My Identity in Christ

This week my identity in Christ has been on my mind, I have been dwelling on the fact that I am chosen (John 15:16), loved and accepted by God because of what Jesus did on the cross for me (Galatians 2:20; Romans 15:7). I am in fact God’s child (John 1:12), this is profound and […]

God Comforts Us In Troubles So We Can Comfort Others

I am currently reading through 2 Corinthians, it is a really helpful book in the Bible to go to if you are facing difficulties. This is because Paul wrote it when he was facing many hardships including: beatings, imprisonment and sleepless nights (2 Corinthians 6:5). He had a remarkable attitude through all of this which […]

Learning the secret of being content

The world tells us that we can only be content when we are healthy, successful and rich. This is thankfully not what the Bible tells us, as Paul wrote in Philippians 4:12: ‘I have learnt the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or […]

Am I Putting God First?

‘If my mind is not settled toward God as the author of it all, and if I’m not putting him first, I might as well quit. It will all be in vain, it won’t bring me any peace, and the true battle is being lost.’ (Rachel Wilson writing in The Life You Never Expected p44) […]

Paul’s chains advance the gospel, do mine?

I have been really challenged by Philippians 1:12-14 where Paul talks about how being in prison has served to advance the gospel. This is through him: (1) having access to a different group of people such as his guards (v13); (2) other believers hearing about his ministry whilst in chains and being encouraged to speak the […]

‘Church at work’ includes you!

Have you ever heard someone talk about ‘church at work’? At my church there is a specific group that meets with this name for people to encourage each other as Christians in a work place. Now this is good, it is clearly important how Christians conduct themselves at work. However from my own experience; as […]

Difficulty and Discouraging Situations: The Little Picture

As a Christian how should we tackle difficult and discouraging situations? This is something my husband David and I have thought a lot about in the last few years. We think it is important to have the right perspective when looking at the big picture by focusing on God’s greatness and purposes without losing sight […]

Difficult and Discouraging Situations: the Big Picture

Difficulty and God’s re-direction/re-commissioning

Difficult times such as illness force some reflection on what is important in life and how to spend one’s energy, time and money. God can in fact use difficult times in our lives to recommission us or redirect us in the way he wants us to go. God has redirected me from work in International […]

Where is your identity found?

As detailed in my post entitled Identity with Chronic Illness, I had to confront and wrestle with the fact that getting sick showed me my identity was closely linked to my academic/career success and not just to the fact I was a Child of God (John 1:12). The truth is that as a Christian, whether […]

Identity with Chronic Illness

Something I have had to wrestle a lot with since becoming ill is my identity. I have loved God for many years but when I got ill an uncomfortable truth I had to confront was that my identity was closely linked to my academic/career success. I’m still very much on a journey with this and […]

Not Letting Disappointments and Difficult Times Define You

Yesterday I heard an excellent sermon by Roger Bye which was focused on the story of Caleb as told in the book of Joshua. Specifically how he clung onto God’s promise that he would enter the promise land for 45 years! (Joshua 14:6-13) During this very long wait, Roger mentioned he probably felt at points bitter, […]

Ideas for how to be salt and light when really unwell

We are called to be Jesus to those around us, to love like he loves us, to fight injustices and bind up the broken hearted (for example see: Matthew 5:13-16, Mathew 25:35-36, Luke 4:18). But how do you do this when you are so ill you barely leave the house and when you have limited […]