Mind the Gap

For the Christian there is always a gap, a disparity between who we are now and the unique person Father God has made us to be. There's a gap between what God has made possible and how we actually behave. But He longs for us to enter in and is committed to closing that Gap, as we walk with Him.

Following Jesus is the simplest thing we can do, but it's not easy and I begin to wonder when someone tells me otherwise. For some, their journey appears to be smooth and effortless, some get diverted and opt for the status quo, but others find at times they are treading a hard rocky path. I fit more readily into the latter category, so it's no surprise that I feel for such people and often write with them in mind.

Dealing with events or situations that God has allowed to help us grow and move us on, can be a blood-sweat-and-tears struggle. So it's helpful to share with others something of our walk, including the difficulties and vulnerabilities we experience along the way. I have found when someone has dared to be real like this, it's like a breath of fresh air. There's a connecting and identifying and a realisation that humanly ‘I'm not alone in this’ or 'I'm not abnormal!' This is why I try to write honestly and personally, but at the same time looking to Jesus.

I can look back rejoicing that God has always brought me through the trials, often in amazing ways. At the time I felt the devastation, helplessness and desperation, but giving up was never an option, it was unthinkable. It was God who did it, but now and again He used others to encourage just when needed. Then there were the others -.

At a time when I had been diagnosed with a chronic illness and my world seemed to be falling apart, I met someone with a terminal illness. He said that as soon as he was told he immediately surrendered it all to God and that was it. I was impressed, but it didn't help me. I needed to hear something of the process he went through to get to that point. Another Christian slapped me on the back and said, ‘count it all joy’ brother. Biblical truth, but there was no ‘connecting’ or identifying and it left me thinking that he couldn't cope with the situation and had to keep his distance.

I heard a ‘testimony’ from someone going through divorce proceedings, who announced that he had the victory in it, God was in control and he was at peace. His quivering lips showed me that was his hope, but it wasn't yet true in his experience. It would have been more helpful - and he would have carried more listeners with him - if he had dared take the risk to say where he was really at. It’s not a lack of faith to admit our weakness.

I'm still learning.

"Blessed are they who know their need of God, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3 (my paraphrase)

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Pen of a Ready Writer

My wife and I have been invited to a special birthday celebration for the wife of a couple that were very much a part of our Christian walk 10 to 15 years ago. They asked us if possible to bring a photograph of us taken at the time when we first met.. In a search for the dates I reached for one of my old prayer journals.

I kept a very full journal in those days and as I read I became engrossed in all the detail. It spoke of struggles and stumbling and of lots of Christian activity. There was also a common thread running all the way through, of being drawn into intimacy with Father.

This led me on to considering where I am with the Lord now, after all those years. I was both encouraged and challenged.

I have ‘moved on’ since then and am more surrendered and settled inside, with less hang-ups, but still aware of some of the old persistent weaknesses lurking at times. In other words I am more aware of who I am and free to be me. The old difficulties are in the past; I’ve just got a whole load different ones and more so. This means I am much more reliant on Jesus than ever. The challenge is greater. But this is the main difference - He means more to me now than ever, He is all I need.

I just want to be wholly available to Him and be the ‘pen of a Ready Writer.’

It does help to look back with Father now and again and consider and take stock.

Where are you now?

"My tongue will be the pen of a ready writer
And what the Father gives to me I'll sing
I only want to be His breath
I only want to glorify the King"
from “I Hear the Sound of Rustling”
by Ronnie Wilson

“My heart overflows with a good theme; I address my verses to the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.” Psalm 45:1

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It's All Good News

When I was a student engineer on the railways, I worked in a large open plan office for a time. I sat next to Malik who always had a cheery smile. Whenever he received mail he would show me the envelope and ask me, ‘good or bad?’ if I replied ‘It’s good news Malik’ he would mark plus one on the envelope. He’d then do the rounds of the whole office, asking the same question. If someone said ‘bad news’ he marked minus one and so on. When he had finished he counted up the marks and if he had a surplus of plusses he would open it. Maybe he was a bit superstitious, but I think it was just his way of a joke.

I used to say that if we could take just one verse of the Bible - say John 3:16 - and let it sink in deep down in the depths of our being, it would change our life. I still believe that, but in a way I think I had a hidden agenda. It was my way of justifying leaving out some of the verses I perceived as being unpalatable. Like verses that included the ‘D’ word - ‘discipline.’ It wasn’t that I didn’t have a ‘head’ knowledge of them, but I avoided allowing the Holy Spirit to apply them in reality in my life. I suppose I saw them as bad news.

God of course, has always gracefully brought me back to those ‘tricky’ Words. He knew when the time was right, when I had just the right amount of desperation to want answers. It was only then that I gained fresh revelation, a deeper understanding and a deeper peace.

So I am learning that all of God’s Word is ‘Good News’ as it brings us more into the abundant life and closer to Jesus.

