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New Year's Eve

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  And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.” And he replied: “Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.” So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East. So heart be still: What need our little life Our human life to know, If God hath comprehension? In all the dizzy strife Of things both high and low, God hideth His intention. God knows. His will Is best. The stretch of years Which wind ahead, so dim To our imperfect vision, Are clear to God. Our fears Are premature; In Him, All time hath full provision. Then rest: until God moves to lift the veil From our impatient eyes, When, as the sweeter features Of Life’s stern face we hail, Fair beyond all surmise God’s thought around His creatures Our mind shall fill. Minnie Louise ...
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Sleeping

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 So here's a thing.......  God never slumbers or sleeps right? Psalm 121;4  We are told He is always watching over us , protecting and defending, saving and restoring us.  So when Jesus was born, for the first time in eternity God knew what it felt like to sleep!  And baby Jesus probably slept alot - cos all babies do. For 33 years , presumably every night Jesus went to sleep.  We don't know that for sure, but we do know that He did sleep because He fell asleep in the boat during the storm.      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1cIFsEQJlg I've got sleeping on my mind because over the holiday time my sleep pattern has gone completely out of the window.  I've found myself awake till 5 or 6 in the morning then finally falling asleep and not waking up till lunchtime.  Which isn't a problem when I have no work to get up for or Ben to get to school.  But it feels odd to be so out of kilter with the rest of the world.  The other ...
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Favour

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  In the car listening to a service on the radio the other morning - the focus was on Mary.  And a phrase I have heard a thousand times suddenly leaped out at me and made me stop to think.   ' Do not be afraid Mary , you have found favour with God' Why had she found favour with God?  What had she done to find favour with God?  What does that mean exactly?  Later on in the same passage the angel tells her that Elizabeth is also with child - she too has found favour with God.  For some reason I'd never really noticed those words in this particular way before..... but then that's the joy of the Bible isn't it?   Always something new to consider. So first off what IS this favour which Mary and Elizabeth both suddenly found themselves experiencing.   Time to delve into Strongs concordance.  Which says the word favour means Cognate: 5485   xáris  (another feminine noun from  xar- , " favour, disposed to, inclined ,  fa...
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Root

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 I was thinking about roots today.  Mainly because the Chrsitmas tree we bought last year was one with roots and in January we planted it in a large pot and put it out in our back yard.  It grew well and this year we lugged the pot inside, wrapped it in something festive and decorated the tree.  It is just a nice size and looks lovely but I have been a bit worried about how the tree will be coping with the massive change in temperature and how often I should be watering it.  I really want it to survive for many Christmases to come. Taking 5 this afternoon in front of the tree My tree probably wont grow too much more because its roots will have already reached the limits of the pot its in.  And that's fine because I dont want a huge tree - the size it is now will do nicely.   But most trees, if planted in the ground, will send out roots either deep, or wide, or both.  Scientists are now saying that the root system of a forest enable trees to c...
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Eternal and Everlasting

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 When you live inside time it is nigh on impossible to imagine someone who lives outside time. Everything we do is dictated to and dependant on the passage of time.  We age.  We can only move forwards inexorably towards the time when we die.  We cannot see our futures and we cant return to our pasts.  Clocks tick and our brain cells die off as we hurry to get everything done that we need to achieve this morning, today, this week, this year, this lifetime. Jesus doesn't hurry.  Maddeningly He is completely unrestrained and unbothered by the passage of time.  For Him everything is happening now.  And then.  And in the future.   For us, His sense of timing can seem frustrating and unfathomable.  Why hasn't He chosen to return or to intervene before now?   Why does He answer some of our prayers before we ask them and take decades to answer others?  Not only does He stand outside time - making Him eternal - He is also...
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New

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 Jesus makes all things new.  He mediates a new covenant.  He is the new Adam.  New. Yesterday Im assuming that most of us got something new. Hopefully something that you wanted or needed and that put a smile on your face.  Because it's nice to get new things.  Especially if we have been feeling the pinch of late or are not pre-disposed to treating ourselves very often.    As we close the door on Christmas we look forward to more celebrations as 2022 turns into 2023.  I suspect that many of us will be quite happy to see a New Year arrive with all the hope that it might be less financially constrained and war-torn and downright depressing than the last one.   Jan 1st is an arbitrary line in the sand really - the sun will rise on that day just as any other and everything will be the same as it was the day before.  Except that we will think about it slightly differently.  Because Jan 1st will be day one of a New Year and some...
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Christ

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Merry Christmas to all my friends and thanks to all of you who have read and commented on the blog this advent.  Last year Chris Townsend commented that he had a bit of a hiatus between the ending of my blog and the start of his new Bible reading plan on Jan 1st.  So this year I think I shall keep going with the blog until the New Year.  :D  Just in case you dont have enough to do eating the leftovers and finding places to put all the presents you have been given today. Thought for the day is not about a name of Jesus but about the carol Hark the Herald Angels Sing.  Ive heard it a few times this Christmas but for some reason the other day I listened to the words with fresh ears.  And it struck me that this particular carol is absolutely brilliantly written.  The words are so poetically sharp - have a listen or a read of them today if you can and just pause to think about how wonderfully they say so much in so few words.  Born that man no more may...
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