Monday 27 September 2010

Praise God for the traffic lights!

I had set out in plenty of time to get to church tonight but there seemed to be a lot of obstructions on the journey; cars pulling out in front of me, people crossing the road, traffic lights changing to red as I neared them; and I felt sure I was going to be late. As I drove I was suddenly reminded of the Christian walk.
I may have set out along that narrow path in plenty of time, heading in the right direction and happily moving forward hoping to make my destination in plenty of time.
Suddenly an obstruction - no, not a car pulling out in front of me but a sudden block on my prayer life.
I've been so busy recently that I've not spent the time in prayer that I should have done. Oh I've said hello to the Lord as I've made the short journey to work but have I really spent time with him, getting to know not just what he wants me to do for him but giving to him some of my anxieties and the little niggles of the day. I know he's just waiting for me to spend some extra time with him but all too soon I'm tired and it's time for bed, I read a few verses of scripture then fall asleep.
Has this ever happened to you?
Phil 4:6 says Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Prayer is our lifeline and we need to come daily before the throne of grace not letting anything obstruct our way.

I really could do with spending some extra time in the word this week, I'm speaking in church on Sunday and could do with the time to prepare but people and places seem to be obstructing me and so far I've had something to do everyday and so haven't spent time reading scripture, hearing what the Lord is saying to me.
Has this ever happended to you?
2 Tim 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness ..
I need to be spending more time reading God's word in order for him to instruct me.

My prayer time has suffered this week, spending time in the word has suffered this week, that narrow path is suddenly becoming a little bit wider and the traffic lights are now on red obstructing me, telling me to stop. To stop trying to fit more into my week than I can possibly do.
Has this happened to you?
But I say Praise God for the traffic lights. Instead of finding that my week is full of obstructions, as I stop and begin to think about all that is obstructing me I'm reminded that I need to seek the Lord. I need to tell him I'm sorry for trying to cram so much into my week that I am leaving him out of it.
The lights are on now on amber and I am getting ready to walk a closer week with Jesus.
The lights turn to green and I'm off again, but this time keeping to that narrow path. Any obstructions that come my way I will hand over to my Lord. Instead of rushing ahead of him into the week and not giving enough time for him in prayer and studying the word I will say as the psalmist said Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path (Psalm 119:105).

If this has happened to you then I would say, Praise God for the traffic lights. Stop and just simply spend time in the presence of Jesus.
Psalm 16:11 says Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Tuesday 21 September 2010

Step over to the KJV

They've some good reading so step on over to the KJV blog, give it a try. http://kjvblogs.blogspot.com/
You can also find me over there on Thursday 23rd. I'd be happy if you dropped by and maybe left a comment, it would be nice to know who's reading. Have a blessed week.

Monday 20 September 2010

You're Not Alone

You may have read this if you get to visit the KJV blog but for those of you who don't I pray you will be encouraged.

