Resurrect.

I suppose it is about time that I resurrect this blog after my week off :o)

But that is not the only resurrection that has been on my mind this morning. Ruth is having a day off work today to be pampered (not by me – phew!) and I drove into the office this morning alone. For the most part of my journey the sun rise was ahead of me and the beauty of such a spectacle never ceases to leave me with a sense of awe. As these first rays of sunlight reach out spectacularly across the sky it is as they are commanding life to re-enter the landscape; everything comes alive again.

This, of course, may have just been running through my mind because I was listening to a fantastic [but definitely not to everyone’s taste] CD by Randall Goodgame. The chorus of one of my favourite songs goes like this:

I rise up like a Lazarus in John 11
Throw off my grave clothes,
Put on the Armour of the Lord.
I rise up like a Lazarus,
Dry all the tears Mary cried.
When I fall down on my knees
I rise!

Now I’ve written it I can’t stop singing it in my head!

The story of Lazarus has always gripped me. I think this is mostly because of the authority of Jesus’ voice.

Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go." John 11:43-44

Lazarus was dead.
There is a line in a David Crowder song that asks “Do you feel when your last breath has gone?” Lazarus knew the answer for sure. But then the unexpected happened. From the grave he heard a voice, one that his soul and body had to obey. What does it feel like to be dead and then heard the command of Jesus to rise up?

The same thing once happened to us [if you have asked Jesus into your life – if not see link on ‘becoming a Christian’]. When we Jesus came into our lives for the first time we came awake; we arose from the slumber of the spiritual grave we inhabited. All this happened because we heard a voice, his voice… calling our name.

We live [in Christ] because he called our name.

Relax.

Hi.

This is more of an apology than a ‘thought for the day’ really, but I hope that you don’t think anything less of me for it :o)

It is usually the case that I prepare many of these little blogs in advance (unless something hits me spontaneously). But I have been quite occupied recently getting prayer cover sorted for the SHINE Conference which is happening this Friday/Saturday (it’s going to be a great weekend – for women – where God is going to do amazing things! Newport is going to be blessed through this for sure) as well as editing the upcoming fusion devotional book (if you want to secure yourself a copy at a discounted pre-fusion price contact me) and so I have not been able to prepare any blogs. However, since it is also my birthday this week (oh yeah, I’m 33!) I thought that I’d take a week off and pick things up again on Monday 30th October.

Over the weekend I read something from my Word For Today (which I can’t link in because the website is down at the minute) which really made me think. Their suggestion was that God places us in our workplaces [etc] because He feels that He can trust us with the lives of our colleagues. Now that’s a thought; God has entrusted our work colleagues into our care. He loves them so much that He is willing to put us into a position of influence (and being as we work along side them everything we do and say will influence them).
I have never really thought of it in this way before but it really sunk in deep.

“As long as I was with them, I guarded them…” John 17:12 (Msg)

Recount.

Let me tell you an amusing story :o) well, I found it funny.

Last night I went along to see Delirious? play at the Newport Centre. What an awesome performance; what an awesome time in God’s presence!

Anyway, just before we went in Ruth, Helen, AG and I were stood in line. All of a sudden someone seemed to catch Helen’s eye.
“Hiyaaaaa,” she screamed and began to move towards to receiptient of her enthusiastic greeting with open arms. Curious I turned around to see who it was. Quickly looking around the corridor my eyes immediately fell upon Tim Jupp (the Delirious? keyboardist no less!). You could see on his face the slight uneasiness of being noticed. I couldn’t believe that Helen was approaching him [a complete stranger] with such excited candour. But she wasn’t. Stood next to the passing Tim Jupp was a friend of ours Dino [!]. Helen threw her arms around him much to the hilarious confusion/bemusement of the aforementioned musician.
Despite this set back to Tim’s pride he went of to perform excellently with the rest of the band.

