Life Lessons

Our Good Friend Rameka.

Leave a comment

    Many years ago we had a good friend by the name of Rameka. He had come to know the Lord from a dark background and the difference in his life was noticeable to all who had known him previously. He now had a perpetual smile on his face, and went around singing all the hymns he knew. It was always a joy to meet him and to hear what he had been discovering as he read his Bible every day. He was growing in his Christian life noticeably from day to day.

     But there were things we learned from him too. His infectious grin was always heartwarming. He was always very careful where he put his Bible down. Never would he put it on the floor beside his feet when he was sitting down. To him, this was an insult to Almighty God. As far as he was concerned there were plenty of other places to put it, rather than on the floor. This was one thing we never forgot.

    One day he came to us very concerned. “I feel so ignorant of the Word”, he said, “How can I remember and learn it better than I do? I was never very good at school,” he went on, “What can I do about it?”

“Well, you know what a sieve is like?”, we asked

“Yes,” he said, “And that is just what I feel like, not able to hold anything at all!”

“Ah,” we said, “But the point is that the water going through all the time keeps it clean. In the same way, the Water of the Word keeps you clean as you read it, even if you don’t remember much later.”

His face broke into a big beaming smile. “Oh, I see it now”, he said, “It’s just a matter of keeping on keeping on!”

   Another time he was still worrying about his lack of knowledge. “What should I do about it?” he asked.

“Well, the Lord knows all about it and how you feel so inadequate,” we said, “But the main thing is to be obedient to the little bit you DO know, and then tomorrow or maybe the next day, He will show you the next step that you should do!”

“Oh, that’s great!” he said, “I’ll do it that way then!”

“It’s just a case of one step at a time…..as we do that one, then we will see the next step to take!”

    We moved away from the district shortly after that and heard of him periodically. But always, he was still going on for his Lord and rejoicing in Him until the day of his death some years later. We still smile as we remember our good friend Rameka and the things that he taught us as we interacted with him.

Daily Devotionals

Who Created the World?

Leave a comment

Genesis One….             

Verses 1-2….

   Verse says, “God created the heaven and the earth”. Who actually did the creating? Many people think that it was God the Father that did the creating, but there are many verses that show the whole Trinity was involved in the creating business. Let’s look at them….

   Both the writer to the Hebrews and John say that the Son was involved in the creation and in fact, is still seeing to the upholding of the original creation….keeping it going if you like. (John 1:3; Hebrews 1:2-3). We also see that the Father and the Son do nothing without including the Holy Spirit (1 John 5:6-8). It is the Holy Spirit who reveals the Son and God’s truths to mere mortal mankind. All this was ordained and put in order before the world began.

   No wonder Paul goes on to write that man hasn’t even begun to see and hear the wonderful things that God has in store for His people…..in fact, it is beyond our comprehension while we are earth-bound. (1 Corinthians 2:7-11; Ephesians 3:9-11).

Just as a caterpillar has no comprehension of the freedom and beauty of the fluttering butterfly it will become, so man cannot take in or even imagine what lies ahead!! And this is all part of God’s eternal plan….we don’t know yet what we will become, but we DO know that when we see our Lord Jesus we will become like Him! (1 John 3:2)

Morning Musings, Uncategorized

What is in Your Hand?

Leave a comment

    I was given a book to read this week about the old time bushmen that worked the bush in the backblocks of New Zealand in the early days. In this time of high mechanism and technology, it is incredible to read of how those huge trees were felled by hand, cut into manageable sized logs, and then hauled to the nearest timber mill for processing. To read of how bullocks were trained to pull them out of the bush to the nearest creek which had been dammed up until the next heavy rains came, and then to watch them tumble all the way to sea level.

    I found this account quite fascinating as my own father had been involved in the process of towing the log rafts to the timber mill by launch when he was a young man. He only gave up the job when the first timber trucks came in and took over the cartage of the logs to the mills, thus saving many hours of double handling.

   It just goes to show how, no matter what era man has reached, God has given the ability to cope with what is needed for the current job. One time is no more right than another, it is just a matter of using what God has given us, and these old timers did just that. The men of today would be useless if faced with what those men back then coped with, just as the old timers would be bewildered by the modern technology of today.

   It just reminds us that no matter what aids we have, we are still dependent on God as our Heavenly Father to provide the strength to do what is at hand, and it is still our responsibility to use what He has given us at all times.

Life Lessons

What do you See?

