Lampstand

Isn't it amazing that the old world we all know seems to just keep getting worse in so many ways? We here in good old Australia are astounded that after all these years of just being Old Oz, we seem to be embracing violence in all sorts of various ways.

Not so long ago, the Jewish people here in Australia were celebrating what they know and love, which is Chanukah or Hannukah. There were so many of them on Bondi Beach when, suddenly out of nowhere, a father, Sajid Akram, and his son, Naveed Akram, gunned down and killed a total of fifteen people, including 10-year-old Matilda. 

Matilda is such an Ozzy name, and apparently, her parents named her after Waltzing Matilda, pretty much our Australian National Anthem - well, tries awfully hard to be,  she was named for our country, where her Ukrainian family felt they had found safety.

Sajid Akram, the father, was shot dead by police. His son, Naveed, was bundled off to the hospital after he had been shot. He survived, and it looks like he will be spending the rest of his life in prison.

Akram (the son) looks like he will be convicted of murder and an enormous and variable number of other charges. He brutally killed fifteen people and seriously wounded so many more - he is facing forty four charges.

Four homemade bombs were thrown into the crowd but failed to detonate. Another homemade bomb was found in the car that belonged to the Akrams.

It was such a shocking thing to have happened. I think Australia as pretty much as a whole was totally shocked and outraged by the events.

So, where does that leave us as Christians? Matilda's Aunt said, "Don't put anger in your heart - if you have anger, put it aside and replace it with happiness. Don't make your kids angry; let them live in happiness and love."

Extraordinary in so many ways. Here was this child at the beach with her family when this awful tragedy just exploded, and her life was brushed aside. Her younger sister survived but was right beside Matilda as she was so brutally killed.

So where does that leave us? It's hard to know, isn't it! In Matthew chapter 5:14-16, Jesus said, "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

Matilda's Aunt was an amazingly beautiful lady and an extraordinary example for all of us, as she talked about her niece's death with such alacrity and sincerity. Often, after something so disastrous as this, talking about the events leading up to it and, of course, the actual situation would be incredibly hard to even talk about, let alone be so positive.

Matilda's Aunt showed exactly what Jesus was saying about being the Light of the World. You can't be hidden. If you love your Lord Jesus, then showing His love regardless of what is happening in your life is amazing and extraordinary.

I must say, I feel I would have all sorts of alarms and bell-ringing inside my head if the same thing had happened to me. The family of the young lass who was so viciously murdered as she was just playing on the beach with her sister was completely devastated, and I can only imagine what they went through at the time and what they continue to go through, probably for the rest of their lives.

Matilda's Aunt and her parents have shown how strongly they feel about the whole disastrous and macabre afternoon. They haven't pointed the blame and have shown love for Matilda, love for all the families involved, and a continued love for all those who so strongly assisted them on that horrible day.

They have proven a great example of what Jesus said about being the 'light of the world". As Christians, we can't be hidden somewhere all shrivelled up and frightened to be out in the world. Our love of God and what Jesus did for us is astounding and amazing, and we as His followers have to show His love regardless of what is going on in our own lives. A great example of this is the family of young Matilda.

I'm not sure how Matilda's family is feeling about the Lord Jesus, but they have shown a fine example of what we should do and how we should act once we have given our lives over to Him.

In the parable of the lamp stand that Jesus brought to us in Matthew chapter 5, He makes it extremely plain that we very much need to shine our light or our example to others so that they see that through the way we share our love and concern, we do indeed "glorify our Father God in heaven".

When we live for Jesus, we live as lights, as Jesus has said, as mentioned above. How do we live as lights? In all sorts of ways, we can show love to others through Jesus. We can show others all sorts of kindness just by being us and showing people that Jesus actually can change us.

We don't have to make it a broadcast, but we can certainly change our way of approaching other people. As Jesus said in Matthew, "Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

So what we do can certainly have an effect on how we approach and speak to our neighbours, friends, and really anyone we may meet. Our faith should really become a 'witness' in a way to show others that Jesus Christ has changed us.

In the Bible in 1st Peter chapter 3 and verse 15, it says, "In your heart, revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect". 

I really love that verse, especially when it says "with gentleness and respect," not standing up and pounding it all out. Jesus Himself didn't do it like that. he spoke to so many with respect and gentleness, and because He was like this, the true Gospel of God has been broadcast far and wide.

How are you with receiving Christ into your life? Would you like to make a commitment to Him? Pray this prayer if you want to.

"Dear Lord:- I know I sin and keep on sinning, but right now I really need to put my faith in You. I know you died to take away my sins, and then you rose again to eternal life. I ask you to forgive all the sins that I have committed over the years. Please forgive me and help me to have a real personal relationship with you. Thank you so much for accepting my forgiveness and giving me eternal life with you."

If you prayed that prayer in all earnestness, then God will accept your life to live with Him when the time comes. You will certainly keep making mistakes BUT coming to Jesus like you have will certainly erase those mistakes. You can keep praying to God and asking Him to keep changing your life.

Hope you have a great week, and hope to see you next time.

Wineskins and Old Clothes

The old and the new - don't we love it - the old sometimes is good when it's gone, and the new usually is pretty good.

Lots of weird and strange things happened in the old times, and lots of good and easy things happen in the new times.

Well, not all the time, unfortunately. Things today can be so far away from what we believe. Jesus's teaching was always and still is amazing. Today, so many things have gotten out of hand, but in Jesus' time here on earth, things really did need to change and quickly.

In those times, things were pretty gruesome. The Roman Empire had taken over Israel, and they had made it their life's ambition to completely dominate Israel to the extent of cruelly murdering as many people as possible. Sounds so familiar, it's scary!

In the middle of all this happening in Israel, here was Jesus, born of a virgin, delivered in a disgusting, dirty old stable with both parents penniless and so so tired after a very long journey with an old donkey. Poor Mary must have been totally exhausted and filthy dirty as well - poor girl.

BUT...Jesus was extraordinary. The son of Mary and also of the Lord God, the only begotten of the triune. Father God, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amazingly and totally awesome in the real sense of the word.

Growing up with dad being a carpenter and mum having more children, Jesus would have been really busy doing lots of work to help pay for the family's needs. It certainly wouldn't have been a delicate and gentle upbringing. But regardless of all this, Mary must have been in total awe watching the very Son of God growing up, sinless and so different from everyone else around her.

As Jesus grew, the more and more He knew what was in store for Him. He knew He had to let as many people as possible know the truths of what was going to happen and how dramatically things were going to change and change entirely throughout the universe.

Jesus knew that His life here was going to be short-lived, and because of this, He had to get the message of salvation out to the crowds, knowing that it was actually going to change the entire world.

He told lots of parables, which are stories He made up to explain things to the crowds and also to the people in the temples. Today, some of these parables, as they were known then, can be confusing, but when we think them through, they are really quite mind-bending. Jesus was truly awesome with his messages.

So here we have two similar sorts of stories or parables that He told. Number one parable/story was, and I sort of quote:- "No one tears a piece off a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If they do, it will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old" hmmmm bit confusing'  but let's move on.

