Day 26: Mothering Sunday

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Poem - Author Unknown

You Were There

You were there when we took our first steps,
And went unsteadily across the floor.
You pushed and prodded: encouraged and guided,
Until our steps took us out the door...
You worry now "Are they ok?"
Is there more you could have done?
As we walk the paths of our unknown
You wonder"Where have my children gone?"
Where we are is where you have led us,
With your special love you showed us a way,
To believe in ourselves and the decisions we make.
Taking on the challenge of life day-to-day.
And where we go you can be sure,
In spirit you shall never be alone.
For where you are is what matters most to us,
Because to us that will always be home....

Thought

My mother died in 2006 and I miss her loads.  Especially today.  When I look at her in the photo above, she is so thrilled for me to be experiencing motherhood.  I remember being more than a little awed to realise that as I love that little boy in my arms, so she loved me.  It wasn’t until I became a mother that I realised the power of parental love.

On Mothering Sunday we all think of our mothers.  Some of us with love, some with sadness, some with no emotion at all.  As mothers we have an enormous responsibility in the way our children grow up and their approach to relationships. Today it is appropriate that we think about the spiritual effects of touching and being touched by those we love. I was lucky to have been blessed with a happy and safe childhood.  It is the experience of closeness and the loving touch of parents which makes us feel safe and confident. When that is absent, when there is no love or security, children find it harder to flourish.

So God also embraces us with His love.  Although it may not be a physical hug, He embraces us in so many ways, not least of all through the embraces of others.  Or the love and hugs that you give.

So happy mothering Sunday.  Don’t let the pressure get to you….

Prayer

Thank you God for our mothers.  And for those of us who are mothers, we thank you for the privilege of parenthood.  Help us to bring up our children to know and give love.  May we provide the safe and secure life that You give us. 

Day 25: Blessed are the pure in heart

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Verse:  Matthew 5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Thought

Purity isn’t a word you hear attributed to people these days.  Many think purity is an insipid, unattractive commodity that belongs to odd people.  But purity refers to cleansing and to integrity.

If you think of a pure metal like gold, it is an expensive and desirable thing.  It is beautiful and its purity is obvious in the way it shines.  Dilute it with other base metals or pollutants, and the lustre is dimmed.  We should be striving towards the Purity of God, not diluting ourselves with things of the world.

Christ said, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Christ was saying that the way you view things effects your whole life. If your motives are pure your life will be pure. If they are corrupt your life will be, too. Believers are to have singleness of heart.

When you become a Christian your heart is purified as you begin living in the presence of God. You begin to comprehend Him and become aware of His presence. When your heart is purified by Christ you will see God. And the purer your heart is the more of God you will see.

Some people see Him in their circumstances and others see Him in the hearts of His people. God is alive in this world but you won't be aware of that unless your heart has been purified. Purity of heart cleanses the eyes of the soul, making God visible.

No one can purify themselves on their own because no one has the power to do so.

Good works will not make a heart pure but faith can. But for faith to be valid it must be in the right object. If you want to be pure in heart you must by faith accept the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.

If you wonder how you can be clean you need to realize that you can't do it by good works. You can know purity only by putting your faith in the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross to remove sin. If you are a Christian and are fighting against impurity in your life, commit yourself to God's Word and prayer.  As a Christian, it is important for you to read the Word of God and also to pray.

God wants our motives to be pure. If you are truly a Christian you will have purity of heart and motive. If you don't, you need to question whether you really know God.

Prayer

Please help me strive towards a purity that can only come from you, Lord.  Let me be aware of the impure threads in my life, that I can work them out of the fabric of my being.

Day 24: Blessed are the Hungry

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 Verse:  Matthew 5:6

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

Thought

Hunger and thirst are both very strong feelings.  When you are really thirsty you can think of nothing else but a cool glass of water.  Generally, I don't know what it really means to feel hunger or thirst.  Even on diet!!  I think of hunger as the empty feeling I get when it's half an hour after my usual lunch time! 

My sister recently introduced me to Pasteis de Nata which are the most delicious Portuguese custard pies.  I am happy when I eat one, but I always want more! The satisfaction one pie provides also increases my desire for more of the same. That is a picture of what righteousness is for us as Christians - the more we are filled with the rich, sweet taste of Christ's righteousness the more we desire it.

