Connections

When I moved to London 20yrs ago I had the opportunity of going to ‘speaker’s corner’ which is a place beside Hyde Park where anyone can go stand on a soap box and speak about anything and everything. I watched these two men debate; one was an atheist and one was a theologian. It was very interesting, a bit like a verbal fencing bout.  But I got bored of their parrying not because it wasn't interesting to some extent but because there was no engagement of heart.

I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed ‘theologically’ but I do have the privilege of hearing some great bible teachers and they just blow me away with their insight and cleverness.  The difference with these guys is they enable a connection between the word of God and my heart. This causes an effect on how I do life. Someone once said ‘trying to connect with God through the mind alone is like trying to put a 3 pin plug in a 2 pin whole – it won’t work because connection with God essentially happens through the heart ‘.

Are you connecting with both you mind and your heart?

Hugs Ruth x

How to be offended and Grow!

Flint sharpens flint it tells us in Proverbs 27:17 that is the things in life that are hard to accept can be our greatest gift.

I once didn't go to an aerobics class for 2 weeks because I took a stupid offence   I had phoned to say I was unable to attend and the receptionist was a bit shirty with me so I didn't go back. For two whole weeks I felt aggrieved by her attitude, for two whole weeks I felt annoyed, for two whole weeks I wasted thoughts, time and peace because another person was rude to me; so I missed out on what was good for me.  Moreover I realised the destructive potential to our lives fed through offence  You see offence is really veiled pride and what I've learned over the years is the amount to which you feel offence is an indicator of how much pride you have yet to rid yourself of.

Where I see relational division I see the enemy at work. It is good for us to do life together - we are created for social interaction with the help of the Holy Spirit. Folks it is good for us to get rubbed up the wrong way from time to time and have our opinions challenged and our comfort zones developed. Proverbs 19:11 says ‘it is to a man’s glory to overlook an offence'. I pray the Lord will continue to help me purge myself of the pride which so easily entangles the soul and robs me of the present joy of knowing Jesus.

Hugs Ruth x  

There none so blind as those who...

Look at the picture on the right. Do you know where it is? No - neither do I... It's hard to see with a limited view and yet this is how faith can feel. We see in part evidence of God through creation and circumstance. We hear relevant sermons, prophecies or songs and we feel at times very near to God. Yet  our picture is far from complete. I'm very aware like many of you of the controversies and difficult aspects of faith which no longer seem clear cut. While discussion and testing is vital, we need to be aware of what we subconsciously bring to the table; the influence of human fallibility and perhaps a tendency to alter God to suit our own personal position. 

Our image of God can be Fatherly and loving but within Himself He is judge and fierce. When we look at the life of Christ we see Jesus was uncompromisingly honest with people, He didn't sugar up the truth but equally He spoke with love and grace. John 9:39-41 tells of a conversation between Jesus and a bunch of Pharisees were Jesus tells them they are blind. The crux of His issue with these 'teachers' was they had knowledge of God but misused it for their own agenda. They had law without love... but you know I think  love without law is just as blinding. When we don't love enough to speak the truth into a situation we are not actually being loving. I praise God for folks who have challenged my thinking and caused me to dig into the bible deeply. I need all the light I can get on this journey to work out my salvation warts and all. To be uncomfortable at times and not get my own way. To trust Jesus even when it seems His ways are daft...

How about you... how do you get the balance right between law and love and following God?

Hugs Ruth