All posts by Gwenyth

I live on the outskirts of Whangarei, the northernmost city in New Zealand. I enjoy many things, ( writing amongst them), have been married to Keith for sixty-one years, have three married daughters, nine grandchildren and seventeen great- grandchildren who are scattered in various countries. No cats and no dogs as they would cramp our life-style.. We are obviously retired, but were farming further north before moving to the town over thirty-five years ago. We attend one of the local churches across the same side of town that we live.
Morning Musings

Doing God’s Work.

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 Man TalkingWe heard recently of an itinerant preacher who had been moving around among churches teaching that simply to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Bible teaches, is not enough for a person to become a Christian. The part of the verse that was quoted as teaching this, says…. “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12-13) The next verse goes on to say that “it is GOD who works in you to do His good pleasure”, so we can see from this that the works referred to are nothing to do with what we can do, but what God chooses to do through us!

The man telling us this story had worked with building fibreglass boats for many years, and he pointed out that when working with fibreglass, it will stay ready to use in its container while it is untouched, for many months. To make it work, it must  have a catalyst added to it, and then it begins to do its job. In the same way, a person who repents of his sin, receives the Holy Spirit and then can begin to work for the Lord.

But if we slip up and go back into our old ways, we grieve the Holy Spirit , and He then cannot do His work through us….it is as though a neutralizer has been added to the mix and the fibreglass mixture is good for nothing.

In our lives it is the times when we miss our daily Bible reading and get too busy to go to church, that we get cold in heart and we become good for nothing as far as our work for the Lord goes. God cannot use someone who is too busy to keep in touch with Him. It is HIS work that counts, not ours! Let’s take this as our challenge for this month and sort ourselves out!

Random Devotional Thoughts

What Next?

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LILYOur young friend has gone. Cancer is a cruel thing, asking no pardon but taking its allotted course. There are no “beg your pardons” for the pain it causes, both the physical pain and the mental and emotional pain of those who are left behind. No-one expects to see their grand-son born, married and then attend his funeral. Likewise the pain of seeing your son born, grow up, and then going through the trauma and pain of caring for him while an all pervading tumour gradually takes him away. We cannot imagine the pain of seeing your young husband of less than two years being in so much pain and gradually fading away, getting weaker and weaker, then not knowing you and eventually having to watch him taken from you.

We know that God’s ways are perfect, but that doesn’t lessen the grief and loneliness when the funeral service is all over. We can only hold onto Him and trust Him for the future knowing that He can see the end from the beginning..

Morning Musings

Choices!

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petee006   Another year has begun. Whether we like it or not, 2016 has gone for ever. For some it is a relief to be able to turn our backs on what has gone on last year, while others will have had a relatively good year with no disasters or bad news to rock their boat.

One thing is certain, no-one knows what is going to happen in this brand-new year of 2017….  but we DO know one thing, we are going to have to make many choices as this year proceeds. Some of us will make choices on the spur of the moment that will affect us for the rest of our lives; others will think  more carefully before making their choices. Some will be forced into making hard choices and ones they would sooner not have to consider, while others will be looking forwards eagerly to the result of their choices that have perhaps already been made, or that they hope they will be making.

Whatever we face, let us always remember that there is One who knows the end from the beginning. He has told us to ask Him for His wisdom in making our choices, and He will give it to us liberally and freely  (James 1:5-6). We are also told that we must give thanks for the answer we get when making our requests….it may not be what we want, but it will be for the best in the long run. God will give us His peace if we leave the answer to Him (Philippians 4:6-7). Finally, we are told that if we delight in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart.  This is because our desires will then become what He desires for us! (Psalm 37:3-5) .

Have you noticed that in each of these Bible references, there are conditions to God’s promises in helping us to make our choices the right choices? We have to ask, give thanks for the answer, and delight in what He gives us! Let’s make sure that we take these thoughts with us as we move on into the New Year!

 

 

 

Random Devotional Thoughts

God Knows.

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 lily                                                     “As for God, His way is perfect” (2 Samuel 22:31)….this thought has been running around in my head ever since hearing that a young friend had an inoperable brain tumour. A godly young man, newly married, with the promise of a life to serve God all his days, to be struck down like this! We do not understand the ways of God. We are told that His ways are not our ways and His thoughts not our thoughts  (Isaiah 55:8-9).

