Author: Ruth

What are you talking about?

Posted on by Ruth

 

 

Have you ever spoken to someone and they get a look on their face that says – “What are you talking about?” and you know that you are going to have to explain yourself a bit better or speak the way they know to speak.

One of my friends who comes from South Africa, shared a story with me. Soon after coming to Australia, she was asked to “bring a plate” to a party that she was invited to. Well, she thought, they must not have enough plates for everyone. So, she bought a plate – an empty plate – to the party, and was horrified to find that everyone else was bring full plates of food. In Australia, when we ask someone to “bring a plate” we mean bring a plate of food to add to what we already have on the table.

I have another beautiful Indian friend who, when I first knew her, had only been in Australia a few months. When I first visited her, I knew she was lonely and I wanted to make her feel like she was welcomed and wasn’t alone. We would talk for a little, then I would run out of things to say that she would understand. I found it hard to speak in a way that she would comprehend. I started to take a game of Dominoes with me, and her and I would play Dominoes. We then found that we could talk about food and our children. Now we can chatter about anything, I understand her better, and she understands me better.

I am an Aussie, and I speak “strayan” (Australian). There are times that I have to watch how I speak to others around me, especially when they are not Australian. I speak differently to an American, even thought we both speak english. Being the fact that I live and was raised, for most of my life, in the Outback of Australia, there are times that I add words in my sentences that people find funny…hey? (and that is one of them)

Today I have just finished teaching Religious Instruction in one of the local schools. I love the class I teach. They are such a fantastic bunch of kids. They face each one of my half-hour lessons, with enthusiasm and they seem to enjoy my company. Today they surprised me. One young girl started asking questions, and suddenly they all were asking questions. Questions like- Who created God? Why does God stop people from dying or getting hurt?

They were big questions. I answered the easiest way I could and as simply as I could. The questions they were asking, were too big to answer in the little time I had.

In teach Religious Instruction, I have always been challenged to explain things a bit different to how I normally talk about God. I have to break it down so that they are able to grasp a language that is different to what they hear. Today the word “repent” came up in the lesson. I wrote it up on the board as part of the crossword I was doing with them and when I turned around one boy looked puzzled. He had probably never heard the word repent before. I briefly described it  as saying sorry and turning around. This happens time and time again. The material I am given to teach from requires me to translate.

Then there is another situation that I run into a lot. I was describing how some of the Old Testament kings were good and some were not. I referred to theme bad ones as being “wicked”. One of the boys in the class did a little sign with his hand and said “wiiiiccckkked!!”. Fortunately, I had come across this before, and I explained that he was referring to the slang version of what “wicked” meant – which is “exciting or enthralling”.

You see the other language I speak is Christianese. I talk about God, creation, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. I talk about repentance, sin and Jesus dying on the cross. I speak about obedience, change and about a renewed life. I sprinkle my laugauge with faith, hope, trust and love. I speak about joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, meekness and the one that people find the most strange – self-control.

Sin is not a subject that is spoken of much. Children today do not know what the word “sin” is, most do not know about God or Jesus. Most adults today do not have a concept of what to do with the shame and guilt they constantly feel. The word “god” and “jesus” are just swear words and they have no power or meaning to them.

The words in the bible about redemption and God love are powerful. What about the words of hope, faith, and trust? Repentance, obedience, and forgiveness are lifechanging, yet the life-giving nature of these words and the effect on the human heart are rarely understood. Sometimes they are not even spoken, understood, and lived by those who speak the Christian language well.

If you are going to reach people today with the hope that God gives, then you are going to need more than Christianese as a language. How do you say “sin” without watering it down? How do you say forgiven without the ho-hum or flippant way that it can be used to get rid of someone from annoying you? How can you speak the words of the bible in a language that is understood?

 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect… 1Peter 3:15 NIV

Am I prepared to speak the language that will reach the people that do not know and understand? Is it will respect and gentleness? Is my language when I talk about my God easy for others to hear or is it so far above their heads of others that they will turn away before asking more?

When Jesus spoke to people while on this earth, He spoke in the way that people would understand, but the spiritual understanding behind it was not easily understood. Only the Spirit of God can reveal this part of it to people.

My heart’s desire is to see people know about Christ Jesus, and that God has loved them before they even knew about Him. I want people to know that a privilege and an honour to be alive in this world today. Being alive is not just existing from one weekend to the next but living life with joy and determination under the care and love of our God.

Right now, I feel the stretching that God does when He wants me to do something new. It started with a desire placed in my heart and a prayer.

“Help me to understand and listen, Father….”

Be blessed.

 

The Joys of Boys

Posted on by Ruth

 

My household is chaotic most of the time. One of the joys of boys is that the house is never quiet… sometimes even when they are asleep! I came across a meme the other day and it goes like this –

“Boys – Noise with dirt on it.”

Alas, it is soooooo true!

The other day I came inside to witness them engaged in a wrestling match, they had each other in a headlock. Both laughing, both trying to win. Not one of them was going to let go and not one of them was prepared to admit defeat. I walked up to them and told them to let go. My eldest gave me his cheekiest grin and said, “It’s all good Ma, he can still breath.” “Yeah, he not dead yet” came the muffled voice of the younger son as he pounded his older brother’s stomach. When I said nothing they both looked at me unashamed and unmoved by my command to stop. I glared at them and they let go of each other and fled to their separate rooms, hooting, and shouting at each other.

This morning I was needing my eldest to come to me in another room, I called with no response. The younger son said to me “I’ll go get him.” “Thanks,” I said. But just as he got almost out of earshot I heard him say, “I’m gonna smack him one!!”  Before I could get out of the room, I heard my eldest yell in surprise and my youngest laugh and then run for his room. Mmmmm.. I should have done it myself!!

