Hope For Today

Dear Friends, I Dreamed A Dream If you're thinking this is going to be about the song from the musical, "Les Miserables" you'd be wrong. I chose this title to get your attention - I wonder if it worked? Although I'm not writing about that particular song I am writing about a dream I had. Experts tell us that everyone dreams each night but whilst some people wake up aware that they have dreamed during the night, others have no memory of theirs. I am in the former group, I don't think there's a day when I don't wake up and remember the dream/s I've had during the night. I'm not quite sure what this says about the quality of my sleep! It doesn't usually take me long to forget my dreams, although very occasionally I will remember a special dream.  I want to share one with you which I had more than twenty-five years ago, it greatly encouraged me and gave me such joy at the time and continues to do so when I remember it. In t...

Dear Friends, Reflecting on the past year I know many of us take advantage of a new year to reflect over the past year. I imagine that last year for you was probably like mine - one of highs and lows. If you've gone through some difficult times last year, it can be easy to glance back and remember only the bad times and conclude that the whole year was just awful. I know for myself, I can be so quick to focus on the negative. There were some difficult, unpleasant times for me last year. I had several hospital appointments and it seemed like I was always going to see my Doctor about one issue or another. We also faced hard days with our family. The year ended with a bad spell of migraines for me and another horrendous migraine the very first day of the new year. With my thoughts fixed on those things, it's easy for me to conclude that the whole of last year was awful and that this year will be no different. Especially as I can tend to be something of a pessimist....

Dear Friends, What I particularly liked about Susie Larson's book, "Fully Alive" is that she writes so honestly and openly about the storms she has faced in her own life and how she has, with God's help, come through them. She shares in her introduction how “The storms reveal the lies we believe and the truths we need.”  In "Fully Alive" she writes that maybe you need an emotional miracle, a physical one, or a relational one, and how this book can give us the help, if we need it, to change our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual mindset.  I like how each chapter follows the same structure. Each one starts off with personal experience from Susie as she shares about what she has learned herself; ‘Put it into Practice’ in which the reader applies what they have read; Soul Searching in which there are questions for reflection; Spiritual Reset – a time for prayer; Digging Deeper which includes reading some passages of Scripture and more time ...

Dear Friends, "Of Fire and Lions" is another great Biblical fiction novel penned by Mesu Andrews, this time it is based on the book of Daniel in the Old Testament.  The majority of the book is told through the eyes of Belili (the fictional wife of Daniel). Belili (or Abigail) is one of the young people who is taken into exile to Babylon, along with Daniel and his friends.  The book begins with Belili and Daniel in their old age, having lived many decades in Babylon. As they look back over the years and remember their past, we get to learn about their experiences of living in exile and the cost of being faithful to God in a land where he is not worshipped as the one and true God.  Belili is such a relatable character. We see her as a child and her early encounter with God which forges her personal faith, but then because of circumstances against her, we see how she drifts away from God for a time. However, God always has his hand on her and draws her ba...

If you would like to listen to today's devotional, please click  here Dear Friends, My Verse and Word for 2019 As has been my practice over the last few years I like to choose a verse and a 'word' for the coming year.  I think I said in my blog post for 2018 (you can read it  here ) how choosing a word for the year has become more and more popular. There are now quizzes you can take to provide you with your word for the year. Some may find this helpful but I prefer to take the time to seek God and ask him to reveal the 'word' and verse for the year. I wait for one to resonate in my soul. One which I sense is right just for me. My word for this year is FAITH . Lawrence Richards writes this in his book,  "Encyclopedia of Bible Words": "Faith is a personal response to God and a complete commitment of ourselves to him...faith calls for a continuing relationship of response to Jesus' word...faith transforms human beings,...