The islands

I was rather intrigued by the talk on the opening evening of New Wine, by John Coles, who oversees the work of New Wine worldwide.

He talked about Martin Luther King's dream, focusing in on God's dream: how, starting with Abraham, God dreams of reaching all the nations through Jesus and his followers.

I scribbled the references down hastily, then looked them up later.

Isaiah 60, which begins with a wonderful prophecy: Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. but then goes on, as do many references in Isaiah, to say: Surely the islands look to me. How I wish this to be true for Guernsey and its islands - to be full of the presence of God, focused on him and on living out His kingdom here on earth.

Psalm 86 - verse 11 stood out:
Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart,that I may fear your name.

Then, Matthew 24 verse 45 reminds me to be ready for the Lord's return: and I take this also to be ready to see what God is doing here and now, as His kingdom breaks through. Having the attitude of seeing my world through Jesus' eyes, finding meaning in the day to day minutiae of life.

Lastly, Revelation 5 verse 9 reminds us that Jesus is worthy because he has purchased us from destruction with his blood.

I don't know what the speaker was intending with these chapters: possibly a different meaning from the one I picked out. Yet, from this, I can take:

A heart for Guernsey and its people,to know Jesus.
An undivided, single-hearted heart and strength of purpose.
A devoted heart, seeing God's purposes in my world.
A humble heart, to accept Jesus' sacrifice with no sense of pride or worthiness.

The effects of sin on our bodies

Whew - this could be a long subject! I thought I'd start with Proverbs 14:29-31

A patient man has great understanding,
but a quick-tempered man displays folly.
A heart at peace gives life to the body,
but envy rots the bones. (NIV)

A sound mind makes for a robust body,
but runaway emotions corrode the bones. (The Message)

The mind, the heart... separate yet interlinked, at the core of our being. How to get a sound mind?

2 Timothy 1:7 says: For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline

Somewhere - maybe in the Good News version - I have read 'self-discipline' as 'sound mind'. God has given me a sound mind - which I need to discipline. Then my body will indeed be 'robust'!