Finding Life in Limbo

I've been asked to preach on the 30th of December which is a funny old time to speak I think because Christmas has been and gone and new year hasn't arrived. I always think the week after Christmas can be a  non-time, a sort of limbo. Do you know what I mean? Times when you're just hanging about - like waiting for trains, planes or automobiles. Times when you can't start a project  but you want to fill the gap with something. Times when there is no protocol for what to do or any clear role for you to play. Life in these middle bits, can feel like a waste of time but I'm not sure that's necessarily the case.

Jehovah Shammah is one of the names God uses for Himself and it means the Lord who is there present in every moment. John 10:10 promises where God is there is life abundantly for us. So as Christ lives in us and He is the source of all life itself perhaps times of limbo can be a place of new experience, even growth. I guess this is dependent on how we respond when we find ourselves with no clear role and nuthin to do! My Mum used to say only boring people get bored. Often when our routine is on hold there are less distractions and we can take time to think and plan. We can connect with God and evaluate where we're at in the relationship of our lives. God is always present in the moment He is the ‘I AM’ steady faithful and unchanging yet adaptable and flexible to work within our mess for His glory. Perhaps the absence of routine could afford flexibility for God to help us see new ideas, new possibilities or new direction as we ponder in the wait. 

If you find yourself at a loose end over the Christmas holiday why not ask God who lives in you to show you life in your limbo.

hugs Ruth x 

( my blog will be back in January have a great Christmas!)

Lesson in love from a black Lab...

This is my dog Max, he's a surrogate child really and often get called names of affection like Maxi Maxamus or Maxi Moo Moo depending on how bereft of little children I feel (now being the mother of teenagers!) Max has an enormous appetite, he doesn't eat till he's full he'll eat till he's too tired to eat any more - actually that's a bit like my teenage son...

Max's love for me is exuberant and unconditional. If I get up he follows, if I sit down he lies at my feet, if I tell him to do something he gets on and does it. Max trusts that he is safe in my care and allows me to inspect an injured paw even when it hurts. If he's sick Max knows I'll look after him because he belongs to me. When our Kids dress him up in their clothes or wrestle with him, Max knows he's part of our family and joins in this daftness with the gusto that is the family Tong!

I wonder can we learn something from Max? What do we have an appetite for - our own will or God's? I find I usually loose my appetite because I've been filling up on rubbish and haven't taken the time to cook then savour my food. This is easy to do over the holidays when routines change, T.V.'s good and the house is busy. There are parallels between this and the spirit realm. When we take time to feed on the word of God, when we talk about it, pull it apart and find meaning in it, we develop a God hunger our appetite increases and we find ourselves wanting more. We find a new appreciation for the bible study or worship some one's prepared and set before us, it nourishes and blesses.

But back to Max... Do we follow our master's voice obediently getting on with what we're told to do? I see folks all the time who want to follow God without obeying His game plan; their lives are one train crash after another. This is so sad because God only wants us to do life His way for our protection and good. Do we go where He leads do we enjoy sitting at His feet, spending time with Him? There are so many ways to connect, through music, sermons, pod casts, fabulous blogs! However you seek to develop in your relationship with God doesn't matter what matter's is that you find someway of connecting which works for you.  Do you trust your Master even when life hurts? Do you know God will look after you, He will never abandon you. Do you know you are part of a huge wonderfully wacky family, the family of believers? Can I encourage you to join in with gusto into their antics don't play it safe - Max doesn't. 

love Ruth x

Feeling the fear - here's how I got on!

Well gang I left you with a cliff hanger last week didn't I? We were thinking about pressing through our fear and being a wee bit bolder. Which reminds me of a line from a brill kids song, 'if Jesus is de rock we should be a little boulder' - hee hee! Well after last weeks blog I thought I'd better actually think of something to step out in faith with now that I've committed myself on paper (albeit it the cyber variety). You know guys, one of the things about tapping away on your keyboard in your study is - you never know if anyone actually reads the stuff you write. There's an anonymity and an innocence to it really. My heart as a writer is  to bring the truth and encouragement of Christ into your world but something happened on a personal level which I really didn't expect.

