This thought came in the mail today and it is worth passing on to all those who are going through deep waters emotionally…..
When you feel you are on the very edge of things,
trust God, because only one of two things can happen to you…
Either He will catch you as you fall,
Or He will teach you how to fly.
Hang onto this thought because none of us knows what tomorrow is going to hold!
Sitting Down They Watched Him There
We read these words in the peace and quiet, Forgetting the crowds, the noise, the riot, That surrounded our Lord so long ago, When rulers had wickedly taken Him so. The noise, the cries, and the prisoner’s grunts, The shouts of the soldiers, the awful thumps, Of the nails going into the human flesh, As they lay on the scars and bruises so fresh; The beat and the dust that rose in the air, The scorning of those who were standing there. The laughing and jeering of the soldiers who, Were casting lots for His garments too.
The thieves were cursing Him to His face, Get us down and out of this place! Then we’ll believe that you truly are King, And one day Your kingdom You really will bring” Suddenly one turned and said to his mate, We really deserve all that’s on our plate, But this Man here has done nothing amiss, Lord, remember me now in spite of all this ” The Saviour looked and in tones soft and light, Said “Today you’ll be with Me, in Paradise bright”.
Joy filled the heart of this one so depressed, The noise and the dirt were now repressed, In spite of those who were watching them there, The rulers uncaring, or friends in despair, The soldier declaring ‘This IS God’s Son, He only is the righteous One! ” His Spirit given up, the night now was near, The people had gone, the silence was clear. Still there were those who were watching Him there, When His body was put in the tomb with care. The guards would wait the next nights out, No one could move while they were about. But in spite of it all, God’s purposes won, And Jesus became, the Resurrected One.
And that my Friend, is the reason so clear, That Easter for us presents no fear, Tis only for each of us to humble our minds, Accept what’s written and then we will find, Satisfaction within and without any grief, With peace in our hearts beyond all belief.
As Bob came to in the darkness, he wondered where he was. There were unfamiliar sounds going on around him, and a distinct disinfectant smell. He realised he was in a bed, but he was sure it wasn’t his own one. He tried to turn over and nothing seemed to be working. Whatever had happened to him?
Ah, he remembered now. He had left the local pub at closing time and found his way to his car. He remembered driving towards home and over the bridge that spanned quite a sizeable river on the way, but nothing more after that.
Bob had indeed driven over the bridge, but he had failed to see the corner immediately after it, and continued straight ahead up the bank where the car had flipped over. Bob had not been wearing his seat belt and he was thrown out. As a result his spinal cord was badly damaged leaving him a paraplegic. He was in hospital for a long time, and it took him several months before he admitted that his situation was actually his own fault.
First of all he railed against the fact that his seat belt wasn’t on, but he was the one who had not buckled up. It never occurred to him that if he hadn’t been drinking until closing time, he would have been capable of driving safely, so that was another nail in his coffin of blame, as it were.
No-one knew when it finally dawned on him that perhaps God was speaking to him through this accident. It wasn‘t that he was a stranger to the things of God. There had been a time when he had made his decision to follow the Lord, and was enthusiastic in his attendance at his small local church. But the older men tended to curb his youthful enthusiasm and he became discouraged. There came a day when he heard some more criticism, and that was it as far as he was concerned. He had had enough, he said. If that was how they felt, then he was finished.
Bob never attended a church service on a regular basis again, and in time, no-one would have recognized him as being a Christian. Years passed by, and his family arrived and grew up. In his time of reflection now in his hospital bed, he remembered different times when he felt that God was perhaps speaking to him.
There was that time that he had been feeding hay out to his cattle and carelessly thrown the loose bailing twine into the cab of his utility truck. As he drove onto the road, he got out to shut the gate behind him, and as his feet became tangled in the twine he fell onto the road. A car came around the corner and nearly caught him before he got up. Bob wondered at the time if the Lord was speaking to him, but he mentally shrugged it off as coincidence, and let the opportunity go by.
Then there was another time not long before this, when a visiting evangelist had come to the district. Bob attended one of the meetings, and was strongly moved to respond to the appeal when it was given at the end, but he thought of his drinking mates and what they would say to him. Just the same, he had to hold tightly to his seat with both hands to keep from making the move along the aisle when others were going down to the front.
“There’s still plenty of time”, he told himself.
Now he wondered if things would have been different if he had made that move back then. It began to dawn on him that perhaps all this was his own fault, and all because he kept shutting the thought of God out of his mind.
“Perhaps God IS speaking me” he said to himself, “If I had taken the step when that preacher was asking people to come forward, perhaps none of this would have happened!”
How right he was! He wouldn’t have been at the pub this particular night if he had done that!
