In my daily readings today, the following verse reminds us of the need for whole-hearted living: ‘The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.’ (2 Chron 16:9) It’s very encouraging to know that God is ‘constantly on the lookout’ (as the Message version puts it) for people who are totally committed to Him.

There are a number of aspects to whole-hearted living. We are encouraged to do the following things ‘with all your heart’:

1. Love the Lord (Deut 6:4-5; Matt 22:36-38)
2. Trust the Lord (Prov 3:5)
3. Obey the Lord (Ps 119:34, 69; 1 Chron 29:19)
4. Praise the Lord (Ps 111:1, Ps 138:1)
5. Work for the Lord (Neh 4:6; Col 2:23)
6. Seek the Lord (Deut 4:29; Jer 29:13)

That’s enough to keep us going for a while!

With the Dearne Community Arts’ Festival less than two weeks away, it’s perhaps not surprising that my thoughts are on crafty things lately like mosaics and embroidery! When I was at school, the subject I hated the most (because I was no good at it!) was sewing or embroidery. I could never see well enough to thread needles and the sewing machine I had to use seemed all wrong to me, being left-handed. I lacked the patience to persevere with these skills and always ended up with work which would be tangled and messy and need unpicking and re-working.

I loved to look at embroidery that was done well. Tablecloths and cushion covers at my grandparents’ house were inevitably embroidered, and I would marvel at the neatness of the stitches I saw. Tapestry and cross-stitch both fascinated me and I would gaze for hours on wall-hangings in museums, taking in the intricate detail which I was unable to reproduce in any of the kits I tried! If you’re interested, Pat Harris & Ralph Fletcher from church are exhibiting their cross-stitch, hardanger and tapestries and these are beautiful works to see.

Just as God is described as a potter and builder, so too He is a weaver and embroiderer. He takes different colours, different strands, and weaves them into the fabric of our lives. When viewed from our limited earthly perspective, the picture looks like the ‘wrong’ side of an embroidered piece, with tangled threads, hastily-tied knots and lumpy, bumpy sewing! But God is not working from the limited perspective we have. He is working out eternal purposes. He is shaping us for eternity. The work isn’t finished yet, and the picture can’t yet be fully comprehended. But we should not be discouraged, for He is infinitely patient and doesn’t give up on us!

I have been meditating on brokenness lately, and that usually leads me to thinking about mosaics. At the school where I work, the art teacher runs a session for pupils on mosaics, using coloured paper rather than glass or stones for the mosaics they make. I’m constantly amazed by the pupils’ ingenuity and skill in using the tiny pieces and making them into a beautiful picture.

Most mosaics are made of small, flat, roughly square, pieces of stone or glass of different colours, known as tesserae. Some, especially floor mosaics, are made of small rounded pieces of stone, and called “pebble mosaics”. Other materials used include beads and shells. They are often found on floors and walls and were one of the earliest forms of decorative art.

What fascinates me about mosaics is how something which is broken into tiny, apparently meaningless pieces can become something beautiful, telling a story that is much bigger than its composite parts. The picture below tells the story of Ulysses and was probably made in the 2nd century A.D.

Our lives can often seem broken, our control of situations smashed by circumstances, our security and happiness devastated by life, as the story of Job demonstrates. Yet the Bible firmly declares that God is able to make something beautiful out of brokenness and is able to restore our broken, shattered pieces into a picture that is breath-taking in its beauty. In the fine detail of a mosaic, it may be hard to see the overall picture, but we have to rest in the fact that God sees the overall picture and is working on our lives, even when we cannot see His hand or feel His presence.

Because of holidays, we had a lot of birthdays to catch up on yesterday!

Aaron Shust has captured in his song ‘You Redeem’ so many of the points made in tonight’s service.

‘Poverty loses its grip.
Race can no longer divide.
Wherever Your Spirit is,
Every darkness dies.
Freedom is here with us.
Burdens will fall like chains.
Beauty will rise from the dust
All that’s lost will be regained.

You redeem, You redeem
You restore what’s been stolen from me.
You reclaim, You releasem
You rebuild with the words that You breathe.
You redeem.

Mercy will pour down like rain.
Justice will come for the weak.
Lies that were meant to defame
Will be crushed by the the truth that You speak.

Miracles will happen.
Healing will come.
The plans of our enemy ruined undone.
Miracles will happen.
Healing will come.
Here in your presence, lost in Your Love.
Miracles will happen.
Healing will come.
The plans of our enemy ruined undone.
Miracles will happen.
Healing will come.
Wrecked by Your presencem I’m lost in Your Love.

