“It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man”.
As I read those words in my morning Bible reading recently, my mind went back many years ago to the time when we HAD put confidence in what people had told us and were badly let down. We were contemplating buying a commercial building with two tenants leasing it. The tenant downstairs seemed reliable enough, but then we had some doubts about the ones upstairs. We asked them how long they were likely to need the lease for, and they said as long as they didn’t expand, there was no likelihood of them moving. So with that assurance, we bought the building.
For a few months, everything went well, and then the tenants upstairs gave notice that they were moving but would continue paying their rent until the end of their lease in six month’s time. This was a blow that we had hoped we wouldn’t have to face. Once the lease ran out, we were left with only half the income we had reckoned on, and as time went by we were unable to lease out the top floor. It was either too big, or there wasn’t enough parking. It was certainly never classed as being too small by any prospective tenant!
Things were not easy and we began to wonder if we had made a mistake in “putting our confidence in man “. We had prayed about the proposition before buying it and done our homework as thoroughly as we could, but now the only conclusion we could come to was that we must have made a mistake in buying the place.
During this time, my morning Bible reading was about the time when the Lord told His disciples to row across the lake, all the time knowing what was going to happen. He knew the storm was going to come and toss them about. Yet He still told them to go. They hadn’t made a mistake in setting off across the lake….they went at His bidding. He didn’t divert the storm, He allowed things to work out their course. He knew He would meet them in their hour of desperate need and calm the storm.
After reading this story, my mind settled down somewhat. We hadn’t made a mistake after all, the Lord just wanted to teach us that He was in control and would release us from the situation in His good time. It didn’t happen overnight but the building eventually sold and we were released from the situation we were in. How relieved we were and overjoyed at not having to go through this hard time any more!!
I now know that whatever comes our way, God is always in control. If things are easy, we must give Him thanks, and when things come tough, we are to tighten our belts (figuratively) and still give Him thanks that things are no worse than they are! Above all, we are not to put our confidence in what people tell us, but to always trust in God and what He says.
Gran’s Advice
This is Gran’s advice to an adult grand-daughter facing a crossroads in her life…..
Hi Dear, You’ve been on my mind a bit and I woke up last night after having a dream, actually I had a second dream along the same lines. So I felt I should write to you and give you some sayings to think about. Now I don’t know if this is for you, or if it is for you to pass on to someone else, and I’m not even sure which order to write it in, so I’ll do it in a series of thoughts I’ve gleaned over the years.
Thought No 1. “If it’s doubtful , it’s dirty!”
When you get a shirt out of the cupboard, or you are about to put one away, and wonder if it needs washing or not, this is the measuring stick. If it’s doubtful, it IS dirty!!
So if you are contemplating some move and are uncertain whether to proceed or not, and are feeling uneasy in yourself wondering if it IS a good move or not, remember if there is any doubt in your mind leave it alone until you are absolutely certain. And of course the measuring stick is, what does God say about this situation?
Thought No. 2. “Use Your Head Before you Lose it!”
Whenever you start on a new course of action, there always comes a point when you can still walk away from it. If you are doubtful, walk! Don’t wait until you get to the point where you are so involved you feel you cannot do this to someone else.
Thought No. 3. “Don’t Feel Sorry for Someone else; You will end up Feeling Sorrier for Yourself!”
I have given this advice to different ones over the years, and at first sight it might seem like a selfish rule to have. BUT your first responsibility is to yourself, not to anyone else, no matter how much trouble they are in. We had a friend once whose wife walked out on him, and he had to learn to do for himself. I could have easily done his washing, and taken him meals ready cooked, but he had to learn to do it for himself. Another lady friend whose husband had died, was living on her own and wondered if she should take in another person who was looking for somewhere to live. We told her, “DON’T!”
It seems mean, but if she had and then got into relationship problems with this person, guess who would have to pick up the pieces….other people! We all know about broken relationships. As it turned out, this person looking for board would have taken this lady’s house over. Her friends were already doing all the repairs and maintenance for her, and there was no need to complicate things!
Thought No 4. Don’t Take What is just Good, and Miss Out on God’s Best.
