Have you ever thought about the things that God provides us with?
Often we think in huge terms, things like homes, jobs, cars, etc. But have you ever considered the little things?
The other day, I did an extra day of sorting at our local Bargain Centre. Now, sorting means being out in a hot, dusty shed, surrounded by bags and bags of donations- all gratefully received. Being Spring, with the weather warming rapidly and trees and flowers blooming everywhere, it's also hayfever season. So, add to that the dusty shed and bags of donations and what happened was a bout of hayfever, sneezing, runny nose and eyes- and I was very glad to have been alone. However, what it also meant was I quickly realised I had embarked on this morning of sorting unprepared.
After half an hour of the usual aforementioned symptoms, I finally prayed and God, in His awesomeness, provided. The next bag I opened contained masses of toddler clothing, mostly pink indicating it belonged (hopefully) to a girl but there was also a neatly folded, pressed and clean men's handkerchief.
GOD PROVIDES EVERYTHING!! Even the little things. Take care, don't overlook them.
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." (MATTHEW 7:7)
God bless you all.
Love Toni
Sunday 30 September 2012
NEW MEMBER - Meet 'n' Greet....
Good morning,
I'd like to introduce our newest member - AlondraV. It's so nice to have you on board, and I pray you are blessed along the way.
Love Toni xxx
I'd like to introduce our newest member - AlondraV. It's so nice to have you on board, and I pray you are blessed along the way.
Love Toni xxx
Tuesday 18 September 2012
NEW MEMBER - Meet 'n' Greet...
It's always a thrill to come to my blog page and find that there is someone new following. Today I want to introduce you all to our latest member - The Lafskytribe! This is exciting for me, especially - because this is another of my brothers! Ahhh, I love my brothers! Dean - enjoy the journey and thanks for coming on board - Love heaps, Toni xxxx
Monday 17 September 2012
HOW IS YOUR PATIENCE HOLDING UP?
According to different sources I've read on the Internet recently, it took Noah between 20 and 75 years to build the Ark. Of course, the Bible doesn't give a specific time-duration, and the '120 years' mentioned in Genesis 6:3, it is said, refers to the commencement of the lead-up to the flood; it doesn't refer to the day God told Noah to start building. And, as with many things we read in the Bible, it is easy to forget the day to day view of it, and think only of the broad brush view. God said to Noah that the people of the earth were really bad and He was going to destroy everyone except Noah and his family, and Noah was to build an Ark. So, being a righteous man, Noah did as God said and built an Ark....and so the story goes; the flood came, and the Ark bobbed around for forty days before the rain stopped. It may even seem that all the while they were playing happy families with the best line-up of pets in history! Then we might even find ourselves thinking; "Wasn't Noah amazing - I wish I had that kind of faith and those abilities." But we forget, Noah wasn't a ship-builder by trade, and Noah didn't build this thing over the period of a weekend!
This was a monstrous undertaking. The movie "Evan Almighty" depicts a Noah-like character building an 'ark' in his suburban neighbourhood, and given the way the movie flows, it's subtly suggested the process of building this 'ark' took only a few weeks. Yeah, even with it's much smaller size, maybe if you had some behind the scenes help!
Genesis 6:22 says; "Noah did everything as God commanded him." But whether it be 20 or 75, this took years....and years! It's easy to even think, well - okay, it took years, but he did it, and with ease because God told him to, and God was with him, and Noah was some kind of superman. Hmmm, I don't know about that! Of course, God was with him - we know that because the Bible says so - Genesis 6:8; "But Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord." Genesis 6:13a; "So God said to Noah..." Usually when God is speaking to anyone, including you, He is with you. But the Bible says nothing about this being an easy task for Noah. I imagine it was actually pretty difficult!
For many years I was a penpaller, writing to people from all over the world, sharing my day to day life - the condensed version of it at least. I still have a few people I write to. A few months ago one of my son's got married, and with these few remaining penpals I shared photos of this momentous day (yeah, I'm still in the 'my son is the first in the world to ever get married' mindset!), and one response was amazement that I now have a married child. "Penpal" remembered only the moments of my son's life that I had shared; as a toddler, as a teen, school days, new job, etc. Anyone on the outside looking in would feel the same. Fleeting glances and exclamations of 'where did the time go?' But for me, I lived every day (every hour!!) of my children's lives. I experienced the tears and laughter, the new teeth, losing teeth, teeth being knocked out on scooter handlebars, or chipped on railings that were crashed into. I patched up the scraped knees, sat in hospital waiting rooms while they were stitched up, sat beside beds when they were ill, endured the birthday parties at home. I've lived the good, the bad, and the ugly- every day of my 25 years (so far) as a mum, and there was a nice balance of all of those things, as any parent would know.
Noah experienced every day it took to build the Ark. We experience only the 'highlights' and only a handful at that!
Let's say, for arguments sake, it took fifty years for Noah to build the Ark. When I was 9 or 10 I used to try and imagine myself as a lady of 50, and that seemed not only really, really old, but such a long time away too - way, way off into a future I couldn't even imagine. Now though, it doesn't sound much when you say it fast! Okay, so imagine it took Noah 50 years - don't just see the 5-0. Put it in perspective...God told Noah, in a time when rain had never fallen on the earth EVER before and people had no idea what a flood even was, to build a boat, the task of which was going to keep him busy, and take every day of those fifty years to complete. That's 18,250 days....of mocking, ridicule, taunting, aching shoulders and hammered thumbs...every day for 18,250 days. Maybe Noah even faced saboteurs, stolen or hidden property, misplaced tool, unco-operative sons, days of illness, or times of aftermath from Mrs. Noah's cabbage stew, which tasted a little funky when he ate it but he was famished after a hard day of Ark-building so he ate it anyway...these are the thing we don't know about, and very rarely cast a thought to.
