Matthew 1:18-25

Thankful this Christmas morning that my God would show me the extent of His love. Thankful that He would show me the extent to which this world had wandered from Him, rebellious and selfish humanity determined to have its own way and to be the master of its own destiny. 

What kind of love is this that God, the great and wonderful Creator and Sustainer of the universe would humble Himself, would take on the flesh of a baby, small and vulnerable, helpless and needing a human parent to provide for Him so that I would know the reality of His love for me. But more, so that I would know what humility is - that my God would actually show me humility so that I would understand how to lay aside self, how to surrender my all to the One who surrendered all for me. 

I am so full of love this morning, for my Saviour and for the family that He has blessed me with. I am so grateful that I know how to love them because He has first loved me, so grateful that He has shown me how to live and how to be and how to love - and so so thankful that I will live with Him for eternity, the One who was and who is and who is to come - the King of kings and Lord of lords, Immanuel, God with us.

Psalm 126:5-6

Thank you for praying, the Lord was faithful and though I did not see any results from the gospel message I gave last Friday evening nonetheless I trust that God's Word never returns empty without accomplishing what He desires. We were a small group and I included more of my own personal testimony - somehow that seemed right and so I trust that the Lord has used it. 

I was praying for another message this morning as I will be speaking again next Monday evening at the Imperial Hotel in Stroud; probably to a different group of people all with different needs and different reasons for not believing in the Lord Jesus but nonetheless all needing to hear the truth that Jesus Christ is God and that He came to offer salvation to a desperate world. I was reading Psalm 126 and came to verse 5, 'those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting. He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, shall indeed come again with a shout of joy bringing his sheaves with him'. I know that this psalm is not really about witnessing to the gospel of Christ but nonetheless it seemed to be God's Word to me for next Monday. Not so much that I would speak about it but that I would put this word in my heart and stand on the truth of it - stand on the certainty that though I might weep at the apparent hardness of the ground or the difficulty in finding the right way to tell the message of Jesus - yet God is promising that there will be a harvest and that I, Ann Absolom, will come again with a shout of joy and I will bring the sheaves - I will bring those who have believed in Christ with me. I will one day see and know that the fields were indeed white and that I did my small part in bringing in the harvest. 

I needed that this morning - needed to know that I was doing what the Lord would have me do - needed to hear Him speak and to again be assured that He saw, that He cared, that He was accomplishing His purposes and that He knew that those purposes were what concerned me. So I am now sitting at my desk looking out at a beautiful frost covered garden and marvelling at my God, my Father - wanting to cry tears of joy that He, the Creator of the universe would have revealed His truth, His grace, His amazing love to me. 

Do you need to know His love this morning? Do you need to store up His truth in your heart? Do you need His grace or His mercy or His forgiveness? Come boldly to His throne of grace and find help in your time of need. Come quickly, do not let the enemy keep you locked up in guilt, in shame, in disappointment or sorrow - come running to your Father and let Him rejoice over you with shouts of joy. He is waiting and He will never disappoint you. He is there and He longs for you to hear His voice and to feel His arms around you. He is here, now, with you by His Spirit and He is whispering, today is a new day - whatever yesterday held for you it is gone. His mercies are new every morning, His grace is a never ending river in which you can swim for eternity and His love is powerful enough to enable you to speak and to live for His glory. 

If you know someone who needs to hear the Gospel, please bring them along next Monday evening and also please pray that I will have the right words and that the Lord will give me the confidence and power to speak His Word without hesitation and with great joy. 

Acts 4:29-31

I will be giving the Gospel on Friday evening at a small café called 'Somewhere Else' in Cirencester. I don't know who will be there, don't know how many or where they will come from. I don't know their circumstances, or if they have any knowledge at all of the Lord Jesus - but one thing I am very clear about is my absolute inability to come up with a convincing word. I can hear the questions forming in my mind - the accusations from the enemy that I won't have enough or be enough or say enough. I can hear him telling me that maybe this isn't what the Lord would have me do - that maybe I should stick to what I know best - teaching believers - and though I know that every single believer who has ever walked this planet has a commission from the Lord to 'go and make disciples' still I am plagued by doubts about the way I am doing it or the place or the time..... 

I'm wondering if I really care about those complete strangers - am I really bothered about their eternal destiny? Do I have the right attitude? Do I love them with the love of Christ and will He really give me what I need to say when I need to say it? And I'm left with a nagging thought - have I prayed enough, have I prepared enough - and the answer comes screaming back at me - NO! 

So I'm left now wondering what I should do - I have no other ideas of what to say - how to explain the truth that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. How will I put over the truth that those who believe in Him will LIVE forever with Him but those who refuse Him will spend their eternity in a place where 'their worm dies not and the fire is not quenched'. How will I do that in a way that they will receive - in a way that will get their attention and draw them to Christ?

So here I am at Acts 4 - and I see that those first disciples had the same thoughts - the same doubts, the same attack from the enemy and they did what I must do - God wrote it down so that I would know what I must do. Now Lord take note of my doubts, take note of the enemy and his taunts, take note of my insecurity and my inadequacy and grant that I, Your bondservant may speak Your Word with all confidence while You extend Your hand to heal the souls of those who hear and signs and wonders might take place through the name of Your holy servant, my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

Please pray with me and for me - pray that the Lord Jesus Christ will be exalted in that place on Friday evening - that His name will sound forth, that He will be shown to be the glorious Redeemer and Saviour of the world. Pray that I will boldly speak His Word and that His Spirit will anoint that Word with power that everyone who hears might be changed, might be healed, might be brought into the glory of the salvation of God. 

And then, through these weeks as we approach the celebration of the birth of our Lord - pray with me that we might know that '..we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit'. Pray that the knowledge of that transformation will be our assurance, will be the foundation from which we will boldly speak the name of Jesus and from which we will confidently explain the wonder of His offer of forgiveness and grace. Pray too that in that knowledge His surpassing great power will be manifested in and through each one of us for His glory and our very great joy.