Do you truly love me

Sometime after the resurrection of Jesus and before his ascension into heaven, Jesus met the disciples one morning after they had come back from an unsuccessful night’s fishing. Jesus was standing on the shore but they did not recognise him at first. He told them to let down their nets again and when they did so, they got so many fish that it filled two boats.  John immediately recognised that it was Jesus on the shore. Impetuous Peter then grabbed his outer garment and jumped into the water to be the first to get to Jesus.

Now I know that if I had denied Jesus at the very moment when he needed me most, I would not have been in a hurry to meet him again. I would have been so embarrassed and ashamed but that shows I do not know Jesus like Peter did. It is almost certain that this was not the first time that Peter had been with Jesus since he had betrayed him but the enthusiasm with which he leapt into the water would suggest that he knew he was forgiven. Luke and John’s gospel tell us that Peter was one of the first disciples to go to the tomb to see if what the women had said about Jesus being alive was true. He certainly wasn’t hiding away in disgrace.

Peter was forever running ahead in what he said – speaking before he thought but he was also the first and only one out of the boat when Jesus was walking on the water. Peter seemed either to get it very right or sometimes very wrong but he knew Jesus loved him despite his shortcomings and failures. He had no difficulty running to the tomb or jumping in the water. He knew Jesus would not be cross or angry with him nor would he reject him. He would embrace him and then put right the wrong that had happened which is what Jesus did after breakfast that morning.

Three times he asked Peter, ‘Simon son of John do you truly love me more than these?’ Peter answered that he did. The third time Peter was upset about being asked the same thing again but it was important that for every denial there was a confirmation of his love for his Lord. Jesus then tells Peter something of what will happen in the future.

When we make a mess of things, God does not want to leave us there, feeling bad about what has happened. He certainly does not want to reject or leave us. He wants to reaffirm us by putting things right and to reinstate us to his calling. Let God’s forgiveness and love wash over you afresh today and let God confirm again your calling as his child and the plans He has for your life. 

The road to Emmaus

It was on that first Easter day, the first day of the week after the crucifixion of Jesus that two downcast and disappointed disciples were walking away from Jerusalem to a village called Emmaus. The only thing they could talk about was the events of the weekend; the crucifixion of Jesus, the awful sense of loss and disappointment and the dashing of all their hopes. Into this conversation comes Jesus unbeknown to them.

I love this story because as I said in this blog on 21^st February (hope does not disappoint us), the two disciples had everything they needed to give them hope. The evidence was there but it just needed Jesus to come and make sense of it for them.

I have had times when circumstances seem to have gone all wrong. I know the theory that God never leaves or forsakes us, that God is utterly reliable and can be trusted so why was everything so awful?  On one of those occasions, when those dear to me had been disappointed and let down, I felt so devastated. It seemed God had just walked away and left us high and dry at a most important time and I could not make sense of it. Then suddenly God appeared and I was led to Psalm 13 which starts, ‘How long O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? This psalm ends, but I trust in your unfailing love, my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord for he has been good to me.’ This became a raw confession of faith that God is good and will not let us down. Despite the circumstances to the contrary God had not left us and his unfailing love was just that, unfailing. Jesus had appeared in our midst and hope and faith arose. Without any evidence to support it, faith had arrived and said all would be well – and it was. It was the final battle before the breakthrough but the breakthrough was promised and a few days later it arrived.

Those disciples were hanging on by their finger nails trying to make sense of the circumstances of Jesus’ death. Jesus came and walked with them and as he explained all the pieces came together. Finally revelation came to them that it was the risen Lord himself who was with them. Immediately, though it was now dark, they hurried back up the road of disappointment to the place of defeat but they went in great victory and they shared their news with the fearful disciples. Jesus then came and presenced himself in their midst. All was well.  

Today if you are facing circumstances that just do not make sense, let me assure you God has not abandoned you and he can be trusted. He will bring good out of our darkest hours. He will bring revelation and enlightenment to those things that are baffling him. Take heart – God is with us.

The Passover Sabbath

We do not know much about the Passover Sabbath (the Saturday) of that Easter week but we can glean something of what was happening from the Gospels. As evening drew near on Friday, Joseph of Arimethea went to Pilate to ask for Jesus’ body and Pilate granted it to him. Joseph took the body wrapped it in linen and placed it in a new tomb near to the site of the crucifixion. He then rolled a big stone in front of the tomb and went home. Some of the ladies watched all of this before also going home (Matthew 27: 57 – 61).

