I think that deserves Ben and Jerry's for tea. Don't you? Especially since it's "low fat" and was half price.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Finished
After three months that tested many aspects of my personality, and my ability to be salt and light, I'm finally rotating on to another area.
I think that deserves Ben and Jerry's for tea. Don't you? Especially since it's "low fat" and was half price.
I think that deserves Ben and Jerry's for tea. Don't you? Especially since it's "low fat" and was half price.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Time to Sew
All ready to make a new cushion cover for the sofa. Once I have time to sew that is. My friend managed to pick out a perfectly matching shade of thread despite not having the fabric with us, after only seeing it once. The advantage of a contour fashion degree I suppose!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
New Term, New Books
This term I'm going to be reading one-to-one with one of the ladies from my weekly Bible study. I let her have free rein over what we would study, and she chose Philippians. Having re-read it over a few times in preparation, I'm pretty excited about it. We're going to use it as an opportunity to hone Bible handling skills too, so I'm also using Dig Deeper by Nigel Beynon and Andrew Sach to see which "tools" we can use to explore the passage.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Chilli, Tomato and Onion Marmalade
Adapted from "Cherry Tomato and Sweet Chilli Jam" from Gifts from the Kitchen by Annie Rigg. Kindly bought for me for Christmas by my brother.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Sunday, January 09, 2011
A Hymn by John Newton
Most of the world knows him as the writer of "Amazing Grace", but John Newton, the slave-ship owner turned Pastor and Preacher, by God's grace, was the writer of many, many other hymns, including this one, one of my personal favourites:
Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God;
He whose word cannot be broken
formed thee for His own abode;
on the Rock of Ages founded,
what can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation's walls surrounded,
thou may'st smile at all thy foes.
See! the streams of living waters,
spring form eternal love,
well supply thy sons and daughters
and all fear of want remove.
Who can faint, when such a river
ever flows their thirst to assuage?
Grace which, like the Lord, the Giver,
never fails from age to age.
Round each habitation hovering,
see the cloud and fire appear
for a glory and a covering,
showing that the Lord is near.
Thus they march, their pillar leading,
light by night, and shade by day;
daily on the manna feeding
which he gives them when they pray.
Blest inhabitants of Zion,
washed in the Redeemer's blood!
Jesus, whom their souls rely on,
makes them kings and priests to God.
'Tis his love his people raises
over self to reign as kings:
and as priests, his solemn praises
each for a thank-offering brings.
Saviour, since of Zion's city,
I through grace a member am,
let the world deride or pity,
I will glory in thy Name.
Fading is the worldling's pleasure,
all his boasted pomp and show;
solid joys and lasting treasure
none but Zion's children know.
My favourite verse is the last one, sometimes it reads "Saviour, if of Zion's city..." but I prefer this reading - it speaks more of the wonderful assurance children of the living God have, knowing that they are aliens and strangers in this world, and belonging to another. It reminds me that each day, no matter what the world thinks of me, I am a Christian, saved by grace, glorying in my wonderful Saviour's name. The things of this earth quickly spoil and fade, but I will live for ever, and so will the joys and treasure of the heavenly city where I shall dwell forever.
Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God;
He whose word cannot be broken
formed thee for His own abode;
on the Rock of Ages founded,
what can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation's walls surrounded,
thou may'st smile at all thy foes.
See! the streams of living waters,
spring form eternal love,
well supply thy sons and daughters
and all fear of want remove.
Who can faint, when such a river
ever flows their thirst to assuage?
Grace which, like the Lord, the Giver,
never fails from age to age.
Round each habitation hovering,
see the cloud and fire appear
for a glory and a covering,
showing that the Lord is near.
Thus they march, their pillar leading,
light by night, and shade by day;
daily on the manna feeding
which he gives them when they pray.
Blest inhabitants of Zion,
washed in the Redeemer's blood!
Jesus, whom their souls rely on,
makes them kings and priests to God.
'Tis his love his people raises
over self to reign as kings:
and as priests, his solemn praises
each for a thank-offering brings.
Saviour, since of Zion's city,
I through grace a member am,
let the world deride or pity,
I will glory in thy Name.
Fading is the worldling's pleasure,
all his boasted pomp and show;
solid joys and lasting treasure
none but Zion's children know.
My favourite verse is the last one, sometimes it reads "Saviour, if of Zion's city..." but I prefer this reading - it speaks more of the wonderful assurance children of the living God have, knowing that they are aliens and strangers in this world, and belonging to another. It reminds me that each day, no matter what the world thinks of me, I am a Christian, saved by grace, glorying in my wonderful Saviour's name. The things of this earth quickly spoil and fade, but I will live for ever, and so will the joys and treasure of the heavenly city where I shall dwell forever.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
For the joys and the sorrows...
Preparing a Bible study on Romans 5v1-11 reminded me of a song I rather like by Graham Kendrick:
For the joys and for the sorrows
The best and worst of times
For this moment, for tomorrow
For all that lies behind
Fears that crowd around me
For the failure of my plans
For the dreams of all I hope to be
The truth of what I am
For this I have Jesus
For this I have Jesus
For this I have Jesus, I have Jesus
(Repeat)
For the tears that flow in secret
In the broken times
For the moments of elation
Or the troubled mind
For all the disappointments
Or the sting of old regrets
All my prayers and longings
That seem unanswered yet
For the weakness of my body
The burdens of each day
For the nights of doubt and worry
When sleep has fled away
Needing reassurance
And the will to start again
A steely-eyed endurance
The strength to fight and win
"Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person - though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die - but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinner, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God."
So, since we have been justified (the hard work), we can face the future, each day, sufferings or joyfulness, because of what Christ has done. And in each day and each moment, I can look forward, knowing that the future is settled, because Christ has justified me. Hallelujah!
