Good morning!

Boots has had a busy morning!

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,

Because His compassions fail not.

They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Bible Verses and Meaningful Quotes

I've just read one of Michele's posts A Prayer and Scripture Journal where she links to another blogger's Scripture Journal, this particular blogger (a lady called Susan) has many organised categories in her journal.  Anyway, my own journals are messy and all over the place but I do have a system of saving scriptures and quotes into categories so that I can refer back to them when I want to.  I use envelopes.  When I come across a scripture or quote that is meaningful to me in some way I write it out on a small square of paper and save it in labelled envelopes.  Some scriptures/quotes may fit into many categories, in those cases I write them out a few times and save them in different relevant envelopes.  I keep the envelopes in my bedside drawer to refer to when I want.

It's easier to explain in pictures, Boots helps out in making my system more attractive as you will see. :)

All my different envelopes

Boots being helpful

Obviously caught a whiff of her armpit

Some of the categories - as you can see I can't spell repentance! :) LOL you can just see Boots' paws at the top of the photo.

The one on the right, 'A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth' is full of scriptures that remind me to try to concentrate on speaking the good that God does rather than negative things (I need to read this often).

On the left you can see one of my scripture notes made on the little squares of paper.

Some examples from my Gossip/keeping secrets/covering shame envelope

Psalm 34:7 is in here twice.  Doubly meaningful! :)

Hope you enjoyed your little tour. :)

Think on the good things of God.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
~ Philippians 4:4-9 (NIV)

Someone read this out in church today and it really spoke to me, particularly the part that I have highlighted.

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend!

Prodigal Son

“For most of my life I have struggled to find God, to know God, to love God. I have tried hard to follow the guidelines of the spiritual life—pray always, work for others, read the Scriptures—and to avoid the many temptations to dissipate myself. I have failed many times but always tried again, even when I was close to despair.

Now I wonder whether I have sufficiently realized that during all this time God has been trying to find me, to know me, and to love me. The question is not “How am I to find God?” but “How am I to let myself be found by him?” The question is not “How am I to know God?” but “How am I to let myself be known by God?” And, finally, the question is not “How am I to love God?” but “How am I to let myself be loved by God?” God is looking into the distance for me, trying to find me, and longing to bring me home.”

~ Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming

I have never read a Henri Nouwen book, but this quote moved me so much.  I am re-reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis at the moment and a thought occurred to me whilst reading the chapter on Christian Marriage.  The thought wasn't particularly related to marriage, but it was simply how often we try to make the words of Jesus law rather than life, we live in fear of breaking the 'law' and hide ourselves in shame from the giver of life.  The scripture that I thought of in particular was where Jesus speaks about divorce in Matthew 5.  I won't go into it in depth, it's a fairly well known scripture.  I simply reflected how we (in Christian circles) have made this scripture into a law - the 'law' being that unless your spouse is unfaithful you cannot divorce or remarry.  But it isn't law, and I don't believe that Jesus was instituting a new rule.  The only law we are under as Christians is the law of love and it is the lack of love that Jesus is speaking against using marriage as an example; because the ultimate law is to love God and love one another.  There were obviously some who were using God's law as an excuse to discard a wife to get a new one, misusing the teaching of Deuteronomy 24. Not showing the love of God, but selfishness and unfaithfulness.  Of course, God loves us and if our spouse is beating us or being unfaithful...well, he offers us grace for all things.  There is no condemnation for the broken, the damaged, the enslaved.  Equally there is forgiveness offered for those who sin.

Anyway, I said I wouldn't get into that.  The point is that it isn't our work that gets us close to God, it isn't our strict keeping of Old Testament or even New Testament teaching that gets us close to God.  (The Old Testament law simply proved to us we couldn't even in our wildest dreams ever be perfect.) It is God who gets us close to God.   He is the Father seeking, longing for his prodigals.  When we make a mistake, or we sin, we have our speeches (prayers) all planned out, we plan to grovel, we plan to work really hard for him to impress him, we plan to make ourselves lowly slaves for him, we cannot even lift our eyes because we feel so unworthy.  But, before we even reach the threshold of God's throne he is running to us arms outstretched.

