Piece by Piece

My sister, Kate, has a wonderful talent for quilting. Each little piece of material that makes up a quilt is matched, measured, cut and sewn by hand into its particular place in the quilt and takes many hours of dedicated work.  The joy found in the making of the quilt and seeing the final result is what keeps Kate devoted to her craft and each one is made for a special purpose.

Don't we wish, sometimes, that our lives could be finished quilts. Everything in place, all pieced together, and all the remaining rags of worry, stress, illness, envy, lack etc. discarded.  

God has a unique design and purpose in mind for all of us, Jeremiah 1:5, and we're all at different stages of completion. It will take a lifetime for God to craft us into the finished quilt but he will do so with patience, love, mercy and grace and the results will be spectacular.





A Work In Progress (Link)

Christ Was Passing By.

While browsing on a site I saw a book entitled 'Christ Is Passing By'. My immediate reaction to it was a leaping of my heart. I thought how exciting it must have been for those who knew Jesus, when he walked on earth, to know He was in their neighbourhood. My next thought was....if only he was here now, how happy and how comforted we would be to know he was near. How sad the disciples must have been when He told them He had to go.

He said he would leave a comforter to take his place. How could there be a replacement for Jesus? How could anyone take His place? But Jesus didn't leave another person to help us. A person other than Jesus would have had limitations. Isn't it just like Jesus to do something more awesome and beyond our expectations. He sent his Holy Spirit. A Spirit who could so permeate our entire existence that there would be no room for loneliness, sadness, sickness, addiction and all the things which come into our lives. A Spirit who would be all things, to all people, all the time.

 Why is it so easy to forget that the Holy Spirit is available 24/7 to rid us of all of the things that make our lives less liveable?  He is with us as Jesus said he would be. When we're sad, lonely, sick and lifeless we look for someone to help us, forgetting that our immediate helper is with us. Permanently. We don't have to wait until 'Christ is passing by' to feel his love and comfort.


Begin again today to believe and know that God's spirit lives within you. Everything you need will be provided. Allow God to do the work he sent His Spirit to accomplish in your life.

For those who don't know Jesus, lift up your hands and heart to Him. Give your life to Him. He wants to give you His.

Do it today.

See.....He's waiting for you.

Still Standing

Do you feel like a rock that is standing alone
While the waves come and beat out your life?
Do you fear that you just couldn't take one more crash
That you'd crumble and fall mid the strife.


Then just look at the picture you see here, awhile,
See the rock that stands tall in the view.
And remember, beneath all the rage of the sea,
It is anchored, as God anchors you.


You can be the rock that stands firm in the storm,
Though the waves are relentless and strong. 
You are moored to the stablest rock of all time.
God is with you, He was there all along.

"Today's Coffee"

 I was sitting in a cafe the other day and, looking up, I saw a blackboard headed 'Today's Coffee'.  It then specified the blend of coffee being offered by the cafe that day. I knew that every morning the blackboard would be wiped clean and a different, and perhaps even new, blend of coffee would be offered. How nice  this must be, I thought, for those who love their coffee to be able to purchase a different coffee each day, but as with all things we have to purchase..........there is a cost.

 Wouldn't it be great if we could have something new every morning but not have to pay for it. If we didn't have to pay for it then surely that would be a gift. That's right. Is that really possible? Yes, it is. If you look in your Bible at Lamentations 3:23 you will see one of the greatest ever free gifts. It says there that God's compassions, his mercies, are new every morning. What did we do, or not do, yesterday that gives us cause for regret? It doesn't matter now, today is a new day, if we take it to the Lord he will forgive us and shower us with his compassion and make us new again. 

 Our blackboard,  headed "Today's Mercies",  is wiped clean every morning by Gods compassion and we are ready to start another day.........forgiven. How gracious God is to his children.  How wonderful it would be if you gave your heart to Him today then you could drink from the cup of God's goodness. Imagine receiving a special blend of mercy and forgiveness every morning........at no cost.

God wants you to have this gift.

It's free, and it's only a prayer away.

'PUSH OUT AND BUILD'

 I bought an Asterix book today. I'm not really into Asterix but this one was a little different. It was subtitled 'Roman Fort'. Every page has parts of a Roman Fort that you can push out and make into......you've guessed it, a fort. Each piece is numbered to make construction easy (it will never be easy enough for me). It sat in the living room most of the day until a wee while ago when I looked at it again. At the top it had the instruction 'PUSH OUT AND BUILD'. 