For the joys and for the sorrows
The best and worst of times
For this moment, for tomorrow
For all that lies behind
Fears that crowd around me
For the failure of my plans
For the dreams of all I hope to be
The truth of what I am
For this I have Jesus
For this I have Jesus
For this I have Jesus, I have Jesus
(Repeat)
For the tears that flow in secret
In the broken times
For the moments of elation
Or the troubled mind
For all the disappointments
Or the sting of old regrets
All my prayers and longings
That seem unanswered yet
For the weakness of my body
The burdens of each day
For the nights of doubt and worry
When sleep has fled away
Needing reassurance
And the will to start again
A steely-eyed endurance
The strength to fight and win
"Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person - though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die - but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinner, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God."
So, since we have been justified (the hard work), we can face the future, each day, sufferings or joyfulness, because of what Christ has done. And in each day and each moment, I can look forward, knowing that the future is settled, because Christ has justified me. Hallelujah!
The Dream Kitchen
This hilarious little extract came from a recent (November 2010) copy of the Waitrose Kitchen Magazine that I picked up, it rather sums up my kitchen experience.
"In my mind's eye, I always imagined myself making jam and marmalade in a sunlit kitchen, surrounded by gleaming copper pans and gingham squares. In reality, the making of jam in our house is hot, heavy work; the great bubbling pail of sugar-stew liberally seasoned with swear words, and at least one finger or thumb being held under the cold tap for 20 minutes after a run-in with a scalding splodge of syrup. Which refuses to set. And turns the tea towels purple. But who cares? Rose-tinted spectacles come with the territory... Admiring the serried racks of just-made jams, with their wax-circle stoppers and hand-written labels, is one of life's great little pleasures. It's one of the few boxes I've actually ticked in the larder of my dreams, where I shall have trugs loaded with medlars and damsons, or perhaps sloes, quince and elderberries. There'll be demijohns of single-orchard cider, interestingly flavoured cordials and single-estate teas in fragrant wooden caddies. Ooh, and a truckle of cheddar, plus a wedge of varicose stilton and a salted hock of ham, studded with cloves.
None of this exists, mostly because I am not the chatelaine of an Edwardian mansion. My real larder, which is in fact a pull-out kitchen cupboard, boasts a multipack of Hula Hoops, a sorry tin of coconut milk, some desiccated herbs, a collection of lazily sprouting potatoes and an onion (deceased)" - Mimi Spencer, Waitrose Kitchen November 2010.
"In my mind's eye, I always imagined myself making jam and marmalade in a sunlit kitchen, surrounded by gleaming copper pans and gingham squares. In reality, the making of jam in our house is hot, heavy work; the great bubbling pail of sugar-stew liberally seasoned with swear words, and at least one finger or thumb being held under the cold tap for 20 minutes after a run-in with a scalding splodge of syrup. Which refuses to set. And turns the tea towels purple. But who cares? Rose-tinted spectacles come with the territory... Admiring the serried racks of just-made jams, with their wax-circle stoppers and hand-written labels, is one of life's great little pleasures. It's one of the few boxes I've actually ticked in the larder of my dreams, where I shall have trugs loaded with medlars and damsons, or perhaps sloes, quince and elderberries. There'll be demijohns of single-orchard cider, interestingly flavoured cordials and single-estate teas in fragrant wooden caddies. Ooh, and a truckle of cheddar, plus a wedge of varicose stilton and a salted hock of ham, studded with cloves.
None of this exists, mostly because I am not the chatelaine of an Edwardian mansion. My real larder, which is in fact a pull-out kitchen cupboard, boasts a multipack of Hula Hoops, a sorry tin of coconut milk, some desiccated herbs, a collection of lazily sprouting potatoes and an onion (deceased)" - Mimi Spencer, Waitrose Kitchen November 2010.
Friday, October 15, 2010
How utterly hopeless...
I've been working through Romans 3v9-20, in preparation for a Bible study that I will be leading at church next week. It has served as an incredible reminder of how utterly sinful I am. Thinking on it each evening has thoroughly condemned me, as each evening I realise how I have failed to glorify God's name. Each day I have dragged Christ's beautiful name through the mud. I have willfully and deliberately shown unkindness, malice, envy, lack of love, unadvised speech, hasty temper and a great multitude of more sins which mean that His name is not honoured in my life as it should be. And each night I must whisper my confession and contrition, before the God who holds me accountable.
This I believe is Paul's purpose in writing this part of the passage. Each word another blow that drives right to the heart of my cockiness, my self-surety, my sinful belief that I may be justified in God's sight because of my works. For, none is righteous, no, not one, not even you Beckie, however much you may think you are.
How my heart aches, and I think this is what Paul wants us to be, before he reminds us, with that glorious "But" in verse 21. For if we do not recognise our utter hopelessness to be right with God, then the gospel loses its power. If we can be saved another way, if we can be right with God on our own, then the death of Christ means nothing, it really was, just a carpenter dying for annoying the religious authorities of the day. But knowing that there is no way that mankind can be saved, that there is no way that I can be right with God, then I am desperate, I am alone, I am dependent.
Thank God for that "but" - that I can be right with God, apart from my works. My works that should condemn me are cast aside, and the pure, spotless, glorious perfection of Christ is seen in all its power. But that's another week, and another study. For now I remember my sinfullness, and look forward to my salvation.
Monday, October 11, 2010
"Evening Renewal"
My Father,
If Thy mercy had bounds, where would be my refuge from just wrath?
But Thy love in Christ is without measure.
Thus, I present myself to thee
with sins of commission and omission,
against Thee, my Father,
against Thee, adorable redeemer,
against Thee and Thy strivings, O Holy Spirit,
against the dictates of my conscience,
against the precepts of Thy Word,
against my neighbours and myself.
Enter not into judgement with me,
For I plead no righteousness of my own,
and have no cloak for iniquity.
Pardon my day dark with evil.
This night I renew my penitence.