Think about Solomon’s choice when God spoke to him in a dream telling him that He would give him anything at all that he asked for. We don’t know how much time Solomon thought about this first but he was feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of ruling this nation wisely so he asked God for wisdom to do it properly. God commended him for asking this, because he had asked for what was good. But when he became old, he forgot God’s rules and married heathen wives for political reasons without trusting God, and the Bible says that these outlandish women (Nehemiah 13:26; King James words) caused him to sin. He had asked for what was good, but had missed God’s best; he should have asked for a heart to follow the Lord wholly all the days of his life. There is nothing sadder that seeing an older person fall away from the Lord.
Thought No.5. Always keep in Mind the Difference Between a Christian and a non Christian.
We all know the passage that says to not be unequally yoked with an unbeliever, but the Bible also talks about the difference between light and darkness, between the actions of the flesh and the actions of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:19-25)
I remember a girl years ago who fell in love with a non-Christian. She was told to not marry him, but he promised her the earth. He wouldn’t stop her going to church; it wouldn’t make any difference if she was a Christian and he wasn’t. So she married him. Later that year, friends went to stay with this girl and her husband. He hadn’t stopped her going to church at this stage, but he complained about her church DVDs, and music she wanted to put on; he didn’t like the time she spent reading the Bible; He didn’t like her church friends or her going out at night to Bible Study, or her giving her tithe to the church.
So of course these things were put aside, one by one, until she gave up going altogether.
Thought No. 6. The old Joke…..As the Bride Walked down the Aisle to the Altar, she thought of three things…Aisle, Altar, Hymn! “I’ll Alter him!”
Just remember there is one thing a person CANNOT do, you cannot alter another person’s habits or ways, especially if they are an older person, and been living on their own for a bit. Just look at people’s different eating habits!!!! Classic case! So you have to love a person very much to sink yourself into their ways and habits. It’s no use thinking “It’s not fair!” Of course it isn’t fair! It will only make a good argument! You CANNOT alter him!
It takes years to come to the point of being able to give in gracefully. And then to not resent it!
Thought No. 7. Make Sure There is no Baggage in the Way.
There are many forms of “baggage” in a relationship. There is nothing worse than trying to mix oil and water…..it can’t be done! Things are bad enough to adjust to without having complications of other relationships or cultures to have to adjust to. Another thing I have seen as I have got older, is a wife about ten years (or more) younger than her husband having to lead him along, or helping him use a walking frame. It might be flattering to have an older man court you when you are young, but just think of the other end of life when you are still relatively young and fit and he is incapacitated in some way. This can, of course, happen in any age bracket, but it goes without saying when there is that age difference it is more likely to be the case. An acquaintance married a man over ten years older than she was, and we caught up with her many years later at a funeral and could hardly believe our eyes…. here she was leading along a shaky old man. After he died she met someone else who had a motor home and then she was able to travel all around the country making up for lost time.
Well Dear, perhaps I can sleep easy now I’ve got all that off my chest. I sort of get the feeling that you are at a cross roads, and I heard that you were thinking of going overseas for a bit and getting a job there. If you have any of these sort of pressures on you here, go, and get away to new places and meeting new people. Just make sure you go to places where you can meet new Christian people and form new friendships that will be helpful, and not drag you down. You will have many openings for work with your training.
Remember the difference between what is Good and what is Best. Also remember that God’s timing is never late
Love, Gran
Be Sure your Sin Will Find You Out!!
You will find this story in Joshua 10:1-27, 11:1-11…… News of the way Joshua and the men of Israel had conquered the cities of both Jericho and Ai had spread far and wide in the region that Israel was now entering.
The men of Gibeon got together and said to each other, “Have you heard what Joshua has done to Jericho and Ai? We’ll have to do something to make peace with him before he attacks us!”
“Yes,” said one, “Let’s pretend we’ve come from a far country with old worn out clothes and shoes and mouldy bread to make it look as though we’ve been on a very long journey, and ask him if he’ll make a treaty with us”.
“What a good idea!” they all agreed.
So a group of them got together, and dressed in old shabby clothes with worn out shoes, and carried their bag of mouldy bread over their shoulders and went to meet Joshua. When they found him, they told their story and produced the evidence….”Look Joshua, here’s our mouldy bread and worn out shoes. This shows how far we’ve come! Make a treaty with us,” they said.
