Consume

P3407 Getting older in the computer age. 🤪

/ DVH

Today I was reflecting on the different stages of my life and remembering a little bit about when I was younger. The only thing I cared about as a teenager was … does my hair look OK? Is my lippy on straight? Eventually, at 20, I married, and started having kids. That’s what you did back there in the ark – only truly brave people did something else. Having kids changed my whole outlook. 

When you have kids what you look like comes last! Instead you care more about getting all of them in the car at the same time, plus finding the car keys. Now my hubby does all that running about, and my job is to say “of course” to any suggestion he makes because he has the conn, not me. I don’t miss being in charge, because this life seems to have gotten so complicated. Not only for me, but everyone around me as well. I thought computers were meant to simplify things! 

These days, my personal-computer-that-sits-on-my-neck-and-shoulders starts forgetting stuff around about mid afternoon. It is a waste of time getting impatient with yourself when you are forgetful. A bit of a snooze helps. While I am relaxing my brain it gives it a chance to hobble on over to the old style filing system in my head to find the answer. There is no zippy or flash modern NBN computer ruling in my head, just a bunch of memories of other days.

Today I ended up laughing a lot, as I thought about my history with those old-style main frame computers. Computers joined the banking scene not long after I did, I was 14 at the time. These monsters took up whole rooms and each room was devoted to only a few tasks. Before that most of the banking work was done by various levels of complex adding machines, and people. Even then, computers threatened real people and their jobs! We never even dreamt we would one day wear a computer on our wrist or in our glasses.

You know, curiosity is a marvellous, useful thing – especially when it comes to faith – but back when I was still a kid, it just made me a pest!  I have no clue what’s in the innards of my tiny little Temu count-your-steps watch, – a teeny tiny motherboard perhaps? But long, long ago, I was given an actual wind-it-up-yourself watch … no batteries thank you … by my favourite uncle. It was a fancy one, I was bored and about ten, so I eventually pulled it apart and put it back together again. It mostly worked well after that… it just got a bit poorly from time to time. The parental response to my curiosity was that I had the hand of learning applied to the seat of knowledge, and sitting down became far more complicated.

Anyway, in my time in the banking sector, I had a lovely friend who made me laugh so much I used to have to hold on to something to stay upright  … and neither of us drank! She would walk past these you-beaut, brand new, ooh-ahh computers, grin at me with a twinkle in her eye …and say: “Watch this!” And then she’d throw a single paper clip into the aperture at the front. At that moment, one of two things happened. The machine would ignore it … OR …it made all kinds of truly dreadful noises and then paper went everywhere! That machine vomited reams of perforated paper all over the floor. It just kept on spewing out paper. It took maintenance quite a while to get the stupid thing up and running again. Meanwhile we tried to look innocent and busy, all at the same time. Back then we thought computers were great because they gave us time off. These days I remain unconvinced that computers improve our lives – they seem to consume most of our time instead.

In the past few years, I have been kept informed by my son about the computer scene, he is a very talented computer programmer. He very patiently taught me how to write in HTML! That fact still surprises me. Yes, I really can write in the most basic computer language. My son talks to me about computers, but, sad to say, now I hear waves instead of information and instructions. I nod and listen. It is amazing what you can learn if you nod, smile, and keep your mouth shut. You can even look pr-et-ty smart that way. Most days, I do find my laptop is extremely useful, simply because my handwriting ain’t what it used to be.

I said all that to say this … one of the dumbest things I think Christians can do is to mistake knowledge for application. Those things are not the same.“Now about food offered to idols: of course we know that all of us possess knowledge [concerning these matters. Yet mere] knowledge causes people to be puffed up (to bear themselves loftily and be proud), but love (affection and goodwill and benevolence) edifies and builds up and encourages one to grow [to his full stature].” 1 Corinthians 8:1.

The bible tells us that knowledge puffs up, and it becomes a big hurdle regarding true humility – it keeps us from God’s kind of love. There sure were a few big headed people back in the computer section of the banking ark. Yet I want to thank God for my mischievous friend back then, who taught me machines aren’t everything. Bye 👋.

