What Love Is?
December 24, 2013 
6 Comments
Some children were asked what love is. The responses were quite interesting and instructive for us adults.
One said “love is when my daddy makes a cup of coffee for my mummy and tastes a bit first before he gives it to her to make sure it’s ok.”
Another said ”love is when your puppy licks you, even when you’ve been out all day.”
one said “ you really shouldn’t say I love you unless you really mean it, but if you do mean it you should say it a lot, ‘cause people forget.”
One boy said “when someone loves you they say your name different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.
And finally one seven year old said “love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you just stop unwrapping your presents and listen.”
Have You Received This Gift?
December 20, 2013 5 Comments
“Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about? – Charlie Brown
“Aren’t we forgetting the true meaning of Christmas? You know… the birth of Santa!” – Bart Simpson
Are you aware of this simple fact, that God couldn’t possibly love you more than He does right now? That He loves you as much as a perfect God can? That He loves you perfectly, and there’s nothing you can do to make Him love you more? There’s nothing you can do to earn His approval; you have it. Are you aware of that? Do you realise how deeply God loves you?”
“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.” John 3:16
Have you received this gift?
Father, today and through this season, give me the ability and the willingness to realise how deeply and passionately You love me. Amen.
How Better We Can Love
December 20, 2013 1 Comment
Is life not full of opportunities for learning love? Every man and woman every day has a thousand of them. The world is not a playground; it is a schoolroom. Life is not a holiday, but an education. And the one eternal lesson for us all is how better we can love.
Henry Drummond
“But You Gave Me Two”
December 18, 2013 7 Comments
Time Is Short
December 13, 2013 9 Comments
The Masterpiece
December 12, 2013 21 Comments
The Masterpiece
By Michael Youssef, Ph.D.
There is a story about a wealthy man and his only son who travelled the world together collecting priceless paintings by Van Gogh, Monet and many other masters. Tragically, the son died at war while rescuing others. Distraught and lonely, the old man dreaded the upcoming Christmas day.
Christmas morning, a young soldier knocked on his door and said, “I’m a friend of your son. I’m one of the ones he rescued.” Then the soldier presented a picture he had painted of the son. Though the picture lacked genius, the brokenhearted father saw the features of his precious son and immediately valued this painting above all the masterpieces in his home. Every day, the father gazed at the portrait and told his housekeeper of his great love for it.
When the father died, the art world buzzed with excitement over the sale of his extraordinary art collection on Christmas day.
The first item offered was the painting of the son, but no one in the self-important crowd would bid on the amateurish portrait. The auctioneer insisted that the terms of the will required the portrait must be sold before any other paintings could be offered. Finally, the housekeeper, tears streaming down her cheeks, said to the auctioneer, “May I pay ten dollars for it? That is all the money I have. I knew the son, and I know how much the father treasured that portrait.” The auctioneer said, “The bid is ten dollars. Going once, going twice, gone,” and the gavel fell.
The auctioneer then announced that the auction was over. “What do you mean?” said the stunned audience. “There must be hundreds of millions of dollars of art here.” The auctioneer replied, “It is very simple. According to the will of the father, whoever takes the son gets it all.”
Like the art collectors, not everyone can see the real value of a relationship with Jesus. John 1:11 tells us that Jesus came to His own but His own received Him not. They did not accept the precious gift of God’s Son, a gift that brings with it all the blessings and love of God.
If you are not intentional about recognizing and receiving Jesus Christ, you will have nothing in the end, and there will be no negotiation of God’s terms. God’s Son may have been born in the most humble of circumstances in a manger in Bethlehem, but He is coming back in power and glory. The next time we see Jesus, things will be very different from His first coming. Not only will He be the King of kings but He will be a judge and we will be held accountable for our lives.
Read John 3:18-36 and Revelations 3:16. Clearly, there are two categories of people: those who fully accept the Son as the only means to the Father and those who don’t. People who are indifferent or neutral about the Son will miss the opportunity to live eternally with the Father in Heaven. It is not enough to believe Jesus was a good man or a prophet; James 2:19 says that even the devil believes and “trembles.”
Have you said “Yes” to the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior? Luke 15:7 says there will be joy in Heaven when you do. Tell the Father today about your love for His Son. Ask God to protect your heart from being neutral or complacent about your devotion to Jesus. Is there someone you know who needs to acknowledge Jesus as Savior? Pray about being intentional about introducing them to the Son.
