Will you be an encourager?

Remember the geese? (blog 29/9/07). Ian and I see a flock of them most days on our morning bike ride and they serve as a reminder......
.... ‘encourage one another.’(Heb 10:25).
There is no better way of helping each other fulfil our God-given purpose on Earth.

We need fewer critics and more cheerleaders......... those who see over the heads of those who say ‘it’ll never work’ and shout to someone launching out in faith. ‘Go for it! You can make it!’ …..in the words of Jesus; ‘Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets.’ (Luke 5:4)

So often people are discouraged, and this is the devil’s work.
Encouraging one another builds us up in love to be the people Jesus is calling us to be.
Will you be an encourager today?

‘We all have different gifts. Whoever has the gift of encouraging others should encourage.’ (Romans 12:6-8 NCV). See also Ephesians 4 :29b to 5 :2 (NLT)

…and we can learn a lot from non-Christians:
http://www.davecheong.com/2006/07/12/8-simple-things-you-can-do-to-encourage-others

PS You could encourage me today! If you are reading this blog regularly send an e-mail to michael_joyce@btconnect.com just to let me know.

More pneuma

When Ezekiel obeyed God and proclaimed, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord...live ...and know that I am God' the Bible says: 'The bones...came together ... but….there was no breath in them' (Ezekiel 37:7-8 TLB). So at that point He ceased talking to the dry bones and went directly to the source - the wind, the pneuma which is God's Spirit, saying: 'Breathe upon these slain, that they may live' (v9). You will never experience a divine visitation or a supernatural solution by looking to flesh and blood; that kind of experience comes only from God Himself. When you need His help, you must go directly to the source!

Today if you are struggling with financial pressures, health issues, addictions, or relationship problems, you need a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit. Job said, 'The breath of the Almighty gives me life' (Job 33:4 NIV). So call 'time out,' get alone and pray, 'Holy Spirit breathe on me.'

Thanks to Word For Today UCB PO Box 255, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 8YY England Tel: 0845 6040401
Email: ucb@ucb.co.uk (free issues of the daily devotional are available for the UK and Republic of Ireland)

Blow me

Returning home on my bike via Horkstow Bridge, I got a puncture….not an instant flat but a slow air leak. Holmes Lane has the very slightest incline, but it began to feel like a serious uphill climb before I looked down to see a deflating tyre. I pumped it up and got past Ermine Street before the struggle began again. By the time I arrived home the tyre was just about flat and I too was seriously short of air!

Modern tyres used to be called ‘pneumatic’ to differentiate them from the early solid tyres. The word is derived from the Greek ‘pneuma’ meaning wind, air, breath or spirit. The Bible uses ‘pneuma’ to describe the Holy Spirit…the breath of God.

I wonder if, like me, you have discovered that without the pneuma of the Holy Spirit everything you do is flat and you end up exhausted?

With a new tyre and tube and plenty of pneuma there’s no holding me back…

Encounter with Jesus

Years ago we ran a kids' Holiday Bible Club on the theme ‘Close Encounters’…(when that film first came out…yes, it is a long time ago!) I remember the series as being particularly challenging and inspiring.
Apart from encounter there is nothing else in the Gospels. Every tale is an encounter.*

Here’s one startling example:

Matthew (ch. 20) tells how Jesus sets out for Jerusalem for the last time. He is on a roll at last. The crowd swarms around him sensing that this is the time, the moment of destiny, the final showdown between Jesus and the authorities. They press toward him, willing him, cheering him on. At Jerusalem, as we now know, the whole direction of history will change.

Then….two voices break out, disturbing the cry of the crowds.
'Lord Jesus son of David have mercy on us!'
Two blind men. The crowd tries to drown them out, tries to silence them, rebuking them for their audacity. For now, now is the time…..

But Jesus stops.

Jesus stops….and it is as if for a moment the eternal destiny of the universe is placed on hold. Two blind men - perhaps it's fairly obvious what they want. But Jesus asks anyway and by so doing gives them dignity. The question Jesus asks is massive. 'What do you want me to do for you?' These words echo down through the ages. On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus will do everything that humanity needs, but first he chooses to ask this question of a pair of beggars. By that dusty roadside Jesus performs the last healing miracle recorded in Matthew's gospel. He gives two men their sight.

Jesus will never simply be the mascot or figurehead of the crowd, propelled along by their hopes and expectations. Nor does he dispense God's gifts without thought for the one who is asking him. Jesus makes the space for encounter. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, but here is a reminder: Jesus has come not simply to fulfil a mission, but for the healing of humanity; not for a heaving mass, but for individuals each with their own needs, like you and me.

With thanks to Ben Care (LICC)
*Bishop Anthony Bloom

Alison's Psalm

A friend wrote this recently:

A PSALM OF THANKSGIVING FOR MY PARENTS
Both my parents have passed away in the last two months. I was going to write a lament, but was surprised to find that I wrote a thanksgiving. I found the process of doing this very healing.

O Holy God, I thank you that you are my Heavenly Father,
unceasingly directing, protecting and upholding me.
I thank you for the gift of my earthly parents,
for their love, their guidance and their strength.
I thank you that you led Mum to introduce me to you,
as she showed me your ways through teaching and example.
I thank you for the faith that Mum and I shared;
for the privilege of this strengthening bond in her final days.
I thank you for the loving family life I was born in to;
a reflection of the fellowship of your whole family on earth.
I thank you for the arguments, the rows and the debates
that formed me, and allowed me the freedom to doubt and to question.
I thank you for the continuous encouragement and affirmation they gave,
as ever you, my Eternal Father, sustain and support me.
I thank you that as I turned from cared for into carer
you gave me the courage and assurance to make those life-changing decisions.
I thank you, Lord, that you took them home together
in testimony to their unbroken bond of love.
Lord, despite your love and their love, I still feel battered and bruised,
Yet I know that your mercy will continue to uphold me.
I am full of sorrow, of tears and of pain,
yet I know you will use these to give me courage and compassion.
I praise and thank you, O Lord, Eternal Father, Healing God,
and pray that all will know the unending blessings of your love.

True simplicity

THE HIGHWAY CODE just got bigger - 50% bigger in fact, containing 29 more rules !

....like everything else...

Many people struggle at work weighed down by regulation, more rules, more laws to fall foul of.
It’s impossible for any practitioner in any trade or profession to even understand some of them let alone keep track of them all.

Sometimes I despair….then I remember:
There are still only TEN commandments.
And Jesus explained that those TEN are summed up in TWO:
Love God and Love your Neighbour
The Christian’s rule book is always the simplest of all.
Isn’t that refreshing?

….And isn’t it also good news that when we mess up and are really sorry, He gives us a fresh start?

PS Try the Highway Code quiz if you dare!
http://www.nurs.co.uk/news/articles/cms/1191442582212694732542_1.htm