In Remembrance of me

He knew we would need to hold the cup and drink the wine, to remind ourselves that it was His blood that signed the new covenant between God and us.

I have been recently been involved in clearing my mom's home as she decided that she is very happy at the care home she was moved to from hospital and would like to stay.  I always knew it would be at bit of an emotional journey clearing mom`s home as it was the home I grew up and lived in for 14 years.  Some of her possessions however have been part of my whole life, and I was prepared for being upset by going through her possession, but nothing really prepared me for the effect of finding so much of my Dad`s things (which were still at the house) would have on me as well. 

My dad died 6 years ago, and it`s not like I had forgotten him, but some of the memories had faded a little recently as I had been so involved with my mom.  As I opened drawers and cupboards the memories came flooding back; a pair of his glasses, the black tie he saved for funerals, his tyre pressure gauge (you just don’t see them anymore) and the shelves and shelves of really useful things he kept because “you never know when they will come in handy”!!  But the most evocative was his Palestine Photo Album.

The whole of the front and back is emboss leather with an inlaid leather picture of David`s tower in Jerusalem.  Inside is a selection of 1946 photos of my dads National Service which he served in Palestine, Israel (as is today) and Cyprus. To see dad with hair (he was always bald when we knew him) and in uniform with his comrades was quite amazing, it`s hard to imagine our parents having any other life than the life they had with us. There are also lots of pictures of what is today Israel but how it was in 1946, its absolutely fascinating.  I remember dad showing us this book when we were children and how I loved it then with its black and white photos and that tissue paper sheets between the pages of the album. 

The memories of dad just came rushing back as I held the book, it was a bit like he was there again telling me about when the fuel depot at Haifa was blown up …so many memories.  I was so glad we had never disposed of or lost it, because it was such a reminder of what dad was like, holding it in my hands transported me back to my childhood and the stories he used to tell me.

The strength of the memory made me think of the wisdom of the God. Jesus knew how easily as humans we forget things, how over time we can lose the reality of memory and experience, so He left something behind that would guarantee that we would never lose touch with the reality of His salvation and His wonderful grace to us.  This is the act of breaking bread together.

Paul says ''For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord Himself: On the night when He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then He broke it in pieces and said “this is My body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me. In the same way, He took the cup of wine after supper saying “this cup is the new covenant between God and His people-an agreement confirmed with My blood.  Do this in remembrance of Me as often as you drink it.  For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lords death until He comes again.'' (NLT) 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

It was as I held my dad's photo album in my hands the memories came back, God knows that touch and taste often unlock the memories.  He knew we would need to handle the bread and give thanks for it, we would need to remind ourselves that it was with His body that Jesus paid for our forgiveness, Isaiah says ''He (His body) was pierced for our rebellion crushed for our sins.  He (His body) was beaten so we could be whole. He (His body) was whipped so we could be healed'' Isaiah 53:5. He knew we would need to hold the cup and drink the wine, to remind ourselves that it was His blood that signed the new covenant between God and us.

God new I might forget so He bids me to touch and taste as often as I can so the reality will not drift into clouded memory but stay vivid and effective every day.  To keep me realising where I came from and who I am now because of His intervention in the World and in my life. 

I am thankful that our fellowship has recently been focussing on taking time over communion and celebrating communion every week.  This has been wonderful and so much wonderful teaching has come out of our time, but even in that I find I can still personally not always dwell on the value of remembering that it was for me He died.  I need to remind myself and make time to allow the Holy Spirit to bring to my mind and my spirit the truths He wants to reveal to me 

I think it’s the same with reading the Word, we have to handle it to take time over it, to let it touch every part of our lives.  I am so grateful that today the Word of God can be accessed in many technical and none-technical ways.  We can see it and hear it but to me this time has given me the chance to just sit and hold the Word of God and read and re read it till it has become more precious than ever. To handle it and allow it to speak to me as never before, to give the Holy Spirit the time to illuminate it to me.  To touch it and to let it sink into my life and my memory, so that handling the Word is not something that is strange to me but something I can share with the Lord and allow Him to reveal His truths to me. 

