Christmas - a time for faith, hope & love

Happy Christmas everyone.  I'm sure you are all looking forward to the celebrations ahead and having lots of fun with family and friends. Christmas is such an amazing time of year, spending time with those we love, usually involving lots of stupid games, laughter and food!

From a Christian point of view, Christmas is one of the most important dates in the calendar, without the birth of Jesus, there would be no point to our faith. There would be no good news to share, no forgiveness and the road to God would be difficult.

The Christmas story is one of the greatest stories ever written.  It staggers me, how God used completely ordinary people to carry out such an important task, as well as the unprecedented struggles they faced.  Don't get me wrong we know that Mary was highly favoured by God but on the other hand she lived and came from a very normal family living in Nazareth.  First of all, we see Mary having to deal with the fact that she was pregnant and not even married, the shame it brought on a family at the time was immeasurable, women were often stoned for such a crime. Secondly, Mary had to travel 100 miles to Bethlehem on a donkey whilst very pregnant (about a week's worth of travel) - God couldn't there have been an easier way? On top of this, as we know, when they arrived in Bethlehem there was no room for them.  Mary was out in the cold with nowhere to have her baby - can you even imagine it ladies!  Then Jesus, King of Kings, was born in a cold, smelly stable, no Hilton Hotel in sight I'm afraid.

If this was God's doing, then why was it so hard?  I think, we can be reminded that God often users very ordinary people  to carry out His work, so you never know, may be there's hope for some of us!  Don't underestimate what can be done through your life.  It also reminds us that we are not the only ones finding life hard.  Life is difficult and was difficult back then, it's not always easy, but it doesn't mean God is not with us.  God is often close, when we don't even realise it. Did Mary and Joseph feel God's love and beauty during that painful journey to Bethlehem?  Probably not, but their faith carried them through, they didn't fear as they remembered the words of the Angel.  Sometimes our life journeys can be like that, they can be difficult and demanding - we ask 'where is God now hey, if He's so real it wouldn't be this hard'!  You know what, God is with us in our very ordinary everyday lives....so don't miss it just because it's difficult. We sometimes have to go back to what God has promised us and trust in times of fear.  Remind yourself of the Christmas story, was it easy for the characters in the story?....no.  Was God still with them?....of course. Later on in the story, we read how God saved them from the perils of King Herod, by telling Mary and Joseph to go to Egypt - He was certainly directing their steps.

I always think when you look at Jesus' life, he was always there for ordinary people.  He often associated with the sick, dying, hungry and weak - those the world would despise.  He was the humble King in every way, giving up His Godly right to serve others.  He didn't come to the world for position, power or prestige like any other King would. The stable reminds us of the humility, grace and love God has for people.  What an example to follow......the love of Christ.

I trust you all have an amazing Christmas and New Year.  God bless.

Caroline x

Science and Faith - the big questions

Science tells us much about our physical world, space & time. Certainly we live in a beautiful, unique and breathtaking world! I'm fact, science tells us today that we are so unique that the chances of us being here are widely improbable due to the precise tuning of all the physical & constant laws of the universe. The other explanation on the table is that there is a multitude of universes and we happen to be in the one that worked. This is not something that can be proven in our lifetime and is only a hypothesis.

Scientists know from estimation that the existence of the universe rests on a knifes edge, if any constant was slightly out, we wouldn't be here (if you are interested I would look up the values of these on the internet - the constants are staggering)! If there is only one universe with all the precise tuning of all the physical constants & laws to make intelligent life possible, then it is more than likely (very likely) that we are not here by accident.

Science can reveal the workings of the universe and the intricate detail which is absolutely wonderful, but not the reasons why we are here. For example, if Auntie Jackie bakes a cake, we may know the ingredients and the proportions. We can see the end result just by looking at the cake, we can see it's beauty and marvel at the beautiful decorated icing, but we don't know why it was baked and whom it was for (it was for Julie's birthday who's 50 and having a family party at 4 pm today). Only belief in a creator can answer the question burning on everyone's mind....why are we here?

If God exists then he does not operate in the natural. He is not limited to natural laws, but lives outside of them, this is the true meaning of supernatural. For instance, there is no reason He should be limited by time and therefore He is neither in the past, present or future. I've heard it said, "well who created God then"?  Jesus identifies himself as the Alpha and Omega, meaning at the beginning of all things and will be at the close of time. This is stated in the book of Revelation in The Bible. It is equivalent to Him saying, "I've always existed and always will exist". Genesis 1 gives a brush stroke account of the creation, but it certainly isn't a science book and shouldn't be compared as such.

