Hope For Today

Dear Friends, When I was in my twenties I would have described myself as a "good" Christian girl - I regularly attended church, this included going twice on Sundays, went to Prayer Meetings and mid-week Bible Studies.  I also served at church in various ways, agreeing to do some things which were not even my calling, but doing them from a sense of duty. Without realising it, my Christian life was more about the law (rules) and less about the grace of God.  Although I was not fully aware of it, I was very judgemental and critical towards my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  I expected a high standard from them (the same standard I had set for myself) and expected them to live as I did.  I know now that I had a heart like a Pharisee (a religious leader from the time of Jesus). So what changed me?  God, in his grace and mercy, changed me.  He did this through my long-...

Dear Friends, Some weeks back, my daughter, Jess, had an after school detention.  She was told to attend the Athletics Club and practice the long jump.  When she came home after the detention she told me how one of her friends had come along to the detention too.  It turned out that this friend had not been given the same detention, had not even been in the same P.E lesson where Jess had been given the detention, but had gone along with her just to support her.  When Jess told me this, I thought what a great lesson in friendship it was. We all need a good friend in our lives.  Not one who is just there to enjoy the good times with us, but one who stands by us when times are difficult.  In The Parable of The Lost Son ( Luke 15:11-32 )  the father gives his youngest son his inheritance and " Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living." v13 (NIV). Wh...