Thank You Lord for every remembrance of You and help me to daily bring you into my life and dwell on the memory of how You saved a sinner like me.  Help me to hold in my hand the memory of who I was and what You have made me in Yourself through Your sacrifice on the Cross. 

Author: Jan Pearson

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Reflection on Psalm 139

Do you find it scarier to know that there is nowhere you can go where God is not present, or do you find that affirming and comforting that wherever you are God is with you?

Psalm 139 is one of my favourite passages of Scripture,

I’m overwhelmed by the depth of God’s love for us, that He knew me and loved me before I was even born.

15 You even formed every bone in my body

when You created me in the secret place, 

carefully, skilfully shaping me from nothing to something.

16 You saw who You created me to be before I became me!

Before I’d ever seen the light of day, (TPT)

I find it both challenging and reassuring at the same time, that God knows all there is to know about me, he knows me so completely better than I know myself perhaps.

How do we get our heads around a God who is everywhere, who knows all there is to know about us, who knows us better than we know ourselves, who knows all our thoughts before they are on our lips, yet still loves us with that deep abiding abundant love of Father God. Love so deep and profound, unconditional love not because of anything we have done but because God is Love. Those who live in love live in God and He in them.

Psalm 139 reminds us that God is everywhere, there is nowhere we can go that God is not present, our awesome Creator God.

Do you find it scarier to know that there is nowhere you can go where God is not present, or do you find that affirming and comforting that wherever you are God is with you?

It has taken me along time to grapple with the verses towards the end which talk of hatred, disgust and despise of people. I often used to skip-over these verses but after many years of reflection have come to realise that we need to offer our hearts to God, our thoughts should be focused on God’s purpose and not on any resentments or regrets of the past. God knowns all there is to know about us, He knows our hearts and calls us to love one another.

How do we create a world built on love?

Well it begins with us, each one of us making a commitment to live in Love, to seek God’s heart, to seek to live in and reflect the redemptive, abundant, sacrificial love God has for His children and to know that deep abiding love that the Psalmist speaks of. The faithful eternal love of God. Shown to us in Jesus Christ, when we accept Jesus into our lives and our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit living in us, we can seek to build a world motivated by the sacrificial, redemptive Love of God.

 Psalm 139 (The Passion Translation TPT)

1 Lord, you know everything there is to know about me.

2 You perceive every movement of my heart and soul,

and You understand my every thought before it even enters my mind.

3–4 You are so intimately aware of me, Lord.

You read my heart like an open book

and You know all the words I’m about to speak

before I even start a sentence!

You know every step I will take before my journey even begins.

5 You’ve gone into my future to prepare the way,

and in kindness You follow behind me

to spare me from the harm of my past.

With Your hand of love upon my life,

You impart a blessing to me.

6 This is just too wonderful, deep, and incomprehensible!

Your understanding of me brings me wonder and strength.

7 Where could I go from Your Spirit?

Where could I run and hide from Your face?

8 If I go up to heaven, You’re there!

If I go down to the realm of the dead, You’re there too!

9 If I fly with wings into the shining dawn, You’re there!

If I fly into the radiant sunset, You’re there waiting!

10 Wherever I go, Your hand will guide me;

Your strength will empower me.

11 It’s impossible to disappear from You

or to ask the darkness to hide me,

for Your presence is everywhere, bringing light into my night.

12 There is no such thing as darkness with You.

The night, to You, is as bright as the day;

there’s no difference between the two.

13 You formed my innermost being, shaping my delicate inside and my intricate outside,

and wove them all together in my mother’s womb.

14 I thank You, God, for making me so mysteriously complex!

Everything You do is marvellously breath-taking.

It simply amazes me to think about it!

How thoroughly You know me, Lord!

15 You even formed every bone in my body

when You created me in the secret place,

carefully, skilfully shaping me from nothing to something.

16 You saw who You created me to be before I became me!

Before I’d ever seen the light of day,

the number of days You planned for me

were already recorded in Your book.

