We’ve all seen those movies that start with a message in a bottle. You know, it comes bobbing across the ocean from the other side of the world and it’s washed up on a beach somewhere, and someone comes along and finds the bottle.
Okay, so we can discover God right in the middle of the cut and thrust of life. But what about those quite times?
We’re so busy and connected these days – the gadgets, social media, entertainment choices – do we have time for unhurried, quiet fellowship with God? For many a Christ-follower the answer – let’s be blunt about this – is “No”.
Question: can we know God in the midst of the cut and thrust of life? Right in the middle of what we do each day – be it work, bringing up children, ministry … whatever it is that occupies us. The great tragedy is that many have accepted a poverty of actual relationship with Jesus in their day to day life.
Bastardisation in the military has been much in the news these past few weeks, especially with the scandals at the Australian Defence Force Academy aired by the ABC on its recent Four Corners program.
As I watched it all unfold, it stirred up mixed emotions for me – I am a graduate of the Royal Military College (RMC Class of 1980) who is about to return for the Centenary Graduation Parade … and yet to this point, I’d never really reflected on what we went through and why.
There are so many people who ache for intimacy with God; who hunger to know Him in their day to day experience … and yet for whom such intimacy is such an elusive thing. It should never be so!
Because God’s plan is to come and live with us; to actually set up home in us.
Sometimes we imagine that God is a million miles away … or at least, that’s how it feels. The thing is, it’s just not true!
Some years ago, I wrote a short book called How to Get Close to God. The truths that I discovered in God’s Word about being close to Him (or not) were so simple, so straightforward and so direct, that I was a little embarrassed even to call it a “book”.
I love walking. Not just strolling … serious walking – 9 to 10 km at a time.
Just love it. Always have.
But if for some reason I haven’t had a chance to have a good meal – let’s say I have a really light evening meal and the next morning I get up for a walk before breakfast – then this one form of exercise that I truly love, is no fun at all.
Have you ever wondered that? If Jesus had had a page on Facebook (I Am Who I Am), a Twitter account (@sonofman), a blog (Word of God) and an iPad (with 3G as well as WiFi) how would He have used them?
I am so blessed to have a pastor at my church who is a deep, profound and relevant teacher of God’s Word – so Pete if you’re reading this, thanks mate.
And through Peter, the Lord recently spoke into an area of my life where I don’t find it particularly easy to strike a happy balance: in doing the things I do, how much does God want me to do, and how much does He want to do Himself?
Have you ever wondered that? Why is it that God takes us so close to the edge so often? I mean, isn’t there an easier way?
The theory of course is pretty straightforward: because He wants to grow our faith in Him, right? That’s the theory!
You and I both are confronted on a regular basis by things that scare us. It’s just the way that life is.
Sometimes, it’s something that just hits us out of the blue. A health scare. A financial crisis. A relationship thing. A work thing.
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