6 things we cannot do without

 

Somehow this coronavirus has changed nearly everything for us - working life, family contacts, church activities, shopping patterns and much more. We are really missing some of these, but we are learning to cope and are adapting remarkably well. When things get back to (more) normal, will we still benefit from the lessons we are learning just now?

 

We are learning that there are many things we can do without, and that many other things are more important than we thought, things that perhaps we have been taking for granted. For example:

Helping others!

All photos courtesy of Unsplash 

Everyone needs an uplift especially when things in life seem to be going wrong.  During the American Civil War Abraham Lincoln the President had many decisions to make and a lot of issues to deal with. There came a time when things were not going well for the Northern cause and many people were turning up at the White House with complaints or to give the leader every sort of advice on how he should act.  The pressure and stress upon the President was enormous.

One day a friend came to the White House named Billy Brown. He had grown up with Abraham Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois.  He approached  the entrance and was stopped by an aide who enquired whether he had an appointment to see the President.  In those more informal days Billy said that he had no appointment and that he didn’t actually need one as the President would be happy to see him without a previous arrangement.  The aide looked somewhat dubious but went in to the President and said that a Billy Brown was outside.  In about two minutes the aide returned and immediately behind him was President Abraham Lincoln.  He was so pleased to see his old friend and clasped his hand. Billy was then invited to stay for evening meal with the President and his wife Mary.

Does God care? Yes, God has time for you.

Does God Care?

This time of the year can be a lonely time for many people! Everyone has their family, or do they? There are a lot of people about who are very private and keep themselves to themselves. They would not trouble anyone with their problems and would not presume that anyone else is interested.

I have news for anyone who is reading this who thinks like that. I know someone who is interested in you; the Lord Jesus. He is recorded as saying in the Gospel of John – ‘I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly‘.

Death - Can you really face it with hope?

Death seems hopeless but let me remind you that even in a hopeless situation there is hope to be found in Jesus.

Facing Death

From time to time I visit people who are sick. Sometimes I call at their homes, but often I pop into the hospital to see them. Hospitals can be very sad places. The circumstances and struggles of life and the prospect of facing death are often confronted head-on in a hospital.

Nurses, Doctors, Porters and Cleaners are often amazing people. Their skills and abilities far exceed the basic requirement to clean, transport and provide medical care. Usually, it is these unrecognized people who have a kind word to say and the ability to encourage, amuse and lift a person’s spirit. They are quite an amazing group of people.

Anti-bullying Week - 15-19th November 2021

 

This week is anti-bullying week. It's an annual event since the problem never goes away. Different bullies, different victims, same old story each time…

Caring for Caterpillars

This story seems incredible but is true. Two friends of mine were one day walking through a park in the West Midlands, when they came, as one does, to a park bench.  One of them looked down and saw a caterpillar and for some reason his attention became locked upon that small creature making its way along the bench.  They both stopped, as they obviously did not have much to do that day, and watched the caterpillar.

The creature walked along the bench or crawled (whatever caterpillars do) and would stop, turn around and go back again and they became fascinated with what they saw.  They started to make noises and their excited words started to attract attention from people passing by. Eventually a lady hearing them being so clearly excited came over and said, ‘What are you looking at?”  They said, “The caterpillar!”  Her response was, “Is that all.” and she picked up the caterpillar and hurled it into the lake.

Caught by his own camera

Photos courtesy of Unsplash 

In recent years, many car drivers have installed dashboard cameras, so that, if they are involved in an accident, the footage can be used to help establish liability. 

The trend has also been taken up by some cyclists, who have cameras fitted, not only for use in case of accidents, but also for recording careless driving by motorists. The photographic evidence is then forwarded to the authorities, and those who pose a danger to cyclists can be prosecuted, even if no collision has occurred. 

A couple of years ago, a cyclist in Ireland successfully implicated two drivers by this method. However, to his dismay, the investigators, on examining his video, found that he too had been guilty of breaking the law during his journey, and he was prosecuted, along with the drivers he had filmed.

What would you give for a Sports Car?

All photos courtesy of Unsplash 

A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.

As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box. Curious, but somewhat disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible, with the young man's name embossed in gold. Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said, "With all your money you give me a Bible?" He then stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible on his father’s desk.

Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and a wonderful family, but realizing his father was very old, he thought perhaps he should go to see him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could make the arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.

When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search through his father's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. As he was reading, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words... "PAID IN FULL".

Sometimes the packaging can be deceptive. Every year in December we commemorate the birth of a child who came in humility – born into a working class family and laid in a manger.

To the religious and influential of His day, this child was unacceptable because, in their eyes, He came packaged wrongly.  In their judgement He was from the wrong place, brought up in the wrong family, and taught things that clashed with their traditions. They wanted a king born in a palace to become their Messiah and they could not accept a humble servant as their king.