For those of you who don't know I have battled with childhood abuse, depression, cancer and more and my ever faithful God has been with me through it all. We have danced and still do when a new level of victory is reached. So I know to some extent what it is to war and press through in the spirit (I love Eph 6)! Well the week started and I'm thinking right shall I do this or would that be better? Did a couple of things that took me out of my comfort zone but that's kinda where I live anyways so this wasn't a huge deal. Then wham... something happened mid week and as a result I found myself almost winded by a spirit of hopelessness and fear. I was blindsided and fighting for spiritual breath, ever been there? I wrestled until Saturday when I had the bright idea of calling a dear friend and asking for prayer. I'm warrior but one of my weaknesses is that I find it really hard to ask for help and don't like to burden other people. God reminded me of the power of two or more standing together in prayer - my perspective was lifted, my heart was stilled and reminded of the Truth that God was, is and always will be totally in control. I'm pleased to say from this position of 'remindment' and in His graciousness, on Sunday God did allow me to experience a situation which did scare me a little but after confronting it I felt empowered, encouraged and a little bit stronger... In our weakness His is our Big Beautiful and Ever Faithful God. 

Hugs Ruth x

Scared -de- cat?

A bunch of us were talking the other day about the well known author and speaker Francis Chan who says we shouldn't ask for safety in our prayers. He argues we should simply ask to be in the will of God and embrace whatever that is good or bad. An interesting debate ensued about prayers for protection in the the book of Psalms and the role of intercessory prayer and stuff. Which was great because this is the business of working out our salvation. I was thinking about Mr Chan's position. I kinda like the aspect of putting God firmly in the driving seat. This encourages us in the promise 'all things will work to good for those called according to His good plan and purpose' (Rom8:28), yet it requires scar-de-cats like me to embrace the uncomfortable. Embracing things like self-discipline, fear, rejection, suffering aren't on most people's top 10 things to do... Yet without these aspects of life we'd never know miracles, we'd never develop in faith or character or see the intervention of a loving God. We can however have had things so rough for so long we get to thinking God's will for us only involves difficulty and that's not true. Life will be rich in diversity and in the tough times clinging onto the promises of God can be the achievement! 

Hebrews 12:1 tells us we're surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses cheering us on - I wonder if in the midst of fear or frustration, if we actually heard angels shouting 'go for it, you can do this, there's so much more than you realise at stake' do you think we'd take more risks? I run a self esteem course for women called 'Shine' and in one of the sessions we ask 'what would you do if your life had no limits'? It's really interesting how difficult it is for the participants to get their heads round this idea, but it's a beautiful thing to see it when they do! Psychologist Suzan Jeffer's wrote a book called 'feel the fear and do it anyway' in it she posited in the West we are conditioned to take the safe, neat, low risk option suggesting this robs us of life. Do you agree? Are there things you'd love to do but you let fear, pride or risk of rejection hold you back? Do you look back  on your life and wonder if only I'd... 

I really believe God needs us more than ever to be risk taker's, to press through our fears, our comfort and be lions not scared-de-cats. I'm going to do one things this week that requires me to feel the fear and do it anyway - I'll let you know how I get on...

Hugs Ruth x

So What Does Normal Look Like?

 I was talking with someone recently and she mentioned how she just wanted to be 'normal' which kinda made me grin because I'm not sure normal can be defined. One person may feel it is perfectly lovely to mix twigglets and custard for breakfast, another might feel screaming at the TV is standard practice. And actually I'm now I'm thinking about it you should know I have great theological discussions with my dog Max - hey he understands me, what's not to like?

You see none of us approach life objectively, we are shaped by our life's experience, our culture and social background.We all have our quirks and idiosyncrasies which make us who we are. What's A typical is constantly adjusting. Traditional pictures of for example the family unit are adapting; people migrate for work, families change and to coin a phrase friends become the families we choose for ourselves. What was normal in one generation shape shifts and changes for the next. While it can be helpful to approach what we think of as normal with this in mind, it's also important to hold on to the cornerstone of what is unchanging - Jesus Christ. He is the only one who sees life from every angle. Jesus is the only one who is qualified to judge our hearts and minds. He alone is able to balance the juxtaposition of His all knowing insight with our ever changing understanding of 'normality'. 

I love that Jesus stepped into time and challenged the accepted 'norms' of the day. It was not normal for a Rabbi to hang out with tax collectors and hookers. It wasn't normal to involve women in ministry or show compassion but Jesus did because His 'normality' was rooted in Heaven's norm - the will of the Father. His personality was that of the Father in fact He said in John 8 'if you want to know my Father look at me'.

Peeps keep it simple... you are fearfully and wonderfully made, be the best you you can be to the glory of God and let Him define your normality.

hugs Ruth x

Oh Lord its Hard to be Humble!

