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What we do, when we think no one sees, Matters

I’ve recently read Genesis 41:1-40.
It’s the part when Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dreams, and is then raised to the position of Pharaoh’s number one man.

This time, a thought occurred to me. A report about Joseph, would have gone ahead of him, before Joseph came into Pharaoh’s presence.

It’s obvious really. Of course questions would be asked about a prisoner who was going to be brought before Pharaoh.
Is he violent?
How does this man respond to authority?
Can this prisoner be trusted to not misbehave in front of Pharaoh?
He was in Potiphar’s service, what does Potiphar say about this Joseph?
What do those in the prison say about Joseph?

If a bad report went before Joseph, then would he ever have found himself face to face with Pharaoh?

I do think that is safe to say that the prison staff would have given a good report about Joseph as…

Genesis 39:20-23
20 Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined.

But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21 the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favour in the eyes of the prison warden. 22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

Now, it seems to me that because Joseph acted in a trustworthy way, and with integrity, with the little that he had been given. Was this in part, why Joseph then found that he was elevated to the highest position possible in Egypt.

Genesis 41:38-40
38 So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?”

39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. 40 You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”

How much of the report that Pharaoh heard about Joseph, helped Pharaoh to make his good decision to raise Joseph up to his new position? How much of what Pharaoh heard, helped him to come to the conclusion that, “there is no one so discerning and wise as you.” ?

What we do, when we think that no one is watching, matters.
It certainly appears to have made a difference for Joseph.

In the account of Joseph, are we seeing the principal that Jesus teaches us in a parable, play out before us?

Luke 19:16-17
16 “The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’

17 “‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’

Joseph wasn’t just given ten cities to take charge of, but the whole of Egypt to take charge of.

If we work well with the little that we are given, will we then be given more?
More responsibility?
More blessings?
See more of Our Lord God’s Kingdom come, in our own lives?

How different would the account be, if Joseph had let bitterness and anger take charge of his actions?
Thankfully Joseph didn’t go down the route of anger and resentment. Instead, he worked with honesty and integrity, which lead to many people being provided for, in a time of famine.

What kind of report will go before us?
Will it be a report that we will be happy for others to read, or one we would rather hide away from?
When Our Lord God reads our report, will He say to us, “Well done, my good servant!” ?

What we do, when we think that no one is watching, matters.

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Apparently, I’ve been involved in a Hit and Run???

I’ve pondered for a while, of should I publish, just keep this one as a personal record, or even just delete it?
Why am I publishing this one now???
In effect it’s the long version of something that happened to me, that has now been posted on my other blog site. The short version can be read Here.
This Long version is the warts and all testimonial of what happened, and how I dealt with it. (Badly, is how I feel that I mostly dealt with it, as I struggled to see the difference between Glass and Sugar.)

Below is what was mostly written, as it was happening.
As always, it’s your choice as to whether it’s worth reading, or not???
(This one which I would be happy for you to not read. 🙂 )

____________________________

Unfortunately, no, this is not a joke. I have a letter from the Met police stating (or so I thought) that my car was involved in an incident and that the driver of the car failed to stop and exchange details.

This was, still is, news to me.

One of the first things that I did was to quickly look at my car. No apparent damage there then. No paint marks, no dents or broken lights. Have I really been involved in an incident then? (I will try to use language that doesn’t assume blame. I would not like to self incriminate myself by using the wrong word. Incident instead of accident being an example. I hope and pray that I can use the correct terms.)

Should I even be writing this?
No problem with writing it, but should I publish it?
At this point in time, I don’t know. If you are reading it, then the answer appears to be yes. At the moment I just need to take the next step, which is write it, so that I can then have a statement of where I am, at this point in time.

So where am I, at this point in time?
Two sleep-ness nights and a couple of very dry tasting meals, and I think that I am starting to gain some level of peace. (Of sorts)

Back to where I left off. First look at my car. No apparent damage.
Is this letter some kind of bad joke?
Is it a scam?
Or is it genuine?
The answer to these questions is, “I do not know.”
Has anybody been hurt? Again, I don’t know, but it is another worry to deal with, along with concern of how could this of happened, and what does it mean now?

