I have a lovely little app (called Presently) on my phone which daily in the evening reminds me to consider the things for which I’m grateful in that day. I’m finding this a good way to end the day.
With so much happening in the world which has such a depressing effect on us it is good to look at those things for which we can be grateful. It does lift the spirits!
It may be things such as:
It’s spring and the garden is full of colour, or I had a lovely chat with a friend over Skype today, or my bed is so comfy, or I finally got some good weeding done in the garden.
There is much for which we can be grateful… really the possibilities are endless.
A grateful heart is a healthy heart.
Be blessed today and think of the things for which you are grateful.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic seems to be showing no signs of abating, I guess this means our new normal is really just normal now.
How are you affected by it?
In Australia the push to be wearing face masks is growing since it looks as if we’re really moving into a second wave of infections. Too many people have been flouting the health recommendations. Rather sad. In NSW we were doing fairly well until some infected visitors from Victoria came north and have been spreading the virus as they go. Batemans Bay has become a latest casualty which means it spreading in all directions as so many Canberrans visit the Bay frequently.
So, if you’re in the group who feel the need for masking as a protection, why not go as fancy as you like?
Fine Art America has a lot of face masks from which to choose… so, go for it. Click the link below.
Masks at Fine Art America

One thing I’ve learned over many years of walking with Jesus through my life, is that God has provided many places of safety for those times when life throws us a curve ball.
These are places where we can take refuge (Psalm 31:1). Such places are described throughout the Bible, and especially in the Psalms. Here are a few examples:

• a fortress – Psalm 31:2; Psalm 91:2; Psalm 94:2; Zechariah 9:12
• a strong tower – Psalm 61:2; Proverbs 18:10
• stronghold – Psalm 9:9; Psalm 37:39; Joel 3:16
• a hiding place – Psalm 32:7; Isaiah 4:6
• a rock – Psalm 31:2
• under his wings – Psalm 91:4; Psalm 61:4, 7
• in his shadow – Psalm 91:1; Psalm 57:1
• a refuge – 2 Samuel 22:3; Psalm 91:2

I wrote about having a safe place back in 2001 and posted on another website I host. I realise it’s as relevant to me today as it was back then:

Recently I’ve been reminded about the validity of having a safe place where one may retreat to take a breather from the stresses and strains of life. I was reminded of the safe place concept through my reading in a book about EMDR where a lady was taught to create a safe place inside where she could go to calm herself when intense feelings came up.

I was reminded that I’d come across this idea before. It is used in many kinds of therapy and has proved effective in providing respite from intense emotional pain. I’ve also seen the concept used in psychodramas.

The director of the psychodrama will often have the person who is dealing with intense trauma create a safe place somewhere in the room to which them may retreat during the weekend if their distress gets to be too much.

Recently during healing prayer ministry with one person I felt as though God reminded me about safe places in order to share it with them. This client had had two profound experiences with Jesus. The first occurred while this person was looking at the painful memory scene and feeling excluded, out of the picture. Jesus came picked the person up and held them in his arms – a sense of deep comfort and calm were immediate. The second again occurred while the person was looking at a painful memory scene and feeling the intensity of being unloved. Jesus appeared to the person on the cross. He showed his feet, his hands and his side and then told the person that he loved them – the effect again was immediate calm, and a strong sense of being loved. I had a sense that these two experiences were more than just for healing, God was also wanting to give the person a safe place to which to retreat any time they needed. Other places still had pain and weren’t yet safe. These two places are safe because Jesus is there and He has vaporised the lies which had held the person in deep pain. Jesus brought His peace – a lasting peace.
A safe place may be a secret place that is just between the person and God. It is symbolic rather than a real location, though for some there may be a real location. Folk I know have reported the following safe/secret places where they know God is and when they go He is always there for them: a beautiful garden, a castle, a cottage, a cave, a hollow tree, etc. The particular place is frequently meaningful to the person in some way and maybe invoking happy memories or beauty.

