heavy rucksacks

The Scouts have a motto: “Be prepared.” It’s good advice! Sometimes though, we’re so prepared for all eventualities that we end up lugging round rucksacks and handbags and cars and cases, full of useful stuff we rarely need. And after a while that stuff gets heavy.

I think worry and anxiety can be a bit like that. We were once prepared for a situation that needed action, then that situation started adding worries and emotions to our rucksacks. Now everything is heavy.

Here’s what Peter says we should do...

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”- 1 Peter 5:6-7

Humbling yourself might involve swallowing some pride and tackling a tricky situation head on. It could mean letting go of a thing, so that God’s mighty hand can take over. This is how to be lifted up: don’t be proud, let God embrace the humble.

Then, cast your anxiety His way. Give it all to Jesus knowing that He cares for you. Empty out that bag, that rucksack, that car: do a stock-take on what you need for the journey and what it’s time to let go of. I reckon that’s the best way to ‘be prepared’ for anything.

the apple

There’s a theory that to be the ‘apple’ of someone’s eye means to be so close to them that you can see your own reflection in their pupils.

That’s close, isn’t it? Here’s how the psalmist puts it...

“Keep me as the apple of your eye;

    hide me in the shadow of your wings” - Psalm 17:8

This is a type of intimacy that God loves - close enough to hear His heart, and be covered by His feathers. Near enough to be eyeball to eyeball.

What’s more, when we get so close, we start to see ourselves just like He does. No-one else views you the same as the apple of your eye, and similarly, He starts to see Himself in us too. That’s a beautiful thing about intimacy - you begin to reflect each other, and somehow see each other in each other. Wouldn’t it be great to see yourself as God the Father sees you? Wouldn’t it be amazing if He could see Himself in you?

Today, if you’d like to be closer to God, that is always a good prayer to pray - keep me as the apple of Your eye, hide me in the shadow of Your wings. Intimacy is a beautiful thing.

the door with no handle

There’s a very famous painting by the artist William Holman Hunt, called ‘The Light of the World’.

It shows Jesus wearing a crown of thorns and standing outside a door that’s overgrown with ivy. He’s carrying a lantern and knocking on the door, but also looking out of the picture at us. Holman Hunt, who was a Christian, included the text:

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” - Revelation 3:20

The shut door has no handle on the outside. It can only be opened from within.

Sometimes, without realising it, our lives can get overgrown, when our hearts aren’t used to being open. Hardened opinions, hurt from the past, bitterness we’ve shared or relationships we’ve lost? We say things like, “I’ll not make that mistake again!” or “I’ll never trust, I’ll never be able to forgive...” Tears run deep sometimes. And hurt is painful to hold on to.

But here, the Bible’s giving us the first step to help us deal with it. Open your heart to Jesus - the Saviour-King who promises to be with us in our suffering, taking our wounds and bringing our healing. He is, as Holman Hunt described, the light of the world, and He’s waiting for you, just the other side of the Door with No Handle. Only you can let Him in.

starlight

Abram stood gazing into the night sky. The cool desert wind blew softly on his face, carrying with it the flickering scent of herbs, cooked meat, and woodsmoke. Voices laughed around the nearby fire, and sparks flew upwards.

Above the black mountains, the sky was bursting with light. Stars filled the void with colour, in every direction, burning across the heavens in the great arc of wonder. They beamed through time and space. Abram was silent.

“Count them, if indeed you can,” said a voice in his heart. “So shall your offspring be.”

There’s so much hope around when God starts speaking isn’t there? Impossible becomes possible, night shines as bright as day, and the whole world is suddenly lit by promise.

Abram believed God. And you and I are here, heirs to that same promise, shining like stars in the universe. One day a descendant of Abram, from the tribe of his great-great grandson would make a way for you and I to be included in the great company of Heaven itself - an heir of the promise. One of those stars that night, was lit for you.

I wonder whether you see the starlight in your own life? To Abram, you are evidence that the impossible is possible, that God is true to His promises even when they seem ridiculous. Abram believed God and it was counted as righteousness. And here you are.

So. What will you do?

fig tree

Jesus, it seems, is always doing something surprising. One morning, on the way into Jerusalem with his disciples, He makes a point about fruitfulness, by talking to a tree...

“Seeing a fig-tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, ‘May you never bear fruit again!’ Immediately the tree withered.” - Matthew 21:19

You don’t mess with the Fruit-Inspector! The fig tree, for all its leaves, was just not producing anything: the one thing it was designed and created to do, and the one moment in history it was responsible to do it! When it mattered, it had nothing to give.

If you’re like me, I bet you don’t want to miss your moment. When Jesus passes by your life, looking for your fruit, what will He find you producing? Love, joy, patience? What will He hear you say? Kind things, goodness, gentleness? What will He see you doing?