P 2924 The future is HERE ……NOW!

/ DVH

“But you need to be aware that in the final days the culture of society will become extremely fierce. People will be self-centred lovers of themselves and obsessed with money. They will boast of great things as they strut around in their arrogant pride and mock all that is right. They will ignore their own families. They will be ungrateful and ungodly. They will become addicted to hateful and malicious slander. 

Slaves to their desires, they will be ferocious, belligerent haters of what is good and right. With brutal treachery, they will act without restraint, bigoted and wrapped in clouds of their conceit. They will find their delight in the pleasures of this world more than the pleasures of the loving God. They may pretend to have a respect for God, but in reality they want nothing to do with God’s power. Stay away from people like these!”2 Timothy 3:1-5 TPT.

Yeah, I dunno about you, but at this moment, I’m thinking about heading for the hills, because this scripture sounds just like last week’s new’s headlines to me. Isn’t it scary when you can read something like this — which was written in 40-60 AD and yet you still think — boy does this sound so familiar! 

You know, God has never said that other people would like what we say – He just said: “TELL THEM.” And He also said, live like this – “make love your great aim” and the bible shows us how love lives. The news of today is filled to the top with death, anger, sorrow, murder, rage etc.and those things can subtly influence us to think people are not worth the sacrifice of laying down our lives. Sadly all we need if we want to be an influencer,  is to have a sad story, or  give away money, or stuff. Today you can buy people’s interest. And if you call it a competition, they will jump right in! 

But the bible says we are here to to tell them that they will go to hell if they keep going in the wrong direction. Yeah! That kind of changes the colour of anyone’s day. At the same time as we are actively loving them, we need to tell them what they are doing is eternally costly. 

However, we do not have to market God! There is a school of thought that says if we can be as slick and appealing as the things of this world, people will listen to us. This is what Paul was talking about in the above verse: “…having a form of godliness but denying its power …”True godliness is about fruit, it produces substance, not just appearances. There is no power in exhibiting the appearance of godliness, practising that will produce religion. When what we are looking for is inward transformation. 

Now, let’s look at that first line in Paul’s discourse. “The culture of society will become exceedingly fierce.”Hmmm. Does today’s world look like a loving, supportive culture? There’s a lot of talk about empowering people but not much talk about living a life of love. It seems to me that many people in the Western world have learnt to speak badly about others – so they can make money on TV shows by deriding the way people walk, dress, and live — we even pick on what other people EAT! We indulge in gossip simply for conversation’s sake. Gossip has become a way of life – a method of communication – a way to relate!

We need to assure the people around us that there is something much bigger, more important and infinitely more lasting, than working hard to look good. Mankind’s greatest challenge is to continue to be loving in the face of evil, and that will take the supernatural power of God! Meanwhile, the church can’t keep on doing what they have been doing because it isn’t working! Often our worst enemies are exactly who Jesus told us they would be – the people we dearly love.“… a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ Matthew 10:36. We are going to need the power of God to cope, and still love them!

We have let our children down. Someone (??) decided the little darlings are basically good. Obviously these people haven’t read “Lord of the flies!” or “Grimm’s fairy tales” or the newspaper lately! Sadly we raised our children to be entertained, not instructed. But despite how cute they are, children are not born good. “All have sinned,” it says so in His book. Did you know that the first word most babies learn is “NO?!” 

We wonder why our kids are careless about the real things in this life that actually matter, and why haven’t they learnt integrity, obedience, and kindness etc? Wisdom and spiritual knowledge come from investing time and energy in people – not just chasing dollars. Our kids need to learn to contribute, not consume, and it is our job to teach them. Inanimate objects don’t cause delinquent behaviour, lack of supervision does.

