Heaven? Who will go there?

 Heaven? That's a great thought - What is Heaven? Is it a place? Should I be hankering to get there?

Lots of questions and lots to think about!

Yesterday, I attended a funeral for a very good friend of ours whom we have known for such a long time. She was a really sweet and gentle lady, full of love and generosity. She gave her life to the Lord Jesus when she was quite young - she lived her life putting Christ first in all situations

So many people think of heaven as a nice and good place - and if we are really good, we will all end up there when we die- hmmm, I don't think so, but let's think about the alternative.

Most people don't even think about heaven very much while we are still here on Earth, swinging around doing our own thing over and over again - enjoying ourselves and our family, eating out, and building our lives. It is not until we get to the stage in our lives or when we end up at a funeral service, that we think about what is going to happen to us after we die.

It's amazing how people think of heaven as a place where "good" people go  - so if you are a 'good' person, then you will get to heaven - it's not as simple as that - the Bible has a lot to say about heaven and who is entitled to get there.

John 3:16 says - "For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life"- when you think about that verse and I mean REALLY think about it says a real lot. Then in verse 36 it says, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life. For God's wrath remains on them."

Now that is pretty straightforward. Whoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ and accepts Him into their life as their Lord and Savior then they have eternal life; those who don't accept Him and believe in Him will not have eternal life. Pretty straight!

Romans 3:1 says no one is perfect, not even one - none of us are perfect, we have ALL sinned - every one of us. We are all doomed to pay the price of our sins, that is, if we don't accept what Jesus did on that cross all those years ago to pay the price for our sins and ask Him to come and take over our lives so that we can live for him.

As I mentioned, we had gone to a funeral yesterday of a dear friend who passed to be with our Lord. Years ago, she came to the point in her life where she really felt she had to turn her life over to God and to live her life putting God first in ALL situations, whatever those situations could be - when you think about it, there are many situations in which putting God first can be difficult.

No one is perfect, we all have sinned, every one of us - God does not have sin in heaven at all. We have no way of making our wrongs right except through Jesus. He took our punishment on himself at the cross, Father grabbing our sins and taking possession of them. He saved us through his death, and all we have to do is accept Him and ask Him to come and rule our lives. 

It's the only thing that Jesus did on that cross all those years ago that gave us the very right to ask God the Father to forgive our sins and to accept us into heaven when we die. The very sacrifice of Jesus on the cruel cross covers all of our sins, every single one of them, and all we have to do is to believe in Him, knowing He is alive in our hearts, and we turn our lives over to Him.

Kerri was a young lady who had decided very young in her life to do her own thing, and even though she loved her parents very much, doing what she was told gave her the irrits big time. Along came young Gibby,  the so-called gardener, a handsome young fella who really liked

 Kerri a lot.

Years before Kerri, through the influence of her mum, decided to follow Jesus, she just went through the motions, put her hand up when asked if she wanted to come to Christ, and even taught Sunday School, BUT did she mean it?

This is where a lot of people really don't understand about becoming a follower of Jesus - It is far more than making a declaration or trying to please someone. Following Jesus is a personal experience of believing in Christ and what he did for us all those years ago. He took our sins upon Himself and paid the high price of ridding the sins of everyone who decides to follow Him. It was a huge and amazing thing to do.

Gibby and Kerri decided to make a go of their relationship. Unbeknownst to Kerri, Gibby was also a drug dealer from years before; all she could see was lots of money and so-called fun. Kerri fell for Gibby and also fell into a lot of trouble.

You know - God has a real means of talking to people when they come to Him - He gives them a real awareness of their sins and also a real awareness of their personal needs of a savior humbly accepting God's amazing offer of forgiveness. They have repented of their old ways of doing their own thing and constantly sinning. Coming to Christ keeps us fully aware of when we do trip up, and the amazing thing is that when we do trip up, we can come back to Christ, constantly asking for his forgiveness.

