My friends, Ann here.

Ok, so I've got this funny quirk. I do believe it's a quirk God gave me, but sometimes I think God gives us some crazy quirks. Do you have one, I wonder?

Anyway... Mine's this:

I take especially careful note of the things that happen in my days, and I record my life.

I've got this living document on which I have tracked all the key spiritual things that have happened to me since my birth in 1975! Yep, it is a little long. And by 'living document', I mean I am continually updating it.

On the document, I have written a summary of the things God said to me on certain dates, things I asked God, world events, and other notable events in my life. If I have a dream or vision, I record it. I have tried to keep it as precise as possible, so that it reads as a nice summary. And every morning, I read through a part of that document (i.e., a part of my life) and ask God about certain things that happened.

COVID was on there too, and what an interesting time that was to look back on. Yep, the years 2019 - 2022 make for interesting reading.

What were you doing there, Lord?

Why did I meet that person?

Wow, that was you, Lord! I asked you a question, and I can see now that you answered it for me over the subsequent days.

Hindsight is a helpful thing. Sometimes, in the past, I can see that I did hear God's voice, but I was too quick to interpret it. The correct interpretation was far different to what I thought. Indeed, often we just don't know what God is saying until we can look back in hindsight, or until he has revealed more. Sometimes it will take years or decades to understand what God was doing.

Other times I have noticed I was right about something. Those situations give me a quiet confidence in the Holy Spirit.

Another thing I can clearly see is that God has opened seasons for me and closed them. Once, for example, I moved into volunteering my work hours to a small church I was attending; but a year later I strongly felt God wanted me to move out of it. As I look at that situation, I can see that God did move me in and out. It was just a crazily short season that had its purpose. 

My friends, our life storyline with God becomes our war chest. It gives us confidence in him and makes us understand our identity in his eyes. All of this, in fact, makes me feel that I can't wait to be an old lady sitting in a rocking chair with decades of storyline behind me. My life story is my belt of truth (Ephesians 6:14). It will feed me and sustain me when I'm old .... 

Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.

(Psalm 139:16-18, NIV)

Anyway, this post was way different to what I meant to write, LOL. But this topic leads nicely into the next one I'm going to write, so I will be back again on Wednesday with more.

My friends, do you have moments of hindsight you look back on, where you understand what God was doing?

Loads of love

Ann

Photo courtesy of asadphoto and Pexels.com

I’m writing this post on a chilly winter’s afternoon here in Sydney. However, I know for most of us, it’s summer in the northern hemisphere and many of you will be enjoying long days and hopefully some down time.

Those of us in the southern hemisphere, I trust are coping with the cold and are able to enjoy some slower days in a warm home.

Leaning into God

Often these slower seasons allow us a bit more time to seek out time with the Lord. I wanted to share a few thoughts on stillness, some of which I’ve shared previously.

“Be still and know that I am God” (Ps 46:10)

We’re all very familiar with this verse. I’ve written on it many times but I’m increasingly discovering the wonder of its truth. Because it is in stillness and ONLY in stillness where we are able to hear God. I’m discovering this truth. We need quiet to listen to and hear God.

I consciously seek after some quiet with God most days. I frequently visit Contemplative at Home to assist me in slowing down and becoming quiet. It’s in the quiet we develop the ears to hear God. Yes, distraction is always present, but don’t fight it, simply roll with it and try to send it away. Using a word to bring you back to God is a useful practice. I typically use the phrase: “Come, Holy Spirit, come.”

Jesus and the Quiet

As we know, Jesus spent 40 days and nights in the wilderness soon after being baptised. Besides the noises of animals, birds, and insects, He would have spent those days in silence. As he didn’t eat, I expect Jesus spent much of his time simply being quiet communing with the Father.

In the quiet, we discover how to let go and surrender our hold on everything that’s going on in our worlds. We like control, don’t we. Even of bad things. God wants us to let go and discover the wonder of learning to depend on Him and Him alone.

“The Lord will fight for you; you only need to be still.” (Exodus 14:14 NIV).

Its significant how Moses instructs the Israelites as they’re standing on the shore of the Red Sea, terrified that the chasing Egyptians will re-capture them. Can you image what they must have thought! “What! You want us to be still! We’re about to be overrun by those horses charging at us!”

We all know what happens next. God fulfilled his promise to the people, only when they were still. I’ve found this invaluable when anxiety strikes. For much of my life, I would hold onto Jesus, but at the same time, hold onto the ‘thing’ that’s stressing me. But Jesus says, let go of the ‘thing’, whatever it is, and then I’ll fight for you. Does that make sense?

“In repentance and rest will be your salvation;

In quietness and trust shall be your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15 NIV)

“Stillness is your strength because it shows your trust in God. In your stillness, God moves.” (Ann Voskamp)

An Exercise to practice

Over the next weeks, may I encourage us all to minimise our distractions and simplify our schedule (postpone things to next week or beyond if you are able). Take some time each day to simply be still and quiet with God.

Just find a comfortable quiet spot and use a word, a phrase, for example, ‘Come Holy Spirit’, ‘Jesus, I’m here’) and listen. When a distracting thought comes (they will and that’s okay), simply say the word/phrase again.

You might hear nothing. That’s okay. Try again tomorrow.

We’d love to hear how you go.

Grace and peace.

Potential Cover Spiritual Enforcer

Lynn Donovan here. Hope Thanksgiving was wonderful. Caitie and her fiancé are here for the long weekend. Yep, the girl you grew up reading about is engaged and we love her guy. God is good.

But, I'm so psyched to introduce some cool stuff in front of our once a year giving campaign happening on November 28th, Giving Tuesday.

I'm almost finished with a powerful Spiritual warfare book for all of us. There isn't another book like it on the market. And it's filled with what I've learned to have victory in life, marriage and stand in power and authority over the enemy. An excerpt follows.  And I'm going to offer this book along with some other cool stuff as part of our Giving Tuesday campaign.

Excerpt; Simple prayer to cast anger out of your home:

Is anger a constant in your home? Try taking authority over it every day, out loud, with gusto, during your prayer time and cast it out. Then always follow your command with a blessing. Bless your home with peace, unity, love, gentleness and self-control.

Pray: In the name of Jesus, I stand in the authority, Christ. I bind (Matthew 16:19) every lying spirit, and all spirits of deception and the spirit of Anger and Rage. RIGHT NOW. I command you to leave my home, myself, my spouse (by name) and children (each by name). I repent on behalf of myself, my husband and children for any way we have partnered with anger. Now, I break all legal rights with the demonic realm. I command you to get out now and never return. And as you go, take sarcasm, pride and ignorance with you. There can be no retaliation or replacement spirits. In Jesus name. AMEN

If you want an entire book filled with real prayers that empower you over evil, you can get an advanced copy along with some others cool stuff. Stop by tomorrow and learn more.

Blessings and hugs, Lynn Donovan

Pray Instead of Complaining

The people started complaining to Moses, “Give us some water!”
Moses replied, “Why are you complaining to me and trying to put the Lord to the test?” Exodus 17:2 (CEV)

After reading Ann’s post recently about the “deliciousness of a wife”, I posted a comment about how easy it is to give our spouses the worst part of us, especially with complaining. The next morning when I turned to do my Bible study – guess what it was on? Praying instead of complaining! I guess God has more to teach me on this haha.

When we have a problem – our first response should be to go to God in prayer instead of complaining. A key fact: Complaining raises our stress level! But prayer quiets our thoughts and emotions and prepares our minds to listen.

Do everything without complaining or arguing so that you will be blameless and pure, children of God without any fault. Philippians 2:14-15 (ERV)

By complaining, we don’t give God a chance. It’s so important for us to pray and put our trust in Him to handle it. Otherwise, we miss out on the opportunity to see the wonderful things God has for us.

TRUST GOD! Always and in all things.

So then, as the Holy Spirit says, If you hear God's voice today, do not be stubborn, as your ancestors were when they rebelled against God, as they were that day in the desert when they put him to the test. There they put me to the test and tried me, says God, although they had seen what I did for forty years. Hebrews 3:7-9 (GNT)

Remember when we complain, we question God’s goodness. God wanted the Israelites to see that it was not water they needed, it was God they needed.

