Musings

I must admit, I love the morning. The peace, the silence, the coffee... And most importantly, the presence of God! The Psalmist loved the morning. We can catch his sense of joy as he lifted up his heart to praise Yahweh, the Keeper of his soul. It is good to give thanks to the LORD, And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, And Your faithfulness every night, On an instrument of ten strings, On the lute, And on the harp, With harmonious sound. For You, LORD, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands. Psalm 92:1-4 Even though I grew up in a Christian family, I did not realize the importance of having a ‘quiet time’ with God each morning until I was 18. This materialized through a challenging teaching on the subject one Saturday evening. Then began an incredible journey of discovering truth for myself. The Bible is the LIVING WORD OF GOD! How exciting to hold it in our hands and learn throu...

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.   Proverbs 3:5-6 Enjoying the truth of these verses today and have read them in many places recently. It is often pointed out that our lives are like a tapestry being woven by all the events and choices of our days.   While we often only see the underside of the intricate weaving, a beautiful picture will be the outcome if we submit our lives to the Lord!

Some time ago, I wrote a blog in Macedonian about how to obtain eternal life according to the Bible and it seems to have attracted significant attention particularly in the Ukraine. I have no idea if a Ukrainian can understand much Macedonian, but perhaps there are enough similarities in the language to grasp the gist. As I write, my thoughts will come to me in English, but I will also refer to some of the material from that previous blog. The past few weeks have witnessed the exit of several renowned 'players' who have graced this earthly stage. I am sure you have seen the famous quote of David Bowie circulating the net: I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring. Time and time again people claim we cannot know what is on the other side as no one has ever returned from there. That is not strictly true. The Messiah, Jesus Christ, came from there, eternity, to tell us how it is and what is required of us to enter. Yet we happ...

There's nothing more beautiful than entering God's presence in our brokenness and have the Essence of Love fill our hearts with His presence and gentleness. He is such a loving Father who embraces us through the power of His Holy Spirit in grace and truth.  Sometimes we turn away from Him and go our own way, but He's waiting to draw us back to Himself 'with cords of love.'  Listen to the Words of the Saviour, the Giver of Life: 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 We are to come as we are because He knows everything about us anyway. If you hear Him calling today, do not harden your heart. As the song below says: Are you hurting and broken within? Overwhelmed by the weight of your sin? Jesus is calling Have you come to the end of yoursel...

For many of us, the Christmas story reads like a myth. That is why increasing numbers omit the ‘Christ’ component of Christmas and will celebrate X, Y and Zmas as they see fit. C.S. Lewis concluded: * "Now the story of Christ is simply a true myth: a myth working on us in the same way as the others, but with this tremendous difference that it really happened : and one must be content to accept it in the same way, remembering that it is God’s myth where others are men’s myths…" Men’s myths usually have no real geographical location, whereas God’s 'myth' does. Just in passing, increasing archaeological discoveries in Jerusalem continue to prove the historicity of the Bible. As I stood in the Shepherds’ Field outside of Bethlehem back in September of this year, it was deeply moving to relive in my mind the events of Luke 2: 8-20. What a privilege to stand in the actual place where the ‘glory of the Lord’ shone around the shepherds as they received the he...

Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. Luke 1:38 Mary did not hesitate to accept the * rhema word of the Lord when the angel Gabriel appeared to her. The news of the miracle which would take place in her womb was undoubtedly strange to her ears: And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name  Jesus . He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David.   Luke 1:31-32   She could have doubted that it would come to pass as the angel said or she could have presented the case from her point of view: I'm not married! What will Joseph think? It's going to be a scandal! I could be stoned to death! Instead, Mary received the rhema word by faith and humility. Gabriel tells her she is 'highly favoured' and when we consider how mortals can please God, we find the answer in Hebrews 11:6:  But withou...

FOR YOU from Matti Haapoja on Vimeo . When is the last time you allowed yourself to sit in silence and think? When did you last block out the sound of traffic, phone calls, TV, music, other voices...?  I try to do this at least once a month in Ohrid, my favourite place in Macedonia. It is amazing to sit in the peace and tranquility of Caneo with a spectacular view of the lake on all sides.  Church of St John, Caneo, Ohrid Recently, I sat there for a long time looking across to the Albanian mountains, contemplating, reflecting and communing with my Creator. God's voice is louder in the silence, His presence tangible. Here I come face to face with eternity. The noise and bustle of life will cease one day and we will stand before the Prince of Peace. He offers us eternal peace through the gift of Salvation which Jesus paid with His blood. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life and we can only come to the Father through Him. I am so grateful that He lives in my he...