Fix our focus

 “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4:18

In recent months I have got involved with our worship team at Exchange, having always known I could sing I had never had the confidence to do this on front of anyone!

But having shared this with a friend I was encouraged to come along. It wasn't really something I had felt led to do, I am not musical at all, I cannot read notes and I have no idea how to compose music! I just knew that I had a heart to worship.

We had a worship meeting recently and our pastor was leading spontaneous worship, as the room filled with song I felt God build on a word he'd given me a few days before when I had felt him whisper to me that I needed to "sacrificially withdraw from the weight of the world."

This time as I sang in the spirit He simply said "Yahweh" to me and a song downloaded to my heart! I couldn't believe it- I had written a song! When I got home my husband helped me record it with some guitar. The essence of the song is to fix our focus on the great "I am." That when we try to fix our stuff He's above it all. The more I listen, it ministers to me and I know it will to others. It has shown me again that anything can happen with an open heart.

A kingdom of its own

 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭5:25-27‬ ‭NIV‬‬

One of the greatest blessings in my life so far has been the gift of marriage. Adam and I have been married for five years this December, and I'm so thankful for him as a husband and as a father to our kids. He knows me on all levels, and one of the greatest privileges of our marriage is that we share our spiritual life and journey together. I ask him the things I would never ask anyone else, knowing he won't judge me, I go to him with questions to gain wisdom, I allow myself to be vulnerable knowing that he will love me unconditionally- that he chooses me everyday.

It has been said that marriage is a kingdom of its own. That marriage reflects God's kingdom and should mirror the love of God towards us, His bride, His church, complicated and dishevelled. He chose us. He doesn't judge us. He loves us unconditionally, with Him we gain wisdom and are safe.

To know how Jesus loves us and personified grace is to know what the sacramental unity of marriage should look like. Look to Jesus this week in your marriage and let His love overflow through you.

Pursued by grace

 “Surely your goodness and love will follow me
 all the days of my life,
 and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
 for ever.” Psalm 23:6

Psalm 23 comes to a wonderful and liberating conclusion. David knows that the Lord is his Shepherd and is utterly convinced of God’s love and provision for him forever.

A number of striking points are seen when we consider the original Hebrew meanings of the words used. The Hebrew word chesed that is translated as ‘love’ (NIV) or‘mercy’ (KJV) is probably best understood as referring to God’s unfailing love. The nearest New Testament equivalent is the word charis, which is translated as grace. In fact when Martin Luther translated the bible into German he used the same word for both chesed and charis (Gnade).

Isn’t that an amazing picture? Because God is your Shepherd you can be completely confident that His grace, His love and mercy, His unmerited favour will follow you always. But there is even more…

The word translated ‘follow’ is not supposed to conjure the image of a hopeless puppy following you around but rather that of a hunter relentlessly pursuing and taking David captive.  What an image! The grace of God relentlessly pursues you to take you captive and fill you with the goodness and love of the great Shepherd.

Today, rather than being afraid of predators or enemies, rather than being afraid in dark valleys you can be completely assured that God’s grace is right behind you – God’s love and mercy will pursue you wherever you go and today – there is nothing you can do or nowhere you can go where His grace will not follow. He wants this grace to envelop and transform you so that you will be found in the presence of God for the rest of your life.

Because of His grace we can boldly and confidently say with the psalmist, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing”.

Feast on His grace

 “He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
 He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul.” Psalm 23:2-3a (NKJV)

Are there ever times when you find yourself stopping and saying, ‘My soul needs to be restored’?

Everyday life has a habit of chipping away at the soul. The light and life of God visible in all we do and have gets occluded in the barrage of constant messages to ‘Get rich or die trying’, ‘work harder’, ‘do more’. Sometimes it feels like the hamster wheel just keeps turning and there is no hope of ever stepping off.

David recognized that lying down and resting in a green open pasture is made possible not because we are well organized but because God is our Shepherd. Green pastures with quiet waters were perfect places for a Shepherd to take his sheep but they were also places where predators were likely to attack. The idea of just lying down and resting here would be unthinkable without the provision and protection of the Shepherd.

Notice it is God who takes the initiative; He is the one who makes, who leads and it is He who restores. The Hebrew word used here for restore implies that God is actively and ever-presently acting to restore our souls

God wants to lead us to places where our souls are restored, where we are made whole again in Him.