Number two parable/story "No one puts new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the new wine will burst the skins and the wine will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed." hmmmm again!

OK Let's think about this and tear it apart - what does Jesus mean? Well, I can imagine you don't patch a hole in an old shirt with a brand new piece of cloth, apparently, because it shrinks and it doesn't match anyway. Jesus is talking about pre-Christ and post-Christ, amazingly awesome.

Jesus was born into the old ways of Israel, where if you sinned or you were accused of sinning, you had to confess your sins, you had to wear sackcloth and ashes, you had to make a blood offering, you had to sacrifice whatever you could get your hands on, including lambs or doves, or other things for the atonement of your sins. 

Before He came to be the total perfect sacrifice, everyone who sinned (and that included everyone) had to say "I repent, I repent" and had to obey all these amazing rules and regulations. 

He knew this wasn't working at all. There was really no answer. Father God couldn't and certainly wouldn't look at sin at all, so there had to be a special price to atone for anyone's sin-life.

Jesus came to pay the price for our sins by his death on the cross. Why? Because He took sin on Himself and He killed it there on that very cruel cross, nails through his hands and his feet, and a spear in His side. How gruesome, and yet he had to die dramatically to show us that His death all those years ago actually saved us, and all we have to do is to accept His love for us and take Him into our lives.

Jesus rose again after they brutally killed Him, and through His death and resurrection, He brought us salvation and new life. If we accept Him into our lives as Lord and Saviour, then we enter into the joy of the Lord, and even if we still live here on earth, we are actually due to be in His kingdom when we pass over, which is extraordinary.

In the parables he told about patching the new and old garments and then the new and used wine caskets, what was He saying to us?

Jesus was actually comparing the old and the new wines and the old and new garments as a way of explaining how things have changed now that He was here with us on earth, and that He was going to pay for our sins on that day of His crucifixion.

Okay, let's think about these two amazing stories he told us - apparently (I know nothing about wine and sewing patches on clothes) using new wine in old caskets explodes the old casket because of the fermenting, etc., and if you sew a piece of new cloth into old clothes when you do a wash, then the new cloth shrinks. Sounds terrible. A lot to think about there!

Here, Jesus is talking about and referring to the parable about the new and old garments. The old ways where people there had to wear sackcloth and ashes, and all those rules when they had to repent. Jesus says he now brings us new life in Him. In other words, the old has gone. He is there to give us all new life. He compares this to the old and new garments.

So then there is the wine story. The old ways, and he compares this to the old wine caskets, which are totally different from the new ways, and compares this to the new wine caskets. In other words, a new life for us all if we confess that Jesus is Lord. 

He brings everyone into a place of confession and repentance, because He came to bring us all into the kingdom of God, as long as we accept Him as our Lord and Saviour.

This was entirely new, so the people were a tad confused by the whole thing. They didn't realise, probably at this time, that Jesus was going to die for us all, and those two stories about wine caskets and old and new clothes really meant that He was taking all of our sins upon Himself and killing them on that cross.

Pretty amazing when you think of those two parables He got through to us all those years ago, and really all we have to do is to accept what He did and ask Him to come into our lives and save us for eternity with Him.

Have a great day and hope to see you next time.

How many mistakes will I make in this life of mine?

How many mistakes will I make in this life of mine?  It never seems to cease.

Every single time, even when I'm not expecting it, these sins and mistakes keep bursting into my life in ceaseless and never-ending sequence. Amazing, isn't it? Unfortunately, I'm not alone in this. Sin is ever-present.

Have you ever messed up in your life?

When we make mistakes like this, I can't help feeling, "I wonder what God will think of me?" Will He forgive me, or will He just shake His head and close the door?

You know what? No matter what we have done or how many times we have done the same old sin over and over again, God is so keen to forgive us.

Why does God want to forgive us? That is such a good question and one that I have contemplated a lot over the years. I know when someone messes up with me, I tend not to forgive and have dealings with someone else, and leave that person alone.

Praise the Lord, He is not like that to me, and if you come to Him right now, He will not be like that with you either. I always seem to "mess up" in life; it seems to be the thing I do, no matter how much I try not to. 

We all make mistakes, even when we become a Christian and give our lives to Jesus, we still seem to make mistakes. I guess that's because sin came into the world all those years ago, and our world is sin-based, unfortunately, and that's how it is going to be until Jesus comes back again and finally takes us home to be with Him.

Because of what Jesus did by taking sin and killing it on the cross all those years ago, He became, if you like, a reconciliation between God and us mere humans. In other words, Jesus took it upon himself to 'make amends' for us.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 21, it says, "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." In other words, if we decide to ask Jesus to come into our lives, He frees us from sin and gives us brand new identities. Pretty cool, eh!

You know, Jesus became who we are, which is amazing, so that we might become who He is, which is totally and truly extraordinary!

We were born into sin, unfortunately, and it can take over our lives all the time, and if it wasn't for what Jesus did on that cross all those years ago and killed our sin on that day, we would be destined to spend eternity in hell because God can't look at sin. 

Jesus took our sins, and He gave us his true holiness and righteousness, and all we have to do is accept His perfect gift for us, no matter what we have done in our past lives. Jesus set us apart from the world of sin. YES! We still sin, but because we have accepted what He did for us, He sees us as clean and holy.

He took our sins and nailed them to the cross, and all we have to do is accept His perfect gift for us and live our lives with Him being number one, even though we live in this sin-filled world

Jesus, in his wisdom, became what we were and took our sins so that we can become who He is. I am now free, and if you like to put it this way, I am sanctified and glorified, and one day I will be with him. That is truly something you should be really thinking about.

This so reminds me of the story Jesus told about 'The Prodigal Son'. It's a story or parable that Jesus told to get a point across. Here is this wayward son living in a pretty good world, but wanting his inheritance now rather than waiting for his dad to die. So he fronts his dad and wants his inheritance now. Poor old Dad reluctantly gives in and grants him his inheritance.

The kid thinks it's great, he leaves home and lives it up with a great lifestyle. He ends up losing all the dollars, feeding pigs, and sharing their meals. He realises what a mistake he has made and comes back to his dad and the family.

His old dad sees him coming home and runs out to meet him, hugs him, and gives him back his rightful place in the family.

Why did Jesus tell this story?  Because when we turn to God after we have sinned or when we decide to accept Jesus into our lives, God, in a way, runs to us like that father did and accepts us as his child. He certainly doesn't smack us across the ears and turn us permanently away from Him.

Unfortunately, we continue to sin, but the best part is that once we give our lives to him, he never rejects or is mercilessly annoyed at us, and he never ever runs out of forgiveness. Which to me is totally and truly amazing, lovely, breathtaking, and astounding.

So....when, like me, you mess up, don't run away from God or truly think you are totally useless, run to Him and not away from Him.

God never ever remembers our biggest or smallest mistakes and sins, which to me is amazing and pure beautiful, and He certainly never brands us for eternity with some sin we have done or unfortunately continue to do. We are forgiven, exonerated, excused, pardoned, and acquitted of all our sins regardless of what they were when we come to Him and ask His amazing forgiveness.

