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. 

Which Way?

Gabrielle's home was across the street and down half a block from the federal courthouse. On her way there, she called in to see Scott, her solicitor, who was going to represent her this morning.

Here she was all ready to go to court, only to find out that the proceedings had been put off until the next court appearance, which was due sometime in the future. How frustrating!

Poor Gabrielle had been accused of harassing and being a Miss Nosy Neighbour to a guy who had lived next door to her and her family for many years. Gabrielle couldn't understand what had truly happened.

She had been a neighbour of Herbert's for as long as she could remember. She had lived in that home with her parents since birth, and she and her siblings had thoroughly enjoyed their time there together.

She and her brothers and sisters had grown up, gone to school, achieved and earned part-time jobs, finished their education, some attending university, all achieving what they desired in life, and all gone on their way, except Gabe, who had still lived in the same home with their parents.

Working so well at Uni, she achieved high qualifications in Investment Banking and Financial Management. Achieving a great job in banking, she became hugely successful and worked pretty hard to achieve what she really liked out of life. 

So something like this with a neighbour, completely out of the blue, really knocked her around. Herbert accused her of all sorts of things, amazing things like peering over the fence and trying to break into his home, stealing washing off the line, and scaring his dog.

She was amazed, hurt, and bewildered. He had called the police and taken legal action, and now the court proceedings had begun and were supposed to begin. What was she going to do?

In Psalm 35:20, the Bible says that often there are false accusations against those who are usually quiet in the land, and they devise words of deceit. This can be a pretty true description of what happens in our world today. Lies are told of innocent people just to stir up trouble.

Jesus Himself said in Matthew 5, "Blessed are you when people falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me, rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in Heaven." That is so straightforward.

Making false accusations will become accountable to whoever says it when it comes under God's final judgment, as mentioned in Psalm 5. Pretty scary if you ask me! No matter what other people may say about us, which so often is all lies, we can really rely on His word that is the Bible.

Jesus Himself had to face extreme false accusations from the top brass of the Pharisees and their followers in those days. No one was ever brave enough to stand up against them. Jesus told them the truth, which went over like a bomb.

Well, here we are: Gabrielle went to court after it was reassigned to another date, and she and her neighbour were present. Herbert, with his solicitor, and she with Scott, her own solicitor, all very professional.

Both sides put their arguments to the judge, who could see pretty much straight away what Herbert's solicitors' main points were in the session, and after all the arguments were put to her, the judge left the courtroom and adjourned the hearing for another week.

What a week it was for poor Gabrielle. She cried a lot (not that it helped much) and really threw herself into her work mode.

Nervous Gabrielle and her solicitor's team headed for the court and had to wait well over two hours while Herbert and his team sat nearby. Gabby tried smiling at Herbert, only to be ignored, which really upset Gabby, knowing how much she had been such a friend with Herbert from such an early age.

The court resumed, and lots were said for and against poor Gabby. The final judgement came down.

Herbert was found to be lying about Gabby, much to his solicitor's disgust and shock. He was told he had to meet the court costs and to make some arrangements with his solicitor to stay well away from Gabrielle and her home.

The relief on Gabby's face was incredible. Her parents, brothers, and sisters threw their arms around her and shook hands with her solicitor. All was over, or was it?

She had decided to move out of her home. Two of her sisters agreed it was for the best, and between them all, they had already found a unit at least thirty minutes away from where she used to live with her parents, who, by the way, had also decided to move. 

Isn't it amazing how our lives can be altered depending on the circumstances under which we find ourselves? 

Jesus found His life well and truly under the death penalty, and for what? All because He told us the truth that whoever believes and accepts Him as Lord of their life will be saved from the judgment of God.

Nothing really has changed. We are all in that situation. If we completely IGNORE what God says that we have to come to Him and ask Him to take over our lives and for us to live for Him, then we are all destined for hell, which is just as real as heaven. 

