Sunday

Pondering the Psalms - Psalm 126


Each Sunday I am going to choose a Psalm and write down some brief thoughts on  it.


Today I'm looking at Psalm 126




This is one of the shorter more well-known Psalms



This Psalm falls into two parts:


V. 1-3
Surprise at the change of events
Rejoicing by the children of God
Acknowledgement by onlookers
Proclamation by the children of God


V. 4-6
Expecting more from God
Proclaiming the joy that is still to come.




Surprise.
Are we prepared for the great things God will do among us, or is it all a shock when it happens?
Sometimes we get used to not seeing our prayers answered straight away and can get into a state of asking but not totally believing and expecting daily.


Are we prepared for the great things God will do among us?


Rejoicing.
Do other people notice how we are rejoicing over great answers to our prayers and what has been happening to us?
We need to make sure others can see just how God is working in our lives.






Acknowledgement.
It is wonderful when others can see and admit that the events in our lives are ordered by God.


Proclamation.
Do we say and proclaim what God is doing among us?
Others need to see the way we know the hand of God in our lives and also how joyful we are because of it.


Expecting.
When we see God working we are encouraged to look for more of the work of His Hand on our lives and the lives of others.


Proclaiming.
We know the goodness of God and we know what He has said He will do, so we can look forward to further rejoicing and we should encourage others by reminding them of this.






It is not always easy, we do not see our prayers answered immediately and in exactly the way we would hope for.

Sometimes there is distress, anguish & sorrow as we pray for others 
and as we try to witness to them.


Tears of :
sorrow for sin
sympathy with others
tenderness in prayer.



But

there will be harvests of joy after the sorrow


We need to encourage others that there is joy after the sorrow


because 


those who sow in the tears of godly sorrow

shall reap in the joy of a sealed pardon
& a settled peace






Wednesday

The Day Autumn Arrived - A Dose of Encouragement


I know I wrote a post previously about


but it seems that in September each year (the start of Autumn I suppose) we really do notice all the spiders coming out of their hiding places.





So we get quite used to the fact that they are there for a while.



However just this morning I really was reminded of the spiders in a very different way.


Just look at those webs.






I know they were obviously not made overnight but I hadn't noticed them the previous few days.

Today however there had been a bad fog overnight which lasted until quite late in the morning and as it cleared this was my view in the patio.


The webs stretched all around the gate and the fencing (even some over the bushes)





and they were linked to the patio table and chairs as well.





They made a beautiful pattern between each fence post and also between the patio table & chairs.




I stood in amazement wondering how I had not noticed these webs before, so many of them, and then I realized that they would normally have been difficult to see from inside the house (and I had been inside for a week ill with flu).


Today however was different.

They were so noticeable because the icy fog had left a kind of glistening effect on them.

But

A short while later they were no longer noticeable from the kitchen window.


They had needed this special effect to make them stand out clearly and attract my attention.


We also need a special effect to make us stand out as followers of Christ.


We need a special effect to make us stand out


God has given us His Holy Spirit to produce good fruit in our lives and catch the attention of others, not to be directed to us, 
but to Jesus.


In today's world more than ever we need to allow the Holy Spirit to work through us and draw the attention of the rest of the world to our loving Saviour because that is the job of the Holy spirit and our job too.







So let's think of the arrival of this autumn frost as a sign to remember that God will use His Holy Spirit to make our lives beautiful and attractive to others so that they will say they hadn't noticed that before and want to find out more  -  about Jesus.




Monday

Northern Ireland Barista Championship 2015 - Xtra Special Day


This weekend saw the Northern Ireland Barista Championship take place in Belfast.

Yes I know I love Coffee but not so much that I would be interested in this event

EXCEPT

that my son was taking part on behalf of Common Grounds Coffee Shop of which he is the manager.

Now Daniel has worked in other coffee shops and has trained but now that he is a manager he is not doing the actual manual work every day of the week because of the many other tasks that fall to him.

So off he went on Saturday for the first round of the challenge.

He even missed his favourite football team Tottenham Hotspurs win against ......  well some other team - I'm not a football fan.

He had some tickets and I would have loved to have been there for this event but I was ill.

Yes - An Xtra Special Day for our family and I'm stuck at home with a throat infection.


You can imagine our excitement when he messaged later in the day to say that he was through to the final on Sunday.

We were delighted that he had got through to the final and more people will hear about the good work of Common Grounds.



On Sunday

He was the first one up of the 6 for the final.




His wife Suzie was there with him and the credit for these photos go to her.

As you can see from the pic above he was on at 11am.





No idea what they had asked him but no doubt he was having a bit of fun with them as he did not think he stood a chance of winning.





