All posts by Gwenyth

I live on the outskirts of Whangarei, the northernmost city in New Zealand. I enjoy many things, ( writing amongst them), have been married to Keith for sixty-one years, have three married daughters, nine grandchildren and seventeen great- grandchildren who are scattered in various countries. No cats and no dogs as they would cramp our life-style.. We are obviously retired, but were farming further north before moving to the town over thirty-five years ago. We attend one of the local churches across the same side of town that we live.
Random Devotional Thoughts

What Weights are You Carrying?

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Plane     I was reading a book recently that was written by a missionary pilot. Back in the early days of aviation on the mission field, there were still many things to be ironed out, and as he was of an enquiring turn of mind, he thought of many innovations that were adopted. The planes that were first used were very small light craft, and every pound of weight counted, especially as they came down on jungle airstrips where there was no spare space to manoeuvre.  The planes first came with plush comfortable seats which weighed quite heavy, so they were replaced with lighter ones. Then there were the fancy mudguards on the wheels which collected mud as they landed on wet airstrips….more unnecessary weight, so they were taken off as well.

Once these things were gone, they were able to take more cargo and passengers. This reminds us of the nice but unnecessary things we accumulate in our life. Things that are not bad in themselves and that add to our comfort or pleasure, but are not really necessary as far as our souls are concerned.

As we get older many of these things have to go in any case as we contemplate downsizing to move into a retirement village or rest home. We will have to take stock then, so why not begin now and concentrate on the things that really matter as far as God is concerned?

Morning Musings

A Christian or a Disciple?

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Are You a Christian or a Disciple?

Bible Study2    We heard a talk recently about the difference between a Christian and disciple. The word disciple is rarely used these days in general conversation, and we have nearly forgotten what it means. Talking about disciples brings to mind the twelve men who followed Jesus Christ in His earthly ministry, and as we stop to think about them, they did indeed leave everything they had for those three years and follow Him.

The word disciple comes from the word discipline….that is, a disciple is one who is disciplined to follow the wishes of another person. As we look around today, and even at ourselves, we realise how little discipline we practice in our daily lives. But unless we practice this, we will never achieve our goals. A top sportsman disciplines his life in the pursuit of excellence in his chosen sport.

So it is with those who say they follow Christ. Do we just follow Him when it suits us, or do we put His wishes before our own and put Him first? Unless we do this, we cannot say we are His disciples. In fact, He said that if we do not put His wishes before our own, we cannot be His disciple (Luke 14:27).

    Too harsh, you might think. The price is too high. But remember what He did for each of us when He left His beautiful home in heaven and came to live on this earth and put himself into a position when people disliked him enough to kill Him. He did this to atone for mankind’s sin. What is our response to this? Well, we will become a Christian and follow Him when it suits us. But don’t ask us to give up our pleasures and sports on His day. That is too much. Is it? We cannot be His disciple unless we practice this discipline. The challenge is there….it is up to each one of us to respond.

 

Random Devotional Thoughts

Encouraging Words

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Man TalkingThe old man was visiting his daughter and family one time. An opportunity was given in the church one morning for people to share some thoughts and he jumped up and began to talk. His family all visibly winced, as they knew Grand-dad was likely to go on and on. But what he said was very good….”I want to talk about encouragement”, he began, “ I need encouragement, you need encouragement, we ALL need encouragement! “ and he carried on. I remembered this incident when we got a letter of encouragement this week. It really lifted our spirits to realise that little things we have done over the years have been seen and taken notice of, and that they have been a help to others.

We often don’t realise what an impact our words have on other people, either for good or for bad. We never should pass by an opportunity to encourage others, or to make some positive remark. There is nothing more depressing than a person who always makes negative remarks, especially when they have been paid a compliment!

“Oh, this old thing,” they might say when they are told how nice their dress looks or something similar. How much better to accept a compliment graciously in the spirit it was given!

The Bible says that a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. (Proverbs

25:11). What a beautiful picture this comment conjures up! Something of inestimable value that will last for ever!

