I took the above photograph on my walk this morning and to me it sums up this word perspective!
Down below in the misty flats I am often fumbling around, seeking direction, not sure what I am supposed to be doing/thinking. My perspective is limited to what I see in front of me, my situations, my struggles, my circumstances.
But up high above the mist you gain a whole new perspective! You see the bigger picture! You see that there is a whole different surround from the one you see in the misty flats.
So today my prayer is that the Lord will ‘make my feet like hinds feet’ and that He will set me secure upon the high places, where I may see Him more clearly, love Him more dearly and follow Him more nearly. Where my perspective is influenced by eternity, and where my sight is clear unhampered by the mist of circumstances.
“The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.”
Joining again with the #Five Minute Friday group of writers where we write on a one word prompt. Today’s prompt is: Another.
I looked up the word ‘another’ in a bible dictionary to see if it occurred at all in the bible, seemingly in the NIV version it occurs 343 times!!!
Instances of another child, another battle, another plague, another sin, another murder and for Noah another day stuck in the Ark!!
So for us, what is our ‘another’? Another day of sameness, another loneliness, another sorrow, another worry, another anxiety? These things are real and felt, but I want to draw our attention to another kind of another!
One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts.
When this Covid-19 is past, and we talk about it, tell stories of what we did, how we passed the time, how we coped, may we also tell of God and how He has shown Himself during this time of crises, how He has provided, cared, sustained and walked with us through it.
Whilst I too feel the restrictions and sorrows of the Pandemic, Lock-down and uncertainty, I also am really excited about the spread of the gospel in these days. Homes and hearts which were once closed to God, are now live-streaming church services straight into their homes! There is an openness to hear of the things of God and the gospel is reaching ‘every nation and every land’ in a way it hasn’t been able to before.
So I leave you with this Psalm and pray that you will be able to know it and repeat it from one generation to another:
A psalm of praise. Of David. Psalm 145
1 I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever.
2 Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. 3 Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.
4 One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts
5 They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty—and I will meditate on your wonderful works. 6 They tell of the power of your awesome works—and I will proclaim your great deeds.
7 They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. 8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.
9 The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. 10 All your works praise you, Lord; your faithful people extol you. 11 They tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, 12 so that all people may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does. 14 The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,and you give them their food at the proper time. 16 You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. 17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does. 18 The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. 19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. 20 The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.
21 My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. Let every creature praise his holy name or ever and ever.
Joining again with the #Five Minute Friday group of writers where we write on a one word prompt. Today’s prompt is: Patience
It is that time of year of sowing little tiny seeds and waiting for them to germinate so that they can be planted out and eagerly wait for them to grow and produce and become a harvest. But if there is one thing I have learned over the few years I have been growing my own vegetables is that you can’t rush it!!
You can’t rush that germination process, each seed takes its own time according to its variety and type of plant. I have had whole packets of seeds not germinate at all, and had to start over. I don’t know if it has been a bad batch, or the soil not right, or it was too cold, I started too early and should have had patience to wait for the right conditions.
Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.
James 5:7-8
In this strange time of waiting, this time of ‘Lock down’, which we are in just now, we want it to be over, we want to get on with our lives, yet the Lord has His work to do and we can’t rush Him! He is sowing seeds in people’s hearts and lives, we could spoil the whole batch by trying to rush through. Be patient. Stand firm because the Lord’s coming is near.
Joining again with the #Five Minute Friday group of writers where we write on a one word prompt. Today’s prompt is: Now
For many people their ‘now’ is actually a very long space of time, they do one task, and then ask, ‘what am I going to do now’? From having very little time, or no time to do anything, suddenly there is lots of time. What do we do with our time, how do we fill our ‘nows’?
Perhaps this is a good time to reflect on our stewardship of time, how we usually fill our days: with good things, necessary things, godly things even, but are they the things we should be doing? Do we need to restock and think of the amount of time we would have spent out at meetings, and now actually we can spend in contemplation? Rushing from one committee meeting to another, pressed by the decisions to be made whereas now we can take a step back, pray and ask God for His better way?
How to we fill our nows? We have a choice, many choices, but one thing I would suggest is Praise. Praise lifts the heart, praise lifts the mind, praise exults God, praise it not about us.
So take one of your ‘now’ moments and choose Praise:
Praise, my soul, the King of heaven; To his feet thy tribute bring; Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, Evermore his praises sing: Alleluia, alleluia! Praise the everlasting King.Praise him for his grace and favor To our fathers in distress; Praise him still the same for ever, Slow to chide and swift to bless: Alleluia, alleluia! Glorious in his faithfulness.Father-like, he tends and spares us; Well our feeble frame he knows; In his hand he gently bears us, Rescues us from all our foes.…
Finding God in the Everyday 