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

Blast from the past...

I have a friend who's mantra is 'you can't let your past determine your future'. Good mantra eh? But what happens in our formative years really does to some extent shape who we are. Last week we visited my husbands family who live in a well to do seaside town on the south coast. He hadn't been there since he left at 18 and was sharing with me how for most of his childhood he lived in abject poverty. Most of his school chums were from very middle class families and did things that cost money like horse riding, which is perhaps why he was so into books - libraries are free! Living in this juxtaposition compounded his sense of unworthiness. However since then he has worked extremely hard and risen to the top of his profession. He has huge responsibility both professionally and spiritually. Yet going back to that town took him back to his childhood and he had to actually shake off a sense of shrinking back to who he no longer was.

Our past can have a huge affect on who we become or it can be the spring broad for great things. But in order to embrace who you've become the past, like a coat you've grown out of, needs to be taken off. Our growth is God's agenda; we are designed to grow, increase in life, to become more and bear fruit. However we can't do this if we try and navigate life looking backwards. Perhaps this is why our eyes are on the front of our heads? We have a hope and a future that is not of this world but we'll not see it if we're looking behind. It's not were we've been but where we're going that really should be the catalyst for our motivations and choices in our today. If you've been experincing a blast from the past - rejoice in how far you have come and be excitied about where God's going to take you...


Hugs Ruth x

It anin't watcha say it's the way thatcha say it...

Don't worry this weeks blog isn't an ear bash I promise! In fact it's more about getting watcha want out of life which is cool yeah? We all have things that push our buttons, that make us go from 0-60 in a second. You know what I mean a throw away comment that winds you up or a situation that drives you nuts; leading to the overflow of our hearts rushing past our lips before the filter is in place - in other words... we speak from feeling instead of faith. Jesus didn't mince His words or shy away from calling a spade a spade but He always spoke with grace and wisdom. You only have to read the gospel to know Jesus got results - Deliverance, healing, forgiveness, restoration, freedom and life were all characteristics of His parlance but over riding all of these was love.

Much of our lives will be carried out through interaction with other sensitive humans and this can be tricky at times but we can learn from Jesus. If He had to tell a woman ambushed in adultery that it was wrong and she should sin no more He did it in such a way which gave her dignity and life. If He had to tell one of His friends He wasn't trustworthy and the cock would crow 3 times as a sign, He did it with regret and pain. Where He was accused of all sorts of rubbish He didn't rush to defend Himself but He left room for God to work. Jesus got results not only by the words which He said but by the way which He said them. I want my life to be increasingly productive so I'm praying for the diplomacy of Christ because well, I know my need of it - How about you? Are your interactions with other's inspiring unity, wholeness and love and bringing Kingdom results into your life?

Ponder today on the way of your words...

hugs Ruth x