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Fear of the Lord

“Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Respect for who God is the beginning of knowledge. Treating Him like a genie does not work. Treating Him like a doting parent also fails. He is the God who created all things. The vastness of the universe is His. Yes He has called us to be sons and daughters along with His Son, but remember what His Son was willing to do in obedience to Him. This morning I am confronted with the bigness of what God has called me to do. He reminds me of Moses. Whilst I am 72, Moses was 80. He had a cushy, well, comfortable job tending sheep in the backside of the desert. He had all day out of the house and alone with the sheep. He did not want the job of confronting Pharaoh or shepherding 1,000,000+ recalcitrant Israelis. Scripture show us how he dragged his heels. I can relate! God has an unusual sense of humour but He knows His plans and He knows us well. Like Moses I do not want...
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Flesh or spirit

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭22‬-‭23‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Is fruit something we just talk about or are really engaged in producing. Are they relevant to the Christian life? If the fruit of the Holy Spirit working in our lives is absent, then what are we? walking lies? Jesus told His disciples to take up their cross and follow Him. A cross crucifies. We must crucify our flesh. Paul goes on the say: “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.”  Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭24‬ ‭NLT‬‬ So that we know what to crucify, let’s look at the works of the flesh: “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of a...
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Rescued

“I love you, Lord; you are my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies. The ropes of death entangled me; floods of destruction swept over me. The grave wrapped its ropes around me; death laid a trap in my path. But in my distress I cried out to the Lord; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears.”  Psalms‬ ‭18‬:‭1‬-‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Yesterday we saw a small 5 year old girl rescued from underneath mud and rubble here in Nepal. Her home was one that was destroyed in the initial flood from the glacier. Her parents were able to escape as they were out from the house. Today rescuers work to save those trapped underground in a hydropower station. According to the PM 324 have been rescued so far. The rescuers battle bad weather, mud and...
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Don’t worry

““So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”  Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭34‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Each day does have its own worries. That is plenty for today. Allowing our minds to be captured with what ifs is crazy and a tool of the enemy. Jesus had been teaching about trusting God for the days needs. He finished with this verse. He taught the people what we call The Lord’s Prayer, however, it is our daily prayer. One verse states: ‘give us this day our daily bread’. This reinforces the concept of ‘today’s needs are enough to be concerned with. Jesus also said “seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you”. Our priority is upwards, our God is our provider. This can also be applicable to allowing each days activities to be enough. For example, I am working on a business model. Anxiety comes along and says, ‘shouldn’t you be doing more, be more proactive, do this, do that!’ As I allow my God to be my timing and lead...
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Our steps

“We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.”  Proverbs‬ ‭16‬:‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Yesterday, on my way home from the swimming pool I was grieved with plastic rubbish. In fact I have been ever since I came to Nepal. Last year I conducted research on ways to manage this rubbish but kept coming back to finance. However, this time I strategised: ‘why not discover how to obtain the finance?’ This time I used AI. I discovered a wealth of information. Now I have the how and where, I already had the why. After I did all my research I left it with the Lord and prayed. I then spent time doing some artwork and continually asked the Lord, “what do You say?” I am awake in the wee hours and the answers are flowing. My greatest concern was who to partner with in the Nepali world. I think I have my answer. My question was: “can I make house bricks with PET bottles?” The answer is ‘yes’. The recent floods that wiped away complete villages had given me incentive. Why not use plastic that is pol...
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By His divine power

“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.”  2 Peter‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬ I have worked through 1 Peter and am now in 2 Peter in private study. Finding this Bible verse in my Bible App today was a blessing.  Have you ever sucked on a huge hard lolly? You cannot eat it all at once as it is too huge and would cause havoc in the oesophagus.!so you are obliged to suck on it patiently and enjoy the sugar hit. I prefer liquorice. However, you can buy hard blocks of that. I remember when I was growing up loving the Cho Cho bars. I digress! Well much the same are portions of scripture. One such sceipture is found in 2 Peter 1:5-7 “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godli...
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Leading

“Those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever.” Daniel‬ ‭12‬:‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬ This verse comes from a passage in Daniel where God is speaking about His people Israel. A commentator says that this refers to the period of time called the Great Tribulation, scripture mentions 144,000 Jews who will keep themselves pure and Holy during this time and will be Messianic Jews. They will lead many to righteousness. However, us Christians can take heart in this scripture. Our role is to lead many to righteousness. Our role is not to live a self-indulgent lifestyle. Here in Nepal I meet foreigners who should not be here as they are self-indulgent. We are not our own we were bought with a price. If we have been bought we belong to another. In our case we belong to Jesus. As His possession we must do as He did.  Today is a new opportunity to lead others to righteousness. Amen!
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