A leopard

Today I saw a picture of the traditional game of Jacks involving picking up, with one hand, 1-10 little jacks formed with 6 prongs extending outwards to create a 3D cross which have been scattered over a small area, having bounced a little rubber ball which must then be caught before bouncing a second time. The number of jacks to be picked up starts off with one and at each bounce increases sequentially to ten, to complete the whole task. This game of skill requires keeping your eyes on the ball. Similarly, for us to increasingly succeed in our Life, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus, regardless of how few or how many responsibilities and hardships we may have. As we are reminded in Colossians 3:1-2, "Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things".

Today I saw an image of an infestation of rats which, though hideous, can provide us with an encouraging message. In the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel chapters 5 and 6, we read of the Philistines stealing the Israelites' sacred Ark of the Covenant, which they regarded as the physical manifestation of God's presence and power. The Philistines irreverently parked it in their temple with the statue of god Dagon. The statue toppled over twice in front of the Ark. Its head and arms were severed. And an infestation of tumours and rats occurred. Fast forwarding, in the New Testament we learn that Jesus came to earth and took all our inevitable sins on the Cross with Him. God then gave us the Holy Spirit, because of what Jesus had done. The Holy Spirit guides and teaches us to be like Jesus. Now we have the choice to ignore God's existence, park him amongst our other idols of say money, career and status or put Him above all. In that elevated place in our lives, we need not fear any bad in our lives. "I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly" (John 10:10).

Today I saw an image of an angel and a table. I belief that this connects to the incident, as recorded in Luke 1:11-13, of Angel Gabriel telling Jewish priest Zechariah that despite being past child-bearing age, his wife would bear a child. We know now that she bore John the Baptist. The table was the precious Incense Table (altar) from which the prayers for the people were sent up to God with the burning of an incense - a specific blend of fragrant spices. King David knew his prayers reached God's throne in heaven when he declared, "May my prayer be set before you like incense..." (Psalm 141:2). In Revelation, the final book in the bible, on how it is and how it will be in God's Kingdom, we read of angels, each with "a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of God's people" (Revelation 5:8). You are not alone when you pray. Your prayers are rising to God. Let us really believe what a privilege it is for our prayers to be received by God in precious golden bowls. They are being heard and will be answered in His perfect timing and in His perfect way.

Today I saw a beehive with its Queen Bee and the industrious prolific female worker bees and the male drones, all working for the greater good of the bee community. Similarly, the Holy Spirit assigns different giftings to everyone who makes up the Body of Christ, for the greater good of God's Kingdom (see 1 Corinthians 12). Animals have specialised exocrine glands that exude chemical messages - pheromones - which are picked up by the ultra-specialised receptors of other members of their species. Are we similarly sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit? Let us be intentional and serious in our Christian walk, stilling ourselves and having our spiritual receptors open to the Holy Spirit's promptings.

Today I saw a leopard, an ambush predator, stealthily waiting to attack its prey with power and strength, reminiscent of the roaring lion mentioned in 1 Peter 5:8, describing the devil 'seeking whom he may devour". We realistically know that there is evil in this world, but Jesus also tells us, "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You believe in God, believe also in me". It is not enough to be half-hearted and luke warm in our belief and trust in the love of Jesus and His powerful Holy Spirit. "But our struggle is not against flesh and blood" (Ephesians 6:12). There are evil spiritual powers but perhaps you don't believe in them or only half believe? We need to really acknowledge and want the Holy Spirit in our lives and to prepare for Jesus's return. When He returns the devil will be a vanquished foe. Peace will reign on earth. "The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together, and a little child will lead them" (Isaiah 11:6). Jesus is waiting for each and everyone of us, saying, "Peace I leave you, my peace I give unto you. Not as the world gives, do I give unto you" (John 14:27)

Today, in my mind's eye, I saw a coach trying to drive up a steep hill. This reminds me of the secular book by Watty Piper called, "The Little Engine That Could". The story is about a train with carriages trying to carry toys and sweets up a high mountain, over, and down to the children who lived on the other side. The train breaks down and the toys hail passing engines for help. Three refuse - the first because he only carried important passengers, one only pulled heavy freight (so maybe wanting to maintain a macho image) and one was too old, rusty and tired. Finally a small inexperienced little blue train came along and she happily said she would try and pull them. All the way up the mountain she chanted, "I think I can" and when she succeeded, after a lot of effort, her rhythmic words changed to, "I thought I could, I thought I could ...". This story with the engines passing by who refuse to help a broken-down train, moves me on to Jesus's Parable of The Good Samaritan (see Luke 10:25-37) whereby a man beaten, robbed and left for dead on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho, was intentionally bypassed until a man from Samaria (Israel's ostracised and scorned neighbour) tended to his wounds, took him on his donkey and was prepared to pay for all the costs for him to be looked after at an inn. There are many points to consider in these allegories but I emphasise two today. Be careful to examine yourself as maybe you do walk past a need that God has asked you to meet because your current agenda is too important, you do not want a negative impact on your image and reputation or you are simply too tired etc? Another point is that to genuinely express God's love and compassion to others, it requires us to slow down and look around. God could be asking you to attend to a person, a situation. If He does, step out in faith with the assurance that God will give you the grace, time strength, ability and skills to do what He is asking of you.

