He shines, the long-expected; let creation praise its Lord, Evermore and evermore.

O ye heights of heaven, adore Him; angel hosts, His praises sing; all dominions, bow before Him, and extol our God and King; let no tongue on earth be silent, every voice in concert ring, Evermore and evermore.

Christ, to Thee, with God, the Father, and, O Holy Ghost, to Thee, hymn and chant and high thanksgiving, and unwearied praises be, honour, glory, and dominion, and eternal victory, Evermore and evermore.

(Aurelius Clemens Prudentius, 348-413; tr by JM Neale 1818-66)

There shall come forth  a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord… In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples – of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

(Isa 11.1,2&10)

But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons

(Gal 4.4)

Shall I see with the eyes of faith today? Shall I choose to see through the edifice of human history and discern His story? Shall I choose with the prophets, shepherds and wise men, with Mary and Joseph, Anna and Simeon, to see in this baby the breaking through of God’s purposes after centuries of waiting?

Lord, grant me the eyes of faith, to recognise the wonder and glory of that first Christmas, when you were born to Mary, when the divine robed himself in mortality and helplessness, and dwelt among us. Veiled in flesh, your glory muted to accomodate our sinfulness and spare us from being burnt up by your holiness; thus you remained on earth for a few short years, and in that time, accomplished deliverance for ever for all who ever lived who will accept it!

I will rejoice today in the ever living One, who was and is and is to come, and who yet entered time and took on flesh, becoming like us in order to save us from ourselves and from his great enemy. I will rejoice today in the wonder and majesty of the purposes of God, formed before time began and steadily worked out through all the countless choices of humankind down the years, until the day dawns when all is wound up and made new. I will rejoice that Christmas is not just a feast for the darkest time of the year, not just a party for the children, not just a comfortable tradition, but is truly good news, life-changing news, is true light against utter darkness, and will never be overcome.

Now, today, in my heart, the light shines and I join creation in praising my Lord. Long his coming was expected, and how long we have waited for his return! Today, in my heart, I cry, “Come, Emmanuel, and take us home! You are our Saviour and King, and your resting place will be among us, and will be glorious; we have waited long, Oh come soon.”

Ageless truths

Leave a reply

And there were shepherds living out in the fields near by, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

(Lk 2.8-20)

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth… From the fulness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.

(Jn 1.14&16)

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus… when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.

(Gal 3.26-28; 4.4&5)

As I reflect on a long-standing pattern for observing the Christmas season, I realise that it shows many things that I have reason to be thankful for. The stability of my childhood home, the faith and commitment to God which underlay that home and directed its life; the strong church family in which I was raised for nearly twenty years – no upheavals or removals to break the threads of love and familiarity which held us all so strongly; the prosperity which expressed itself in feasts and gifts, in hospitality and all the trappings of celebration; the freedom to worship without fear of retribution, and openly to welcome others to join us.. All these things are gifts, they cannot be taken for granted, and I am so thankful to God for them as I see many around me in the world who are without.

One result of this peaceful life is that I have developed quite fixed habits of my own, traditions that for me speak of Christmas. But I realise increasingly that I must learn to hold these things more loosely, to recognise that change is unavoidable, and that I must not tie my celebration to my traditions – whether of food, playlists, decorations, patterns of church services, or hospitality. Some of God’s saints will ‘celebrate ‘ Christmas this year in hospital, in care homes, in hospices. Some will be in an alien land, deprived of all the comforts of home, unable to communicate in the language of the country, and without the means to give gifts or create a feast. Some will have suffered appalling violence this year, to themselves or their loved ones, and that grief and pain will rob the season of all its superficial glitter and cheer. What does Christmas offer them, if it is only a matter of material things?

I too may one day lose those things which speak strongly to me of the joy of the Christmas season – the presence of certain people, the music and the rituals of special services, a home to decorate and the means to share it with others. If I lose them, have I lost my joy? I am challenged to look again at the story, at the big story of which it is a key part, and to allow wonder at God’s grace and love to be the root of my celebration. I want to respond like the shepherds, who in their obedience to revelation made the child their child, the one to whom they went in worship, and for whom they praised God. I want to respond like Mary, pondering again the timeless truths about this child, this God-made-man, this Word of creation who came looking for her, for me, for all of us, that we might belong to him. What a gift, what unending source of joy and gladness!

