Monthly Archives: June 2015

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.

Grandma's Stories, Stories for Littlies

The Green Sheep.

Green SheepBobby was jumping up and down with excitement. Uncle Jeff had just pulled into their driveway, and he always had some story to tell. Uncle Jeff was a train driver, and if that were not exciting enough, he always saw the funny side of things that happened on the side of the railway line as he went by. It didn’t take as much concentration as driving on the road, so there was plenty of time to look around as the train chugged along the line.

After Uncle Jeff got settled down with a cup of tea in his hand, Bobby snuggled up to him and said, “How did your train driving go last week, Uncle Jeff?”

“Well”, said Uncle Jeff, “We had quite an eventful week last week. We saw lots of animals near the line in different places”.

“Oh”, said Bobby, “Do tell us about them! What were they? ”

“One day we went past this farm where there was a pond for drinking water at the bottom of the hill. The sheep were all in a mob up near the railway line, so I gave a loud toot on the train whistle as we went past. You know, those silly sheep took fright and went galloping down towards the pond. When they got to it, they split in half and some went one way around it while the others went the other way. But would you believe it, there was one sheep sillier than the rest because it kept going straight ahead and flipped straight into the water! It was so funny to watch”, and Uncle Jeff chuckled as he remembered it all over again.

“Can sheep swim?” Bobby asked.

“Well, we asked ourselves the same question”, Uncle Jeff said, “But you know they can!”

“How do you know?” Bobby asked.

“Well, when we came back, we saw the same mob up near the line again”, Uncle Jeff said, “And this time there was one wet green sheep with them! He hadn’t only gone into the pond, but it was full of green slime and weeds, and the sheep got covered in it all. So he came out a green sheep. Ha,ha”, and Uncle Jeff laughed again at the memory of it all.

“Oh, that WAS funny!” Bobby said, “ What are the other stories?”

“They will have to wait for another time”, Uncle Jeff said as he got up and took his mug out to the kitchen and began to talk to the grown-ups there.

There’s a moral to this story…..the Bible says we are all like sheep that have gone astray, we have all gone our own way and it’s only the Lord Jesus that can get us out of the mess we find ourselves in. Out of all those sheep that went running down the hill, most of them turned and kept out of trouble. All except for the one that went straight into the pond! That one is just like us when we follow the mob that is running into danger. We have to make sure that we use our head before we lose it, and be careful to keep away from friends who take us to wrong places.

Morning Musings

God’s Book

BIBLE2“That was a good deed that you did the other day”, Tim said as Bob met him down by the beach.

“Oh, I don’t know about that”, Bob said, “Anyone would have done it”.

“Yes, but it was pretty rough when you went in after that boy who was in trouble out in the sea”, Tim carried on.

“Oh well, that’s what the Good Book says…. to do to others as you would want them to do for you”, Bob said.

He was both right and wrong when he said that. Certainly it is what the Bible says. We should do to others as we would want them to do to us; the world would be a lot happier place if everyone looked out for everyone else instead of trying to beat them.

But the Bible is more than a just a “good book”; it is the Living Word of God. When you read it, it reads you. It tells you your needs and what to do about them. It is sharper than any double sided sword, and it cuts away all our excuses. It is like the hound of heaven that keeps on at us until we finally make the decision that each person must make….are we going to do as it says, or are we just going to push it to one side and forget about it? Let’s make sure that we at least look into it instead of just passing it off as a “good book”!

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.