Search me and know my anxious thoughts

I have often felt that this prayer in Psalm 139 has to one of the bravest prayers I know.

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.” – Psalm 139:23-24

To invite God to search the core of our being is to have complete trust in the mercy of God. Intellectually we may understand that we can't hide from God, so to ask God to 'know' our hearts, and our anxious thoughts, is really to stop running and to be still before God. That can be scary, but it doesn't need to be. 

If we are serious about walking in the ways of Christ, we need to be willing to be completely vulnerable before our Maker. What do you feel?

Jeremiah prayed a similar prayer: But as for me, Lord, you know my heart. You see me and test my thoughts. (Jeremiah 12:3)

Living in Grace

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Love strengthens us

" Yes, we know that “we all have knowledge” about this issue. But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church." - 1 Corinthians 8:1-2

As Paul was trying to find common ground in the Corinthians church, especially around the issue of food sacrificed to idols, he made a powerful statement: Love strengthens the Church.

I find it interesting that when we deal with potential issues of conflict, we still try to lean a lot on our 'knowledge' of the issue, instead of seeking Love. Of course, this is a very hard thing to put into practice, but Paul does make a valid point. 

The words of St. Francis came back to me, as I was writing today's reflection:

"O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand..."

What do you think?

Living in Grace

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God can do it again

"For you have rescued me from my troubles and helped me to triumph over my enemies." - Psalm 54:7

There is beautiful joy in knowing that God has delivered us from difficult circumstances in the past. This knowledge helps us to look into the future with a quiet trust and an assurance that is hard to match. 

Of course, it doesn't remove the present trials from us, but we can come to experience a calmness (or peace that passes all understanding) when we learn to trust in Christ.

Thought: Recount how God has delivered you in the past and then trust him for what lies ahead. 

Living in Grace

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Something to shout about

When something good happens in our lives it is important to shout out the news of this great joy. Many people do this via social media nowadays, but we can also simply tell others the news via the trusted means of our voices. 

Zechariah speaks out the good news of God's presence amongst us when he says:

“Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,” declares the Lord. “Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among you, and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you." - Zechariah 2:10-11

I take solace from the picture of God always living amongst his people. And when this happens we KNOW that God has sent help our way.

Question: How do you feel about Zechariah's good news? Does it change the way you view life when you know that God lives amongst us?

Living in Grace

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When knowledge hurts

    

It never really occurred to me that knowledge could cause you more hurt. As first glance it doesn't even make sense. However, the more I think about it, the more I understand what Solomon was getting at:

"For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief." - Ecclesiastes 1:18

If you think about it like this, it may make more sense: When we read the newspaper, watch the TV or search the internet, we are gaining knowledge all the time. Each article or post we read we are gathering more information and hence acquiring more knowledge. Some of this information is good for us, but there is a whole lot that can also make us depressed.

Another reason why we acquire knowledge is so that we can try answer the complex questions of life. However, the more we delve into various collections of wisdom, discoveries, history and information, we begin to realise how little we actually know. That can also be depressing.

What do you think Solomon means by verse 18? 

"Much learning earns you much trouble. The more you know, the more you hurt." (Eugene Peterson)

Living in Grace

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Living in the same house

During these days of Lockdown most of us are learning how to live in the same space with our family (or community) without getting on each others nerves. There are of course some days when we all end up feeling that the 'living space' is a little cramped, don't you agree? However, we know that staying in the same house is good for us and helps flatten the curve.

So, why am I sharing this with you? Well, as I was reading through Proverbs 8, I came to verse 12, where it mentions that 'wisdom' and 'judgement' live together and it is a good partnership. Have a read of these verses and see what benefit there is from bringing out the best in each other.

^"Wisdom and good judgment live together, for wisdom knows where to discover knowledge and understanding. If anyone respects and fears God, he will hate evil. For wisdom hates pride, arrogance, corruption, and deceit of every kind. “I, Wisdom, give good advice and common sense. Because of my strength, kings reign in power, and rulers make just laws. I love all who love me. Those who search for me shall surely find me. Unending riches, honor, justice, and righteousness are mine to distribute. My gifts are better than the purest gold or sterling silver!" - Proverbs 8:12-19 (Living Bible)

Euripides - "Whosoever neglects learning in his youth, loses the past and is dead for the future."

Living in Grace
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Words to live by

I am not sure if you have a favourite saying, verse or even a 'motto' that you like to live your life by? At various times in my life, I have found myself being drawn to particular mission or purpose, but over the past 15 years I feel that I could sum up my 'life-motto' with three words: Living in Grace. Those of you who are reading this today, would have some idea as to this journey of mine - Living in the immense grace of God is a goal and a passion of mine. However, I want to draw our attention to some powerful words written in the book of Proverbs.

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,    but fools despise wisdom and instruction." - Proverbs 1:7

Knowledge, in this verse implies the words 'to know' (yadha). We can pursue all kinds of things in life, trying to gain academic degrees, big bank accounts, fancy vehicles and flashy gadgets, but the writer of Proverbs suggests that these are all worthless compared with having a relationship with God first.

Having a healthy respect for our Creator and Redeemer is the best place to begin to build any life from. Once we have this set as our foundation, then the rest will fall into place. Of course many people would disagree with this and these people are referred to as 'fools' in verse 7. 

If one compares this verse with a parable in the Gospels, the best example would be where Jesus speaks about two people - the wise person and the foolish one. The wise person builds their house on the rock - the sure foundation of God.

Matthew 7:24 - "“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.


As always Eugene Peterson adds a masterly stroke to these words (Proverbs 1:7) and brings them front and centre. He suggests these words could be paraphrased as:

"Start with God—the first step in learning is bowing down to God;
    only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning."

Joan of Arc once said: "One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying."

Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/live-quotes

Living in Grace
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Don't you know me?

Many of us want to know what God is like? We think that if we could just get a handle on God, then it would make our faith a little easier and we would be much more committed to the cause. 

Philip was having a conversation with Jesus about some important matters, when Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? (John 14:9)

For me, this reveals a key truth. If we want to know what God is like, then we can begin by reading about Jesus. The life, character, words and person of Jesus will give us the clearest image of the Eternal God. Of course we can start by opening up a Bible and starting in the Gospels - that is the best place to begin.

Let us stop looking for signs of God that may not appear and instead study the ones that are right in front of us.

Living in Grace

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Which books to read?

Have you ever had a conversation with a friend and they ask you:
"Have you read _____________ book?"
Either their comments can make you decide to get a copy of that book or they may influence you to give it a miss.

I keep getting emails from book clubs and shops promoting free/cheap books. I am the first to admit that I really LOVE reading and I am a sucker f
or a good bargain, but I could never read every book that comes my way. In fact, there are so many books in print (hard copy and digital) that we could never ever get through them all in our life time.

Google estimates that there are over 130 million books available for us to read at the moment. So, if you started reading one book a month/week from today, you would only explore 12/52 books a year, for the rest of your life. Depending on how long you have to live, that only leaves a few books to read. At best we could only get through a few hundred of the 130 million, so here is the million dollar question: Which books would those be? Amongst the millions there are certainly a lot of 'trash', but there are guaranteed to be many hidden gems.

So, what I would love from you all, is to know which books you would choose to put on your list?
Please reply to this email and let me know which books you would recommend - even if it is just one. I will compile a simple list from your replies and post it in a few days time. In that way, we may get to discover some awesome new books.

 “A room without books is like a body without a soul.” - Marcus Cicero

 “There is no friend as loyal as a book.” - Ernest Hemingway


Living in Grace
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