Author: wannabechristiandoorman

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The Blinking light.

There was a cyclist who had a red led light which he used on the back of his bike. It was one of those USB rechargeable ones. He would keep it charged up and then when he rode his bike he would set it to it’s blinking setting so that all the other road users would see him and know that he was there.

The cyclist was pleased with his light. It work well, keeping the cyclist safe on all those dark cold mornings.

The little blinking light knew none of this. It just did it’s task, without missing a beat.

However one day the little light became a bit despondent.
Why am I doing all this blinking?
I don’t see the point of it all.
Sure I like all that recharging, but all that cold and endless blinking is wearing me down.
Why am I bothering with all this?
Should I just stop and not give out my light anymore?

The cyclist, becoming aware of this spoke to the light.

Don’t give up!
I am well pleased with all your efforts.
You’ve served me well keeping me visible and safe on all those cold mornings. You could probably be called a life saver.
Please continue to shine your light and thus keep me safe.

Have you ever felt like the light did?

Why am I doing this?
How much longer should I keep going?
I just don’t see the point!

If you are doing what your meant to be doing then just stick with it. Sometimes we just don’t realise the difference we make.

You could possibly be a life saver without ever knowing it!
Never underestimated the power of your actions when they are done for Father.

Sometimes we might see the results but, sometimes we won’t until a later date. All we can do is to try and give Father our best and leave the “why” with him.

After all, won’t it be the best thing ever to hear him say to you, ….

“Well done good and faithful servant, I am well pleased with YOU.”

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Why is it that when you have troubles people can tend to tell you to rest up, and do nothing?

This might seem like a bit of a strange question but I have sometimes found myself asking this very question in times of trouble.

I understand people’s intentions when they have said such words to me. (Or taken away tasks which I was doing or was about to start doing.) They are trying to help me by giving me time to work things out.

The problem is that sometimes it might not be exactly what is needed at the time.

You might think that this is a strange thing to say, because if you are having troubles then surely having time to work things out is a good thing…..isn’t it…???

Sometimes the answer is yes, time is needed to work things out and having less to do can help the process but at other times the answer could be a resounding NO!

Sometimes, if you are having troubles then having something to do can be just the tonic the doctor ordered, as the saying goes. If this seems strange at face value to you then shall we look into it a bit further?

One of my first points of calls is the bible. So, what does the bible have to say about this?
One reference to rest which is probably well known is Matthew 11 vs 28

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Well does that sound like I have got this wrong then…??? The verse is telling me we can have rest. So, should I just put my feet up and take some time out when troubles come my way?

I wonder how many people would be putting their feet up if everybody chose to do this. ☺ 

I think we need to ask what is God’s rest?
I think part of the answer to that question is found in Matthew 11 vs 29-30

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Do we ever read vs 28 and ignore 29-30 ? The passage needs to be read as a whole though.

In 29-30 God does not say put your feet up and take it easy but instead says take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

He has work for us to do. It is a task which we can do. He will not overburden us, but (in this instance) he does not say do nothing. On the contrary he says get up and do something.

What that something is for each individual person is going to be different and individually right for each person. (Sorry but I can’t tell you what that something is, you’ll need to hear that from Father himself for the answer to that question.)

So can you now see where I’m coming from?
Why is it that when you are having troubles people can sometimes think they can help you by removing a burden?

Sometimes it might be just the thing that is needed for a short while but it might not be.
Sometimes it may be that the very thing we need is to be a blessing to someone else. Is there a phrase about it being more blessed to give than to receive..???

There is another time in the bible which comes to mind whilst thinking about this. It’s when an angel made breakfast for Elijah and then told him to sleep. It can be found in 1 kings 19 vs 4-8

In this instance Elijah is told to eat and sleep…..for a while. He is not told to eat and sleep indefinitely but only for a short while in order to strengthen him for the journey he is about to go on.

