Carol’s Blog

No Retirement

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‘And you will be a blessing,’ Genesis 12:2. This was God’s message to Abram; he wasn’t to keep his talents to himself, they were to be shared. We read at the beginning of the Old Testament that Abraham was certainly a blessing to many.

We too, have many talents and abilities and they are to be used as a blessing to others. What about you and me? I don’t know about you, I only know about me. I recall the opportunities I have had to serve the Lord during my life; but now because of age, my active serving is limited. But there is no such thing as retirement for Christians! I have a Whatsapp group of 18 church members to whom I send a Biblical text each day (modern technology is great.) So God is still using me. Praise the Lord.

I have more time to write. (I read more, all writers must read a lot) I have small opportunities to get my work published which would never have happened years ago. There are a number of musicians who died and left unfinished work and artists who died with unfinished work. I expect I’ll be one of those.

As our countrey’s retirement age goes up, remember there is no retirement for Christians.

The Promised Land

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‘When I see Thee as Thou art, I’ll praise Thee as I ought.’ I know that these words are old-fashioned (well, they were written at turn of the 18th century) but the meaning is perfectly clear. It reminds us of how shallow and weak is our own praise and adoration of God when He has done so much for us. In the words of another hymn ‘Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.’

‘Blessed are the things that are unseen. John 20:28-29. Oh, its all quotes today! We are very much living in this world. ‘I see the sights that dazzle, the tempting sounds I hear’, from the hymn ‘Oh Jesus I have promised written by John Ernest Bode. To us thoughts of a future heaven seem very much in the future, maybe 50,40,30 or 20 years away.

But the prospects of heaven are as real, if not more real, than life here and now. We only see things through a veil now, but then face to face. We never know when the date will be when we leave this life and enter the next. Daily, we need to be ready, we must not lose our expectation of heaven, it’s just round the corner. Imagine, no more pain, that would be welcome; no more partings, they are so sad.

Sibling Rivalry

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Children love the story of David and Goliath, where right overcomes wrong (1 Samuel 17). David, the young shepherd is pitted against this giant of the Philistines with a fearful reputation. Clearly the Philistines except him to beat and kill any opposition. Such was their ignorance and lack of knowledge of Israel’s God.

I love the personal touch we have in this story – verse 28-29. David’s oldest brother Eliab seems to resent the appearance of David onto the battlefield. ‘Why have you come down here and with whom did you leave those sheep in the wilderness?’ David’s answer is that of a bullied younger brother ‘Now what have I done, can’t I even speak.’ verse 29. I think there were times when my younger brother might have said the same thing about me. Ouch. If Eliab was so resentful of David even turning up on the battlefield, how would he have felt when David actually killed Goliath!

Rivalry and sparring in young children is fairly harmless. How often does one child hit or punch their brother or sister when they think no-one is looking? Sibling rivalry in adults is more serious. Brother fighting brother or sister against sister is great fodder for the story teller, but its not only in fiction, it happens in real life too,.

Jesus came to bring peace. May we love and appreciate our blood brothers and sisters and our brothers and sisters in Christ.

What’s in a Name?

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I belong to a group of about thirty ladies who meet once a fortnight. Four of these ladies are called ‘Kathleen’ which causes a great deal confusion. When talking about one particular Kathleen we have to be clear which one we are talking about. They are different ages and different nationalities. Last year a Kathleen left us, but almost immediately another Kathleen joined. We call her ‘New Kathleen.’

There is Kathleen P, who is just known as Kathleen P., Kath O’B is Irish, so that helps. The fourth lady is the widow of an Iranian man, but his complicated surname is too difficult to pronounce. If we hear that Kathleen is on holiday in New Zealand, we have to further enquire which Kathleen we are talking about.

God does not have any such problem. He knows each one if us individually and by name, even if there are thousands and thousands of people with the same name. He knows each one of us and everything about us. There is no confusion with God. Our names are written on His hands. And what is more He loves and redeems us individually and uniquely. Praise the :Lord

A Prayer

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Oh Lord, today, I pray that I may do Your will and that my delight may be in serving You. May I love what You love and abhor what You abhor. I ask that You will direct my ways in paths of obedience. May I take pleasure in pleasing You.

I bring to You my sins and failings of yesterday. As I bring them to You I ask for forgiveness. May my remembrance of past follies lead me to ask for more wisdom, wisdom for the days ahead.

As I think of the sad conditions all round the globe, I realise what a mess we’ve made of Your beautiful world. You are not asking us to cope with every calamity but we ask that You will show us the task waiting for each one of us. Show us where our light should be shining.

We bring to You our friends and families, You can care for them with a care we never can.

Finally we ask that the glory of God will cover the earth as the water’s cover the sea.