From what I've certainly learned over the years is to open up and talk to God about my sins. 

How about you? Certainly ask his forgiveness and then ask him to help you. Your past and ever-present mistakes will be forgiven; truly forgiven and not remembered. It's truly amazing just how much God loves us and how ready He is to forgive you and me.

God's richest to you and yours, and hope to see you next time.

Killer!

Caleb was born to a young couple who weren't ready to have their son yet.

Robert and Viola, when they moved into their unit in Newcastle, NSW, were pretty excited. Robert had just started his new job, and so had Viola, and they were really looking forward to maybe a new sort of life in this beachside 2-bedroom unit overlooking Nobby's Beach, and both were starting new jobs.

Newcastle is a fantastic place to live, especially just starting out - lots of beautiful beaches, great shopping, lots of entertainment and restaurants, and also going to church. Take your pick.

Robert and Viola, moving into Newcastle from way out in the west in the country, found the place enchanting, beautiful, and great. Both gained pretty good jobs. Robert, an Accountant and Viola, a Primary Teacher, both gained pretty good employment in Newcastle - everything was looking up. 

Their unit was beautiful and so close to the beach - so great.

Both of them commenced work, and they were soon paying off their mortgage and really enjoying the beach and the lifestyle they were loving.

After twelve months, Viola found out she was pregnant, and even though it was a pretty big shock, she was excited to think that they would soon be parents. It was a little boy tucked up so neatly inside - they were so excited.

Viola saw her boss and told her exactly what was happening, and she was going to be granted maternity leave when the baby was born. Viola kept on working, teaching her second class throughout her pregnancy

One month, two months, three months, and time went on 4 months, five months, and then just 5 and a half months passed - all going so well. Viola was so happy at home and at work. Her class at school was so good, and they worked so hard, and she strived her very best. She really felt she had THE very best class in the whole school.

We often feel this when we go through life. We can be very happy doing what we do and going where we go. We so very often get really absorbed with life as it is that we never or hardly ever consider others, or more importantly, what Jesus actually did for us all those years ago.

So many people find it hard to believe in the Christ that we believe in and have given our hearts and lives to. So many people actually question who this Jesus person is? He never ever did just make our day bright and beautiful, and he wasn't just here to teach us how to be good! 

Jesus had the very authority to forgive us our sins and told everyone about His death and, more importantly, his resurrection. Jesus is part of our Triune God - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Back to Viola. She left work late that day. She had lots to do and was getting the classroom ready for Parents' Day, which was due the next day. Driving home in the thick of traffic at the end of the day, she didn't realise what she was doing. She was totally absorbed in what was going to happen tomorrow.

She kept driving and also looking at her phone for messages sent to her throughout the day. She didn't realise, but she actually sped through a red light. It was an absolute disaster, and her negligence caused total mayhem and an enormous traffic accident. 

Her car was a right off, as were the two other cars involved. Two of the people, including Viola, were immediately sent off in an emergency ambulance to the John Hunter Emergency Hospital. Unfortunately, she had to have an emergency operation, and the baby boy had to be delivered by cesarean section. He was so small, and he had trouble breathing.

Caleb, the baby, survived, and both Caleb and his mum, Viola, were in hospital for quite a long time, but eventually they came home, and Robert, the new dad, was so thrilled to have them both alive.

Could have been a total disaster! Viola learnt one huge lesson: to concentrate and not take your eyes off the road. 

We often go through life paddling our own canoe and making decisions, and keep on doing the things we want to do, and never really thinking of the consequences of making ourselves number one in life and putting others behind us.

We have to make sure we put others ahead of us. Jesus did, and by doing what he did,  he certainly paved the way for us to come to Him and ask Him into our lives and to lead us through every situation.

Way back in the Bible, in the Old Testament, there is Moses. Born of an Israelite lady and raised by an Egyptian Princess. The whole story of his birth and the miraculous life-saving event that happened was God-ordained. Moses was certainly destined to lead the Israelite people out of Egypt, where they had been slaves for generations.

Was Moses a sinless person to be able to do this? No, he wasn't. Actually, Moses was a murderer. One day, when he was living in the palace and had been adopted by the daughter of Pharaoh, he must have known he wasn't a true Egyptian, because he came across an Egyptian man attacking an Israelite slave and beating the poor fellow.  Moses was aghast and killed the Egyptian guy.

Moses took off like a rocket and never ever planned to come back to Egypt. The rest of the story is pretty amazing, really.

You know you can never really live a perfect life. We are all sinners, every one of us. We all deliberately sin or often accidentally sin. Moses did, and where we may not commit murder, it is all sin in the eyes of God. Sin is sin, and we as mere humans seem to have it inbuilt in us. The thing is, we have to come to Christ and ask his forgiveness and make him No 1 in our lives.

Moses took off, and even though he was a 'killer', he seemed to live a pretty quiet life. working for a shepherd and looking after his sheep, marrying his daughter, and raising a family. All seemed quiet until...

Things changed for Moses, and as we know, he ended up leading his people out of Egypt and becoming the person who reinstated the nation of Israel. Quite the story, and Moses ended up being the one who reinstated his people and dragged them back out of slavery.

Where are you with Christ right at this moment? Being extra nice to everyone and doing a lot of 'good' things doesn't make you right with God. We cannot cause ourselves to be born into God's family by doing lots of good things.

We need to come to God and ask him to come into our lives and lead us. We will still make mistakes, but if you are still uncertain, you can decide right now to place your faith in Jesus Christ. Becoming a child of God is asking Him into your life to become No 1.

You can say a simple prayer if you like, something like this:-  "Dear God, I know I am a sinner, and I really want to put it all behind me. I know I will continue to make mistakes, but I really want to be in your family. I really want to put my faith in Jesus, who died for me so that I can have eternal life with Him. Please forgive me for all the sins I have committed and help me to put you No 1 in my life."

God bless you and hope to see you next time.

Jonah!

Well, what can one say - our Grandson Sam - now a full-time primary teacher at a special school here in Newcastle, NSW, Australia.

He is so good at teaching that he specialises in kids who have all sorts of problems. Young children who have experienced extreme trauma in their young lives, and who have all sorts of huge difficulties coping with going to school at all.

Sam loves his job and really puts a lot of work into preparing for his special classes each evening, and spends nearly all of the school holidays preparing for what is to come.

I know he has experienced all sorts of problems teaching at school, and yet he really enjoys what he does. I doubt if it is everybody's cup of tea, but he really does find this special Ed a real experience and finds it extremely fulfilling.

Not everybody would look forward to what life belts out for them, but Sam really does.

I'm so reminded of lots of things about a good old prophet from way back in the Old Testament. Jonah!

What can we know about this extraordinary fella? Well, the first thing I might add is that Jonah, like everybody who was ever born here on earth, was just an ordinary guy, living his life, BUT there was one difference between him and me.

Jonah knew that the God he knew was an equal opportunity God. The same God we worship today. He doesn't care what language we speak or what country we are from. He created us all, and He desires that we all have a personal relationship with Him.

