Life Lessons

Never Too Old!

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We have just returned  from another motor home trip …..this time we went around the East Cape area of the North Island of New Zealand, mostly an area we have seen very little of. So we took our time this time, and spent nearly a week in this part of our country. When we got back, I was asked what the most memorable part of our trip was….without hesitation, I said, “Potholes!”

   We had travelled for six hours and covered about 120 ks in that time around Lake Waikaremoana in the middle of the North Island. The road here was unsealed and with a gravel surface, and shut down of things due to covid 19, the roads had got progressively worse and worse.

Also we weren’t able to see much of the lake due to the shrubbery that was growing on the roadside between us and the shore, but the small glimpses we got were fabulous!  A lot of the trip was through primeval bush growing on steep, steep hills.

    It was amazing to think that here we were in the middle of nowhere, sitting in the comfort of our motorhome, and being  able to enjoy these giants of nature with no effort on our part (except for the jolting of the potholes!!). To think that these trees had never been touched by man’s axe or saw, was really something. Seeing them like this reminded me of God’s power in creation, and in spite of the potholes, we couldn’t help but thank Him for being able to be here to see them!

   Another memorable thing about this trip was when we saw the oldest and largest pohutukawa tree in New Zealand, at a place called Te Araroa. We walked around it in amazement….it was so old that a great many of its enormous branches were lying on the ground around it, some of them having re-rooted. Not only that, but this ancient tree was still bearing flower buds….it was a bit early in the season for them to out yet, but I couldn’t help thinking that no matter how old or how infirm we are, or wherever we find ourselves, we can still bear flowers or fruit for our Master. Even a smile or a thank-you is a small bit of flower for Him, and will bring joy to others.

   So never give up or let ourselves think we are too old or useless to shine wherever we are!

Life Lessons

When Things go Wrong!

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     It has not been an easy year for most people. Events have had to be cancelled, and other family things like funerals and weddings have had to be put off due to the lock down levels, and depending which one we happen to be in at the time. People have lost their jobs, and others have lost money they have paid for overseas trips that could not be taken. None of these things are easy to put up with.

    It reminded me of the time we had some visitors from another area, and were taking them around the local sights. One of these was a glass blower at  work behind the gallery that was selling a lot of his work. There were some beautiful pieces on display, all brightly coloured and different shapes. The man was in his workshop at the back of the gallery which was open for people to watch him at work.

    We went in and up the stairs where we could look down on him plying his art. The furnace was heated up and the tongs he was using were red hot. As he pulled the shaped vase out of the heat, he pulled and twisted at the neck of it to form a shapely edge. But time and time again, he had to put it back into the heat because he wasn’t satisfied with how it looked.

    It reminded me of the Master Glass Blower at work in our lives, as He moulds and perfects His people to make them become what He wants them to be. We may not like the heat of the fire we have to go through, or the pulling and twisting that we are subject to, but when it is all over, we are more like the finished article that He wants us to be….a thing of beauty and fit for His use.

   So when we think of the events of this year and how disrupted many of them have been, let’s remember to allow them to make us better, and not bitter. Just one little letter different, but what a tremendous difference in the end result of our lives!

Adult Testimonies

God’s Patience!

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The Lord said…..  “My Spirit will not always strive with man…”  (Genesis 6:3a)  The following  story illustrates this point very clearly.

“Hi Ozzie”, Bob sang out as he drove up to the house, “Are you coming out with me tonight to the church service?”

“Aw, I can’t make it tonight”, Ozzie said, “We’ve got a visitor coming for tea, so that cramps my style a bit. Maybe next Sunday.”

“OK, That’s a pity”, Bob said as he swung the car around.

   He went down the road in a thoughtful mood. He had been taking his cousin Ozzie to the church services for nearly twelve months, and he had noticed a big difference in him in that time. His language had cleaned up, and he seemed to be more cheerful and not so complaining.

    Bob hoped Ozzie had been really listening to the different preachers as they spoke each Sunday night, and not just been enjoying the singing and company of the other people there. After all, that was only part of it all. He thought of those verses in the New Testament where Jesus frequently said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear”.

He knew it was one thing to hear what is being said, but quite another to let the words sink into one’s mind and then down to the heart and then put them into practice .

   Bob knew what it had been like for himself….once he was faced with the facts, there was no turning back and now he couldn’t have been happier. Now he really wanted his cousin Ozzie to know the same peace of mind and heart that he had found.

