P 3030 Put Him in charge.

Father God’s primary interest is our good, and we need to continually develop our faith in His goodness by exercising our faith in Him. He wrote down everything we need in His book. There are people who don’t want to try out what the bible says, because they are scared of going the wrong way. And there are others who don’t want to live with uncertainty, because living by faith is hard … and their question often is: “isn’t this meant to be easy?”  

Show me a scripture for that! I know that the bible says:“His yoke is easy and His burden is light.” What that means is this – when you walk with Jesus the total weight is supposed to fall on Him – He’s the Leader. I have checked out an ox-yoke in a museum, they don’t look too light to me!  Meanwhile it’s a yoke not a scarf! You might like to sit and chew on that for a minute or two, and try not to choke. I pray on the spot a lot!

The media tells us that this life is so terrific, it is meant to be fun fun fun fun fun! “You can win this, be this, go here, go there, do this and that. Just believe in yourself. And beautiful looking people are just going to love you and want to join in with you as you have fun. Even old people can have loads of fun in old people homes.’ 🙄 If you want that kind of reality go to Disneyland, it has a whole kingdom devoted to it. It’s called Fantasyland.

Here’s something I’ve learnt as the Lord and I’ve walked together…His kind of fun, His kind of Joy, His kind of laughter is way more fun than anything this world can provide. And it won’t cost you a fortune to go places with Him either!  Just make sure where you want to go is where HE wants to go and then you are off, having some sort of adventure.

We once had morning tea at a coffee shop, and a young lady who served us had so many tattoos she looked like she had been painted with black paint. Jesus said: “Ask her to tell you about those tattoos.” 20 minutes later, the kitchen staff came out to see ‘those nice people who have been talking to me’ and the waitress paid our bill. THAT was fun… trust me! The Lord is the best kind of fun!

The Holy Spirit has done an ACE job of describing what our Heavenly Father loves in the book. You can start with the Beatitudes and go on from there. Don’t just read it. Remember reading without doing, can make us confused, or it could give us a fat head. Instead ask Him what you can do about what you’ve read. That’s how relationships work, BTW, conversations go both ways.  

An well-known author who wrote great books many years ago was one of my favourites. He has since gone on to glory but he sure knew how to have fun! I found out much later that he had an incredibly grouchy wife who didn’t understand his Christianity or his attitude. Yet this man found joy in everything. I used to get so happy reading his books before bed, that I couldn’t sleep! He’s out of print now, but Amazon has some books of his. 

Here’s my version of something brother Harold Hill once said – “At first, when I started my walk with Jesus I decided it would be OK if He sat in the back seat of my car. Then He could talk to me and advise me if I needed it. The thing was, sometimes I couldn’t hear Him very well. So then I decided it might be better if He sat in the front seat with me whilst I drove. But that didn’t work out so well either, I kept having to take my eyes off the road to talk to Him, and well … I couldn’t concentrate or drive properly. I stopped the car and asked Him what I could do about it. Jesus smiled, one of those lovely big smiles, and He said: ‘Come with Me.” He opened the boot and said: “Get in. You’ll be much safer in here. I’ll drive.” 

The only safe driver of our individual ‘cars’ is the Lord. There are times that He will park us under a tree and wait with us while we rest. At other times He will give us a huge hug, a-n-d then we will probably need a very large box of tissues! The secret is to let Him do what He wants.

Just don’t get stuck anywhere, keep moving along as He leads you. We follow Him because He knows the road ahead much better than we do. Jesus walked many roads while He was here, the kind of things we walk through. He faced bad things happening and being misunderstood. He knows every single detail of where we are going and how to get there. We can trust Him to take us where we need to go and look after us.

What if I mess up?” Well … what if you don’t? Both scenarios are an option. But if you end up in the wrong place at the wrong time, then that’s the time to remember our wonderful Saviour is also our very great Redeemer. He can take the worst sinner and transform them into a glorious saint and worshipper of God. He can redirect you in the middle of life’s turbulent traffic!

