cazadventblog23

  We are back to looking at our verse from Isaiah 9.  Here's what one commentary has to say about the words Wonderful Counsellor.  Have a listen to this whilst you are reading.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixoeH-1SRJU&t=92s Wonderful . The Messiah would be "wonderful" in his nature as God-Man; in his teaching, which "astonished" those who heard it ( Matthew 7:28 ); in his doings ( Isaiah 25:1 ); in the circumstances of his birth and death; in his resurrection, and in his ascension. "Wonder" would be the first sentiment which his manifestation would provoke, and hence this descriptive epithet is placed first. The word used for wonderful in the Hebrew is 'pele' which also has connotations of the miraculous - of working wonders, doing marvellous things. So this Messiah will not only inspire awe in those who see Him but He will do awesome things . As the Word, as Wisdom itself, as he who says, "Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am...

    Airports are fascinating places. Ive spent quite a lot of time in them recently as Ive travelled back and forth visiting Mum. On a recent trip I watched as the plane I was due to fly in landed, discharged its passengers and prepared for take off. There are more people than you might think involved in this process. Two guys position the steps. Someone fixes the fuel pipe into its slot. Two guys unload and load luggage. Two guys position chocks under the wheels. Someone puts a rope round the wings to stop us walking under them. And then there's one special someone whose job it is to wave little red torches in the air so the pilot knows exactly when and where to stop.  As I was watching the well oiled Easyjet machine in action in the pouring rain it reminded me of all the unseen people in church, so necessary for the smooth running of the whole thing. Who orders the loo rolls, tidies the errant stationary cupboard, orders the tea bags for Mums and Tots?   Who d...

  Recently I have been confronted again by the story of the woman caught in adultery. In the past when Ive read the story my sympathies have always been with the woman.  I have indignantly wondered where was the man implicated in the adulterous relationship.  Why was she dragged out to be stoned and not him?  I have imagined that somehow she was an injured party in the whole business, knowing how little value was placed on the lives of women in those days.  But that is not what the Bible tells us.  She was caught in the act of adultery.  Her marriage vows broken, her husband shamed and betrayed and probably heartbroken.  Her children about to be bereft of a mother who is going to be stoned. Knowing the consequences were she to be discovered, she has chosen to follow her heart, go with her passions and risk everything.  Yes there were two people involved. But the Bible story doesn't tell us what happened to him.  It focuses on her and wha...

 You dont know theres a piece missing until the very end. Ive been doing jigsaws. Purchased from charity shops - which is always just a tad risky because theres always a chance that they aren't complete. And you don't discover that until the very last minute.  Then theres that annoying moment when you realised there are four or five spaces to fill and only three or four pieces left in the box.  And the picture you've spent ages constructing will be forever incomplete. I was thinking about this last night as I came to the end of the puzzle Id been doing and realised that there was one piece missing.  I checked on the floor and in the box in the hope that it might be hiding somewhere . But it wasnt.  There was another thing I noted about this jigsaw  - despite it being a really busy, complicated picture it was relatively easy to do.  The pictures with not much going on -sea and sky and fields -are the really tricky ones to complete. What's the point? I h...

 All three of my babies were overdue. Sam and Josh were both 10 days over, Ben was four I think. Those overdue days were the longest days of my life.  Somehow when you are waiting for something as important and thrilling as a birth every second longer that your pregnancy goes on feels like eternity Now I am sitting beside my Mum as I wait for her to die. And the same feelings are here. I know it is going to happen and I dont know when.  Every change heralds one step closer to her last breath. But just as with birth, everyone's dying is different. During the waiting I have been intermittently really busy and then really quiet and peaceful.  Today is a peaceful day. I wrote a poem about it. Recipe for a good death Take one great GP who has been matured in wisdom and kindness Add humour and a good dose of common sense Place in a bed at home and stir gently and consistently allowing air into the mix Generously introduce visitors of all persuasions (the more colourful the...

   Ive been going back and forth to England over the past six months, usually by plane, in an attempt to spend more time with my 84 year old Mum while she is still with us.  Recently someone challenged me to offset my carbon footprint with regards to the flights.  So I had a look into it and discovered that, to the best of my understanding, each return flight Belfast to Luton generates carbon to the tune of 8 trees worth.  Or something like that.  So this autumn Ive collected acorns and conkers and beech nuts and rowan berries and Ive been planting them in the hope that at some point, years down the line, I might have raised a copse or a wooded area to offset all the carbon Ive generated by being alive.  The problem is that acorns and conkers take a long time to germinate and sprout. Im not expecting to know whether any of them will grow at all until next year.  Maybe even the year after that.  So in effect, Im planting them in faith. This ev...

 The Hebrew word which we translate ' government' in  the verse  'and the government shall be upon His shoulders' is apparently only used twice in the OT.  In Isaiah 9:6 and in the following verse.  This surprised me greatly given that large swathes of the OT are given over to kings and their ways of ruling.  I may be wrong, but thats what Strongs concordance tells me and I have no reason to doubt Mr Strong 😀  The government of God gets its own unique word in scripture.  Let's explore...... Rule, dominion, governance. This is the first thing Isaiah 'sees' when he prophesies the coming Messiah.  Dominion is an interesting word because it harks back to Genesis and the instruction God gave to Adam to rule over the earth, tending to it and yet making it conform to his will as its chief gardener.   Adam singularly failed to govern in the way God intended.  Isaiah reminds God's people that He hasnt given up on His original design fo...