When will the time come?

"Nevertheless, the time will come when I will heal Jerusalem’s wounds and give it prosperity and true peace. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and Israel and rebuild their towns. I will cleanse them of their sins against me and forgive all their sins of rebellion." - Jeremiah 33:6-8

Jeremiah's prophecy is fulfilled in the birth of Jesus, but it took a long time to come to pass. So, the question that lives with me, is: "how do we remain patient in the midst of our trials? How can we trust that the 'right' time will come and what will that look like?"

Although I don't have neat and simple answers to these profound questions, I have learnt to look back at what God has already done in our lives, and this helps me to remain 'hopeful' and 'resilient' in looking to the future. I need to build my future faith on God's faithfulness and on his covenant promises. 

In short, I won't know when that time will be, but I can trust that it will come. I have also learnt that God's timing is always on his own terms, and it is always in our best interests. 

"But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children." - Galatians 4:4-5

Living in grace

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A connection between pain and healing

"In this crazy world, there is an enormous distinction between good times and bad, between sorrow and joy. But in the eyes of God, they're never separated. Where there is pain, there is healing. Where there is mourning, there is dancing. Where there is poverty, there is the kingdom." - Henri Nouwen

These words of Henri Nouwen draw our attention to this following verse from 1 Peter, which shows us that the healing work of Jesus is done through his brokenness. His wounds offer us the gift of healing. It does seem hard to get our heads around this, but in time, we slowly comprehend this mystery.

1 Peter 2:24 - “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

Jesus' death gives us life.

His pain offers us healing.

His loneliness invites us into the fellowship of the Father. 

Living in Grace

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An amazing story of hope

What amazes you about this story?

"When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help.  “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”

Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith." - Matthew 8:5-10

As I read this, I am taken aback by Jesus' willingness to engage with all people. This centurion was not Jewish, but he was desperate for help. He put aside his pride, position and honour to beg Jesus for help. And in return, Jesus sees into his heart and offers help.

Question: If Jesus could see into your heart today, what would he see?

What 'big' request do you have today? Are you willing to ask Jesus for help?

Living in Grace

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Daughter

When Jesus called the unnamed woman in Mark 5, 'daughter', he was giving her way much more than she could have dreamed of. 

He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” - Mark 5:34

From being a nobody - an outcast - someone lost in the crowd, she is now called a “daughter of the living God.” She is given a new name and with that she is given her dignity back.

This is a profound reality for all of us, because there are some days when we feel lost among the billions of people on our planet. We wonder if anyone cares. We may even question if God cares. Today's scripture brings hope to all of us. 

God does care for us.

We are all his sons and daughters.

Living in Grace

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The Corkscrew

                                                                 

"What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted." - Ecclesiastes 1:15 (NIV)

"Life’s a corkscrew that can’t be straightened, a minus that won’t add up." (The Message)

When Solomon tried to figure out the complexities of life he came to the realisation that Life was like a corkscrew - in other words Life was so twisted and crooked that it couldn't be straightened out. There was no hope at all. 

Even though we may fully relate to what he is saying, we should never forget that with Jesus life can take on REAL meaning. I would agree that if I take a look at 'life' without the love of Jesus it does look a lot more bleak. 

I still hold onto the hope that Jesus can heal our brokenness. All the things that are messed up in my life can be straightened out through the grace of God's love and the power of His spirit.

"When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy..." (Matthew 8)

What do you feel about this? 

"What is crooked can’t be straightened; what is not there can’t be counted." - Complete Jewish Bible

Living in Grace

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Eight

 

“He took up our infirmities
    and bore our diseases.” - Matthew 8:17

In his life and ministry Jesus fulfilled so many prophecies and this one in Matthew's gospel takes us back to some incredible words from Isaiah. He wrote:

"Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed." - Isaiah 53

If you take a quick glance through Matthew 8 you will see words like 'heal', 'restore', 'calm' - all these teach us about Jesus' real motivation in coming to earth. He came to save and help. Even in the tragedy of the cross we note how Jesus fulfills prophecy and takes our sins upon himself.

May we also see LENT as a time of helping and drawing alongside others in their pain.

Living in Grace

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The knock-on effect

Have you ever witnessed at first-hand the impact of the Knock-on effect!?
Have you experienced the fall out from someone else's decisions and then seen your plans hit for a six? Here is a random example that may give you an idea of what I am speaking about:

You are in a meeting and it runs late because someone hijacks the agenda, waffling on about something insignificant. Now, instead of leaving at the appointed time, you find yourself caught up in the afternoon traffic. The delay in the traffic jam, makes you late to pick up your kids, which makes for an interesting car-ride home. Everything else then runs behind schedule and your great plans for a quiet evening at home go up in pillar of smoke!

And the frustrating thing is that all of this is the knock-on effect of something beyond your control! To be more specific..... someone else's actions change your entire day!

Can you relate to this at all? If you can, then can I ask us to pause for a moment and ask the question:

"What if I am the someone?"
"What if I can make a positive knock-on effect in someones life?"

 "Can I do something that causes a ripple of change and hope around me?

Jesus' ministry is a classic example of how his life caused a major knock-on effect in those around him. It was not a day in their lives that he changed - Jesus changed their entire existence!

"At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them." - Luke 4:40

Living in Grace
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A Sword - Ezekiel

A sword is a powerful weapon in the hands of a mighty warrior. It can be used to defend a family from the threat of an enemy, as well as be used to go on the attack in battle. We don't use swords much anymore, but we still understand the damage they can do.

The image of the sword runs strongly through Ezekiel 21 and unfortunately it doesn't look like the Israelites will be spared from God's anger. If you are into counting the number of times a word is used in a passage, then you will see that Ezekiel uses it a lot - 14 times in this one chapter alone. The message is clear - God is not happy with Israel's unfaithfulness and he asks Ezekiel to use the image of the SWORD to make his point loud and clear.