By the time Bob was discharged from the hospital and able to go home, he had confessed his willfulness and disobedience to the Lord and received full forgiveness for it all. Bob was full of joy in his mind and heart now….not for the position he found himself in, but in the fact that now he had made his peace with God once more. He was able to pray again, picking up where he had left off when a young man. But in spite of that, nothing could give back the years he had wasted, and this was a constant regret to him.
He enjoyed the visits he had from other Christians who knew him, and to talk about the things of God was one of his greatest joys.
He now spent his days in his wheelchair looking out of the large windows of his living room across the town to the harbour in the distance. He had once served on the local harbour board, and was particularly interested in watching the container ships and tankers moving in and out of the harbour.
He lived for a few more years, and told one of his visitors not long before he passed into the Lord’s presence, “You know, I would sooner be like I am now, and able to enjoy these times with the Lord, than to be what I was once, able to walk but still running away from God. It doesn’t pay!”
The Apostle Paul wrote….. In case I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” . Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
We often hear people say that the Bible contradicts itself and why bother to take notice of what it says anyway! This argument reminds me of a large rock in our home area that 
stands up in full view of the main road north. As one approaches the area, the rock is high with a large flat top with another lower flat topped rock beside it. This view lasts for several miles, and then the road turns and goes towards this rock. The view changes dramatically. It appears to be just as tall but narrower. The side rock 
disappears from view as it is now in front and merges into the main mass of rock. Still further along, a side road branches off the main road and heads towards the back of this large rock. Now we can see the back of it and the two large humps 
standing up behind it. Each view is of the same rock, but each view is different.
If we saw the pictures separately, we would think they were four different rocks. So it is with the Bible. God used different people to write His Word and they all have different aspects to present. It is still God’s Word, but there are different sides of it seen. Parts were written to the Jewish people who knew about God; other parts were written to people who had never known about Him. Still other parts were written to those who had come to know God and told them how to live to please Him. The final section tells of things that are still to happen in the future.
It is all still God’s Word for us today, and has something to tell each of us which we need to know. So never say that it contradicts itself…each part complements the others.
There is a story in the Bible about a paralysed man sitting by a pool waiting for an angel to come and disturb the water. The people surrounding the pool thought that if they could only get in to the water after that, that they would be healed of their diseases. But this particular day, no angel came. Instead Jesus Christ came by and asked the man if he wanted to be healed. Instantly the man responded, “I’ve been waiting for thirty-eight years to be healed and it hasn’t happened yet.”
“Well, get up and walk”, Jesus said, and the man found to his astonishment that he was able to walk normally. If he hadn’t got up, he would never have walked. Perhaps he was going to miss his fellow sufferers who he had been with for so many years but he had to leave them behind. If he had never got up and walked, he would never have been set totally free.
There is a saying….You will never fly with the eagles if you stay with the turkeys! In the same way when a person has been set free by trusting in Jesus Christ, the old things must be left behind to be able to soar to new heights. In fact as new heights are reached for, so the old things will drop off.
People often ask this question….it just seems that life isn’t fair!! We do the best we can and then things go wrong for us! The Bible tells us about a man like this, a good man who did the best he could and then he lost everything. It also gives us a picture of why this happened which will help us to see things differently when things go wrong or us too.
If we turn to the Bible and look at Job chapter one, verse one, we read….”there was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was perfect and upright, one who feared (respected and reverenced) God and who hated evil.”
So we see that Job always did his best and as we read down the chapter, we see the things that he did for himself and for his family. Let’s turn it into a story…… One day, God’s team of angels came to report to Him. God noticed a shiny, glistening, sneaky looking one among them who didn’t usually come, and recognised him instantly.
“Where have you come from, Satan?” He asked.
“I’ve been walking up and down all over the place,” Satan replied shiftily.
“Have you seen any person as good as My servant Job is?”, God asked, “No-one else is as good in the whole world as he is….he loves Me and hates everything evil! He makes me an offering every day, not only for himself but also for his family.”
“Ho”, sneered Satan looking at God, ” No wonder he is so good! You look after him on every side, and have given him all he’s got! I bet if you took it all away from him it’d be a different story! He would curse You to Your face if that happened!!”
God knew His man, and He knew He could trust Job to do the right thing.
“OK,” He said to Satan, “We’ll see. I’m allowing you to take away everything that he has. I know he will stand firm for Me.”
Satan chuckled gleefully. ” I’ll make him sorry for following God’s ways. I can beat him!”
So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
The next day, Job got up early as he usually did, and made the morning sacrifice for himself and his wife. Then he made another sacrifice to cover each of his children. As he did this, he prayed for each of them, as he did every day. “Lord”, he said, “Please help the boys to stand firm for you; help them to resist temptations, and always be helpful to their mother and sisters. I pray for the girls, Lord that they will not be vain with how they look, but that they will try their best to be beautiful with their minds and their speech.”
