Daily ScriptureTherefore let all who are faithfuloffer prayer to you;at a time of distress, the rush of mighty watersshall not reach them.You are a hiding-place for me;you preserve me from trouble;you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. (Psalm 32:6-7) Daily Reflection:Many will try and tell you, that your faith is just a comfort blanket, an illusion to keep you from facing reality. But those of us who have experienced the power of prayer, and who have been borne on the hands of many praying friends, we know for certain that God lifts us up and keeps us safe in the time of our distress. He does indeed make sure that the rushing waters of life do not sweep us away, he offers us a hiding-place where we can rest and bide a while and he preserves us from trouble. This doesn’t always mean that everything bad goes away, like when you wake from a nightmare, but our hearts and minds are kept safe in the sure knowledge that he is in charge. Revd Ylva
Daily Scripture:The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouting of a ruler among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one bungler destroys much good. (Ecclesiastes 9.17-18)Daily Reflection:‘The Preacher’ (Ecclesiastes) was not a man with rose-coloured spectacles. After long experience and critical examination he described most human activity as ‘chasing after the wind’. And that was in an age when the pace of life was much slower than in our hyperactive world. Wherever he looked, he detected Vanity Projects – ‘I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun; and see, all is vanity and chasing after the wind’. God, he decided, has given us life not to compete in accumulating things or power, but to enjoy and to share. Quiet words of the wise. David Harmsworth
Daily Scripture:So I commend enjoyment, for there is nothing better for people under the sun than to eat, and drink, and enjoy themselves, for this will go with them in their toil through the days of life that God gives them under the sun. (Ecclesaistes 8 v 15)Daily Reflection:How are your New Year’s Resolutions going?? I have been trying very hard to stick to one of mine and that is - to enjoy myself more. Allowing myself time to relax and enjoy the good things God has given me in this life enhances not only my own state of mind and well-being but positively influences all those around me. I want to be the kind of person that people want to be around. I want to enjoy the relationships that God has given me and everything else he has entrusted into my care. After God created the world, he stopped and rested. On the seventh day, he took time to enjoy his creation and to rest from his work. It is good for us to work hard and to be successful but let it not be at the expense of everything else. Let us take time to enjoy the fruit of our labours. Lyn Hayes ALM
Daily Scripture:This alone I have learnt - God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated. (GNB Ecclesiastes 7v 29)Daily Reflection:Animals are quite content to simply be themselves, but we humans are always looking for more, or other, than we find ourselves to be. We search our souls for meaning, shop the world for our pleasure, try this and try that to "find ourselves" - the harder we try the less we seem to "find!" In the end, all we are trying to find is our simple humanity and its meaning. Ecclesiastes is about someone trying to find the "meaning of life", as those Monty Python boys put it!The last and final word in this book is this "Fear (Respect) God, and do what he tells you". That's it - the meaning of life! Until we realise that life really is this simple, we will keep struggling in our endeavours for "enlightenment". Jesus came into this world to show us this truth. God wants to know you, He wants to communicate with you and longs for you to listen to Him, so that He can fill your life with good things. It really is that simple. There is nothing else to discover. Vicki Young
