Tag: The Word of God

Bible, Christian blog, Christian faith, Christian Writer, Devotional thought, Faith, Lessons from life, Seasons of life, The Word of God

STAY ON THE CANAL (WALK IN THE SPIRIT)

joymargetts

About this time last year I wrote a blog about boats. We had just returned from a canal holiday and God had chosen to speak to me about going forward slowly and not rushing things. You can’t rush on a canal. And you need to go slow in order to keep control of the hunk of steel you are steering. You can read that blog here.

Another canal trip

We did it again. A few weeks ago, we ventured out onto the British waterways in a canal boat – a slightly smaller and easier to handle one this time. I perhaps should have reminded myself of what to expect by rereading that blog from a year ago. I hadn’t forgotten the restful, slow pace, or the beauty and peace of being so close to nature – but I had forgotten the sheer physicality of it, the exhaustion, and stress! It was a mixed blessing of a holiday!

A few days ago, I was in a prayer meeting for our Kingdom Story Writers. Several people were sharing how they were inundated with ideas or had more than one project on the go. They were asking us to pray that they would have wisdom to know which to invest their time and creativity into.  As we were praying God reminded me of the canal.

Go where the canal is going

Now the thing about canals, unlike roads and footpaths, is that once you are on them you can only go where they go. There are the occasional branches off that you can explore, but most of the time you are forced to follow the main channel. Of course this is because they were constructed to connect one industrial centre with another. When you are on a canal boat you go where the canal takes you. You can detour all you like when you are out for a walk, or a drive in the country, but it isn’t so easy on a canal.

I sensed what God was saying. There is a channel of flowing water that He wants us to stay in! He knows the best way for us, and it is where His Spirit is leading. The call to us is to stay in the canal boat – to stay focussed on the flow of His living water – and not let ourselves be distracted by paths, or culverts, or streams that aren’t ours to take.

Staying on the right canal

How do we know we are on the right path (canal)?

Psalm 119:105 is a familiar verse to many of us

‘Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path’.

I read this again earlier this week and was reminded that God has provided two sources of illumination to help us. A lamp that shines on our feet so that we can see which step to take, and a light that we can hold up to see the path ahead.

God’s word is full of truth that can help us to make good and right decisions as we go through life. But sometimes it doesn’t always give us answers to the specifics – like which book project I should be working on right now!

Galatians 5:25 tells us to ‘walk in the Spirit’. God has given us His word as a road map of sorts for life in general, but I believe He has also given us the gift of His Spirit to discern and make wise choices about the everyday things.

Consult the map

Each morning, on our canal boat, before we set off to tackle the next stretch of the canal and its numerous locks (too many locks!) we would consult a very helpful canal boat map app we had on our phones. This was a sensible thing to do – to be able to anticipate how far we would be able to go, what challenges we might face, and how long it might take us. We wouldn’t be diverting from the main canal channel, but we still needed guidance for the day. As we approached each challenge (lock) we would be able to prepare ourselves. When we knew we needed to moor we would anticipate the best place to stop (one with lots of room as we were less than expert at this manoeuvre). We did this by communicating with each other – skipper and crewman.

Stay on the canal

It is good to start the day in God’s word, or in fact to read it anytime we can. The Bible has lots to teach us about how He wants us to live. It can even prepare us for the challenges ahead. But there is also the ongoing conversation that we need to be having with God. Listening out for that small voice, that inner knowing, that sense of peace – that comes from knowing we are walking in communion with Him, and being led by His Spirit.

So, stay on the canal! Let the water flow take you where He wants you to go. And enjoy the ride, even when it is hard and challenging, because walking with Him truly is the place of beauty and peace.

Joy Margetts is a published author and blogger. Her heart is to share God’s heart for the broken; His love that pursues us, truth that frees us and hope that heals us. Her novels are set in medieval Wales against the backdrop of Cistercian abbey life, and tell stories of faith, hope and God’s redemptive power. She has also published two devotionals based on the person and work of Jesus.

More information on Joy, and her books can be found here

Bible, Christian faith, Christian Writer, Devotional thought, The Word of God

KISSES THAT MAKE IT BETTER

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My grandson is 3 now, and growing up fast in many ways. It is precious to see that he is still trusting and that life hasn’t yet stolen his innocence from him. He is a mostly quiet and calm child. His play is generally creative and imaginative. But just every now and then he reminds us that he is a boy, with energy in abundance. He will hurtle around the room, or throw things or jump on the furniture, or engage in play fighting. Inevitably this sometimes ends with him hurting himself. A bruised knee or bumped head, a cut or a scrape.