Leave a comment

   Someone sent an email the other day telling the story of a professor who was setting his students an exam. He handed the papers all out upside down, and then told them to turn the page over. They found it was just a blank piece of paper with a large black dot in the middle of it. He told them to have a good look at it, and then write down what they were seeing.

   Without exception, they all wrote about the black spot, where it was on the page and the effect it had on the paper. The professor told them that not one had commented on the whiteness of the paper or the size of it in comparison to the black spot, and then pointed out the moral of the story….how much we concentrate on the wrong things around us instead of on the good things we see. That reminded me that I’m like that too, and it ought not to be !

  So whenever things annoy or grate on you, especially in these days of Covid-19 and all the restrictions that we have to go through to keep it contained, just remember to overlook the black spot of the virus in  the middle of the page and focus on the white size of the paper!! We are continually being told to count up to ten things we can be thankful for, and we won’t remember the black spot in the centre of our environment at the moment!

This time of restrictions won’t last for ever, and we will be free to come and go again as we once did. In fact, these times of the virus, will make us even more thankful when it is all over, to be able to enjoy what used to be normal for us.

Morning Musings

Keeping a Diary.

Leave a comment

     I’ve kept a diary for years, and I must say that it has been the means of solving many an argument! Dates and events are often otherwise forgotten. I’ve got several different styles of diaries, and one I often refer to is my diary of events. These are just the headlines of different things that happen in the month and the family often refer to it as well. Then there is my normal diary which has more detail of day to day happenings, conversations and weather etc.

     Another one that is useful is the garden diary….this one is laid out four pages to a month labelled Week One, Week Two etc, and divided into sections down the page…each one corresponding to a year. This means that you can see at a glance how various plants have been doing from year to year at the same time.

    Then there is the Diary of Items Bought. How often do we remember exactly how long we’ve had that appliance that has suddenly given trouble, and wondered if it is out of its guarantee or not! Or how many years we’ve had a certain machine and what we paid for it?

   Finally there is a Spiritual Journal. Here is where you write precious thoughts that have come to you during the day and times of reflection. Things you have thought of as you have read devotional writings, and perhaps things that puzzle you, the whys of life and eternity. Don’t let these thoughts slip away, but write them down. As you read them later, jot down further thoughts you have had on similar topics. As you do a daily reading of the Bible, write down the thoughts and questions that come to you and ponder them further. Never be too busy to make time for this, even if it is only fifteen minutes a day….what is that out of twenty-four hours? Surely we can make that much time to deal with this, the most important side of our being!

Life Lessons, Uncategorized

What is Set Before You?

Leave a comment

We have choices every day, As we step along life’s way;

In God’s Word they shine so clear, So let’s take note, their message hear.

I have set before you life and death….Deuteronomy 30:19…..

God sets before each person born, The choice of life or death forlorn,

We must each one make this choice, Death to mourn, or life rejoice.

I have set the land before you….Deuteronomy 1:8,21…..

God sets the land before our eyes, The land that waits beyond the skies,

It’s joys we now can plainly see, Awaiting there, God’s gift so free.

I have set before you an open door….Revelation 3:8…..

God knows our works, He’s set before, Each one of us an open door,

As we go through to serve Him there, His Word and Work with others share.

Let us run the race that is set before us….Hebrews 12:1…

A course is set before our eyes, A race to run to win the prize,

Of knowing Christ who bore our sin, And gives us power this prize to win.

Set a watch before my lips….Psalm 141:3….

Before my lips a watch I set, ‘Tis only God this need has met,

Help me to hold my tongue each day, Be quick to hear, and slow to say.

I will set no wicked thing before my eyes….Psalm 101:3

Set your affections on things above….Colossians 3:2

No wicked thing I’ll watch or read, For on these things my soul will feed,

I’ll set my eyes on Christ above, And think of His amazing love.

God now has set these things before, Each one of us just like a door,

It is for us to open these, If we our Lord would seek to please.

Stories for Teens

God STILL Does Miracles!

Leave a comment

    We recently did a motor-home trip around the North Island of New Zealand, and on the way home attended a Rally for Christian Motor-homers, called the Good News Vanners. The last night there, we had  a young missionary doctor come to speak to us, who told us about a lot of the miracles he had seen in healing in the land of Sudan in Africa. One poor child was born with two back to front feet, and had learned to walk like that….hard to imagine. The parents were desperate for help for their child, but refused to go to  the missionaries for either medical or spiritual help.