Apparently cameras and notes were important and everything focussed on how Daniel made the various coffees.


So Suzie messaged us with some pictures and then of course the other 5 baristas had to make their coffees.



We were making a late Sunday Lunch when the message came just after 4.15pm




HE WONNNNNNN!!







So proud of our son 
and of 
Common Grounds Coffee Shop


If you have not read my other post about Common Grounds and their charity work 
and their Suspended Coffees 
then click HERE



Why not use this twitter link to let others know about the good work of Common Grounds


Great coffee, great charity at Common Grounds Belfast


Sunday

Pondering the Psalms - Psalm 32


In this series I am going to choose a Psalm and write down some brief thoughts on  it.



Today I'm looking at Psalm 32








I'm looking at this Psalm in 6 parts:



V. 1-2
Here we are told who the "blessed" are





V. 3-4
Here we see the condition we have due to the guilt of sin


V. 5
Here we see how to deal with sin


V. 6-7
Here we see the only one we can turn to


V. 8-9
Here we learn how God will look after us & guide us when we turn to Him


V. 10-11
Here we have the great example to end with







The Godly Man.
Basically those who are blessed are those who no longer are condemned by sin.
It refers to openly sinning and also sinning in your heart or spirit.



The Ungodly Man.
Before we renounce our sin our condition is dead to spiritual things.
So we need to know how to deal with our sin.
We need to be responsive and willing to turn from our sin and not be stubborn like a mule.



Is our sin covered in the right way?



God.
We need to know that God is the only one to turn to when we are ready to repent & renounce our sin.
Then we can be like the Psalmist who ends with a note of Praise and thankfulness.









The one things we must not overlook is dealing properly with our sin.

Changing our life from 
ungodly 
to 
Godly.

Only Jesus is the one who can take our sin and give us His righteousness.












Wednesday

The Day I Spoke like an American - A Dose of Encouragement


We lived in America in the lovely State of Delaware for 3 years, 1992 - 95, while our three children were young. 




Wherever I went I was conscious that if I spoke like an American then I would not have strangers come up to me and ask me to "Say Something" just because they just wanted to hear my accent.







Often we heard the differences in our accent and pronunciation compared to the way Americans speak.

Coming from Northern Ireland, UK, we were  I was determined to say the words the proper British way like garage and not ga-raase, tomato and not tomaayto, aluminium and not alummmminum etc.   


I was pretty good about this! 


Truthfully

           I was pretty stubborn about this.



However, you cannot live among Americans for long before you pick up the accent. 

 When we returned to Northern Ireland our daughter aged 8 was referred to as the "American Girl" by her classmates at school for quite some time as she took longer than the rest of us to drop the accent. 



The Kids & I at the Grand Canyon


On the way home from America we had a layover in London for a few days and while there we headed into a McDonalds for lunch one day.  I'm not a very picky eater but I do not like all the sauces and pickles you get on the burgers & they never get it right in America when you say you don't want certain things in it so I had spent my time there perfecting the way to say the word "plaaain" like I was a real American so that the servers in places like McDonalds would know what I was saying.  

This time in London I reckon they can get my order right as they will understand everything I say so I don't have to think so hard about it.  

So I'm trying to order a bacon cheeseburger with only lettuce and tomato & guess what happens when I get to the tomato bit? 


I say tomayto instead of tomato.

3 years of saying it properly in America and as soon as I get back to the UK out comes the American pronunciation. 


What was wrong with me?

Needless to say, I have told this story numerous times because I can laugh at myself.

     
Then one day in 2012, 17 years since we had returned from living in America I had to revive my American accent.  


Why was this?  

I wasn't speaking to American visitors or even to other foreigners who have learnt their English by listening to American films, TV programmes and pop songs. 
(we met many people like this while we lived in Belgium)

No, I was sitting at home trying out my new iPad.  

I was doing a test on the voice thing to see if it really would write down what I said.

This was the result: 

          I said   
             "So from now on I want to take all my notes by voice"

         It wrote  -  So Canion I want to take all my notes bivoice

          I tried the same phrase again
                         So from now on I want to take all my notes By Voice

          It wrote  -  Abigail.            seriously???????????????
          
Once again .....

       and it worked!

                    So from now on I want to take all my notes by voice


It worked that time because I used an American accent
          
           Conclusion:

                     The iPad works best if I use my American accent"


For a machine to understand me I needed to talk the way it expected me to talk, 
the way it was programmed to understand.


It worked that time because I used an American accent  


All of this made me think about how we speak to people. 
 

Sometimes we just speak out not thinking of how we phrase something or the tone of our voice because we are talking to our family or someone we are very close to.

Other times we are conscious of our voices and words when we are talking to someone new or people we feel we need to be careful with so that they understand exactly what we mean.

