Not in my strength...

Hi there Salt followers, Ruth here for our 'inbetweeny' post.

Just want to tak the opportunity to wish you all a Happy New Year!

Got a few thoughts for you today, and hopefully something to encourage you.

Most of my children and myself came down with a horrible flu like illness just before Christmas, and I feel like I have been chasing my tail ever since then. Generally I am quite a confident person, and am organised enough to get through the jobs I need to do at home and in the community. However there have been moments of late where I've felt a sinking feeling in my stomach when facing the day.

However, I have been reminded that it is not in my strength that the day should be faced, and it is not me that should be the centre of my world. Often when feeling down it's very easy to slip into a spiral of pity and woe. God wants better for us and of us. By coming to him again and again, laying our burdens before him, confessing our sins and re-dedicating our lives to him we can find our strangth renewed. More importantly we can get back on track and do the thing that makes us most happy and content - Glorify God.

So in those times of self doubt or even selfishness, let's look to God to be our strength and inspiration. In him we will find forgiveness and the motivation to keep living a life in honour to him.

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." So we can confidently say,

"The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear;
what can man do to me?"

Hebrews 13v5-6

Pray for Holiness

Happy New Year!! We pray that your holiday and new year were blessed events and we look forward to what the Lord has in store for us in 2011!

Since New Year's typically brings with it resolutions, such as losing weight or exercising (both good goals by the way!), I thought this would be a good opportunity for us to also meditate on spiritual matters. If we seek to first renew the inward man then we can be sure that the outward man will also improve.

The Scripture verse for this week's challenge, Pray for Holiness, is from 1 John 5:15, "And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him."

I tend to have a "I can do it myself" kind of attitude when I approach challenges and while I don't think that's necessarily a sinful attitude to have I do think it can prove to be a stumbling block to real practical and spiritual progress. I'll give you an example. I'm not a terribly patient person and I found out early on that having children is not for one who is lacking in patience. So...I prayed, I prayed and asked God to make me a patient person. Guess what? He didn't. You know why? I expected God to hit me on the head with some magical wand and turn me into a totally different person...pesto, chang-0...I'm now and forever more...patient. What I failed to realize is that God doesn't work that way. He works by us stepping out in faith, behaving in the way He's instructed us to behave in Scripture, and then relying on Him, through prayer, for the strength to do those things He called us to do.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones had this to say on the challenge verse, "We can pray that all the precepts, all the promises, and all the prophecies in the Bible with respect to ourselves may be fulfilled in us. "For this is the will of God, even your sanctification" (1 Thess. 4:3). If you pray for sanctification, you can be sure that God will sanctify you. It is God's will that we may know His love; ask Him therefore to reveal His love to you by the Holy Spirit, and you can be certain He will do so. And it is the same with all the various other promises that are in the Scriptures. "Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matt. 7:7).

Are you concerned that you do not love as much as you ought? Tell Him about it; ask Him to shed His love abroad in your heart, and He will do so. Are you concerned about some sin that casts you down? Pray a confident prayer. It is the will of God that you should be delivered from sin; so pray for it. Are you concerned that your heart shall be clean? Offer David's prayer ("Create within me a clean heart, Oh God; and renew a right spirit within me, "Psalm 51:10) and I assure you, on the basis of the Word of God and His character, that He will answer you, and the blood of Christ will cleanse you from all sin and all unrighteousness. Go through your Bible, and make a list of the promises of God to you; then take them to God, use them in His presence, plead them, and you can be quite certain that you have your petitions. You already possess them, and in His own time and way God will give you a full realization of them and a full enjoyment of them."

It's been almost seven years since I became a parent and I still struggle with patience from time to time but since I confessed that I couldn't "do it by myself" and began to "ask, seek, and knock" while simply exercising patience and praying for strength, I have seen an amazing transformation; not only in my own attitudes but more importantly in the behaviors of my children and in my general mood during the day. The bottom line is that God has called Christians to live differently. We are called to live a holy life; the Scriptures promise us that whatever His will is for our lives (live holy), He will enable us to do. We simply need to grab hold of God's promises and never let go...Not only is He able to grant us the strength to live as we ought but I suspect that He delights to hear and answer our prayers. If we would only ask...