The disciples were amazed at how quickly that tree withered. No fruit, no seeds, no next generation. Dead wood. And every time they went into the city from then on, they would have seen it, reminding them to be faithful and fruitful. I think it’s good advice. Remember the fig tree.

entrusted

Have you ever been trusted with something valuable? The fear of losing it or damaging it is huge, isn’t it? And it’s much bigger than if it were your own thing. That’s because there’s also a weight of trust that’s given to us - and trust is hard to get back if you lose it.

In Matthew 25, Jesus tells a story about a man who entrusts his gold to his three servants before going on a long journey. Two of the servants invest the gold really wisely and double their money by the time the master gets back. The third does nothing, other than hide his portion in a hole in the ground. The master is furious.

Everything God trusts us with He expects to grow. After all, gold is pointless in the ground! Ministry, relationship, children, our lives, our work, our families, our planet - we should always aim to leave those things better than when we started.

The good news is that you can do it. Whatever’s in your hand today, whatever you’ve been entrusted with, you can grow it bigger and better, ready for the next generation of entrusted ones! There’s still time.

Trust is all about relationship. The lazy servant didn’t really know the master at all. But you can! And the more you get to know Him the more He entrusts you, and the more opportunity you have of changing the world for the better.

david and goliath

Integrity is what you do when no-one’s watching. It’s a very powerful quality, isn’t it? Almost every day it seems there are celebrities who might have done better to remember that.

David was just a boy on an errand. His real job was looking after sheep, but on this particular day, he was sent to the battlefield, where Goliath was busy taunting the armies of Israel.

You know the story: he overhears the roaring Goliath, he refuses Saul’s armour, he defies the giant, and slingshots a stone into his forehead. Thud. Silenced.

But where was the battle really won?

“But David said to Saul, ‘Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.” - 1 Samuel 17:34-35

We all face battles; some giants bigger than others. The truth is though that many of our battles are actually won in secret, out there in the places where integrity matters, where no-one is watching other than God. The victory is on the training ground. David knew God’s heart that day because he’d spent time with Him.

You have battles ahead too. Temptations, trials, difficult giants might be heading your way. How will you prepare? What will you do out there where no-one can see you?

refreshing others

Want to know a secret? It’s not really the kind of thing you hear people say; it’s not exactly in the way society likes it, but it is true nonetheless, and it is ancient and beautiful, and totally awesome. Here it is:

“He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.” - Proverbs 11:25

What this means is that if you lack something, you can actually give it away to someone else, in order to receive it!

I know: it makes no sense, at least logically. But God has a different view of economics to us, and I think it works like this: He is the father who gives all good things. That means that He lacks nothing, and so, if you’re willing, He can pour blessing through you, to those around you. In fact, He wants you to overflow with those things, into a dry and weary world. That’s why Jesus champions serving others, why Paul tells us to think of each other more highly than ourselves and why you’re meant to live full and die empty.

The key to being refreshed then is to refresh those around you!

So, what do you need today? Companionship? Find someone to bless with your time. Financial miracles? Pour out so that God can pour in! Comfort? Strength? Love? Let God flow through you so that you yourself can be refreshed by Him. 

yes and amen

Have you ever been promised something and then let down when it wasn’t delivered? Or perhaps you’ve made promises in the past and you’ve just not been able to keep them?

We’ve all been there. It makes promises harder to trust doesn’t it? But the Bible says that God’s promises are always true, and through the pages of Scripture there are over 3,000 of them! God isn’t backward about making promises!

In fact, the idea of a promise is that it’s forward! The word means to ‘put forward’. It originally meant to cast before, or throw ahead; that means when someone ‘casts out’ a promise, you have the opportunity to take it, to believe it, or not. Offering a promise gives someone the opportunity to trust you.

The same is true of God. There are promises with your name on, and He’s offering you the chance to trust that what He said was, is, and will always be true.

“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.” - 2 Corinthians 1:19-20

Today, let’s lean in to the promises He’s made. And if you’re not sure what they are, there are 3,000 of them there in the Bible! Why not search them out and start believing them? It’ll make your day, I promise.

worst of the worst

Did you ever hear the story about how Jesus invited himself to dinner with the worst person in town? It’s in Luke 19: the story of the tax collector who climbed a tree. Zacchaeus was awful - he worked for the Romans and extorted his position to get rich off the back of ordinary people; a traitor, barely better than a thief; the worst of the worst.

And yet, at the end of this story, when he’s met with Jesus, something extraordinary has happened to Zacchaeus...

“Look Lord!” he exclaims, “Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount!”

It’s amazing what having an unplanned dinner with Jesus can do! What happened?

In an instant, a whole town was better off because one man climbed a tree out of curiosity, and another man saw the best of the best in the worst of the worst.

Perhaps today there are areas of your own life you need Jesus to gatecrash. Or perhaps you know you need help to see the best in people, just like Jesus did. Either way, it starts with seeking Him first, letting Him see the real you, and then inviting Him in.