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Hang on or let go?

“If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭9‬:‭24‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Why is the Lord wanting me to give up today? The right to an opinion? The right to honour? The right to place? Jesus was the firstborn to Mary and Joseph, however His siblings rejected His claim that He was the Messiah, in fact most of His home town did. They were so offended they wanted to throw Him off a cliff. Now, that is rejection! Jesus promised that we, His disciples, would be rejected by family, some given up to death by family. We see this a lot in the Muslim world and somewhat in the Hindu world. Around the above passage Jesus was teaching His disciples that they must take up their cross daily and follow Him. A person who is about to be crucified had the cross beam placed on their shoulders to carry. It was not voluntary, but rather compulsory. The people to whom Jesus spoke understood the cross. They knew the shame associated with the cr...
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Freedom

“For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.” ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬ What have I been set free from? Sin! The consequences of it and the bondage to it! As much as sin wants ro entrap me to do its will, I have been set free to walk in the freedom from it, bought for me by my saviour Jesus Christ. Being set free from the trap I must now live for the one who set me free, not selfishly gratifying my fleshly nature. My sinful nature is ever screaming for satisfaction. It is wicked to the core. It would have me live in bitterness, ingratitude, selfishness, pride, arrogance and more. This is the life I must daily crucify. I have new life through Christ. I have His Holy Spirit living within to empower and guide me. I can choose the fruit of the Spirit over that of the flesh! Amen! https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=is_ccOVNOgU&si=S1xy5j2t-G7t8Y6g
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A holy life

“Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.” Hebrews‬ ‭12‬:‭14‬ ‭NLT‬‬   This is a scary scripture. Without holiness we do not see the Lord. Holiness is separation from the things of the world to things of God. Do we get this? Holiness is not just saying we are Christians, going to church and reading our bibles. If we do not allow the words we read to change us and draw us apart from worldly living we do not see God. Jesus told us to take up our cross and follow Him. What is our cross? Dying to selfishness, refusing to react, refusing to pay back. It is following Him and learning the ways of a disciple. If people in the world cannot see the difference between us and them, we have a problem. Our first problem is we have deceived ourselves. We are walking in darkness and not the light. Our second problem is we do not get to see God. We will hear, “begone from Me you who practice lawlessness!” (Matt 7:23). T...
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Trust

“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭26‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Putting all things in the Lord’s hands is the safest thing to do. When you itch to take revenge, to laah out at those who hurt, don’t! He is able to keep you and take care of you! We see in war Israel and America strike back when Iran strikes them. They do so with such violence the enemy is devastated. I am not judging them for this, just illustrating a point. The opposite is the Arab nations. When Iran attacked them, they did not retaliate. I wonder why? I know war is different, but why did the arabs not strike back? They wanted to avoid all out war with Iran. However, Iran wants to completely destroy Israel and America. They are driven by intense hate. Jesus allowed men driven by intense hate for Himself to crucify Him, because it was part of a plan to redeem all mankind. There is coming a day when He...
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Rejoice and be patient

“Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.” Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭12‬ ‭NLT‬‬ I am staying with family at present, in Brisbane. My son and his family are moving to another house on 7/7. The current house is a mess with packing and painting. I am sleeping on a mattress on the floor in a room that was the rumpus room. I rejoice as it has more light than where I am normally housed, on the floor in the theatre. Yes, this house has a theatre to watch movies. It has no windows and is constantly dark. In this room I have light. I rejoice! My son’s wife will not allow me to help in any way, the best way I can help is be invisible. I know I could do so much but that is not required. So, I sit and knit or read. Tomorrow my son and his wife go to Cairns to visit a friend. Then I can do and care for the grandkids. Meanwhile I must be patient and rejoice! Amen! I rejoice that my name is written in the Lamb’s book of life! I rejoice that I have the Holy Spirit living within! ...
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Bless

“Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.”  Luke‬ ‭6‬:‭28‬ ‭NLT‬‬ In this world we have plenty of opportunities to practise this. Yesterday I caught a train that was supposed to go to a certain town and we were all taken off the train and bussed. There was bedlam. Bus drivers had been brought in and the train staff were given the role of sorting us into busses, except the information they were given was not thorough. Two of us had no one to take us and drivers were disputing who had to take us. Finally we arrived at the station. We then had three hours to wait for our next train. I went for a walk and brought food. The other traveller was a young man who had broken up with his partner and had no money. I shared. He was grateful! Once on the train I found myself in a carriage with a crazy electric door. People had to go through our carriage to the cafe. The door banged all night and even opened and banged when going around corners. We were rudely awaken around 1 am an...
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Peace and safety

“In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe.” Psalms‬ ‭4‬:‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Trusting in the Lord alone is the best strategy. Other can and will fail you. People remember being double booked; a sudden, urgent need etc but with God He is always present and never later than He intends, not as  I demand. David was a warrior and constantly had enemies to fight. In this psalm he addresses God, then his enemies and then himself. He knows only God is faithful! Amen! Today I travel by train to Brisbane. I am looking for people to talk to. I am trusting God to keep me safe. He is good!
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