As I continued to study Exodus 17:2, I learned that God led the Israelites to this campsite for a reason. God wanted them to know that He is always in control – and we are dependent on Him for all things. Ephesians 1:11, James 4:15, Job 1:21 & Psalm 115:3. The Israelites could not humanly get out of this situation of no water. By complaining they were revealing where their hearts were – they didn’t trust God, and that He always wants good for us.

When we see no way out in our situations, let’s not harden our hearts but TRUST HIM. Look back at all the times He has blessed us in situations and seek God to intervene. Give Him a chance to show us that He will always provide for us. God wants to shine His light through us so…

Pray instead of complaining!

My name is Lisa MacFarland and I've been in a SUM relationship for 35 years. We have 4 adult children, one grandbaby and 2 more on the way. We live in sunny Florida on the East Coast. I have been following the Spiritually Unequal Marriage ministry for over 10 years and am so privileged and honored to be a guest writer. I pray that you are encouraged by this post. Thank you for the opportunity to share.

Hi Sum Nation. Lynn Donovan here.

I’ve been pondering the spiritual principals of the Kingdom of God. There are spiritual laws that are unbreakable and cannot be subverted. Just as there are laws in the natural (physical) realm there are principals set down by God, that when followed, result in a powerful life.

For example, the law of gravity governs our daily life and cannot be escaped.  Today, I want to bring understanding to the Kingdom Principle of Persistence.

Let me state some absolutes regarding this principle:

1. The Principle of Persistence is real.
2. This spiritual principle is powerful in two ways.
3. It’s Biblical and was taught by Jesus.
4. If followed, you will see results.
5. It’s not easy. But anything worthwhile and powerful in the Kingdom isn’t for the weak of will or heart.

Let’s start with number one and number two. Persisting in faith, (faith = what you believe) is the key to breakthrough and powerfully answered prayer. Giving up is failure to see what you hoped and prayed for come to pass.

So, there is a positive outcome if we choose to remain steadfast in faith. And the opposite is true that our wishy-washy faith and belief will not accomplish much.

And my friend, this principle is available and at work in our unequally yoked marriages EVERY. SINGLE. DAY!

Take it from me, as I write to you today on my 31^st wedding anniversary, my persistence to believe in Jesus and the Bible is what carried me through the early years and every struggle I have ever faced.

My bulldogged approach to faith, my bite down hard and will not release, give up, waver, nor backdown is what has led to my Promised Land years, where I now live and dwell.

So, today, it’s time to sit down with Jesus and ask for the gift of faith and belief and decide to stand in the Kingdom Principle of Persistence.

I would even dare you to post a prayer asking for this Kingdom gift right now in the comments. This sets a public statement to be read and I will agree with you. And it tells the demons that you won’t back down or give up.

Next time I share, I will show you where this principle is hidden, in plain sight, in the Word of God and what Jesus said about it.

Okay, right now go to the comments and make a statement of faith. I bless you in the name of Jesus to step into this Kingdom Principle today and to see the breakthroughs that will occur because you walk in faith. In the name of our Savior, Jesus, the Messiah, AMEN.

By Ann Hutchison 

Attending church is quite the adventure, and I think it can look very different from season to season.

By that I mean this:

Sometimes you have a season of attending a particular church. You're there because God wants you to learn a particular thing. And then when he wants to do something different, he moves you on to a new church.

And:

In some seasons you are fed by the church, while in other seasons you're the one doing the feeding.

So I thought today I might share a little about the different seasons I've had in church.

Season One: Spectator

As a new Christian I started out attending a Bible church of 200 people. I would walk in, listen to the sermon, then walk out. I sat there and watched the body of Christ as a spectator. But the sermons fed me. Did God ever want me in that church? For that season, I think so. I heard the Gospel in that church.

Season Two: Nurtured

Quite soon after that, God seemed to show where he wanted me to attend. This new church was different in flavor. It was charismatic, and a little wild. It had 50-70 people, some of whom were homeless, and a culture of praying for each other.

I had never been in a charismatic church before. It fascinated me. And in that first service when they asked 'who needs prayer?', my hand shot up. After that, I was nurtured by that church's people week after week. I brought all my pain about my spiritual mismatch into that church and was prayed for like crazy. I was the broken and bruised one who was bandaged up and loved.

Season three: Grown up

In that same church, I began to grow up. The pastor discipled me, others discipled me, and I grew ... into something sturdy.

Suddenly I wasn't the one wanting prayer all the time; I was praying for others.

Eventually I was prayed into the leadership team by that very same pastor who'd discipled me. Here I am on the far right of this photo, August 2019. The pastor is the guy in green.

Season four: Quiet support

Well, the above church suddenly closed, and we disbanded! Quite simply, the pastor felt we were to close, so we did, and we all got thrust into new churches. For my part, instantly God showed me a new church to attend. My son, Miles (age 16), miraculously began attending with me, and here's a photo of us on Mother's Day. Can you see my smile at having my handsome boy by my side?

The adventures continued: That church then moved into the school hall where my old church had just closed!!

My place in this new church felt different to the above phases. For a start, the church was primarily young people and, I'll be honest, I've been lonely there. 

How do we deal with loneliness at church? Well in this case I've laid it aside and persevered because I have known that God wants me at this church. 

See, since joining that church I've had prophetic words about God's purpose for it. I have had a burning in my heart to see it succeed. I have prayed like crazy for it. And that's why I've labelled this season 'Quiet support'.

That church experienced a huge crisis in May last year, which nearly derailed it. The pastor left suddenly in fractious circumstances, and we had no elders in place. So, in this uncertain situation I volunteered to work on a task-force with four others to research the topic of elders and figure out how to put elders in place. That was six months of hard work. 

Finally, at the end of last year I stepped into leading the prayer team at this church, and in December had the joy of praying in a brand-new team of lay elders. That's me on the far right of the photo, in the very same hall as the first photo in season three above!

We're still waiting for a pastor, but our church is in good health.

So, what a ride. It has certainly not been a stagnant journey. We learn different things from church ... And then we give. But one thing I know: This present church is my church family.

Hope you like those stories. Have you been through phases in your church life?

Loads of love,

Ann

Today we have the blessing of a guest writer. Many of you will recognize Lisa MacFarland from the comments over the years, she has been such a solid encouragement to many, and we're so happy to have her hop on and write for us today. Over to Lisa --

**

Hello, my name is Lisa MacFarland and I’ve been in a SUM relationship for 35 years. I have been
following the Spiritually Unequally Marriage ministry for over 10 years and I am so privileged and
honored to be a guest writer. I pray that you are encouraged by this post as much as I was when writing it. Thank you for the opportunity to share.

Over a year ago, I wrote the phrase, “get back to the basics” and posted it on my desk corkboard at work. Lately, this phrase has been weighing heavier on my heart; sensing a strong need to get back to the basics. In many churches of today, I feel we confuse experiencing God’s love in a raw, basic way. Churches create chaos with so many programs, beautiful features, incentives, themes and hoopla to get people into the doors of church or to keep them engaged. People leave church with lessons on forgiveness or who God is but they are still empty.

Individually, we cram our own lives with constant activities, to dos, and overall chaos so we don’t have to stop and face what might be really going on in our lives. Sadly, this keeps us from truly experiencing God’s love. We miss finding our identity in Christ, true joy, and our authority given to us as heirs to the throne. This lifeless chaos will cause many to lose their passionate heart connection with Christ, missing out on the blessings He wants to give us.

Between the world, our churches, and ourselves, we can find ourselves remaining in a cycle of brokenness that keeps us from a deeper, more authentic connection with the Lord. Our hearts and mind need to be cultivated into fertile soil to that the roots of our salvation grow deep and strong. When spiritual battles; storms of life come, and they do and will, WE WILL NOT BE SHAKEN!

Revelations 2:5: So remember where you were before you fell. Change your hearts and do what you did at first. If you don’t change, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

Colossians 2:6-7: You accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, so continue to live following him. You must depend on Christ only, drawing life and strength from him. Just as you were taught the truth, continue to grow stronger in your understanding of it. And never stop giving thanks to God.