KISSES MAKE IT BETTER

Adorably, when this happens he will come to find me, or his mum or dad, point out the injured area and ask for a kiss to make it better. Invariably, even when there have been tears, a small loving kiss planted on the knee, elbow, head or finger seems to do the job. It makes it better. The tears stop and he is off playing again.

Image shows a photograph of a mother kissing the forehead of a small girl.
Image Courtesy of Canva (Pixabay)

I was thinking about this when God reminded me of a verse in a not often preached about book of the Bible. Song of Solomon is a beautiful piece of poetry, written by an ancient King of Israel, using imagery that is hard for the modern reader to make sense of. But it is so obviously a love song.

GOD’S LOVE SONG

Many believe it is in the Bible to serve as a allegory of the love that Christ, the Bridegroom, has for His Bride, the Church. But I have learned to make the message of that particular love poem personal to me. I even wrote a whole novel based on the way that little book expresses the devoted love that God has for each one of us.

Song of Solomon 1: 2 (NKJV) says this:

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—For your (His) love is better than wine.

What does that mean? Well, along with many commentators I believe that the ‘kisses of his mouth’ are referring to His words. The kisses God has for us can be found in what He has to say to us. And God has spoken primarily to us through His Word, the Bible. Now I know that this isn’t the only way that God speaks to us, but it is the main way. Even when we think we have heard God speak in other ways we always need to test what we have heard against the truth of His written word. His words are so full of love and encouragement.

KISSES THAT MAKE IT BETTER?

Kisses from God’s mouth make it better? Yes. My testimony is just that. For some time now I have lived with a condition that limits my physical abilities and restricts my energy. I have had times where I have felt emotionally bombarded, and anxiety and fear have threatened to take hold.

Like many people, life also has its challenges beyond just my personal ones. Family, friends, circumstances, even the things happening in the world around me. Loss, broken relationships, the pain my loved ones are having to go through. All these things have the power to hurt or wound me. But I have found that the Kisses of His mouth have the power to make it better.

Image shows a photograph of an open Bible resting on the corner of a balcony rail, with a misted out landscape behind it, all bathed in bright sunlight.
Image courtesy of Canva

HIS LIFE- BREATHED WORDS

When I am struggling, hurting, confused, fearful, lacking in strength, I have learnt to go to the Bible. I go to His life-breathed Word. I open my heart and I open my spiritual ears, and as I read scripture I can feel His life breath restoring me. Sometimes what I read speaks directly to the way I am feeling, and immediately offers its healing balm. Other times, the words on the page don’t seem to have anything to do with what I am going through. But still, in reading them, I feel strengthened and encouraged. I am reminded over and over again of how great God is, how powerful He is, how interested He is in me, and most importantly how much He loves me.

At a time in my life when I could not find healing anywhere else, I turned to His Word and He met me there. His kisses made it better.

LOVE KISSES MAKE IT BETTER

Now my grandson wouldn’t go to just anyone to ask for his healing kisses. He goes to someone that he knows loves him, that he trusts, someone who won’t laugh at him or turn him away. God doesn’t want us to look to ‘wine’ (the pleasures of this world) when His love for us is a much safer thing for us. Those things might numb the pain we are feeling, but His words have the power to heal us deeply.

When you are hurting, can I encourage you to turn to the One who loves you
so much that He sent His Son to die on the cross for you? Bring your hurts to
Him. He is trustworthy. He knows everything about you and He cares about your
pain. He has the power to heal your hurts, and is waiting to make them better.

And He has graciously provided us with a whole book full of His love kisses.
Let him smother me with kisses—his Spirit-kiss divine. So kind are your caresses, I drink them in like the sweetest wine! Song of Solomon 1:2 The Passion Translation

Joy Margetts is a published author and blogger. Her books are works of Christian Historical fiction. Set in medieval Wales against the backdrop of Cistercian abbey life, they tell stories of faith, hope and God’s redemptive power. Her debut novel ‘The Healing‘ was published by Instant Apostle on 19 March 2021.

‘The Pilgrim‘, her second full length novel, was published by Instant Apostle on 22 July 2022, and her third novel, ‘The Bride‘, published on 20th October 2023. Her first non-fiction book, an Advent Devotional, ‘Christ Illuminated‘ was published in September 2023.