I think there were also days when he questioned. Or days when he didn't work quite as hard as he had the day before. Or days when he was tired or cranky. I think there were days when he woke up and felt like a right idiot building a boat for a flood that was coming when the sky was clear and the day was sunny! I think he especially felt like this on days when the crowd had gathered and was pointing and staring and shouting those derisive comments. God provided everything he needed, including the measurements and the instructions, but we don't know how much other 'heavenly assistance' he had, or what that might have been. Though I doubt God built a wall around the construction site to shield Noah from the hurtful remarks hurled at him.
Nor do I believe this undertaking sped by in the blink of an eye. How did Noah's patience hold up? Were there days when he woke up, discouraged that he was doing the same 'ole thing again for the 1,017th time? Were there days when he just wanted to throw in the hammer and walk away, back to the 'old days' when life... - - okay it wasn't quite as good, but it sure made more sense? How many times whilst hauling himself upward on the swinging plank-seat to reach those beams at the very top did he have to tell himself, out loud, that even though this seemed a very odd thing to be building, God knows what He's doing. How many times did he says to himself; "I don't get why this is taking so long, but God, Your timing is not my timing."
I wonder how many of us would hold up, if we were in Noah's position? I wonder how many of us would have even said yes to God?? Being told by God to not only do the impossible, but do something that is going to convince every single person you know that you are crazy, AND take years to accomplish! How many of us would step out in faith, armed with bucket loads of patience and get on with it? How many of us even have one bucket load of patience? Yeah, I struggle there!!!
Quite often we just don't understand why or how God arrives at His timing or purposes. But are we meant to know? Why should we know? We're not God! And anyway, armed with all that information, but minus the 'all-knowing-God-ness' of our Father in heaven, how many of us, including Noah, would respond with something like; "Well, I don't think that's a very good idea!"
Can you imagine Noah...
"A boat? Out here?"
"What's rain?"
"A flood - what's a flood?"
"It's gonna take me how long?"
"Oh, but God, I don't think that's a very good idea!"
So, my petition to you, Dearest Reader, is summed up in a quote my mother loves and has written in the front of her Bible (I have it in mine too, now), which goes like this: "Lord, I do not understand Thee, but I trust Thee." Even when it makes no sense at all, if God is asking let us do. No matter how long it takes, or how much patience we have to muster. And while we're doing, let us trust that God knows what He's doing, and why He is asking for our obedience in this task He has chosen us for, and why it will take the time it is going to take to accomplish it.
Let's pray...
Lord, so often we don't understand Your ways, or why You ask of us the things You do. We don't understand why our prayers aren't answered as quickly as we would like, or why we aren't healed the way we want, or at all. But we are strengthened by faith in You. We know that Your Word and Your promises are truth, and in them we can place our faith and be made strong in You. And we can endure anything through faith in You. We can also rest in knowing You are in control and with us always, through everything, and Your timing and purposes are perfect. Thank You, Lord, for that perfection, and for the comfort we draw from You. In Jesus' Name, amen.
This was a monstrous undertaking. The movie "Evan Almighty" depicts a Noah-like character building an 'ark' in his suburban neighbourhood, and given the way the movie flows, it's subtly suggested the process of building this 'ark' took only a few weeks. Yeah, even with it's much smaller size, maybe if you had some behind the scenes help!
Genesis 6:22 says; "Noah did everything as God commanded him." But whether it be 20 or 75, this took years....and years! It's easy to even think, well - okay, it took years, but he did it, and with ease because God told him to, and God was with him, and Noah was some kind of superman. Hmmm, I don't know about that! Of course, God was with him - we know that because the Bible says so - Genesis 6:8; "But Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord." Genesis 6:13a; "So God said to Noah..." Usually when God is speaking to anyone, including you, He is with you. But the Bible says nothing about this being an easy task for Noah. I imagine it was actually pretty difficult!
For many years I was a penpaller, writing to people from all over the world, sharing my day to day life - the condensed version of it at least. I still have a few people I write to. A few months ago one of my son's got married, and with these few remaining penpals I shared photos of this momentous day (yeah, I'm still in the 'my son is the first in the world to ever get married' mindset!), and one response was amazement that I now have a married child. "Penpal" remembered only the moments of my son's life that I had shared; as a toddler, as a teen, school days, new job, etc. Anyone on the outside looking in would feel the same. Fleeting glances and exclamations of 'where did the time go?' But for me, I lived every day (every hour!!) of my children's lives. I experienced the tears and laughter, the new teeth, losing teeth, teeth being knocked out on scooter handlebars, or chipped on railings that were crashed into. I patched up the scraped knees, sat in hospital waiting rooms while they were stitched up, sat beside beds when they were ill, endured the birthday parties at home. I've lived the good, the bad, and the ugly- every day of my 25 years (so far) as a mum, and there was a nice balance of all of those things, as any parent would know.
Noah experienced every day it took to build the Ark. We experience only the 'highlights' and only a handful at that!
Let's say, for arguments sake, it took fifty years for Noah to build the Ark. When I was 9 or 10 I used to try and imagine myself as a lady of 50, and that seemed not only really, really old, but such a long time away too - way, way off into a future I couldn't even imagine. Now though, it doesn't sound much when you say it fast! Okay, so imagine it took Noah 50 years - don't just see the 5-0. Put it in perspective...God told Noah, in a time when rain had never fallen on the earth EVER before and people had no idea what a flood even was, to build a boat, the task of which was going to keep him busy, and take every day of those fifty years to complete. That's 18,250 days....of mocking, ridicule, taunting, aching shoulders and hammered thumbs...every day for 18,250 days. Maybe Noah even faced saboteurs, stolen or hidden property, misplaced tool, unco-operative sons, days of illness, or times of aftermath from Mrs. Noah's cabbage stew, which tasted a little funky when he ate it but he was famished after a hard day of Ark-building so he ate it anyway...these are the thing we don't know about, and very rarely cast a thought to.