Update #2 On ‘Join Me In Prayer For Sarah’
December 2, 2013 15 Comments
Hi, sorry it’s been a little over two week since the last update, but we’ve been waiting for this mornings appointment before we could bring you more news.
Sarah’s had a few complications in the last couple of weeks, so we’ve been back and forward to the hospital to try and narrow down whats causing them. Sarah’s cornea developed a scratch and an infection which was causing her a lot of pain and irritation. (understatement!) They first gave her more eye drops and said to come back in a couple of days.
We returned with more irritation, sleep depravation (the pain has been keeping Sarah awake) and Sarah’s eyesight had become very poor, Sarah said “it’s like trying to look through a frosted glass window”. Another doctor said that Sarah maybe allergic to the preservatives in the eye drops, and prescribed “preservative free” eye drops. We then had to wait 10 day’s before this mornings appointment.
The doctor said that he could see no sign of infection, and the scratch had healed and disappeared. Yay! But the reason that the eye is healing so slowly and continues to be very sensitive is the Diabetes. The nuropathy is slowing the healing, making the eye feel like it’s about to burst and maintaing the extremely itchy painful irritation that’s driving Sarah crazy, which, is making her really fed up. 😦
We have another appointment in two weeks time and i’ll keep you lovely friends updated. Sarah was really hoping to be back at work this week and is trying her best not to feel too inpatient!
We both thank you all so much for the love, kindness, prayers and support as you journey through this with us. Can’t thank you enough! 🙂
See also:
Why Christmas?
December 1, 2013 0 Comments
Why Christmas?
Because God loves you so much that He gave His one and only Son, sending Him into the world as a poor baby so that He could show you how to live.
Even more than that,
that He might be your life. He lived perfectly, died a grizzly death, shed His blood so that your sins might be removed, so that you will not perish, but spend forever with Him.
Have you received this gift?
The Truth Is…
November 29, 2013 5 Comments
The LIE
Genesis 3:4-5 The Voice
Serpent: Die? No, you’ll not die. God is playing games with you. 5 The truth is that God knows the day you eat the fruit from that tree you will awaken something powerful in you and become like Him: possessing knowledge of both good and evil.
My Thoughts 💭
Do you hear the whispers thet are making you feel like your missing out on something, you need more to be finally fulfilled, telling you that you need the latest …………(fill in the blank with any worldly/created item) to be satisfied?!
It’s a LIE, and we still fall for it everyday!
The Truth
2 Peter 1:3-4 The Voice
His divine power has given us everything we need to experience life and to reflect God’s true nature through the knowledge of the One who called us by His glory and virtue. Through these things, we have received God’s great and valuable promises, so we might escape the corruption of worldly desires and share in the divine nature.
God took the first step to rescue us from this corrupt world. He has granted us His power, revealed to us true knowledge, and spoken to us great promises. He has done all this for a reason: that we might participate in His own nature and reflect His own life. But we are not passive observers of God’s saving actions. We must receive His grace, grow in knowledge, and join Him in this work of redemption.
Listen out for the LIE, then, remember we have everything we need in Jesus!
Verbal Sunshine
November 29, 2013 0 Comments
Be generous with encouragement. It is verbal sunshine. It costs nothing and it warms hearts.
The Kindness Of Your Heart
November 27, 2013 6 Comments
Father, I want to show the kindness of Your heart today. Please show me who I can help and in what way. I want my words and deeds to convey Your love. Amen.
Not Necessarily Doubting
November 26, 2013 3 Comments
We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.
C. S. Lewis
Share The Truth
November 25, 2013 14 Comments
Father, empower me and motivate me with Your love. Give me a sincere heart for those who are bound for a Godless eternity. Equip me and make me willing to allow You to use me to destroy myths and share the truth about Your love with any and all people that You place in my path. Amen.
Everlasting Life
November 22, 2013 3 Comments
John 3:16-21 The Voice
For God expressed His love for the world in this way: He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not face everlasting destruction, but will have everlasting life. Here’s the point. God didn’t send His Son into the world to judge it; instead, He is here to rescue a world headed toward certain destruction.