“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! [Here's the planned speech] I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. Luke 15:17-20

God is waiting for you arms outstretched.  Watching the road, scanning the horizon for you.  He is longing for you.

He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.  Isaiah 40:11

"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." Luke 19:10

I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands. Psalm 119:176

Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! Isaiah 30:18

The Pharisees and Jesus and Me

I was chatting to Chatterbox and Squidge last night about the Pharisees.  Chatterbox wanted to know what the Pharisees did wrong and why they didn't like Jesus.  I love talking to my girls about Jesus because they ask pretty difficult questions sometimes that really make me think. On this occasion it made me think about Jesus and how the Pharisees reacted to Him, and also how this applies to my life.

One of the things we talked about is that the Pharisees (also the teachers of the law and the scribes) constantly criticised Jesus and most of their interactions between them and Jesus were them testing Jesus in order to trip Him up.  Why didn't they like him?  Well, it was as if they were jealous of Jesus (intimated in John 4:1-2).  They loved their position in society and were fearful that Jesus' popularity would usurp that position and so they plotted to kill him (John 11:49-53). Jesus totally turned their understanding of the law upside down, He called them hypocrites because they kept the letter of the law but inwardly they were steeped in sin, ""Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean" (Matthew 23:27).

The Pharisees had totally misunderstood the purpose of God's law, which was twofold: to show mankind the perfection of God and mankind's inability to measure up to perfection - thus showing man's helplessness without God and man's need for a saviour (if there is no measuring stick how do we know if we fall short); to show the need for cleansing from sin (the sacrifices); and it was also instituted to protect the ordinary man and woman in a very volatile and difficult world.  For the Pharisees though, the keeping of God's law was a way of trampling on others, of flaunting their own ability to keep the law, and to weigh the people down with impossible burdens that they refused to help them with.  They weren't interested in God, they were interested in looking good, these white washed tombs looked great on the outside all clean and holy looking, but they had no love of God, no love of their fellow man, and certainly no humility: "Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long;" (Matthew 23:5)

Across the centuries God's voice has thundered out against this religious wickedness:

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally." Ezekiel 34:1-4

Then I said, “Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel. Should you not embrace justice". Micah 3:1

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

'To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice'. Proverbs 21:3

"For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings". Hosea 6:6

"Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!" Deuteronomy 27:19

"Woe to those who make unjust laws,
to those who issue oppressive decrees,
to deprive the poor of their rights
and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,
making widows their prey
and robbing the fatherless." Isaiah 10:1-2

As the Old Testament prophets often cried out, it wasn't the actual keeping of the minutiae of the law that impressed God, but it was the heart of the person that God cared about.  You could sacrifice a thousand bulls with great ceremony, use all the right words, go through all the right cleansing ceremonies, but if you were just doing it to show off, to go one better than your neighbour, then it was no sacrifice at all.  As St. Paul wrote in the years after the truest sacrifice in history, the crucifixion of Jesus, it isn't the sacrifice which impresses God but the act of love (1 Corinthians 13). The Pharisees, though they could recite the law, they didn't keep it in its truest sense, they could tell Jesus that the most important laws were to love God and their fellow man, but they didn't live it.  They knew the scriptures like no-one else, but they didn't know the Spirit of the scriptures.  The law didn't light their hearts, it was simply a set of rules to act out, it was a way to keep themselves in power and keep themselves 'above' the rest.