I think there were also days when he questioned. Or days when he didn't work quite as hard as he had the day before. Or days when he was tired or cranky. I think there were days when he woke up and felt like a right idiot building a boat for a flood that was coming when the sky was clear and the day was sunny! I think he especially felt like this on days when the crowd had gathered and was pointing and staring and shouting those derisive comments. God provided everything he needed, including the measurements and the instructions, but we don't know how much other 'heavenly assistance' he had, or what that might have been. Though I doubt God built a wall around the construction site to shield Noah from the hurtful remarks hurled at him.
Nor do I believe this undertaking sped by in the blink of an eye. How did Noah's patience hold up? Were there days when he woke up, discouraged that he was doing the same 'ole thing again for the 1,017th time? Were there days when he just wanted to throw in the hammer and walk away, back to the 'old days' when life... - - okay it wasn't quite as good, but it sure made more sense? How many times whilst hauling himself upward on the swinging plank-seat to reach those beams at the very top did he have to tell himself, out loud, that even though this seemed a very odd thing to be building, God knows what He's doing. How many times did he says to himself; "I don't get why this is taking so long, but God, Your timing is not my timing."
I wonder how many of us would hold up, if we were in Noah's position? I wonder how many of us would have even said yes to God?? Being told by God to not only do the impossible, but do something that is going to convince every single person you know that you are crazy, AND take years to accomplish! How many of us would step out in faith, armed with bucket loads of patience and get on with it? How many of us even have one bucket load of patience? Yeah, I struggle there!!!
Quite often we just don't understand why or how God arrives at His timing or purposes. But are we meant to know? Why should we know? We're not God! And anyway, armed with all that information, but minus the 'all-knowing-God-ness' of our Father in heaven, how many of us, including Noah, would respond with something like; "Well, I don't think that's a very good idea!"
Can you imagine Noah...
"A boat? Out here?"
"What's rain?"
"A flood - what's a flood?"
"It's gonna take me how long?"
"Oh, but God, I don't think that's a very good idea!"
So, my petition to you, Dearest Reader, is summed up in a quote my mother loves and has written in the front of her Bible (I have it in mine too, now), which goes like this: "Lord, I do not understand Thee, but I trust Thee." Even when it makes no sense at all, if God is asking let us do. No matter how long it takes, or how much patience we have to muster. And while we're doing, let us trust that God knows what He's doing, and why He is asking for our obedience in this task He has chosen us for, and why it will take the time it is going to take to accomplish it.
Let's pray...
Lord, so often we don't understand Your ways, or why You ask of us the things You do. We don't understand why our prayers aren't answered as quickly as we would like, or why we aren't healed the way we want, or at all. But we are strengthened by faith in You. We know that Your Word and Your promises are truth, and in them we can place our faith and be made strong in You. And we can endure anything through faith in You. We can also rest in knowing You are in control and with us always, through everything, and Your timing and purposes are perfect. Thank You, Lord, for that perfection, and for the comfort we draw from You. In Jesus' Name, amen.
Wednesday 12 September 2012
2000+ YEARS AGO JESUS PRAYED....FOR YOU!
Dearest Readers,
Ordinarily I don't like to do this too often - cut and paste a large pieces of anything, including the Bible ,and then say "Here, read this!" However, today I am breaking this 'rule' and doing just that. Lately I have been reading, and re-reading John chapter 17 - which is where Jesus prays His longest recorded prayer in the Bible. I've been studying it and looking deeper, and I really want to share this and encourage you all to read it too....really read it. Look deeply at what Jesus is doing and saying here...especially look at the section I have highlighted (verses 20-26), where Jesus is praying for YOU. When the true revelation of that hit me I was awestruck, and a little emotional. 2000+ years ago, when He knew what was about to happen to Him, He set that aside and prayed for me! And you...and every other believer. Whoa, that is a little overwhelming, don't you think?
Also, I underlined the first part of verse 24...Jesus is asking God for us to be with Him in heaven! How does that make you feel? To know that our Lord and Saviour was thinking of you all those years ago before He was to go to the cross for our sins, and more than that, He wanted us....with Him....in heaven! He petitioned the Father for us!
How deep is His love?
How immense is His desire for us?
The King of kings and Lord of lords is in love with us! :-)
"Here, read this!" :-)
Please read this chapter, Dear Readers....it truly is worth the time it will take to read 26 verses, and to hold these words of our Lord close and safe in our hearts.
God bless you all,
Love Toni (Jeanne) xxxxx
John Chapter 17 [New International Version (NIV)]
Jesus Prays to Be Glorified
After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You. 2 For You granted Him authority over all people that He might give eternal life to all those You have given Him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent. 4 I have brought You glory on earth by finishing the work You gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with the glory I had with You before the world began.
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
6 “I have revealed You to those whom You gave me out of the world. They were Yours; You gave them to Me and they have obeyed Your word. 7 Now they know that everything You have given Me comes from You. 8 For I gave them the words You gave Me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from You, and they believed that You sent Me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those You have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is Yours, and all You have is Mine. And glory has come to Me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, protect them by the power of Your name, the name You gave Me, so that they may be one as We are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name You gave Me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
13 “I am coming to You now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of My joy within them. 14 I have given them Your Word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that You take them out of the world but that You protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; Your Word is truth. 18 As You sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify Myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
13 “I am coming to You now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of My joy within them. 14 I have given them Your Word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that You take them out of the world but that You protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; Your Word is truth. 18 As You sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify Myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
Jesus Prays for All Believers
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. 22 I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as We are One— 23 I in them and You in Me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me.
24 “Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, and to see My glory, the glory You have given Me because You loved Me before the creation of the world.
25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know You, I know You, and they know that You have sent Me. 26 I have made You known to them, and will continue to make You known in order that the love You have for Me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
24 “Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, and to see My glory, the glory You have given Me because You loved Me before the creation of the world.