Do possessions influence the way you feel? Do things seem to be better in your life when you buy something new?

We look for satisfaction in all the wrong things: money, possessions, fame, and pleasure. And we don’t find happiness because we look for it in the wrong places.

A hungry person will never be satisfied with flowers, music, or an encouraging speech--they will still want food. A thirsty person will not be satisfied unless they are given a drink. Too many in the church today are seeking the same kind of remedy to their problems, searching for happiness through ecstatic experiences. We want a holy high. We go to seminars or visit counsellors with the hope of experiencing spiritual ecstasy. But that isn't what Christians who are in search of happiness should look for. If I want a relationship with Christ but am not hungering and thirsting for righteousness, I need to honestly look at the relationship I have with Him.

The only real happiness of enduring value is being right with God recognising that my internal spiritual hunger can be satisfied only from God's table.

 Just as the hungry don’t need to be told to eat when they are provided with food, so we shouldn’t be told to read and study God’s word.  We should fall on it as though we are starving.   And God has promised to satisfy us.

Prayer 

Lord God, thank you that you care for me and provide for me.  Help me not to become complacent with my life but to hunger for you.  I want to feast on Your word, not just nibble on scraps to keep the hunger at bay.  I have really enjoyed looking at new verses every day and getting nutrition from them.  Please keep the hunger for your word in me.

Day 23: Blessed are the Gentle

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not sure who to credit the picture to - found it on google

Verse: Matthew 5:5

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Thought

My older sister used to sit on me and dangle her long hair in my face to torture me!  I can remember my Dad quoting this verse with a laugh in his voice when I was whining about it one day. And I always think of that when I hear this verse.  One day I will inherit the earth!!!
But meekness shouldn't be confused with weakness.  It's not about being the loser in the battle, but rather the winner.  Some versions of the bible use the word gentle. Gentleness or meekness describes a person's humbled spirit which is finally willing to live by God’s principles of life.  There is a genuine recognition of past failures and the gentle person has opened their heart to God's ways for their life. 

I don't think that I am a particularly meek or gentle person.   I get huffy about things quite easily and self-defensive.  I don't believe we are being asked to be passive or pathetic, but to recognise our unnecessary feather ruffling when faced with something we don't like and adjust our response.  You know those bracelets that have WWJD (What would Jesus do)?  That is what we should be considering. 

But I think there are some things that make meekness as opposed to weakness recognisable

You should only be driven to anger when you think God is being dishonoured.  You must defend God.  It's not about you coming out on top but rather God.

You respond to God's word with obedience and humbleness.   Hmmm, I always find this tricky.

You look to make peace in your environments (work, social and home)and encourage people.

You should accept criticism and act on it, especially if it is truly and given in by someone who has God's interests at heart

You try to give gentle encouragement and instruction to others.

 Meekness is absolute power under perfect control.   And if you are given to God, your power is God's.  That is scary!   

Go the meek!

Prayer

Keep me meek Lord, so that I can serve you humbly and with obedience.  Help me with my stubbornness that keeps me from being the gentle person You ask me to be.

Day 22: Blessed are those who mourn

Verse: Matthew 5:4

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 

Thought

To me, the mourning spoken of in this verse is not about mourning a physical death.  This is a calling for me to be repentant and see not only the consequences of my wrongdoing but into the real offences done to others.   I need to become aware of my personal offence to God and the pain that I have brought to others by my sinful behaviour.

When Joe has done something mean or naughty, or had a fight with one of his friends, I can see from his pale face and trembling lip that he is truly sad.  When he knows that he has been the one in the wrong, he hides himself in his room and weeps copiously.  And when he admits his “wrongdoing” to me and apologises to the offended party, I will cuddle him and love him and try to make him smile again.  When he is defiant and refuses to acknowledge it, we end up with general unhappiness in the house!

So it is with us and God.  We need to recognise our offending behaviour and if we come before God in apology and repentance, He forgives us and comforts us.  When we are defiant and wrongly justify our behaviour, it leads to unhappiness in the house.  It doesn’t lessen God’s love for us, but it is a barrier to a gentle and loving relationship with our father.

