James’s Blog: Small Lies and Big Truth.

James’s Blog: Small Lies and Big Truth.

Recently, I’ve found myself dwelling on mistakes that I’ve made in my relationships, and not in a healthy way. It’s like I’m being aggressively confronted with the 10% that I got wrong rather than the 90% that I got right. I’ve spent a lot of time out of my depth with people, but the truth is that I have very few drowned relationships to my name. These thoughts don’t seem to care. They just seem to want me to feel guilty about something, anything. It’s odd to find yourself thinking about somebody with whom you have a good relationship, somebody who you know you have helped and has expressed gratitude for the help that you have given them, and yet immediately be thinking of the little ways in which you feel like you failed them, or things you wish you had or hadn’t said or done.

These thought patterns often crop up when I’m praying for people, and have the fingerprints of accusation all over them, so these days I file them under ‘spiritual warfare’ and try to deal with them appropriately. How I go with that depends on how well tuned in I am to what is true.

We all make mistakes in
the way that we relate to others, we might damage relationships and
make less than perfect decisions at times, but that’s rarely the
whole story. I want to remind myself, and you dear (and not-so-dear)
readers, that our relationships are not usually as bad as we think
they are, our mistakes not necessarily as damaging as we fear they
might be, our failures not the giant blots on our record that we
suspect they are, and that we have done more good than we know just
by being a friend to someone. We can’t necessarily stop those
accusing thoughts from coming, those regrets and should-haves, but we
don’t have to give our failures too much credit, and we don’t have to
give the enemy an easy victory.

James’s Blog: Fair Weather Friend.

James’s Blog: Fair Weather Friend.

We’ve had some really nice weather over the past few days but, as they say, every silver lining has a cloud. In this case the warm weather has played havoc with our Wi-Fi signal as it climbs the stairs to my office. It’s not an uncommon issue for me – in the past few houses we’ve lived in, the room where I do my work has often seemed to form the nexus of a cyberspace Bermuda Triangle. I have noticed that it’s particularly bad when the weather is good, with the signal dropping out frequently. Simple tasks like sending e-mails or logging on to WordPress become lengthy trials, turning my internet usage into some kind of hostage negotiation.

Of course, this plays out like a metaphor for my relationship with God. I’ve also noticed that when I’m enjoying my own warm weather that I can be a slow to invite God into my days. I know full well how much I need to be attentive to God in every moment of my life but when the sun is shining and life is good along comes the temptation is to drop out and cruise. Sometimes it takes the sun vanishing behind a cloud to remind me that I haven’t been connecting with the one who made the sun and the rain. I hate the idea that God serves no purpose in my life other than to be a comfort blanket, and I know that – on balance – that’s definitely not the kind of relationship we have…but every now and then I am reminded how easily I fall into the trap of calling out to God when it rains, and ignoring Him when the sun shines.

Alright, it’s not a great analogy. In fact, it’s rather weak – but then so is my Wi-Fi signal. Speaking of which, it seems to be working at the moment, so I’d better save this while I can…

James’s Blog: The Functions of Public Prayer.

James’s Blog: The Functions of Public Prayer.
If you’ve been following this blog from the very beginning (nearly five years now!) then you might have read one of my first posts about the potential virtues of cynicism. I’m a lot less cynical than I used to be in my twenties, but every now and then I do like to indulge myself. Read more

James’s Blog: The Psalms – Greatest Hits.

James’s Blog: The Psalms – Greatest Hits.

The thing about reading the Psalms is that occasionally, at just the right time, there will be a sliver of poetry that speaks directly to your heart. Here are some crumbs from the table that have fed my soul in the past, and continue to do so, along with commentary on what they mean to me.

Read more

James’s Blog: Being Fruitfully Unproductive.

James’s Blog: Being Fruitfully Unproductive.

Although I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, it’s turned out that I have started 2020 with a few new disciplines. I thought I’d tell you about one of them.

Read more

James’s Blog: Without Words.

James’s Blog:  Without Words.

For someone who likes words, I seem to spend a lot of my time not able to find the right ones.

Many of my days are spent searching for perfect words, and then trying to arrange them in the perfect order. There are plenty of moments where I can’t even seem to find adequate words, let alone perfect ones. Read more

James’s Blog: Intercession.

James’s Blog:  Intercession.

(I’m having one of my ‘stretched’ times at the moment, and writing a fresh and engaging blog post seems like a bridge too far. The good news is that’s been a while since I inflicted one of my experiments in poetry on you, so here’s one that I’ve had sitting around for just a moment like this. I’m not going to apologise…) Read more

James’s Blog: Ascension Day.

James’s Blog:  Ascension Day.

Today is Ascension Day, a religious festival that seems to sneak past most of us every year. It marks the ascension of Christ into heaven, as detailed in Acts 1. I feel like it deserves a bit more recognition than it gets. It’s a significant moment. Read more

James’s Blog: Fearless.

James’s Blog:  Fearless.

(Our church’s annual Week of Prayer (we do pray at other times too) rolled around again, and once more I was asked to write one of the devotional reflections for the week. I’m posting it as this week’s blog post, just because I can.)

 

Let’s start these devotions for the Week of Prayer in an unconventional way – with some words from the 14th century Persian poet, Hafiz:

Fear is the cheapest room in the house

I would like to see you living

In better conditions.

I don’t know about you, but I can imagine God saying these exact words to each and every one of us. In fact, He does say these words, or words like them, through Paul in Romans 8:14:

“For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the spirit of sonship.”

Fear is the cheapest room in the house, and God would like to see us living in better conditions.

Fear is a powerful thing. Fear makes us work hard. From a distance, frightened people look motivated, conscientious and diligent. But God would like to see us living in better conditions.

Too many of us let our lives be controlled by fear. Fear of failure, fear of poverty, fear of criticism, fear of embarrassment, fear of conflict. So many different fears. But God would like to see us living in better conditions.

As we head into this week, know that prayer is one of the gifts given by God to help keep fear out of our hearts; to help us take those first steps towards fearless living. It says as much in Philippians 4:6 & 7:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Perhaps this week will finally be the time for you to make the move into some more suitable accommodation?

James’s Blog: More Daily Bread Thinking…

James’s Blog:  More Daily Bread Thinking…

Sometimes an idea just won’t let me go, and so it has been with my thoughts about dependence on God and just asking for what we need each day.

It occurred to me that the future is often a source of anxiety and frustration for me. It doesn’t have to be, but it is. Jesus understood the way that our minds work, which is why he said, “Don’t worry about tomorrow, because you’ve got enough to worry about today.” The thing is, the future is all in my head. How I think about it is what creates the anxiety and the frustration, not the future itself. Developing an attitude of relaxed, daily dependence on the Father is the cure.

This is what I have figured out: If I am thinking about the future, then what I have today isn’t enough, but if I am just thinking about this day, then what I have for today is an abundance. Does that make sense? If I expect God to give me everything I need for my whole life today, then He is a stingy and unhelpful deity. If I expect God to give me just what I need for today, then He is a generous and extravagant Father. I do not have nearly enough to get me to the end of my life (assuming I make it to old age), but He has provided ample to get me through the next twenty-four hours.

This isn’t a rant against wealth or putting things aside for the future, rather it’s a pointed conversation I’m having with myself about where my trust lies. If I take Jesus seriously then my focus is clear – “Put the Kingdom first, and God will take care of the rest,” he said. If I’m seriously putting God and His agenda first, then I can live fearlessly with empty hands. “Father, give us what we need for today,” becomes enough.

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