Monthly Archives: April 2016

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.

Daily Devotionals, Uncategorized

Is this Your Shepherd?

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Psalm Twenty-three….

The Shepherding One

The Lord is my Shepherd, I have all I need, I rest in green pastures, by still waters He’ll lead;

My soul He restores, His paths are all right As He leads each day, I walk in His light

In the shadow of death, I’ll not be afraid, For my Lord is with me , my debts He has paid,

His rod and staff, they comfort and keep, My cup runneth over, my joy is so deep;

Goodness and mercy always with me, For I’ll live in His presence eternally.

   This must be one of the best known and loved portion of Scripture there is! The picture of a Shepherd lovingly caring for His sheep is an idyllic one indeed! Yet it is true in the spiritual sense for those who know this wonderful Shepherd of the sheep. Our Lord says it of Himself…..”I am the Good Shepherd, I know My sheep and am known by Mine”  (John 10:14).

We can truly say, “Because the Lord is my shepherd, I have everything I need”. Not only does He provide our physical needs, but more importantly He gives us our daily spiritual needs as well! What a wonderful prospect we have as we look ahead! We need to hang onto this psalm firmly, especially in times when we are feeling down….it is the most uplifting  song we can sing, and will surely lift us out of our swamp of despondency!