So, even when God tells us to take a break (which I’m sure he does at times), it’s not meant to be a permanent break. He still has a task or tasks for us to do.

So where have I got to, in all this meandering?
Sometimes you need to do less and sometimes you need to do more…. Well I’m glad we have sorted that one out then….?????

I think what I’m trying to say is that because someone is having trouble it doesn’t automatically mean that they need things to be taken away from them. It might be that they may need something taken away from them or they might just need someone to walk a little closer with them for a while. It might be that they need something added to them to help them along.

I think that part of the problem is that we like to think we know what is needed. We can go on previous experience of what worked in the past. If X, Y, and Z worked then, then we shall do that again now.

Not every situation is the same though. X, Y, and Z might be chucking a hand grenade into an already painful situation.

So, where do we go now then?

My only answer to that is to seek Father, to hear his voice and his direction.

It does mean we need to be able to hear his voice and follow his lead, even if it makes no sense to us. He has the answer to each and every situation. He is the one who knows when to stop and when to rest and he also knows when to stand up and move.

So when all is said and done, are we willing to hear and follow Father’s lead? It is the best way to go.

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The Rope and The Thread

Soon after I became a Christian I was given a picture.
It was of a rope and a thread hanging in the air.
They represent the two ways to live your life.

I had been clinging to the rope for so long.
The rope was this world and all that it offers: job, success, money, happiness and the like.

The thread, for so long I had been unaware of, was Gods way.

Whilst I was holding onto the rope it seemed as if it was a nonsense to want to reach out to the thread. After all, how on earth is a thread meant to hold my weight? It can be hard enough to hold on to the rope at times.

After a while though I became aware that God was asking me to let go of the rope and reach out to the thread.
I wasn’t too sure about that one.
I still had my rope and it felt safe and secure. I think that maybe I’ll hold onto this a little longer. After all, that thread still doesn’t look any stronger.

I probably tried to reach for the thread a couple of times. But the thing is I wouldn’t let go of the rope, so the thread was always out of my reach. I needed to let go of the rope to be able to reach the thread.
Am I quite ready yet to let go of my rope?

When I did let go of my rope and reach out for the thread, I found that I didn’t quite need to hold onto the thread in the same way.
In fact I hardly needed to hold it at all.
Where I had become tired from holding onto the rope for so long, with the thread it just wasn’t necessary to do so. It was easier in some ways.
I could just relax.

After a while it was clear to see why. It wasn’t my strength that was holding me up any more. No, it was God’s power and strength.
As I rested in him, he held me firm.

As I stayed near the thread, in God’s presence, we travelled up the thread.
After a while we could see the top of the rope.
It still looked as solid and strong as ever but, it wasn’t attached to any thing. It was just hanging there, well actually it must have been falling down.

It was then that I realised, that when I was holding onto the rope, I too was falling down also, and if I had ever made it to the top of the rope then what good would it have done me.
For if the rope was attached to nothing, then all that effort would have been for nothing.

The thread however didn’t stop but continued upward toward the heavenly realms, where Gods presence was even more abundant.
I am so pleased to have reached out for the thread, now knowing that God is taking me home.

As I rested in Gods presence, by the apparent thread, I realised that it was God who lifted me up.
Not my strength but Gods power. As if I could pull myself up on a thread, I had enough trouble with the rope.
The thread was acting as a guide for me to show me where I should be.

It seems to me that it’s best just to trust and rest in God and to follow His ways, doing so leads to Him after all.

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The Large and small cross

I see before me a vast sea of water.
The scene cries out “I have Christ in my life, do you see him?”
No Is the clear answer.
But the scene insists, “Look, I do have Christ in my life”.
With that statement the scene pushes the water apart with a great effort and makes a dry area by holding back the waters. In the dry area is a small cross.
The scene restates “Look, you can now see Christ in my life.”

