Entrances and Exits

I have been reading about Ezekiel’s vision of the future temple. I love the Old Testament because it tells us so much about God and his ways.  I believe that we should always be looking at both the Old & New Testaments of the Bible in order to have a proper understanding of God.  The Old Testament contains hundreds of prophecies that pertain to the New Testament, many of which have already been fulfilled.

In Hebrews 4:12 the writer says that the word of God is "a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart'.  God can speak to us in different ways through his word at various times.  So what caught my eye in Ezekiel 44:5 that could possibly have meaning for us today? This is how it spoke to me.

In his vision God spoke to Ezekiel about how things are to work in the temple.  Some of the temple staff had sinned against God in times past by worshipping idols while still offering sacrifices in the temple. They had also broken God's laws in other ways. These words at the end of Ezekiel 44:5 struck me......"Give attention to the entrance to the temple and all the exits of the sanctuary."

What does the temple have to do with a believer today?  In the New Testament Paul says, "...do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?" 1 Corinthians 6:19. In this passage Paul is telling the believers to be careful what they allow into their body, specifically regarding sexual purity.  However there are other ways to 'pollute' our temple.  That is why we have to guard the gate in.....that could also be the 'eye gate' or the 'ear gate'.  We have to be careful about what we watch and what we listen to.

Then there is guarding the exit which is the 'mouth' gate. In Colossians 3 Paul writes to the believers....."But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.  Do not lie to one another......".  He expands on the reason for this in Ephesians 4...."Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers."

Let us be mindful of guarding 'the gates' of our bodies that we may live to please God.

PRAYER:  Heavenly Father, thank you for reminding me that I should live my life in such a way as to bless others and glorify you.  Please help me to do this. Amen

Believe it......or Not!

 

Today I'm concerned about a topic that is becoming increasingly important for all of us to consider. With the development of artificial intelligence we cannot always believe what we see or hear.  I'm reminded of the words of dear Thomas the disciple of Jesus. When the other disciples told him that that had seen Jesus' after his crucifixion said ......."Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe." John 20:25.  

These words have caused this poor man to be called 'doubting Thomas' from that time forth. He was being very honest, and God was kind to him; for Jesus did appear again when Thomas was present and offered evidence to him that Thomas too might believe.

Today I feel to offer a warning about what our eyes may be seeing in the future, hence my title "Believe it ...or Not".  In both of his letters to Timothy Paul warns him about deception. He says that in the future  many will turn away from the truth of God's word and be taken in by doctrines of demons. 1 Timothy 4:1. In 2 Timothy 3:13 he adds that people will deceive many because they themselves are deceived.

If you keep up with the news you will have noticed, more recently, the warnings about AI-generated images of people that look real but are definitely not.  This is a timely warning that we cannot now believe everything we see and hear. That not only applies to the secular but also to the Christian world.  

I think most of us know that there are many religious groups that are deceived into believing lies about how Christians should live.  Not only are they deceived, but they 'deceive many' others into cultish faiths. These may sound good but are to be avoided because they bring us into legalistic bondage. 

I was recently watching a Christian YouTube channel warning about the dangers of AI.  This person had himself created very realistic AI clips of 3 different men preaching deceptive teaching. For one who knows the Bible, the words spoken were clearly "off the mark" BUT to some people they would be very attractive. Why?  Because they are being told what they want to hear!

Again in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 Paul writes that there would come a time when people would have "itching ears".  They would not want to hear 'sound doctrine' and so they would be carried away with fables (false teaching).  There would be plenty of people saying what sounded good to them.

God's word is Truth and if we don't want to be 'fed with fables' and deceived into believing lies, we had better be giving time to reading and understanding our Bibles. We should also be seeking understanding from trusted spiritual leaders, and asking God for wisdom to discern between good and evil.  King Solomon, was renowned for his wisdom. He was commended by God because as he became King he didn't ask God for riches , but for wisdom to lead God's people, 1 Kings 3:9. Check it out and pray your own prayer daily for God to give you the wisdom, so that you may know what to believe, what is true and what is not.  This will become increasingly important as time goes by.

