Saturday, 29 December 2018

Reflections

The Gates of Pearl

Rev.21:21 tells us that the way into the New Jerusalem is through a gate made of pearl. Scientists agree that a pearl is really the product of pain. The oyster lies in its bed at the bottom of the ocean, and is sometimes invaded by a microscopic worm or a tiny parasite which succeeds in getting into the very heart of the oyster.
Immediately all the resources of the tiny organism rush to bring about healing where the breach has been made. At the moment of invasion, unsuspected healing powers (that apart from the injury would have remained dormant) are called out from inside the little creature, and  marshalled at the point of peril. The tiny irritant, whether it be a speck of sand or a parasite is covered  over at the point of wound. When the wound heals it is a pearl. No other gem in the universe has such a fascinating  history as a pearl. It is an enduring monument to a tiny creature's struggle for survival. Where there are  no wounded oysters, there are no pearls- for a pearl is the product of pain. It is a wound that has been healed.
 As we sit and gaze at those jasper walls of the New Jerusalem and realize we cannot scale them, our eyes are drawn to the only way in- through the gate made of pearl. Is it telling us in symbolic language that the eternal city is only open open to those who will enter through the wounds made at Calvary? Jesus made His pains into a pearl. So can you!

Saturday, 15 December 2018

Reflections

The Secret of Abundant Living

In attempting to make clear the thrilling fact that Abundant Living seeps into our every attitude and thought, and provides us with faith and power to combat every difficult circumstance of life, lets look at this illustration. When a storm trikes an eagle the great bird is not confounded but simply tilts its wings, making the storm bear it upward beyond its fury. The set of the wings makes all the difference. If those wings were set in a downward tilt then it would be dashed to pieces on the rocks below. When the wings, however, are tilted upwards then it is elevated to ride high above the storm.
  This is what God does in the lives of every one of His children who will allow Him to infiltrate their attitude with His abundant life. He gives a set to our souls, so that when trouble and frustration strikes we go up instead of down. The disasters that strike some people cause them to tumble to earth simply because their wings are set in that direction.
  A man whose life and ministry has made a great impact upon me, made Romans 8:28 his life text. When late in life was paralysed by a stroke, someone asked him, "Is Romans 8:28 still your life text?" He said, 'It is still holding good' A young man said to me recently, 'You do not really believe that all things work together for good- pain , suffering, misery- do you?' I pointed out that the things in themselves were not good, but all Christians can, with God's help, make them work together for good. It is not so much what happens to us but what we do with it which makes the difference.

Saturday, 8 December 2018

Reflections

The myth of  incompatibility

Someone has defined the difference between a Christian family and a non Christian family in this way: "A non Christian family has many problems which has to face on its own. A Christian family also has many problems, but it handles them in the grace and power of the Lord Jesus Christ."
  Too much is being made of the word incompatibility in many Christian families and many of my counselling sessions with Christian couples  who are in difficulty have scenes where one partner or the other says, 'Well I suppose the real problem is simply that we are incompatible'. The Swiss psychiatrist Paul Tournier suggests that we eliminate the word incompatibility from our vocabulary. He says, "So- called emotional incompatibility is a myth invented by jurists short of arguments in order to plead for divorce. It is likewise a common excuse people use in order to hide their own feelings. I simply do not believe it exists. There are no emotional incompatibilities. There are misunderstandings and mistakes, however, which can be corrected where there is willingness to do so."
Every family has its problems -mine as well as yours- but spiritually mature people will refuse to let them solidify, realising that maturity is the capacity to correct problems in a Christ-like and Biblical way. Let's allow the Lord to be the centre of our family life, and help us achieve the family unity which only a Christian home can truly experience.