I believe that this God, although he takes interest in the physical world, is ultimately interested in our minds & inner selves (our souls). The Bible states we are made in God's image, not physically but that He would create a being like himself, a soul that is instinctively aware of morality, being free to choose goodness & truth, to make decisions and to decide our own destiny, marking us different from all other animals on the planet. This was made clear in Genesis in the story of Adam & Eve.  Freedom to choose sounded like such a good thing, but as we know with it comes with great responsibility for all; what are we choosing to do with our lives? God was saying to Adam and Eve, "Look everything here is just perfect for you, it would be better for you not have complete knowledge of good and evil, because if you do unfortunately things are going to be much different around here".  God was given us free-will to choose right from the beginning.

So if God could see how people would turn out, why would he bother making the universe in the first place...seems like a stupid thing to do looking at the suffering, evil and hardships in the world?  God had a specific plan for the arrival of humankind on the scene and he had a desire for personal fellowship with humans, into whom he had installed the moral law of love & goodness as a signpost toward himself.  Love is deep in the hearts of everyone, reflecting the nature of the creator within us.  The bible states God IS Love and the gospels are love letters from heaven, to teach us the way of love.  Someone once asked Jesus, what's the greatest commandment, he answered, "to love the lord your God with all your heart and to love your neighbour as yourself". Is this ultimately why we exist?  Jesus was trying to send a message out to the world. We are each called to reach out to others. On rare occasions it can be on a big scale, but most of the time it's just happens by small acts of kindness from one person to another. We can give love that requires no recompense and reflects God in our nature. We are here to love and be loved! God from the beginning didn't want to force us to love Him, he wanted it to be our choice and He wanted us to choose the live out our lives for goodness and truth.  The reason why God allowed the world to carry on, in full knowledge of the future evil that would take place, is because He could foresee all the good that would take place and all the kindness that by having his nature, there would be a chance that we could become like Him and that we could find Him in our lifetime; having a relationship with the creator.

From the historical accounts of Jesus, his teachings of love and acceptance, certainly taught us everything you could know about God. Jesus said, if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father. Jesus was basically saying, look I am God in human form, everything God is, I am also. Follow my teaching if you want to know anything about the creator. The story of Jesus is a large one (and again too detailed within this blog). 

The story of Christ, gives us hope and forgiveness.  None us us can truly say we are perfect, even the best of people go wrong from time to time.  We are told in the bible that the wages of sin is death, yes that sounds a bit harsh but that was the ultimate reason Jesus came to the world.  God never promises we wouldn't die physically, this is the natural course of life according to the natural laws of the world in it's current state.  However, he did say we wouldn't die spiritually (our souls) if we believe and come to Him (John 3 16 - For God so loved the world that He gave his only son that whoever believes on him shall not perish but have eternal life).  I will leave you with words from C S Lewis about Jesus Christ. "But supposing God became a man, suppose our human nature which can suffer and die was amalgamated with God's nature in one person; then that person could help us. He could surrender His will and suffer and die, because He was man; and He could do it perfectly because He was God.  But we cannot share God's dying unless God dies; and he cannot die except by being a man. That is the sense in which He pays our debt and suffers for us".  When Jesus suffered, God himself shared in our own sufferings, he shared with us in sorrow and in dying.  Therefore, He is a God who understands us and knows what it is to be human, knows what it is to suffer and knows what it is to die.  He is a God who can share with us in our sufferings.

The fact that humankind across the centuries, across culture, across groups and clans have all been in search of a higher intelligence and higher purpose, points us to the creator. I don't think we would feel the need to search for God if the need could never be fulfilled. The fact that we are searching confirms our need for Him.

Are you Experiencing Life to the Full?

We all have a sense of longing in life and to achieve great accomplishments.  We want our homes and families to be happy.  We desire the best for our children.  We want to have money; lots of it so we need not worry about the future.  We ultimately wish for the easiest life possible because we think if we attain all this it is going to make us completely happy and satisfied; nothing lacking & nothing wanting.

It is a human response to want many of the things given above. I agree, I want to achieve some of the these things on this list - do you?  There is nothing wrong in wanting good things for our lives, however, will they ultimately curb our longing for something more satisfying?  

Studies have suggested that winning the lottery does not help with our long term happiness.   Short term, there is euphoria but after an amount of time, everyday activities that were once enjoyed by the person become mundane and they start to live up to their new level of living.  It's not really giving the person deep satisfaction but an ever growing pursuit for more (known as hedonic adaptation). 

Many things in this world give us short lived happiness.  No matter what we attain, deep down in our hearts their is a deep desire for something so much more!  I've heard it said that even our children are only given to us as a gift for a short time to nurture and care for until they fly the nest!  Obviously, we will always be parents and love our children whatever age but the family unit will ultimately one day change.  

Even if we had everything we could ever want, would it honestly satisfy us, would we be truly happy & satisfied or would we just want more and more?  I don't know the answer but it's good to ask it. What and who is going to fill our longing above all other things and why is it important?  We certainly become more happy when we know a deeper purpose.  Can we even know a deeper purpose?