 

Grandma's Stories

What do You DO?

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Kids in ClassSarah was sitting on her seat listening to the other girls chattering around her. They were talking about all the sorts of things that young girls talk about while they were waiting for the speaker to arrive at the Youth Group. The elderly missionary soon arrived and was introduced to them.

He was rather a tired looking man, but his eyes lit up with enthusiasm as he began to talk. He described the village people from the country where he had been for so many years, and finished up by telling a story from his youth.

This happened long before the days of the animal rights movement and it illustrated his point extremely well. His father was a farmer and had a young heifer that fell into a deep pit one day.

“We tried everything we could think of to get that heifer out of the hole”, he said, “But nothing worked. It had made up its mind to lie there until it died. Well, Dad wasn’t going to let it die on him that easily, so he told me to go and get the electric fence unit and tie the heifer’s tail to it. We turned the fence on, and that heifer sprang to life with a blood curdling moo and scrambled up out of that pit as though a mob of dogs were after her!”

Everyone smiled at the picture this brought to mind.

“You know”, he continued, “I sometimes wonder if God doesn’t have to give us a jolt like that to get us moving some time. It’s all very easy to say why doesn’t someone do something when you can do it yourself. God needs to give us a jolt to get us moving in His work Don’t expect someone else to go; don’t expect others to give time or money when you could do it! We don’t need another message on these things, just get up and DO them!”

Sarah wriggled a bit on her seat….she knew exactly what he was talking about. How many times had she intended to write a letter to her Gran thanking her for the Christmas present, but hadn’t got around to it. Now the year was getting on and it still wasn’t done. What about the times when her mother had to ask her three times to get up and wash the dishes….she could have done them the first time!

“Please God, help me to be better at doing these things”, she whispered in her mind, “and not put off doing things when I know I should do them!”

The last song was given out, and Sarah felt better about singing the words of it….”In the house and out of doors, Washing dishes scrubbing floors, Mending, ironing washing too, All the things I have to do….I’ll do it all for Jesus, I’ll do it all for Jesus, He’s done so much for me!”

 

Random Devotional Thoughts

Pride Comes Before a Fall…..or…. What are Your Desires?

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David LivingstoneDavid Livingstone had a burning desire all his life to preach the Gospel to people in a country which had never had the chance to hear it before. I read a bit about him recently and it reminded me of the time we had been taken to see the cottage in Scotland where he was born and grew up . David and his brother Charles were born in this cottage which had nothing at all to commend it except that it was the birthplace of David Livingstone the great explorer. When David was a young man, he told his brother Charles, that he planned to become a medical missionary. His brother scoffed, saying that he was going to stay in England and get famous and wealthy…this was his desire. He wanted recognition from the people around him, and that wasn’t possible, he said, for a missionary in Africa.

David went to Africa where he worked among the people as a doctor and preacher. The Lord gave him the desires of his heart, and many people came to know Jesus Christ through his humble ministry. His brother, who stayed in England, did indeed find fame and wealth, and became very well known.

But when David Livingstone died, his heart was buried in Africa… ..his African people said that his heart must stay there, for that was indeed where his heart was all his years there. His  body could be shipped home to England which it was, and was buried in Westminster Cathedral among other well known people. Later, his brother was buried next to him. It is very touching to see the  inscriptions on the brothers’ graves. Above David Livingstone’s burial vault was this poem:

DAVID LIVINGSTONE
He needs no epitaph to guard a name Which men shall prize while worthy work is known;
He lived and died for good-be that his fame:  Let marble crumble; this is Living-stone

.The inscription above David’s brother’s grave simply states: “Charles, the brother of David Livingstone.”

They both received their hearts’ desires in ways they could not have imagined… David whose desire was to preach the Gospel left  his heart in Africa and became well known for his great explorations in that continent, and Charles whose only claim to lasting fame was the fact that he was brother to David Livingstone!

This illustration, more than any I know, reflects the truth of 1 Peter 5:6-   “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due

 

 

 

 

 

Morning Musings

How Do You Handle Temptation?

