Category Archives: Morning Musings

Morning Musings

     My Heart, God’s Home (3)…. The Living Room

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      As  we walked into the living room, we could feel that this room was intimate and comfortable. I liked it. It had a fireplace, overstuffed chairs, a sofa, and a quiet atmosphere. The Lord said to me,  “This is indeed a delightful room. Let us come here often. It is secluded and quiet, and we can fellowship together”      Well, as a young Christian I was thrilled. I couldn’t think of anything I would rather do than have a few minutes with Christ in close companionship. He promised, “I will be here early every morning. Meet me here, and we will start the day together.”      So morning after morning, I would come downstairs to the living room. He would take a book of the Bible from the case, We would open it and read together. He would unfold to me the wonder of God’s saving truths. My heart sang as He shared the love and the grace He had toward me. These were wonderful times.

    However, little by little, under the pressure of many responsibilities, this time began to be shortened. Why, I’m not sure. I thought I was too busy to spend regular time with Christ. This was not intentional, you understand. It just happened that way. Finally, not only was the time shortened, but I began to miss days now and then. Urgent matters would crowd out the quiet times of conversation with Jesus.      I remember one morning rushing downstairs, eager to be on my way. I passed the living room and noticed that the door was open. Looking in, I saw a fire in the fireplace and Jesus was sifting there. Suddenly in dismay I thought to myself, “He is my guest. I invited Him into my heart! He has come as my Saviour and Friend, and yet I am neglecting Him.” I stopped, turned and hesitantly went in, With downcast glance, I said, “Master, forgive me. Have You been here all these mornings?” “Yes,” He said, “I told you I would be here every morning to meet with you. Remember, I love you. I have redeemed you at great cost, I value your fellowship. Even if you cannot keep the quiet time for your own sake, do it for mine,”

     The truth that Christ desires my companionship, that He wants me to be with Him and waits for me, has done more to transform my quiet time with God than any other single fact. Don’t let Christ wait alone in the living room of your heart, but every day find time when, with your Bible and in prayer, you may be together with Him. May it be so.

Morning Musings

My Heart, God’s Home…Whose House?

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     When I said to the Lord,  “Lord, I want this heart of mine, this house of mine,  to be Yours. I  want to have You settle down here and be perfectly at home. Everything I  have belongs to You”.      I was never more sure of anything else in my young life and I have never doubted that He came in  then,  to stay. I have never regretted that decision and I never will.

As it happened, it proved to be many years before I was willing to let Him be truly Master and Lord of everything in my house! But at the beginning I couldn’t wait to show Him around!  After a while, a thought came to me, and I asked Him, “Lord, is there any chance that You would take over the management of the whole house and operate it for me as it should be done?  Would You take the responsibility to keep my life what it ought to be?”

His face lit up as He replied, “I’d love to! That is what I want to do. You cannot be a victorious Christian in your own strength. Let me do it through you and for you. That is the way. But,” He added slowly, “I am just a guest. I have no authority to proceed, since the property is not mine.”     I dropped to my knees, and said, “Lord, I see You have only been a guest and I have been the host. From now on I am going to be the servant. You are going to be the owner and Master.”

    Running as fast as I could to the strongbox, I took out the title deed to the house describing its assets and liabilities, location and situation. I eagerly signed the house over to Him alone for time and eternity.  “Here,” I said. “Here it is, all that I am and have, forever. Now You run the house. I’ll just remain with You as a servant and friend.”

    I didn’t realise how different things would be once Jesus Christ became the owner and made His home in my heart!

Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6:19)

Morning Musings

Near Enough!

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    We were working on a project together, and I was thinking it  was time we were finished. “Well, that’s near enough”, I said as I put my gear down. My brother looked at it, and said, “Near enough is not good enough, Gwenyth, you’ll have to spend a bit more time on it!” Those words have stuck with me for over forty years, and whenever I am tempted to think “Near enough”, they come back to haunt me.

    King Solomon was one who chose what was good, but it was not the best. We would normally think that the fact that he asked for wisdom to rule his people well was a good thing to ask for, but in spite of that, in his older age he stopped trusting the Lord for safety, and used his human reasoning instead. He figured that if he married princesses from the surrounding nations, that their fathers would not attack the land their daughter was in! But there seemed to be more and more of these princesses, and he ended up with “seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. (1 Kings 11:3,4,8)”.     What a warning this is for us! No-one could have had a better start than Solomon did and yet he allowed himself to be swayed by the opinions of others rather than what God had told him. We have to be so careful that we continue to read what God’s Word has to say to us, and to follow what it tells us. Those who we associate with closely, have a greater influence over us than we think.