17–18 Every single moment You are thinking of me!

How precious and wonderful to consider

that You cherish me constantly in Your every thought!

O God, Your desires toward me are more

than the grains of sand on every shore!

When I awake each morning, You’re still with me.

19 O God, come and slay these bloodthirsty, murderous men!

For I cry out, “Depart from me, you wicked ones!”

20 See how they blaspheme Your sacred Name

and lift up themselves against You, but all in vain!

21 Lord, can’t You see how I despise those who despise You?

For I grieve when I see them rise up against You.

22 I have nothing but complete hatred and disgust for them.

Your enemies shall be my enemies!

23 God, I invite Your searching gaze into my heart.

Examine me through and through;

find out everything that may be hidden within me.

Put me to the test and sift through all my anxious cares.

24 See if there is any path of pain I’m walking on,

and lead me back to Your glorious, everlasting ways—

the path that brings me back to You.

Author: Diane Webb

May God bless and enrich your life

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Open the eyes of my heart Lord

It is easy to criticise a world that does not know Jesus, but we, who do know him, need to examine ourselves.

Last week as we were talking about praying for the nation the following scripture came to mind:

Judges 21:25: In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

The final chapters of the book of Judges portray a society in which there was a disintegration of family values and morals. There were betrayals, idolatry, hostility, lack of protection and compassion and lots more. They had an eye problem. They looked to other gods and did not focus their eyes on the one true God. It is a lesson in what happens to a nation that stops being committed to the Lord and no longer puts Him at the centre of their lives. It teaches us what happens when people think they know better than God. There is a downward spiral. It becomes disastrous. Tim Keller in his commentary writes that ‘Judges can be described as “despicable people doing deplorable things” and as “trashy tales about dysfunctional characters.”

It struck me that society today is going the same way. People feel they have the right to do whatever they want. Many are a law unto themselves, an attitude which inevitably leads to evil. We live in a time when it is becoming more and more the case, that everyone does what is right in their own eyes. They are living as if they have no king. But we know that they do have a King. We, who know Him, must help them to turn their eyes from themselves and fix them on the one who can save them.

Hebrews 12:1-2 says:  Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of God. 

After lamenting about society and how it is all going terribly wrong, my husband played the song whose words are 2 Chronicles 7:14 ‘If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.’ We have been given this verse many times recently and we have been using it to pray for our nation but as we were listening to the song it struck my husband like a lightening bolt that it is the people who are called by His name that need to turn from their wicked ways. That’s us!! 

We too can live as if we have no king sometimes. It is easy to criticise a world that does not know Jesus, but we, who do know him, need to examine ourselves.  We can easily become complacent as a Christian, to be lukewarm, not giving God our whole lives and not rooting out the idols in our lives. The Israelites were like that. They had not fully rejected God, they were half in and half out. They never said He did not exist, indeed they ran to Him every time there was trouble, but when things were going fine He just became one of many gods.

We can easily take our eyes off of Jesus and develop the same eye problem the nation of Israel had in the time of the Judges! We sometimes need to take the plank out of our own eyes so we can see to take the speck out of someone else’s eye.

Luke 6:41-42 says: “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

We need to be able to see clearly before we can lead others to the Lord. In Jesus’s letter to the Laodicean Church in Revelation 3:18 it says: I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

Getting salve from Jesus so we can see, is the only way to cure our own eye problem! We have to make Him King in our lives, giving Him total control of our lives.  Then and only then can we point people to the King, whom they have failed to recognise.

Numbers 16:47-48 says: So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them. He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped. 

Only when we can see clearly to put our own failings right, can we run into the world to stand between the living and the dead.

Author: Thelma Cameron

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GOD WILL ALWAYS KEEP HIS PROMISES

PERSISTENCE IN PRAYER AS THE OLD SAYING GOES IS WHAT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE.