“You spoke to me, and I listened to every word. I belong to you, LORD God Almighty, and so your words filled my heart with joy and happiness.” Jeremiah 15:16

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

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Give Me a Hug

Touch is important. Even simple fingertip contact can often convey far more than many words. I like to touch, but don't do it enough, perhaps because I don't want to offend or give the wrong impression. A neighbour of ours had recently lost his wife. I could see he was crying inside and I felt like crying with him - perhaps I should have? After a few words, I touched him on the shoulder, didn't know what else to do, but I hope it conveyed what I felt.

I like to be touched, but in the right way. I am a six-footer, but there are several larger people I can think of, who can make me flinch. There's a real beefy he-man who sometimes squeezes the living daylights out of me and a large well-endowed woman who held me so tight, I felt smothered and gasped for breath.

It’s a warming thing to share a brotherly or sisterly embrace, but we need to be sensitive to the other and their needs. Sometimes, it's seems like a ritual and can give people the impression that unless you hug you are not a real Christian.

Some years ago in our little village church, the minister decided to introduce a slot in the service where we could greet one another and share the love of Christ. I welcomed this and remember holding out my hand to the church steward. He froze on the spot, as if to say "Shake hands in church? What next?" To the other extreme, we have been in churches when, at the appropriate time, all mayhem is let loose as people clamber over chairs to anyone and everyone.

We can learn from Father. His touch is always just right. He knows what we need. There have been times, when I've have felt in need and have said "Father just hold me" He has done so with such a light touch. Rather like a child sitting on Father's knee. His arm ever-so-lightly around the shoulders, giving the freedom to linger or go.

Lets be bold and sensitive. Perhaps there is just one person waiting for the right Jesus-touch today?

"Greet one another with a holy embrace." 2 Corinthians 13:12

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Created or Evolved?

I happen to believe that God made the world. That's what we are told in the Bible. I have little interest in the 'how,' although I accept it may have a fascination for some. You may be surprised therefore, to hear that I have recently watched the first in a major prime time television series on evolution.

The biologist presenter was passionate about Charles Darwin's theory and expounded that it gives a complete explanation and reason for man's existence. He seemed to display an intolerance to those who believe in God. It was unfortunate that he had to resort to what could be seen as mocking those who believed what they are told in the Bible.

The questions that the programme has not addressed, so far, are the "why" and the "who." The Bible is fundamentally about a love relationship with God, an affair of the heart that cannot be analysed scientifically. I read in the Bible that God had me in mind, even before He made the world. That is mind-blowing and is not something that can be understood, but entered into. I, like millions of others, entered into this 'affair,' not because I had been taught or indoctrinated, but because He revealed Himself to me in my need and impacted me with His love.

Whatever we may think about evolution; when our spiritual eyes are opened, the Bible, God's Word comes alive. We do not throw reason out of the window, but our eyes are opened to a life-changing love relationship with Jesus. We and the world desperately need this.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God. The Word was with God in the beginning. All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created." John 1:1-3

"For he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we may be holy and unblemished in his sight in love." Ephesians 1:4

"Certainly you made my mind and heart; you wove me together in my mother’s womb." Psalm 139:13 All quotes from New English Translation

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The Sword

I love watching those very old swashbuckling movies, that always end in a sword-flashing duel. The action keeps me on the edge of my seat as the dashing hero and villain chase each other, leaping from balconies, swinging from chandeliers and crashing through windows. You wonder who will win, but always the villain finally gets his come-uppance, ending up on his knees with the hero's sword pointing at his heart. He's given the choice; death or surrender and meet the consequences.

It reminds me how it is with the Sword of the Spirit - the Word of God.

A couple of years ago my wife and I attended a retreat which involved a long tiring journey from home. I was expectant, but after a teaching session on the first morning, I felt very drowsy and snuggled down in my comfy armchair. It had been decided to slip in an extra unplanned talk before lunch.

Hoping I wouldn't be noticed, I half closed my eyes, but kept an ear cocked just in case there was something for me. The talk drifted over me until suddenly I was alert and wide awake. The speaker referred to something from scripture in a way I hadn't heard before. Startled, I asked her to repeat it and explain. Something stirred within. It felt like God's spotlight was on me and was revealing where I was not. A period of painful soul searching and repentance followed, but eventually resulted in healing and freedom and a new moving forward with God. It was exactly what I needed.

Then there have been those countless times when I've found myself in difficult or seemingly impossible circumstances. Each time I reached out to Father in my desperate need and His answer came with a Word dropped into my mind. His Word that brought light into the darkness, fresh understanding and destroyed the doubts and fears knocking at my door.

The Word of God brings truth and life into every situation. Falsehood and evil cannot stand against it. It is God's gift to us, a very powerful and life-giving weapon.

"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Hebrews 4:12 New International Version

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