We spend all day in our own presence and we get so preoccupied with whatever it is we are busy with that we sometimes forget that we are not the centre of the universe. It can sometimes be a rude [and painful] awakening for us when we are suddenly forced to realise this.
What is mad is that despite there being over 6 billion people alive on the planet right now you have God’s undivided attention. That may sound a little weird but it is true and always has been. You see God is God and not us. We are limited in our attention. God however can genuinely give all of us His undivided love and attention (it will be undivided because God can do all things without dividing himself – look at the Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit, all fully God and all fully one! Mad but true!!!).

“Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.” Eph 1:4-6 (Msg)

Fusion book!

Hi there :o)

I'm sorry to say that I have not had the time to prepare a 'thought for the day', but there will be one tomorrow (continuing our 'Re...' series).

However, I do have some good news:
To accompany the next Fusion prayer event we will be publishing a small booklet of 28 daily devotionals (the authors of these include AG, Helen Tuckwell, Chris Cheshire and my good self of course). As a bonus extra the booklet will include a free CD - a live recording of some fusion worship (performed by AG - bongos, vocals - and Loz - acoustic guitar, vocals).

The book will be available just days before the event and will be for sale on the day but if you wish to secure yourself a copy please contact me.

Ridiculous.

I know that it is not a Re... but it will become one!!!!! I promise :o)

At our church prayer meeting last night I realised that Jesus was responsible for saying some ridiculous things. But what when I say something ridiculous it stays ridiculous, but when Jesus does reality submits to his ridiculous.

Let me show you.

In Mark 5 we hear about this father. He is beside himself because his daughter, who must be so precious to him, is so ill that he is convinced that her days could be numbered. The though of loosing this beautiful girl from his life was too much.
Through his tears he notices a shot in the dark appear on the horizon in the form of a wandering preacher and miracle worker known as Jesus. He knew the controversies surrounding this man; that he claimed to be the Messiah. This put Jesus on what would surely be a fatal collision course with the man’s bosses in Jerusalem (since he ran the local synagogue). Even though it may put his job and respectability on the line it was the only opportunity that he had.
He ran to Jesus in his head he considered the many ways that he could ask this respected teacher to his home for the sake of his daughter. However, by the time he had reached Jesus none of these noble words were anywhere to be found, instead he fell at Jesus' feet. Jesus heard the cry of this man, clearly consumed by a love for his daughter. And so Jesus changes his itinerary and heads off to meet the man's daughter.
Before they arrived news of the girls death reached them. The father's heart began to crumble with the weight of this news. Thoughts rushed in to fill his mind; should he have been there to hold his girl's hand as she slipped away? Wasn't that his duty? What if she had cried out for her daddy and he wasn't there?
Jesus immediately saw all of this in his eyes and told him to ignore it since it was not true. Jesus spoke with such authority that this loving father realised that a trust in Jesus was all he had, but it was more than wishful thinking. He felt something in the universe change as the words left Jesus' lips. He couldn't say what it was but his broken heart seemed to have been tenderly bound up. They moved on.
As the reached the man’s house they were met by a mourning party, grieving over the loss of this dear girl. The father looks around in confusion; what is he to believe? He then looks to Jesus.

[Jesus] went in and said to them, "Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep." But they laughed at him.
After he put them all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum!" (which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!" ). Immediately the girl stood up and walked around. Mark 5:39-42

Suddenly death becomes sleep under the command of Jesus!
Reality is altered by the ridiculous!

Jesus may be speaking what may sound ridiculous to the reality of your situation, but just trust in him. Fill your eyes with Jesus because his authority over you means that the ridiculous can transform reality in your life today.

Recognise.

Near us is a nursing home called Emmaus. In fact, when I was in university I used to occasionally work there… well, when I say work I mean that I was paid to sleep there (so that if there was an emergency I could help out, although an emergency never occurred thankfully). It was great; I got paid to sleep! You can hardly believe it can you :o)

Anyway, every time I pass the nursing home I can't help but think about the story of what happened one day, several thousand of years ago, on the road to Emmaus; it is a story of recognition (which I have included in its entirety below).

