Category Archives: faith

On being afraid…1

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In the time of Herod.. there was a priest named Zechariah.. he and his wife Elizabeth were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly. But they had no children.. and they were both well on in years.

Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot.. to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar.. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on .. to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

(Lk 1.5-17, extract)

Is there something that you have been praying about for many years? An abiding ache that just won’t go away, and which over and over again brings you before the Lord in hope and also submission to his will… Many of us will have burdens which, like Zechariah and Elizabeth’s natural desire for a son, have remained heavy upon us. Perhaps, also like them, you have known God’s grace enabling you to bear that burden, hour by hour and day by day, even year by year. Have you ever thought that in that process of regularly coming before the Lord with your wound, your need and desire, you are putting yourself right at the throne of grace and mercy? This position of humble submission and petition before the Almighty is just the right place, the place where we are leaning completely on his promises, his power and his goodness, and laying our own desires in surrender before him, to do as he sees fit.

It is in that growing relationship – the long process of time lived with unanswered prayer which we keep on bringing to God in faith – that we are being shaped by God’s spirit. That very burden which weighs so heavily upon us, is the means by which God is working to create in us the glory of Christ-likeness, as we return again and again in trust and dependence to him. I can speak personally to the truth of this lesson; for many years, it seemed I was praying the same thing over and over again – and that’s the whole point, I was praying!! For many years, it seemed the answer was not resolution of the problem, but abundant and fresh anointings of grace – which I was able to receive because I was sitting at the throne of grace and mercy begging for help.. I learnt so much about prayer, and I believe that those years have seen a real work of God in shaping my thinking and deepening faith.

We can picture Zechariah, faithfully fulfilling his duties, probably not expecting anything out of the ordinary, but prayerful and conscious of the privilege of serving in the temple at this time. And then, suddenly the extraordinary, the outrageous happens, and he is confronted by a divine being, a terrifying outbreak of glory into his normality, one bringing the utterly unexpected word of an answer to years of prayer and surrender.

Is it not beautiful, how the Lord’s messenger immediately and tenderly speaks to reassure this mature and yet terrified man? In all his dealings with us, these words are perhaps a constant undercurrent – ‘do not be afraid’, and why not? Because the one who speaks is the one who knows and loves us, and who has plans to bless and make us fit for glory; who will be with us and keep us through every circumstance until he takes us home. Whether that blessing and sustaining comes through years of living with unanswered prayers; or through miraculous provision and fulfillment of our petitions, yet still we can face the future without fear. We are loved; we are accepted; we are heard and seen with all our unique qualities – and our Almighty God IS working in and through us to build his kingdom and bring glory to his name.

These are words from the prayer of Zechariah, after the miraculous child, John, was born; we can make them ours today as we rejoice with him in our good, faithful, fear-quenching God.

Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us.. salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.. to rescue us… and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days!

Words, words, words

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.. we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from God…

Companions as we are in this work with you, we beg you, please don’t squander one bit of this marvellous life God has given us.. Dear, dear Corinthians, I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!

(2Cor 5 & 6, extracts: The Message)

The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd. By faith, we see the world called into existence by God’s word, what we see created by what we don’t see….. 

(Heb 11.1-3)

Do you ever find yourself dizzy with words? Driven to distraction by the sense of what seems to be meaningless noise echoing around your head? I love words, I need to articulate my thoughts, but even I can get to the point where I long for some kind of communication which does not include text or speech! The whole of our scripture is about the revelation of the Almighty God to his creation, to his beloved humankind, and much of that revelation is actually by deeds – by the ways in which God deals with people in all their messiness and rebellion. We are encouraged to learn from that recorded history not by memorising the actual words, but by discerning their meaning, the patterns and lessons which they reveal. The glorious exposition of faith-in-action which we find in Hebrews ch 11 is a call to remember, to meditate, to learn from the lives of others – and we can apply that same learning to the lives of those nearer to us in time. I have found so much encouragement from the stories of faith which are shared by more contemporary figures, people like CS Lewis, Elisabeth Elliott, Joni Eareckson Tada, Pete Greig to name but a few.

