Monthly Archives: February 2022

Grandma's Stories

The Green Sheep!

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   Bobby was jumping up and down with excitement. Uncle Jeff had just pulled into their driveway, and he always had some story to tell. Uncle Jeff was a train driver, and if that were not exciting enough, he always saw the funny side of things that happened on the side of the railway line as he went by. It didn’t take as much concentration as driving on the road, so there was plenty of time to look around as the train chugged along the line.

After Uncle Jeff got settled down with a cup of tea in his hand, Bobby snuggled up to him and said, “How did your train driving go last week, Uncle Jeff?”

“Well”, said Uncle Jeff, “We had quite an eventful week last week. We saw lots of animals near the line in different places”.

“Oh”, said Bobby, “Do tell us about them! What were they? ”

“One day we went past this farm where there was a pond for drinking water at the bottom of the hill. The sheep were all in a mob up near the railway line, so I gave a loud toot on the train whistle as we went past. You know, those silly sheep took fright and went galloping down towards the pond. When they got to it, they split in half and some went one way around it while the others went the other way. But would you believe it, there was one sheep sillier than the rest because it kept going straight ahead and flipped straight into the water! It was so funny to watch”, and Uncle Jeff chuckled as he remembered it all over again.

“Can sheep swim?” Bobby asked.

“Well, we asked ourselves the same question”, Uncle Jeff said, “But you know they can!”

“How do you know?” Bobby asked.

“Well, when we came back, we saw the same mob up near the line again”, Uncle Jeff said, “And this time there was one wet green sheep with them! He hadn’t only gone into the pond, but it was full of green slime and weeds, and the sheep got covered in it all. So he came out a green sheep. Ha,ha”, and Uncle Jeff laughed again at the memory of it all.

“Oh, that WAS funny!” Bobby said, “ What are the other stories?”

“They will have to wait for another time”, Uncle Jeff said as he got up and took his mug out to the kitchen and began to talk to the grown-ups there.

   There’s a moral to this story…..the Bible says we are all like sheep that have gone astray, we have all gone our own way and it’s only the Lord Jesus that can get us out of the mess we find ourselves in. Out of all those sheep that went running down the hill, most of them turned and kept out of trouble. All except for the one that went straight into the pond! That one is just like us when we follow the mob that is running into danger. We have to make sure that we use our head before we lose it, and be careful to keep away from friends who take us to wrong places.

Life Lessons

Stand Off!

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     The protest in our capital city shows no sign of abating, with both sides determined not to give in. The protestors are being very vocal, determined to make their presence noticed, while the other side is equally determined to not allow their adversaries the satisfaction of seeing them face to face. The general  media did its best to keep out of the fray, reporting only the bare minimum, but this did not stop the protestors the full use of social media online, and comments were flying up on this non stop.

     More and more people were making their way to support the hecklers, and still other groups were forming in smaller centres around the country, all determined to make their voices and feelings heard and seen. Both sides wanted the freedom to make their own choices regarding the way to tackle the current pandemic.

      It seemed obvious that if this were the case, then free choice brings responsibility for the consequences of this. It brought to mind, that the inevitability of choice is consequences. If we choose to drive on the wrong side of the road, there will be a car crash sooner or later. If we jump off the top of a cliff, there will be broken bones, or worse still, a dead body at the bottom! Any foolish action incurs the risk of a dangerous end. Yet, even in knowing this, people want to be free to make these choices for themselves.

    We might not realise this, but this desire for freedom is a God-given thing. Choice is something we all have had given to us, right from the time we were born. We can choose to do the right thing, what we are told to do, and be safe, or we can choose to disobey, and suffer the consequences!

     This is just as plain in spiritual things as it is in physical things. The only difference is that spiritual things go on for eternity, while physical things come to an end in this life. The problem that most people don’t seem to realise, is that whether we like to face it or not, we ALL have a spiritual side to our life, a dimension that goes on for eternity. This is where the biggest choice we have to make comes in….do we want to face this or not??? We cannot sit on the fence in this matter, we have to make the choice between light and darkness, between life and death. Let’s be brave and face up to this choice now!

Life Lessons, Uncategorized

How Do we Take the Heat?

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      As we go forward into the year of 2022, we are finding that things are not really improving at all. The restrictions that we suffered from the previous year are still there, and in fact in some cases are even more onerous than last year. The hopes that we had, that things would improve and that we would get more freedoms, have already gone down the drain. Yes, some of the rules have relaxed with promises of others to follow, but it is the small things that people are finding so trying.

    As this is being written, there is a group of protestors sitting on the front lawn of the Parliament Buildings in our capital city, chanting and making a nuisance of themselves simply to get the government’s attention. People are getting exasperated with all the small details of the rules that seem to them to be unnecessary. On top of all that, the weather is typical February weather of hot steamy temperatures which is trying enough in itself without any other annoyances.

