Tag Archives: spirit

Stepping into Lent #1

Matthew 24:36-44 The Day and Hour Unknown

36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[a] but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will grind with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the house owner had known the thief was coming at what time of night, he would have kept watch and not let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Isaiah 2:1-5. The Mountain of the Lord

2 This is what Isaiah, son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

2 In the last days

the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established
    as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
    and all nations will stream to it.

3 Many peoples will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
    so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
    the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He will judge between the nations
    and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into ploughshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
    nor will they train for war anymore.

5 Come, descendants of Jacob,
    let us walk in the light of the Lord.

 Lent is when we can look soberly and reflect upon our walk with the Lord.

St Matthew issues warnings about the days of Noah. Noah’s story of the ark is a memorable one. Even those who are not believers know something about Noah’s ark story. For believers, it’s an important story, and the NT writer thought so as well, so they mention it by example to their hearers.

The point about Noah’s days is that they were ordinary days. People ate, drank, conducted business, married, and had families. They were engaged in ordinary activities, just getting on with life as we do today.

There was no sign that trouble was ahead or hint that their lives and everything they built was in jeopardy. But they did receive a warning from Noah that one day they would lose their lives if they did not heed God’s call to prepare themselves to get on the ark.

We know the story; they laughed at Noah’s predictions, called him a fool, and subsequently lost their lives. God’s warnings fell on deaf ears.

Noah’s story contrasts the previous verse in Matthew, where clear signs herald Jerusalem’s destruction. Some suggest this is a different ‘Day’ and ‘hour’.

The second coming might occur anytime, not necessarily after a generation.

Alternatively, these warnings can too be interpreted as relating to Jerusalem’s fall.

 However, Christians have read this text from the early days referring to the end times. A future that will usher in the end of the world as we know it.

And the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD was just a foretaste, a rehearsal of what was to come, where some will be taken in judgment, and others left in mercy.

We must also balance the Matthew reading with our Romans reading, which wakes us up to the fact that we can not become complacent and lazy.

We must live as children of the day and not of the night. The night-time is for sleeping, and the day is for alertness to work. Therefore, God calls us to be alert and not to be found sleeping when that great day arrives.

 And today we must not be found sleep, today is the day of salvation- we have today- that’s all we don’t have tomorrow yet, today is the only thing in our control, and God wants us to be alert, and whatever we do, we do with an eternal purpose.

The celebration of Holy Communion is designed to help us to remember. We remember the death of our Lord, and if we remember what Jesus said to his disciples while they were in the Garden of Gethsemane only a few hours before Jesus’ death-

Matthew 26:40-45 New Living Translation (NLT)

He asked Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me for even one hour? Keep watch and pray so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”

Isaiah’s promises of universal peace must be taken to ourselves in the same way as the call to holiness as our agenda.

We must neither look helplessly at a dark and sleeping world nor think that we, as a church, are alright as we are. 

We must wake people up to the fact that the sun is already shining and that the judge of the nations is at the door, longing to see his justice and peace enfold the world in a single embrace.

Thank you for visiting me here; I hope this post was helpful. 

Please subscribe using the banner as you come onto the site. Also, please follow this blog, and you’ll find a button on the bottom right and leave a comment with any questions or prayer requests. 

 

Virtual hugs, I look forward to your visit to my next blog post! 

Remember to live life on purpose, in Hope. Faith and Love 

Paula Rose Parish💕 

🖤Want to help support me as an author? 

 ✔BOOKS BY PAULA available at AMAZON in the UK, USA, Aust;  

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Ordinary People–Extraordinary Results!

Christ doesn’t need our ability. But our Availability

SCRIPTURE:  Matthew 4:12-23

Intro

If you think you’re too small to have an impact.- try going to bed with a mosquito in the room.

Our scripture text starts by saying, “Now when Jesus heard that John was delivered up, he withdrew into Galilee” (v. 12).  It then tells us that Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (v. 17).

This is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.  Matthew has told us about Jesus’ birth (chapter 1)–the visit of the Wise Men (chapter 2)–the ministry of John the Baptist in the wilderness–the baptism of Jesus (chapter 3)–and the temptation of Jesus.  It is at that point that Jesus officially kicks off his ministry.  He calls four disciples–Peter and Andrew–James, and John.

It’s interesting to note the kind of people that Jesus called:

o They were brothers–two sets of brothers.  Peter and Andrew were brothers, as were James and John.

o They were fishermen.  Peter and Andrew were casting a net into the sea when Jesus called, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men” (v. 19).  James and John were helping their father repair nets when Jesus called them.  All four men dropped what they were doing and followed Jesus.

o All four men were ordinary people.  They weren’t the worst, and they weren’t the best.  They weren’t poor, and they weren’t rich.

o As far as we know, these four men were successful fishermen.  That meant that they worked hard and worked smart.  It meant that they used their hands and their heads.  It meant that they seldom went hungry, but they just as seldom had money left over at the end of the week.

You would think Jesus could have done better!  You would think that the Son of God could have anyone he wanted–and you would think that he would want the best!  You would think that Jesus would assemble a team to beat all teams–a team of superstars–of super-disciples!  Each disciple should specialize in a particular skill:

But those weren’t the kind of people that Jesus chose.  Jesus chose Peter and Andrew–James and John.  He chose ordinary fishermen.

o Perhaps Jesus couldn’t find the kind of people he needed.

o Or maybe he didn’t feel like he needed great people.

o Perhaps he preferred ordinary people.

o Maybe he felt more comfortable with ordinary people.

o Or maybe he was making a point.

o He may have been telling us that it is all right to be ordinary.

o He may have been saying that God can use ordinary people.

o Perhaps he was trying to encourage us. After all, most of us are pretty ordinary.

o Maybe he was telling us that if we respond as these four disciples responded, we too can change the world.

I think that those possibilities have much to commend, but the bottom line is that God prefers to work with ordinary people.

o If God calls a brilliant person–a person with a genius IQ–then people will give that brilliant person credit for whatever happens.

o If God calls a rich and famous person, then people will give that person credit for whatever happens.

But we aren’t likely to accomplish much for God unless we’re God-powered–Holy Spirit powered–so God wants us to know that it was God who achieved the results.  So, God often prefers to work through ordinary people.

That’s Good News!  If God wanted only the rich and famous, we would be left out in the cold.  The call of these four disciples–Peter and Andrew–James and John–tells us that God can ordinary people and enable ordinary people to achieve extraordinary results.  That’s Good News for us because we’re ordinary people–but God can use us to do extraordinary things.

. I was a young woman in my 20s and only came to faith in Christ for a few years. I was training as a nurse then and met other nurses working in a neighbouring hospital. They told me about the success of their Nurse’s Christian fellowship. Once I learned from them exactly what the fellowship was all bout by attending one of their meetings, I wanted to start one in my hospital. With the help of my Pastor, the group grew from 2 to 30 in no time at all. I am nothing special- just an ordinary person with ordinary ideas, and God did extraordinary things. We had four nurses give their lives to the Lord, two were baptised through that group, and several patients came to faith and were baptised.

When Jesus called these four fishermen, he didn’t invite them to read his book.  He invited them to follow him. 

He invited them to become his disciples. 

Jesus allowed these four men to live with him and observe him at close hands daily.  By doing so, they learned much more than Jesus’ ideas.  They became familiar with his moods.  They observed how he treated other people.  They saw how he dealt with problems and opposition.  They began to copy his manner of speaking and his gestures.  Slowly but surely, they became like Jesus in thought, word and deed.

That should speak powerfully to us about discipleship.  It’s not enough to accumulate knowledge from the scriptures about Jesus.  Becoming disciples involves spending time with Jesus.  We, of course, don’t have the opportunity to sit down with Jesus in the flesh. Still, we can develop an intimate relationship with Jesus through reading the scriptures–prayer–and faithful obedience.    Discipleship is “heart knowledge,” not just “head knowledge.”

Jesus chose these four ordinary men–and a few others like them–some better, some worse–some men, some women–and those disciples turned the world upside down.  It’s now two thousand years later, and everything has changed.  The Scribes and the Pharisees are gone.  The Roman Empire is gone.  But all over the world, people worship Jesus Christ.  That happened because Christ called these ordinary people to be his disciples and empowered them to do his work.

Christ calls us too!  Christ calls some of us to be preachers and others to be teachers.  Christ calls some of us to be youth leaders and others to be youth group members.  Christ calls some to be missionaries in Africa and others to be missionaries in the places where we live and work day by day.  Christ calls some of us to sing in the choir or play musical instruments and others to enjoy the music. 

But for all of Us- Christ calls all of us to love!  Christ calls all of us to bear witness!  Christ calls all of us to spread the Good News!

 Martin Luther  SAID : believe in Christ, and do your duty in that state of life to which God has called you.

If we obey and heed Christ’s call, he will make things happen.  Christ doesn’t need our ability.  He just needs our availability, so others will see the great light!

 Listen for his call!  Listen to hear what he is calling you to be–and what he is calling you to do.

Thank you for visiting me here; I hope this post was helpful.

Please subscribe using the banner as you come onto the site. Also, please follow this blog, and you’ll find a button on the lower bottom right and leave a comment with any questions or prayer requests.

Virtual hugs, I look forward to your visit to my next blog post!

Remember to live life on purpose, in Hope. Faith and Love

Paula Rose Parish💕

🖤Want to help support me as an author?

 ✔BOOKS BY PAULA available at AMAZON in the UK, USA, Aust;

📚Nothing Good about Grief: Path to recovery with Psalm 23 after COVID-19 & other losses.

 📚Psalm 23 Unwrapped: Hope in difficult times.

Faith In Christ & Your Well-Being.