If it is a scam, then I wouldn’t want to use the contact details in the letter or the prepaid envelope. I would rather use the 111 number to contact the police, or go to my local police station. If it is a scam, then the police should be told about it. If it is genuine, then the need to contact the police, in the right way, is all the more important.

Part of my asking, “Is this a scam?” Is because the letter is addressed to a “Mr Somebody else” (The name on the letter is a name, I am just using “Mr Somebody else”)
Who is this Mr Somebody else?
The letter has my car registration details at the top of the letter, but it then states, “Dear Mr Somebody else”. This very much so confuses me.

What do I know?
Very little at this point in time. I have a letter stating (again, or so I thought) that, on a date at a time, my car was involved in an incident. (The term used in the letter was actually “alleged”, an important point that I missed.)
Was I in my car on this date, at the stated time?
I mostly cycle to work, so it is a question. Short version, yes. I think that I was in my car at the stated time and date.
Was I at the location stated?
I was in the local area stated, but I do not think that I was at the exact location stated. The location looks as if it could be a general location, and not an exact location. This confuses me. Was I at the stated location or not? (If only I understood the location section of the letter, straight away.)

I am being asked, “where was I?” at a specific date and time, to the minute. “On my way to work” is the only real answer, that I can give. I don’t drive my car looking at the clock, this would be a dangerous thing to do. So, I was on my way to work, at the stated time.

This next paragraph is written after the event. I didn’t write it at the time as I didn’t want to self incriminate myself.
I have stated that, initially I didn’t see any damage, and this is true. But on a second look, I did see some new scuff marks on the front bumper of the passenger side of the car. This added to my freaked out mind that much more.
Short version of my continued freak out.
In my mind, the dustbin collector truck that I probably went past on a road, is where I thought that I could have possibly hit a wheelie bin, and then injured a bin collector, which was then caught by a camera on the truck. This was all theory, but my freaked out mind was taking this theory, far too seriously.
Back to the time the account was written.

It has not been easy to come to this point where I can clearly state, I don’t know what has happened. I have very much so needed to apply three little words. Accept, Repent and Forgive.

I have needed to Accept that this letter has come to me, and that I need to deal with it. I need to cut away the veil of what ifs, and instead, try to concentrate on what is. (Oh, if only I could have Not listened to the what ifs.) I need to face up to the indication that something has happened and try to deal with it in a responsible manner.

Repent. I have a need to take actions that should lead to the issue being resolved in the best possible manner, without adding fuel to a fire, that appears to be burning. (Am I adding fuel by writing this???)

I have needed to forgive all who have caused me the stress of these past two days. (I think that it is wise to not go into too much detail on this one.) I endeavour to forgive all, as this is my route to some semblance of peace.

I know that there is a storm raging outside, but part of my belief is that we can have peace, in the middle of a storm, if we follow the prompting of One who is Greater than us. Our Lord God Almighty.

I also have this belief that, the truth will set you free. (That is part of John 8:32) So I need to endeavour to walk in the truth, and not hide away from what is happening. I also need to keep applying the three little words of accept, repent and forgive, which is currently not an easy task to do.

So there we have it.
I’m in a bit of a pickle, of some sort, that is unknown to me.
I also need to stop being the walking zombie that I could so easily be turning into (more like, had turned into), and instead look to my Heavenly Father for guidance instead.

______________________

Third night of troubled sleep, and it is all still there.
The only good thing about troubled sleep, is that I then have time to ponder the situation with my Lord God.

Current thoughts that have been going round my mind.

Am I actually innocent until proven guilty?
Or, now that I have been issued the letter, am I presumed guilty because an allegation has been made against me, and I now need to prove my innocence? (It is, I believe, innocent until proven guilty.)

No evidence has been presented to me yet, other than a general location, and a date and time.
What is the exact location of the incident? (It was in the letter, but my freaked out mind missed it.)
What happened?
What are the facts, that are available, at this present time?

