Time with God – Glen Miller

This past year I have had the opportunity to travel a lot more than expected, now travelling is something I have loved ever since my first trip to Sri Lanka with BB & DofE almost 20 years ago. But this year each place I have visited I have been exposed to one particular verse in the Bible, unexpectedly and in very different ways, this has allowed me to look at this very well-known verse again with fresh eyes and in a new context.

Back at the New Year this verse was recited to me in Bulgarian, I don’t know any Bulgarian and I didn’t know what verse was at the time, until google translate kicked in to action. But the guy speaking said it like a piece of poetry, that was known off by heart and understood and indeed loved.

The second occasion was in January, during the Skills for King's Badge course as the King's Men look at this verse as part of the devotions time during the course.

The third occasion was during a work trip to South Africa in February, the verse was outlined on the mountain side in African with white stones with a cross standing by.

The verse is John 3 v 16, that so familiar verse that we can say off by heart, that we know so well. But for me these encounters across the word have given me two fresh insights to the God who is in this verse.

Firstly, the God of this verse is not just confined to our local area. He is the God for everyone ‘For God so loved the world’ from Eastern Europe to South Africa and everywhere in between. He is the God of different language, different cultures and different Churches.

Secondly, ‘whoever believes in Him’ the God of this verse has no pre conditions, no standards we must meet, no rules we must adhere to. All we need to do wherever we are in the world, in what ever situation we find ourselves in is believe in His Son for our salvation.

Written by Glen Miller