In this article, we are briefly discussing what it is that makes us healthy and define what health actually is. You may ask, what has this got to do with faith in Christ? Shouldn’t we develop spiritually and give the physical a miss? After all, isn’t the physical body sinful, and should we not be repressing it, not nurturing it?

Many Christians think this way because of the doctrine of original sin (which most theologians disagree with) teaches that anything to do with our body, or mind for that matter, is of the flesh, and the flesh is evil. Further, a well-known passage by the Apostle Paul gets misconstrued about the body as unimportant, and of little value, and has led many believers to neglect the care of their bodies. We will be looking at this text in future articles, so watch out for that.

I intend this year to explain the doctrine of original sin in more detail, who made it a doctrine and why. And I want to write more about healthy spirituality and faith in faith, including the health of mind, body, and soul.

I will bring in scriptures from the Bible to share how our Father God is interested in us as a whole being who is comprised of mind, body and soul.

 By understanding health, and what it means for our daily living, we can better equip ourselves to be healthy. Good health and well-being bring many benefits to all of us. Healthier people tend to be happier, play an active role, and contribute to society and the economy through their families, local communities, and workplaces. If you are happy and feeling well, you will be better able to serve the Lord in the way you have been called.

According to HM Gov Department of Health, there is a two-way relationship between well-being and health: health influences well-being, and well-being itself influences health

  • Health is one of the top things people say matter for wellbeing
  • Both physical and mental health influence well-being, however mental health and wellbeing are independent dimensions, mental health is not simply the opposite of mental illness.

What is health?

We use a broad definition of health that encompasses holistic health and well-being. This means we are not only interested in whether or not people are ill or have a health condition but also in how healthy and well they are. According to HM Gov Department of Health, there is a two-way relationship between wellbeing and health: health influences wellbeing, and wellbeing itself influences health
  • Health is one of the top things people say matters for wellbeing
  • Both physical and mental health influence wellbeing, however mental health and wellbeing are independent dimensions, mental health is not simply the opposite of mental illness.

Definition of health

The concept of health as a balance between a person and the environment, the unity of soul and body, and the natural origin of disease,

WELLNESS is a combination of the 7 Pillars of health (for more info click the ink)

All should be called to be healthy and balanced to achieve well-being or elements must be observed each element affects the other.

So, to understand what health is, we need to be understanding what it is in relation to all aspects of the 7 Pillars.

You are a Holistic Being

So many of us just concentrate on our physical health and ignore all the other elements. You can be physically healthy, mentally and emotionally unwell. But the problem is that your mental and emotional state will finally catch up with you and affect your physical health. Then your social health will suffer, and in turn, affect your mental and emotional health. Then all the aspects of your life will be affected, and that’s when life becomes difficult. So, we cannot separate any elements of our body, but we must look at Health holistically – as a total whole- because you are a total whole. The problem is that this takes a little bit of research to get our heads around. We do not automatically understand how to maintain the health of our bodies nor our minds or our emotions or even our social well-being, it is something that needs to be learned. This is why people who enjoy educating themselves are usually a lot fitter than those who don’t. Science has learned how healthy your physical brain is and that it actually affects your mental and emotional health. Both physical health and mental health can influence wellbeing. So, learning to love learning, is one of the key elements in your total health.

Ways to make physical health stronger

· daily eating nutritious meals and snacks

· physical fitness activities that challenge your muscles

· Regularly visiting Dr and dentists and other health providers for check-up’s. Avoid all harmful behaviors and habits

Ways to make Mental and Emotional Health Stronger

· Improve your physical health

· Strengthen your positive relationships

· Deal with thoughts and feelings and the choices you make sure you have a positive and balanced self-concept and self-esteem

Material Cited

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/215911/dh_122238.pdf

Thank you for visiting me here; I hope this post was helpful. Please subscribe using the banner as you come onto the site. Also, please follow this blog, and you’ll find a button on the lower bottom right and leave a comment with any questions or prayer requests.   Virtual hugs, I look forward to your visit to my next blog post! Remember to live life on purpose, in Hope. Faith and Love Paula Rose Parish💕

The Reason for the Season. Christ before time and space.

based on Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12

For many people, the only time they think about God, religion or Jus is at Christmas time. And many more others, have never heard that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ our Saviour!

You may not realise it, but many of the traditions you hold dear such as Christmas, the expressions you use, and the ideas you have originate from a time and place in history.

We also change things and create our own traditions: expressions, ideas, etc. The given passage in Hebrews which I encourage you to read is about history. The writer is encouraging the Hebrew Christians about the value of their history in relationship to Christ. The history he is teaching occurred before time and space. So, in this article, I will take a couple of verses at a time and briefly explain them.

So let’s acknowledge the real reason for the season- which is Jesus! Let’s learn a little more about him and where he came from- Let’s jump in!

Introduction

The opening affirmation in verse 1 that God spoke through the prophets is essential. While Hebrews as a whole is written to establish Christ’s superiority to the old covenant, which is a foundational belief. Thus, the old-new contrast presented in Hebrews is not arguing what is the finest, but between what is most excellent and the incomparable. It was no easy thing for God’s revelation in Christ to surpass the old ways — but it is terrific that it does!

Verses 2-4 present a series of assertions about Christ that establish this exceptional quality. Each describes aspects of Christ’s status as God’s Son, distinguishing Christ from the prophets. 

New Revised Standard Version readers may be surprised that Christ is referred to as “a” Son of God in verse 2, rather than “the” Son (most other translations add “his,” though there is no such word in Greek). 

Christ’s Divinity

The first point that the verse makes is about the superiority of sonship to being a prophet as a method of disclosure; it is not making a direct trinitarian assertion even if we suggest that the verse ultimately does point to the idea of the Trinity.

The second point is that the prophets were spokespersons for God; we would not claim that any of the prophets were “heirs of all things” or involved in the act of creation.  

These two points together establish Christ’s presence at the beginning and at the end, or as revelation puts it, the Alpha and Omega (Revelation 22:13). 

Verse 3 adds the third point of Christ’s role in sustaining all things by his powerful word.” 

So, all three points combine to make a powerful statement about the son’s role and activity in creation throughout time from genesis to revelation. In other words, Christ always existed.

Such a claim of extensive pre-eminences makes no sense apart from understanding the son’s relationship to God, and verse 3 supplies this understanding. 

The meaning of Jesus is “the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being.”  The emphasis on the unity of Christ and God is also seen in Colossians 1:16-20 and 2 Corinthians 4:6, “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

It is worth reflecting on the whole meaning of such phrases is to fully understand the concept. The latter part of verse 3 adds that Christ “made purification for sins” and “sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” 

The previous claims focus on who Christ is and points out the chief elements for the Hebrew believers of the purpose of Christ. 

Christ’s exalted status at God’s right hand connects to the first claim in verse 2 that he is the “heir of all things.”  It is an image from Psalm 110:1, mentioned here and there throughout Hebrews and the New Testament as a messianic prophecy. 

It also provides the primary basis for the claim here in verse 4 that Christ is superior to the angels. In fact, the rest of chapter one is occupied with demonstrating Christ’s superiority to angels. This theme is continued in 2:5, which points out that God “did not give the coming world…to angels, but to Christ. This idea picks up again on Christ being the “heir of all things” and is seated at God’s right hand, and in the new world, which is the coming kingdom of God, and Christ will be overall.

Christ’s Humanity 

So, how can Christ’s humanity be reconciled with this superior status? The basic answer provided by Hebrews is that for Christ to atone for the sins of humans, he had to share in their humanity. Therefore, Christ’s humanity does not detract from his superiority but makes him relatable to us.

Hebrews 2:6b-8a quotes Psalm 8, as I have read, and the first part of the quote is translated in the RSV as, “What is a man that the Father be mindful of him, or the Son of man, that YOU care for him? the Father made him for a little while lower than the angels. “

Jesus, the Son of Man, referred to in the psalm, was temporarily made lower than the angels when he became human to fulfil this psalm’s prophecy. But, as the rest of chapter 2 explains, he had to become human to save humankind.

Christians today often stumble over the idea of Jesus having to be made perfect, but the claim here is merely about Jesus’ being fitted to his task. Perfection here is not about sin or morals or anything else regarding his character — it is about Jesus perfectly fulfilling his role in salvation. This role requires him to enter the whole human experience. In that sense, Jesus’ experience of suffering and death indeed was a matter of achieving perfection. Verses 11-12 affirm Jesus’ solidarity with humankind – he calls us his brothers and sisters. 

Thank you for visiting me here; I hope this post was helpful.

Please subscribe using the banner as you come onto the site. Also, please follow this blog, and you’ll find a button on the lower bottom right and leave a comment with any questions or prayer requests.

Virtual hugs, I look forward to your visit to my next blog post!

Remember to live life on purpose, in Hope. Faith and Love

Paula Rose Parish💕

🖤Want to help support me as an author?

 ✔BOOKS BY PAULA available at AMAZON in the UK, USA, Aust;

📚Nothing Good about Grief: Path to recovery with Psalm 23 after COVID-19 & other losses.

 📚Psalm 23 Unwrapped: Hope in difficult times.

Photo by Brett Sayles on Pexels.com

Jesus wants You to be Mentally Healthy this Christmas

Unfortunately, Christians are among the suicide statistics. I recently heard about a friend who took his life just after Christmas. It didn’t make sense, but he must have been hurting desperately and wanting to escape the feeling of helplessness.  

Caring for our mind, body and soul as Christians is a serious responsibility that God gives because we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. 


1 Corinthians 6:19 New Living Translation
Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,

Mental Health Foundation reports that 54% of UK adults are worried about their mental health or someone they know this Christmas.  