We know that we are told to pray earnestly and in company of others seeking the same thing, but we have to remember that God is Sovereign…each one of us belong to Him and He has control over us….we cannot demand things of Him, even when our wishes seem to line up with Scripture. Our times are in His hands…everything we have has come from Him, and we are to hold them lightly, not grasping them and saying, “They are mine!” We have to be thankful for the good things we have and have had in the past, and be ready to yield them up to the One who gave them to us.

It is so hard to know what to say to the family concerned that will be a comfort to them. They know all the Scriptures, they have faith that God can and does heal at times, but there are many godly people who have had to watch their loved ones slip away leaving them bereft… they have only God to turn to then and He can be more precious to them than ever.

What more can be said? We can only say in our prayers the words of our Lord Jesus….”Oh my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as You will!”  (Matthew 26:39)

Uncategorized

The Arrival of God’s Promised One

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Luke 2:1-7; (Matthew 2:1-23)

baby-in-manger-a   The old Testament prophecies had said that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, and  yet Mary and Joseph were living in Nazareth, many  miles to the north. How would this come about? Even unbelieving rulers are moved by God to perform His purposes, and we see this happening here….

All the population of Israel had received notice from the Roman Caesar  that they were to return to their birthplace and register for a census. Joseph was born in Bethlehem, so he and Mary packed up and prepared for the long trip on foot from Nazareth to Bethlehem. We are all familiar with the pictures of Mary riding on a donkey and Joseph walking beside here, but we must remember that Mary was a fit young woman, and that she would have walked a good part of the way if not all the way. The Bible doesn’t tell us how they actually travelled, only that they got there. There were obviously many travellers reaching Bethlehem  for the same purpose and all the accommodation was full when they arrived.

Matthew and Luke give us the accounts of the birth, while the other two Gospels present Jesus to us as a grown man beginning His ministry. While some might say that the Bible is contradicting itself, yet we can see how these two accounts dovetail together perfectly to give us the full picture. Matthew shows us how the Old Testament prophecies are all fulfilled in this Child, with three  mentions of entirely different places that God’s Son would come from…Bethlehem, Egypt and Nazareth  (Matthew 2:1-6, 14-15,23). Matthew tells of the wise men from the east (please note there is no mention of how many wise men there were!), and we can see how these three types of gifts that they brought would have provided the means for them to stay in Egypt. Luke gives more intimate details of how the Baby was born and how Mary wrapped him in the clothes she had brought with her, and how He was put into a cattle feeding trough (manger) for a bed….note that He was NOT born in the manger as so many people, even preachers, say!

Jesus Christ the Highest One, Came to earth, God’s well loved Son,    Took on Him  the lowliest place , So man could see the Father’s face.

Stories for Teens

Books!

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Sarah was curled up on the couch doing chld259what she liked best…. reading!  It didn’t matter to her if all her Christmas presents were square parcels, every book she got was a friend! It didn’t matter if it was an old fashioned book like Anne of Green Gables or if it was a modern one written by Rosie Boom. She loved them all and would read them over and over again.

Bobby couldn’t have cared less about books. “Books!” he would say scornfully, “Who wants to read a book!  We have enough of them at school!”

Uncle Jeff came into the room one day in time to hear him say this. “What’s this you are saying Bobby?” he asked, “What do you think is better than a book, hey?”

“I like doing things,” Bobby said, “Things like pressing buttons and watching a screen. There are so many things you can do with an I-Pad!”  He heaved a big sigh.

“But you are allowed to use Mum’s I-Pad for a bit every day, aren’t you?” asked Uncle Jeff, “What’s wrong with that?”                                  “But that’s only if we have earned good points”, said Bobby, “It’s so hard to earn good points. You have to be good ALL the time or you lose some! If I had my own I-Pad, I could play with it all the time!”

“Do you think that playing with the I-Pad all the time would make you good?” asked Uncle Jeff.                                                                              “Well, I wouldn’t have time to be naughty”, said Bobby, “I’d be too busy playing with it. Bang,bang, shoot ‘em all dead!”

“Do you think that it’s a good idea to fill your mind with those sort of things?” asked Uncle Jeff.