Always remember that: “God doesn’t break bruised reeds” Isaiah 42:3 & Matthew 12:20. When we get stuck in the mud of our own messes, Jesus will always come and get us out. Many dumb sheep wander off the pathway, but He’s the Good Shepherd. He knows how to rescue dumb sheep. Don’t ever be fooled into thinking that what you’ve done is so bad He won’t love you anymore. That’s a lie from the pit.  Let Him be in charge and He will amaze you. Bye 👋

P 2685 It’s SO obvious!

I Corinthians 10:12-13: “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

Often when I am writing this blog each day, the Lord has already given me a scripture, or He points me in a direction that He wants me to go. Sometimes hubby shares a verse with me that has spoken to him, and I read through those verses prayerfully. I am listening for the Lord’s smile. Yes! I know that sounds weird. How on earth can you listen for a smile? I have no idea, I just know it happens. Moo-ving on …

Today’s two verses are verses that have haunted me for years. I know all about temptation, because I have fallen into it – lots, and getting out again has proved to be very costly. I got myself into those messes but I expected the Lord to rescue me and get me out with no contribution from me! However, today I read this scripture again for the umpteenth time, and I saw that I’ve been mis-reading a portion of it. A very important bit I might add! Does that ever happen to you? You read away and think ‘yes, yes, I know that bit, blah blah blah,’ and you move onto something else. 

New thought especially for today: When we eat, we bite, then we chew. There’s a lot to be said for chewing, it helps your digestion! It’s the same thing with the Word. You sit at the table the Lord has already prepared for you, and tell your enemies to go take a hike – and you bite off a bit of the scripture and, hopefully, chew on it. Except for 50 years or so, I’m pretty sure I didn’t chew all that thoroughly on this scripture.

Let me enlighten you: It seems that I have always stopped reading at the words:“He will provide a way out …” Retrospectively speaking that oversight was an extraordinarily dumb move! Six little words, that’s all I missed … but they are the whole point of this particular instruction. I have been in some deep dark holes and when I couldn’t find the way out, I started complaining at the Lord … (that’s never a good plan BTW )… that there was no way out, and what was He thinking about giving us that verse, when there WAS clearly …no easy let-off-the-hook way out! Sigh.

I should have kept reading! ← I’m just going to leave that there, because all temptation is common to man and somebody out there in blog land may need this particular thought too. The last six words change that whole instruction. Lemme repeat them for you… and me!  “… so that you can ENDURE IT.”  In other words, the way out, has a purpose!

The way out is NOT actually a WAY OUT, it’s the way IN … to gaining endurance. Sigh. I could’ve used that bit of info many MANY times in the last 50 Years. It would have saved me from myself. Instead of me looking for a ‘way out’ sign I should have been looking for a ‘way IN’ sign. How to stand firm in the face of temptation and gain endurance.

Instead I was busy looking for the exit sign. To be truthful, I’m pretty sure I actually saw just what I wanted to see. So here’s me literally and figuratively, on my face repenting! No wonder I fell flat on my face so many times, that’s a good place to repent from! Those six words I’ve written above, make a huge difference. Paul is not just telling us that the Holy Spirit will fish us out of whatever temptation we fell in to, He’s saying He will help us to stand fast  – as we resist the temptation! And standing fast gives us endurance.

Here’s what endurance means in the dictionary: “The act, quality, or power of withstanding hardship or stress.The state or fact of persevering.” Hmmm. Like I said, I could have used that quality in my life lots of times – there were times when I was pretty quick to bail out on what the bible said, in favour of Brother-so-and-so who said much nicer and more palatable things … like: “God will give you what you want, here’s a bunch of verses to prove it.”

I can’t blame Brother-so-and-so. My faith is up to me, not him! So if I let him mislead me it’s my own fault. This is a good place to remind everyone that it is a great idea to check up on what anyone else tells you. The fact that you might like what they are saying is no guarantee that it is right! Faith is personal, and we are not baby penguins who get their food pre-digested from their parents. When we read the bible it means we are settling into some prayerful work.

Now I have read those six extra words I will never forget them, but I could have saved myself, and others … ‘Oh Lord, forgive me for messing up things for others!!’ Amen! I could have saved myself and other people a heap of sorrow and suffering, not to mention the fact that I was misreading the Lord so badly!! — when it was all so obvious. 😞