So what is worship?

“Worship is not about music; worship is an expression of the heart. It’s an outward working of an inward stance” Dennis Merry.

We parked on the M25 yesterday, a lorry had broken down and so like the clogging of an over worked artery part of greater London was forced to grind to a halt as breakdown services were called. As we approached the flashing signs and gradually slowed to a standstill Elton John’s ‘Our Song’ came on the radio. The words describe how a lover would use their talents to show their love and this got me thinking about my own expression of love to my first love – Jesus.  Traffic Jams are a great place to think deep thoughts, to reflect on life where you've been, what you’re doing and where you’re going. I was thinking about the different ways us humans show love and how that out works on a personal level. I wonder about that inner stance of my heart; I wonder because when all is said and done it is this inner stance that will delight or grieve the Spirit.

I concluded that real expressions of love cost. It costs because human beings are messy. Relationships are complex and there’s a process, a journey in the working it all out (ness) of it all. Something beautiful is produced through the desire to connect deeply and cherish another person. We are often so wrapped up in ourselves we fail to recognise the sacrifice of love or worse we gloss over or belittle the cost another pays. If you've ever loved you’ll know the cost.. the searing vulnerability, the risk taken to offer love in the hope it will be returned. Great masterpieces, entrancing poetry, captivating sculptures or magnificent buildings take huge effort and resources willingly given. Freely given - energy, money and time just to offer an insight, a hope an expression of love from the depth of one soul to another and all without guarantee of love in return.

In psalm 42:7-8 ‘Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. By day the Lord directs His love at night His song is with me I lift up a prayer to the God of my life’. 

So how do we worship? – Beloved we do whatever it takes. We overlook our frustrations, our misunderstanding, our self-focus or our impatience with God. We press through all our junk because we love. Helpless in gratitude because He first loved us. We chose to love other’s because He first loved us.

Jesus this is my blog... and this one's for you.

Love Ruth x

When you're up to your neck in alligators...

When you're up to you're neck in alligator's - don't loose sight of your vision to drain the swamp! I don't know where this phrase is from but I've have had a love hate relationship with it over the years. I'll explain why...
At first I thought oh how wonderfully positive hold on tight to your dream and all that but the reality is when you are up to your neck in Crocs surely its better to get your ass out of there and live to fight another day?  As followers of Christ we have trials in the world because our enemy simply hates us and is passionate about our destruction. But we know our God loves us and is victoriously passionate about His creative process in each of our lives. If our enemy can't steal kill or destroy us He'll try the same with our hopes so we at least have a miserable life. 

For a long time I had a dream - it wasn't a particularly spiritual or holy dream but it was mine and it warmed my heart on grey days. In my mind I'd take my dream out and play with it, but time rolled forward as it always does and life's disappointments like alligator's crawled onto the shore of my island. My dream got lost in the sand - so for a long long time my life felt like I was just fighting them gator's with a pokin stick! One problem would get nudged back into the water only for another to sneak up from behind. I'd cry out LORD why? I yelled at God, I huffed, I puffed, I said some stuff I can't write here! I got to a point where I resigned myself to just doing this thing with a broken heart - it was a step of faith even to dare to dream... 

Gradually God showed me how He used those Crocs to shape me. He used those pesky critters to improve my agility, my strength, my ability to jump and negotiate change or difficulty. He reminded me of His faithfulness, His provision and His power to swat the humanly unswattable! Then one day I saw a glimmer in the ground as I looked very closely He bent down and picked up my dream from the sand, He blew on it, dusted it off and tucked it back in my heart from where it fell.

Have you some gator's in your swamp? - if so I'd love to pray for you please do message/email me privately... and I'll lend you a Pokin stick! 

Love Ruth x

Some days it just hurts to be Human

The picture above is a monument to five people who were killed by a terrorist bomb in Florence in 1993. It shows a man striding forward into the future carrying five other's one for each person who died. It is 20 metres up in the air on the back of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy and is called I Passi d`Oro (The golden Strides). I think it's rather beautiful. We live in a world full of evil and full of good. Perhaps like me you have days when it feels like you're treading on tip toe through the shattered glass of our broken world. It hurts to be human on these days. It can feel overwhelming when we're swamped by images of injustice or senseless wounding. Or it's closer to home and careless words or thoughtless actions batter our vulnerable hearts. Yes it's hard to wrestle through life on days like these.

And then... we catch something of a whisper as light breaks through the ash and smoke. We receive some kindness, we feel the fingers of the one who holds us as we stand in the palm. We remember that we are not alone. We remember that there is one who will (Rev 7:17) 'wipe every tear from our eyes' and nurse the wounds of our souls back to full health. For it's on these days we understand a little bit better what is says in John 16:33 - even though trouble is certain Our Christ has overcome the world and because He has overcome we can too. We can rise above the moment and be a beacon of victorious hope to those coming after. If you're 'feeling your humaness' today please know God sees and He cares. He is loving and good no matter how it seems and He is the answer to your pain. I pray you will allow Him to remind you of your hope...

Hugs Ruth x 

Nothing is set in stone

Once there was a young man we’ll call him Nick, who had his heart set on becoming a footballer. He watched football and loved the English premier league. In fact by the time he was a teenager there were few folks who knew as much as he did about football. Nick’s enthusiasm for life was infectious to all he met; he had big dreams wanting to be the best in life he could.

Nick however didn't look very much like the ‘A’ typical sports man because you see Nick was born without arms or legs.  In spite of this with encouragement from his family Nick learned not only to swim and surf, but to play golf and football…! His physical disabilities might have dictated limitations but his personality pressed through and didn't allow his body to dictate the terms of his life. 

With God nothing is set in stone, the tragic can become glorious and the impossible made possible. Nick Vujicic is a real person, he has married a beautiful girl and they have a beautiful child and a wonderful future.

Nothing is set in stone where’s there’s a will with Christ’s help there is a way...

Hugs Ruth x

You can find out more about Nick at:  http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/