1 Kings 19:9-12 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? And he said I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left: and they seek my life to take it away.
And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake; And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice....
After reading this verse it got me thinking about Elijah and how he appeared to be on his own. In these last days, contending for the faith will most probably get tougher and we may even find ourselves in situations where even fellowship becomes difficult, but our God never changes and in Heb 13:6 says "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee".
Elijah had had a difficult time. He'd had to flee to Mount Horeb, going through the wilderness, to escape Jezebel who was out for revenge and wanted to kill him. Elijah had killed the false prophets and Jezebel was not a happy woman. King Ahad had married Jezebel and went to serve Baal, but God had raised up Elijah at this time and he was sent to warn Ahab of God's judgement. Ahab, however, took no notice and continued the idol worship, disobeying God and bringing evil on his nation. Elijah was told to tell Ahab that there would be no rain for several years and sure enough, because it was God's word, drought came.
Throughout this time of dryness God was still faithful and worked miracles. He told Elijah to hide by the brook Cherith and that he would get water from the brook and ravens would being him food.
When the brook dried up Elijah was sent to Zaraphath where he met a widow. She was gathering sticks and was about to prepare her last meal when Elijah asked for a drink of water and a morsel of bread. It must have been a difficult thing for the widow to do - how would I react if I only had enough food for one more meal - would I have made excuses or just said I didn't have enough to share, I wonder! - but the widow was willing to share her food with Elijah and what a miracle - she was assured that the handful of meal and oil that she had would last until the rain came.
Many times over the years, the Lord has met my need from supplying food and money to pay bills, to opening a cupboard door and reading this account reminded me of just how the Lord continues to provide and meet our every need no matter what it is we are going through.
Paul says in Phil 4:19 "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus and even Heb 4:16 tells us we can come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Our heavenly father knows, even before we ask what things we have need of (Matt 6:8), whether it be food, clothing or maybe just a word of comfort - the Lord knows and will meet the need.
Sometimes it can takes a miracle before a person can see the truth. It may be that Elijah's fame had gone before him and the widow had heard that Ahab thought he'd only brought news of doom and gloom, perhaps she thought Elijah had come to remind her of her sin and to punish her. Even though the small handful of meal continued to feed them, perhaps there was a small doubt in her mind about Elijah - she'd heard the other prophets speak and they never got it right so what made Elijah different?
The widow's son became ill (this was why she thought Elijah had come to punish her). Elijah took the child and stretched himself upon him and cried out to the Lord 3 times and the child revived. Another miracle - the woman knew by this that Elijah was a man of God and the word of the Lord that he spoke was truth.
It had taken a miracle for her to see the truth but this speaks to me of our continual need to call upon the Lord in prayer. Prayer is our lifeline. It may be that we pray for a loved one to be saved and answers don't come immediately, we may pray for guidance and nothing happens or that someone is healed and they don't appear to be. Does this mean we give up and don't bother to cry out to the Lord, or perhaps we even think - 'Oh it's not in God's will' - but or no answer is coming remember 1 Thess 5:17 which says to us "Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
God eventually sent Elijah back to King Ahab to tell him it would soon rain. The prophets, together with the people gathered at Mount Carmel. The people were challenged as to who they would follow, Baal or the true LORD. An alter was set up, a bull was placed upon it and the false prophets went to work calling on their gods to answer. Can you imagine the commotion - they shouted and danced all day - they cut themselves until their blood flowed but by the time of the evening sacrifice there was still no answer. All of their antics did them no good, the LORD had not spoken to them. Elijah told the people to come nearer - he repaired the alter that had been torn down, took 12 stones to represent Israel, piled on the wood, and cut the bull into pieces ready for sacrifice. Well, I think the people must have then thought Elijah had gone mad - he asked for 12 barrels full of water - not just 1 - 12 barrels, to be poured over the sacrifice and over the wood, and it even trickled over to fill the trench around about.
Everything was soaked, but Elijah had done all according to what God had told him, and then - he prayed.
What must it have been like ... fire came down from the Lord and consumed everything on the alter, even the water was dried up and, the people fell on their faces knowing this was the true God and they turned back to him.
How close we must stay to the Lord because how easy it can be to turn away from the him, but we have a faithful God, he gives us the opportunity to turn back to him and start afresh.

Elijah then told the people to seize the false prophets and kill them (Deut 18:10) Elijah's prayer was answered - the rain came. Ahab told Jezebel what had happened and she sought revenge by wanting Elijah killed, which was why he fled into the wilderness and on to Mount Horeb. Elijah must have stood in the entrance to the cave tired, discouraged and possibly feeling sorry for himself. He thought he was the only one left that was true to the Lord and during this moment when he was possibly at his lowest ebb, the word of the Lord came to him - a strong wind that broke even the rocks to pieces passed by but the Lord wasn't in that - he wasn't in the earthquake either nor the fire that came after but He was in the still small voice - the quiet after the storm. Elijah wasn't alone, God hadn't forsaken him.
He'd been fed, for the 40 days and 40 nights journey across the wilderness - refreshed and strenthened for that next leg of the journey and now he was being told that the Lord had others, besides him, who were true to the living God.
Never doubt that the Lord is not in control of every situation. If you're feeling you're the only one contending for the faith, if you feel discouraged, tired, read about Elijah's experience for yourself and take heart that you're not alone.
Let the Lord refresh and strengthen you for the next leg of your journey with him. The Lord doesn't just speak to us in a powerful way, or in church services that are hyped up, or in the signs and wonders that we see - but he often comes to us in the stillness, in the quietness of hearts that are humbled and broken before him.
In these last days we really need to be watching and listening and keeping our eyes fixed firmly upon Jesus Christ, our Saviour, the true and living God.
Take a step back from the noise of the TV, the children and family demands on you, the hustle and bustle of busy lives - find that quiet time and as you spend time in His word listen for the still small voice.
As you humble yourself before Him, listen quietly for His guidance as you meditate upon the word."He hath showed thee o man, what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy and walk humbly with thy God" (Micah 6:8)

Friday 27 August 2010

The Pearl of Great Price

Pearls - now I read in the Wilkipedia encyclopedia that the difference between wild and cultured pearls focuses on whether the pearl was created spontaneously by nature – without human intervention – or with human aid: and that the finest quality natural pearls have been highly valued as gemstones and objects of beauty for many centuries, and because of this, the word pearl has become a metaphor for something very rare, fine, admirable, and valuable.
Well praise God for those that were created without human intervention; and for those very rare and valuable ones too.