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It is Written….

BIBLE2How do we handle temptation? Can we write it off as merely being something pertaining to a time past and in a different culture? Satan is a past master at suggesting that God maybe didn’t really mean what He said. Perhaps  these days are different! Perhaps we had misunderstood what God had said! Perhaps it is just our interpretation (or the other person’s)?

Satan can even quote the Scripture to reinforce his points of temptation….”look, here it says ‘It is written’ ”

We must be so careful to have the correct interpretation of Scripture firmly fixed in our minds, and not take any verses out of context. If Satan had gone a little further in quoting the verses, he would have been showing his own demise.

We must not be like Eve was. She listened to Satan’s suggestions that God didn’t want them to know the difference between being good and bad, and then she had a second look at the fruit. It DID look nice, perhaps God WAS being mean in saying they weren’t to touch it ! Instead of saying to Satan, “GOD says we aren’t to touch it”, she took that second look and was lost. She didn’t even put up any further argument. She saw it looked good and she took it. She could have thrown it away at that point, but she didn’t. She ate it and gave one to Adam as well. Do you notice that Satan didn’t bother to tempt Adam? He left Eve to do that, and Adam fell with her.

Of course the things that tempt us look good. But we must learn to shut our minds to  temptation when it comes, stand firm for what we know is right, and say “It is written…God said it, I believe it, and that settles it!”

Morning Musings

Do We Have a Plan?

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Do We Have a Plan?

SUMMER7   Warrick and Lisa had recently bought an older house. The kitchen began to get on Lisa’s nerves and they decided to get it done up. But once the units were pulled out, the mess was unbelievable. There was more dust than they thought, and the insulation in the roof began to fall down inside. Lisa began to wonder if it was worth the mess, but Warrick could see further ahead than that. In his mind, the job was already complete, and the kitchen finished.

As we look at the world around us, we wonder where it is all going to end. Things seem to be spiralling out of control. What was going to happen with all the refugees pouring out of their own countries into other ones. Where are they going to get work? How are they going to live? All these questions come pouring into our minds as we contemplate these things. We see more earthquakes causing havoc in third world countries, and droughts causing famines leaving thousands short of food.

We have to understand that these things have to come; they are just the beginning of sorrows…there are more labour pains to come that will get more frequent and intense as time goes by. God has a plan and can see the end from the beginning. It will all end when the time of the birth comes….Christ Jesus could say that He would be satisfied when He saw the result of His sufferings (Isaiah 53:11a). He is still suffering today when His people are being persecuted for His Name’s sake, but when the right time comes He will take His people out of this world to be with Himself for ever.

Meantime, He told His disciples how to have a plan to live through these trying times…

  1. Be watchful and discerning, being continually on guard.
  2. Be calm, and unalarmed….there is no need to be fearful.
  3. Be responsive….we must turn to God at all times and be prepared to be led by Him.
  4. Be firm in our convictions…there is no room for compromise
  5. Be always ready….to give reasons for our belief, and to keep living how we should.

 

 

Morning Musings

How Do I Think?

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     My emotions are not necessarily caused by what happens to me. My feelings are produced by my thoughts about what has been happening to me! What I believe and what I tell myself is what causes my feelings. Our feelings are produced by our thoughts, not by the actual happening. The Bible has this to say about these things….

Proverbs 4:23…..Attend to My sayings….let them not depart from your eyes; keep them in your mind….keep your heart with all diligence.

2 Corinthians. 4:16-18….though our outward man perish, yet our inward man is renewed day by day…

So the things I experience shouldn’t affect my thoughts.

     We must see things from God’s point of view, and bring our thoughts into captivity into line with what God thinks. Philippians 4:8 tells us to think of the things that are good, lovely and of good report, and not feed ourselves on the world’s rubbish.

     So we see that it’s not what is happening that is the problem, it is what I am thinking about it that brings out the latent feelings trapped deep within the human heart. We must practice training our minds to allow the Lord to free us of all negative feelings.