Category: Uncategorized

Categories
Uncategorized

Here’s your Answer, Do some more work.

Have you ever had those times when you start to think. “Am I getting this right? Am I doing the right thing?”

I was starting to feel that way about something. Then in a strange kind of way, the something that I was struggling with, then just started flowing. And before I knew it, a certain amount of work had then just been done.

That’s when I had the thought of this week’s post. “Here’s your answer, do some more work.”

It made me smile. 🙂

The Lord Our God knows what it is that we need at any given time.
Sometimes He may bring a comforting word of encouragement to keep us going.
At other times it could be a word of warning or a word to not do something.
But then other times, could He just give us a work to do and the ability to do it?
Then He might even give you the answer of, …….
“Here’s your answer, do some more work.”

Ecclesiastes 9:10
 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

Categories
Uncategorized

You’re only One Rain Drop in a Desert.

I’m hoping that I can write this one in a way that blesses rather than causes concern.

The world could be considered a dry and dusty place in need of a refreshing rain.
Many are the rain drops that fall onto the land to bring a refreshing, but each individual is rain drop is only a single rain drop, all on its own.

One raindrop alone can’t possibly refresh the entire land, but it can bring one rain drops refreshing to the land that it falls onto.

We are all individual rain drops falling to the land.
Will we bring a refreshing, that we can bring to the land, or will we keep our refreshing to ourselves? Not willing to give up or hand over that which we have?

As you move towards the land, remember, you are only one rain drop.
It’s not all on you to bring a refreshing to the entire land, just the part you fall onto.

As you look at all the rain falling on the landscape, know that you are part of the refreshing rain fall, when you do that, which you are meant to be doing.

So individual rain drop, will you do your part?
Will you bring a blessing where you can, as you pass through your day?
Do not concern yourself too much with the whole, but just bring the refreshing, which you are able to do, where you are able to.
Together with all the other rain drops, a true refreshing can be brought to a dry and dusty land.

Could an individual rain drop increase its size by being more willing to be refreshing?
Could a group of rain drops join in there efforts to bring a refreshing to a certain point on the land?
Will each individual rain drop be willing to be directed by the wind, so as to land exactly where The Lord Our God wants it to land?
Will you be the laser guided rain drop, that The Lord Our God, Knows that you could be?

Matthew 25:29
For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.

Categories
Uncategorized

Enlarge Your Tent.

This is something that has been spoken at our church in recent times. The full version is in Isaiah 54:2

“Enlarge the place of your tent,
    stretch your tent curtains wide,
    do not hold back;
lengthen your cords,
    strengthen your stakes.

The basic interpretation of this text is, make room for expansion. Make room for more, for you are about to be blessed.

It’s great to hear a word like that spoken to your self or a group that you are included in. But will you follow the instruction to enlarge your tent?

Can we sometimes hear that a blessing is coming, if we will just do …….., just to focus on the blessing, but then not do the instruction of…….. ?

Can we also try to do the enlarging process, to find that it feels all wrong and awkward. To then, just revert back to old and familiar ways that we know and like?
If we do, do this, then do we miss out on a blessing that is available, if we will just follow the instruction?

I’m looking to make a new purchase of an item at the moment.
I already have my good, old and trusted item at present. It’s not broken and works.
I could carry on using good old faithful and probably be perfectly happy. But the new is available.
The new is slightly bigger in some ways, and as such, it feels a little daunting. It doesn’t feel the same as the old and familiar. It feels quite a bit awkward.
But the new is bigger and better in so many ways.
Now I have a choice to make…

Will I stick with good old faithful, or choose the new?

If I choose the new, then I have a learning curve to climb.
I will need to grow into the new, before it will become my new, good old faithful.

Am I willing to take that journey?

Will I step into the new, or stick with what I know, and remain in my comfortable zone?

For me, both choices are valid, and I could choose either one and be perectly happy. But would the new bring a greater blessing? If I will just choose to take hold of it.
I may need to learn all that I need to with the new, but will it lead to a greater blessing if I can just take hold of it, and all that goes with it.

