Hope For Today

Dear Friends, I've been thinking a lot about love this week. About God's love for me, my love for him and his calling on my life to love others. Do I live a life of love? Is my life characterised by love? "Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love . Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that" Ephesians 5:1-2 (MSG) The Amplified Bible puts it this way: "Therefore become imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father];   and walk  continually  in love [that is, value one another—practice empathy and compassion, unselfishly seeking the best for others], just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and sacrif...

Dear Friends, At this time of year, many people's thoughts turn to love and Valentine's Day. For some, it's a day to look forward to as they look for ways to express love to someone they care about and as they wait to receive expressions of love in return. For others, it can be a painful reminder of love lost or feeling that they have no-one who loves them as they desire to be loved. Each one of us longs to be loved and accepted. We were made for relationships. We can experience many forms of love, whether it's the love of parents for a child (and vice versa), love between siblings, love of a good friend, love between girlfriend and boyfriend, or husband and wife etc. As much as we can receive and give love within these relationships, no one person was ever meant to meet all our needs. One person cannot totally satisfy our need to be loved and accepted. If we look for that person to do so, they will end up frustrated that they are not able to be all that we nee...

Dear Friends, When I was a child, back in the seventies, (yes, I really am that old!) our family had a Promise Box. In this box were many small pieces of paper rolled up and tweezers. Some mornings, during our family quiet time we would take it in turn to choose one of these scrolled papers. On each paper was a Bible verse - a promise of God. I used to enjoy it when it came to my turn to pick one and read what was written on it. The Bible is full of God's promises. God is a promise maker and a promise keeper. He is always true to his word. Always trustworthy. Always dependable. There are so many examples in the Bible of the promises he made to his people and the fulfillment of those promises.   God makes unconditional promises - they are based on who he is, on his faithfulness and not on our actions or faithlessness. He is a God who cannot lie. Keep in mind that the LORD your God is [the only] God. He is a faithful God, who keeps his promise and is merciful to thous...

Dear Friends, I don't know about you, but I often find that the wounds that hurt the most, last the longest and go the deepest are made by the words spoken to me. I may not have any physical scars but I do bear some invisible scars. Some of these scars have actually been caused unintentionally because of a person's misunderstanding or their insensitivity. They have not been intentional. They have not set out to deliberately upset me. I know that. Yet the pain from these wounds is still real. It still hurts. Sometimes they are caused by those closest to us. Sometimes they are a repeated wound - when the person continues to cause pain with their words. It makes it very hard for these wounds to heal when a person continues to hurt us in a similar way. It's important for me to forgive the person who has hurt me. Perhaps more for my sake than for theirs. Recently, email devotionals and sermons at church have all been about forgiveness. Forgiveness is a great concept and ...

http://freechristianimages.blogspot.co.uk/ Dear Friends, What do you do when God calls you to something? Do you trust him? Are you obedient? Often when he calls us he does so to take us out of our comfort zone. Often it's beyond our own abilities. He does this to strengthen our faith and dependence on him. But what is our response? This week I was sent an email which was giving me the opportunity to be involved in something short term. To follow through on this I needed to fill out a form online and press 'Send'. Initially I felt a wave of excitement. I'd been praying for God's direction and what he wanted me to do. Was this it? But then the fear set in. I can't put myself forward for this. I'm not equipped for this. I don't have the skills. I can't do it. It's too much for me. Others are better than me. Ever had those thoughts and feelings? Yet, I sensed God wanted me to do this.   I receive a daily email from Bible Study Tools gi...

Dear Friends, Many young children enjoy drawing and colouring. As a child I used to enjoy colouring books, but as I grew older these books were laid aside. As I grew up life got busier with schooling, and other things became more important.  As adults, we have many responsibilities which claim our time and attention - taking care of the home, marriage, children, work, church life etc. We are busy all the time. Rushing from one thing to the next, almost without taking a breath. We even try to multi- task in an attempt to fit it all in. Life can get quite stressful as we try to juggle what needs to be done. Not only are we busy in our bodies, our minds are also often just as busy, filled with worries, concerns, anxieties, fears, lists of things we need to do etc. In recent years adult colouring books have become more and more popular. Some claim there are health benefits to them, that colouring helps us to de-stress, relax, unwind, calm our minds and reduce our anxiety. Th...