Monthly Archives: December 2020

Life Lessons

Looking Back.

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   We are coming to the end of another year. What a year it has been! A year like no other anyone has ever experienced. If we had been told this time last year all the events that were going to come upon us in the year 2020, we would not have believed it!

     To think that the whole world has been affected by what has been called Covid19. It has spread so far and so wide, that most people have forgotten the beginning of it all….just one little virus getting loose that eventually brought the whole world to a standstill!

    For some, there have been other traumatic things happening….perhaps the loss of a loved one or some accident that has turned their world upside down. No matter how smart mankind becomes, we cannot foretell the future. All we can do is to hope that 2021 will be a better year.

    But Christians have more than that to fall back on….we can say that although we don’t know what the future holds, at least we know the One Who holds the future! This makes all the difference as we move on into another new year. If we do not have this confidence, there is nothing to stop us getting it. It doesn’t cost us any money to get it, but it does cost us the experience of having to humble ourselves before a God who we don’t yet know, but Who is calling all people everywhere to come to Him.

   This is one of the reasons we are here on earth so that we can come to know Him while here and learn His ways. He will set us free of our addictions and bad habits, and fellowship with us every day.

   The thing that surprises me most, is that  people say they want to go to heaven when they die, and they speak at funeral services as though their loved ones have gone “up there”, but yet they feel most uncomfortable in a church building, let alone in  a church service! How do they think they are going to be able to stand being in a place that is holy, clean and righteous, singing praises to a God they have never met!!! This is something that we all need to think about here and now, even before this uncomfortable year has finished!!

Stories for Teens

What’s the Point?

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Sarah came in from school and threw her bag on the couch before slouching down on it herself.

“Oh, hullo Uncle Jeff! I didn’t see you there!”, she said as she saw him sitting there already. “I haven’t seen you for a while!”

“No, I’ve just come back from Australia,” he said as he reached for his cup of tea. “How are things going anyway?”

“Oh, alright I suppose,” she said, “but I sometimes wonder what the point is in it all!”

“What do you mean by that?” Uncle Jeff asked.

 “Aw, you know,” she said, “It’s the same old thing every day, and you never seem to get ahead!”

“You know, I think you are missing the point,” Uncle Jeff said, “You know, God has given everyone a purpose while we go through life, and that is to do the very best we can. Even if other people don’t seem to appreciate our efforts, at least later on we won’t have any regrets that we could have done better!”

“You know,”  Sarah said, taking a totally different tack, “our Bible Study leader said last week that we are all made in the image of God. How come?”

Uncle Jeff thought for a minute and then said, “Well. it does say that in the Bible, and that is our guide-line for what we believe.  It’s like this….we are all made by God’s hand and with some of His attributes. What does the Bible tell us the first things that God did were?”

“Well,” Sarah said thoughtfully, “He made the world and everything that is in it.”

“That’s right,” Uncle Jeff said, “And do you remember what He thought of the things He had made?”

“It says that God saw what He had made and that it was good,” Sarah said.

“What was the last thing God made?” Uncle Jeff went on “What did He say about that?”

Sarah thought for a minute and then said slowly, “It was a man, and it says that when He looked at everything then, it was VERY good!”

“You know,” Uncle Jeff went on, “God had great satisfaction out of all His creating power and looking at the birds, bees and flowers that he had made as well as the animals and then finally the man. Do you remember what God said when he saw that the man had no-one else for company? He said, ‘It’s not good for man to be alone! I’ll make someone else to be his helper!!’  And you know that those are the two things that God has put into the heart and mind of every single human being since that first day….satisfaction in creating things, and the need for a relationship.”

“Ye-e-s, I suppose so, “ Sarah said, “I know I enjoy seeing something I’ve made when it’s finished, and I like to show it to my friends”.

“That’s right,” said Uncle Jeff, “Even doing the simple things like baking a cake, or getting a meal ready gives us satisfaction, and even more so when we can share it with our friends and family.”

“Yes, I see that now,” Sarah said, cheering up somewhat, “I suppose we can say that that is what the point of doing things is!”

“That’s the girl!,” Uncle Jeff said, “ now let’s go outside and you show me those roses that Mum has been growing for the show!”

Life Lessons

Why is this Happening?

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I’ve been trimming and tying up my young rose plants to keep them as standard roses. They are two years old now, and if left, will become just a tangled head with branches out in all directions. They will not grow any taller if left like that either. I have a couple that are a year older than the ones I am now working on, and I had just left them to do their own thing. How I wish I had started earlier on training them! When the time came last winter to cut them hard back, one decided it had had enough, and just died on me. If we aren’t being constantly trimmed by the Master Gardener, when the time finally comes and we go through some fiery trial, we can’t take it, and give up altogether. It is sad indeed to see a person who once ran well, being used by God, and then some years later to see them become disillusioned and bitter older people!

    We too, are like these young rose plants, with each one of us needing to be tied strongly to the stake of Jesus Christ! If we aren’t rooted in Him and tied firmly to Him, 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

    Another thing is, I look ahead to see 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 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 ye 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 ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me ye 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 ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciple. (John 15:1-8)