Be Still And Know

Psalm 130:5-6 NLT  'I am counting on the Lord; yes, I am counting on him. I have put my hope in his word. I long for the Lord more than sentries long for the dawn, yes, more than sentries long for the dawn...' What is your first thought, when you wake up? I go into day having offered my first thoughts to God. I have a very simple sequence of three prayers committed to memory.  Someone asked me recently about the difference between formal and informal prayer. It is often a matter of personal preference. Although caricatured as an anarchist, I like boundaries. I love the regular prayer rhythms that measure my routine in the Oratory. Prayer repetition means many are committed to memory, so I can more easily live below the head noise that distracts me from the focus of my prayer life. In my experience, spontaneity demands a lot of creative energy, drawing me away from simply abiding in Christ.  Having prepared the Oratory for the day ahead, organised my wife’s packed lunch, fed the dog, each activity accompanied

Ephesians 4:21-23 NLT 'Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.' Some time ago, over a period of months, I lost a considerable amount of weight. One consequence was that my clothes were too large for me and I had to replace them with new outfits. When we pursue God, metaphorically we change our diet. We no longer feed off the contemporary drivers that inform culture, but invite God to signpost how we are to live. Becoming a Christian is not to accessorise our life, but to completely change our fashion sense. Our lives slowly reflect a set of values that are not instinctive. The God life demands we pay close attention to our conscience, which is an inbuilt navigation guide. Just as a yacht that has been sailing the globe for some time needs to be taken into dry dock so that the barnacles and other growths can b

Ephesians 4:16 NLT 'He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.' The wonderful truth is that we are not born to live isolated and lonely lives. Just as God is a Trinity, a community of interrelating persons of divinity, so we are created for relationship or, more simply, friendship. We enjoy friendship with God and that finds its fullest expression within the mutuality of our interpersonal relationships. Church is the vehicle which is intended to give the fullest expression to that mutuality. Just as our hearts yearn for companionship with God, we are designed to live in communion with each other. It’s why none of us is gifted for everything. Work gets done as we pull together and draw upon the rich diversity of gifts dispersed across humanity. While all humanity seeks relationship, it is most clearly achieved within the Church, for here by Christ’s action there is no sepa

Ephesians 4:15 NLT 'Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.' Speaking the truth can prove daunting. It’s often easier to modify what we say to save ourselves and others embarrassment. Working as I’ve done for many years with people from diverse international backgrounds, I’ve discovered a lot about how we Brits are perceived. With all our courteous language, our ‘pleases’ and ‘thank yous’, we are often seen as difficult to understand. Remember the old Western movies where the phrase, ‘White man speaks with forked tongue’ would occur? That’s how we are often understood by others who tend to be more direct in their speech. At the same time, I do not want to use the truth to cause someone else to lose face and feel awkward. I want them to benefit from what I am saying, and they can’t do that if in some way I shame them or subsequently it is clear I was economical with the truth I shared with them. Jesus is always straightf

Ephesians 4:14 NLT 'Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.' In the Oratory garden we have a number of fruit trees. Every spring their future harvest is heralded by the appearance of blossom, which is beautiful, but only the promise of what is yet to come. In much the same way, we begin our Christian journey as blossom. Bright and beautiful expressions of the future promise of God seeded within each one of us. Finding Christ is but the first stage; the end goal is to grow up into maturity. Every one of us who has passed through childhood, into adolescence and then the stages of adulthood recognises that even at a physical and emotional level, maturing is tough. It demands decisions and constant readjustments as those decisions, despite being well-intentioned, prove to be no longer appropriate. Equally, in our pursuit of God we are to m

Revelation 3:20 NLT 'Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.' One day last winter I became distracted by a background sound, which while not loud, was constant and invaded my consciousness. After a long, exasperating search, I eventually tracked the source to a heating valve. A simple adjustment and what had become a significant distraction was dealt with. Once again, I could hear silence and the regular sounds of our home. Listening to God is a bit like that. God’s faint knocking is persistent in the background, seeking to attract our attention. However, with so many distractions demanding our consideration, legitimately and illegitimately, it’s all too often lost within the cacophony of sounds that fill our lives. These are the daily demands of work, family, friendship and fun. The anxieties that besiege us together with the fears we each carry. This is one key reason we can feel as though God is silent. The

