Weekend Words

 

From Be Still and Know...

"But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives he will produce this kind of fruit in us." - Galatians 5:22)

The person controlled by the Holy Spirit is becoming the person God wants him to be, developing Christlike characteristics.

As the Holy Spirit produces God's LOVE in us, it will flow through us to others.

In Him we have a JOY that is not dependent on circumstances, a joy even in adversity.

Filled with His PEACE we are untroubled in times of trials.  His peace gives a serenity of heart.

The Spirit produces LONG-SUFFERING, or patience.  Patience will then be our normal attitude towards others.

A Spirit of GENTLENESS gives us polite and gracious consideration of others.

GOODNESS has been defined as "being like God, filled with His goodness."  It is living for others instead of self.

FAITH has the meaning of faithfulness, God's faithfulness.  The Spirit will make us faithful and dependable.

MEEKNESS is submitting to God's will regardless of the situation, having His humility.  The meek are the least conscious of it.

As the long distance runner learns TEMPERANCE, or self-control, in training for the race, so the Holy Spirit brings our lives under God's control.

The Fruit of the Spirit is a nine-fold variety of fruit.  It cannot be tied on to our lives like ornaments on a Christmas tree.  Neither can it be purchased at the supermarket.  It is not the outward putting on of characteristics, nor is it produced by human ability.  The genuine fruit of the Spirit comes from within.  It is the life and character of Christ produced in us by the Holy Spirit.  He produces in us the same qualities that are in Christ.

Australian Anabaptist – Vol.3 No.1 January 2006

The Christian’s Amour – Jason Kauffman

Every morning when you get up, go to your spiritual armour closet, and clothe yourself from your head to your feet…

“Lord, I choose to wear the helmet of salvation for the protection of mind, so that I may “bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”, and I may have the mind of Christ in all that I do today. 

 I choose, dear Lord, to put on the breastplate of righteousness for the protection of my heart; not my own righteousness, which is as filthy rags, but the righteousness that issues forth from you and your holiness! 

 Father, truth is precious, truth is imperative. May my loins be girt with your truth! Thy Word is Truth! Without this Lord, I will choose to go the wrong way. 

 Father, as I venture out into a world that knows no peace, may your peace direct my feet. Our feet are so tender, but the peace of your gospel protects me from choosing an easier path, the path of compromise, complacency, and cowardice. 

 Thank you for the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Without it we are defenseless. Help me to realize that it is the Spirit’s sword, and that unless He has freedom in my life to fulfill His holy work in me, I will find myself vulnerable to the fiery darts of doubt, discouragement, and despair.  Help me, dear Father, to know how to use it defensively in resisting temptation as well as offensively using it in storming the gates of hell. 

 And oh Father, lest we forget, increase our faith, help our unbelief, give us strength to raise high the shield of faith. We are just asking for the simple childlike faith that strengthens us to obey what you clearly ask us to do. In the Holy name of our Captain, the Lord Jesus, Amen!”

(Photos from a walk by the river last week)

Weekend Words

 From Beside the Still Waters...

A Powerful Sermon - Part 1 

Read: Matthew 5:1-6, Ephesians 4:22-32

"And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying..." Matthew 5:2

The Sermon on the Mount is perhaps the most powerful sermon ever preached.  An all-powerful God/man was proclaiming the all-powerful truth.  Sermons of normal men are powerful if preached under the direction of the Holy spirit.  Herein lies their only power.  Preachers must maintain complete spirit-consciousness and little or no self-consciousness.  Only then can they express Christ's will to their fellow men.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit," Jesus said.  With these words He taught the spirit of selflessness that He Himself exemplified.  We are poor in spirit when we feel utterly destitute before God.  We have no confidence in the flesh, are empty of self, and are broken on the Rock, Christ Jesus.  Then we are blessed, and the kingdom of Heaven is ours.

"Blessed are they that mourn."  This mourning refers to sorrow for our sins.  In Jesus' first preaching He said, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17).  We respond and are blessed with forgiveness, comfort, and peace.

Blessed are the meek."  To be meek is to be simple in our spirit.  It means being quiet, modest, humble, and gentle.  Meekness does not merely say, "God knows, and He will have the final word."  It also shows by action, "I am satisfied to let God work things out to His glory."

