[Friday's Devotional] - Where to Start...

So, you ask, what's it all about and how and where do I start?  That's probably a good question to start with. I'm not sure that I'm the best one to answer it, but perhaps I can offer some encouragement. It seems today that many people grow up thinking the church, religion, and God are for weirdos, nutters, and should be avoided.  WRONG!

Although there are those who take their belief to extremes in their behaviour, they are not a true reflection of those who seek God through his son Jesus. Some who have asked Jesus into their lives are nervous about letting others who may not be Christians -  because that is what we call ourselves – know that they believe in God and choose to follow his guidance. Most Christians are not afraid to admit their belief and faith in God, and their choice to follow the teachings of his son Jesus.

Do you look for a guarantee with anything you take on?  With God you get one, and it's not one that expires in a short time or even in a few years.  It's a guarantee that never expires.  All you have to do is genuinely ask the Lord Jesus into your life and try to live pleasing God to the best of your ability.  You do not have to be perfect.  I'm certainly not, but I do try.

OK, I know that most of you reading this are already Christians, but perhaps you can think of someone who you would like to help find God through Jesus.  Maybe you could invite them to come along to one of the Alpha courses starting in September. It puts them under no obligation but offers them a chance to choose for themselves. What an early Christmas present that could turn out to be. Let's think about giving someone a new beginning.

Lord, give us the confidence to offer others the chance to learn more of Jesus, and of your love, grace, and mercy. And protect each of us as we go about your business in true faith.  Amen.

Jim Finch

[Thursday's Devotional] - Towards the Finish...

And so we press on towards the finish, battling through the trials and tribulations that befall us, and enjoying those moments that bring a smile to our faces and joy to our hearts.  I hope you all get more of the latter.  It doesn't matter what position any of us finish, like I said it's not a race.  What's more, none of us know where the finish is, do we?  And to be honest none of us can remember anything about when we physically started, although I bet many of us can remember the date and how we began spiritually.

I liked the film 'The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner'. The main character was a young offender who was allowed out of the prison to do cross country running and was trusted to return at the end of the run.  It was not the running that was important to him, but how his mind was free to go wherever it wanted while he ran.  Life is like that – it's not the physicality but the spirituality that is more important.  It's just taken a few of us a bit longer to find that out. Fortunately God has the grace and patience to wait for us to realise what it's all about.

So we continue on, not knowing where or when or how the finish will come, and we try not to think about the physical side of it.  So don't.  There is, however, one thing to remember.  The finish is actually God's new beginning for each of us.  Now that's better than a gold medal isn't it!

Lord, guide us along the path you wish us to follow so that we may face the future with your love in our hearts, and encourage us to show your love to all around us. Amen.

Jim Finch

[Wednesday's Devotional] - The Other Side

So we are growing in stature, understanding and belief.  All is going well.  No matter where we started we all know where we are going and where we will finish, don't we? Well DON'T WE?  Then why is it that when something goes wrong so many of us blame the one we say we love and trust?  Why did you do that?  Everything was fine until then, we were doing OK, so why didn't you leave things as they were?  We blame our wife or husband, or a workmate, or whoever happens to be handy.  It's seldom our fault and then often some of us blame God. How could you let that happen to me?  Haven't I always been true to you, always trying to please you?  And now this!

Hold on a minute. Surely we know that God wouldn't mess up our lives. But someone else would take great delight in seeing us suffer. We also know in our hearts that our partner would not deliberately mess things up for us and workmates, like us, could do without the hassle. You see it's not a simple stroll to get to where we want to be. Satan will take pleasure at putting all sorts of obstacles in our way, to make life difficult. And he knows when to dangle the juiciest carrots to tempt us to stray from the road we need to be on.

So pick yourself up, dust yourself down, and start all over again. And remember to thank the Lord for giving you the inner strength to do just that.

Lord, when we make mistakes or things go wrong help us to make that fresh start. Give us that inner strength to resist temptation and to trust you as the one who would do nothing to harm us. Thank you Lord.  Amen.

Jim Finch

[Tuesday's Devotional] - Growing

So we grow.  In size, strength, and knowledge.  As a person it is to be hoped that we grow in understanding and intelligence too.  We develop over the years to what we call maturity.  We come to learn about the world around us and how to live, behave, and sometimes to survive, depending on where we are and the conditions around us.

If, unlike me, you came to know God through Jesus sooner rather than later, then you have a good start.  However that is only the beginning, since you now have to develop and grow in understanding, and to bring yourself ever closer to God.  You will do this through prayer, listening for God's promptings, through reading God's word in the Bible, and by constantly trying to live more like Jesus as time goes by.  It's not easy, is it?

So we grow into and through adulthood, learning more about God (hopefully) and with a good start become a good Christian member of our community. As I said earlier, I hope you made an earlier start to loving Jesus and finding God than I did.  But none of us can rest on our laurels, and those of us who are late starters have to try that bit harder to get where we all want to be. And if you glance over your shoulder you may catch a glimpse of us catching up, although it's not a race! Anyway, the first shall be last we are told.

Lord, help us to grow in understanding and love, and to grow ever closer to you, that in due course we may be worthy to be where you are for all time. Amen.