You see I think I have 3 of them. These 3 pearls were given to me by my son and daughter-in-law and I didn't receive them all at once; I got the first one 6 years ago, the second 3 years ago and the third just over 1 year ago and even though they came at different times and from different shells they are no less valuable, and are all very rare. I think over the years they will become fine and admirable too. These pearls really are precious to me.

When I look at each of these pearls they are so very different. The 6 year old pearl, despite the young age, looks harder than the other two but in actual fact is far softer. The 3 year old pearl has a fragile look to it but has depth and character and the 1 year old looks very fresh, new and vibrant and I am so blessed to have them all and I would never give them up. Have you guessed yet, that these 3 beautiful pearls are my grandchildren.

I thank God every day that he has given me 3 beautiful pearls and as I thank him I am reminded of the parable of the pearl of Great Price and I ask myself just how much am I willing to give up for the kingdom of God.

I didn't know anything about pearls when I became a Christian 26 years ago but over the years the value of the Pearl of Great price has been something that in my own life has needed looking at from time to time.



Matthew 13:45-46 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

The merchantman is seeking goodly pearls or beautiful pearls. He finds this one pearl of great price and doesn't even think about the cost, it is so valuable to him he sells all he has to buy it.

You know I read a Sunday School lesson that said the most valuable thing in this life is our relationship to God and how right it is. We may have many things in this life that we want to hang on to. Some things may be material possessions that have a special meaning to us, some things may be habits we have, or it may be activities we do but if any of these things come before our relationship with God then they need to be looked at to see just how valuable they are to us.

There are many things in my life that I must continually seek God about and ask what they mean to me. I remember when I was going through the breakup of my marriage there came a time when I had to sell the house we were living in and it had been on the market for so long I was beginning to wonder if it would sell at all but do you know at that point I realised that it didn't matter where I slept, it mattered most that I had what Christ had offered me and that if I lived in a tent He would still be with me and would never leave me nor forsake me.

Sometimes the Lord brings us to hard places, brings us to those times when we need to make certain decisions that show just how much we are willing to give up for the sake of the kingdom. What Christ has offered us is so great, so valuable, that there is nothing we have that is worth keeping if it means we can't be in the kingdom.

This merchantman valued the treasure of that pearl so much that he sold all to buy it. How many of us value the treasure of the kingdom of heaven so much that we are willing to give up everything to have it.

Now I know this may be difficult for some to understand but as hard as it is I do know that my 3 beautiful pearls mean so much to me that I would not give them up for anything this world has to offer but if for some reason I had to give them up for the sake of the kingdom then I pray I would be strong enough to do so because I know the Lord wants all of me and I should give up all to have that Pearl of Great Price.

Sunday 4 July 2010

Jesus Christ, The Way, The Truth and the Life


In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. These verses from John 14:1 hold two memories for me - one was some 20 odd ears ago when I went to a Saturday night meeting feeling far from the Lord because of events that had happened in my life and even though I knew I was saved I felt so down and not even sure that night whether I'd go to heaven or not.
At the meeting while in prayer I asked the Lord that very question "will I be in heaven Lord"? A man some rows behind started to sing in the spirit "In my father's house are many mansions, in my father's house are many rooms, if it were not so I would have told you, I will go away and come again"
What an answer! I have not heard that sung since nor had I heard it before that night but it reassured me that the Lord does listen to our prayers and it's not about what I do that gets me to heaven, it's about what my Saviour Jesus Christ did at calvary. His death secured a place for me and all I needed to was turn to him in repentance.
My second memory is when I read this passage at my dad's funeral: Mam had asked me to say something after Dad died and to be honest I could have written a book about my Dad but I went to another book, The Bible and after a lot of prayer vs 1-6 are what I believed the Lord wanted me to talk about. Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
I didn't really have to speak much as these verses said it all. I was honest and said I didn't really know where my dad was, but that I did know a God who did and that I had such a peace knowing He was in control, comforting and getting us all through this sad time. My heart says Dad is with the Lord because Jesus died for him too.

