Cazsadventblog22

  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 ...

 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 ...

  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...

 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...

 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...

 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...

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...

  Rev 3:14  the faithful and true witness   ( plus a whole heap of other verses about Jesus being faithful to forgive, faithful and just etc) Someone posted the song Oh Come All You Unfaithful this week - in fact it has come up on my Facebook timeline a few times .  Unsurprisingly as it is a really powerful and relevant song for this time of year. Then yesterday in the car I had some Christmas worship music on and Oh Come All Ye Faithful was blasting out as I was singing along.  And I thought about the two songs and my mind started chewing on the topic of faithfulness.  ( You can find the song here   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-QHbpYjuIg&feature=emb_logo ) The thought that came to me was that it is easy to be faithful when you love something or someone.  When we are passionately committed to a cause or a person or a church we barely see their faults, we don't look elsewhere to get our needs met, we are happy and content because...

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  Matt 11;29 Yesterday when thinking about what name of Jesus to write about the word 'meek' jumped into my mind.  I realised that Jesus doesnt often tell us much about His personality. Many of His ' I Am' statements describe His mission - I am the true Vine, I am the shepherd, the door, the bread  etc.  But here He tells us about His disposition, His nature.  He is meek and lowly in heart.    If you look up a definition of meek it will say two things.  1)  patient, long-suffering, or submissive in disposition or nature; humble  and 2) spineless or spiritless, compliant.  I suspect the second definition is a later addition to the dictionary - we are so good at taking something noble and demeaning it arent we?  We look at someone who turns the other cheek and instead of celebrating forbearance  and forgiveness we...

  I went out shopping yesterday in the late afternoon and by the time Id got to town and let the dogs out and faffed about a bit it was dark.  And the lights were on.  The Christmas ones - all down the high street.  There was a lovely Christmas tree and most of the shops had sparkly twinkly lights in their windows as well as the ones hanging from lamp-posts on each side of the road.   I love it.  Something about the lights at this time of the year makes me happy. I started thinking about how lovely it is that at this time of year, every year, we get these wonderfully artistic, creative displays in our towns and cities for free.  And then I remembered that when I was very little my Mum bundled my brother and I into the car in our pyjamas and drove from our home in Leeds to Blackpool to see the illuminations.   If you have never been you should go.   I remember we drove really slowly down the seafront ( or wherever they were) gaz...

 Mighty is one of those words that feels really strange when you say it a few times.  Not a word we use often in everyday life but used often in the Bible to talk about God and several times in relation to Jesus. Then you will know that I, the LORD, am your Saviour, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. ( Is 60:16) and of course most famously at Christmas :  For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called. Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace  (Is 9:6) I remember many decades ago Graham Cooke came to speak at church.  I cant remember what he was teaching on but one of the things he got us to do has stuck with me for years.  He asked everyone to close their eyes and imagine they were standing on a battlefield.  I know you cant close your eyes as you are reading this but I urge you to go with this and imagine  the scene yourself.  As we look o...

 I spent quite a bit of time in the car yesterday and decided to put ' Christmas Worship' into Spotify and just listen to whatever came up.   There were lots of nice versions of carols and other Christmassy worshippy songs, but this one really touched me.  I think it is  lovely rendition of one of our best known carols with cleverly adapted words to turn it from a children's song into a declaration of praise.   I hope you enjoy it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw_yH55dBIA&t=131s I'm not going to say anything else about it because Im sure you will have your own thoughts.  The countdown to Christmas is well and truly on.  I hope you are enjoying the preparations and aren't getting stressed.  Put on the worship music as you are wrapping those last presents - it helps 😁

  Author And Perfecter Of Our Faith: (Hebrews 12:2) Author Of Life (Acts 3:15) Author Of Salvation (Heb. 2:10) According to the dictionary an author is an originator or creator.  And as we all know Jesus was with God and was God in the beginning and everything was made by Him so it stands to reason that He is the author of everything. But in thinking about this particular title today I began to wonder if there is more to be discovered about our favourite and most prolific author. 😀 There is a school of thought which proposes that the gazillion stories which have been told over the centuries ( including all the films) can all be reduced down to seven basic archetypes.  Seven plot lines which form the basis for all the stories we tell.   I'll list them here and then we can have a look at the story Jesus has been writing since God first said ' let there be' 1.   Rags to riches : In a rags-to-riches story, a poor and derelict main character gains something the...

