Random Devotional Thoughts

Hiding God’s Word.

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    Our grandchildren have grown and are now having problems which we can’t help taking on our own shoulders as we watch them flounder along making the same mistakes that we once made. Now we are brought up with a round turn by health problems which we didn’t foresee, and we find that we have new needs. We have to downsize; things we once did with ease, now take all day. Then when we come to the next big-0 birthday, we realise that there is very little time left, and maybe no quality time at that. Our minds are not as clear as they used to be, and it is an effort to think of the future and spiritual things.

   For those of us who have endeavoured to follow the Lord during our life time, we have a foundation of knowing the Scriptures and can draw on these from our memory bank for the times of weakness. Our Lord says that His Holy Spirit will bring these things to our remembrance in our times of need, but there has to be something there in the first place for Him to work with.

    So while we have the energy, let’s make sure we store up God’s Word in our hearts against the time that we may not be able to get “fresh manna” due to illness and bodily weakness. Let’s remember that He has promised He will be always with us, and as we go through the door, He is the only One who can go through with us. Let’s get to know Him better and seek to live for Him in every way, and we will come to that door with full confidence and anticipation of what lies beyond!

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Random Devotional Thoughts

More Snippets from Ezekiel

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      I wrote last time about a vision Ezekiel had seen, and  continued reading through his writings. I was intrigued by the following thoughts from the first part of verse seven of chapter forty-three which says… And He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever.”     It is amazing to think that God’s desire has always been to live among His people. There are many pictures in this vision that are applicable to us as believers. We are told that we are the temple of the Living God as a body of believers on earth at this time…..

     God’s one great desire is that people follow him with all their heart, and mind and soul (Matthew 22:36-38). Since we see that the sacrifice for our sin has been met by Jesus Christ and that the Holy Spirit of God is now living within us, does this then let us off the hook of having to offer any further sacrifices? Can we just take this free salvation and then live our lives how we want to? No, most definitely not! What then are we expected to do?

    The first offering to give to God is to give our own selves to Him and to live for Him in a way that is honouring to Him. We are not to give way to things like bad temper, immoral living of any sort, dishonesty in  business deals or in private life, or in using bad language.. (Romans 12:1; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11)    We are to have a humble attitude before God, and not demand things just because He has promised them….it may not be right for us at this time! (Psalm 51:17)    Then we are to give Him the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving. It is so easy to complain about people and things….it just comes naturally right from childhood to say, “Not my fault, I didn’t do it!” It is a real sacrifice to have to put these complaining thoughts to one side and find something positive to say instead!  ( Psalm 107:22; Hebrews 13:15)    We are to be helpful and kind, to do good to others, and not try to be the top dog, but take the lower place. But on the other hand, we must also be ready to step forward and do our bit….it’s just as bad to say we aren’t good enough when something needs doing !  (Hebrews 13:16, and Philippians 4:18)  

    Believers are part of a holy priesthood to God by reason of our salvation, and as such, we are obligated to do the sacrifices of giving praise, living a holy life and sharing what we have with others.  (1 Peter 2:5)

God has given His only Son, We must take the work that’s done, Giving back the praise He’s due, Is what He wants us to do.

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Daily Devotionals

Ezekiel’s Writings

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Ezekiel 1:1-28                   

     Ezekiel the priest was in the land of the Babylonians, and it seems that he was meditating on the things of God as he was by the river of Kebar. Suddenly he was aware of an enormous cloud, a windstorm with lightning flashing through it coming  from the northerly direction….

    Ezekiel now tried to describe the indescribable for his readers, as he watched this cloud getting closer and closer. He could see that there were living beings in this cloud, they were sort of like human beings, and yet they were different. They gleamed with a great light from within and they had wings as well as hands and legs. They were able to move quickly like flashes of lightning, and they all moved in unison having wheels within wheels, and as they moved they made a sound like that of a rushing stream.