John 15:9-11: I have loved you as the Father has loved me. Now continue in my love. I have obeyed my Father’s commands, and he continues to love me. In the same way, if you obey my commands, I will continue to love you. I have told you these things so that you can have the true happiness that I have. I
want you to be completely happy.

I know my heart longs to get back to the foundation upon which our salvation is rooted. I don’t want to just go through the motions, or get stuck in a cycle of busyness but I want to get back to the fundamental basics and cultivate my heart soil through daily prayer, reading God’s word, serving, and sharing my story. Even when we don’t feel like it, keep showing up and eventually you will experience breakthrough of peace, authentic joy, and deep connection with God. It’s then that God can truly bless us with the fullness He created us for.

About Lisa: I’ve been married for 35 years and together with my husband, Cameron, for 36 years. Funny story…met my husband in a bank robbery! I was a bank teller that was held up and he was my knight in shining armor, aka, police officer that responded. 😊 We have 4 adult children, 1 grand baby and 2 more on the way! And I can’t forget about my empty nest 10-year-old puppy, Marley, a Chihuahua in a Rottweiler’s body, haha. I mostly was a stay-at-home mom but then started working for my church over 20 years ago as the Lead Pastor Assistant and, a few years ago, I took over as Finance Director too. I was born and raised in church, started out in a Pentecostal Assemblies of God and now the church I’m part of is Southern Baptist. I love to read, crochet, walk, swim, fish, kayak  and just plain relax. After raising 4 children, I’m finally getting to enjoy all of it. 😊

By Ann Hutchison 

"I have a husband at home, and he's not a Christian." I was standing opposite a man at church whom I'd never met. "It's all a bit new to us this whole church thing," I said, munching away on a biscuit. My companion nodded sympathetically.

It was a couple of years into my spiritual mismatch in marriage, and I was in full SUM-pain-mode, talking far too much about it to anyone who would listen. Yak yak yak, I continued, telling this man all about the situation, and how hard it was.

A short time after that God whispered to me, "Ann do you realize what you did there?" And he showed me something:

He gave me a vision of a view that you would see if you held a piece of paper up between your two eyes and then looked at the view using both eyes. Perhaps you could try it now to see what I mean? What you see with a piece of paper between your eyes is two different things at the same time, and a blur -- - Your eyes do not work together.

God explained the vision to me:

"Ann, what you've done in speaking those words about your husband to another person is construct a spiritual barrier in your marriage. By putting that barrier in place with your tongue, you have prevented Bryce from seeing spiritual truth jointly with you. Watch every word you speak about him from now on. Only speak life, not death. Then, if you do that, you will eventually see as one."

I put my head in my hands and groaned. And I believe that as I repented that barrier dissolved. Thank God for Jesus, and the power of his restoration. Still, I learnt a serious lesson.

That vision was so instructive for me, in fact, that from then on I watched every single word I spoke about Bryce, and militantly so.

Every. single. word. My prayer is this: Lord, let my tongue promote health!

I wanted to share that story because last week in our study of the Book of James we reached the famous passage on the untamable tongue:

We put bits in horses' mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so, the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles!

And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. (James 3:3-8, NKJV).

In that study Lynn shared a true story: There was a man whose way of hearing God was that he would sometimes see things in the spirit realm with his natural eyes. He was having an argument with his wife one day, spoke some thoughtless words to her that labelled her in some way, and as he did he saw a cut appear on her face as a result of his words. That's how stark this thing is.

In our marriages, this means that we have the power to speak life or death over our spouse. We want to bring life to them -- We're desperate for that -- so we need to put our tongues into the right kind of action. 

Instead of a cut on the face, I wonder what kind of visual it would be if we used words of blessing over someone. God showed me once that when I bless people with my words, it's like rainbows come out of my mouth and hit those people. I like that image!

So these days, instead of referring to someone -- anyone -- as 'atheist', 'not a Christian', 'narcissistic', 'addicted to xyz', or any other kind of label, I'll stop and think quite carefully about what I say. For that little tongue of mine is a powerful little thing.

How easy or difficult do you find it to watch the words you speak about your spouse?   

Love you all,

Ann

Hello, dear friends, it's Ann here.

Last week we talked about life with the Holy Spirit. I so enjoyed those conversations.

Well, this week I want to share a couple of simple stories -- one today and one on Friday -- to describe something the Holy Spirit did on an otherwise ordinary day. In each story there is a truth for us SUMites to take away.

Are you sitting comfortably? Ok, here we go:

A few years ago, I was fast asleep in bed when I suddenly woke to feel a jolt of explosive power break out of me. KAPOW!!!  It felt like shards of diamonds had just exploded from within my innermost depths.

POW!

It was the descriptiveness of it that struck me. The sense I had was definitely of shards of diamonds. Precious stuff.

Why did I experience that, and what was God trying to say? I wasn't sure.

A few weeks later, however, he whispered this: Ann, that power was the breakthrough power within you that you carry. It will break out of you and change people and circumstances around you.

Amazing. What's more, I know that word wasn't just for me: It's for our community. For you carry the resurrection power of Jesus Christ, and I know that many of you stoke your relationship with God so fervently that this power will shift things around you eventually.

How I love this on-fire community of ours!

Christians use the word 'breakthrough' quite often to describe a change in circumstances, or even an inner change that they've been waiting for and praying for. As far as I'm aware it's not a term that's obvious in the Bible, but I do believe it's in there. Sometimes these terms catch on because a Spirit-led believer has experienced it and talked about it. 

So, where is breakthrough in the Bible? Well, I think a few tucked-away places.

First, the book of Micah describes a situation where the power of God is so great that breakthrough will occur --

He who opens the breach goes up before them; they break through and pass the gate, going out by it. Their king passes on before them, the LORD at their head (Micah 2:13, ESV).

Second, there's a little scripture in the story of King David where David experiences a victory and declares God the Lord of breakthrough:

And David came to Baal-Perazim, and David defeated them there. And he said, “The LORD has broken through my enemies before me like a breaking flood.” Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-Perazim. (2 Samuel 5:20, ESV)

Reading that, I actually feel the presence of the Holy Spirit as I type. That tells me God is breathing on this concept for us. Perhaps we can linger there a moment. 

Jehovah Perazim, you are the Lord of breakthrough.

And finally, there's a curious story in the book of Genesis, where Judah's daughter-in-law Tamar carries twins, and during the birth one twin miraculously breaks through out of her womb:

When the time of her labor came, there were twins in her womb. And when she was in labor, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” But as he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out. And she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” Therefore his name was called Perez. (Genesis 38:27-29, ESV)

Perez means the same as Perazim: Breakthrough. That baby, who broke through miraculously, ended up being the ancestor of Jesus. Breakthrough was in the DNA of Jesus and it's in ours too.

What do we do with all this? I think we are to just know about it. That is, we're to know that's what we carry, even if we can't see it with our natural eyes. What's more, we'll carry more of it the more time we spend with him. And, those around us will be changed by that, including our families.

We have the God of breakthrough intimately with us.

Whew, what a thought. Do you have any thoughts to share in the comments? I'll see you there.

Love,

Ann 

By Ann Hutchison

Years ago, I asked God a question: "What does it look like to walk with the Holy Spirit?" I had not read the Bible through yet, but I noted scripture mentioned gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as healing, tongues, and miracles; and I had questions for God about this.

A night or so later, I woke with a phrase in my head. The phrase was this: The voyages of Paul.

The voyages of Paul? Hmm. 

Now, I was a babe in the faith. I knew who the Apostle Paul was -- he wrote parts of the New Testament, but I didn't yet know he took voyages. "Did he take voyages?" I asked. Well, I went to Wikipedia and found that indeed he did! WOW.

Yep, that was the Holy Spirit speaking to me, and I sensed God was telling me to go and look at Paul's voyages to see how the Holy Spirit works in someone's life. When Paul took those voyages the Holy Spirit was active in his life, and his stories leave us examples of what that can look like.

Well, I still have those old notes from that day, and I'd like to share them with you now. I hope you like them. For me personally, they have refreshed me all over again, years on.

