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Fellowship IS Important!

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   We had a good weekend away in our motorhome recently, meeting with other members of the Good News Vanners Club. These gatherings are held every few weeks, in different venues around our area, and it is a great time of fellowship for us all. Coming as we do from various churches, we don’t get a chance to meet with these folk anywhere else.

     We have great times of singing the good old favourite hymns which we grew up with (as you might guess, we are all in the older age bracket!), and share testimonies of what the Lord has done for us, both recently, and in times past. In this way we can encourage each other and build each other up as well as enjoy each other’s company.

      It is not for nothing that we are told to “not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as some do, but to exhort and encourage one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:25)” After all, we are all in the family of God, and just as it grieves us as parents to see our children at odds with each other, so it must grieve the heart of God to see His children not able to get along with each other…surely we can agree to disagree amicably on points we don’t see eye to eye about!  So we are the ones who miss out in the long run, if we absent ourselves from others in the family of God.     Just as a coal gets cold on its own away from the fire, so those who stay away from fellowshipping with others will gradually grow cold, especially if it is because of some resentment of others on our part!

     So the moral of the story is…keep fellowshipping with others, read the Word daily and grow in the Lord!

Life Lessons

Does God Know?

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The speaker this morning at our church service asked this question….Where is God when things go wrong? The passage he used was found in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-18…Rejoice evermore; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.    He talked about how this is to be our attitude, when things don’t go our way,.  It doesn’t mean that God has turned away, it just means there are things for us to learn from what is happening. We are not to ask Why?, but to ask What? instead.  How can we do this?

    He went on to illustrate his talk by telling some of his own experiences of things going wrong. His brother who he had been in partnership with in his work as a builder had dropped dead  suddenly, only in his fifties.  That same week, news came from his wife’s side of the family to say an uncle had died. On the way home from the funeral, as they were travelling up a hill, a car coming in the opposite direction, ploughed straight into them causing serious injury to his wife. This has come back to trouble her as she now approaches older age.     Later on, his son contracted cancer and passed away in his fifties as well. All these tragedies could have caused him to ask “Why me, Lord?” but he had realised that a better question to ask is “What do You want me to learn from this Lord?”     In talking to others, it is far better to draw on one’s own experiences than to just quote a few verses and leave it at that. When others realise that you have had these things to face yourself, then your words carry far more weight in the light of their hardships.

      It is the same as looking at a hot house plant that is so delicate and frail compared to one that has been hardened off in the sun and taken the wind’s beating….it is then able to withstand further storms without breaking beneath the weight of the weather. So our words carry more weight when tempered with experience. We don’t just know ABOUT these things, but we KNOW for ourselves how the Lord guides and uplifts one in these trying times!

Random Devotional Thoughts

Nothing.

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God  uses NOTHING,   when He begins to work,

His great creation came to pass, when He spoke and didn’t shirk;

The world is hung on   NOTHING, so the Bible said,

Long before man  realised that, in space the stars were spread,

Yet man who’s  made from  NOTHING,  only out of dust,

Rails against his Maker, the Holy One and Just:

Nations in God’s sight are NOTHING, in fact are even less,

The princes too, are NOTHING, when  God they do not  bless,

As well, the great man’s riches, are NOTHING to desire,

For one day they will burn, in God’s judgemental fire.

Man  came into this world, with NOTHING in his hand,

And  when he dies will leave behind, his treasures and his land:

NOTHING   that man does,  is hid from God’s all seeing eyes,

Whate’er  he  sows now, he will reap, through all eternity.

In spite of all man’s pride, and wilful stubborn ways,

God looks down  in mercy, and for sin’s price He pays,

He gave Son to die, for men with sinful trend,

In Him the prince of evil, found NOTHING he could rend.

He paid the price in full, and offers all for free,

Salvation costs us NOTHING,   now for you and also me,

Our  days on earth may be as NOTHING,  but ahead is  Heaven’s bliss,

By taking Jesus as our Saviour, this NOTHING makes  us miss,

NOTHING   now will separate. from His great boundless love,

It reaches far and wide for us. from depth to height above;

Till in that endless day ahead, NOTHING mars the scene,

No sin, no night, no sorrow there, but Christ will reign supreme.

So from this fact of NOTHING, the great Creator brings,

The greatest worth for all of those, who will His praises sing.

