Watch What You Say

I talk to myself.  A lot.

 

I talk all the time about all sorts of things.  When I'm driving, when I'm cooking, when I'm cleaning etc.  I'll have conversations about all sorts of things: reviewing things that have happened during the day.  Imagining alternative things that could have happened.  Inventing conversations with other people.

 

Most of the things I say to myself are irrelevant and unimportant. But sometimes I catch myself telling myself how stupid I am, or how I'm not good enough.  Sometimes I hear myself talking negatively and I haven't even noticed myself doing it.

 

And it always seems that the negative things stick.

 

As Vivian says in 'Pretty Woman' -

"The bad stuff is easier to believe.  You ever notice that?"

 

But the Bible tells us how important the words that we use are -

 

          "Words kill, words give life;
          they’re either poison or fruit—you choose."

 

          [Proverbs 18:21 MSG]

 

 

The words that we speak are like seeds which grow either into flowers or weeds.  What we say affects what we believe and how we treat others and ourselves.  If we are always speaking negatively to and about ourselves, we will find ourselves believing these things.

 

The bad stuff is easier to believe.  The good stuff is harder, much harder to believe.  But is also essential.

 

And it is essential that we speak the good stuff about ourselves, until we believe it.

 

 

 

 

Fitting The Pieces Together

I don't particularly enjoy jigsaw puzzles.  I don't have the patience.

 

I find it endlessly frustrating to pick up a piece, try it in all the available spaces, rotate it in every possible way, and finally put it back down to begin the process again with a different piece.

 

If I had someone on hand to try out all of the pieces and tell me where to put them in, that could work.

 

Sometimes life can feel a bit like this - we spend a lot of time trying to work out where and how we fit in.

 

We try ourselves out in different places and different spaces.  We squeeze ourselves and rotate ourselves and try to find where we belong.

 

I often like to think of myself - and hope other people see me - as a jigsaw piece with four sticky-out bits (is there a technical word for them?!  Knobbles?)  I have plenty to offer.  I like to be needed.  I like to help. 

 

I am not so comfortable with being the sort of jigsaw piece which has gaps and holes.  I'd rather people didn't see my weaknesses, my vulnerabilities.  I'd rather not 'need' other people.

 

But God is showing me how true connection, real relationship, comes from acknowledging these weaknesses and vulnerabilities.  It comes from exposing and accepting the fact that I am not self-sufficient.  I need other people.

 

The Bible talks about this needing each other, and describes the way that God is fitting us all together:

 

"He’s using us all — irrespective of how we got here — in what he is building.  He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation.  Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together.  We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home."

 

[Ephesians 2:20-22 MSG] 

 

The thing with jigsaw pieces is that not one of them is four sides of edge.  They all need something else to complete them.  And it's the same with us.  We are not complete on our own. 

We all strengths and weaknesses.  We all have powers and vulnerabilities.  And we all need each other.


 

 

 

The Complete Guide To Sorting Out Your Life

In a charity shop today I came across a book with a very ambitious title.  I can't quite remember how it was worded, but it was something like The Complete Guide to Fixing Your Life.  Or The Complete Guide to Sorting Out Your Life.

 

Naturally, I was intrigued.

 

I must say I was rather disappointed with the contents as it was primarily a book about changing your diet to incorporate more fruit and veg and unrefined foods etc.  Not quite the life-changing tome the title suggested.

 

There have definitely been times in my life when I have wished for such a guide to life.  A guide which would have fixed everything or sorted it all out.

 

I think often we can look at the Bible as a collection of interesting thoughts or 'catchy' proverbs.  Along with Shakespeare, it is probably one of the most quoted and referenced books.

 

But it is so much more than a collection of dusty, over-used proverbs or snappy phrases.

 

I love how Jesus described His words,

 

“These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living.  They are foundational words, words to build a life on.  If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock.  Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit - but nothing moved that house.  It was fixed to the rock.

But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach.  When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.”

[Matthew 7:24-27 MSG]
 

The words in the Bible aren't just catchphrases for us to toss around and slip into conversation.  Or rather, if that is all they are to us, then we will never understand their true meaning and their true power in transforming our lives.

But when we work the words of the Bible into our lives, when we build our lives upon them, when we make them our foundation, we find ourselves equipped with a complete guide to truly sorting out our lives.



 

A Good Read

One of my absolute favourite things is reading.

 

I can happily lose myself in a good book for hours on end.  I love how I can get lost between the pages.  I love the vivid descriptions of places which carry me away.  I love the detailed depictions of characters, which are so realistic, it is as if I know them as real people.

 

I have been reading a really good book over the last few days and am just pages from the end, but I've been deliberately reading slowly, longing for it to last a little bit longer because I'm enjoying it so much.

 

There are very few books that I will read over and over.  I tend to think there are so many I want to read, why waste my time?  But there are some which I will happily lose myself in again and again and again because I love them so much.

 

I was talking with a friend the other day about our attitude to reading books and reading the Bible and how different they often are. 

 

Often we can feel reluctant to read the Bible, because we feel that we've read bits of it before.  Some of us have even read the whole thing before.  We know what happens.

 

But when we read the Bible, it is not so much reading a book as entering into a conversation.  Each time we come to read it and re-read it and re-re-read it, it speaks to us in a different way.  Different words and verses and passages stick out and resonate with us when we had simply skipped over them in the past.  New meanings and implications strike us with every reading.

 

Because it is the living word of God.

 

"For the word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

[Hebrews 4:12 NIV]

 

 

When we read the Bible we are not just reading a dusty old book written by an ancient author.   We are reading the words of our living God, the creative author of our lives.