Sadly even today people find the servant heart of the Lord Jesus Christ unacceptable. He just does not fit in with their expectations. 

On the other hand, the ones who discover His true worth discover the reality of the words, “To those who received Him, to them gave He the authority to become the children of God.”

Written by Stephen Treseder For Messages with Meaning (18/04/21) and Your542Day

Barriers to coming to God

All photos courtesy of Unsplash 

Many things in life are barriers; we might find that our lack of skills or qualifications can be a barrier to work progression. Maybe an incident has happened in life that makes it difficult to be friends with someone; a barrier exists.

After God gave the 10 commandments to Moses, the people agreed to keep them; however, before Moses could return from Mount Sinai's summit, the Israelites had broken at least one of the commandments by worshipping a golden calf instead of the true God. Their sin became a barrier between them and God.

They failed to live up to God’s standards, so He stated that they should bring a sacrifice to Him when they sinned.

What if God really does care?

Photo by Bonnie Kittle on Unsplash

Photo by Aditya Romansa on Unsplash

Photo by L N on Unsplash

DOES GOD CARE?

Do you ever wonder why a God of love could allow all the tragedies that occur in the world? Does it anger you that so many people seem to suffer for no apparent reason?

 

A Hymn about Prayer by William Cowper

By William Cowper (1779) 

What various hindrances we meet

In coming to a mercy seat;

Yet who that knows the worth of prayer,

But wishes to be often there.

Prayer makes the darkened cloud withdraw,

Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw;

Gives exercise to faith and love,

Brings every blessing from above.

*Restraining prayer, we cease to fight;

Prayer makes the Christian’s armor bright;

And Satan trembles, when he sees

The weakest saint upon his knees.*

While Moses stood with arms spread wide,

Success was found on Israel’s side;

But when through weariness they failed,

That moment Amalek prevailed.

Have you no words? Ah, think again,

Words flow apace when you complain;

And fill your fellow creature’s ear

With the sad tale of all your care.

Were half the breath thus vainly spent,

To Heav’n in supplication sent;

Your cheerful song would oft’ner be,

Hear what the Lord has done for me

One person who cares for you!

This time of the year can be a lonely time for many people! Everyone has their family, or do they? There are a lot of people about who are very private and keep themselves to themselves. They would not trouble anyone with their problems and would not presume that anyone else is interested. 

I have news for anyone who is reading this who thinks like that. I know someone who is interested in you; his name is the Lord Jesus. He is recorded as saying in the Gospel of John - 'I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly'. The Bible also states that God 'is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance'.

The Lord Jesus is personally interested in each one of us. For no other reason than He wants the best for you. If you doubt that then read one of the four Gospels in the New Testament part of the Bible. The record about Jesus says that 'He went about doing good'. For three years for He dispensed the blessing and forgiveness of God to the people He met. He healed them both physically and spiritually. By doing this He was proving that God is interested. That God is caring! That God has time for you! Even His amazing miracles demonstrate that God cares. The one who can heal the body can save the soul!

You can quietly come to Him, by praying to Him, wherever you are. We have all sinned against God and need His forgiveness. When we agree with God that we have disobeyed His commandments and ask for His forgiveness then He will save us.

Why and how you may ask?

Why - because we are in danger. God is just and must judge wrong. Your sin has consequences because breaking God's law is damaging. Just as fire burns so sin hurts and has ongoing consequences. This is why we need God to intervene.

God can save us from future punishment in Hell because His Son, Jesus died on the cross for our sins. The Bible says 'Christ died for the ungodly'. He died for you, and I, and can forgive us because He took the punishment for sin. The fact that Jesus is sinless and perfect means that He qualified to pay the price on our behalf.

When you believe you will receive salvation - why not believe today. It works - He saved me and has been with me for fifty years now.

To access podcasts and videos explaining the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

This site will give you access to Bible Teaching Audio's and Video's as well

To access podcasts and videos explaining the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

This site will give you access to Bible Teaching Audio's and Video's as well

Does God care?

Did you ever wonder why a God of love would allow the tragedies that occur in the world? Does it anger you that so many people seem to suffer innocently?  

When people suffer they generally question whether God really cares and is a ‘God of Love’. This may be a natural reaction as no-one wants to suffer in any way. I must tell you that it was never God’s intention that the human race should suffer. When God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden it was a place of tranquility and peace, in fact everything ‘in the garden was rosy’. They personally enjoyed the blessing of God and were there to develop a prosperous earth and to have total control of everything on the planet. Their circumstances could not have been more idyllic.

So why are things so bad now?  To answer this question we must consider God’s relationship with our ‘first parents’ at the beginning of human history. There was no suffering of any kind – WHY? Because there was no SIN! The human will and the right to make a free choice had not yet been used to disobey the commands of God. This however did happen very early in human history and sin became a reality. The Bible puts it very clearly; ‘by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned’. Adam had been well warned of the awful consequences of disobedience: distance between man and God, human suffering of every kind and ultimately death. The physical world would also be affected which we can now see in the current evidences of a deteriorating planet.

