Hope For Today

If you would like to listen to this devotional, please click  here Dear Friends, Last year I joined the Facebook group 'COME Together' (Christians Overcoming ME Together) and I have joined their team of writers for their quarterly newsletter. Today's devotional is from my first article in that newsletter. Easter - The Greatest Act of Love The greatest act of love the world has ever known was at Easter. God sent his Son because he loved you and me so much. It was his purpose that Jesus would give his life for us that we might have and know a loving relationship with God.  "God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins." 1 John 4:9-10 (NLT)  Jesus' love for us was so great that he willingly submitted to his Father's will, taking upon himse...

The Story of the Three Trees You can listen to today's devotional by clicking  here Dear Friends, I came across the following story last year and I want to share it with you today as we lead up to Easter. Once upon a mountain top, three little trees stood and dreamed of what they wanted to become when they grew up. The first little tree looked up at the stars and said: “I want to hold treasure. I want to be covered with gold and filled with precious stones. I’ll be the most beautiful treasure chest in the world!” The second little tree looked out at the small stream trickling by on its way to the ocean. “I want to be travelling mighty waters and carrying powerful kings. I’ll be the strongest ship in the world!” The third little tree looked down into the valley below where busy men and women worked in a busy town. “I don’t want to leave the mountain top at all. I want to grow so tall that when people stop to look at me, they’ll raise their eyes to he...

Dear Friends,  I first heard about Bonnie Gray's book, "Whispers of Rest: 40 Days of God's Love to Revitalize your Soul" on Facebook in the middle of January this year and was immediately drawn to it because of the title. We live in such a noisy, busy world that 'Whispers of Rest' seemed so inviting to me. I knew I wanted to revitalise my soul with God's love. I was also drawn to it because I felt it fit so well with my Bible verse for the year: "Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.” Hosea 6:3 (NLT)  I purposely carved out time during the day to read this forty-day devotional and took my time over it, savouring what I was reading and resting in God's love for me. I bought the book on Kindle and used my journal to record my thoughts as I journeyed through these forty days. (If you buy it as a paperback book it include...

Dear Friends, If you would prefer to listen to this devotional then please click  here Today I want to focus on the account of Mary anointing Jesus' feet which can be found in John 12:1-8 , Matthew 26:6-13 , and Mark 14:3-9 . Below is my creative re-telling of this event which I have based on the accounts found in the gospels: and other events in the life of Mary. I tell it from Mary's perspective. It might help you to look at her story with fresh eyes. God may have something new he wants to say to you, or he may want to remind you of something. (You may like to imagine yourself as Mary or as one of the other dinner guests.) I've experienced such a range of emotions lately as there's been some real high and low points in my life. It wasn't that long ago that my brother, Lazarus, became sick. He was so ill in fact that my sister, Martha, and I sent for Jesus to come. We waited and waited but he didn't show up and Lazarus died. If you've lost s...

Dear Friends, I have recently finished reading " The Diary of a (trying to be holy) Mum" by Fiona Lloyd.  Here's my book review... Having this book in diary form is such a good idea. It's a book filled with the right balance of humour and touching moments.  The reader gets to see who Becky (the main character) really is as she shares her thoughts, the situations she faces, her relationships with various people, such as her husband, her children, her Mum, Mother-in-law, her friends and her conversations with God. Becky is such an easy character to connect with. She comes across as someone so genuine and relatable, the kind of person you would like as your friend.  The reader sees the struggles she faces of not feeling "good enough" as a Mum, a friend, a Christian. She is way too hard on herself (as many of us are). But the reader also sees from the way she interacts with others that she is "good enough". We also get to ...

Dear Friends,  This Is Me A few weeks ago Jason took me to the cinema to see "The Greatest Showman". We don't often get to the cinema, but I was so glad we got to see this film which in my opinion is so good. The film is inspired by the story of PT Barnum and how he rose to fame, as he built his circus which featured various star attractions.  Many of the performers had known rejection and prejudice in the past because they were 'different' to those around them.  One member of the group is the bearded lady (played by Keala Settle) who learns through Barnum what it means to be loved and accepted for who she is. She sings my favourite song from the film, "This Is Me". The lyrics are powerful and so moving. In the past , she had hidden  away because of the hurtful words spoken by others which had left her feeling cut and bruised. But now that she has become part of the circus family, and learned what it means to be loved and accepted, she is a...

If you would prefer to listen to this devotional then please click   here Dear Friends, A is for Adoration Recently in our church and life groups, we have been going through 'The Prayer Course' designed by Pete Grieg and based on The Lord's Prayer. It's been a really good course and I would recommend it to any small groups who are interested in learning more about prayer and putting it into practice. I had the privilege of giving one of the Sunday morning messages on the theme of adoration in prayer. I want to share with you today some of what I talked about on that Sunday morning. The Concise Dictionary of Theology defines adoration as "the highest reverence to be offered only to God, our creator, redeemer, and sanctifier who alone should be worshipped and glorified."  Jesus told his disciples: This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name," Matthew 6:9  (NIV)  1. Why should we pray with adora...