Ho hum, another day, another miracle!

I find myself having to pinch myself sometimes. Sometimes I have days when I wonder why I bother. You know what I mean. Nothing seems to be going right for you. Even the things that you usually turn to for light relief don't work. All news is bad news. You get the picture.

And yet if you can only open your eyes for long enough, and allow yourself to be more aware of what is going on in your life that is positive, it should easily cancel out the gloom.

If you could put a value on everything in your life how would it look I wonder? Walk into any shop and knowing the value of things is easy because everything normally has a price tag on it. Not so easy when it comes to you though is it. What price would you put on your children? Would they all have an equal price? what about your Spouse? What about your job? What about your Car, House, 42" Widescreen Surround Sound TV?

What about your health? What about knowing that you can live in relative peace and safety without fear of oppression or persecution? How about knowing that every choice you make in life is your choice?

It just occurred to me this afternoon as I begrudgingly played tennis with my son in the park, that some things are absolutely priceless and yet cost us nothing.

Jesus gave his life for me and you. It cost us nothing . . . it cost Him everything. Let me ask you again, what value do you put on the things in your life?

My weekus horribilis

Quite frankly this week has not been a good one for me. I have upset some people. been upset by other people. Seen my bills go up. My bank balance go down. Shed a tear for David Cameron's little boy. Gnashed my teeth at the news of the obscenity of a £650,000 pension.

But you know, although this has been a weekus horribilis for me, it can't compare with the kind of week that other people around that world have to endure. In fact, my trials are nothing in comparison.

I don't wake up wondering where my next meal is coming from. I don't have to watch what I say for fear of torture or death. I am reasonably healthy, I have a roof over my head and an ever-expanding waistline.

I think I need to remind myself of what the word says . . .

Romans 5:1 - 11 (NIV) ¹Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. ³Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Yeah OK, point taken!

Who can save us?

I'm flabbergasted at what is going on in our world. Actually I'm pretty miserable about what is occurring.

We are in the grip of a credit crunch. There is a fairly constant message of doom and gloom filtering through to us from the media about the economic climate. 12 year olds are fathering children. It would appear (if this case is not in isolation and I fear that it is not) that many other children in that age range are experimenting sexually. The media are vying for the rights to film Jade Goody's tragic last days on this earth.

What is happening? This week I watched the 'Who Do You Think You Are' TV programme about Rick Stein, and learned that his mother, who had an adulterous affair in the 1930s, had her children removed from her custody by the Courts as she was considered unfit because of her indiscretion. I am not suggesting that we must return to those days, but I do wonder what has happened between then and now.

Our sense of family and our wider sense of community is falling apart. Worse still, no-one seems able to do anything about it. Sometimes it feels like nobody cares.

Let me ask you something. Do you care? Are you happy with your family life? Are you delighted with the community spirit where you live? Then what are you going to do about it? We could just sit back and wait fr God to act. Rest assured there will come a time when God will put everything 'right'. But He also equipped us with everything we need to solve whatever the world can throw at us.

Don't believe me? I have a link to a manual on how to solve the world's problems right here - www.biblegateway.com

Reading this manual, and fully understanding its message is the only answer. Give it a chance!

Is there anyone who can help me?

I am still trying to get my head around the idea that Woolworth's is no more. A store that was around long before I was born. A store that I walked past most days. A store that had an outlet in most towns and cities. And yet it seems to be just the start of a worrying storm in the financial climate that we are getting all sorts of mixed messages about.

Dow we have good reason to be worried? Well . . .yes. Are we all doomed . . . errr. . . well no actually! Common sense suggests that the only way out of a financial crisis is to re-examine the position that you are in right NOW. If your outgoings are more than your income then you need to address that. We all need to think about our expenditure and be prepared to tighten our belts.

That may sound harsh. But it IS the truth. Such is the way of our society that we now expect someone else to take responsibility for our own financial difficulties. In some cases it may well be that situations out of our control conspired to put us in the position that we may find ourselves. But we are still capable of doing something about it.

I am not suggesting relying on the Lottery or the 3.35 at Aintree to sort it out. I am suggesting on using a great gift from God that is offered to all of us. Choice! I kind of have a right to discuss this as I faced near bankruptcy myself not too many years ago. A messy divorce and the bills jumped out at me from the woodwork. There are a number of options available believe it or not when you are overwhelmed by debts, but doing nothing is certainly not one of them.

What would almost certainly be the greatest tragedy is if you allowed the rest of your life to be entirely consumed with money worries.

Here is my 2 point plan to alleviating the stress of debt. 1) Speak to somebody about it. Your bank should be able to give you free advice - ask them for some. The CAB can also offer advice. Some Solicitors can offer a free consultation that could be invaluable. 2) Let God become involved. No don't stop reading because you think that's nonsense. There is nothing that He does not understand and there is nothing that is impossible with Him. From your point of view what have you got to lose? You will be surprised at how God can intervene in any situation however bleak and however impossible it may seem, and not always in the way you think.

I still have a large amount of debts but I don't worry about them any more. Not because I am irresponsible and not because I don't care. But because I have a God who I can trust in, who I can 'cast my cares upon' and who 'will never leave me'. If you want to apply for help then just cast your eyes skyward and talk to the living God.

Then see what happens . . .

It's good to talk . . . and listen!

It never ceases to amaze me how God goes on working in your life even if it doesn't seem that obvious at the time. Family Work, whilst richly rewarding in many ways can also be frustrating occasionally given that busy, hectic lives means appointments having to be cancelled often at short notice.

Just this morning I felt just a tad despondent. Why can't I get hold of the people I need to speak to? Why is it that two important meetings I want to attend turn out to be on the same day at the same time? Where is the literature I ordered weeks ago that I now urgently need?

And then, within the space of a quarter of an hour, the phone started ringing. My diary started to fill with the people I had been struggling to contact. Then I received a telephone call to inform me that one of the meetings was cancelled which solved that dilemma too. Then, a knock at the door, there stood the postman with a parcel containing the literature I was waiting for!

I am not suggesting that God treats me in a special way, but rather that God treats us ALL in a special way because His love knows no limits and he wants to pour it out on us. God hears our cries for help. He knows what we need. He knows the needs of all creation.

Isn't it a great comfort and blessing to us all that whatever our needs are we have a God who wants to play an active role in our lives. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

It is great to be able to talk to God. But it is also good to listen . . . and give thanks. What have you got to be thankful to God for today?

To Blog or not to Blog

I have thought for a few weeks now about whether I should write a blog or not. It seemed a bit of a pretentious thing to do. After all, I am no great wordsmith or high-brow intellectual. But then I do have opinions and thoughts just like everyone else so why not share them. Everybody, no matter what their status has opinions and of course a wealth of experiences in all sorts of areas so what possible harm cold come from sharing them.

That being said there are of course lots of people with some strange ideas and some of these could prove offensive to others. nevertheless we are very lucky to live in a society that allows and encourages free speech so I am going to have my share of that liberty.

But with that comes responsibility. As a Christian I take that responsibility very seriously. The Bible says "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing" Proverbs 12:18.

So it is my hope that I would always consider that verse in all my blogs. I also hope that I have the wisdom to know when to blog or not. I neither want to bore people with useless ramblings nor do I want to waste my own time. But I do hope and pray that this blog may be a blessing to somebody and that the odd sentence here or "bears fruit that won't spoil".

Hope I don't let myself, you or the Lord down!