Good old Jonah loved God deeply, but he wasn't always on board with God's plan

So,,,Jonah was all loving and deeply committed to God UNTIL one day God spoke to Jonah (not sure how but He did), and He told old Jonah to get himself across to Nineveh and do his duty and tell them that God is the Creator of the Universe and to make sure that all of them turn to Him.

UMMM Thought Jonah "I don't think so, God! - The Ninevites? Ummmm NO! Way! They would have to be one of the worst lot of people ever to step foot on earth. They are gruesome and truly horrible! And they certainly didn't deserve to hear the Good News. But why would God want them to hear it anyway?"

Poor old bloke was stuck! He loved God and wanted to do what God wanted him to do - "BUT NINEVAH!! NO! I can't possibly do that!"

Jonah made his escape - he ran away from God - he was terrified. Here were the Ninevites, the most vicious group of people around at that time. They would certainly make an example of Jonah

The Ninevites lived in what we know as the Ancient Assyrian Capital, now modern-day Mosul, Iraq. They were a very powerful, extremely wealthy (because of all the countries and cities they exploited and took slaves from), a constantly brutal civilisation that flourished around 6000 years BC.

They were highly known for their constant military conquests and, more so, their intense idol worship.

So, I can really understand Good Old Jonah's reaction to God. "I can't possibly do this," was his reaction. Nineveh, renowned throughout the known world at that time as THE most outrageous place on earth.

Looking at Jonah at that time, I must admit that I certainly can see where he was coming from. He desperately tried to escape from God and not go to Nineveh. I think I may have done exactly the same. WOW!

Jumping on board the boat and going where he couldn't care less, Jonah sort of felt, I guess, sad in a way because he loved God and really wanted to do what He said.

And so he sailed away. Suddenly, there erupted (and that's a good word for it) an almighty storm that deluged the little boat, and at that time, I can only imagine what it was like. Jonah rushed below and hid there. The crew tried saving everything, but to no avail. They threw everything overboard, but the amazing storm continued.

Jonah saw the light in his heart and mind and came up top and told the captain and the crew to throw him overboard, and the storm would cease. The crew said NO! but eventually they did, and the storm immediately ceased.

Over Jonah went, boots and all, down, down, down, sinking quickly as you may imagine, and of course, the waves and storm suddenly ceased. Jonah must have thought, "Well, this is the end," and just as he would have been thinking that, this huge fish thing (they say whale, but hard to imagine) opened its huge mouth and gulped Jonah down.

He ended up in the belly of the giant creature - hard to imagine what he must have been going through - the smell alone would have been too much to bear.

What makes Jonah's own testimony unusual is that it came while he was stuck in the digestive system of a large fish thing. If we think for just a moment about what that would be like. He was stuck there three long days in the slimy, stinky, pitch-black darkness, hardly able to breathe at all, circling slowly round and round the sea with no inkling of when this disaster was going to cease, if at all.

Yet even though Jonah didn't know how things would play out, he recognised that his situation, as unique as it was, was part of God's answer to his prayer.

The whole thing makes me wonder, "Can I trust God? Can you trust God in the same way about our current situations?" 

Anyway, three days later, the poor old sea monster must have been feeling awfully woozy and ended up throwing up Jonah pretty much right on the shore of where Nineveh was.

Jonah bravely went to Nineveh (hope he had a wash) and there he stood telling everyone about the very love of God and also the outcome if they didn't turn to Him. He must have been astounded when they fully accepted what he was saying and turned to God.

It's amazing, really, that according to history, Nineveh (now Iraq) was later renowned for its temporary repentance following Jonah's preaching!

You know. We all have to repent. We all have to come to God and ask Him to rule our lives and for God to take charge. Does that mean we will never make any mistakes? No, it doesn't, but what it does do is that we can constantly come to God and ask His forgiveness.

This is from John Bevere.

"Repentance was never meant to be a one-time moment we look back on. It's a daily posture that keeps our hearts responsive to God.

Grace doesn't remove our need to turn toward Him. It empowers us to do it. Repentance is how we stay aligned, humble, and free. It's not about earning God's love. It's about continually responding to it.

A transformed life isn't marked by a single prayer, but by a steady willingness to obey, surrendered and be changed."

God bless you this week. See you next time

Struggle

Some people sadly struggle so much. Our beautiful neighbours are so nice; they will give us anything if we ask them.

It is so good to have neighbors like this. It is truly nice to live in a neighborhood where people are respected, and we are really, really blessed to have our very special neighbours. They are really good friends.

What is sad, though, is that no matter how nice you are and whatever you do or give away, if you don't give your life to Jesus and ask Him to come into your life to lead you along life's pathway, then your Heaven means nothing or equates to nothing when time comes for us to leave this place called earth.

If you ask anyone what you have to do to get to heaven, that is, of course, if they believe in some sort of afterlife, the main response you will get will be "I've got to be a good person".

Mostly, a lot of what the world teaches, in a roundabout way and, if you like, ethically (if I can call it that), is that if you want to get to heaven when you die, it is a matter of being a good person. That is sticking to the 'Golden Rule" and the ten commandments in the Bible, and unfortunately, so many people believe that is exactly how to get to heaven - it is definitely not!

It's interesting to read in the book of Matthew, chapter 19, about what the Bible describes as a rich young ruler. Here we have the young guy, living a pretty nice life, probably has heaps of money, and is living pretty comfortably. He's probably being pretty good with the people around him, obviously friendly and willing to help out as much as possible.

He comes to Jesus and asks him what good thing should I do to get to heaven? It's exactly the same today.  A lot of people think that all they have to do is lots of nice and good things for people. There are so many nice people just like this in my life. Often so much nicer than me in so many ways.

Jesus pretty much tells this nice young man to live for others and put them before himself. Giving to the poor and actually not worrying about how you are faring with what you have in the bank, because where that can be really useful, God comes before everything.

The young guy, after Jesus responds to his questions, sadly walks away, thinking that he has to give everything away. Jesus actually said to the young man to give God the number one place in his life, and not to spend so much time thinking about money.

Making God number one in our lives puts everything else into perspective. Yes, we need money to live, and we need to work, and if possible, everything else in life takes a real meaning, but when it comes to making God number one in our life, all these things miraculously take a real second place.

If it were left up to all of us here on earth, then none of us would ever be saved. None of us would ever be eligible to get to heaven. Why? Because we live in a world of sin, and we are all contaminated with sin. In Romans chapter 3, the Bible tells us that we all have sinned and that the wages or the penalty of that sin is death.

Jesus came to earth, born of a virgin, and lived and died cruelly on a vicious cross, and rose again after three days to show the world that all we have to do is to accept His offer of salvation. Jesus died and rose again to pay the penalty for our sins, and all we have to do is accept his loving and gracious offer.

The message of the Bible is clear - very clear; We don't get saved because we are good and kind and generous, but we are saved solely by trusting and giving our lives over to God. In the Bible, in Romans chapter 10, it says, "If we confess that Jesus is Lord, and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead, we will be saved". Isn't it amazing that our very salvation, which is going to be with God after we die, is a very precious, unearned gift. 

