Category Archives: Random Devotional Thoughts

Random Devotional Thoughts

The Storms of Life.

NSNWA015      We attended a Bible conference recently that was being held in the small chapel where we grew up as children and young people. We try to make a point of attending this conference each year, partly for old times’ sake, and partly for fellowship to catch up with old friends from years before.

There were two speakers this year, and the two talks during the afternoon sessions really made an impact as they seemed to dovetail together beautifully. The first speaker talked about the Storms of Life, and this was a topic he spoke of from the heart. It had only been four years since his wife died with cancer. He broke his talk into three parts, showing how the Lord speaks to us in these three aspects of the storms of life that we all experience at different times.

When the disciples experienced the worst storm of their life, they had been sent across the lake by Jesus Christ. The disciples were experienced fishermen who could read the weather signs and knew how to handle these sudden storms that whipped up the lake surface into a frenzy. Jesus knew all this, and He knew a storm was coming up that would test them to the maximum. They hadn’t made a mistake that brought this upon them, they were there for a purpose.

Remember this….Jesus Christ knows the storm we are in at any given time. He could have stopped the storm coming to the disciples, but He wanted to show them His power. He knows the storm that I may be in right now, but He wants me to go through it so He can show me His power and refine the dross out of my life and strengthen the faith I have in Him.

The Lord speaks to us in these three ways ….

In the storm….He comes to us through the storm, walking on the water…”I will never leave you”, He says.

Through the storm… He reminds us that He is there with us…”don’t be afraid”, He says, “trust Me”.

The storm within you….often when these storms come, they attack us from the inside. We are all in a turmoil because of circumstances beyond our control, and wonder where we are going to turn next.

Don’t be afraid of being afraid….storms always have an end. There will be a period of calm when it is over and then another one may come but because we have proved our Lord’s help with the first one, we have confidence within the next one.

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

We cannot build our house during the storm, we must have it built before it comes!

Remember….He is the Lord of all our storms.

Transitions….

The next speaker spoke about transitions and how the peace after the storm usually precedes a transition….and transitions are never peaceful, they are a time of turmoil. Take the birth of a child….a time of labour for the mother and time of turmoil for the child leaving the womb to enter this world, and then turmoil for the rest of their lives! So many things in our lives are a transition….a new baby brings a whole new way of life to a couple; a move to a new area is a period of turmoil until settled in; children reaching the teenage years bring a transition for both themselves and their parents.

Then again there is the transition into the empty nest syndrome and finally into retirement. But that is not the end….what about the transition into the retirement village and then the rest home? What about the transition of the loss of a spouse? It seems that the whole of life is a series of transitions. We need the Lord’s help in each of these transitions in life. Nothing remains static…change is the essence of life. Let’s make sure that we approach each of these transitions with the peace of God in our heart and mind.

   Be anxious about nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

We had a lot to think about as we made our way back home.

Random Devotional Thoughts

How Much is your Soul Worth?

100_3589a   Every now and then we get a pamphlet in the mail asking if we are thinking of selling our house. They say that they have clients wanting to buy in our area! They will come and give us a free appraisal of our property, they say, hoping we will take them up on it.

They say that it is every young married couple’s dream to own their own home, but we all have something that worth much more than any house. How much is your house worth? Only as much as someone will pay for it! How much is your soul valued at? What is it worth?

We say we own this or that. But whatever we own, really owns us! If we have a car we have to service it regularly. If we own a house we have to keep it maintained or it loses its value. If we buy a lawn mower, we have to use it or the place soon looks untidy.

Maybe we only own something small like a mobile phone. It has to used responsibly or else it controls us! How many people do we see walking down the street not watching where they are going because their fingers are busily going on their gadget. They feel lost without having it in their pocket or hand. We don’t own these things, they own us!

The Bible asks the question….”What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?” Nothing in this world, whether it be a house or a car; a mower or a phone is to be compared with a person’s soul. These “things” only last a short while….they either break down or become out-dated, but our soul will last forever! Let’s make sure that we take the time to think these things through and make the right decision about what we put first in our life.

Random Devotional Thoughts

What Does Your Past Show?

car crash  A well known sportsman was killed in a car crash, along with his wife….both young people with still many years ahead of them. A great outpouring of grief followed this event and the news people followed the funeral in detail. Many eulogies spoke of his past events, but one snippet on the news item brought back memories of some distant demeanors that had once made the news in the past. A video clip dragged up from the past showed this in detail.

It brings to mind how our past has a way of catching up with us, sometimes when we least want it to. Another case of this was when a young woman traced her birth father, and knocked on his door one day announcing she was his daughter! His wife and family had no idea of this young woman’s existence, and the shock was great. We can only imagine how they must have all felt!

But this is nothing to how we will feel when faced with all our past unforgiven sins. The Bible tells us that “the wages of sin is death, while the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)”

For a gift to be enjoyed, it must be taken and opened….it is a two way thing. God has done His part in providing and presenting this gift; the least we can do is to take it and thank Him for it.

Random Devotional Thoughts

Where Are You Going?

2015-06-01 09.43.25“Hey, where are you off to?” Robin called out to Tim as he saw him walk past his gate.

“Oh, nowhere in particular”, said Tim sheepishly. He knew very well where he was intending to go, but Robin was the last person he wanted to know.

“I’ll come too”, Robin said as he ran inside to get his shoes on.

Are you going to places that you are ashamed of? Do you watch things that fill your mind with evil thoughts? What do you do with your fingers as you sit in front of the computer?

We have to take stock of ourselves every day if we want to please the Lord. It is no use saying one thing to others and then going and secretly doing the opposite. This leads to nothing but disaster….for others and ultimately for ourselves.

Random Devotional Thoughts

Clearing up the Rubbish.