This is where Joshua slipped up. He should have said, “I’ll ask God first”, but he didn’t. He looked at the supposed evidence and believed what they said.
“Sure”, he said, “We can do that!”
So he agreed to make a treaty with them which guaranteed them to be protected by Israel, no matter what. They went away smiling and pleased with themselves.
Three days later the news leaked out, and the men of Israel found out that these people who had supposedly come from far away, actually lived right among them! The people of Israel heard what these people had done, and they started whispering among themselves against the princes and leaders who had made this treaty. They heard these death threats that the people were making.
“We can’t do anything to them,” they said, “We’ve made a solemn treaty with them. Joshua called for the Gibeonites to come to him.
“You frauds!” he said, “You lied to us! You just live nearby! From now on, you will be our servants and do all our heavy work for us!”
The other Israelis said, “Let’s teach them a lesson, the lying sods!”
“No, we can’t do that,” Joshua said, “We’ve made them a solemn promise and we have to keep to it!”
The Gibeonites didn’t mind, and said to each other, “At least we’ll be protected if we become their servants!”
In chapter ten, we see that is exactly what happened. The people of Gibeon started to prosper and do really well. Their animals all grew fat and big, and their gardens bore large crops. The other tribes round about them began to mutter….”Let’s get together and go and teach Gibeon a lesson! That will teach them to make peace with Israel our enemy!”
The men of Gibeon heard these threats, and quickly sent a message to Joshua, “Come and help us from these other kings. We’re your servants, remember!”
This time Joshua remembered to ask God what to do. “Go and chase them out,” God said, “Don’t be afraid, because I’m going to fight for you!”
Joshua and his men travelled all night and came upon the enemy first thing in the morning. They didn’t know what had struck them when Joshua and his men started to chase them. They ran, and as they ran the sky got darker and darker, and God sent enormous hailstones on them. More people died with the hailstones than died in the actual battle!
This was the beginning of a great victory for Israel, and they took all the cities of the land one by one because the Lord fought for them (Joshua 10:42)
PROVERBS SIXTEEN…
Verses 13-17
This passage starts off with rule number one in the Christian life…”Commit your works to the Lord!” Can we commit everything that we are doing to the Lord day by day or are there things we do that we would be ashamed to have the Lord see?
What about the TV programmes we see and the magazines we read? Do they exalt the Lord or honour him in any way at all? David had a similar thought when he said to trust in the Lord, and to delight in Him. Then we are able to commit all that we do to Him, knowing that He will hear us.
We see the opposite of this in two more things that are an abomination to the Lord ….. those who are proud and those leaders who do sinful things. God can do nothing for these sort of people until they turn to Him in humbleness and repentance. Then God will cleanse them (verse 6) and give them the true wisdom that is worth more than gold (verse 16). He will direct their steps, give them peace and help them to be honest and just in their dealings.
To be honest and true, in all that we do, Is the way to honour the Lord,
For He hateth the proud, whose knee is not bowed,
And who never consider His Word!
The Diligent Son
PROVERBS Ten…. (v.1-3)
We all know families where there are diligent children and slack ones. It goes without saying that parents are glad when their children do well, and worried when they don’t. Have we ever stopped to wonder which type of child (of God) we are?
Solomon goes on to say that the treasures (and pleasures!) of the wicked are worthless and futile, whereas righteousness gives life……how many times we see this in the Scriptures! John says we are not to love (get taken up with, sucked into) the world system, because love of that will chase out the love of God’s things. Just as air and water fill a container…..the more water, the less air and vice versa so the more world in our lives will drive out the Spirit’s influence in our actions and attitudes. One will drive out the other, and as righteousness delivers from death, so those who do the will of God have eternal life.
The Lord is no man’s debtor, and those who honour Him, He will honour. (1 Samuel 2:30b). We are told here that the soul of those who seek Him will grow fat and not be famished, while those who ignore Him will lose their soul altogether.
The son who works, will his father please, Stores treasure in heaven and worldly lusts flees; God has said He will honour the man, Who seeks His face and follows His plan.