I think Paul was looking through God’s Time Machine into a telescope of our future, when he wrote this letter of warning to Timothy. Let’s remember, Timothy was his disciple, he was teaching this young man the way he should go. He was also instructing Timothy about the times that were to come …  And now… happy, happy joy, joy, here they are! The future is here. Now! Always remember, the darkness cannot put the light out – HIS light in us will conquer the darkness around us. Love is the vehicle. Bye 👋

P 2587 Why am I here?

/ DVH

I dunno! Ask the Lord! You and I both know that only He knows that stuff. I’m just the peanut writing this blog. Meanwhile, let me try to give a hopefully wise answer to that ‘why am I here’ question …  “to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbour as yourself.”  Hah! You didn’t expect that one did you? 

A Godly response to this scripture may sound easy …but it certainly isn’t a picnic, that’s because it’s a choice not a feeling – and sadly …other people do the darndest things!! The trouble is, those words are actually in His book! 

People sometimes can get fixated on trying to figure out why we are here, or what is the meaning of life (?)… But the truth is what Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-39. ‘Love God, love others.‘ I think I could teach that to a 2 year old! Did you ever ask yourself ‘how on earth do I love God with all of me, as well as loving YOU?’ Especially if you, my actual neighbour, are VERY far from nice! I suspect most of us have asked that question at some time or other, especially when actual reality replaced carefully crafted Christian concepts.← See that? That’s alliteration. 🤪 

Moving on! It would be so much easier to love God and others, if life just bubbled along like a telemovie, and we were all happy little Vegemites singing and dancing together … but we ain’t! And humanity is rapidly getting less and less nice as the years go by. Once we hit the 21st Century, then good manners and polite went rapidly downhill. Without a Saviour we are all doomed. I love that word doom.

There’s a scene with Tae-Kwon-Dodos in Ice Age Mark 1. (I think the film makers are up to Ice Age Mark 74, or thereabouts … whatever will still make the producers money!) These weird looking birds march around together chanting …”Doom on you. Doom on you. Doom on you …”  Then they fall down a hole into extinction. Now that’s not nice – it’s funny and ironic, but … hardly nice!

Back to my point …we seem to be overjoyed to blame our mother/father/uncle/cousin/teacher/boss for our very own ugliness and WE … as in – me, myself and I – allow awful attitudes to overwhelm us. They eclipse our concern for God’s opinion, as well as our fellow man’s well being. Nowadays we can end up holding onto grudges like they are special floatation devices, not stinking heavy rocks sent by the enemy to drown us. We measure everything by how it affects ME – not by its overall benefit to mankind.

It seems “not nice” or SIN …whatever you like to call it,  is firmly embedded into the heart of man.  And we have no hope of fixing it unless we follow God’s Ways. I think right now, not nice is in plague proportions. But I have found it is not good for my own mental and emotional well-being, to over analyse stuff and impute attitudes to other people’s actions.  

Maybe that guy in the supermarket who just ran over my toe with his trolley was distracted and careless… maybe he isn’t a homicidal maniac who makes himself feel better by running over other people’s feet! When did this world lose the kind of rightness of heart that gives others the benefit of the doubt? And what about me making an effort to apologise for something I did to someone else, no matter what my motive was. When did we lose the words (?) … “I am so sorry, I was wrong.” ← That’s a full stop right there. 

So, here is today’s point … yeah … I know, it took a while! We can’t follow Jesus and hate others. Listen to John he’s going to explain it better than I can.“If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love BOTH.”1 John 4:20.

Personally, I think we are here in this world, to contribute, not consume. We are not designed to be greedy-give-me-that, OR … I-want-it-now-passengers… but participators. If we allow anyone else to rob us of our contribution because of what they have said or done to us, we are letting our enemy – WIN. Dumb move. The way to win is in 1 Corinthians 13:8: “Love never fails.” When everything else has folded up its little tent and departed, or crumbled into dust … LOVE WILL WIN … be-ca-us-e … IT SAYS IN THE BOOK … love never fails. 

So, why do I think I am here? To love God first, then you … but if you really are truly dreadful, well … He is always there to help me! Bye.👋