(NEHEMIAH 1:3-11)

AS WE CONSIDER HOW NEHEMIAH WEPT OVER JERUSALEM, IT SEEMS APPROPRIATE TO REMIND OURSELVES THAT HE WASN'T THE ONLY PERSON THERE TO WEEP OVER THE HOLY CITY.  OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST WEPT OVER IT TOO (LUKE 19:41-43) NOW AS HE DREW NEAR, HE SAW THE CITY AND WEPT OVER IT, SAYING "IF YOU HAD KNOWN EVEN YOU ESPECIALLY IN THIS YOUR DAY THE THINGS THAT MAKE YOUR PEACE BUT NOW THEY ARE HIDDEN FROM YOUR EYES, FOR DAYS WILL COME UPON YOU WHEN YOUR ENEMIES WILL BUILD AN EMBANKMENT AROUND YOU, SURROUND YOU AND CLOSE YOU IN ON EVERY SIDE".

LETTING THINGS AFFECT US EMOTIONALLY IS NOT A SIGN THAT OUR FAITH IN GOD IS LACKING, HOWEVER, WE MUST NOT ALLOW THOSE THINGS TO DRAG US DOWN INTO SELF-PITY.  GOD'S STRENGTH IS GIVEN TO US NOT SO THAT WE CAN DENY OUR FEELINGS, BUT TO SUPPORT US IN THEM AND BRING US THROUGH.

NEHEMIAH'S EMOTION AND REACTION TO THE NEWS CONCERNING THE CONDITION OF THE BROKEN DOWN WALLS OF JERUSLEM, HIGHLIGHTS MANY SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLES THAT WE WILL DISCOVER IN FOLLOWING NEHEMIAH'S STORY.

BEFORE A PERSON CAN RECEIVE A BLESSING, SOMEONE ELSE HAS TO BE WILLING TO BEAR A BURDEN.  WE CAN NEVER LIGHTEN  THE LOAD FOR OTHERS UNTIL WE HAVE FIRST FELT THE WEIGHT OF THEIR TROUBLES IN OUR OWN SELF.

AS A CHAPLAIN IN A HOSPITAL, WHEN I VISIT PEOPLE I LIKE TO TALK TO THEM AND TRY TO UNDERSTAND THEIR PAIN AND THEIR DIFFICULTIES, SO THAT I CAN PRAY ACCORDINGLY AND SPECFICALLY.

NEHEMIAH, NOT READY TO PUT INTO ACTION ANY KIND OF RECOVERY PLAN FOR JERUSALEM UNTIL HE HAD FIRST FACED HIS FEELINGS AND WEPT, BECAUSE OF IT'S RUINED STATE.  WHEN A SITUATION HAS TOUCHED OUR HEART THAT IS THE TIME WE BECOME READY TO ACT, AS NEHEMIAH DID.

TODAY WE LIVE IN A BROKEN WORLD, LOOK AROUND US AND SEE THINGS AS THEY REALLY ARE, ARE WE TRULY AWARE OF THE BROKENESS AROUND US? MAYBE OUR DEVETIONAL LIFE, OUR FAMILY, OUR FINANCES, OUR CHURCH PERHAPS OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT WE SHOULD BE GRIEVING AND PRAYING FOR AT THIS MOMENT.  MAYBE THERE IS A BROKENESS/RUIN THAT WE ARE NOT PREPARED TO ACKNOWLEDGE.  REMEMBER WE CANNOT BEGIN TO REBUILD A CRUMBLING WALL UNLESS WE ARE FIRST WILLING TO MOURN OVER IT.

HOW DIFFERENT THINGS COULD BE IF WE LEARN TO LIFT OUR HEARTS IN PRAYER.  THE KIND OF PRAYER I'M TALKING ABOUT HERE IS AN ATTITUDE OF A TRULY REPENTED AND OBEDIENT HEART, THAT SAYS HELP ME DRAW ON YOUR RESOURCES AS I FACE THIS DIFFICULT TIME.  2 CHRON:7:14  IF MY PEOPLE WHO ARE CALLED BY MY NAME WILL HUMBLE THEMSELVES AND PRAY AND SEEK MY FACE AND TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS, THEN I WILL HEAR FROM HEAVEN AND I WILL FORGIVE THEIR SIN, AND HEAL THEIR LAND.

