Shedding, like eucalypts, the year's detritus.

 Some Australian Eucalyptus trees shed their bark periodically. To do so allows them to grow and mature, to cleanse their surface of insect infestations and allows a fresh protective layer to develop. 

God in His wonderful creative genius has placed much symbolism for us in nature. I find in this process observed in Eucalyptus trees a lesson about letting go. We cannot grow in maturity without letting go of things which always hold us back - all the negative attitudes, emotions and actions which we may be tempted to cling to.

Paul the apostle wrote in his letter to the Philippian church:

 "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13

For me personally 2024 has presented some challenges. I've learned that you cannot control the  attitudes, words and actions of others. We can only control our own. More and more I'm learning to come to God in prayer, to acknowledge His sovereignty in all situations, His loving care and the guidance of His Holy Spirit, the great Counsellor. 

What is shed from the eucalypts returns to the earth, replenishing the soil and nourishing life within the ecosystem. The act of giving away can bless not only ourselves but others too. In a world of acquisition and materialism, some are discovering simplicity and minimalism. In blessing others materially and financially we receive blessing. In extending compassion and forgiveness we shed the growth- retarding veneer of bitterness. 

A calendar may be a human construct, but God in His wisdom has arranged the rotation of the earth to provide us with day and night, time and seasons. Every 365/66 days we begin a new year and with it the opportunity to leave behind some things from past years. 

With God's help, may we appreciate all He has done for us and given to us. May we follow Him closely this year as we make resolutions and plans for the year ahead. In all our lives may we glorify Him and share His gift of love and salvation to others.

Happy New Year 2025.

 

Christmas Blessings

 Christmas is drawing near and with it the annual reminder of Christ's birth. In all the annals of history, this one story stands alone : that God became flesh and dwelt among us. Born in a humble stable, proclaimed by angels to the lowliest of workers, worshipped by the wise and mighty. 

Jesus was born that we might know God. He lived that we might know the character of God. He died that we might know the forgiveness of our sinful nature and live in communion with God. He sent God's Holy Spirit that we might have a constant Counsellor and guide in our earthly lives and be able through His Spirit to reach out to others. Jesus rose from the dead, conquering sin and death forever and He reigns on high. He is coming again to judge and finally restore this broken world.

Amid the tinsel and preparations, presents, stress and festivities, Jesus still reigns supreme. He is the life and joy and love in the blessed happiness of little children. He is the comforter of those who know grief and loss this season. He is the provider that those who have may bless those who are struggling. He is our refuge and strength. He loves with an everlasting love.

Christmas- the name itself means Christ Worship. It is a great joy to worship Christ at Christmas, and every day. May God richly bless you at Christmastime as we thank Him for the most precious gift of Jesus.

Isaiah 9:6: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace"

Forgiving others - a prayer

 

Lord Jesus

Thank You that You died for the forgiveness of my sins, that I might live in the presence of Your Holy Spirit all this earthly life and dwell with You in Heaven for eternity. How wonderful is Your saving grace. How good it is to know You and to daily learn more of our Father’s love. Thank You Jesus. I owe all that I have and the many blessings I enjoy every day to You.

Lord, You know the circumstances in my life that have caused me to have an unforgiving heart. I pray now, in the strength of Jesus, to forgive those who have hurt me, who have caused a rift in relationships. I thank You that You’ve already taken my hurt and pain on the cross. Lord, I wish to cause You joy, not pain. I wish to grow deeper in love with You.

I release that person to You. Through the power of Your grace, I forgive them.  I pray that You would bless them today by revealing a sense of You to them. Guide me in any future interactions with that person I pray.

Thank You for the gift of forgiveness, that You have freely given so that we may extend forgiveness to others. Thank You, Father, Son and Holy Spirit for Your constant love.

In Jesus’ name amen.

No compass without a needle

 

A compass is a wonderful instrument. Take it out of your pocket and look at the needle- it will always point to due north. However you turn it or turn yourself, it points to north. If you’re walking in the bush and have lost your way, a compass is a wonderful tool to have and no batteries are required.