   By the time the witch doctors had finished with him, the parents could see there was no help there, and finally went to the missionaries in desperation. The missionaries told the parents that God could heal him if they would only believe that He could. The parents agreed, and the missionary medical people  prayed earnestly for him. Lo and behold after a while, one foot began to turn around to normal. So they then decided to operate on the other one to fix it, and the boy now has two good feet that he can run and play on. They felt that doing it this way showed the people that God uses many different ways to answer prayer….the first one was a straight out miracle, and the second one was an equal miracle but answered by the surgeon’s expertise.

   It reminded me of a story I used to tell at Bible-in-schools classes, where there was small girl who had brown eyes, but she didn’t like them. She asked her mother if God really could answer prayer  and when her mother said, “Of course”, then said she was going to pray for blue eyes. The next morning she couldn’t wait to run to the mirror to see these beautiful blue eyes that God was giving her. Alas, she was so disappointed to see her own brown eyes looking back at her. Her prayers weren’t answered the way she wanted them to be! Her mother was a wise woman, and she said, “Look dear, God HAS answered your prayer. The only difference is that He has answered it with a no, and not with a yes”,

   When the little girl grew up, she became a missionary in India and felt so sorry for all the poor ladies there, that she set out to help them. She dressed like they did, and with her dark hair and big brown eyes, she almost looked like an Indian herself. She was able to make friends with them easily as they felt comfortable with her, and told them about the love of Jesus, as well as show it to them practically by all she did to help them. It was only then (all those years later), that she realized that if God had given her the blue eyes that she so badly wanted when she was little, she couldn’t have made friends with these people like she had,  and helped them as she did.

    The point of this story is that God knows what is best for us when we pray for something we badly want, and answers us accordingly. There were many other stories that the missionary told us that last night about his work as a doctor over in that country, and we were glad that we had been there to hear them. God had performed many miracles, some supernaturally, and some through medical help, but all miracles for those concerned.

Life Lessons

Are you a Leader?

Leave a comment

    There is no doubt about it, some people are natural leaders while others prefer to just follow someone else. Perhaps they don’t have the self confidence to take the lead, or perhaps they just can’t be bothered making the effort.

   How do we know we can be a leader if we aren’t sure about these things?  The quickest way is to turn around and see if there is anyone following you! We might feel that we aren’t important enough or have anything to offer….but, what is that in your hand? Moses had every excuse under the sun when God accosted him out in the desert and told him to go and tell the king of Egypt to let His people go.

 “How can I do that? I’m not important enough,” was his first excuse.

Then he said, “The people won’t listen to me. What do I tell them when they ask whose idea this is?”

   God was very patient with Moses, and He said, “Look, I will be with you. Just tell the people that ‘I AM’ has sent you; the One Who spoke to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob years ago. That is My Name. When you tell them that, they will listen.”

“But what if they don’t?” Moses persisted.

“What is that in your hand?” God asked.

Moses looked at his shepherd’s stick, and said, “It’s my rod.”

“Throw it down on the ground,” God said.

   So he did, and immediately it became a wriggling snake, and Moses hastily got away from it.

“Now pick it up by its tail,” God said, and as Moses reached out his hand and grabbed it, suddenly he found he had his stick back! Twice more, God had to show Moses the miraculous things that would happen when he did what he was told.

But he still hung back. “I can’t talk well enough”, was his next excuse.

   God’s patience started to wear thin. “Who made your mouth?” He demanded. “Very well, I know your brother Aaron is a good talker. He is coming to meet you now. Take him with you, and he can do your talking for you and you will tell him from Me what he is to say.”

Moses finally agreed, and did as God had told him, and became one of the greatest leaders there has ever been.

    We can see several things from this story that can apply to us. Firstly, we may think we are only an unimportant person, but if God is calling us to do something for Him, He will give us the strength. Not only that, but He will be with us as we make a start, and will give us others to support us  in the task that He wants us to do. That is on God’s side. On the other hand, we have to respond on our side. We have to be willing to hear His voice and obey what He is saying to us.

As we make the first move, God will step in and open up the doors for us. All we have to do is to use what we have.

   Perhaps you feel you are only a mother with little children, and ask what you could possibly do. Well, you have the most important job in the world, that of shaping the attitudes and manners of the little ones in your charge. All too soon they will grow up and be gone. Be a worthy leader under God’s direction, of your home and family, and He will bless you in it.

See what God has to say to YOU.