And yet, over and over I find that until I have wrestled those life lessons into my own words, I have not actually understood them – and as for learning and putting them into practice….well, why do you think this blog is named ‘a forgetful soul’?! On one level, words are meaningless because of themselves, they cannot do anything. And yet on another level, they are powerful because they are the means by which our thinking and understanding is shaped and changed. And so, although I get weary of reading, weary of wrestling with my thoughts to articulate them, weary of chasing first one writer and then another in hopes that their words might somehow communicate to me just what I need to hear – yet still I read, I wrestle, and I investigate. And all the time I am praying that God will take these words and make the truth which they represent real for me – that I will learn to know by experience what the words are trying to portray for me. My constant cry is “What does this look like in real life, in my life today?”

I write today to encourage myself to persevere with words; and to encourage others also as they seek to grow in faith and maturity, in wisdom and love as God leads and directs our lives. The 66 books which we call our bible (which simply means a mini-library of books) are where we start; our lived experience informs much of what we read and must be where we work it out; the lives of others will teach and shape us as we observe God at work in their situations too. And ultimately, it is by the Holy Spirit working within that the truth read becomes the truth lived – we no longer seek to explain faith; we live it. We no longer simply describe the freedom of Christ as it should transform our lives; we exercise and experience it. The bud breaks, and the flower of Christ’s life in us is unfolded day by day, as his power unfurls each glorious petal of our transforming personality.

Merciful and loving Father, hear us today as we thank you for your power in us to transform our lives. We read and learn and ask that you will take the words on our lips and in our minds and make them real in us. May we live by faith in you, trusting in you at every step. May we live expansively, generously, unafraid and great-hearted because you have set us free in Christ. Let our words mean something for eternity; let us embody Christ, the living word of God himself – for your glory and our blessing. Amen.

That faith might not fail

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I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.. the Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The Lord protects the unwary; when I was brought low, he saved me. Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you…. I trusted in the Lord when I said “I am greatly afflicted”.. What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of his people.

(Ps 116.1&2,5-7,10,12-14)

.. we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.. the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans..

(Rom 8.23&26)

.. ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms..

(Eph 1.15-20)

“How may I be praying for you?” – is one of the kindest questions we can be asking one another as God’s children and fellow pilgrims on this journey. How would you answer that one today? Although our various individual circumstances will vary enormously, each of us is walking by faith, and I believe that one of the greatest ways we can encourage one another is by praying for that faith to grow stronger, and not fade or fail. If faith grows weak, then our walk is imperilled, and we may stray from God’s path, or fall prey to sore temptations and injure ourselves and others. We can see that happening time and again in the story of God’s people down through history, as they stopped relying on God and took matters into their own hands.

But that story is also the tale of God’s redemption, deliverance and transformation of those same flawed human beings. Because of his loyal love and faithfulness to his own promises, we are offered salvation as a gift, not a reward – we are not earning anything, but are invited to set aside all claims to power, righteousness, strength or endurance, and to lean hard on God. In our weakness, He is strong. In Psalm 116, the word ‘unwary’ refers to a person who has a deep and childlike trust – they walk without being troubled because they are confident in their Father. Faith like this is possible because of who God is, and because in Jesus we are assured of our place in his family.

Faith to face a challenging reality does not mean screwing up one’s nerve, but turning one’s gaze upon Jesus every single day – a discipline, yes, and also the way that we keep going. To come before God in every situation is to trust him with every part of our lives – the psalmist simply cried out a statement of fact about his condition, but behind that lay the conviction that his situation mattered to God, to the Almighty, the Maker of the galaxies. This is trust, faith in action – and as we get to know him better, as Paul prays for the Ephesians, we will deepen our trust, becoming more childlike in simply presenting God with each day and hour and need, fully expecting that he is able to carry us through, to be at work in what is happening, and to keep us close to him through all things. And in Romans, Paul assures his hearers that when words fail us, even then we can be sure that God has heard and understood because the Spirit within us speaks.

