Tag Archives: future

Life Lessons

Growing Older!

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    I went to visit an old friend of ours last week who is now in a rest home and not able to get out much. I remembered how we had known him for over forty years, from the time when he was a vigorous man in his middle age, involved in his job and in various things in the local church. It is sad to see him as he is now, not able to look after himself, or even able to read for himself.

   I couldn’t help thinking of how we all like to think that things won’t change on one hand, and yet on the other hand we don’t think of how life IS going to change if we live long enough! We all want to live a long time, but no-one wants to get old!  We see other people getting older and becoming infirm, and yet we never stop to think what it must be like to be like that ourselves!

   But this is part of life. The Bible says that our life is like the flowers that start off in bud, then come into full flower, and finally get faded and then die down,  We have a graphic picture of this shown to us in Isaiah chapter 40, verses 6b-8  “all flesh is grass and all the goodness of it is as the flower of the field, The grass withers, the flowers fade because the Spirit of the Lord blows upon it. Surely people are like the grass which withers, and the flowers that fade but the Word of our God shall stand for ever”.

    In that last verse we have the whole point of life….God’s Word stands for ever! We can totally depend on what He says. Another friend of ours used to say, “God says it; I believe it, and that settles it!”

   When people like to argue with what we believe, we can hang onto that saying….their argument is not with us, but with what God says!

   Another older lady said  to me one day, “No-one told us when we were younger what it’s like to be old!”

I had to agree, and even if they had, we wouldn’t have taken any notice! We all tend to live in the present without giving a thought to the future, but we would all do well to think about what lies ahead and prepare our hearts and minds to meet whatever comes our way.

Morning Musings

The New Normal!

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       At long last life is beginning to almost be normal, as we settle back into level two of the covid-19 pandemic. And yet for many people, it will never be normal again. There are those who will have lost loved ones at the worst,  or  their jobs and livelihood leading to despair if not panic. Still others will see their businesses dissolving under their eyes, even as they try to pick up the pieces. We have been able to resume some sports (with reservations), and Christians have been able to go back to their church gatherings under strict regulations.

     The authorities are doing their best to tide people over, not seeming to realise that at the end of the initial short period, things are still going to be the same. What to do? Dish out still more millions from the money tree? Try to create jobs out of thin air?

   These are very interesting times that we are living in and only time will show the final outcome. It is very interesting to think that with all of man’s inventions and yet more technology, yet the future cannot be accurately forecast. We know that things are not going to get back to the old normal, and that we will have to adapt even more in ways that we cannot imagine, even at this point in time. So we cannot predict exactly what is going to happen tomorrow, we can barely be sure of this evening!

    Every week that goes by there are new things happening that open up new scenes….for instance, who would have imagined that this latest event in America would cause such a rumpus right around the globe? Words like anarchy and arson flow into our minds, as we see the scenes of senseless destruction on our TV screens. These merely show us how close to the surface, this sort of thing is, in the hearts and minds of many people. It just show the contrast between this sort of behaviour and the words of Jesus Christ who said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives is what I am giving you. Don’t let your hearts be troubled or your minds be afraid.”  (John 14:27)

   So if you are feeling all  upset and uncertain,  respond  to God who gives peace as we come to Him in genuine and sincere enquiry. He says, “Those who seek Me will find Me” (Luke 11:9-10)

Random Devotional Thoughts

What Next?

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LILYOur young friend has gone. Cancer is a cruel thing, asking no pardon but taking its allotted course. There are no “beg your pardons” for the pain it causes, both the physical pain and the mental and emotional pain of those who are left behind. No-one expects to see their grand-son born, married and then attend his funeral. Likewise the pain of seeing your son born, grow up, and then going through the trauma and pain of caring for him while an all pervading tumour gradually takes him away. We cannot imagine the pain of seeing your young husband of less than two years being in so much pain and gradually fading away, getting weaker and weaker, then not knowing you and eventually having to watch him taken from you.

We know that God’s ways are perfect, but that doesn’t lessen the grief and loneliness when the funeral service is all over. We can only hold onto Him and trust Him for the future knowing that He can see the end from the beginning..

Morning Musings

Choices!

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petee006   Another year has begun. Whether we like it or not, 2016 has gone for ever. For some it is a relief to be able to turn our backs on what has gone on last year, while others will have had a relatively good year with no disasters or bad news to rock their boat.

One thing is certain, no-one knows what is going to happen in this brand-new year of 2017….  but we DO know one thing, we are going to have to make many choices as this year proceeds. Some of us will make choices on the spur of the moment that will affect us for the rest of our lives; others will think  more carefully before making their choices. Some will be forced into making hard choices and ones they would sooner not have to consider, while others will be looking forwards eagerly to the result of their choices that have perhaps already been made, or that they hope they will be making.

Whatever we face, let us always remember that there is One who knows the end from the beginning. He has told us to ask Him for His wisdom in making our choices, and He will give it to us liberally and freely  (James 1:5-6). We are also told that we must give thanks for the answer we get when making our requests….it may not be what we want, but it will be for the best in the long run. God will give us His peace if we leave the answer to Him (Philippians 4:6-7). Finally, we are told that if we delight in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart.  This is because our desires will then become what He desires for us! (Psalm 37:3-5) .

Have you noticed that in each of these Bible references, there are conditions to God’s promises in helping us to make our choices the right choices? We have to ask, give thanks for the answer, and delight in what He gives us! Let’s make sure that we take these thoughts with us as we move on into the New Year!