Jesus in a Six Word Story

According to legend, Ernest Hemingway was lunching with some friends when he bets that he can craft an entire story in six words. After the pot is assembled, Hemingway writes "For sale: baby shoes, never worn" on a napkin, passes this around the table, and collects his winnings. 

Recently, I was in a group discussion where the question was, “Who is Jesus to you?” and we had to answer in as few words as possible. I didn’t have a lot of time to think about it so I went with the first thing that came to mind.

My answer was “Jesus is my peace”.  I went on to explain, how, when I was in a really bad life storm, I did my best to keep my focus on Jesus.  While the storm didn’t calm, I felt the presence of Jesus calm me and I was able to get through it. 

Upon writing this week’s reflection, I decided to take on Hemmingway’s challenge but change it slightly because I wanted to write a six word story about who Jesus is to me. 

Here is my attempt at a six word story, ‘Jesus: my calm within my storm’.

If someone were ask you that same question, ‘Who Jesus is to you?’ and you had to answer in as few words as possible, what would you say?  Could you say who Jesus is to you in six, ten or maybe twenty words?  Why not try?  I would love to hear what you think about this.

God's Favourite Selfie

 ‘See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands’ Isaiah 49:16

Recently, the Bishop visited my church and was having such a fun time with us; he pulled out his mobile phone and took a photograph of himself standing in front of the congregation. 

This type of photograph is called a ‘selfie’ or a ‘group selfie’.  Selfies are usually taken with a smartphone before being quickly shared on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.  

According to the BBC News Magazine, the selfie has arguably become the greatest photographic trend of our time. 

People take selfies for any number of reasons such as updating their Facebook profile picture, capturing a moment in time with friends or simply they may want to share a fun event with others.

This got me thinking.  I reckon God took His favourite ‘selfie’ when he tattooed your name on the palm of His hand.  And then He went on to perfect it when He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in you. 

‘Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you’

1 Corinthians 6:19

YOU are before God ALL the time.  God will never ever ever forget you, but He made a double insurance just in case, and He wouldn't need to look at Facebook or his phone to see you – He only has to look at His hand!

How cool is God?!  He started taking ‘selfies’ before the word was even invented!  

What do you think?

Happy Little Vegemite

 “Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshipping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching”. Hebrews 10:25 TM

I freely admit that I’m a happy little Vegemite. I often enjoy this salty black spread on toast or on fresh bread.   

However, there is something I don’t like about Vegemite. The other day I walked into the kitchen and there was an awful smell but it didn’t take me long to find out where it was coming from.   A couple of days before hand, I had filled an empty Vegemite jar with water, letting it soak in preparation to be washed and placed in the recycling bin but then I became distracted and had totally forgotten about it. 

This got me thinking.   Most of us can agree that we have a desire to have a close relationship with God, and I believe that is His desire too, but how do we attain or retain it?  It’s easy to get distracted with everyday life and God can sometimes get pushed into an hour or so on Sundays.

I reckon we need to put effort into connecting with God every day in prayer, Bible reading and worship.   And equally important, we also need to support and meet together regularly, as we do our best to encourage each other in reaching out to Jesus.  No one ever said the Christian life was an easy one, but we will never do it alone as long as we connect with Jesus and with each other.

What do you think?

Positive Confessions

You must love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.  Luke 10:27

This week, I was in the middle of a conversation with a friend when they suddenly confessed to me that they weren’t good at small talk.  I, in turn, confessed that I can do the small talk thing even though I find it boring at times.  I went on to say that I would much rather talk about what God had been doing in people’s lives as I reckon that is way more interesting than sport or weather.

Then I asked my friend to tell me something good God had done in their life the past week.  My friend thought for a moment and then came up with, what I call ‘a positive confession’ of three great God encounters and revelations.  This positive confession really warmed my heart and I felt greatly encouraged.   

Thinking about it, I very rarely hear anyone talk about the sermon or even mention Jesus after church on Sundays.   It seems logical to me, that if we truly love God with all that is within us, He would be lead position in our thoughts and the main topic of our conversations.  

I’d like to challenge us all to start talking about God more before or after church.   If you know me personally, please feel free to ask me what God has done in my life the past week.  And don’t be surprised if I ask you a similar question.    If we truly want to be followers of Jesus, lovers of God and filled with the Holy Spirit, then I believe we need to keep our God at the forefront of our minds and overflowing out of our mouths.  

What do you think?

Abuse and Misuse

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.  James 1:17

Recently, I was in a group conversation when the topic of the internet was raised and suddenly the word ‘abuse’ was mentioned in relation to Facebook.  I listened with interest as I have a Facebook account which I use it to keep in touch with friends all over the world, and the church has a Facebook account which is used for updates, encouragement and evangelism.

According to the Oxford dictionary, ‘abuse’ is the abnormal use of something; to use something for a bad effect or purpose; misuse.   

Yes, there will always be some who will abuse any internet program, but when you think about it logically, we don’t stop driving our cars just because some people abuse cars.  Misuse of prescription medicines also happens, but that doesn’t stop us using these drugs which are recommended to us by doctors. 

Misuse happens in churches which hold onto tradition for the sake of tradition or seek change for the sake of change.   It also happens when some or all of the gifts of God have been overlooked, neglected or rejected.  But no one would dare suggest that these churches lock their doors and throw away the keys.

To my way of thinking, God’s gifts range from spiritual gifts which edify the church to life saving medicines to social media. I believe we need to find out the proper uses of God’s gifts, so we can use them for his glory.  And I also believe, when we glorify God, it brings great joy to his heart.

What do you think?   Do you agree or disagree?