As we approach Christmas, significant numbers of people are expressing their concern for the mental health of relatives (38%), friends (31%), partners/spouses (27%) and children (28%). 

AUSTRALIA

Surviving the Silly Season, 12 Tips for a Mentally Healthy Christmas

Psychological Health Care, based in Australia, reports that A third of Australians report that their relationships are negatively affected by Christmas due to work-life balance issues and financial concerns. 

According to a new Pew Research Center survey, only 46% of Americans celebrate Christmas as primarily a religious rather than a cultural holiday.

Christmas is often thought to be a season of peace and good cheer; however, the opposite is true for many.

 I live in the United Kingdom, where the suicide rate, domestic abuse, family estrangement and job losses peak during Christmas and New Year.  

So instead of celebrating the birth of the saviour Jesus Christ (Christ- Christ-mas celebration) with joy, thousands are facing an uncertain future. 

The expectations of celebrating Christmas, whether one wants to or not, can be enormous. As a result, researchers point out that the role of Christianity in Christmas is at an all-time low.

The ME Culture

Most have taken the ‘Christ out of Christmas and celebrate it as a regular holiday. When we are devoid of the original value of a long-held tradition of being Jesus Christ’s Birthday, we go down the rabbit hole of secularism that widely holds to the ‘me’ culture. If we are honest, we have fallen into that hole at times! 

 The ‘me’ ideal promotes one’s desires above all others. At the same time, the Christian ideal is to put others above oneself. 

 I include believing Christians in this following statement- have we lost the practical teachings of Christ to conform to the status quo? We have no wonder that even believers end their own lives, abuse or divorce those they promised to love and protect. 

However, if you celebrate the Christmas season or don’t, you must care for yourself and those you love.

So, here are a few tips for your consideration.

Have Realistic Expectations

Christmas can become highly stressful when your grand plans float adrift. When things don’t go as you intended, tension between people can ensue. Instead of promising that this year will be the biggest, brightest, and best Christmas ever, permit yourself to have a less-than-perfect Christmas. Accept that you live in the real world where things go wrong- and this is normal! 

Have a Back-Up Plan

Because things may not go as planned, having a plan B in your back pocket is wise. For example- have a pre-cooked meat joint or vegetarian option in the freezer that you can quickly defrost if needed. The same goes for desserts or other foods. 

Plan Ahead

some people hold to the that Christmas Eve is their primary celebratory day. It has been my family tradition that the primary day is Christmas day. These days, I visit my family for Christmas; however, when they visit me, I cook as much food as I can the day before. I would arrange the house to accommodate extra people and set the table a day or two before. Pre- preparation allowed me to be more restful on Christmas day and enjoy friends and family company.

Avoid Debt or Overspending. 

Pray before you buy. It is wise to Set a Budget and Stick to it!  My family and I agreed that we would not spend a certain amount of money on each other. We also exchange our wish lists 4 – 6 weeks before Christmas day, which is helpful because it allows us to stay within our budget. 

Also, the wish list helps because we buy gifts that are actually needed or wanted. Nothing is more disappointing for many people than giving a gift that will be returned or re-gifted. 

Remember Christmas is about the Giver of life- Jesus Christ- which is the greatest gift anyone can possess.

Take Some Time Out

Ensure you take time for yourself daily to get away from your busyness. For example, getting yourself outside for a walk in the fresh air, and exercising, no matter how light, is a great way to boost your hormones, such as serotonin, which positively affects your mood. Equally, spending some quiet time in prayer elevates your mind from the pressures of constantly engaging with people. 

What strategies do you employ to cope with the Christmas season? Let me know- and if this article was helpful to you, please let me know. I would love to hear from you. 

Thank you for visiting me here; I hope this post was helpful.

Please subscribe using the banner as you come onto the site. Also, please follow this blog, and you’ll find a button on the lower bottom right and leave a comment with any questions or prayer requests.

Virtual hugs, I look forward to your visit to my next blog post!

Remember to live life on purpose, in Hope. Faith and Love

Paula Rose Parish💕

🖤Want to help support me as an author?

 ✔BOOKS BY PAULA available at AMAZON in the UK, USA, Aust;

📚Nothing Good about Grief: Path to recovery with Psalm 23 after COVID-19 & other losses.

 📚Psalm 23 Unwrapped: Hope in difficult times.

Matthew 11:2-11 ADVENT 3 YEAR A. The Kingdom has Come.

Helen Keller, blind and deaf, said: “I thank God for my handicaps. I am blind and deaf. Through (my handicaps), I have found myself, my work, and I found God.”  the salvation of Helen’s soul is indeed a miracle!

We’ve reached the Third Sunday in Advent – this Sunday- It’s the third week of readings that are meant to help prepare us for Christmas- the birth of Christ. 

The Unusual herald of the Kingdom

John comes storming out of the desert dressed in camel’s hair and warning us to turn our lives around: “Repent! Change your ways! Or look out for what’s coming next.” It always pretty much fell on deaf ears.

John came to drive home the point that Jesus’s messages and his were not even remotely the same.

John said: “Repent. The Kingdom of God is coming!”

Jesus said: “Rejoice! The Kingdom of God is here.”

John’s is sitting in prison –He’s been arrested for stirring up the crowds and challenging the status quo. King Herod imprisoned him for criticising his lifestyle and turning the crowds against John. 

A few more days later, King Herod ordered to chop John’s head off and serve it on a platter. But, of course, one didn’t mess around with Herod and lived long to talk about it.

Have you felt like you are trapped- like in prison- or metaphoric chains of some sort?

So, while John’s sitting in chains, he’s starting to hear stories about a young carpenter from Nazareth- his cousin, Jesus. 

John and Jesus

John had quite a reputation and a considerable following. Jesus was drawn to John and he asked John to baptise him. Jesus likely stays with John for some time, learning all he can –But then, it seems equally evident that the teacher and his student parted ways. Jesus travels north – and his ministry goes off in a different direction.

He wasn’t so interested in warning the crowds about what was to come; Jesus seemed much more interested in welcoming them into what he said was already here.

In different ways, both Jesus and John were calling into being the Kingdom of God on earth.

John said: Get ready the Kingdom is coming soon.

Jesus said: Start the party, the Kingdom is already here.

And maybe another thing that made these two men different was who God was inviting to come into his kingdom.

For Jesus, it was the outcasts and the broken –the ones living on the edge and about to fall off, were the ones that Jesus seemed drawn to. Probably because they were the ones desperate enough to say YES to his invitation to leave their egos behind and follow him.

So, Jesus didn’t travel to fancy Jerusalem; instead, he carried the message out into the backward, little towns of his day – to Capernaum and Nazareth.

Jesus was different from John, and if he was to be the long-hoped-for messiah – GOD ON EARTH- then his would be a kingdom very different from what they were expecting.

John and Jesus the Jews

The Jewish culture raised both John & Jesus – there was this thing called the purity code, and much of the Jewish religion was built on it,

The purity code told the people who was clean and who was not. The code determined who was acceptable to God and who was fit to come inside the camp. But those who were impure had to stay out!

Back then, they thought that the sick & the lame were being punished for their sins, and the blind & the lepers were being punished for doing something even worse. Therefore, such people were rejected by the community, living a life of an outcast.

The prostitutes and the tax collectors were right up there with them – and collectively, they were all the scum of the earth.

You couldn’t get so much as touch one of them, and if you did for some strange reason, the purity code gave you a whole heap of things you had to do to clean yourself.

Getting clean often involved sacrifices of lambs and other animals putting getting clean outside the reach of the poor.

So, the outcasts were trapped both in their sickness and in their sin. They were indeed hopeless, but one day, this carpenter arrived in their towns, and he started turning their worlds and religion upside down.

Jesus the Rescuer

Jesus began to eat his meals with them, heal them and touch them, and he began telling them what sounded like some pretty good news: He said: “You’re God’s very own kids, and you’re welcome in his Kingdom!” 

He said God’s kingdom was being opened to them right here and now. New Living Translation Luke 17:21
You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.”

So, all they had to do was take a step inside (John 3;16) and then welcome others into it too.

They had to welcome OTHERS in just the way they were being welcomed. The more hopeless the ones outside were, the more welcome they were made to feel.

And so, when those messengers from John finally meet up with Jesus and ask him if he’s the one. 

Here, the blind see again, and the lame walk; lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear.

Here, the ones who were as good as dead are being raised, and the poor have the good news preached to them free of charge. Indeed, the age of miracles has come, the kingdom has come just as Jesus had said.

And blessed are those who don’t take offence at what I’m doing – Jesus said.

The Pious Take Offense

Well, then, as now, some people did take offence. The ones who were offended and felt threatened were the rich and powerful. Like the rich & the powerful, the religiously proper had John killed; soon, they’d take care of this little nobody from Nazareth.

How we love & treat ourselves is how we love & treat one others.

We have got to realise that we’re all weak and wounded. We’re all prisoners to something. We are all blind, deaf, and dead to something or someone we’re trying to keep outside our camp. 

Maybe it’s an old resentment, or an intense shame about something we’ve done, or something we’ve been told is unacceptable or unforgivable.

Maybe that would be true for John, but it’s not true for Jesus. With him, it’s always now, and with him, we’re always in the Kingdom.

 Before we turn and walk away, Jesus invites us to stay just long enough to look around and see what’s happening in the world.

  Jesus is touching lives today, people who felt like lepers were being touched and cleansed by the love of God. Around the world today, drunks and addicts are being made whole; even those who were as good as dead are being raised! 

Indeed, the age of miracles has come, God’s Kingdom has come. So don’t turn away before the miracle and the kingdom come for you too.