If you feel inspired to create a card, scrapbook page, or other project based on this week's challenge, please leave us a comment with a link back to your blog or gallery. We'd be delighted to share your artwork!!

Kim
Pauline

Hazel

Lythan

Stacy

Spot the Easter Egg

Have you seen the first Easter Egg of the season yet?
I spotted mine on 21st December. Not the big ones in boxes but a whole shelf of Creme Eggs and similar and my major weakness Mini Eggs (btw the packaging in the photo is wrong. In the UK it is yellow. These things matter)

But...
Easter Eggs BEFORE Christmas?
Maybe shops have just had enough of Christmas after 3 months and are hoping we have too.
Or maybe they are making a theological statement about the links between Christmas and Easter.
One which I think is best expressed in the service of Midnight Communion on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day when we share bread and wine and remember that the child born came to die for us - to be the best present we could ever have by offering himself to be broken for us. That the broken world may be made whole again. And that resurrection - symbolised by the eggs we eat - is part of that present.

So perhaps those Easter Eggs were acting as, well, Easter Eggs to point us forward so we don't just get misty eyed about babies but are are struck in awe and wonder about just what Immanuel - God with us - means.
As the carol I love to sing on Christmas Eve goes (to the tune of Greensleeves if you want to sing along)

Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christians, fear, for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.

Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

and, perhaps even better, the rather wonderful poem by Steve Turner Christmas is really for the Children

So, to celebrate the season of birth and death and new birth for us all - God's present of his present - I am going to eat a (yellow) bag of Mini Eggs.

The greatest gift

Christmas Day is almost upon us - and, indeed, might well be over by the time you get to read this post - so it is a time to reflect upon the greatest gift ever - the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Isaiah foretold:

'For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.' Isaiah 9:6.

When the angel gave Joseph the news that Mary would bear a son, he said:

'She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.'

There are accounts of the birth of Jesus in both Matthew's gospel and Luke's - may I encourage you to read these - perhaps you have read them many times before, or perhaps this will be your first time of pondering upon them.

At Christmas time we don't so often turn to the gospel of John because he didn't actually record an account of the birth of Jesus, but in John 1:14 we read:

'The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.'

John chapter 1 gives us a profound insight into the purpose of the coming of Jesus to earth - He is indeed the divine gift that John talks about in John 3:16:

'For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life'

The greatest gift we can receive this Christmas time is Jesus.

In writing to the Ephesians, St Paul says:

'For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.'

Among the busy-ness of Christmas, let's be mindful of the real reason for the season - the birth of our Saviour.

I (Hazel) asked the team to reflect upon that wonderful verse from Isaiah 9:6 and respond creatively. Perhaps you too would like to join us and be prompted to create your own response - we would love you to share your creations with us - please leave us a comment so that we can visit your blog.

Thank you for taking the time to visit our blog.

We wish you a very Happy Christmas
and every blessing for the coming New Year

Hazel



Pauline

Kim

The Perfect Gift

I've been getting slightly frustrated this week as I've been waiting for an order from an online store. It contains 4 presents for various family members and friends and was ordered at the end of November. This would have been ample time for it to arrive, but then in Central Scotland and across most of the UK we had huge snowfall which has caused chaos on our roads, railways and with our postal service.

I have an admission to make to you...I am a perfectionist. I love things to be 'just right'. I love to be organised. It makes me really happy to be on top of things, to be in control. However, in this instance it's completely out of my hands. I have no way of changing the situation, I just need to sit back and wait for the store and the mail system to catch up after the chaos of the beginning of December. It's out-with their control and it's out-with mine. That's not an easy thing for me to deal with. I don't like things being left in limbo.

