A very good day!

Today being a Bank Holiday meant that we were free to do as we pleased. The weather was glorious (now there's a change for an English Bank Holiday Monday!) so my son and I decided to have a day out at the Swannery, about an hour's drive from home. We got there in time to see the hundreds of free-flying swans gather to be fed. What an amazing sight. Then we walked among the various pens where injured or young cygnets were cared for. There were other water birds also. It was a day of special events. We saw sheep shearing and two falconry displays. We had taken a packed lunch and just took our time walking and enjoying the different activities that were going on.

I am aware that this post is quite different from my previous one. In fact I had been tempted to delete the previous post. It seems quite negative and I thought doesn't show me in a very good light. But on reflection I decided to leave it. It reminds me of how fickle I am at times and how my feelings are influenced by the events that take place. I am so pleased that God is not like that and I wish I could be more like Him. He never changes and as my days can be so different, He is the only constant that I can depend on. That's why I can trust Him. He is always the same. He always has time for me and cares about me. He is just sheer pure love.

Not a good day!

I was woken up at 5.20 this morning by the phone ringing. The ensueing conversation went something like: 'Hello', 'Mrs Andradez?' 'Yes', 'You ordered a guinea pig', 'No, I didn't'. 'Yes, you did', 'No I didn't' 'Yes you did from ....'s pet store.', 'It's 20 past five in the morning and I'm asleep!'. 'No you're not. You're talking to me on the phone.' At which point I thought 'O, no I'm not' and put the phone down. Of course I couldn't get back to sleep after that so got up at about 6:30 and read a bit. Of course then I fell asleep in the chair!.

Later I did a load of washing and as it was dry and the sun looked as though it was going to appear, I hung them outside to dry. About 10 minutes later, it started to rain! So out I went to bring them all in again.

In the morning post I received a letter from our electricity provider asking for a meter reading so they could work out my future monthly payments. I got the reading and phoned them only to be put on hold. I listened to music and was interrupted every 30 seconds or so by a voice thanking me for my patience and assuring me that it wouldn't be long before an advisor would be able to take my call. After over 10 minutes of the same music and the same voice I hung up.

I thought I would try their website instead and switched on the computer only to be informed that an error had occurred and it all came up in 'Safe Mode'. So I waited, logged off and tried again. Couldn't contact them with the information they required via the PC so decided to click on my blog and write this instead!

I'm thinking of going back to bed and starting again. (It is now just after midday)

I wonder, did Jesus ever have days like this? WWJD??? I'm sure He would just smile (or maybe sigh a bit) and then get on with the things that really matter. But at this moment I really don't feel like doing that!

Bread or no bread!

This morning I thought I was really organised. (I can be sometimes!) I was going to be out all day so I prepared the bread maker, planning to have some cheese and onion bread to accompany our evening meal. I set the timer and out I went. When I arrived back home at about 5:30 I was greeted with the lovely smell. I opened the bread maker and to my horror discoverd that the bread looked just the same as when I had put it in the machine in the morning except the liquid in the base was now solid! I couldn't understand what had gone wrong. This had never happened before. Then I discovered on the work bench the kneading blade that I should have fixed in the mixer in order to knead the dough! Hence I came back to a floury mess that had cooked underneath but hadn't been kneaded. Yuk!!! I'm sure there is a lesson in here somewhere - having all the parts in the right place; even the small parts are important; nobody is perfect, etc. (Not to mention getting old and ga-ga!) You learn from your mistakes is the one that came to my mind.

Hugs and compasses

Yesterday I had a very in-depth and interesting conversation with someone about 'church' and where I'm at. It was not at all criticising in a negative way but was constructive and helpful. In the end we both came to the same conclusion and likened our situation to that of being a parent. Our children know the things that please us and when they want to make us happy they try to do the things that they know will please us. But as parents we know that there are those precious, intimate moments when they snuggle up and just want to be with us, sometimes whispering secrets in our ears and other times just relaxing. Those moments say far more than the 'good deeds'. In other situations we can all try to please those in authority but we don't have the same relationship with them. It's those precious moments of just being together that make the parent/child relationship so special and the bonding deepens.

As a church we can be so focussed on doing things that we think please God when God really wants to give us a big hug. There is nothing wrong per se with doing things for God and wanting to please Him but that in itself does not give us this special relationship as His children. This is true not just in private moments when we are on our own but it is important in our corporate setting. We don't come together as a church just to do things for God but to meet together corporately to be in His presence and deepen our intimacy with Him. If as a church we do not have these times then our relationship with God is simply as a person in authority and not Father.

I also had another picture - completely different. Our journey together as church is a bit like going on a journey guided by a compass. We can be facing in the direction we need to go but if our compass is only 1 degree off course then we will end up in a completely different place. We need to keep our focus fixed on God and as soon as we shift our focus, even ever so slightly to what we are doing, even if that is in the same direction, then that slightly out-of-focus attitude will mean that we end up somewhere where we really don't want to be and never really intended to be. 'Jesus be the centre'.

Gracious confirmation

Isn't God just so gracious yet encouraging the way He nudges us in the right direction. Last week I was at a couple of the Family Fun days held at the church I go to. I had promised to go, not to participate and help with the children or activities but to go into a small room to pray all the time the event was taking place. I had been approached by one of the event organisers to ask God if there was a particular message He wanted to convey to someone who was present. I did this and did receive some words from God which I felt was appropriate for someone although I had no idea who.