Amen.

Thank you for visiting me here; I hope this post was helpful.

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Remember to live life on purpose, in Hope. Faith and Love

Paula Rose Parish💕

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Stress and God

Being dyslexic, I find it difficult to type at any reasonable speed. Therefore, I have relied upon text-to-speech software for many years. 

These last few months, I had to purchase a new PC as my old one was over 15 years old and not working well. 

I had text-to-speech recognition installed software on the old computer, which I use for all my writing. But, unfortunately, the software had been lost and could not be reinstalled on my new computer because it was too old for windows 11.

That is when I discovered that windows 11 has software within the package. How delighted I am to write once again with dictation, and now I’ll be able to write more personal and reflective blogs.

Stress that is Destructive

I have always found typing stressful, and text-to-speech eliminates the stress altogether. It is just like sitting down and talking to you as if you were here with me in a normal conversation. The window is 11 Software package speech-to-text, which is very accurate and ended up only taking 5 minutes to adjust to my voice.

 The software only misses some words because of my Australian accent; however, overall it is very good.

Stress is a terrible thing. But, unfortunately, one of the blights of humanity is stress. We get ‘stressed out when we don’t achieve our plans for the day, or what we think we deserve, or when things go wrong. We’re a living contradiction. We are our worst enemy, working at cross purposes against our best interest. We want meaning, purpose, and peace of mind.

 Stress may affect our mind-body-soul connection, which may cause us to be socially withdrawn. When were highly stressed it is far easier not to be in the company of others, and be with oneself with one’s own thoughts. 

This is important to be solitary from time to time; however, to make a lifestyle of it will only guarantee loneliness and despair. Sometimes we live our complete life every minute of every day under great stress that we’re so used to the feeling of struggle that we accept it as normal. 

However, it is not normal, and that is why 1 Peter 5:7 encourages us to cast everything upon him because JESUS cares for us. The as he and other passages in the Bible indicate to us that the lord does not want us to be stressed out simply because it is not typical for any of us, whether we are believers or not, to live a stressful life.    New International Version

  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

 

Pleasure Relieves Stress

 Pleasure is a good thing, and we need to have some fun; however, it’s not the be-all, end-all that we imagine it to be, and we become disappointed with our life and can’t put our finger on why. But, again, it’s about expectations; we become stressed when they are unmet.

 For example, when we are having fun, and the pleasure we feel comes to an end, we want to chase after it, trying to create familiar feelings of joy. Sometimes we try to recreate experiences at a considerable cost to ourselves; we try to convert momentary pleasure into something permanent.  

When life goes wrong, we try to fix it by increasing the feel-good factor and striving to make it stay with us, but we can’t do it. So, when we are stressed, we search for ways to make ourselves happy, often unwisely.

 No matter how hard we try, we cannot make what is temporal permanent or make what is imagined real.    

We can’t get back our loved one who is gone, the job that fell through our fingers or even the children who have become adults and their lives absent from us.   

 Also, it’s worth noting that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken its devastating toll, and we will never get back what we lost.  

Faith and Mindfulness

Several hundred years ago, along with other religions, Christianity began engaging the West in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction.    

Although it was not named as such, that is precisely what it is; the aim, objective, and results are the same. In mindfulness practice, if one removes the idea of God, it still works. However, I prefer to still relate to God mindfully because it helps me to focus my mind, body, and spiritual person.

In its purest form, mindfulness is simply trust/faith in God’s ability to help you through whatever it is you are experiencing.   

 Faith is for the Now- Amplified Bible

 Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed) and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].

Mindfulness is also in the NOW.    It is about appreciating what is right in front of you- NOW.

And faith is trusting in God Now- not tomorrow that is hope- faith is NOW

The World Borrows God’s Ways.

Science is Good because God invented it. However, it’s such a shame that today the creator- God is taken out of the equation. The scientific evidence of the success of mindfulness in enhancing human life is overwhelming, and for those interested in their wellness, we cannot ignore it.    

Various professional disciplines and social movements, such as medicine and health care, psychology and brain science, and education at all levels, the law, business, leadership, and much more, enhance their practice by inserting mindfulness into their daily routine.

 Today’s mainstream medicine is developing an ever-growing interest in mindfulness-based intervention, such as Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT).    

We can practice mindfulness for peace of mind and to relieve a wide range of chronic medical conditions.   

 It is much like snowmelt flowing inevitably downhill from a high mountain source, flowing around obstacles, finding many pathways under the gentle tug of gravity, and ultimately merging into significant river systems. The gravitational pull promises liberation from suffering and the potential safe harbour. 

The Whole Person

Christians often forget that we are holistic beings of mind, body and spirit, and God ministered to the whole person. Therefore, as humans, we need to prepare for spiritual awakening to embody well-being, greater wisdom, and wise action in our individual lives.

  In other words, mindfulness can become a normal and natural way to live your life, and the feeling of well-being is inevitable. Living a mindful life as Jesus Christ did would not end our frustrations but the beginning of successfully managing them. 

Jesus gave us the answer to our stress and said don’t chase after things that are here today and gone tomorrow, but rather, strive for eternal things. Eternal things are more satisfying, like top-quality peace, joy, and love, that only God can supply. Mindfulness can help us to pursue eternal things naturally and consistently by focusing on the NOW.

Trying to hold onto relationships or things that are gone will leave you stressed and keep you grieving for as long as you hold onto them. All human relationships, albeit long-term, are temporal and subject to the joys and pains of this life; our lives are so fragile and short. 

  The only permanent relationship that is forever is a relationship with God offered to us through Jesus Christ.  

In my work, I aim to empower others with education and motivation to help them make a purposeful and happy life in Jesus’s love.    

In addition, I enjoy helping you to set holistic wellness goals and provide resources, helping you determine which changes would make the most significant impact on your life.

Thank you for visiting me here; I hope this post was helpful.

Please subscribe using the banner as you come onto the site. Also, please follow this blog, and you’ll find a button on the lower bottom right and leave a comment with any questions or prayer requests.

Virtual hugs, I look forward to your visit to my next blog post!

 Paula Rose Parish💕

🖤Want to help support me as an author?

 ✔BOOKS BY PAULA available at AMAZON in the UK, USA, Aust; 

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Christ is King!

Luke 23: 3-43

3 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”[a] And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”

36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

38 There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the Jews.

39 One of the criminals who hung there, hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

  1. Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

IS CHRIST KING?

In preparing for this service, I thought it would be interesting to see what other preachers in other churches have to say about Christ the |King. So, I read some sermons on the internet and quickly found a general sense of awkwardness about the idea of Christ as a King, which seems to have two sources. One is political, the other anti-monarchical.   

Many Christians seem to be naturally on the left politically. As we have seen in recent months, this country has become increasingly republican and anti-monarchical. 

The past leader of the Labour Party UK, Jeremy Corbyn, refused to sing the National Anthem or to kneel before the sovereign. There are plenty of people in the Church who share these views. 

I used to work with a URC  minister who was very anti-Royalty. In a sermon, he admitted that he disliked royalty so much he would leave the country to avoid a coronation. He also thought we should celebrate ‘Christ as a democratically-elected President’ rather than ‘Christ the King’, and attested that Jesus was a pure communist.

Whatever view we hold, whatever happens on this wordy plane, monarchy or not, our Jeremiah reading looks forward to the day when Christ is King of heaven and earth, and justice will reign forever.

Jeremiah 23: 3-6

3 “I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. 4 I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.

5 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
    “when I will raise up for David (who was a King)  a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely, and do what is just and right in the land.


6 In his days Judah will be saved
    and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which he will be called:
    The Lord Our Righteous Saviour

JESUS’ KINGLINESS WAS ALWAYS EVIDENT

In the gospels, the life of Jesus is framed by kingship. At his Nativity, three kings are seeing the newborn King of the Jews. And at the Crucifixion, the notice hammered onto the top of his cross ironically echoes the same unfulfilled promise – ‘This is Jesus, King of the Jews.’ 

What kind of King begins his earthly life in a stable and ends it as the victim of a cruel public execution? His reaction to whether he was a king is, at least to Pilate, elusive. ‘Art thou the King of the Jews?’ demands Pilate in John’s Gospel. ‘My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight so I should not be delivered to the Jews“.

Here is Jesus the friend of the poor, the non-political figure who proclaimed that every human being is equal in God’s sight. 

Jesus, the rebel who defied authority and overthrew the money changers’ tables in the temple. 

Jesus, born in a stable, entered Jerusalem on a donkey and died the death of a common criminal for our salvation.

This Jesus, who promised the thief hanging next to him that he would be in paradise with him.

But Christ has not always been thought of as a king. In the first century, you wouldn’t find any representations of Christ in physical form at all, but only in signs – groups of letters. Or the sign of the fish. Other early representations are of Christ as the lamb, the true vine, and the Good Shepherd – but not a King.

To the early Christians, the King was the Emperor of Rome, a figure of worldly power who persecuted them, martyred them, and forced them to worship false gods. So, it would have been strange for them to think of Jesus as resembling a Roman Emperor – a King. 

So instead, they imagined Jesus as more like themselves: the suffering servant who was obedient even till death and surrounded themselves with images of the lamb, the dove, the vine, the fish, and the shepherd.

WHEN EVERYTHING CHANGED

It was in the 4th century when Emperor Constantine adopted Christianity and the image of Jesus as King.

The head (Pontiff) of the Church, Jesus Christ, and the Emperor shared majesty in a typical ‘maiestas‘. The figure of worldly power, the emperor, and the figure of Christ the King were merged into one.

Now, this is a very interesting moment in the history of the Christian Church. But, first, Jesus clarified that he wasn’t a king and never sought worldly authority.