Let's hope it not so, but for arguments sake let's imagine everything we value is gone, our spouce, our jobs, our money, where does our satisfaction and value come from? What if we don't have any of these things?  Are we going to sink into despair and depression?  May be we aren't married or have a partner, may be we don't have trusted family members and may be we have broken friendships.  Is there still value or meaning to our lives when we are down to nothing?  

As a Christian myself, the bible tells us that Jesus came so that we may have life and have it to the full.  Jesus said, "My purpose here is to give you a rich and satisfying life". Wow, there must be something in this - God wants to give us the most satisfying life.  If we have everything or down to nothing we can find ultimate purpose and meaning - I love this! Psalm 34 v 10 says; Young lions lack and go hungry, but those who seek the Lord will never lack any good thing.  When our souls are tired, God can pick us up again.

Knowing God gives us purpose and meaning, despite our worldly failures and fantasies, we can have a deep meaning and satisfaction beyond things this world can ever offer us. Certainly, we can live a life that has a greater cause than just our own.  It becomes about God and about loving others, this includes obviously our families and friends.  A quote I love from a well known worship leader put it like this, "What does it mean to be a history maker, it's not about our riches, talents or anything else we can attain, but about our hearts; its about honouring our friends above ourselves, loving our families and walking humbly with the King of Kings".  It's about unfailing love! 

When Jesus died on the cross, God was saying, look I am doing this for you, I love you more than anything and want to build a relationship with you, it's not just religion that doesn't mean anything, it's a real life that you can live.  If I created the world, then I know what you need to live a full life and that is to be in communion with me.  Psalm 23, 5-6 says; My cup completely overflows with blessing, and God your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life.

This Easter as we remember the cross, don't forget the person on the cross; Christ.  Everything was done in order for us to live a great life with meaning and satisfaction, yes even when we are down to nothing, God is ever present with us.  Even when we face death, nothing, absolutely nothing can separate us from God's love - now that is true satisfaction.    

Romans 5 6-10

Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.9-11Now that we are set right with God by means of this sacrificial death, the consummate blood sacrifice, there is no longer a question of being at odds with God in any way. If, when we were at our worst, we were put on friendly terms with God by the sacrificial death of his Son, now that we’re at our best, just think of how our lives will expand and deepen by means of his resurrection life! 

The Power of a Simple Prayer

Certainly, prayer is such as huge subject and only look to cover a few points on this blog.  I want to begin by saying that anyone can pray, you don't need to understand everything about the Christian faith or be religious.  Prayer is open to everyone, despite our differences.  I love to see the Anglican churches opening their doors, so people can light a candle that represents their personal prayer. It's a powerful way of getting our thoughts together, ponder on life and on others.

What if this kind on pondering was available daily to us?  It's fascinating to note that science has now proven that meditation is good for us; to actually stop for about 20 minutes of the day and just allow our thoughts to form.  It can help clear our heads and keep us focused.  It's interesting then when we realise that prayer is the very act of meditation, thinking on our life, our worries, our concerns, our family, our friends and saying prayers for them which can be done anytime, anywhere, we don't have to wait until we are in church! There is nothing we are going to lose from prayer as many people can be touched by it as I will explain further. 

So why would there be any power in a simple prayer?  I want to discuss for a few moments about the character of God himself. God does not exist within space and time.  Time is not something He is bound to.  Humans can only know for sure the past and present and we do not know the future.  Can you imagine a person who knows the future; someone who has already seen it, wow that would be amazing, a person that could access all time zones of our lives! Well we know from the bible that it says that God is omniscient, meaning He knows everything that can be known in time and outside of time!  This is getting heavy I know, as well as that we know that God is omnipresent, meaning He can be everywhere all at the same time, as well as omnipotent meaning he has all power.  If all these things are true about God then surely when we pray he has already seen our prayer in the future, and therefore could have already answered our prayer before we ever pray it, he could have already set events in motion to answer our prayer. It means, as we pray for our friend or family member, He can be with that person we are praying for.  It means that He can access any moment of time and as we ask Him, can alter the course of history!  As God operates outside of time, we can be sure that our prayers do too. As our prayers are not affected by time, then prayers could be answered straight away or some prayers may even out-live us, being answered when we have already left our earthly life.  Wow!!

