Every Day with Jesus

Celebrate means to observe or recognise, as illustrated in celebrating the Lord’s Supper. Every celebration has a purpose and supporting narrative. Birthdays, anniversaries, significant moments, all become etched into our life’s rhythm and meaning. Forgetting a friend’s birthday can be wounding since we want our key moments acknowledged.

An established prayer rhythm reminds us of God every day. Learn to ignore the swarm of minutiae that distract us on waking and walking to our prayer space; thoughts about today mixed with yesterday’s disappointments. Seized by immediate concerns, God’s importance fades and we must forcefully remind ourselves that fixing our gaze on God alone is valuable for its own sake and essential for our perso...

A Jewish friend blamed what he observed as stress and anxiety being a national characteristic of Britain on a lack of national celebrations. Christmas, when most people overspend and overindulge, was our annual, national release; twelve months of parties squeezed into one week. 

Is taking care of ourselves selfish? We’re best placed to know how we best function, but failing in self-care is bad for us and others. There’s a delicate balance between serving self and others, which helps both. The need to meet others’ needs can prove self-destructive when attempting to prove our value. Jesus wasn’t afraid to take the space He needed during His life on earth. 

In an age of ‘political correctness’ (PC) we’re very aware of distinctions. PC encourages the censorship of policies, actions and language seen to offend a particular group in society, and a means to address apparent social injustices. Yet, promoting tolerance can become a fresh form of intolerance.

The ascended Jesus has left His disciples His riches. How shall we invest these? There’s a balance between focussing on God and being distracted by all that life involves. Learning to lean into God’s purpose to avoid distraction is the art of effective Christian living. Like Israel, which means ‘struggling with God’, once delivered from the tyranny of Sin, we find ourselves in a wilderness and nee...

Asking the appropriate question is key. I wonder how James’ mother felt after this one. Questions give a real insight into how we think. James and John, and their mum, obviously missed ‘Discipleship 101’ (Matt. 16:24–26). We’re invited deliberately to give up our preferences by putting God and His Kingdom first in every decision and action.

Anne Frank wrote, ‘In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit.’ She died of typhus at age 15 in Bergen- Belsen concentration camp, weeks before its liberation. In a world of unimaginable hatred and violence, she recorded her hope and despair from 1942–44 whilst hiding from the Nazis in Amsterdam.

Our age has seen an explosion of streamed media. Online communication has mushroomed, extending the reach and influence of public opinion to stratospheric proportions. Now, TV programming is promoted not by programme makers but by viewers expressing their thoughts. 

Ageing affords us a far larger set of data to reflect on. This can prove disappointing as we discover just how little progress we’ve made on the discipleship path. Reflection is a healthy practice, and when we look through Jesus’ eyes we can learn much about ourselves.

Actions speak louder than words, since actions reveal the intention behind those words. Our actions present evidence for our perspective. Yet, all our words and actions have consequences. Observing our family, we develop behaviour that takes years to change. It becomes our default setting, giving us numerous self-management issues. We can’t wipe the hard drive clean, but Jesus can overwrite it wit...

Gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit, one of nine. We don’t need to struggle to find them, they are a gift from God to every disciple. The struggle is in choosing and then learning to use them consistently and effectively. They are the language of God’s kingdom within our fragmenting world. Like Sam Van Aken’s tree of 40 fruits grafted onto a single tree, we too, grafted into God, produce these fru...

Today there’s a growing demand for spiritual directors. A spiritual director does not give instruction or indeed direction, rather they’re a co-listener with God. The spiritual director is a witness alongside someone seeking to explore and express their encounter with God in whatever form or context they choose.

The National Lottery’s success suggests we desire to find shortcuts to realise our dreams. We assume wealth will deal with our problems. The same can be true of becoming a Christian, as we assume our troubles are over. True in part because we are now joined to the true source of life. However, favourable friendships can’t guarantee a pain free life.

How we live impacts who we become. Many pressures compete to shape our lives; job, family, home, etc. Such pressures can leave us feeling that our life is out of control, imprisoned on a hamster wheel of experience. When Jayne was growing up, she wondered why adults never ran everywhere.

We’ve all at some point worried that we’ve missed God’s will. Consequently, we often make no decision, and become immersed in temptation and sin freely. Unreliable in everything (Jas. 1:8), we can mistakenly think there is one golden ‘God-decision’, but for the love of heaven we can’t find it.

Making our way through life is distinct from finding our way in life. Regardless of circumstance or feelings, we intentionally navigate each day’s events. We turn holy aspiration into effective action, a process that always demands discipline. When we rely solely on our own understanding, we’re subject to the internal and external pressures of everyday life.

The Good Samaritan story (Luke 10: 25–37) teaches us that the designation ‘neighbour’ knows no boundaries. With busy lives we easily lose sight of anyone’s interest but our own. Church operates as a social space shared by any who want to participate in learning to love God and others.

Words present us with a powerful tool, one which we must take time to learn how to use to best effect. We easily misuse words to manipulate or abuse. In relationships we need to discover how to hear and to be heard.

There are many resources on prayer, expressing many different opinions and styles. Yet, Jesus only taught us one prayer, covering every eventuality in its appeal to God. It’s helpful to pray the Lord’s Prayer every day. We can become confused by what’s called unanswered prayer.

Encouragement is made up of perspective* and relationship. Having lived and cared for my first wife, Katey, through her long illness, I’ve subsequently wondered how well I did. I face unwanted ghosts of unanswerable ‘what ifs...?’ that I’ve had to learn to make my peace with. Perspective is influenced by many factors, both in the moment, and long after the focus has passed into history.

In a world that celebrates criticism, life demands courage. Media leads the way with its continuous assault on both the character and motives of public figures, politicians and personalities. Daily conversations complain about human failings and negativity grows into a national characteristic.

Apilgrim remains focused on the objective of their pilgrimage. Born of faith, it begins as a conscious thought that captures the pilgrim’s assumption about God’s intention for their life. Too often we confuse faith with dogma and creeds. Whilst usefully attempting to quantify God’s reality, they can never produce the substance of faith. Every pilgrim needs courage to follow their path, believing t...

Moving house we were sad to leave our daughter’s height chart etched on her bedroom wall, added to every six months. Success, like growing taller, is constantly measured objectively, but this method can’t quantify unseen values. Someone’s height tells us little of their character, and comes with the danger that reducing discipleship to objective measures leaves it as little more than a moral code....

Pilgrimage means a journey towards a significant destination and involves an intention, a decision, and a setting out. Here two disciples, confused and despondent, walk home to Emmaus. A stranger joins them, essential to every pilgrimage. This third pilgrim is the principle force for movement; from where I am to where I need to be.