25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know You, I know You, and they know that You have sent Me. 26 I have made You known to them, and will continue to make You known in order that the love You have for Me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
Sunday 9 September 2012
LIVING IN A THROW-AWAY WORLD
When I was putting my joggers on this morning...my less than one year old joggers...my Slazenger joggers (bought because they were drastically reduced in price, NOT because I'm a name-brand junkie!), I noticed a hole in the top. You know what that means - I'll notice that hole every time I wear them now, and it'll seem bigger every time, too. I may even, one morning, put my toe right through the hole, accidentally of course...and that will be the end of my discounted, name-brand joggers. And let's not even discuss what's going to happen when it rains and I have to go walking!
Do you remember the days when you get more than a year's wear out of a pair of shoes? Or more than five years out of a washing machine, or a refrigerator? My mum had one of those agitator washing machines with the wringers on top for over 30 years. I remember the excitement of it after the copper boiler she used to use for doing the washing when I was a little girl. I know she still had the agitator one when my now adult children were in their early teens.
Oh, and what about the days when you could get more out of a printer than the duration of the ink cartridges? My printer developed a quirk in behaviour a few weeks ago - after every page it printed it would spit out a blank piece of paper, then refuse to spit out anything, declaring on its little display screen that there was a paper jam. Of course there was no paper jam, but I would still have to comply with the computerised demands by going through the motions of un-jamming this imaginary paper jam before it would print again...but only one sheet more before we danced the same dance again. It was a slow and painful way of printing even the few pages I needed. And now it has corrected itself and works as it should! I guess some mysteries are not meant to be solved. During the course of this idiosyncratic printer behaviour I found myself thinking; "Well, if it dies I'll just get another one!" The sad irony is that it would be cheaper to throw away this printer and purchase a new one, than to get it fixed. These days it's cheaper to buy a new printer when the ink runs out than buy new ink cartridges. Appalling, isn't it!
Oh, and don't get me started on the dramas I'm having with my mobile phone right now, and have had since I got it! It's currently not working, other than being able to be used to play music and see the time. So basically I'm paying a handsome monthly fee for a clock radio! Hmmm... *shakes head disapprovingly* The realisation for me right now is just how distanced I feel from everyone when my phone is...uhm, I mean was my primary, and often used, source of communication (and will be again, when it's fixed! - one more day to endure!), via calls, TEXT, email, Facebook, Twitter, etc. AND I've realised also how much we all must (and I have done) take such things for granted these days. Now that I'm without it, I feel a little lost...I might as well be on another planet in terms of knowing how everyone is and what they're doing, even though there have been many times I've wanted to throw that stupid phone out the window!
We've become a very 'throw-away' world, haven't we? Things get outdated so fast, and there is always the temptation of something bigger and better, with more features that can do something new or amazing being dangled before us. Nothing is made with any semblance of quality - not even name-brand shoes. Nothing seems to last anymore...
...except Jesus Christ! A relationship with Jesus and the love He has for us is beyond the meagre limits of this world and our feeble ideas of time. ETERNITY is one word that is used so often in the Bible to express time and a life with Jesus Christ. FOREVER is another.
In the throw-away world, even people are too easily disgarded. How many marriages reach the ten year mark, let alone survive past that? "I will love you forever" - beautiful words until forever turns out to be only 'until you annoy me or make a mistake', or 'until someone better or more exciting comes along', or 'until I find myself or sort myself out'.
It's not like that with Jesus. He stays. Even when we get busy, or distracted, or lazy, or stupid...our Lord stays!
Jeremiah 1:5a says; "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart." These words were spoken to the prophet Jeremiah, by the Lord, when he was called by God, but they apply as much to you and I as to Jeremiah. Imagine the Lord speaking those words to you! He does, you know. The Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 1:4; "For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight." Psalm 139:16b reveals; "All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be."
*Before you were born...
*Before the creation of the world...
*Before one of them came to be...
Do you see a trend here? We've been on our Lord's mind for a long...Long....LONG time. He was thinking about us when He left the paradise of heaven and all His own Kingliness and came to earth. He was thinking of us as He grew into a man. He was thinking of us when He began His ministry. He was thinking of us when He suffered unbelievably at the hands of the soldiers, and when He carried His cross, and when He was nailed to that cross, and when He died in agony, in our place, on Golgotha. He was thinking about us and loving us before the world was even created, and still thinks about us today - NOW, as He sits at the right hand of His Father in heaven.
The world we live in might have a throw-away mentality, but Jesus Christ does not. Our value and worth to Him is immeasurable, so let us honour that by living according to His will and His Word in the time we have here on earth, so we are prepared when we go to be with Him, FOREVER in ETERNITY.
Let's pray...
Loving Saviour and King,
Thank You for all You have ever done for us, and for all You continue to do. We know Your dedication to each of us is spread wider and deeper than any of us realise or can fathom. We praise You as our Lord and King and Saviour, and long for the day when we dwell forever in Eternity with You. Strengthen us through Your love and guidance during our time here, however long or short that may be, and prepare our hearts and spirits for when You come to take us home. In Your mighty Name I ask these things, amen.
Do you remember the days when you get more than a year's wear out of a pair of shoes? Or more than five years out of a washing machine, or a refrigerator? My mum had one of those agitator washing machines with the wringers on top for over 30 years. I remember the excitement of it after the copper boiler she used to use for doing the washing when I was a little girl. I know she still had the agitator one when my now adult children were in their early teens.