Today stop a while, lie down in the green pastures of God’s grace. Trust Him that He will make space for you to do all you need to do in your busy schedule. Rest in Him, drink deep draughts of His living water, let Him refresh and restore your soul…He is your Shepherd!

Living in overflow

 "you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows" Ps 23 v 5

When we rest, when we hand over control of our destiny and align ourselves to receive from the top down nature of God. In this position we find that we end up with a wealth of blessing. God loves order and structure. It’s often through this structure and order that we can discover his heart for us.

When we do this we find that there is an overflow of blessing that we can operate from. Like the boy who came with his 5 loaves and 2 fish, there were 12 baskets left over at the end. Jesus used the boy's gift and sacrifice and blessed it repeatedly until there was a great overflow that could be used to bless others.

What have you been blessed with today that allows you in turn to bless those around you? The sooner we realise that blessing is not to be held on to but rather a position we are given to bless others the sooner we will realise the beauty of the kingdom. It’s not about what we can acquire but what we can give away.

Today I encourage you to rest in the glorious overflow of the King and then in turn discover who you can share this with. You’ll change someone’s life if you simply rest and listen to the heartbeat of Heaven.

Restful waters

He leads me beside still waters. Ps 23 v 2

I look after numbers. My job is primarily in education but I also have the fantastic responsibility of looking after our school’s response to assessment. It’s a job that interests me endlessly but it can create an outlook where I constantly assess data that comes along in my own life. I look for variables and what could happen and what may happen.

That changed suddenly this summer. I finally committed myself to adopting a position of rest. This meant I would always revert back to a position of “God has this in control” for the major movements and changes in my life. It was such a difficult challenge, I couldn’t let myself tinker or go and change something and observe. I had to completely leave God in control.

I’m glad I did, I’ve found a massive change of outlook. I still need to water my plants so to speak, I still need to put effort into maintaining what I’ve been graced with by God but He directs the ship, I simply have to ensure that it runs properly.

From this position I begin to see myself as God sees me, and overall I have been able to really identify as a child of the King. I’m not in a place of splendid isolation but rather in a place of being cherished and loved.

Today I pray that your true identity in Christ is revealed and you can begin to experience rest like you never have before. Let Him guide you by still, restful waters today.

His lavish provision

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Ps23 v 5

For me the words of Psalm 23 have been longest in my memory. They’re the oldest scripture I know just pipped to the post by John 3:16.

I really liked them, thought they were nice verses but hadn’t truly appreciated the place where they come from until very recently.

This verse has been really apt for me recently as though God continues to write the truth of it on my heart over and over again. When God appoints, he appoints. No one can argue with his decision, there can’t be redress or a change of mind. When He prepares the table it can be in the presence of everyone and all will see how he feels for us.

Remember today that the provision you are given doesn’t depend on your good behaviour, the boxes you tick or the hoops you jump through. When the Father lavishes provision onto us, He does it for all to see. He loves you with an everlasting love and desires to see you progress and develop in a way that is right for you and who you are.

Furthermore, as Pastor Andrew shared on Sunday, your enemies can’t come to the table either. Nothing can close the door that God opens. We’d do well to remember that sometimes.

Being transformed.

"Beholding the glory of the Lord" 2 Corinthians 3:18

This verse makes it clear that we are transformed when we behold the glory of the Lord. Just as Moses went into the tent of meeting and came out with his face shining (Exodus 33:7-11), we are to go into our own tent of meeting and come out having met with God with unveiled face.

The Holy Spirit longs to lead us into direct, tangible, and transforming encounters with the glory of God Christian spirituality is all about direct connection with our heavenly Father not just engaging in religious practices because we feel we need to. Christ’s death has enabled unveiled encounters with God whenever and wherever.

God's intention was always for us to represent him well. When sin entered humanity that image became grossly distorted. But through the Jesus’ death and our encounter with Him, that image is being restored. We can now be reflections of God to a world desperately searching for relationship with its Creator.

Living an unveiled lifestyle is simply encountering our heavenly Father and living our lives as a response to his love for us. Every encounter with God changes us and makes us more like him. Every taste of his presence fills us with his love and equips us to love others. To live an unveiled lifestyle is to experience the abundant life Jesus came to bring. May you behold the glory of your heavenly Father and be a reflection of his love to a lost and dying world today.

