Category Archives: Morning Musings

Morning Musings

Being Wise!

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Seeking Wisdom

Proverbs 2:1-22                            

     If we are wise, we will seek God’s wisdom and ask to have a discerning mind and heart. The Lord will give all the wisdom we need in any situation (James 1:5-6) and we don’t need to be afraid to ask. But we must ask in faith, and faith goes hand in hand with action….

    It is no use having wisdom if we don’t put it into practice…common sense must go along with wisdom from God. This wisdom will protect us from the wrong company, no matter how much fun and attractive it may seem, and we will be kept from doing the same wrong things that others do.      Solomon was particularly concerned for his sons, that they would be kept from women who didn’t mind committing adultery behind their husband’s backs. There is no future in this sort of behaviour,  he said, and if we are tempted, it is better to be able to recognise where it will lead before we ever start on it. A lost reputation is impossible to regain….no matter how many years pass by, there is always someone who will remember the wrong things we did in our youth!

    So we are to walk in the right way and keep our integrity and this is what we will be remembered for!

God’s commands are better far, Than any pleasure that will mar, A reputation lost will make a stain,  And can never be regained!

Morning Musings

Coping with the Unexpected!

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We never know what is around the corner for each one of us!! A car crash is one of the classic cases of the unexpected. No matter how careful we are, there is always the danger of the other person’s inattention. Then again, there is our own health situation, where we never know what is lurking deep within our own body. An annoying pain can herald a more sinister cause than we have ever dreamed of.

    We can be setting off for a day’s outing to meet friends at the beach, when another vehicle veers into your path and can’t be avoided. Suddenly, when you were going about minding your own business, now you are catapulted into being everybody else’s business! The police come screaming into your vision; a fire engine appears from nowhere; helpful passers-by stop to see what help they can offer. Before you know what has happened, an ambulance turns up and help is at hand.

   Or maybe you wake up in the night with a heavy feeling on your chest, and find it is hard to breathe. You wonder what you should do for the best. You think that if you wait a while, it will go away, and it eventually does. But what if it comes back later in the day?

    We are blest to live in a country where help is at hand in cases like these. We think that if we prepare with insurance policies put in place, there is nothing to worry about. But sometimes the emergency is more dire than that and nothing can stop the catastrophe happening.

    A husband waited for his wife to come home from being out, but when she still didn’t turn up, he began to look for her. The very place he didn’t think to look was right at hand, and he eventually found her collapsed in her own bathroom with her life gone. For her it was too late for help.

    We must make sure that we are ready to meet our God while we still have time to put wrongs right….not a one of us can have a sure hope without having made a conscious decision to do this. Let’s make sure that we have the ticket ready for the greatest trip of our life that may be just around the corner!!

Morning Musings

More of What the Bible Says….

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We have already seen the analogy that is used in the Bible of our bodies being the Building and Dwelling place of God, but there is another aspect that is used too, and that is of what we DO with our lives. This is spoken of as what we are building for God and His Kingdom. In 1 Corinthians 3: 9-16, we are reminded that not only are we the BUILDING OF God, but that we ourselves are BUILDING FOR, His Kingdom. Paul reminds his readers here that he has laid the foundation for them when they came to the Lord Jesus, but now it is up to each one of them to build on that foundation. This goes for us too….what we do with our lives now, all goes into that building.

     Whatever we spend our time doing these days will one day be tested by the fires of the Lord’s eyes (Revelation 1:14). We must remember that He can see into our very hearts to see whether what we are doing is for His glory or just for our own glorification. We are told too, that whatever we do, we must do it as unto the Lord, and He knows  how pure all our motives are. This doesn’t mean that we are to live a hermit’s life just contemplating the future, but if we can’t take the Lord with us where we go and what we do, it is better left behind.

    People watch us to see if our lives measure up to what they hear us say….for instance, there is no point having a bumper sticker on your car that says “Jesus Saves”, if we drive in an unsafe manner!!   So let’s make sure we build with gold, silver or precious stones that will withstand the fires of judgment and not just with wood, hay and straw which will all be burned up at that day.

We are all builders for our God,  Building with gold or merely sod, The day we stand before His face, What can we give Him for His grace?