Oh, and what about the days when you could get more out of a printer than the duration of the ink cartridges? My printer developed a quirk in behaviour a few weeks ago - after every page it printed it would spit out a blank piece of paper, then refuse to spit out anything, declaring on its little display screen that there was a paper jam. Of course there was no paper jam, but I would still have to comply with the computerised demands by going through the motions of un-jamming this imaginary paper jam before it would print again...but only one sheet more before we danced the same dance again. It was a slow and painful way of printing even the few pages I needed. And now it has corrected itself and works as it should! I guess some mysteries are not meant to be solved. During the course of this idiosyncratic printer behaviour I found myself thinking; "Well, if it dies I'll just get another one!" The sad irony is that it would be cheaper to throw away this printer and purchase a new one, than to get it fixed. These days it's cheaper to buy a new printer when the ink runs out than buy new ink cartridges. Appalling, isn't it!
Oh, and don't get me started on the dramas I'm having with my mobile phone right now, and have had since I got it! It's currently not working, other than being able to be used to play music and see the time. So basically I'm paying a handsome monthly fee for a clock radio! Hmmm... *shakes head disapprovingly* The realisation for me right now is just how distanced I feel from everyone when my phone is...uhm, I mean was my primary, and often used, source of communication (and will be again, when it's fixed! - one more day to endure!), via calls, TEXT, email, Facebook, Twitter, etc. AND I've realised also how much we all must (and I have done) take such things for granted these days. Now that I'm without it, I feel a little lost...I might as well be on another planet in terms of knowing how everyone is and what they're doing, even though there have been many times I've wanted to throw that stupid phone out the window!
We've become a very 'throw-away' world, haven't we? Things get outdated so fast, and there is always the temptation of something bigger and better, with more features that can do something new or amazing being dangled before us. Nothing is made with any semblance of quality - not even name-brand shoes. Nothing seems to last anymore...
...except Jesus Christ! A relationship with Jesus and the love He has for us is beyond the meagre limits of this world and our feeble ideas of time. ETERNITY is one word that is used so often in the Bible to express time and a life with Jesus Christ. FOREVER is another.
In the throw-away world, even people are too easily disgarded. How many marriages reach the ten year mark, let alone survive past that? "I will love you forever" - beautiful words until forever turns out to be only 'until you annoy me or make a mistake', or 'until someone better or more exciting comes along', or 'until I find myself or sort myself out'.
It's not like that with Jesus. He stays. Even when we get busy, or distracted, or lazy, or stupid...our Lord stays!
Jeremiah 1:5a says; "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart." These words were spoken to the prophet Jeremiah, by the Lord, when he was called by God, but they apply as much to you and I as to Jeremiah. Imagine the Lord speaking those words to you! He does, you know. The Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 1:4; "For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight." Psalm 139:16b reveals; "All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be."
*Before you were born...
*Before the creation of the world...
*Before one of them came to be...
Do you see a trend here? We've been on our Lord's mind for a long...Long....LONG time. He was thinking about us when He left the paradise of heaven and all His own Kingliness and came to earth. He was thinking of us as He grew into a man. He was thinking of us when He began His ministry. He was thinking of us when He suffered unbelievably at the hands of the soldiers, and when He carried His cross, and when He was nailed to that cross, and when He died in agony, in our place, on Golgotha. He was thinking about us and loving us before the world was even created, and still thinks about us today - NOW, as He sits at the right hand of His Father in heaven.
The world we live in might have a throw-away mentality, but Jesus Christ does not. Our value and worth to Him is immeasurable, so let us honour that by living according to His will and His Word in the time we have here on earth, so we are prepared when we go to be with Him, FOREVER in ETERNITY.
Let's pray...
Loving Saviour and King,
Thank You for all You have ever done for us, and for all You continue to do. We know Your dedication to each of us is spread wider and deeper than any of us realise or can fathom. We praise You as our Lord and King and Saviour, and long for the day when we dwell forever in Eternity with You. Strengthen us through Your love and guidance during our time here, however long or short that may be, and prepare our hearts and spirits for when You come to take us home. In Your mighty Name I ask these things, amen.
Wednesday 5 September 2012
A SOAP-BOX RANT....
I've noticed something on Facebook and Twitter lately that is bugging me, so I feel a rant coming on....then I'll let it go! :-) Of course, I know that 50% or more of what is posted on these social network sites is nonsense, but this thing is bugging me more than some of the things on FB and Twitter usually do. There are often the tweets declaring that if you 'follow' you'll gain thousands of followers yourself, instantly! Really? I don't think so, and who wants followers that way anyway!? There's the spam/junk mail that comes in all forms. Because I have a boys name (Toni) I get sent a lot of offers for Viagra! Uh-huh! *shakes head* Or there are the tweets claiming that someone has filmed you in a nightclub doing something stupid or obscene. I get those daily! Things like that I can confidently ignore because I've been in a nightclub once in my life, about 15-16 years ago - that was for a party I won in a radio contest, so all the people there I knew because I invited them!
But, none of those things are the blood boiler...
The particular irritation are the posts declaring something like this; "Click like if you support cancer research" or " Hit share if you love your daughter". The list of these popping up goes on and on, and seems to be growing as fast as people can think them up...'Click share if you agree"....ah-ha, see! And I admit that I purposely don't share or like these posts, and until recently I've ignored them with a fair amount of composure. But this one crossed my timeline a week or so ago, and the wording was exactly this; "Share if you love Jesus. Don't share if you want to go to hell". I KID YOU NOT!!! I dare anyone to tell me I don't love Jesus, or I'm going to hell just because I didn't share that post!
Back in the late 70's and early 80's when I was heavy into penpalling (snail mail - stamp, envelope....you remember, yeah?) chain letters were what went around, declaring that if a copy of the letter wasn't sent to ten different people within three days someone in your family was going to die, or some nonsense like that! I was young and timid back then, and naive, until a kind Postmaster explained the truth of these scare tactics to me....but prior to his kindness it was frightening for a pre-teen like me. However, afterwards the amount of them I ignored should have eliminated my entire family, and several friends - if there was any truth in them at all!
