MEDITATIONS FOR THE EASTER SEASON Jesus said to them,  ​"Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me." ​[Matthew 28:7] I wonder why Jesus told His disciples to journey from Judea to Galilee after His resurrection? After all they would be back in the city for Pentecost. And it wasn't just a car trip away, the journey was about a 65-mile walk, and would have taken two to three days. I wonder if the walk was one of the reasons... Perhaps away from the bustling city, full of Passover pilgrims, and away from the source of the most terrible stress, perh ..read more

​THIS SERIES: ​MEDITATIONS FOR THE EASTER SEASON The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. [1 Corinthians 1:18] It’s Good Friday. If you haven't already taken time to meditate on the vital importance of the cross in your life, try and carve out some time this evening or tomorrow. ​ I was reminded of this story from the Old Testament: ​(The Israelites) travelled from Mount Horeb along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses,&nbs ..read more

NEW SERIES: ​MEDITATIONS FOR THE EASTER SEASON This Sunday brings the start of Holy Week, when many in the Christian world remember the events leading up to Jesus’ death and resurrection, starting with His arrival in Jerusalem on a donkey. For those searching for peace, this is a really important story. For those who want an end to inner turmoil and unrest, this event spells hope. Jesus’ contemporaries longed for solutions to their daily struggles, subjugated as they were to Roman domination, and many hoped for a Messiah who would lead them to military victory against their overlords. Howev ..read more

NEW SERIES: ​MEDITATIONS FOR THE EASTER SEASON The first mention of rest in the Bible is when we learn that God rested after He had finished creating the earth. Mankind was the last of His works, so Adam’s first day was a day of rest—resting in the finished work of the Lord. ​ If we fast-forward to the reign of King David, we read that his deep desire was to build a ‘resting place’ for the Lord, a place for the Ark of the Lord’s Presence. However, this was denied him because he had been a ‘man of war’, and much blood had been shed in securing the kingdom [1 Chronicles 22:8]. Instead, Dav ..read more

THIS SERIES: KICK THE WORRY HABIT Sometimes we respond to anxiety by doing more, and we attempt to conquer the inner unrest by our own efforts. Doing more masks anxiety; believing more deals with the heart of the issue. Not long ago I had a challenging project to complete, and in true ‘unregenerate’ fashion I threw myself at it, working long hours, striving after its completion. Often, I felt it was ‘pitched too high for my voice’ (a wonderful expression which I believe originated with Martin Luther); and the temptation lurked to jack it all in and go and do something else. However, believin ..read more

THIS SERIES: KICK THE WORRY HABIT Modern trend-setters tend to judge people by the busyness of their diaries—those who are crowded out are deemed the successful ones, multi-tasking is heralded as a must-have accomplishment; and so we end up with ‘to do’ lists which make us sweat just to read them. What do we do about the time pressure so many of us experience? One of my favourite verses is in Ecclesiastes: There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens… He has made everything beautiful in its time… [Ecclesiastes 3:1,11] ​ Sometimes we get stressed and worr ..read more

THIS SERIES: KICK THE WORRY HABIT ​WHEN TALKING TO YOURSELF IS THE ONLY SANE THING TO DO... Worry often keeps us awake at night, or occupies our minds throughout the day. Worry is the undisciplined action of our souls—our minds, wills and emotions—and many of us live at the mercy of our souls, rather than living from our spirits, which are filled with His Spirit. ​ King David was very clear about how he dealt with his soul: firmly and consistently—and yes, he talked to himself! Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savi ..read more

THIS SERIES: KICK THE WORRY HABIT ​To get free from worry we have to be willing to put down our unbelief and lack of trust, and set ourselves to renew our minds, and align ourselves and our thoughts with God. If we have identified areas in our hearts where we doubt the Lord’s goodness to us, or feel that He is withholding good from us (see last post), then we need to lay these things before Him, confessing the underlying thought patterns as sin, because we are crediting the Lord with behaviour that is unworthy of Him. Then, acknowledging our lack of understanding, we need to ask Him to show u ..read more

NEW SERIES: ​KICK THE WORRY HABIT If we are going to deal with our worry-habit (click at the bottom of the page to see last week's  introduction to this series), we have to go to the root and deal with the issue of trust in our heavenly Father. When we worry, whether it's about something trivial, like today's weather, or a serious issue, to do with health perhaps, we are dealing with projected negative outcomes—which often lurk half-formed at the peripheral of our minds. If we trace our worries to their starting points, we find the root is always a fear of some sort. As we are chi ..read more

NEW SERIES Research in recent years has suggested that over 80% of adults in the UK are worriers. I can well believe it. We worry about anything and everything: finances, relationships, health, family members, occasions, the economy, being late, new experiences, world affairs… to name just a few triggers. This next series of posts looks at what we need to do to kick the worry-habit into touch. The Oxford Dictionary says that worry is ‘to allow no rest or peace of mind to oneself; to give way to anxiety or let the mind dwell on troubles’. When we say that a dog ‘worries’ at a bone, meaning t ..read more