Meningitis, Encephalitis, then the Mumps!

Oh Man! The memories - had a quick chat with the family the other day, and we talked about all sorts of things, and then the subject came around again about my amazing Year 4 experience that would have been the year I was about to turn ten years old.

I remember so clearly waking up with this immense headache! I was sharing a room with my big brother, and he was sound asleep. It must have been really early in the morning, way before the sun was up. I couldn't believe the headache I had, and yelled out to mum and dad, and as I did, I thought my head was about to take off into outer space!

I got up, and our bedroom was way out the back of our big house in Hamilton; actually, my Grandad had built it, as I mentioned in both my grandparents' blogs on 17th July. Anyway, I stumbled, literally, into my parents' bedroom and virtually collapsed into my Mum's arms. 

She woke my dad, and by this time, I was pretty much out of it. They knew something was horribly wrong and very wisely called an ambulance and whisked me off to the Royal Newcastle Hospital. All very scary.

There I stayed, given heaps of medication, and then they immediately put me in isolation. The doctors could tell I had some sort of horrible viral infection, and luckily for me, thanks to my mum and dad's foresight, hospitalisation and medical evaluation were critical.

The doctors gathered around and told my parents to leave immediately. Both to seek medical help to check on how they were coping and also the rest of the family still at home - I was to stay in isolation and definitely not allowed any visitors at all.

I was whisked off to Edward Lyon Hospital in Waratah and placed in isolation and checked on by my fully masked and plastic-wearing doctors and nurses.

It turned out I had Meningitis and also Encephalitis. It was really touch-and-go for me. I was pretty out of it, and when I did wake, my head felt like it was going to take off. I wanted my mum and dad, and I cried a lot, but as I did so, I thought my head was going to explode!

Time slowly went on. I was really pretty much out of it. I couldn't raise my head. It felt heavy, just lay on my chest, like a big bowling ball. I couldn't walk or eat without help, and I was a pretty sad case.

My parents couldn't see me at all; in fact, no one could. I was in total isolation, and there I stayed for three months!

I finally came home, but I still couldn't lift my head, and there I stayed like that for a good 12 months. I missed out entirely in year four with Mr Rush, a former army sergeant. A really good guy and a fabulous teacher. 

I slowly recuperated and slowly, slowly was able to lift my head. Then, believe it or not, I contracted the mumps. The doctor couldn't believe it, but again I survived.

Year four for me was a total disaster, but there was lots of prayer about me apparently, and I survived the whole thing - quite amazing really.

Jesus told a parable about a pretty shrewd manager. His boss accused him of being lazy and told him to clear out (my words only).

The manager was aghast; he had no job to go to, he was weak, he didn't want to go begging, he wasn't strong enough to go digging. What was he going to do?

He got all the boss's debtors together and virtually told them to give the boss some money, not the total amount owed to him - they all agreed, and finally the boss said OK

You can read this parable in Luke chapter 16, verses 1 to 9.  

Jesus's point in this parable is that there are lots of crafty-type people in this world, just like the manager in the story. What Jesus was saying here is that so many people, often lazy ones and those who are unscrupulous, like to use money as their resource.

Jesus also says that if we follow him, then money isn't the guide to our aims, but our long-term goals are to be with Jesus, not to aim to get as much money as possible.

I know that when I was so sick, there were so many people praying for me; I was totally gobsmacked as young as I was. My parents had organised prayer groups of many people who constantly had me in their prayers, and to this very day, I realise and acknowledge just what prayers did for me and actually saved my life.

In the story, that shrewd manager was able to use money and even part of the money that was owed to him to secure a future for himself. He wasn't concerned about getting everything back; he just wanted money, and he wanted it now!

How many of us desire and even go about gaining all these amazing earthly riches? Working crazily, taking what we need, being so willing to push ourselves ahead in every situation, and then having our eyes well and truly glued to gaining riches and being happy.

All this considered, and when we look at the parable about this Shrewd Manager, how many of us are so consumed with gaining dollars and making ourselves bigger and better and getting more and more wealth, things, and status? 