The Holy Spirit:

1. Speaks to you --

Especially when you worship and fast. He speaks through visions of the night or the day, dreams, pictures, symbols and analogies, and helps you understand scripture.

He warns you about certain things; and sometimes he gives instructions. This might be, for example, whether to step forward in a certain situation. Sometimes he will even forbid certain actions, not necessarily things that are a matter of conscience; rather, it's a 'not yet' or 'not here'.

He confirms his words to you by confirmations from others, and he says, 'Do not fear', and 'Take courage', strengthening you so that you continue in faith.

2. Helps you discern --

The Holy Spirit helps you look at a situation and know if it's God or Satan, enables you to recognize others' faith and, conversely, recognize the influence of evil in a particular situation.

3. Helps you speak --

He gives you words for others, which can greatly help them in their belief.

He enables you to speak accurately when necessary, though you will always be learning. Through him, you can speak true and rational words. You will testify to the grace of God, and he makes you God's witness.

He even might enable you to give others some divine insight, if you grow your skills in the gift of prophecy (1 Corinthians 14:1).

Finally, he will enable you to speak boldly. Some still won't believe, but God does open hearts.

4. Grants signs and wonders

As you grow, the Holy Spirit will enable you to shake off the devil and be completely unharmed.

He will enable you to heal others, and even raise someone from the dead (Can I believe that? Yes I believe it).

Just as miraculously, he will enable you to open others' eyes and set people free of troubling spirits, strengthening the church as a whole, and increasing the size of the church. 

5. Strengthens you

Finally, he will have the effect of great joy on you and others and put a fervor inside you that stands up against anything on the outside.

**

WOW. How amazing, exciting and inspiring this is. All I can say is I want more and I know that it is there. This list was, after all, compiled from scripture (The Book of Acts chapters 13-28).

As for what it means for us today? Well, the Holy Spirit can come from an appropriate person laying hands on a person (see Acts 8:17-19), or by simply asking God in the quiet of one's home to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. 

To be baptized with the Holy Spirit is life-changing, and begins the above adventures. I believe God will give us only as much of the above-listed experiences as we can handle, according to our maturity and other circumstances. It's a beginning.

If you are reading this and haven't ever asked God for a baptism of the Holy Spirit, or simply want to ask him for more, you can do that in the quiet of your home. But, it would also be our honor to pray for you. If you would like, leave us a comment and we would absolutely love to pray for you! 

Love you, friends,

Ann

Photo courtesy of Pexels.com and Scott Webb

Ian from wintry Sydney here. Happy 4th of July for all my American friends. Fiona and I were reflecting the other night how ‘play’ has changed so much for our children and grandchildren. Being born in the 1960s and growing up in the 1970s, we’d spend hours and hours a day playing. Swimming in the pool, riding our bikes with our friends, exploring the wonders and joys of the bushland, or simply using our imaginations to make up games and stories using basic objects like clothes pegs, shoe boxes and so on.

What fun! Life growing up was pretty simple. We didn’t need much money or things, just an active imagination and a willingness to experiment. We entertained ourselves.

The all-pervasive nature of electronic entertainment is so addictive for us all and our children. We have a plethora of screens to choose from and can find it easy to become a passive consumer of entertainment.

A Busy Life

A couple of months ago  I wrote about the Sabbath and why I’m only now beginning to understand why it’s important. Remember, God doesn’t give us a gold star if we practice the Sabbath, nor does He frown on us if we don’t. That’s not His way of loving us. Heck, He doesn’t need a Sabbath, but He still rested on the seventh day. Why? He knows it’s good for us.

Increasingly, as life gets busier and more distracted, plus the issues of climate change, poverty and over consumption, there are many who are now advocating that we look at simplifying our lives.

Even church life has got busy. If you’re a member of even a moderately sized church, there are often so many choices for what to participate in. Once again, these activities are mostly all good things. Why wouldn’t we participate in one or two?

Living Simpler

Firstly, why do it? My answer is a very simple one: to enjoy Jesus more. When caught up in all manner of activities, we simply miss out on spending good quality time with Jesus. Just being with Him. Or when we are with Jesus, we’re so distracted we aren’t fully present and miss out on all there is to receive.

We end up relying on ourselves or others to help us make decisions, some that may be very important. Look what David says in Psalm 25:

“Who, then, are those who fear the Lord?
    He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.
They will spend their days in prosperity,
    and their descendants will inherit the land.
The Lord confides in those who fear him;
    he makes his covenant known to them.
My eyes are ever on the Lord,
    for only he will release my feet from the snare.” (v12-15 NIV UK)

He will instruct us in all our decisions. If we ask, and if we set our eyes on Him. And that takes time. I’ve learned that the way of the Kingdom is gentle and slow.

How do we do it?

We learn to say, No. I’m at a stage in life where I’m an empty nester and have flexibility in my day. Yes, it’s luxurious at present. But, I’m expecting it to be only a season. Time for me to consolidate so when a new season of ‘potential busy’ comes upon me.

We become intentional in certain practices. Solitude, stillness, Sabbath, special time with loved ones and friends. We learn to be present with others. Switch off devices for periods in a day. Yes, we really can survive time without them.

And we play. Have some fun. Dance. Smile. Listen well, love well, observe well. Find a place in nature to sit, to wander, to dream, to connect with Jesus.

Over to you now. How do you switch off and slow down? Be lovely to share in the comments so we can encourage each other. And if you’re in a particularly busy season and struggle to do any of this, why not share that too. Perhaps in sharing we can help carry another’s struggles.

Grace and peace, friends.

Ann here, and I thought the title would make you smile. Yes indeed, I have a little story to tell today.

In Monday's post I left off where my small group had said: "Do invite your husband to the Christmas dinner, we would love to meet him."

Gulp!

Now, Bryce has said to me on a number of occasions that he finds the whole 'small group' concept difficult. He has a bad experience of growing up in an unhealthy and spiritually controlling church, and from that experience he was concerned that any small group I joined would be 'cultish and weird'. Those were hard words to hear, but hey, if this is how our spouse sees these things it's probably helpful to know. If we know, then we can try to understand and try to address it. Anyway, given all of that historical 'stuff' the thought of now inviting him to a small group Christmas dinner was not easy!

I wonder, though, whether at some point we all turn a corner where things become different? Where faith or church are not so contentious any more? Anyway, the long and short of it is that I plucked up the courage and asked him.

And ..... 

He said yes. No problem at all. Just like that. He said his 'yes' so easily, in fact, that I had to leave the room to process this massive new development, which felt like breaking news.

Now here's that same scene I described on Monday where I stand at a closed front door, behind which lies a small group, and I'm wondering how on earth this thing is going to go. Except this time my husband is standing by my side.

I hold a salad, he's carrying wine, and we're ready for a good time. He's perfectly cheerful but I've got a pounding heart. Why? It's the first time we've gone through the doors of church together since those difficult church days of his. Yes, it's only a small-group dinner, but it's the church.

We enter, join the chattering crowd on the back patio of the house, and before I can barely introduce him ... off he goes. Into a happy crowd and away from my side. And so the evening continued.

Later, as the sun set, he and I were sat in a circle of comfy outdoor armchairs chatting with some of the others about church and other things. He liked them, they liked him. At that moment I looked up to see a beautiful rainbow in the dusky sunset. I took it as a wink from God and thanked Him -- Seriously, seriously thanked Him -- for this moment.

Oh my dear SUM friends, it was a fascinating turning of a corner, and I know you understand the emotions around this sort of thing. It was indeed 'breaking news' for it broke some kind of barrier. It also broke away some of my own lingering angst about our spiritual mismatch, bringing us together and showing me all over again 'God's got this'.

Some of us have spouses who do visit church or its social events; others of us find that area more tricky. But however it looks now, things can always change --

"For nothing will be impossible for God" (Luke 1:37, ESV)

Does your spouse come to church or social events or not? Let's chat more in the comments.

Love you loads,

Ann

Photo by Ethan Sees from Pexels

Happy New Year, my friends. I know it’s now February. Wow, where did January go? But this is my first post of 2022. I’m so looking forward to this year.

Where is our Focus?

