Tag: Jesus

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Is the bible really that important?

Many years ago in north Wales lived a young girl called Mary Jones.

She longed to learn how to read but there was no one to teach her, so she prayed about it.

In response, and to Mary’s surprise, the little chapel where she worshiped each Sunday with her parents was going to also become a school! Mary was delighted to learn alongside her friends, and she loved learning to read because she really longed to be able to read the Bible.

It was Mary’s love for Jesus that inspired this, and once she was able to read she longed for nothing more than to own her very own Bible, in the Welsh language. Bibles were very hard to come by in those days, especially in Welsh – and they were expensive. The odds were stacked against Mary as she came from a very poor family, but nothing would quench her determination!

In 1800 she turned 15. After scrimping and saving for 6 long years, she finally had the funds to buy the book she treasured. The nearest place where they were likely to be was about 25 miles away.

She set off early one day on the long journey, most likely barefoot, and she walked. And walked. And when she grew tired she walked some more. It was a risky journey – there was no guarantee that there would even be a Bible at the other end, not to mention the perils of a young girl taking such a journey on her own, and with all that money too.

Thankfully, Mary went back home with her very own Bible. To her it was the greatest treasure there could be, for it helped her know her saviour better, plus she read it with her own children years later. This true story of the girl who was so determined went on to greatly inspire those who who sourced it for her – so much so that it led to the foundation of The Bible Society. Here is what they say about their mission: “We believe the Bible is God’s gift to the world. We want everyone to discover its message for themselves”.

Wow! And so because of one young girl’s devotion to God, people all over the world are having the opportunity to meet Jesus.

Thank you Jesus for Mary Jones, and her legacy which carries on to this day. Please help everyone in the UK and the wider world to read or hear Scripture in their own language, that they may come to know the joy of knowing you (and your word) like Mary did. And to those of us who have our own Bibles, whether they are actual books or an app on our devices, may we value your word more than we currently do, but may be value the Author more!

Mary Jones and her Bible can be purchased here for just £2.99, and Mary Jones Pilgrim Centre (formerly Mary Jones World) can be visited in Bala, North Wales.

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For Christians the word ‘mission’ can be explained in different ways. Churches Together in England explores what mission is here.

I LOVE this quote from J. John: “Go on a missions trip – walk next door. It’s cheaper, and you don’t have to fundraise for a year!” (It can be found in this video if you’d like to hear it).

Naturally there is a place for God to send people ‘on mission’ to far-flung places, whether long-term or short. We have experienced the latter a number of times. Having said this, mission is also everyday, everywhere.

Most of us are not called to travel a long way to find our mission field, but we are all called to be on mission with the Holy Spirit in our daily lives, and so each one of us will have a person, group or place that is our mission field.

Matthew 9:35-10:1 says:

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

Even if you are saving for a mission trip, how about listening to J. John’s advice? We don’t need slick sales pitches for Jesus; we just need to live as though the hope we have in Jesus is real – because it is!

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Growing up…

Since becoming a parent I have found myself saying things I never expected to have to say…

’Please don’t pick your nose with my finger’ 

‘Don’t you dare lick Gary’ 

‘Felt tip pens are not for drawing on bottoms’. 

Sometimes I forget that my children are relatively new to being human…they don’t have 35 years experience so they need guidance sometimes on what is appropriate and what isn’t. It is my job as their parent to walk alongside them and teach them. Thankfully I am not doing this alone, I have a husband, family and friends who are all supporting and playing their part in helping raise Zoe and Keziah.

Now, it’s one thing to tell my three year old not to lick our friend who has come for tea but if I’m still having to tell her that when she is 13 or 30 then we have a bigger concern on our hands. This is what Paul was saying to the church in Corinth when he wrote his 1st letter to them. In chapter 3 he says: 

“Brothers and sisters, when I was with you I found it impossible to speak to you as those who are spiritually mature people, for you are still dominated by the mind-set of the flesh. And because you are immature infants in Christ, I had to nurse you and feed you with “milk,” not with the solid food of more advanced teachings, because you weren’t ready for it.”

