Once Upon A Time …

… there was a little baby born in a stable who would become the saviour of the world. He was visited by shepherds and magi, whilst the angels sang and a star shone.

And that is precisely the problem – too many people treat the reports of Jesus’s birth as if it was a nice little fairy story for children. There is too much complacency, too much commercialism and too much watering down the truth because it’s easier to fall in with non-believers, materialism and instant gratification than it is to stand firm in the faith. Humans like an easy life but the ironic thing is that taking the easier road leads, at the end, to suffering.

The road less travelled, narrow and difficult though it may seem at times, is the path to God’s house. Whilst the journey may seem hard, the end is worth it. It is better to travel the more difficult road with Christ by our side and wait for our reward at the end of the journey than it is to opt for the easy journey and the consequences that await.

Advent is a time of waiting, watching and preparing, of truly listening to God with our heart and with all our senses, of opening our hearts and minds, of making changes and being prepared to be changed, of praying and inviting Jesus into our lives and our hearts. It is a time to get ready to climb that difficult path up the mountain.

Jesus is the gift that keeps on giving. He is real and the path to life, not just a story for Christmas. He is our Saviour, our Redeemer, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who rules through love not war. He sacrificed himself to defeat death and the devil to save us. He shows us God’s mercy, love and grace. He grants us forgiveness and shows us how to live.

This year, why not use this time of Advent to evaluate yourself and your faith, to choose Jesus, the greatest gift of all, to choose life not death. Yes that means making difficult choices and choosing the harder path over the easier one. It means loving the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and loving your neighbour as yourself. It means loving, forgiving and praying for your enemies. It means listening and obeying our Lord and Master and following him.

But what a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs he bears. What Joy, Love, Light and Peace we gain as a child of our Heavenly Father.

Hell is truly an absence of God, of not being in his loving presence. So stop treating Jesus’s birth as a fairy story and give it back the significance it requires.

I pray that you all receive God’s blessing this Christmas.

Image of a stained glass window depicting Jesus’s birth (Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com)

Time of Change …

… time for change. As we enter October change is all around us. Changing leaves falling off trees, darkness approaches earlier each day, changing times, people come and people go. It will be tough but God will see us through.

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. (Deuteronomy 31:6)

When change comes, whether it is planned and expected or whether it has been thrust upon us, whether it is wanted or unwanted, it is an opportunity to take a good look at ourselves. What do we need to change about ourselves and how we react and respond to the changes that must take place. What we need to change to be the best we can be – to have open hearts and minds and ears for God. To actually listen to His voice and His plan for us. To take the next steps on our journey.

To open ourselves to changes that will have to be made to enable us to make it through difficult situations. To be open to and make the changes that are required for us to flourish in the future.

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

Change can be challenging and many are resistant to it but change is a normal and necessary part of life. And, of course, change can be exciting, stimulating or rejuvenating but it can also be disorientating, uncomfortable and stressful. However, change will happen whether we want it to or not, so we need to accept and embrace it, as much as possible.

But the Lord, our God, is our strength and shield. We do not need to fear what tomorrow may hold. God is with us and will never leave us. He protects us and His plans for us are good.

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him and He helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise Him. (Psalm 28:7)

A Journey of Truth and Faith

(Talk on Luke 24:13-35 23rd April 2023)

This passage from Luke teaches us a lot about truth and faith. It is, in both a literal and a spiritual sense, about journeys. Literally, it is about two disciples (followers of Jesus) walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Spiritually, it is about their and our journey from not knowing Jesus to truly knowing Jesus and sharing our experiences of Jesus. It is about rediscovering Christ’s presence in our lives, gaining a fresher understanding of God’s transforming grace, allowing our hearts to be ignited with the Holy Spirit as we too walk with Christ.

The Bible makes very clear and specific statements about Jesus. As the disciples walked along they were discussing the scriptures and the recent events that had happened. When Jesus appeared to them they were walking the wrong way – away from Jerusalem. They were preoccupied with their own difficulties, overwhelmed with sadness, grief and hopelessness. They were unable to identify God’s purpose in what had happened.

Humans like to know reasons for…well everything. We ask (both aloud and to ourselves) why? We analyse, we interpret, we assume, we conclude. And we use the answers as a Sat Nav! What we decide the answers are determine/direct what and where we do/go next.

The disciples did not fully understand the Scriptures or the meaning of what had happened to Jesus. They had knowledge but it was incomplete and not understood. It was not true knowledge of the right information.

Jesus appeared and started to walk with them. They did not see Jesus. They were kept from recognising him. The Risen Christ walking with them on their journey, but unrecognised, igniting the fire of God’s love in their hearts. Like the Footsteps poem when there is only one set of footprints (because Jesus is carrying us).

But, this enabled Jesus to impart true knowledge. He explains and interprets for them. This teaches us that the key to interpreting the Old Testament is Jesus.

Jesus explained everything from Moses to the prophets, how the Messiah would save God’s people through His death and resurrection, rescuing a sinful, unholy people by reconciling them with The Holy God.

Jesus is the Messiah whose life, death and resurrection grants us salvation. Jesus Himself told us “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father except through me”.

God cannot be near sin. The only way for us sinners to be reconciled to Him was for Jesus to become sin, be punished for our sin, to die and defeat death; so that through His resurrection we could, with faith and repentance, be forgiven and have a relationship with God.

But it is not sufficient to just know the facts. We must also believe in that knowledge, we must truly believe in Jesus and in what He taught. Like the disciples recognising Jesus (when He broke the bread) and rushing back to tell the others, we have to open our eyes in faith. If we believe in Him then we strive to be in His image and this is shown in how we live. We need to believe in God’s word and be motivated by faith. We know God fulfils His promises but we also need to believe this. We know He is always with us, all the time, especially those times when we only see one set of footprints. But, we also need to believe this.

There is a story that gets quoted a lot so apologies if you, like me, have heard it used before:

There was a young boy caught in a house fire and forced to flee to the roof. The father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to his son, “Jump! I’ll catch you”. He knew the boy had to jump to save his life. All the boy could see was flame, smoke and darkness. The boy was too afraid to leave the roof. His father kept yelling “Jump! I WILL catch you”. The boy protested “Daddy, I can’t see you” The father replied, “But I CAN see you and that’s all that matters”.
Reece Sherman’s Faith Lessons

Do we understand truly? Or do we rely on our assumptions? Do we truly believe and trust in God? I pray that we do.

God is always there for us and will catch us. He can see us even if we cannot see Him. Do we have enough faith to jump into those life saving arms? I pray that we do.

Thank you.

Poppet on a journey, running through grass

The Lesson Of A Dog

A dog is a bundle of never-questioning, unceasing love. An animal small (on average) in size but with an enormous heart of love.

Dogs are love.

God spelt backwards is dog. God is in dog.

God is love!

Like God, dogs:

love unconditionally
forgive freely
are always happy to see you
want to be by your side
do not abandon us
walk with us on our journey
are peaceful and calming
are full of grace and mercy
are our friend forever.

Dogs willingly take on this facet of God. Man was made in the image of God yet turned away by giving into sin.

How much better it would be if we learnt the lesson of the dog and walked in Jesus’s footsteps, returning to the way God created us.