Hope For Today

Dear Friends,  Daith Piercing (inner ear) It's been said that courage is not doing something without fear, but doing it despite fear.  This was certainly the case for me when I had my daith pierced.  I was fearful of the pain involved, but went ahead with it anyway.  Why would I do something which caused me fear?  Well, it wasn't because I wanted to make a fashion statement, and neither was it because I'm having a mid-life crisis.  Those reasons would not have been enough to motivate me.  My reason, my motive, for doing it was because it may prevent migraines because the piercing is on a pressure point.  There is no guarantee that it will work, but the possibility that it could, was worth pushing through my fear.  Having Jason with me while I had it done was an added boost to my act of courage.  I didn't have  to face it alone.  Some may well think I'm crazy for doing it.  In fact that's what my two teenage ...

Dear Friends, My blog has just had its first birthday!  A year has gone by so quickly and I'm so grateful to God for enabling me to write a new post once a week for a whole year.  On my own it would have been impossible and if anyone had told me more than a year ago that this would be one way I could serve God I don't think I would have believed them. I want to thank you, dear friends, who have faithfully stayed the course with me so far and have given me so much encouragement along the way.  God has blessed me so much as I have followed his leading and I trust that as you have read these posts that you too have been blessed and encouraged by God. When a Christian friend made the suggestion of writing a blog I could so easily have got swept up in the moment, getting carried away with the idea without stopping to consider whether this was of God or not.  It is often my way that I go full steam ahead when I get an idea without considering...

Dear Friends, Last Sunday morning at church I preached on  'Hearing from God'. Whenever I preach I know that what I'm sharing is as much for me as it is for those who are listening.  God really made that very clear to me that very afternoon. I based the message on 1 Samuel 3:1-4:1 and shared how we need to have the same attitude as Samuel, who, when he realised God was speaking to him said "Speak, your servant is listening."  ( v10 NLT).  I shared that if we are really listening to God then we will act on what he says to us no matter how hard it may be. Jason and I had a decision to make and we had been seeking God for the answer. That afternoon, as we chatted over a cup of tea, Jason shared what he thought God was saying.  He said there was a part of him that didn't want to follow through on it, but he couldn't get away from what he felt God was telling him, and God had brought it back to him as I'd been preaching that morning. ...

Dear Friends, When you sense that God may be calling you to something new, to take a step of faith, you can experience a variety of emotions.   On the one hand there may be excitement as you think about the plan God has for your life and where he is leading you, on the other hand you may be anxious about facing the unknown and what he is asking you to do.   Or perhaps stubbornly you decide to dig your heels in because you don’t want the change.    You may be wondering why he is calling you to do something different when you are satisfied with life as it is, when you already consider yourself productive in your relationships, home, work, ministry at church etc.   To leave all that behind may not make a lot of sense to you. I wonder what emotions Abram experienced when he heard God’s call on his life.   Abram was from a prominent family, his ancestry can be traced all the way back to Seth, Adam and Eve’s son.   His was a wealthy family with...