Morning Musings

What the Bible Says…

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     We have just been through all the rooms of the house of our heart, seeking to see where we fit into this idea. But you know, the Bible uses this same analogy as we read in  Ephesians 2:21…In whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple (house) in the Lord. We know through the Scriptures that all those who believe in the work of Christ have been brought near, right into the family of God and have become His House. We have the same foundation as the Israelites of old, the foundation of the prophets and apostles, with Jesus Christ as our chief corner Stone.      This is the only church that God recognizes….His people as living stones all fitting together to make a holy temple to the Lord….His dwelling place, where He lives! Our Lord Jesus Himself prayed to His Father saying that as He (the Father) was in Him (the Son), so He (the Son) was in His people. (John 17:23) What a mind boggling thought this is!!     Peter too, brings out the thought of believers being living stones, made into a spiritual house with Jesus Christ being the chief corner stone (1 Peter 2:4-8). The pictures of everyday things in the Scriptures that are used as spiritual pictures are amazing, and so easy to understand!

God’s Church is made of living stones, Not rocks or bricks, but flesh and bones, He lives within His people here, And  to each one is very near.

Morning Musings

Have I REALLY Handed it all to Him?

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     On one of my morning trysts with my Lord in the living room before anyone else was stirring, we were reading together His promises about me in abiding in Him. I was sure I WAS abiding in Him….after all, here we were together enjoying fellowship together over His Word weren’t we?    Then He turned me to that verse in the Old Testament where the psalmist was asking God to search his heart, and know his thoughts, and try him to see if there was still some wicked way in him (Psalm 139:23-24).    I started to squirm as I thought how scary it would be if He turned those pure and holy eyes on my innermost being! I couldn’t trust myself to be totally one hundred percent honest. I knew what I ought to be, and I knew that I wanted to be that, but WAS I? I knew that my heart was deceitful above all things and desperately wicked  and that only God could know it (Jeremiah 17:9-10).  I didn’t even know it myself! ” I know that you want to follow Me with all your heart”, Jesus said, “Would you mind giving me your smart phone for a while?”

What would I do without it? I shrunk back, keeping it in my pocket. What if he went on to the log, and saw what I’d been looking at? And read those catty comments I’d put onto Facebook? And read some of those suggestive remarks my friends had sent to make me laugh?     Suddenly those things didn’t seem quite so clever or witty as I’d thought they were when I got them! Besides, what would I do without the phone there at my fingertips? Someone might try to get hold of me, or worse still, maybe the Lord would answer for me! What would my friends think if they got Him on the phone?

   It came on me in a flash, that He already knew all those things! There was nothing at all that I could hide from Him! He didn’t need to get the phone to know those things…the point was, was I ready to hand all those things over to Him too? Those little resentments and excuses that I always made, refusing to take the blame. Being offended if I thought I was being overlooked? “Oh Lord”, I cried in repentance, “You can see me through and through, you know every little rotten thought I’ve ever had. Help me to walk in Your way everlasting, beginning now so I won’t be ashamed before You as I go into eternity!” “My child”, He said with that beautiful smile of His, “That is what I’ve been wanting to hear from you all along!” He handed me my phone back again, “Now use this for My glory, speaking of the things of Myself to build others up, sending words of encouragement to them, and praising others”.

My desires were now what He desired, and He was giving it all back to me! What joy! What blessings He bestows!  “Oh Lord!” I cried, “Help me to be each day what You want me to be, and to do only what You want me to do!”

 

Morning Musings

Transferring the Title….

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    A thought came to me one day. 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 You did that hall cupboard? 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.”

     Dropping to my knees, I said, ‘Lord, You have 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.”

    Things are different since Jesus Christ has settled down and has made His home in my heart!

Morning Musings, Uncategorized

My Rumpus Room

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             As we left the upstairs area of the house, He asked me if I had a rumpus room, where I went for fun and fellowship. I was hoping He wouldn’t ask about that! There were certain things that went on in my rumpus room  that I wanted to keep to myself!

   Very reluctantly I took Him downstairs to the basement, and gave Him a quick look around there. “H’mmmm.” He said, “Do you spend much time here?” “Let’s go upstairs again”, I said hastily before I had to own up about the things that DID go on in this room, and the friends that I entertained there. I didn’t want Him to see the pictures of the different ball games and teams, or the racing car pictures  that were all over the walls, or the well stocked bar in the corner!