Why don't you come to Jesus right now? Ask Him to take charge of your life and to lead you in the way that He wants you to go. Does that mean that your life will always be rosy and lovely? Absolutely not, unfortunately. But it does mean eternity with God, which is absolute and so rewarding, no matter what this life throws at you and me.

God bless you this week, hope to see you next time.

Save or Kill?

Connor Schmidt happily drove the 12-to-8 shift on the city bus line that travelled along the Pacific Highway in Sydney, New South Wales. He was absently whistling one of the Beatles' old songs as he piloted his bus through the night.

He had driven the same route for nineteen years and was really glad to have work - there were so many of his friends without employment. He also liked the solitude.

Connor had always been a deep thinker, according to his friends, and Carolyn, his lovely wife of twenty years, was always there for him. He felt really blessed.

He knew he had to get the bus back to the depot, and his shift was coming to an end when suddenly he saw something on the road - he swerved, braked, and spun to the right- so fortunate no other vehicles were coming the other way - WOW, what was that?

Connor pulled the bus over to the side. How fortunate he was. But what was that? Connor walked around the back of the bus. Something was lying in the middle of the road. There was a person all bundled up and lying there.

Connor bent down to see the person - she was an elderly lady, all doubled over, lying there - she was crying, and blood was coming from her head. What could he do?  Should he move her? Should he make sure no one else would almost hit her?  What was happening?

Connor phoned the ambulance station - he put stanchions around the lady and lots of lights, which fortunately he had in the bus. He stood in the road and made sure all traffic avoided the area way beyond, where she was lying. The police were soon on the scene, and the ambulance arrived not long after.

The ambulance attendants were very pleased that Connor hadn't moved the lady. It was so important not to move if she had broken anything. Moving may have jeopardized her life, and fortunately, Connor knew this from his extensive training years before.

The police took over the traffic control, and the ambulance crew was soon able to move the lady. 

What a shock, and as Carolyn explained to her friends, Connor didn't really expect that as he made his way home in an empty bus - how fortunate that he saw the lady lying on the road.

A few weeks later, the police called in to Connor's home and explained that the lady had come from the nursing home, around about three kilometres from where Connor had found her. She was suffering from a form of dementia and had wandered off from the home, and a search party had only just started when Connor had found her.

She had fallen when trying to cross the road. She really had no idea where she was, and she was really quite unconscious when Connor found her lying in the middle of the roadway. How fortunate that she was not hit. The police praised Connor for his quick thinking, considering he was driving a bus and not a car.

Connor and Carolyn made their way to the nursing home and visited the lady. She had really no recollection of what had happened, but the nursing staff put on a huge afternoon tea for them both. They were all so delighted that Connor had actually saved her life.

Life is different, isn't it! We are all so different in so many ways. The difference is astounding.

Just recently, while the Jewish community here in Australia was celebrating Hanukkah, a gunman started shooting and killed many people, and many others were hospitalised, never to be the same again.

We are all unique, and many of us hold diverse beliefs.  What is so sad is that many believe in the killing of others, which never ceases to amaze me. Connor found this lady and tried so hard to save her life while the gunmen at the Hanukkah celebration killed as many people, including one child, as they could - it just astounds me.

Jesus died for you and me, and you may ask why He did that.

Way back in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve decided that God was pretty irrelevant. They had their own lives to lead, and so sin entered the world, and God punished them for it by only letting them live a short while on earth, and having to work hard with lots of problems thrown in.

And so, we all have to cope with that - sin entered God's ideal world, and unfortunately, sin entered in just like today, and we all have partaken in all sorts of sin.

God will give us the victory and the triumph over our sin if we choose to believe that he can. But if we choose to believe that we can rely on our own strength, then we will keep on falling into ditches or all sorts of horrible things.

John 15: 5 says, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." NKJV

God is pretty adamant that ONLY if we give Him our total lives and live for Him, can we expect Him to take us and live eternally in Heaven when we forsake this crazy world of ours.

Asking Him into our lives while we are still here on earth is really the ONLY way we can be sure that God, in His love and mercy, will secure us a place in heaven for eternity.