I would like answers to these questions!

The other thought that keeps coming back to me is, “How did my car come into contact with another entity?”
I say entity, because I don’t know what it is that has come into contact with my car, if any contact has occurred?
Did the entity hit my car or did my car hit the entity? (My car did not come into contact with any entity, as it was not involved in the incident.)
That is an important question to ask, as it then opens the door to blame. Who is to blame for the contact that is alleged to have happened?
I know that it looks bad for me, as I drove away. But I drove away, because I was unaware of anything happening. (As nothing did happen!) As I have also previously stated, this also a worry, the prospect of driving away without knowing that something has happened.

Another thought that keeps coming back is, “In law, what maters more, facts or theories?”
I have very few facts, but a lot of theories, most of which are probably nonsense. (Which proved to be utter nonsense.) Do they even have any place in the world of law? If nonsense theories are spoken out, could they then trip you up??
I will endeavour to keep all my theories to myself, as they are just that, theories and not facts. I will be interested to hear what a legal expert has to say about this thought.
Can, should I keep quiet about any theories that I may or may not have, if I even have any at all? (Yes I had a theory, and it was doing me no good.)

This is proving to be very stressful. Almost reducing me to tears, on occasions.
My wife, who is disabled, is also feeling the strain. She is less able to process what is going on, and if we were to even try to discuss this issue together, well, it would probably cause more stress than help.
So we both, seem to have agreed to not talk about it. (Which was probably the best course of action that we could both take. She was with me in it, and offered as many hugs as she could, when she was able to.)
My counsel is currently coming from my pondering with my Lord God Almighty.

I did call a free 24 hour legal helpline that is available to me, a benefit from the union.
I spoke to someone straight away, who then said that they would refer me to a solicitors firm, who would then contact me within three working days.
Hence my waiting, instead of just going straight to the Police Station. It makes sense to try to understand the situation, to the best that I can before going to the Police Station. Which means, waiting to talk to someone who knows about these things.

This free legal advice is also making me think that it is only a fishing line for people who are in need, and as such, will then ask for representation?
How free is this, Free 24 hour legal helpline?
It’s proving itself to not be 24 hour, but wait three working days.
Three possible days of waiting. More as it is currently the weekend.

I continue to write this, as it helps to keep things straight in my own head, and, I hope, reduces the endless playback of what is going on and where will it go to?

The question of publishing or not?
I am currently just writing. The question of, “If or when to publish?” will be looked into later.
My Lord God does have the power of veto over me, and He will be my lead for what or when to do all things.

This is were my writing at the time finishes. The next bit is written after the issue has been resolved.

That morning I did go to church. It was a very good choice to do so. A member of our church was a police man. As I entered, he was available straight away. Time was short, but he helped me to understand what I was looking at, and helped me to know what steps to take next.
He assured me, the letter was genuine and not a fake. As such it did need to be responded to, and that I could use the email address in the letter. He even said that he recognised the name in the letter from a different matter.
He also pointed out that the location was exact and not a general location, as I had convinced myself that it could be. This was the starting point of me realising, that I was never anywhere near the location of the incident.
I feel now that it should have been instant relief, but it wasn’t. My brain was so frazzled, that it took time to percolate through.

Relief finally started to come after I wrote an email, basically stating, “It’s not me, I wasn’t there. I was somewhere else. You could even check a camera at a location for my time of passing it.”
I also put a small note, stating that the letter had caused me, “some concern.” Biggest understatement ever.

In my mind, I had been one step away from being thrown into jail, for for breaking the arm of a bin man, who was going to sue me for every penny I had. That would then leave me uninsurable on any car, ever again.
I know, a complete OTT reaction.
It wasn’t there all the time, but every now and then… (This may or may not be going over to slight over-exaggeration… 🙂 )
It’s certainly fair to say that, it had been a stressful time.

A couple of days later I received a reply to my email, and of course, I’m all in the clear.
I also receive an explanation of why I was sent the letter.
An incident had occurred at a location, and in order to try and find the person responsible, letters were sent out to car owners of the make of the car that was in the general area, at the time of the incident, which included me. 😦

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What do you See?