Let us then be encouraged to pray for one another, for the God in whom we trust will not fail us, even though we may be more aware of our weakness and failures than anything else. Let us also pray for one another against the spirit of pride, or complacency which is perhaps more dangerous to faith, since it leads us to walk carelessly, presuming on our own wisdom and abilities. May God keep us from that danger, and keep us humble, childlike and trusting in the Father who is always listening, whose arms are always extended, and whose power is always being exercised on our behalf. Let us make this song our prayer for ourselves and one another, to his glory and our blessing!

When I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast;
When the tempter would prevail, He will hold me fast.
I could never keep my hold through life’s fearful path;
For my love is often cold; He must hold me fast.

He will hold me fast, He will hold me fast;
For my Saviour loves me so, He will hold me fast.

Those He saves are His delight, Christ will hold me fast;
Precious in his holy sight, He will hold me fast.
He’ll not let my soul be lost; His promises shall last;
Bought by Him at such a cost, He will hold me fast.

For my life He bled and died, Christ will hold me fast;
Justice has been satisfied; He will hold me fast.
Raised with Him to endless life, He will hold me fast
‘Till our faith is turned to sight, When He comes at last!

(AR Habershorn 1861-1918, and Keith & Kristen Getty)

When it’s rough…

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Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures for ever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore… Lord, do good to those who are good, to those who are upright in heart..

(Ps 125.1,2&4)

Restore our fortunes, Lord, like streams in the Negev. Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy; those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.

(Ps 126.4-6)

Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain.. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat – for while they sleep he provides for those he loves.

(Ps 127.1-2)

May the Lord bless you from Zion; may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. May you live to see your children’s children – peace be on Israel.

(Ps 128.5&6)

“A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping. Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more…”

(Jer 31.15& Matt 2.18)

As God’s creation, a woman, I know that I am made in his image – I reflect his nature and character in spite of the many ways in which sin has blighted and contorted that image. My experiences as a woman, as a mother, sister, and daughter are places where I gain insight into the nature of God. Many of my emotions are prompts, by which I am moved to pray according to God’s will for the situations around me. My mother-heart is a pale reflection of the passionate, powerful love which God has for his children – and as such, I believe that my pain is also an insight into what it costs for the Almighty to watch his children suffer, to be rejected by them, to know that their choices will cost them dearly. A father will know the pain perhaps in a different way, and that too is a reflection of our great God in his unfathomable richness and depth. I speak only for myself..

And sometimes, I am Rachel… weeping and lamenting for losses which seem unbearable. I have believing friends whose children are astray from the faith in which they were raised, seemingly immune to the love of Christ and resolute in resisting the Spirit. I have believing friends who have lost adult children and young grandchildren to illness and death, who daily have to choose to keep going in the face of unimaginable grief. I have believing friends whose believing children are facing huge challenges and who are struggling to find courage to persevere.

What do God’s believing people do when their lives are assaulted by such storms – when their lives become the storm and there is no hope of relief or abatement? In these circumstances, the blessings which the psalms call down on the heads of God’s faithful people ring hollow, and we resent their apparently easy assumption that faith brings prosperity in health, family and inheritance. In these circumstances, we return to Job on his ash heap; we sit with him and silently acknowledge that God is sovereign, his ways beyond finding out and that we are but dust before him. We follow the psalmist in lamentation for the very real grief and pain, threat and danger which we are seeing and experiencing. And then we follow the psalmist in preaching to himself, in deliberately choosing to consider the God who has revealed himself to us.