This is why prayer is powerful; I hope you can understand what I am saying. I don't know if any of you have seen the film 'Interstellar', there is a poignant moment at the end where the main character gets sucked into the centre of a black hole; a place where time does not exist as we know it, it was a kind of 4th dimension.  He could suddenly see His daughter's life moment by moment and could access those moments, it reminded me so profoundly of the characteristics of the Christian God.  If anyone knows anything about quantum physics we know that it talks about energy and that energy can move anywhere and be in several places at the same time.  We suddenly get a glimpse of this God we are talking about; it's not as fairy tale as one may think when we start looking at the science.  Someone living in a 4th dimension would know so much more than we could ever know; a God-like being.  I'm not suggesting God is living in the 4th dimension, but trying to make the point that He is so much bigger than we could ever imagine with the understanding of our human minds and when we pray He is already there! Psalm 18 v 6 says, "In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. He heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears" and Psalm 34, 15 - "The LORD looks on the righteous, and he listens to their cries". Also if you believe that God created us to love and be loved, then surely it is important that we care and pray for each other which thankfully is still a big function of the modern church today. 

There are a few limitations on prayer however.  Firstly it says in the bible that prayers should be said in faith, believing that God is able to do what you have asked. Prayer is also linked with the will of God.  Even when Jesus was going to be murdered on the cross He prayed to His Father, 'I would rather this cup be taken away from me, but even so not my will but yours'. This is even in the Lord's prayer so it must be a very important aspect of prayer.  Finally, I believe prayer should be sincere and not just a list of wants for wants sake. God sees the heart of the prayer and whether the prayer is honest, genuine and coming from a good place. 

A small prayer therefore, is not a meager one but powerful, when we realise who we are praying to.  Let us not become weary of praying, but get excited again that prayer can really change things.  

Bible verses on prayer (although the word pray is mentioned over 300 times in the bible)

Luke 11 v9-13 - And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Phil 4 v 6 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Matt 21 v 22 - And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.

Matt 18 v 20 - For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them."

(Some of the scientific ideas in this blog have been researched & discussed by by Dr Robi, http://www.drrobi.com and Dr Caroline Leaf http://drleaf.com/)

Dealing with the tides of love & suffering

Recently there has been a ever deepening sense of tragedy and sadness of what is happening in our world, as well as hearing about many friends who are struggling and those who have suffered illness or have continued sickness.  I also recently lost both my Nana's - it's so hard to say goodbye to those we love and hold so dear.  

What can we do with our grief? Do we stop looking at the news, do we hide ourselves away and rather not face the realities of suffering? Do we carry on with work and get busy to make sure we don't have time to think about it? When we see others suffering do we go out of our way to ask them if they're coping or do we walk away not knowing what to say?

One positive we can look at, is that through grief we realise how much love means to us.  We start to get a real understanding about the people in our lives and the love we hold for them.  Because of hurt and suffering, we can understand what love means in a far deeper way.  We suddenly become much more aware that love and happiness in our lives is more important than we once understood, realising that at times we've taken it for granted. Oswald Chambers once wrote, "Sorrow burns up a great amount of shallowness". Suffering produces bigger character and strength, it stretches us and makes us more aware when others are struggling.  Suffering also prepares us to minister to others who may be going through sorrow; we are able to reach out to friends who may be going through the same thing we have experienced and it gives us greater empathy towards other people's difficulties. 

Ultimately, in the end some good can come out of our grief.  When we run into problems and trials, in some ways we can know that they teach us endurance. Endurance develops strength, until finally in its good time, our hope and faith is restored again. In life it is inevitable we are going to go through some difficulties and problems, we know well it's not a perfect life!  But life also come and goes in seasons, there may be a season of struggle or pain, followed by a season of happiness; this is what is meant by 'sorrow may last for a night but joy comes in the morning', so if you are going through a time of difficulty, keep holding on until you see hope again! If we are going through a long term sickness, this is not so easy....carry on holding onto those loved ones who care for you and make you smile again, giving you a reason to find hope again.  If we sense others going through a season of difficulty it's important we ask how they are doing, such a simple question can make a real difference.  

Christian faith thoughts:

I thought it good to mention that the Christian Easter story was all about love and suffering too. The bible story shows us that God loved the world so much that He wanted to restore His relationship with people.  He did this by sending Jesus, who suffered at the cross. 

God has walked in our shoes as a human; Jesus came as a man, he's seen suffering, he himself went through hardships, struggles and disappointments and even death! He had to deal with being misunderstood, being told he was a liar and was eventually killed, although a good man, because of what he stood for and claimed to be. 

There's nothing that God doesn't understand about being human and I believe this is why God chose to come this way, not as a king robed in splendor and riches but a normal man (fully God, but fully human) who gave his life to serve others in their need. Firstly, so we can relate to God himself and know the life he lived was a difficult road, but secondly so we can learn from his life and his urgency to help those in need around him.  One thing the Christian can know for sure is that God loves, and through suffering he understands and will help us through it when we ask. He will give us strength and hope for a new day.  It is written in Isaiah 41:13 - “For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear; I will help you.”

Christian's believe even death is not the end.....for it says in Romans 8, "What can separate us from the love of God? Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below; indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord".

Keep holding on, keep moving forward, keep the hope of a new day as 'sadness will last for a night but joy comes in the morning'. xx