Every morning I vow to love Thee more fervently,
to serve Thee more sincerely,
to be more devoted in my life,
to be wholly Thine;
Yet I soon stumble, backslide,
and have to confess my weakness, misery and sin.
But I bless Thee that the finished work of Jesus needs no addition
from my doings,
that His oblation is sufficient satisfaction
for my sins.
If future days be mine, help me to amend my life,
to hate and abhor evil,
to flee the sins I confess.
Make me more resolute, more watchful, more prayerful.
Let no evil fruit spring from evil seeds my hands have sown;
Let no neighbour be hardened in vanity and folly
by my want of circumspecion.
If this day I have been ashamed of Christ and His Word,
or have shown unkindness, malice, envy, lack of love,
unadvised speech, hasty temper,
let it be no stumbling block to others,
or dishonour to Thy name.
O help me to set an upright example that will ever rebuke vice,
allure to goodness,
and evidence that lovely are the ways of Christ.
--From "The Valley of Vision -- a collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions -- by Arthur Bennett"
--- I would replace "If this day" with "Since this day"
If Thy mercy had bounds, where would be my refuge from just wrath?
But Thy love in Christ is without measure.
Thus, I present myself to thee
with sins of commission and omission,
against Thee, my Father,
against Thee, adorable redeemer,
against Thee and Thy strivings, O Holy Spirit,
against the dictates of my conscience,
against the precepts of Thy Word,
against my neighbours and myself.
Enter not into judgement with me,
For I plead no righteousness of my own,
and have no cloak for iniquity.
Pardon my day dark with evil.
This night I renew my penitence.
Every morning I vow to love Thee more fervently,
to serve Thee more sincerely,
to be more devoted in my life,
to be wholly Thine;
Yet I soon stumble, backslide,
and have to confess my weakness, misery and sin.
But I bless Thee that the finished work of Jesus needs no addition
from my doings,
that His oblation is sufficient satisfaction
for my sins.
If future days be mine, help me to amend my life,
to hate and abhor evil,
to flee the sins I confess.
Make me more resolute, more watchful, more prayerful.
Let no evil fruit spring from evil seeds my hands have sown;
Let no neighbour be hardened in vanity and folly
by my want of circumspecion.
If this day I have been ashamed of Christ and His Word,
or have shown unkindness, malice, envy, lack of love,
unadvised speech, hasty temper,
let it be no stumbling block to others,
or dishonour to Thy name.
O help me to set an upright example that will ever rebuke vice,
allure to goodness,
and evidence that lovely are the ways of Christ.
--From "The Valley of Vision -- a collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions -- by Arthur Bennett"
--- I would replace "If this day" with "Since this day"
Monday, May 03, 2010
My New Friends
Yesterday I made a tortoise from a copy of Crochet Today that I picked up in the local market for only 67p. Then feeling all inspired, I designed and made him a giant land snail friend - Swirly the Snail!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Double baked potatoes
Double *baked* is possibly a misnomer, as the first baking is in the microwave!
For each person:
One large baking potato (e.g. Maris Piper)
Two tablespoons of creme fraiche
Two teaspoons of red pesto
A large handful of grated cheddar cheese
Prick the baking potato all over with a fork or other handy sharp implement, and microwave potato for around 8 minutes (for an 800W microwave)
Preheat oven to 230 C
Meanwhile, mix the creme fraiche, red pesto and cheese in a bowl
Remove potato from microwave, carefully scoop flesh from skin, leaving a border of flesh in the skin of around 1/4 - 1/2 cm. Put flesh into the bowl with the cheese mixture.
Mash the potato into the cheese mixture, until fairly smooth.
Replace cheesey potato mixture into the potato skins.
Put potato halves on a baking tray, bake in the oven at 230 C for around 10 minutes, or until the mixture is bubbled and browned.
Eat, with your choice of delicious accompaniments!
For each person:
One large baking potato (e.g. Maris Piper)
Two tablespoons of creme fraiche
Two teaspoons of red pesto
A large handful of grated cheddar cheese
Prick the baking potato all over with a fork or other handy sharp implement, and microwave potato for around 8 minutes (for an 800W microwave)
Preheat oven to 230 C
Meanwhile, mix the creme fraiche, red pesto and cheese in a bowl
Remove potato from microwave, carefully scoop flesh from skin, leaving a border of flesh in the skin of around 1/4 - 1/2 cm. Put flesh into the bowl with the cheese mixture.
Mash the potato into the cheese mixture, until fairly smooth.
Replace cheesey potato mixture into the potato skins.
Put potato halves on a baking tray, bake in the oven at 230 C for around 10 minutes, or until the mixture is bubbled and browned.
Eat, with your choice of delicious accompaniments!
Sunday, April 11, 2010
A beautiful sunset
Before Christmas I had the wonderful privilege of going up to Fort William for a placement. This sunset across the waterfront at Caol reminded me of the wonder of creation, and the faithfullness of my Father God who wonderfully provided a loving church family for me, and gave me lovely new friends up in Caol.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Tarte au Pomme Normande
A simple, but very tasty little apple tart.
Pastry is a sweet shortcrust from Gary Rhodes "Sweet Dreams" - unusual in that it includes an egg and an egg yolk to make it even richer. He also advises using icing sugar for a nicer texture - I used about half and half of caster and icing sugars. I also dusted the pastry with icing sugar before baking it blind, which gave it a rather nice crispy sugary coated texture.
The filling is a slightly sweetened apple puree - three large bramley apples, peeled, cored and chopped into little pieces, sprinkled with 3 tablespoons of sugar then microwaved in a *large* bowl (watched like a hawk... otherwise it can get bubbly and tricksy and redecorate the inside of your microwave).
All topped off with fine slices of peeled and cored Cox apples (I used two medium sized ones) and finally baked in the oven for a few minutes.
Yummy!