 But in the 4th century, Emperor Constantine, the most potent King on earth, not only legalised Christianity but became himself a Christian. The spread of Christianity between the time of Constantine and 600 AD is astonishing and the map of the Christian world began to resemble an empire.  

Though Christ Himself refused to be a King, the earthly kings protected and spread his gospel by acting on His behalf. The religion of the powerless became the religion of the powerful.

CHRIST THE KING

The important thing to remember is that Christ the King was not introduced by the early Church to promote or support worldly authority but to challenge it, where it is unjust, divided, and discriminatory. It was hoped that the kings of the earth would live by the example of Christ.

The image of Christ in majesty is an image of authority, but the authority of the dove, shepherd, lamb, and vine denotes love and peace and justice. 

The image of Christ as King stands as universal, inclusive, merciful, reconciling, and more loving than any earthly Kingship can ever be.

COLOSSIANS 1:15-20

15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

 16 For in him all things were created. Things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities have been created through him and for him. 

17 He is before all things; in him, all things hold together.

 18 And he is the head of the body, the Church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead so that he might have supremacy in everything. 

19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 

20 and through him, he reconciles to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

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Sowing Seeds of Hope, Love, and Faith.

Christ calls us to take the Gospel to everyone––even to sinners such as the woman at the well––and to witness to Christ as the woman did after her encounter with Jesus. Jesus demonstrates His care for all, regardless of their social standing. We can also be inspired by the Samaritan woman’s excitement in sharing the good news of Jesus

SCRIPTURE:  John 4:5-42   

Having moved into my own home, I used my holidays to decorate and sort the small courtyard behind my house. I love trees. In the suburb where I grew up in Australia, the streets in my suburb were utterly tree-less; however, many were planted in people’s back gardens. I think there are not many trees because of the scarcity of water, and trees need lots of water. Local councils didn’t want the residents to waste their water, particularly during times of drought, for those who did, were issued heavy fines. So, when I came to Wales Uk to live, I was so pleased to see the trees everywhere!

I bought a house in Wales, where I am surrounded by beautiful Parks, a river, mountains lined with trees, and a sandy beach.

I love trees and enjoy looking at them, so I bought two big pots and a lot of potting soil, bought a cherry tree and an apple tree, and planted them. New buds form within a few days, and fruit appeared after 3 years. I am looking forward to them producing some fruit for me in years to come. I chose cherry because cherries are expensive to buy in the shops, and I really enjoy cherries, and they’ve got very high antioxidant properties being a dark fruit. Usually, apples are easy to grow, and I can do all sorts of things with apples like apple pie, sauce, and much more an added bonus, apples are very high in vitamin C. Then I got thinking about apples and cherries because they have seeds.    

SEEDS AND NEW LIFE   

A traditional gift for a teacher from the student is an apple. Think about a good teacher that you may have had. A good teacher plant seeds of ideas in our thinking and helps us explore those ideas, and they explain things to us in an exciting way. A good teacher is a teacher because they love to teach and want to help the student be all they can be and pursue a successful future.

Most teachers never know what the results of their teaching will be. It takes many years for the student to mature and become an adult. During that time, they will discover their interests and talents and decide how to use them. A good teacher plants a seed, in their student’s mind, and years later, others will see the results of that teacher’s work, and the teacher may never know the outcome of their student’s life. 

WE ALL HAVE A PURPOSE IN THIS LIFE – John 4:5-42

Jesus talks about this idea in (4:37)- He says, “One sow and another reaps” – one person plants the seed, and another person may harvest the fruit. So, when we say something helpful to another person or do something kind, it is planting a seed of God’s love. 

We may never know the result; we may never know the outcome of that planted seed. However, we can be sure that there will be a good result when we work with God’s love. This is what we are focusing on in this text today: Sowing Seeds of hope, love, and faith.

JESUS AND THE OUTSIDERS

Briefly looking at the context, we find that Jews had little to do with Samaritans. Ever felt like an outsider? I have many times. Jews considered Samaritans as outsiders who hold little worth.

Samaritans were hated so much by the Jews that they tended to avoid even travelling through Samaria. But Jesus didn’t share this hatred towards Samaritans. He travelled from Judea to Galilee to go through Samaria rather than bypassing it. He was not trying to save time, but Jesus continually sought out the outcasts, the outsider of society––the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the lepers, all those who were considered to have little worth. Jesus loves all people regardless of how others may devalue a certain section of society, Jesus accepts them.

THE WOMAN AT THE WELL

Travelling left Jesus exhausted, and hot and he needed a rest and a drink of water. So, when Jesus came to a little town in Samaria he stopped at the local well for a drink. As Jesus approached the well, he discovered a lone woman drawing water.

Usually, women came to the well in the mornings and evenings, but this woman came at noon. It was very hot at noon, but she was alone at the well and free to draw water without ridicule. But today, a strange man approached. It was not suitable for men to converse with women in this culture. The rule was,

 “Let no man talk with a woman in the street, no, not even with his wife.”

Jesus spoke and ministered to the woman and in doing so, he was getting rid of old Jewish prejudices and rivalries that were held against the Samaritan people.  Jesus addressed the discrimination of women, particularly toward women who were regarded as sinners. God is spirit, so our worship cannot be confined to a particular place or a particular people. God is everywhere, so He can be worshipped everywhere by all people. True worship is an affair of the heart.

WOMAN MATTER

After the conversation with Jesus, the Samaritan woman left her water jar at the well and excitedly ran into the city to tell the people there of her conversation with Jesus. “Come, see a man who told me everything I did. Can this be the Christ?” (v. 29).  Many people “believed in Jesus BECAUSE OF THE WORD OF THE WOMAN” (v. 39). How amazing! In that time and place, people didn’t take a woman’s word very seriously. 

Until Jesus came along, this woman was practically invisible; no one would have sent her into town as their spokeswoman. But her contact with Jesus transformed her life and status in the community. The people heard her and said, “You are right. This is the saviour of the world” (the meaning of v. 42).

SOULS MATTER

William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, said: ‘Go for souls and go for the worst’.

 That’s what Jesus did when he turned this so-called outcast into a well-received evangelist. 

Jesus planted seeds of hope, love, and faith in her heart, and she received them, and she let those seeds grow to where she acted and shared her story.

 Jesus does that. He changes people’s lives, and we do that too, we are seed planters, and if God wishes, we help to grow those seeds by protecting and nurturing them – and we may or may not see the final result.

Jesus especially loves to help outcasts because they most need help, and so should we.

 The late Billy Graham said:

“Jesus stopped dying on the cross long enough to answer the prayer of a thief. 

 He stopped in a big crowd one day because a WOMAN touched the hem of His garment,

 and He’ll stop to touch your life, change you, and forgive you – that’s Good News”!

CHURCH MATTERS

As the church, we are Christ’s hands for service in this world, and he uses you and me to do his work, to change people’s lives: How?

   • We plant the seeds of Christ each time we CARE;

   • We plant the seeds of Christ each time we LISTEN;

   • We plant the seeds of Christ each time we REACH OUT;

   • We plant the seeds of Christ each time we TOUCH EACH OTHER IN LOVE.

A quote from John Wesley “The Church has nothing else to do but to save souls; therefore, be devoted to this work. It is your business to bring as many sinners as possible to repentance”.

This week let us resolve to allow God to plant seeds of hope, faith, and love to fill us with His Spirit so we might plant the same seeds in the life of others.

Let us pray that we will touch lives with seeds of hope, love, and faith this week and see the transforming love of Christ in action!

Thank you for visiting me here; I hope this post was helpful.

If it was, please subscribe using the banner as you come onto the site. Also, please follow this blog , and you’ll find a button on the lower bottom right and leave a comment with any questions or prayer requests.

Virtual hugs, I look forward to your visit to my next blog post!

 Paula Rose Parish💕

🖤Want to help support me as an author?

 ✔BOOKS BY PAULA available at AMAZON in the UK, USA, Aust;

📚Nothing Good about Grief: Path to recovery with Psalm 23 after COVID-19 & other losses.

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The Inexhaustible Love of Jesus Christ

 

Luke 19: 1-10   

When you were a child, did you sing this song in Sunday school? I never went to Sunday school regularly so I didn’t know this song at all.

It’s a catchy tune, and children seem to love it.

Zacchaeus was a wee little man, A wee little man was he, 

He climbed up in a sycamore tree For the Lord he wanted to see. 

And as the Saviour passed that way, He looked up in the tree, 

And He said, “Zacchaeus, you come down, For I’m going to your house today, For I’m going to your house today.” 

Folk tells me they loved that song and found the thought of a wee little man amusing. 

We loved it, in part, because the wee little man–small like us–was the hero of the story. 

They sang about the “wee little man,” we held our thumb and forefinger about an inch apart to show how small he was. 

it is an amusing, happy story:

  • Amusing, because it involves a short but rich man climbing a tree to see Jesus. 
  • Happy, because it shows Jesus welcoming this man whom nobody else liked.  It says that Jesus saved him–brought salvation to his house–restored him to be a son of Abraham. 
  • And it is also a happy story because of the last verse.  In the last verse of the story, Jesus talks about you and me.  Listen to what he says: 

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost” (v. 10). 

That’s you.  That’s me.  We were lost.  Jesus came to save us. 

Of course, in this story, Jesus was referring to Zacchaeus, who was lost.  Zacchaeus was a tax collector and was probably dishonest.  People hated him.

If we needed reasons to hate Zacchaeus, we could surely find them.  Zacchaeus had probably gotten rich by overcharging poor people. 

