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“Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭2‬ ‭TPT‬‬ In Australia there was a killing of Jewish people on Bondi Beach Sydney. In the aftermath there was a lot of people that did things to say they support the Jews, we would call it virtue- signalling, but nothing changed with the stance against those who were stirring violence against the Jews. There were government promises to ban guns, again, and laws against ‘hate speech’, but not a removal of those who were inciting the violence.! Did the people write petitions to the governments demanding these changes or did they just throw tokens? The world believes in tokens. It says ‘feel good’ for us thing but not a help my neighbour thing. We the church cannot be caught up in ‘feel good’ things. We are...

His beauty

“One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” Psalms‬ ‭27‬:‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬ As a Christian I am aware that I am the Lord’s temple.! This is awesome to me! David writes above that he delights to be in God’s temple. For him it was a tent. My body is a tent that is wearing away. However, my Lord delights to dwell there. I am awake in the middle of the night hearing worship. The song that seems to be prevalent is ‘worthy’ written by Steve Furtick, pastor of Elevation Church USA. I have made it a practice of singing worship songs every morning and this one is one I sing. I think heaven likes it. My spirit does! When the enemy of my soul attempts to fill my mind with junk thoughts this song is my reply. Scripture exhorts us to think on noble and worthy things. There is no higher a noble thought than Jesus and His gift of eternal life. Worthy is Your name Jesus...

Sabbath

“Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.” Mark‬ ‭2‬:‭27‬ ‭NLT‬‬ We can be legalistic on one side of the Sabbath coin but on the other totally disregard the message in what Jesus said. Here, He was opposing the criticism about He and His disciples walking through the fields and eating the grain on the Sabbath. The legalisms were going to their extreme about Sabbath laws. God gave the law about the Sabath so that mankind would be refreshed and take time to worship Him. The legalisms had added to the law telling people they could not go a certain distance, could not eat certain things, they had turned the Sabbath into a prison. As Christians we can disregard the teaching about the Sabbath to our own detriment. Resting one day a week from all labour is good for us, so is taking time to reflect on God’s goodness. Today, in Nepal, is the rest day. However, many churches occupy most of the day with lon...

Never give up

“That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.” ‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4‬:‭16‬ ‭NLT‬‬ I know my body is becoming older, however it causes me to walk in faith. I say to the Lord, “You are my beauty and strength”. Then I step out and refuse my body authority to speak negatively. Right now a virus is attempting to set up camp. It must leave in Jesus’ name. I have work to do! Each day the renewing power of God is available for me. I can appropriate it. I can walk in His power and authority. Today ai go with a friend to immigration. She has to pay a late fine and apply for a tourist visa until college starts. We will then go to my college to mark application for next term. I have promised to make sheets for another friend and am planning a trip to Sindhulpalchok next week to see a flat my young colleague has found to rent for the work there teaching children about trafficking. I will furnish this flat for that purpose as many people will stay...

Streams in the wilderness

““Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43‬:‭18‬-‭19‬ ‭NIV‬‬ Today marks the first day of 2026. It also marks the beginning of new things for me in Nepal. I received notice that I passed my last language exam and now face enrolling for another term. I had thought I would enroll in a pottery class to use to train ladies in Sindhulpalchok but it is not to be. I was informed that I might not be accepted, therefore I did not pay the entrance fee, knowing that the University would keep 25% of the monies paid.  It turns out I did the right thing as I am facing expenses in setting up a base in Sindhulpalchok and expenses in provisions for the social work to be done there by my team. I was also convicted by a comment made by a Nepali man in my Bible study group, he said, “You need to keep learning the language”. I didn’t want to...

The light

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” John‬ ‭1‬:‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬ I have friends who are dare devil cavers. Recently I heard how they took friends caving and went through a worm hole crawling on their stomachs. They entered a small cave where it was so dark their eyes could not adjust to the darkness and were unable to see anything. Then they turned on their lights to the relief of the friends who went with them. We live in spiritual darkness. The world is a deprived place. However, the light of Christ that the above verse speaks about can overcome it. The write, John the apostle, was writing about Jesus. He was aware of the difference Jesus made to the world. When we receive the Holy Spirit into our lives we have that light resident within us. Our role is to allow that light to shine, not try and compete with it, believing we have our own light. I can trust Jesus to make a difference in this world through me. As I allow Him to lead me and be the driver...

A new Person

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭17‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Coming to the point of realising ‘I am not happy with who I am, or the way I behave’ is a starting point for change. Being aware of sinful behaviour is even better. Sinful behaviour is where I know I am a dreadful in the way I treat others, a am a bad role model, I suck at parenting, I need help! Awareness of wrong leads us to ask, “How can I change?” You can do all manner of mental gymnastics and make all the New Year’s resolutions you like but without a power source to change you will flop around like a wet fish. You can read all the self-help books and try all the gurus but there is only one source of purity, that source is Jesus. I came to the point of knowing that no good thing dwelt in me. This was when I came to Jesus and asked Him to forgive me for thinking I could do this by myself. I invited Him into my life and asked for His Hoky ...