Paul was despairing that the church in Corinth, despite having received some of the basic teachings of Christ, and having made commitments to live a certain way were not digging deep into their relationship with God and learning more from those around them, but beginning to form sides and state their preferences as to who they thought was the best teacher or the most important. They were behaving like spiritual 3 year olds when actually they should have matured past that stage. Paul is frustrated that he is having to go back to basics and re-teach them the foundations of the gospel again. 

Don’t read this wrong and come away thinking it isn’t okay to be a baby believer (metaphorically). If you are new to the faith or you are just beginning to explore what a relationship with Jesus is all about then explore away!! Paul loves to encourage new believers in their faith…what he is frustrated about is those who don’t bother to grow. 

If, having told Zoe that tongues are not for licking people, she continued to try and lick those she was comfortable with it would be very frustrating (and frankly really gross!). She wouldn’t be exercising her ability to control her impulses, she wouldn’t be exploring other ways of connecting with people and showing them they mean a lot to her. She wouldn’t be growing up! 

What Paul does, and what we hope to do with Zoe and Keziah is point it all back to God! Only God gives the growth. Paul isn’t saying you need to study me more and do as I say, although he was a good example for them to follow to begin with. He is saying get to know God more and you will receive direct from the grower himself. I’m not telling Zoe exactly how to behave – goodness knows my way of showing affection isn’t always the best, but what I am trying to do is lead her, by example to begin with, but ultimately to lead her to a point where she can know God and receive directly from the grower.

If you are new to the faith and want to explore more of what it all means we would love to hear from you and give you some pointers and resources.

If you have been a believer for a while and you don’t think you are growing, don’t panic. Maybe getting together with 2 or 3 fellow believers and exploring what it means to walk closer with God would be helpful. Get in touch and we can give you a few pointers to help you get started.

If you’re in the depths of parenting toddlers, or any age children for that matter, and you’re desperately trying to do your best to point them to God, know that you are not alone! That old saying ‘It takes a village to raise a child’ is so true. Why not get together with 2 or 3 other parents either at your stage or a few stages ahead to pray together about how to be the best conduit to God that you can be? 

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Devotion?

I just listened to a song called ‘Devotion’ by Gas Street Music, which can be found here.

I wonder to whom, or to what, you are most devoted? The song uses the word ‘all’, and it names the things that the singer wants to give to Jesus, out of devotion to him (“All my affection, all of my praise” etc).

The first Christians in the world ever were absolutely devoted, not just to Jesus and his message but also to one another. Check it out in the book of Acts, chapter 2 verse 42: 

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 

They faced a lot of opposition, but because of their devotion and their unwavering commitment to the cause, the message of Jesus and the Church spread like wildfire. Of course the Holy Spirit had a big role to play too.

What gets in the way of your devotion to Jesus? Why not use this song or the Bible verse above to help you to realign your devotion to him? Better still, why not join together with a couple of friends who want to do the same thing, and start a discipleship group together! If this is you, we’d love to hear from you so please let us know if we can encourage or even mentor you in this.

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Come with me, lets take it to Jesus

Sometimes a song can break through your logical brain and speak straight to your heart. I’m sure there is some theology or psychology behind it but I don’t need to know that…all I know is that this song is breaking through for me right now. 

I could pick the song apart and explain why each bit is hitting a nerve but instead I’ll just say this… “Come with me, let’s take it to Jesus” is plural and invitational. I don’t have to do this alone…I also don’t need to have all the answers – we can go together and take everything to Jesus.

Click here to watch and listen to the song on YouTube

Take it to Jesus by Anna Golden (Ft. Kari Jobe)

I have no idea what to say right now
How could any words ease the pain right now
Something like this will never make sense never make sense at all 
I have no idea what to say right now

If you wanna come you can stay for awhile 
I know a place we could go right now
Pack all your pieces, broken and bleeding, all of your grief and doubt 
I know a place we could go right now 

When your questions don’t have answers and you just can’t understand it 
When your mind just won’t stop running and the tears just keep on coming 
You don’t have to explain it
He hears you before you can speak
Come with me, let’s take it to Jesus

This is the place you can rest for a while 
If you need to just fall apart 
Lay down your worry, he’s not in a hurry, take all the time you need 
This is the place you can rest for a while 

When my questions had no answers and I couldn’t understand it 
When my mind wouldn’t stop running and the tears just kept on coming 
Didn’t have to explain it
He heard me before I could speak 
Even now, I still take it to Jesus

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From Decision to Disciple

Andy Frost of Share Jesus International (SJI) created this booklet in 2022 and I’ve just had a read. It’s really good.

