inkhorn

Last week I had an interesting conversation with God. First, He showed me an image of a father holding a child’s hand, and from that picture, He taught me several truths. I asked God what the picture meant, so He told me to put myself in the child’s shoes and then think about what I would feel were I holding my own father’s hand. So I thought about it and the first thing that popped in my mind was that I would have absolute trust in my dad. I mean, I wouldn’t ask him where we were going or why we were going on a particular road, but would be simply happy to let my dad take me out wherever he wanted. (This is me as a child, so bear with me!)   Then there would be contentment and a sense of happiness, because my dad was with me and we were together. Also security, because I wouldn’t be worried about anything; my dad would take care of me. I don’t think this ever needs to be explained or taught to a child; they seem to be born with implicit trust! Then God said to me, “You’...

So I asked for joy and He poured out His love on me! Salvation is all about Him! As my earthly father explained all that my heavenly Father had done, all I could do was gaze on Him in wonder. It did not suffice that He sent Jesus to die for me, but He comes to meet me at my level, reaching out to me, endowing me with righteousness, each day. Now I understand what Jeremiah meant when he said that His mercies are new every morning! * And all that He asks in return is Trust. And I fail even to do that! When the Devil presents a different view (read lie!), I believe him and abandon confidence in God so quickly. Every day I have a choice – to believe a lie and live in doubt or to believe my Father and live by Faith! Oh how can I not? The very fact that I can now stand before Him is a gift; a symbol of His love, which He has lavished on me. I whisper “Thank you”, but it is so inadequate. Grace, unmerited, enfolds me close and tears, unbeckoned, awash my soul. “I do not deserve Thee,...

So many times I’ve questioned certain circumstances And things I could not understand Many times in trials, weakness blurs my vision Then my frustration gets so out of hand Its then I am reminded I've never been forsaken I've never had to stand one test alone That's when I look at all the victories And the spirit rises up in me And its through the fire my weakness is made strong He never promised that the cross would not get heavy And the hill would not be hard to climb He never offered our victories without fighting But He said help would always come in time Just remember when you’re standing in the valley of decision And the adversary says give in Just hold on, our Lord will show up And He will take you through the fire again I know within myself that I would surely perish But if I trust the mighty hand of God, He'll shield the flames again - Gerald Crabb

“…recall the former days in which…you endured a great struggle with sufferings…therefore do not cast away your confidence…for you have need of endurance…” * Endurance – a key ingredient in a Christian’s life, and one that I find myself grasping for. Over the past few months, it has become my fervent desire that I might have the endurance to bear everything that comes my way. Endurance – the word paints a scene of quiet strength, implacability and patience. Oh how I long for it from the depths of my soul! The past few months have also made me privy to certain unprepossessing facts about myself. I have realised that I can give up very easily. When faced with life’s uncertainties, I can lose my confidence and trust. Lack of knowledge of what the future holds, makes me wonder how, and whether, I’m going to make it. I question myself and God – how long must I wait? How much longer is this trial going to last? And recently, I’ve wondered, if I (or my family) were threatened, would I give...

I’ve always had a soft corner for the apostle Peter. He seems so vulnerable and human, prone to mood swings and grand gestures. In spite of the mistakes and blunders he makes, one thing that I appreciate is his sincerity. Also the fact that, several times, he puts into words, exactly what everyone else is thinking but is too afraid to say! In the fifth chapter of Luke, when Jesus told Peter to go back to sea and let down his nets again, he must have experienced several emotions – irritation (because they had already spent a fruitless night and had just finished washing their nets!); doubt (as this Man seemed to know more about expounding Scripture rather than being an authority on fishing!), and a lack of hope, but, underlining it all, a sense that he ought to obey Him. His reply is typically Peteresque – “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at your word I will let down the net.” I wonder if he believed at all that they would catch anything. I wouldn’t...

So faith is the evidence of things not seen, the hope of things to come. Yet, I find that I am struggling to have faith, and believe in God. I know that He will bring what He has promised, to pass. But my fear is that I wouldn’t like it, or it wouldn’t be as good as I expect. My mind tells me one thing, and my heart tells me something else. Each day is a tussle, though some days are better than others. The thing is – I will obey Him. That’s the bottom line. But my fear is that I will end up enduring what He gives, rather than enjoying! Strangely enough (or not), all my life, I’ve never been given anything (by Him) that I had to endure. When I’ve obeyed His will, I’ve received the absolute best – not immediately or in the way I expected, but better! So why, on the basis of all that I’ve experienced, do I doubt now? Why is my faith so fleeting and ephemeral? Abraham believed, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Believing, which would include an element of trusting, is the ...

My little boat just got rocked today. Rough seas ahead, methinks. Here I was, merrily sailing along, and this squall hit me. It’s hard to trust and have faith when I’m quaking inwardly! I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m a coward. Well, I knew that already, given my penchant for turning tail and running when faced with a barking canine! But I’m scared. And I feel so lonely. Elijah must have felt the same. I mean, this man had just had the most amazing mountaintop experience – then he hit the ground with a vengeance! Frustrated at his countrymen’s tendency to sit on the fence, threatened by a psychotic, power-crazy queen, no wonder he said, enough is enough! God’s answer was to give him a hot meal and nice long nap! There’s a thought. As someone said, “How many problems are solved by a good night’s sleep!” But I digress. Elijah had an interesting conversation with God. He explained his position ( I have been very zealous for the Lord…the children of Israel have forsaken Your cov...

Hi Andrew, I’ve been learning the lesson of faith these past couple of days. I’ll just put down all that I’ve learnt and what has hit me anew… Faith is different from belief. Faith is an action. Jesus says in Matthew that when we have faith as small as a mustard seed, it can move mountains. Faith doesn’t automatically come to us when we accept Jesus into our lives. We have to take the action of planting our faith (seed) and then it grows. Faith cannot be big enough to move a mountain at the seed stage; but when it grows into a tree, it can move anything. So faith has to be nurtured and grown. Which basically means that I should take it one step at a time. Not try to have faith for really big, seemingly impossible problems, immediately. But have faith in the small things, and eventually I will have faith for the big things. God doesn’t expect me to have full-grown tree-sized faith instantly. The story of the Roman centurion, who had faith in Jesus’ power to heal his servant, taugh...

So what does a spy do? To my (frankly Alistair-Maclean-James-Bond-ish) knowledge, a spy is a person who gathers facts and useful information regarding an enemy and reports it to his superiors. So going by that, the spies Moses sent, did a pretty good job. They were asked to gather specifics – which they did. In truth, they went a step further and brought along some fruity proof as well! Speaks a lot for their initiative. Listen to their report – “…the land…truly flows with milk and honey…the people are strong; the cities are fortified and very large…the Amalekites dwell in the…South; the Hittites, the Jebusites and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.” Top marks on the spying job wouldn’t you say? They had their facts straight and were logical, reasonable and rational. However, Caleb’s impassioned appeal to go up at once and take possession of the land was met with a lukewarm response. Logic and cold, hard reas...