My youngest, one time, announced to me that he had “flogged his guts out” in a footy game. Not my words or words that would come from my mouth, but amusing and interesting way of talking. It certainly said a lot about the game he played.

The years that have been mine as a mum of boys, have been my pleasure. It has also been my frustration, my fear, my tears and my laughter. My children make me laugh and cry. Sometimes I have never been more frustrated then when trying to communicate with them when they are not listening and never more grateful when they communicate well and share their heart.  I seem to spend my days protecting them from each other and the world. From the moment I held them in my arms, I was blessed. I love my two sons but they challenge me to be a better parent, to hold my tongue and not speak, to pray, and to have patience.

The cupboards are always empty, and my weekends are full of teenage boys and football… and I would have it no other way. From the time they open their eyes to the moment they close them, they are on the go. They are noisy and competitive, natural born risk takers, and they think their jokes are very funny – especially if their mum is on the end of it.  I rarely have any moments as a person, let alone as a female.

About a year ago, I sat in a hospital x-ray waiting room. There was a line of boys and their mum’s sitting in the chairs. The blood and bandages said it all. We were soon joined by another lady in a hospital wheelchair… and without a child. Suddenly she turned to me, “what is your son here for?” I told her. A grin spread across her face. One by one she spoke to the other ladies in the room. Each one had a son that had just been injured doing some daring feat or “mad move” in a sports game. Soon the boys were all grinning at each other and the mum’s nodded their head at each other and compared the fright that they had just had. The commonness was the same – boys had been at it again.

I was sitting talking to a young friend of mine the other day. She, like myself, has two boys. I see a lot of my boys in hers. Her older one is very like my son at that age and the same with her younger one. If there was one thing that I could encourage her with was that her boys are normal. It was the same advice that I received from an older mum years ago.

Boys are different to girls, and while you cannot put any child into a box as say that this is what a “boy” is like. Most boys are the same but with the same varieties that come with all human beings. My boys are like chalk and cheese. This is good. They need to learn how to exist in a world made of different people.

Yet despite their difference I want my boys to learn and grow not only as they are designed to be but to have good character, good standards and good morals. I want them to love God…and others – especially each other. I want them to be faithful, dependable, caring, loving, kind with a good dash of humour. I am concerned for my young men. I see them grow up in a world that is changing fast, and not always for the good. I pray for them and I have asked God to develop in them a heart that is strong, that will weather the storms in life without failing. It is a world that condemns men for being men (and women for being women). The list that I would pray for them is very long indeed. Yet I have placed them in the hands of the One who knew them before I did and I know that He alone will guide them. Who they turn out to be will have very little to do with me and everything to do with the people they are and the mercy and love of their Creator.

I came across a scripture this morning when I was doing my bible reading – Isaiah 28:23-29 NIV (italics and highlights mine) –

 

Listen to me; listen, and pay close attention.

Does a farmer always plow and never sow?   Is he forever cultivating the soil and never planting?

Does he not finally plant his seeds— black cumin, cumin, wheat, barley, and emmer wheat—

each in its proper way, and each in its proper place?

The farmer knows just what to do, for God has given him understanding.

A heavy sledge is never used to thresh black cumin; rather, it is beaten with a light stick.

A threshing wheel is never rolled on cumin; instead, it is beaten lightly with a flail.

Grain for bread is easily crushed, so he doesn’t keep on pounding it.

He threshes it under the wheels of a cart, but he doesn’t pulverize it.

The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is a wonderful teacher, and he gives the farmer great wisdom.

 

I highlight sections for you to think on. If God teaches the farmer, does He not teach the mother too? Does God also give us wisdom and understanding? Maybe we say this – “The mother knows just what to do, for God has given her understanding.” Or “The Lord is a wonderful teacher, and he gives the mother great wisdom.”

To you mums of boys, mothers of men, pray for your sons. Hand them over to their Maker. Ask God to give you wisdom in how to bring them up. I don’t know if I am doing the right thing with them, but I trust that the God who matures and grows me – will do the same for them.

I am not saying it is worse to have an all-boys household, or that it is easier to have girls. I am not saying that boys can sometimes be quiet and not outdoorsy. I am simply saying this – it is different. You mum’s who have all girl households, or those that have mixed household -you can speak from your experiences. I am speaking from a household of very “manly men”. It is sometimes exhausting being a woman in that atmosphere, but sometimes it is just being exhausting being a mum…or a maybe a man… or is it that it is exhausting being human?

Each one of us need to look at others with the understanding that each human is different. This is good. This is excellent. Different means that we will not be being the same. Different needs to be celebrated. My boys are like chalk and cheese in just about everything. They bring such diversity with their strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes that diversity causes fights and chaos. Yet even with their differences there are “same-nesses” and “likenesses”. The same with all of us.

Encouragement is a good thing. Knowing that others know what we go through helps us feel not so alone. Just as I shared in a story above, all the mums were sitting in their own little world in the hospital waiting room until someone comes along and helps us to see that we are not alone.

Be confident Child of God that you are not alone. It might be exhausting, but we can find others like ourselves and find others that are different. We have a God who cares and who will teach us.

You are not alone mums of boys and mums of girls. Just look around you. Be encouraged that your world is very like someone else. There is another very important thing to remember – God is with you and He will teach you. The joys of boys is that you will spend a lot of times on your knees – and that can only be a good thing.

Be confident and encouraged as you be the mum that only you can be. Trust that God will guide you and your children. Love your children, love your life, love God and be blessed.

Tears in a bottle

Posted on by Ruth

 

“Doesn’t God see the tears I cry?” A young woman asked me once. “Does He even care?” At that time, I had no idea of how to answer that question and the answer I gave, probably did not give such a question the care needed. At this time, I was not aware of the compassionate and just nature of the God that I professed to know.

I pray that this young woman would read this blog and hear the words I am placing on this page.