We got very good at speaking more clearly and slowly when we lived in America and in Belgium because people from Northern Ireland tend to speak very quickly.

During the past year I took a short course in teaching English as a second language and I am now even more conscious of my pronunciation.







Then there are the times we talk to God.


I am so glad that God hears us 
  • whether we whisper or shout, 
  • whether we can find the right words or not, 
  • whether we even speak something out 


and that God knows 
  • what we are really sorry about, 
  • what we are worried about, 
  • what we are care about 

We can be thankful that our language does not have to be perfect for God to hear and understand and undertake for us. 


He knows, no matter how we try to express ourselves.


However God does wants us to to be truthful from our hearts.


In Psalm 51:6 the Psalmist says 


"Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts:"



How can we have this truth?

The Psalmist goes on to show he knows the answer in the following verses and then acts on this knowledge he has by praying specifically to God. 





     
Oh that we will be like the Psalmist 
and 
know the answer 
but 
also act on it.




Tuesday

The Discipline of Grace - 2


Click here to read  Grace 1 which covered the first chapter of the book



          
  The Discipline of Grace 
by Jerry Bridges



 Now let's take a look chapter 2  this time.


 Chapter 2

This surprised me at first because it was so different to the first chapter.

Here he takes a look at the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican going to pray.

I loved the way he explained what this parable is all about.


What it boils down to I think is the fact that when the Publican says

                         "Lord be merciful to me a sinner" 

he is able to say this because he is sure of the grace of God.


Isn't that so ironic that he understands grace but the Pharisee doesn't.

If the Pharisee truly knew what the grace of God was, he could not have been so confident in himself.






The Publican did understand but still he was not confident in himself instead he was confident in God because of grace.

Of course the author has a lot more to say than just this and again this chapter is full of truth and I found it so encouraging.


If this encourages you to read the book you'll find it on amazon for kindle or in paperback.




I promise that later posts on this book will contain shorter notes on each chapter.  



For other posts on this book see Links below:

Grace 1
Grace 3





Sunday

Pondering the Psalms - Psalm 13


Each Sunday I am going to choose a Psalm and write down some brief thoughts on it.


Today I'm looking at Psalm 13


This is not one of those very well-known Psalms.






This Psalm falls into three parts:

V. 1-2
It was because of his enemies that David turned to God here and cried out.
He could feel the oppression of the enemies but not the presence of God.


V. 3-4
David wanted to be refreshed so as not to get tired and relax and let down his guard.


V. 5-6
Even just crying out to God has started to change David and he starts to look on the positive side of God's goodness to him.
Appears that perhaps David has realised that his feelings do not have a direct correlation with the presence of God.


God's presence is not dependant on our feelings.


Questions.
David had questions about the presence of God because he could not feel that God was with him or showing him favour.  He was questioning himself and was sorrowful because of the oppression of the enemy.
How often do we feel like David did?
Do we tell God truthfully how we feel - Yes I know we can say that God knows how we feel, but He also wants us to keep up communication with Him and we can start with expressing our feelings truthfully.








Knowledge.
David knew the situation he was in was a grave situation.
He knew death could be the result of the heaviness and tiredness he felt in the midst of his situation because he could do the wrong things, make unwise decisions when he felt as if he was not in counsel with God.


Outcome.
This Psalm ends up with David lifted up in his spirit and therefore refreshed.
Just by thinking on God and restarting communication with God which we may even feel is one-sided can change our outlook and determination in any situation.


Yes David may have started with


"How long will thou forget me, O Lord"


but ends with




It is important we remember to keep an open communication with God.


Talking to God, even when it starts with moanings about what seems to be happening around us, will end up with us thinking of God and not dwelling on ourselves.










Saturday

Christian Songs for Kids - Jesus Loves Me



Do you find it hard to get visuals and recordings for different kids songs?



I have always found this a problem so I am now sharing songs that I have used with children providing you with



Visuals 
(Powerpoint or Picture or details of how you can make one) 


Words   
(chords also available)


Recording  
(mp3 or video to learn the song) 


Then if you would like to download the visual of the song there will be a link provided to my creation, or I will direct you to where else you can find it.   



This month I am taking the theme of



The Love of Jesus



The song I have chosen is 



Jesus Loves Me


This must be the most well known Christian song for kids.


Based around  Ephesians 3 v 17-18



The first verse and the chorus were written by Anna B. Warner and then other verses were added at two different times later.


When one of my kids was very young they misheard the words and for quite some time they thought that everyone was singing "Tea is weak but He is strong" and we still talk & laugh about that today even though he is now a Pastor.





