A wonderfully restful and refreshing few days in the North-East of England – sharing a country cottage in the rolling hills of County Durham with my son’s family – was graced by the constant presence of five doves, who lived happily on the premises.

I couldn’t help applying spiritual lessons from their company, as they were such an integral part of our experience there and really did seem to add extra peace to our holiday.

The owner had left us specific instructions on feeding them, if we felt inclined to do so. Sure enough, they soon welcomed us, fluttering across the garden with their pure white wings outstretched before gently swooping down to our doorstep.

That first sight of them brought to mind the picture of Jesus’ baptism when the Holy Spirit alighted on him as a dove (Matt 3:16), still seen as a worldwide symbol of peace.

As most readers will know, the Bible contains five Books of the Law (the Torah), fulfilled in bodily form by Jesus (Matt 5:17), the Word made flesh, who through the Holy Spirit helps us to keep the Law and even writes it on our hearts as we experience our personal Pentecost (Ezek 36:27).

And I thought of five 'Ps' to sum up the gift of these beautiful birds we had on brief loan – purity, peace, power, provision and permanence, the latter denoting faithfulness because it is said that they mate for life.

On the question of provision, it is true that although we were privileged to provide them with the owner’s daily portion, God is well able to look after them himself (Matt 6:26). And our involvement was also a picture of how sowing seed allows the Spirit to give growth.

Most of all, the doves reminded us of God’s constant presence with his disciples.

Author: Charles Gardner

Two months of virtually no rain starts to feel like a very long time indeed, especially for us Brits who are used to summer wash-outs! Our cities are sweltering while in the countryside, fields are brown, livestock are thirsty and farmers are despairing. Even though thunderstorms are forecast for today, it nevertheless seems timely to stop and consider what Scripture teaches us about times of drought.

1. The Lord, and the Lord alone, is Sovereign over the weather and Provider of all our needs. The whole Creation obeys His voice – the rain-clouds and the sun as much as the wind and waves: “To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his…If he holds back the waters, there is drought; if he lets them loose, they devastate the land” (Job 12:13-15).

2. God is calling people to Himself, in love. He allows droughts and famines in order that people might turn back to Him – and this will be even more the case as Messiah’s return draws near (e.g. Matt 24:7; Rev 6:5-6). It is not a rain dance He wants, but for people to recognise their need of Him – both for physical water and for living water for their souls (John 4:1-26; Joel 2:12-13).

3. Droughts reveal the condition of our hearts, making us uncomfortable and testing how we respond (see also Deut 8:15-16). They are intended to humble us and make us fear God, who has the power to destroy both body and soul in the fires of hell – but who would prefer to take loving care of people, if they would let Him (e.g. Hos 13:4-6).

4. Droughts are a picture of our own spiritual barrenness. Solomon, in his wisdom, recognised that such events are intended by God to make each person “aware of the afflictions of his own heart” (1 Kings 8:35-40). The Lord is our only source of life, wholeness and blessing; indeed, several times in Scripture the Word of the Lord is compared to water (e.g. Isa 55:10-11), with its lack being like a famine or great thirst (Amos 8:11-12).

“O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” (Psalm 63:1)

5. In times of drought, the Lord takes care of those who are truly His own, warning them ahead of time and making provision for them (e.g. Gen 41-42:2; Ruth 1; 1 Kings 17; Acts 11:27-30). This is also the case spiritually, for the Lord promises to satisfy every thirsty soul that comes to Him (e.g. Isa 55:1-2; Matt 5:6), even in the midst of a spiritually parched land.

“The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the Lord will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.” (Isa 41:17)

With such wonderful promises in mind, let us worship the Lord afresh, even if the crops fail and the ground produces no food (Hab 3:17-18). For:

“blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8)

Author: Frances Rabbitts

In 1957, like every other child in Monmouthshire entering secondary school, I was presented with a Bible, a gift from the Monmouthshire Education Committee. On the fly-leaf was an encouragement to use the Bible throughout my life as a guide in all things.

Four years earlier, at her Coronation, our Queen was presented with a Bible as her source of wisdom for her reign.

Those were the days! Our decline as a nation has been accompanied by our neglect of the millions of Bibles that are still available on the bookshelves of the nation.

I have a copy of The American Patriot’s Bible, a gift from a friend when my wife and I returned back to the UK after our few years in the USA. This contains wonderful reminders of how the Bible was central to the lives of many presidents and other leaders, and referred to at significant times in the nation’s history. Throughout the Patriot’s Bible are quotations from various historic speeches and statements that relate to the passages of the Bible where they appear.

For example, opposite Genesis 1 is a record of the time when the first manned space-flight to circle the moon sent a message back to earth on Christmas Eve 1968. The three astronauts, Borman, Lovell and Anders, gave a live broadcast accompanied by pictures of the moon and earth from space. Before the flight a NASA official had said to Borman, “We figure more people will be listening to your voice than that of any man in history. So we want you to say something appropriate.”

Towards the end of their broadcast, William Anders said, “We are now approaching lunar sunrise and, for all people back on the earth, the Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send you. ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…’”. Anders, followed by Lovell and Borman shared in the entire reading of Genesis 1:1-9, ending with “...And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering together of the waters called he seas, and God saw that it was good”, before signing off with “A Merry Christmas – and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth.”

How wonderful, and how wonderful are the things that God has done for us in the UK too, over many years. Let us remember them together at this time of crisis in our nation.

It reminds me of the time when Malachi needed to stir up the captives who had returned to Judah at the time of Nehemiah and Ezra. “Those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened to them and heard them, so a book of remembrance was written before Him” (Mal 3:16).

Author: Dr Clifford Denton