    We all know the dangers there are in our teenagers keeping company with the wrong crowd, but here was a mature man, and supposedly a very wise man, being swayed by the opinions of his many wives. Instead of him being the leader of his household, he was being led by the women of his household. He could have said his thoughts and actions were “near enough” as far as God was concerned, but they weren’t enough to keep him safe from turning away from the things of God. So you can see that we need to be so awake to the dangers around us and not allow ourselves to be swayed by anything that will take all our thoughts….any game, club, or interest that takes all our time or thoughts needs to be pruned back out of our minds!

  • We need to remember those verses that say we are to love the Lord our God with ALL our heart, with  ALL our soul and with  ALL our strength (Mark 12:30-32). If we feel short of this command of our Lord, then we are to ask Him for the strength to do it! Everything else will fall into the right place after that.
Morning Musings

Don’t Grumble!

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                                                Don’t  Grumble!

    My Bible reading this morning was from the book of Numbers chapter 16, and was the story of how these two men were complaining bitterly about Moses and Aaron, and how they could be far better leaders if they only had the chance!      Moses heard this and was very upset. Not only Moses heard their rantings, but the whole lot of the people did too. So he did what he always did when confronted with a problem he couldn’t deal with….he took it to the Lord. He felt the Lord had to deal with this one as it was beyond him. So he told them to each bring their offering of incense in their hand and come before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle the next morning.     

    They did this, and as many people as could, crowded around to see what was going to happen. God appeared before them all in the cloud of glory, and spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, “Separate yourself from these people so I can destroy them in a moment!”     But Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before the Lord, and said, “Oh no! Will You be angry with ALL the people because of these two men’s complaining?”

“Tell all the people to get away from these two men and those with them”, God said. So the people moved away hastily from them while the two men and their families stood defiant before the Cloud. Moses said to the people, “God is going to deal with these people….if they die an ordinary death, then He has not sent me to be your leader. But if there is an earthquake and they are destroyed, then you will understand that it’s not me they have rejected but it is God Himself!”     He had hardly finished telling them this when there was a great rumbling sound and the ground began to move. The people all backed off in terror while the others still stood their ground. But worse was to come. Not only did the ground shake, but a great split opened up in front of their eyes, and these men and everything they owned fell into it. There was another shake and the ground closed up again and all was quiet.

     It is hard to visualise this scene….one can imagine the people  talking about this for days afterwards! But there were others who also had their offerings of incense in their hands all standing around watching what was happening. They had no business to be handling the incense, that job was only for the priests to do and they all knew that. They were just as guilty as the two leaders had been.

     While they were trying to catch their breath, there suddenly appeared a fire coming out from the Cloud that God was in. It was much quicker than a man could run, and there were two hundred and fifty of them that died with that. God then told the priest to pick up the censers that were being held by these people, and take them away.  

We might ask ourselves why are these stories recorded for us to read today?  We have no concept of the seriousness of sin. We are so surrounded by it, that we don’t even realise when we sin! These two men who started this complaining had no idea of where it was going to lead.      God hasn’t changed. He is still pure and holy today, just as He was then. Our complaints against things we can’t change, are still classed as sin in God’s sight. How often we fall into this trap! But there is one thing that we can do about it, we can realise and admit this, and ask forgiveness.  We are told that if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from it all. (1 John 1:9). Don’t keep putting it off!

Morning Musings

Taking a Break!

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     We’ve just been away, and have come home ready to tackle all the things that have happened while we were away….namely in the garden! It is always good to get away and see new things, and have experiences that make one glad to be back home. For instance, the traffic in the big city is not so bad for a one off time, but imagine having to put up with that every day (as so many do!) So we came back ready to take up things again, and thankful for what we do have!

     It reminded me that even in the time of Christ, He said to His disciples, “Come aside and rest a while”…. they had been so busy dealing with the crowds that were following Him for what they could get out of Him, and He knew they needed to have a rest from it all. But alas, when they got to the other side of the lake, there were the crowds waiting for Him again! How their hearts must have sunk! They had only had a couple of hours of rest while the boat sailed across the lake!    But Jesus had compassion on the crowd and began talking and teaching them things about the Kingdom of Heaven. The day soon passed, and dusk began to fall. The disciples said to send the people away so they could buy some food. They couldn’t see how they could possibly feed this huge crowd, and Jesus asked how much food they had between them. They only found five buns and two fish, barely enough for one grown man.

    But Jesus took the food, and gave His Father thanks for it….He then broke it into pieces and gave it to the disciples to pass around to the crowd.  They all had enough to eat, and there was even food left over! What a miracle this was! If they had stayed on their own without this crowd, they would never have seen this happen.       So it with us when we put ourselves out for others, we will find the extra energy to meet this need. God never asks us to do anything for Him, even in the small things, without giving us the wherewithal to do it!

Morning Musings

What do You Remember?

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    It’s always good to remember the good times, but not so nice remembering the bad times! I’ve been reminded this past week about some of the boats we’ve owned down through the years, and thought of the first big launch we owned back in 1966-1972.          Then again there is the run-about that has been our last venture out on the water. She is being taken away today to her new home, and we are sad to see her go….it is the end of an era for us, as until now, we have always had a boat of some sort. But we still have the photos and memories of those good (and bad!) times out on the sea.