If you wanted your apples a little more coloured you could sprinkle them with sugar or dot with butter before popping under the grill.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
What *really* matters
Today we were given a pitch by a company who deal in financial products for doctors and dentists. They were advocating a product that aims to insure the salaries and earnings of doctors and dentists, in case they suffer injury or illness that means they cannot work.
I am not agains insurance as a principle (at the moment) and do hold insurance for most of my belongings, however I do draw the line at insuring something I do not even have yet. More than that, this insurance was sold like this:
"Your most valued asset is not your car, nor your home..."
(At this point, I have to admit, I muttered, in a way that was less under my breath than I was expecting, "nor your career")
"... but your ability to earn money..."
This was followed by:
"If you had a machine that could churn out £30,00 a year wouldn't you insure that machine?"
There are a number of deeply flawed arguments here! Your most valued asset is your ability to earn money?! I assume there are people out there, maybe even reading this blog, who believe this, for why else could the lady selling the product use that line? I would encourage you take a deep look at yourself, and at the financial world around you. Look at how fickle money is - how quickly things can change (the current 'credit crunch' for example), how unreliable it is, how it can easily take over your life - becoming the thing you long for, the thing that provides your security, having a little means you want more, and you can never have quite enough. Not only that, but take a good look at yourself. Are you really only someone who is most valuable for the money they can make? I would beg to differ, and more importantly so would God, your Creator.
Listen to what God says in His Word, the Bible, about people;
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." (Genesis 1v27)
""Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man." (Genesis 9v6) -
God values the people He makes - as can be seen in the second quote, where He shows that man should not shed the blood of man, since man (here used to represent both male and female) is in God's image - man is precious to God, yet not because man can earn money, but because man is created in God's image.
God knows and created each of us, in another book of the Bible, the author says this, " I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." (Psalm 139 v14-16)
Surely a creature so "fearfully and wonderfully made" by Someone Whose "works are wonderful" is worth so much more than their ability to make money?
The next flaw is the attitude to money - listen to Jesus speaking about our anxieties, and worries. "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (The Gospel of Matthew 6 v28-33)
God knows all our needs, but tells us there is something much more important than what we eat, drink or wear - it is more important to look to God, to seek His kingdom - that is His Name being honoured on Earth, doing His will and living in joyful obedience to Him.
All in all, many reasons that we do not need to insure our careers - we are people far more valuable than our careers, far more than the money we earn, and we have so many more important things to do than to worry about what will happen if we get ill and cannot earn. God cares for His children, and whilst He makes no guarantees that we will not suffer illness or injury or lose our jobs, He does promise to look after us, and shows how He looks after birds and flowers, which are so much less precious than we are! So, don't trust in an insurance company, trust in God, who can provide, whatever happens to us, and remember that you are *more* than your ability to earn money!
A few imperfect and incomplete thoughts on the matter, do comment further!
I am not agains insurance as a principle (at the moment) and do hold insurance for most of my belongings, however I do draw the line at insuring something I do not even have yet. More than that, this insurance was sold like this:
"Your most valued asset is not your car, nor your home..."
(At this point, I have to admit, I muttered, in a way that was less under my breath than I was expecting, "nor your career")
"... but your ability to earn money..."
This was followed by:
"If you had a machine that could churn out £30,00 a year wouldn't you insure that machine?"
There are a number of deeply flawed arguments here! Your most valued asset is your ability to earn money?! I assume there are people out there, maybe even reading this blog, who believe this, for why else could the lady selling the product use that line? I would encourage you take a deep look at yourself, and at the financial world around you. Look at how fickle money is - how quickly things can change (the current 'credit crunch' for example), how unreliable it is, how it can easily take over your life - becoming the thing you long for, the thing that provides your security, having a little means you want more, and you can never have quite enough. Not only that, but take a good look at yourself. Are you really only someone who is most valuable for the money they can make? I would beg to differ, and more importantly so would God, your Creator.
Listen to what God says in His Word, the Bible, about people;
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." (Genesis 1v27)
""Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man." (Genesis 9v6) -
God values the people He makes - as can be seen in the second quote, where He shows that man should not shed the blood of man, since man (here used to represent both male and female) is in God's image - man is precious to God, yet not because man can earn money, but because man is created in God's image.
God knows and created each of us, in another book of the Bible, the author says this, " I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." (Psalm 139 v14-16)
Surely a creature so "fearfully and wonderfully made" by Someone Whose "works are wonderful" is worth so much more than their ability to make money?
The next flaw is the attitude to money - listen to Jesus speaking about our anxieties, and worries. "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (The Gospel of Matthew 6 v28-33)
God knows all our needs, but tells us there is something much more important than what we eat, drink or wear - it is more important to look to God, to seek His kingdom - that is His Name being honoured on Earth, doing His will and living in joyful obedience to Him.
All in all, many reasons that we do not need to insure our careers - we are people far more valuable than our careers, far more than the money we earn, and we have so many more important things to do than to worry about what will happen if we get ill and cannot earn. God cares for His children, and whilst He makes no guarantees that we will not suffer illness or injury or lose our jobs, He does promise to look after us, and shows how He looks after birds and flowers, which are so much less precious than we are! So, don't trust in an insurance company, trust in God, who can provide, whatever happens to us, and remember that you are *more* than your ability to earn money!
A few imperfect and incomplete thoughts on the matter, do comment further!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Green Soup
Two posts in one day. It's obviously the start of the summer break!
I thought I'd share this recipe for a very quick, easy, healthy soup.
Ingredients:
25.g butter
1/2 an onion, finely chopped (I pre-chop onions and pop them into boxes in the freezer to save time later)
1/2 head of broccoli, cut into florets (or one bag of those ready cut broccoli florets!)
