Monthly Archives: December 2016

Random Devotional Thoughts

God Knows.

Leave a comment

 lily                                                     “As for God, His way is perfect” (2 Samuel 22:31)….this thought has been running around in my head ever since hearing that a young friend had an inoperable brain tumour. A godly young man, newly married, with the promise of a life to serve God all his days, to be struck down like this! We do not understand the ways of God. We are told that His ways are not our ways and His thoughts not our thoughts  (Isaiah 55:8-9).

We know that we are told to pray earnestly and in company of others seeking the same thing, but we have to remember that God is Sovereign…each one of us belong to Him and He has control over us….we cannot demand things of Him, even when our wishes seem to line up with Scripture. Our times are in His hands…everything we have has come from Him, and we are to hold them lightly, not grasping them and saying, “They are mine!” We have to be thankful for the good things we have and have had in the past, and be ready to yield them up to the One who gave them to us.

It is so hard to know what to say to the family concerned that will be a comfort to them. They know all the Scriptures, they have faith that God can and does heal at times, but there are many godly people who have had to watch their loved ones slip away leaving them bereft… they have only God to turn to then and He can be more precious to them than ever.

What more can be said? We can only say in our prayers the words of our Lord Jesus….”Oh my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as You will!”  (Matthew 26:39)

Uncategorized

The Arrival of God’s Promised One

Leave a comment

Luke 2:1-7; (Matthew 2:1-23)

baby-in-manger-a   The old Testament prophecies had said that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, and  yet Mary and Joseph were living in Nazareth, many  miles to the north. How would this come about? Even unbelieving rulers are moved by God to perform His purposes, and we see this happening here….

All the population of Israel had received notice from the Roman Caesar  that they were to return to their birthplace and register for a census. Joseph was born in Bethlehem, so he and Mary packed up and prepared for the long trip on foot from Nazareth to Bethlehem. We are all familiar with the pictures of Mary riding on a donkey and Joseph walking beside here, but we must remember that Mary was a fit young woman, and that she would have walked a good part of the way if not all the way. The Bible doesn’t tell us how they actually travelled, only that they got there. There were obviously many travellers reaching Bethlehem  for the same purpose and all the accommodation was full when they arrived.

Matthew and Luke give us the accounts of the birth, while the other two Gospels present Jesus to us as a grown man beginning His ministry. While some might say that the Bible is contradicting itself, yet we can see how these two accounts dovetail together perfectly to give us the full picture. Matthew shows us how the Old Testament prophecies are all fulfilled in this Child, with three  mentions of entirely different places that God’s Son would come from…Bethlehem, Egypt and Nazareth  (Matthew 2:1-6, 14-15,23). Matthew tells of the wise men from the east (please note there is no mention of how many wise men there were!), and we can see how these three types of gifts that they brought would have provided the means for them to stay in Egypt. Luke gives more intimate details of how the Baby was born and how Mary wrapped him in the clothes she had brought with her, and how He was put into a cattle feeding trough (manger) for a bed….note that He was NOT born in the manger as so many people, even preachers, say!

Jesus Christ the Highest One, Came to earth, God’s well loved Son,    Took on Him  the lowliest place , So man could see the Father’s face.

Stories for Teens

Books!

Leave a comment

Sarah was curled up on the couch doing chld259what she liked best…. reading!  It didn’t matter to her if all her Christmas presents were square parcels, every book she got was a friend! It didn’t matter if it was an old fashioned book like Anne of Green Gables or if it was a modern one written by Rosie Boom. She loved them all and would read them over and over again.

Bobby couldn’t have cared less about books. “Books!” he would say scornfully, “Who wants to read a book!  We have enough of them at school!”

Uncle Jeff came into the room one day in time to hear him say this. “What’s this you are saying Bobby?” he asked, “What do you think is better than a book, hey?”

“I like doing things,” Bobby said, “Things like pressing buttons and watching a screen. There are so many things you can do with an I-Pad!”  He heaved a big sigh.

“But you are allowed to use Mum’s I-Pad for a bit every day, aren’t you?” asked Uncle Jeff, “What’s wrong with that?”                                  “But that’s only if we have earned good points”, said Bobby, “It’s so hard to earn good points. You have to be good ALL the time or you lose some! If I had my own I-Pad, I could play with it all the time!”

“Do you think that playing with the I-Pad all the time would make you good?” asked Uncle Jeff.                                                                              “Well, I wouldn’t have time to be naughty”, said Bobby, “I’d be too busy playing with it. Bang,bang, shoot ‘em all dead!”

“Do you think that it’s a good idea to fill your mind with those sort of things?” asked Uncle Jeff.

Bobby wriggled uncomfortably. “Well, no, I s’pose not”, he said.

“You know it wouldn’t hurt you to read a book now and then”, said Uncle Jeff, “It’s surprising what you learn from reading a good story!  Did you know that God has books too?”

“No, does He really?” asked Bobby.

“Yes, He does, and everything we say, do, or think is written down in one of His books!”

“Ooh, that’s scary!” Bobby said, “You mean EVERYTHING that we say or think is written down?”

“Yes, and there’s another book called the Book of Life that God has written in too…He writes in the names of everyone who loves the Lord Jesus”.   (Revelation 20:12)

“I love Jesus!” Betty piped up.

Sarah stirred herself on the couch, and sat up. “Yes”, she said, “and that book was written before the world was made wasn’t it Uncle Jeff!”

“That is true Sarah,” Uncle Jeff said, “So you see Bobby, books are very  important, not only to read, but also to write. We each one have to make sure  that our names are written in God’s book. Just being good  isn’t enough.  We have to tell God we are sorry for the naughty things we’ve done, and then we’ll know our names are there. So you see  Bobby, books are very important!”