Unfortunately for Kerri, because she didn't really believe in her heart that there was a God after all, and

truly gave her heart to Him, she really had no awareness of what she was doing until it was far too late. 

No matter what has happened in your life and no matter how far you feel you have sinned, God can speak to your heart, and you can come back, but please be fully aware that God won't keep on prompting you to come back to Him if you keep ignoring Him and doing your own thing over and over again.

If you feel God is talking to you right now, please ask His forgiveness. Ask Him to come into life and lead you in the way you should go.

God can change the most amazing sinners, believe me, I am one.

,

So Sorry to Wake You!!

"So sorry to wake you,". he yelled through the letterbox - just when I thought I was going to sleep in. WOW, what did he expect - me to jump out of bed and meet him out in the driveway?

You never can tell when someone comes in early some mornings and expects you to be wide awake and all ears to their needs and/or demands

It's really tiring, isn't it, when you may have had a very late night and finally climbed into bed, struggle to get to sleep because you have so much on your mind, finally fall into a deep sleep only to be woken by any number of things happening around you.

So when someone comes around like that and wakes you, you feel like throwing something at them and telling them to 'get lost'. 

You know, everyone worries about things that seem important to them. Lots of things like:- work (which can take so much of your time and energy), money troubles (oh dear - they are pretty horrible), health issues,  family, relationships, job security, weight and appearance, and so it goes on - somewhat endlessly.

All of these types of things can significantly influence how we worry and become consumed by everything that truly bothers us.

Í guess in lots of ways worries, whatever those worries are, can lead us to anxiety and often sadly enough can become a real problem and we can go downhill really, really fast.

Apparently, in today's world, there are numerous ways we can address our concerns and develop new and innovative techniques. We can:-  challenge any negative thoughts we have. Yes, I can see that would be a great way to start - maybe not really easy to do, but it can be very fulfilling. 

We can maybe say meditation could be the way to go: - My niece is a big fan of meditation - she goes off to the beach very early each Saturday morning and joins a meditation group on the sand, which she finds extremely helpful,  even on the coldest winter mornings and well before the sun finally breaks through.

Then there is Deep breathing:- Interesting thing to think about. Apparently, deep breathing can reduce physical tension and calm our nerves. Interesting!

If worries and concerns are really getting to you, then you should really consider seeking professional help from a counsellor or therapist, or actually go see your doctor and have a wise chat. 

What does God say about worries, anxiety, concerns, and depression? In 1 Peter chapter 5, Peter tells us to cast all of our concerns and anxieties onto God because He really does care for you.

What does that actually mean? Well, put it simply, if you come to God and really want Him to take control of your life and you ask Him to do just that, then He definitely will because He certainly does care that much about us.

God is really concerned about everything that goes on in our lives, and when we give our problems over to God, He does give us peace.

It doesn't mean that the problem miraculously disappears - of course not - BUT... it does mean that we can get on with our lives knowing that God truly does care enough about us.

When we are faced with life's biggest hurdles and when we are in times of great need, we often ask God for help, but then we feel we are not receiving the help that we want - it can be sad and extremely depressing.

This under no circumstances means that God isn't listening and that he doesn't care about us or our troubles. 

When you read the Bible and you see what Jesus went through in the Garden of Gethsemane, then even He cried out to God to let this pass from me - he knew he was going to be crucified horribly and with excruciating pain - yet God didn't answer his prayers in the way that He pleaded with Him.

Jesus was totally in God's will, not His own - it's a lot to take in, isn't it?

We so often can cry out to God, and when we do, God so often hears us, and he knows what we are going through.

Though Jesus asked God to please stop Him from going to Calvary, He asked with the condition "if it is possible". Jesus was in complete submission to God's will and not His own. If His suffering was a part of God's will, then He was willing to accept that.

When we cry out, "God, please help me," God hears us and always responds. He may not do so in the way we wish, but He responds nonetheless. Understandably, when we are in the middle of any suffering and grief, it is difficult to see the wider perspective of God's plan, especially when we receive an answer of "no" or "not now." But we can trust in God's sovereignty because we know He is good.