PRAYER: Father God, please give me a desire to read and understand your Word so that I might have wisdom to discern good from evil, truth from lies. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen

Rest & Refreshment

 

Autumn has definitely arrived, and it is beautiful! The trees are showing off their wonderful  colours, the evenings are longer, and there is just a slight chill in the air morning and evening but the days are warm. We are definitely having a very lovely March, always my sister's favourite month, and now mine too.  I enjoy New Zealand's definite change of seasons after living many years in tropical countries. Autumn heralds that winter's coming and winter is a time of rest for much of nature in which  God has created a wonderful rhythm.

This week I was listening to one of my favourite preachers, Canon J John, speaking about rest and how God gave us an example of rest to follow when he created our world for 6 days, and then he rested.  J John's challenge was for us to recognise our need for regular rest and refreshment.

In the Old Testament law God's people were told to keep the sabbath holy by resting from their work (Exodus 20:8-11).  They were reminded of this in Exodus 35:2. It was a punishable offence to work on the sabbath.  They were even told to 'rest' the land in the seventh year.  It was to be a rhythm which God told them how manage (Exodus 1-7).

Today many people have forgotten how to rest, to their own detriment. The 5 day week of trading has turned into 6 or 7.  This is a particular challenge for Christians. If they have to work 6 days a week, there is little time for chores at home, and no time for sport except on Sundays. But rest we must.  

As well as rest, we need refreshment in the form of something that nourishes our soul and spirit.  Joining with other Christians and listening to the reading and preaching of God's word will give us the balance that we need.  The writer to the Hebrews said this "And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near."

The times are becoming more uncertain, temptations and pressures abound.  God's wisdom is not for his benefit, but for ours and we neglect it at our own peril.  Either we give our body and mind what it needs or we will suffer, and that suffering can take many forms.  Extreme stress, sickness, mental or emotional breakdown.  Our Creator made us to require rest.....do take it!

PRAYER: Oh God, help me to be wise in my life activities so that I can be kind to my body and my mind.  Amen 

Coming, Ready or Not!

 

                                            Photo by Barry Doig

Do you remember playing hide and seek in your childhood, or with your kids?  It was such fun, I don't know if it's still played but I suspect it is.  We would cover our eyes and count down from 30, 20 or 10, giving time for the others to find a hidey hole, then the hunt was on as we sang out "coming ready or not!"

I remembered that game this week as we got news of the death of our neighbour.  She had been in hospital, had surgery and was recovering well, until suddenly she suffered complications and within a few days she was gone.  She had been a lovely neighbour and we will miss her bright smile.  I am comforted by the lovely memory I have of serving communion to her at our village church service last month.  I like to think she was ready.

This morning on my way back from my cycling in the gym (it feels safer than being out on the road!), I called in to see one of my favourite ladies in the serviced apartments in our village.  She is in her 90's and lost her dear husband suddenly some time ago.  We always have a good laugh together and she always tells me she is very ready to join him in heaven.  

One thing we all know is that death knocks at our door whenever it is 'our time', and, whether we are ready or not.  I was certainly not ready to lose my father suddenly when I was 18.  Perhaps I would never have been ready.  But we all know that there are 2 things  in this world that are certain, death and taxes!

The Psalmist wrote, "You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed."  Psalm 139:16  (Read the whole psalm to see how God watches over us, his creation.)

You see, we cannot hide from God. He is there whether we believe in him or not.  He was there before the creation of the world, he was there before our birth. He was watching over us being formed in our mother's womb, he was there as we were being born. He is watching us  live our lives, wether we are living to please God or to please ourselves.  Then, when our days are over we will come face to face with him whether we are ready or not.