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

Making Every Day Count

My friend David contracted MND, and sadly, he passed away - he was so young to have died. Motor Neurone Disease is horrible and can be so devastating to a family

David was an accountant and lived with his wife and three young children - he was active and smart and made every single day count.

He authored a book called Coming to Life, and I quote from it:-

"Making every day count means waking up every morning and deciding how I am going to invest the hours that I have available till I go back to bed that night. Of course, I could wallow in my own self-pity all day. But that seems like an incredible waste of two resources which are in short supply - time and strength.

Each day is valuable. I don't know how many more I have in the bank. It's better to use each day as best I can, even with the limitations of my body."

You know it's amazing, don't you! We all drool and carry on about the future and what's going to happen. We dream and work on how the future will unfold for us. We plan and execute our dreams as best we can.

It never really works out that way - there is really no guarantee of life. So, re-reading David's book called Making Every Day Count, comes home to me once again that we should invest in the hours we have available and realise that, in fact, we should use each day as best we can.

David had it in his mind that he would love to retire when he turned fifty-five and become a writer of truth and also novels - he really had no idea that he would be going to meet his Lord and Saviour at the age of just fifty years old.

I guess we all have dreams and plans for the future, and as we get older, if we can survive that long, our plans so often go astray, even haywire - I know mine have, and it's sad.

I know I was a close friend of David's, and we spent many days together. We often went walking - he in his wheelchair while he could manage it, and me trailing alongside, trying my best to keep up. Grabbing a coffee, and made sure he had a straw with it. MND is a horrible and nasty thing.

David contracted MND at the age of just forty, and he lasted an amazing ten years. He passed away at the age of just fifty leaving his wife and three young children.

He had an amazing outlook. He knew where he was headed, but of course, he didn't want to die. He loved his family, he adored his wife, and he was looking forward to the future. He also loved the Lord and what Jesus had done for him on the cross all those years ago.

I know we all don't look forward to death. Our life is precious, and can be fulfilling, but on saying that, I realise that life can also be totally and utterly devastating. We can lose our loved ones, live in a hostile and war-torn area, and constantly be in total danger and all sorts of trauma.

Jesus came to an area where there was absolute disaster and turmoil. Rome had taken over Jerusalem and brought absolute death, torture, and executions that had never been experienced before. Many Israelites had been brutally killed, burned alive at the stake, and used as human torches, many, many crucified, including children - extraordinarily and truly traumatic.

Then came Jesus, knowing that he would die brutally on a cross to pay for our sins. He was completely and utterly innocent and without sin, which, really, because of His sinlessness, was the perfect sacrifice to take all of our sins upon Himself.

He paid for all of our sins, and all we have to do is accept what he has done for us. He was so willing to grab our sins and get rid of them by dying for us on that terrible day.

So, what do we have to do? 

Easy! We have to accept his love for us. He was and is so willing to take our sins and forgive us. Of course, we have to come to Him ourselves and ask His forgiveness and accept what he did for us all those years ago.

He died for us - He took our sins and forgave us all, but only IF we come to Him and ask Him to lead us in everything we do.

Every person who believes has experienced a moment when he or she placed their faith in Jesus and accepted the truth that He died to pay for all of our sins and then He rose again. 

In the Bible in Romans 10: 9-10 "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart, that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved for it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved."

God bless you this week - see you next time.

Gallipoli

1st World War was really brutal, as are all wars,

Gallipoli - an utter devastation.

Like Sean, there with hundreds of others in the thick of the battle, he glanced around to see his mate Freddy following, running in a crouch, stumbling as bullets tore over his head, then scrambling back on his feet to continue running.

Machine guns opened up from their own lines in a futile attempt to provide cover fire, but the machine gun firing at them was too well entrenched. He saw Freddy just as a flare settled in the vast, horribly open space where they were. Freddy runs back to the enemy lines towards the machine gun, a grenade in each hand.