More information on Joy, and her books can be found here

Christian faith, Faith

EXHAUSTED BUT STILL GOING…

joymargetts

EXHAUSTED BUT STILL GOING…

That phrase could sum up my life, quite easily. Living with the chronic effects of M.E., I am always tired, often exhausted, in fact. But life goes on, and so must I. And there is much to get out of life and enjoy, even with the limitations my health condition enforces. I love my family, my church, my home life, and, of course, my writing. I also love the vision God has put on my heart to build a community of encouragement for writers who want to write for His Kingdom. *

Image shows a banner with the words 'Kingdom Story Writers'

STILL IN PURSUIT

I was reading in the book of Judges today, about Gideon and his 300 strong warrior band of God selected men. They had won a great victory but God hadn’t finished His dealings with Israel’s enemies and told them to pursue the stragglers.

Judges 8 verse 4 says this:

When Gideon came to the Jordan, he and the three hundred men who were with him crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit.              NKJV

Here is the same verse from The Passion Translation,

Totally exhausted, Gideon and his three hundred crossed the river Jordan and continued to pursue the enemy

The Hebrew word translated exhausted means just that, ‘faint, weary, parched, famished‘. At the end of your physical endurance. Yet still those warriors kept going, because God still had work for them to do.

KEEP GOING UNTIL YOU DROP?

I wanted to pause and think on that.

Is God actually asking us to push ourselves to the place of exhaustion in His work? We hear too many stories of church ministers and missionaries working themselves to the point of burnout and collapse. I really don’t believe that is God’s heart for any of us. Those called to full time Christian work, those called to pursue Christ’s victory in every day life, those who have been given a vision to spearhead a work for Him, a calling to follow. He doesn’t want any of us to fail! To fall exhausted in a heap. But He does want us to keep going, even when it is hard.

WE ARE NOT ALONE

So what does that look like? I had to ask God that question, feeling particularly disappointed about another battle I was finding myself fighting from the place of exhaustion.

The key is Him. If we believe we are at the centre of His will for us, even when it feels tough, when it feels like a fight, then we are not alone in the battle. We have those He has placed around us – our own 300 – those who walk with us, pray for us, encourage us, and help share the burden. But most importantly we have Him. He is in command, He is our strength, He is our victory.

Gideon and his 300 won extra-ordinary victories, over enemies that vastly outnumbered them. It was nothing to do with how good at fighting they were. God found Gideon hiding in a winepress, lacking courage and confidence, and yet He still used him to set a nation free from oppression. It was all God’s power. It was all Him.

So when I feel exhausted and weary, that is good. Because in my weakness is His strength.

Photo of a lake surrounded by trees and rocks with a blue sky above/

WEAK PROUDLY

As I am writing this a song has come on from my playlist that sums this up perfectly –  Jillian Edwards’ ‘Weak, Proudly’. Do go have a listen. It is at the end of myself that I realise my need of Him. His strength is made perfect in my weakness. In our insecurities about ourselves and our ability to keep going, is the reassurance that we don’t have to – without Him covering us and making up for our insufficiencies. We can be proud that we know our weaknesses!

JUST KEEP GOING

Twice, in his New Testament letters, Paul writes these words to the early church, a people struggling under persecution and hardship,

…let us not grow weary while doing good                    Galatians 6:9

… do not grow weary in doing good                                 2 Thessalonians 3:13

Don’t give up. When it feels exhausting make sure you aren’t on your own. Make sure you have people around you to help and encourage you. But most important make sure that you are walking close to God, leaning into Him, giving Him your weaknesses in exchange for His strength. He will not walk with you on a path He has not given you to walk. That will become unbearable and unsustainable. But if you know He has asked you to pursue something, if you feel His hand on it, and know it is a victory that He wants to give you. Then keep going! And find your rest in Him.

*for more information on Kingdom Story Writers follow the link www.kingdomstorywriters.com

Joy Margetts is a published author and blogger. Her books are works of Christian Historical fiction. Set in medieval Wales against the backdrop of Cistercian abbey life, they tell stories of faith, hope and God’s redemptive power. Her debut novel ‘The Healing‘ was published by Instant Apostle on 19 March 2021.

‘The Pilgrim‘, her second full length novel, was published by Instant Apostle on 22 July 2022, and her third novel, ‘The Bride‘, published on 20th October 2023. Her first non-fiction book, an Advent Devotional, ‘Christ Illuminated‘ was published in September 2023.

More information on Joy, and her books can be found here