Jesus said that people like this are far more shrewd when it comes to gaining money and wealth. Very similar to the blog that I wrote about recently, the one entitled "I need Bigger, and I need Better."

When I was so sick, the very last thing my parents were worried about was gaining money to make me better - all the money in the world couldn't have saved my life. 

They were far more concerned about bringing this problem to God and asking him to heal their little boy, and you know God did. I am so gobsmacked even today when I think of the whole year I spent virtually at death's door and the constant and willing prayers of my parents.

Were they consumed with money? No, definitely not. They were consumed with asking God for their son's health. 

Jesus tells us in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 20, "Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal"

Our treasures in heaven, as mentioned in the Bible verse above, are far in excess of any earthly goodies we can lay our hands on.

Prayer is amazing too! I really feel we are so blessed when we pray. The very fact that Jesus gave his life for us is truly incredible, but sometimes when we pray, we don't always get the answer that we think we need.

When we consider what Jesus did for us on that cruel cross, he actually gave us everything we ever need, regardless of what the thing is we are pleading for. God knows what we are doing and why we are praying, and it really is up to him, our Holy Lord, who will decide exactly how, who, and when our future will be decided.

Ask God to come into your life, take control, and make him the very first in everything you do, regardless of where you are headed.

God bless you this week 

How many mistakes does one person make?

How many mistakes does one person make as they trundle through life? That's what I would like to
know! It seems I have made so many in my life, it's extraordinary! 

When I was a kid or a young fellow years ago, I had a girlfriend, Grace, well, we all had girlfriends - that's what happened those years ago. Anyway, my girlfriend and I were pretty close, and we used to go out quite a lot. Then one night I called in as usual to see her, and I asked where we would be going that weekend....

The answer floored me! I was gobsmacked when she said she couldn't go out with me. I was heartbroken. She was breaking up with me. Oh no!

I was so upset (hmmm) that I decided to go out to a Youth Group meeting that weekend with my mate Al. I said if I met another girl, then he would have to go home another way and not by my car. As you can see, I had my eye out for someone else. I wasn't that upset by the break-up I had just endured. Maybe I should have been!

I met SueAnn that night, and little did I know that this relationship would see us through heaps of married years. Anyway, that next night, as SueAnn and I went out, there was Grace, all out with lots of our friends, and I got a bit of a shock. I was with my brand-new girlfriend, SueAnn, and here was Grace, out with lots of others.

She saw me, and I saw her, and she burst into tears and got into a car with lots of other young people and took off. Apparently, she didn't mean to break up with me. When she said she couldn't go out with me, she meant just for that particular night, as she was feeling a tad sick. Why didn't she say that? Great question! Anyway...

Lots of our friends turned away from me because of this, and I couldn't help but feel pretty sad about the whole thing, but as it turned out, SueAnn and I had a fantastic relationship, and even though Grace made us feel totally way out of the picture, it all turned out remarkably well.

Made me think of the Prodigal Son, which is the parable that Jesus told his disciples, and also the Pharisees and a lot of others who were there. Actually, the time of his crucifixion was drawing nearer, and of course, Jesus knew all about this.

The story that Jesus told reminded me of the mistake I made those years ago, and the young son in the parable also made a mistake. He wanted more out of life, and he told his old dad that is extremely what he wanted.

If you want to read the parable of the "Prodigal Son," you can read it in the Bible in Luke 15: 11-32. The main verse and the linchpin of the whole thing is what Jesus said in verse 31, when the old dad says, "My son, You are always with me, and everything I have is yours."

In that parable, the young man's old Dad said that to his eldest son after the young one had returned and well after he'd made a whole lot of mistakes and wasted all of his dad's money. He ended up with nothing, and he came back to his dad and asked for forgiveness. Dad responded because he loved his son and was so pleased to have him back.

Pretty amazing verse. What Jesus is saying here through this parable is that he wants us to come to him and offers us everything. Absolutely everything! All we have to do is come to him and ask him to enter our lives and become our number one.