"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness."  How can we be blessed (happy) when we are hungry or thirsty?  When our hunger is for righteousness, the answer is already on the way.  God always answers this cry immediately.  The hungry and thirsty shall not only obtain righteousness but shall be filled and running over with it.

John Baer - Sexsmith, AB

Jesus is preaching.  Are we listening?

A Powerful Sermon - Part 2

Read: Matthew 5:7-12, Philippians 2:1-11

"Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven." - Matthew 5:12

The Sermon on the Mount is not only a powerful sermon; it is a powerful way to live.

"Blessed are the merciful."  Mercy towards others brings spiritual dividends to ourselves.  "For he shall have judgement without mercy, that has shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgement" (James 2:13).  Quick judgement without mercy is ungodly.  The Lord Himself is "merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy" (Psalm 103:8)

:Blessed are the pure in heart."  Christ's children are pure and sincere in everything.  Their pure hearts find perfect peace in freedom from guilt.  They are cathedrals where no images or stained glass windows are found, but where Christ dwells.  Here are no hiding places, for all is "naked and open" before the eyes of our God (Hebrews 4:13).  Are we trying to hide anything?

"Blessed are the peacemakers."  The world cries, "Peace, peace" where there is no peace (Jeremiah 6:14).  But peacemakers pursue the troubled, as 1 Peter 3:11 gives instruction: "Seek peace, and ensue it."  (To ensue is to pursue.)  Early in any growing conflict we must seek to settle what threatens to develop into war and division.  Before angry words pass our lips, let's think of Jesus.

"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake."  We need to speak up for Christ regardless of the world's hatred for Him and us.  Happy are the suffering ones who speak of Christ, forgive as Christ did, and show love to the haters of truth even when reviled for Christ's sake.  These have cause for abounding joy and even for literal bounding as Jesus said in Luke 6:23: "Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven."

John Baer - Sexsmith, AB

Jesus is preaching.  Are we obeying?

Weekend Words

From Be Still and Know...

"By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandments." (Hebrews 11:23)

When a baby boy was born to Jochebed and Amram, the joy of having him was overshadowed by a decree issued by Pharaoh that all Hebrew baby boys must be killed.

But Jochebed and Amram had a deep faith in God.  They knew the God in whom they trusted was greater than the king who had issued the decree.  BY FAITH they committed their little one to God's care.

When the baby could no longer be hidden, Jochebed placed him in a basket among the reeds at the river's edge.  Miriam, his sister, hid nearby to watch him.  Having done all she could to protect him, Jochebed trusted him to God for safekeeping.  Someone has said, "Jochebed worked as though everything depended on her and trusted as though God must do it all."

Later, when the princess came to the river, she found the baby.  Miriam offered to secure a nurse and went for the baby's mother.  What joy filled the mother's heart as the princess placed him in her care until he grew older. Jochebed realized her responsibility for teaching him about the living God in whom she and Amram believed.  During the formative years he was in her care, she instilled into his little life a faith in God.  Need we wonder at the faith of Moses after being reared in a home with parents who trusted God so completely.

Today the world is in need of homes built upon a faith in the living God.

What strength there is in a home where the Bible is read, where prayer is a daily habit!  What God can do in a home where He is given control!  Who can measure the power and influence of such homes where their members trust God and have a close walk of faith with Him!

Even one person in a home who believes God and lives by faith, can have a great influence upon it.

May our lives be a great spiritual strength in our homes today.

From Amish Peace...

Truth Talks

"Take control of what I say, O Lord, and guard my lips." - Psalm 141:3

When I first became a Christian, I discovered that one of the hardest habits to break was allowing unkind words to spout from my lips.  For many years I'd filled my mind with wicked, idle, and unclean thoughts, and they usually pushed through my lips when I felt anger or frustration.  In time, and with many prayers and much confession, I began to gain control of my words, but it wasn't easy.

The Amish teach their children that their thoughts will direct their speech, their conduct, and their entire way of life.  This is discussed in the devotional book Rules of a Godly Life, which is commonly used in conjunction with the Bible in Amish homes:

If you desire in honorable company to be joyful take care that your merriment prove worthy of Christian love, purity, and respectability.  Avoid, therefore, rude insults, mocking speech, indecent words, and filthy jokes of which respectable people would be ashamed.  First, because lewd conversation of this sort is outward proof of an unregenerate heart; "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matthew 12:34).  Second, because smutty humor and immodest words smooth the road to dishonorable deeds.