Removing the Veil.

"But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed."  2 Corinthians 3:16.

By the grace of God the veil that represented our sin and shame has been replaced with shameless, limitless, face-to-face encounters with our heavenly Father.

God longs for us to live an unveiled lifestyle. He longs for us to behold his glory and be transformed into the same image: a reflection of his glorious Son, Jesus. The idea of looking like Jesus used to seem utterly impossible. How could I ever look anything like Jesus? In my sin and shame, how could I ever resemble the perfect, sinless Son of God? But God has an enjoyable and perfect process by which he transforms us. As we seek out all that God has for us in an unveiled lifestyle, God longs to renew our minds to his plans for our transformation.

Living an unveiled lifestyle is the way in which we experience the fullness of what God has made available to us. Direct encounters with our heavenly Father, lives transformed in light of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus and His amazing grace. God longs for his children to walk with him in intimacy directly connected to his wellspring of love for us. May you experience a more tangible, loving, and powerful connection with your Heavenly Father everyday.

Count it all joy.

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:2-4

Allow the phrase, "Count it all joy" to settle in for a second. What trials have you faced in the past? What trials stand before you today? Is joy the emotion that stirs within you when you think about your problems? My first instinct is often to run; I want to abandon the problems before me and act like they don't exist.

James encourages us to count trials as a joy, to run at them head-on for the sake of being transformed into a faith-filled, steadfast child of God. Trials are an opportunity to produce character within me, not a circumstance intended to harm me or derail God’s plans for my life.

Trials and tribulations can either keep us from abundant life or produce in us character that sustains abundant life. The choice is up to us. Will our faith remain steadfast in the face of trouble or will we abandon the lifestyle of faith for one of the world?

The greatest gift we have in the face of trials is faith. When problems are staring at us head-on it's hard to see God's intention for our good never mind to count it all joy! Whatever trial you face remember God loves you, believe that God has an outcome that is of greater benefit than the hardness of the trial.

Be encouraged today that God will see you through every problem that stands in your way and produce in you a steadfastness on which you can experience abundant life.

Your indespensible necessity

 …let the hearts of those rejoice who seek and require the Lord [as their indispensable necessity]. Psalm 105:3

I wonder what you consider to be a necessity? Those things that make your life bearable? A superfast fibre Internet connection, great shoes or a new car every three years? For me it’s two things – eyeliner and mascara.  I rarely leave the house without make up and never without a sweep of black mascara and some speedily applied eyeliner! Why is that? I feel that bit more confident and able to face the world when I have my ‘face on’.

It’s all froth and bubble though when it comes down to it. Everything is stripped away when we face chronic illness, bereavement, disappointment.  Mascara won’t cure any of those problems but rejoicing in the Lord and knowing He is the foundation of your life will change your perspective. 

For a long time I was taught that all I needed to do was believe and everything would be okay. Then in the middle of turmoil I understood that believing wasn’t enough – what made the difference was that I knew beyond any doubt that God was my provider, Saviour, friend and the knowledge that He was indispensable to my daily living, altered everything.

Take a moment to consider what you think you can’t live without and remind yourself that God is greater than any earthly blessing.  Seek Him out today and make Him your indispensable necessity.

Acquainted with His grace

 For you are becoming progressively acquainted with and recognizing more strongly and clearly the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (His kindness, His gracious generosity, His undeserved favour and spiritual blessing)…                      2 Corinthians 8:9

My son is about to turn 18 and legally become an adult.  He’s be able to vote, get married without his parents’ permission and be held personally accountable for his actions without our intervention. Yet as I think about this momentous event I can only remember his first steps, reading him the same bedtime stories over and over again, trying to get him to try a new vegetable and teaching him to tie his shoelaces.

As he has grown up I don’t have to teach him those things every day – He knows how to walk, tie his laces and whether he likes carrots (Yes) or tomatoes (No)! He can chose and read his own books and make decisions about what to do and how to do it.

We are learning more and more about the grace of God in our daily lives and as our relationship with Him deepens we start to recognise it more and more because we know what to expect.  Our increasing maturity sharpens our focus and where we once simply saw a kind act or a coincidence we see God’s protection and provision.