If The Lord Our God asks us to enlarge our tents, then will we do just that?
Will we allow Him to take us out of our comfort zone?
Will we make room for the blessings that He has for us?
Will we walk along a new road, learning the the lessons that He teaches us as we follow His prompting and His leading?

_____________________________

Blinded by the Light
Will you step into more of what God has for you, or will you shrink back?

An Open Door
Are you ready to step into what Father has for you?

Should I take route 1 or route 2?
When the Lord Your God asks you to take a route… then will you follow His route or your route???

Categories
Uncategorized

Can we see the Gold that is hidden in the mess?

I had been reading Job, not too long ago. I have to admit that it’s not one of my favourite books to read. It can be a bit sad and depressing.

Job suffers, and then his friends come to comfort him by judging him and telling him to turn back to God. Even though Job never turned away from God, in the first place.

This time as I read Job, I saw that one of Job’s friends actually gives Job a word of prophecy that is good, but it is hidden by the not so nice stuff he speaks to him in the same breath.

Job 8 1-7

8 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

2 “How long will you say such things?
    Your words are a blustering wind.
3 Does God pervert justice?
    Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
4 When your children sinned against him,
    he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.
5 But if you will seek God earnestly
    and plead with the Almighty,
6 if you are pure and upright,
    even now he will rouse himself on your behalf
    and restore you to your prosperous state.
7 Your beginnings will seem humble,
    so prosperous will your future be.

In the above passage we can see that it appears that Bildad has got it so wrong and so right, all in the same breath.

Just re-read verses 5-7 and you can see where he looks to have got it right, with a word of prophecy. Job was rightrighteous and did seek The Lord, and he was more greatly blessed after his time of trials. (We are told this at the end of the book of Job, Job 42:10.)

So, can you see why I think that verses 5-7 are words of prophecy?

I can also see very easily why they were missed by Job, (and me for many readings). They were hidden by the not so good stuff that Bildad said right before he brought the good stuff.
How much better would it have been if Bildad didn’t say verses 1-4 but only brought 5-7 instead?

So Bildad seems to have got it wrong by bringing verses 1-4, but did Job get it wrong by missing verses 5-7?

I do think that this is a harsh thing to ask, as I missed it for so many times, even though I knew the final outcome. But it is still actually there.

When you are suffering, your thinking can go a bit wrong, because you are suffering. And Job was suffering in the biggest way when the word was spoken to him. So it’s no surprise that Job heard the harsh words Bildad brought instead of the words of prophecy. I think I would have missed them too. (I did miss them, many times.)

Can we learn anything from this?
Are there times when we miss the good stuff that God has for us because it’s wrapped up in with a load of nonsense? Offensive nonsense?
If we try to help someone who is suffering, do we wrap up our good words (words from God) with offensive nonsense words (words from ourselves that are wrong)?

It’s made me stop, think and ponder.

My Heavenly Father,
You do indeed Love me and have Good things for me.
Please help me to see the Good that You have for me and to let go of the nonsense.
Please help to not bring nonsense to others.
Please stop me in some way if I’m about to get it wrong.
Please help me to be someone who will bring Your Good blessings to others.
If a tough word is needed, then please help me to bring it in a way so that it can be seen and recieved as a blessing from You.
My Loving Lord God Almighty.
Amen.

Categories
Uncategorized

The King in the Mud

I was talking with a friend about Jesus. As we we were talking, he said, “I can’t understand why Jesus would leave heaven, and come down to a fallen world. Why would he want to leave all that glory, to just come down here and then suffer as he did?”

I know that the answer is Love. Jesus came to the earth, to live a perfect life, as an example for us, and to then pay the price for the wrong that we have done. But I was struggling to show this to my friend, in a way that he could understand.

As I thought about this, a picture came to my mind.

A King and his son were riding their horses through the country, wearing their royal robes. They were all alone when the son’s horse suddenly bolted off into the distance.
The King followed in great haste.
The son’s horse headed to a boggy area, and duly threw the son deep into the mud. The son was in dire peril. He was stuck deep in the mud, in all his royal robes, being pulled under.
The King saw the situation and immediately jumped off his horse, threw his royal robes to the side (it would do no good if he got caught in the mud because of what he was wearing) and waded in to save his son.