One of the best ways to develop strength of character is to learn how to control your tongue.  This starts by guarding what enters your mind.  As one of my school teachers use to say, "Garbage in, garbage out."  If you don't fill your mind with garbage, then you won't have to worry about it slipping out in your words or actions.

Second, when the abundance of our hearts grows from the truth that is centered on Jesus, who is the Truth, lies will have no place on our tongues because we will be busy "rejoicing in the truth" (see 1 Corinthians 13:6).  Living in the light of the truth will give us minds of gratitude.  It will promise righteous thinking and holy living.  And that will helps us to guard our words.

Dear heavenly Father, give me a passion for the truth.  Fill me so full of it that it's what spills out first in every situation.

On the home front...

 Meet my new fur baby Freya...

she's 6 months old and from the cat shelter.  She was a stray, now she lives in luxury :)

Not only does she like my kitchen chairs...

she also likes to sit by the front window so she can watch the birds in the garden

or the back mud/sun room window and watch the birds :)

And when I'm not learning to live by her new rules, there is cooking to be done...

Here's the recipe...

I used plain Greek yoghurt as I didn't have any buttermilk, and the second time I made them I used grated apple instead of carrot and added some white choc chips

Reading my way through (and enjoying)  this series based on Mennonite history...

reading book 2 - The Brickmakers

Knitting scarves for the Christmas Child Shoe boxes...

  Marnie's church are packing the shoeboxes and have asked for scarves.  I have till the end of the month to get as many as I can knitted.

Another walk with Marnie last week...

I'll leave you with this little poem I read this week...

Side by Side

When good friends walk beside us

On the trails that we must keep

Our burdens seem less heavy

And the hills are not so steep

The weary miles pass swiftly 

Taken in a joyous stride

And all the world seems brighter

When friends walk by our side.

- Author Unknown

(photo credit: Bill Coleman)

I hope you all have a friend to walk by your side...

xx

Weekend Words

 Both readings from  A Year's Journey with God...

Clean Exercise Books

See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? - Isaiah 43:19

This time of year always reminds me of going back to school after the summer holidays.  Moving up to a new class, perhaps, or even a new school with a new uniform.  I actually loathed school so I hastily rejected all those memories, but I did love being given new exercise books.  All last year's blots, crossings-out or rude comments from teachers had been thrown away; now all I had before me were endless clean, blank pages waiting to receive the brilliant compositions I was determined to produce that year.

Fortunately we don't have to wait a year to make a new start with God; He gives us a new exercise book every morning: 'Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!' (2 Corinthians 5:17)

It is so important to remember that we have a God who loves New Beginnings, especially when life feels empty or merely a repetitive grind.  Unfortunately God doesn't always change our circumstances, but He really can change the way we feel about them.  Rather than being under our circumstances He wants us to expect Him to give us all kinds of gifts and blessings in the circumstances!  And to expect new ones every day!

"Sometimes He takes away that which is most precious so that into the void of a life that is utterly broken He may pour the glory of His indwelling love." - Dr Alan Redpath (1907-89)

A New Challenge

The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart'...'Ah, Sovereign Lord,' I said, 'I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.'  But the Lord said to me, 'Do not say, "I am only a child."  You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you.  Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,' declares the Lord.  Then the Lord reached out His hand and touched my mouth and said to me, 'Now, I have put my words in your mouth.' - Jeremiah 1:4-9

Is the Lord calling you into a new chapter of your life?  Asking you to take on some new role or sending you to a new place among strangers?  Perhaps you feel a bit daunted, and you're wondering how you'll cope?  Jeremiah probably felt like that too, but all God needed was the 'yes' in his heart - He did the rest!

When I started out in public ministry I felt like jelly - until I met an old lady called Isabel Macdonald.  She founded a worldwide organisation which has blessed thousands of young women, the Girl Crusader Union.  I told her how I felt and she quietly replied, 'Our only qualification for service is to know your own utter inadequacy, and to know and rely on His total adequacy.'  That little sentence turned my jelly into steel.

God calls no-one to a special ministry of service for Him without providing the resources by which that ministry can be accomplished.  And remember this - no matter the task ahead of you, it is never as great as the power behind you. - Selwyn Hughes