HIDDEN TREASURE WITHIN

HIDDEN TREASURE WITHIN

There is a lot of focus on our outward appearance and how we appear to others, but what is really going on inside of us?  The things going on inside us, is actually who we really are; our very souls. Our bodies are just carriers of what we hold inside of us.  We all know that because we are human, often our bodies fail us, however this doesn't change who we are inside. The way we think, feel, love and respond says a lot about who we are.  

There's so much in today's world that focuses our attention to the outside; get this lotion or potion and we will have the miracle of good looks, success and eternal beauty; most of which is marketing to ensure we invest our good earned cash on their transforming products.  Like it or not, our bodies are human and we all, no exception, will age, so how much value do we put on our our inward selves? 

It reminded me of Jesus, he came to earth as a man in bodily form and within him he carried everything of God!  He claimed that him and God were the same, everything that God was and is, was carried within Jesus; a human being.  Totally human, but totally divine.  On the outside he didn't look anything special, he looked the same as any other man, but inside of him were the real jewels, but not everyone could see the treasure he was carrying.

Jesus was often accused of blasphemy as some scholars of the time were expecting someone special as the Messiah. Unfortunately, they completely missed what was inside of Jesus, that he was the Son of God, the Saviour and the Messiah they were looking for. Because Jesus didn't come as someone magnificent, someone glorious in the world's eyes, but someone very ordinary, someone very humble and poor, it didn't fit their egotistic ideas that they had in their minds about their Messiah.  It says in Col 2, 9-10 - For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.  Some may have even felt embarrassed that this Messiah they had been bragging about to everyone for so long, was not who they anticipated and how could they ever introduce such an ordinary man to people as their Messiah?  So instead of valuing the treasure Jesus held inside and worshiping him, they looked down on him, they misjudged him and despised Him. They perceived him as a liar and a nuisance and their hate eventually drove them to kill Jesus because they didn't recognise who is was. Who do you recognise Jesus as?

We have to be careful we don't look just at our outward selves for acclaim but notice the inward movements of our souls.  What does the inward you - say about you?   Sometimes we need to look deep within our souls to really see who we are.  Are we who we want to be starting from the inside?  Are we going to let Jesus renew our inward beauty day by day until we become more like him; more like our creator. 

The phrase 'Beauty is Only Skin Deep' holds a lesson; our physical stance is only an external attribute but beneath the skin we are all the same. Just as Jesus, where do you hold your treasure, on the outside or on the inside?  Do we recognise the beauty inside of others and do we value that beauty? Whatever age, young or old - we all hold this treasure within us. Ultimately who we are will last forever, our very souls are what we take with us - wow I hope I'm going to like the soul I'm taking with me into heaven!  I'll leave you with these bible verses to ponder on today? 

Lv Caroline 

2 Corin 9, 7-10  But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.  We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 

v 16-18 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Firm Foundations

WALKING ON STEADY GROUND

There's nothing worse than feeling unsteady under your feet.  I do like walking in the Lake District in the UK, in my opinion, it's one of the most beautiful places in Britain.  It's a walkers paradise where you can find many wonderful places to visit and hike or fell walk. My husband and I have done a few fell walks in our time and the views from the top can be absolutely breathtaking.  The photo below is from this year at the top of Haystacks, the lake you can see below is Lake Buttermere.  However, some paths can be quite traitorous, either they are requiring steep climbs or have large drops at the side, or they feel unsteady under your feet. If the path has too much loose shale underfoot you can easily slip, especially on the way down!  You therefore have to tread carefully so not to fall down and hurt yourself.  Unsteady ground and unsteady foundations are dangerous, accidents can easily happen so we need to ensure we find more solid ground to walk on. 

One verse in the bible stands out to me when we think on this topic in Matthew 7 24-2: 

 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”

When we are up against it and things are going wrong, are we going to collapse or will we be able to endure and make it through?  With God's help, who is the solid rock we can stand on, yes we can!  When the storms on life hit we will have enough strength to carry on when the teachings of Jesus remain deep in our hearts and our minds; we can stand firm and not collapse! Another verse that comes to mind is from Ephesians 6 v 13 - Therefore, put on the complete armour of God, so that you will be able to successfully resist and stand your ground in the evil day of danger, and having done everything that the crisis demands, to stand firm in your place, fully prepared, immovable, victorious. 