In the second scene the waters are the same only this time there is a large cross towering in the middle of the scene.
The statement “Look, do you see Christ in my life” doesn’t need to be said as he can be clearly be seen.

Both scenes are a picture of a Christian.
The waters are life’s trials and troubles.
The cross is Christ in our lives.
We all start off with a small cross at the beginning. But does Christ stay that way?
If he does then it takes an effort to show him in our lives. We have to push back the waters to show Christ in our lives. This can be hard work and needs to be done all the time when the cross is below the surface of the waters.
However, if the cross is in place then it is in place even if it can’t be seen.

As we follow Christ’s prompting’s we can see the cross grow.
As the cross grows there is no longer any need to hold the waters back but just allow them to flow around at the Base of the cross.

The question is how big is Christ in your life?
Is he below the surface of the water or is he towering in the skies?
Whatever size he is, the good news is, he can always grow bigger!

We just need to let him have his way and follow his promoting.

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How do you react when you are having a bad day?

Lets face it, we all have bad days from time to time.
We all can have days that leave you crying out AAARRRHHH!!!!!!!!

So how do you act or react when a bad day comes your way?

Do you scream out at anyone near you? (unfortunately those closest to us can bear the brunt of this.)
Do you go and hit something? (hopefully not breaking whatever it is your hitting, and most definitely hopefully not a person or pet.)

Or do you just crawl off to a quiet place to hide and wait for the day to end singing, The sun will come out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, will be OK. (Just like the little girl with red cotton candy curls sings in a film.)

None of the above options really help us that much.
They may be a small release, but is there a better option?

I believe there is a better option.
Like all better options it’s not an easy one to put into practice but it can bring a release that goes to another level.
One that can bring in a victory.

So what is it I hear you say?

Seek the Lord your God and call on him to help you!

Simple really, isn’t it…???

Maybe not so simple when all you want to do is all of the above.
So How can you do it?

You could try the, singing a song idea.
No not the song mentioned above but a different one.

Incidentally, do you know who the true author of that song, “The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow” is …???
I’m not talking about who wrote it but the one who inspired it…???

I believe it is the enemy himself, the deceiver, the father of lies.
Before you go off and call me whatever it is that’s in your mind right now, please, just give me a chance and I’ll explain.

What is the message of that song….???
Give up on today! Today is done! You have been beaten today, so just give up and try again tomorrow. (It sounds all the more convincing if you say the above with a bit of a growl in your tone of voice.)

The problem with singing that song today is that tomorrow still has troubles of its own to deal with, which will try to lead you to singing the same song over and over again.
A song of eternal defeat.

This is why I believe this song is a song from the enemy!

There is a different song you can try to sing in its place.

This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made.
I WILL rejoice, I WILL rejoice and be glad in it!, and be glad in it.
This is the day that the Lord has made.
I WILL rejoice and be glad in it!
This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made.

As I have said it can be a hard thing to put into practise, but it can bring about a victory. (Even if it is only in your heart and mind but this is where the victory has to come first).

There is an incidence in the bible where we can see this principle in action. Can you guess which part I’m thinking of….?

Well, I’m thinking of Paul and Silas when they were locked up in the inner cell of the prison, with feet fastened into stocks. And this was after having been stripped, beaten and flogged. Acts 16 vs 16-40

Well, they were having a VERY BAD day!
They were Roman Citizens and should not have been treated in such a way.

We may think we have human rights but they had Roman Rights!
They should have been protected by Rome!
We can see how they should have been protected in Acts 22 vs 25 when on another occasion when Paul was about to be flogged he asked
“Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t been found guilty?”
On that occasion Paul wasn’t flogged because of his Roman Citizen Rights.
But back in chapter 16 he had his rights abused.

He had every right to complain!
He could have said “I am a Roman Citizen, How Dare you treat me this way!”
But he didn’t. instead he (and Silas) looked to their citizenship in GOD!
He looked to a higher power.
Father in Heaven.