    But let us stop and think about all these things for a minute. How are we allowing these fires and trials affect us? We can allow them to either make us better or to make us bitter! Remember the boiling water in the pot will make the potato soft while it makes an egg go hard….which are we going to allow ourselves to be? The choice is ours. Our outward circumstances may be the same, but the inward results can be very different depending on  how we respond.

     If we read and take notice of what God says, we will have the strength  to stand firm in spite of these annoyances….the Bible says, “ Your Word I have hidden in my heart so I will not sin against You!”     (Psalm 119:11). If we do this, we will have a message to pass on to others from our own experiences, and this will carry far  more weight than merely telling other people what they should do!!

Grandma's Stories

Why Bread and Wine?

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    Bobby and Sarah were riding home from church with Uncle Jeff one Sunday after the morning church service,  as he was coming to their place for lunch.  Both of the young people were more silent than usual, and in the end Uncle Jeff said, “Is something bothering you Bobby?”

“Well, not exactly,” Bobby said, “But I’d like to know a few things”.

“Like what?” Uncle Jeff asked.

“Well,” said Bobby slowly, “What I’d like to know is about this bread and wine stuff they have during the service”.

“What do you know about it Sarah?” Uncle Jeff asked.

“Well, I know it comes from the Bible, it’s not just a thing that people have made up to look good”, she replied.

“I guess it must mean something,” Bobby said, “But I’ve never heard anyone really explain it”.

“Perhaps you weren’t really listening”, Uncle Jeff said, “Haven’t you noticed what sort of prayers are said just before the bread is given out? What about you Sarah?”

“It’s usually a thank-you prayer”, she said, “Thanking the Lord Jesus for dying on the cross for our sins.”

“That’s right,” said Uncle Jeff, “But there is a lot more to it all than just that. How do you think the bread is made?”

“It’s made out of flour”, Bobby said.

“And how does flour get to be made?” Uncle Jeff asked.

“Well, it gets ground up out of the grains of wheat or whatever other grain is used”, Sarah said.

“If the wheat grains had feelings, do you think it would have been hurt in the grinding process?” Uncle Jeff went on to say.

“Oh,” said Sarah slowly, “So you are saying that the bread is like the Lord Jesus being hurt so badly when He died on the cross”.

“That’s right, Sarah, ” said Uncle Jeff, “What is the next process in making bread?”

“It gets mixed up with other things and then it’s baked in the oven,” Bobby said, “I DO like new bread!”

“What do you think the meaning of that is as far as the Lord Jesus was concerned?” Uncle Jeff asked getting back to the point.

“Being in the oven is very hot”, Sarah said, “I guess it was like that for Him when God turned away from Him when he took our sins on Himself.”

“Yes, that is quite true,” Uncle Jeff continued, ” and what’s more what is the bread like when it comes out of the oven?”

“Yum, yum,” said Bobby, “I LIKE new bread!”

“Did you know that the Lord Jesus could say that He was the bread of life? That was all because He died to save us from our sins! ”

“So that is what it is all about?” Sarah said, “Thanks so much for explaining that. What about the wine then? Is that something the same? ”

“Yes, the picture is the same”, Uncle Jeff said, “ The grapes have to be crushed first to get the juice out of them, and then there is a further process the juice goes through before it will keep. How do you think this is a picture of the Lord Jesus?”

“He lost a lot of His blood while He was on the cross”, Sarah said thoughtfully, “Almost as though it was crushed out of Him!”

“Yes, and some people drink wine to make them feel happy, and when they have something to celebrate; another thing about wine is that it is a healer if you put it on sores, and it stops you feeling thirsty,” Uncle Jeff said, “And what’s more it lasts without going rotten.

“Does all this make sense to you Bobby?”

“Ye-e-es, I guess so”, Bobby said. “So it’s all a picture of what  Jesus has done for us. It won’t seem so boring now in church, now that I know what it all means. But why is it only big young people who take it and grown ups? Why can’t I do it?”

Uncle Jeff had been expecting this question, and he said, “I know that a lot of young children have given their hearts to Jesus, and they would love to do this, but you know people do change their minds as time goes by. Remember the time when you thought you would like to milk cows when you grew up?”

“Yes”, said Sarah nudging Bobby, “And remember how you used to say you were going to marry Jenny when you grew up?”

“Yuk!”, said Bobby, “I’ve changed my mind, that’s all!”

“Well, you see we have to make sure that you are grown up enough to understand what it is all about and you want to do it to please the Lord Jesus Himself, not just because Jack in the next seat takes it!”

“Oh!” said Bobby, “Well, I don’t think I’m going to change my mind about this, but I only  want to do it to please God and because it says so in the Bible!”

“That’s great!” said Uncle Jeff as he turned in to their driveway, “Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling hungry. Let’s go inside and see what Mum has ready for us for lunch!”