It refers to a ‘disciple’ as someone who knows Jesus, becomes like Jesus, and who does the things that Jesus did. 

The booklet is only 40 pages long, is very practical and helps new Christians think about the things that may be hard for them and how they can overcome them. 

Along the way are plenty of great resource recommendations, from things to read and things to watch to questions to consider and even courses to attend.

I wish I’d had access to something like this when I made the decision to follow Jesus! It would have helped greatly with actually working out “What do I do now?”. It can be tempting to think “I’m in! Job done” when actually we have the rest of our lives to live after that point of decision, and if you’re anything like me you’ll be grateful for whatever help you can get along the way.

From Decision to Disciple can be purchased here for just £3 and there is a discount for multiple copies.

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The Way

I saw a sign recently which made me think. It was on the side of a church building and at first glance it simply said ‘The Way’. 

This reminds me of 2 things:

1) There is a worship song with the chorus ‘You are the way, you are the way. Lost and dead but your love came to find me, Jesus you’re the only way. (Click here to listen to it on YouTube.)

2) A well-known Bible verse came to mind: ’I am the way, the truth and the life’. Jesus said this in John 14:6.

The fact that the sign was on a church building made me smile – how fitting that a building that should be full of people showing ‘The Way’ to God has this sign on it! But upon closer inspection I noticed the extra writing…it said “Private Road/No Access”. 

‘The Way’ that I am talking about, the one in the song and in the Bible verse is not private, it is not restricted access, it is not blocked off to certain people. It is open to all. That doesn’t mean ‘The Way’ will be an easy or a smooth road – in fact God pretty much promises that it is going to be rough and bumpy with twists and turns along it. Despite all this, the ‘Way’ I am talking about leads to heaven, to life eternal with Jesus in all his Glory!! ‘The Way’ that the sign on the church referred to just lead to a cul-de-sac of houses; nothing life changing, no glory. They were nice enough but hardly eternity with your creator.

I see this sign every single week as I attend a toddler group with my daughters. It is a little reminder to me that my primary focus right now is to show them ‘The Way’, and to encourage them in it. How am I going about that? Do I hinder their access to ‘The Way’ at all? If so, how can I remove that barrier? Thankfully as we get close to the toddler group I am reminded that I don’t have to walk this way alone. I have friends, mentors and brothers and sisters in Christ who walk ‘The Way’ with me and encourage me and my children in ‘The Way’.

Who is your primary focus right now? Maybe it is your husband or wife who doesn’t yet know ‘The Way’, maybe it is your work colleagues or your school friends who have lost their way a bit, or maybe it is your neighbour. How could you help them find ‘The Way’? 

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Weed or Treasure?

Some of my favourite plants are weeds!! Don’t get me wrong, I love a beautiful rose, I find green flowers eminently interesting and there is something stunning about the way water beads and rolls off a lupin leaf…but still, some of my favourite plants are weeds.

Dictionary.com defines a weed as ‘any valueless, undesirable or troublesome plant that grows profusely where it is not wanted, especially one that grows on cultivated ground to the exclusion or injury of the desired crop.’ They sound like a bit of a nightmare don’t they? Anyone who has attempted to keep a garden or allotment will know that weeding is one of the biggest jobs, and no matter how clever your planting scheme is or how deep you mulch, weeds will always make their way through.

In day to day life we can sometimes, often inadvertently, treat people like weeds. Maybe our harsh tone makes someone feel unwanted. When we are so wrapped up in our own business and in the important things we have to deal with maybe others around us feel of little or no value. Sometimes others can make us feel like weeds too…if we are trying really hard at something and someone brushes away our best effort as useless we could feel worthless, if we need help with something and are struggling to find that help we may feel unwanted. 

