Category Archives: Life Lessons

Life Lessons

What do you See?

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   Someone sent an email the other day telling the story of a professor who was setting his students an exam. He handed the papers all out upside down, and then told them to turn the page over. They found it was just a blank piece of paper with a large black dot in the middle of it. He told them to have a good look at it, and then write down what they were seeing.

   Without exception, they all wrote about the black spot, where it was on the page and the effect it had on the paper. The professor told them that not one had commented on the whiteness of the paper or the size of it in comparison to the black spot, and then pointed out the moral of the story….how much we concentrate on the wrong things around us instead of on the good things we see. That reminded me that I’m like that too, and it ought not to be !

  So whenever things annoy or grate on you, especially in these days of Covid-19 and all the restrictions that we have to go through to keep it contained, just remember to overlook the black spot of the virus in  the middle of the page and focus on the white size of the paper!! We are continually being told to count up to ten things we can be thankful for, and we won’t remember the black spot in the centre of our environment at the moment!

This time of restrictions won’t last for ever, and we will be free to come and go again as we once did. In fact, these times of the virus, will make us even more thankful when it is all over, to be able to enjoy what used to be normal for us.

Life Lessons, Uncategorized

What is Set Before You?

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We have choices every day, As we step along life’s way;

In God’s Word they shine so clear, So let’s take note, their message hear.

I have set before you life and death….Deuteronomy 30:19…..

God sets before each person born, The choice of life or death forlorn,

We must each one make this choice, Death to mourn, or life rejoice.

I have set the land before you….Deuteronomy 1:8,21…..

God sets the land before our eyes, The land that waits beyond the skies,

It’s joys we now can plainly see, Awaiting there, God’s gift so free.

I have set before you an open door….Revelation 3:8…..

God knows our works, He’s set before, Each one of us an open door,

As we go through to serve Him there, His Word and Work with others share.

Let us run the race that is set before us….Hebrews 12:1…

A course is set before our eyes, A race to run to win the prize,

Of knowing Christ who bore our sin, And gives us power this prize to win.

Set a watch before my lips….Psalm 141:3….

Before my lips a watch I set, ‘Tis only God this need has met,

Help me to hold my tongue each day, Be quick to hear, and slow to say.

I will set no wicked thing before my eyes….Psalm 101:3

Set your affections on things above….Colossians 3:2

No wicked thing I’ll watch or read, For on these things my soul will feed,

I’ll set my eyes on Christ above, And think of His amazing love.

God now has set these things before, Each one of us just like a door,

It is for us to open these, If we our Lord would seek to please.

Life Lessons

Are you a Leader?

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    There is no doubt about it, some people are natural leaders while others prefer to just follow someone else. Perhaps they don’t have the self confidence to take the lead, or perhaps they just can’t be bothered making the effort.

   How do we know we can be a leader if we aren’t sure about these things?  The quickest way is to turn around and see if there is anyone following you! We might feel that we aren’t important enough or have anything to offer….but, what is that in your hand? Moses had every excuse under the sun when God accosted him out in the desert and told him to go and tell the king of Egypt to let His people go.

 “How can I do that? I’m not important enough,” was his first excuse.

Then he said, “The people won’t listen to me. What do I tell them when they ask whose idea this is?”

   God was very patient with Moses, and He said, “Look, I will be with you. Just tell the people that ‘I AM’ has sent you; the One Who spoke to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob years ago. That is My Name. When you tell them that, they will listen.”

“But what if they don’t?” Moses persisted.

“What is that in your hand?” God asked.

Moses looked at his shepherd’s stick, and said, “It’s my rod.”

“Throw it down on the ground,” God said.

   So he did, and immediately it became a wriggling snake, and Moses hastily got away from it.

“Now pick it up by its tail,” God said, and as Moses reached out his hand and grabbed it, suddenly he found he had his stick back! Twice more, God had to show Moses the miraculous things that would happen when he did what he was told.

But he still hung back. “I can’t talk well enough”, was his next excuse.

   God’s patience started to wear thin. “Who made your mouth?” He demanded. “Very well, I know your brother Aaron is a good talker. He is coming to meet you now. Take him with you, and he can do your talking for you and you will tell him from Me what he is to say.”