So why did the King disrobe and enter the mud so quickly?

Love for his son.
He saw his son and knew that if he didn’t act quickly, then his son would be lost. He considered his son to be more important than his royal robes and how clean he was.

The above picture gives us a glimpse of why the Father sent Jesus to the earth.
He saw us and the deadly peril that we are in.
He saw that we are lost, and without help, that we would be destined to an eternity of suffering.
Hence, He sent His Son to save us, and Jesus was willing to leave the all the glory of heaven, in order to be a rescue line to save us.

Categories
Uncategorized

Many could be on the Stage, but the spaces are few.

This is a thought that came as I was watching a worship video.

There were the singers/dancers at the microphones. Then there was the crowd/people on the same level as the singers. One of the people was clearly in the moment, and could easily have been put at one of the microphones. Then the thought “Many could be on the stage, but few are the spaces”, came to my mind.

I can see this truth very easily.
Up front there are only so many spaces.
So who gets to have the best places…???… if indeed they are the best places???

Who is able to stand in the limelight, and not crumble?

Do you want to be in the limelight?
If you answer “YES” to that one you quickly, …. then do you need to take a humility pill….??? 🙂

There may be many stars on the side lines (we are all stars, in our own special way, 🙂 ) but if some of those stars were to be thrust into the limelight, then how would they do???

Some would Shine and be a Great Light, for The Lord. But would others stumble and fall?…

Can we know the difference?

If we try to answer that question in our own strength, we might get the answer right and we might get it wrong.
We’d be playing the numbers game. Some we win and some we lose.

But if we are talking about people’s lives, then is there a better method to use over the numbers game…???

Our Lord God’s way???
If we can hear His voice, and follow His Ways, then do our odds get better….??
I know that, the answer to that one is a resounding “YES”.

If we can hear His voice for who should go where, or more importantly, of where and what I should be doing, then how much better are things going to be?

We may not like the answers we get at times, but if we are hearing His words and His purposes for us in ……. , then how much better will it be if we will follow His Ways and His thoughts. Our Loving Heavenly Father, who loves us with an everlasting Love.

There may be some who long to be centre stage, for all the right reasons, but it just doesn’t happen.
Don’t dismay. It might just be your Loving Heavenly Father protecting you from all the arrows that comes with the limelight.

There may be others who don’t want the limelight, but are then just thrust into it.
Your Loving Heavenly Father has you in His Hands. Look to Him for all your needs, for He is able to keep you and to stop your foot from falling.
He Can Protect you from the enemy’s arrows, for He that is us is Greater than he that is in the world.

As for me…. where would I like to be???

Confused is where I currently am. 🙂

I look at some of the things I write, and can just think, “Lord, this is soo good, because it’s from You!
How I long for others to see it so that they can hear Your Words too.”
But I also like not being in the limelight. I am happy to be a star on the side lines.

Fortunately for me, the measure of how successful this blog site (or me in general) is, doesn’t rest with me alone (Although I do need to play my part).
It rests with one Greater than me. (A huge amount greater.)
That rests with My Lord God Almighty!

He Is All Powerful.
He is All Loving.
And He knows what is Best.

I will just try to follow where He leads me, and leave the rest up to Him.

My final thought on this comes from a film. (Of all the places it could come from 🙂 )

Don’t try to be a great man. Just be a man and let history make it’s own mind up.

Categories
Uncategorized

Will you hear Father’s voice, before you post???

I went you the shops recently and bought a replacement product for one that was running low. (Nothing too exciting there. 🙂 )

I placed the new product under the old one, then a day or so latter I saw that they were a different size. The new one looked like it had been through the wash. It had shrunk a bit.

“Cost cutting measures by the big companies.” Was among some of my thoughts. I then thought about taking a picture of it and posting it online. Spot the difference kind of thing.

“One was bought a while ago, and one was bought recently, can you spot what the difference is? 🙂 ” Was among my thoughts for the caption.