Tears are something that happen naturally. We are born with tear ducts which help with the function of our eyes. We can cry tears of joy…or sorrow. I believe that tears are good and necessary. There have been times in my life when I have been so overwhelmed by sorrow that I could not cry. I have had one experience where I was watching a movie and because it was sad, I cried. Suddenly I could not stop crying and the tears kept on coming. When I stopped crying, I felt much better and felt cleansed and refreshed.

Recently, I have had that question come to mind a lot – Does God see our tears?”

Short answer to that is this – Yes.

In Psalms 56:8 it says, “You’ve kept track of my every toss and turn through the sleepless nights, each tear entered in your ledger, each ache written in your book.” (Message Bible)

The NKJV of the bible says it this way “ … put my tears into Your bottle, are they not in Your book?”

King David was of the belief that God not only saw our tears, but kept a record of them. God didn’t just see them as they drop to the ground, but that they were stored in a container and recorded.

Just imagine if every tear that you cried in sorrow was stored in a bottle and placed in memorial. That is what David is saying in this Psalm – God knew of the tears that he shed and David was appealing to the just and compassionate nature of God to answer his distress.

But, you ask, does God see the tears of a woman. Does He even care about women? I have had that question asked of me too. Why not? According to one of our biggest writers of the New Testament, a man Paul, said that God does not see the difference between any of us – Galatians 6:23 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (NKJV)

Further on in the bible, it talks about how a husband should treat their wives with respect so that their prayers would be answered. (1 Peter 3:7) Question – if God looks at the way a man treats his wife before answering a prayer, is that not a God who cares about women?

God is a God who cares. He is a just God and takes injustice very seriously. God is compassionate and loving and just. That is God. He is a God who cares very much if we are being treated wrongly.

I love the fact that our God, who sees everyone and everything that happens in a situation (and why). He sees motive and heart.

Yes, God does see our tears and He cares very much. Some may say that I am just speaking platitudes. No, I know this for myself and have experienced this, it is also written in the pages of His Word.

My prayer for you is this. That you will become very aware of the justice, mercy, compassion, and love of our God. I pray that the next time you cry tears of sorrow, pain or heartbreak, that you will look towards God who holds those tears in a bottle of remembrance. Not only does He hear and see, but He will help you if you look to Him for the help you need.

Be blessed.

 

Friends

Posted on by Ruth

 

One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Proverbs 18:24 (NIV)

 

Friendship, to me, is like finding the one comfortable chair in your home and sitting. It is there you feel relaxed, and find a haven in which you can be yourself. My friends do this, and provide a source of care, love, accountability, and protection.

Starting a friendship can sometimes be awkward. I read a quote once and had to laugh as it summed up what a new friendship was like – “Friendship is so weird.. you just pick a human you’ve met and you’re like “yep I like this one” and you just do stuff with them.” (Anonymous)

Friends are very important to me. It takes time to develop deep, lasting friendships, but it is well worth the effort and the risk.

 

I have had some beautiful friends over the years. I still have beautiful friends. Some of my friends have only been there for a time, and others a long time.  In my my kitchen are some butterflies and a poem (the picture is above) on the wall near my kitchen sink. The last words of this poem are –

“And remember that are others praying faithfully for you.” (by J. Morse)

The butterflies are representational of my friends. I love to pray for them. It helps me to have this reminder of each of them and to be thankful for their friendship and love.

Many my friends have recently moved away, and I have others who still live in the town where I used to live. These wonderful women are the ones I must make special time for, as it takes effort to phone and make contact regularly. Often, I find that during the day God may place one of them on my heart for a moment and I pray for her. If they stay in my mind for longer than a few hours, I know that it is time to make contact – to phone them or make contact via text message to make sure they are ok  and make time for contact with them.

I often schedule “dates” with my friends. If I don’t, the days and week turn into months and the friendship gets swallowed by the pressures and busyness of life. These “dates” are sometimes by phone, mostly by in person, but always necessary, loved, and needed.

My friendship with God is the same. It is needed and necessary. It provides a source of care, love, accountability, and protection. It takes time to develop the friendship and is necessary for me to put in the time and effort.

God can be your friend? Sure, why not?

The bible talks about people who had a “friendship” with God. God talked to Moses, like one speaks to a friend. (Exodus 33:11). Abraham the friend of God – James 2:23. David who had a heart after God – Acts 13:22.

I am not talking about a BFF, I am talking about a walking, talking friendship with your Creator. The one who knows you better than anyone, and loves you enough to die for you.

Our friendship with God takes listening, finding out who He is and what He is like. We need to schedule time to be with Him. For me to hear Him, I need to stop talking and listen. I need to care about Him and really want to be with Him… and yes, it is sometimes a little awkward to start with too.

Does it sound like I am talking about my earthly friendships? Yes, it does.

God designed us to have a relationship with Him and to know Him. Through the Holy Spirit God speaks to us, we learn to listen carefully to His voice and recognise when He speaks. God will not say anything to me that is out of character with Him, so I need to understand His character.

If there was one thing that I would encourage every Christian, it is this – get to know God. Spend time with Him and His word. Be obedient when He speaks. Have a heart after God. Love God with all your heart and soul and strength.

My friendships are important to me, but my friendship with God is the most important. Every day I touch base with God in some way, and sometimes I get to the end of the day and need to do so – for my sake.

I want God to be important to you too. I want you to desire God the way He has created you to. Have a one-on-one relationship with God and enjoy the time you have with Him before eternity. That is why He sent His Holy Spirit, so that the relationship with God could start now. Just like He walked with Adam and Eve, He wants to walk with you too.

And here is a bonus – God will not let you down. Life will let you down, people will let you down, our bodies will let us down – but not God.

Friendships are important. They are like sitting your comfortable chair… and we have a God shaped chair waiting for us.