I recently cut a tree back in my garden. All the branches were then strewn all over the garden, making a bit of a mess.

Then a thought came to me.

Do you see the garden full of mess, or can you see the clear garden, once the mess has been cleared out?
There is a work to be done, but the clear garden is there, to be seen, if you have the vision to see what it will be, once the work has been done.

Now to some, this may sound like a load of nonsense, but I do think that there is a truth, to the thought.

The garden may appear to be in a bit of a mess, at the moment.
But once the clearing up work has been done, then it will be the clear garden, that it is meant to be. Having a clear vision of what it will be, helps with the motivation to do the work, that needs to be done.

So, if you see a mess in front of you, are you then able to have the vision to see what it can be, or will be, once a needed work, has been done?

Proverbs 29:18 (King James version)
18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

___________________________________

There is still a little bit more to be said about this post.

If you are able to gain a vision of what could be… then what?
Will you be able to do the work that is needed, so that the vision, then becomes a reality?

We do need both the vision and the effort of doing the work, to then truly see the vision come to pass.

Proverbs 14:23
23 All hard work brings a profit,
    but mere talk leads only to poverty.

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Renew the Inside

I confused my wife, just recently.
She said to me, “You need some more “Brand 1″ shower gel.” To which I replied, “No I don’t, I need some “Brand 2″ shower gel.”
(No, we didn’t say “Brand 1” and “Brand 2”, but the shower gel brand that I use is a secret, of the Highest Magnitude! …???… 🙂 )

She just looked at me, with a confused expression and replied, but you’ve got “Brand 1″ shower gel?”

This is where I might confuse you too. 🙂

I did indeed have a “Brand 1” bottle, but it was filled with “Brand 2” shower gel.

I had wanted to try a different Brand of shower gel, and as such, I had bought “Brand 2” shower gel. But I didn’t like the “Brand 2” bottle.
The “Brand 1” bottle can be stored upside down, so it is easier to empty the bottle. But the “Brand 2” bottle will just fall over, if you tried to store it upside down.

So, my simple solution to this was to just rinse the old bottle out, once it was finished, and then refill it with the new shower gel.
So now I had the better old style bottle, with the new shower gel. Which ended up confusing my wife. 🙂 (and possibly anyone else who is reading this???)

As I was looking at the bottle, I kind of got I sense of, “You can do this, with the vessel, that is yourself, you can empty yourself of all the stuff that does you no good, and then be refilled with the good stuff. The good stuff that brings life, in abundance.”

How many negative thoughts do we carry around with us?
Thoughts along the lines of, you’re no good, who are you to do that, you can’t make a difference and many other wrong thoughts that can leave us thinking, “Who am I, to think that I could do ……. .”

Broadly speaking, I think that these kind of thoughts can be called, “lies from the enemy”, who wants to stop us from being the best version of ourselves that we should be. The version of ourselves that we were made to be.

Just like the shower bottle, we can actually try to empty out the old stuff, (lies of the enemy) and instead be filled with the good stuff (The Truth that God speaks about us).

Romans 12:2
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

2 Corinthians 5:17
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

God’s words to us, are words that speak life to us.
Words that say, “You are Loved, You matter, You are important.”

Sometimes, we might not like what Our God speaks to us, if they come in the form of a rebuke, but if God is trying to correct our wrong thinking, it will be for our Good, if we will follow His correction.

Revelation 3:19-20
19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

God does indeed want to renew us in the here and now, but we do need to let Him in, to do it, as He waits for us to say, “Yes” to Him. As we say “Yes” to Our Lord God, He will then transform us into what we were meant to be all along. We will still be ourselves, but a better version of ourselves, that then can expect to be with Him, for all time.

As we say “Yes” to Our Lord God, we will then be able to resist the enemy that much better, and all the thoughts of condemnation that the enemy tries to bring. Instead we can walk into the truth, and light, that Our Lord God brings to us.