The Sabbath started at dusk on Friday and ran till dusk on Saturday. For 24 hours they all rested as commanded by the law. (Luke 23: 56). No one had any anticipation of Jesus’ rising from the dead. For all the disciples and the ladies this must have been a terrible day. If you have lost anyone dear to you for the first few days you can feel devastated. But for the disciples this was Jesus, the Messiah, that had been crucified like a common criminal and yet he had done nothing wrong.

Added to their intense grief must have been extreme bewilderment and anger especially aimed at the chief priests and leaders of the Jewish people. We know they were behind locked doors, fearful of the Jews (John 20: 19). I expect they had great difficulty eating anything on that Sabbath and the one word running round and round in their minds must have been ‘Why?’ Why did he die, why did he allow them to kill him, why had it happened? Why? Why? Why?  I wondered if anyone mentioned that Jesus had said he would be raised from the dead. There was certainly no expectation from anyone when the ladies went to anoint the bodies with spices on the first day of the week. All the disciples struggled to believe he had been raised even when they were told it by eye witnesses.

There was however one rather surprising group who remembered that Jesus had said he would be raised from the dead on the third day. In Matthew 27: 62 we read, the next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate, ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘we remember that while he was alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ The only people who remembered what Jesus had said he would rise on the third day were the very people who had arranged to have him crucified. Now they were determined to make sure he stayed dead and no one could steal his body from the tomb and say he had risen.

It is amazing that the religious leaders went to Pilate on the Sabbath – it was prohibited by the law to do any work on the Sabbath and this must surely be classified as work, but they were so worried about a possible resurrection – real or fake – that they persuaded Pilate to seal and put a guard on the tomb. Again they missed the point that if someone is really raised from the dead, a stone over the door of the tomb – sealed or not – will not be an obstacle to the miracle.

The disciples were people just like you and me and yet they did not remember or recognise what God was doing even when he had clearly told them before hand what would happen. In the same way we may have forgotten or not understood some things that God has said to us in the past. Today let us encourage ourselves by re-visiting personal or church prophecies or Scriptures that we may have forgotten or have not yet come to pass. Let us ask God to open our eyes to what he is doing and bring fresh revelation to us to day so we will be ready and prepared for anything that may come in the days ahead.

It is finished!

It is finished!

With that triumphant cry, Jesus gave up his spirit and died. The centurion supervising the crucifixion was so overwhelmed by the way Jesus died that he exclaimed,’ surely this man was the Son of God.’  This was no ordinary crucifixion.

We are all familiar with the fact that Jesus took our sins upon himself upon the cross but on this Good Friday let us just consider again exactly what that means. Every foul, disgusting, perverted sin that has ever or ever will be committed was placed upon Jesus. Most of us get very agitated if we get blamed for anything we have not done. Imagine having every awful, wicked sin dumped upon a sinless body. Jesus drank this vile concoction of depravity – for he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us (II Corinthians 5:21). Jesus took not only the individual sins but became sin itself for us.

It was more than that though. Sin had to be paid for. The righteous wrath of God had to be appeased or propitiated and Jesus paid for all sin, not just for the sins of man but for the full effect of sin upon all creation. Jesus became our atoning sacrifice. He paid the price for our sin.

As sin and the wrath of God came upon Jesus he was separated from the Father and the awful cry came, ‘My God, my God why have you forsaken me?’  Something must have happened at that moment for Jesus did not die in defeat separated from the Father but in victory with the triumphant cry, ‘It is finished’ meaning sin had been fully taken and fully paid for. The Greek word used was teleos which is an accounting term used for a debt has been fully paid. 

Somehow between Jesus cry of separation from the Father and Jesus’ victory cry as his mortal body died, Jesus the man of faith came to faith and found his Father. Psalm 22 David’s revelationary psalm about the crucifixion says, ‘But you are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in you, they trusted and You delivered them. They cried to you and were delivered; they trusted in You and were not ashamed. Psalm 22:3 – 5). Was this what Jesus cried as his sin laden body died?

Jesus’ death was extraordinary in every way.  The song says:
When satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within,
Upwards I look and see him there who made an end to all my sin.
Because the sinless Saviour died, my sinful soul is counted clean.
For God the just is satisfied to look on him and pardon me.