How did they look to their Father in heaven?
Well they were both were singing, even though they were beaten, battered and bruised.
They were singing even though they had had such a very bad day.

When I first read this passage I had a bit of a romantic view that God must have enabled Paul and Silas to worship after having such a bad day. After all, how else could they have done it? Surely God must have inspired them with power from on high…???

I now think that the reality is some what less dramatic. I now think that they were singing because they needed to. You see, I think they knew they needed to draw close to God and singing was the method they were using to do this.

This turned my thinking on it’s head.
They were singing because they needed to, not because they were inspired to by a power from on high. (How ordinary.)

What happened after they had been singing for a while?

They not only saw the victory in there hearts and minds but also in the reality of their situation.

There was an earthquake, the doors were opened and even the jailer and his house hold came to salvation. (You need to read Acts 16 vs 16-40 to get the whole account.)

This all happened because they made the decision to sing rather than complain.

The miracle happened after worshiping.

So can we do likewise?
When things don’t go our way instead of doing all the wrong things can we instead turn to God, using whatever method works for you to enter into his presence?
Can we try to seek His face, His help and His assistance?

It is the better option.

Father.
Help us to always look to you.
When times are good and also when times are not so good.
Help us to seek and trust you always.
Amen.

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Are you walking on the Train Tracks?

There was a man who was walking in the countryside enjoying all that was around him. The sun was shining and all seemed well.

Another man who was walking along a path that looked too narrow called out to him. “Don’t you know that you are walking along the train tracks and a train will come along behind you and cause you great pain and suffering if you don’t move off of the tracks? Come and walk with me on this path up here, it’s much safer.”

The man who was walking along the tracks just looked around and replied “I’m sorry my friend but you seem to be mistaken. There are no tracks here and the going looks to be easier here than where you are on that narrow path. I’ll just carry on along this path if it’s all the same to you.”

The thing is the man was walking along the train tracks even though he couldn’t see it.
A train was sure to come along at some point. It might be a short wait or a long wait for the train, but it would come and at that time, if the man was still on the train tracks then he would be run over, crushed and broken by the train.
His only hope to not be hit by the train is to move onto the path that looked narrow.

The above is a picture that shows what Christians believe in regards to heaven and hell.
One is the narrow path, which leads to heaven, and the other is the wide path that leads to hell.
The narrow path is to accept and follow Jesus where as the wide path is to follow your our ways.

Christians believe that God is real and so is heaven and hell and when they try to talk to you about these things, all they are desperately trying to say is.
“There is a train coming along and I don’t want to see you get hurt by it, so won’t you please come and join me up here on the narrow path with Jesus, where it’s safe away from the train.”

Matthew 7 vs 13-14
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

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Do we ask How before we say Yes?

When Father brings a challenge to you, how do you react to it?

If you are like me then you might well try to work out the details before you want to commit to anything.
What will it cost me (time, money or anything else)?
Do I even like the direction the challenge is going?
Is it really from Father?

That last question, is the only real valid question to ask!

The other questions are really concerned with, Do I really want to do this? (What ever this might be.)

If Father issues a challenge to us then shouldn’t we be ready to say yes to him?
He is LORD GOD after all.
The highest authority.
The One who cares and Loves us.
The One who gave his only Son to save us.

Do you see why I’m saying the only real question we should be asking is… “Is this truly from Father?”

Asking if the challenge is from Father is the good and sensible thing to do.
If we do not ask that question then we could be easily led astray, but once we know that the challenge is from Father, then how do we respond to it?

If you are like me, then you might well still be asking the question of “How is this even possible?”

Which leads to the question of, will you only say yes to Father when you know how?
You see Father doesn’t always work that way.
Sometimes we need to say yes to Father before the how is revealed.

Sometimes Father might want us to say yes before he gives us the answer of How.

