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Thursday 29 November 2012

Unwanted generation

“I feel wanted!” Those words are the best I’ve heard for a long time. “I feel wanted.” It’s sort of music to my ears, my spirit.  I’ve gone over those words a few times in my head and fed with joy upon them: “I feel wanted.”

Me thinks we’ve just got to be doing something right at Promise* for a homeless 21 year old, thrown out of home by mum, to come and stay with us and say that.

It’s not what we’ve said because we haven’t really said anything very much.

Wanted, wanted, wanted. Just imagine how many more unwanted people can come and stay amongst God’s people and say, ‘I feel wanted. I’ve found family.’

You know, this is what pleases God. He loves our worship, He loves our praise and He loves it when He knows He can send the unwanted to us and they will feel wanted. And we know, He will, in His time, send us more!



* a Christian community house in Coventry where I live.

Thursday 22 November 2012

The Mark of True Holiness

Driving along this morning, I’m musing ... mmmm ... I think I’ve decided how to recognize a genuinely ‘holy’ person. My definition? People who treat others as though they are really special. 

My first thought, on encountering them, is ‘I feel so special to them’ and this makes me feel great inside; then, I realise that actually everyone else they come into contact with has just the same feeling.

 It’s holiness; it’s Christ likeness. Why? Because that is how I reckon Jesus made people feel. Every individual was so important to Him, so loved, every one made in the image of God.

 In fact, I reckon, if you could just step into heaven right now, you’d probably feel God made it all for you, you’re so special, but then you’d look round and realise He made it for lots of others too – all equally special.

I want that sort of holiness, the sort that is not aloof, retiring, distant but that makes people feel when they meet me, ‘well, I just gotta to be someone special.’

That sort of quality of love, of holiness, is rare and I think this is the way to get it: go for an exchange – my paucity for His riches! And then practise it, practise it - until it becomes me! Hey, I'm in God's school so I'm going to learn.

Friday 2 November 2012

Wispy Clouds ... Tiny Whispers

I have a self-imposed, inward principle I try to follow:

      Catch inspirations     

              while they're here
               act on them quick

                  they'll disappear!

 Inspirations appear, often from nowhere, like wispy, little clouds appearing in the sky, swept along by high winds and so, so soon, blown out of sight. So … grab hold of them and act on them. If not, they may well disappear and even if you remember them sometime later, they may seem empty and it’s easy to find an excuse not to do anything with them.


Ah, let me quote Amy Carmichael yet again: “Don’t only read and pray; LISTEN. And don’t evade the slightest whisper of guidance that comes. God make your very sensitive, and very obedient.” (Whispers of His Power.)

It is often our response to these wispy clouds, these tiny whispers, that opens doors to new opportunities, bringing joy, fruitfulness and fulfillment – not only to ourselves but to others as well.