Psalm 37:3-5 NLT 'Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.' I don’t trust my heart’s desires. They are usually selfish and all about my comfort and well-being. Yet, the psalmist declares that God will grant me my heart’s desires. Maybe there’s a contextual problem here. In an individualistic, materialistic society, it’s difficult not to become wrapped up in self-indulgence. My horizons are very often established around what I determine is in my best interest. This, of course, is not God’s way. Jesus taught that our interests are first to be directed towards God, and then to the other. There is an established framework for this ‘heart’s desire’ equation. Listening to God must begin with implicit trust in God, as I won’t follow the advice of someone I don’t trust. The quality of our friendship with God can be measured by the degree t

John 8:46-47 NLT 'Which of you can truthfully accuse me of sin? And since I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me? Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God. But you don’t listen because you don’t belong to God.' The Gospels present the story of Jesus’ life and ministry with claims that Jesus is the Son of God and the redeemer of humanity. Jesus invites us to make a close inspection of his life and to explore his claims. If we find there is an authenticity to those claims, we are invited to accept Jesus’ message as the source for truth in understanding our life and experience on earth. This informs the way we read the Bible as God’s living word. This means that we might meet Jesus daily within its pages. My own very practical decisions to simplify my life were initiated through my encounter with God in scripture. Having not merely acknowledged Jesus’ invitation to live with one coat, not two, I felt compelled to work out what that meant for the way I choose to live. I sensed G

Proverbs 2:1-5 NLT 'My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands. Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures. Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God.' ‘Wisdom’ derives from the root word meaning ‘to see’. The very name of our species, homo sapiens, signifies ‘wise man’. Yet, wisdom is not something that is taught. Indeed, the great philosophers of old recognised that wisdom was not a form of knowledge but a recognition of the limits to their own knowledge. As Socrates said: “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” And this is how we are to approach God. Always with a recognition of our lack of understanding and in humility. Wisdom, then, is not enhanced understanding or knowledge, rather it’s a way of seeing life and building a perception on life, one that is built upon God. As we go in search of

Psalm 25:4-5 NLT 'Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.'  Listening to God sounds both logical and self-explanatory. As God’s followers, why wouldn’t we listen to God? Yet, the very art of listening raises so many questions. How might I hear God’s voice? Does it equate to my feelings? Isn’t there a danger I just make everything up and deceive myself? These are all good questions. The fact that we ask them is a good sign. We acknowledge we are disposed to confusing our own preferences with God’s leading. However, there’s no other way to move forward. We always run the risk of getting things wrong. Like the first disciples, we can only learn from our mistakes. God is often presented as a father. Any parent knows that children will make mistakes. Sometimes these are honest errors of judgement, while at other times they’re wilful decisions taken for apparent advantage. The paren

Revelation 21:3-4 NLT I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone for ever.”  Oliver Goldsmith, the Irish novelist, wrote: “Life is a journey that must be travelled no matter how bad the roads or accommodations.” It’s true that we receive the gift of life, yet have very little control as to how this gift plays out. We wrestle to control what in so many ways lies well beyond our control. Life demands my active engagement no matter my mood, disposition or capacity. I may not understand my life circumstances, I may feel emotions from elation to despair, yet ultimately I must decide if I am in a game of random chance or there is some purpose behind my life experience. This will demand both faith and optimism. Faith to accept the fact that God is real and the ar

Ephesians 5:18-19 NLT 'Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.' I am aware when broadcasting and writing that my words are heard or read by people who I don’t know and will never meet. I’m equally conscious that each person is pursuing their life as best they can, facing issues I will never know. So, I experience a weight of responsibility both to God and my audience. It is a privilege to communicate. I’ve discovered the tremendous value there is in engaging with other Christians. The privilege of community, something I need and cherish. We are not created to be solitary creatures, yet so much of life today isolates us from one another. The demands of time squeeze our social connections, while we deceive ourselves that somehow our online presence offers us the benefits of community in a more convenient form. The fact is that I need physicality

Romans 8:28 NLT 'And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.' Optimism offers us the ability to maintain a positive state of mind in the face of the challenges life throws up. It also generates the momentum we need as we traverse life’s darker seasons. This is not to be confused with blind optimism, when we ignore the facts and imagine some bright and better future, in a vain attempt to negotiate our present reality. Optimism is our commitment to seek out the positives, rather than sink beneath the weight of the very real negatives confronting us. When my eyesight began to deteriorate, I found reading difficult. Hence my first spectacles were for reading. I immediately encountered a problem. Arriving at a station and seeking to find a train (long before the days of smartphones with their useful apps), I struggled to locate my reading glasses. More than once, the time I took finding these meant I missed my train. M

