Ups and downs

What's in a holiday? Just returned home from seven days off. Six of which have been spent driving and camping with my family. We had good times and bad over the course of the time,  kodak moments and moments which should never be perserved on film.

We caught up with family during the trip but spent most time visiting with new friends and just on our own as a family. 

This is as important as anything else to do on holiday, we need time together doing stuff like walking up mountains and scooting down beach pathways to reconnect in places other than home. I believe that family holidays are one of the best things that I treasure from my childhood. There is just something about the pleasure of experiencing new and sometimes adventurous times together in contexts outside the everyday grind that bind us together with bonds which can not be broken. I now appreciate the cost that my parents payed to provide these quality times for our family! Which is not insignificant.

There have been the usual negatives of vomiting, navigational marital stress, and pest animals, rain and kids that won't stop nagging, winning ( fill in you own annoying utterance type here) but we soldiered on through these and other obsticules to break though to the other side of holiday joy.

Peace or unbelief.

I've had a rough social media week. 

I made a few comments on a family members status and started a firestorm of hatered, a landslide of bitterness.

I doesn't really help that it needed to be said.

That branch of the family have now just added us to the axis of evil, who in their minds are worthy of utter contempt, and deserve not to draw the breath of life.

The are so entrenched in their hurt that the slightest brushing will open the old wounds that refuse to be healed.

Oh lord would you heal them and let love win this battle, overwhelm them with your loving kindness and sofen their hardened hearts I pray.

Doing hard things alone

I always like to have a helper. A companion an off sider. But this is not always an option. We do all need time alone. And when I say alone I mean with God. Alone with God. When we look at heroism, most often it is the actions of a single person that recieve the attentions and honor of men.

At the end of the day Jesus is the only dependable one. He is the Rock.

We let ourselves down so often we can not even rely on ourselves . Let alone other people.   

Jesus faced his cross alone none stood by Him, not even one. Then his own beloved Father turned His back on him. Absolutely alone, abandoned. Forsaken and given up to die.

All for me and you. Let us be willing to lose friends for this man ! And lose parents, siblings for him.

 Let us love not our own lives for him. 

I offer my life for Him, just to be near Him. To walk in His mighty shadow which is no shadow at all for He is the light of the world! 

In him will I abide now and evermore!

Blogging or meditating

For some including myself we think about things while talking them out. If we are not free to talk then we may never have a full understanding. This not a objective truth it's just where I am in my development as a human being. Generally speaking where there is much speaking the value of the words is likely to be low! 

Slow to speak and quick to listen the scriptures say. I would like to be a better listener. 

But talking or writing have always been good outlets for me although I'm not sure how well recieved my words are! 

That they are recieved is important though, for instance I have never successfully kept a journal or sermon notes for private meditation I seem to be most adept at public speaking ( at least one on one) and especially writing letters and this blog is still going now for six years. Granted there have been times of low output but it hasn't died and when feeling fit mentally I seem very seldom stuck for something to write about. I think through out my meditative driving job during the work day of things to blog about but mostly forget them I think. 

Still my inspiration doesn't seem to dry up. I believe that is because I am not the source of it. Some of the stuff I have written has come from a purer heart than the one that beats in my breast. 

Bless God for the Infilling of His Holy Spirit!

True Prosperity

All that glitters is not Gold.  I could turn this around and say All that is gold does not glitter!

Matthew 6:19-21 says...

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Prosperity is mostly thought of in terms of income or wealth handed down to us. In other words material gain and getting. Humans seek the power of wealth, so they can do what they want to do.

I think true prosperity is found in giving. If we are givers then we are called generous but if we hold what we have been given another name for that is greedy.

Obviously we would want to thought of as generous rather that greedy. But most people probably believe themselves to be generous. Most people want to give its just a matter of WHEN. I say if we are truly generous then we must give today/now. We must look at what we have and divide off something to give (no matter how small and insignificant, something is better than nothing). Obviously the bigger the proportion of the given amount the more generous we are.

 Jesus praised the poor widow for giving all of her two mites and condemned the pharisee, although he gave large gifts!   

The scriptures say God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, He is not short of a quid, and how much of His wealth did God give into the control of humanity? All.

Nobody can out give God a wise woman once told me.

Don't wait to begin giving. We often try to delay Gods call to generosity by arguing that we can start to be giving when we have saved for ....... or when we've payed off........... and so on. Lets not delay the blessings of prosperity for another day/week/ year....... give now and prosper! 

Who to follow.

Should it be the one who was pushed out of heaven . And who fell, the fallen angel. He came here unwillingly believeing his place to be. 'I will ascend above the stars of God, I will be like the most High.'

Or should we follow The Lord of heaven who came down willingly because he wanted to humble himself and to be humbled still further as a tiny baby who's lot was first assigned to a stable. And then in obedience unto death even death on the cross. Enduring public shame and ridicule with out giving any answer except;

Father forgive them for they know not what they do.

It's an easy choice for me!

Parental pride

My children are a blessing they teach me so much. They have enjoyed their time at school this year and the school has given them honors and good reports so I would have reason to be 'proud' of them.

