Monthly Archives: June 2023

Adult Testimonies

A Word in Season….

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         Our friend Harold had worked for many years in the prison service, and he had many stories to tell of opportunities taken to share the good news of God’s love and grace.

      But before he went into the prison service, he was working at selling life insurance. As he was going on his rounds in a certain area, he heard of a family who was wanting to take out life insurance on some of their family members. He decided to make them a call and see if he could help in this way at all. When he knocked on the door, a lady answered it and she appeared to be in tears. “I’m awfully sorry,” Harold said, “I seem to have come at a bad time. I’ll come back another day.” “No, no”, she said, “I really need someone to talk to.”

And so the story came out. Her marriage had just broken up, she said, and her husband had taken the two older girls, leaving her with two young sons. Harold listened sympathetically for a while, and said, “Well, there’s not much I can do to help, but do you have a Bible in the house?” “Yes, there is one here,” she said, “It belongs to one of the boys,” and she went off to get it.     Harold took it, and showed her one or two verses. After he had been talking for a while, she said that she had been going to church for over twenty-one years and never realised that she needed to have personal dealings with God. She could see now what she had been missing out on. Harold was not one to ever miss an opportunity, so he asked her if she would like to pray the sinner’s prayer of confession of sin. She was glad to do this and became a new person in spite of her continuing bad circumstances.

   Harold lost touch with her after that, and eighteen years later, two women came into the prison where he was working as a guard, to visit an inmate. Harold immediately recognised the older lady as this same person.     He reminded her of this occasion and asked her how things had been with her over the intervening years. Her face lit up, and she told him how she was still continuing in the faith, and that one of her boys was now serving as a Youth Pastor in a church in Australia.

This story bears out the verse that says….. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning…Psalm 30:5b

Morning Musings

Who is in Your Boat?

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       I was reading this morning, that well-known story of the disciples of Jesus caught in a storm as they rowed across the large lake of Galilee. It wasn’t that they had deliberately gone out in bad weather, they had gone in obedience to their Master’s instruction….He had told them to go, He knew very well what was going to happen on this trip, and He wanted them to learn another lesson of Himself. It wasn’t that they were ignorant of the conditions on the Sea either, as they were seasoned sailors and fishermen.    After darkness had fallen, the wind suddenly got up and they found themselves battling against it as they rowed with all their might to get to the shelter of the other side. Then one of them saw a figure out on the water, seemingly walking on the waves. They cried out in fear, saying it must be a ghost and then they heard the voice of their Teacher saying , “Don’t be afraid, it is I”.      Peter, true to form, (he was always the first to speak) said, “Lord, if it is really You, tell me to come to You on the water!” “Come on then”, Jesus replied, and Peter clambered out of the boat, and found that he was indeed able to walk on the top of the waves. He took a few steps towards Jesus, and then looked around at the boisterous waves. It was too much for his faith, and he became very frightened and began to sink. Jesus stretched out His hand and pulled him into the boat with Him, saying “Oh, you of little faith, shy did you doubt Me?”      The other disciples had been watching all this happen and then when Jesus and Peter were back in the boat, the wind had suddenly died down, and immediately they were miraculously where they were going to on the other side.     The disciples were amazed and speechless. “Truly, You are the Son of God!” they exclaimed. When they admitted this, they found they had reached their destination! What a wonderful picture for us when we go through troubles and trials….if we realise that God is with us in theses trials, so we will find the resolution to it all….maybe not straight away, but eventually.

When God tells you to do something, He will be with you all the way and there is no need to be  afraid…. when He takes you to it, He will see you through it!

Random Devotional Thoughts

How Do You Stack up?

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     We had a baptismal service at our church this morning when four young people were baptised. Each of them gave very clear testimonies as to why they wanted to be baptised, and how they had come to know the Lord for themselves. To them God was not just a force “up there”, but He was personally their Father in Heaven.

    How many people say the Lord’s prayer today starting with “Our Father which art in Heaven”, and they don’t know God as their Father at all! We wouldn’t dream of approaching just any man out there, and calling him “Father”  and asking Him to supply our daily food. Not only that, but how many people think, or want, to go to heaven when they die without even thinking what they will find when they get there! Heaven is God’s home, and as such is holy and pure, without a single jarring note, and full of the praise of God. How could anyone who can’t praise God here on earth, think they are going to be able to do this in heaven? Yet so many people think this without even realising what the implication of being in heaven is! Let’s hope you aren’t one of these, and that you make sure that God is indeed, your Father! You might be wondering how you can do this….it is very simple, just ask Him and tell Him you are sorry for the things that you have done wrong ! When He sees that you really mean what you say, He will become your Heavenly Father, and you will have the right to call Him this….”Our Father!”