Ephesians 6:12 NLT 'For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the uinseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.' The success of the HBO series Game of Thrones, based upon RR Martin’s multivolume books, has ensured that fantasy fiction is mainstream. Many of its contemporary characters are morally ambivalent. The innocent suffer and life is precarious. Perhaps the fantasy genre best depicts the reality of living life in today’s world. It’s less about escape than mere observation of the terrors that stalk us all. The Bible’s acknowledgement that life is never plain sailing is once more fashionable and contemporary. I truly hope so, for to be blindsided to the reality of evil and the truth that how we live, both personally and corporately, has physical consequences, is to adopt a head buried deep in the ground mentally. The battle for our mind is intense. It continues both when I’m awake and asle

Joshua 1:9 NLT 'This is my command – be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.' Throughout the day I tend to consult news websites on my phone or when home, flick on one of the numerous 24-hour news channels. News media is primarily pessimistic. There are few voices platformed that speak of life’s positive opportunities amid the chaos of climate change, innumerable wars with the mass displacement of people and the horrors of drought, disease and famine. Even domestic news paints a picture that awakens fresh fears within the human heart confronted with ageing and decline. The challenge left to Joshua by Moses was daunting. God’s original intention of entering the Promised Land, as yet unfulfilled, was now his commission. God’s only words of advice were to be courageous and faith-filled. More than three millennia later, the advice is no different. All we have to meet the challenge of tomorrow is faith built upon our confidence in God. This is

Ephesians 1:14 NLT 'The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.' Love requires commitment; the deepest human form is through a proposal of marriage. There is nothing that brings a group more alive than being present when love is professed and a proposal is made within a public space. We, the crowd who by chance observe this event, know nothing of the couple, yet our hearts join with them in their moment of excitement and joy. The guarantor of such a proposal is a ring, now worn exclusively on a finger revealing a commitment has been made. God invites us to make a response to a proposal of the deepest love that can ever be known. When we accept, we too receive a sign of that commitment, the Holy Spirit, the guarantor of God’s promise to each one of us. Commitment carries obligations; there are exclusive benefits – equally, there are exclusive demands. Remarkably, outrageous love

Ephesians 1:9-10 NLT 'God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ – which is to fulfil his own good plan. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ – everything in heaven and on earth.'  Blinkers are used to help keep a horse focused on the path ahead, limiting their peripheral vision to avoid distractions. Wearing blinkers can reduce vision from as much as 180 degrees to as little as 30 degrees. Every trainer must know each horse and work to maximise their useful impact, which is why only some racehorses wear blinkers in a race. I was blinkered in my first flush of Christian enthusiasm. I ran fast and focused, only slowly becoming aware that life was a marathon and not a sprint. As I encountered more challenges in my life, I began to run out of steam. Energy levels dropped. I was aware Christian discipleship was not quite as simplistic as I’d assumed. I knew where I was headed, but could not know the length of my race. Keeping

Ephesians 1:7-8 NLT 'He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.' Intimacy lies at the very heart of love. Today, intimacy with God is a given. Trouble is that we can take this intimacy for granted and fail to see the price paid and the response required. It was the poet TS Eliot who spoke of “an age of moderate virtue” and “moderate vice”. In other words, we can all too easily settle for a middle way that is neither hot nor cold. As if in some way, this is the life well-lived, for it is devoid of extremes. Yet, outrageous love is love lived at the extreme. It is the incarnation, itself always realised within the shadow of the cross and the death that purchases the fullness of life after which we all aspire. I confess I have been challenged throughout my life with moderation and extreme. To live at the extremity of what I know, in search of that which I have yet to

Ephesians 1:4-5 NLT 'Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.' Sadly, Christianity is most often presented as a story about sin, or separation from God. Yet, scripture reveals that God is always present with his creation, and he knew and loved each one of us even before our creation. ‘Love’ is a difficult word to comprehend. It applies equally to an appreciation of a fish and chip supper as it does to a lifetime’s commitment to another person through marriage. The stakes for the latter are somewhat higher than the former. It is a word that is open to exploration and discovery. I will through experience determine the degree to which I will love and allow myself to be loved. The greatest love is one that lies well beyond my deepest comprehension. It is the love of God, which I’m inv

Ephesians 1:2-3 NLT 'May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.' Do you sometimes daydream about what it would be like to be incredibly wealthy? When I do, I am self-centred, solving the financial woes of my family and friends, but with little thought for the real needs beyond. In a materialistic society where value is based on wealth, it’s likely that your daydream wanders in this same direction. I wonder how often you have meditated on the extravagant love you enjoy as a child of God? This blessing far exceeds any human ability to count and quantify anything material. It is, as St Paul recounts, beyond comprehension. We enjoy “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms” (NLT). This is a realm we can only ever imagine. To my shame, I’m more in touch with my aggravations and annoyances than my evident blessings. I to