But I am not proud of them. I support them and love them. If I want to pride myself on my children's character or achievements. I would boast in the Lord because they themselves are not worthy and neither am I. But Jesus is worthy of ALL the Honor, ALL the Glory, ALL the praise, ALL the power and ALL that is within me, for I am nothing, I have given myself away. 

He alone has triumphed over sin and death. I and my wife and children have done nothing that needs to be praised by men except that the spirit has worked it in us! If then it was not my work but the work of the spirit in me/my children how can we take credit? How can we personally receive the honor?

Friends we can't and shouldn't lest we treat as worthless the Grace of God.

Dry hands

My hands are getting so dry. The wx is hot with breezes, hot breezes so it's little wonder. They feel awful to type with, moisturizing is so unmanly though. I've decided I need work gloves. But I always thought they were for sissies. Well I guess I'm a sissy now!

 My spirit is not dry. like a watered garden is my soul within me, because of Jesus.

Obsessed with Jesus

I have a need. I need this need not daily, not even hourly, but continuously every single moment of my life.

I need Jesus. I want Him. After I have wanted Him I want Him more, and more, and more.....
I will never have enough of needing Him. I WILL ALLWAYS SEAK HIM.

The good news is that He has found me. I was lost. He found me. I have tasted and found that the Lord is Good. Like the Sweetest Honey that never overpowers my taste buds, Like the most beautiful song that my ears never tire of hearing. Like fragrant smells of lush flower gardens and orchards after rain.

NOTHING ELSE WILL EVER SATISFY ME.

Strong Protector

If you are the head of your household, You may be the Father or Husband, you may even be a single mother/woman for what ever reason. Children and wives obviously need protection but do you ever wonder who will protect the protector? I do.
When I was little on stormy nights when large things where being tossed around by the wind like they weighed nothing, I was GLAD I had a Father. I felt safe knowing Dad was there to deal with any calamity that might arise. Or on quiet nights when there would be a loud unidentifiable noise I needed a father to comfort me, my Dads presence was the only security I had against these fears, I didn't really trust God than as I do now. I needed a physical presence, someone I could see and touch who I knew was strong.

I now know that my Dad wasn't  all that strong. In fact He was weak and had many fears of His own that I didn't know about or understand. I realize that the man I had put all my trust in wasn't actually capable of protecting me from all my fears. My trust was misplaced.

As a Dad/Husband I know that now I am the security for my family. My kids look at me as that strong man that can lift them high and bring them into line when they misbehave. But I know that I am weak. I still need someone stronger to protect me! And who would that person be? My Father has died. I believe that God sends angels to protect us, but even they are not enough for me because I know I have a very powerful enemy.

My confidence is only satisfied through Jesus in God alone. I can only rest from all my fears in His Almighty strength. In Him I have no fear and I rest in peace because I know He never sleeps!
Let us all young and old, male and female, trust in Him who has never been shaken and never been moved.

I know of a missionary grandmother who on more than one occasion has had her sleeping place invaded by armed and violent men, she has not retreated from her calling because she worships the God who said this.

Psalm 127

21st Century King James Version (KJ21)

127 Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Psalm 91

21st Century King James Version (KJ21)

91 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him will I trust.”

3 Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence.

4 He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust; His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

5 Thou shalt not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flieth by day,

6 nor of the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor of the destruction that layeth waste at noonday.

7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee.

8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

9 Because thou hast made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation,

10 there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

11 For He shall give His angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways.

12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample underfoot.

14 “Because he hath set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he hath known My name.

15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him, and show him My salvation.”

Good Soil

From little things, Big things grow....

We have reached a stage of wanting to grow things again (despite living in a rented house with very little in the way of garden). A man can only walk across a prickle infested lawn so many times before he is compelled by the pain in His feet to do something about it! Weeds flourish when good people do nothing. And the best way to combat weeds is to encourage the healthy growth of the desired plants.

Isaiah 58:11 
The Lord will guide you always;
    he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
    and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
    like a spring whose waters never fail.

We have been watering flat out with the hose to keep the sun from scorching struggling grass but the weeds don't struggle at all weeds are strong plants and not fussy they will grow anywhere most of them, good plants are fragile and need a lot of care and attention in order to produce a verdant verge or a vibrant vege patch.

It all starts with good soil. Good soil doesn't just appear it is built over years by lots of dead orgainic material merging into it and natural fertilizer from animals be it manure or their rotten carcasses(blood and bone) all this rotten stuff is broken down by microbes and rendered from something offensive and unattractive into something that becomes a life giving medium for an new generation of living thing by producing plants which are then eaten by animals and so on up the food chain. Dead things once above ground eventually circum to death and decay falling to the ground they are absorbed and converted into the various minerals and raw materials need by plants to build their growing forms. Soil that is no good has no life in it.

Something good has to die before there can be life in the soil.

Christians need to offer up their lives as Christ has done, in order for good spiritual soil to be prepared. And this as well as sowing the word of God and watering it will produce a fruitful harvest.

Rev12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.