The Pharisees obviously believed that it was the rules in themselves which were of benefit, and so they were obsessed with rules and their own keeping of those rules, and everyone seeing them keeping the rules, and making sure that everyone kept the rules to their own obsessive standard.  They had forgotten God and they had forgotten His love for His people.  They weren't interested in the poor, they weren't interested in the sick, they weren't interested in anything but themselves (See Matthew 23).  As Jesus pointed out, yes the keeping of the law was right, but it shouldn't stand in the way of mercy and justice.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!" Matthew 23:23-24.  You can almost imagine them spending hours faffing about measuring out their herbs and spices, keeping an eye on one another hoping they could catch their brothers with a mistake, whispering amongst each other, "Did you see Dave last week?  Totally forgot about his Oregano, totally didn't tithe it properly! What a waster." - because that's obviously what Pharisees talked like in the 1st century, honestly, scholars told me so. :) Meanwhile outside their window a beggar dies for want of food or water.

Tithes and offerings to God were for whom?

'And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do'. (Deuteronomy 14:29)

God didn't ask for tithes just to make a bunch of holy men rich or to give them a reason to be extra special and religious in their giving, but so that the community was supported and that no-one would go hungry.  The money went to the priests because it was their livelihood to serve in the Temple, but also for the stranger (immigrants who were without money to support themselves), the fatherless and the widow.  Tithing was not an arbitrary rule of law, but was meant to be for the deeper reason of mercy and justice for the weak and the poor.

The Pharisees even turned fasting into an exhibition. The Pharisees liked everyone to know that they were fasting - acting all somber with such pain on their faces! I can imagine them, one eye out for an audience, "Ohh, so hungry, ohhh, so weak, ohhh but it's all for God, oh yes, oh how I suffer, oh can I just sit down for a moment in prayer for God to keep me going, ohhh I'm so weakened". This was another example of how they had misunderstood the reason for the things of God, they were fasting for show - and by gum if they see that someone else wasn't fasting they'd be whispering and pointing the finger straight away.

As Isaiah prophesied hundreds of years before:

“In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, And exploit all your laborers. Indeed you fast for strife and debate, And to strike with the fist of wickedness. You will not fast as you do this day, To make your voice heard on high. Is it a fast that I have chosen, A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, And to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, And an acceptable day to the Lord?

“Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’

“If you take away the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, If you extend your soul to the hungry And satisfy the afflicted soul, Then your light shall dawn in the darkness, And your darkness shall be as the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail."  (Isaiah 58:3-11)

Why did God want them to fast?  To understand what hunger is.  To draw up in their souls an empathy for the poor and hungry.  That they might set aside their own food to feed those who cannot feed themselves.  Not to make an exhibition of yourself, not to point your finger at others and make them work extra because you are too busy being holy and fasting yourself to do anything.

In fact, as Jesus pointed out to the Pharisees (another time after they had criticised Him), that they followed traditions made by men that seemed holy but were in fact against the very commands of God.  The Pharisees were claiming that they were doing the works of God by giving to God instead of helping their family (Matthew 15:7-9).  But Jesus said that their hearts were far from God.  Their parents may have needed financial or practical help but they pretended that what they would have given to them was actually given to God - thus acting like they weren't helping for 'holy' reasons. For the Pharisees to not help their family was to dishonour not only their parents, but also goes against the command to help the needy.  Again their religiousness broke God's holy law of mercy and justice.

One of the accusations leveled at Jesus many times by the Pharisees (and all their 'holy' mates the Scribe and teachers of the law) was that He broke the Sabbath by healing on the Sabbath:

Mark 1:21-28 Jesus casts out a demon
Mark 1:29-31 Jesus heals Peter's mother-in-law
Mark 3:1-6 Man with withered hand
John 9 Man born blind
John 5:1-18 A man healed at the pool of Bethsaida. Carried his mat.
Luke 14:1-6 Man with dropsy healed
Luke 13: 10-17 Woman with spirit of infirmity healed