Stories for Littlies

Why Clean the Shower?

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   Bobby and Betty were playing ball outside on a winter’s day. The ground was quite wet and it wasn’t long before the ball was covered in mud. The next shower came and they went inside for a drink.

“Bobby!” exclaimed Mum, “Just look at your hands and your clothes! You are covered in mud!!” “That’s alright, Mum”, Bobby said, “It’ll wash off!” and he reached out for the drink that Mum had ready. “Bobby!” Mum said sternly, “That’s no way to talk! Don’t you know how much work it takes to get your clothes clean?”

Betty came bounding into the kitchen just then. “Betty!” Mum exclaimed, “Whatever have you been doing? You’re so grubby!” “I’ve been playing ball with Bobby!” Betty said (as though Mum couldn’t tell!) “Well, you’d better both go and have a shower and put clean clothes on as soon as you’ve finished your drinks”, Mum said.

“I’m going first!” Bobby said, as he gulped down the last of his drink and went off to the bathroom. “You make sure you wipe the shower box out with the spray cleaner when you’ve finished”, Mum called after him. “Why do we have to wash the shower box out?” Betty asked, “It’s clean water”. “Well”, Mum said, “there’s the dirt that comes off you, and the soap has a certain amount of grease in it, so the splashes inside the shower get thicker and thicker until it looks like a greasy scum over the whole thing. That is VERY hard to get off. It’s much easier to keep it clean all the time”.

“That’s right”, said Dad as he came into the kitchen catching the last bit of conversation. “You know it’s just like the little bad things that we do and say every day. If we don’t keep telling God that we are sorry for these things and ask Him to help us do better next time, we  end up being mean and nasty all the time. It’s not a good idea to be like that! It’s much better  to do it every day.”

     This little story has a great application for each one of us. We all need to confess our shortcomings to God every day. Just as we need to constantly shower and wash our bodies, so we need to constantly clean our souls, This can only be done by confession of the wrong and repentance (which means turning away from it). We cannot do this on our own, but only with the help from Above. This is another reason for a daily prayer time.

Morning Musings

Taking a Break!

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     We’ve just been away, and have come home ready to tackle all the things that have happened while we were away….namely in the garden! It is always good to get away and see new things, and have experiences that make one glad to be back home. For instance, the traffic in the big city is not so bad for a one off time, but imagine having to put up with that every day (as so many do!) So we came back ready to take up things again, and thankful for what we do have!

     It reminded me that even in the time of Christ, He said to His disciples, “Come aside and rest a while”…. they had been so busy dealing with the crowds that were following Him for what they could get out of Him, and He knew they needed to have a rest from it all. But alas, when they got to the other side of the lake, there were the crowds waiting for Him again! How their hearts must have sunk! They had only had a couple of hours of rest while the boat sailed across the lake!    But Jesus had compassion on the crowd and began talking and teaching them things about the Kingdom of Heaven. The day soon passed, and dusk began to fall. The disciples said to send the people away so they could buy some food. They couldn’t see how they could possibly feed this huge crowd, and Jesus asked how much food they had between them. They only found five buns and two fish, barely enough for one grown man.

    But Jesus took the food, and gave His Father thanks for it….He then broke it into pieces and gave it to the disciples to pass around to the crowd.  They all had enough to eat, and there was even food left over! What a miracle this was! If they had stayed on their own without this crowd, they would never have seen this happen.       So it with us when we put ourselves out for others, we will find the extra energy to meet this need. God never asks us to do anything for Him, even in the small things, without giving us the wherewithal to do it!

Random Devotional Thoughts

How Much Rubbish do you Have?

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     We were staying on a friend’s property in our caravan once. 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 that were keeping the sun from getting in. 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 could grow up fresh and sweet there.     We went home and then 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  frivolous time fillers just to keep us occupied.

    These are the things that need to be cut off in our lives and let fall to the ground, and then pushed up into piles and burned. What is taking up all our thoughts and time? 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). So we need to take stock of our lives, and see what should be taken away NOW, as it will all go through the refining fires of our Master in a time to come….and then what will be left?

Life Lessons

The Storms of Life (continued)

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        Sometimes when we are faced with several choices to make with quite monumental results, we hesitate and think things through, weighing up the possible results carefully. Then we make our decision in the light of our research. This is especially true for those who believe that God can and will direct their paths.