At the moment, in our family, we are going through a pretty tough time - our son is suffering horribly with cancer. When we pray and God doesn't answer in the way we would like then how do we react?

We personally have found ourselves pouring our hearts out to God, but we then feel that our prayers are falling on deaf ears, confusing, and greatly upsetting. We are truly not alone in this sort of situation when we feel that God remains silent when we pray.

The Bible reminds us in John Chapter 5 that God hears us and will respond - unfortunately, maybe not in the way we hope to expect. It can be frustrating to say the least, but do you know - you can be honest with God - pour out your feelings to Him - tell Him how you really are feeling.

God may have a hugely different plan for our lives that we may have planned, and His ways are much higher that ours, regardless of how we may be feeling. tell God how you are feeling, he isn't going to stop loving you or your family through hard times.

I know personally through the sufferings of our boy, just a fraction of what Jesus must have gone through, or the many thousands of people suffering horribly around the world.

This is something that we may never fully understand, but one thing I do understand through all of this is that God loves me regardless of how I feel and the many problems I personally face. We accept His love and His saving grace, and we venture on with Him, asking for His guidance and trusting Him regardless. 

God may have a hugely different plan for our lives that we may have planned for ourselves, and His ways are much higher than ours, regardless of how we may be feeling. Tell God how you are feeling. He isn't going to stop loving you or your family through hard times. 

God knows all about us, in fact, everything that's going on and taking place in our lives, including our deepest inner thoughts (which can be pretty scary) and our motives. In Hebrews 4:13, it says, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight"- that alone can be pretty scary because it totally tells us that we can't possibly ever EVER hide anything, including ourselves, from God. 

In one way, it's scary, BUT in another way, it brings us HUGE hope because even though He does know everything about us, He still loves us with a never-ending love. He is amazing because, despite our personal sins, which are huge and seemingly never-ending, He (God) loves us so much that He sent His only Son here on earth to pay for all of our sins from the past to the present day.

You know, you can turn to Jesus Christ right now if you want to. It's as simple as turning away from all those things that hang around us constantly - those things that we know are wrong, and yet we do them anyway - those things that we keep to ourselves and hide away from everyone else.

So, how do we turn away from them? By asking God to take control, He will come into your life and convict you of your sins and keep bringing you back to Himself. He is amazing.

I personally love this verse in Psalm 139 and verses 23 to 24: "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." May this amazing prayer become ours personally.

God bless you this week, and may you ask Jesus Christ to come into your life and be your rock and steadfast anchor.

Huge blessings

The King and the Donkey

Just been reading the Bible in Numbers 22 about a bloke called Balaam - quite THE guy!

Well worth the read if you can - really interesting.

Anyway, it turns out that the Israelites had traveled through the plains of Moab and camped across the Jordan River, across from Jericho, with full attention to taking over the land.

So the story of what happens next is amazing in itself  - it's about Balaam and a talking donkey. It's both jaw-dropping and a tad humorous and also heart-warming to a degree as well.

Here we have the King of Moab by the name of Balak, who was terrified of the army of Israel camped on his doorstep - don't blame him, really, I think I would be terrified as well.

So in his kingly wisdom, he thinks he would be able to summon a soothsayer or a person with so-called wisdom to come and put a curse on the people out there so that they will flee away and not come back, or they will all die a horrible and unseeming death.

You know - how many times have we wondered what we can do to make barriers between people who worry us? I guess in lots of ways we all have people who worry us. Some people and their actions can really get to us, and we find we need some sort of powerful way to regain our control over our anxiety by establishing healthy boundaries or space between ourselves and others.

Certain people, when mixed together, create a volatile match, so hopefully, this doesn't happen to us regularly, but sometimes we really do need to set boundaries and avoid physical contact.

