Author: Stuart Writing

your scars bring you closer to God

We all carry scars with us. But do we remember the pain, or have we received Gods great unconditional love.

Whatever you’ve been through, God carries you.

We need to see our scars through a new light. The invisible scars of our painful experiences don’t exclude us from receiving God’s love – his grace is sufficient – our scars can draw us closer to Jesus, who has the scars of the cross on his hands and feet.

Scars qualify you – they don’t disqualify you from God and his work in the world. We see this in the bible stories of Moses, David, Jacob, Hannah, etc.’

Psalm 34:18 tells us ‘the lord is close to the broken hearted and those with crushed spirits’

We have to know difference between wounds (that still need healing) and scars (that are already healed) and invite Jesus in time heal and restore our lives.

Scars remind you of whose you are – in John 20 Jesus shows his scars to the disciples – he is reminding them that he was wounded for their salvation. Jesus scars remind us he is God who died to save and restore us.

Have you been broken or wounded by the world? God is very close to you. His heart of love is wide open to you – receive his love today. Pray to him and listen for his voice. Stop and wait for his healing presence. He is close to the broken hearted and those who have been crushed in the world.

Are you a doorkeeper or a God-seeker?

In psalm 84 David expresses his heart for the presence of God. He says:

“Better a day in your courts than a thousand anywhere else. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than live in the tents of wicked people.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭84:10‬

Do we yearn for God like this? Are we wanting to be close to where God is?

David is happy to have even one day on the presence of God than none ever. He would rather live at the threshold, the doorway, the edges, of Gods presence than to live anywhere else.

Notice also that David isn’t saying he wants God to be where he is – he wants to be where God is. There’s a world of difference in these two desires.

Where is our longing for Gods presence today?

Where is our desire to be where God dwells?

Will we seek the presence of God in our lives today?

A voice in the darkness

Ever felt like you are stuck in a dark place? Then this post is written just for you….

Gods first words in the human story were words spoke in the darkness – words from the darkness. Spoken by God. Spoken to breathe life into the darkness.

Out of the darkness these words were uttered:

“Let… there… be… light!”

And there was light. The first light in the universe came from the voice of God in the darkness. Gods first breathe in the universe created light.

This was the beginning. The first beginning. The first of many beginnings. This is the work of God in our lives. God enters into the darkness, unperturbed or disturbed, to bring light, growth, love, joy, peace that surpasses understanding, and all other manner of blessings as he wills.

Whenever God wants us to grow he leads us into the darkness where we are led by the spirit into the place of deepening faith and holy trust. And into our darkness He speaks ever so gently… let there be light, and Christ enters our darkness. He walks in it with us to lead us through the dark wilderness into his promised land for our lives.

Where there is darkness today God is already at work. New life will spring up at the sound of his gentle voice. Do not listen for a booming voice in the darkness. Look for the still small voice of the Spirit speaking and breathing the new life of God. God is speaking light into your darkness.

The Onslaught of Christmas Stress

So it’s Christmas (almost!). That time of year when parental stress peaks temporarily; family conflicts fly off the handle; the busyness of consumerism feels like it will drown us!

Image result for crazy shoppers
Crazy consumer Christmas!

We cannot deny that for most people the time of glad tidings and joy is more like a giant tidal wave of tasks!  This seems to be the accepted norm of this time of year – “we’ve just got to keep going until Christmas and then we can flop” becomes our mantra.

But is this the way Christmas is meant to be?

As a I look at the original Christmas story there is definitely a lot to be stressed about.

Image result for mary and joseph
Couldn’t have been an easy first Christmas

Mary is travelling on a donkey! Joseph has been considering a silent divorce. They have no hotel booked – I mean, how negligent is that! There’s no hospital to give birth in – the best they can find is a stable! They are miles from their families and support structures (now that’s something many of us can identify with in todays’ working market!!). Stress, stress, stress.

Yet despite this they manage. They manage to get digs for the night. They manage to have a healthy birth in the stable. They are not short of helpful visitors. They cope.

Sometimes you just need to keep on going and you’ll find that you actually can cope.

For Joseph and Mary their coping mechanism was found in God. They found faith in what he told them, and surprisingly it did all work out. Maybe not as they intended. Maybe not as nice as they wanted. But it did all work out in the end.

Keep on Keeping on simply because…you can”

Perhaps like me, you just need to keep on keeping on. Perhaps we do need to just keep going until we can have the rest that Christmas provides us with. I’m looking forward to spending days with my wife and kids where we can just BE. Days with close friends to just laugh, and eat and drink and be fun!

Whatever you are facing I trust that you will keep on going. Keep going because you can. Keep going because somehow, in it all, you will grow stronger in life and faith.

Be an encourager

There’s a guy in the bible called BARNABAS – he had a great reputation. Why? Because he was a great encourager.

To encourage someone us to give them strength and courage. It is to lift them up.

How can we encourage those around us?

Here’s three ideas:

1. Pray for them

2. Help them practically

3. Give them your time and positive words

What are some other ways can we be great encouragers?

020 Try being helpful

We live in a rather selfish world! Please don’t stop reading, I’m not having a go at anyone – I see so many people taking selfies; trying self-help programmes; promoting their own agendas at the expense of other people. Just look around at Facebook, Instagram or twitter and you’ll see what I mean. Life can be so full of self, so I have a small challenge for you:

Be helpful to others around you – look for opportunities to be HELPFUL.

Helping others takes the focus off ourselves, and helps us to break out of our own egotistical goals, to see the world from another persons’ perspective. Today I was working with a student (SEND needs) and his feet were really smelly. I had this strong conviction that I should not avoid the smell, but that I should clean his feet – and that’s what I did. I cleaned smelly feet today. That might not be your task today, but how could you give a helping hand?

Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

Maybe you could make your grumpy boss a cup of their favorite tea?

Perhaps you could make dinner to give your wife a well earned half hour of quiet space?

Maybe you could…? – you fill in the blank there. Just try to be helpful. It helps others and makes them feels better; supported; special. And in the process… you might just feel a bit more happy and joyful in the process. The aim of helping is to help others, while the by-product is that it will lift your spirits too!

Be full of joy today as you help those around you.

This could be you