Moving onto another place in the world Italy.  Have you ever wondered why the Leaning Tower of Pisa is tilted? The construction of the tower started in 1173 AD with a 3-meter-deep slab, and on top of it, they started building the walls, when it reached the 3rd floor, it was noticed that it was starting to lean. We are looking at a 14,500-ton tower built on a 3 meter-deep foundation resting on sand and silt soil! After detecting the slope, the engineers then built the walls of the remaining floors so that the floor height on the sinking side was greater than the height on the other side.  Unfortunately though, this caused the tower to lean even more due to the extra weight on the larger side of the tower, the foundations suffered greater subsidence. 

The construction lasted 199 years and due to clay soil the tower, although leaning, as we know, did not ever collapse. However the tower did close in 1990 for repairs to the foundations where 361 holes were dug, that were 40 meters deep and they injected 90 tons of concrete into the soil through these holes, as it was calculated by modern engineers that left untouched the tower would have eventually collapsed, if it reached an inclination more than 5.44 degrees. They could have made the tower vertical but they didn't want it to lose its fame. 

The leaning tower had a fault in it's foundation, the foundation did not go deep enough into the solid earth to ensure it would stand perfectly straight and safe!  The engineers of the day tried to make up for the error but the building then tilted.  It reminds me of our own lives, we can often feel slightly off balance, we can feel shaken by circumstances.  What are we going to build of lives upon? What core values are we going to cling to? How will we have a sure footing and a firm place to feel secure?  God can give us all these things when we look to him to help us.  When we look to the bible and see the values of our creator.  We can know that they are good and secure to always stand on.  We can feel certainty and feel secure in a God that loves us, because he is the God that created us and knows us best. 

Lv Caroline x 

A Call to Greatness

 A CALL TO GREATNESS

Let's face it - we all want to be great!  We all like to be the best. Who remembers sports day at school. You always wanted to be in the team that won didn't you. I recall being in the Blue team but for some reason Reds seem to win every year which, as you can imagine, I wasn't too happy about. The Blue's didn't like to think all the children in the Red team were better!  Did you ever win the individual race you were picked to run?  I did all sorts of races; egg and spoon, bean bag on the head, 3-legged race to name a few, but I don't recall winning many of them, there was always someone on my heels better than I was. At school, I do recall winning a Netball Tournament, I played Centre which was the position where you did the most running (typical!), we were ecstatic that we had won all the other schools in the area!  It was exhilarating to be the best! 

We all want to be the best, we all want to be celebrated, we want to be centre of attention, we want to have high position and high power. However, it says in the bible something quite profound, Matt 20, 26-28 - If anyone who wants to be great among you, you must first become a servant. Just as the Son of Man didn't come into the world to be served but to serve, to give His life as a ransom for many.  Wow, that's a powerful statement isn't it in today's world, that is always talking about finding our own power.

God says the only way to be great is to first help others.  We are great by the way we treat others and make others feel when they greet us. We are great when we love our neighbours and friends as ourselves, we are great when we go out of our way for someone rather than serving ourselves. We are great when we give generously to those in need, we are great when we help the lonely, we are great when we seek peace and not hostility toward our fellow man. We are great when we help others reach their goals and not just our own. 

Greatness flows from our hearts and it means sometimes stepping aside allowing others to be first whilst we take second place. God may ask us to do this along our life's journey, would we be willing? Rom 12, 9, "Good friends who love deeply, practice taking second fiddle". It means we will honour those people around us and sometimes, if required take a lowly position. The person we are helping may be very different to us - should that stop us?  Just like Jesus who came from the spender of Heaven as the King of Kings, to take a lowly position as a man here on earth, to lead the way in love and compassion, then so must we. 

We have all watched the scene in athletics, where whilst running a race someone has fallen over and their chances of now winning have been completely destroyed.  To our amazement, from no-where, a rival runner picks the person up and staggers with them, giving up their chances of finishing in a better position!  What a thing to do, to help another person finish, and finish well. US runner Abbey D'Agostino encouraged New Zealand's Nikki Hamblin, in the Rio Olympics - 2016, as she lay dazed on the track after the two entangled and fell. "Get up," she told her. "We have to finish this. "Then Hamblin herself hung back to encourage the American.  D'Agostino eventually hobbled over the line in last place. The two women embraced before D'Agostino left in a wheelchair with a hurt ankle.

