Family - friends

A recent funeral and gathering of family, it is noticeable how the uncles and aunts are greatly out-numbered by the cousins; meeting cousins I had not seen in 20 plus years was staggering. Familiar faces that I struggle to see the child I remember, but then as the conversation takes hold and we recapture the old stories of holidays and expeditions, it all comes back (well, most of it).

Ken who we used to live next door to us in Middlesbrough over 47-years ago, we moved away when I was only 8 and I am sure I have not seen him since.

I can't quite get over Andrew and how alike he is to our paternal grand father, even following his footsteps in joinery. I sincerely hope we can keep in touch, though I know my weakness in this area.

We deal very well with things close up but once in the distance they seem unreachable; cousins from all corners of the UK, Jamaica and a man made floating island just off the coast of Mexico "Joyskey" - Rishi and I had a great chat about past and future.

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Armour of God

This is a long story but really just wanted to share this prayer, it was almost 20-years ago when I was first given it and was out of print then. I have a picture that for years now has matched this (opposite); drawn by a young man I worked with for some time. We talked a lot about the armour of God.

Heavenly Father, I desire to be obedient by being strong in the Lord and the power of Your might. I see that this is Your will and purpose for me. I recognize that it is essential to put on the armor that You have provided, and I do so now with gratitude and praise that You have provided all I need to stand in victory against Satan and his kingdom. Grant me wisdom to discern the tactics and sneakiness of Satan’s strategy against me. Enable me to wrestle in victory against the princes, powers, rulers, and wicked spirits who carry the battle of darkness against me. I delight to take the armor You have provided and by faith to put it on as effective spiritual protection against the spiritual forces of darkness.

I confidently take the loin girdle of truth that You offer me. I take Him who is the truth as my strength and protection. I reject Satan’s lies and deceiving ways to gain advantage against me. Grant me discernment and wisdom to recognize the subtle deceiving ways in which Satan seeks to cause me to accept his lies as truth. I desire to believe only the truth, to live the truth, to speak the truth, and to know the truth. I worship and praise You that You lead me only in the ways of truth. Thank You that Satan cannot stand against the bold use of truth.

Thank You for the breastplate of righteousness which you offer me. I eagerly accept it and put it on as my protection.Thank You for reminding me again that all of my righteousness comes from You. I embrace that righteousness which is mine by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is His righteousness that is mine through justification. I reject and repudiate all trust in my own righteousness which is as filthy rags. I ask You to cleanse me of all the times I have counted my own goodness as being acceptable before You. I bring the righteousness of my Lord directly against all of Satan’s workings against me. I express my desire to walk in righteousness before God today. By faith I appropriate the righteousness of Christ and invite Him to walk in His holiness in my life today that I might experience His righteousness in total context of ordinary living. I count upon the righteousness of my Lord to be my protection. I know that Satan must retreat from before the righteousness of God.

Thank You, Lord, for the sandals of peace You have provided. I desire that my feet should stand on the solid rock of the peace that You have provided. I claim the peace with God which is mine through justification. I desire the peace of God which touches my emotions and feelings through prayer and sanctification (Phil 4:6). Thank You that as I walk in obedience to You that the God of peace promises to walk with me (Phil 4:9), that as the God of peace You are putting Satan under my feet (Ro 16:20). I will share this good news of peace with all others today that Your Spirit will bring into my life and witness. Thank You that You have not given me the spirit of fear but of love and power and a sound mind (2 Ti 1:7). Thank You that Satan cannot stand against Your peace.

Eagerly, Lord, I lift up the shield of faith against all the blazing missiles that Satan and his hosts fire at me. I recognize that You are my shield and that in Your incarnation and crucifixion You took the arrows of Satan which I deserved. By faith .1 count upon You to shield me from above and beneath; on my right and my left; in front of me and behind me, that I might be protected, walled in, encapsulated by You that Satan may gain no way to hurt or destroy me from fulfilling Your will today. I am willing that any fiery darts of Satan You wish to touch me should do so, but I shall look upon them as refining fires permitted in Your providence for my refining and glory (1 Pet 1). Thank You, Lord, that You are a complete and perfect shield and that Satan cannot touch me apart from Your sovereign purpose.