We see a covenant-keeping, self-sacrificing, patient, gracious, merciful, generous, powerful and all-knowing Lord. We see Love written large in the words of the prophets, in the ministry of Jesus and ultimately across the Cross itself. We see reason to hope, when the darkest and bleakest day in history becomes the moment when light triumphs completely and for ever over death, sin and evil. If we cannot find a refuge here, then we are truly astray without any guide in a cold and hostile wilderness, and life has no more purpose or reason to be prolonged.

So let us cling on my friends, because the Cross happened, the Resurrection is true. We have a saviour who knows what it is to be human, and what grief and despair can do to us. We have a God who knows that we are frail, and who invites – no, who begs – that we continue to come to him in all our troubles, for ourselves and for others. He promises, not that it will all suddenly become easy, but that He will NEVER leave us to bear it alone.

O Lord, the mystery of your divine purposes mean that we often fall bewildered and grieving in your presence, unable to understand or bear the pain of life, and struggling to hold on to your promises. When those we love are oppressed – by pain, bereavement, unemployment, illness, and despair – we pray for your deliverance and are disappointed if those prayers appear unanswered. It is not simple.. in so many grievous situations where your believing children suffer, we are overwhelmed by the pain and your ways seem utterly obscured. O Lord, you know our frame and what we can bear – spare us, strengthen us, protect our faith and keep us clinging to you when the waves mount high. Truly, we have no hope apart from you! In Jesus’ precious name, we cry to you.. 

  • Image courtesy of Neil Urquhart – with sincere thanks!

The way of faithfulness…

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But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. and we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

(Rom 8.25-28)

I am laid low in the dust; preserve my life according to your word. I gave an account of my ways and you answered me; teach me your decrees. Cause me to understand the way of your precepts, that I may meditate on your wonderful deeds. My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word. Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me and teach me your law.

I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws. I hold fast to your statutes, Lord; do not let me be put to shame. I run in the path of your commands, for you have broadened my understanding.

(Ps 119. 25-32)

As I was reading Psalm 119 this morning, that phrase, “I have chosen the way of faithfulness” jumped out at me. For all our human weakness and frailty, our vacillating desires and wavering commitment, those who follow Jesus will affirm again and again that this is their choice – to be faithful to the Lord whose faithfulness to us is without limit and has powerfully delivered us from death to life. We long to live according to his word, that he might be glorified in and through us, and that others may join his kingdom of freedom, love and peace. No matter what storms may sweep through our lives, this remains our desire – to walk in the way of faithfulness and not to give up!

I have spoken recently with friends who are facing very challenging seasons, having been laid aside through illness and prolonged medical treatments, they seem to be in some kind of limbo. Their lives have changed out of all recognition and they must live from day to day, not planning far ahead and fighting to remain joyful and peaceful in the strange paths which now they tread. It is perfectly natural that their spirits should be low, and their energy drained so that every day can be an effort to overcome weariness.  The psalmist speaks from such a place of suffering, and his response is to cling fast to truth and to God’s word as it reveals the divine character; calling on the Lord to do for him what is needed, because the whole situation is plain before God. God can bring life from death; can give strength to the weak and understanding and revelation to the confused and despairing.

In such situations, we can find it hard to pray, but again, we have here a guide – to put into our own words an account of our situation and to speak to our Father about our need and desire to remain faithful to Him in the midst of it. Paul assures us that in those situations, we have the power of the Holy Spirit ministering within us and interceding for us before God. It doesn’t matter if we are baffled, so long as we come to the throne room of our Father with our confusion and ask his aid. The Spirit knows God’s heart and plans, and can speak for us.

It is indeed ‘wonderful’ , in the sense of being quite baffling to our minds, that God should be working out his good purposes through our trials, and yet we believe that this is so. The whole of scripture testifies to the providential power of the Almighty to turn darkness into light and suffering into triumph, and always according to his great plan for salvation and the establishment of his kingdom.

Dear loving Father, I pray today for all those who feel that they are wasting time by being ill; who miss their former way of life and wonder what this season of illness is for. May they tell you their story, coming in the trusting attitude of children to the one whom they know can help, and whose motives are for their good.