But God didn’t want to damn Zacchaeus to hell.  God wanted to SAVE him!  That is the happiest part of this story.  Zacchaeus didn’t deserve to be saved, but God WANTED to save him.  We know that because of something that Jesus said.  When Jesus spotted Zacchaeus up in the sycamore tree, he said: 

“Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house” (v. 5). 

For Jesus to single out Zacchaeus conferred great honour on Zacchaeus.  Jesus was popular.  People loved him.  People wanted to hear him–to touch him–to get near enough to him so that even his shadow would touch them. 

Jesus was a great celebrity.  For him to go to Zacchaeus’ home was like having the King come to lunch.  It was hard to imagine such an honour.  It would have been especially hard for Zacchaeus to imagine that Jesus would come to his house because everyone knew that Zacchaeus was a sinner. 

 If Jesus were going to honour someone with a visit, surely, he would honour a saint!  But no!  Jesus decided to honour this sinner!  Amazing! 

 Jesus Fulfils His Ministry

Jesus explained his visit this way.  He said, “Zacchaeus…, today I MUST stay at your house.” 

This little word, “must,” is important.  In the original Greek, the word is dei (pronounced day-ee).  Dei suggests a Godly duty.  When Jesus says that he MUST stay at Zacchaeus’ house today, he means that God has called him to do this. 

It was God’s providence when that Jesus spotted Zacchaeus sitting up in the sycamore tree. Just as Zacchaeus was trying to see Jesus, Jesus was trying to see Zacchaeus.  Jesus was looking for Zacchaeus, because he had a God-given duty to seek him and to save him. 

The crowd didn’t get it.  They grumbled, “He has gone into stay with a man who is a sinner” (v. 7). 

But Zacchaeus got it!  When he realized what Jesus was doing for him, he welcomed Jesus with JOY! 

The Greek translation says that Lazarus welcomed Jesus with JOY!  Zacchaeus could hardly imagine that Jesus would honour him by visiting his house, and his heart was full of JOY! 

And then Zacchaeus, in his great JOY, said: 

“Behold, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor. If I have wrongfully exacted anything of anyone, I restore four times as much.” (v. 8). 

We are in chapter 19 of Luke.  In chapter 18, Luke talked about Jesus’ encounter with another rich man–a rich man who refused Jesus–a rich man who loved his money more than he loved Jesus–a rich man who went away sad when Jesus told him to give his money to the poor. 

Now Luke tells us this story about Zacchaeus, another rich man–but one who loves Jesus–a man who in his JOY at meeting Jesus decides to do something that Jesus has not even asked. 

  • He VOLUNTEERS to give half of his money to the poor, because he loves Jesus more than he loves money. 
  • He loves Jesus because of the JOY that Jesus has given him by singling him out–because of the JOY that Jesus has given him by coming to his house–because of the JOY that Jesus has given him by loving him. 

Then Jesus says, “Today salvation has come to this house” (v. 9).  TODAY!  Not tomorrow!  Not next week!  Not in the eternal hereafter!  But TODAY!  It has already happened.  Zacchaeus has been saved–restored as a son of Abraham–restored as a child of God. 

Today salvation has come

And it isn’t just Zacchaeus who was saved.  Jesus says, “Today salvation has come to this house.”  He means that Zacchaeus’ family has been saved too. 

Jesus even lays the groundwork for the salvation of the community.  They will see that Zacchaeus means business.  They will see him give money to the poor.  They will see him make restitution.  They will see him begin to treat them fairly.  They will begin to trust him.  This rich and powerful man will become an honoured, beloved member of the community. 

Who knows what wonderful things he will do!  That is part of what Jesus means when he says, “Today salvation has come to this house.” 

And then, in the last verse, Jesus explains.  He says, “For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”  That’s Jesus’ job!  That’s Jesus’ calling! 

  • The Lord started seeking to save us before the creation of the world (See John 1:1-18) 
  • the Lord has been seeking us since BEFORE the day that he separated the waters from the dry land–since BEFORE the day that he set the sun in the sky. 
  • The Lord has been seeking us since BEFORE the beginning of time. 
  • He has been seeking to move us from the Kingdom of Darkness to the Kingdom of JOY! 

And Jesus has been seeking you!

  The Lord needs to seek out to save the lost–and you were lost–so he is seeking you.  He is seeking to move you from the Kingdom of Darkness to the Kingdom of JOY! So, respond to him with joy.

Lord Jesus, this is my simple prayer to you. I know that I am a sinner and that I often fall short of the glory of God. No longer will I close the door when I hear You knocking. By faith, I gratefully receive Your gift of salvation. I’m ready to trust You as my Lord and Savior. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for coming to Earth. I believe You are the Son of God who died on the cross for my sins and rose from the dead on the third day. Thank You for Your forgiveness of sins and for giving me the gift of eternal life. I invite Jesus to come into my heart and be my Savior. In the name of Jesus, Amen. 

Sinner’s prayer for salvation

Thank you for visiting me here; I hope this post was helpful. 

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Virtual hugs, I look forward to your visit to my next blog post! 

 Paula Rose Parish💕 

🖤Want to help support me as an author? 

 ✔BOOKS BY PAULA available at AMAZON in the UK, USA, Aust;  

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 📚Psalm 23 Unwrapped: Hope in difficult times.  

How to Trust God in the Dark times and in the worst of circumstances.

Psalm 66:1-7 Turn, Lord, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love. 5 Among the dead, no one proclaims your name.
Who praises you from the grave?

A white dog walks into a butcher shop, and in his mouth, he is carrying a purse. He puts the purse down and sits in front of the meat counter.
“What is it, boy?” the butcher jokingly asks. “Want to buy some meat?” “Woof!” barks the dog. “Hmm,” says the butcher. “What kind? Liver, bacon, steak …” “Woof!” interrupts the dog. “And how much steak? Half a pound, one pound …” “Woof!” The amazed butcher wraps up the meat and finds the money in the dog’s purse.

As the dog leaves, the butcher decides to follow. The dog enters an apartment house, climbs to the third floor, and begins scratching at a door. The door swings open, and an angry man starts shouting at the dog. “Stop!” yells the butcher. “He’s the most intelligent animal I’ve ever seen!” “Intelligent?” says the man. “This is the third time he’s forgotten his key this week.” He was not thankful.

Photo by Rachel Claire on Pexels.com

Contrast that to the story of Jed who worked in London. Every morning, he encountered a bedraggled, middle‑aged woman asking for spare change in front of a shop. She greeted everyone with a smile and a pleasant “Good morning.” Jed always gave her a little something.

After a while, the woman disappeared, and Jed wondered what had happened to her. Then, one rainy day, the woman was in front of the shop again, still looking the same. As Jed reached into his wallet for the regular donation, the woman refused the money and said “Thank you for helping me all those days,” she said. “You won’t see me again because I’ve got a job.” Then she slowly reached into a bag and handed Jed a wrapped package. She had been standing at her old spot waiting, not for a handout, but for all the people she recognized so that she could give each of them a wrapped brownie she had made. She was thankful.

Photo by MART PRODUCTION on Pexels.com

Jeremiah 29:1-7

Letter to those exiles (taken as slaves to a Foreign Land) in awful circumstances
“Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have children; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so they too may have children. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city where I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

The lesson for us here is to be thankful even in difficult circumstances. This kind of thankfulness is faith.

Luke 17:11-19

I think the story of the Ten lepers is crucial for us, and if we read the story too quickly, we miss vital truths. So slow it down, and picture it with me.

We start with ten men who have the worst disease of their day. The physical ramifications are horrendous. Leprosy attacks the body, leaving sores, missing fingers, missing toes, and damaged limbs.

In many cases, the initial pain of leprosy gives way to something more terrible than that – a loss of sensation in nerve endings, leading to more damage to more body parts. The disease can take 30 years to run its course; in that period, entire limbs can simply fall off. It is, assuredly, a most horrible disease. It is impossible to understand what it was like 2,000 years ago when medical treatment as we know it today was almost non-existent.
In her book Jesus the One and Only,

It’s hard to imagine the emotional pain of a leper. I should imagine it must have been even worse than the physical pain. As a result, the leper was removed from their family and community – everyone!

It must be heart-wrenching when there could be no contact whatsoever with any non-leperous person.

The leper is wholly removed from family and society for fear that they, too, would become afflicted.

Lepers tended to roam together, looking for food and begging for assistance with a loud voice from a great distance. It must have been horrible for them.

And yet, in this account, ten men encounter Jesus and hear him say the most unusual thing. “We want to be well!” they scream at Jesus. And the great teacher responds, “Go and show yourselves to the priest.”

The local priest had duties other than leading worship on each Sabbath. He was also a health official, and if a person was miraculously healed of leprosy, it was the priest’s job to inspect the body, test for complete removal of the disease, and announce the person healed.

If the person were pronounced clean, they were cleansed, and after, it would be fine for the leper to see his wife again, hold his daughter again, and look for work again. If the priest gave him the OK, he would be considered healed!

Jesus says to these lepers, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”
They look down at their bodies. The hands of one man are still mangled. Another man looks at his leg, which ends with a filthy rag at the knee. Another looks at his skin and finds it as repulsive as ever.

In other words, all these men were no better off than they had been ten minutes earlier when they had first spotted the famous teacher.

And yet, they headed off in search of the priests. And on their way, they were healed. So we can imagine that as they were On their way to the priests, a hand emerged from a stump and tingled with life. A crutch suddenly falls to the ground, and the leg was back, healthy, whole, and complete.

The skin cleared, and the tiny hairs on their forearm turned from snow-white to brown. One looked at the other, another looked at the rest, and the screaming started. Then, the smiles broke into tears of joy – the nightmare was finally over.