1/2 a pack chargrilled chicken pieces (those chunky pieces of ready cooked chicken)
450.ml chicken or vegetable stock
Two handfuls ready washed spinach, rocket and watercress salad
50g mini pasta shapes
Salt and pepper to taste
Method:
1. Melt the butter in a pan, saute onions until translucent and soft (not coloured)
2. Add the chicken, the broccoli, and the vegetable stock, bring to the boil
3. Boil for 4-5 minutes (until the broccoli is just tender)
4. Add the spinach, rocket and watercress, stir until wilted. Remove from the heat.
5. Using a handheld blender, blend until smooth.
6. Add the mini pasta shapes, return to the heat and cook for 5 minutes (or for as long as the packet says for the pasta shapes)
7. Season and serve!
I thought I'd share this recipe for a very quick, easy, healthy soup.
Ingredients:
25.g butter
1/2 an onion, finely chopped (I pre-chop onions and pop them into boxes in the freezer to save time later)
1/2 head of broccoli, cut into florets (or one bag of those ready cut broccoli florets!)
1/2 a pack chargrilled chicken pieces (those chunky pieces of ready cooked chicken)
450.ml chicken or vegetable stock
Two handfuls ready washed spinach, rocket and watercress salad
50g mini pasta shapes
Salt and pepper to taste
Method:
1. Melt the butter in a pan, saute onions until translucent and soft (not coloured)
2. Add the chicken, the broccoli, and the vegetable stock, bring to the boil
3. Boil for 4-5 minutes (until the broccoli is just tender)
4. Add the spinach, rocket and watercress, stir until wilted. Remove from the heat.
5. Using a handheld blender, blend until smooth.
6. Add the mini pasta shapes, return to the heat and cook for 5 minutes (or for as long as the packet says for the pasta shapes)
7. Season and serve!
Deep Cleaning
Today was day 2 of the "deep clean". As a result of exams and end of year tiredness, the housework has been rather neglected, resulting in a shamefully untidy and rather unclean flat. Since exams are now over and a friend is coming to stay, it is now necessary to deal with the mess! As usual, the old adage of "little and often" would have been a better idea, but since that is no longer possible, the "all at once and really thorough" has begun. For those of you (like me) who tend to save up all the cleaning into one bout, here are some things I've realised (most efficient people will have realised these things already).
1) Open *all* the windows. In my flat this requires the removal of Bob (the spider plant who remains alive in spite of my efforts, rather than because of them) from the window ledge, as he is prone to jump off at the slightest breeze, making more mess rather than less. The opening of windows has two-fold benefits, firstly, that all the chemicals you're probably going to have to use to get rid of the dirt aren't going to asphyxiate you, secondly, it gives that nice "freshly aired" smell to the flat. Unfortunately in London it tends to also bring in lots of black London dust, and the smell of traffic, but the idea is nice in theory.
2) Put on old clothes or an overall, this could get messy. If you have long hair, tie it back, and consider the use of a protective scarf - blotchily accidentally bleached hair, or dusty hair - not a good look! A good pair of well-fitting rubber gloves are invaluable - if you ever read the ingredients of some household cleaners, you will not want them on your skin, even the "Eco-friendly" ones can be quite potent (think how much plain lemon juice stings when it goes in a cut), they will also protect against occasional abrasions from over-enthusiastic scrubbing (I prefer the ones *without* cotton flock lining, since they seem to give me a rash, but they tend to be harder to find). Also, you don't have to touch the icky dirt if you're wearing gloves!
3) Remove all clutter first - bin the rubbish, and remove all removable items to another room so that they will not get in the way of the deep cleaning. This can be an good time for hoarders to realise how much stuff they have and recycle lots of unnecessary bits of paper. Since today was the living room, and because "living" is literally what I do in there, this required shuffling piles of ironing that haven't quite been done into neat piles on the bed, and resolving to do them once the flat is tidy! If any of these items need cleaning or polishing, now is a good time to do them, so they don't bring dirt back in when returned.
4) Hoover... everything - sofas, tabletops (to prepare the way for dusting and polishing), the floor. Don't forget skirting boards and that 2 inches of carpet that no hoover seems to be able to reach with the ordinary floor hoovering head on.
5) Dust and polish furniture and other objects not previously removed, sweeping along with spray polish and a cloth, making sure that all remnants of polish are removed (they tend to accumulate at corners)
6) Remove fingerprints and dirty marks from walls, door handles, light switches, around light switches, anywhere else that they might appear. (I find spray polish and a cloth is the best way to tackle these marks!)
I like to combine 4)+5)+6) using a "divide and conquer" technique - dividing the room up into quadrants or thirds (depending on the size of the room), hoovering, dusting, polishing everything in that quadrant before moving on to the next.
7) Replace all previously removed items.
8) Admire the lovely clean room.
9)Realise you smell terrible, make a cup of tea and draw a lovely hot bath, retire to bath with tea and a good book.
If it all gets too much at any point, take a break, put your feet up, do something else for a few minutes and come back to it... No cleaning is worth that much stress!
Now this post has made me sound delightfully middle-aged, but there we go!
1) Open *all* the windows. In my flat this requires the removal of Bob (the spider plant who remains alive in spite of my efforts, rather than because of them) from the window ledge, as he is prone to jump off at the slightest breeze, making more mess rather than less. The opening of windows has two-fold benefits, firstly, that all the chemicals you're probably going to have to use to get rid of the dirt aren't going to asphyxiate you, secondly, it gives that nice "freshly aired" smell to the flat. Unfortunately in London it tends to also bring in lots of black London dust, and the smell of traffic, but the idea is nice in theory.
2) Put on old clothes or an overall, this could get messy. If you have long hair, tie it back, and consider the use of a protective scarf - blotchily accidentally bleached hair, or dusty hair - not a good look! A good pair of well-fitting rubber gloves are invaluable - if you ever read the ingredients of some household cleaners, you will not want them on your skin, even the "Eco-friendly" ones can be quite potent (think how much plain lemon juice stings when it goes in a cut), they will also protect against occasional abrasions from over-enthusiastic scrubbing (I prefer the ones *without* cotton flock lining, since they seem to give me a rash, but they tend to be harder to find). Also, you don't have to touch the icky dirt if you're wearing gloves!