 

Now that's a good read.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doughnuts

The only thing that I don't like about eating a doughnut is having someone nearby say, "Try to eat it without licking your lips!"

 

I have tried this once and only once.

 

And I only got a few mouthfuls in before I stopped. 

 

I find it the most irritating thing ever.  I don't like the feeling of sticky sugar coating my lips and making them feel fuzzy.  There is nothing at all enjoyable about the challenge.

 

I don't like the feeling of sugar on my lips.  But the Bible urges us to keep something on our lips, without wiping it away: His Word.

"Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.  Then you will be prosperous and successful."

[Joshua 1:8 NIV]

 

There is not much point reading something and instantly forgetting it, letting it dissolve before it has taken root.  In the same way, we should keep God's words constantly in our minds and our hearts and on our lips.

"But don’t just listen to God’s word.  You must do what it says.  Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.  For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.  You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.  But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it."
 

[James 1:22-25 NLT] 
 

God urges us not to just to read and remember and obey His words, but to always have them on our lips. To keep them on the tip of our tongues, to let them flavour the words we use.

 

In the same way that the sugar can't help but stick to our lips when we eat a doughnut, I want God's Word to stick to my heart and to stick to my lips, every time I read it.

 

 

 

 

Love Letters

I have been watching the film 'Dear John' this evening.  I joined it halfway through, so I'm not 100% sure what's happening, but I think I'm just about up to speed.

 

At the heart of the story is a young couple, separated by distance, who write to each other (or, to be properly American, write each other).

 

The letters are filled with messages of love between the couple and stories from their days.

 

When we talk about prayer, this is what I picture.  Not a stuffy ritual.  Not a list of wishes or wants.  Not a hands-together-and-eyes-shut affair.  But messages of love between us and God.

 

This is how Jesus taught us to pray -

 

“Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God.  Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage.  The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.  The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant.  They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God.  Don’t fall for that nonsense.  This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need.  With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply."

 

[Matthew 6:6-13 MSG]

 

When we write letters to those we love, we don't try to show off or pretend we're someone we're not.  We don't hide the truth.  We express ourselves honestly and openly.  We share our hearts and we share our love.

 

God speaks to us through prayer, but He also speaks to us through the Bible.  His Word is a love letter [there is a brilliant and beautiful description of the Bible as God's love letter to us on this website - http://www.fathersloveletter.com/text.html].

 

God loves us and wants us to know the love He has for us.  He has already written to us.

 

We simply need to open the letter.

 

 

 

 

 

Digestives

Is there a more perfect biscuit than the humble digestive?

 

Sweet enough to dunk in your cup of tea (and better than some biscuits at holding its shape), yet salty enough to not make you feel sick after half a packet.*  Essential for any cheesecake base and delicious sandwiched together with chocolate spread.  Unassuming and humble, the digestive biscuit is both a British tradition and a household staple.**

 

Apparently the name 'digestive' came from the belief that these biscuits were good for your health and your digestion in particular.  Partially because of the sodium bicarbonate in the original recipe and its use to relieve indigestion, and partially because of the use of whole wheat flour, which is also good for digestion.

 

In the same way that digestives are good for our health, the Bible is good for our spiritual health and well being. 

 

But we shouldn't just read it - it was meant to be chewed over.  We are meant to meditate on it, to get the most out of it:

"Study this Book of Instruction [the Bible] continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it."

 

[Joshua 1:8 NLT] 

 

Meditating on the Bible is similar to chewing and digesting our food.  We chew it slowly, letting the different juices and flavours seep out.  And we keep on chewing and digesting throughout the day - reflecting on the different things that it reveals and working it out in our own lives - learning to follow and obey what it says.

We won't learn much if we treat the Bible like ice-cream: something that we swallow quickly and which dissolves on the way down, before we have had the chance to meditate on it. 

We need something to chew on.

"But don’t just listen to God’s word.  You must do what it says.  Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.  For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.  You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.  But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it."

[James 1:22-25 NLT]

 

Digestives: good for our health.  Digesting God's Word: good for our spiritual health.

 

 

* Although I do strongly object to its accompaniment to the cheeseboard.  That's just wrong.

** And currently on offer in Sainsbury's.

Foundations

Any woman or make-up artist will tell you that a good base is essential.

Foundation is important.  It's what everything else is built on.

It's the same with buildings and constructions (so I'm told).  The larger the building, the deeper the foundations need to be.  Wikipedia provides a useful diagram explaining this complex idea:

If we want to have steady and firm, solid lives, we need solid and firm foundations.  It is easy to read the Bible or listen to a talk or chat to friends about faith or be moved by the words of a song.  And then forget it.  It bounces off the skin and doesn't sink beneath the surface.  Our foundations are shallow.

If we want deep foundations, we have to let God's words work their way into our lives:

"If you work the words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who dug deep and laid the foundation of his house on bedrock.  When the river burst its banks and crashed against the house, nothing could shake it; it was built to last.  But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a dumb carpenter who built a house but skipped the foundation.  When the swollen river came crashing in, it collapsed like a house of cards.  It was a total loss."

[Luke 6:48-49 MSG, emphasis mine]

Sometimes we need to dig deep and excavate our foundations.  We find that we have built our lives and our beliefs on false foundations that are not based on God's truths.  We have shaky, shallow foundations which are based on our own ideas and understanding; they are based on false 'truths' and they can't support us when difficulties come.

We need to dig up these false foundations and start over.  And we need to work God's word into the depths of our soul.

"There is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ."

[1 Corinthians 3:12 MSG]

There is only one firm foundation. And His name is Jesus.

Let's build on Him.