Knowing Him

Evening everyone,

What a stormy, troublesome day here in Hampshire! The study got soaked, the wind is howling outside as I write (it is 10:pm) and apparently there is more bad weather yet to come our way - so hunker down, it's going to be a rough night! Continuing to improve today and even got to eat some spicy food tonight - doctors had said I should stay away from it until I felt better as it could affect my throat. So enjoyed a mild Indian curry tonight.

Anyway - whilst sitting in my study working, today I was glancing round all my books - commentaries, bibles, reference books, testimonies, biographies and all the rest. I have around 4000 of them on shelves, in boxes and stored away - and something hit me.

Every book I have read about Jesus helps me - but it doesn't fully satisfy the yearning deep down inside of me to know Him more. None of them deals completely and adequately with the longing to be more like Him, to catch the 'scent' of His presence a little more fully. None deal with the paradoxes and the contrasts and the nuances and the beauty in Him well enough. No book ever could. He's human and divine and yet the mystery continues to deepen, the waters still not clear - the wonder still not plumbed. He is tender and gentle, yet violently uncompromising. He can make a child feel safe on His knee, but His enemies shake before Him. He is the benchmark by which all people are judged, yet He is meek and servant-hearted. He said the strongest things about sin I have ever heard - yet He spoke to sinners with a gentleness and tenderness that dispels fear. He says that I have to give Him everything - but He gave me everything first. He is the most approachable attractive and winsome Person ever to have walked the earth - yet for all my knowing I only know Him a little. His authority is unquestionable - yet He rejects power completely and never used it to control. His friends loved Him and He was on party guest lists, yet He is a man of incredible sorrow and pain. He raises friends from the dead - then He dies Himself. He has more power than anyone else - yet He won't force open the door of my heart - instead waiting to be asked. He could demand my love, yet He asks me to give it to Him freely. He'll let me reject Him rather than squash my humanity, yet He gives up everything for me simply to have the choice.  He died two thousand years ago - yet lives in the here and now and has the full and utter allegiance of heart. I have spent twenty years with Him as my best friend - and today I realised again that I have so much more to learn about Him - and so many more opportunities to grow and fall deeper in love with this Carpenter. He has more facets than the greatest diamond, more depth that the deepest ocean, more intensity than a thousand suns - and yet He held me in His arms today and reminded me that He loves me - and always will. 

So my prayer for each of us today is that we will pursue the One who pursues us - and that we will never be satisfied until a bright and glorious morning when we hear a trumpet, see the clouds part, and the hairs on the back of our necks stand on end, as we catch a glimpse of those we love, then find our attention drawn to One who makes life worth living and we finally are able to say, 'I know You'.

God bless

Encircling Prayer

HI Everyone,

Continuing to improve today - and managed a few more words, with my voice getting stronger. This morning, I listened through the wall of our house to the service taking place in the chapel next door and stood and wept at 11am for all those who were remembering their loved ones and those affected by conflict. I always find Remembrance Sunday a moving and emotional day and I am sure it is at least in part because I come from a country torn by conflict. I think it is also because I have two brothers who have, or do, serve in the armed forces - and I love them both very much.

Spent the rest of the morning practising Caim Prayer for you all - also know as 'encircling prayer'. It's a celtic form of prayer in which you make the shape of a circle as you pray for either yourself or others - here is the one I used for each of you:

A Caim Prayer

May the Mighty Three your protection be - encircling you, guarding you, holding you and nurturing you. Thank You, Lord that You are around each life, each home - encircling each one. O Sacred Three, Mighty Three, hold Your people in the hollow of Your hand. Surround their going out and their coming in. Whsiper Your name to them in the breeze of the morning and remind them of Your love in the light of dusk. As the day falls away, let the light of Your grace and strength flood their hearts. May they rest in the arms of Your Spirit, knowing the assurance of Your protection and the power of Your word spoken over them and living in them. As Your people step into another week, may they be reminded of You in the small things they encounter. The smile of a child, the rustling of a tree of the chatter of friends. Thank You that our lives are lived out before You in their completeness. As Your people step into the main parts of their week, may they be reminded of Your unending promise to hold them, guard them and guide them. Fill their hearts with hope, their minds with possibilities and their wills with a new and strong resolve to put You first in all things. Encircle Your people with Your power, encircle Your people with Your grace and encircle them with the confidence that You have never left them.

Amen

May whatever you are facing today become a 'thin place' - and may you like Jacob, be given the opportunity to meet with God in a new way but in a familiar place. May you be able to say, like him, 'Surely the Lord was in this place and I did not know it' - and may your limp remind you of His grace - now and always