John 3:16-21
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

So the choice remains before you.
Will you say “Yes” to Our Lord God?
Will you say “Yes” to the renewing of your mind, with the truth, that Our Lord God speaks to us?

If you do want to say “Yes” to Him, then just saying “Yes”, could be the starting point. If it helps, you could even echo the words below, in your heart, to Our Lord God.

I want to say “Yes” to You God.
I want to say “Yes” to the renewing of my mind, by You.
I want to continue to say “Yes” to You.
Please help me to do this.
I’m sorry for not saying “Yes” to You before now, but here and now, I’m opening the door to You and asking You to help me.
To know the better way that I can go.
Please help me to know Your truth and to follow Your path that leads to Life.
Amen.

If you have just said “Yes” to God for the first time, then I do encourage you to tell someone. If you do know someone who is a Christian, then tell that person.
If you don’t know who to tell, that you have said “Yes” to God, then you could put an “I’ve just said “Yes” to God” in the comments.

______________________________

Link to, Posts, with an Outreach feel.

How do you Pray, when you feel that you just can’t do anything?
A post with some advice about how to pray. (Talk to God)

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Try to Not Ponder on the Why?

This weeks post was written many months ago.
My posting it now, is in some ways, me saying “Yes” to my Lord God.
It’s me, trying to step into, that, which is available.

_____________________________________

Last week I wrote about clamps being used to help a gluing process.
Then I have had a week where it has felt as if a clamp may have been applied to me, for a short time.

Short version. My car was changed recently with a used approved car.
An issue came up, which I was then being told, “This isn’t covered by your warranty.” I was then getting all the reasoning together as to why it should be covered. (OK, I was kind of getting ready to go to war… of sorts.)
The car went in for an inspection…. and then they said that they would fix it, under the warranty…. that they were saying, didn’t cover the issue… ??? (A fuller story can be found on a new blog site Here.)

This is where I need to, not ponder on the why.

It could be all to easy to carry on the road to war, after preparing for it, even though it is now, no longer needed.
I am very happy that I don’t need to take that path, and very much so thankful that it has turned out that way.

But why did they say that it wasn’t covered by the warranty, to then just do the repair work under the warranty?
It cost me a week of worry, that I would need to make good, something that shouldn’t need to be made good, and certainly not by me.
This is a path that I need to steer clear of, and to endeavour to just be thankful instead.

It has left me thinking, can we sometimes continue on a course of action, just because of the momentum of what has gone on is carrying us that way?
Even after a change in direction is available, or has even been taken?
If a problem has been removed, or an escape route has been provided, then why do we still want to go back to the problem?

I know, sometimes we can learn lessons by going over it again.
But are there times, when all we are doing is pulling up and digging into a whole world of pain, when we don’t need to?

Prayerful consideration of which route to take will be your best guide in all situations. Providing that we can hear Our Heavenly Father’s words for, the path that we should take.

For me this week, I very quickly leaned into the, “I’ll try to not ponder “Why”, but just be thankful instead.”
It made me smile, when some possible answers to the “why”, then just landed in my lap. 🙂
Have you ever found that, sometimes, things can just go that way?

One of the things to come out of this experience is the starting of a new (and hopefully short running) blog site.
Isn’t one enough???

While the clamps were on, I had a vision (or thought) to do another site as part of my persuasion as to why the issue, should be dealt with under the warranty. That need no longer exists, but a slightly different vision remains, even though the clamps have been removed.

I do like what I write here on this site. But lets be honest, it’s more of a personal library which just happens to be open for others to read, which most people just pass by, at the present moment.
This is fine by me, in some respects. (Not a bad thing to not be on the centre of the stage. 🙂 ) But it would be good if others could be blessed by what is written here. If a door could be opened to The Lord Our God, for others to enter on into the party. The hint is in the name, Wannabe Christian Doorman.
I have written about this in a previous post of, Here be Gold (Possibly?)