Again they do not understand the reason for the Sabbath, for the Pharisees it is another rule to show off about and to burden others with. In Luke 13 and 14, where people are healed on the Sabbath and the religious dudes get the hump about it, Jesus points out that if a donkey falls into a pit on the Sabbath the most decent thing to do is to pull it out - why would you therefore not rescue a child of God from his own pit?  The Sabbath is God's day of rest, and what better rest than to be loosed of sickness, infirmity, spiritual oppression?  If you had seen a blind man healed would you not be impressed?  But bizarrely instead of being amazed the Pharisees are annoyed that Jesus has healed on the Sabbath.  This is incomprehensible obsessiveness on their part.  A person is healed from a life-long infirmity and all they can obsess about is whether or not Jesus should have healed on the Sabbath!  Equally, despite being well versed in the scriptures, they were unable to see that releasing people from bondage and its relationship with the Sabbath is something God speaks constantly about in the scriptures - the Sabbath Year and the Year of Jubilee being one such example.

It is astonishing to imagine the Pharisee's short sightedness - and yet sadly I see such obsessiveness in Christians today.  Even in secular law, for example, if someone was sick lying in a house and a person had to break into their house to save them, technically, the person breaking into the property has broken the law, however, most reasonable people would say that there was a just reason for breaking in.  It would be ridiculous for a judge to convict someone who had done this in order to save a person's life (there have been instances of such craziness, but such action is widely held to be an unacceptable application of the law).  So equally, even if you think that Jesus has broken a law, why should Jesus be chastised for healing on the Sabbath?

I've even read articles online where people, even atheists, have hit out at Jesus for not keeping the Sabbath - in their eyes thus proving He wasn't who He said He was.  Madness!  So the miracles prove Jesus isn't the Son of God?  How does that work?

I believe Jesus is Who He said He was (I am after all a Christian) and His actions on the Sabbath are in keeping with the heart of God not against it.  Firstly, He is the Son of God - Who else would have the authority to do whatever He pleased on the Sabbath?  Secondly, though God instituted the law He is above all else a God of mercy and justice, the law is good, but mercy and justice must be placed as the ultimate aim.  Thirdly, Jesus gives us a picture of the Kingdom of God where there is no longer sickness and death - a beautiful type of Sabbath rest.  Fourthly, the gospel of Jesus Christ is our new Sabbath rest - indeed Jesus Himself is our new Sabbath rest - for just as the Israelites were promised the land of Canaan so we have the promised hope of Heaven and we gain this hope through Christ.  Fifth, just as God rested from His work of creation on the seventh day we now rest from works of righteousness, for that righteousness is given to us in Christ - we are a new creation!

So how do I apply all this to my own walk with God?

So, what did I learn from all this?  What compromised the Pharisees religion?

It is a little confusing that Jesus said that unless our righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees we will not enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:20).  Does this mean that the Pharisees were righteous?  I don't believe so, I think that Jesus is saying that it is impossible without God to enter the kingdom of heaven. Even if you spent your whole life following the law and following every jot and tittle, you would not be righteous enough.  We need God.  We need the love of God in our hearts and to extend that love to others - justice and mercy.  It is the heart that God cares about, the actions mean nothing without love.  That is why we need Jesus.  We need the life of God within our hearts through the Holy Spirit, and that life enters us when we are born-again - new life, new creation, washed clean, new beginning.

It's not about the rules, it's about receiving and living out the life of Christ.  And to receive Christ we need to be humble.

This is where the Pharisees, the Scribes and the Teachers of the Law didn't understand.  They saw rules, and then they made extra rules on top of rules to ensure that the rules didn't get accidentally broken.  They were so focused on the rules they couldn't see the reason for them.  They didn't see tithes as a way of protecting those who had no money, they just saw rules.  They didn't see the Sabbath as God's way of making sure they weren't overworked by hard taskmasters - they got at least one day's rest a week - they just saw it as another rule. They didn't pray for the sick, they just saw them as unclean, and an inconvenience.  They didn't see sacrifice as the need for atonement, they saw it as a way of showing off and a way of making money from visitors to the Temple.  They seemed to do all the right things, to the ordinary man, but inside they were dirty, arrogant, unforgiving, critical, obsessive, greedy, and blasphemous.