I can see much of God's goodness and mercy in these verses. Despite my sinful nature my Lord died for me and even prepares a mansion for me - no 2 up 2 down, no flat or maisonette, no bungalow, terrace, semi or detached house but a mansion. Endless and bountiful provision even at the last day.
To be with Lord is going to be far better than anything this life has to offer. Despite my failings, my fearfulness, my Lord is providing a home for me, eternal in the heavens, where I will dwell with him, free from all pain, stress, fear - what a wonderful Father who provides for his children.
Those who know our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, I am sure will say an Amen to that.
But if you do not know the bountiful provision of a loving heavenly Father, the sacrificial love that sent a beloved son into a darkened world, to be the light of that world and who died a cruel death, nailed to a cross at Calvary to pay the price for our sin then my prayer is that you would read the Holy scriptures to see who and what this man did. The Lord Jesus Christ opened up a way for us to be reconciled to God the Father, by dying in our place. He is the light of the world. His words "I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me" are as true today as they were 2000 years ago. He asks only that you repent of your sin and follow him. I would ask you to do that today.
JESUS CHRIST THE LIVING WORD IS THE ONLY HOPE FOR A DYING WORLD

Friday 28 May 2010

The Rainbow

Genesis 9:13-17
I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh
And the bow shall be in the cloud, and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
And God said unto Noah. This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.



The Rainbow is such a beautiful thing to behold and as a Christian is a constant reminder of the covenant God made with Noah and all his seed not to destroy the earth again with a flood.
I saw a rainbow some time ago on the way home and I hope I can explain clearly what the Lord seemed to show me at the time.

Normally when I see a rainbow I can make out that bow shape as it blends perfectly into the sky but this time the beautiful colours of the rainbow just seemed to go straight up into the clouds, which were very low, the colours went straight up and the cloud just covered the top part of the rainbow so I was unable to see anything else, it was blurred to my sight.
I always feel blessed to see a rainbow and this was no exception, but the Lord showed me it in a different way today.
As I looked at the rainbow I was reminded of my sin. If there is sin in my life then I miss the whole of God's blessing. My sin covers and blurrs the blessing that the Lord wants to bestow upon me and I can't see all of what He has in store for my life.
Today, looking into the sky I saw the rainbow as God's blessing and the cloud as my sin. In order for me to be able to receive the full extent of the blessings the Lord has in store for my life, I had to let the wind of the spirit blow the clouds away.
I am so thankful that my sin has been covered; covered by the precious blood of the Lamb. Covered because my Saviour was obedient to death on a cross. What a wonderful Saviour.
Sometimes it just takes something so simple and so beautiful for the Lord to show us something so deep and I praise and thank him for his covenant blessing - The Rainbow.

A Clay Centred Life

Jeremiah 18: The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD saying, arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words ... I used to think this passage of scripture was to do with making something beautiful out of nothing but a piece of dirt - until I went to pottery classes some years ago and tried the potters wheel.
I picked up a piece of clay and put it onto the wheel but as I started the wheel and tried to shape it, the clay went everywhere. Then the teacher came to help.
First of all she said I had to place the clay onto the wheel, not forcefully but enough to help it stick and so we lightly wet the wheel and placed the clay.
Next I had to centre the clay. Now believe it or not that was the hardest part, but while I was trying to centre the clay I got a real spiritual sense of that is what we had to do with the Christian life.

First and foremost we must centre our life on Christ. He must come before everything else - our family, friends, things we watch on TV. Everything we do must be for his glory. If what you're watching on TV doesn't glorify God if you're somewhere you think you can't take Jesus with you, well you shouldn't be there. I'll be honest with you, there are times when I'm asked out to someone's leaving party from work and they are going to the pub. I really don't want to go - why? because I can't take Jesus with me. Oh I know Jesus went into the homes of sinners and sat with those who were prostitutes, drinkers - but he always told it like it was. He told them of their need to repent, in other words he told them of their need of Christ and well, I'm not sure I could do that in a pub full of unbelievers, and not when they are not sober, so I'd rather not go;