It made me think of the way God would want some of us to use our lives. Not to build fortresses to keep us from being hurt and to keep out some people that we'd rather not bother with, but to boldly push out beyond our safe lives and build trust, build relationships, friendships, even within our own families. Now, all buildings need a cornerstone. It's a very important stone since all other stones will be set in reference to this one, and it will determine the position of the whole building.

 I'd like to be a strong and relevant cornerstone, but I'm quaking in my 'Kickers' at the thought of it. HOW would I begin? WHERE would I begin? I'm looking further along the coffee table. Ah! There it is! The 'instruction book'. It's got everything I need. It even starts with 'In the beginning...........' so there's no corner cutting. Now, I'm not expecting that all the instructions will be easy, but if it says that they can all be done, then I believe they can, because God doesn't write an instruction book to follow without giving us the tools to do the job.

Our families and communities are potential construction sites.


Let's start reading the manual, begin to lay the foundations, and see what we can build.

Give Me A Sign

Lord, give me a sign that you exist
So that I'm not speaking out into the void
and still feeling an emptiness.
Lord, give me a sign,
So that when I breathe in
I feel a presence filling me with love and a peace so long lost to me 
that it would feel unfamiliar 
but wonderfully welcome.
 
What did you say, Lord?
Did I hear the birds singing this morning?
Did I see how the waves washed over the rocks 
on that last windy day, and did I see the rich changing colours 
of the sea as the clouds sped past with the force?


 Did I see the sky in the evening when at last the wind abated, 
the clouds cleared and trillions of stars sparkled against the blackness?

Keep talking, Lord.....

Yes, I'm seeing the trees, the flowers,
the grass......
Oh! Yes Lord,  and now I'm seeing the sunset 
over the beautifully etched hills,
I'm hearing the calls of the wild birds in the distance.
 




Oh! Lord, I've never really seen the stream
this way before, how it ripples over the stones, and the music it makes as it flows.
 
I thank you that you would gather up the ashes of my existence and set my heart ablaze.
That you would remove my blind indifference to your world and renew my sight and sense of wonder.
 

Thank you, Lord, that the signs are all around me.

Pointing to you.

Leap of Faith

A man found himself wandering in a barren place. He was surrounded by a fog and could not see far in any direction. He turned to look behind him and saw a huge, menacing looking animal running silently after him. He started to run and was horrified to find it still there each time he looked over his shoulder.


Suddenly he found himself at an edge which, because of the fog, looked like the world had come to an end. He turned to see the huge creature bearing down on him. He tried to cry out but his voice was frozen in fear.

Almost immediately he heard someone shouting "Jump, you'll be safe".
"I can't", the man said, "I can't see you".
Again he heard "Jump, I'll catch you".

He looked back only to see the creature launch itself at him. He threw himself into the fog in the direction of the voice which had called to him.

He landed softly, as if having floated down. He looked to see who had caught him but it wasn't anyone he knew.
"How did you know I was up there?" he asked.
"I heard your silent cries" replied the stranger.
"I find it incredible that you should be down here at precisely the right time" said the man, "and that you would catch me when you could not see me".

"I'm here all the time now", said the stranger, "The 'Evil One', as I call him, drives so many people to the edge that I have become the 'resident catcher'."

"Does everyone jump?" asked the man.
"Sadly, no", said the stranger, "Some people would choose to be torn to pieces rather than take a leap into the unknown."

"Come now", said the stranger, "Let me help you back on to firm ground."
"But won't the 'Evil One' still be there?"
"Oh, yes," the stranger replied, "he's always around but, once you have taken the leap of faith, he can't hurt you".

Letter To The Lord

Lord, today was one of those days that, just when I thought I had things sorted out and under control, my world turned inside out and I felt vulnerable again. It's amazing how quickly a feeling of security can change to one of vulnerability. It just takes a negative remark, or maybe a phone call or even just a wrong look from someone and our switch flicks to the 'off' position. I sat down intending to let my mind ponder over the reasons for the changes to my earlier state of contentment and to have a self-indulgent wallow in the muddy pool of my troubles. 

But Lord, when I sat down, what actually happened shouldn't have surprised me, but it did. My thoughts immediately turned to you. I found the words hope, strength, faith and freedom coming quickly to my rescue. How wonderful, Lord, that you should replace my concerns so speedily with uplifting promises. Lord, I am in awe when I think of what we have when we have you. That you can catch hold of a small glance in your direction and use it to change our whole outlook. Thank you, Lord, that my switch is once again at the 'on' position and that I am fully charged with your words of strength and comfort. Forever in you, Freida Gane.