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Miracles Still DO Happen!
We were talking to our nephew Mark recently, and he told us this remarkable story. He was an avid diver and fisherman, and often combined his fishing trips with his job of beekeeper on some outlying islands. As with all of us, he got a bit careless with his diving one day and went further down than he should have. As a result of this, his back gave out on him and after a bit of time had gone by with no improvement, and in fact, only getting worse, he went to his doctor who referred him to a specialist. The specialist gave his verdict, “The only way we can overcome this problem is an operation,” he said, “You’ve developed a cyst on the bottom of your spine, and it needs to be removed.”
While he was waiting for this to happen he was reduced to needing a walking stick, to just get around, and couldn’t manage any of the lifting that was required in his job. Meantime, his mother had developed inoperable cancer and was starting to need nursing care day and night. His sister who was a trained nurse was able to undertake this task, but as the days went by, she needed extra help. He was so glad that he was able to be there to do the light jobs to help. Besides, it gave him valuable time with his mother while she could still communicate.
One day a member of Mark’s Bible Study took his children to the beach. While he was there, another guy about his own age, came wandering along with his little ones, and he sat down beside the first one. They struck up a conversation and discovered that they were both Christians. As the conversation flowed along, they found that they both knew Mark, even though they hadn’t known each other. The first guy shared how bad Mark’s back was getting with this cyst.
A short time later, the second guy who was a distant relative of Mark’s, was doing a job near Mark’s house, and he had this strong feeling that he should pop in and see how he was doing. Mark was home, and as they were chatting, he asked about Mark’s back and said, “How do you feel about me praying for your back?”
Mark agreed, and so he put his hand on Mark’s shoulder and simply told the Lord all about the problem. From that moment on, Mark’s pain subsided and he was able to help with lifting his mother during the night watches when she needed it. When the funeral service came, he was able to take his part in carrying the casket, and later on help lower her into the grave at the cemetery.
He had another appointment after the funeral service was over with the specialist, to finalise details for the operation, and another x-ray was taken to see how the cyst had progressed. “You know, I can’t see any sign of the cyst, it seems to have gone,” the specialist said as he turned back to Mark. So Mark told him what had happened with his friend praying for him, and how it had healed from then on.
“Well,” said the specialist, “I can’t argue against what I’ve just seen. It must be a miracle alright, and all I can say is, ‘Take up your bed and walk!’ There’s nothing there to operate on!!”
Mark went on to say what a valuable time it had been for him and other members of his family for him to have been able to help during his mothers last days on earth. “If I’d been fit and well,” he said, “I would have been going about my usual jobs and fishing and would have missed all that time during my mother’s last days that could never have been made up for. All I can say is how good God is! His ways are perfect, pain and all!”
Tribute to Carole
We knew at the beginning of this year when everyone was wishing everyone a happy new year, that for some it would be the saddest year of their lives. And so it has proved to be. A beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother has succumbed to the dread disease of cancer, a vicious form of leukaemia. Not only those relationships, but that of sister-in-law, and more than that, a good friend and work mate as well. We worked together and played together through our farming days.
It couldn’t have been easy for Carole when she married Neville and came into the Frear family. A city girl, who barely knew one end of a cow from the other, but prepared to take on this guy from the country. She was only “five foot blinky-nothing” as her father-in-law described her, but over the years she proved she had what it took to fit into the family.
After their wedding day in May 1962, she became a farmer’s wife and learned to milk cows, and later on to muster cattle and then to sort them in the stockyards. The men could never learn the quickest way to sort the cattle in the pens, but Carole knew.
They had a runabout boat that gave them many happy days on the water, joining the other brothers and families in their boats, water ski-ing and just generally enjoying the boating scene. Later on, they bought a yacht, and ventured up and down the coast at times, taking others with them.
They would put in a full day’s work on the farm, milk the cows at night and then go off to the golf course over the road, and have a round of golf after everyone else had gone home. Carole beat everyone hands down at hitting the ball, she was just a natural hand at it!
