Windows On The Soul

At this time of year, a mini-building boom occurs across Israel, as Sukkot (Tabernacles) approaches (Sept.20 this year). Councils prune trees and leave piles of branches on the road side for residents to use to make their temporary shelters or sukka . Even the newspaper real-estate sections advertise apartments with "a sukka balcony", so even high-rise city dwellers can have somewhere to sleep under the stars during the feast. As we celebrate our church anniversary Temple Day, I was reminded of the Feast of Tabernacles. The children of Israel celebrate God's guidance (by the cloudy pillar of fire) and provision (with manna and water from the rock) as He brought them out of Egypt, through the Sinai desert to finally reach the promised land after 40 years. As we celebrate our anniversary, lets remember that " Where God guides, He provides ". ----xxxXxxx---- Lev.23:33-36 "The Festival of shelters lasts 7 days...come together for worship" Deu.2:...

It's the "great Australian dream" isn't it, the goal of every newly-wed couple - to "get on our feet". We have so many euphemisms - "getting ahead", "financial independence", "standing on our own two feet", and so forth. From childhood, peaking in our teens, we are exhorted to study hard to get a good education in order to get a well paid job. As newly weds, its scrimping and saving "just until we have enough for a deposit on a house". By then of course its having enough to give the new baby every opportunity. Finally, with the children off our hands, the prospect of retirement and living off our savings is looking us in the face. Right to the end, some are worrying whether they will have enough to pay for their funeral. What a worry-some lot we humans are ( Ps.39:6 ). This isn't the sort of life God wants us to lead ( Mt.6:25 ). The most joy-full life comes when we live by faith and trust ( Lk.12:29 ), when prayer...

Ian Fleming’s ‘007’ said, “ Twice is coincidence, but three times means enemy action ”. Have you ever had, seen or heard of those series of incidences that when least expected, quietly whisper, “ God’s incidences! ”? It’s a truth that the most beautiful, desirable things in the world can never be grasped. It’s as if in the very reaching for the desirable object, relationship or emotion, it is immediately polluted by the selfishness of the grasp, and immediately slips further away. How many times have we pleaded with God to act in a certain way, or desperately looked for signs of some answer to “prayer”. But in the silence of His reply, He is saying, “ Don’t you worry about what I should do; I will do what I need to in my time. You just get on with what YOU should be doing ”. It's in these times when we are faithfully, obediently and lovingly saying and doing what God invisibly leads us to do, and boldly stepping forward to tackle the needs of the world that He puts across our ...

Said the robin to the sparrow, "I would really like to know Why these anxious human beings rush about and worry so." Said the sparrow to the robin, "I think that it must be. They have no Heavenly Father such as cares for you and me." Thanks Carol D. for this quote. We were privileged in the past week to again witness the miracle of birth with the arrival of a litter of 8 puppies. Our concerns about whether the rather immature mother would cope with her 1st litter, were quite unfounded. Seeing her hovering over her "brood" then gently settle down and gather them all in to herself, and the very protective growl when we got too close, told us that she would protect them. The same expression is used of the Holy Spirit "brooding" (moving) over creation ( Gen.1:2 ). When the Holy Spirit is called our "comforter", it is not the comfort of an acquaintance, but the deep feeling of a "parent". Thank God this week for his continu...

As we think of mother's today, the primary images we have are of giving birth to life, of nurturing and tending, of the earliest formative years, of learning all our basic life skills - talking, walking, feeding ourselves, and a fundamental sense of love. In our spiritual life, Jesus is the Prince of Life ( Acts 3:15 ), in fact He is Life itself ( Jhn.14:6 ). It is by the power of His resurrection life that we are born again. Our sustenance comes from the very word of God ( Deu.8:3 ), in fact Jesus is called the Bread of Life ( Jhn.6:32 ). He tends, guides and protects us like a shepherd of young lambs ( Jhn.10:11 and 1 Ptr.2:25 ). He teaches us that our spiritual talk should be in truth and love ( Eph.4:15,21 ). Then as our spiritual walk matures, it is the word of God that lights our pathways ( Ps.119:105 ). But fundamentally, it is through Jesus that we learn the full depth and breadth of true love, even greater and more wonderful than the love we learnt on our mother...