    Take the time that the disciples  crossed the vast lake at the command of the Lord Jesus, and ran into one of the worst storms they had ever experienced. They 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. We don’t encounter these storms because we have made a mistake, we have to go through them to learn more about Him. 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. (Read Matthew 14: 22-26) Through the storm… He reminds us that He is there with us…”don’t be afraid”, He says, “trust Me”. (Read Mark 4: 35-39) The storm within you….often when these storms come, they attack us from the inside. We get in a turmoil because of circumstances beyond our control, and wonder where we are going to turn next. A man named Nicodemus was like this, and he went to Jesus to ask for help. It seems that he was a man in turmoil, not knowing which way to turn. But Jesus went straight to the root of his problem, and told him he needed to have a whole new way of life, and how to get it….we read about this in John chapter three.

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 you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

We cannot build the house during the storm, we must have it built before it comes! Remember….He is the Lord of all our storms.      Transitions in life come to all of us, and how will we handle them?  Will we go through them kicking and wrestling as it were, or will we just trust  God to work things out? 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.      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. Let’s remember the verse in the  Bible that says….    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)

Life Lessons

The Storms of Life.

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        We have been trying to track down where the different boats (launches and yachts) that we have owned over the years, are now. This brought back many memories, not the least the very first trip up the coast from where we had bought it, to our home port. At this time we knew very little about sailing, so it was a great learning curve for us. Not only that, but that very first trip brought us a whole range of different types of weather that could ever be found on the sea!

    Leaving port early on the morning of that first trip, we found the whole area blanketed in a heavy fog. Horrors, what were we to do? But we had someone with us who could read a chart, and he was able to guide us through the fog from buoy to buoy marking the channel. This made me think of how we all need a chart to guide us through the intricacies of life. There is no-one apart from Jesus Christ who can do this for us. The main thing is that we have to trust his leading, even when we can’t see the reasons why.     Finally the fog lifted, and we could see where we were after all…..we were right on course after all. Our guide had made no mistakes, and in the same way we can have complete confidence in our Heavenly Guide to keep us in the right way. We had a great sail the rest of the afternoon with a gentle breeze to the island where there was safe harbour to spend the night.  

     After this time of plain and pleasant sailing, we settled down for the night very pleased with our trip thus far.  The next morning however, was a different story. The wind had gone around and was coming right in from the sea with lowering skies, and the weather looked decidedly ominous. We had no option but to carry on, as the crew wanted to get back to work the following day.       It wasn’t long after we set off, that the wind began to rise, and continued to do so until it was reaching almost gale force. After battling this for a couple of hours, our guide said, “This is the last chance we have of getting some shelter before having about three hours of open sea to cross…..what do you think?“     The yacht gave a sudden lurch just then, and fell down a particularly steep wave, deciding us to make for shelter. In the storms of life, we find that things will get almost out of hand before we decide to take the shelter that God offers us. The sudden peace that such a course gives is past understanding! To hear the wind still howling in the trees on the headland while we sat in peace and quiet behind it, was wonderful! So it is as we take a course in life to escape the full force of the wind of trials and troubles to shelter in the promises of God. We can still hear the wind howling above us, but we remain untouched.

    One thing about storms, is that they never last for ever! So on this trip, after a couple of hours, the front passed over, and the wind went around with the sea dropping enough to  enable  us to carry on with our voyage. There was still a strong wind blowing, but it was a kind wind to send us on our way, not a vicious one set on hindering our trip.     This is what we will find during life….after the storms that beset us, there will come a time of relative peace. What we have learned through the storm, helps us to appreciate this wind that takes us along with a good speed, and to make the most of it.    We may wonder what the purpose of this rough weather was, but it may not be for ourselves, as it all goes to make for  experiences that we can encourage others by. Platitudes may not be much help to others, but the experiences that we have been through speak volumes to others in need.

     Darkness began to fall by the time we reached the harbour we were aiming for. But the buoys here were well lit, marking the channel as we made our way to the mooring. Once again, the chart had it all well marked, and we made our way up the channel with full confidence. So as we follow the words in the Bible daily, we don’t need to be groping our way through our life hoping for the best. We just need to remember to profit by the storms we experience, and to encourage others in their walk as well. No one can argue with a real life experience!

See what God has to say to YOU.