They saw rules, they saw a way of being better than others, they saw a way of controlling others.  They couldn't hear the heartbeat of God.  They couldn't see the love of God reaching out to his children.  They made worshipping God for the ordinary man and woman a chore and a burden.  They didn't recognise His only Son because they were so fixated on maintaining their popularity, ensuring that the rules were kept, and controlling people.

They missed the point.

Oh Lord, may I never miss the point.  May I follow Jesus in my heart as well as my actions.

Making me think about Making me think

 

I wrote a post called Making Me Think the other day - I'd watched and read a couple of sermons by Paul Washer and had gone into a bit of a decline.  In my flesh I am a worrier and fearful and I had fallen into fear.  A comment made on that post today reminded me that I have given into a spirit of fear.  A number of scriptures came to mind:

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.(2 Timothy 1:7)  

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27)

 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. (Romans 8:15) 

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4:18).

It is quite correct to feel godly sorrow for wrongful actions - but this brings life compared to the worldly sorrow that brings only death and depression:

Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. (2 Corinthians 7:9,10).

Jesus didn't die on the cross and rise from the dead to give us new life and then have us wandering around full of fear and misery.  Oh we'll have trouble, but praise God because Jesus has overcome the world.  What a beautiful, joyous hope we have in Christ.

I ought to write those scriptures out and post them about the house! :)

The feast of Stephen

I hope you had a blessed Christmas this year. We did, my poor Mum was poorly but she was well enough on Christmas Day to eat some dinner and play some games.

Today is traditionally St Stephen's Day in England (I presume it is in other countries too). It is also known as Boxing Day. Boxing Day is traditionally the time to collect money in an 'alms' box for the poor or to distribute to workers in thanks for a year's hard work.

Bizarrely it is also Wren hunting day today. I've just read that it was illegal to hunt wrens everyday of the year except on the 26th December.

"The wren, the wren, the king of all birds
On St Stephen's Day was caught in the furze,
We hunted him far and hunted him near
And found him under the bushes here.
Hurrah, my boys, hurrah!
Hurrah, my boys, hurrah!
Knock at the knocker and ring at the bell,
And give us a copper for singing so well."

So armed with this information, I'm off out with Boots the cat to kill some tiny birds... ;P

Not. :)

On a more serious note, I think that Boxing Day has two merits in the Christian life. It is a day to remember the poor at this time of year (in fact a reminder that we should always remember the poor) and it is also a time to remember the first martyr - Stephen.

And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Acts 7:59-60

'Lord, do not charge them with this sin', only someone whose whole heart was given to God and who was filled with the fruit of the Spirit could possibly, as he was being painfully stoned to death, cry out for forgiveness for his attackers. Unlike me. I feel like blaming someone if I stub my toe, so I have a long way to go. But we press on.

Here's to a wonderful New Year.

Hugs.

Simply breathtaking video

Tempest Milky Way from Randy Halverson on Vimeo.

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.

Psalm 8:1-3

It's Friday...

What time is it?

08.02 am

My plans for the day.

To fit black-out lining to Chatterbox's curtains - I'm taking them down to Mum's later today we are going to do it together (they're quite heavy). She did have a blind but the plaster is so bad in our house the blind kept falling down.

Work - I have to go in an hour earlier because we are a member of staff down for a while.

Some ironing, a bit of cleaning.

What am I listening to.

The music on my blog.

What song have I been singing this morning?>

Jesus is Lord, creation's voice proclaims it, and by His power each tree and flower was planned and made!

What I am thinking.

How wonderful our God is and how beautiful Jesus is. My heart swells with the wonder and the depth of what we don't even know and yet will one day. Our Lord and Saviour, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. Amen.

What I am reading.

The Stripping of the Altars by Eamon Duffy, a look at religion in pre-Reformation England and the aftermath.

Chronological reading of the Bible - I'm in Genesis now with the stories about Abraham, I've read part of Genesis and all of Job so far.