 

Be blessed

Laughing Kookaburras

Posted on by Ruth

 

 

This afternoon I watched as three “Laughing Kookaburras” sat quietly on a fence near our house. I took the time to get some photos of these beautiful birds. The photo above is one of the photos that I took.

As I was watching them and captured their beauty on camera, I noticed that the Kookaburras took turns in keeping an eye on the surroundings (including me) while one flew down to the ground and caught a meal.

Later, I was looking at the photos and the question that came to me was this – Why three? So I did a little bit of research and this is what I found out –

Kookaburras mate for life and live in close family groups, comprising two adults and the older siblings from previous breeding seasons, which remain for up to three years to help their parents incubate the eggs, and feed and protect the chicks and fledglings before moving on to nests of their own.

 

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2009/10/14/2712935.htm

 

Wow, what an environment of cooperation and care. The baby bird has the care of many that help parent, protect and care for their needs.

I have been watching lately as people I know go at life alone. These are single mum’s, young people, married mums, pastors, elderly and just everyday people. They are doing life alone, very alone. I have a few friends that are single mum’s – they are having tough times. It is hard on them as they try to be mum and dad to little ones. They do not have the help and support from close family, and are exhausted and bewildered. They feel excluded by the church, too tired to make friends, and have no time to think.

I also have a number of friends that are ministers and pastors. Often exhausted by the amount of care they pour out to their church or fellowship, and unable to afford the basics as their income is getting smaller and smaller. Battered by gossipers, criticized by many and unappreciated by a few, it is hard to find a safe place to go for help.

People thrive in an environment of care, and environment of safety and help. One that is filled with love and acceptance – even if it is also tough love included in that love.

We are not meant to be alone, doing life by ourselves. The bible is full of community, full of groups of likeminded people doing life together. Even the early Christians were encouraged “not to give up meeting together…” and to “love each other deeply”.

Animals get this concept. If they go at life alone, they are open to attacked from predators and they will not survive alone. Yet we seem to think that people will be fine alone.

What are the predators of single mum’s, or pastors, or the elderly? What are the predators of Christians?

Right now, as I write, the Laughing Kookaburras are outside in the bushland behind my house. One is laughing strong and loud, two others are answering. They are letting other birds know that this is their home, their territory… Or they are finding out where each other is. Whatever their reason for laughing right now, they are doing what is natural to them. Caring and protecting so that a new generation survives and that they survive too.

Everyone in this world has a desire to survive the life they live and the world they live in. When I talk to others, one of the reasons they give for going at life alone is that they do not trust others in their community, family, friends or church. That is sad. Each one of us an ability to make a difference in the lives of others around us. It takes courage reach out to others and it takes courage to allow others in. It also takes a compassionate heart to care about someone else.

“People don’t care anymore” is a familiar cry. But do you care. Do you care about others that you come across? It should not be left to the few to do the job of many. Can I encourage you to look beyond your busyness and loneliness to reach out to someone? Indifference is not a good quality. Make someone’s world different, make someone’s load lighter. It is not up to you to change the whole world, just the world around you.

Jesus, while on this earth touched the lives of many. He still touches the lives on many today. The early disciples where known not only for their preaching of the gospel and the miracles as the Holy Spirit worked through them, but the love that they showed to others. The love that God gave them was poured out in faith and works.

Not only do we need a faith, but a working of that faith. Jesus your Savior? Good, show it!! Do you have the Holy Spirit in you? Wonderful, show it? I am not asking for works to make us proud, I am talking about reaching others with more than the gospel.

In Proverbs 31 is the story of a woman. This woman could represent any of us today – male or female. The attributes listed in this proverb is talking about a noble person of character. In one verse it says –

“She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.” (Prov 31:20 NIV)

The concept of this verse is this – the way she gives is like the very extension of herself. It is like the movement of your elbow to bring your hand out straight in front of you. The very person she is, allowed her to stretch out her arm and give. This is not just a verse for women. It is a verse for everyone.

Your Pastor tired? Is he living on very little money? What are you going to do about that? Do you have single mums in your church? Ask them what they need most and do what they want rather then what you think they need. Do you have elderly in your community? What do they need, how can you help?

Get excited about the lives of others and not just your own. Ask God to help you know what to do. inspire other and pray for wisdom in who you reach out to.  Don’t forget to get the person you help, to reach out and change someone’s life too.

I am praying for the change in a few to influence the lives of many. I am praying that as God speaks to you, that you will answer in obedience and with wholehearted commitment and with excitement.

Oh… and use the voice that you have, to speak and warn others. That is important too.

 

Be blessed

 

 

 

 

Dry as a bone.

Posted on by Ruth

 

 

Last week I was preparing for a trip away and went to water my plants. I touched the dirt in one of the pots and found it as dry as a bone.

The notion of being dry as a bone stayed with me over the next 6 days, as I travelled long distances with my children, to support my eldest son through a four day football competition. The problem was that I was unable to pack my bible as we had weight restrictions on the flight we were travelling. I knew I had my bible on my mobile phone, so I wasn’t too worried, even though I hate reading from the device when it comes to my time with God.

The problem was that it wasn’t just that I missed my bible. I was tired and bone weary…inside. I have been feeling it for a few weeks. Bone dry, bone weary and dry as a bone spiritually and emotionally. Needing some nourishment and time out from under the heat and the weather that dries me out emotionally and spiritually.

This morning I sat down for my morning time with God and I could not pull anything from His word. I sat and read one Psalm and nothing was sinking in or registering.

The last time I felt this way was when I had little ones. When my boys were babies, they were very unwell. I reached a point of exhaustion that was beyond tired. Spiritually, back then, I had not enough faith, and my relationship with God was almost non-existent during this period of my life. While then I floundered and eventually came to a stop spiritually, this time was different.