You may smile [as indeed I do on occasion] at the thought of these disciples being unable to recognise Jesus - even though they would have each spent years with him! I may not be great with faces but I think I'd have been able to recognise Jesus if I had spent that much time with him! However, the reality of it is that we probably have a lot in common with these two guys.
How often do we go through hard times, times of deep grief and confusion (perhaps even experiencing a sense of abandonment by God), and it seems like we can no longer hear God? It is as though we don't know what his voice sounds like any more. We struggle to hear Him speak to us through a sermon and Scripture just seems like words on a page. And then one day we find ourselves at 'the table', a place we've been to time and time again, and all of a sudden we recognise Him with a fresh sense of revelation, knowing that He has been with us all this time [suffering where we suffered].

This story is ours too at times, and it always ends in hope and a passionate enthusiasm which causes us to abandon cautious reason to share the good news!

That same day two of them were walking to the village Emmaus, about seven miles out of Jerusalem. They were deep in conversation, going over all these things that had happened. In the middle of their talk and questions, Jesus came up and walked along with them. But they were not able to recognize who he was.
He asked, "What's this you're discussing so intently as you walk along?"
They just stood there, long-faced, like they had lost their best friend. Then one of them, his name was Cleopas, said, "Are you the only one in Jerusalem who hasn't heard what's happened during the last few days?"
He said, "What has happened?"
They said, "The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene. He was a man of God, a prophet, dynamic in work and word, blessed by both God and all the people. Then our high priests and leaders betrayed him, got him sentenced to death, and crucified him. And we had our hopes up that he was the One, the One about to deliver Israel. And it is now the third day since it happened. But now some of our women have completely confused us. Early this morning they were at the tomb and couldn't find his body. They came back with the story that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Some of our friends went off to the tomb to check and found it empty just as the women said, but they didn't see Jesus."
Then he said to them, "So thick-headed! So slow-hearted! Why can't you simply believe all that the prophets said? Don't you see that these things had to happen, that the Messiah had to suffer and only then enter into his glory?" Then he started at the beginning, with the Books of Moses, and went on through all the Prophets, pointing out everything in the Scriptures that referred to him.
They came to the edge of the village where they were headed. He acted as if he were going on but they pressed him: "Stay and have supper with us. It's nearly evening; the day is done." So he went in with them. And here is what happened: He sat down at the table with them. Taking the bread, he blessed and broke and gave it to them. At that moment, open-eyed, wide-eyed, they recognized him. And then he disappeared.
Back and forth they talked. "Didn't we feel on fire as he conversed with us on the road, as he opened up the Scriptures for us?"
They didn't waste a minute. They were up and on their way back to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and their friends gathered together, talking away: "It's really happened! The Master has been raised up - Simon saw him!"
Then the two went over everything that happened on the road and how they recognized him when he broke the bread. Luke 24:13-35 (Msg)

Reprimand.

Sorry about the absense of any new material over the past few days, I was feeling a little 'off colour' I'm afraid to say, but I'm much better now :o) Any way, on with the thought for today...

Pruning is an experience that it never welcomed although the benefit of it can quickly be recognised since pruning brings new life.

A gardener will never prune a dead branch, and so a dead branch will never experience the pain or growth that results from pruning. It is only those branches that are full of life that draw the attention of the gardener's pruning sheers at just the right time in the season. The gardener does not just hack away at the plant he skilfully chooses the right time and the right place to prune. It may be unpleasant but the gardener does not prune out of malice but a desire to see abundant growth.

[Jesus began by saying] "I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer... every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken."

If we remain in Christ [and in fellowship with other believers] we will experience times of pruning and reprimand. This is God perfecting us, completing His work in our lives. At times pruning may come through a book, a sermon, a friend's companionship, or even circumstances. Going through these times does not mean that we have stepped outside of God's blessing; it is merely a transition to increased blessing. Our wealth or security does not define how blessed we are; remaining in a living and vibrant relationship with Christ defines our blessing.

