Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28-30 (NLT) "I come" Just As I Am I love the words of this old hymn that encourages us to come to God, to come ‘just as we are’. I have enjoyed coming just as I am to phone-in meetings, no rushing around to get ready in the morning! There’s been lots of funny photos doing the rounds, of people in their pj’s, or with unkempt hair, attending meetings online. Really Lord, you mean…….just as I am! I don’t know about you but ‘just as I am’ can change several times over the course of a day, in fact some days I’m not quite sure I could answer the question ‘how are you?’ There is a genuine invitation to ‘come’ to God exactly how we are, no role playing how we think we should be, no masks, no pretence, just come and be ‘real’. I know I can slip into ‘coming’ how I think God wants me to come, yet a stirring inside me often says, “You have prayed exactly what...

Praise the Lord! I will thank the Lord with all my heart as I meet with his godly people. How amazing are the deeds of the Lord! All who delight in him should ponder them. Psalm 111:1-2 (NLT) "Whole Heart" Praise God from whom all blessings flow Immediately we are told to praise the Lord with our ‘whole’ heart! Sometimes I can and sometimes there’s a corner that is struggling to do so. It’s such a challenge! Every part of the author of  Psalm 111 pulses with the energy of gratitude and worship. I love the intentionality here, ‘I will’ thank the Lord. In these strange times when days stretch out before us there is a part of me that can ‘drift through the hours of a day in a brain fog and I feel I’m not doing anything ‘intentionally’, as ‘automatic pilot’ kicks in when the days ‘look’ the same. The Psalmist is pointing out so clearly that we should be intentional in Praising God. Even if we cannot rejoice in our circumstances we can rejoice in the Lord! There is eve...

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21 (NIV) "Echoes of mercy, whispers of love" Blessed Assurance A few weeks ago Blessed Assurance was one of our Sunday morning worship songs, the hymn writer was inspired by today’s verse. The phrase “echoes of mercy, whispers of love” really settled on me. For some reason, I was reminded of growing up in Yorkshire where ‘telling stories’ that changed and were added to over the years, played a very important part in family life. We would probably all agree that the testimony ‘slot’ can be such a powerful part of a service. Who doesn’t want to hear what God is doing in peoples lives right now! I am convinced after our ‘lockdown’ there will be an abundance of “echoes of mercy” or “whispers of love” stories to tell. There should be a very long queue to give testimony! Stop at the end of each day and think about the echoes of mercy and whispers of love that you have experienced today and give thanks. ...

Our God is a God who saves!     The Sovereign Lord rescues us from death. Psalm 68:20 (NLT) "Angels in bright raiments rolled the stone away" -  Thine Be The Glory I’m not sure who the angel will be that ‘rolls away’ the stone of our present confinement but it will be welcome!  I have every confidence it will be rolled away in God’s timing.  It’s awesome we worship a God who is not confined or restricted in any way! I do know there will be things ‘God has rolled away’ during my confinement, that at some point I will be thankful for.  There has been a lesson for me to learn around ‘waiting’, something I don’t tend to do easily, waiting in queues to shop has plagued me as I want to ‘hit’ the store running, a quick in and out and move on! Impatience sets in as it’s all so slow!  A real reminder that how we ‘wait' often reveals who we are. Pray now that you don ’ t lose all that the Lord has been saying to you as you have ...

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” Psalm 107:1 (NIV) I often fall into a trap when I pray. It’s the trap of praying as if prayer is only asking God for things. It is not. And I’m not the only one who pray like this… Today’s reading says to give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. So if He is always good and his love endures forever, shouldn’t we be thanking him always? That’s not to say we should never come to God with requests. As Paul writes in Philippians 4:6, we should bring our requests before God by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving . It’s important, I think, because we have received far more than we have asked for. So if our prayers reflect this we’ll spend more time thanking him than asking him for stuff. Shouldn’t it? Here’s the thing: We can spend a whole hour just thanking and praising God, without asking him for anything or interceding for anyone, and it will not be an hour misspent or time wasted. Lor...

“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much nore valuable than they?” Matthew 6:26 (NIV) A lot about our current circumstances are forcing us to be dependent on various things and people, like grocery deliveries, internet providers, etc. And it may makes us feel like we’ve lost a bit of control; like we’ve lost a bit of our freedom. So we, naturally, look forward to the time when we will be less dependent on others again. I’ve often felt the same about God. When faced with a challenge or difficult situation where I am powerless to make any difference, I happily turn to God. But I also await the time when I don’t have to depend on Him afterwards. I think that today’s reading reminds me that I am more dependent on God than I would care to admit. And that’s a good thing. So the question is: What would my life look like if I realise my utter dependence on God and live my life accordingly, ev...

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12 (NIV) It seems unreasonable to expect people to be joyful at this challenging time. How can we be joyful while stuck at home, under financial pressure, unwell or even grieving? Surely this is no time to be joyful… And yet, Paul writes this to the church in Rome among various other things that does not make sense. It points to the eternal hope we have in Jesus Christ. The kind of hope that the world does not understand, but longs for. The kind of joy that many people look for in circumstances, but is actually rooted in the knowledge of Christ and fired up by the Spirit. The kind of joy that looks beyond the here-and-now with hope at its core. Joy that does not deny heartache and grief, but transcends them. I’ll admit that I’m not always joyful. I get low real fast. But what helps is when I’m reminded that my current circumstances are not the end of my story. A new day is coming. New mercies will come aga...