There were the days out at the run-off farms mustering the cattle from those steep hills. Then the days on their next farm up in the hills, planting the big garden of different sorts of vegetables on the river flat there. To say nothing of working together at haymaking time…the women on the tractors, with Carole doing the tedder work, while the men picked up and loaded the hay into the barns.
Another thing that Carole excelled at was remodelling inside her houses. She did that at least three times, turning cramped living spaces into more roomy areas. The Christmas Days that all would gather together with the extended family joining in.
But that is only one side of the Carole that we knew. She had a deep faith in God which has stood her in good stead over the years, and seen her take these last few months with great peace of mind, knowing what was ahead for her. When she was a teenager, she had attended some girls’ camps and first heard there the Gospel story and made the decision which shaped her life from then on. She never wavered from this faith in God and helped run the local Girl’s camp for forty or so years, eventually taking the leadership over. This wasn’t the only Christian work that Carole was involved in, but she did Bible in Schools as well, teaching this for fifty years. In fact she was on her way to a class that fateful day when the doctor called her and said she would have to stop immediately due to what they had just seen in her blood tests.
Carole had many talents, one of which was icing cakes, to say nothing of baking them. No-one ever needed to feel embarrassed at arriving at Carole’s place at lunch time, because nothing ever put her out, and there was always plenty in the pantry. There didn’t seem to be anything that Carole couldn’t do and she was always involved in all the family’s doings, especially once the grandchildren started to arrive.
This, then, was the lady that we all knew and loved and she will be sorely missed.
Do Not Mourn !
I did not know the way I’d go, If short and fast, or pain so slow, I prayed the Lord would help me bear, Whate’er He planned for me while there; And now I’ve gone, I do not need, A fanfare of my word or deed; All I say is simply this, I’m with the LORD, in heav’ns bliss. So my loved ones, no need to mourn, Or feel bereft or all forlorn, There’ll be some things I’ve left behind, Things lying round, you will find, But I’ve had fun, enjoyed it all; And now I’ve heard my Lord’s sweet call. I’m more alive than e’er before, Enjoying life NOW, more and more !
What Happened to Her?
There was a newcomer in the town basin among all the other sailing boats. She was sleek, shiny and polished and everyone wondered who she was and where she had come from. She was beautiful, a real lady if ever there was one!
There was a notice pinned to the bollard she was tied up to giving her name, port of origin and owner’s name. She had come from overseas across the Pacific Ocean and found a haven in our Town Basin. There was no doubt that she was very well cared for.
There were articles about her and her owners in the local papers and as time went by she became a fixture, and part of the landscape. We always looked for her as we went by. Nearly nine months went by, and it was announced that she would leave for warmer waters before our winter months. A new motor was installed, and the engineer who did the work shook his head as he looked at the engine bed. “I can’t in all good conscience sign this job off” he said, “I don’t like the look of the bottom of this boat”.
The captain took no notice of these forebodings, and announced he was leaving shortly regardless. He went further north to another popular harbour, and slipped out into blue waters disappearing over the horizon with people barely realising he was gone. However, he did keep in touch by radio for the first few days.
He had left New Zealand waters by this time and a tropical cyclone was forming in the seas to his north. He made one last call giving his position before the storm hit. Then there was nothing more. Silence. The yacht was never heard from again. People searched by plane and boat for some weeks without finding anything.
We think this is a tragedy, and so it is. Yet there are millions of people getting ready for the greatest journey of their lives just polishing the surface of their ship without going any deeper to make sure that the ship is seaworthy at the bottom of the hull. We must ask ourselves if the hull of our life is seaworthy enough to get us there. And if we do get there, has the Harbour Master of our destination received our advance papers of entry? Will He recognize the name of our ship as we pass the harbour entrance? How sad to arrive only to be told, “I don’t know you, your certificate of entry has not arrived ahead of you!”
Jesus himself said this…. Not every one that says unto me, “Lord, Lord”, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works?”
And then will I profess unto them, “I never knew you: depart from me, you who work iniquity”. (Matthew 7:21-23)
What does the certificate of our arrival say? And this is the record, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; and he who has not the Son of God has not life. (1 John 5:11-12)
How do we get this certificate? We just have to apply for it, ask for it, as simple as that! And what’s more it is freely given when asked for sincerely and wholeheartedly.