3) Remove all clutter first - bin the rubbish, and remove all removable items to another room so that they will not get in the way of the deep cleaning. This can be an good time for hoarders to realise how much stuff they have and recycle lots of unnecessary bits of paper. Since today was the living room, and because "living" is literally what I do in there, this required shuffling piles of ironing that haven't quite been done into neat piles on the bed, and resolving to do them once the flat is tidy! If any of these items need cleaning or polishing, now is a good time to do them, so they don't bring dirt back in when returned.
4) Hoover... everything - sofas, tabletops (to prepare the way for dusting and polishing), the floor. Don't forget skirting boards and that 2 inches of carpet that no hoover seems to be able to reach with the ordinary floor hoovering head on.
5) Dust and polish furniture and other objects not previously removed, sweeping along with spray polish and a cloth, making sure that all remnants of polish are removed (they tend to accumulate at corners)
6) Remove fingerprints and dirty marks from walls, door handles, light switches, around light switches, anywhere else that they might appear. (I find spray polish and a cloth is the best way to tackle these marks!)
I like to combine 4)+5)+6) using a "divide and conquer" technique - dividing the room up into quadrants or thirds (depending on the size of the room), hoovering, dusting, polishing everything in that quadrant before moving on to the next.
7) Replace all previously removed items.
8) Admire the lovely clean room.
9)Realise you smell terrible, make a cup of tea and draw a lovely hot bath, retire to bath with tea and a good book.
If it all gets too much at any point, take a break, put your feet up, do something else for a few minutes and come back to it... No cleaning is worth that much stress!
Now this post has made me sound delightfully middle-aged, but there we go!
Monday, July 20, 2009
A song for the weary and downcast heart
An old 'un but a good 'un - "Turn your eyes upon Jesus" - a reminder to the downcast soul, not to look within for the answer, but to look without - upwards to a great and glorious Saviour, who has been there before us, knows our troubles, knows our hearts, and has the best ever remedy.
O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There's a light for a look at the Saviour,
And life more abundant and free!
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
Over us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conquerors we are!
His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!
O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There's a light for a look at the Saviour,
And life more abundant and free!
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
Over us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conquerors we are!
His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!
Monday, July 06, 2009
I want to be like Jesus!
It might be a childrens' song, but it's a great one, new from Sovereign Grace on their children's album, To Be Like Jesus:
VERSE 1
Love, joy, peace, and patience too
Grow in those who trust in You
All who put their hope in Christ
Kindness, goodness, faithfulness
Self-control and gentleness
Live in those who have new life
CHORUS
I want to be like Jesus
To walk and talk like Jesus
I want to live like one who follows Him
I want to love like Jesus
To give my all like Jesus
I want to live like one who follows Him
VERSE 2
I don’t always do what’s right
Jesus lived a perfect life
And for sins like mine He died
Teach me to obey Your Word
Help me to put others first
Holy Spirit, change my life
© 2009 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP)/Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)
VERSE 1
Love, joy, peace, and patience too
Grow in those who trust in You
All who put their hope in Christ
Kindness, goodness, faithfulness
Self-control and gentleness
Live in those who have new life
CHORUS
I want to be like Jesus
To walk and talk like Jesus
I want to live like one who follows Him
I want to love like Jesus
To give my all like Jesus
I want to live like one who follows Him
VERSE 2
I don’t always do what’s right
Jesus lived a perfect life
And for sins like mine He died
Teach me to obey Your Word
Help me to put others first
Holy Spirit, change my life
© 2009 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP)/Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Trialled by fire
I recently had the opportunity to speak at a girls' school on 1 Peter 1:6-9 and thought I'd share my talk with you.
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls (NIV)
Has anyone ever seen unrefined gold? It’s recognisable as gold, but it’s all mucky, jammed together with bits of grit and dirt, not shiny and beautiful like pure gold. Most of us have probably seen pure gold – bright and pretty, it makes a lovely setting for jewellery or is a costly metal used to embody wealth. In order to get from the mucky, gritty, dirty gold which has just been dug from the ground, the gold has to be put in an incredibly hot furnace or into a crucible over a very hot flame, the impurities will then float to the surface and can be skimmed off, leaving pure gold. Imagine then, that you had something even more precious than gold. Something that would last even longer than gold, something that wouldn’t be destroyed when this world is destroyed at the end of time, but something that would last forever. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to make sure that that thing was as pure as it possibly could be, that you made sure that it was genuine and valuable? You wouldn’t want it to be fake, because then investing in it would be an enormous waste, and would be hugely embarrassing to discover it was counterfeit.
This is what Peter is talking about in these verses. The thing that is more valuable than gold and will last even longer is faith. So my first point is, trials come to prove our faith is genuine. Look down with me at verses 6 and 7. “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
Just so we’re all clear, let me explain the word “faith” – it’s a word used lots in our culture today, for lots of different reasons, but when the Bible uses the word ‘faith’ it means belief and trust in Jesus Christ as our Saviour. In fact verse 8 has a nice summary of the Christian faith, “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him”
The reason Peter tells his readers how much their faith is worth, is because it explains what must be gone through to make sure it is genuine and pure. The readers of Peter’s letter have been experiencing suffering and trials. We are not told exactly what these trials are, but we are told they are “all kinds of trials”. We too, as Christians, are likely to suffer trials of various kinds. I don’t know what each of your lives are like, but there are likely to be a variety of areas; these could range from physical illness, to struggling with school work, to being thought of as uncool, because we go to the Christian meeting, or we don’t want to go out and get drunk with our friends, because we want to honour God in all we do. Trials may be feeling left out because we’re not willing to go along with the gossip or name-calling of another girl in our class, or being thought of as strange, when we don’t want to be mean about one of our teachers, because we know God wants us to be different.