If we don't give our lives to Christ, we will never ever get to heaven on our own! We will never be good enough, and we will never earn any sort of place there at all, no matter how good we are here on earth. Just like that rich young man mentioned in the bible or just how nice and friendly we are here on earth, or just how much we give to others. 

We can give and give and keep on giving. We can be super nice to everyone and never ever lose our tempers. Which actually is really super nice and something we all should strive to do, BUT it will never earn us a place in heaven after we die. 

Hell is also mentioned in the Bible as somewhere where the alternative is other than Heaven. Jesus himself mentions Hell.  In Matthew chapter 5 and lots of other places, Hell is mentioned, for example, Jesus said, "Anyone who says 'you fool!' will be in danger of the fire of Hell".  So yes! Hell is there, as is also Heaven.

The Bible states that lots of things, like unchecked anger and insults, are really dangerous and tells us to make sure we put others way ahead of ourselves.

As mentioned, we are all sinners and we all never ever measure up to get God's amazing glory shown to us. The only way we can do this is by obeying the command of God and saying, "I'm really sorry for my sins, and I truly and honestly repent of them,"  and then after that, we put all of our trust in Jesus Christ in everything we do.

We will still make mistakes, but straight away we will be reminded of those mistakes, and we can ask God's forgiveness, and he will give it.

God loves you, and He loves me, and He really wants you to ask Him to take number one position in your life. If you do this, things may not change straight away, but then they may, but regardless, God will take residence in your life and will change you so much.

He will remind you often when you make mistakes, and you will be able to come to Him all the time. He will be there for you, come what may.

May God bless you this week. Hope to see you next time

Convict

Mary was a convict!

She was arrested in England for stealing a horse. BUT she didn't really, her little boy Oscar lay sick with a ghastly fever, and she had to get a doctor fast. She had no way of getting to the city without some sort of help.

She quickly went around to the neighbours, who were few and far between, but she couldn't contact anyone.

Her husband, the father of little Oscar, was away fighting some obscure war brought on by the British somewhere - she really had no idea where.

So, in her brilliance and utter total frustration, she broke into the neighbours' stables and took their horse; she didn't bother saddling it and took off for the township.

She found the doctor and told him about Oscar. He asked her how she got here, and she told him. He didn't bother about Oscar; he told the local police who arrested Mary straight away and took her off to prison.

She pleaded with the authorities to let her help her little boy, but they took no notice and left her to sweat away in prison, not knowing what happened to her Oscar, and she never did find out.

She was found guilty of theft and sent off to the colony in Australia as a convict, and she never again saw her husband or Oscar.

How sad - and yet it happened all the time. 

Australia has a vast history. A scary one with lots of miscreants and yet lots of innocents as well. Many were wrongly convicted. All have a sad story to tell.

According to Wikipedia, between 1788 and 1868, good old England transported about 162,000 convicts to Australia. The first penal colony in  Australia was established and run by Captain Arthur Phillip, who led the ships from England, arriving in Botany Bay (Sydney) in January 1788 before moving to establish a new settlement at Sydney Cove (Port Jackson) on January 26th 1788.

Most convicts were transported for petty crimes, particularly theft, as mentioned above. They comprised 80% of all people transported. 

It was so sad, really, because so many people were struggling so badly at that time over in England and Ireland. There were no jobs available, especially for women. Prostitution was so common because these poor people had no other way of gaining any sort of income for their families.

Extraordinarily many of them were arrested and sent off on packed sailing ships to the colonies, as Australia was known in those days, and so many of them died on the transportation and were slung over the side of the ships. So barbaric, so horrible.

When arriving in Australia, these poor people, if they survived at all after eight long and tedious months on the crowded and horrible sailing ships, were given to work in factories, as servants or slaves for people who were struggling to survive here at all.

In the early 1800's, Elizabeth was a poor single mum in Liverpool, England, determined to keep her family together. She was like so many women in those days, and unfortunately, even like today, struggling against huge poverty and gender inequality. Men could, at a pinch, maybe get a job, but women?

Elizabeth was accused and convicted of stealing a pair of bellows, which she absolutely refuted and pleaded her innocence. She was so excited to get a job working and employed by one Henry Cole, whose wife, Jane, happened to be the prosecutor at the Old Bailey at that time.

Elizabeth was found guilty and was to be sent out to Australia as a convict. She screamed her innocence, but was dragged off to jail, never to see her child again, so similar to Mary, where she spent six long months in horrendous conditions and then was put on a crowded old sailing ship and was sent off to Sydney, Australia to serve nine years for theft.

Did she make it? No, Elizabeth apparently died on the ship and was buried at sea, never to be heard of again.

All these terrible stories of our sordid past here in Australia. Many "convicts"  didn't make it out here, as mentioned. Many survived and became Australians and ended up raising families here. Many died horribly, and many children born here to so many poor and destitute ladies died or were shunted off to other families.

There are so many sad stories in the old world of ours; it really does make our hearts ache when we read them. 

Sue and I spent a lot of time in Tasmania, one of the worst places for convict imprisonment here in Australia, and there are so many sad stories of prisoners sent over here if they made it at all. 

John the Baptist was an amazing man recorded in the Bible. He was one of the first people to go before Jesus and herald His coming as the Saviour of the world. He was born a little before Jesus and was somehow related in a way. His mother, Elizabeth, and Jesus' mother, Mary, were related, and she had spent time with Elizabeth before Jesus was born.

John spent many years in the wilderness. He was a pretty rough kind of guy, but he was so close to God, and he knew that God was using him to bring the good news that someone, Jesus, was coming to show the world the huge love of God.

John was telling the people to repent and come to a knowledge that God loves them and to come to Him, and he also told them that a special person was coming to show the way to eternal life.

He was gobsmacked when Jesus suddenly appeared. This gentle and unassuming man suddenly turns up and wants to be baptised by John. He was totally amazed.

As it was told in the Bible, how Jesus commenced his ministry there and then, and John ended up in the background. John was arrested by the Pharisees at the time and was thrown in jail, where he spent quite a few years.

It must have been pretty ghastly in those days. It can be the same today, unfortunately. 

As Jesus' ministry continued, John, in jail, sent some of his secret followers to ask Jesus if he was indeed the one who was promised to come. Jesus sent back a message to John in prison, confirming that yes, I am the one promised by God to come.

Poor John, here he was heralding the way for the Lord and ending up being emotionally tortured in prison. He gave his all, his whole life. He was beheaded on the orders of Herod, the ruler of Israel at that time, and one of the cruelest people to have ever lived. Herod was sexually motivated by his so-called daughter-in-law when she asked for the head of John the Baptist. Nice family!!

Jesus went on to expand what coming to God meant!  He explained as in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." 

This is the very core of what coming to God means. We should come to God and ask Him to enter our lives. He will come in regardless of what we are going through at the moment, and we are to hand our lives over to Him and let Him take control.

God needs to be the leader of your life and my life. He needs to be number one in our lives, and we need to hand our lives completely over to him. 

That is something you really need to think about very seriously. God needs to be your personal Savior and Lord.

God bless you. Hope to see you next week.

Homeless!

Well, here we are, says me walking into a beautiful and large lounge room where I introduced my young homeless lad, Joey, to the very rich owner of the home, Mrs Slater, my friend Jeanette.