Moses finally agreed, and did as God had told him, and became one of the greatest leaders there has ever been.

    We can see several things from this story that can apply to us. Firstly, we may think we are only an unimportant person, but if God is calling us to do something for Him, He will give us the strength. Not only that, but He will be with us as we make a start, and will give us others to support us  in the task that He wants us to do. That is on God’s side. On the other hand, we have to respond on our side. We have to be willing to hear His voice and obey what He is saying to us.

As we make the first move, God will step in and open up the doors for us. All we have to do is to use what we have.

   Perhaps you feel you are only a mother with little children, and ask what you could possibly do. Well, you have the most important job in the world, that of shaping the attitudes and manners of the little ones in your charge. All too soon they will grow up and be gone. Be a worthy leader under God’s direction, of your home and family, and He will bless you in it.

Life Lessons

In Fighting

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      Once again, it is that time of the year that we have put a bird feeder outside our dining-room window, and it gives us a lot of pleasure watching the little birds feeding there. But you know, even among the birds there is continual scrapping going on. The small silver-eyes stand on a branch nearest the feeder and fluff their little wings angrily at each other. The bold mynah struts around at the base of the tree and even jumps up on the branch to take a few pecks before he gets chased off. The sparrows take no notice of the others and greedily grab as many beakfuls as they can while the others are scrapping among themselves.

    It reminded me of how we as people often scrap among ourselves, sometimes vying for the better places or positions. This is not how we are meant to behave, especially in church situations. The Lord Jesus told us to be prepared to take the humble place and wait for others to give us a higher position rather than angrily (or sneakily)  try to take it from others.

    It is not smart to behave like this anywhere, and only causes hurtful situations that often can never be remedied. People can forgive, but they very seldom completely forget!

Our politicians as we get near the election time, too, seem to do all they can to take each other down so they can get the place they want. It almost seems that the good of the country is completely forgotten as the candidates each extol the virtues of their campaign hoping to gain that seat!

Let’s make sure that we aren’t like this, but be prepared to take the lower place and support those who have been promoted over us!

Life Lessons

Free at Last!

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Freedom at Last!

       We can hardly believe it! No more signing in when we go to a shop! No more having to stand out in the cold in a queue while waiting to get our groceries! We don’t realize how precious our freedom is until we lose it. We could see the reason for our recent lock down, but that didn’t make it any easier to put up with the restrictions.

   As we look around, we can see that there are many restrictions that we suffer from in life, and yet we don’t stop to analyse them. How many older folk are restricted by their failing bodies! This is something that we could all face in the future, and mostly through no fault of our own. As we look around our garden at this time of the year (winter), we see that this is a force of nature, and a natural time of rest and later, rejuvenation.

   Then again, others are restricted by their bad habits which have turned into addictions. In these cases, they only have themselves to blame, not that that makes it any easier to break them! The main thing is to not slip back into old ways if we have for some reason, been able to get free of  them.

   Some people are restricted from having a good relationship with others because of a bad attitude…either theirs or yours. To hug a resentment, refusing to apologise for some wrong done, does no-one any good. As it was once said, “There’s no point in getting on your high horse, because you will only have to eventually come down!”

   People today are so easily “offended” by some chance remark, and carry it until it becomes a full blown resentment that eats them up!

   There is only one way to become free of these restrictions (apart from those of old age), and that is through our Lord Jesus Christ. He can set us free if we will only ask Him. You might say that you don’t believe that sort of thing, but that doesn’t make it any less real. Have you ever asked Him? He has done His part for us, and we have to do our part in responding positively to Him!

Life Lessons

Tracking.

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     Tracking ? We are now being expected to keep a track of everywhere we’ve been, the date and the time, what shop we’ve been into and how much we spent there, and on what! What next? We shouldn’t be surprised as these things have been predicted in the Bible for a couple of thousand years, but we could never see before how it would be possible. This is the stuff  that science fiction wrote about, and we all knew that is what it was…fiction. But is it? Not any more.

   Now there is the technology out there that is not only possible, but which we are being advised to put on our phones. See how easy it is, we are told. Merely having to swipe our phone under the scanner as we enter a shop, and all our transactions will be recorded. Short of our thoughts and intentions.