The Bible says, "And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment" Hebrews 9:27.  The judgment will not be based on whether we have been good enough because not one of us can ever be good enough for God.  Really?!!  Yes!  That is why Jesus Christ had to bear our sins on the cross and give his life a ransom for us. He said so himself.  (Mark 10:45. ) You and I will be judged upon whether we lived our lives, by faith, to please Jesus Christ, or wether we lived to please ourselves.  

My choice to believe, or not, determines whether I am ready or not.  I hope you have or will choose faith in Jesus Christ,  because he is the Lord and giver of life, our hope, our peace, and our joy.  He is most certainly my peace in these very uncertain times in which we live, because he has told us how it all ends.

 PRAYER: Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for your gift of life, and the assurance that it is only by faith in you that we can inherit eternal life.  Amen

Thinking about Grace

Grace is not a word that comes often into regular conversation.  We might think of grace as elegance, poise or charm, a graceful person, a ballerina.  It could also be used of politeness or good manners, or maybe a student being allowed a couple of days grace to finish an assignment.

For Christians, however, it is a common and important word to us because first of all it describes the God we worship...... He is the God of all grace.  The word 'grace' appears around 140 times in my Bible.  Why am I thinking about it today?  Well it came up in my reading of Acts 15 when Paul of was speaking to the Council of Apostles in Jerusalem about how God had been working in the lives of gentiles on their first missionary journey.  The Law, and grace, had become an issue that needed to be resolved.

Gentiles had never followed the Jewish laws, unless they had converted to the Jewish faith.  But now that the Holy Spirit was moving among the gentiles and bringing them to faith in Jesus Christ, some of the legalistic Jews were trying to make the gentile Christians follow Jewish Law, especially they were insisting that they must be circumcised. This contentious issue needed to be sorted out and so it was.  God's grace was applied to the situation, because it is only by grace that we are saved (to eternal life). No good works that we do can earn salvation. (Ephesians 2:8-9)  It is only by faith in Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul had been a very legalistic Jew, obeying all the laws, knowing all the scriptures and chasing down the new Christians to 'bring them to justice and punishment.'  There was no grace in his life at all until Jesus appeared to him in a great light on his 'get the Christians mission'.  Jesus spoke to him, graciously corrected him, and changed him into one who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as his Messiah.  

Paul wrote much of the New Testament of the Bible, and he wrote much about grace because he had experienced God's grace touching him personally.  In 1 Corinthians 15:10 he wrote, "By the grace of God, I am what I am." He did not boast in the great knowledge and heritage he had, or by all the law keeping he had done, he called that foolishness. 

Evangelist J John says, there are 2 reasons why people don't want to be a Christian.  The first reason is that they haven't met one, the second reason is that they HAVE met one!  We laugh nervously and agree. But there is another reason that people may not want to become a Christian and that is that they think Christianity is a whole list of 'thou shalt nots.....'. That is so not true!

God wants us to live joy-filled lives so he tells us how to do that.  He wants our lives show his love, his mercy and his grace to those we meet. He doesn't promise a trouble-free life, but he does promise strength and grace, and peace for each trial. He is waiting to pour out his great Fatherly love into empty hearts and lives.

We can only come to God through His grace and mercy reaching down to us, we can only walk with God day by day by His grace.  We can do nothing to earn God's favour.  We can only please him by bowing our knee and acknowledging that it is His grace working in us that we can live for His glory.

BLESSING: May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.  Amen 

It's a Whole New Year!

 

                                                                                                
                                                       NZ Christmas Tree - Pohutukawa

Today is not only a whole new day, but it's a whole new year!  Are you filled with anticipation for what you have planned this year? Are you filled with anxiety, wondering what it will hold for you, your family, or for others close to you? Perhaps you filled with awe at what you have survived this year.  You probably know people in all three of these categories.  I do!