Joey had been into all sorts of troubles - he had run away from an orphanage when he was really young after his Mum and Dad, who hadn't actually owned any properties, were killed so horribly in a car accident just five years previously.

He had lived in the streets up until now - no schooling, no family, no job, begging on the streets and stealing things to eat, and sleeping really rough.

Jeanette had no children; she also ran a private stable yard where she had at least fifteen horses, all trained for all sorts of wonderful and marvelous things, and also a boarding house. Her husband, Al, had unfortunately died of cancer ten years before, and she had just resumed running all the things that Al had worked so hard for many years before his untimely death.

I had previously explained to her that I had found and befriended Joey, and he had no one to turn to. He was at an age where he really needed work and maybe catch up on the schoolwork that he had missed out on for years.

We had spent hours encouraging him off the streets, getting a huge medical check-up, and treatment for his health, also off to the dentist with lots of work having to be done after living on the streets all these years. 

I had contacted my friend, and as it turned out, she was actually looking for a young apprentice to start caring for the horses, initially, and then possibly taking on a more senior position, depending on his abilities and what he truly wanted to do.

Poor Joey looked pretty miserable. He was standing there all dressed in his new gear and new shoes, which were completely bizarre for him, considering that he had lived so roughly for the past five years. he was miserable because he had no idea what was in store for him.

Jeanette turned to Joey and said, "Come and help me make some tea, and you can have afternoon tea with us."

Joey seemed pleased with that, and he actually shocked me when he said, "Thank you, Mrs Slater."   I was sitting there all alone in the living room, and I must admit I was a tad teary, especially hearing Joey say that to Jeanette. I could hear them talking, which was pretty encouraging.

Joey and Jeanette chatted for about an hour, and Joey completely started to unwind. He shared with Jeanette everything that had happened to him, well, almost everything. 

She explained to Joey what the job entailed and what he would have to do. She explained that he would be boarded out in the small flat above the stables, and she expected him to get up really early in the mornings and get the horses ready for whatever the day had in store for them.

She told him what his salary would be and also said it would not be that amazing, considering he would be getting board for free and also three meals every day. Depending on what he wanted to do, there would probably be some openings for him to maybe try his luck in all sorts of places within the compound of her boarding house and stables.

Jeanette told him he didn't have to accept the job if he preferred something else, and if he decided to think about it, to let her know when he was ready.

Joey suddenly didn't have to think about it. He was startlingly active for the first time I had ever seen him. "I would love to accept your offer," he said. "I have never been offered any sort of job before, and this one is amazingly so so good. Thank you so much."

I was astounded!  In the short time I got to know Joey, I had never heard him talk like this. Jeanette was upfront and so truthful. She explained everything to Joey, even all the taxation he would have to pay, and how she would be deducting this from his wages, and what to do about it.

She also explained just about everything he would have to do to commence employment with her business. Also, the best way to approach the horses is to get to know all the people involved in their care. She didn't 'pull any punches' when it came to explaining just what the job entailed and told him not to expect that everything would go according to his plans. The job was going to be hard and often tiring.

Joey seemed to accept everything Jeanette told him. I had never seen him so excited about anything until today.

He came home with me after all of this with a new perspective on life. He was thoroughly nervous and yet so excited. he couldn't believe that his life was changing so much. As soon as we walked through the door, the first thing he said was, "How do I learn to read and write? And what do I have to do?"

I was totally gobsmacked! Here was this guy who had lived on the street for all these years and was so ready to jump into life, boots and all. I was totally gobsmacked!

You know, the Bible does not run away from difficult realities and hardships in people's lives. The Bible recognises that homelessness can be a real problem. In Mark chapter 14 in the Bible, it says, "The poor will always be with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me."  Jesus was always so good with the poor and needy. He helped them constantly. He also knew that he wouldn't be around physically to help them. He was a great example of helping the poor and needy.

Jesus was so radically different from those around Him, especially the pompous leaders at that time. Their constant 'putting people down', their need to excel, and to show others how superior they were. There are so many people today just the same.

God tells us through Jesus' ministry and through His word, the Bible, that we have to be different from the world at large. Showing love, compassion, and kindness, and providing for the homeless and destitute in our society.

Jeanette was a Christian, and she knew she had to help where she could. She remembered what it said in the Bible in Mark chapter 10: "Even our Lord Jesus did not come to be served but to serve."

Jesus Himself took on the role of a servant. He was the most humble of all. He put everyone ahead of himself and virtually asks us to do the same. You know, Jesus calls us to lower ourselves, put others above us, be last.

Jesus was a servant to all. He loves us so much.

Helping others is amazing and astounding. We often can't afford to do what Jeanette did in the story above, but helping others, even in small things, can make a huge difference in people's lives. And God Himself knows how we believe and what we do to help others. 

Are you ready to become a Christian by receiving Jesus as your Savior? All you have to do is believe and ask God to forgive your sins, whatever they may be, and He will. That was God's plan of salvation for all of mankind when He gave His life for us on that cross all those years ago.

We have all sinned so much, and to think God is so ready to forgive us astounds me. Just put your faith and trust in Jesus, and He will save you for eternal life with Him.

God bless you this week. Hope to see you next time.

Scary

The day was going well. As soon as the rain stopped, both her children, Felicity and Troy, asked to go outside. Despite Lucy's concerns, she had put on a bright smile and agreed. After all, they were on holidays and that's what it was all about.

The rain had stopped, and the sun was gradually poking through what remained of the lingering clouds. Their holiday home was right on the beachfront, and no one seemed to be about; they were so happy there. It was completely secluded, and the beachfront was practically on their front doorstep. What a great holiday spot.

"Ok off you both go and stay where I can see you from the window. I won't be long, I will just clean up the breakfast things." 

Off the kids went, armed with buckets, spades, towels, and hats given to them by mum.

Lucy certainly kept an eye on them both, and it wasn't long before she joined them on the beach. She dragged down her beach chair and, armed with her sunscreen, hat, sunglasses, and book, joined them on the beach.

She paddled a bit, laughed with the kids, built a sandcastle with them, then sat down and watched them. She dragged out her book, put on her hat and sunscreen, and smiled a lot.

It was pleasantly warm, and she was slowly lulled into laying her head back and closing her eyes. Listening to the laughter of the children and the chattering of birds in the nearby bushes, she realised this was the most serene she'd felt in a very long time.

When she opened her eyes a little while later, she noted that a little red boat had appeared with a fisherman busily baiting his lines and hurling them out to obviously catch a load, and waiting patiently for the fish to take his bait.

He looked over and saw her, smiled and waved, and she waved back. She took up her book again and attempted to get back into it where she had left off.

Suddenly, she realised that the children weren't there. How long had she dozed off?  She quickly got up and ran down to the shoreline - no sign of them anywhere. She looked around, expecting them to emerge from behind the rocks on the shoreline or the bushes that circled the sandy shore.