Then a thought entered my head.
It went something along the lines of… “You could post this and many people could find it funny. But will there be some who could be upset by this? Will there be some who could see it and then think, “Big companies doing cost cutting by stealth at our expense and hoping that nobody notices, arrrhhhh!”
Do you really want to post this, and possibly cause someone some pain, just so that you can get a like or two?”

I don’t normally post things online. I’m just not generally interested in it, other than blog posting.
Blog posting is probably 99.9999% of what I put online. So for me it was an easy matter to follow the thought.

Yes I could easily post it, but I could just as easily not post it.
If by not posting it, I’m not causing someone a small amount of pain, then isn’t that going you be the better option?

Rather than post a fun something that might cause someone a bit of grief, I’ll instead try to stick to blog posting that will try to lift someone up.

Thank you my Heavenly Father for giving me that thought.
It was an easy one to follow.
Please help me to keep hearing Your thoughts all the more, so that I can keep in step with You.
Please forgive me when I get it wrong, which I know I do at times.
Thank you for accepting me just as I am.
Amen.

Categories
Uncategorized

The Poison Artwork Bottle

Do you ever find that there is something in your life that you like, that God then asks you to hand over to Him?

It can sometimes leave me a bit more confused than I normally am.
It can leave me thinking, “But God, I like this, it can be useful to me. Do you really mean for me to let go of this?”

But what if the thing that I like so much is like the poison artwork bottle?

The poison artwork bottle may be pleasing to the eye. It may be an exquisite artwork, but if it truly is a poison bottle, then it contains poison!

Do you really want to hold onto the poison artwork bottle, if your Heavenly Father is asking for you to hand it over to Him?

If you are like me, then you might think, can I just pour out the poison and then keep the bottle?

What if the poison is so potent that it can’t be washed away?
What if the only way to be truly safe from the poison is to hand over the poison artwork bottle as a whole to your Heavenly Father?

Sometimes we might struggle with the things that our Heavenly Father asks us to hand over to Him. But He does have our best interests at heart.

Sometimes we might know that what we have is no good for us, but we can still like it.
Will we try to hand it over, knowing that it is better for us to do so?

Sometimes we might not know why we are being asked to hand something over. It might be that it could be a poison bottle in disguise.
Will we follow our Heavenly Father’s prompting, trusting that He knows what is best for us?

Father,
We know that You are Good and that You do indeed Love us.
Help us to always follow Your ways.
If you are asking us to let go of something and hand it over to You, then please help us to do just that.
You do have our best interests at heart.
Help us to know this all the more, so that we can trust and follow You that much better.
Our Loving Heavenly Father.
Amen.

Categories
Uncategorized

When Sacrificially Giving, can we Sometimes Give Too Much?

Giving is good? Isn’t this so… after all it says in…

Luke 6:38
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

2 Corinthians 9:7
Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Proverbs 19:17
Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord,
    and he will reward them for what they have done.

It is very easy to find references that refer to giving as being good, because it is good to give.
So, why would I dream of starting a post with the title of “When Sacrificially Giving, can we Sometimes Give Too Much?”

God loves a cheerful giver, I’ve just stated that above, so have I lost my mind, or something??

But what if you are giving away “THAT”, which God has given to you, for which YOU should be making use of??

What If God is saying to you, “Stop giving away the Life Force that I am giving to you, for you. You may see others needs as greater than yours. But their needs are my problem, NOT yours!”

Are you starting to see where I am going with this thought yet?

It is good to give. But should we do so (sacrificially) for extended periods? If The Lord leads you to, then the answer is yes.
But if The Lord is not in it…. then perhaps the answer is no.

How can we tell the difference?
Do you have peace with where you are and what you are doing?
If our walking is in line with Our Lord God, then we should have Peace!
If we don’t have peace, then is it time to stop and re-evaluate where we are and what we are doing?

The Lord wants us to be at Peace!!

John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Psalm 55:22
Cast your cares on the Lord
    and he will sustain you;
he will never let
    the righteous be shaken.

The Lord is there to lead, guide and sustain us, but we do need to hear His Ways and follow His Promptings.

