These Lively Oracles

I remember once going for a job interview in the city. It was with an employment agency that I wasn’t really fond of and I didn’t really want to go. I tried everything to find a reason not to go but there was no reason came to mind. And so I went off into town. The office was on the top of a three-storey building. It was in the roofspace which actually meant it was on the fourth floor. And so, I trudged up the staircases until I got to the top. With heaving breath, I rapped on the office door and was invited in. I was given a few minutes to get my breath back and then I was invited into another office to do the interview. To my surprise, there was a former employer sitting there smiling at me. He said, “Hi, I’m so glad you decided to come. I was hoping that you’d turn up”. I didn’t know it, but the job was mine before I even left the house that day. All I had to do was turn up. This little memory reminded me of the story of Joseph and his brothers. The same Joseph with the special coat...

We see people go about their christian lives and attempt projects, or witness to people and then they move along and never seem to give the moment a second thought. We get involved together in christian music, groups and choirs, or prayer groups, or bible study groups and then when they have ran their course, or faded out, we move along and just seem to forget about them. It can become disheartening after a time when we don’t seem to see any fruit for our labours. But God doesn’t forget these things. God has His own Endgame. Remember when the Children of Israel cross the Red Sea into the Sinai Desert? What a miracle! What an event! But we forget that this was not the only time that God parted the waters. It happened again. Moses did it first and it is recorded in the Book of Exodus… Exodus 14v22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.  But after Moses died and authority was handed over to Joshua God did t...

I was once involved in a coffee bus ministry. I was very young in the faith and very zealous to try and get involved in God’s work in whichever capacity I could find a place to be. I enjoyed my time there. But it eventually came for my time to move on and return back to normal christian life again. But even though I moved away from that particular ministry, the ministry itself still wasn’t finished. Under the oversight of its capable leadership team the ministry grew and developed into something bigger and more effective. And in later years as I look back over these various projects I have come to realise that although there have been several projects that came and went, there have always been even more tasks that still needed done. These various projects, if they are of God, always continued and grew. Sometimes they grew into something else entirely. Ie, The coffee bus ministry would become a homeless shelter, or a care ministry for needy people. On the other side of the coin a ch...

I remember as a child being given my first ever compass. I was totally mystified at how this little needle would always point in the same direction no matter which way I turn the compass around. I would give the compass a shake to try and confuse it but it always ended up pointing the same direction again. In my teenage years I learned how to properly read a map and compass. I was shown how to read the symbols on a map and how to orientate the compass and map together. This is knowledge that I have retained to this day. We stand and look around at our surroundings and all we can see is as far as the horizon. But a map has the ability to show us what is beyond our horizons. And when used in conjunction with the compass it can tell us what direction we need to go. My Bible can only tell me what I need to do. But it’s Jesus, my compass, who tells me why I need to do it. My knowledge of the Bible and the history of Jesus has always been my spiritual compass. No matter what difficulties I f...