In that post, I liken this site to being a grain of gold in the Sahara Desert. (Incidentally, that post did have a spelling mistake which led to an outreach post of, Sahara Desert or Sahara Dessert?)
In the “Here be Gold” post, I also ask if anyone has a spot light to shine onto the grain of gold?
The new site, could possibly be a small (or larger) light to shine onto the gold in this site. I’m talking about Our Lord God’s words, not mine. 🙂

Time will tell how this will work out, but the thought, kind of goes…
Something that the world could enjoy reading, pointing to something with the Goodness (or Gold) that Our Loving Lord God has for us.

Last thing to say here is, that it is up and running (and by now mostly finished), and can be found from the link below.

The link below takes you to a post with a bit more punch to it.
If you are new to a high powered car, then reading it could possibly help you to not have an accident, just like I did.

Happy Jaguar Experience???

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Is Blind Faith needed, to Believe in “The Big Bang Theory” ?

To be sure that you know my position on this one, I believe in creation theory. I believe that God created everything as it states in the Bible.

Genesis 1:1
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

I ask the question in this post, as a picture has come to my mind.
If you had a fully functioning car, drove it into an empty space, then dismantled it and left it alone…. would it ever just reassemble itself?
Everything that was needed for the car to just be, would be present in the space. It would just need to assemble itself… ????

OK, a is car is a complex thing.
Would the idea work on something simpler?
A bicycle?

If a bicycle was in pieces, and left alone in an empty space, would it ever just assemble itself???

Is that still too complicated?
Can we go even more simple?

A nut and bolt that fit each other?
If we were to put a matching nut and bolt, inside a space, and then just leave them.
Then will they ever, just join up together? …. No?

How about if we shake the space that they are in?
If we, without looking at what is going on, just shake the space, then will the two separate items come together in just the right way, to then become one item?

I do think, that if we are going to be sensible, that the answer to the above question, is a resounding “No”.

There is so much that is needed, just to bring a simple nut and bolt together.
There is a need to have a vision of what they could be. There is a need for eyes to see them, then direct them together in just the right way, so that they can be joined together.
Hands are needed, to do the moving and correct aligning of the nut to the bolt.
Even then, it is possible to get the alignment wrong, and then cross thread the nut onto the bolt. Which can then mean that the nut only starts to connect to the bolt, and then gets stuck on the very end of the bolt. A cross threaded nut and bolt is of very little use.

So if there is very little hope that a simple nut and bolt can just be brought together, then I think it is safe to say that there is no hope for the bicycle or the car to just, come together.

What I have just written above, probably sounds like complete nonsense. But doesn’t “The Big Bang Theory” require that, for those who believe in “The Big Bang Theory”, that the above scenarios just happened, on a molecular level, when the universe was just created out of nothing, by nothing?

That all the laws of physics, just came into being, in an ordered manner, so that eventually, further collisions could occur.
Which would then lead to, with all the correct building block ingredients in place, life on this planet, just coming into existence, without any external help.
Which then leads to so forth and so forth, until we reach mankind, and all that we can currently do in our modern world.
All with no help from an external creator???

I do believe that the evidence for a creator, is so much greater than the evidence for there not being a creator.

You might say, “It’s easy for you to say that, but where’s your evidence for what you believe?”

I do have a previous post, giving some thoughts on why I believe that I can have such confidence, for what I believe.
Please do also consider having a read of that post. A link is below.

Is God Real???

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A Life without Purpose???

A thought that I had just recently was, “What is a life without purpose?”

We all need purpose, in some way.
Whether we are aware of this or not? But I still think that it is true for all of us. Purpose is the reason we get up out of bed, even if that purpose is just to go to the toilet. 🙂

But do we actually know what our purpose is?
Our reason for just being here?
We may all try to find our purpose in different things, whether they be relationships, activities, possessions or anything else.

So the next natural question to ask, is… “Is it a good purpose that we are looking to?”

I’m not even going to try to answer that one here and now, but I’ll just suggest that you might want to seek out Our Lord God Almighty for His view on how good our purposes are.

The thing that is currently coming back to me though, is along the lines of, “How much do we seek to entertain, or more to the point, be entertained?”

We even have a very well known song, with the words, “So come on let me entertain you”, in it.