I recognize that my mind is a particular target of Satan’s deceiving ways. I take from You the helmet of salvation. I cover my mind, my thoughts. with Your salvation. I recognize that the Lord Jesus Christ is my salvation. I helmet my head with Him. I invite His mind to be in me. Let me think His thoughts. feel His love and compassion. and discern His will and leading in all things. Let my mind be occupied with the continuing, daily, saving work of my Lord in and through my life. May the salvation of my Lord meet and defeat all Satanic thoughts that come to my mind.

With joy I take hold upon the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. I affirm that Your Word is the trustworthy, infallible Word of God. I choose to believe it and to live in its truth and power. Grant me the love for Your Word which comes from the Holy Spirit. Forgive and cleanse me from the sin of neglecting Your Word. Enable me to memorize it and to meditate upon its truth. Grant me proficient recall and skill in using Your Word against all of Satan’s subtle attacks against me, even as my Lord Jesus Christ used the Word against Satan. Enable me to use Your Word not only to defend me from Satan, but also to claim its promises and to wield the sword strong against Satan to defeat him, to push him back, to take away from him ground he claims, and to win great victories for my God through Your Word. Thank You that, Satan must retreat from Your Word applied, against him.

Thank You, dear Lord, for prayer. Help me to keep this armor well oiled with prayer. I desire to pray at all times with depth and intensity as the Holy Spirit leads me. I reject all fleshly praying as sin. I trust the Holy Spirit to enable me, to intercede for me and through me. Grant me great supplication and burden for others in God’s family of blood-washed saints. Enable me to see their needs and to assist them through prayer as the enemy attacks them. All of these petitions, intercessions, and words of praise I offer up before the true and living God in the name and worthy merit of my Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen.

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Missing but still here

The empty chair seems to have been here for such a long time. My lack of writing was not intentional or relating to the chair post (although it could seem that way). So here we are in September and the harvest is almost in, the weather has been good and I seem to notice more growth this year in trees, hedges and shrubs. The hedge in the rear garden is long in need of cutting - hopefully the weather holds and all can be tidied before the fall.

It has been a month of busyness and at one point felt like moving house, sorting boxes of stuff that had been put away for years; some clearing out and making of space. This was all prompted by an unexpected visitor Brother Simon who will be with us for a while; perhaps he will help with the hedge?

Spent a lovely morning with a family who were celebrating a 50th birthday, I was there to help out taking photos of the group, from children to grand parents. This is not my field but I enjoyed it and they were very pleased with the results. I learned a lot too.

Note to evening office: Don't imagine you can't do something; give it a go and accept we all have to learn things.
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An Empty Chair

An Empty Chair.
Yes you were expected.
This chair is a “one size fits all” so No-one is excluded.
Sit a while, rest your legs – No charge.
Look around and take in the sight – No charge.
Try not to think; try to dream – No charge.
Time is all we have; make good use of it, and that’s right – No charge.

You do not need to be anyone special to use this chair – but of course, you are special.

An empty chair in a home may denote someone missing.

How many homeless young people are there in the UK?
In a year, 75,000 young people had to seek help from services because they were homeless. That means 1 in 100 young people in the UK experienced homelessness.
What are the effects of homelessness?
Homeless young people have poorer mental and physical health than other young people. They are more likely to have alcohol and drug problems. Many homeless young people are not in education, employment or training because they are homeless.
Who is homeless?
According to the Government: • 19% of young people accepted as homeless by local authorities are aged 16—18 • 31% are aged 19 or 20 • 50% are 21 to 25 Young people from minority ethnic backgrounds are more likely to be homeless — especially in London.
Why are young people becoming homeless?
The main cause of homelessness in the UK is family breakdown, usually between young people and their parents or step-parents. Many homeless young people have experienced long-term conflict in the home, often involving violence.