In this season, Lord bless your servants who have chosen the way of faithfulness, and show them Your faithfulness! Reveal to them opportunities to serve and glorify you in the path which they now walk; enrich them with new delight in your word and understanding of your ways; give them joys in the smallest and simplest pleasures and daily love-gifts from your treasury, each chosen to touch them particularly since you know them so well. Honour their daily choice to walk in faith, and bring them peace. For your glory and their blessing I pray, Amen.

If.. such a big little word

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While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.

(Lk 5.12&13)

Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down, and prayed. “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

(Lk 22.39-42)

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

(Jas 4.13-15)

I wonder if you, like me, can identify with the leper in his words to Jesus – “IF you are willing..”? I share the leper’s conviction that Jesus has power to save, to deliver from disease and death. I also share his awareness that it is not for us to dictate to the Sovereign King of all kings, the Ruler of God’s kingdom, the precise ways in which He should exercise that power. It is not for us to grasp every pixel in the big picture, to hold together all the threads of history as it is woven through the lives of millions, across countless thousands of years. We cannot know in detail at any one time just exactly what is best – either for ourselves, our loved ones, or our nation.

If.. is such a little word, but it holds all the dreary and debilitating power of doubt to hold us back from trusting God with all our desires, hopes and fears. We know that down the centuries, God’s children have prayed for peace and had to endure war; they have prayed for rain, and had to watch their children die due to drought; they have prayed for godly leaders, and had to endure persecution, and the authoritarian exercise of power explicitly denying God’s existence. We know from our own experience that faith in Jesus Christ as Lord of Lords and King of Kings does not give us all that we pray for, and we wrestle with disappointment, unanswered questions, crippling grief.

Is God not willing then? Have we misunderstood? I don’t think there are any straightforward responses to this little word, and the massive challenges it raises. But what do we see when Jesus used it? We see an agonised but complete submission to God’s will; a determination to surrender himself to the Love which planned the overturning of human bondage to sin and death, in spite of the price which he would personally pay.

We are called to live as those acutely aware of the frailty of life; of the uncertainty which shrouds our lives even only 24 hours ahead. God asks us to take our hands off the controls (since being ‘in control’ is an illusion in any case), and to let Him be in charge of the world and our lives. We may not always know what God might do in a particular situation – even as the leper was unsure when Jesus came to him that day – but we can always pray for God’s will to be done. We can pray with thanksgiving that in every situation, we have Christ with us and for him to be working in those situations for his glory and our blessing. We can pray for Jesus name to be honoured and for his kingdom to come, heart-by-heart, home-by-home, in our world. We can pray for the Spirit within to motivate and enable us to witness to others by word and deed. We can pray for one another as believers, that we might persevere and grow in our faith, hope and love. We can pray for those who do not believe, that they will repent and return to God before it is too late – since we know that God longs for all his children to know him..

Beloved, let us pray and not lose heart, but, confessing our doubts, bring all our burdens to God, and commit ourselves to submission to his will and obedience to his word. Let unanswered prayer, and especially what look like ‘failed’ prayers bring us quickly to God’s throne in renewed dependence, so that the devil may not render us helpless in despair. Let us pray…

The promise….

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Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up….. be careful that you do not forget the Lord..

(Deut 6.4-7,12)

When the people heard this,… they said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name  of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

(Ac 2. 37-39)

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

(2Tim 3.14&15)

The baptism of infants is not some magic ritual, nothing about the child changes as a result of having water sprinkled on its head. What happens rather, is that the congregation within which the child is brought for baptism is remembering and celebrating the abundant and free grace of God – who, when we were as dead things, incapable of any move towards Him, sent Jesus to set us free from the power and guilt of sin, so that we might live for and with Him. This child, born to christian parents, is the object of God’s loving care, all because of Jesus.. It is all God’s plan, all God’s power, all God’s agency, and we are invited to receive it!