    As we read this description in the context of modern inventions, we can almost imagine what Ezekiel was seeing was some sort of heavenly machine….was it some sort of helicopter or drone that he saw?  It was definitely a vision from God, and Ezekiel now saw that there was a Great Being there and he could hear a Voice speaking to him. But the overall impression that he got, was one of tremendous light, and a brilliant rainbow which dazzled him so much that he threw himself face downwards on the ground.

   For others who have seen a vision from God, there is always this great light, and we have Paul’s description of his experience on the road to Damascus. He too, fell face downwards onto the ground in the face of this great light, while the men with him saw the light and heard a voice but couldn’t pick what was being said. Paul though, was in no doubt as to what was said and Who was speaking to him, and he was blinded by this intense light for three days (Acts 9:3-9)

   We hear of people today say in their ignorance and unbelief of Who God really is, that they are going to say this or that to God if they ever see Him, but they do not realise that they will be totally speechless in that day. They will see what they really are in the light of God’s holiness and purity, and will know His justice and that they will get what they deserve.

    Ezekiel heard a voice speaking to him and he was ready to listen, just as Paul too listened to what God had to tell him. We don’t have these visions today, but we DO have God’s Word in our hands which clearly tells us the way of salvation….all we have to do is to humble ourselves to listen and obey what He tells us to do. We don’t have to WORK for our salvation because Jesus Christ has done it all, but we DO have to humble ourselves to accept what He has done.

God’s men of old heard God’s word, And wrote down what they heard, We must follow what we read, Obey it all and take good heed.

Random Devotional Thoughts

Do you Have a Loose Connection?

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      I heard a story the other day about a man whose car had a flat battery. This was in the days when a car could be started by cranking it, so he got out the crank and started to wind the motor but it still wouldn’t start. So he lifted the bonnet (hood) of the car and poked around having a good look at the motor. Then he found the problem….there was a loose cable connection. He joined it up, wound the crank handle again and the motor shot into life. “Ah!! ” he thought, “so THAT was the problem!”

     This is just like our prayer life. There are many times when we feel as though God is far away and not hearing our prayers. The trouble is a loose connection between us and God, and it is not until we join the connection that the power of God flows back into our life. Let’s look at some of these loose connections that can cut our fellowship with God.     One of these is having a right relationship with our spouse or other members of our families. This is one of the main causes of a broken connection, and we are told that husbands in particular, are to treat their wives right or their prayers will be hindered  (1 Peter 3:7 ).  Another one is having a bad attitude towards others, and unconfessed sin….King David said, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me!” (Psalm 66:18 ) Having a wrong attitude to our money….it is not our own, but only what God has given us, so it is only reasonable to give Him His share of it. Habitual and continuous disobedience will block our communion with God. Cherished continual sin in our hearts…..is there something that we know displeases the Lord but we don’t want to give it up? This is a loose connection cutting the communication between us and God. The prophet Isaiah said, “Your sins have come between you and God like a thick cloud!”   (Isaiah 52:1)

   So after thinking about these things, let’s fix these loose connections in our life, and have our communion with God restored again.

Daily Devotionals

Thoughts from Psalm Ninety

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The Sheltering One

I know the wonders of God’s grace, Because I‘m in His secret place. A thousand years are in His sight, The same as yesterday’s quick flight; Man’s life is but a fleeting thing, Like blooms which fall or birds that sing. He sees the secret sins we do, And all the pride which dogs us too. We may see three score years and ten, Or even eighty, but what then? Teach us O Lord to watch our ways, As we are here with fleeting days; For You are all that satisfies, As we are here in time that flies; Let the beauty of Your grace, Reflect in deeds and in our face!

    We see here how fleeting each person is in the light of God’s eternity! Man is so insignificant in the light of what God is, and yet He desires for us to know Him and fellowship with Him! Our years here on earth are just the beginning of eternity for each one of us….an eternity spent in one of two places, either with God or without Him. We cannot imagine what it would be like to be separated from God and all that is good for ever and ever. If only the horror of it would impress itself on the minds of people, hell would be empty. Let’s each one of us learn to number our days as this psalm says, and apply our hearts to know wisdom, remembering that the fear and knowledge of God is the beginning of this wisdom!