Jim Finch

[Monday's Devotional] - In the beginning...

Where do I begin? It's the question all those who write, whether it's Devotionals, Sermons, Poems, or a Novel, ask themselves. And where do any of us begin in real terms?

We begin the moment we are conceived, but probably think of ourselves beginning with our birth...and so life begins for each of us. But as we journey through life and make our way through the world and its ups and downs, we sometimes seek new beginnings. When things go wrong, we tire of the same old job, or we long for new surroundings, we look for something new. Perhaps something to spice up our life or to rescue us from what we are tired of.

In our early days much is decided for us and we only have to do as we are taught, but as we grow we take more responsibility for who and what we are, where we go and what we do. I expect, like me, many of you will have made mistakes along the way. Made wrong decisions, done things you later regret. And there will have been decisions and actions you are pleased you made and did. My best decision and action? Easy, I asked Jesus into my life and gave myself to God.

I expect most of you reading this have done the same and probably at an earlier stage of your lives than me. I was just awkward and thought I knew enough and wasn't getting caught up in this 'religious rubbish'. However, I was wrong and He came for me and I couldn't resist. Now I've really begun!

And that's the sort of beginning I'm talking about and if you haven't 'found' Jesus yet then I urge you to join the Alpha course that starts in September. I hope to be there helping out. See you there?

There's a song that came to mind as I started writing, I don't know where it came from or who sang it, but it begins.....

Where do I begin, to tell the story of how great a love can be?

Lord, guide our words and actions that others may make the decision to really begin to live.

Jim Finch

[Friday's Devotional] -

I find summer also presents a challenge.

Even though I love holidays, the change of routine sometimes makes it harder to keep to the patterns I find helpful.

This is one of the reasons I change gear in my way of reading the Bible.

For me, this different rhythm fits well with a more reflective approach in my quiet times with more time to linger and dwell in God's word:

"Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path."

Psalm 119:105 [NIV]

If I want to walk with God, then I need His light for my path just as I need his refreshment and friendship.

Tim Norman

[Thursday's Devotional] - In Every Season

"Through all the changing scenes of life,

 In trouble and in joy,

The praises of my God shall still

 My heart and tongue employ."

Summer may be sunny and warm (let's hope so). But it may not…

The sun is still there even if it is hidden behind a cloud.

God is with us, in all seasons as King David writes in Psalm 23:

"The Lord is my shepherd,

I lack nothing.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

He leads me beside quiet waters,

He refreshes my soul.

He guides me along the right paths for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

Like many people, I come back to Psalm 23 and linger on its words written by a man who had lived in times of plenty and times of poverty, and who had known danger and delight, triumph and toil, hardship and health and had known God with him in every season.

Tim Norman

[Wednesday's Devotional] -Have a Party Together

We have so much to celebrate

The Bible is full of celebrations of all sorts.

Many of the Psalms are 'Psalms of Ascents' which were sung by pilgrims going up to Jerusalem for a great big national celebration. It did have a religious aspect, but it was also just a huge party.

Here's one Psalm of Ascents that I particularly like:

"I rejoiced with those who said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the Lord.'

Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is built like a city that is closely compacted together.

That is where the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord,

to praise the name of the Lord according to the statute given to Israel.

There the thrones for judgment stand,

the thrones of the house of David."

Psalm 122:1-5 [NIV]

Celebrations can be very simple.

I was recently with a people who are part of a 'missional community', and they enjoy getting together with friends for dinner. Near the end of a meal, one of them said:

"Let's all tell each other about one good thing

that has happened in the last week, or the last month"

They had a great time, as they finished someone said 'God loves to give us all sorts of good things'.

Tim Norman

[Tuesday's Devotional] - Be Refreshed By God

What would you put as the first song in a book of worship songs?

The book of Psalms begins with

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish."

Psalm 1 [NIV]

The picture of a tree by water is one of contentment and satisfaction, of fulfillment and fruitfulness. There isn't a better place for a tree to be.

Being in the right place with God is a place of blessing, living according to God's law and enjoying God's provision.

Unlike a tree, we have a continual choice to stay in that place of obedience and relationship with God, that place of knowing his friendship and refreshing.

Tim Norman

[Monday's Devotional] - Celebrate God's Good Things

For many years in the summertime, I have come back to the Psalms in my devotions. There is something about the change of rhythm and (hopefully) good weather which gives a sense of slowing down and having time to reflect, and I find that the Psalms are a good place to turn at times like this. I have found that it's a great way of making the most of the summer.

As you read these words take time to linger on a word or on a phrase, perhaps thanking God for the things that come to mind, perhaps singing a song, drawing a picture or writing:

"Praise the Lord, O my soul;

all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the Lord, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits—

who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."

Psalm 103:1-5 [NIV]

It's all about celebration.

Celebration can be a good part of rest, the Sabbath which is part of the rhythm of work and rest that the Bible speaks of.  Take time to celebrate, just like God did at the end of each day of creation and on the first Sabbath we read about in Genesis 1 and 2.

God has give us so much, Matt Redman song talks about 10,000 reasons to celebrate God's goodness …perhaps there are even more.

Tim Norman