Imagine, however, if for some reason there was no needle in that compass. It would still have the same directional points on the face – north, south, east and west, but they would be meaningless. You could hold it up and say “I think this is north” and point north in one direction. If you turned around with the compass in your hand, north would be in another direction. It’s the needle within the compass that points to the north.

As Christians we have a moral compass. There is only one direction that we need to face and that is towards God. God is fixed, He is eternal, He does not change. What is the needle for this compass? A person, Jesus Christ, points to the Father. When we look to Jesus we see the triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three in One.

We live in a world that wants to pull us morally (or immorally) into all sorts of directions but when we know Jesus we know where we’re going. We know the best way to live. We know God through His word, the Bible, through His Son Jesus, and through the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit.

All around us there are people with a compass that has lost its needle. They are wandering in the wilderness. Satan has deluded them into thinking that the most desirable direction is self, not God. e. Without God there is no way to lasting peace and happiness, only transient gratification.

These people may be our workmates, family members, neighbours and many others that we meet every day. They need our prayers, fellowship, witness and Christian love. They need the joy of a compass with a needle.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14: 6

Amputation

 

There was a man who, healthy and strong, loved to walk and run and ride his bicycle. How he enjoyed his life!

Then everything changed.

He was unexpectedly involved in a terrible accident, not of his own making, in which one of his legs was severely crushed. Unfortunately this resulted in his leg being amputated just below the knee.

He was distraught.

He was angry.

He was depressed.

The loss was great. Part of him was gone. He sobbed for the life that he knew which would never come again. He couldn’t walk, or run, or cycle.

There were, however, things which began to give him support and comfort. Friends and family rallied around. Most importantly, his physician spoke to him about rehabilitation and the possibility of his being fitted with a prosthetic leg. The kindly doctor even arranged for him to meet some other amputees.

Hope returned.

A skilled team of medical experts assisted him with the physical and emotional impact of his injury. He learned to cope with pain and frustration. The prosthetic leg was fitted and he had to learn to walk again, albeit a little differently to before.

After a time he was able to direct his thoughts away from the accident and its aftermath. He was able to focus on all the good things that he could still enjoy.

He would never have his real leg again.

But he had a prosthetic leg.

Sometimes he wore long trousers, and anyone meeting him would not be able to tell that he had a prosthetic leg.

A few years later his doctor called him and asked if he would be willing to come to the hospital to share with a young accident victim who had just experienced an amputation.

Of course, he said yes.

....

There are many broken and shattered things in our lives- dreams gone, marriages destroyed, relationships fractured. So many empty spaces where something once was and may never be again. God the great physician always seeks to restore, to heal, to compensate, to use those spaces for our good and His glory. 

"

"He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us." 2 Corinthians 1:4

 

Dear Heavenly Father, Great Physician, thank You that You are in the business of healing and restoring the broken and shattered aspects of our lives.

The Cross and the Throne

 

My church family at Bridgeman Downs Baptist Church meets in a large auditorium where, suspended from the ceiling, is an illuminated cross. I am very grateful to the technician who placed it so, as the entire congregation is always at the foot of the cross. Many churches throughout the world have a cross positioned front and central, to remind us all that it was only through the suffering and death of Christ on the cross that we are able to fully approach God.

Many of us wear a cross to symbolise that we belong to Jesus Christ, that we are Christians. As Easter approaches we meditate on the meaning of the cross. Jesus knew that He would face terrible torture and an agonizing death. Not only did He suffer the physical pain, but also the agonising experience of separation from His Heavenly Father God, the betrayal and abandonment of some of His closest earthly friends, and the unimaginable weight of knowing all the sins and pain of the world as He hung on that cross. We cannot ever understand what Jesus experienced.

 

When Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, He yielded up His spirit. At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split. The tombs broke open, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After Jesus’ resurrection, when they had come out of the tombs, they entered the holy city and appeared to many people.

When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this was the Son of God.”  Matthew 27: 50-54

God was glorified through Jesus Christ. Mankind was saved from the curse of sin and death. Satan was forever defeated. The veil separating a holy God from sinful mankind was torn. Jesus was then and is now our Redeemer.