When you try to centre clay it really is one of the hardest things to do. You need a great deal of persuasion to get that lump of clay to do what you want. You need gentle but firm pressure to move the clay and again I found that was me. Jesus needed to gently but firmly persuade me to be in the place where I could make him centre of my life. I'd sometimes say something that wasn't right (call someone names) and you know God's words would tell me 'do everything in love'. If you can't say anything nice about a person, then don't say anything at all. I'm still learning that today and the Lord is still gently but firmly persuading me to be in the centre of his will - to do what he wants me to and not what I want and 1 Peter 1:15 reminds me to be 'holy in all manner of conversation' ... So when I start to gossip about someone or start to say something I shouldn't then the Holy Spirit gives me a nudge and tells me not to do it.
Once the clay is centred you can start to shape it. Now, I've seen master potters at work and it looks so easy to take hold of the clay and to draw it up and shape it into a vase or a jug - but it isn't easy - once you start to bring the clay up it seems to take on a life of its own.
If you go too fast the clay comes apart in your hands ..
If you put too much water on it starts to flop all over the place and you end up with a soggy mess
And well, it's a bit like us really. If we try to go too fast as new Christians things can overtake us. We need to grow at the right speed, reading our bibles daily and praying continuously (1 Thess 5:17).
We start off the Christian life as babes, taking in spiritual milk 'as new born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby' (1Pet 2:1-3). But then we grow into taking the meat of the word. We grow gradually and this helps us not to fall.
When the clay flops or falls over the potter can pick it up, put it together and start all over again and if we fall we can pick ourselves up and allow Jesus to put us together again so he can continue to shape us.
If we allow Jesus to be the centre of our life, if we are obedient and walk in the centre of his will, he will continue to mould and shape us to be the person he wants us to be.
The portion of scripture in Jeremiah was a warning to the people of Judah that once the potter has made his pot there is a point that it dries hard and if it is broken the potter can't reshape it - it's past the stage of being moulded. Jeremiah was to break the vessel the potter had made to show that the Lord would break the people and the city.
Maybe we can think on this too - there may come a time when that will happen to those who heard God saying repent, turn away from your sin, what you know to be wrong and follow me. Those who hear this message and do nothing about it might just be like the pot that was broken, they remain unmouldable, unmoveable, they can't be put back together and reshaped - they refused to listen to the word and to do anything to change their life and to follow Jesus.
I'm reminded of how God chose David, a man after his own heart to be anointed King and God also wants us to be a people after his own heart and if you don't know the Lord as your Saviour, don't refuse to listen. Repent and turn to him now and let him mould and shape your life until you grow into the likeness of Christ.
And as Christians we need to make sure Christ IS the centre of our life and we will then be in the centre of his will.

Oh that men would know him

Ps 24 - The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof: the world, and they that dwell therein.
A passage of scripture I so easily forget. I know I am a child of God because of my salvation but this verse is telling me the whole world is the Lords. Not just the creature comforts of lush greenery, blue skies, turquoise seas, food in the fields but those who dwell there and that means me and you - everyone in the world. We are the Lords - and what a wonderful place it would be if everyone took that on board.If everyone looked at scripture and saw the goodness and mercy of God.
We were made in his image, to have fellowship with him but sin entered the world, man became disobedient and so it goes on today. Oh that men would look to the Lord, He that came down and dwelt among us; He that was obedient while here on earth, obedient even to death on the cross; Making a way for man to draw closer to his maker and fellowship once more with him.
Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? David asks;
He that has repented of sin and accepted the Lord Jesus Christ, who now can stand with clean hands and a pure heart before the throne of God, clothed in the righteousness of the our great and wonderful Saviour Jesus Christ.

Psalm 24:
The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof: the world and they that dwell therein.For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.
Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob Selah.
Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting door: and the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads O ye gates; even lift them up ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in,Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.

Yes, Jesus Loves Me

I do love blogging and intend getting on here more often but for now I'll share some of the things I've written over on the KJV blog for those who don't manage to get on over there.
The first one I've chosen is what happened a few weeks ago and although it's as if it was last week it was actually at the beginning of May.

Jesus loves me this I know, for the bible tells me so
Little ones to him belong, they are weak but he is strong
Yes, Jesus loves me, Yes, Jesus loves me,
Yes, Jesus loves me, the bible tells me so.


Jesus loves me he who died, heavens gates to open wide,
He will wash away my sin, let this little child come in.
Yes, Jesus loves me, Yes, Jesus loves me,
Yes, Jesus loves me, the bible tells me so.