These forms of intimidation have been around for many, many years, and while they have changed form and may now travel in different ways they still amount to nonsense. But, just as when I was a young girl these words were frightening, so they still are to a young girl or boy now reading them on Twitter or FB. As older, more mature people (I would hope - and Christians especially) we have a responsibility to the younger generation, and sometimes that responsibility includes NOT sharing ridiculous, emotionally bullying, subtle though they may be, posts like that. As adults with any amount of common sense we KNOW this is a whole lot of nothing, but a shy 12 year old girl from a broken home whose only thing to cling to is a new, infant faith in Christ, or a new adult-age Christian, might not know that.
I love Jesus Christ! (AND I'm going to heaven, by-the-way!) I love my daughter, and my sons...and my elderly mother! I have compassion for ill-treated animals, wild-life, rainforests, and for abuse victims. I support organisations I feel drawn to, the identity of which is between me and God. I don't need to share or like a FB or Twitter post to make any of that true, or not true.
Ok, I'm done now. But I will add one more thing. I love it when people share my blog posts and comment on them, but DON'T ever feel obligated...or bullied to do so. I trust in God and happily leave it to Him to determine who sees them, reads them, and shares them.
God bless,
Toni (Jeanne) xxxx
But, none of those things are the blood boiler...
The particular irritation are the posts declaring something like this; "Click like if you support cancer research" or " Hit share if you love your daughter". The list of these popping up goes on and on, and seems to be growing as fast as people can think them up...'Click share if you agree"....ah-ha, see! And I admit that I purposely don't share or like these posts, and until recently I've ignored them with a fair amount of composure. But this one crossed my timeline a week or so ago, and the wording was exactly this; "Share if you love Jesus. Don't share if you want to go to hell". I KID YOU NOT!!! I dare anyone to tell me I don't love Jesus, or I'm going to hell just because I didn't share that post!
Back in the late 70's and early 80's when I was heavy into penpalling (snail mail - stamp, envelope....you remember, yeah?) chain letters were what went around, declaring that if a copy of the letter wasn't sent to ten different people within three days someone in your family was going to die, or some nonsense like that! I was young and timid back then, and naive, until a kind Postmaster explained the truth of these scare tactics to me....but prior to his kindness it was frightening for a pre-teen like me. However, afterwards the amount of them I ignored should have eliminated my entire family, and several friends - if there was any truth in them at all!
These forms of intimidation have been around for many, many years, and while they have changed form and may now travel in different ways they still amount to nonsense. But, just as when I was a young girl these words were frightening, so they still are to a young girl or boy now reading them on Twitter or FB. As older, more mature people (I would hope - and Christians especially) we have a responsibility to the younger generation, and sometimes that responsibility includes NOT sharing ridiculous, emotionally bullying, subtle though they may be, posts like that. As adults with any amount of common sense we KNOW this is a whole lot of nothing, but a shy 12 year old girl from a broken home whose only thing to cling to is a new, infant faith in Christ, or a new adult-age Christian, might not know that.
I love Jesus Christ! (AND I'm going to heaven, by-the-way!) I love my daughter, and my sons...and my elderly mother! I have compassion for ill-treated animals, wild-life, rainforests, and for abuse victims. I support organisations I feel drawn to, the identity of which is between me and God. I don't need to share or like a FB or Twitter post to make any of that true, or not true.
Ok, I'm done now. But I will add one more thing. I love it when people share my blog posts and comment on them, but DON'T ever feel obligated...or bullied to do so. I trust in God and happily leave it to Him to determine who sees them, reads them, and shares them.
God bless,
Toni (Jeanne) xxxx
Monday 3 September 2012
ARE WE LISTENING TO THE WORLD, OR TO GOD?
Did you know that not all the things that God doesn't want us to do are bad or evil? This is a lesson I am just learning. Well, I sorta knew it before, BUT it is just now coming to my attention that this lesson doesn't just apply to others...it's for me too! I'll tell you a story shortly, but first...
There's become such a blurry line between right and wrong in the past few years. Have you noticed that? Perhaps it is longer than just a few years - perhaps the line has always been blurry and it is only maturing in age that makes it more noticeable. Whatever it is, let me put it this way - I've become more aware of this blurred vision lately, between the world's idea of YES and God's command of NO.
One of the things that the Bible tells us is that false prophets will come among us, and what they will tell us will sound good, make us feel good, and be embraced by the world around us. (See 2 Peter 2:1-3) It can become dangerously easy, for Christians especially, to get caught up in this new-age thinking. But anything that loosens the guidelines on Biblical teaching is not of God.
Our minister at church spoke in one of his sermons recently about a preacher who had written a book, part of which declared that Christians should be encouraged to pursue money and better financial blessings. This seems okay, right?....a preacher wrote it, after all, right?....it seems fair and acceptable, right? WRONG!!! The Bible says this in 1 Timothy 6:10a; "For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil." I wrote in a previous post about the importance of coming back to God's Word and double checking everything you read, or hear, or see...even if it is written by a Christian preacher! Because Satan has all kinds of people out there doing his bidding and making things that are against God's word seem okay. Dig deeper, because surface appearances can often hide the real truth.
I think what we watch and read and play and listen to goes a long way toward blurring the line between right and wrong...or between what is accepted and what shouldn't be. Oh, there was a time I would have argued that point relentlessly, I confess. But praise God He has opened my eyes to HIS TRUTH!