The problem for me is that sometimes I can get too concerned with the How to the point where I start to forget to say Yes.
I can get caught in the trap of, if I can’t see how to do this then how can I possibly say Yes to the supposedly impossible?

What if Father wants us to say Yes to him first?

If this is the case then the How will follow! (Father does know the How after all.)

So the question remains, will you say Yes to Father, even when you don’t know the How?

Father,
Help us to know where you are leading us to go.
Give us the confidence to say Yes to you, even if we don’t know the details of how.
Help us to follow your promptings and your ways.
Amen

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Words have power!

We may have all heard those words before, but how true do we know it to be?
A good well placed word can have a great benefit to someone in need.
Like wise, a wrongly placed word can cause a great deal of pain.
So I think very much so, that words do, in fact have power.

OK, so now that I have stated the obvious, where am I now going with this?

Well my thoughts are kind of, if we know words have power, then how well do we use them?
Do we use them to build up, encourage and generally do good, or do we do the opposite?

How do we use words with ourselves as well as others?
Yes, the words we use with ourselves, can also have great power!
We can build ourselves up, or pull ourselves down with the words we use with ourselves.

If we say I can’t, then guess what, you probably won’t be able to.

If I feel as though I’m about to say “I can’t”, then I’ll endeavour to change it to ” I’m struggling.” Or “I need a bit of help with this”.

You shouldn’t deny the struggle. To do so is to stick your head in the sand. But we can try to change our perspective. We can try to change, we can’t to, we can overcome. (Anyone feel like singing a song…. we can overcome 🙂 )

After all doesn’t it say somewhere “I can do all thing’s through Christ who strengthens me”.

Or if we feel like a different song we can try, I get by, with a little help from my friends.
This leads me to what people can say to us when we are struggling.
The words people say to us at times of hardship, can very much so make a big difference too.
One of the phrases I really dislike to hear is “It must be so hard for you.” That phrase is normally given with such a sad look on people’s faces of, oh I do feel for you, and you have my sympathy.

It can just leave me feeling, ARRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!
It’s just NOT helpful!!

Please tell me, how is that phrase meant to help???
All it says to me is, “Life must be sooooo hard.  Why don’t you just sit down and have a pity party. “They are not words I need to hear when struggling with anything.
I know it’s not what people are trying to say, but it’s all I can hear when it’s said to me in times of struggle.

Again, I can only say, it doesn’t help me.
If you are feeling the urge to say that phrase, then please don’t.
Instead, try to say something along the lines of…I can see you’re struggling but you can overcome. Or, I can see things are a struggle, it’s at such times we need to dig deep or whatever Father puts on your heart in order to lift up or encourage the person who you see who is struggling.

If you can see someone who is struggling then you could even ask God, is there anything I can do to help?
You do need to endeavour to hear God if you do this.

It might be very tempting to ask the person who is struggling.
Please, tell me,  how can I help you?
Or, what can I do to help you?
Yes, I’ve had that happen to me in the past too.

I know, people have meant well. But at the time I was in a place where I didn’t know what I needed. I might, at a push, have been able to tell you of a want which I might like to have been met, but what I actually needed???

You see when you are struggling, you’re perspective can get a little bit (or a lot) skewed.
Your thinking can become a wee little bit wrong. You can end up becoming the silly one, in some ways.
So, do you really want to ask the silly one, what’s needed???
Trust me, it’s better to ask for Fathers advice in a situation like the above.

One thing you could ask Father is, “do you want me to walk this struggle with…..”If you do ask this question, then please listen to the answer. If Father says no, then listen to Him.

The wrong person trying to help can cause more problems than help. You’re motives might be good but if Father says no, then it’s best to listen.

We can all pray, even if it is from a distance.
If you are genuinely praying for someone, then you know what,  you could possibly be part of the solution. It’s not up to you to be the whole solution, but you could play you’re part. You could possibly even bring a word (from God), you know words do have power.