    It reminded me of how memory is a gift from God to remind us and teach us things that would otherwise be completely forgotten. That is why we are told in Bible to get together with other believers regularly and remember what He has done for us, especially in sending His Son into this world 2025 years ago.  God knows how weak our memories really are, and that is why He has seen to it that His Word is written down for us to read.

   Did you know that God has books in Heaven as well? In these books is a record of every single person who has ever lived, and the things they did and said while they were alive. The Bible tells us that one day, these books are going to be opened and we will have to give an account of ourselves before Him! Our memories at that time will be crystal clear…..no-one else is going to say what we did or said or accuse us in any way, it is each one of us who will give an account of ourselves then!     Then there is another book that will be opened then, and that is called the Book of Life.  In this book is written the names of all those who have come to know God in a personal way in this life. This is the guarantee that they will have a place in God’s home when they leave this world. But for anyone whose name is not in that book, they will be separated from God and all that is good and right and beautiful for ever. We read about that in Revelation chapter twenty, verses eleven to fifteen.

    But there is still time now, to get right with God and have your name written in that Book of Life!

Morning Musings

Lessons from my Garden!

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My roses take continual care to keep them looking how I want them to. I like to train them into standards, that are lifted up above the surrounding ground for other plants to grow beneath them.

    I can’t help thinking how like these rose plants each one of us are! This particular variety of rose is quite hardy, but nevertheless needs constant care to keep it how I want them to be. They need to be tied firmly to a strong stake to keep them from being moved by the wind. In the same way , we must be tied strongly to the stake of Jesus Christ, or else we will just blow from side to side and our spiritual life will maybe get damaged beyond repair. Nor will we be able to be a thing of beauty to those who see us.    I also have to take all the side shoots off the main stem constantly; they come with amazing regularity! How often we need to be trimmed in this way, otherwise the shoots take away from the growth of the main stem. If we allow other things to crowd into our lives, they will eventually take all the vitality out of what the Lord intends us to do for Him….after all, there are only so many hours in our day! We say we can’t do without this or that, but if we are involved with too many other activities, we won’t have the time we should be spending for the Lord.

    I find too, that there are many shoots that come up from the base of the plant as it tries to revert to its natural state of being a bush rather than a standard. If we don’t keep ourselves regularly in the Word of God (the Bible), we find ourselves reverting to our natural inclinations rather than following the Lord as He wants us to. We need to be vigilant in these things.     Another thing is, I look ahead to how I want the finished rose plant to look like. If one shoot looks strong and healthy and is growing out from the main stem in a suitable place, I will tie it upright to the existing main stem, thinking I will let it grow in its new position and then when it is strong enough I will cut off all the other heads when they have finished flowering. Yes, what we are doing now may be useful and being involved in the Lord’s work, but He can see ahead to a better task for us to do, one which will take the main head even higher. It may hurt the plant to have one stem fastened upright in such a fashion, and it may hurt us to be tied in some way that gives us pain and restricts us now, but the end result will enable our character to be a thing of beauty and us to be even more help to those around us.

It’s amazing how many lessons there are to be found in the garden, from weeding, to pruning, to spraying….all these things having to be attended to constantly.  No wonder our Lord said, ” I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that bears not fruit he takes away: and every branch that bears fruit, he purges it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing. If a man abides not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; so shall you be my disciples.” (John 15:1-8)

Morning Musings

Robbery!

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    We always feel aggrieved and hurt, if not downright angry when something of ours has been stolen. I remember the feeling of disbelief when I looked at our yard one morning and thought it looked strangely empty. Then it dawned on me…our runabout boat wasn’t there! We had only owned it for ten days, and now it was gone!

   Then came all the fuss of notifying the police and insurance company, and the trauma of wondering where it might have been taken to. How dare someone come into our yard while we slept and take our boat!!

    But do we ever stop to think how much we take what is not ours without even giving it a thought? Being late for work is one example, and leaving early another….this is taking the boss’ time that we are being paid for. How many times a day do we look at our smart phones and check our emails while we are at work?

    I remember another time, when we owned a farm and needed to have a dragline to come in and clean the drains out. The driver was a chain smoker who rolled his own cigarettes. It really hurt to see that machine stop so many times a day while he was rolling the next smoke!! We were paying him by the hour for rolling his cigarettes!!

     But even worse is what we rob God of. Rob God? How can this be? What does it matter anyway, we might ask.

    Because when we disobey God, He is being robbed of our service, worship, obedience and glory. Taking what is not ours is not honouring to God! At the same time we are being robbed of a clear conscience, peace, inner joy and fellowship with God.

   But Jesus Christ paid the price of these things to God, and has restored what had been stolen. Now it is up to us to find out more about these things and to respond positively to Him!