‘The world’ has a way of making us feel like weeds…you don’t have to look far on instagram to find a seemingly perfect mother who finds time to exercise and keep in shape, she has beautiful well dressed children who are always smiling and unnervingly clean, her house is immaculate and her garden is pristine. I see that and instantly feel unacceptable, my lived in house and dishevelled appearance is only matched by my, albeit beautiful, kids who wear mismatched clothes and have stains for every tumble, scrape and mud pie that has happened during the day. I haven’t exercised in years but if I can find clean clothes that’s a bonus!! I’m sure there is an equivalent for every walk of life. That person who earns more than you, that church that has more people attending than yours, that football team which is doing better than yours, that person who always seems to be one step ahead of you…these things can get under your skin and leave you feeling worthless and unacceptable.

So why all the talk about weeds, and why do I like weeds so much?? Well have you looked at them? I mean actually looked at them? Have you ever counted the petals on a daisy? Or really looked at the tiny blue flowers of a forget-me-not? Have you ever got up close and personal with a clover flower and truly appreciated its petals and colour? 

Recently I saw a meadow salsify in its seed-head form…it was STUNNING. After showing it to Zoe and encouraging her to blow it like a dandelion clock I looked round for another…just look at the delicacy of each seed, each thin silk like parachute fitting with the one next to it to form this flawless beautiful pom-pom. Look at the unique curve on each seed so it fits perfectly next to the other seeds to form the globe in the picture. All that detail for something generally unwanted by most.

What does all this mean for me or you? Jesus made those weeds, it says in the bible that God cares for the grass, and weeds, in the field which are here today and gone tomorrow, how much more will he care for us (Luke 12:28). We may feel like weeds because of other people’s attitudes and behaviours towards us but God says we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14), that our name is written on the palm of his hand (Isaiah 49:16), that we are outrageously loved (Ephesians 3:18-19), that we are the apple of his eye (Zechariah 2:8). 

But this isn’t an exercise in patting ourselves on the back, how are we to behave towards others? Jesus didn’t listen when people told him that he shouldn’t be spending time with weeds like sinners and tax collectors, foreigners and enemies of the jews, women…let alone women with questionable morals, the sick, the dying…the dead! Jesus saw the beauty in all those people. When everyone else saw unwanted, worthless, cast outs, Jesus saw precious children of God who are covered by grace, forgiven and adopted into God’s family. 

Next time you walk past a daisy or see a dandelion clock, catch your leg on a nettle or have sticky weed stuck to you by some mischievous toddler remember you are not a weed in God’s eyes…and neither is anyone else! Who is God bringing to mind for you to encourage…who needs to hear that they are not valueless, undesirable or troublesome? Maybe you could collect a little bunch of beautiful ‘weeds’ and tell them what God thinks of them! You could even get them with sticky weed at the same time!!     

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Walking in the light…

As I walked home from a course earlier in the summer I was surprised to notice the street lights weren’t on yet. It was 9:45pm!! I was going along the main road that I live on and as I passed each street light I noticed it flickered on. It made me smile, as though I was somehow causing the street lights to jump into action. I knew it was the sensor on top of each lamp post, but still…I liked to think somehow my presence illuminated that little bit of street. 

It got me thinking…as a follower of Jesus I have the ability to be ‘light’ in each situation I am in. That doesn’t mean I’m some incredible oracle who knows everything. It also doesn’t mean I have to be the life and soul of every gathering I am part of, but when we ask Jesus to be in charge of our life we are asking him to come and live inside of us and Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12)!! If I am genuinely bringing Jesus into my everyday life then how am I allowing the light of Jesus to shine through?

When I go shopping do I keep my head down and plough through the list as quickly as possible avoiding eye contact with everyone around me or do I look up and smile at those around me, for some of those people you may be the only smile they see all day! When I’m with my kids and we see something that makes them ask questions, like a homeless man sitting begging, do I briskly brush off the conversation and walk away or do I engage with the questions and explain that not everyone has the same opportunities as we do and some people don’t have all that we have, maybe we should buy them a sandwich and a cup of tea. At the end of the day when I’ve been busy all day and so has my husband do I get grumpy with him because I’ve used up all my patience during the day, or do I explain how I’m feeling and ask how he is feeling and talk together, or even pray together!! 

In every situation I find myself in I can choose how I respond. Do I allow my human nature to guide my response bringing darkness, confusion and maybe even pain. Or do I allow my inner light to shine and invite Jesus into every situation bringing hope, light and love?

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