Matthew 16:24NLT

DARK SHADOWS – GOD’S SHADOW OF LIGHT

(February 28, 2023) Brian Bell shares a timely meditation…

Standing Somewhere in the Shadows (that 1943 once very popular number by E J Rollings) came to me afresh recently…

Are your crosses too heavy to carry,
And burdens too heavy to bear;
Are there heartaches and tears and anguish
And there’s no one who seems to care?

Standing somewhere in the shadows you’ll find Jesus,
He’s the friend who always cares and understands.
Standing somewhere in the shadows you will find Him,
And you’ll know Him by the nail prints in His hands.

Overshadowing darkness
Christians are called to carry crosses (Matthew 10:38, Matthew 16:24, Luke 9:23) and as we do so, life can be shades of shadows at times! Praise God that our Saviour is there for us!

The reality is that it is not Jesus who is standing in the shadows, it is us – men and women ‘lost’ in the dark shadows of life.

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IT’S A WAR OUT THERE! (Meditations on Mark – 2)

(February 13, 2023) Richard Winter shares some salient facts…

The rumours had come in from a far-flung corner of the Roman empire…

  • There was trouble over a Jewish teacher who had apparently led a nonviolent campaign.
  • To stop the problems He had been crucified as a common criminal.
  • His friends and many others are saying He has come back to life – and has been seen walking around and gathering with crowds of people.

So what are the facts? Mark tells them rather simply…

(A continuous history which – if you follow – you will know how it all links together and how that Jewish Messiah will affect your life and others).

Seven facts…

1. New start
A guy had come baptising people who were repenting of their sins. Jesus was baptised… even though He had no sin! What Jesus was doing was demonstrating that all old ways of doing things either religiously or secularly needed to be buried and everyone can start a new spiritual life.

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TRUSTING GOD IN ‘EVERYTHING’

(February 20, 2022) Robert McQuillan challenges:

Seems that our main theme this month is on trusting God… and how vital that is as further disasters hit our already troubled world and people, including Christians, have many concerns, such as –

  • Storm Eunice hitting the UK, Ireland, and parts of Europe, following its predecessor Storm Dudley.
  • variants of viruses including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 and can/ may change over time.
  • Strange times, as some have put it, with strange things happening.
  • Possible war between Russian and Ukraine.
  • Hospital staff shortage and other medical concerns.
  • Matthew 24:8’s ‘All these are the beginning of birth pains’ mentioned by Jesus?
  • Possibility, maybe probability of really being close to that hour (known only by Father God – Matthew 24:36) when Jesus Christ returns as THE GREATEST KING OF ALL AND THE MOST POWERFUL LORD OF ALL (to quote capitalised Revelation 19:16NIrV).But prior to this, a one-world-government and currency, and the revealing of the anti-Christ (Read Daniel’s prophecies).

Worried? Well… remember how Jesus encouraged His troubled, worried disciples.

John 14:1GNB tells us: ‘Do not be worried and upset. Believe in God and believe also in me.’

That’s what faith and hope are really all about! Trusting God!  No wonder the Message Bible puts it even more pointedly: ‘Don’t let this throw you. You trust God, don’t you? Trust me.’

So let’s treat ‘this’ as ‘anything’ and not be ‘thrown’ as Jesus encourages. Why? Because it’s easy to think that Christians can’t be thrown by life’s curves – but it happens! Indeed, in life there are many things that throw us… if we let them.

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