He threw a grenade - it exploded on target, and the gun fell silent. A shout went up - everyone impressed by the raw courage of young Freddy.

Sean turns to run when the world around him explodes. He is not even slightly aware that he has been blown off his feet by a trench mortar bomb, brought into action to counter the raid on their lines.

Lying in the parched and brutally barren space within a huge scorch mark on the ground where the mortar had exploded, he couldn't help but think as he lay on his back, staring up at the stars - the ground around him parched, dry, and red hot - where the heck am I?

All around him, bombs exploding. scattering red-hot shards everywhere. Suddenly, there was Freddy at his side, dragging and pulling him into a sort of safe place in the trench.

Sean almost died there, and if it wasn't for Freddy, he definitely would have. Sean lost both his legs and was eventually transported back to Australia.

War is a horrible and ghastly thing to be happening- nothing really has changed since the First World War, as mentioned above - it was just today that we once again heard of young families in the Ukraine being killed so horribly by mortar attacks by the Russian army - families killed, torn apart, and ruined.

Many, many people are left homeless and devastated by thoughtless and cruel people who only have one thing in mind, and that is power, no matter what it costs.

Back to World War 1 and the Australian Prime Minister, Billy Hughes, had called for Australian males to be forced into military service to help out England in her war against Germany and her allies.

It's tough when the Government of the day forces our young people into military service - I remember well back in the 60s when the Vietnam War was at its peak, so many of us were called to National Service for at least 2 years, all at the age of 20 years old. So many young men at the time were tragically killed. Girls weren't included back then in the call-up system - oh, so different in those bizarre days.

We look back and can often be horrified at what is happening. When I look at how the world is evolving now, I often feel staggered when I think of so many ways the whole thing has evolved,

As Christmas has just been, I can't help feeling how vastly different it is in so many ways than when Jesus was first born in the dirty old stable over 2000 years ago. Here was the very Son of God - actually God came to earth to save us all - He came knowing that He would give His life so that all we have to do is to accept Him as our Lord and saviour and ask Him to rule our lives.

How about you? Are you any wiser about who Jesus is and why He was born in that filthy stable all those years ago?

He was completely sinless, and because he actually was completely sinless, he took our sins upon Himself, and with our decision to accept His gift of eternal life, He killed our sins along with His own life upon that absurd and hideous cross.

So many people these days have really no idea who He was - nearly every single story on Television uses his name as a swear word over and over again. They have no real idea that they will be held accountable to God for using His name in vain - pretty disastrous for them.

I personally make so many mistakes nearly every single day. Does that make me 'not a Christian' - I know that is not right. When I came to God in the first place, he accepted me, and I felt Him leading me, and I put Him first. But often things of this world can upset and confuse us so many times, and we find ourselves frustrated and often abusive.

It happens to me quite a bit, but immediately I ask God's forgiveness, and He does forgive. I praise Him so much for forgiving my mistakes. 

Don't ever feel that you may be too bad to come to Christ - we are all sinners here on earth, and that is why Jesus came as a baby and grew up sinless and miraculous. He gave His life for us so that we can be with Him for eternity.

All you have to do is ask Him to lead your life, confessing your sins whatever they may be, and asking Him for forgiveness.

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

You said you wanted to see me

"You said you wanted to see me".  Larry said to Carolyn, who then ushered Larry into the pew near the front of the church. 

There weren't that many pews, although the church is a vast, cavernous space. To Larry, it seems very bare after his mother's place of worship; no children's posters or colourful tapestries, just grey stone and a high altar that's almost invisible. 

There are some statues around the outside wall, but they are grey too and seem to blend into the stone. It's a cold place, and Larry started to shiver- he was physically cold, but also freezing inside. He and Carolyn kept their coats on,

Thank you for seeing me, Carolyn. Is there something I have said or done that has upset you?

"Yes, there is actually Larry. When we were together the other night, you were telling me how great a Christian you were and how you were always telling people how God always wanted to meet with us in a special place of worship - how warm and friendly the building was, and that was the only place God wanted to me with us.