And so this is exactly how the King of Moab felt when he saw the Israeli army camping outside his city - a bit of a shock!

Hence, the messengers sent to Balaam the soothsayer and mystic said, "Come and put a curse on the Israeli army out there." I can imagine what he was thinking- something along these lines - "I could do this and gain a lot of extra $$ if I do what the King commands - even if I don't do exactly what he says."

There were a few comings and goings, but finally, Balaam got on his donkey and off he went, with all these secret ideas swimming around in his head!

Sometimes we have to be very careful when we take off to say things and do things to or for others. We really do have to make sure that our intentions are good and honourable. Not like Balaam.

So Balaam hops on his beloved donkey, apparently, he's had for quite a while, and heads off to put some sort of curse or apparition on the enemy army. Looks good to Balaam - he has his special motive up his sleeve, all working out for him. Off he goes on his donkey with two servants with him.

Suddenly, the donkey turns off the road and ends up in a field all because being wiser than Balaam, the donkey can see an angel standing in front armed with a drawn sword ready to spiflicate good old Balaam if he proceeds any further.

Balaam is furious with the donkey and whacks it with a stick or some such instrument. Poor donkey!

Poor old donkey gets back on the road and makes its way to a narrow path through the vineyards with walls on each side. The angel then moves in front of the donkey, who obviously gets shocked and presses close to the wall and crushes Balaam's foot - you can imagine the "AAHH" coming from Balaam, who in turn beats the good old donkey again with the stick.

The angel moves again, to another narrow place - the donkey, this time, lies down, he's had enough - he doesn't want to die. Balaam is furious and beats the poor animal. Suddenly, the donkey speaks up (you can imagine Balaam's shock), "What have I done that has made you beat me these three times?"

Balaam answered the donkey (as you would, I guess), "You have made a fool of me - If I had a sword, I would kill you." The donkey replied (as they do), "I'm your donkey, I've never been in the habit of doing this." Suddenly, an angel appeared, and old Balaam suddenly realised what it was all about.

And so the story goes on - how Balaam meant to curse Israel but instead blessed them not once but twice.

It's worth the read - try it.

God can use amazing things to influence us in so many ways - even the other day, when Sue and I were walking along the beach together, we were gobsmacked by just how amazing God's creation is. It's astounding, isn't it?

Balaam must have been astounded when the donkey spoke - it didn't say anything about it in the passage, but I can imagine his surprise - Just like our surprise when things sometimes backfire on us or astound us in so many ways.

Before I personally became a Christian, I was so absorbed in my own welfare and how the world revolved around me and my desires. I am totally in awe of how God changed entirely after He came and took residence in my life.

God changed me so much - firstly, I could see others in so many different ways - I now can't help but put others first, which in itself is quite amazing, especially for a person like myself, someone who was always thinking of themselves. I changed so much that it was quite unbelievable.

Secondly, I had a huge desire to help and assist other people in even small ways - something that I never wanted to do at all. I was so self-centred, it is so embarrassing to look back.

God can change you - if He can change me, He can change anyone. 

How does He change us? By us coming to Him and asking Him to come into our lives and lead us.

Pray this prayer to ask Him into your life

Dear Lord, I confess that I am a sinner and need your absolute forgiveness. I truly believe that Jesus died for my sins and, amazingly, He rose again. Please come into my life and be my Lord. Amen

If you truly from your heart prayed this prayer Jesus will come into your life straight away. You will change- we all continue to make mistakes, but God will always, through His Holy Spirit, keep bringing us back to repentance.

God bless you this week. Keep your eyes on our Lord and keep looking to Him.

Love our sport

WOW! Our grandson never ceases to amaze us.

Here he is being No. 1 in the soccer football frenzy.

This is his third promotion in quite a number of years, and he is only 18 years old.

The first episode in his sparkling career so far was at home, and he was playing for the local team in first grade.