Our sin is fully taken and paid for. How can we live in it any longer Paul asks? The answer is we can’t.  ‘It is finished’

Washing the feet

All through Jesus' three years of ministry the disciples would have private arguments amongst themselves about who was the greatest of them (Luke 9: 46 – 48 and 22: 24). Every time Jesus lovingly corrected them but on the night of the Passover meal, the day before his crucifixion, Jesus showed them that being great in the kingdom meant being the servant of all (Mark 9:35).  He did this by washing their feet.  We find this in John 13.

When one was invited to another’s home or went to visit, people would be clean but on the way their feet got dirty from the dusty roads. It was the job of the lowliest servant in the house to wash the visitors’ feet (Genesis 18:4 and 19:2).  When Jesus got up from the meal and started to wash the disciples’ feet it was shocking. You can imagine the protests from Peter and others and then the stunned silence as Jesus continued his task.  He was their teacher and Lord, not the one to wash their feet but Jesus was showing them the true meaning of servanthood.

Servanthood is not servitude but an honest desire to serve others and put their needs before your own. Paul teaches in Philippians 2: 4 each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others. Too often we are self absorbed but we need to see how we can serve one another and do good to them.

Alan Vincent teaches one way we can do this.  He says that Jesus washing the disciples’ feet is a wonderful picture of the real relationships we need to have in the church. Our dirty feet are representative of the impurities of everyday life that like dirt on feet need to be washed away. Just as Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, he wants to wash us clean from the impurities of our lives by the washing of the Word. We must resist the temptation to be like Peter and refuse him or then to go completely over the top and think we are so bad that Jesus must wash us all over. We must let Jesus do this and he may use others. If someone comes with loving correction to our lives, let us be humble enough to receive it. Let us learn to give and receive this correction in true humility.

The cleansing of the temple

Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. ‘It is written’ he said to them, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer but you are making it a den of robbers.’  Matthew 21: 12 – 13

After Jesus entered Jerusalem in triumph the week before his crucifixion, he spent every day teaching in the temple courts. The first thing he did though was cleanse the temple of unrighteousness.  The religious leaders had permitted the court of the Gentiles to be used as a market place so that those coming to the temple to pray and offer sacrifices did not have to bring their own animals. They could come and buy the doves and presumably sheep and goats. They were also able to change their money to the local currency to buy these animals and to pay their temple tax. These transactions would  be done dishonestly at a favourable exchange rate to the sellers. 

This court has been specially set aside so Gentiles too could come to the temple to worship and pray. Isaiah promised that the temple would be a house of prayer for all nations (Isaiah 56:7). At the dedication of the temple Solomon referred to those from other nations coming to pray and asked God to hear and answer their prayers (I Kings 8: 41 – 43).   Now it had been turned into a market place and an unrighteous one at that. Imagine coming to worship and pray at church and it was full of animals with people noisily buying and selling and changing money. It would be impossible.

Jesus drove out all the sellers of animals and money changers and turned the temple temporarily into the place it was meant to be; a house of prayer and a place of praise and worship even by the children (Matthew 21: 15). He then spent the week teaching in the temple courts and healed the blind and lame (Matthew 21:14).

Jesus was fearless and resolute. He came into Jerusalem on a wave of public acclamation and immediately cleansed the temple bringing the wrath and death threats of the religious leaders on himself.  All week he taught the crowds and refuted the accusations and hypocrisy of the religious leaders. He knew the crowd would turn on him and his disciples would desert him but he never wavered or tried to court popularity. He knew what had to be done and out of love that we can never understand, did it.

Thank you again O God for your love, the love that took Jesus to the cross. Help us to imitate Jesus’ example and be fearless in our love and witness for you. In Jesus’ Name. Amen

Consider it pure joy

‘Consider it pure joy my brothers whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.’ James 1: 3 – 4

There are several times in the Bible when the believer is encouraged to rejoice in the face of trials or testings and persecution. For some this may be the very real possibility of losing their job, being ostracised from the family, being beaten, imprisoned or killed for their faith. When Peter and John were imprisoned and threatened by the Sanhedrin they came away rejoicing that they had been considered worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name (Acts 5: 41).

Most of us will not face these kinds of threats or persecution but we can nevertheless learn how to deal with our own difficulties.  The one thing we tend not to consider when we face trials is pure joy. The first thing tends to be anger, disappointment and frustration or irritation. We rail against the instrument of the trial whether that be a person or situation and probably have a rant and rave and if the person is close, we may then do the stony silence routine. There is definitely no rejoicing!

