tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25723085.post-1150541120138955212006-06-17T11:41:00.000+01:002006-08-30T04:55:02.540+01:00<p align="center"><em>'...for God so loved he... gave...'<br /></em><strong>John 3:16</strong></p><p align="left">Have you heard the birds sing recently? That might sound like an odd question, but what I’m asking you isn’t “have you heard a bird sing”, but “have you heard one sing <strong>recently</strong>?” I was playing golf, the greens were empty and silent of human voices but you should have heard the skylarks – they were deafening. I just had to pause for a moment and thank God for the amazing way he ‘gave’ such a small creature a great voice!</p><p align="left">One day, a couple of weeks after losing my mum, I was looking out at May Hill over a card filled window sill. Like many members in our church who have gone through a loss of someone really close, I was amazed at the tangible support and encouragement that prayers had ‘given’ through a card or call or words of encouragement and support.</p><p align="left">We have an incredibly generous God who has given us a wonderful world, not only that, he has created us in such a way that through our senses we can appreciate it. He’s ‘given’ us the gift of friendship – setting us in families and networks of people who care and love us and, on top of that, he’s given us the very special gift of his son.</p><p align="left">I think the words of this poem by Annie Johnson Flint sum it up for me:</p><p align="center"><em>He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,<br />He sendeth more strength when the labours increase;<br />To added affliction he addeth His mercy,<br />To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.</em></p><p align="center"><em>When we have exhausted our store of endurance,<br />When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,<br />When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,<br />Our Father’s full giving is only begun.</em></p><p align="center"><em>His love has no limit, His grace has no measure;<br />His power no boundary known unto men;<br />For out of His infinite riches in Jesus<br />He giveth and giveth and giveth again.</em></p><p align="left">I hope you’ll hear that skylark sing.</p>John Lewis - Gorsley Chapelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00657989495797534537noreply@blogger.com