It is that generosity and love which we celebrate in baptism – the person receiving God’s gift of salvation has done nothing to earn it, and while we pray and trust that they will persevere in faith, the mere fact of having been baptised does not guarantee anything about their future walk with God. Adult believers who have been baptised may walk away from their faith in the same way that the children of believers who have been baptised and raised in their faith may walk away.. I know it, I know those children and their grieving parents. Ultimately, we cannot make a person believe, and baptism can be rejected along with all the other aspects of our calling as believers in Jesus.

Today, I will be joining with my son and daughter-in-law and their congregation as my grandson is baptised. I will pray for him for the rest of my life, that he might grow to walk in the faith into which he has been born; I will pray for his parents to have wisdom in sharing their faith with their son, and in surrounding him with a faith-family; I will do what I can, when I can, to help this little one navigate the hurdles to faith which our blindly self-obsessed culture presents. But I cannot guarantee that he will follow his father and mother, his grand-parents and great-grandparents in trusting Jesus.

The promise was claimed by my parents for me; I claimed it for my children, and today my son will claim it for his son. We are a family rich in God’s grace as some in each generation have accepted their calling to live as followers of Jesus. I desire this more than anything for my own children and their offspring – nothing, nothing else matters as much in all the world, as that they should be safe in Christ. But I also know a very small part of the grief of our great God as he calls people to himself, only to see them reject his love and choose to walk in their own light. If it breaks my heart to see a child walk away from their Saviour, how much more must it grieve God who is love, who made each and every person that has ever lived with the desire that they might know and love him?

Heavenly Father, from whom all good things come, I thank you today for your gift of life and hope, for the child who has  joined our family. Lord God, may he grow up into faith, into a lifelong obedience and service of the Lord Jesus. Thank you that our salvation is your free gift, may I share that good news fervently and freely, so that more may come into your family and find peace.

Lord God, have mercy on those who would reject the faith into which they were born. Give us wisdom to love them well in your name; stir up within them a hunger for more than this world can offer; bring them back to the foot of the cross to accept for themselves the life which Jesus has won for them. Oh Lord, hear our prayer for the straying sheep, and sustain our hope, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Real life, real faith..

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There, by the Ahava canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from our enemies on the road, because we had told the king, ‘The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his anger is great against all who forsake him.’ So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer…..

On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the Ahava canal to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he protected us from enemies and bandits along the way. So we arrived in Jerusalem, where we rested three days…

Then the exiles who had returned from captivity sacrificed burnt offerings to the God of Israel… they also delivered the king’s orders to the royal satraps and to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, who then gave assistance to the people and to the house of God.

(Ez 8.21-23,31&32, 35&36)

A song of ascents.. When the Lord restores Zion’s fortunes, we should be like dreamers. Then will our mouth fill with laughter and our tongue with glad song. Then will they say in the nations: “Great things has the Lord done with these.” Great things has the Lord done with us. We shall rejoice.

(Ps 126.1-3; R Alter translation)

There is a task to be undertaken, something we are to do for the Lord – perhaps the life-long task of parenting; or the calling of godly living as a single or married person: perhaps something immediate and challenging, like a difficult conversation, or committing time and energy to a particular project. Every day, we are called to accept the duties and privileges of living as God’s image-bearers in our families, our communities, and to fulfil our tasks as well as we can for his glory and our blessing. Every day, there are choices to be made about how we live, what our priorities are, and whether we trust God to be sovereign over and in all that happens.

Ezra gives us so much to meditate on as he obeyed God’s call and undertook to lead a cohort of exiles back from Babylon to join the group already established in Jerusalem. His task involved a large and long term goal – the establishment of God’s law as the rule of life for all the people of Judah and Jerusalem – which was to be achieved by small daily steps of obedience and faith.