No one who believes in Him has to fear condemnation, yet condemnation is already the reality for everyone who refuses to believe because they reject the name of the only Son of God. Why does God allow for judgment and condemnation? Because the Light, sent from God, pierced through the world’s darkness to expose ill motives, hatred, gossip, greed, violence, and the like. Still some people preferred the darkness over the light because their actions were dark. Some of humankind hated the light. They scampered hurriedly back into the darkness where vices thrive and wickedness flourishes. Those who abandon deceit and embrace what is true, they will enter into the light where it will be clear that all their deeds come from God.
Jesus makes the point clear: stay connected to Him, and have no reason to fear. Jesus doesn’t mean that at the instant someone has faith, fear simply vanishes or only good things happen in that person’s life. In fact, the blessings that come with eternal life often have nothing to do with present or future circumstances, but they have everything to do with the individual’s connections to God and others. That is John’s message to his listeners. God came to earth embodied in flesh, and then He reached His greatest acclaim through a torturous death. If this is all true, then believers will find strength and beauty in places never imagined. Abiding in Jesus the Anointed is the good life, regardless of the external circumstances.
In His Hands
November 21, 2013 9 Comments
Those who put themselves in His hands will become perfect, as He is perfect- perfect in love, wisdom, joy, beauty, health, and immortality. The change will not be completed in this life, for death is an important part of the treatment. How far the change will have gone before death in any particular Christian is uncertain.
C. S. Lewis
Resentment
November 18, 2013 7 Comments
The Greatest Source Of Power
November 16, 2013 1 Comment
If you are a stranger to prayer, you are a stranger to the greatest source of power known to human beings.
Billy Sunday
Update #1 On ‘Join Me In Prayer For Sarah’
November 16, 2013 18 Comments
Riding The Wave Of Prayers
First i have to thank all of you amazing loving people for the show of extravagant love to me and Sarah. We’ve been simply overwhelmed with your prayers, kindness and love through this journey.
The Plan…
The plan was set. Go to the chemist to get pain killers (Sarah is not allowed d to leave the house for a few days), nip into the doctors to sort out a sick note for the next two weeks, then go for a [Cortado’ coffee at Costa at the train station with half an hour to enjoy our new fave coffee (mainly keep Sarah as relaxed as possible), then Sarah can put her last eye drops in before we catch the 11:04 train that will get us to Kings College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London ready for the operation.
The Hypo…
This was all going well up until Sarah had locked herself in the toilet by passing out with a hypo. The idea was that she went in to put in her eye drops as we still had 15 minutes until the train arrives (the platform is about 1 minute away from the coffee shop. As i was stood outside the door while staff kept walking past suspicious of the weird man lurking around the toilets. With 5 minutes left i knocked on the door, with the sound of the music and the coffee machines i could just make out what i thought was Sarah. Then as i realised too much time had passed and we’d missed our train i asked one of the passing staff if they could open the door as i think my wife is having a hypo. Sarah had know her blood was creeping down and she had a biscuit and sugar in her coffee but she felt and seemed ok.
I opened the door to find Sarah in a zombie like state (the only description i can find that closely resembles a hypo) not knowing where she was, what she was doing or where we were going! I’d like to state at this point that we only really had one must do for this morning, and that was to try and keep Sarah’s blood sugar stable as they won’t operate if it’s too high, low or on the move. I prayed:
“Jesus, There is no way they can operate now, i did my best but i don’t know if there’s another train, if Sarah can even stand up, never mind walk, and Sarah’s blood sugar always ends up too high after a hypo and we always have a long struggle getting it back down. i hand it all to you, please help”.
I got Sarah to her feet and she could just about stand up without her knees giving way. We managed to leave the coffee shop and after catching Sarah from behind as she started to fall back down the platform steps (i was behind trying to push her up) we finally got to the platform. This is where Sarah normally guides me as she knows the trains. Usually the trains are announced, but today there were none, but a train arrived straight away and we got on anyway. I told Sarah to just sleep on my shoulder and hope that this train is going the right way! The inside train announcement only said which station it was pulling up to and not the stations of the full journey.
Sarah woke and asked “where are we?” “I’m not sure, but i hope it stops at Clapham Junction”. Then a few minutes later we arrived at Clapham Junction. We then walked to the other platform and a train was waiting there too. We finally arrived at the day surgery unit a couple of minutes before the 12:30 appointment.