There's nothing wrong in being successful, there's nothing wrong in having our own goals and ambitions, absolutely it's healthy for us. But among our own ambitions and goals, who is going to help our fellow man when they are flagging, when they're about to give up?  It's not always easy for us, but only through humility and love can we really acquire greatness. I will leave you to ponder on this wonderful verse from Philippians.  

Phil 2, 3-8

Do nothing from selfish ambition, or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you, not just look to his own interests but also to the interests of others. 

James 4, 10

Humble yourself in the Lord's presence and he will give you a high position. 

Lv Caroline x

Never be Thirsty Again

Life of Overflow

There is nothing better on a hot day than having a large drink of water!  Some of you, if you're anything like me, may enjoy a few too many cups of morning coffee.  For me, however a few hours afterwards, I will start longing for a glass of water. I'm feeling thirsty and I don't really want another hot drink, I want to feel refreshed. I don't want to become dehydrated so I carry water everywhere I go; to work, to the shops, on a walk (if a long walk), to church, as I never know when I might need a drink.  The benefits of drinking water span from; healthier skin, weight loss, a healthy heart, energy boost, less joint pain and aids digestion. The whole body is made up of roughly 60% water, so we know how vital it is for life.  We know that without it, life as we know would not exist. One glass of water usually quenches the thirst, but what would you do if others around you were thirsty too - would you be willing to share your vital water with others? 

But no one who drinks the water I give will ever be thirsty again. The water I give will become in that person a flowing fountain that gives eternal life.”. (taken from John 4, 14)

The kind of water God gives us causes us to be healthy spiritually. God can fill us with the fruits of the Holy Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, self control and patience.  When our lives feel barren and dry, God can refresh us again, he can give us new energy and heal our hearts.  Living for God is like living next to a waterfall, the earth around the areas near the water continually receive nutrients and makes the vegetation grow well. When we walk with God, we are growing in our faith and receiving many blessings from the inside out rather than the outside in. The bible says, with God we can even have more than enough to share.  Are we going to be willing to share this overflow with others? We know in the bible that Jesus tells a Samaritan women at a well, John, 4 10-26, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water".  So, we know God gives us living water for our souls, to refresh us, to heal us, to help us, we also know that our souls will never be thirsty again...wow!  All we need to do is ask Jesus for this living water that gains us eternal life.  Are you willing to receive it?

Whatever we have, God wants us to share it with the people around us.  What has God blessed you with, not in material things, but things of ourselves, like our love, our time, our encouragement, our gifts, our advice?  When we are willing to give a small part of what we have to others, God says he will start filling us to overflowing, he will multiply what we give of ourselves!  Overflowing means to be blessed; to have so many good things in our lives that it will overflow in every aspect of our life.  It also says in Prov 11, 25, Those who refresh others, will also be refreshed'. 

Your life will be so blessed, that you won't be worried about having to share your glass of water, you will have more than enough for yourself and for others around you - it will be an overflow of all that God has given you and you will fully comprehend what is meant to 'never be thirsty again'. 

Lv Caroline x

Turn your Bitterness into Mercy

How do you feel when things go wrong, when others let us down, when we hit disappointments?  May be we were expecting some kind of help from someone that we didn't get, we were looking for some kind of praise or acknowledgement, or some kind of promotion or value off another person that we never received!  May be friends turned against us and we ended up very hurt by it.  

These types of hurts can really bruise us deeply.   All the disappointments can lead us to feeling misunderstood but that's not the worst of it, because we can blame the people that have misunderstood us and we can feel very let down, which in turn leads to us feeling the awful taste of bitterness!  Someone who is bitter is angry and unhappy because they cannot forget bad things that happened in the past and when they feel this way it makes it so hard for them to move on.  We can hold people responsible for our hurts and we blame them, we point the finger and by doing so a little bit more love from our own hearts flies out of the window.  In fact sometimes our bitterness can turn into hate leading us to feel very negative and miserable on the inside.  Unfortunately, it will affect those we talk to as well, as what often is in us will come out eventually.  A little reminder to keep checking are hearts. I often say the prayer from Psalm 139, 24:  Search me, O God and know my heart.  Try me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.  Hebrews 12, 15 also says, Pursue peace with all men, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. Be careful that no one falls short of the grace of God, so that no root of bitterness will spring up to cause trouble and that will hurt many.