How many TV shows today would have, in the 60's and 70's, been considered pornographic? Or be deemed outrageous due to their blatant mocking toward Christianity and Christ? A statistic I heard recently stated that in the 60's 50% of households attended church in Australia. Now, only between 1% and 2% of people are evangelical Christians - that is; 'Pertaining to or in keeping with the Gospel and its teaching.' How many TV shows are even encouraging criminal activity? I watched a sitcom several months ago where one of the regular, weekly characters was freely and openly using drugs, and this was laughed at! Computer and PS games are mostly violent and/or sexual in content, and this is deemed entertainment. Most TV shows and movies these days promote pre-marital sex. Last week, while sitting in a hospital waiting room, the TV was on showing a morning show. I couldn't hear it well, but the running caption across the bottom of the screen declared; 'An affair could help your marriage!' Is infidelity now to become acceptable by the world's standards? Abortion has been made acceptable. Homosexuality has been made acceptable. The age of consent continues to be lowered. Where does it stop?
It is socially acceptable, it seems, to take on the attitude that 'if it's not hurting anyone, it's okay to do as I like.' Not much has changed in history, has it? The entire book of Judges, in the Old Testament, talks about the Israelites and their repeated 'do as we please' attitude and subsequent pleas to God to 'bail them out' after they had made a colossal mess of things. Sadly this is an attitude Christians today still adopt. I did! Back in a previous post (Subtle Idolatry - Idolatry None-the-Less - August 1st) I made mention of an obsession that I would write about at a later date. Well, why not now?! And then I can tell you what I've learnt...
My obsession...my IDOL, is writing! More than that, it's the type of writing I used to do. I've always had an interest in the supernatural, and a stint with Character/Ghost writing many years ago fed that interest to the point of obsession. I used to write about all the usual stuff that now saturates the literary AND media markets; vampires, werewolves, ghosts, angels, etc - and I was good! (I say that not to boast, but only to emphasise the struggle of giving it up!) I'd done this kind of writing since the late 80's, so for more than 20 years I wrote in this genre to the point where I still worry and wonder can I write anything else??? I guess God is showing me that, through Him, I can, because I never thought I could be a non-fiction writer, let alone a writer of blog/devotionals.
In the few years since 'whether or not I should write in this subject' became an issue, emotionally and spiritually I travelled through honestly and truly NOT KNOWING what I should do, to knowing but fighting it while trying to ignore the truth of that knowing as well. I asked the advice of so many people, BUT it's only on reflection that I can see that subconsciously I was pretty clever about who I chose to ask. It shames me to admit that I was asking people I sorta knew would say yes, it's okay! I never asked my minister at church! I NEVER ASKED MY MOTHER!!! Now, that's not to disparage the advice I was given by any of those people I did speak to. I confess, in hindsight, I can see that I manipulated that survey completely! God, however, cannot be manipulated or swayed on what He chooses is right for me and what is His will for me. His will for me is NOT to write supernatural fantasy. His will may also be for me to never write fiction again...I don't know that yet. For now I am doing as He asks of me which has brought me here.
Now, don't misunderstand me, because I am in no position at all to cast judgement on whether supernatural writing is good or bad. There is a new concern in me now, especially after a conversation I had with a bookstore owner yesterday - again the question is raised WHERE DOES IT STOP. Moreso, how far will it go before it stops? This store owner was telling me that the supernatural line is petering off now in terms of sales, and is being replaced by erotic fantasy...wow, I found that so disturbing, in a two-fold manner. Firstly because things that shouldn't even 'be' to begin with are now becoming 'okay' and 'encouraged'. And secondly because, in terms of the supernatural side of it, I WAS A PART OF IT. I may not have been published (and I thank God I wasn't) but I was there, ensconsed....how far would I have gone???
Maybe to the world it's not bad, but...
....what I have learnt is that it is bad for me. I still like the supernatural...it still interests me...perhaps like an alcoholic it will be something I will constantly be drawn back to and even crave, but it's not what God wants me to use His gift to me for. That's what God and I have battled over for several years now....well, I say battled like it's been an all-out war, but the truth of it is I've been the one battling whilst God has been patiently waiting for me to surrender to His will. I have now, by-the-way. Satan, in his cunning way, still tries to lure me back into doing what God does not want me to do...and I fear I will slip still.
I am comforted by the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 7:15-25; "15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do - this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord!
There is hope! Jesus Christ is my hope! What I have learnt is that while the world may say it's okay (and it has said!), God is telling me NO. And when He says NO He means NO. In this case good or bad is kind of irrelevant, because God is saying no...to this...for me.
And something I have noticed since I completely surrendered to God about this (and that surrender has come only in the last month and a half) - as much as I loved the 'other writing', I have never enjoyed writing as much as I am right now!
Let's pray...
Loving Heavenly Father,
You know the things we struggle with in our lives, and You know what is best for us at all times. Strengthen us as we learn to trust You about that, and surrender to Your will for us. Remind us to listen to Your guiding and loving voice, rather than the lying words of the world. In Jesus' Name, amen.
There's become such a blurry line between right and wrong in the past few years. Have you noticed that? Perhaps it is longer than just a few years - perhaps the line has always been blurry and it is only maturing in age that makes it more noticeable. Whatever it is, let me put it this way - I've become more aware of this blurred vision lately, between the world's idea of YES and God's command of NO.
One of the things that the Bible tells us is that false prophets will come among us, and what they will tell us will sound good, make us feel good, and be embraced by the world around us. (See 2 Peter 2:1-3) It can become dangerously easy, for Christians especially, to get caught up in this new-age thinking. But anything that loosens the guidelines on Biblical teaching is not of God.
Our minister at church spoke in one of his sermons recently about a preacher who had written a book, part of which declared that Christians should be encouraged to pursue money and better financial blessings. This seems okay, right?....a preacher wrote it, after all, right?....it seems fair and acceptable, right? WRONG!!! The Bible says this in 1 Timothy 6:10a; "For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil." I wrote in a previous post about the importance of coming back to God's Word and double checking everything you read, or hear, or see...even if it is written by a Christian preacher! Because Satan has all kinds of people out there doing his bidding and making things that are against God's word seem okay. Dig deeper, because surface appearances can often hide the real truth.