First, they had to get there.. a journey of many miles which took three months across potentially dangerous lands. Ezra recognised the risks – exacerbated by the fact they they carried great wealth with them – and began by calling the people to pray, committing themselves to God in faith, and asking him to honour his name and reputation by protecting them. There is no record of a particular answer, except in the actual experience of the travellers, which spoke clearly of God’s keeping! They asked, and then set off to act – demonstrating faith by living as if God’s promises would be kept.

Having first asked for help, and then experienced it as they obeyed, the people then formally and gladly thanked God for doing as they had trusted him to do! They had experienced the shielding love of God, and now worshipped and praised him for his faithfulness and grace to his people.

It is simple, and yet sometimes so difficult to do:- to ask, to act in faith, and then to take time to give God praise as we see and experience his work. We are tempted to wait for answers before undertaking the work, to look for supernatural guidance, when our sanctified common sense is there to direct us step-by-step. Ezra didn’t wait for a vision; he prayed and then went… Each day, I have the opportunity to take the next steps of service and obedience in the work to which I am called, the small tasks which are building God’s kingdom and fulfilling my purpose for his glory. Will I not trust the Lord to provide what I need for each task, each step? To live steadily and attentively by faith, is to live in thanksgiving, on the basis that what God has said, he will do – may I grow in such faith, that I might, like Ezra, be useful to my God and King.

So much more than the bare necessities..

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The Lord said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God…. “

(Ex 17.11&12)

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul….. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

(Ps 23.1-3,5-6)

The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”

(Matt 5.3&4)

Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty….No-one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever.”

(Jn 6.35,46-51)

I have never known the terror of starvation, of not knowing where my children and livestock can get food, of fearing the worst. I have lived in a time and a land of plenty, and have enjoyed the luxury of choice in ways that many people in the world today cannot imagine. I am not proud of that, but deeply aware that it is a privilege, and one which means that I should be slow to judge the people of Israel when, in the desert, they panicked and mobbed Moses, furious with fear for their children and livestock, and well aware of danger. Not once, but several times, the Lord intervened to provide what was needed, and exhorted the people to trust him for each fresh need as it arose, so that instead of panic, they would pray and ask in faith. They were being invited to believe in God’s goodness and readiness to deliver them, to acknowledge their own helplessness.

This image of God providing food for their bodies is also meant to make us think on a deeper level, as we find through the rest of scripture.  God’s word, his life-giving communication with us, his character and glory are shown as the food that we need for a fully human life, a life where we thrive in the relationship for which we are designed – God’s beloved children. We are invited to think of feasting on these things, of feeding our minds and being sustained by them. In our helplessness, He has provided abundantly and effectively for our need – through the life-giving, atoning sacrifice of Jesus, we receive forgiveness, transformation and enter into a new existence.

We eat in order to stay alive – and for this, a very basic diet will suffice. We eat in order to remain healthy and strong for life’s activities – and for this, some variety is necessary. We eat for pleasure, rejoicing in the flavours, textures, colours and satisfaction of enjoying food, one of God’s good gifts to us and designed to bring us joy and move us to thankfulness.

When I think of God’s provision for us, I like to think of these three different things. We need Christ in order to live… without him, we die in our sin and never know the life for which God has intended us. We need Christ in order to thrive as healthy children of God – growing in our strength and wisdom, thriving as we grasp more and more of the breadth and depth of what Jesus has done for us, and of who he is. We feast on Christ, rejoicing more and more as we learn how abundantly, gloriously he meets all our needs, and how beautiful and worthy of our adoration he is in himself, as the Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

Heavenly Father, even as I thank you each day for the physical food which nourishes my body, let me grow in gratitude for the food which you supply so abundantly for my life as your child.

I belong in your kingdom, your life is in me because I am your child, and that life is sustained, strengthened and enriched as I take time to think about you, as Jesus has revealed you to us and as we meet you in the bible.