Prayer

Father God, I come before you as a humble sinner.  I am truly sorry for the things that I do that cause you unhappiness and pain.  give me the strength of character to recognise my wrongs and to try and be the person you long for me to be.

 

Day 21: Blessed are the poor in spirit

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Verse: Matthew 5:3
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
 
Thought
I often hear this as “Blessed are the poor”, but it is “poor in spirit”.    This isn't about financial economics but about spiritual economics. Being poor in spirit is not being lazy or indifferent. "Poor in spirit" describes the result of being overwhelmed by personal problems or going through a personal moral crisis in which I realise I have really messed up.  I have been there and this was an awful place to find my self.  It was when I felt furthest from God and most afraid. And all aspects of my life seemed to be breaking apart.  It was that tummy dropping moment of realising that I was spiritually empty.  There was nothing to run my faith on.  I know that only by depending upon God can I fill that emptiness.
A person who is poor in spirit has no sense of self-sufficiency and recognizes they are empty. God wants us to come to Him in the knowledge that we are spiritually bankrupt.  We need to be emptied of our self importance so that we can carry the importance of God.
It may help to think about the opposite of "poor in spirit." The contrast would be "proud in spirit;" self-sufficient, arrogantly independent. There are lots of my friends and people I know who aren’t Christians, but who are good people.  They feel they don’t need God to give their lives direction, they are happy with their own moral standards.  This is the modern spirit of humanism or a view of life that is centred on man and his capacity to build a worthwhile life for himself and his fellows here and now. The emphasis is placed on man's own intellectual and moral resources, and the notion of supernatural religion is rejected. This is all very worrying if you live by the standards set by modern society.
I find this a frightening, but increasingly real attitude.  There is no respect for our creator.  I recently wrote to the BBC to complain about the constant use of “OMG” and the actual phrase “Oh my God” that is used on Children’s TV.  And the response was essentially “get over yourself and back into reality.  That is how children speak”.  (All a little politer than that though.) As Christians we need to keep ourselves filled with Gods’ spirit and wisdom and not that of the world.
Prayer
Oh my Father God, I pray that you would help me maintain balance in my life.  I pray that I would recognise when I am losing sight of You and focusing on the standards of the world.  Please prod me when I am justifying my actions and excusing my behaviours.  Let me try to live as You would have me live.  Keep my spirit poor and Yours rich in me.

Day 20: Salt and Light

 Verse: Matthew 5:13-16

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is not longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Thought
A Peanuts cartoon showed Peppermint Patty talking to Charlie Brown. She said, "Guess what, Chuck. The first day of school, and I got sent to the principal's office. It was your fault, Chuck." He said, "My fault? How could it be my fault? Why do you say everything is my fault?" She said, "You're my friend, aren't you, Chuck? You should have been a better influence on me."

When we say we are Christians, people tend to watch us. What do they see? What we say and do can have an influence on them. And it should. Jesus told us that we would have an influence in this world. He tells us this in the verses above. When we look at the Beatitudes at the beginning of Matthew 5 we are given the characteristics God wants us to live out.  

He calls us to be spiritually bankrupt before a Holy God, that we mourn over our sin.  We must be meek but not weak.  We should hunger and thirst after righteousness, and be merciful,  pure in heart and a peacemaker.  We may be persecuted for righteousness sake.  These things will help us be salt and light.

In the last census in the UK (2001), about 70% of the population claimed to be Christian. Yet statistics within the church show that only 2.4% attend church regularly.
Not only are those numbers frightening, but sadly the average Christian in the average church is almost indistinguishable from the rest of society. Not necessarily in some artificial and outward way, but rather in the basic moral and ethical difference that Christ can make in how we live. Within our Church we have people having affairs, hurting their families, cheating, lying etc.  Perhaps that is the reason why our influence has not been felt in a way that points people to Jesus.

Does your life make a difference? What kind of difference do you make? Jesus makes no bones about the fact that we should make a difference. When Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth" and "You are the light of the world", He made those verses a statement of fact. He did not say you should be the salt or you should be the light of the world. He said you are salt and light.

Prayer

Please make me make a difference Lord God.  Let me be full of Your salt and light, that others may see your goodness. Help me be part of a living and challenging church that can direct people to you