In the passage we are also told that the trials have caused the readers to “suffer grief” – verse 7. The very nature of trials is that they will cause the person experiencing them to suffer. But they are not suffering because God is absent, or because He made a mistake. Indeed not, they are suffering for a reason. What is the reason? Look down at verse 7, “These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed”. Dick Lucas, a great British preacher said this, in a sermon on this passage, “If it’s been a really tough term, a tough 3 months, a tough 6 months in your life, it’s because God has seen gold in your life and is mining it out.” These trials have come for a purpose – to prove that the readers’ faith is the real thing – valuable and pure.
But why is it important to prove that faith is genuine and pure? This leads me onto my second point – trials come for glory. Verse 7 “These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.” The passage doesn’t make entirely clear (even in the original Greek!) exactly where the praise, glory and honour will be aimed, but since the sentence speaks of both us and Jesus, we can say that those would be the most likely candidates. From elsewhere in the Bible we know that all things occur for God’s glory, so it makes sense that Jesus will be glorified for keeping us standing firm in our faith, and that His name will be praised because of the things that we have gone through and continued to trust Him through. We also know that in Christ Christians will be glorified (2 Thessalonians 1v12 for example) so we can say that there will too be praise, glory and honour for us when Christ returns and our faith is shown to be pure and genuine.
What is the evidence that the faith is genuine and pure? We turn now to my third and final point – our reaction to trials proves that our faith is genuine. Let me read the passage one more time. “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” I wonder if you noticed the repeated theme that tops and tails the passage? Verse 6 – “In this you greatly rejoice” and verse 9 “you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy”. Christians react differently to non-Christians when it comes to suffering and trials. Though the readers have been grieved by many trials, they also greatly rejoice.
As I said before, the very nature of trials is that they are painful and cause grief, and if they didn’t cause grief and pain they could hardly be called suffering or trials. But yet the Christian still will have a unique reaction, which will mark out their faith as genuine and pure. We will rejoice, and be filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, both in spite of and almost because of the trials.
This is not to say Christians are masochists who gain pleasure from pain, nor is it to say they are Halloween pumpkins going around smiling inanely, being happy all the time, in spite of great pain or trials. What it is saying is that the Christian knows that their trials are there for a reason, a reason far bigger than this life. Look how Peter describes their trials, “Though now for a little while.”
I wonder how long you could hold your breath for? If you told me “I can hold my breath for 3 minutes”, I’d think, “WOAH! That’s a long time”, but then again, I could ask, how long have you been at school for and you could tell me “Three weeks” and I’d say, “Not very long then?” Time is comparative. So it is with Peter’s description. The Christian has all of eternity to look forward to – their life is eternal, they will live forever in perfection after death. So compared to eternity, our life on earth is tiny! I wonder if you were little you used to have arguments, and it usually degenerated into “No,” “Yes,” “No, no, no”, “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes” and so on until someone said “No to infinity,” and generally that stopped things, because no matter how long you kept saying no, it would never be as many times as infinity. So it is with trials, no matter if they last three minutes, three weeks, three years, three decades, or the whole of our lives, they are still such a tiny, tiny while compared to all of eternity.
Just to say again, this doesn’t mean for that time they will be pleasant, but when we compare that suffering to all of eternity and when we remember the awesome purpose of the trials, then we can be reassured that they are just for a little while, and we can be filled with true Christian joy.
John Piper, an American preacher says this, “Joy in Christ is the deep good feelings in loving him and believing him. It's the echo in our emotions—our hearts—of experiencing Christ as precious and experiencing Christ as reliable. It's the deep good feelings of being attracted to him for who he is and the deep good feelings of being confident in him for what he will do.” Joy is more than happiness – it’s not just going around smiling nor is it being happy all the time – it’s something much deeper than that. We can still feel joy even when we are sad and crying our eyes out. It’s quite hard to explain what it is, and even Peter says that they “are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy”.
The joy that a Christian feels even in the greatest trial will mean that they are distinctive from the world around them. Even when they are overwhelmed by the grief of loss, the pain from the death of a loved one, the seeming endlessness of a chronic illness or the utter despair of depression, even when they can hardly speak or lift a hand to praise God, a Christian can know the true joy of the future. Christians know that this trial is to prove their faith genuine and to glorify God Christians know that trials remind them that this world is not our home, but that there is a far greater hope – the Jesus who we have never met, we will one day see face-to-face, and there will be no more tears, no more crying, no more pain, no more death, nothing bad, just perfection and goodness, we will live with God, and look back on that little while of grief, knowing it was worth it and that God did know best.
So, in summary, we have seen that trials have come to prove our faith, they have come for glory and they have come to mark Christians out as different. I’m aware I haven’t covered all the issues this passage covers, nor everything about trials, so I’m very happy to take any questions.
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls (NIV)
Has anyone ever seen unrefined gold? It’s recognisable as gold, but it’s all mucky, jammed together with bits of grit and dirt, not shiny and beautiful like pure gold. Most of us have probably seen pure gold – bright and pretty, it makes a lovely setting for jewellery or is a costly metal used to embody wealth. In order to get from the mucky, gritty, dirty gold which has just been dug from the ground, the gold has to be put in an incredibly hot furnace or into a crucible over a very hot flame, the impurities will then float to the surface and can be skimmed off, leaving pure gold. Imagine then, that you had something even more precious than gold. Something that would last even longer than gold, something that wouldn’t be destroyed when this world is destroyed at the end of time, but something that would last forever. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to make sure that that thing was as pure as it possibly could be, that you made sure that it was genuine and valuable? You wouldn’t want it to be fake, because then investing in it would be an enormous waste, and would be hugely embarrassing to discover it was counterfeit.