     Des  We were staying on a friend’s property in our caravan recently. This place had high hedges around the paddock edges. Our friend had taken his hedge trimming machine into these paddocks to cut and trim back the tall trees, and this had only made a worse mess than ever. The branches and cut pieces of the trees all fell on the ground beneath as they were cut off. There was no way the grass would grow up fresh and sweet there.

We went home and came back the following week. By this time he had taken his tractor into the paddock again, and had pushed all the scraps and branches into large heaps ready for burning when the weather was right. It was surprising what a large area was now clear right up to the tree trunks, enabling the grass to grow there as extra feed for the cattle.

It made me think how this is a lot like our lives. We allow things to creep in and crowd out what is helpful to others. Our time is taken up with things of no real value, and we have no time for the things that matter. Sometimes the things that we do are creative and beautiful, but if we can’t give them away to someone who appreciates them, we are really just wasting our time. Other things are just frivolous time fillers just to keep us occupied.

These are the things that need to be cut off and let fall to the ground, and then pushed up into piles and burned. Let’s make sure that we clean up around the edges of our lives, and give ourselves more time and space to do things for others.

The Bible talks about building our lives with wood, hay and stubble, and how these things are easily burned, whereas if we build with valuable metals these only get refined if a fire goes through them  (1 Corinthians 3:11-15).

Random Devotional Thoughts

The Glassblower.

WGLASS2We had some visitors from another area, and were taking them around the local sights. One of these was a glass blower at  work behind the gallery that was selling a lot of his work. There were some beautiful pieces on display, all brightly coloured and different shapes. The man was in his workshop at the back of the gallery which was open for people to watch him at work.

We went in and up the stairs where we could look down on him plying his art. The furnace was heated up and the tongs he was using were red hot. As he pulled the shaped vase out of the heat, he pulled and twisted at the neck of it to form a shapely edge. But time and time again, he had to put it back into the heat because he wasn’t satisfied with how it looked.

It reminded me of the Master Glass Blower at work in our lives, as He moulds and perfects His people to make them become what He wants them to be. We may not like the heat of the fire we have to go through, or the pulling and twisting that we are subject to, but when it is all over, we are more like the finished article that He wants us to be….a thing of beauty and fit for His use.

Random Devotional Thoughts

Time for a Change!

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If you have been following this site, you will see that there are a few changes. I have been wanting to update my site for a while and have finally taken the plunge which I hope will be an improvement in the end! It’s a bit like the road works in our local area, the whole place looks a mess while the foundation is being laid, and the traffic is held up at times, but the end result is well worth it.

So many things in life are like this. We look into a certain subject, play around with it a bit, think of the pros and cons of it, and then make a decision. Some things have far reaching results and we have to live with the results of our choices. One thing that comes to mind, is our marriage partners. Whoever we choose, will have a great influence on our way of life and our eventual way of thinking, so it pays to be very careful before even starting. An old saying is, “Use your head, before you lose it!” Another saying is, “If you are doubtful, leave it alone. It’s like a shirt collar, if it’s doubtful, it’s dirty!”

People are more particular in the things of the spirit than in any other field. We all seem to have an inborn resistance to the things of God. So many people will not even look into these things, their hackles go up when anything like this is mentioned. Surely before we can make an informed decision about anything, we should do some research from reliable sources before we push it all to one side. After all, those who follow the Christian way of life have nothing to lose if they are wrong, whereas those who ignore it have everything to lose if it is the right way!

So I hope this site will show signs of improvement in the end, and at least I have the satisfaction of saying I DID try!

Random Devotional Thoughts

How Much Does God Know?

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O LORD, You have searched me, and known me. You know when I sit down and when I get up again; You understand all my thoughts far and near; You surround me and know everything I do. For there is not a word I think and speak, but, lo, O LORD, You know it altogether.

The preacher was talking about these verses, saying how God’s knowledge far surpasses anything that people know. We don’t even know our own hearts. We know what we should be like, and we know what we would like to be like, but do we ever get there?

It’s like the story of a small town gossip who knew everything about everybody. One day there was a well known person in this small town who went before the local judge, with a large audience of the townspeople there to see what was going to happen. Mrs. Smith, the local gossip was there as well.

As they began the proceedings, one of the lawyers called out, “Mrs. Smith, you know everyone in this town, is the prosecuting lawyer an honest man?”

“I attended his birth Sir,” she replied, “and he’s the biggest whiner, right from the day he was born until now. He can’t be trusted as he gets even the worst offenders off. No, I wouldn’t say he’s an honest man!”

The other lawyer then asked, “Well, Mrs. Smith, can my opponent be believed in his accusations?”

“I wouldn’t trust him”, she said, “I’ve known him since I used to baby-sit him for his parents, and he took some watching I can tell you. He’s a real sneak!”

The judge leaned forwards and beckoned the two lawyers up to his bench. Leaning forwards he said in a hoarse whisper, “If either of you two ask her opinion of me, I’ll have you arrested for contempt of court!”

We may smile at this story, but it illustrates the futility of trying to hide anything from the Almighty God. We are also told in the Bible that one day we are going to stand before God as the Judge, and WE will give an account of ourselves and what we have done, to Him. No-one else will accuse us; we will accuse ourselves because we will see ourselves as He sees us  (Matthew 12:36-37). We needn’t think we can only say the good things we have done and said; every single mean and nasty thing we have said and thought will be dragged out of us. There is only one way to get out of this predicament, and that is to confess these things to the Lord NOW while we are still alive on this earth. He has promised that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness, giving us a clean, fresh start once more. (1 John 1:9)

Then we can say with the psalmist, the last verses of this same psalm we started with, Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.  (Psalm 139:23-24)