Life Lessons

The Storms of Life….

Leave a comment

We attended a Bible conference recently that was being held in the small chapel where we grew up as children and young people. We try to make a point of attending this conference each year, partly for old times’ sake, and partly for fellowship to catch up with old friends from years before.

   There were two speakers this year, and the two talks during the afternoon sessions really made an impact as they seemed to dovetail together beautifully. The first speaker talked about the Storms of Life, and this was a topic he spoke of from the heart. It had only been four years since his wife died with cancer. He broke his talk into three parts, showing how the Lord speaks to us in these three aspects of the storms of life that we all experience at different times.

    When the disciples experienced the worst storm of their life, they had been sent across the lake by Jesus Christ. The disciples were experienced fishermen who could read the weather signs and knew how to handle these sudden storms that whipped up the lake surface into a frenzy. Jesus knew all this, and He knew a storm was coming up that would test them to the maximum.  They hadn’t made a mistake that brought this upon them, they were there for a purpose.

Remember this….Jesus Christ knows the storms we are in at any given time. He could have stopped the storm coming to the disciples, but He wanted to show them His power. He knows the storm that I may be in right now, but He wants me to go through it so He can show me His power and refine the dross out of my life and strengthen the faith I have in Him.

The Lord speaks to us in these three ways ….

In the storm….He comes to us through the storm, walking on the water…”I will never leave you”, He says.

Through the storm… He reminds us that He is there with us…”don’t be afraid”, He says, “trust Me”.

The storm within you….often when these storms come, they attack us from the inside. We are all in a turmoil because of circumstances beyond our control, and wonder where we are going to turn next.

Don’t be afraid of being afraid….storms always have an end. There will be a period of calm when it is over and then another one may come but because we have proved our Lord’s help with the first one, we have confidence within the next one.

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33) We cannot build the house during the storm, we must have it built before it comes! Remember….He is the Lord of all our storms!

Transitions….     The next speaker spoke about transitions and how the peace after the storm usually precedes a transition….and transitions are never peaceful, they are a time of turmoil. Take the birth of a child….a time of labour for the mother and time of turmoil for the child leaving the womb to enter this world, and then turmoil for the rest of their lives! So many things in our lives are a transition….a new baby brings a whole new way of life to a couple; a move to a new area is a period of turmoil until settled in; children reaching the teenage years bring a transition for both themselves and their parents.

  Then again there is the transition into the empty nest syndrome and finally into retirement. But that is not the end….what about the transition into the retirement village and then the rest home? What about the transition of the loss of a spouse? It seems that the whole of life is a series of transitions. We need the Lord’s help in each of these transitions in life. Nothing remains static…change is the essence of life. Let’s make sure that we approach each of these transitions with the peace of God in our heart and mind.    Be anxious about nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

   We had a lot to think about as we made our way back home.

Random Devotional Thoughts

Winter Fires

Leave a comment

We have just finished putting a load of firewood in the shed at the back of the house. There is nothing more cheerful than a fire burning in the grate on a cold raw winter day, and the mess and wok that a wood burning fire makes is more than worth the trouble of cleaning up around it!

A fire has many qualities….it not only keeps the house warm and inviting, but it can be used to get rid of any rubbish around the place….it cleanses as it burns. It is also referred to as a refining fire, and we know that a fire is used to clean any dross out of metals. Watching a metal worker heating the metal and then being able to twist it into any shape that he wants to, shows us that when we go through the fires of troubles and trials, that we come out at the other end, the better for it. Let us make sure that this is so, and that we don’t become bitter instead of better!

Something else that we can learn from a fire is that if a coal is taken out of it and left by itself on the hearth, it will gradually go cold and black, no more use for anything. So this is a warning to us, to make sure we keep in the fire of meeting with God’s people regularly to keep ourselves glowing with His peace and joy, able to warm and encourage others with our company.

Random Devotional Thoughts

In Fighting!

Leave a comment

      We have just started putting bread in our bird feeder again for the winter months and once again it is giving us a lot of pleasure watching the little birds feeding there. I wondered how long it would be before they discovered the bread slices in it sitting there, but it only took about an hour and first one and then another came along and had a feed.

But you know, even among the birds there is continual scrapping going on. The small silver-eyes stand on a branch nearest the feeder and fluff their little wings angrily at each other. The bold mynah struts around at the base of the tree and even jumps up on the branch to take a few pecks before he gets chased off. The sparrows take no notice of the others and greedily grab as many beakfuls as they can while the others are scrapping among themselves.

    Once again it reminded me of how we as people often scrap among ourselves, sometimes vying for the better places or positions. This is not how we are meant to behave, especially in church situations. The Lord Jesus told us to be prepared to take the humble place and wait for others to give us a higher position rather than angrily (or sneakily)  try to take it from others.

    It is not smart to behave like this anywhere, and only causes hurtful situations that often can never be remedied. People can forgive, but they very seldom completely forget!

Daily Devotionals

Helmet of Hope.

Leave a comment

David, the Psalmist in the Bible, could say… “For You are my hope, O Lord GOD: You are my trust from my youth” (Psalm 71:5).

 I was listening to a preacher the other day who was talking about hope. Not hope with the thought of it may or may not happen, but hope as a confidence and certainty. There is another verse in the Bible where it says to put on the helmet of the hope of salvation (1 Thessalonians 5:8). Once we have this helmet firmly on our head, no matter how many darts of doubt and fear Satan fires at us, we can overcome them.

    The law in New Zealand says that it is compulsory for every cyclist to wear a helmet while riding their bike on the road. It is no use carrying it on the handlebars of the bike, because that won’t keep us safe if we have an accident. We have to have it on our head  to be safe  and protected. Every time we have an impact, we have to adjust it and wear it properly again.