I have learned over the years that after the initial anger or frustration that I feel, I then ask God what is going on and what can I learn from this?  This takes things away from me and how I feel. Sometimes the devil is behind it and what looks like a person being mean, unkind or inconsiderate is actually the devil using a situation which we may have played a part in to bring division, discord and disharmony – his stock in trade.

Other times it is the weakness of the flesh, mine or another’s but nevertheless there are lessons to learn and fruit to grow. Our friend forgiveness opens the door to turning a horrible experience into a situation that develops faith, perseverance and brings us to maturity. Having forgiven and been forgiven by God, we can then attack the enemy, tell him to get off the situation and ask for healing and restoration.

I have seen many domestic tiffs miraculously turned around by this. Having dealt with your own frustrations and anger and asked God’s forgiveness, we can then go and apologise (often regardless of the rights and wrongs).  The transformation can be rapid and we will have grown in maturity. Instead of a stony silence and ‘I am hurt and you’re not helping’ attitude, normal service is resumed and we will have learned valuable lessons in love and grace. We will have stepped up from ‘poor me’ or worse still self righteous indignation to becoming mature men and women of God.

Sometimes of course the situation is more serious but the same principle of not feeling sorry for ourselves but looking to God to bring healing, restoration and spiritual growth in our lives is the same. There have been a couple of times when our pastors (of many years ago) treated us quite badly and were quite inconsiderate and hurtful. I felt so let down and disappointed but managed to find forgiveness and let God heal my heart. At the time a friend told me that in years to come, I would be glad about what had happened which seemed unbelievable at the time. Now looking at the situation, I can rejoice over what was so painful and over which I shed many tears. I learned so much about trusting God not man to bring good out of situations. I have grown and so has my perseverance and faith.

Several times Jesus and the apostles talk of rejoicing in difficulties and trials because of the maturity they bring to our faith. When we face trials, let us use them as a step up to greater levels of grace and maturity and let us see them not as an obstacle but as an opportunity to grow into Christ like character.

Jesus wept over Jerusalem

And as he approached Jerusalem and saw the city he wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace- but now it is hidden from your eyes. Luke 19: 41 – 42

…. because you did not recognise the time of God’s coming to you Luke 19: 44

Jesus was entering Jerusalem in triumphal procession on a donkey with the crowds waving palm branches and shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’. As he approached the city, he wept over it. He knew he was going to be tried, condemned, mocked, beaten and crucified in Jerusalem yet he wept over it. He was not weeping for himself or for the terrible things that would happen to him but because this city, chosen by God to be the place where his glory dwelt, had not recognised the one that God had sent to them.

Jerusalem, where the temple was with all the temple worship, teachers of the law, Pharisees and Sadducees should all have recognised the Messiah when he came, but instead had rejected him and would shortly put their Messiah to death. The religious leaders would have been familiar with the Scriptures about the Messiah but when Jesus came doing all the things that had been promised, they plotted and finally succeeded in killing him.

Jesus also wept over this city because he saw that in years to come Jerusalem would be overthrown and destroyed and the temple with it because of their unbelief. This happened when the Romans sacked Jerusalem in 70AD. What sorrow he must have felt.

Unfortunately that same spirit of unbelief that opposes the things of God is just as prevalent today. Often God is doing something and it is the religious people in churches who oppose it, not the sinners outside the church. They will be welcoming what God is doing just as the crowd in Jerusalem welcomed Jesus. God may well arrive in an unexpected manner or way that we do not like. We may think things are undignified or not strictly Biblical because not everything that happens can always be found in Scripture but are people being saved, healed, set free? The fruit of God’s love and presence should be evident; people falling in love with God in wonderful ways. Yet there will be the religious people who refuse to recognise what God is doing and miss the blessing.

Let us be open hearted to what God is doing without being gullible but let us trust the Holy Spirit to keep us from error and root out the religious spirit that opposes that which it cannot understand or control. I want God to rejoice over what is happening in our churches not weep over what we missed because we failed to recognise that God was visiting us.

God reveals mysteries

There is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. Daniel 2: 28

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had had a bad dream and demanded that his wise men and magicians not only interpret the dream but tell him what the dream was about. Otherwise they would be put to death. When Daniel heard of this he asked for more time and he and his three friends went and sought God who revealed the dream and its interpretation. Daniel went to the king and was quick to ensure the King knew it was not because he was wise that he knew the dream and interpretation but because God reveals mysteries.