When I was a little girl my mum would listen to Radio 2 whilst the family had breakfast and at that time Terry Wogan bless him, often introduced funny songs like 'shut upa your face'! I remember one of these was about a man who thought he was wonderful and was just so in awe of himself, it ended with the line "Oh Lord it's hard to be humble but I'm doing the best that I can". I remember the 4 of us actually being quiet so we could listen to the words which were very funny. It was one of those freeze frame family moments in which we all rolled about laughing in unison before resuming battle over the last piece of toast. Yep it certainly was survival of the fittest in our house!

Some of my favourite childhood memories are full of noise, life and people. I love human beings; I love the mystery that is to be found each of our life stories. People are precious to me and it's a privilege to be allowed to speak into and influence their world. I enjoy sharing funny stories and breaking through some of the myths which unconsciously limit our joy and growth. I spoke at an event at the weekend and a number of folks shared how they'd been blessed by my talk which is great. However I'm also aware of my own fallen ability to wander on to the thin ice of pride at such times without realising it. Pride like most sin feels good at the time but its fruit is death in some form. It can hide in the most obvious of places and is a master of disguise. Pride can hide behind shyness; it can be dressed up as an excuse not to look stupid. It can be found in trash talking about yourself and rubbishing what you know you've done well. Pride can be found in justification for bad behaviour, self-pity and disobedience. Conversely the predictability, the comfort of life in the West can seduce us into state of self satisfaction in which we forget our need of God crediting instead our 'good parenting, or hard work' rather than a generous and gracious God. See what I mean sneaky isn't it? 

As I journey I'm increasingly aware of just how seductive this enemy is. I'm so glad we can partner with the Holy Spirit asking Him to shine His love Light into areas of hidden pride and help us wheedle them out.  Perhaps that song was right ' oh Lord it's hard to be humble but I'm doing the best that I can...

Hugs Ruth x

Hearing Heavens Heartbeat

Physiologists tell us the sound of a heart beating fast can evoke feeling of fear. In fact is often used in scary movies because it subconsciously tells us to get ready to fight or flight and so the intensity of the scary experienced is magnified. Conversely one of the most comforting sounds we human beings can hear is the bump bump of a heart beating at resting rate - did you know that? Think about what it takes for us to hear a persons heart. Well... we need quiet stillness, we need to position ourselves to hear; placing ourselves vulnerably with our head against their chest. This position speaks of intimacy and closeness. It demonstrates trust between two people having an exclusivity about it. 

We're getting ready at our church for our annual women's conference 'Ellevate' (see link below if you 'd like to come I'd love to meet you). God placed on my heart that He has much to say, much to whisper in that quiet palce, much to say through the hugs and laughter which will be found in this day. If you need refreshing, time out and a good laugh - climb up here with me on our Father's lap and listen to Heaven's heartbeat. It's a wonderful place to be !

 http://www.sovereigncentre.net

love Ruth x

Cliche` with your Coffee?

I have a confession to make.... I am the cliche` queen. Give me a caption competition and I'm in heaven particularly if the subject matter is something funny - I love to laugh and I love to make other's laugh. So what that gotta do with a cuppa Joe, you cry? Well I'll tell you through confession number two of the morning and it's that I love to eary wig on the conversations of others in coffee shops! I know really is there any hope me..? As I was in such an establishment the other day I became aware of how many of these little cliche` phrases we have in our language. For example 'what you see is what you get' or 'actions speak louder than words' and so on. It got me thinking - do we really hear our words, do we fully grasp the weight of meaning and power they contain? Psychology recognises the influence of our words upon cultural behaviour it has a whole branch ' the discursive appraoch' dedicated to the study of shared meaning through conversation. You may think - cliche` alert sorry ! 'what goes in one ear goes out the other' but I wonder is that true? 

Ponder for a sec about some of the ad campaigns of late - do you hear yourself humming a particular tune, developing a fondness for meerkats or thinking- yeah I'm worth it?  Cliches` work because they fix something much bigger than words in our minds they fix concepts, aspirations even dreams. The bible tells us to renew our minds by washing them with the word. The bible is full of cliche's, promises and truth. God knew we'd need help taking in and rememebring His word. So if you can't get the twinnings advert out of your head try these for size, share them in coffee shops, pubs, school gates, wherever and be encouarged as they will not return empty but full of life meaning and hope.

Jerry 29 V 11 'I know the palns I have for you, plans to give you a future and a hope when you seek me with all your heart'.

Phil 1 V 6 'The Lord will complete the goooooooood work He has begun in you!

Math 21 V 22 'when we wobble in our faith God is faithful.'

Have a good day Hugs Ruth x