Prayer for a new week

This is a fantastic prayer from William Barclay. I invite you to pray it with me during the course of this week. Please feel free to pass it onto anyone who may need the prayer.

"Give me this day, O God,
the energy I need to face my work;
the diligence I need to do it well;
the self-discipline which will make
me work just as hard,
even if there be none to see
and none to praise, and none to blame;

The self-respect which will not stoop
to produce anything which is less
than my best;
the courtesy and the considerateness,
which will make me easy to live with 
and easy to work with.

Help me so to live today that I
may make this world a happier place
wherever I may be;
Through Jesus Christ my Lord.
Amen."

Living in Grace
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Pause to think

"Look back and thank God.
Look forward and trust God.
Look around and serve God.
Look within and find God.
God closes doors no person can open and
God opens doors no person can close."

I found this poem amongst all the papers I was tidying up the other day - it made me stop and think for a moment. God has been so good to us - we need to trust more in his goodness.

Deuteronomy 4:29-31
But even there, if you seek God, your God, you’ll be able to find him if you’re serious, looking for him with your whole heart and soul. When troubles come and all these awful things happen to you, in future days you will come back to God, your God, and listen obediently to what he says. God, your God, is above all a compassionate God. In the end he will not abandon you, he won’t bring you to ruin, he won’t forget the covenant with your ancestors which he swore to them.

Living in Grace
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When you find a surprise gem

I was doing a little tidying up this evening and I found an old piece of paper in the draw. On it there were some hand written quotes, that I had obviously taken down during a session or conference many years ago. One of these really spoke to me in a loud voice.

"We crucify ourselves between two thieves, just as Jesus did. The regret of yesterday and the fear of tomorrow!" (Fulton Oursler)

Don't let your regrets of yesterday make you reluctant to dream of tomorrow. Remember that God is the God of yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Living in Grace
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Flag Bearer

It was with sadness that we heard the news of the death of another sports star, Mbulaeni Mulaudzi. He was the first black South African to be ranked number one in the world and he won a silver medal at the Olympic games in Athens 2004. He was also our official flag bearer at that same Olympics. May he rest in peace.

In times of war soldiers took great pride in carrying the flag of their nation. Whenever a flag bearer was shot down, someone else would pick up the flag and carry it further into the battle. So now that a 'flag bearer' of our nation has gone down, we hope and pray that others will step forward and carry the pride of our nation into the future.

Psalm 60: 4 - "Then you planted a flag to rally your people, an unfurled flag to look to for courage. Now do something quickly, answer right now, so the one you love best is saved." (MSG)

The same thing should also apply in our Christian faith. When a flag bearer of faith goes down or passes away, we should be willing to pick up the flag of Jesus and to carry it into the future. There will come a time when we too will pass away, but then we trust that someone else will carry the name of Jesus into the next part of the battle.

2 Corinthians 5:20 -  "We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us."

Living in Grace
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Sitting by the rivers of Babylon

Psalm 137 begins with the following words, made famous by Boney M in 1978:

"By the rivers of Babylon
we sat down and wept
when we remembered Zion."

They were written by a people, living in captivity, longing for the days of old - longing for their home. The Babylonians taunted the Israelites urging them to sing their songs of joy, but the people of Israel couldn't bring themselves to sing.

Sometimes we find ourselves sitting at our own river of Babylon, longing for the former days. Days when things seemed peaceful and in order; days when we had our loved ones with us; days when when had songs to sing.

If you happen to be sitting at your river of Babylon today, crying your tears of pain, please remember that God knows your pain - God has not abandoned you. It is in the midst of trial that God's presence guides us through.

Genesis 35:3 -  "Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.”

Living in Grace
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Please say a prayer for our family as we sit by our river of Babylon today - the 28th of October marks 2 years since Kim's brother, Barry tragically died.

Be the One, not the Nine!

Luke tells a story of how 10 lepers approached Jesus begging to be healed. Jesus had mercy on them and they were all healed. We would assume that all of them were over the moon to be 'clean' again and able to return to their families, yet only one of them bother to say 'Thank You' to Jesus. The 9 men were happy to ask for help, but as soon as they were healed, they forgot all about Jesus.

As I reflect on our society I note that we are very quick to ask for things, and even quicker to complain about people, but we are very slow to say Thank You. Can I urge us to take the initiative and to say thanks to people who have blessed us. I also invite us to offer our thanks to God for all that he has done for us.

Be the One - not the Nine!

Living in Grace
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Luke 17:11-19 - Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.  As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

A thousand weary roads

"And for you I'd walk
a thousand weary roads
and step by step
push on in perseverance,
pursuing paths of purpose: in ordinary kindness,
I'd daily find my cross
and bear its load.
For you...

This servant life
this gift of giving,
this halo of help
held out to the hopeless,
this love
my firm
and final act of worship.
For you." - Gerard Kelly

What would you be willing to do for God?
....walk a thousand weary roads?
push on in perseverance?
help the helpless?

Our worship is our response to what God has already done for us. A thousands weary roads is nothing compared to what Jesus did for us?

Living in Grace
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