   So it is when troubles hit us on our ride through life, we have to adjust our helmet of hope and get on our bike and go on again. Every negative thought that Satan gives us, we have to counteract with our helmet of hope, and count our many blessings.   It is no use counting our blessings on our fingers and our troubles on the calculator, we are to do it the other way around. Every new morning we are to put on our helmet of hope and count our blessings; we are to firmly fasten it with thanksgiving to God, and to resist negative thoughts which come from the evil one. We will then be able to face the new day with a positive and confident “hope” as we go to school or work.

Life Lessons

How Old is our Soul?

Leave a comment

    The older we get, the more we tend to think about what lies ahead. We get to the stage of avoiding going to reunions where everyone looks SO old! Then we realise that they are probably thinking the same about us!

   It gets to the stage when invited to a grandchild’s engagement or birthday party, that we look around and see with horror that we are probably the oldest ones there!

   I stopped to think about this one day and remembered an incident when a young man said to his grandmother, “Granny, tell me, how old do you feel?” (She was in her early eighties by this time).

“Well,” she said, “It’s like this, I know my outside looks old and wrinkly and my bones ache when I get up, but inside I don’t feel any older than fifteen!”

“Really!” said the young man astonished, as he went on his way.

    The reason for this is that our soul is ageless. It never ages. It has been made to live for ever regardless of the age of the body it inhabits and when it dies. Every soul is precious in the sight of God, and His great desire is that each one will live with Him for ever.

    But along with God’s great love which people like to think about, goes God’s innate holiness and sense of justice. All wrongs must be righted and dealt with, and we would all agree with that. God knew that man could never pay the debt of all these injustices so He took on Himself to pay for these in the Person of His Son Jesus Christ, the only sinless Person who has ever lived on earth.

   We may choose to not believe this, and this is our right, but then we must bear the consequences. God has done His part, and now we must do our part which is humbling ourselves to accept this free gift  so that our soul will live for ever in God’s presence. Don’t let anyone put you off making the right decision because the alternative of living without God or anything good for ever and ever doesn’t bear thinking about!

Daily Devotionals

God’s Mighty Creation

Leave a comment

     When we were travelling around the South Island of New Zealand recently, there were so many things to see and marvel at. The mountains especially were magnificent, and then there were the places where the road went through very hilly country, where the hills just seemed to fold into each other. Still other places where the roads followed streams and rivers through endless hills and ranges, without ever going up a hill themselves. They just meandered through the hills, each time going around a corner, there were more hills and the endless stream the road was following.

   I couldn’t help thinking how much pleasure God gets out of everything that He has created, and how He is familiar with every hill and corner. We read of this pleasure in the book of Job, chapter 40:15 to the end of chapter 42.

   God is pointing out to Job how mighty these creatures are that He has made. Job was over-awed, and said that he felt vile and insignificant in the face of such creation. So it is that we must feel something of this awe when we see the beauty of the mountains and hills, and give God the credit for having created them. When He asks in a day to come why we didn’t take advantage of seeing them, and giving Him the glory for His mighty works, we will feel ashamed, just as Job did in his time.

    So let’s remember these things, even in the familiar everyday scenes around us, and give God the glory that He deserves!

Life Lessons

Ruined!

Leave a comment

                                    Ruined!

We have just recently come back from a tour of the deep south of New Zealand that is full of beautiful pictures of lakes and mountains. One day we were sitting by a peaceful lake just soaking up the view. All was calm, and the reflections were just perfect. Then several ducks came swimming by and started squabbling in front of us.

Suddenly the perfect picture was broken into a thousand pieces by the actions of these birds, and it wasn’t until they had passed by that the reflections came back. It reminded me of how this is in our lives. We are told to be reflections of Jesus Christ in all His perfection, and perhaps we manage this for a time, but then we get upset over some little thing, and the reflection is broken to smithereens, and we behave in a very un-Christ-like manner.

But just as the reflection can come back to the lake, so we can pick up from where we left off, by confession and repentance. We are not to be worried that this happens because we are all human and God has made a provision for us, But it is an on-going thing, and is up to each one of us to put it into practice and not be discouraged.

Random Devotional Thoughts

Preparing for a Trip.

Leave a comment

       We are heading off this week for a trip of several weeks around this beautiful country of ours. At the moment Covid restrictions are lifted in our part of the world, so we are free to go where ever we want to in our country. How thankful we are that we took the opportunities to travel overseas while we were younger and we were free to do so!

      This time however, we aren’t dependent on public travel having our own motor-home, and a daughter and her husband who can travel with us in their vehicle. Whenever we make preparations for going away, it always reminds me how careful we are to make sure we have everything we need, and  we would be foolish indeed not to think of every eventuality. Yet how many people go blithely through life without giving a thought to what would happen if the worst came to pass and their life was cut short.

   It behooves each one of us to make preparation for the biggest trip of our lifetime, that of when we depart from this world for ever and have to face our Maker. There could be nothing sadder than to hear those words, ”Depart from Me, I never knew you!” Yet we are told in God’s Word, that this will be what we will hear if we go from this world unprepared and not knowing Him.

   We wouldn’t dream of walking into a house if we didn’t know the owner personally, yet that is what people seem to think they have the right to do with God. Besides, would they really want to spend endless time in an atmosphere of singing God’s praises eternally when they haven’t gone into His presence here on earth! But then the alternative doesn’t bear thinking about either! This is a choice that we each one of us have to make….don’t put it off, it’s the most important decision we can make in our entire life!

See what God has to say to YOU.