Jesus is no longer on the cross. His body was placed in a tomb which was found to be empty three days later. He appeared in His resurrected body to His disciples and many others. He ascended to Heaven, sending His Holy Spirit to earth to be with His people.

No longer on the cross, but seated on the throne of Heaven, at the right hand of God,  King of all kings, Lord of all lords. The Bible gives us beautiful pictures:

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; and the train of His robe filled the temple.  Above Him stood seraphim, each having six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling out to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts;

all the earth is full of His glory.”   Isaiah 6:1-3

 

And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” Mark 14:62

 

At once I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne standing in heaven, with someone seated on it.  The One seated there looked like jasper and carnelian, and a rainbow that gleamed like an emerald encircled the throne.  Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and on these thrones sat twenty-four elders dressed in white, with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings, and peals of thunder. Before the throne burned seven torches of fire. These are the seven Spirits of God.  And before the throne was something like a sea of glass, as clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, covered with eyes in front and back.  The first living creature was like a lion, the second like a calf, the third had a face like a man, and the fourth was like an eagle in flight. And each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around and within. Day and night they never stop saying:

“Holy, Holy, Holy,

is the Lord God Almighty,

who was and is and is to come!” Revelation 4:2-8

 

As Easter approaches we think with sadness of the suffering of Jesus. We think with deep appreciation for that He taught us, all that He did to heal and save the suffering and lost. We celebrate with great joy on Easter Sunday that death could not hold Him, that He rose and reigns, seated in Heaven on the throne, at the right hand of God.

 

Rejection

Rejection. We all face it at some time in our lives. It can begin as children, when, rightly or wrongly, a child can feel that they are not as loved by a parent as their siblings. It can certainly happen in schools where friendships can be fickle and some children feel as though they are on the outer in the peer group for their entire school lives.

As a person progresses to adult life one can feel rejected in the workforce. The job application is turned down, sometimes dozens of times. Someone else receives the promotion that you hoped for. You are retrenched in a company reorganization.

Some of the most distressing forms of rejection happen in the sphere of personal relationships. A love affair that you thought would lead to marriage and a permanent relationship ends. Your partner in your marriage admits to an extra-marital affair. A divorce leaves a person shattered.

The core of rejection is a feeling of unworthiness. I’m not good enough. Someone else is preferred. Satan, the father of lies, whose ultimate goal is to destroy a person works on those thoughts to destroy families, marriages, friendships and sadly, in some cases, ministries and churches.

Rejection can enter one’s spiritual life as well. Disappointments and struggles with sin can cause a person to feel that God has rejected them. This could not be further from the truth.

We need to look to God’s word to know how he feels about each one of us. The Bible tells us that even before we were born, God thought of us and created us to be the individual human that we are.

“For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
 My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be. “Psalm139: 13-16

 

Whenever we feel rejected, God’s word assures us that He has not rejected us:

I have chosen and not rejected you.

Do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be afraid, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you; I will surely help you;

I will uphold you with My right hand of righteousness. Isaiah 41:9,10

 

Throughout the Bible we are assured that God’s love is different to the ways of people. His love is constant, steadfast and faithful:

 

“How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!” Psalm 36:7

 

“Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.” Psalm 107:43

 

“Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!” Psalm 117:1,2”

 

When you are a Christian, despite the rejections that you face in life, God will never reject you. He is your Saviour, your closest friend your heavenly Father. In fact, you are part of His bride, the true church of all believers, and as such loved as a true partner should be in a marriage. His word tells us that He has a plan for every life, so if our earthly plans fail, we can trust in His Holy Spirit, the great Counsellor to lead and guide us into a new direction.

 

“Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth;

break forth in song, O mountains!

For the LORD has comforted His people,

and He will have compassion on His afflicted ones.

But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me;

the Lord has forgotten me!”

 “Can a woman forget her nursing child,

or lack compassion for the son of her womb?

Even if she could forget,

Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;

your walls are ever before Me.”   Isaiah 49:13-16