The greatest gift

Leave a reply

I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see  him with my own eyes – I and not another. How my heart yearns within me!

(Job 19.25-27)

Jesus said.. ” I am the resurrection and the life. One who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” “Yes, Lord,” [Martha] told him, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”

(Jn 11.25-27)

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Rom 6.22&23)

Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him … and so we will be with the Lord for ever.

(1 Thess. 4.13,14&17)

O Holy night, the stars are brightly shining, it is the night of the dear Saviour’s birth;

Long lay the world in sin and error pining, ’till he appeared and the soul felt its worth. 

A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn; 

Fall on your knees, Oh hear the angel voices! O night divine! O night when Christ was born.

(P Cappeau, translated by JS Dwight, 1855)

I don’t think I have ever been more thankful in my life that my Christmas celebrations are based on the historical person of Jesus, and on what He came to be and do for me. As I look around at a weary world full of pain and struggle, a society which is grasping vainly at ‘tradition’, family, or some nebulous ‘hope’ as the basis for a party, and see so many hurting people for whom the whole idea of ‘celebration’ is both insulting and painful, I grieve and pray God’s mercy.

But I also give thanks because as a follower of Jesus, I have a hope which is certain, based on something outside human fallibility, outside this broken but beautiful world; something which is more real than I can begin to understand. Christmas is not ‘just for the children’. Christmas is not some general season of goodwill and superficial cheer. Christmas – the birth of God as a human baby, come to dwell among us, to die and rise again – is for the lonely and desolate; for the abused and the abuser; for the tyrant and the oppressed. Because He came, everything can be different, every heart re-born into hope and humility, grace and generosity, praise and perseverance.

I can sing and be glad because Jesus came; came for me and for you; came to make a difference for ever, and it depends not on my feelings about it, but on God’s truth and love and power and faithfulness to His own promises. This greatest of all gifts comes to set aside all human striving and delusion; comes and says, ‘Believe in me, and stop chasing peace in all the wrong places.’

Jesus is God’s hope for the hopeless; God’s healing for the broken; God’s forgiveness for all us sinners; God’s love for the unlovely; God’s home for the exiles; God’s light for the rest of our journey in this sin-darkened world.

Celebrating Christmas does not mean pretending that there is no pain, or that life is perfect. For some, and sometimes for me, Christmas has been viewed through tears, through a shadow of bereavement or other major source of pain and weariness. But I think that when we choose to give thanks through our tears, God is even more honoured than when we find it easy to be glad. No, we celebrate because the coming of Jesus makes all the difference to the pain and imperfection – we see their transience, see that under God’s providence they are not in charge. We are no longer alone in the dark, and it doesn’t all depend on us to make it right – what a burden that is, and how good to lay it down!

In Christmas, we celebrate the coming of the King, whose kingdom is now established among us in all who believe. I hope that for you and those you love, this coming King is welcomed as Lord and Light, Saviour and Friend, so that no matter what darkness is in your life at the moment, you can rejoice in Jesus and be encouraged and strengthened for the year that lies ahead. We do not know what the future holds, but – as the old song says – we know who holds the future, and we trust ourselves into his nail-scarred hands.

Building site with great prospects!

Leave a reply

For the Lord has chosen Zion, he has desired it for his dwelling: “This is my resting place for ever and ever; here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it.

(Ps 132.13&14)

Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

(Jn 14.23)

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?

(1 Cor 3.16)

I thank my God for you every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with  joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

(Phil 1.3-6)

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

(1 Jn 3.2&3)

Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.

(CS Lewis, from Mere Christianity, 1952)

This quote from CS Lewis beautifully expresses the rather bewildering experience of the believer who – having come thankfully to God for forgiveness and restoration – finds themselves being increasingly challenged, disturbed and unsettled as their journey of faith unfolds. It turns out that God’s ambitions for us are so very much greater than our own, and the blueprint to which He is working – the very likeness of Christ himself – is beyond our comprehension.