 Isiah 53:3  Its hard to really think about the things that Jesus went through in His life.  Easy to read.  Hard to imagine. Born to an unmarried couple in the middle of an occupation by a brutal dictatorship who wanted Him dead at birth.  Forced into exile and presumably homelessness and poverty as a refugee.  Having to live apart from His heavenly Father divested of all the trappings of heaven and the company of angels.  Super bright as a child and probably seen as somewhat precocious by the adults He wanted to hang around to quiz on their religious beliefs.  Unmarried way past the age when everyone else was married.  Weird cousin who lived in the desert.  Wandering mostly homeless for three years as His teaching caused people to want to stone Him and throw Him off cliffs.  Accused of being a drunkard and associating with scum. Misunderstood by just about everyone.  Suffered the death of one of His best friends and the betray...

 Jesus is good.  That's it really. 😊   He is just the goodest bestest person you will ever know. Yesterday I was in contact with a friend I haven't heard from for ages.  We had an exchange of watsapp messages and afterwards I felt......... good.  My friend is a good person.  The sort who leaves you feeling better than when you started.  And it made me think about goodness and what it is - and its really really hard to put into words. I have known countless times in worship when I have just stood with my hands raised saying over and over again  'You are SO good'   because I have been overwhelmed by the sense of the presence of God being everything that is wholesome and true and kind and wonderful.  Regularly when praying with people I get the sense of the goodness of God coming to cover and fill .  Its not quite the same as His favour, I don't think.  Favour somehow implies His actions towards us - that He is doing ki...

 This morning in the car on the way to school I asked Ben which name of Jesus I should write about today and without missing a beat he said ' Son of man'.  Which was interesting given that he had no idea that yesterday we were looking at Jesus the Son of God.  :) I realised that I didnt really know much about this title.  Its one of those phrases that washes over you for years and then you take a look at it and realise that you probably haven't understood what it really means.   So I went off to do a bit of finding out.  In my research I came across this article which is really good and says everything in a meaningful and concise way - so there seems little point in regurgitating it all in my own words.  Read it for yourself here   https://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-Son-of-Man.html My thoughts  after all that turned to ancestry.  The fact that Jesus has a family tree just like I do.  Jesus can trace His family tree back to Adam...

  Today the blog is written by my friend Chris Townsend - a most faithful reader of the blog for the past decade and huge encourager to me in his comments and general cheering.   He has Covid 😒 ( boooooo!)  But that means he had time to write a blog yesterday ( hooray!)    Enjoy. This must be one of the most familiar names for Jesus - even non-believers know of it. We can all quote, " This   is   my   Son , whom I love; with him I am well pleased" from Matthew and Luke's Gospels. I've  used it as an encouragement when praying for men (maybe you have too?). But it's harder when praying for a lady. Some will simply exchange the word son for daughter, especially these days when there are so many conversations around gender. This, however, is to miss the point.   In Roman times, sons were heirs. Today, we think of an heir as anyone who gets a family heirloom or inheritance one day when a relative dies. But Paul link...

 Matthew 11:19  Luke 7:34 Jesus is described in the Gospels as a friend of sinners.  I think when I have read that previously I have, in my mind, focused on the 'sinners' part.  The fact that Jesus chose to hang out with and be associated with 'undesirables'.   Which of course is a source of hope for all of us as we are all sinners.  But today I have been thinking about friends.  What it takes to be one and what it means to have one. Friends usually have things in common.  Either a hobby, or a job, or other friends or a location.  We bond with people who are like us.  We like people who share our worldview.  It is easier to get on with those people than the ones who argue with us about everything!  Friendship is a two way street.  You cant have a one way friendship - its reciprocal.  And that must surely have been true for Jesus.  It wasn't just a case of Him condescending to spend time with those who were b...