There might even be the crazy thing that Father asks you to do.
He can sometimes ask us to do the funniest of things. But if it is from Father, then who knows how it will help.
It all comes back to hearing his voice, and then following it. Do we hear his voice clear enough to be able to follow His prompting’s?

Father.
Please do help us all to hear you more clearly and then to have the courage to follow your promptings.
Amen

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The Precious Jewel

I have a precious jewel in my pocket.

As soon as I take it out, another one takes its place in my pocket.

I now have one in my hand and one to give away.

Who will take my precious jewel?

When you take hold of this jewel and put it into your pocket, then the same will happen for you also.

So what is this precious jewel I have?

It is Jesus in my life.
You see having Jesus in my life is something special, and something that can’t be lost. When I share him with you and you accept him then you can experience all that I have and together we shall both become all the richer.

So will you ask Jesus into your life, and also become all that much richer?

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How Do You Pray when you feel you just can’t do anything?

Have you ever found yourself in a place where doing anything seems impossible, where even the simple tasks are a major chore to do?
If you have, then how do you pray when in such a place?

When doing anything seems impossible then praying can seem like the last thing you want to do.
It’s in these times that it could be the most important thing to do!

So how can you do it?

If you can, then using the Lords prayer can be a good starting place.

If I’m struggling, then using The Lords Prayer gives me a model of how to pray.
I take each line, one at a time and dwell on what it means for me in the here and now.
I’ll demonstrate with the first line.

Our Father in heaven – Yes you are my Father, my Daddy. The one I can go to. You are there for me, thank you that you are there for me.

I might dwell on that one line for longer or that might be all I think of for that time before moving onto the next line and repeating the process again.

If you can put this idea into practise then great, please try to do that.

It Will Bless YOU!

But what if you can’t even do that.
What if even that seems impossible.

There is still hope!

You are not so lost that you can’t be brought back!

When I in the past have reached the point where I can’t even say the prayer in that manner,  then I will just recite the Lords prayer.
Parrot fashion if I must but I still do it because even doing that has a power to it.

But what if you can’t even do that?
When I have been there in the past, then I have had another fall back option on prayer.

It’s one of the most basic prayers I have called out.
It’s only six words long.

Praise you.
Help me.
Thank you.

The order the words are used in can be different each time but I try to Praise Him, ask Him for help and also try to remain thankful for what I do have.

That last one can seem difficult to do when you think you have nothing but we all have something to be thankful for, if we look hard enough.

We have air in our lungs to be thankful  for. If we have a roof over our heads and food on the table then we have something to be thankful for.

It can be hard to say thank you, when everything else seems to be wrong, but we always have something to be thankful for.
If we can only open our eyes enough to look for it.
It can be a very hard thing to do but it is the right thing to do.

When I have said the six word prayer in the past I have tried to use the same method spoken about above. Trying to put some meat on the bones, as you say.

There have been times in the past when all I could do is say the six word prayer.

In them times I could only let my heart groan and cry out to Father with the words I didn’t know how to form with my mind.

I can say to you that Today in the Here and Now, I am soooo much Better!!

It can seem so hard if all you can do is call out the six word prayer, but PLEASE, DON’T GIVE UP!!

Father is there for you, and rooting for you.

You can overcome ALL things with Christ who strengthens us.

There is this power from God which IS available to us if we seek him, even if it is with only six little words.

I would like to offer a prayer to anyone who is in need.

Our Father, who is in Heaven.
Thank you that you care for us ALL.
We are ALL special to you.
You gave your son Jesus for us ALL.
Thank you.
Help us all to KNOW that we ARE LOVED BY YOU!
Bring a healing touch to ALL who are hurting.
Help them.
Bring a Help to them that WILL bring a release.
Enable those who are struggling to carry on in YOU.
Thank you that you ARE REAL.
The one True Living GOD who cares and LOVES US.
Help us all to remain in you.
Please guide our steps and lead us to an abundance in YOU.
Amen