Now, I have a relationship with God that gets through these times. I have a strong sense of His presence even when I am this weary. I talk to Him and wait for Him to speak. I have the faith that even when I don’t feel His presence or hear Him speak, I know He is there.

While writing my book a few years ago, God gave me a word of encouragement for mums. Especially for mothers that have small children. This was it –

I see the busyness of a mother’s heart, of her very life. Little ones keep her busy, often unable to rest or sleep.

There come moments of blessing, if her heart and mind turn to Me. The tiredness that she feels chokes Me out of her heart. At those times reach up – I am there, by faith, and I will let her know.

Remind them that this is momentary. Remind them that there is a day when the demands are not so high.

There are times when I am very busy, or very weary. I still go back to this word of encouragement and the 6 steps that God gave me to write in that chapter. Steps like – Take moments of time with God.

It is not just mums with little ones that become overwhelmed by weariness. While God originally gave me this chapter for mum’s, I personally need to keep reading this chapter to reminding myself that God sees and understands. This last week I have needed to back off my study time and not take my times in His word so intensely. Sometimes in dry times it is not pushing we need.

We need to remember that ultimately it is the Holy Spirit that does the work in us, it is He that brings us though dry times and through valleys. When we are tired and dry, we just need to rest in Him.

God often allows me to go through an experience to reveal what He is going to show me next. I need not worry about these times, just trust and stay close to Him – read His work, pray, listen, and have faith. Why do I know that this is one of those times?

A few months ago, I was listening to Vision Radio (Christian Radio Station) and a song came on that caught my attention. The singer was Lauren Daigle, and the song was called “Come Alive (Dry Bones)”.

********

Through the eyes of men it seems there’s so much we have lost

As we look down the road where all the prodigals have walked

One by one the enemy has whispered lies

And led them off as slaves

But we know that you are God yours is the victory

We know there is more to come

That we may not yet see

So with the faith you’ve given us

We’ll step into the valley unafraid, yeah

As we call out to dry bones come alive, come alive

We call out to dead hearts come alive, come alive

Up out of the ashes let us see an army rise

We call out to dry bones, come alive

God of endless mercy god of unrelenting love

Rescue every daughter bring us back the wayward son

And by your spirit breathe upon them show the world that you alone can save

You alone can save

As we call out to dry bones come alive, come alive

We call out to dead hearts come alive, come alive

Up out of the ashes let us see an army rise

We call out to dry bones come alive

So breathe, oh breath of God

Now breathe, oh breath of God

Breathe, oh breath of God now breathe

Breathe, oh breath of God

Now breathe, oh breath of God

Breathe, oh breath of God, now breathe

As we call out to dry bones come alive, come alive

We call out to dead hearts come alive, come alive

Up out of the ashes let us see an army rise

We call out to dry bones, come alive

We call out to dry bones, come alive

Oh come alive

(Written by Lauren Daigle, Michael Farren • Copyright © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc)

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Ever since, I have listened to this song dozens of times. My prayer is this – “What are you doing Father God in the lives of your daughters (including me), and what do you want me to do?”

I really believe strongly that what I have been going through the past few weeks, is what a lot of women (and men) are going through daily. They are dry, weathered, and dead inside. God is wanting to breath on them and give them a life beyond what they are now.

While they drift like in a haze, God is wanting to reveal newness and clarity. While they feel cold, God is wanting to renew the flame for Him and His word. While they wonder where God is, He is right where they left Him.

There is nothing that can separate you from the love of God. Nothing. His love for you has not changed. Life has changed for you, desire has changed for you, but God has not. Your focus need to refocus and your heart needs to take small steps back to a place of life.

Even while I write these words the dryness is lifting off me, because these are the words God wants me to speak.

God sees dryness and weariness, He is the answer to this. Simple. He was, He is and He always will be the answer to every struggle and every person’s deepest need for their Creator and Saviour. Go to Him and acknowledge that He is the answer. It is not about fighting, struggling, striving and pushing. It is about returning, repenting, absorbing His word and asking Him to bring life to those dry bones. It is not about human effort and achievement, it is all about God.

Ezekiel 37:4-5 and 14

Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.

I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”

 

My prayer for you right now is this –

“Breathe, Oh breath of God now breathe. As we call out to dry bones come alive, we call out to dead hearts come alive, up out of the ashes let us see an army rise. We call out to dry bones, come alive ….”

 

Be blessed

 

Freedom

Posted on by Ruth

 

Forgiveness.

I have had many varied reactions from people on the subject of forgiveness. For many it can be a very touchy subject.

A few years back, I had a very elderly woman (Christian) stand in front of me and with her fury on her face tell me that she “would never forgive ………. ( a certain person)!”. The fury on her face and the anger in her tone took me by surprise and I almost took a step back.

We have all had to forgive someone for something that they have done to us. We have all had more than one instance where we have had to ask someone to forgive us. Yet I am fully aware that there are people, that have suffered at the hands of others in such horrible ways, that the mere thought of approaching them about forgiveness would almost seem inappropriate.

Years ago, I was praying and I felt God direct my heart towards someone who had years before hurt me very badly. As soon as my thoughts went in that direction I felt the anger rising and all I wanted to do was to ask God to destroy them. Like a lightning bolt immediately in their direction!!! I fumed and burned with anger and rage. All the while trying hard to be really nice in what I said to God.

After a few minutes of praying, I heard God say, “forgive ……… (the person)”. Was He joking!!!

No, he was serious. My mind churned and I felt physically sick.

“Ruth, you need to forgive ……… (the person) for your sake.”

What!!!!!

The Holy Spirit went on to flood my thoughts with the concepts of what forgiveness was.

 

It is forever

 

Forgiveness is a forever thing. Once I forgive, it must remain in that place. Yet our human minds like pour over the albums of “past hurts” and it is quiet easy to do so.