Thinking on the Easter story of Jesus, when he was put on cross by the roman soldiers, rather than hating the men that were killing Him.  Jesus said something astounding.... he said "Father forgive them for they do not know what they do".  Jesus had every reason to hate but He decided to show mercy. This is God's heart for people, that we show them mercy.  Think of Joseph the dreamer too. His brothers became jealous of him so they threw him into a pit and left him for dead. Then later on in the story when Joseph had become ruler over Egypt, his brothers came to him for help.  Did he help them after what his brothers had done to him?.....Yes he did.  Joseph decided he would forgive his brothers and show them mercy.   He didn't allow bitterness to grow in his heart.


When we are feeling down trodden and angry which let's face it we all do from time to time, I think we have to recall to mind all the great things we have in our lives and be grateful for all the small blessings.  We often take them for granted, it's not until they are gone that we realise what blessings we had. 

This Easter my prayer is that we are able to move on, forgive and show mercy...turn any bitterness into mercy. 

Lv Caroline 

Ordinary yet Remarkable!

Yes, this sums up the God we know. 'One starry night, the unlikely backdrop, no glitter, no ornaments; a stable, a manger yet glory! That first Christmas night was very ordinary, yet so profound, just a stable, just a baby, just a manger; yet he was GOD, yet He created the world, yet he was the King of Kings, yet He loves us.

Words from John 1 Everything was created through him, nothing—not one thing, came into being without him.  What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by.  The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; But the darkness couldn’t put it out. The Life-Light was the real thing.  Every person entering Life, he brings into Light.  He was in the world, the world was there through him, and yet the world didn’t even notice. He came to his own people, but they didn’t want him.  But whoever did want him, who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said,  He made them to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves.  So the Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighbourhood.


Jesus came to serve, and not to be served. He came for ordinary people, to help and love them not to have position or power over them and prestige like any usual King. 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 rejected.

He was the humble King in every way, giving up His Godly position to help others. He didn't come to the world for position but the stable reminds us of the humility, grace and love God has for people. God couldn't be giving us a clearer picture than that of the Christmas story, to show us how much he loves and knows us. Jesus came to our ordinary world but yet through Him, His glory may shine on us and through us.

The stable also reminds us that what may appear very ordinary; even a little boring, that greatness can be found when God is near. What seems completely impossible, improbable and unlikely can actually happen if we are willing to give it a second look. Do you need to take a second look at the Christmas story this year? You may be amazed at what you find.......through the ordinary we can find something truly remarkable!

John 8 v 12
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Happy Christmas. Lv Caroline x 

Our need for God - Romans 7

OUR NEED FOR GOD

We can make it on our own....is the mantra of the day.  What do you think, can we honestly make it on our own?  Love these paragraphs from the bible taken from Romans, reminding us that we are far from perfect and now and again need a little help along the way. 

We may manage intellectually, socially, or financially, but internally we can often struggle. We struggle with our thoughts and actions; we struggle with our worries and hardships.  We struggle with a void in life that cannot be filled, somehow no matter what we get in life, it's never enough.

Sometimes we need God to save us from ourselves, to pluck us out of our egos, to help us internally (our souls) and help us to turn from struggles and evil and towards goodness and hope.  May the longings of our souls be filled again.  We want to be a better person, but often we struggle to change our ways.  God knows and understands our struggles and weaknesses. In society and on social media, we are often told, not to focus on our weaknesses, not to focus on our shortcomings; but only in building and feeding our egos and successes. There is nothing wrong with building our success, but what about having success on the inside of us.  Does social media ever talk about that; our character, our values, and our willingness to change our ways for the better.  God will gently begin to work on us and change our hearts, as we become more like Him, he will give us insight into what we need to do to change.  It may be a little uncomfortable to face our fears and shortcomings but it’s all to receive a greater glory, a greater meaning and a greater way of living.  I will leave you with these amazing bible verses to study and ponder on.  The nature within us (sin) always wants to pull us back from our heavenly nature, only God can give us the strength to change and stay on course. Only God can make a way, where there is no way.

 Lv Caroline x

Romans 7:15-24The Message (MSG) - What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So, if I cannot be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary.  

But I need something more! For if I know the law but still cannot keep it, and if the power of the bad within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I do not have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I do not really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, do not result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.

It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it is pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?

Phil 4, 13  - I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.