   But from that time on, Ozzie seemed to be making more and more excuses as to why he couldn’t make it on Sunday nights. The day came when he told Bob that he wouldn’t be going any more….it just wasn’t convenient, he said.

   Bob was disappointed, but he knew that people have a free choice. He had made his mind up himself to continue going to the church services and as he did, his understanding grew. He wasn’t going to let Ozzie’s attitude change his mind.

   Over the intervening years, they met occasionally and still did certain jobs together (both were farming), but the old camaraderie was missing. More years went by, nearly twenty in fact.

    Bob was visiting his father one day. “You know, I had a visit from Ozzie the other day”, his father said. “He said a very strange thing. He told me that he’d had a very vivid dream one night recently of a big blind coming down from the sky and he knew that it was between him and God. And then he said, ‘You know Unc, I couldn’t come to God now, even if I wanted to!’ I really didn’t know what to say to him”.

   Bob knew the verse in the Bible where God says He won’t strive with people for ever, that there comes a day when He will take people at their word, and leave them alone. He was very sad to hear that, and yet he had been unable to pray for Ozzie himself for some time, and felt that this was indeed a message from the Lord concerning him. What a sad plight to be in, and that was how Ozzie eventually died. His attitude was that as he had lived without God, he would die without Him!

   There is no need for anyone to be like Ozzie….God’s invitation is still valid for everyone….”Those who come to Me, will find Me!”

Random Devotional Thoughts

God’s Word at Work.

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    I was reading the verse from Hebrews 4:12 where it describes God’s Word as being ” quick (living) , and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”.

     There is nothing so convicting and convincing as God’s Word if we allow it to sink into our minds. It IS possible to shut one’s mind to it, but if we do that, it won’t be long before its influence on our ways and thinking will disappear and we will become hard and unyielding.

    This verse shows that it is like an extremely sharp two edged sword, cutting both ways, as it goes in and as it comes out…there is a story that illustrates this point perfectly….

   There was a man once who said he didn’t believe in all this God rubbish (as he put it). One of the old time evangelists came to his district and was holding meetings several times a week. One of our man’s friends persuaded him to go to one of these meetings.

“You know I don’t believe in all that stuff”, he said complainingly to his friend, “I’ll go just the once, but no more, mind!”

He sat through the meeting, working out all his arguments against the preacher in his mind. His chance came when the preacher offered to take him home.

“Well, Sir,” our man said, “I don’t believe all that stuff you told us tonight. What about…..?” and he presented his first argument.

The preacher was silent a moment and then he said, “I don’t know about that, all I know is that the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ cleans us from all sin.”

Our friend was a bit taken aback. He hadn’t expected a reply like that. But he rallied and then put out his next argument which was guaranteed (he thought) to get the preacher’s hackles up.

    Again the preacher was silent a moment, and then he said, “Well, I haven’t heard that one before, but all I know is that the blood of Jesus Christ cleans us from all sin.”

Our friend wasn’t going to be deterred, and he thought of several more arguments that he felt sure the preacher had no answers for.

    But each time the preacher just quietly said, “Well, I don’t know about that…..all I know is that the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ cleans us from all sin!”

     By this time they had reached our friend’s house and the preacher pulled up to let him out. Our friend gave one more parting shot as he left the car…”Well, I’m not coming back any more to hear that stuff!”

“That’s fine friend,” the preacher said, “But just remember,” as our friend went off into the darkness, “the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleans us from all sin!”

   The preacher went home, prayed for our friend and didn’t expect to see him again. But God’s Word which had been used as a sword, and as a strong hammer which can break rocks began to work in his mind. A couple of nights later, the preacher heard a knock on his door just as he was going  to bed. He opened the door, and there stood our friend looking rather distraught and haggard.

“I haven’t been able to sleep a wink since that meeting the other night,”  he said, “All I can hear in my mind are those words, the blood of Jesus Christ cleans us from all sin….I can’t get rid of them. What do I have to do to put my mind at rest?”

“Come on in,”  the preacher said, “It’s never too late to talk about the things of God”. He was able to explain to our friend that the way to have peace in his mind, was simply to tell the Lord that he realised he was a sinner and needed to be made clean from all the bad thoughts and habits he had formed over the years.

   He gladly did this and became a different man as a result. He had different aims now, and went to different places. The old ways didn’t attract him any more. Now he could say, and mean it with all his heart….. “The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleans me from ALL sin!”

Life Lessons

Our Good Friend Rameka.

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    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?

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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?

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    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?

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   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.

See what God has to say to YOU.