It set me thinking that the way that God leads us takes into account many different factors that we are often completely unaware of. At the time we might ask, ‘Why has God brought me this way – why couldn’t it have been simpler, more direct?’

God did not lead the Israelites by the shortest route because he knew what they could and could not take. He started a growth programme but did not put them into a situation that they were not prepared for. God is interested in character building – and some of the most important lessons are learnt on the longer route!

I am a member of a church near to where I live and attend each week and I also listen to the teaching from Halesworth Community Church, via the audio. It never fails to amaze me when the teaching from both churches intertwines and how the Lord uses something I listen to on the audio to confirm something he’s teaching me in my own church or vice versa. It happened again this week!

In church we have been following a series of readings and talks on the characteristics and role of the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Truth, Counsellor, Teacher etc. We have thought about the gifts which the Holy Spirit gives which enable us to serve the Lord and each other and the fruits which grow within our lives as we serve him.

Over the last few weeks as I’ve listened to and thought about the teaching what has stood out for me is that the Holy Spirit is the ‘Spirit of Truth’ and these words from  John 8:32 “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” I’ve thought about my own understanding and experience of that freedom; it’s a concept I’ve struggled to understand before because I have always carried a deep sense of guilt. I’ve been helped by the leaders of this church to understand why I’ve always felt so guilty and to see the patterns in my own life and thinking which cause me to feel that way. I have been helped to recognise the truth of who God made me to be and how much he loves me and through that to experience the freedom of simply being who God created me to be rather than trying to be who everyone else expects me to be – and failing – and feeling guilty!

I’ve also learnt that it is important to recognise the truth in different situations that arise and thus be free to react appropriately. I have been faced with two situations in the last week, one at home and one at work, where, had I not been able to stand back and see the truth in what was being said to me, I would have turned it back on myself and felt dreadful. Instead I was able to look at the situations and what was said and see the truth. That set me free to put right what I needed to and not to feel guilty about things which are not my fault. Even though some of the situations I face are challenging I am at peace and know that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, is with me.

I keep a journal in which I write out scriptures which stand out and things that I feel the Lord is teaching me and I wrote out John 8:32 and my thoughts on Sunday evening. When I listened to the audio of last Sunday’s talk ‘Fruitful in suffering’ the pastor quoted John 8:32 and talked about looking back to our roots in order to be set free from destructive patterns – wow, what an encouragement! And what an amazing God we have, who knows our hearts so intimately!

I have hesitated in posting this weblog from Kelly as her description of Merle and myself is rather embarrassing but what she says is so important that I am doing it anyway

‘Recently our wonderful pastor and his amazing wife went on holiday and left the church to fend for itself for 10 days.  As time went on I realised how much they both do in making our church run smoothly.  The pastoral care that we receive is outstanding and the love shown changes peoples lives. It made me think that we should all show this type of love to each other but often chose to sit on the side line and let someone else do it.  Each of us with busy lives means it’s easy to make excuses.

Over the week or so I got more involved with the ladies in the church and I discovered hidden treasures in every single one.  I found as I gave myself away, each lady gave me more in return.  I had a deep sense of what a spiritual community should be and knew I had sisters and mothers who cared and loved me.  We each have special qualities that God gave us and they are meant to be shared, not just in church but in all our relationships.  I thought how easy it is to spend time with those we get on best with, those who need us - or sometimes not to bother with anyone at all!

Luke 6: 31-32

"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that.’

• Every 2 minutes someone attempts suicide in the UK
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• Every 79 minutes someone succeeds in taking their life
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• Depression affects 1 in 4 people at some stage in their life
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• It is estimated that by 2020 Depression will be the second biggest cause of disability after heart disease (World Health Organisation)
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• 12 million people are on anti-depressants

Why do some people get depressed and others don’t? Is there an effective way of handling or treating depression? Does the Bible have anything helpful to say on the subject? This week our Sunday talk is entitled, ‘Understanding Depression’ so watch this space for the audio file and notes.

From Kelly Sparkes:

I have been blessed with two lovely little children that are only 13 months apart in age.  Jess was 5 months when I fell pregnant again.  Trusting in the Lord’s wisdom is the easiest thing to say but not always easy to do.  We were excited, scared and excited some more.  We had to trust in the Lord’s timing, but I would swing from anxiety to happiness so quickly that it was sometimes hard to distinguish between the two.  Nagging doubts - would I cope, would I be good enough and what would happen if I couldn’t or wasn’t?

Self doubt meant that I doubted God - even though I had trusted him from the beginning and was happy to leave our family in the Lord’s wisdom.  Did I doubt that God knew what he was doing when we had trusted him from the start?  The Israelites trusted God would save them from the Egyptians but spent years doubting God would provide all that he said he would.  Be careful to not to allow Satan to get hold of those worries and magnify them so as to disbelieve the promises God has made you.   

Our Amazing God promises never to give us more than we can cope with.

Trust comes so naturally to young children. From the moment they enter this world they trust that you will provide everything they need. They have to be taught not to trust.  How sad that we lose that instinctive trust and put barriers around our hearts so that we don’t get hurt.  Then, as Christians we are asked to trust our God and letting the barriers down is almost impossible. But God keeps his promises.

‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding’ Proverbs 3:5.

In John’s talk on Pentecost Sunday he shares his thoughts on the lessons we can learn from ‘looking back’.  The following is an extract from that talk – to read more go to Sunday Talks.

‘We all need our Galilees, those places of refreshment, of hearing again what God is saying, but we have to go back to Jerusalem, the tough place, the place where perhaps it all went wrong. That is where we start - and then we can expand out from there.

There is a principle here that we can learn from.  That is why we look at family patterns, to go back to the root of the problem, to where things went wrong if there were problems.  Also, when we are disturbed or struggling, it is important to be able to identify what is affecting us and God will lead us to it if we look to him, possibly using someone we share with to help us.’

What are the practical applications of living in the flow of the Spirit?  Tim Sparkes shared in this Sunday's talk some of his personal experiences of what this means to him and his family.  To listen to this talk go to Latest Items.

Following Jesus, however, involves so letting him challenge us that his attitudes smash through and break up our weaknesses. He allows no stopping off point – he demands everything – and that takes us to the core of who we are. That is painful and healthy, costly but worthwhile.