"Live in me." [Jesus continued] "Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can't bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can't bear fruit unless you are joined with me.
I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can't produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is - when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples." John 15:1-8 (Msg)

Reduce.

I don’t have a huge amount of cooking experience [although I have picked up some things from my mum] but I know a little about reducing. To reduce something down, in cooking terms, you apply a gentle heat causing excess liquids to evaporate off leaving you with something that is full of concentrated flavour.
Obviously if you are a real cook then you will be able to describe this process in more technical terms :o)

Therefore in cooking, aim of reducing is to create an increase [in flavour]. Sometimes the same can be true in our spiritual lives; we become so complicated, so caught up with things that our flavour [our intimate experiences with God] become diluted somehow.

"Come to me." [Jesus said] "Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." Matt 11:29-30 (Msg)

It is all too easy for our hearts and minds to become littered, occupied with this or that thought or activity. At these times we need to intensify our flavour by simplifying - this does not mean being simple or indeed immature, but using our spiritual maturity to intensify the intimacy of our experience with God. We are called to walk with God, that is all. This doesn't have to be complicated either; we don't need to carry loads of equipment or anything, all that is needed is you and Him.

Jesus called the Twelve to him, and sent them out in pairs. He gave them authority and power to deal with the evil opposition. He sent them off with these instructions: "Don't think you need a lot of extra equipment for this. You are the equipment. No special appeals for funds. Keep it simple." Mark 6:7-9 (Msg)

Revitalise.

Ruth and I had a wonderfully long weekend away. We didn’t go far, we just found a delightful B&B [near Hereford] and decided to just rest up and relax. It did the trick.

What was an added bonus was that we had the pleasure of visiting a near by church.
As we fell asleep on Saturday we were saying how much we enjoyed visiting other churches while on holiday because it reminded us just how much God was doing all over the place. In Hereford we visited the Christian Life Centre and it was clear that God was doing something there.
It is awesome when you find yourself in a town where you don’t know anyone but as soon as you walk into a church you find yourself strangely at home because you are welcomed by the same presence of God that you love so much [and seek so hard] back at home. This is not to say that every church is the same, we are all unique; we may share similarities but our differences allow us to fulfil our God given visions in our areas.

Seeing Christ at work in Hereford has excited me even more by what he is doing in my home church, where He has planted me [the place where he has called me to take root]. I return home revitalised in more way than one. I have found my desire for Christ renewed (not that it had faded) and my passion for him strengthened.

Getting away is good, but coming home is great!

Resound.

Resound.
What resounds through my life?
What is it that you could say resounds through history?
As I thought about this I realised that it has to be the cross. If it were not for the cross my life would be different from what it is. The cross of Jesus resounds through me; it changed my life, changed history and changed eternity.

This was something that my friend AG was thinking about the other day as he wrote this blog:


"But Jesus, again crying out loudly, breathed his last. At that moment, the Temple curtain was ripped in two, top to bottom. There was an earthquake, and rocks were split in pieces." Matt 27: 50-51 (Msg)

This is the moment that the world changed. This is the moment that we never witnessed, but never forget, and the one thing that can make any Christian cry within seconds. But humour me while I express a thought…

Have you ever been camping? Driving pegs into the ground with a hammer? Hopefully you'll be familiar with the motion.

In this scripture, we remember the temples being destroyed as one of the last prophecies to be fulfilled by Jesus' life on Earth. But, it's also written that Jesus was carrying all the burdens of the world - every generations sin - on his shoulders.

Now imagine the moment: Our Saviour is balancing the weight of the world on top of Him - pinned high against the cross. Now, the moment of release arrives as He cries out His last... everything fulfilled. The Spirit is given up, and as it departs His body becomes limp and suddenly drops. All that weight that was being held by Him is suddenly forced down by the sheer gravity surrounding it - and it drives the cross into the ground with such an impact that the Earth literally cracks and triggers a mighty Earthquake!

That's not how it was - but it serves well as an illustration for our Father's love.