Never has there been a greater need today for the wisdom of God to come and reveal mysteries and God wants to use his people to do this. Individuals and society face intractable problems and the wisdom of God is needed as never before to find Godly solutions to these problems.

God gave me this word last October and I would like to share it with you today:

I rejoice over my children.  I embrace you and breathe my life and identity into you.  As I do this you become like me.  My life and presence will shine from you and you will take it wherever you go.  You will bring my presence into business meetings, schools, governments, media, health care, commerce and homes. You will bring my presence there and if you will yield yourselves to me, you will bring my wisdom into intractable situations. You will bring Godly solutions to ungodly messes.  The breathtaking simplicity of my answers will stun others. 

I am wisdom and as you embrace me and let me saturate you, my wisdom will flow from you.  I have an answer to every situation.  There is nothing I cannot and will not restore to those who love me and seek to serve me.  Let my presence dwell richly and deeply in you.  Take it to the world.  Share my love wherever you go.  Love cannot be force fed, it must be imparted and I will use every one of you who lets me.  Trust me, ask me and I will show you.  Make yourselves available and I will use each one, young or old, clever, rich, poor, disadvantaged, disabled, disaffected, discouraged, every wonderful one of you that is mine I will use because your difficulties are not a problem to me but an opportunity, an opportunity for you to serve me and discover how much I truly love you.

The Bible is quite clear that wisdom is given to anyone who asks (James 1:5). God wants to confide in us (Psalm 25:14).  Let us ask today and make ourselves available to give that Godly wisdom as the Lord opens doors to us.

A Sabbath day of rest

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.  Exodus 20: 8 – 9

Busyness is one of the greatest deceptions of modern life. There is almost a virtue of being busy.  Christians on Facebook will tell their friends all about the wonderful things they have been doing and how busy they are. However, I am not saying that laziness is a virtue either but as the old saying goes, ‘we are human beings not human doings’. Who we are is more important than what we do.

Busyness sounds so fulfilling and satisfying with not a minute to spare but that is the very problem. When over busy, we have no time to think, meditate and often pray and read our Bibles. We are too busy to stop and if we do stop we feel guilty that we are not doing something.

That is why God instituted the Sabbath day of rest and he not only commanded it, he also did it. Right at the beginning God rested on the seventh day after spending six days creating the universe and our wonderful planet. The Sabbath was given to the Israelites before the 10 commandments (Exodus 16:23). Indeed the origin of the word Sabbath is rested. It is good to rest and God commanded the Sabbath as the fourth of the Ten Commandments. 

This is where the howl goes up that we are not under law but under grace but God in his graciousness has given us a day of rest. I believe it is to the detriment of both individuals and society that we have thrown away our rest day as casually as we throw out the rubbish. 

Several times in the Bible God warns us that when the cares and worries of life take over, we will miss out on what He is doing. In the parable of the sower, one lot of seed never came to fruition because the cares and worries of life choked it (Matthew 13: 22). Busyness fills our life with cares and worries – we have so much to think about that we have trouble thinking about God and the life he wants for us.  In Luke 21 Jesus was talking about the end times and again warns that the cares and anxieties of life cloud our vision from what is going on (Luke 21: 34). Jesus is always alerting us to watch and pray. Busyness crowds that out.

Making a conscious choice to keep one day of the week separate (holy) to the Lord is vital for believers. The busyness of modern life will choke our minds and hearts from what God is saying and doing unless we choose each week to set aside a day to rest and re-group. This is not a day to necessarily spend being all spiritual or at church all day but a day to spend with God, family and friends; a day to clear our minds of the clutter of the week and to think about other things.

Let us unashamedly grasp hold of our day of rest and use it as that – a day of rest – not a day to catch up on the chores but a day of rest. I guarantee that as we honour God with our Sabbath, he will help sort out our priorities for the week and there will always be time to get those things done that need to be done AND we will be refreshed in every way and our lives enriched. I can recommend it wholeheartedly.

Godliness with contentment

But godliness with contentment is great gain I Timothy 6:6

Contentment is a state that is hard to gain but wonderful when one can truly say you feel content. Contentment is a state of happiness and satisfaction and Paul aspires that his young charge and representative, Timothy, should learn and teach how to be content. Paul himself said that, ‘he had learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in every situation, whether living in plenty or in want.’ Philippians 4: 11 – 12.