Sarah did a blood test and it was 8.6 which is really good for her, but we knew that it often goes into the 20’s after a hypo and there’s no way they’ll operate if it goes any higher or continues to rise. Sarah went in around 13:00 but there were 4 people before her, I stayed in the waiting room.
The Waiting Room
I wanted to update everyone but i’d never used the mobile WordPress app to post before, so i kept the post “Praying in waiting room for Sarah” short so i could begin praying. I started with my voiceover reading all of your prayers, i prayed through each comment individually about 2 times each from the 1st post “Please Join Me In Prayer For Sarah” then i had about an hour of personal prayer before loving sister Janet would arrive to drive us home.
The Operation
Sarah’s op happened around 16:30, her blood sugar stayed perfectly stable at 6.8 the whole time! (Amazing!) Her main worry was the really painful needle that she sees going into her eye and it feels like her eyeball is bursting out of her face! I need to quote Sarah at this point:
“I felt a real peace i’d not felt before, i knew everyone was praying for me and i knew God was with me the whole time. I felt no pain at all with the needle and the surgeon was surprised how well the operation went. I also heard him say:
‘There are always bubbles in this (not sure what he was talking about) always bubbles, but there aren’t any at all, i can’t explain it?!’
The Next Morning
I’m typing this post Saturday morning at 11am while Sarah is sleeping. I’d like to thank you all once again for giving time in prayer and the loving encouraging comments that helped us through this amazing journey (and still help us as we read back through them). I’ll update again soon.
Sarah said to me this morning:
I felt like the whole day you had your arms around me, and God had his arms around both of us!
Through The Eyes Of A Dog
November 14, 2013 11 Comments
“God, make me the person my dog thinks I am.”
Church sign
Crafted By Human Hands
November 13, 2013 8 Comments
Psalm 115:1-8 The Voice
Not for us, O Eternal One; this glory is not for us—but for Your name
because of Your loyal love and truth.
Why should the nations ask,
“Where is their God now?”
Our God is in heaven
doing whatever He chooses.
Those nations worship idols of silver and gold,
crafted by human hands:
They have given their gods mouths, but they cannot speak;
eyes, but they cannot see.
They have provided their idols with ears, but they cannot hear;
noses, but they cannot smell.
They have fashioned hands, but the idols cannot reach out and touch;
feet, but they cannot walk.
Their idols cannot make a sound in their finely crafted throats.
The people who make idols will become useless like them,
like all who trust in idols.
Moral Acts
November 11, 2013 10 Comments
The three hardest tasks in the world are neither physical feats nor intellectual achievements, but moral acts: to return love for hate, to include the excluded, and to say, “I was wrong.”
Sydney J. Harris
Please Join Me In Prayer For Sarah
November 8, 2013 55 Comments
My Thoughts 💭
Dear readers, please could you pray for my lovely wife Sarah. We’ve just received the date for her eye surgery (Friday 15th Nov 12:00 UK time) and Sarah’s worried as this eye has lots of other complications from previous operations. So i’d like to gather as many brothers & sisters together to pray for her!
I’m posting this a week early as i thought if you only get weekly notifications then you still have time to join us in prayer! 🙂
Matthew 18:20 The Voice
For when two or three gather together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.
Nothing Transcends The Power Of God
November 5, 2013 1 Comment
Spiritual Family
November 1, 2013 15 Comments
1 John 5:1-6 The Voice
It’s easy to say “I love God,” but genuine love reflects God’s love. If we belong to God, then we will love each other regardless of how hard love is.
Everyone who trusts Jesus as the long-awaited Anointed One is a child of God, and everyone who loves the Father cannot help but love the child fathered by Him. Then how do we know if we truly love God’s children? We love them if we love God and keep His commands. You see, to love God means that we keep His commands, and His commands don’t weigh us down. Everything that has been fathered by God overcomes the corrupt world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith.
Who is the person conquering the world? It is the one who truly trusts that Jesus is the Son of God, that Jesus the Anointed is the One who came by water and blood—not by the water only, but by the water and the blood.
Just as we do not get to choose our biological brothers and sisters, we do not get to choose our spiritual brothers and sisters either. But what comes along with loving the Father is loving all His other children—even the really annoying ones! While it might seem to be easier to go off and live in isolation rather than put up with those we are not naturally attracted to, there are responsibilities that come with living in a spiritual family. We reflect our worship of God by living in respect with our Christian brothers and sisters. How we treat the people around us on a daily basis is the real test of our love for God.
