Ruth Chesney

It’s almost Valentine’s Day! This is the time of year when in every supermarket and shopping centre, and even online, we are bombarded with red and pink hearts, Cupids and flowers. The promoted message is that if people really love each other, they will purchase this gigantic bouquet of roses, that heart-shaped box of chocolates, and the cuddly teddy bear, then present all of the above at an extravagant romantic dinner for two. While the shops are only concerned with good sales figures, their basic message that love and giving are linked is actually true. When someone loves you, they want to make you happy. They will sacrifice for you. It doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll wipe their bank account clean to buy a gourmet meal and a dozen roses. It may mean simply setting aside some time to spend together, helping with the washing up, cooking a favourite meal. You know that someone loves you when they give. Who loves you the most? Your husband or wife? Your mum or dad? Grandparent? A specia...

¿Alguna vez has escuchado a alguien decir que la Biblia es un libro relevante y actualizado? y piensas “¡Si, claro! ¡Si es que la Biblia tiene miles de años! ¡Esos hombres no sabían nada de la vida en el 2018 ni el tipo de cosas con las que me enfrento en mi colegio!”. Cierto, la vida en la época de la Biblia era muy diferente a lo que es hoy, pero, aun así, la Biblia es la Palabra de Dios. Recuerda, Dios es eterno – totalmente fuera del tiempo. El dio Su Palabra tanto a las personas que vivían en la época de velas, caballos y carruajes, como a nosotros en esta edad tan moderna. Observa este versículo. Aparta mi vista de cosas vanas, dame vida conforme a tu palabra. Salmo 119:37 NVI No estoy del todo segura qué clase de cosas vanas estarían tentadas a ver las personas en los días del salmista, pero estoy segura que estarán de acuerdo conmigo que hoy en día hay muchas cosas que podríamos llamar “cosas vanas”. De hecho, con el fácil acceso que tenemos al internet, ¡Este versículo cas...

Have you ever heard anyone say that the Bible is a relevant, up-to-date book and think ‘Yeah, right! Sure the Bible is thousands of years old! Those guys knew nothing about life in 2018 and the sort of things I have to face at my school!’? True, life in Bible times was vastly different to what it is today, and yet the Bible is the Word of God. Remember, God is eternal – totally outside of time. He gave His Word for people living in the days of candles and horses and carriages, and every bit as much for us too in this very modern age. Take a look at this verse. Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in Your ways. Psalm 119:37 ESV   I’m not entirely certain what worthless things the people back in the psalmist’s day would have been tempted to look at, but I’m sure you’ll agree that there are many things today that we could certainly call ‘worthless things’! In fact, with our ease of access to the internet, this verse almost seems to be more relevant to our da...

¿Anhelas el año nuevo, dispuesto y listo para los nuevos retos y oportunidades que están por delante? ¿O estás, como yo, algo inquieto y quizás preocupado por lo que te espera y las noticias que puedas recibir antes de finalizar el 2018? Sabemos, por experiencias anteriores, que no todos los años son lo que podríamos llamar un buen año, y sospecho que muchas personas arriban el primero de enero con diferentes medidas de temor. Hace unos días estuve leyendo el Salmo 112, un salmo que nos habla sobre el hombre justo. En el verso siete me detuve repentinamente. “No tendrá temor de malas noticias…”   Malas noticias. ¿No es eso lo que tanto tememos? Noticias de enfermedad, pérdida de trabajo, angustia, fracaso… la lista no tiene fin. ¡Sin embargo, este hombre extraordinario no tiene miedo! ¿Por qué? ¿Porque tiene dinero, un buen doctor e hijos obedientes? “No tendrá temor de malas noticias; Su corazón está firme, confiado en Jehová.”   Su secreto es su confianza en el Señor. T...

Do you look forward to New Year, geared up and ready for new challenges and opportunities ahead? Or are you, like me, apprehensive and maybe a little worried about what might come your way or what news you might hear before this year is over? We know from past experience that not every year is what we’d call a good one, and I have a suspicion that most people approach the first of January with varying measures of trepidation.   Earlier this week I was reading Psalm 112, a psalm about the righteous man. At verse seven, I came to an abrupt stop. ‘He is not afraid of bad news…’   Bad news. Isn’t that what many of us are scared of? News of illness, job loss, bereavement, tragedy, heartache, failure… The list is never ending. Yet this remarkable man isn’t afraid! Why? Because he’s wealthy, has a good doctor, obedient children? ‘He is not afraid of bad news;  his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord .’   His secret is his trust in the Lord. He has a firm, fixed, steady hear...

God is good! I often come across this short phrase on social media, on posts announcing births, engagements, marriages, and for other celebratory occasions. But what does it really mean? What is the person trying to say? The goodness of God is a fact. There are really only two options – good and evil – and anyone who reads their Bible is in no doubt that God is most definitely good. In fact, we wouldn’t be stretching it too far to say that God is the very essence of good, not just that He is good in the way that we might be happy, or sad, or anxious, depending on external circumstances. And it’s this knowledge of His unchanging goodness that makes me stop and pause when I stumble upon this phrase. Interestingly, this exact phrase is used only once in the Bible. It’s in Psalm 73:1. ‘Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.’ Here the psalmist recognises that God rewards those who live uprightly. I’m pretty sure that those who use this phrase are only trying to e...

Appalling. Dreadful. Distressing. Callous. Sickening. All words used in official statements to describe the Manchester bombing earlier this week when twenty-two people lost their lives and many more were injured. The world is reeling from the senseless loss of life, and the manifestation of desperate wickedness in the hearts of men. It has touched many to hear of children and young people killed, and we’ve watched in dread as pleas for information about missing people from distraught relatives have ended in announcements of their death. Tears have been shed, and many more are yet to be shed. So much pain, so much tragedy. A sample of the countless tears shed across this groaning world through all the ages. Wars and genocide. Gang violence and drug wars. Billions killed by man’s inhumanity to man. And, in the numbers, each one an individual with their own story. A bright, ambitious son killed during protests in Venezuela. A beautiful teenage daughter kidnapped and murdered in Mexico. Pa...