I just took a moment to check out what I wrote around this time last year and it still stands true.  I could write it all again but you can just go read it here! http://daydrops4you.blogspot.com/2023/ 

This past year we have proved again, that by God's grace we can be comforted in great losses, mourn with those who mourn, rejoice with others in their successes, new life directions and opportunities, and to sit with those who wait to meet their Maker. God surely is our very help in every situation.

Life is filled with opportunities to draw on God's strength in challenges, to experience his comfort in losses, to rest in his love when we feel a bit lost, and to hope in his Word when we don't understand what is happening in our life or in our world. Knowing that I can bring all my uncertainties to his feet and leave them there brings me such peace.  I don't have to stress, but just trust that God will fulfil his purposes for me and those I love. I leave you with these words from Psalm 134:6-8.....

Though the LORD is great, he cares for the humble,

but he keeps his distance from the proud.

Though I am surrounded by troubles,

you will protect me from the anger of my enemies.

You reach out your hand,

and the power of your right hand saves me.

The LORD will work out his plans for my life—

for your faithful love, O LORD, endures forever.

Don’t abandon me, for you made me.

May God bless you with peace as you believe and trust in him in 2025.

PRAYER: Lord your word is true, you are faithful, you will work out your purposes for those who love you and walk through life in step with you.  Keep us faithful to you this year. Amen

Memories of Friendship

Dear Roy & Barbara,

It is 5:15 am on 6th December as I write.  In the last few years I have taken advantage of ‘retirement’ and taken to sleeping late….mainly because I go to bed late then listen to Christian podcasts.  So around 8 - 9 am is my rising time and I now have my time with God mid morning.

Today is different because at 4:50 am (yes I checked the time), one of our local blackbirds, who comes to bathe in our bird bath daily, and joins the sparrows and green finches in a morning breakfast ritual on our lawn (thanks to Col), decided it’s time to sing it’s pretty song.  At first I was irritated and then I thought, "no, I am thankful for the blessing of being able to hear that bird."  So began my early morning prayers and after 30 mins I decided to get up and have my quiet time so I brewed my coffee.

As I poured the amber liquid into my mug, my thoughts rolled back to many happy stays in your home.  The blackbirds didn’t wake me there, but the wonderful smell of your coffee brewing used to fill the air when I rose to have my time with God.  Often you had beaten me to the coffee and were already reading your Bible and writing in your journal in the lounge where I would join you in quiet fellowship.  

What wonderful memories I have of my times with you in Vero Beach, Florida…..Roy’s Cuban coffee, lunch in one of Roy’s ‘holes in the wall’ as you called them, fabulous mall shopping, floating in your pool, visiting Busch Gardens in Tampa Bay, eating at beach restaurants, visiting Roy’s sister, 'Miss Emily' and so on. 

Then there were Women’s Refuge events, planning, teaching times, fundraising lunch (or was it breakfast?),  counselling sessions, training sessions, meeting God’s wounded women who were finding healing and wholeness through your wisdom and counsel. 

There were long Sunday drives to Dunklin Memorial Rehab Camp to have Bible Study before church with Pastor Micky, then church with the men, often preceded by breakfast in the cornfields on the way, then ‘all you can eat’ chicken lunch somewhere else. If I look back through my journals I know I would find so much more of rich times we have spent together. Sometimes just me after a conference in the USA, and sometimes with Col as well.

Tomorrow (our time) will be Mr Roy’s' 90 something birthday' and I want to wish him a wonderfully happy birthday and to thank you both for the wonderful gift of your friendship and mentoring for over 40 years. Since our first meeting in Papua New Guinea in the early ‘80s we have shared so many happy times together not only in the USA but also in various places in Australia, perhaps in Hong Kong too.  How blessed we have been in the times we’ve shared.  

Now, sometime in the not too distant future, we can look forward to sharing eternity together because of our faith in Jesus Christ, our Saviour,  whose birth we will celebrate in less than 3 weeks time.  How blessed we are to have such hope! 

God bless you our dear ‘forever friends’,

Much love,

Jackie xx