Then...got persuaded to play for a team in the same competition.  The thing was, this particular team was winning the comp at that stage. They were also a good 100 kilometers away, which meant lots of traveling for him, BUT he joined them anyway and has gone from strength to strength.

Now...He has been persuaded to join yet another winning team, a further 100 kilometers away, and has been put on contract for at least two years. I must say I am pretty amazed at his skills and perseverance.

He was ALWAYS so set on soccer when he was a little chap, it was constantly 'soccer in the backyard' at Pop and Gran's place, with the soccer ball always taking a trip down the road with good old Pop being Mr Fielder.

How important is being Number 1 in any sort of field? Looking at our boy, it makes me wonder.

Driving into the beach again today, I was overwhelmed by the many drivers I encountered (not saying I was any better than any of them) who were so keen to get in front of everybody they almost entirely ran up the back of any car that dared to get in front of them.

Just made me wonder how imperative it is for us to succeed in anything we do, and is getting in front of whoever is in the way, so important for us?

I couldn't help going back to one of the blogs I recently wrote called 'Bullfrogs and Butterflies,' which was about Keith Green. He wrote an amazing number of songs, one of which stands out to me, especially some of the lyrics.

In it, he talks about feelings and the amazing grace of God by which he is saved (when I say 'saved' I mean being committed to God and asking Him to take control of your life) He also mentions and I quote "You must remember that nothing lasts EXCEPT the Grace Of God by which I stand in Jesus" He then goes on the sing "I know that I would surely fall away EXCEPT for grace by which I'm saved". 

When I look at our young fellow above and how he is doing in his soccer world, I am very excited for him - he has tried and succeeded so well, and I can't help but feel so very happy for him. Honestly, I enjoy every moment of seeing him succeed in his beloved sport.

BUT..

Nothing will last forever - not our good feelings about things or the bad things that happen in our lives, yes, nothing, absolutely nothing will last forever EXCEPT the very grace of God, which has been mentioned in the lyrics of Keith's song.

So, what is Grace?

Grace means courtesy, politeness, manners, dignity, honour, etc. 

So, what is the Grace of God?

Grace is so essential to our great God  - it is actually pretty much hand in hand with His amazing love and mercy. We are pretty much undeserving of His grace and of God's gift to us. 

God is so willing to forgive us of all of our wrongdoings, and THAT to me is GRACE with a capital "G".

Grace is pretty much constantly mentioned all the way through the Bible, and it virtually means kindness or blessings. We can give and extend it to anyone we wish. In our Lord God's eyes, GRACE to Him means choosing to bless us even though we certainly don't deserve it, and only when we hand our lives entirely over to Him.

In the Bible, Ephesians 2 verse 8 says, "For by grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves," meaning that we are saved only through believing in the Lord our God - we don't save ourselves, only through God.

Sometimes we can get caught up in guilt, fear, and a sense of constantly sinning, which can lead us to a feeling of lack of confidence in Jesus and also joy in our salvation. 

When we decide to follow Jesus, and He comes into our lives, joy can come into our lives also, and can be the victory over our doubts and concerns. God shows us through His love when we do sin, and He makes us aware of the times we sin and how we can come to Him and ask for forgiveness.

So many times I have heard that people reckon once they have become "Christians" that they will never sin again, and when they do sin, they reckon "Well, that didn't work, did it? 

NO! Because we are so human, we will sin all the time - the thing is that God will keep bringing us back to Himself and keep on reminding us that what we have just done in the sinning business will need to be forgiven by Him, and all we have to do is ask His forgiveness.

The thing is that as we progress in our Christian lives and we start making God No. 1 all the time, then our blatant sinning will become less and less - praise the Lord for that, I say! 

God's amazing grace covers us, and He will save us. As we travel along with Him, He will change us more and more to be like Him in so many ways.

None of us is perfect, and we will never be until we meet God face to face. All changes are made through His great love and mercy.

God bless you this week. If you have any questions, please contact us.

Take Joy in the Lord.