(NEHEMIAH 1:5-11)

NEHEMIAH'S PRAYER 

AND I SAID I PRAY LORD GOD OF HEAVEN O GREAT AND AWESOME GOD YOU WHO KEEP YOUR COVENANT AND MERCY WITH THOSE WHO LOVE YOU AND OBSERVE YOUR COMMANDMENTS. 6 PLEASE LET YOUR EAR BE ATTENTIVE AND YOUR EYES OPEN THAT YOU MAY HEAR THE PRAYER OF YOUR SERVANT WHICH I PRAY BEFORE YOU NOW DAY AND NIGHT FOR THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, YOUR SERVANTS AND CONFESS THE SINS OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WHICH WE HAVE SINNED AGAINST YOU BOTH MY FATHER'S HOUSE AND I HAVE SINNED. 7 WE HAVE ACTED VERY CORRUPTLY AGAINST YOU AND HAVE NOT KEPT THE COMMANDMENTS THE STATUTES NOR THE ORDINANCES WHICH YOU COMMANDED YOUR SERVANT MOSES.  8 REMEMBER I PRAY THE WORD THAT YOU COMMANDED YOUR SERVANT MOSES SAYING IF YOU ARE UNFAITHFUL I WILL SCATTER YOU AMONG THE NATIONS. 9 BUT IF YOU RETURN TO ME AND KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS AND DO THEM THOUGH SOME OF YOU WERE CAST OUT TO THE FARTHEST PART OF THE HEAVENS YET I WILL GATHER THEM FROM THERE AND BRING THEM TO THE PLACE WHICH I HAVE CHOSEN AS A DWELLING FOR MY NAME  10 NOW THESE ARE YOUR SERVANTS AND YOUR PEOPLE WHOM YOU REDEEMED BY YOUR GREAT POWER AND YOUR STRONG HAND  11 O LORD I PRAY PLEASE LET YOUR EAR BE ATTENTIVE TO THE PRAYER OF YOUR SERVANT AND TO THE PRAYER OF YOUR SERVANTS WHO DESIRE TO FEAR YOUR NAME

REFLECTING ON NEHEMIAH'S POWERFUL PRAYER IN CLAIMING THE PROVISION GOD MADE FOR HIS PEOPLE NEHEMIAH REVEALED ANOTHER GREAT PRINCIPLE NAMELY THAT PRAYER MUST BE BASED ON THE PROMISES OF GOD.  REMEMBER YOUR COMMAND TO MOSES, HE PRAYS THE WORDS THE LORD GAVE MOSES, HE CLAIMED THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROMISE.

NEHEMIAH'S CONFIDENCE IN THE LORD AS A PROMISE KEEPER WAS SO GREAT THAT HE KNEW GOD WOULD WORK OUT THE DETAILS AS QUOTED IN THE ABOVE PRAYERS OF NEHEMIAH 1:5-11. AND SO SHOULD WE

PERSISTENCE IN PRAYER AS THE OLD SAYING GOES IS WHAT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE.  DO WE HEAR NEHEMIAH'S KIND OF PRAYING TODAY?  SADLY NOT AS OFTEN AS WE OUGHT TOO.  MOST MODERN DAY PRAYERS ARE JUST TOKEN PRAYERS, ASKING GOD TO BLESS THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER.  POWERFUL PRAYING IS THE CONSEQUENCE OF SEEING THE SITUATION AS IT IS, AND IN SEEING GOD AS HE IS.  FATHER GOD PLEASE ENABLE US TO SEE THINGS AS THEY REALLY ARE AND TO SEE YOU GOD AS YOU REALLY ARE.

(QUOTE FROM C.H. SPURGEON)

"LET YOUR FLEECE LIE ON THE THRESHING-FLOOR OF SUPPLICATION TILL IT IS WET WITH THE DEW OF HEAVEN."

GOD'S PROMISES ARE YES AND AMEN.

 

Author: Herbert Jean 

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