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Make retirement the best years of your life What’s good about being retired? This highly accessible guide will help you to see retirement in a positive light and retire happy with days full of creativity and meaning.

David Winter covers various facets that make for a fulfilling retirement including the financial, emotional, spiritual, transitional and practical aspects – and his reallife case studies and stimulating writing make for highly positive and encouraging reading.

A great gift – for yourself or others!

Quiet Time Links of compassion descended from heaven’s throne with an anchor for us amidst life’s storms of sin and sorrow, fear and failure, loss and loneliness.

That anchor is, and ever will be, Christ’s costly, compassionate cross of salvation.

Love’s anchor holds.

Susan Lenzkes © 2011

The Highway Code for Retirement

by David Winter 112-page paperback, 111x208mm ISBN: 978-1-85345-668-8 £6.99

Help children understand the meaning of Easter Denzil the Pencil is concerned because his garden has died now that winter has come.

However, he learns that spring will bring new life to his garden; and he also discovers that Jesus too came back to life after dying for us – the truth we celebrate at Easter.

A colourful short story followed by seven days of Bible readings, thoughts and prayers based on the final week of Jesus’ life on earth.

Pens Easter – Special Edition

by Alexa Tewkesbury 32-page paperback, 148x148mm ISBN: 978-1-85345-652-7 £2.49

Make any age the time of your life!

Teach children to help people who have no home

This charming book of 52 modern-day parables, personal stories, poems and reflections from the author of As Time Goes By will challenge and inspire faith in both young and old alike.

Jack has a new bed and his Uncle Oliver is going to take his old one to the tip.

The next day however Jack sees a homeless man who doesn’t have a comfy bed to sleep in, and his mum encourages Jack to donate to the local homeless shelter.

Marie’s memories will resonate with those who are older, and younger readers will gain insight and learn important truths of life.

Jack’s old bed never makes it to the tip, because his uncle finds a much better place for it to go, and Jack meets someone there whom he never expected to see.

Simple prayers will help you to draw nearer to the God we will meet face-to-face in eternity.

‘Marie Kane-Dudley has a way of painting something profound, of stirring the emotions and the affections, with just a handful of well-placed words.’

Rev Simon Ponsonby, Pastor of Theology, St Aldates Church, Oxford The Time of Your Life

by Marie Kane-Dudley 140-page hardback, 147x187mm ISBN: 978-1-85345-682-4 £9.99

Includes guidelines for parents and teachers plus information about the homeless charity Emmaus Trust and other organisations which help homeless people.

Old Bed, New Bed

by Linda Clist 32-page paperback, 178x178mm ISBN: 978-1-85345-667-1 £5.99

Prices correct at time of printing and exclusive of p&p

Available online at www.cwr.org.uk/store or call +44 (0)1252 784710. Also available from Christian bookshops

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MAR/APR 201 2

The Stormbreaker ‘In this world you will have trouble.

But take heart! I have overcome the world.’

John 16:33

Selwyn Hughes Revised and updated by Mick Brooks Further Study: Ian Sewter © CWR 2011. Dated text previously published as Every Day with Jesus: The Divine Anchorage (March/April 1993) by CWR. This edition revised and updated for 2012 by Mick Brooks.

CWR, Waverley Abbey House, Waverley Lane, Farnham, Surrey GU9 8EP, UK Tel: 01252 784700 Email: mail@cwr.org.uk Registered Charity No. 294387. Registered Limited Company No. 1990308.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of CWR. Unless otherwise stated all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. © International Bible Society.

Extract in ‘A Word of Introduction’ (see over): Adm. by worshiptogether.com songs excl. UK & Europe, adm. by Kingswaysongs, a division of David C Cook tym@kingsway.co.uk Cover image: Getty/Photographers’ Choice/Aaron Foster Quiet Time image: istockphoto.com/Vladimir Blinov Printed in England by Linney Print

Every Day with Jesus is available in large print from CWR. It is also available on audio and DAISY in the UK and Eire for the sole use of those with a visual impairment worse than N12, or who are registered blind. For details please contact Torch Trust for the Blind, Tel: 01858 438260.

Torch Trust for the Blind, Torch House, Torch Way, Northampton Road, Market Harborough, LE16 9HL.

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A word of

ıntroduction …

I

n the UK, Easter is marked by an extended, Bank Holiday weekend. Many people take advantage of this break to escape to warmer climes or to complete long overdue DIY projects. And then there are all the Easter traditions. Different countries, cultures and communities have their own customs – from dousing each other with water to flying kites; from egg rolling to egg hunting and eating!

Yet amidst the frenetic activity, and even with a packed programme of church events, I fear that I have become too familiar with the Easter story itself, that awe-inspiring moment when eternity broke into time. And it was so much more than a one-off event in history – its effects reverberate today and will do so forever. The cross of Jesus is more than just a place of peace and refuge; Christ endured the cross that we might truly live.

This issue of Every Day with Jesus focuses entirely on the cross, and my prayer for us all in the coming months is best summed up in the words of this song:

May I never lose the wonder, the wonder of the cross.

May I see it like the first time, standing as a sinner lost.

Undone by mercy and left speechless watching wide-eyed at the cost, May I never lose the wonder, the wonder of the cross.1 May we never lose the wonder of the cross.

Sincerely yours, in His name Mick Brooks Consulting Editor Free small-group resources to accompany this issue can be found at www.cwr.org.uk/extra 1. Vicky Beeching, extract from ‘The Wonder of the Cross’, copyright © 2007 Thankyou Music. See title page for full details.