But for the miracle to happen, these men had to start walking in faith before their circumstances changed one tiny bit.

Is there a more powerful lesson for us here?

  1. You cannot wait to start walking in faith until your problems are over.
  2. You cannot put conditions on the holy God. You cannot say, “Lord, as soon as there’s enough money, I follow your instructions.”
    You cannot pray, “Lord, if you’ll just solve this issue in my family, I’ll start to church.” You cannot put conditions on God!

Instead, God places a demand for faith on us before anything at all has changed.

God might say, “Love me despite the disease. Obey me despite the lack of talent or the lack of resources. Follow me now, despite the depression and pain. Say no to the temptation while it still is difficult. Instead, praise me in the darkest of nights and in the worst of circumstances.”

This is the nature of God, who loves you so much; he will want you to be thankful when nothing about your circumstances gives you that motivation.

My friends, that are the very definition of faith. If you praise God only on the good days and in the best of circumstances, it would not be faith. That would be more like a business arrangement!

Some of you are in horrible circumstances right now. Will you be thankful despite the difficult circumstances? If so, you will be living by faith.

This week, be sure to acknowledge God for his goodness.

Be sure to be thankful.

Be sure to gather everyone up for a prayer of Thanksgiving that is a real prayer of thankfulness.

Do not miss the opportunity to serve and worship God this week.

Photo by George Dolgikh on Pexels.com

Let’s Pray

Great was your sacrifice to go before us and bring forgiveness and hope.

By your stripes, we ask for healing. Standing within your reign and rule, we ask for restoration.

My life and wellness grow in fullness until it overflows.

Amen. Silence

Thank you for visiting me here; I hope this post was helpful. 

If it was, please subscribe using the banner as you come onto the site. Also, please follow this blog, and you’ll find a button on the lower bottom right and leave a comment with any questions or prayer requests. 

Virtual hugs, I look forward to your visit to my next blog post! 

 Paula Rose Parish💕 

🖤Want to help support me as an author? 

 ✔BOOKS BY PAULA available at AMAZON in the UK, USA, Aust;  

📚Nothing Good about Grief: Path to recovery with Psalm 23 after COVID-19 & other losses. 

 📚Psalm 23 Unwrapped: Hope in difficult times.  

Hello, I’m Back!!!

I have not posted anything, updated this site, or made a video for a long time. There are many reasons, but I hope that I can be consistent in bringing encouragement to you in Hope, faith and love in Christ.


Although I have not posted for a while, many of you are reading my older articles, and I want to thank you for reading my posts. Folk are reading my posts and visiting the Hope, Faith, Love, Community daily.

My Word Press dashboard does not show ‘who’ is reading the posts. However, the dashboard does show what posts are read, how many times a day and from what country. Judging by the statistics, it is well worth me to keep producing content for you.

I have started a new ministry post in six churches, working with a colleague. A few weeks in now, it’s been super busy in the week and preaching 2 -3 times on a Sunday. I would appreciate your prayers, as I am not as young as I used to be and in dire need of the strength of the Lord- Thank you.

Going forward, I will post some studies, sermons, and reflections. I hope you enjoy them and glean something from them to encourage you spiritually in some small way.

Thank you for visiting me here, please subscribe using the banner as you come onto the site. Also, please follow this blog, and you’ll find a button on the lower bottom right and leave a comment with any questions or prayer requests. 

Virtual hugs, I look forward to your visit to my next blog post! 

 Paula Rose Parish💕 

Abandonment- Life Can Be Scary -Paula Rose Parish Story

Psalm 23 Verse 3b-he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 

I was living in Oklahoma USA when without warning, Dan my husband and father of our four children announced he was leaving our family. He grabbed everything in sight and crammed what he could into the family car. With panic and terror in my heart and voice, I cried out-you can’t leave us with no money! (he had exclusive access to our bank account). With a smile, he slowly reached into his pocket and drew out a single dollar. As he gave it to me, he said, don’t let anybody tell you that I never left you with any money and then disappeared into the night.

That was 1994, and from that date to this, neither I nor the children have seen him again. Dan did not explain his reasoning for leaving, we were terrified, not knowing what the future would bring.

  A year later, the week of my 40th birthday, the children and I were living in the UK. To my surprise, my youngest son, who was six at the time, received a letter from Dan his father. The letter was bizarre, not at all one that should be written to a six-year-old. However, through this letter we learned the reason for his abandoning us. The letter stated that he left us to start a new life with another woman. This woman, he explained, was younger, prettier, and smarter than me, and had no children to hold him back. He wrote that it was God who told him to leave because the burden of wife and children were hindering him from God’s perfect will. To his absolute shame, he used God as a justification for his actions. The reality was, unbeknown to me, that for some time he was in having committing adultery even though he professed to be led by God.

The truth is that our Shepherd- God, only leads us in the path of righteousness, not into paths of the unrighteousness of sin. My now ex-husband, was on an unrighteous path leading to nowhere-land and blamed the children and me instead of taking culpability himself. To avoid any responsibility in the matter, he put the onus on God and us. The story that God told him to leave was of course, fabricated.

Dan did this I believe, so he could be free from blame and the judgement of others. Sadly, some people believed his lies for a time because he was so convincing, which is a typical personality of a narcissist. This kind of behaviour has nothing to do with Gods of love revealed to us in the Bible, but a false god of one’s own making. This was a God of Dan’s own making, created by his selfishness, delusion, and sin. In the shock of our sudden loss, we grieved and felt the loss deeply, our lives were never the same again.  

Be Wise in What You Do

 Decision making when we are distressed is tricky. It is so tempting to make kneejerk choices like Dan did, without fully considering the consequences. We can be fooled into thinking that so-called well-meaning folk have our welfare at heart. There are scammers out there who make offers that we may interpret as being an answer to prayer, but we need to be alert and discerning. If the paths they offer do not lead to righteousness, they will lead us to sin.

Be watchful, if there is something that does not rightly benefit you, your family, future, or anyone else, do not do it! One great rule is- if in doubt- don’t! If you smell something fishy, trash it immediately. When the red flags come up, take notice of them, because God only leads us on the paths of righteousness. Satan appears as an angel of light but is really our foe. Satan’s job is to cause us to detour onto the unrighteous path, bringing us to eventual destruction.

The opportunity you’ve been offered may look incredible, far too good to be missed, it appears as an angel of light. It may be an opportunity on a new relationship, more money a new job or something illegal. Whatever it may be, every one of us can be fooled into believing that this is a good thing, eventually only to find it is nothing but ashes. The best person in the world can be tricked and fall for the promises of a persuasive individual. What are we to do?

The paths that God has chosen for us are clearly marked out for us in God’s Word. No path of righteousness, for example, will ever pass through the field of extramarital sex. No path of righteousness will ever travel over the ground of gluttony, or slander, or dishonesty, or to engagement with anything illegal. The righteous path will not lead us away from the Ten Commandments.

Exodus 20 New International Version

The Ten Commandments

20 And God spoke all these words:

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before[a] me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

THIS ARTICLE IS AN EXTRACT FROM MY BOOK PSALM 23 UNWRAPPED NOW AVAILBLE IN SOFT COVER ON AMAZON- SOON TO BE AVAILABLE ON KINDLE.

I hope reading this blog has helped you in a small way. If it was, please like and feel free to comment and please subscribe to this blog so you may receive your free freebie and regular updates.

Would you like to receive a free e-book? If the answer is Yes, then take notice; as you come onto my site, a banner will pop up after 50 seconds that describes the content of the e-book. So, if you wish to receive the e-book, please subscribe through the banner, which will lead you to a few steps.

After you confirm your free subscription, the e-book will be delivered to your email inbox. If it’s not, please let me know, and I will send it to you directly.

Keep safe, remember that Your Wellness Matters and live life on purpose in Hope, Faith and Love.💕

Paula Rose has a Bachelor of Pastoral Counselling and Theology, Vision Christian University, USA Master of Arts In Counselling & Professional Development, specializing in Spiritual Abuse through The University of Derby, UK.

She Studies the BACP Life Coaching Course, Bristol, UK and is a life member of (ISFP) The International Society of Female Professionals.

 Paula Rose Parish is a Pastor, Author, and founder, of Hope. Faith. Love, and Your Wellness Matters. She studied at the University of Derby and received a Master of Arts in Counselling in Professional Development. Over the years, Paula Rose has served as a pastor, chaplain, counsellor, and coach and taught at a Christian university. In addition, she has led workshops and retreats and spoken worldwide on Christian spirituality. 

Author of over 200 articles and two published books, Paula Rose, continues to write on the wellness of mind, body and spirit. Paula Rose is adding a string to her bow and is presently reading Health and Wellness. She has four grown children, five grandchildren and lives in South Wales, UK.

Subscribe to my YOUTUBE CHANNEL, and it’s free!. 

Paula Rose is a Wellness Coach Ordained Minister, Speaker, Blogger, Podcaster, Course Creator, Published Author and has a Master of Arts in Counselling. And many other qualifications and a lifetime, so I have heaps to share with you.

Paula is a life member of (ISFP) The International Society of Female Professionals.

 🖤Want to help support me as an author? Click here available now on Amazon ✔BOOKS BY PAULA available at AMAZON in the UK, USA, Aust; 📚Nothing Good about Grief: Path to recovery with Psalm 23 after COVID-19 & other losses. 📚Psalm 23 Unwrapped: Hope in difficult times.

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Why is the Green Grass in Psalm 23 Significant for you?