There are many passages in the Bible that speak of waiting, of expectation. In Isaiah 9:1 we read,

"Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee...will be filled with glory."

and then in verse 2,
"The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine."

It's not about the 'perfect gifts' that I've chosen for people. Christmas is about the joy that is found in Jesus, He is the perfect gift.

It's just over a week until Christmas Day. In that time I hope you will reflect on the joy in our faith, and in the perfect gift given to us by the Father.

Pauline
x

Believe

Proverbs 14:15 The simple believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their steps

When I grew up, we had next to nothing. My parents were divorced and often did not see my Dad for long periods because of his line of work. Shortly after my Mom's second marriage failed . My mom started school to finish her high school and get a secondary education so she could provide for us. There was never any extra money because of this or that. It did not help my Dad was again married himself and had a family to provide for there. We often went without , during this time we got involved with the local food bank . When i say got involved we did lots of stuff with them. Christmas parties, Easter, and generally whatever else was going on at the time. My Mom did a lot of community service with them because often that was how we got food for the table. The people were always interesting and kinda off balance but it made things special. I think even as a child I believed in God , I have shared my testimony a bit here and there. About how i grew up in a church setting that i no longer believe in. I believe God was always there guiding and directing my sisters and my path.My friend said to me just the other day that she is dreaming of the simple life. Where no one is too busy to help and give of their time or even of their pocket books. To believe to show other by being the evidence of God to show others he does exist. To believe-to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something, although without absolute proof that one is right in doing so: Only if one believes in something can one act purposefully.Have a look at this link to a beautiful song or this
song.............................

Stacy



Pauline

Hazel


Kim

Ruth

Crazy Love

I recently started reading a book by Francis Chan titled, "Crazy Love" and I'm 'loving' it! Here's a quick blurb from the back of the book, "It's crazy, if you think about it. The God of the universe - the Creator of nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies and E-minor - loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing love. And what is our typical response? We go to church, sing songs, and try not to cuss. Whether you've verbalized it yet or not...we all know something is wrong. Does something deep inside your heart long to break free from the status quo? Are you hungry for an authentic faith that addresses the problems of our world with tangible, even radical, solutions? God is calling you to a passionate love relationship with Himself. Because the answer to religious complacency isn't working harder at a list of do's and don'ts - it's falling in love with God. And once you encounter His love, you will never be the same."

In reading the beginning of the book I realized that Francis and I have had some similar life experiences, in particular with our fathers. He relates that his emotions about his earthly father often got mixed up with his emotions about God. I understand those feelings and they have often made me struggle with the idea that God loves me. I know He loves other people but really...He's just kind of tolerating me, right? I mean I still sin so much...I don't deserve His love.

The truth is...I don't deserve God's love but for some reason, in His most wise and infinite knowledge, He called me unto Himself. I know that He has because I can see the changes that have taken place in my own heart and conduct. Changes that I would have never made on my own for I dearly loved my sin far too much to give it up for "religion." This alone should cause me to be overwhelmed by His love but...I tend to hold back...to be conservative in my emotions for letting someone really love you is too risky...at least that's how I was raised. But I recognize that isn't a very healthy or right view of God and that is what led me to pick up the book Crazy Love. So far it has been a real blessing...God has used it to soften my heart and to enjoy His love and to allow real change to take place...not just from aquiring head knowledge but as a love and affection overflowing from my heart, a gratefulness for all that God has done in my life, for allowing me to want to really reach and help those around me. It is so good to let go and embrace all that our great God and Savior Jesus Christ has to offer because when you're wildly in love with someone, it changes everything.

I would highly recommend Francis Chan's book, it's a quick and easy read, but full of straight forward talk and honest ideas, based fully on Biblical principals about God, His nature, and His overwhelming love. A love so great that He sent His only Son to die...so "that man might have life and have it more abundantly: (John 10:10). All praise and glory be to our great God!!