The Bible record teaches us that the initial cause of suffering does not lie with God, it lies with man. It is the result of man’s fallen and sinful nature which we all inherited from our ‘first parents’. Our suffering is as hurtful to God as it is to us because God not only sees our temporary sufferings but he knows that if we die without his salvation we will suffer for ever in hell. We are powerless to solve the problem of sin but God took great delight in providing ‘the solution’. The evidence of God’s love is that He sent His Son, Jesus ‘into the world to save sinners’. Why Jesus? Because the person who died for sin had to be sinless! There was only one person who qualified – God’s own Son, Jesus. By his death Lord Jesus paid the price for sin and as a result God can offer forgiveness to everyone. One of the reasons the Lord Jesus ‘rose again’ on the third day was to prove that God was satisfied with the work that he had done.

A final question! Why doesn’t God sort it all out now? Can’t He remove sickness and suffering and make life a lot more pleasant for all of us? Why does he not act in justice now instead of at the end of time? There is no one short answer to this question but here are a few of the reasons why things are the way they are.

1.     The death of the Lord Jesus at Calvary laid the foundation for a full and final solution. You can enjoy personal salvation now but you still have to live in a world of sin until you die or the Lord Jesus comes back.

2.     God has not yet judged the world or removed sin from the world because He is still offering salvation to people. When He withdraws the offer of salvation He will judge the world and all the other effects of sin will be dealt with at the same time.

3.     The final reason is that people often learn lessons through the hard circumstances of life and they can miss what God is saying to them when life is smooth and easy.

In closing – will you take up God’s offer of forgiveness? To do so you need to be deeply aware of your sin and admit to God that you have wronged him. The next step is to turn from your sin (reject it and leave it behind) and believe in (trust in) the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only one who can offer you forgiveness. ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved’.

To verify this information please read the following passages in the Bible (Romans 5.12, Acts 17.22-31, Acts 16.31)

To access podcasts and videos explaining the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

This site will give you access to Bible Teaching Audio's and Video's as well.

The Key to Life - 1 John 1:1-4 (the Bible)

The key to joy, eternal life, forgiveness, peace with God and salvation is only to be found in one person - Jesus Christ. The record of his life and the truth concerning salvation through his name is only found in the word of God, the Bible.

1 John 1King James Version (KJV)

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

For links to videos, podcasts and blogs explaining the 

message of the gospel of Jesus Christ visit 

www.seekthetruth.org.uk

The Solution to Despair!

There are a lot of people about who are very private and keep themselves to themselves. They would not trouble anyone with their problems and would not presume that anyone else is interested. Well I have news for anyone who is reading this who thinks like that. I know someone who is interested in you; his name is the Lord Jesus. He is recorded as saying in the Gospel of John - 'I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly'. The Bible also states that God 'is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance'.

The Bible is packed full of statements expressing God's love for the individual - For God so loved the world, Come unto me all who are weary.... The genuine nature of God's love is that it is backed with action. The breath you breath, the sun that shines, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus are all proof of that.

The ultimate proof is that the Lord Jesus is interested in our lives as individuals. If you doubt that then read one of the four Gospels in the New Testament part of the Bible. The record says about Jesus that 'he went about doing good'. He spend his energy for three years bringing the blessing and forgiveness of God to the people he met. He healed them both physically and spiritually. By doing this he was proving that the God who can heal the body can save the soul. And by the way all of the works, blessings and miracles of Jesus were to individuals. He is interested in you!

You can come to him, quietly, where you are, by praying to him. We have all sinned against God and need his forgiveness. When we agree with God that we have disobeyed his commandments and ask for his forgiveness then He will save us.

Why and how you may ask? He can save us from his future punishment in Hell because his Son, Jesus died on the cross for our sins. The Bible says 'Christ died for the ungodly'. He died for you and I and can forgive us because he took the punishment for sin.

When you believe you will receive salvation - why not believe today? It works - he saved me and has been with me for nearly fifty years now.

For more information and further explanations of the message of the bible via videos, blogs and podcasts please visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

Child Care Policy - STT Bible Media Blogs

The way to come to God!

Note the expression in verse 15. If a person is going to be saved, that is become a Christian, they need to submit to God's authority (receive the kingdom of God) as a little child. 

This means we come dependant upon God, trusting Him, respecting and loving Him and recognising that God is wise, strong, caring and has our best interests in His heart. 

Salvation is of the Lord. Faith is in God. Grace comes from God. Our part is to turn to God confessing our sin and resting on Jesus Christ for salvation. 

Will you come to God as a child or are you too grown up to trust Him for your eternal destiny. 

Mark 10:13-31

And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.

But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.

And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?

And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.

Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.

And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.

Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.

And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!

And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?

And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.

Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.

And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's,

But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.

But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.