A new year often brings new beginnings, new hopes, new challenges. Often it simply brings more of the same just in a new year. We can get caught up in channelling our focus and our thoughts on newness or on the existing. For those of us who can grapple with anxiety or worry, we can continue to allow ourselves to focus on the worries or the fears or the things that are making us anxious.

For many of us SUMites, the mismatched nature of our marriage will often feature prominently in our thoughts. Will 2022 be the year we see breakthrough? Will our partner find the Lord? And what if they don’t?

May I encourage you to simply take a few moments now (yes, stop reading this post) and simply ask the Lord to help you see what are some of the thoughts that are pre-occupying you at present? Why not jot them down.

The Enemy is a liar!

The Devil is a liar! John 8:44 tells us this. He will happily engage our minds with worries and fears that are simply … lies. I was reminded of this last week when I read a lovely post from Corrie Ten Boon¹. She wrote of a day she was convinced she was coming down with the flu. It was also effecting her eyes as she was struggling to see properly. Corrie had to give a talk and was so consumed by her fear that she didn’t do it well.

“It is impossible to listen to the Lord’s voice while listening to our own fear. Fear is loud, insistent and time-consuming.”

That statement just hit me between the eyes. Because fear is just like that, isn’t it?

To conclude Corrie’s story, her secretary who had been sick happened to listen to her talk. Corrie was surprised to see her as she thought she’d be home in bed. But her secretary realised she had Corrie’s glasses by mistake and wanted to exchange them. They swapped glasses and ‘miraculously’ Corrie’s symptoms disappeared. She had been wearing the wrong glasses.

“When we agree with fear, our symptoms continue … instead of partnering with my symptoms, if I would have sought the Lord, perhaps I would have noticed Him pointing to what was really happening.”

Ever partnered with your fears, worries or symptoms?

Shift our Focus

Worry, fear and anxiety mean our hearts and minds are focused on something else. Jesus asks us to focus on Him. That doesn’t necessarily mean that our circumstances will change, it just means that we are able to hear from Him in our circumstance.

I love reading the Psalms, especially David’s. They express all our emotions: fear, worry, ecstasy, joy, peace and so on. David, as we know, did great things but also some not-so-great things. Often, he struggled when he’d taken his eyes off the Lord.

Psalm 16 is a wonderful psalm of hope. I particularly appreciate these words:

"I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
    even at night my heart instructs me.
I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
    With him at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
    my body also will rest secure" (v 7-9)

He reminds us that when we keep our focus on the Lord we will not be shaken.

For many of us in mismatched marriages, we keep questioning why it’s taking so long, what do we need to do different or better. We might also worry about the things we feel we can’t do because of our partner won’t like it and it can all get a little overwhelming. Can’t it?

But Jesus simply asks us to shift our focus. Stop thinking about the worries, the issues, the shortcomings, the why nots, and start looking at Him. And not to take our eyes off Him.

Next time I will share a little on how we can shift our focus. How can we develop greater discipline in keeping our eyes on Jesus. In the interim, may I encourage you to spend time reading a Psalm of David’s. 16 or 91(probably written by Moses) or 23 are great places to linger. Linger. Spend a week, a month just lingering on the psalm. And pray them like a prayer, put yourself in David’s shoes.

Grace and peace, my friends.

1. Corrie Ten Boom, God is My Hiding Place: 40 Devotions for Refuge and Strength (Chosen Books, Minneapolis, 2021), 101.

Image courtesy of Tina Phillips at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Ann’s most recent post has lingered in my mind for a few days and I thought I’d reflect a little more on it. If that’s okay? Ian here from a sunny Sydney.

We have those between a rock and a hard place moments don’t we? As I think I’ve shared a few times before, one of Fiona’s biggest fears is that she’ll become a ‘church widow’. There was a time a few years back when I attended a couple of prayer meetings a week on top of my Sunday commitments and whenever you have some form of leadership responsibility, pastoring and caring for those you lead takes added time.

Crunch Time

Like Ann mentioned, our partner reaches a point when it’s all too much. And I especially feel for you ladies because as I’ve said a few times over the years, for many men, their wife is not just their best friend but often their one true friend. Yes, we may have male ‘friendships’ but they’re quite different to our life partner.

Every few years it seems Fiona will express her concern that there’s a big part of my life that she doesn’t participate in. It’s not just the physical aspects of attending church and such, she’s also aware of the time I spend with God.

How Do we Respond

Ann gave some wonderful counsel and it’s this aspect I wanted to spend a little more time on. Ann encouraged us to look to the Rock. To Jesus. Yes and Yes. Early in my relationship with Fiona, I probably didn’t do this believing it just would add to the issue at hand. It wasn’t until I came to appreciate how much I needed Jesus that in fact He would help me through the matter.

How? Because He’s love. That’s who He is, isn’t He? It’s His natural state. And I believe that’s what we most need in these ‘between a rock and hard place’ situations. Love.

“Christ is love covered over with flesh” – Thomas Goodwin

I found I needed more of His love so that I can love my bride ever more and also gain greater clarity over the situation at hand. And I believe our partners see this love.

Companionship

If we try to manage the situation in our own strength, we’re likely to exacerbate it. But if we honestly and in all humility come to Jesus and seek His love and wisdom, He will reveal them. There’s unlikely to be a lightning bolt but rather we have Jesus as our companion.

It’s in His companionship we discover more of His love which changes us from the inside and this is what our partners see. In time. The deeper we go in His love, the more our partners will experience it and I believe we have less of these ‘crunch’ situations. Remember His love is endless and wonderfully, Jesus desires to share it with us in ever increasing intensity.

I’m more convinced that life is less about having all the answers and seeking to fix everything and everyone, but rather to walk through it with Jesus and others in tight companionship. So when the dark valleys appear we have trusted companions, one of whom is ‘clothed in love’ who will walk with us. Another of course is our beloved partner in life. They’ll be with us in the thick of it. We’ll grapple the uncertainties of the valley together.

This is the life I seek.

See you in the comments, dear friends.

Image courtesy of tiverylucky at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Hello dear friends, Ian from sunny locked down Sydney.

If you’ve followed my recent posts at the beginning of each month there’s been this consistent theme of connecting with God in the ordinariness of our day. For years, I think I often sought God in the big moments, hoping to receive some huge revelation or witness some ecstatic event in a church service. I do believe such moments occur but increasingly, I’ve found that living in the moment, irrespective of what I’m doing, is where I sense God’s presence.

Pleasant Surprises

A couple of weeks ago, I took Dad to an appointment with a new specialist whose clinic we hadn’t visited before. Both of us were a little anxious because of not knowing what was in store. As we walked into the waiting room, I said quietly, ‘Lord, you are here.’ Immediately, I relaxed as a I pictured Jesus standing in the room, a big smile on his face, inviting us to come in and sit.

We were thirty minutes early (Dad’s insists on it) which the receptionist reminded us when we sat down. But we weren’t sitting for long as Dad was ushered into the scanning room for his ultrasound. That was soon over and immediately the surgeon appears and ushers us into his room for the consult. That didn’t last long either and we were out thirty-five minutes after arriving, so we were finished up five minutes after our appointment was due to start.

This doesn’t usually happen. It’s incredible how much of a relief it is for both Dad and I.

A week or so later, we had a similar experience with Dad’s Eye Surgeon. An appointment that usually takes between one and two hours was all over within forty minutes. Once again, Dad had to have scans, followed by a consult before having an injection in his eye for macular degeneration (Dad says it doesn’t hurt). We get moved around from room to room and each time we moved I just pictured Jesus walking with us.

Afterwards, Dad was so positive and contented which was a bonus. He happily shared with others on getting back to the nursing home how pleased he was with the appointment.

Vine and Branches

We’re all probably familiar with the vine and branch analogy Jesus speaks about in John 15 in his words on abiding with Him. I’ve lingered on it for a few weeks. God is the vine and we are the branches. We are always connected to the vine; God is right with us at every moment.

We can only produce fruit that’s important to God unless we remain in Him:

“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me” (John 15:4 NIV)

Read that verse a few times.