If you are thirsty and the Lord gives you a glass of water, to quench YOUR thirst,… then drink it!!
If you give away your glass to another, because you think that they are in greater need…. well, you may have met their need… but at your own expense.

That’s sacrificial giving,…. which can be good, if it is being lead by Our Lord.
If it’s not being led by Our Lord…. then is it a lie from the enemy?
The enemy will take a good idea, and then twist it so that he can then trap and ensnare whoever he can, whenever he can.

1 Peter 5:8
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

We need to be aware of the enemy’s schemes, so that we can avoid them, or even demolish them.

2 Corinthians 10:4
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

The way we can have greater access to theses weapons, is to keep in step with Our Lord God Almighty!!

He has the ability to bring just what is needed at any moment so that we can then see the victory.
A single word from The Lord Can break and Demolish strongholds!!

Are our ears open to hear His words to us?
Will will follow His promptings to us?

If we do hear and follow Him, then how much more of His Kingdom will we see?

My Lord God Almighty,
You Are The One True Lord God,
Help me to see and hear Your leading, all the time.
Help me to know when to help and when to step back.
If You tell me to step back from something, then please let me hear You clearly on the matter.
Open my ears to Your voice, over all others, so that I can actually follow You.
You do know what is best for me.
Help me to put my trust in You, for myself and for others.
Amen.

Categories
Uncategorized

Take a breath, and remember to smile.

I’ve recently had one of those annoying car journeys.

I wanted to go down a road, but there was a road closure and a diversion was in place. “Oh, I don’t want this!” was my first thought.
Then the thought, “Don’t let a diversion rob you of your peace.” came to my mind.

OK, it’s only a little diversion, and I do actually know where to go.
Take a breath, and remember to smile.

As I carried on, silly little obstacles, just seemed to be being put right in front of me, along with the thought, “Don’t let silly obstacles rob you of your peace.”

“OK Lord. I’m trying to, but can you help me to remain calm.”
Take another breath, and remember to smile.

As I continued on my journey, I could then see a van driver coming up behind me at pace. I think that the general distance between my bumper and his was about two inches or there about. (No I didn’t stop and measure it properly. 🙂 )
And the same thought again, “Don’t let other people rob you of your peace.”
Yet another deep breath, and again remember to try to smile.

I carry on and the traffic up ahead is going a bit on the slow side. (Still trying to smile.)
There’s a learner in front of the slow moving traffic.

Slowly all the cars between me and the learner turn off, and I’m left with the slow learner in front of me and the angry van driver behind me. (I’m not making this up, honestly.)

I wanted to pull over and just let the van driver go past me. But then that would be subjecting the inexperienced learner driver to the angry van driver.
“Oh Lord, are You just playing around with me now?”
I can’t help, but to keep smiling at this now, do I need to remember to keep breathing evenly instead now? 🙂

We finally come to a part of road where it goes into two lanes at the traffic lights.
The learner goes through on the green, I’m in the left lane stopping for the red light. The van goes past me on the right side (at pace), jumps the red light (that I stop at), and then it seems to me that he just misses the learner as he pulls to the left of said leaner and speeds off down the road.
Where’s a policeman when you want one?

I’m just so thankful that the van is finally gone.
Still just trying to just breath and smile.

As I get past the lights, there is a van (I’m assuming the same one) in a bit of a funny position, still trying to push its way past everyone else.
Then it is truly gone. Phew.

What a different journey it would have been without all those small quiet still thoughts of “Don’t let …… rob you of your peace.” ???

I don’t know that I’m fully peaceful about it all, but at least I can laugh about it. 🙂
For once I haven’t gone to my position of, “AAAHHHHH!!!!!”

Lord, PLEASE tell me I’ve learnt this lesson now.
Can You please stop sending all the silly drivers all my way. 🙂

As I’m looking back at all this, I’m thinking, “How many times do we let ….. just rob us of our peace?”
Can we do better?
Could we remember to just try to take a breath and smile when things just go a bit wrong, and then endeavour to remain in a peaceful state of mind?