Psalm 23 is set in the land of Israel where the city of Jerusalem was considered to be its center. Around the outskirts of Jerusalem, are rolling hills. The hillsides are not green and lush but are mainly bare ground and rocky desert with perhaps a scattering of grass popping up here and there.  because the rainfall is very low it is hard to find lush, green grass, so shepherd had to travel far and wide in search for green grass for their sheep. So what David was writing about was not the landscape surrounding Jerusalem. David did not write about in Psalm 23 that there was brown grass or sparse grass but made a point that the grass is green.

So, what could David have been referring to when he wrote that God makes him lie down in green pastures? To find out we need to take a look at the colour green to derive its meaning. In art, green is a secondary colour which is made by mixing yellow with blue. Yellow is the colour of the sun which gives life and warmth, and blue is the colour of the sky because it holds the oxygen giving us atmosphere, both are life-giving. So, combining yellow and blue gives us green. The green colour of plants, trees, and grass occurs because they contain chlorophyll. The green pigment is essential in photosynthesis, allowing plants to absorb energy from the sun so they can grow and flourish.

So, putting this all together, we understand that in the Bible, the green grass is a metaphor for the sustainability and flourishment of life.  To go a little step further, most biblical scholars agree that one of the primary Biblical meanings of the colour green is the immortality of the soul.

Green denotes that the soul- the real you- grows and thrives after the death of the physical body.  Green can also be a symbol of resurrection, praise, spiritual growth and prosperity, new beginnings, and renewal. As so it is with you. God by his Holy Spirit walks with you, beside you, and is leading you into new beginnings and renewal; to help you grow and thrive. 

We see here that Green is used as a metaphor to bring home the point that God leads you to grow and flourish in the midst of the most difficult circumstances. 

I hope reading this blog has helped you in a small way. If it was, please like and feel free to comment and please subscribe to this blog so you may receive your free freebie and regular updates.

Would you like to receive a free e-book? If the answer is Yes, then take notice; as you come onto my site, a banner will pop up after 50 seconds that describes the content of the e-book. So, if you wish to receive the e-book, please subscribe through the banner, which will lead you to a few steps.

After you confirm your free subscription, the e-book will be delivered to your email inbox. If it’s not, please let me know, and I will send it to you directly.

Keep safe, remember that Your Wellness Matters and live life on purpose in Hope, Faith and Love.

Paula Rose Parish💕

😀So many people want their faith and church to grow. The problem is to figure out where to begin. This site is about helping people do just that. It’s for anyone who feels stuck in their faith and longs for a breakthrough. It’s for people who are exploring Christianity and want to know what it’s all about – apart from what they see in the media. If that’s you – please consider subscribing.

Paula Rose has a Bachelor of Pastoral Counselling and Theology, Vision Christian University, USA Master of Arts In Counselling & Professional Development, specializing in Spiritual Abuse through The University of Derby, UK.

She Studies the BACP Life Coaching Course, Bristol, UK and is a life member of (ISFP) The International Society of Female Professionals.

 Paula Rose Parish is a Pastor, Author, and founder, of Hope. Faith. Love, and Your Wellness Matters. She studied at the University of Derby and received a Master of Arts in Counselling in Professional Development. Over the years, Paula Rose has served as a pastor, chaplain, counsellor, and coach and taught at a Christian university. In addition, she has led workshops and retreats and spoken worldwide on Christian spirituality. 

Author of over 200 articles and two published books, Paula Rose, continues to write on the wellness of mind, body and spirit. Paula Rose is adding a string to her bow and is presently reading Health and Wellness. She has four grown children, five grandchildren and lives in South Wales, UK.

Subscribe to my YOUTUBE CHANNEL, and it’s free!. 

Paula Rose is a Wellness Coach Ordained Minister, Speaker, Blogger, Podcaster, Course Creator, Published Author and has a Master of Arts in Counselling. And many other qualifications and a lifetime, so I have heaps to share with you.

Paula is a life member of (ISFP) The International Society of Female Professionals.

 🖤Want to help support me as an author? Click here available now on Amazon ✔BOOKS BY PAULA available at AMAZON in the UK, USA, Aust; 📚Nothing Good about Grief: Path to recovery with Psalm 23 after COVID-19 & other losses. 📚Psalm 23 Unwrapped: Hope in difficult times.

👛SHOP WITH ME

ETSY:   https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/PaulaRoseStudio?ref=shop_sugg

SHOP www.moonrosemindfulness.com

FOOD for your Soul- www.paularoseparish.com

FOR All things WELLNESS   http://health-well-being.uk

👱‍♀️ CHAT WITH ME 

📸 Instagram: paularoseparish2020. 

MY VIDEOS on YOUTUBE:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvdQ4NPTNfXSnwd3pimPh0g

FACEBOOK:  https://www.facebook.com/paula.roseparish.5

PINTEREST:  https://www.pinterest.co.uk/proseparish/_created/

LINKEDIN:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/paula-rose-parish-6320a6181/

 Listen to PAULA’S BLOG PODCASTS on Spotify

Please send me an Email: paularoseparish@gmail.com

Experience being- we also experience doing= discipleship of Christ

The writings of our text in John’s gospel and in the Epistle can seem puzzling because they do not come down on one side or the other, sort of like the question which comes first-  the chicken or the egg ?

So, which comes first, the love of God or the love of our neighbour?  Which is more important, being or doing?  Are we saved by grace or by works?

Instinctively most people come down on one side or the other and we tend to hear only those parts of the good news of Jesus Christ that seem to reinforce what is comfortable to us. 

Some people instinctively hear the message in Jesus’ first public statement of ‘good news to the poor, release to the captives, sites of the blind, freedom for the oppressed.  Luke for 4.18-19.

Indeed, this is the heart of Jesus’ ministry they argue.  Christians witness Christ as the most faithful when he is actively doing things to improve life for society.  Other people automatically see that all Jesus’ activity arises out of his times of silence and prayer.

So there this tension between being and doing, and many of us struggle with these ideas.

The problem is that today’s gospel and Epistle, like most New Testament, does not have an either-or worldview.  This means the Bible is not written with a dualistic lens.

 Instead, they argue it is always both.  Both Epistle and costs for talking about the nature of God, which we contemplate with or at which we are drawn deeply into. We see this in Jesus ministry that begins starts not as he stands up and speaks-  but as he wrestles alone in the desert.

First, St John talks about love as the fundamental nature & of God.  Out of love, God the Son comes to die so that we can draw back into the love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

In God, love is not an abstract quality but one we experience directly and actively.  We experience being- we also experience doing.

God acts lovingly towards us, and that is how we know that he indeed loves.  Being and doing are not separate – God is love and acts lovingly in creation. 

For us, that is not always the case because, unlike God, we are not yet complete.  We don’t always act lovingly in creation. The people to whom 1 John is addressed are presuming the people who have accepted the saving love of God.  But for most of us particularly in this western world view, Love has a beginning and a finite end.

The view of Love that God has, is embed within his own self- God is love. Its is possible to be and do at the same time. Doing comes from our sense of being- which has not a start or end- it just is.….

Look at it his way – The great aim of our life is to make the beginning and the end of love get further and further apart from us so that there is more and more room to love.  In other words, God’s love has no beginning and has no end, and nor should ours.  As the great 17th-century poet John Donne said in his Christmas sermons, God love is like a circle.  It’s endless.

Our gospel reading points out another one of God’s undeniable characteristics: life. 

The language 1 Johns about love can sound repetitive and soft-edged, despite the urgency and power of what’s being said.  Still, if you put 1 John alongside Johns gospel, the reason for the urgency becomes clearer. 

God is the only source of life.  If you pick flowers, they die.  If you take people away from God, they die.  It is not that this is a punishment, exactly.  It is more than it is just a fact of life.

 If people choose to live apart from God, that choice is sustained into eternity. 

Because it is sustained into eternity, God urgently invites us with the help of the Holy Spirit to live in God in Christ, each and every day that we enjoy mortal breathe.

 In choosing God, we are grafted as branches into the true vine. There we can live, and bear fruit of the exact nature as the tree. 

The choice between being and doing is a false one.  You are either alive with the life of God, the life in which there is no distinction between what God is and what God does, or you are not alive at all.

Many of us would like to rely on the life-giving love of God for ourselves without having to change too much.  In today’s story from Acts, Philip wouldn’t understand the question, ‘should I spend time being or doing- should I be praying, or should I go out and preach?

Philip has allowed himself to be directly grafted into the life of God.  so, Philip prayed, and Philip also preached.  Phil came across An African who was miles from home. This guy was reading the Bible – Hebrew Scripture- and had some questions.  Philip reacted by being and doing, at the same time and the African eunuch came to faith and was baptised. Most of us wouldn’t know such an opportunity if we part if it passed us by, not even in a golden carriage and so we miss the chance that Philip seized to work with God.  And as Philip showed people the love of God wherever he went.

And we see the love God for us in elements of bread and wine.

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Paula Rose has a Bachelor of Pastoral Counselling and Theology, Vision Christian University, USA Master of Arts In Counselling & Professional Development, specializing in Spiritual Abuse through The University of Derby, UK.

She Studies the BACP Life Coaching Course, Bristol, UK and is a life member of (ISFP) The International Society of Female Professionals.

 Paula Rose Parish is a Pastor, Author, and founder, of Hope. Faith. Love, and Your Wellness Matters. She studied at the University of Derby and received a Master of Arts in Counselling in Professional Development. Over the years, Paula Rose has served as a pastor, chaplain, counsellor, and coach and taught at a Christian university. In addition, she has led workshops and retreats and spoken worldwide on Christian spirituality. 

Author of over 200 articles and two published books, Paula Rose, continues to write on the wellness of mind, body and spirit. Paula Rose is adding a string to her bow and is presently reading Health and Wellness. She has four grown children, five grandchildren and lives in South Wales, UK.

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