When nothing happened, she ran toward the house, calling their names, trying not to sound too frantic, knowing that for Felicity at least, that could cause her some distress. She heard Troy shout. "In the kitchen, Mum." She called back, " Is Felicity with you?" A few seconds later, she saw her precious daughter's head emerge from around the kitchen door.

"Why did you come inside without telling me?" she said, only to be informed by Troy when he said, "Mum, you were asleep, why would we wake you up?"

Oh dear! I can only imagine what Lucy's concerns were. I guess we have all been in similar situations when our kids, or at least one of them, have gone missing for a while. It's really scary.

Last week, we chatted about when Jesus went missing after a long journey to Jerusalem with his parents. Check our last episode to find out more. It's frightening for parents, especially those parents who have been absolutely broken-hearted when one of their children has completely vanished, never to be seen again, or has died tragically. It is really sad and something we never really get over.

The loss of friends, parents, and extended family can be so deeply and even lastingly painful, particularly if these people have played a huge role in influencing our lives

When Troy and Felicity took off from the beach, they really had no intention of waking Mum as she had drifted off to sleep on the beach. I guess it would have been nice to wake her and tell her they were going inside. They were only being thoughtful and nice in not waking Mum, but the consequences were horrific for Lucy. There is very little worse than thinking your kids have vanished and never knowing what could have happened to them.

Lucy was absolutely beside herself when she was with her two once again - she picked up young Felicity and hugged her so much and gave her a real Mum's kiss. "I love you both so much,"  she said, "and I will never let you out of my sight, well, anyway, while we are here."  They all laughed!

The very God who created us actually knows us better than we know ourselves. He understands our pain and is very keen to show His love and to give us His peace.

Losing someone to death or missing is probably the most painful experience we may feel. Jesus himself had family and friends while here on earth, and it was when he lost his very best friend, Lazarus, that he was really brokenhearted. Jesus cried so much when Lazarus died. He was really upset. So he understands entirely where each of us is coming from when we lose someone we hold dearly.

Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live even though they may die."  That is pretty amazing, and really, death is not the end for those who believe in Jesus as our saviour. We still experience the loss of our loved ones, and that is totally understandable.

I can really understand where Lucy was coming from. She really feared for her children. She felt so guilty, lying there, fast asleep on the beach, not keeping an eye on her children at all. They could have been washed out to sea, taken by someone, or even drowned. 

I can only imagine what she must have felt like. The very thought of having to live the rest of your life knowing that you were responsible for the loss of your loved ones. It must happen so frequently, too! How very sad, and what a terrible burden to have to live with.

You know, God does not and never will despise or look down on our emotions and feelings that we live with. In Psalm 55:22, it says, "cast your cares on the Lord, and He will sustain you." So let's trust His love and assurance of real comfort. 

It's amazing how good our memories can be, especially when we can remember all the amazing and beautiful things our past loved ones had, which we were blessed to have shared with them.

Does this make it easy to live without them? No. But what a real privilege to come to God in prayer and ask Him to give us comfort and healing. God loves us all so much, and he understands entirely what we are all going through at the moment.

Come to Jesus and put all your burdens on Him. He will give you rest and help you to cope with all sorts of problems and anxieties. They may not disappear, BUT he will certainly help you to cope if we keep our hearts and minds on Him.

God bless you this week. See you next time.

Startling!

For the fifth time that day, Rhona called the school - but of course, no one was there, the sports day was well and truly over.  The teacher who answered her call was so excited, all she could talk about was who won the main spots and what the outcome was going to be as far as the school was concerned.

Rhona couldn't believe it - Sam had vanished, and all the teacher could think about was who had won the sports day, not even a thought of Sam!

Sam had vanished! The teacher continued and told her all about the presentation to the winners - how exciting!

Rhona closed her eyes, breathed in, breathed out, Calm. Breath. She hung up on the teacher. 

Most mornings, Sam liked to walk, and there were also times he wanted to jog, but his commitment to it never lasted long. Where was he?

How could he vanish? Where could he be?

Jesus vanished when he was just twelve years old. They had left their home and, with a pretty much multitude of people, had trudged their way to Jerusalem. It was a special day, apparently, and there would have been lots of friends trudging along with Jesus and his family.

They obviously spent a good deal of time with the crowd and all sorts of people in the Temple praising God and chatting with all and sundry about what following God meant to them.

They spent a few days there, and then Mary, Joseph, and Jesus' brothers and sisters started out to go back home. They obviously trudged along the road with all the other people, and the kids played along with their friends.

At the close of the day, the children came alongside Mum and Dad, obviously looking for something to eat, BUT where was Jesus? The other children were there, but no Jesus!

You can imagine Mary and Joseph! Absolutely distraught! They rushed around among all the other people looking for Jesus. He was nowhere, and no one had actually seen him with the crowd as they made their way home. 

How could he vanish? Where could he be?

Rhona had the same horrible feeling that Mary and Joseph felt all those years ago. The missing child! The horrible thoughts running through your minds! Will we even find him?! Where do we even start to look for him?!

She really had no idea where to look. He was good at school, and he enjoyed school. He had lots of friends, and so Rhona decided to call around, but first she had to phone the police.

Mary and Joseph tried everything to find Jesus. Where to look? Who to ask? All a huge mystery! They had to make their way around Jerusalem as best they could.

They had no one to ask. They were new to the city, and now they were on their own. Searching for a boy of just twelve years old. Completely missing.

Rhona called into the local police station. She, through her tears, tried to explain to the sergeant at the desk that her boy was missing, and what did she have to do?

The sergeant was pretty cool about the whole thing, really.

"Now, Rhona, it's like this - your boy is twelve years old, it's not like he is a little boy, he has probably gone to a mate's place, and they have gone off together somewhere. He will probably come home soon, so really all we have to do today is take a note of what you have told us, and we will keep an eye out for him. If he is still missing in the next couple of days, then we will definitely send out a search party for him."

Rhona was completely mortified by what he just said - He really had no idea what she was going through.

Mary and Joseph were getting nowhere looking for their boy. No one had seen him at all. 

They obviously tried everywhere looking for him. In those days, there was no one really to take a hand in looking for him. Very much like what Rhona was going through. 

Mary and Joseph did not give up; they continued through the night and the next day, then the next day, and then the next day. Obviously, they had left their other children in the safe hands of their friends.

Rhona decided to go home and restart the search for her boy. She was all alone! 

Arriving home, she went to his room and searched through his things - nothing seemed to be missing, except his bike helmet - OF COURSE!! THE BIKE!

She ran out to the garage - the bike was gone! He's gone somewhere on the bike! It must have been in the morning of the school sports day. Why would he do that? Was he going somewhere?

It was getting dark; the day was drawing to a close. Sam would definitely be home now. Something was wrong, really wrong. Where would he go on his bike, and why this morning of all mornings, especially when the sports day was on, his most favourite day!

Joseph and Mary must have wracked their brains trying to consider if Jesus was OK, where would he have gone?

They made their way to the temple - that huge place in the middle of the city - where the leaders of the people of God were!

Rhona took off in her car. She really had no idea where she was going. She came to the busy roundabout. It was quickly getting dark. The roundabout was really busy. Everyone is going home. Lots of headlights all blazing away.