My thoughts are going to, “Is this what life boils down to?
To either be entertained or to do the entertaining?”

How much of our entertainment is just a filling of our time?
A distraction, from what really matters?

A bit of a cheeky bible verse keeps coming to me at the moment, and I’m just going to put it in. 🙂

Proverbs 31:6-7
6 Let beer be for those who are perishing,
    wine for those who are in anguish!
7 Let them drink and forget their poverty
    and remember their misery no more.

No, I’m not suggesting that we all go out and drink to excess, but if we put the word “entertainment” in place of the word “beer” and “wine”, then how many of us are actually doing this, without even realising it?

How many of us have just made “Entertainment” our purpose for being here?
To just be filled in the moment of now, without a care of what comes next?
To just be entertained in the here and now, so that we don’t even need to look at what is coming next?

Have we let the want to “entertain or be entertained”, take the highest honour?
Is there someone else who should be taking the Highest Honour?
Is there a better song that we can sing?
“Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart” … ???

Our Lord God has so much more for us than just a temporary distraction from the moment that we are in.

He wants to know us personally, for all time, and beyond.
He wants us to know Him, in the here and now, and beyond!

But do we want to know Him, as He wants us to? …
Or would we rather be distracted with ….. ?

We do have free choice, and we can choose to seek Him, Our Lord God, or we can seek …..

Which will we choose?
Can we seek something of Greater Value?

Revelation 3:17-22

17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

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Realise, and Move into, What you Have.

A couple of pictures have come to me, as a dream, recently.

There was a person who was missing a foot, who then just grew a new foot. The one who had grown the new foot, was not used to it.There was an apprehension, of making use of the new foot. But there was a need to use the new foot, in order to realise the benefit, of the new foot.
There was a sense of “Enlarge your tent“, as an underlying theme to the picture. The feeling was one of, “Your tent Has been Enlarged, now make use of it!”

Then there was a second picture, in the same dream.

A quadcopter (radio controlled drone) was being flown inside, in a crowded location. The controller for the quadcopter, was just thrust into a new person’s hands.
The one who had just been handed the controller, just knew that this was very wrong. As such they were desperate to land the quadcopter, whilst also trying to learn how to fly it.
The quadcopter was landed, without any incidents. (No persons were hurt throughout the playing of this picture. 🙂 )
As soon as the quadcopter had landed, it was just removed from the scene. There was a real sense, that it had been removed by someone with good intentions. There was an unspoken feeling, that it would be returned, at the right time, in the right location.

I have been referring to these as pictures, rather than dreams, because as I have been considering them, it just seems to fit better.

Both pictures talk about, something new.

The first picture seems to be a bit more straightforward to me.
You have something new, given to you, that can’t be taken away. But you need to use it, and make use of it, to truly appreciate just what you have.

The second picture speaks to me about how we can feel, if we are ever thrown into the deep end, without any training or experience, of the something new. (The short version.)

In the second picture, the quadcopter represents a new project, to be done. The one who has been put in charge of the project, is the person who has the controller, thrust into their hands.
As soon as they are in control, they just know that things are wrong. (A quadcopter shouldn’t be flown over a large group of people, and being inside makes it even worse. On top of all that, handing the controller to someone who needs to learn how to fly…. it’s just all wrong!)

The one who lands the quadcopter, without incident, does the right thing. It just needed to be done.
This part of the picture speaks to me of taking a time out, hitting the pause button, the moment the project is handed over.
Taking a time out, the moment a project is handed to someone, may not be a popular thing to do. But, if it’s needs to be done, then it should be done.

In the picture, the controller was never taken away, only the quadcopter was removed, by someone with good intentions.
This speaks to me of something being removed, that will be missed, but at the right time, and in the right way, what has been removed, will be returned. Being handed the controller, can be seen as being put in charge of the project, and in the picture, the controller was never removed.

Well, there we have it. Two fun/strange pictures about stepping into something new. 🙂

If these pictures resonate/speak to you in any way, then I would suggest that you ask Our Heavenly Father to highlight which bits apply to you more.
Seeking His thoughts and His guidance, is always going to be the Best route to take.