Well, that put me in my place, didn't it! Here is my church, and there are lots of places where we worship God that aren't anything, like the place where you worship God, and yet what you are saying is that God will only meet with us due to the type of building?"

"Well, yes, I truly believe that", says Larry. "Isn't it God's way that He only wants to meet with us in special places and not just anywhere?"

"Sorry!!!" Said Carolyn, "What did you just say? And what do you truly believe?  That God only wants to meet with us in special places and only in 'HOLY' places?

"Well, yes, I truly believe that", says Larry. "Isn't God a holy God, and should we believe that he can't meet with us in any old place, especially in a cold and very old place like this - after all, who would want to come here at all?

You know - God meets us where we are - we don't really need to go to church - mind you church can be a most rewarding place to go and especially if you want to meet with God in a special place of your own liking - BUT God is so willing to meet with any of us anywhere at all even in the places of beautiful solitude.

I know of a weekend my wife SueAnn and I walk the beaches around where we live. We go so early in the morning, just as the sun is coming up. Seeing God's creation at that time is so beautiful - we can see Him in everything - the waves, the sand, the wind, the total creation is there before us.

We don't really have to go to any special place to meet with God. 

God meets us where we are, BUT only if we make the effort to meet Him. Because God is truly LOVE, and that with a capital L. He will not push Himself onto us or coerce us or force us to find Him or even to want Him.

He is always so willing to respond to us when we open the door to our lives and invite Him in, BUT we just need to be willing to open up to Him and invite Him into our lives.

Another thing we should think about is that we can't have God on our own terms - We can't expect God to do what we want when we want it or to meet with us in some sort of special place - God is NOT like that at all. We all have to realise that God knows us all better than any of us knows our own selves.

He created us all so unique - He breathed life into us - and He knows us all inside and out - who we really are, and he knows he has plans for all of us - He actually created us for a purpose

The other thing is that God knows where we will all end up; unfortunately, for so many of us, that place will be none of God's plan - the thing is, He has given us a mind of our own and a will to match. He has designed pretty much a paradise for us, BUT it is really up to us to accept or reject Him.

So many people reject God - you see it on television or at the movies - so many times they use the Lord's name in swearing and hostilities rather than what Jesus actually did on the cross to save all of us - so sad really. 
God will not hold us guiltless when we take His name in vain or reject Him entirely.

It's so encouraging when we listen to other people's encounters with God - it just comes bounding out to us that God will meet with us exactly where we are - it certainly doesn't have to be in a cathedral or some church - His great love for us transforms us, and also the lives of whoever responds to Him.

God's amazing love for you can transform you exactly where you are - be it at a beach, in a crowd, at work, or yes! even in a church. We certainly don't need to go anywhere special to 'find' God. He is so willing to find us if we are so willing to find Him.

How are you feeling about God - if you are at all?  I know from many years at work that so many people feel God is just some sort of mind spectre who appears in your mind and then disappears. I know for a fact that He is real and his love can transform you if you take the time to acknowledge His very presence and accept Him into your life.

He transformed me, and I know He can transform you - all you need to do is accept Him and ask Him into your life to lead you.

God bless you this week. Take care.

There's not a cloud in the sky

Life is just so beautiful - every day is just so wonderful - there is just nothing that can change the way we live and what we do - it just gets better and better as we go along.

Enjoying our life every single day with nothing to interrupt us - it is like living in fairyland every single day - laughing and joking - going out with friends and eating in restaurants, making new friends and being there, going overseas and giving lots of presents and getting presents from lots of people 

Yes! Life is perfect

Isn't it amazing when you hear others saying things like "isn't life great - everything is so wonderful"? Hmmm, makes me think - Yes, life can be great, but then on the other hand, life can be traumatic, and sometimes it can jump up and bite you unexpectedly.

The other day, our amazing son-in-law was rushed off to the hospital, yet again, and not just to our local hospital, which in itself is pretty good, but two hours down the highway to a private hospital in Sydney. He is suffering from cancer and had to have major surgery yet again.