Today I saw a recently chopped down log, reminding me of the Old Testament account of prophet Elisha's disciples cutting down trees near the River Jordan, in order to build a larger place to live in than their existing quarters. While one of the disciples was felling a tree, the heavy iron axe head flew off the handle and sank into the river. The young prophet panicked as he had borrowed that axe and iron was a very expensive commodity. Elisha threw a piece of wood into the water, in the exact place where the iron axehead had sunk, and immediately the iron rose to the surface for easy retrieval (see 2 Kings 6:1-7). This incident, which is simply told, reminds us that with simple faith in our mighty God, unequalled by any other power, we can know that He is always with us to help us. Many bible verses acclaim this Truth. "... For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1:9). "So do not fear for I am with you ..." (Isaiah 41:10). "...for the Lord your God goes with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you" (Deuteronomy 31:6). "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1). We need not fear or panic if we truly believe this Truth.

Today, in my mind's eye, I saw a picture of groundnuts (peanuts) still with their red papery covering, inside their dry crispy pods. They are actually legumes, not nuts. When their yellow flowers are fertilised, their stems, known as pegs, bend down and bury into the ground, with the whole process of maturing occurring in the dark underground. What a wonderful analogy of our deepest spiritual growth which usually occurs in our dark difficult times when we might be feeling isolated and overlooked. By humbling ourselves and metaphorically bending close to God, we will be developing our unique calling and enriching our character. A peanut plant, unusually, does not deplete its sourrounding of nutrients but, instead, takes nitrogen from the air and puts it into the ground. We have another analogy here, reminiscent of yesterday's message, that we are to enrich the environments in which we are planted, however 'dark' they may feel. The groundnut has so many uses and we can be reminded that despite its dry lacklustre pods, it actually contains potentially hidden treaures. Our human frame houses God's Holy Spirit. He can use us mightily if we are willing. King David declared, as recorded in Psalm 139:14 "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well". Apostle Paul says, "For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). Jesus calls us to follow Him with the words, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10b). We are created for a beautiful purpose. By humbling ourselves to God's Ways and Will, we will discover what it is. God wants to bless us mightily.

Do we bring out the best in the people we engage with in life and do we have people around us that bring out the best in us? "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds" (Hebrews 10:24). "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others"(Philippians 2:3-4). Chapter 13 of Apostle Paul's 1st Letter to the church in Corinth is often read at weddings but, actually, its original intent was to encourage us to extend God's all encompassing agape love to others - deliberate unconditional love - as opposed to just referring to romantic love. Verse 7 of this well known Chapter reads, "Love protects always, trusts always hopes always and perseveres always". Respectively, those four descriptions of agape love are of graciously providing a safe, respectful space for growth and change; giving the benefit of the doubt rather than resorting to a default mode of viewing others with suspicion and cynicism; positively assuming the best outcome; and persevering in supporting another's growth even if they stumble and/or regress. God certainly extends all that grace towards us.

Today I saw a butterfly; many of us can instantly see the contrast between the earthbound, slow caterpillar and a free flying butterfly. As Christians, we see this metamorphosis as an analogy to the spiritual freedom we receive in Christ. "Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2). Once the butterfly is set free, the hollow brittle shell of the chrysalis has no value. Similarly, we are to remember that our old life of sin no longer represents us. (See 2 Corinthians 5:17). We have been considering fasting recently. The caterpillar concentrates wholly on consuming and it is only when in the cocoon and not eating that the transformation takes place. When we fast from our physical needs of food, social media, entertainment such as Netflix, noise etc, we are temporarily foregoing our physical consumption in order to create a sacred space to hear God's gentle quiet voice speaking to our inner being. Jesus gave instructions on when we fast, not if we fast (see Matthew 7:16), in which He indicates that it is our quiet private communion with God and is a joyful experience, not a gloomy punishment. God's power is manifest as a result of these times of fasting.