Daily Prompt: Eat, Drink, and Be Merry…
November 1, 2013 14 Comments
Photographers, artists, poets: show us DINNER!
…for tomorrow we die. The world is ending tomorrow! Tell us about your last dinner!
⇧ Fillet Steaks ⇧
⇧ Love heart potatoes ⇧
⇧ Doughnuts ⇧
⇧ Elephant’s Foot ⇧
⇧ Hot Chocolate ⇧
My Thoughts 💭
Lucky i’d be dead tomorrow, as i think i’d die anyway after eating all of this! 😀
✞ Music “Always Been About You” by Fellowship Creative
November 1, 2013 2 Comments
It’s just gone 2am here in the UK and i’ve just saved Sarah from another nasty hypo (yay, i didn’t need to call the ambulance out!). This song was playing on the radio and helping me stay awake. I’ve never heard this song before so i thought i would share it with you now all is well! 🙂
Grass & Flowers
October 31, 2013 0 Comments
The Lord’s goodness surrounds us at every moment. I walk through it almost with difficulty, as through thick grass and flowers.
R. W. Barbour
✞ Music “Not For A Moment” by Meredith Andrews
October 31, 2013 7 Comments
Thanks to Spannerr for recommending this song to me!
Habits Of The Soul
October 31, 2013 3 Comments
Very often what God first helps us towards is not the virtue itself but just this power of always trying again. For however important chastity (or courage, or truthfulness, or any other virtue) may be, this process trains us in habits of the soul which are more important still.
C. S. Lewis
God’s Perfect Love
October 24, 2013 4 Comments
It would seem, after having been a Christian for almost 80 years, that I would no longer do ugly things that need forgiving. Yet I am constantly doing things to others that cause me to have to go back and ask their forgiveness. Sometimes these are things I actually do- other times they are simply attitudes I let creep in which break the circle of God’s perfect love.
Corrie ten Boom
Families
October 24, 2013 16 Comments
Sarah & i were away visiting our families for the last 5 days. We stayed 2 nights in Doncaster to visit Sarah’s family. Then we stayed 2 nights in Derby to visit my family. It was lovely to see our families again as its been nearly 2 years since i last saw them.
We hardly took any photos, but still have a few for our memories. 🙂
⇧ Sarah & her lovely Gran ⇧
⇧ From Left ~ Me, my brother Paul & sister Ambber ⇧
⇧ From Left ~ Me, brother Paul, sister Ambber & Sarah ⇧
⇧ From Left: Me, brother Paul, niece Chloe & sister Ambber ⇧
How Great Is The Contrast?
October 19, 2013 8 Comments
Make An Enormous Difference
October 18, 2013 4 Comments
Above All, Put On Love
October 16, 2013 2 Comments
Colossians 3:12-17 (VOICE)
Paul tells them the key to remain unified is to show compassion and forgiveness toward one another.
Since you are all set apart by God, made holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a holy way of life: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Put up with one another. Forgive. Pardon any offenses against one another, as the Lord has pardoned you, because you should act in kind. But above all these, put on love! Love is the perfect tie to bind these together. Let your hearts fall under the rule of the Anointed’s peace (the peace you were called to as one body), and be thankful.
Let the word of the Anointed One richly inhabit your lives. With all wisdom teach, counsel, and instruct one another. Sing the psalms, compose hymns and songs inspired by the Spirit, and keep on singing—sing to God from hearts full and spilling over with thankfulness. Surely, no matter what you are doing (speaking, writing, or working), do it all in the name of Jesus our Master, sending thanks through Him to God our Father.
For Paul it isn’t enough just to believe the right things. Right belief always produces right living. The gift of salvation demands that we put into practice the character of our King. Just as we take off and throw away old, worn-out clothes, we must strip off certain attitudes and actions of our old selves. Since our lives have been made new in Him, things like sexual immorality, greed, anger, lies, and the rest must find no place in us. But it is not enough to strip off the old; we must put on the new. And that new creation has many qualities of Jesus: compassion, gentleness, and humility; putting up with each other, forgiving each other, and above all, loving each other. These are the ways of Jesus, so they must be our ways too.
iChristian 
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