Text: ‘For I know the thoughts that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope’ – Jeremiah 29:11 Thought: I am sure that everyone has a longing for 2014 to be a good year. Is it simply a case of Que Sera Sera – whatever will be, will be? Or can we help to ‘influence’ what will happen? I am a firm believer that we can help to bring about change for the better, but it involves considering three things. The Past – what’s happened Who do we need to thank? What do we need to forgive and to forget? All too often events of long ago still live with us as if it happened yesterday, adversely affecting life and health. Jacob’s son, Joseph, after he had suffered being betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused of rape and thrown into prison, suddenly found himself Prime Minister of Egypt. With God’s help he had interpreted Pharoah’s dream and become the saviour of the country. Now everything was going well. He got married and named his first son, Manesseh – ‘For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father’s house...
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Text: For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life – John 3:16 Thought: Christmas, the time when billions are spent worldwide, celebrating the festive season often to excess and purchasing countless items for family and friends to open on that special day. Clever, in your face advertising, assures us that it will be the perfect present, but how many end up as unwanted gifts? Never unopened, but not all received with the same enthusiasm perhaps as they were given. After all, my eighteen month old grand-daughter much prefers the wrapping paper to what’s inside! Paul writing to the Corinthian Church said, ‘When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things’ – 1 Corinthians 13:11. This verse reminds me of my 13th birthday. I had it in my head that I was now growing up fast and didn’t need toys anymore. I wanted something that would reflect the fact that I was now a teenager, ready to take on the world. I looked forward eagerly to Dad and Mum’s present. My...
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Text: ‘They made me the keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept’ – Song of Solomon 1:6 Thought: ‘You’ve been blessed with bad teeth!’ was mum’s prognosis concerning my many trips to the dentist. What a blessing! The truth was, I loved sugar and sweets and I didn’t bother to clean my teeth properly. However, when the appointment came through for my next visit to the dentist, then I started brushing like crazy, morning and evening. With only 3 weeks’ notice, it was too late to make any real difference. Injections, drilling and filling was the norm. The same can be true spiritually. We fail to maintain a lifestyle of purity and holiness, letting standards drop, when suddenly a crisis looms large. Then we start praying! Sometimes God graciously answers and we get a deliverance. Other times we end up defeated solely because it caught us unprepared. Likewise, when opportunities to minister, pray for someone in need or to share our testimony arise, we can frantically start trying to ‘repair’ our relationship with God, so that we might be in the right frame of mind to reach out to others with the gospel. Unfortunately, this kind of Christianity normally has left it too late...
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Text: ‘Among whom you shine as lights in the world’ – Philippians 2:15 Thought: In October we went to Bowood Golf & Spa Hotel in Wiltshire, a birthday treat from my family. Parking the car we noticed a beautiful fungus (pictured above) close by on the grass. We had never seen one like that before and as far as we could see it was the only one like it in the whole car park. It felt like a ‘special treat’ from the Lord. So we unpacked and I went off to play golf. Returning to the car afterwards I noticed the wonderful bell-shape had shrunk to half its size. Early the next morning the bell-shape had totally disappeared and was the size of a 50p piece and just as thin. If we had not seen it in all its glory, we would never have believed that the end picture was so different from its beginning. Fungi have this amazing God-created ability to grow up rapidly, often in a day or so, and then to fade away just as quickly. How long have you got left in your job or in school? In a career, sport or your home? The temptation is for Christians to think they can do better...
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