I don't particularly like thinking about the amount of sin I have - and will - put on His shoulders... but I end up loving Him more when I think of just how massive the weight he carried was. Our saviour is the strongest man that ever lived.


Thanks AG!
I'm away for the weekend... a belated summer holiday, and so I won't be loading up any new blogs until Tuesday. See you then fusion fans :o)

Retiring.

If you are shy and retiring you may think that you do not have a huge influence or impact on the community around you (this includes friends and family).
If you are a Christian though, this is definitely not the case; you may not grab the lime light or seek to be the centre of attention but you are far more influential that you could possibly imagine.

There was once a guy called Jabez. You may have read about him and his prayer that had a dramatic impact upon his life and the lives of those around him.

Jabez was more honourable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, "I gave birth to him in pain." Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request. 1 Chron 4:9-10

God did not respond to Jabez's request because he had prayed it, as if that special combination of words unlocked something; He responded because of Jabez's character. If he had not been a man of honour (of good character) perhaps the same words uttered in prayer would have made no difference to anyone.

God does not respond to 'magic words', He responds to hearts.
David was described as a man after God's own heart. Hezekiah was described as pursuing God like none of his forefathers before him, not even David! Because of this when Hezekiah asked to live 15 more years God said 'OK'. When you desire God that much, He seems to even respond to 'crazy' prayers!

You may not be a bubbly outspoken character.
You may prefer to be overlooked rather than picked out of a crowd. But this does not reduce you to an unnoticed member of God's family. Your heart, your desire for God, can transform a feeble [and what could be selfish unless placed in God's hands] three line prayer, like Jabez's, into something that could impact your community!
You can do all that without your character ever changing - you will still be you, no sudden evangelist transformation needed.

All you need is desire and your quiet, unassuming, retiring, polite lifestyle will suddenly become something significant and groundbreaking in God's hands.

Reveal.

My mum and I once visited an art gallery. We wandered around looking at various paintings, occasionally impressed by their grandeur, detail or beauty. Despite this we didn't fully grasp what we were looking at.
We eventually bumped into a school group who were being escorted around by a guide and so we decided to follow them around at a discrete distance. We soon found ourselves standing in front of paintings that we had already seen but the guide was revealing more detail in the painting than our imagination could cope with. Suddenly the painting were alive, put in historical context, the subject was explained, the motives were explored and the symbolism revealed. It was as though we were now looking at different paintings!

The whole world is God's gallery, our lives included, and it is His Holy Spirit that guides us and draws our attention to all God has done and our faith is enraptured by His loving artistry.

Eight days later, his disciples were again in the room. This time Thomas was with them. Jesus came through the locked doors, stood among them, and said, "Peace to you."
Then he focused his attention on Thomas. "Take your finger and examine my hands. Take your hand and stick it in my side. Don't be unbelieving. Believe."
Thomas said, "My Master! My God!"
Jesus said, "So, you believe because you've seen with your own eyes. Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing." John 20:26-29 (Msg)

We are massively blessed!

Repent.

Repentance is not simply an apology; it is an active life decision.

Repentance involve action, it literally refers to a radical change in direction. A repentant attitude doesn't simply say to God, "sorry, I hope I don't let You down again tomorrow." It does something about it; it does more than helplessly hope.

"So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ - that's where the action is. See things from his perspective...
... And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That's a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It's because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn't long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it's all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.
Don't lie to one another. You're done with that old life. It's like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you've stripped off and put in the fire. Now you're dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it." Col 3:1-2,5-10 (Msg)

In the days of slavery, any slave that earned their freedom were known as 'freed men' and they were given the same respect and privileges as those who were born free. Before we discovered the Liberator himself [Jesus Christ] we may have thought of ourselves as free but the irony was that we were in fact [unwittingly] slaves to sin. Therefore we have the privilege in rejoicing our status of 'repentant sinners', it is not something to be ashamed of. We are freed men and women; we are free to pursue Christ and in doing so we are living out our repentance, rejecting our old life of slavery and embracing our new direction - we’re heaven bound!

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." Phil 3:12