For years I’ve wondered how one ‘remains in God (the vine)’. Do we have to do anything special? Increasingly, I feel it’s just acknowledging His presence with us. Saying something like, “Lord, you are here” or “God, I abide with you” at any moment is a wonderful way of simply being with Him.

Even when I sin (again and again) I now make a point of not shying away from God but acknowledging my sin, asking forgiveness and saying I now abide with you. Do it now, not wait for my night time prayer or next day prayer.

You know how you start chatting with your partner and you sense there’s something wrong or you might in trouble? I’m beginning to invite God into the exchange by stopping to acknowledge Him in my mind. I find when I do this, I have greater patience and am less likely to get flustered or angry or frustrated. This doesn’t happen all the time but I’m discovering how in connecting to God’s love, I’m filled with more of it for my partner.

If you haven’t already may I encourage you to keep inviting Jesus into your day repeatedly.

Grace and peace, dear SUMite friends

Happy Monday, SUM family!  Last week on our Facebook page I did a video about an evangelist's wife who once prayed this prayer: Help me love my husband more, but help me be less 'in love' with him!

Is that a good prayer to pray? Well, take a listen to this video about her story, see what you think, and perhaps we'll chat in the comments!

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Hello, everyone. Ian from Sydney here. Last month I wrote a post on the seeking to live in the unforced rhythms of grace by taking on the Lord’s easy yoke. Increasingly, I’m discovering how important it is especially amongst the everyday stresses and strains that we all experience. Accordingly, I wanted to reflect a little more on living such a life.

Beholding

“We become what we behold” – William Blake

My word of the year is ‘Behold” and it doesn’t take long to understand the truth in it. The more time we spend thinking about something, focusing on something, the more entrenched it becomes in our minds. It’s now commonly acknowledged in science that the more beholding we do the more it will affect our thought patterns, our feelings and behaviours. Addiction behaviour is often  a reflection simply of beholding something too frequently and for too long. Hence, the studies that have identified the negative associations of too much video gaming, watching inappropriate content and such like. It literally changes our brain.

And it’s the same with beholding God. The more time we spend with Him, the greater influence the Spirit will have in our lives. We only have to look at Paul’s quote in Philippians 4:

“Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.” (v 8 MSG)

A Recurring Invitation

I expect we’re all familiar with the blind beggar who Jesus heals in Luke 18. Here we have a situation where Jesus approached Jericho accompanied by a crowd of people which clearly doesn’t happen every day in these parts. A blind man happened to be sitting on the roadside and asked what all the commotion was about, to be told that Jesus is passing by.

The blind man has clearly heard about Jesus and what He can do so he yells out to get his attention: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Yes, this is quite a bold desperate cry. It reminded me a little of the woman with long term bleeding who stretches through a packed crowd simply to touch the edge of Jesus’ cloak. She, like our blind man, believes the stories that Jesus can indeed heal.

Jesus is always passing by. Wherever we are, He is present. Jesus desires relationship with us. Not just in our prayer times, not just on Sundays in church, not just in our home groups. But all the time. Why? Because He knows that our best life is with Him. In constant communion. To abide. To be with Him. He knows we can only produce lasting fruit if we stay connected like a branch to a vine.

So He waits to be invited. He’s respectful and considerate. And as we can see, He’s not opposed to a desperate cry or act. Because he looks at the heart.

Paul prays we will invite Jesus in in his famous prayer of Ephesians 3:14-19 (MSG): Here’s just the one verse -

“ … that Christ will live in you as you open the door, and invite him in … to live full lives, full in the fullness of God.”

How do we do it?

I’ll start with some practices I do and then it would be wonderful if others could share some that work for them in the ordinariness of every day. Here goes:

1. I say, “Lord you are here”. I might say this at the breakfast table, walking the dog, driving in the car to pick up Dad to take to a medical appointment, sitting in the waiting room at said appointment. You get the idea. Anywhere, anytime. You might have your own little welcome.

2. Express gratitude. I walk the dog early and typically I will be grateful to God for the beautiful blue sky, the breath in my lungs, for the new day.

            I find gratitude opens my heart and sets me off praying.

3. Praise, praise and more praise. I praise God. Most mornings and many times a day I will often simply say, “You mercies are new every morning, great is your faithfulness.” Praise opens our hearts and serves as a great fear disabler. Have a look at Psalm 34.

4. I close my day with Examen. It’s an Ignatian practice for reflecting on your day. It’s brief and once you get in the habit of it, you’ll find you’ll look forward to it. And you can do it any time during a day and multiple times if you like; my Pastor does it 3 times: morning, noon and night. Here’s a link if you want to know a little more about it. Like most practices there are different forms and different organizations have developed mobile Examen apps which you can download.

Okay. Over to you all. What practices have you found beneficial to enabling you to continue to behold God during the ordinariness of every day?

We’ll see you in the comments. Warmest blessings.

Image courtesy of hin255 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Hello, dear friends. Ian from a very chilly Sydney. I’m hoping those of you in the northern hemisphere are having lovely vacation time in warmer climes.

We just finished a marvellous series from Ann on slaying giants. I was particularly grabbed by Ann’s idea of taking hold of 5 stones (like teenage David) as a weapon against our giants. In my comment to that post I mentioned my 5 stones. I wanted to explore one of them a little further in this post.

Stress and anxiety

For several years now I’ve been a significant carer for my elderly parents. They’ve both recently spent some time in hospital and delightfully were housed a few rooms away from each other. Mom is now home, and Dad is being discharged as you read this post. I’m continually surprised how draining it is. Managing the hospital staff, my siblings while acting as the go between for my parents and the staff.

And so I get quite stressed and anxious. About fixing things and getting everything sorted. Because that’s what I do. I get things done.

But God has a different approach. And He doesn’t want us to burden ourselves.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

For a while now the Lord has placed these words on my heart. As some of you will know I’m prone to anxiety and much of mine is self-induced and I’ve been asking the Lord to show me how to ‘take his easy yoke’ and let go of my need to fix everything or get it done while raising my anxiety levels.

I’m still very much on training wheels but here’s a few points that I’ve learnt about accepting/receiving the Lord’s easy yoke:

1. Be still and know that I am God

Stillness. I’m increasingly discovering how important this is. But it’s hard isn’t. When I have a racing heart, sometimes to slow down and stop is difficult. I must fight the urge to get up. Using meditations help me do this by regulating my breathing (slowing it down) and listening to particular worship songs, generally ones that have only a few words.

And then I wait and listen. ‘Come, Lord Jesus, come’ I repeat quietly and then I wait some more. And go off in my mind to a lovely spot and find Jesus where we sit down together and often just do that. Sit. Jesus might put his hand on my shoulder and we watch a beautiful sunrise or similar.

Sometimes I receive reassuring words. Often, not.

2. Surrender

And then I hand off my struggles. Solving Dad’s catheter bag issue, frustrations at my brother for not doing something, worrying mom will be sick again today. These three matters were top of mind this morning for me.

I send them down the stream that Jesus and I sit beside. Or I hand them to him.

And let go of them.

This last point is vital. We gotta let go. That doesn’t mean we do nothing. Absolutely not. We still make the phone call to the nurse to organise the bags, etc, etc. But we let go of the outcome and the stress related to getting that outcome.

I only read this yesterday: “Living a life of faith often requires us to leave things alone.” (A.B. Simpson) God can sure do a better job than we can.

And then I receive peace. Just like Paul says in this very popular passage on anxiety and peace.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. Yes, it may be a day full of stress because something doesn’t work out with getting Dad discharged. But God knows. And His easy yoke is there for me to grab a hold of tomorrow. And the next day and on.

What’s one way that helps you take the ‘easy yoke’? Be lovely if we could build up our own little collection of helpful practices that will encourage all of us.

Grace and peace.

Image courtesy of SawBear at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Hi! Ian from wintry Down Under.

Love! It tends to be something we compartmentalize, don’t we? It’s how we feel about our spouse and children, our parents and there’s this industry around romance, the books and movies. Strangely, or perhaps not so, it’s actually not talked about a lot. When asked what I’m writing about, people often give me strange looks when I mention it’s a book about love. “It’s unusual for a man to talk and write about love,” said a lady I met picking my mom up from a dental appointment when I happened to mention what I’m writing about.