So it just goes to show that there are often "clouds in the sky," and life can be traumatic.

Then, looking at the news we hear every day of people being attacked in their homes - brutally assaulted or even murdered - How do families cope with things like this? It is truly life-changing, and I can imagine life taking a drastic turn. When I hear of so many people overseas and here at home who are struggling to cope with so many problems, it really blows my mind.

A person just enjoying the drive, going along, and suddenly another car racing alongside and a huge collision, then disturbed gravel, deep ruts, then skid narks gouged through long grass at the side of the road. The driver is attempting to brake and regain control after their vehicle, which has left the road, as it spears towards the guardrail. But it is too late. 

The sideways force of the collision and the momentum of the sweeping left-hand curve have caused the car to flip over and clip the top of the guard rail.

Hitting the guardrail has only added to the momentum of the flipping motion of the vehicle. The car then rebounds off a tree and ends up twenty metres further down the embankment.

WOW, suddenly these horrible things happen, and can happen to any of us when we least expect it, and so many of us are affected currently and unfortunately permanently when we lose someone whom we love and adore.

So many of us are affected by car accidents, leaving the family in deep mourning or constantly at the bedside of someone extremely injured in a horrible car accident.

Sometimes it is not car accidents but horrible illnesses that can affect even little ones in our family, and all these sorts of things can affect us our entire lives.

Mathew is a flight guy - loves flying, and off he goes flying low over his rugged landscape where he lives and works. Over seemingly endless craggy hillocks and jagged ravines. He loves it, and he is all alone.

Matthew was on a mission, actually, orders from his boss - his mission was to attempt and locate missing cattle, and he was to photograph and mark such positions as he found on the map squashed on his lap.

He passes over what appears to be nomadic camel trains, and they remind him of the people recorded in the Bible all those years ago who had lived their lives oblivious to any Western influence. Matthew muses and waves down to them. The camels look so slow and awkward as they are spurred on by their riders. Matthew loves his job and really enjoys it.

Suddenly, the engine falters - misses a beat but keeps on going. "Phew," thinks Matthew - "I must head back." he turns the plane around only to once again hear the engine give a jolt and falter. He keeps going, and then the engine seems ok.

Suddenly, it stops completely - nothing - he tries to restart - nothing - it nosedives so quickly - he tries the ejector - too late.

Matthew was a great guy - he loved his job.

How often are we affected in our families when something obscure like this can change our lives in a twinkling of a second? Losing our loved ones in disastrous accidents can have huge effects on us in so many ways.

I know I lost my little twin sister when she was just 12 months old. Did my family ever get over it and put it behind them? No! We did get on with life, and we did enjoy our family get-togethers, but in the background, the loss of a family member is always with you, no matter what.

You know, years ago, Jesus gave his life for you and me - the question that remains in so many people's lives is, why did he have to do that?

The Bible is pretty plain when it explains why Jesus had to die. Way back, sin entered the world through Satan, and all of humankind has been going downhill since then - we are all doomed to die at some point in our lives.

Jesus made it pretty plain that no matter how we live our lives, we all have to give an account to God the Father but Jesus died to take the punishment for our sins, and all we have to do is, accept by faith and believe in what Jesus did by dying on the cross to abolish our sins - which in itself is pretty amazing.

If you accept Jesus as Lord of your life and fully accept his death as the sacrifice for your sins, then this is the best part. Becoming a Christian is having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ - How do you do that? It is simply through faith - ask Him to come into your life and lead you. 

If you are ready to ask Jesus to save you, that is become your Saviour, all you have to do is to believe. You have to understand that like me and everyone else in the world, you have sinned, and that means a big judgment from God the Father. 

The thing is, Jesus took our punishment when he died on that horrible cross, and he died in our place. He paid for our sins that we have already committed.

All we have to do is simply put our trust in Jesus as our Lord and saviour and fully trust in Him alone all done by faith - that is all it takes.