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Three days long ago

Thurs 1 Mar

For reading and meditation – 1 Corinthians 15:1–11

‘... Christ died for our sins ... he was buried ... he was raised on the third day ...’ (vv.3–4)

O

ur theme to cover this Easter season is centred on the events that happened to Jesus during those three momentous days in Jerusalem long ago. Over the years, I have looked at the Easter story from many different perspectives, and the one I have chosen on this occasion is to explore it as providing us with the anchor points we need to hold us fast in the midst of life’s storms.

The idea came to me while reading Max Lucado’s book Six Hours One Friday, in which he tells of several young men who were spending a few days’ vacation on a houseboat on the Miami River in Florida. On the radio they Further heard that a hurricane – Hurricane David – was Study about to devastate their area, so they set about the task of tying the houseboat to some trees that Acts 2:22–24,41; skirted the bank. An experienced sailor came by 17:22–34 and said: ‘Tying your houseboat to the land is not 1. What was going to help. The wind will whip the trees out the focus of of their sockets and you will be in trouble. Your Peter and Paul’s only hope is to anchor deep. Put out anchors in all messages? directions, leave the rope slack ... and pray.’ They 2. What were did as he suggested and, fortunately for them, the results? when Hurricane David was 30 minutes away, it took a different turn and missed them.

The chances are that many reading these lines are caught in a storm, or are about to be, and so it is absolutely imperative that you anchor your life to the cross and resurrection. In those three days God provided some anchor points that will, if you know how to use them, hold you safe and secure in any storm. Three days. Not long enough for a man to build a house, but long enough for God to lay down some points to which you can hook your anchors and ride out every storm.

My Father and my God, may the wonder of all that You did for me at Calvary and the resurrection come home afresh to me as I contemplate once again the Easter story. Give me a new glimpse of Your glory I pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Fri 2 Mar

Fixed!

For reading and meditation – Psalm 112:1–10

‘... a righteous man will ... have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.’ (vv.6–7)

W

e continue thinking about the cross and resurrection as providing us with the anchor points we need to hold us fast in the midst of life’s storms and difficulties.

The Easter story can be looked at from many angles, and those who have been reading Every Day with Jesus for some years will recollect that I have commented on the events that we celebrate at this season in many different ways. This time, however, I feel impressed to view the cross and resurrection not from a theological perspective alone (there will be something of that), but as a bedrock to which we can attach our anchors when the tidal waves Further Study of adversity roll over us. ‘There is nothing that can turn black and white theology into technicolour,’ Psa. 42:1–11; says one writer, ‘as much as problems.’

Isa. 4:2–6 Some years ago I got caught in a personal storm 1. Describe the when my wife died after years of suffering with emotions of cancer. There was no time to sit and philosophise the psalmist. on the mystery of pain and suffering. No time 2. Where is our to meditate on the great truths, such as the refuge in the sovereignty of God. There was time only to drop storms of life? the anchors, sit tight, and hope they would hold. I am glad to tell you they did.

I wonder, am I talking now to someone who is in the midst of a spiritual storm – or perhaps just about to enter one? Naturally, you want to know that when you drop your anchors they will fasten to some solid point. If an anchor point is not found then it is possible that the hull of your heart will be splintered. I tell you with all the conviction of which I am capable that when you understand what God did for you on that first Easter, never again will your anchors drag through the sand. You will be fixed to the things that are fixed!

O God, unveil to my understanding the significance of those three days long ago so that I might be able to drop my anchors into the depths of the encouraging and reassuring revelation. This I ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Calvary – a fixed point

Sat 3 Mar

For reading and meditation – Acts 27:27–38

‘Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors ... and prayed for daylight.’ (v.29)

Y

esterday we ended with a thought – be fixed to the things that are fixed. Permit me to follow that idea a little further. Mariners know that when a strong wind threatens to batter their boat against the rocks, the best thing to do is not to prevaricate, but to drop anchor. And the best anchor points are the ones that are sunk deeply in solid bedrock. A boat (or ship) may be held steady in a calm sea by simply dropping the anchor into the sand, but when the wind escalates to gale or hurricane force then the anchor needs to grip something more solid and secure.

We see from our passage today that when the Further boat on which the apostle Paul was sailing was Study about to be dashed on the rocks, the crew did not just hope for the best, but ‘dropped four anchors 1 Cor. 10:1–4; ... and prayed for daylight’. They knew that when Heb. 6:13–20 the anchors gripped something strong and solid, 1. How is Christ the boat would be able to ride out the storm. They described? were fixed to the things that were fixed. This is 2. What is an what we must learn to do when, with titanic fury, ‘anchor of the storms of life break upon us – we must hold the soul’? fast to the things that are fixed.

The cross is a fixed point; an anchor point sunk in solid bedrock. The gospel is not the invention of the last century; it is the message once delivered to the saints, and for 2,000 years men and women have found it to hold them fast.

Many a storm has beaten upon it. There have been dark ages in which only a few have fastened themselves to it, and multitudes perished because they passed it by. Still it stands! Still it serves! And those who cast their anchor at its base will, as the Scripture says, ‘never be put to shame’ (1 Pet. 2:6).

O Father, my spirit responds with joy to the truth that no matter what storms may sweep into my life, I have a safe and secure anchor point in Calvary’s cross. All honour and glory be to Your name for ever. Amen.

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