Some of us have physical scars that show us that someone once upon a time, inflicted us with a physical wound to go with emotional pain. For some it is words, spoken careless words that Satan uses to make our lives a misery. For others, it is private personal pain that brings thoughts of deep, deep, betrayal.

Forever is a long time in our minds. No one should get way with wrong doing. Right? And by God asking us to give it to Him FOREVER is a bit much, right?

Why forever God? Why?

The religious way would be to say, “because God forgave you forever.”

Yes, but tell that to someone who has lost a loved one to a drunk driver, or to a murderer. Tell that to someone who was brutally injured or raped by someone, or was violated at a young age by someone they trusted. Yes, forever seem a long time to be let off the hook. Surely these types of people do not deserve any forgiveness from us, especially the forever kind of forgiveness.

God really needed me to understand that when I did this, it would be forever. That was the cost He was asking me to pay. It was the same as a sports coach is letting you know the physical cost of being an international athlete. Without this knowledge, it would only be a surface commitment that I made to the forgiveness “thing”.

 

For our sake

 

After showing me that it was a forever thing, He then showed me that it was really, really good for me. He needed me to forgive for my sake. He knew it was burning inside me, it would eventually make me mean, hurtful and reactive.

Anger, hatred and bitterness has a way of rotting you from the inside out. I read a quote once and I believe that it is by a person called Hamant Smarty and it goes like this, “Forgiveness doesn’t excuse their behaviour. It prevents their behaviour from destroying your heart.”

Anger will churn you until you are sick, bitterness with mess with your head, unforgiveness will keep you remembering the injustice of it all, and hatred will give you no peace. One thing that I have noticed is this – unforgiveness and anger will change your face and bring hardness to your eyes.

It will keep you attached to the person – forever! A quote from Dr Caroline Leaf – “forgiveness disentangles you from the people that hurt you so they can’t hurt you anymore.” I recently watched a speech where she explained that when people forgive there is something that actually happens in their brain. It was amazing to watch her talk about this.

God has wired our brain not only to be forgiven, but to forgive others. Our bodies were not meant to carry the burden of unforgiveness. It messes with us, and will destroy us, physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

 

Because God forgave us

 

It might be almost a “throwaway line”, but it is true. We want God to forgive us. We want Him to never remember it again. We want Him not to bring it up every time that we speak to Him.

But…

Apparently, we don’t have to forgive others.

Not so…

There are a few passages of scripture but this is the one that always spoke to me. It is a parable that Jesus told in response to Peter (one of His disciples) asking Him about the amount of times to forgive – “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” Matthew 18:35

It is about being merciful. It is about being treated the way that we want to be treated. Simple.

It is not another rule that we have to follow, or God demanding something more. We want to be forgiven, unreservedly. So, we are not doing anything different in forgiving someone that God has not done already.

He died so that I could be forgiven. I never want to face my God, with an unforgiving heart. Do you?

 

Changes us forever.

 

If you don’t know who Corrie Ten Boon is, then you need to look it up. What she suffered at the hands of the Nazi’s in a Concentration Camp was beyond what most people would comprehend. She had a quote and I think that it fits well.

“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and to discover the prisoner was you.”

I cannot describe to you what forgiveness has done to me. I am free to love, care and have compassion. I am free to laugh and cry without pain. I am free to talk to my God and to know that I am forgiven. There are even some memories that I cannot even remember, I know that they should be there, but they are not. Forgiveness has opened my prison doors up, and given me freedom to live.

Forgiveness does that, you know.

I will repeat what I said before – “God has wired our brain not only to be forgiven, but to forgive others. Our bodies were not meant to carry the burden of unforgiveness. It messes with us, and will destroy us, physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.”

Be blessed as yourself free.

 

 

Thorny problems and God’s love.

Posted on by Ruth

 

Over the Easter I found plenty of time to ponder what Easter was about and to pray. But the time to put those thoughts onto paper was very limited indeed. Tuesday, after Easter, I sat down to write, but within half an hour received some bad news that left my brain swirling for a few days. Today, I decided that what I started on to write was still needed to be said, but the other reason for this blog became clear.

On Saturday during the Easter period, I took some time to spend time to help my husband do some fencing. The barbed wire was particularly difficult as we restrained it and tied it to the fence post, after we had made room for a gate. I wore some gloves so that the barbed wire I handled would not pierce my hand and rip my skin. I stood looking at the tie after I had finished and checked my arms for cuts.

As I cut off the extra length that was not needed in retying it, I looked at the barbed wire in my hands and I remembered what my Saviour did for me. I let this thought sit for a moment while I went to boil the billy for a cup of tea.

The very fact that barbed wire and thorns do the same job on your skin made a great story line, but I was yet to find out why the barbed wire was necessary for me to notice. A few days later I would know why.

 

He took it upon Himself

 

In doing a little research after we arrived home, I found that it could have been one of about 3 or 4 plants that could have been used as the “crown of thorns”. The one most researchers used was the Crown of Thorns (Euphorbia milii). Apparently, it is thorny enough and flexible enough to make into a crown.

It was also interesting that God spoke several times throughout the bible about thorns. In Genesis thorns were a repercussion for disobedience.

“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.  It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. Gen 5:17b-18 (NIV)

Later, God spoke thru Isaiah because he saw injustice and distress – Isaiah 5:6-7

“I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.”

The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.” (NIV)

In dying on the cross, God’s Son took upon the curses, wrong doing (sin) and disobedience that we ourselves have chosen to walk by. Those things that destroy our lives and our relationship with God. The things that bring guilt and shame, hardship, and pain. A onetime act of God for the sake of all mankind.