   But wait, as the advertisements say, there’s more! Soon, this will not merely be an advised action, but a compulsory one, one that will prevent us from buying or selling anything  without it going through our data base! Is that a scary thought, or just a sensible and easy course of action like using a credit card is today?

    Listen to this and see what it sounds like….  “woe, woe, O great city, for in a single hour your doom has come ! The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn for her because no-one buys their cargo any longer …..in a single hour such great wealth has been destroyed! All who make their living from the sea ….were shouting with weeping and mourning, woe, woe, O great city in which all who had ships in the sea got rich from her wealth, because in a single hour she has been destroyed!”  (this is found in the Bible in Revelation 18:10-20). We can see this happening under our very eyes with markets around the world closing down, and people losing their incomes.

   Never in living memory has a disease travelled so quickly or so far as the covid-19 has! Or with such far reaching effects which we have not yet seen the end of, only the beginning! Businesses have been closed down, factories are shutting as there are no more markets for their goods, refineries are closing down because there is no more call for their fuel with air lines stopping and  the world wide shut down. People are becoming unemployed more and more as these things happen.

    We may get on top of the covid-19 virus, but we haven’t seen the end of its effects  yet, and who knows whether it will not come back in an even more virulent form? Let’s take heed to the invitation that is given by Jesus Christ Himself….Come to Me, all you who are heavy laden (or afraid) and I will give you rest (peace of mind) Matthew 11:28.

Life Lessons

Opinions versus Facts.

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     We all have opinions about things….very strong opinions in some cases. But we have to make sure that our opinions are based on facts, and not just on our feelings! I’ve noticed that some journalists reporting on the radio, keep passing their opinions on certain news items….we aren’t interested in what they think or feel, we want to know the news! Facts, not opinions!

      Opinions can very easily become convictions, and if they aren’t based on the truth, and  are wrong, then all our talk is worth nothing.  People aren’t prepared to die for an opinion, but they WILL die for a conviction….we see this continually today in the people who become suicide bombers to promote their beliefs.

    So it is with all the talk about the current corona virus. There is so much being published and said about it, that one hardly knows what is fact and what is merely another’s  opinion. Such a thing of this magnitude has not been within living memory, nor has the speed with which it has travelled been seen before. We really have no idea whether it is under control yet or not. As we progress into level three of the control effort, we all want the time to go quickly as we are not used to restrictions such as have been in place for the last month. What seemed painless to begin with has quickly palled….doing puzzles and having unlimited time for reading has turned to boredom when the books have got filled and  finished.  

    But let’s remember the blessings that have come with it, and concentrate on the positive side of it all, turning this time into a time of learning new skills and practicing patience. We need to look at the wider picture than at just our own annoyances, and ask ourselves if maybe God isn’t wanting to teach us to look upwards to Him for the answers instead of merely listening to other’s opinions and what is passed off on the news as facts!

Life Lessons

Lock Down!

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   At first it didn’t seem real! Lock down? Impossible! But as the days wore on, it became apparent that perhaps it was the only way to halt the spread of the deadly virus that was sweeping the world. Looking back, we wonder if it would have worked more efficiently if it had come into force a few weeks earlier! But it is, what it is, and now we have been shut down completely, and at what a cost to the whole country remains to be seen. We’ve heard it said that life as we have known it, will never return. Time alone will tell that story.

   There are some pluses. For instance, we see whole families out walking together up and down our road. Then again, we see neighbours who we’ve never met before as they go past our garden fence. Life on the whole has slowed down. There are no dead lines to meet; no meetings to attend; nothing that simply HAS to be done! There is time to get the garden back into order, and time to catch up on all those jobs that get pushed into the background waiting until “there is time”.

   The disadvantages are mostly in our minds. The children cry that they are “bored”! What is that, but simply a matter of attitude? We had a snippet come through the email box the other day that reminded us that the virus can’t take away our enjoyment of a brilliant sunrise;  it can’t take away a smile; it can’t stop an encouraging word, nor can it stop a phone call or email!  

    If we know the Lord, we realise that this thing is all part of God’s wider plan….the only trouble is that we can’t see the big picture yet! So let’s take heart and look upward, waiting for Him to work everything out, knowing that it will be for the best, even if we don’t particularly like the outcome.