That don't impress me much...

I wonder what impresses you? thin thighs, people who fast for weeks, super mums who can do it all on 3hrs sleep? Seriously we've all got stuff that pushes our buttons on the 'impressive' front. Usually we admire the qualities in another that we haven't quiet mastered in ourselves. I'm impressed by those with great intellect and wit; those who are humble and exercise meekness in the face of provocation or those who remain cheerful despite ongoing hardship. How about you, what does it for you? You see the substance of what we favour is fluid, the things that impress us at 20 will be very different from what rings our bells at 30 and so on. When I woke up to the love of Jesus many years ago, I was impressed by much of what people said. I was impressed by funky guitar rifts and great lighting rigs. I liked touchy feely churches that were breaking out of the ritual of a hymnal in the hand and polite nod to thy neighbour on a Sunday. It really impressed me then... 

After 20 yrs of waking up with the love of my life, Jesus each day I'm impressed by other things. Other qualities that are non negotiable and enduring ~ things like humility,  truth and costly love. There is a danger in the computerised fusion that is social networking we build platforms, create image and portray the version of us we'd most like to be. The things that impress us can be what we are to the outside world. Be honest how many of us put up the really cruddy photo's on our face book wall? But here's the thing when you strip all the touch up away and permit yourself to be honestly just you ~ the stuff of substance can be seen. I wonder if we fear what we'll find, if our lack of substance scares us? There is only one person in this life really worth impressing and that's our Heavenly Father.

• Why not determine yourself to do something this week solely for the purpose of impressing your Heavenly Father... it can be your secret!

Hugs Ruth x

Persistence Overcomes Resistance

I just LOVE the bible, it continually surprises me as God shows me new aspects of Himself through words which actually do seem to jump off the page at times! It really is our hitch hiker's guide to life... When I grasped that Jesus loved me so much He died for me 20 or so years ago, I have to confess, while I knew reading the bible was a good thing to do a lot of it didn't make much sense. I was pondering this when the Lord clearly spoke to me saying 'Ruth you've gotta be in it to win it' - So I set myself a goal I was going to read the bible from cover to cover a chapter a day. As I did, God started to help me understand what I was reading. He even placed folks in my path that I could pester with questions and boy did I pester!

God loves our curiosity for Him! I'm glad the hunger to find out more about Him has only gotten stronger over the years. Recently I had to give a talk which required study of leaders in the old testament. So their character traits were fresh in my mind when a friend (an international businessman) told a story of a client who pestered him so much to meet up for lunch he eventually gave in and agreed to look at the 'new invention'. It reminded me the great leaders from the bible. Those people who achieved amazing feats despite great difficulty. You see those who lead others and inspired vision had pester power. They just kept plugging away until one day things started to change. You may not feel like you're the most talented, wise or strategic person in the whole world but You have a wonderful purpose which matters to the Kingdom of Christ.

•  What things do you need to keep pursing?
•  Do you need to pester someone, perhaps God for divine intervention?  
• Are you feeling weary, disillusioned or hopeless?

Beloved be encouraged things will change - persistence given time will overcome resistance...

Love Ruth x

 

Inflate your World

Do you think we deflate as we get older? I’m sure my cheeks are starting to slip off my jaw, my neck should be slapped with and ASBO and my hands… flip me! who stole my hands and replaced them with old lady hands? Huh? Should I call the cops, I’m sure firm, springy, skin theft is a crime, no? I was pondering the current position of the ever deflating vessel Ruth the other day when God gave me a picture of a deflated balloon. I’m there thinking yeah you know me so well Lord … that sums it up. But then you know when you over think a thing and it’s really not helpful? So now I’m drowning in a bog of self-evaluation; I’m thinking of how forgetful I am and how difficult it is to hold the thread of a conversation at times. How many times did I walk into the kitchen only to forget why I was in there in the first place…? Could this mean my brain shrivelling to walnut sized proportions argh…! Lord I NEED a saviour!!!

I need someone who will remind me, help me, encourage me in the deflation of life John 14:26 - ‘the helper the Holy Spirit, whom the father will send in my name, will teach you everything and REMIND of all I have said to you’. We all need to be filled like a balloon we’re not fit for purpose when deflated. I lOVE what it says in Job…33:3&4 ‘The Spirit of God has fashioned me and the breath of the Almighty gives me life’. When we allow the Holy Spirit to breathe into our lives we are lightened, hold power (trying blowing up a balloon and let it go to see what I mean) and our presence, our mass is expanded. Our dreams and vision grow, our doubt is enveloped in the rubber of God’s purpose releasing us to be the symbol of celebration we were always meant to be.

If you want to inflate the sagginess of life go to your Father allow him to inflate your world.

Love 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/

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