This was not only in the cross that He died upon, but the stripes from the whip and the crown of thorns on His head. These things (and much more) were symbolic of a new start and a new promise of God that was completed by the death of His Son for us so that we could have this promise for ourselves – the ability to have the sin, shame and guilt taken from us and a relationship with Almighty God.

This crown was placed upon our Saviour’s head and on that cross He died so that we have through Christ Jesus the freedom from the curse of sin and death. No more guilt and shame.

And you know what the greatest thing about this is – we don’t have to wait for eternity for the work of God to change our lives so that our lives here today are transformed day by day. God want us to have a little bit of heaven on earth, while He walks with us every day.

Our past died on the cross with Christ. The curses that should have been ours was removed as well.

Guilt and shame, hopelessness and despair is something that you do not have to live with. We can be free because of God’s forgiveness and love.

It was the love of God for you that those thorns pierced His head and not ours. God’s offer to us, given in love, to allow us a changed life. The skin of His son broken by thorns so that our thorny broken lives could be changed – now and in eternity.

 

Thorny problems

 

Over the past few days as my emotions swirled around me in the chaos of the sudden life experiences. I was once again aware that thorny problems have a way of tearing at our emotions and it is our Saviour that we can turn to. There is nothing that He cannot helps us with and that He cannot understand.

The person who I received the bad news about had been like a thorn in my side, yet the need to intercede for the person in prayer was the only thing on my mind. It was like I needed my God more than ever. The fact that my Saviour knew how to forgive his enemies and was the epitome of forgiveness, was my comfort. Yet this person was never my enemy, just someone who regularly brought me to my knees in pray.

I could not pray for this person if I hadn’t forgiven them a long time ago, and remained forgiving every time they pierced me. If bitterness had clouded my heart, I could not have prayed with love. I could not have seen the person in the hospital and felt compassion and concern, if I had hardness.

The need to remind myself that God sees the thorns that pierce me and knows the pain of suffering more than me. I need to leave the thorns to Him. It is up to God to remove the thorns from my life, or to allow them to remain for my growth. This is hard. Especially when the person involved needs mercy when the world says that they need punishment.

I could repeat what I said before, but with a different twist – “It was the love of God for you that those thorns from His captors pierced His head and not ours. God’s offer to us, given in love, to allow us a changed life even while the thorns can pierce us as well. The skin of His Son broken by thorns so that each and every thorny broken life could be changed – now and in eternity.” (italics added)

Christ died not only for the curses of disobedience, but He died for the thorns that come against us in life. I pray that you will give the thorns to Him, He know what to do with them.

Be blessed.

 

 

A whole lot of Jesus

Posted on by Ruth

 

“All I need today is a little bit of coffee and a whole lot of Jesus.” Like this picture? I do. I saw this sign on my friend’s Facebook page and I knew that I had found the sign for my kitchen.. actually for my life at the moment.

This last week my hubby and I have been getting up at 4.30am and I am not getting to bed until 10.30pm. The days have been busy…very busy.

Now those who know me well (like my children), know that when I have very little sleep, it means one thing – very little patience indeed.

I know that this is not how it should be, right? After all I am a Christian, right? I am supposed to be Godly woman, with the patience of a saint.

You know, afternoons are the pits for me. I am a morning person who wakes most mornings between 5-6AM. I wake chattering and laughing, and constantly trying to keep it under control as the males in my life groan and pull the covers over their head to avoid my cheeriness.  I hit the floor boards running. I am patient, lovable, giggly, talkative and can conquer the world.

But afternoons!!! Wow. I have run out of good mood, and this little fuzzy cutie-pie has run out of Zing and Zip. And it is pretty much so down hill from about 2pm onwards. So, by the time the children come home from school, I am ready to pack them to bed and curl up for the night.

But no!!

I am yet to get through after-school snacks (which for two teenage boys is like emptying the fridge onto the table), folding clothes, cleaning up after my two whirlwinds (aka teenage boys) have gone through the house, run the children to sports trainings, supervised school homework, had a cuppa with my hard working husband, water the vegie patch, cook dinner, clean up after dinner, supervise bedtimes, have another cuppa with my hubby, fed and put to bed the animals, and then get ready for bed.

Oh.. and by the way – I am the only early bird in our family!! That means this – when I am ready to die for the night, everyone else is just ramping up the volume. Do you get what I mean?

For me I need Jesus a lot of an afternoon and evening. For the past couple of months, I have needed Pentecost… a move of the Spirit.

I need sleep like some people need clothes – just enough to cover the body decently, but not too much to overdo it. Eight hours of sleep is a really good amount. Eight and a half has me purring happily….until 2pm in the afternoon!!

When my children were babies I was living on 2-3 hours of sleep a night. To cope I was having a sleep in the middle of the day with my children. It was the only way I could cope. The cleaning, washing, cooking and everything else just had to wait. Both of my babies fussy and didn’t like sleeping… at night anyway! My youngest was unwell and I spent a lot of night walking the floor with him until he was about 2 and a half years old. It was during this part of my life that my marriage failed and that I realised that I had too much reliance on myself rather than on God. I needed a whole lot of Jesus, and didn’t know how.

There are times in my life where I have had to draw on reserves that are not there. I need God’s word and His Spirit to comfort, teach and help me when I face the hard times. Lately it has been lack of time, exhaustion and stretching myself in areas that I have had no experience to deal with the situations I have found myself in – like bringing up teens, a three-year court battle, starting out in ministry and menopause. All things that are not difficult, not life threatening, just…well…interesting. Times when I and needing God for wisdom, strength, and comfort.

But this is not the only time I need God. It is not only these times I need the way of forgiveness that Jesus provided on the cross, or the help and comfort of the Holy Spirit. It is each and every day I need His word and Him.

If the Jesus I need is the one that I run to when things are bad, or hide behind when I am scared, or the one that causes me to puff up when I want to look down on others – then He is not Jesus. It is actually just me pretending to be Christian. I lived as a pretend Christian for many years.

