Seeing Jesus in Abraham’s Testing

I am inspired when I read the Old Testament through the lens of the New Testament and see God foretelling Jesus’s life, death and resurrection hundreds of years before it happened. Today I read Genesis 21-22 where God asked Abraham to give up his son as a burnt offering1 to him. Isaac asks what they […]

Great is Thy Faithfulness

The timeless hymn of ‘Great is Thy Faithfulness’ by Thomas Obediah Chisholm has been on my mind this week, particularly the chorus: Great is Thy Faithfulness Great is Thy Faithfulness Morning by morning new mercies I see And all I have needed Thy hand hath provided Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me After a […]

God’s amazing love for us

I have been reflecting today on how profound and wonderful it is that God loves me. God loved me before I acknowledged that he existed (Ephesians 1: 4-6) and he loved me before I accepted Jesus as my Lord and saviour and admitted my sin. I love how Romans 5:6-7 puts it: ‘You see, at […]

God’s will not mine

Jeremiah 40-45 tells of how the Babylonians had left a remnant of Jews in Judah after they had conquered the country and taken many Jews into exile in Babylon. Now the Jews left in Judah freaked out because the governor that the Babylonians had put over them was assassinated and they were worried of repercussions. […]

Speak words of truth over yourself

Last week I wrote a post entitled: ‘My identity is in Christ’ and then I went away for a few days to do a course where it was a prominent theme! God is clearly trying to get my attention on how vitally important it is that I know my true identity and live my life […]

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 […]

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 […]

My Go to Psalms

Psalms are amazing, they give us wonderful words to praise God and help us to be honest with him about life’s difficulties. I have often used the psalms through difficult periods, especially the short ones that I was already familiar with. I wrote about Psalm 62 in an earlier post, here are some thoughts on […]

The Power Of Memorising Bible Verses

If you are able to, I would strong recommend committing some Bible verses to memory, this is one way to meditate on scripture. The Psalmist talks a lot about meditating on truth such as: God’s promises (Psalm 119:148), his works (Psalm 143:5), and his unfailing love (Psalm 48:9). On countless occasions the Holy Spirit has […]

Growing In Prayer

God has been really trying to get my attention recently on how absolutely vital prayer is. Prayer enables us to connect with God (Jeremiah 33:3), gain wisdom (James 1:5), and see circumstances change (Mark 11:24). I have recently read an excellent book called Dirty Glory by Pete Grieg. It’s about prayer, mission and justice. The […]

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) […]

Having a range of tools to engage with God: getting creative

When I was really sick I often couldn’t read more than a verse or two of the Bible at a time or attend church meetings. I had to find some different ways to engage with God, I needed more tools in my toolbox. One of these was painting with worship music on, I had never […]

Ideas to help those with physical limitations engage with church

Some friends were so desperate to get their sick friend to Jesus that they made a hole in the roof where Jesus was preaching (Mark 2:1-4). Jesus didn’t make comments about the mess; he saw their faith and forgave the man’s sins and then healed him (Mark 2:5-8). He clearly wanted the sick to be […]

How Does God Respond When We Go Through Traumatic Experiences?

I came into the kitchen and a bird smacked into my window. I ran outside and it was lying on the ground stunned. I set it on its feet and sat with it (a cat was lurking in the garden) until 45 mins later when it flew off. The reason I’m telling you this story […]

My Healing From Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

During my illness when I heard of healings (especially from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome which I had) it would either give me hope or demoralise me. I was often left with questions such as: why them and not me? Why do I still continue to face this daily physical and mental battle? God, why am I […]