To Chatterbox: we are about to start The Sea of Adventure by Enid Blyton

To Squidge: James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

Cat of the Week

Simon's Cat - Hidden Treasures



Some blog plans:

I want to put some profile stuff on - perhaps as 'Page Elements': what I believe, my testimony, a few likes and dislikes. Other than that I'm quite happy with the look of my blog right now.

Scripture thoughts:

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part.

But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13.

Love abides eternally. The love we have outside of God is transient and doesn't last - as CS Lewis wrote: "Everyone feels benevolent if nothing happens to be annoying him at the moment". The love of God lasts forever. The greatest act of love in all time was the giving of Jesus upon the cross. The only way we can show love is through God abiding in us by His Holy Spirit. Love is the greatest of the gifts from God. What we understand now is just a shadow of the truth that awaits us when we will meet God face-to-face.

When He died in the Wounded World He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less. Each thing, from the single grain of Dust to the strongest eldil, is the end and the final cause of all creation and the mirror in which the beam of His brightness comes to rest and so returns to Him. Blessed be He! C.S Lewis

Have a great weekend!

Books again and a brief chit-chat

All I seem to write about recently is books. :)

Chatterbox and I are still reading our latest Famous Five book, Five Go Off in a Caravan. We've just got to the exciting part and I'm afraid I am just as interested as Chatterbox is and we read far too late!



Squidge has acquired a new Julia Donaldson book (we love Julia Donaldson books - of The Gruffalo fame), Tabby McTat - the busker's cat. Wonderful.

Tabby McTat

‘Tabby McTat was a busker’s cat
With a miaow that was loud and strong.
The two of them sang of this and that,
And people threw coins in the old checked hat,
And this was their favourite song:

“Me, you and the old guitar,
How perfectly, perfectly happy we are.
MEEE-EW and the old guitar,
How PURRRR-fectly happy we are.” ‘

After putting aside The Three Musketeers, I read 'Sister Freaks - Stories of Women Who Gave Up Everything for God'. It's a series of testimonies of various women who have overcome hardships of differing kinds to follow Jesus. It wasn't as inspiring as 'Jesus Freaks' - that book deeply moved me. I don't think this one was particularly well written to be honest, the writing was a bit stilted and what should have been moving stories felt mundane. But it was OK.

I'm now re-reading the Janette Oke series Love Comes Softly. I first read Janette Oke after I was given the 'Seasons of the Heart' series. I loved the books. They are easy to read and are beautiful, simple stories. Michele, my friend from A Quiet, Gracious Life, kindly sent me the whole Love Comes Softly series. I loved them when I read them the first time and I am loving it all over again! So thanks again Michele!

Janette Oke books

So, how am I?

I've not been 100%, been feeling tired and having a few dizzy spells. Hopefully it'll blow over, I'm off to the doctor's tomorrow so hopefully it's nothing. I'd be grateful for your prayers of course! :)

I haven't got any deep and meaningful words to say. Here are a few scriptures we've been learning about at church:

I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
~Romans 7:21-25a

Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for

“ God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
~1 Peter 5:5b-7

We ought to be humble for if it weren't for our Lord Jesus Christ we would be lost in our miserable sin. Thanks be to God for Jesus Christ!

Snow!

Paw prints in the snow

Snow makes everything beautiful and clean.

"Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD,
"Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool".
~ Isaiah 1:18

Happy Easter....nearly

Flickr

I'm still here, just v. busy as before.

Just stopping by to wish you all a very Happy Easter!

xx

Cute video

I'm not a huge fan of Valentine's Day - it's all a bit sickly. Hubster isn't a fan either. I hope I can show hubs I love him every single day and not just through the shallow commercialism of Hallmark! :p Lol

However, this video was really cute and I couldn't resist:

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
(1 Cor 13:13 NIV)

And we know this is true, for God IS love - and nothing is greater than God; if we remain in Him we have love everlasting.

xxxxx

Ice skating

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We're going ice skating at a local ice-rink over in W. Yorks tomorrow - yes folks, I'm crossing the border! ;)

The girls are SO excited. I'm a little concerned. I said to my Dad today, "I'll ring you from the hospital to give you the heads-up on the broken bones".

