About this traveller

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London, United Kingdom
Follower of Jesus. Husband. Father. Son. Poet. Writer. Preacher. Story-teller. Learner. Pilgrim.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

smiles

I jotted down a silly poem about smiles. Here it is:

smiles go for miles
and they stretch from ear to ear.
they wipe away the worries
and wash away the fear.

If your smile is lovely
it will brighten up the day;
but if it's slightly freaky
it will make us run away!!

Make someone smile today

:-)

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

simple and hard

I was reminded today that following Jesus is not always an easy thing to do. As you read through the gospels and take in the things Jesus said you see that they are very simple requests:

Love your neighbour
love your enemy
follow me
bless those who persecute you
Go...
preach the good news


These are not hard to understand, but they can be hard to live out - How do you follow someone you can't even see? How can you love when you are emotionally ship-wrecked? How can you love when you feel like hating? How do you bless when you don't feel blessed?

Following Jesus sounds simple, but can be very hard. we're asked even by Christ to 'count the cost' and to 'take up our cross'. There are amazing times when it's all sunshine and smiles and times when we feel like we're trudging for miles in the slough of despondancy. It takes faith to take this jouney of following Jesus. Faith hopes for what it does not see and helps us carry what we cannot bear. Faith unites us with Christ who says 'come to me all of you who are tired and heavy-laden'.

Does following Jesus seem hard? simply put, have faith and keep on. It's simple, it's hard and it takes faith. He never said it would be easy, but we'll get there with his help. We might be following him, but in a mystical way...
...he's also walking with us.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Sometimes...and wait

Sometimes...

...we feel weak and insignificant
...we are lost and need direction
...we are poor and needy

Sometimes...
...God uses the weak and insignificant to confound the 'strong'
...God uses our loss of direction to direct us in his ways
...God meets our needs to show we are rich in Him

Life is a strange mixture of highs and lows. I have mine and you, no doubt, have yours! Yet God has this amazing habit of meeting us in those times. When we are weak, lost and poor we tend to call out "GOD HELP!!" and it's then that we can feel his presence with us.

Sometimes we need to struggle to find God. I don't understand much about life but I know that God meets us in our needs. He doesn't always do what we want. In fact, my experience is that God doesn't always meet my needs, but he does always meet with me in my needs. Perhaps the truth is that he's always there for us and we're way too busy to sense him there.

those that WAIT upon the Lord shall find renewed strength
(Isaiah 40:31)

To wait upon God is to seek his face. When we do this we get the added bonus of being blessed with his strength. Strength to carry on. Strength to love our neighbours. Strength to keep on keeping on following Jesus. God knows we need that strength!!

Why not stop right now. Breathe in his presence, whisper his name, and simply wait.

Right now. Right here. Wait...

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

hard times require hard - huh?!

Life is made of ups and downs. The question is Will we follow Jesus when life throws a wobbly?

My experiences have shown me that life is not always sunshine and smiles. It can be darkness and worry-lines across our brows. So how do we follow Jesus in these times? A look at the garden of Gethsemene shows us an important principle:

Jesus is having his 'dark night of the soul' and is at the pub drowning out his reality. No no no!!! He is in the garden calling out to God in prayer. He pours his anguished heart out to God while his disciples are sleeping their worries away (knowing now he may die).

Life is hard sometimes and Jesus shows us in the garden that we need to be staying close to our heavenly father during such times. The apostle Paul encourages us in Philippians 4:6-7,

Do not be worried about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition present your requests to God with thanksgiving

he goes on to tell us that,

the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

In dark and hard times hold on. Look to your heavenly father through prayer. call out to him until His prefect peace fills your heart. It's not easy, but neither is taking up a cross. Jesus has walked the path you now tread - follow him through your valleys as well as onto the mountain tops.

every blessing in Christ with peace to you.