The Jesus that I need is the One that changes me – the Jesus that redeemed and saved me for a reason. He sent His Holy Spirit that I would be different, changed, and renewed.

If the Jesus I have, is only allowed in the surface areas of my life, then He is not Jesus at all. He is the “Jesus-when-I-want”, or the “Jesus-I-am-scared” or maybe the “Jesus-hear-my-prayer”.

My dad would talk about “foxhole Christians”. According to him, they were the Christians that prayed when they were cowering in the foxholes trying to survive an attack by the opposing army in a war. But when they came out… well… they just went back to living how they want.

To have a relationship with God that is this momentary and fleeting, is like have a friend who you only contact when you need a cup of sugar. It’s like having an umbrella in your hand and not using it while it rains.

Don’t limit God by having Him there just in case you might need Him.

There are days when I know that God is allowing my faith to be tested, there are days when He is silent, and there are days when all I can do is hang on to God’s promises. It is days like this, that God is growing me to encompass everything that He has for me – to have a whole lot more of His Spirit.

This is what I want. A whole lot less of me and a whole lot more of God. I am pretty sure that this is what He wants too.

John the Baptist used these words “He must increase, but I must decrease.”. While I understand that John was speaking of his ministry, and knowing that his life was soon to be over, it also can be applied to us, personally.

Our God is so much more than a surface God who is sitting back watching our chaotic life. He wants to get in there with us, help us and get His hands dirty. Now, I am pretty sure I have just upset a few people who wouldn’t like to think of God getting His hands dirty. Isn’t that what His Son did by dying on the cross? He came so that we would be saved. Isn’t that what God did by sending to us His Holy Spirit? To dwell with us?

I rely on God’s work (and workings) in my life while I am not all I should be. God is faithful. He is trustworthy.

So, this evening I reach for a cup of coffee and I am grateful for my “get your hands dirty God”, who loves me and helps me daily. My whole lot of Jesus seems an awesome decision to make.

Be blessed.

Tomorrow

Posted on by Ruth

 

Tomorrow can only be lived if you chose today, to be there tomorrow. The decisions today, can cause tomorrow to be less than what it could. Or tomorrow can be better because today, you chose well.

If you go into any forest or wooded area, you will find markings etched into trees. It might be markings or initials that people have carved into the trunk so that it remains forever. Today I want to share with you something that remains etched into my mind and heart. While God has beautifully healed this area of my life, the scars remain.

Nineteen years ago, my dad took his own life.

This week a want to use this blog to reach out and encourage others who have had a loved one who has taken their own life.

I also want to reach out to those that might be coming to the end of what they can take and might be thinking that life is not worth living, or that the pain that they feel needs to end. For you right now, please go and talk to someone – the future is yet to be lived and you will never know what that future is unless you experience it. I am praying for you right now and in the coming week.

The following story is an article I wrote a year ago, on the anniversary of my father’s passing. Some parts of it are raw and I have left it at that. God has used this part of my life to be able to reach others. I am not only grateful for pain, but thankful that we have a God who heals and then who allows us to use the pain for helping others.

 

(Be Alive Ministries Facebook post 29th March 2016)

https://www.facebook.com/notes/be-alive-ministries/it-is-etched-in-my-heart/616614411819443

 

For the one who has lost the will to live

 

There is always a tomorrow.

Tomorrow remains as a forward destination whether we want it to be or not. If we end our tomorrows, it is still there for everyone else. People who are at the end of what they can take, or when the depression fills the mind with darkness, then the existence of tomorrow is wanting to be wiped from the now. Tomorrow is not always as we think it might be. When pain or darkness speak, it does not tell the truth. It speaks from yesterday, not tomorrow.

The future is always there. It is what we do tomorrow that changes this.

As a Christian, I have faced times were the only hope for a future was hanging on to God, until the tomorrow was then today and today was better. Soon the “todays” became the best place to be and my “tomorrows” were left in the hands of the very God who I had clung to.

I only can say that my father missed out on so much, because he chose to wipe his tomorrows away. He chose not to understand that the God he believed in would get him through, and tomorrow, while maybe different and challenging, was worth the fight.

Every person, life and tomorrow is worth the fight, it is worth the decision to live another day. It is worth hanging on to God while He brings your though.

I have been in both situations. I have thought of no tomorrow and I have lost someone who thought that there was no tomorrow. For this I can personally say without a doubt in my heart – whatever the struggle, God is the answer.

 

For the one who has lost a loved one to suicide

 

You have a tomorrow too. It is hard and painful, you will be angry and then regret that anger. You will wonder if you could have done more. You will blame yourself and then blame your loved one. You will have good days and bad days. My heart goes out to you.

Your life is now different, someone has changed that for you. Your tomorrow will only change too if you make the decisions to start every day as a new one. Remember what I said above. When pain and darkness speak, it does not tell the truth.

Forgive, surround yourself with friends and loved ones, and give your tomorrow to God. He knows your future and can help you.

I know this. I have experienced this. Our God is an awesome God. He takes our dark todays and turns them in to tomorrows of worth and a future of hope.

There is a lesson I have learnt well – God knows my yesterday. He is with me today. He is in my tomorrow, and He is my forever. I know this becasue I have experienced this. I have a bush in my yard, it is called “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow”. When I see this bush, I think of God. God has been there for me for so many years, and I look forward to the years to come.

Tomorrow isn’t ours to deal with today. We can only deal with one day at a time. Yesterday cannot be dealt with today either, it belongs in the past.

Give your yesterdays, todays and tomorrows to God. Trust in Him who has a better sight than you.

 

Be blessed

 

Australia

Beyond Blue 24/7 Helpline – 1300 22 46936

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https://www.beyondblue.org.au/