This is what Peter is talking about in these verses. The thing that is more valuable than gold and will last even longer is faith. So my first point is, trials come to prove our faith is genuine. Look down with me at verses 6 and 7. “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
Just so we’re all clear, let me explain the word “faith” – it’s a word used lots in our culture today, for lots of different reasons, but when the Bible uses the word ‘faith’ it means belief and trust in Jesus Christ as our Saviour. In fact verse 8 has a nice summary of the Christian faith, “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him”
The reason Peter tells his readers how much their faith is worth, is because it explains what must be gone through to make sure it is genuine and pure. The readers of Peter’s letter have been experiencing suffering and trials. We are not told exactly what these trials are, but we are told they are “all kinds of trials”. We too, as Christians, are likely to suffer trials of various kinds. I don’t know what each of your lives are like, but there are likely to be a variety of areas; these could range from physical illness, to struggling with school work, to being thought of as uncool, because we go to the Christian meeting, or we don’t want to go out and get drunk with our friends, because we want to honour God in all we do. Trials may be feeling left out because we’re not willing to go along with the gossip or name-calling of another girl in our class, or being thought of as strange, when we don’t want to be mean about one of our teachers, because we know God wants us to be different.
In the passage we are also told that the trials have caused the readers to “suffer grief” – verse 7. The very nature of trials is that they will cause the person experiencing them to suffer. But they are not suffering because God is absent, or because He made a mistake. Indeed not, they are suffering for a reason. What is the reason? Look down at verse 7, “These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed”. Dick Lucas, a great British preacher said this, in a sermon on this passage, “If it’s been a really tough term, a tough 3 months, a tough 6 months in your life, it’s because God has seen gold in your life and is mining it out.” These trials have come for a purpose – to prove that the readers’ faith is the real thing – valuable and pure.
But why is it important to prove that faith is genuine and pure? This leads me onto my second point – trials come for glory. Verse 7 “These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.” The passage doesn’t make entirely clear (even in the original Greek!) exactly where the praise, glory and honour will be aimed, but since the sentence speaks of both us and Jesus, we can say that those would be the most likely candidates. From elsewhere in the Bible we know that all things occur for God’s glory, so it makes sense that Jesus will be glorified for keeping us standing firm in our faith, and that His name will be praised because of the things that we have gone through and continued to trust Him through. We also know that in Christ Christians will be glorified (2 Thessalonians 1v12 for example) so we can say that there will too be praise, glory and honour for us when Christ returns and our faith is shown to be pure and genuine.
What is the evidence that the faith is genuine and pure? We turn now to my third and final point – our reaction to trials proves that our faith is genuine. Let me read the passage one more time. “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” I wonder if you noticed the repeated theme that tops and tails the passage? Verse 6 – “In this you greatly rejoice” and verse 9 “you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy”. Christians react differently to non-Christians when it comes to suffering and trials. Though the readers have been grieved by many trials, they also greatly rejoice.
As I said before, the very nature of trials is that they are painful and cause grief, and if they didn’t cause grief and pain they could hardly be called suffering or trials. But yet the Christian still will have a unique reaction, which will mark out their faith as genuine and pure. We will rejoice, and be filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, both in spite of and almost because of the trials.
This is not to say Christians are masochists who gain pleasure from pain, nor is it to say they are Halloween pumpkins going around smiling inanely, being happy all the time, in spite of great pain or trials. What it is saying is that the Christian knows that their trials are there for a reason, a reason far bigger than this life. Look how Peter describes their trials, “Though now for a little while.”
I wonder how long you could hold your breath for? If you told me “I can hold my breath for 3 minutes”, I’d think, “WOAH! That’s a long time”, but then again, I could ask, how long have you been at school for and you could tell me “Three weeks” and I’d say, “Not very long then?” Time is comparative. So it is with Peter’s description. The Christian has all of eternity to look forward to – their life is eternal, they will live forever in perfection after death. So compared to eternity, our life on earth is tiny! I wonder if you were little you used to have arguments, and it usually degenerated into “No,” “Yes,” “No, no, no”, “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes” and so on until someone said “No to infinity,” and generally that stopped things, because no matter how long you kept saying no, it would never be as many times as infinity. So it is with trials, no matter if they last three minutes, three weeks, three years, three decades, or the whole of our lives, they are still such a tiny, tiny while compared to all of eternity.
Just to say again, this doesn’t mean for that time they will be pleasant, but when we compare that suffering to all of eternity and when we remember the awesome purpose of the trials, then we can be reassured that they are just for a little while, and we can be filled with true Christian joy.
John Piper, an American preacher says this, “Joy in Christ is the deep good feelings in loving him and believing him. It's the echo in our emotions—our hearts—of experiencing Christ as precious and experiencing Christ as reliable. It's the deep good feelings of being attracted to him for who he is and the deep good feelings of being confident in him for what he will do.” Joy is more than happiness – it’s not just going around smiling nor is it being happy all the time – it’s something much deeper than that. We can still feel joy even when we are sad and crying our eyes out. It’s quite hard to explain what it is, and even Peter says that they “are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy”.
The joy that a Christian feels even in the greatest trial will mean that they are distinctive from the world around them. Even when they are overwhelmed by the grief of loss, the pain from the death of a loved one, the seeming endlessness of a chronic illness or the utter despair of depression, even when they can hardly speak or lift a hand to praise God, a Christian can know the true joy of the future. Christians know that this trial is to prove their faith genuine and to glorify God Christians know that trials remind them that this world is not our home, but that there is a far greater hope – the Jesus who we have never met, we will one day see face-to-face, and there will be no more tears, no more crying, no more pain, no more death, nothing bad, just perfection and goodness, we will live with God, and look back on that little while of grief, knowing it was worth it and that God did know best.
So, in summary, we have seen that trials have come to prove our faith, they have come for glory and they have come to mark Christians out as different. I’m aware I haven’t covered all the issues this passage covers, nor everything about trials, so I’m very happy to take any questions.
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