God bless you this week.

Stop Looking - Found it

Nothing worse than losing something?

Elsie was walking along the street, making her way home, when she looked down in her bag to get the home key out, and she noticed her wallet, containing pretty much everything, was missing. 

Shock and disaster rang out - Oh NO!! I've been shopping all afternoon, and it could be anywhere!

Ever lost anything?

I know I have, and it's a horrible feeling, especially when whatever you have lost contains all sorts of important things that can have a huge effect on your life.

My wife was shopping for new shoes at some point, and when she went to pay for the ones she had picked out, she couldn't find the credit card - all dismay hit her! Where could it be? 

To cut a long story short, after going to all the other shops she had visited, she had to cancel the lost card (which in itself can be a lot of work) and pay for the shoes by cash - pretty much unheard of here in Oz.

She got home, and the shoe shop rang to tell her that the lost card had been found under the seat she had used in the shop - very frustrating.

Back to Elsie - her whole wallet was lost - it contained not only her house keys, but all her credit cards, all her money, all her other cards, including her car licence, her blood bank card, and numerous other cards.

Her life changed in a twinkling of an eye - Another long story cut short it took her months to finalise everything- she lost at least three hundred dollars in cash as well as all her credit cards - fortunately she was able to cancel her card and save her bank savings which was in jeopardy if someone had been able to withdraw cash form her bank accounts or go shopping in her name.

We are pretty lucky in this country of ours - mostly banks and others will help us out if a disaster like this strikes us.

You know our lives can change in the twinkling of an eye as well - something can happen in our lives that will immediately and permanently alter us in so many different ways.

Just yesterday, here we are in Newcastle, Australia, a total disaster fell. A young couple who had decided to go surfing early was attacked by a huge bull shark. The young couple was viciously attacked. A young man tried to rescue them, pulling them out of the water.

So sad, really - the young lady died at the scene, and the young man is in a horrible condition, maybe losing his legs - truly a disastrous situation.

How do we cope with something like this? Quite a question!

There is really no answer because no matter what we go through, our lives can change so quickly and permanently.

We hear on the news constantly, every single day, how people the world over are suffering all sorts of disasters - things that many people will never get over.

I know the world changed dramatically when a young baby was born in a dirty old stable well over 2000 years ago - the baby, of course, was Jesus, born in extreme poverty, and yet grew up and forged ahead to make our lives a miracle if we can accept His salvation.

So many people today think that Jesus was nothing, that he was born and died, and that was the end of that - how wrong can you be?

I know that he changed my life - I was completely lost, dwelling on the bad and horrible things that happened in my life. They are still with me, and unfortunately, I will continue to live with them come what may, BUT I know that Jesus came into my life and changed me.

Before I asked Jesus into my life to lead me, I was completely and utterly at a loss, trying to cope with all the horrible and nasty things that kept surfacing in my life.  Did my life's circumstances change after I asked Jesus to come into my life and lead me?

Actually, NO, I still had all my upsets and worries - my life seemed to keep going through lots of traumas, BUT my life did change - I know that asking Jesus Christ to come into my life and making Him No.1 had a huge effect.

When things go crook, I ask Christ to guide me, to come into my life and take charge, helping me to cope with whatever it is that changes my life. I keep my eyes and my heart on Him at all times no matter what disaster falls on me.

I'm off this weekend and traveling a couple of hours to be with my son in a hospital in Sydney. He has a severe case of cancer and has undergone major surgery, removing his pelvis. I doubt he will ever be able to walk again.

Do we give up?

Never!

Jesus died for us, and both my son and I and the rest of our family know that whatever may happen, we all know where we are going regardless.

Do you know?

Give your life to Jesus today. He will come in and guide us all through the tough times, whatever they me be in your life and mine.

God bless - see you next time.

Envy is a terrible thing

 Envy is a terrible thing - a cancer on the soul.