I think what we watch and read and play and listen to goes a long way toward blurring the line between right and wrong...or between what is accepted and what shouldn't be. Oh, there was a time I would have argued that point relentlessly, I confess. But praise God He has opened my eyes to HIS TRUTH!
How many TV shows today would have, in the 60's and 70's, been considered pornographic? Or be deemed outrageous due to their blatant mocking toward Christianity and Christ? A statistic I heard recently stated that in the 60's 50% of households attended church in Australia. Now, only between 1% and 2% of people are evangelical Christians - that is; 'Pertaining to or in keeping with the Gospel and its teaching.' How many TV shows are even encouraging criminal activity? I watched a sitcom several months ago where one of the regular, weekly characters was freely and openly using drugs, and this was laughed at! Computer and PS games are mostly violent and/or sexual in content, and this is deemed entertainment. Most TV shows and movies these days promote pre-marital sex. Last week, while sitting in a hospital waiting room, the TV was on showing a morning show. I couldn't hear it well, but the running caption across the bottom of the screen declared; 'An affair could help your marriage!' Is infidelity now to become acceptable by the world's standards? Abortion has been made acceptable. Homosexuality has been made acceptable. The age of consent continues to be lowered. Where does it stop?
It is socially acceptable, it seems, to take on the attitude that 'if it's not hurting anyone, it's okay to do as I like.' Not much has changed in history, has it? The entire book of Judges, in the Old Testament, talks about the Israelites and their repeated 'do as we please' attitude and subsequent pleas to God to 'bail them out' after they had made a colossal mess of things. Sadly this is an attitude Christians today still adopt. I did! Back in a previous post (Subtle Idolatry - Idolatry None-the-Less - August 1st) I made mention of an obsession that I would write about at a later date. Well, why not now?! And then I can tell you what I've learnt...
My obsession...my IDOL, is writing! More than that, it's the type of writing I used to do. I've always had an interest in the supernatural, and a stint with Character/Ghost writing many years ago fed that interest to the point of obsession. I used to write about all the usual stuff that now saturates the literary AND media markets; vampires, werewolves, ghosts, angels, etc - and I was good! (I say that not to boast, but only to emphasise the struggle of giving it up!) I'd done this kind of writing since the late 80's, so for more than 20 years I wrote in this genre to the point where I still worry and wonder can I write anything else??? I guess God is showing me that, through Him, I can, because I never thought I could be a non-fiction writer, let alone a writer of blog/devotionals.
In the few years since 'whether or not I should write in this subject' became an issue, emotionally and spiritually I travelled through honestly and truly NOT KNOWING what I should do, to knowing but fighting it while trying to ignore the truth of that knowing as well. I asked the advice of so many people, BUT it's only on reflection that I can see that subconsciously I was pretty clever about who I chose to ask. It shames me to admit that I was asking people I sorta knew would say yes, it's okay! I never asked my minister at church! I NEVER ASKED MY MOTHER!!! Now, that's not to disparage the advice I was given by any of those people I did speak to. I confess, in hindsight, I can see that I manipulated that survey completely! God, however, cannot be manipulated or swayed on what He chooses is right for me and what is His will for me. His will for me is NOT to write supernatural fantasy. His will may also be for me to never write fiction again...I don't know that yet. For now I am doing as He asks of me which has brought me here.
Now, don't misunderstand me, because I am in no position at all to cast judgement on whether supernatural writing is good or bad. There is a new concern in me now, especially after a conversation I had with a bookstore owner yesterday - again the question is raised WHERE DOES IT STOP. Moreso, how far will it go before it stops? This store owner was telling me that the supernatural line is petering off now in terms of sales, and is being replaced by erotic fantasy...wow, I found that so disturbing, in a two-fold manner. Firstly because things that shouldn't even 'be' to begin with are now becoming 'okay' and 'encouraged'. And secondly because, in terms of the supernatural side of it, I WAS A PART OF IT. I may not have been published (and I thank God I wasn't) but I was there, ensconsed....how far would I have gone???
Maybe to the world it's not bad, but...
....what I have learnt is that it is bad for me. I still like the supernatural...it still interests me...perhaps like an alcoholic it will be something I will constantly be drawn back to and even crave, but it's not what God wants me to use His gift to me for. That's what God and I have battled over for several years now....well, I say battled like it's been an all-out war, but the truth of it is I've been the one battling whilst God has been patiently waiting for me to surrender to His will. I have now, by-the-way. Satan, in his cunning way, still tries to lure me back into doing what God does not want me to do...and I fear I will slip still.
I am comforted by the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 7:15-25; "15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do - this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord!
There is hope! Jesus Christ is my hope! What I have learnt is that while the world may say it's okay (and it has said!), God is telling me NO. And when He says NO He means NO. In this case good or bad is kind of irrelevant, because God is saying no...to this...for me.
And something I have noticed since I completely surrendered to God about this (and that surrender has come only in the last month and a half) - as much as I loved the 'other writing', I have never enjoyed writing as much as I am right now!
Let's pray...
Loving Heavenly Father,
You know the things we struggle with in our lives, and You know what is best for us at all times. Strengthen us as we learn to trust You about that, and surrender to Your will for us. Remind us to listen to Your guiding and loving voice, rather than the lying words of the world. In Jesus' Name, amen.
NEW MEMBER - Meet 'n' Greet....
Dearest Readers,
I am pleased to introduce and welcome Katherine Hunter to our little 'Blog-Family".
Katherine, it's such a joy to have you on board, and I pray that God blesses you and your family in many ways, including through this blog, and the interaction coming from this.
Love Toni (Jeanne) xxx
I am pleased to introduce and welcome Katherine Hunter to our little 'Blog-Family".
Katherine, it's such a joy to have you on board, and I pray that God blesses you and your family in many ways, including through this blog, and the interaction coming from this.
Love Toni (Jeanne) xxx
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