POWERPOINT



Bible Photo credit:  FreeDigitalPhoto.org




To Download a copy of this visual for printing on A4 Card  or  Letter size  
CLICK HERE


WORDS


Jesus loves me this I know
For the Bible tells me so
Little ones to Him belong
They are weak but He is strong


Yes Jesus loves me

Yes Jesus loves me
Yes Jesus loves me
The Bible tells me so



To Download a copy of these words with chords for guitar and piano 
CLICK HERE








ACTIONS

Jesus  -  Simply point and look upwards
Loves me this I know -  Place two hands palms over heart

For the Bible tells me so  -  Bring hands together in front and open them to represent a book


Little ones  -  Hold hand palm down to your side indicating small height


To Him belong  -  Simply point and look upwards
They are weak   -  Flop both arms down by your side
But He  -  Simply point and look upwards
Is strong  -  Make fists with both hands and hold up to represent strength 




VIDEO

This may be a suitable video for pre-school children





Notes:
Written by Anna B. Warner 1860    Ref. by William B. Bradbury 1862
This song is in the Public Domain, see HERE for further info



I Hope you enjoy the song and this is a help to you.







Wednesday

The Day the Wave was Too Big for Me! - A Dose of Encouragement


You have probably often seen me write that I am from Northern Ireland and if you don't know too much about our lovely "wee" country then here is one great fact:


Northern Ireland has some really great sandy beaches


it's just unfortunate that we do not have the really great sunny weather to go with them.






However when you are very young you don't think so much about the weather you just get excited when you are going to the beach.

I have various memories about playing in the sand but one of my strongest memories was when I was quite young.


Dad was watching me,
         but I didn't know he was watching me.

I wasn't looking to see if he was watching me.

I wasn't even thinking about him at all.


That was when it happened.

Other times I had filled my bucket with no problem at all.
Running up and down the beach from mum and dad to the water's edge trying to get enough water to fill up a hole or a moat that dad and I had dug round a little sandcastle.

But this time it just caught me off guard.

The wave was probably not much bigger than the one before but it seemed so much bigger to me as it knocked me over and water filled my eyes and mouth.  I was terrified and so shocked I couldn't even try to get up and I think I screamed but I'm not sure.

I have never liked water over my face and still don't let a shower pour over my face or put my face in the water when I swim.  Maybe it is a result of that day or maybe I was always like that but certainly that day the water covering my face scared me.

It was not long before my dad grabbed me and lifted me out of the water and carried me up the beach to my mum, although to me it seemed like ages. 


Approximately a year before the wave

I don't remember much more about that day except for the time when I kept pulling away from my mum as she tried to brush my hair after I had been bathed and I didn't want her to do it because of all the tats in my hair.

Having since had a daughter with long hair I know the times when it was a joy to brush it and other times when it was an ordeal to brush it so I can understand that it was not pleasant for me or my mum that evening going through the entanglement of my hair.

The solution my mother decided was to whisk me off to the hairdresser the next day and get it cut



Some months after the wave


That day at the beach I had no cares just the determination of wanting to get enough water in my bucket each time I ran to the sea.  So engrossed in my plan I didn't think about the wave let alone notice it coming towards me.


But my dad did.


My dad saw me run down to the sea.

My dad saw the wave.

My dad saw me get knocked over and came running straight away to rescue me.

My dad was watching out for me, keeping an eye on all that I was doing and where I was going.
He knew exactly what was happening around me while I played happily on the beach, oblivious to everything else.






Probably I didn't even realise that my dad was always doing his job of protecting me, that my parents were always thinking of my well-being; because as a child we just take for granted that we are the centre of the world.

I am thankful that God is my Father and He is even better at watching over me than my dad could ever be.

He sees the waves that come at me.

God sees me wherever I go, whether happily or unhappily.

God sees the waves that come at me before I feel them hit me.

God sees how they affect me and He is immediately there to take care of me.

God is watching out for me, keeping His eye on all that I do and everywhere I go whether physically or in my thoughts or spiritually.


God knows everything that is going on around me when I do not see any of it at all.


And

God sees you wherever you go whether happily or unhappily.

God sees the waves that come at you before you feel them hit you.

God sees how they affect you and He is immediately there to take care of you.

God is watching out for you, keeping His eye on all that you do and everywhere you go whether physically or in your thoughts or spiritually.

     God does all this
          even when you are not thinking about Him
               even when you are not talking to Him about the situation
                    even when you are not aware of what is going on around you.


God knows everything that is going on around you when you do not see any of it at all.


We do have to play our part but it is a simple part to play


All we have to do is trust Him


All we have to do is trust Him.


When my dad grabbed me out of the wave - I trusted him because he was my dad.


So let God be your Father and trust Him