Timothy had been sent by Paul to look after the church at Ephesus. Paul had hoped to return to it but his plans changed and so in this first letter to Timothy he is giving him further instruction in looking after the church. He encouraged him to refute false teaching and one of the errors that was infiltrating the church was that godliness was a means to financial gain.

Believers today are under ever greater pressure to believe that contentment comes when you have everything you want and of course you never do. Paul however is quite clear that contentment whether in plenty or lack is the goal not having an overflow of possessions and lots of money.

Paul tells Timothy that ‘people who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction’ (I Timothy 6: 9).  There are no get rich quick schemes and the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Eagerly desiring money is a trap. Jesus assures us that our heavenly Father will look after us; we do not need to worry about what we will eat, drink or wear (Matthew 6: 25 – 32). Paul says to Timothy that if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. And ladies, our Father knows we like nice clothes and he will provide those for us! Being content with what we have is a wonderful attribute.

If you have ever cleared out the house of a person who has died, it can be very distressing. We brought nothing into the world and can take nothing out. There will be many things that they valued and which they have left behind and which you may now have to just throw away because no one else wants them.  It puts possessions in perspective. Our Father knows what we need and he will give us those things we need and much else besides. He is a good God who gives good gifts to his children but let us learn, like Paul, to be content whether we are in a time of plenty or in a time of lack. Contentment helps us not to worry in our time of lack and to rejoice with thankfulness in our time of plenty.

Thankfulness is the key to contentment. Let us be thankful and content people who will be a joy to those around us.

The widow's mite

Luke 21: 1 – 4

I am sure we are all familiar with the account of the widow who put her two mites or small copper coins in the treasury at the temple. Jesus commended her because everyone else was putting in out of their surplus but she was putting in all she had to live on.

The context of this little event is Jesus warning his disciples about the religious leaders and the hypocrisy of their practices, one of which was to make an extravagant show of their giving. Jesus contrasts this with the poor widow who quietly puts in the little she has.

Underlining this story, Jesus is commending the poor widow for her generosity. Those who have little do not give it away unless they have a very generous spirit. They hang on to the little they have. The religious leaders wanted everyone to think what good people they were because they gave large amounts. The widow only had a small amount and yet she gave it. She was not putting on a show for anyone – who would be impressed by the gift of two small coins? She gave out of a desire to bless God. She would know her two small coins would make no difference to the upkeep of the temple or the religious institutions. Her gift was given to God. Only he saw her generosity when no one else did and God would have been blessed by her heart which so reflects his own generous heart.

God wants us to give freely and generously to him and others. We give because he first gave to us. ‘Freely we have received, freely give’ (Matthew 10:8).  We must never give ‘reluctantly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful giver’ (II Corinthians 9:7). We give out of love for all God has given to us. If you are giving out of duty or a sense that as a ‘good Christian’ you must tithe or you are giving so that God will bless you – stop!  Give because you want to give and be a blessing. The size of your gift does not denote your generosity. The size of your heart does that.

The Lord is near

The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. Psalm 145: 18

The whole of Psalm 145 is a wonderful psalm of praise extolling the Lord. From this psalm come the wonderful words that the Lord is gracious and compassionate; slow to anger and rich in love The Lord is good to all, he has compassion on all he has made.

There can be times when we feel like God is far off and usually these will be times when we have made mistakes, sinned or just done something we are not proud of. We may even have forgotten or chickened out of doing something we should have done.

It is at moments like this we need to remember the Lord is near. We may feel we have moved away from God but God never moves away from us. We may be turning our head away in shame or frustration at our shortcomings but God is right there lifting our head to look into his eyes and he wants us to see the encouragement and compassion he has for us, in the midst of our mistakes. So often we see success and failure in terms of what we do or don’t do and God wants to remind us today that who we are is what matters. We are God’s chosen children, holy and dearly loved (Colossians 3:12). We are not failures, we are not disappointments, and God is not shaking his head at us in sorrow at our shortcomings. God’s eyes are burning with love and compassion for us.

Take heart child of God. Call out to God in truth, repent if necessary, forgive anyone if needed including yourself and stand tall as a precious, precious child of God. The Lord is near; feel his hand of encouragement on you today, right now, in Jesus’ Name.