   I heaved a sigh of relief as we reached the living room once more, and hoped He wouldn’t say anything more about the rumpus room. As we settled down, He said thoughtfully, “What would you like Me to read to you tonight? Something you would LIKE to hear or something that you SHOULD hear?” I squirmed as I  lamely said, “Perhaps we could have a bit of both!” knowing full well what was likely to come. He quickly reached for the Bible which I had made sure was in full view on the occasional table and turned to the chapter of Psalm 81. “I am the Lord Your God that brought you out of the land of Egypt…..Egypt is a picture of the world and its temptations,” He added as an aside. Carrying on, He continued to read…“open your mouth wide and I will fill it. But my people would not listen to Me and Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them up to their own heart’s lusts, and they went their own way! If only My people had listened to Me and walked in My ways, I would have subdued their enemies, and turned My hand against them…..I would have fed My people with the finest of wheat, and satisfied them with honey out of the Rock”.  I felt thoroughly rebuked as I knew very well that I was feeding too much on the wrong sort of things.

     Another evening when I was on my way out with some of my buddies, He stopped me with a glance and asked, “Are you going out?” I replied, “Yes.’ “Good” He said, “I would like to go with you.” “Oh,” I answered rather awkwardly. “I don’t think, Lord Jesus, that You would really enjoy where we are going. Let’s go out together tomorrow night. Tomorrow night we will go to a Bible class at church, but tonight I have another appointment.” “I’m sorry,” He said. “I thought that when I came into your home, we were going to do everything together, to be close companions. I just want you to know that I am willing to go with you.” “Well,” I mumbled, slipping out the door, “we will go someplace together tomorrow night.”

  That evening I spent some miserable hours. I felt rotten. What kind of friend was I to Jesus, deliberately leaving Him out of my life, doing things and going places that I knew very well He would not enjoy?     When I returned that evening, there was a light in His room, and I went up to talk it over with Him. I said, “Lord, I have learned my lesson. I know now that I can’t have a good time without You. From now on, we will do everything together.”

   The next day,  we went down into the basement of the house to the rumpus room. What a transformation He made there!  All those suggestive things came down off the walls, and He brought new friends, new excitement, and new joys along. All the old music was thrown out, and we spent many hours around the piano singing the old favourite songs and hymns. Laughter and music have been ringing through the house ever since. He makes sure that we are never the loser when we put Him first in our home!!!

Now the LORD says , “Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, while those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed!” (1Samuel 2:30)

Morning Musings

My Bedrooms

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       We left the utility part of the house and went back upstairs. All had been cleaned up and purified down at the back of the house, and as we went past the cupboard upstairs which had been so smelly before, a bit of fresh air wafted past us. I was so pleased that I had got my Visitor to deal with those putrid things I had shoved in there!

    We went down the passage, and I showed Him the bedrooms next. “You may choose whichever one suits You the best”, I said as we went past the open doors of each of them. “Thank you very much,” He said, “I will be glad to have whichever one you tell me.” “This one has a new bed,” I said proudly, “ I’m sure You will be most comfortable here.” “Thank you,” He replied, “It will be nice to have somewhere to lay My head. When I was on earth, even though the foxes had their holes to sleep in and the birds had their nests, I had nowhere to lay my head many times. It was then that I went up into the mountain to pray to My Heavenly Father, and to gather strength to do His will. It is always My delight to do His will you know!” (Psalm 40:8)

I felt an unspoken rebuke there, just as though He knew how little time I spent doing the Father’s will myself. There were always other things I wanted to do, things which I always found time to do. “My room is just along the passage here”, I said lamely. “Oh yes,” He said, “It is good to have rest….I always like to see My children taking their rest. Especially the rest that I can give them, I tell them all to come to Me and I will give them rest, when they have worked hard and had heavy loads to bear. Especially the rest I can give with an easy conscience knowing that they have put all wrongs right and given thanks to the Father for all His goodness and mercy to them!”  (Matthew 11:28)

    I squirmed a bit at that….I knew there were many nights when my sleep was disturbed by angry thoughts and ideas of revenge! Yes, I knew they were wrong, but they were only natural weren’t they? My Visitor said quietly, as though talking to Himself, “Don’t avenge yourself, but give place to wrath, for it is written ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay’ says the Lord”. (Romans 12:19)

   It was amazing how He always seemed to put His finger on some little secret that I had thought was hidden. As we turned to go downstairs again, once more He murmured as if to Himself, “I will not allow your foot to be moved, He who keeps you will not slumber or sleep!”  (Psalm 121:3-4) This thought gave me great comfort, knowing that I was in His hands!