I find it helpful to return to this image regularly as I ponder what God has done and is doing in my life, especially on those occasions when it felt as though I had been subject to a demolition order, when familiar supports were knocked away and foundations dug for a whole new framework. I am already secure as a child of God, and my place in His eternal glory is guaranteed – my prospects are truly marvellous, since I am to be at home in the new creation, where there will be no more imperfections, and all creation will be as He always intended it should be. I will be completely in harmony with my surroundings, and free from any shadow of guilt or shame.

In the meantime, it sometimes feels as though no progress is being made at all – the same basic sins recur, in different forms, over and over; new challenges arise in each stage of life which can feel insurmountable; doubts shake us, and grief near overwhelms us. But the bible asserts that in the midst of this apparent chaos and utter lack of progress, yet God is at work, and his ultimate goal is complete transformation. Each of His beloved, redeemed children is becoming a unique expression of Christ, a celebration of the beauty of the One and Only Son where God dwells and His glory is revealed and exulted in.

He has always intended that He should dwell with us in joy and mutual delight, and to that end, the whole of history unfolds. One day, we shall see that plan fully realised, and by then, in our perfected resurrection bodies, we shall be able to praise and honour him rightly – what a wonderful prospect that is. May we be strengthened in our faith as we undergo the labours of the heavenly builder, strengthened to trust that He knows what He is doing and enabled to co-operate with Him. Our prospects are glorious, and we shall be amazed when we see the final results of His great plan..Have you ever tried to imagine how it might feel to come before our Lord without a trace of guilt, regret or shame? It is an overwhelmingly wonderful thing that He is doing for us, and He WILL finish the task..so let us persevere with hope and confidence.

 

It does me good to stop..look…and give thanks

Leave a reply

Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvellous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn – shout for joy before the Lord, the King.

Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; let them sing before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.

Psalm 98

The sun is brilliant from behind a veil of silver clouds in the west, and the stiff breeze whips colour into my face. Overhead, the gulls are riding the wind, arrogantly motionless, they soar aloft, their mewing cries joining the voices of sea and wind in exaltation. All the earth around me is indeed singing for joy to the Creator, the Lord of all things. Colours are intensified by the low sunshine, and glory sounds on every hand, from green field, deep yellow gorse, and the white-ruffled blue of the water; from the wisps of cloud scattered across the skies, and the sharp faces of mountain peaks. 

I do not worship creation…but I look, and am healed, comforted, nourished and inspired by the beauty which the Creator has put into this tiniest corner of a mind-boggling universe. I do not worship creation…but I look and wonder as all that is made gives glory to its maker by being itself – reflecting his power and expressing his greatness. I do not worship creation…but I look and am humbled, reminded of just how insignificant we are, and how resolutely we continue to dishonour our maker, to destroy his creation, and reject the very notion of his existence.

Why should the Lord of all this beauty, the power which created and sustained it, be concerned in the lives of human beings who defy, deny and destroy? Why should his right hand and his holy arm work salvation, revealing his righteousness to the nations? Why should the judge of all things choose to act in such a way that sinful humanity might be delivered from the justice which would require our destruction?

Why should God choose to set his love upon humanity, and then go to the Cross in the person of his Son so that we might know and return that love, living with him in hope here, and in fulfilled and perfect immortality? 

He loved us, because he loved us, because he loves us…

This is why my heart sings when I see the beauty all around me, from the tiniest frond of moss, to the stars lavishly scattered across the night sky. Because all these things proclaim the God who loves me..all these things are now mine to cherish as his gift to me, as his provision for me, and because when I rejoice in them, I bring delight to the heart of the giver. 

There is so much that I cannot understand, so much grief and darkness in my own life and in the world around me. But when I take time to look, to remember what creation is telling me every moment of every day, that the Creator is no distant, uncaring or arbitrary deity but a God of bounty, of beauty, of blessing who gave his Son that I might know him, I take courage for the next step of obedience. 

Sin remains, weakness persists, temptation recurs; but the Lord has done marvellous things, and salvation for all who believe, from every nation to the ends of the earth is accomplished. Friends, let us avail ourselves often of this encouragement from the beauty around us – that our Creator God, the holy and righteous judge, has done for us all that we need, so that we stand beloved in his presence, and raise our whole being in praise, in chorus with all his creation, shouting for joy before our King.

and arbitrary