There was a light frost, or scatterings of hail on the ground this morning. Getting out of the house for a wonderful bacon bap at Beacon fell cafe was also a treat. We need time to rest and just do other things, and getting out and just walking no matter what weather it is I find relaxing and a way of regaining energy.
The view is from the summit of Beacon fell looking over to the hills of Parlick and Fair Snape.
Jesus was always wandering off into the mountains to have some time alone to pray. The bible seems to mention wandering off before daybreak or sunrise to pray more than going to the synagog. When I have sometimes got up at that time to pray I find that I am incredibly clear of thought and are able to voice my concerns to God about the coming day or weeks. Jesus’ great commission tells us;
Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee,
to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them.
When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying,
“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;
and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
The line that hits me today is when He says “I am with you always”. Jesus is with us always. Have you ever imagined Jesus walking at the side of you throughout your day? It certainly puts a note of caution into everything you do. When you judge people in your thoughts just because they dress differently than you, or when you judge people when they speak differently, I seem to label people just by my impressions. But Jesus does not label people, because He knows exactly who each of us is because He made us, He designed us, He shaped us. Jesus knows just how many times it will take for someone to do anything.
Yesterday I was thinking of urgency, and I certainly think there is an urgency needed with each of us in our lives. An urgency that we know that God is with us throughout our day, and would he be impressed if we wasted an hour or two or three in each day reading posts from our social sites, when we could have been showing love by contacting friends and doing useful things for His Kingdom.
All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
Jesus has been given all authority on earth and in heaven. No one else has that authority. We have Jesus as a guide and we can use His authority because we are His envoys on earth, his spokespeople on earth.
I am realising, like I am stood at the bottom of a mountain, that there is still much to do and little time to do it. I think back to a dream where I was helping a farmer reap all his corn in a field and how refreshments were in the farm house, but I had to finish the work first. We must finish and if we haven’t yet started, we need to start. But we do not do this alone, for Jesus is there working with us, and there will come a time when we can stop and survey all the work we have done together, and we can drink from that everlasting spring of life, but that time is not yet. There is still an urgency to go to the work, for God is with us always supplying our daily needs.
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,….
and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Amen.
with blessings
Graham
365 Exhortations 