Amen

Forgiven

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King David made a terrible mess of his life. Committing adultery and then arranging murder was bad even by the standards of his world. By God’s standard, who abhors sin, it was terrible. But when we think of David today, we don’t think of his failures. We take strength from his many psalms and the successes of his later life. His story is not one of failure, it is one of triumph through God’s power.

David wasn’t alone in getting life wrong. Abraham lied about his wife, Moses struck the rock in anger. Gideon doubted God and used a fleece, Elijah became afraid and hid in the desert. And Paul persecuted Christians with as much power and authourity as he could.

What all these people had in common was that they didn’t let their mistakes define their lives. With God’s help and forgiveness they moved on. Our remembrance of these people is success in their Christian life not failure. They are not known as Abraham, the liar, David, the murderer, , or Gideon, the doubter. They sought God’s forgiveness and moved on.

What about us? We all have mistakes from our past. (I certainly have!) But God has forgiven us, we no longer need to carry the burden of our sin and failure. We are thoroughly forgiven.

“Jesus Wept”

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I hardly dare to type these words; they are so profound and deep. The creator of the universe is weeping human tears and showing His human emotions. His tears are for others and not for Himself. Tears are a deep emotion and Jesus weeps for the state of the world and for the fact that death has sway. It is death He has come to conquer.

I wonder if Jesus still weeps in heaven; our world is in such a mess, If He notices the fall of a sparrow, He surely weeps over the death of a child through war. He must shed tears for those in danger and in pain. Oh, that our hearts would break at the troubles of the world. May we never become hardened to sorrow.

It is terrible to hear the above words used as a swear word. It is said by people with no thought of Jesus or the fact of Him crying. Even though there is no thought, the words have still been uttered and James reminds us of the power of words.

I have no control over what people say or think. When I hear these swear words, I always protest and get into trouble for doing so. In vain I try to explain something of the gospel and God’s love. I cannot remain silent. If someone spoke badly of my best friend, I would complain; how much more should I do so when Jesus is spoken of in this way. (well, Jesus is my best friend) May the Lord forgive us.

Lost and Found

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The Bible is full of lost people – The Israelites enslaved in Egypt and then seeking the Promised Land – the Prodigal Son who lost his way from the safety of his loving family. At one time or other we are all lost until we find rescue in Jesus. Life often leads us astray and at other times we are lost by our own wrong actions.

When the Israelites fled Egypt, I’m told they had a journey of a few weeks days How did a journey of a few weeks become forty years? The answer is disobedience What a sombre thought that our wanderings might take forty years in wasted wilderness living! There is a Chinese saying ‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.’ What if this one step is in the wrong direction?

‘Prone to wonder, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love,’ from Robert Robertson’s ‘Come Thou font of every blessing.’ . I’m reminded of a chorus by E.H. Swinstead ‘ There’s a way back to God, from the dark road of sin. There’s a door that is open and you may go in. At Calvery’s cross is where you begin, when you come as a sinner to Jesus/’

It’s never too late to be found by God again; He is always waiting and welcoming.

Resentment

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When the Prodigal Son left home, I wonder what his brother’s feelings were. He may have thought ‘Good riddance, he never did any work.’ Any day when the work was particularly heavy or things went wrong he had more bitter thoughts about his brother who was probably having a ‘whale of a time.’ Money to spend on the farm would not have been plentiful as one share had been taken out.

This resentment would have been a daily occurrence as he had also lost his father. Every day the old man was out scanning the horizon. ‘When was his son coming home?’ No longer would there be cozy evenings round the fire, the three men discussing the business of the day. The band of friendship had been broken. Even his mother would be heart-broken at losing a son and the companionship of a husband.

The bitterness was growing day by day and erupted on the day of the lad’s return. ‘You never even gave me a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.’ Luke 15:29. One could almost feel sympathy for the older brother!. But bitterness and resentment are insidious traits, they build up to a boiling point. Could we gradually be having these feelings, bit by bit, without realising it. Resentment is a bitter enemy.

Ascension Day

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This is the day that Jesus left His earthly home and ascended back to heaven, What must the disciples have thought! They had just asked the question ‘Lord, at this time are You going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ Acts 1:6. As we would say, they just didn’t get it. Jesus was standing among them and then He wasn’t. Since they’d been following Jesus they’d witnessed many astonishing things. This would have been pretty high up on the list.

They would have looked at each other in amazement and bewilderment. Then they might begin to remember some of the things that Jesus had said to them. Slowly they probably began to understand a little bit. They had a few weeks to wait for the Holy Spirit to descent on them. Gradually they would remember His words.

This small band of men were the beginning of Christianity. These frightened men would receive the power to become strong and fearless. For over 2,000 year their message has been spread right round the world to billions and billions of people who have believed it and some have died for it. We pray that under God’s guidance we may do our bit to become part of that growth and expansion.