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Life Lessons

Consequences !

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I was talking to a friend this morning and he was saying how there don’t seem to be consequences any more for people’s actions. Young people today don’t seem to be being taught that our choices and actions will always bear consequences, for good or bad. When we older ones were growing up, woe betide us if we did wrong, whether at school or at home….we knew what the consequences would be!

       He was saying that the young years are when people make the greatest choices of their lives when they have had the least experience of life, and have to live with the consequences for the rest of their lives. For instance, when we see how the young ones today are decorating themselves up with tattoos all over the flesh….this is one example of a choice with a consequence of being stuck with that for the rest of their lives. I look at my eighty plus year arms now, and feel very thankful they haven’t been decorated like that….they look bad enough like they are, and I can’t imagine what they would look like if they were covered with tattoos on the drooping and wrinkled flesh that my arms now are!!!

     But there are worse scars in a person’s life than merely outward decorations, scars that are the results of wrong choices in earlier years. Some of these can never be rectified….they can be confessed and put behind them to go on in life, but the consequences of those choices can never be changed or altered. The memories of broken lives and relationships will go on into the future. No matter how much we try to forget them (and we can), others will remember them and who know when they will be dragged up out into the open once more.

     We are seeing this at present with prominent people in the news who have covered up wrong doings of the past, but now they are being dragged into court to either be exonerated or charged. But the stain will still be there.

      What a wonderful blessing it is that when we confess our sins and mistakes to God, He will not only forgive them, but will throw them into the depths of the sea never to be held against us or remembered by Him! So let us always remember these things, and if we make mistakes and are bearing the consequences of our foolishness now, let’s put it right with our Maker while there is still time. The day may come when it will be too late, and many a person has died with these wrong choices they have made still against them.

Morning Musings

Thoughts from Psalm Six

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The Weeping Man

O Lord don’t rebuke me for all my wrong, I’ve lost my joy, my peace and song, My soul is vexed, and my flesh feels raw, My eyes have wept until they are sore; God has heard my weeping and cries, As up to Him my prayers will rise.

    We all have times in our lives when we feel like David did when he wrote these words. We all do wrong things and know that we have displeased God (and often man as well). We have to confess our sin before we have fresh and free communion with God again, but it isn’t enough to just confess to God, we have to confess to those we have had the disagreement with as well. Otherwise bitter thoughts will continue to rankle and grow and our fellowship with others will be marred. It is wonderful to know that God knows all about us, and how we are feeling at any given time. So we might as well tell Him and receive His full and free forgiveness (1 John 1:9)

Morning Musings, Uncategorized

Thoughts from Psalm 139

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The  Ever-present One.

O Lord, You’ve searched and known me, From in the past eternity; You know me from the outside in, You know my ways and all my sin; There’s not a word You do not hear, You know my every secret fear; You are behind, before me too, You watch all things I see and do. I cannot know such knowledge great, Until I get to heaven’s gate. I know You’ll judge in future days, So keep me from all evil ways. Search me O Lord, and know my heart, Try my thoughts, keep me apart, From wicked ways and thoughts in me, And lead in ways that uplift Thee

      What a wonderful psalm this is! We can have the confidence that God knows all about us….we should pray that prayer continually…”Search me O God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts”! He knows how we feel at all times so it’s no use pretending we are something that we are not. If we are angry, tell Him! If we are disappointed or discouraged, tell Him about it! We are told to take everything to Him in prayer, and to be anxious about nothing (Philippians 4:6-7)…. this is the only way we can know His peace.                                                                                   As we read this Psalm, we see how that God knows all about us, regardless of whether we know Him for ourselves or not. Just because we might not believe that He exists, it doesn’t make a scrap of difference to this fact. There is nowhere or no way that we can hide from His all seeing eyes, and He has the last say in our affairs whether we believe it or not.

                                                                      

See what God has to say to YOU.