There is however a glimmer of hope in v.27 that ties in with our Lenten theme and draws our attention to the Messiah. Ezekiel says:

I will surely destroy the kingdom.
And it will not be restored until the one appears
    who has the right to judge it.
Then I will hand it over to him.

The reason I find this to be 'hopeful' is because, even though pain and punishment will be dished out, there will also be healing and restoration. Both of these promises are fulfilled in the life of Jesus Christ. And so this is the invitation we are waiting for - to turn to Christ and to trust our brokenness and failures to him, because he has already born our punishment for us.

Living in Grace
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The Sun of righteousness

But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty." - Malachi 4:2-3

The phrase 'sun of righteousness'  can only refer to the coming of the Messiah - Jesus Christ. In an age when pagan gods where considered to 'shine' and have 'wings' perhaps Malachi is using these words to reveal the superiority of the coming Messiah. Whatever his motivations, it is a lovely image to think of the 'Son's Rays' reaching out to each one of us. 

When we sing the great Christmas Hymn 'Hark the Herald Angels Sing' this year, let us pause at verse 3 and remember that these significant lines point to Jesus:

Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
risen with healing in his wings (Charles Wesley)

May we experience the love and healing of Christ this Christmas time. Grace and Peace.


Living in Grace
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Astonishing Dignity

Imagine being deaf and mute your whole life? As hard as that may be to comprehend, now think about how much of an outsider you must feel? You can't hear any conversation or even communicate with anyone verbally. Now imagine people encouraging you, pushing you and leading you into the path of a man called Jesus... overwhelming to say the least. Mark captures what happen NEXT in a story from his Gospel:

^"Jesus led him away from the crowd and put his fingers into the man’s ears, then spat and touched the man’s tongue with the spittle. Then, looking up to heaven, he sighed and commanded, “Open!” Instantly the man could hear perfectly and speak plainly!" - Mark 7:33-35

So what does Jesus in this moment? Well, he treats the deaf man with remarkable dignity. Instead of making him a public spectacle, in his vulnerable state, he draws him aside and heals him. The first words he would have heard would have come from the mouth of the Messiah.

This teaches me that Jesus deals with my frailties and problems in a sensitive way. He restores our dignity. His deepest concern is for our well being.

Today, may you picture, in your minds eye, Jesus drawing you aside, Laying his hands on you and giving you life!

Helen Keller - The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.

Living in Grace
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Words of wisdom from Alan Paton

“The tragedy is not that things are broken. The tragedy is that things are not mended again.” - Alan Paton

Today marks the 115th birthday of Alan Paton and although he is no longer with us this words echo down the ages. I was fortunate enough to hear him speak when I was still a scholar - and I remember his presence was remarkable.

In the above quote, unknowingly Alan Paton speaks into a spiritual state that impacts many lives today. The broken world, in which we find ourselves, leads us to believe that broken things can't be mended. Yet, the message of the Gospel is that God is close to the broken-hearted and that Jesus wants to restore us.

Mark 3:5 - He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.

May God restore the broken parts of our lives, so that we can testify to the goodness of the Father.

Living in Grace
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Prayer for Healing

If you find yourself in a place where you need healing, or someone you love, needs to know the love of Christ, then I invite you to pray this prayer.

"Spirit of the Living Christ,
we thirst for your presence;
the searchings of our mind,
the longings in our heart,
truly, our souls are restless.
Yet you are our healer, 
enlarging our vision
even when we cry in pain;
calming our hearts,
with your gift of inner peace."

Proverbs 3:8 - Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones.

Living in Grace
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This prayer is part of the worship service that takes place at the Iona chapel service every week. May God use it to bring light into our darkness.

Bandages

"God heals the brokenhearted
and bandages their words." - Psalm 147:3

This verse reminds me of a God who is compassionate and kind. I know that there are other scriptures that seem to point out as if God is angry, vindictive and hard, but I still struggle to believe in that part of God's nature. It could have something to do with the way the writers of some books of the Bible recorded their impression of God, but it does lead to a distorted view of God. How can God be loving when he is angry?

I realise I can't tear out the pages of the Bible that portray God as being vengeful, because they remind me of God's ultimate justice. However, I will choose to respond to those portions of the Bible that invite me into a loving relationship with Jesus. I am not sure if this even makes any sense, but I hope you understand what I mean :)

Psalm 34:18 - The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

 

Living in Grace
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Candles

A number of candles have been lit this week, especially with Nathan's birthday having just past. I am sure you can all picture your family moments, when the birthday boy/girl gathers around the cake, ready to blow out the candles? But, I wonder if you have ever considered that Proverbs speaks of our 'spirit' as being a candle of God? It is an unusual suggestion, but this is what Solomon wrote:

"The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly." - Proverbs 20:27 (KJV)

This verse implies that God's spirit joins with our 'spirit' and then shines into the depths of our lives. The Holy Spirit shines into every corner of our 'belly' revealing all that is hidden there - thus, we can't hide from God - God knows every part of our lives.

I find that the more we have to hide from God, the less we like to spend time with him. It is almost as if we are afraid that he will shine too much onto our 'dark spots.' In truth, it should be liberating to allow God's spirit to shine into our 'bellies', so that God can heal our deep wounds.

Why not try and spend a few minutes with God today. Give the Holy Spirit freedom to shine his light in your life.

Living in Grace
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Christ heals us

As we contemplate the amazing gift of Christ, it is incredible to see how much his death 'covers us'...

Isaiah 53:4-5 – “Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.”(NLT)

What do you think about this passage? What do you feel about Christ's wounds healing us? Let me know your thoughts...

Living in Grace,
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