Job knew that his eldest son was putting on a party that day for his brothers and sisters, and he hoped that everything would go well for them all. While he was sitting there after breakfast thinking about them, he saw one of his servants rushing up the path. He could tell something was wrong.
“What’s the matter?” he called out as the man got close enough to hear.
“We were out in the field ploughing with the bullocks and the donkeys were there beside them when a marauding tribe from over the hill came and rounded them up, killing all the herdsmen, and I’m the only one who got away!”
With that, he fell down on the ground panting with the run, and fright at what he had seen.
The man had hardly finished telling Job this when another servant came panting up. “Oh, oh!,” he said, “There was a massive lightning storm over the paddock where the sheep were, and they have all been struck dead as well as the other servants there. I’m the only one who managed to get away to tell you!”
A third servant came panting in from another direction and said, “The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yes, and killed the servants with swords; and I only am escaped alone to tell you.”
Job hardly had time to take all this in when another servant came rushing in from the direction of the oldest boy’s house.
“Oh no!” he wailed when he saw Job, “Your sons and your daughters were eating their meal and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house when there was a terrific gust of wind rushing in from the desert like a tornado, and the roof was lifted off and the whole thing collapsed on everyone else in the house, and they are all dead! I’m the only one to escape and tell you!”
Job had been sitting down all this time, and now he stood up and tore his long robe off his shoulders. He went inside and shaved the hair all off his head to show how upset he was.
His wife and servants wondered how he would cope with all this bad news and the disasters that had happened. But he didn’t curse or swear, or even complain. It didn’t even enter his head to ask God why this had all happened.
Instead, he got down on his knees and prayed in front of everyone left in his house, and said, ” I was born naked with nothing, and I will go back to God the same way, with nothing. The LORD gave me these things, and the LORD has taken them away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
The Bible tells us that in all these disasters Job didn’t sin or complain and blame God foolishly. I wonder how I would react in a situation like this! Job is a marvelous example to us all!
Several years ago members of the Northland Christian Writers Group were asked to write down their favourite verses and the reason for them. This was what I submitted for that assignment……
Psalm 37: verses 3-5. Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. (KJV)
I’ve chosen these verses rather than a Gospel verse for this reason. The Gospel is the gateway to the Christian life, and where one starts. I have already done that, and these verses are the route I am travelling, and the chart for my way.
Firstly to “Trust in the Lord” is the key to daily living. Everything I do has to be rooted in trusting the Lord. Everything I have is from the Lord, and He supplies my every need. If I have little, then I give thanks (and don’t complain!), tighten my belt and realise that I’m still alive. If I have plenty, then I make the most of it, and give thanks for that too.
Secondly, “delighting myself in the Lord”, is not a blank cheque for getting what I want. Pleasing my self is not delighting the Lord! The more I delight in the Lord, the more I want to please Him, and my desires become those which He wants for me. He wants me to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit in my life. Bitterness or resentment does not please God. Nor does overriding others, being impatient or behaving rudely. God does not want me to be conformed to the world and its ways. The more I delight in Him, the less hold the world has on me. I may have no idea what God wants for me, but as He works on me through His Word, it gradually comes to pass.
Thirdly, I am to “Commit my way to the Lord” and trust in Him even though what is happening doesn’t make sense. Just as I would cling to a life belt if I fell into the water, so I must cling to Him through the darkness as it seeks to envelop me. I must remember that this too, will pass, and the light will shine again. There is always joy on the other side, God WILL bring it to pass!
“Trusting in the Lord” is the vehicle that takes me forward. “Delighting in the Lord” is travelling with Him, and “Committing my way to the Lord” is seeking His direction, and allowing Him to do the steering, and choose the route!
PROVERBS THREE…. (v.19-26)
Verses 19-26
Solomon tucks in here a basic truth which is so relevant in this day and age where evolution is so freely taught..
It is God who created all the things and Who gave us the principles of nature. It is not MOTHER Nature, but FATHER God! This knowledge and wisdom tells the believer that God has all things under control and there is no need to worry about global warming, ozone layering or over-population of the Planet! (Hebrews 1:2-3)
We must hold firmly onto this knowledge and not waver from it, so we will have sound wisdom and perfect peace with the confidence that God’s Word gives. Hebrews tells us that our Lord is upholding all things by the Word of His Power . He is ALIVE, and sitting on the right Hand of God RIGHT NOW! He is taking care of the universe, and He has taken care of man’s sin problem, if only man will turn to Him. The Lord with wisdom, has made the earth, This wisdom is the utmost worth; It’s in His control, we need not fear, But praise Him for this and be of good cheer!