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Lost a First Love, or Forsaken the Love you had at First?

Is there a difference between the two statements of this post’s title?
On first look, it may appear as if both statements are describing the same thing. But, I’m starting to think that there is a big difference between the two statements.

To put this into context properly, I feel there is a need to quote the orginal passage that I am referring to, as I’m posing my thoughts.

Revelation 2:4
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.

In order to understand the full scripture, it would be good to read Revelation 2:1-7. But my thoughts are going to be on verse 4, in particular. (The full passage is the letter to the church in Ephesus.)

I believe that I have inadvertently, been miss quoting this passage to myself, for quite a while now. 😦
I didn’t mean to, but I think it has just crept in.

Whenever I thought about Revelation 2:4, I have thought of it as if it was losing a first love.
But is the passage actually saying this?

The words that the passage uses are, “You have forsaken the love you had at first.”

A first love is exciting, all consuming, and if we are going to be really honest with ourselves, if it carries on for too long, it can be exhausting.
A good first love, if it follows a good path, will grow into a more mature love. Not a lost love or a love that burns out, but a love that knows a sustainable pace.
I’m thinking of an old ox being yoked to a young ox, where the old ox sets the pace, effectively saying, “In order to last the day, this is the pace you need to go at.”

I hoping that you are able to see the difference that I’m trying to show.
A first love, isn’t necessarily meant to last, but hopefully it will bloom into a mature love, that builds on itself, that does last.

So, can you see that there could be a difference between losing a first love, and forsaking the love you had at first? (Whether that love was a first, adolescent or mature love.)

I really do feel as if I’m splitting hairs here, but I also feel that it is a difference that matters.

When I think of a love that has been forsaken, I think of the nuns in the film Philomena.
The nuns were doing, what could be considered a loving thing, by taking in young pregnant unmarried women, in a time when they were not accepted by society.
But, the nuns appear to have become worn out and frustrated from the hardships of caring for the women, so that they then resented them. It’s seems that they lost any love, for the young women, who were in a difficult situation.

You could say that, the nuns were doing a loving thing, by taking the women in, without any love, by allowing frustrations to be the driving force, in there actions.

Could this be a picture of doing a loving thing, without any love in it?
Forsaking the love you had at first?

If there is any doubt about how bad it could be, to be doing a loving act, without love being the driving force, well, I think that the scripture below, removes all doubts.

1 Corinthians 13
13 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

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A Correct Word, at the wrong time, can do Great Damage.

I took a wrap taken out of the freezer just recently. I must have caught the very edge slightly, as the edge broke off in my hand. It made me think, that if I tried to fold the wrap, straight our of the freezer, then it wouldn’t fold, as it is meant to. Instead, it would just break.

Now, a wrap when it’s not frozen, can be easily folded.
It’s what’s meant to happen to it. You are meant to put a filling in it, and then fold it over to make a tasty treat.

But if you tried to fold it when it’s frozen, well, it’s a different matter as it’s brittle, not willing to be folded.
Try to fold a frozen wrap, and it will break! It needs to be defrosted first.

Once it is defrosted, it can then be folded, as it is meant to be, so it can be that useful tasty treat.

It all made me think, can we sometimes know a correct word that needs to be spoken, but, it can be the wrong time to speak it?
Maybe because it will not be received well, for whatever reason?
(Sometimes we may have an idea of the reason, and other times we may have no idea of the reason.)
Do we sometimes need to wait for the right time to speak the correct word?

Our Fathers timing is always going to be best!
We just need to follow His prompting of when to speak, and when to remain quiet. Hearing Our Heavenly Father’s thoughts, could make all the difference.

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Another thought has just come to me.
If we speak a word, as directed by Our Heavenly Father, and then it all seems to go wrong, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we have done the wrong thing. (Although sometimes it might be just that.)
But sometimes, things can have a way that they just need to go, before they improve.
Sometimes, do we need to, not be afraid of the pre-breakthrough pressure?