"These days, he calls himself a property developer and a 'facilitator', although I don't know what a facilitator does and have no desire to find out. It's like that famous quote about sausages. "Sometimes it's best not to see how they're made or what goes inside."

The above is a famous quote from an unknown, but to me, it sounds like someone is really quite envious of someone else, as goes the story of many different people throughout the world.

Envy is quietly going on behind many people's lives - it can be dangerous, it can be malicious, and it can border on murder!

Envy apparently involves painful and resentful awareness of an advantage someone else has rather than yourself.

Envy comes with a desire to possess whatever someone else has and keep it all to yourself.

Envy can lead to many and varied negative thoughts and actions, and also extreme resentment, insecurity in yourself, and, unfortunately, a serious case of envy for some other person.

Envy can also be about wanting what someone else has, and it can lead to extreme cases of jealousy, being terrified of someone liking someone else better than yourself, or fearing the loss of something you already have.

The definition of "envy" is to want what belongs to someone else. That is a really a very simple way of putting it, I guess.

In lots of ways, I guess a whole lot of us have suffered from envy at some point in our lives - I know I definitely have. Here I was stuck in a family of Mum and Dad and three other siblings, all with amazing singing voices (except me and Mum), and having to listen to them over and over again.

I was actually quite envious of them - so many times I watched them all perform and had to well and truly take a back seat. 

It wasn't till good old Mum sat me down and explained in great detail that envy is a resentful, dissatisfied, and extreme desire and longing to be like someone else or to want their talents or even their possessions.

I was really taken aback by what she said. Here was I thinking, "I want what they have got," and I received quite a shock when she explained we all have our unique lives and we are all so different!

Envy is, as the Bible explains, an act of humanity and is the result of sin, which unfortunately is in all of us.

There are lots of types of sin in the world, from hatred, jealousy, rage, etc, etc. If you look in the Bible in Galatians chapter 5, it says quite plainly that those of us who live like this will NOT inherit the Kingdom of God.

Now that to me is pretty scary, so I will quote from Galatians 5:19-21: "The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and ENVY; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will NOT inherit the kingdom of God."

The very first case of envy is recorded in the Bible, in the story of Cain and Abel - here were the brothers (whom I have mentioned before in my blog), going about their work and also offering special things to God, such as burnt sacrifices (not human, I might add). Cain became jealous of his brother Abel and then killed Him.

And so it goes on in the Bible, with Esau and Jacob, Rachael and Leah, Saul and David, and so on. It's well worth the read when you have the time; it is really very interesting.

Envy is a heart thing, and it can really muck you around - I am so pleased that my Mum, all those years ago, dragged me screaming over the fact that I should never lust after what others have and be so content with what you do have - regardless of what that may be.

Trusting in Jesus as Lord of our lives is really THE only way to avoid envy - does that mean you will never ever be envious of anything or anyone? Unfortunately, no, it doesn't mean that - we will all fall into the trap of being envious of something or someone BUT being aware of what has befallen you, coming to God in prayer and asking His forgiveness is really all you need to do.

He will certainly forgive our downfall IF we are truly sorry for being caught in Satan's net of lies and traps, and God will forgive - He has promised to do so, and he certainly will if you truly come to Him and ask Him to.

FORGIVE means to completely start anew - get rid of the old -  pardon the past - start anew - cancel all sorts of debts. Forgiveness is an act of pure love and certainly means holding nothing against the person who has wronged you. Tough? Yep, can be! But with, God on our side, we CAN forgive - and we can also ask forgiveness if we feel we have certainly wronged someone in the past.

Takes courage to do that, and unfortunately, when we do ask for forgiveness, that person may decide not to forgive - that is entirely up to them, but the miraculous thing about that is that God knows YOUR heart and He is fully aware that you asked for forgiveness, which came from your heart regardless of whether that person decides to forgive or not.

So, where are you with your walk with God?

Come to Him today - ask His forgiveness and also ask Him to come and lead your life. Hand your life over to Him.

God bless you this week - any questions, please ask, and we will try to help.