I will often squirm when I’m sharing it with a new group of people especially one only of men. I get these strange looks and the subject quickly changes because it’s an uncomfortable subject. Why is it something we find uncomfortable discussing and even if we do we might confuse it with sex (men more likely too)?

We were made in the image of God. Right. And He’s a God of love. Right. That must mean we’ve been made in love and love is an inherent characteristic of our makeup. John 3:16 is perhaps the most recognized verse in the western world. Why? Because it’s written in big bold print at most major global sporting events like the Olympics and the football World Cup. Most of us reading this book probably recall it immediately: “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.” (NIV). Besides being a statement of the gospel, it also clearly states God’s modus operandi, that is, the particular way He works.

By love!

God loved the world and everyone in it so much that out of that love He sent Jesus to live incarnationally amongst us, to then die and be raised from the dead. God did it out of … love. This is how He works. Whether it’s in the macro way of the world or within the micro way of an individual, He only knows the one way of operating: in love. Certainly, this love takes different forms depending on the circumstance but everything He does reflects love.

Love in Action

If God’s way of working is by love, is He not inviting us into His world to operate the same way. I wonder if the big question of what’s life about has a relatively simple answer:  to live a life of love.

Jesus even reminds us, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:35)” No wonder so many in the world struggle with the church and Christians because we so often don’t do very well at loving others. It grieves my heart when we see evidence of abuse within churches, churches breaking up, Christian marriages ending, supporting acts or individuals whose behaviors and words clearly don’t reflect the principles of love.

Yes, we can excuse ourselves for being human. We make mistakes, we sin, because we’re human. The church is full of fallible humans who make mistakes all the time. I know I do. Every. Day. It’s important we be compassionate and extend grace to ourselves and to others.

Love is hard work, isn’t it? Especially when your partner is grumpy or worse, your kids are driving you nuts, or someone hurts you and we can go on. We can’t really love in our own strength and the wonderful thing about walking with Jesus is we don’t have too. And we’re not supposed to. God invites us to love like He does. With a compassionate heart.

As I go deeper with God, the more I find I need to go even deeper, and I want to because through Him we can learn to love better, even when we struggle to. But how do we do it?

Here’s a few suggestions. Why not add your own to the list in the comments? What’s something that’s helped you love better?

1. It starts with time with God. Prayer, solitude and silence are so pivotal to growing our connection with the lover of our souls. Like any good relationship quality time is essential. Solitude and silence help us listen. Prayer is more about getting God into us; it helps us detach from ourselves so our hearts can be transformed (slowly) into being better lovers.
2. Actions speak louder than words. Choose to do something that’s about another. It might be a simple text to a friend asking after them or specifically praying for them. I always find that when I pray the Spirit nudges me to do something for another. This is God’s way.
3. Listen first and hold off giving your own advice or opinion. I struggle with this all the time. We like to solve people’s issues, don’t we? Before expressing an opinion, ask a question. Listen. Ask another question. Listen. Wait for your partner, child, friend to ask for your input. Eek.
4. Pray for someone who hurt you. Express your hurt to God. Remember, He’s the compassionate one. Imagine Him hugging you and after a while see if you can simply ask God to bless the one who hurt you.

I’m continually amazed by this little community of ours and reading of how various members love one another and their partners and kiddies, even under some very challenging circumstances.

Let’s continue to be known for our love.

Much love, my friends.

Image courtesy of Janpen04081986 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Hello, dear SUMites, Ian from sunny Sydney. The world was turned on its head this time last year when the first people outside of China began to be diagnosed with this new virus strain which the medical community named COVID-19. The virus soon spread exponentially (a term that became part of our daily lexicon) throughout every land, borders in many countries were quickly shut and panic set in.

A year later, some countries are still in the thick of it. Vaccines are being rolled out to the masses and everyone’s hoping and praying that by the end of 2021 the world might go back to normal.

Lament

The loss of life, both in terms of deaths but also change in daily routines, access to family and friends, loss of employment, and so on has been immense. The world has been crying out, ‘how long will this go on?’ The shock and disbelief still reverberates.

For those of us who follow Jesus it’s made many of us question where God is in all of this. “How long, Lord?”, like the Psalmist has become a common refrain along with many other cries from the heart. Lament, a passionate expression of grief or sorrow, is a very acceptable posture before the Lord. As Pete Greig states, “struggle and travail are important expressions of biblical spirituality. Lamenting is more than a technique for venting emotion. It is one of the fruits of a deepening spiritual life that has learned to stand naked before God without shame or pretense …”¹

If you’re familiar with the Psalms², you’ll most likely be aware that at least one-third of them are laments where the writer is in the midst of some unresolved pain.

If you’re grappling with some unresolved pain, may I encourage you right now to express your pain, sadness, grief, disappointment, fear or frustration to the Lord. Sit quietly and be gentle with yourself, grab some tissues and simply ask Jesus to be present. And now share whatever you’re feeling. Take your time. Jesus won’t leave.

If you expressed your emotion and feel up to it please let us know in the comments so we can join you in your lament.

Solution or a Person

I was struck the other day by two stories of lament, one Biblical (from Job) and another about a marriage breakdown. We’re all familiar with Job’s story of incredible loss that occurred suddenly. He lost his family, his possessions, his health, everything. Friends came to counsel him while Job cried out to God. And heard nothing in reply nor was his situation resolved or fixed.

I find when I’m struggling with unresolved pain, I just want God to fix it. Heal me, open a door, provide something and so on. Or at the very least an explanation. ‘Why has that friend suddenly deserted me? What have I done?’ Anyone else with me?

We want the answer, the solution, the explanation, so we can control the situation, make sense of it. When we understand something, we are able to exercise greater control over it.

But so often, nothing happens. Right? Like Job, it makes no sense. ‘How long, Lord?’ we cry for the umpteenth time.

Let’s go back to Job. After 37 chapters, God finally responds. And what a response it is. Let’s look at the first few verses, but I’d encourage you to read the rest.

‘Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
   Tell me, if you have understanding. 
Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
   Or who stretched the line upon it? 
On what were its bases sunk,
   or who laid its cornerstone 
when the morning stars sang together
   and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy? (v 4-7)

What tone do you hear in God’s voice as you read these verses? A harsh demanding one or a loving Father that speaks tenderly and honestly? The former makes God to be a critical judge that chides his impatient underling, while the latter makes Him to be a caring Father who happens to have the entire universe in His hands. Included in this universe is suffering Job.

God has never left Him. Not for a minute. Everything and everyone is in His loving care. Similarly, to Job, God hasn’t left us during this past year. He’s still very much in control.

What do we prefer? The solution or Him? The provision from His hands or His warm embrace saying He’ll never leave us or forsake us?

May I encourage us to choose to believe that our loving God is always with us irrespective of our circumstances and He wants us to continually turn to Him, for Him and not just the solution. He is always the answer! He wants us to surrender control, even if we can only do it with gritted teeth. Yes, cry out for the solution you seek, and He may well provide but most importantly He will give Himself which is the best thing we could ever hope for.

Much love, my friends.

Notes:

1. Lectio 365 App, Tuesday 2 March 2021 “Learning to Lament” Words taken from Pete Greig’s book, ‘God on Mute’
2. Some of the well-known Lament Psalms include: 6, 10, 38, 42-43, 130.

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Hello, my SUMite friends. Ian, from Down Under here. I trust everyone is holding up okay under the continued stress of the global pandemic. It has sure been an unsettling time for all of us and finding ‘peace’ can be especially difficult.

One of the blessings of the Beatitudes refers to being peacemakers. (Matthew 5:9). However, to be a peacemaker we first need to be able to receive peace. I know I often struggle to engage the peace that is already present inside us through Christ. If I’m grappling with some internal struggle or feelings of anger, fear, bitterness or lust I may hide these away instead of drawing closer to Jesus and engaging the peace that resides in me.

Jesus Walking in the Room

I love the scene in John 20, the day after Jesus’ resurrection, when the disciples are locked in the Upper Room terrified the Jewish leaders are going to break down the door and haul them away.