Thank you for the more than adequate nourishment you give us, for the banquet which is ours to enjoy, and which will only be surpassed when we enter into the new creation, in our transformed bodies, and join with all your children at the wedding feast of Christ with his bride. Let me glorify you and enjoy all you give me today, and trust in your faithful provision for my future, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

A patchwork of praise and petition..

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To the lead player, a David psalm.

In You, O Lord, I shelter. Let me never be shamed. In Your bounty, O free me. Incline Your ear to me. Quick, save me.

Be my stronghold of rock, a fort-house to rescue me. For You are my crag and my bastion, and for Your name’s sake guide me and lead me. Get me out of the net that they laid for me, for You are my stronghold.

In Your hand I commend my spirit. You redeemed me, O Lord, God of truth. I hate those who look to vaporous lies. As for me, I trust in the Lord. Let me exult and rejoice in Your kindness, that You saw my affliction, You knew the straits of my life. And You did not yield me to my enemy’s hand, You set my feet in a wide-open place.

Grant me grace, Lord, for I am distressed….. For all my enemies I become a disgrace, just as much to my neighbours, and fear to my friends. Those who see me outside draw back from me. Forgotten from the heart like the dead, I become like a vessel lost…

As for me, I trust in You, O Lord. I say, “You are my God.” My times are in Your hand – O save me from the hand of my enemies, my pursuers. Shine Your face on Your servant, rescue me in Your kindness. Lord, let me not be shamed, for I call You….

How great Your goodness that You hid for those who fear You. You have wrought for those who shelter in You before the eyes of humankind. Conceal them in the hiding-place of Your presence from the crookedness of man……

Love the Lord, all his faithful, steadfastness the Lord keeps … Be strong, and let your heart be firm, all who hope in the Lord.

(Psalm 31.1-12,15-18,20&21,24&25: R. Alter translation*)

A few years ago, I received a new translation of the book of Psalms, by a notable Hebrew scholar, annotated with his own observations on the texts and their meaning. I have dipped into it occasionally since then, and often find that the sparse and fresh expression of texts which in older translations are very familiar, is refreshing and enriching. This particular psalm is introduced with the observation that many of the phrases and images are echoes of other psalms and parts of the bible – the books of Job and Jeremiah. I loved the idea that the author, whoever they were, did not hesitate to take words and ideas from all over their scriptures in order to praise God and to express their prayers.

Jesus makes a very explicit point in teaching his disciples, that prayer is not about the cleverness of one’s words, or the length of one’s sentences, but about honesty and straight-dealing with our God, from whom nothing is hidden. And I think that we should never be ashamed when we find ourselves using the words of others to praise or bring our petitions to God – when someone has found ways to express what we think and feel in powerful ways, we naturally find ourselves using their images and words ourselves!

The danger in using other people’s words comes when we do so unthinking, relying on their clever or powerful language to make our case, instead of truly meaning what we say. I know that some particularly well-beloved hymns are very difficult to sing meaningfully because I know them off by heart and can repeat the words parrot-fashion… that is not worship, or prayer.

In this case, we find the psalmist gathering images which speak powerfully of God’s care, of strength and refuge, of deliverance and reasons to hope – ultimately, hoping in God’s desire that all be done to honour his name and glory… so that His name will be hallowed and exalted as his power, love and justice are witnessed at work on behalf of his people. There is urgency, and passion, and also a deep understanding of God’s faithfulness to those who trust in him alone. As I read these words in a fresh translation, I am stimulated to think about where my trust is, and to make this psalm a true prayer of my own.

Let us rejoice that we have so many sources from which to draw as we come to God in prayer and praise – all the riches of the Hebrew scriptures; all the dynamic and beautiful texts of the gospels and letters; the incredible treasury of texts written by saints through the ages of the church and the hymns and songs which God’s people use in worship. May God keep us sincere and truthful in our prayer and praising, no matter where our words come from, fiull of thankfulness for his goodness to us in every way.

(The Book of Psalms – a translation with commentary: Robert Alter, 2007, WW Norton &Co Ltd London)