I have a safe place. God took me to it several years ago. It was deep in my imagination. I knew it had to be a God-thing as up till that time I had no imagination and found it hard to see pictures inside me. This place is very precious to me so excuse me if I don’t explicitly identify it here. Every time I go there I find God – sometimes it’s Jesus, sometimes Father, sometimes Holy Spirit, sometimes all three. In this place I experience no pain. It just disappears as I arrive, sometimes I leave the pain at the door, sometimes God washes me clean or picks the pain off me as if it were bits of straw or prickles poking into me. Here in this place He talks with me and I with Him – often there are no words but we talk nonetheless.

As a child I had a safe place. It was my bed which most nights I would turn into a boat (sort of like a tug-boat) by scrunching up the sheets and blankets all around me so that my boat had sides to keep me safe from the stormy and unsafe ocean of my life. In my imagination I would sail off to another place where it felt calm and safe. I have no idea how long I did this but I think it was over a significant period of time.

Last year (2000) God showed me that my present safe place is actually inside, in my spirit – that part of me where Satan cannot dwell because it’s where God Himself dwells. I can go and be there any time. It has been and is really helpful as I’ve been learning to listen more to God and pay attention to His perspective on what’s happening around and in me.

There’s a great little song that sums up something of the sentiment of the safe/secret place. In that place there is safety, rest and healing, and yet, there’s so much more. Our longings for God are stirred, our perspective is changed:

In the secret, in the quiet place, In the stillness You are there.
In the secret, in the quiet hour I wait.
Only you are there, only for You, ‘Cause I want to know you more.
I want to know You,
I want to hear Your voice.
I want to know You more,
I want to touch you,
I want to see your face,
I want to know You more.
I am reaching for the highest goal, that I might receive the prize.
Pressing onward, pushing every hindrance aside, out of my way
‘Cause I want to know you more.

Finally, I’m reminded of a saying I heard or read some years ago:

“Though I may tremble on the rock, the rock never trembles under me.”

Whatever our safe place, Jesus is there. The fantastic thing is that since Jesus is in us, in our spirit, our place of safety is there with him.

Copyright 2001-2016  Fran Woods

We are living in a very chaotic world. Our senses are continuously assaulted by noise… whether the noise of traffic, machinery, radio, TV, or via our ear buds as we listen to the latest and greatest music. Our senses are also assaulted as we hear of natural disasters near and far, or by news of horrific terror attacks, or by hearing of the abuse of the many vulnerable in our communities. It is so very distressing. Oftentimes numbness descends as our only way of coping, and in some way to block out or minimise the senseless pain and suffering.

It is difficult to deal with.
It is tempting to think there is no hope.

However, there is…

Psalm 46:10 has a great word for us in this age in which we live even though written so long ago:

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Be still… know that God is still God. Nothing that happens today will change that. Listen for him.
Take heart!

Check out my artwork at Fine Art America. If you decide to purchase you will be blessing me greatly!! Thank you.

Jesus said of himself as he talked with Father God:

You have given him authority over everyone in all the earth. (John 17:2 NLT).

I find this a comfort and encouragement as I ponder world events. It has been very eventual these past couple of years. Terrorist attacks can occur at any time and in any place and be perpetrated by just a single individual or by a group. For many people fear and anxiety have become their daily fare as they watch the medias reporting of tragic events.

However, no matter what is happening out there, Jesus still has that authority over everyone, and the evil one cannot succeed in his plans or in any way thwart God’s plan.

Take heart, my friends. Read more of what Jesus prayed in John 17. There is much to encourage those who do know Jesus, and who live their lives consciously under his authority. For any who don’t as yet know him, the door is wide open for you to find your true home in his heart.

Finally, I have found John 14-17 to be just great. Jesus is talking about a lot of things here. Clearly, this world is not our home, and we can enjoy a relationship with Father God like Jesus did. Soak in these chapters. They are life changing and you will be blessed.

May you be blessed this Christmas as you worship the Christ.