You redeem, You redeem.
You restore what’s been stolen from me.
You reclaim, You release
You rebuild with the words that You breathe
You redeem, You redeem.
Let Your revival awaken me.
You reclaim, You release.
You rebuild what’s been broken in me.
You redeem.
You redeem.’

God is all about restoring us to relationship with Him and giving us new life, strength, spirit, hope and joy. He is our Redeemer, the One who has bought us back and given us the freedom to walk according to the law of the Spirit instead of the law of sin and death. (Rom 8:1-4) He wants us to reclaim all that He has made freely available, to be released from the negative impact of sin, to walk in newness of life and be rebuilt according to the image of His precious Son, Jesus Christ.

Redemption

God is a God of redemption, a God who redeems. To redeem means to regain possession of something, something that you originally had and lost possession of. There’s usually a payment involved in that redemption, so redeeming also has the idea of ‘buying back.’ Redemption is one of the great Christian words, featuring in the Old Testament (see Ex 6:6, Lev 25:29, Ruth 3-4, Job 19:25, Ps 19:14, Is 41:14, Ps 103:4, Ps 130:8) and the New Testament (Col 1:14, Eph 1:7), showing us that Jesus is our Redeemer. Because of sin, our relationship with God has been fractured and so through Christ’s sacrifice, we have been bought back (Gal 3:13, 1 Pet 1:18-19) and that relationship has been restored.

Reclaim

All the privileges of being sons and daughters of the living God which were lost when Adam sinned can be regained; as Aaron Shust puts it, ‘All that’s lost can be regained.’ (‘You Redeem’) Redemption and restoration enable us to receive forgiveness and wholeness. Instead of being banished from the Garden of Eden, cast out from God’s presence, we can know intimacy and fellowship with God.

David’s recapture of all that was stolen from him at Ziklag (1 Sam 30) gives us a picture of what Jesus has done for us. David was able to recover everything the Amalekites had taken. He was able to reclaim all that had been stolen from him. Nothing was missing; David brought everything back. Despite the heartache, despite the distress they had all known, David was able to recover everything. This is a picture of what Jesus has done for us. The enemy is a thief and a liar. (Jn 8:44, Jn 10:10) He seeks only to destroy, to steal from us all that God has made freely available to us in Jesus Christ. As God’s children, we now have access to all the riches and inheritance that God has given to His beloved Son. (Eph 1:18, Heb 9:15, Gal 5:1)

Release

As we let go of everything that hinders us and the sin that so easily entangles us, we can enter into the freedom of blessing and the wholeness which a relationship with Jesus can bring. God promises peace which passes all understanding to guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:7) He promises provision for all our needs: ‘my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.’ (Phil 4:19) He promises us unquenchable joy – joy that is complete and which cannot be taken away from us. (John 15:11, John 16:22) In order for us to access these promises, however, we have to release all that is not of God and cast our cares on Him (1 Pet 5:7). We also have to accept the divine exchange God offers us. (Is 61:1-3)

Rebuild

Rebuilding can be a long process (as we discovered when we moved into Market Street), but the Bible is full of building projects: Moses supervising the building of the Tabernacle; Solomon supervising the building of the temple; Nehemiah supervising the rebuilding of the city walls following exile; Haggai prophesying about the rebuilding of the temple after that time. Jesus spoke about the wise and foolish builders (Matt 7:24-27) and Paul reminded the Corinthians of the need to build on good foundations (1 Cor 3:10-15). God ultimately rebuilds our lives through the words that He speaks (see Heb 1:3, Deut 32:47, John 6:63, 68).

Renew

The work of renewing is ongoing and is for everyone. It’s for the newest Christian; it’s for the oldest; it’s for everyone in between. Isaiah tells us that those who wait on the Lord, who hope in the Lord, will renew their strength. (Is 40:31) The book of Ruth promises us, ‘He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age.’ (Ruth 4:5) David prayed for God to renew a steadfast spirit within him. (Ps 51:10) Paul urged us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. (Rom 12:2) and told us to put on the new self which is daily being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. (Col 3:10) Holy Spirit renewal is available to each one of us (Titus 3:5), even when we feel as though we are weak and fading: ‘Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.’ (2 Cor 4:16)

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the flourish by which God announces to us that all things can be made new and that He is doing a new thing which will reverse all the curses of the Fall.