Lol.

I have only ever ice-skated once before. I fell over. I was a teenager and was rather smitten with one of the lads we had gone ice-skating with. I was that busy mooning (no not baring my behind, but in the context of: to spend in idle reverie : dream ) that I crashed into someone and landed on my head. I've had mental problems since....hahahaha well not quite. :) But I was very dizzy afterward.

So, given my history in the world of ice-skating, I'm not sure how I will fare. Hubs, on the other hand, considers himself the next Dean - I however am not the next Torvill.

Squidge has been counting down the hours she is so excited. It should be fun, despite my misgivings! :)



How cute is this picture?:

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Reminds me a bit of the film...about the animals finding their way home...can't remember the name right now.



On a totally different subject, isn't this scripture wonderful?

Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle-bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.

As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.

Return to your fortress, O prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.

Zechariah 9:9-12

It just reminds me of what Jesus has done. That this was prophesied about our Lord all those hundreds of years before he rode into Jerusalem on the colt. Our Lord, so humble of heart, yet the conqueror of all that binds us. King of kings, Lord of Lords.

Amen. xxx

Happy Homemaker Monday

The weather in my neck of the woods:
Wet and muddy with patches of ice here and there.

One of my simple pleasures:
A lovely cup of coffee - black, no sugar please - and a good book.

On my bedside table:
The Stripping of the Altars and The Book of Common Prayer, You're Coming With Me Lad: Tales of a Yorkshire Bobby and my Bible.

On my TV:

• A History of Christianity with Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch.
• History of Britain with Simon Schama. There's more info. on Wikipedia, if you're interested. I'm up to 'Revolutions' 1649–1689. Britain after Charles I's execution, when Britain was led by Oliver Cromwell. This was really a miserable period in history - Oliver Cromwell wasn't the most jolly of chaps, and he did some fairly atrocious things.

On the menu for tonight:
Lasagne

On my To Do List:
Catching up with chores after the weekend.
Hopefully some reading.
Some washing and ironing.
Taking the girls to dancing.

New Recipe I tried last week:
Chocolate brownies, which were a partial success.
Beef and carrot casserole with cheesy dumplings from the recipe book From My Mother's Kitchen.

In the craft basket:
Nothing at the minute.

Looking forward to:
Getting to church tomorrow, I missed yesterday.

Homemaking Tip for this week:
To get scum off your bath, sprinkle washing powder (laundry powder) onto a cloth and use it as a gentle scourer. The scum should come off easily without scratching the surface of the bath.

Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other):
2010 - Living in the Future by Angela. I want this book! It's a book written in 1972 in which some chap predicts what life would be like in 2010. Angela links to a website devoted to the book. She also writes about her day in 1972. Ahh, it makes me all nostalgic...well I wasn't born until 1973, but anyway...penny sweets, long hot summers, our Vauxhall Viva, my Dad's big moustache...LOL!

And also, Simple Arithmetic by Monix. I have such a time with Chatterbox's maths because it isn't taught in the same way that I was taught...and I find it so confusing that it was good to read that someone else finds it rather befuddling too.

Favourite photo from last week:

Not one of mine:

Friends of Irony

Lesson learned the past few days:
Can I say 'lesson learned' when it's something I keep falling down on? Guarding my tongue (or my typing on the internet) is an ongoing lesson. And also not reading things on the internet I know are going to wind me up! Let it go Sarah, let it go! :)

Onwards and upwards one hopes...

On my Prayer List:
My dear friend who has cancer and is being put onto an aggressive cancer treatment. However, she is a walking miracle confounding doctors, they cannot imagine how she has carried on with her life. She is an inspiration - but does suffer so needs lots of prayer.
My Dad who has been made redundant and who finishes in March.
My family, my church and my friends.

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:
Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." Matthew 19:21 (NIV)

Hosted by Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.