Psalm 51

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 NIVUK http://bible.com/113/psa.51.10.NIVUK

My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
Psalm 51:17 NIVUK
http://bible.com/113/psa.51.10-17.NIVUK

Righteousness... Right relationship

. ‘Righteousness’ is ultimately about right relationships – a right relationship with God and right relationships with others. In the New Testament, we come to understand that this righteousness is only possible through faith in Jesus Christ

Mess-age

For all of us, like Peter, our mess of yesterday can become our mess-age today. Our test can become our testimony.

Just showing up!

‘Eighty per cent of life,’ according to Woody Allen, ‘is just showing up.’ So much of life is simply the set of circumstances we find ourselves in – things happen to us. For example, our parents, our genetic design, the weather, much of our education and our government are all things that we experience as ‘happening to us’.

Prayer as active participation

Prayer takes place in the middle voice. Prayer cannot be in the active voice because it is not an action I control. That would be a pagan concept of prayer: we make the gods do our bidding with incantations and rituals. Prayer is not in the passive voice either, in which I slump passively into the impersonal and fated will of gods and goddesses. In Christian prayer, I enter into an action begun by another – my creating and saving Lord. I then find myself participating in the results of his gracious action. In one sense, the whole of the Christian life is prayer. We welcome God’s gracious hand in our lives, and we participate in what he is doing in the world. God involves you in his plans. Of course, he could do it all on his own, but he chooses to involve you. He gives you freedom, yet he remains in control.

Holding a grudge

If someone has offended you, don’t return the offence. It is said that holding a grudge is like letting someone live rent free in your head. Instead, return hatred with love. Speak well of the other person even behind their back and you may find that your love puts an end to the bickering and heals the relationship.

Guidance: 5 main ways

There are five main ways in which God guides us (the five CSs): Commanding Scripture (the Bible) Compelling Spirit (the Holy Spirit) Counsel of the Saints (the church) Common Sense (reason) Circumstantial Signs (providence).