Statistics from the Centrepoint homeless poster 2009.
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High places

Sunday afternoon and a walk on the beach, no intention as to how far to walk; just half an hour, then turn around. Choosing to walk on the wet sand is easier on the legs but I'm really not into power walking. Tide is a little way out to the right and away off to the left are the grassy sand dunes, the wind in my face is whipping up the fine sand and pushing patterns across the wet hoof prints left by this mornings gallop. Stones and shells catch my eye but I resist to pick up any, this is a time with no particular purpose.

After a week of focusing on things close-up, its good to get out into the open and see things from a distance. Keeping with a nautical theme, a navigator would rely on his sextant and compass but also take heed of the man in the crows nest and the one swinging the lead. It makes sense to go to the high places and check our direction, get out of the traffic jams and head for the open road.

Something woke me last night at just after 3am, wide awake I decided on a cup of tea and tip-toed downstairs. Through the east window I caught sight of Jupiter, and the sky beneath it already becoming day; to the south was Venus and a host of bright stars. If I had only been awakened to see this sight, it was worth it. I was tempted to stay up and watch the sunrise, (but not for long) .. .

There is a certain awe when we realise we are minute in comparison to the universe around us, the cosmos, mountains and sandy beaches. How often great discoveries are made when we see ourselves as insignificant in comparison, to that, which we can see but not always understand.

Note to evening office: Jesus taught by example to get away to the high places; go and take time on your own, away from things close-up.
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Ham & Spam

Who decided to use the word browse when it comes to using the Internet? I may browse in the library, a museum, a park or a shop where the intention is not to buy; but I would not regard the Internet as a place to leisurely browse. Mostly it is a place to be on your guard, watchful of wrong turns and misleading quotes. It is packed with information, which should be verified and used with discernment. The World Wide Web - remember Shakespeare's words "Oh what a tangled Web We Weave when first we practice to deceive" (meaning) this spills over into our email Inbox and out into our daily conversations, affecting our values and belief structures.

My main motivation being that of a teacher is therefore not to criticise this amazing phenomena. The ability to share so much through words, pictures, sound and movement is awesome, as something barely dreamed of half a lifetime ago. I am reminded of the words of a famous super hero "With great power comes great responsibility." From the security of our anonymous keyboard interface we can choose to accept that responsibility or perpetuate distractions and blame it on the Internet. Come on guys! we know the difference between Ham and Spam (with no intention of belittling such a wonderful thing as spam fritters). There are real people out there and we all know very little, despite the WWW. Many of us use Facebook, My Space, MSN and Blog sites, communication has never been easier but much is lost in translation.

My thanks to Henry for allowing me to use the photo from his website: Flagstaffotos.Com.Au

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Open diary - Empty head

A page in my diary void of text, indicating a quiet week without engagements; "Not on your life!" This may well have been a totally manic week of unplanned urgent events, a chain reaction of people, needs and support. Can we be too busy to be effective, too attentive to notice or too talkative to hear?

I always regard my memory as poor and unreliable, often letting me down in the worst ways. We laugh and joke about it being an age thing but I wonder about that. Just as any data base, the more information we have the longer it takes to search. The difference between us and a PC is that we get to choose the answer, which may or may not be correct. My head by now must be overflowing with fact and fiction, no wonder I get confused. I manage to backup my PC to storage discs and file somewhere till I need them; I hear there is a great PC in the clouds providing online data storage that you can access from the web or your mobile...

Just like my diary, the data needs to be put in first; more time in what is already a busy day/ week. If only there was a way to download my thoughts, archive my ideas and store my engagements. My perception of the way things used to be, was more time to do the things that matter and less busyness. Often it is good to look back and see how others coped with what I am sure was the same as today. Time was always found to share, tell stories, listen, teach and learn; a time for emptyness, to recolect and reflect; make plans and dream. If these precious times are squeezed out of our life, no wonder we struggle to cope.

Note to morning office: Lord find me in the emptyness of the day, that I may share the things that are important to me. Draw me into that secure moment in time, that I may need nothing but you; and be compelled to return, time after time.
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