She followed the road towards Hillsend. The traffic was horrendous, with cars speeding to get home, lights blazing in the windows, and horns honking away. She drove on. The road narrowed to one lane, with cars everywhere. 

Bushland and scrub on one side of her, cars zooming up behind her, cars going the opposite direction, lights blazing. Tears streamed down her face; she could hardly see. But what was that?

She just caught a glimpse. She quickly pulled on the brakes, much to the alarm of the car directly behind her, and she got blasted for her trouble. It was something shining in the bushland.

Mary and Joseph were utterly dismayed when they slowly made their way to the huge temple. Lots of worrying went on. As they entered the temple and made their way to the interior, they caught a glimpse of many priests gathered around and listening to someone telling them exactly what was going to happen.

It was Jesus! In the middle of the crowd of priests, explaining to all about the very love of God. He was twelve. His parents were awestruck. They listened and finally took him home after three days of searching! Read about it in Luke 2: 41-52.

What was that? Cars zooming past, honking their horns at her, even people yelling at her for pulling to the side of the road. It didn't faze her one bit! It was his bike!

Down in the gully near where the bike had landed, there was Sam, unseen by passing cars, lying in a gully all crinkled up. 

Rhona took off. Sliding down into the gully to be with Sam. He was alive but completely unconscious. Obviously, he had either been hit by a car or swerved and fallen. She immediately called for help from the ambulance service.

It took no time at all. The police arrived, the ambulance arrived, and they immediately took him to the hospital. He was quickly admitted and sent to the operating theatre, where he lost his spleen but slowly survived. 

As the doctors explained to his mother, it was so fortunate she found him when she did; his life would have definitely been in the balance.

After a few days in the hospital, he couldn't really remember much except that one car just clipped his bike as he was riding. That was all he remembered.  

You know the love Mary and Joseph had for Jesus, and also the love that Rhona had for her boy Sam is amazing, and I guess we can all relate to that so well - the love for our families always intrigues me.

No matter what they do or where they go, usually the love we have for our families never stops; it just keeps on going.

That is beautiful in itself, BUT the love God has for you totally and exceedingly outshines the love we have as humans for our families and for everyone else that comes into our lives.

God's love outshines anything this old world has to offer. His love loved us all so much that He sent His son Jesus to die on that cross to pay for our sins and also for any sins we may commit in the future.

All we have to do is accept what Jesus did for us. He took our sins and killed them on that cross years ago. Jesus rose again after three days. All we have to do is accept what He did, paying for all the sins we have committed, and asking Him to come into our lives and lead us.

God's blessings to you this week - see you next time

Nero

 A.D.38. Thirty-eight years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Rome had pretty much taken over most of the known world at that time. Was it a disaster for many thousands? Certainly was.

Nero was the fifth Emperor of Rome and the last of the Claudian Dynasty. 

He was known for his cruelty, especially watching so many people suffer horribly in the Colosseum, which today is still standing, albeit in ruins, but remarkable anyway, and, of course, he was responsible for the Great Fire of Rome, which killed thousands of people.  He led a very lavish lifestyle, and he was passionate about music and acting. 

He had his mother murdered, and his whole life revolved around cruelty to so many others, extravagance, and tyranny.

He blamed the Great Fire of Rome on the Christians, and he burned so many of them while alive at the stake and crucified many more, including many young children, using a lot of them as human torches while banqueting with his cronies.

He committed suicide in 68 A.D. after the senate declared him a public enemy. Oh, what a life!

During his reign, he indulged himself and many others in the Roman Amphitheatre, where so many Christians were killed, including mothers with children and families of Christians mutilated and tortured to death for the entertainment of many. 

There were also so many Chariots in races around the Amphitheatre in the Colosseum. Not just chariots but all sorts of entertainment. Even filled the place with water and had boat races.  Of course, many were executed horribly, and he continued to classify it all as entertainment. 

Sulinus was a prisoner of war captured and taken from the Celtic tribes of Britannica when Rome invaded the island of Britain years before, and now he was trained to entertain in the Amphitheatre. The life that he knew and loved was taken from him, and he always longed for England.

Sulinus clasped his hand around the shaft of his spear and tapped the charioteer on the shoulder, giving the signal for the man to set off. He jerked the reins, and the chariot creaked and groaned as the horses broke into a gallop.

The crowd shouted encouragement with lots of whooping and screaming as the horses increased their speed to a thunderous gallop. their hoofs churning up clods of earth. He braced himself and twisted his torso in the chariot as the driver encouraged the horses to go faster and faster.

He launched his spear in a pretty graceful motion at the condemned human target, striking the man at chest-height, drawing more and more whoops from the crowd as the man screamed in agony.

How horrible and disastrous was that time in history? So many people were mutilated, tortured, and killed in the arena of the Roman Amphitheatre, which is still around today, albeit in ruins, but still there.

Nero, unfortunately, goes down in history as probably one of the most torturous and disastrous leaders in history. He ended up committing suicide because he sort of knew that he would be done away with.

Nero's mother was Agrippina the Younger, and was one of the most prominent women at the time. She was the Roman Empress from AD 49 to AD 54 and the fourth wife of Claudius. She was pretty well-known.

Her first husband was Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, who would later become Nero's father. It all points to the fact that she poisoned her second husband, Passienus Crispus, in 49. She ended up marrying her uncle Claudius that same year that Crispus was poisoned.

Claudius, her husband and uncle, was persuaded to adopt Nero as heir to the throne in place of his own son.

Nero killed Agrippina, his mother, in 59 AD, all because she was constantly a very powerful influence in his rule, and he didn't like that.  He tried, apparently, to do away with his Mum several times. She was on her way to a party, apparently, and he sent off a boat that was designed to sink her boat so she would drown. But she swam ashore; she was only 43 years old.

In absolute desperation, Nero sent off a soldier to kill her, which he did. Poor Agrippina! She had certainly led a very different lifestyle, considering her young age at the time of her death.

Jesus himself was tortured and killed 40-odd years before all this cruelty was still taking place. Many people were captured from Jerusalem and taken to Rome as slaves, and many were killed if they became Christians - so what is a Christian? 

All the followers of Jesus Christ were first called "Christians" because of their behaviour and their love of Jesus. Apparently, the word "Christian" means becoming a follower of Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately, being a member of a church, attending services regularly, and giving to the work of the church do not make you a Christian. And doing lots of good works, where it seems wonderful, and it truly is, doesn't make you a Christian either.

So being a 'good' person is great, but it doesn't make you a Christian. Doing all sorts of good things doesn't make us Christians. In the Bible, in Titus 3 and verse 5, it says, " He has saved us, not because of the righteous or good things we do or have done, but because of His mercy and the rebirth through the Holy Spirit." 

So being 'born-again' simply means putting faith and trust in Jesus Christ. In Ephesians 2, the Bible tells us, "it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is a gift of God."

Jesus died pretty horribly on that cross as a payment for sins, which is truly a remarkable thing and so beautiful, really. He died to pay for our sins so that all we have to do is accept him and put our faith and trust in Jesus. That is all - amazing really.

Are you ready to do this? Hope to see you next week.