For the last 6 years I have sung this song to my grandchildren. Firstly to Ben who is now 6, then Tom who is 3 and to Livvy who has just turned 1. I have been blessed to see my grandchildren grow up in a Christian home and today I just wanted to share with you that last week Ben asked Jesus into his heart.

This 6 year old aways asks me to sing to him and when I say OK he always asks for Jesus loves me. We sang it last week when I was babysitting and he wanted to ask Jesus into his heart. He said a very simple prayer and then asked me to tell his dad to go upstairs. He told his dad he'd asked Jesus into his heart and then he told his mum.

For quite a while Ben had been unkind to his younger brother and wouldn't let him play with his toys or share anything but since last week in his mum's words 'I can't believe how lovely Ben has been. He's been sharing with his brother and playing really nice with him and he has been so lovely to Livvy' - what a change in a young boys life.

I was babysitting at the beginning of the week and he said to me 'Nana, I feel different since I asked Jesus in my heart'. Out of the mouth of babes.

Tonight he was in trouble because he'd told a lie and it really upset him. He'd started crying and didn't know why but had to say sorry to his dad and then to Jesus before he felt better again.
I didn't have anything challenging to bring you this time but hope you are blessed knowing how a young boy can change when the love of Jesus enters his heart.

Thursday 8 April 2010

KJV

You can catch me over at the KJV today

Monday 29 March 2010

A lesson well learned

Well don't you just hate those times in your life when you do or say something that you can't take back and then ...... let me tell you what happened.
It was my grandson Tom's 3rd birthday and so we set off on Friday evening , my son, daughter in law and the children and spent a lovely weekend at legoland. (Hopefully pictures will follow). We had prayed the weather would be fine and Lord did not let us down. Just before leaving to head back to the hotel on Saturday Tom was firing water from some water jets. They were aimed at lego frogs in the middle of a round circle of water jets. Sadly some boys were aiming at the people and trying to soak them. Tom's asthma had been bad and Marc had said not to go on them because he would get wet but he was loving it until a very small boy aimed the water jet ... not at Tom .. at me. I moved very quickly. He continued aiming this jet at other people and his mum told him not to do it but then became quite oblivious to the fact that he was soaking people. Well to be truthful I did something I'm not proud of ... I moved Tom's arm slightly so that the little boy got a taste of his own medicine and the water jet aimed at him. The mum went crazy, thought it was some boys at the opposite side and went over to give them a telling off at which her youngster continued to wet other people and then yes aimed the water jet at me again and really soaked me and Tom. Now this again is something I'm not proud of ... without hesitation I went over to the mum and told her in no uncertain terms that instead of shouting at others she should keep watch on what her own child was doing. The poor woman tried to apologise but I was having none of it and told her she shouldn't be shouting at others when her own son was doing the same thing. I then walked away to where Marc and Sam were only to find they had moved away ... why!! Sheer embarrassment, they both looked at me and mentioned something about 'vengence is mine saith the Lord'. There were other things to like being kind, not being angry etc and I tried to justify myself but .... you probably guessed the rest the Lord convicted me and showed me just how petty and childish I'd been in wanting to teach this youngster a lesson, and in fact I'd come off worst, I really was soaked. I felt really bad and ofcourse had to say sorry to the Lord and to Marc and Sam and had to let my grandchildren know it was not how you reacted when someone sprayed water at you. If I'd been able to find this lady again I'd have had to apologise to her too because I did not show the Lord or myself in a good light. I certainly think my light was well and truly hidden. A lesson well learned.

Friday 19 February 2010

The right direction

Well I've just had a fabulous couple of days in London with my daughter in law where we visited some of the main attractions and went to the theatre . Sam was brilliant on the underground and got us from A to B without any problems, even when they closed the central line because of signal problems.
My only concern, everytime we hopped on the train, was that I hoped we were going in the right direction.

I'm speaking at church on Sunday and my topic is HOPE using the scripture verse from titus 2:13 'Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ ...'

The Lord gave me a little insight with this thought - I was hoping we were going in the right direction on the underground train but that I didn't have to worry about my future hope because there's only one direction I'm going in - and that would be UP.
Yes, caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air at the rapture of the church and what a HOPE to be going into a new year with. The hope that our Lord could return at any moment.

Ofcourse if I'm not around when the rapture happens it matters not because my direction always is UP. Thank you Lord.