Bobby wriggled uncomfortably. “Well, no, I s’pose not”, he said.

“You know it wouldn’t hurt you to read a book now and then”, said Uncle Jeff, “It’s surprising what you learn from reading a good story!  Did you know that God has books too?”

“No, does He really?” asked Bobby.

“Yes, He does, and everything we say, do, or think is written down in one of His books!”

“Ooh, that’s scary!” Bobby said, “You mean EVERYTHING that we say or think is written down?”

“Yes, and there’s another book called the Book of Life that God has written in too…He writes in the names of everyone who loves the Lord Jesus”.   (Revelation 20:12)

“I love Jesus!” Betty piped up.

Sarah stirred herself on the couch, and sat up. “Yes”, she said, “and that book was written before the world was made wasn’t it Uncle Jeff!”

“That is true Sarah,” Uncle Jeff said, “So you see Bobby, books are very  important, not only to read, but also to write. We each one have to make sure  that our names are written in God’s book. Just being good  isn’t enough.  We have to tell God we are sorry for the naughty things we’ve done, and then we’ll know our names are there. So you see  Bobby, books are very important!”

Grandma's Stories, Stories for Teens

Taking Verses out of Context.

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kids008“Brrrm, brrrm, bang, bang”, Bobby cried as he ran through the living room waving his arms as though he were flying.

“Bobby! Whatever are you doing that for?” Mum called out over Bobby’s noise.

“I can do anything!” Bobby said as he flopped down on the couch.

“What do you mean, you can do anything?” Mum asked, “I can tell you one thing, you aren’t to make so much noise when you come flying in here like that!”

“Well, that’s what the preacher told us about yesterday at church….he said we could do anything through Christ who give us strength”, Bobby said picking up a cushion and using it as a shield.

“Did not!” Sarah said, “It just shows how much you weren’t listening to what he DID say!”

“Well, what did he say then?” Bobby said a little sulkily.

“He said we weren’t to take a verse out of its context and make a rule about it like you did just then,” Sarah said, “He said that that verse you just said, has to be read with all the. other verses ahead and behind it”.      

“Oh!” said Bobby somewhat crestfallen, “Well, what does ‘contect’ mean anyway?”

“Context!” Sarah corrected, “It means you have to read all the verses around the one you like, and then see what makes sense!”

Mum was listening and smiling as Sarah went on with her explanation. She knew that Sarah had got the real sense of what the preacher had been talking about.

“All the verses before that one are talking about being content with what we have got”, Sarah went on. “We are not to want what other people have, and it’s not always easy to be like that!”

“Ho, ho,” said Bobby, “What about that latest model phone like the one that Michaela has that you were wanting? Huh?”

“Well, I know that,” Sarah said, “I know I have to be satisfied with the one I’ve got, and it is only the Lord Jesus who can give me the strength to be like that! That’s right, isn’t it Mum?”

“Yes, that is exactly what the preacher was saying”, Mum said, “And I’m glad that you’ve made sense out of what he was saying Sarah, because you will find lots of times you will need to remember that or you will be unhappy or jealous of other people if they have things that you haven’t got. Now Bobby, ” she went on, “You just pick up your wings and fly outside to do your chores….you will have plenty of strength to do that!”

“Brrm, brrm”, said Bobby as he got up and ran outside still making aeroplane noises as he went.

Daily Devotionals

Devotional Thoughts from Psalm Seventy-Seven

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The Weeping  Man

I cried aloud to God on High, He heard my call and every sigh,

I felt that things were most unfair, I was bowed down with all my care,

I felt that God forgot me then, I was the most miserable of men!

But as I thought what God had done, I remembered vict’ries won,

I meditated on His ways, And thought of all His grace always;

He has given salvation free, And pours the rain upon the sea,

As thunder comes from heaven above, He gives all things in His great love.

How often we feel like this! This is what makes the book of Psalms so relevant for us today….those who wrote it had the same feelings of despair and being downcast as we do today. The human heart is still the same. We often forget that when we read of these people of old times what their feelings would have been as they surveyed their surroundings and circumstances. But when we remember what God did back then, we know that He is still the God of miracles and encouragement. Our current attitudes depend entirely on ourselves….are we going to wallow in our misery, or are we going to praise God for our blessings? It all depends on us!