Near the end of the morning I relayed to the organiser what I felt and was asked to write it down so that it could be read out at the end and invitations given for prayer. And so in due time it was read out but no-one knew that it was me who had given these words. At the time there was no response when the invitation was given that if anyone felt that if any of the words given were for them (there were more than just mine) they could go forward and be prayed with and helped in whatever way was appropriate. I felt a little disappointed and thought that maybe I had been wrong.

This week I met an acquaintance who had been at that gathering and she said that those words had been for her but she was really waiting for someone else to go forward. I then told her that it was I who had given those words believing that God wanted a specific person to hear that message. She answered 'Well it was me!' So we were able then to talk about what God had said and the implications for her life.

I was grateful that God, although He knew all along that that lady knew it was for her and accepted the message as from Him, He was also gracious enough to encourage me by letting me know that I had heard correctly. This just spurrs me on to want to be used more and more by God in this precious prayer ministry of intercession.

There's nothing wrong with your shoes.

I was waiting today to meet up with a friend to have a coffee and a chat. I have lately been feeling a bit out of place (see post on Exiles) and was really asking God for a word of encouragement. While I was waiting for my friend a young mother passed with a small child. She kept stopping and touching her shoes as though she was trying to adjust them when her mother said, 'Just leave your shoes alone. There is nothing wrong with your shoes. Just keep walking.' I felt God say the same to me, 'There's nothing wrong with what you have. Just keep going.' I was really encouraged. Isn't God so amazing. He speaks when we least expect it.

The God Chasers cont'd

Got up early this morning to finish reading Tommy Tenney's book 'The God Chasers' He goes on (among other things) to comment how often even in the 'new' charismatic churches, we spend so much time seeking after the gifts of God and not seeking His face. We are content and comfortable with the 'toys' (Tenney's word) that Father allows us to have but we don't spend time just sitting on His lap and looking into His face and knowing that deep, special relationship of Father and child. We ask for the 'things' but then stop there. And God who is always generous with His children gives us His gifts in abundance but so longs for us just to get close to Him and tell Him we love Him and allow Him to pick us up and embrace us.

This book is the best read I have had in some time. I couldn't put it down until I had read the last page. I want to be counted among the God chasers. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

The God Chasers

I have just started to read Tommy Tenney's book 'The God Chasers'. Just wanted to share three quotes.

1. Talking about people who don't want to go to church and don't call themselves Christians: 'You can't tell me they're not hungry for God when they wear crystals around their necks, lay down hundreds of dollars a day to listen to gurus, and call psychics to the tune of billions of dollars per year. They're hungry to hear from something that's beyond themsleves, something they are not hearing in the Church of today. The bottom line is that people are sick of church because the Church has been somewhat less than what the Book advertised! People want to connect with a higher power!'

2. 'We're like bakeries that are open, but have no bread. We just like the chit-chat that goes on around the cold ovens and empty shelves.'

3. 'I believe that God will literally destroy the Church as we know it if He has to so He can reach the cities. He is not in love with our imperfect versions of His perfect Church. He is only out to claim the house that God built. If our foul-smelling, man-made monstrocity stands in the way of what He wants to do, then He will move our junk pile aside to reach the hungry. His heart is to reach the lost, and if He spared not His own Son to save the lost, then He won't spare us either. We must move in agreement with what God wants to do.'

(Italics are as in the book)

Although it is now 7 years since this book was first published, it is well worth reading if you have not already done so. All that he says resounds deep within my spirit.

Exiles

One of the friends I met up with the other day reminded me of a tape I had of some teaching by Martin Scott that he gave at the Target Europe Event in Portsmouth in April this year. This morning I listened to it again. His teaching was based on Ezekiel 24:15-21. He spoke of Ezekiel being in a place of exile and mourning not for his own loss but of the loss of the nation and the future generations. God was going to destroy the sanctuary in which the Israelites took so much pride. WOW!!

I guess that's why so many of us feel the way we do. It's like being in exile, in a foreign place feeling a bit lost and not quite knowing what to do or where to go. It would be so easy to think 'Wouldn't it be good to have things back the way they used to be?' and even praying that our church would have a revival so it would grow again. But it is not a time for hankering after the old ways but of mourning that we have had to come to this point of exile so God can reclaim His church. It's like having a great big ache deep inside, like mourning for a loved one. We have to accept that the old ways have gone and that God is wanting to make all things new. Sorry if this all seems a bit pessimistic but I guess I'm feeling like I'm in exile, not quite fitting in where I'm at, in a place I don't quite understand but knowing I'm going to a better place but don't know yet just when or how or what it will be like.

Being church

These past few days I have been able to catch up with some people I don't see much of and I've been able to spend some real quality time with them talking about God and what He's doing in our lives. 'Where two or three are gathered together in my name... '

This morning I read these word that have lingered with me all day so I thought I'd share them with you: 'Thank God that church is something you are part of when you get revelation that Jesus is the Christ, not a group or organisation you join.' It went on: 'Determine that you will encourage and pray for relevant new forms of the body of Christ to emerge in every sphere and area of society ...'

The thing is that old habits die hard as they say and so I still go to church on a Sunday morning when I can but going to the building is no longer a priority. The church of God is built with flesh and blood not bricks and mortar. For how many centuries have we called the building where we meet God's House? Yet the Bible tells us that WE are the temple of the living God. We only limit our own relationship with Him when we try to confine Him into our human structures. Death could not hold Him how much less can a building?

I thank God that He is showing me new ways of being His church and knowing that meeting with friends for a coffee and chat is as important as worshipping with others in a building on a Sunday morning.