Let’s read it together:

“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” (John 20:19-23 NIV)

Jesus appears. Yes, he simply appears. He doesn’t need to open the door in his resurrected body because he has taken on his divinity that he let go of 33 years earlier.

And what are his first words: “Peace be with you.”

Put yourself in the scene. Yes, if you can listen to this scene and picture yourself as one of the terrified disciples it makes the experience even better. And God appears. Offering His peace.

Receive it. Breathe in His peace. And breathe out the stress, the worry, the whatever.

When Jesus says it for a second time, receive it. And picture yourself receiving his breath upon you as he breathes the Holy Spirit over you. Breathe it in, breathe out the worry.

Closed Doors

What doors have you closed in your heart and mind? Let Jesus appear in them. And picture him saying those wonderful words, “Peace be with you.” Not just once, but twice.

Breathe in the peace, breathe out the shame, the anger, the fear, the worry that has been locked up in that room.

Our Shepherd

Psalm 23 is my favourite Psalm. I’m sure I’m not alone in that. And what I love most about it is the peace I receive as I meditate upon it. We have a shepherd who says ‘we want for nothing’. This is what living in his Kingdom is all about: living in continual peace, irrespective of our circumstances.

And the Kingdom is here now. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15 NIV)

May I encourage us to meditate on Psalm 23. Once again, you may enjoy listening to it. Picture yourself with Jesus, our shepherd. And after each verse, perhaps say, “I can relax”.

May I close with this blessing over us all. One we’re familiar with I’d suggest. Receive it as you read it:

“The Lord bless you and keep you;

The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;

The Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26 NIV)

Peace be with us all. In Jesus’ wonderful Name. Amen.

Dear friends, Ann here.

Last week I shared a story about a shift in my home. A good shift. If you missed that post, you can read it here. Essentially, a peace came and settled between me and my hubby, and we stopped having disagreements about faith or church.

Wonderful!

Perhaps at some point in a SUM, this is what happens. I would be interested to hear in the comments if any others of you have found that. I know that Lynn felt that shift one or two years before her husband, Mike, got baptized.

Now, I keep a careful diary about my life with God, and in the case of this particular shift I looked back and noticed something curious. At the very time that the shift with my husband happened, I had begun to do something new: I had begun to linger a little longer with the Lord.

It was right when I began to linger a little longer that a peace descended in my home. 

So, I'd like to share a bit about my journey with that.

Like many of us, I've had a busy life for a long time. I worked as a lecturer at the University of Auckland, a busy job. And, of course, I had my family. Despite the busyness, I would spend daily time with God, but there sometimes wasn't the capacity to spend as much time as I wanted. That is the case for many, I know. And life has seasons, God understands. 

Anyway, 2019 rolled round and God took me on a little adventure there. First, he made it clear that he had a new plan for me and that I was to leave my job. I didn’t know exactly why, but I duly waved goodbye to my colleagues, and began a time of being a housewife.

It was then that the Lord nudged me to do something rather counter-cultural. Here's what he asked:

“Ann, would you try giving me your whole morning, and see what happens?”

My whole morning? Every morning? Umm ... I'd actually like to!

So I did. It looked like this: Get up, make coffee, see the boys off to school, and then sit with God. Sit. Sit. Sit some more. Until midday. In those hours, I did nothing except chat to him, read scripture, worship, journal, look back on stories of his faithfulness in my life or others' lives, pray for others … And focus 100% on filling myself up.

Some might say to that: "Wow, that's kinda lazy!" Well, that was the question for me. Was I being lazy? I will confess to being a natural couch potato. So was it lazy, or was it the most worthwhile thing I could do? 

I had to count the cost. It meant we would not be living in a show home, for housework came second. I had less space in my diary. I didn't really get to go round the shops much that year, which I otherwise would have enjoyed. I did without some pleasures. It made me a bit serious in some ways, because matters of faith are serious if we go near the topic of others' salvation, good and evil, and so on. But, I became addicted to the Lord.

And somewhere in amongst this lingering, the presence of God came and brought some new peace. Things shifted. 

It wasn't just my marriage. It was myself. I began to feel constantly like I had been injected with happy drugs. For that is the abundant life of Jesus.

Now, to come back to earth: Yes, it was a treat, and usually it's not practical to linger that long. Especially if you work, or have toddlers. But what we can do is say this: "Lord, I'd like to give you a little bit longer than I have before" Then, "How can I rearrange my life so that I can linger with you?"

It might just be 10 minutes more than we did before. It might be one lunch-break a week at work. That is lingering … A little longer than we did before.

And, if we find it hard to concentrate, hard to linger, if we find we get distracted, we can pray for help with it: Lord, help me to linger a little longer with you!

How easy or hard do you find it to linger at the moment? What kinds of obstacles get in the way? Let's chat! 

Photo courtesy of Stuart Miles and FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Hello, dear friends. Ian from sunny Sydney here. It’s a big few days in America with the election and we all around the world watch on eagerly with prayerful hearts.

Recently, I came across a little-known Saint, Alphonsus Rodriguez, who lived in Spain in the 1500s. Rodriguez was in his 40s, a widower, with no children and a bankrupt,  who on seeking to join a Jesuit monastery was told he was too old and too uneducated to become a priest. He was sent to a Jesuit College on the island of Majorca where he served as a porter and doorkeeper. He turned door-keeping into a sacramental duty. Every time the doorbell rang, he would say, “I’m coming, Lord!” and would then welcome the visitor as Christ himself.

Many brilliant young priests passed through the college. Alphonsus welcomed each one lavishly and many of them turned to him for spiritual counsel. One of them was a man named, Peter Claver, who began meeting with Alphonsus, now 72, on a daily basis. The doorkeeper encouraged the young priest to travel to South America where he devoted his life to caring for slaves, for which he was later recognized as a saint.

Alphonsus Rodriguez was also made a saint, canonized for his own brand of quiet heroism expressed in a life of humility, hospitality and friendship that impacted vast numbers of people across the globe.^note

Our Little Lives

Sometimes we can question whether we’re making our lives count. We’re just going about our days as spouse, parent, employee/employer, friend, sibling, child and on wondering whether we’re really making any impact. Inherent in all of us is a desire for significance. Perhaps this drive is stronger in men, I don’t know, but we can also let it lead us astray in chasing after the ‘big’ thing that will make us feel better about ourselves and fill us with pride for being a ‘somebody’.

We’re already significant, aren’t we, in the simple fact that God, the creator of the universe has chosen to give each of one of us, life. That’s right, our God thinks we’re pretty awesome because He made us. We were significant before we were born because God thought of us before we even made an appearance in the womb.

The Great Commission

^“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20a NIV)

We’re all familiar with these verses and for many of us we can feel burdened by thinking we’re not doing anything ‘great’ for the Kingdom. Or we might feel this is someone else’s responsibility, that is, those people specifically called to a ministry role of some description.

But, no, we are all called to make disciples. Yes. Every single one of us. But we don’t have to be burdened by it; we can in fact be playing our part by continuing to live out our own little lives. For most of us, the Great Commission will be outworked in our own homes, schoolyards, workplaces, cafes and such like.

How?

Alphonsus Rodriguez provides us with the example. “Do everything in love.” (1 Corinthians 16:14 NIV). We get to choose how we treat everybody we come across today: “I’m coming, Lord!”

Like Alphonsus, we may never know the impact such an attitude might have on our legacy. He most likely had no knowledge that Peter Claver was canonized for his role in South America having passed away long before.

Just Start

Often, we get stuck in thinking we have to do something significant.

“Start where you are, where you can be of service, not a hero.” (Joan Chittister)

Start with your spouse. Start with your kids even if they’re driving you nuts. Start with your work colleagues. Choose love. Choose to think you’re addressing the King of Kings. You’ll be surprised how once you start, you’ll keep doing it. And then it spreads. Love begets love. Care begets care.

And in the ordinariness of life, something extraordinary begins to take root.

“I’m coming, Lord!”

Grace and peace, dear friends

Note: my inspiration for this post came from Lectio365 Monday 2 November 2020 Devotional titled: Alphonsus Rodriguez: Hero of Hospitality.