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At Just The Right Time

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Dear Friends, At Just The Right Time There are certain phrases in the Bible which draw my attention.  They speak into the depths of my being, bringing encouragement, reassurance, comfort and hope.  These are the words I want to focus on this morning: "at just the right time". When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Romans 5:6 (NLT) But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.  Galatians 4:4 (NLT) I used to consider myself a great time keeper - I was rarely late for appointments, preferring to actually be early rather than late.  However, that was before I had children.  When you have two children (not to mention one husband) and yourself to get ready it takes much longer than expected. The Bible teaches us that God always moves and acts at just the right time.  He is never late, never too early and neither does he only just make it by the skin of his teeth. The Jewish

A Blessing in Disguise

Dear Friends, I have found that sometimes God gives us a blessing which is packaged as something entirely different.  Let me explain what I mean. From a human point of view, living with a long-term illness is no blessing, in fact, it appears to be quite the opposite.  To be honest with you, being in the middle of a rough patch right now it seems like anything but a blessing!  Yet I do know it to be a blessing in disguise.   You see, God's ways are not our ways, and God's thoughts are not our thoughts.  It has been God's gift to blessing to me in that God has taken me into a deeper relationship with him and he has taught me things and transformed me in ways that I might never have known or experienced any other way. Perhaps you too have experienced a particular blessing from God which has been packaged in an unexpected way.  I hesitate to refer to anything specific, but if you have, you will know what that is. Paul certainly saw his thorn as a gift and a blessing fro

Unforced Rhythms of Grace

Dear Friends,   I often find that when God wants me to pay attention to what he is saying, he will reinforce it several times.   It was certainly so a few weeks ago.   I had already decided to write about resting in God, based on my meditations on Psalm 23:2-3 “ He makes me to lie down in green pastures…He restores my soul;” (NKJV).   The verses that also came to mind were from Matthew 11:28-30 ‘Then Jesus said, “Come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.   Take my yoke upon you.   Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.   For my yoke is easy to bear and the burden I give you is light.”’ It was these verses that God kept bringing to my attention through a variety of means.   So I’m writing this as much for myself as I am for you, dear friends. The Message paraphrases it as “The words of Jesus: ‘Are you tired?   Worn out?   Burned out on religion?   Come to me.   Get