As you do life today look out for God’s kindness, generosity, favour and blessing – and soon you’ll be seeing it everywhere!

Moving out of well worn paths

 "Sow for yourselves according to righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God); reap according to mercyandloving-kindness. Break up your uncultivated ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, to inquire forandof Him,andto require His favour, till He comes and teaches you righteousnessandrains His righteous gift of salvation upon you." Hosea 10:12

When I was growing up my brother had a Skalectric racing track.  The cars fitted into a metal grove on the track and were guided round and round following a clearly defined path (until they crashed and fell off!)

Our lives can feel like that – following the same well-worn grove day in, day out; year in, year out.  After a while we become afraid of trying anything new or moving away from the familiar.  We sense that there is more for us but fear of failure or the judgement of others causes us to back away from change or challenge.

Don’t deny yourself all the blessings God has for you by now letting Him break up the uncultivated ground in your life.  Without the work of the plough, there’s nowhere to plant the seed; without the seed there’s no growth and without growth there’s no harvest.  God loves you so much He wants more for you than you want for yourself – take a step today to break out of your well-worn paths and move forward into new life in Him

He's got it sorted

 …For even if the mountains walk awayand the hills fall to pieces,My love won’t walk away from you,my covenant commitment of peace won’t fall apart.  Isaiah 54:10 (MSG)

In the next couple of months I will be 55.  The prospect of retirement is starting to enter my thinking.  For many this thought is terrifying as so much of their identity is in what they do, rather than who they are.  For me, it’s the complete opposite – I see it as opening up amazing possibilities to do new things and start a new chapter of my life.

What is the mountain in your life today? What is propping up your self-confidence? Is it your family? Your children will leave home one day. Maybe it’s your job? You working life will eventually end.  Your good looks? Well – we all get older!  If we know that the bedrock of our existence is Christ – He is the one thing that never changes no matter our circumstances – if we’re rich or poor, fat or thin, employed or retired – He’s solid, secure and trustworthy.

Committed to our well-being, Christ is dedicated to bringing peace to our hearts and is unrelenting in His favour towards us.

At the start of the week God wants to remind you of all these things so that you can face the week ahead in the sure and certain knowledge that whatever the future holds He’s in control and He’s got it sorted!

Life and peace

 “The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” Rom 8:6

If we try to find life and peace through our own reasoning or in the things of this world, it will only lead us to a place or fatigue, emptiness and ultimate death. But Paul reminds us that the result is altogether different when the Holy Spirit governs our thoughts.

Our peace, our Shalom is found in God’s Spirit; the same Holy Spirit that has brought about our sonship – a deep identity in Christ that cries from within us “Abba, Father” (Rom 8:15). The opposite of life and peace is death, alienation, division and striving but as a child of God who has the intimate Abba relationship with the Father we find life, rest, peace in Him.

Our life and peace is always found outside ourselves – it is not found in mindful meditation or in introspective self-examination but in having a deep, eternal relationship with God who is our Father. A God who knows us, loves us and has reconciled us to Him. A God whose care for us means that no matter what happens we can find peace – Shalom in Him.

Today,  do not be tempted to try to work I tout intellectually, allow your spirit to be filled by Him, rest in Him and you will find peace and wholeness no matter what you face.

Hidden treasure

 “For your spiritual wealth is in Him, like hidden treasure waiting to be discovered – heaven’s wisdom and endless riches of revelation knowledge” Col 2:3 (TPT)

I used to love Western movies that depicted men panning for gold – occasionally they would strike it lucky and inevitably a gripping story ensued. There is something great about finding something that was hidden; the discovery, uncovering the unexpected, realising that something wonderful was hidden in the ordinary all along.

Here the Apostle Paul reminds us there is a treasure within each of us – spiritual wealth deposited within us when we entered into union with Christ. Each of us is on a journey to discover who we can be in Christ, to take hold of that which God has taken hold of us for.

Today God wants to reveal more of Himself to you, to lead you to discover the fullness of what it means to be His child. Heaven’s wisdom and endless riches of revelation knowledge – this is what God wants each of us to see.

God has so much for each of us – it is my prayer that we would see our calling and ourselves as God sees us. For us to be free to  view life through a completely different lens and recognise the spiritual wealth that is found in Him.

Today make the search for this treasure your greatest pursuit.