Jesus also had a rebuke for the Pharisees who had begun grumbling about all the people whom Jesus associated with. They got themselves in a bit of a knot when they saw all their so-called sinners and even tax-collectors all gathering around Jesus. 

Jesus was ever open to people who had to take the lower end of the scale when it came to the Pharisees, who deemed people way below them and always put them down. The Pharisees were constantly shocked when Jesus mixed with the lower end of society.

The very fact that Jesus always spoke to the people, always chided the Pharisees for their superiority, and always told them exactly what they had to do to come to God in the first place. They had to put God first in their lives and never put anyone down.

All that was a huge lesson for so many people back then, and even today, the same lesson is still strong, and we should really take a page out of their book and listen to what Jesus is saying to us today.

We need to always put God first in everything, and he needs to take first place over everyone and everything we do.

Back to the parable that Jesus told, when at the end, when the younger son returned to the fold, and his dad made him feel very welcome, it was the older brother who made life a little strange when he went to old dad and complained about his kid brother!

He virtually said (my words) - Hey, Dad! He's come back, and you have welcomed him after everything he did, and he took all of your money that you gave him, and he wasted the entire lot! I was the one who stayed home and worked like crazy, and now he's back, you have thrown him this big welcoming party.

The dad returned and said,  "Son, all that I have is yours. But your brother was lost, and now he is found." 

We were lost when we didn't acknowledge Jesus at all.  And all we thought about was us and our lives. We didn't really worry about anyone or anything else in life. We were number one in pretty much every situation in which we found ourselves. In a crowd, driving on the roads, lining up at supermarkets - you name it.

When Jesus comes into our lives and when we accept what he did on Calvary to die and pay for our sins and our lives, and how he rose again to life and made a way for us when our time comes to leave this place, we can change so much. Jesus comes first before everyone we know, and before everything we do, and everything just falls into place. It's truly miraculous and amazing.

Hope you are doing ok in this often crazy walk of life that we are in. Jesus loves you so much, and he really wants you to ask him into your life to lead you. 

Regardless of what you have done or how you are living at the moment, God loves you so much, and he knows that Jesus paid for your sins and mine, and all we have to do is accept and ask God into our lives.

God bless you, and I hope to see you soon

          

A lost coin and a diamond ring in the river!

My family went on holiday up the coast from us to a place called Crescent Head - a beautiful place and lots of water, beaches, rivers, and sand - lots of sand and lots of walks - an amazing and beautiful place.

We went to join them just for the weekend, a truly lovely place and a great holiday - lots of swimming and lots of sunshine - magnificent.

While we were there, we all noticed that there was a sign on the beach that stated that a lady had lost her diamond ring either on the beach or in the river. How sad, we thought.

My granddaughter Elyssa went swimming with her brother Sam and sister Amelia, all on a blow-up raft, and they used to jump on the raft in the river and float down to the beach, magnificent. What a magical holiday. They all had a wonderful time.

Every day was a great day. They were all dragging their hands through the water as the raft sometimes hurtled down to the beach - lots of screaming, laughing, and falling off into the river. Dave, their dad, used to make sure everything was going well, and he used to swim and surf behind them to make sure they were all safe.

This particular day, Elyssa was flying down the fast-flowing river with her hand in the water, dragging along behind, and when she pulled it out, she had an amazing find in her hand - there was a diamond ring!!

She couldn't believe it! She looked, and she looked again.

MUM, she cried out and jumped out of the raft and made her way to the shore, and couldn't wait to show her mum. Dad, who was following along behind, also jumped out of the water to follow her, thinking that something had happened.

She couldn't wait to show her mum and dad what had happened after letting her hand float in the water off the raft.

A diamond ring! Amazing. They were all gobsmacked. 

They called the number on the poster about the lost ring and asked the lady to describe it. She did, and they returned it to her. You can imagine her surprise and delight, as well as the huge surprise Elyssa felt upon finding it.

In the Bible, in Luke 15:8-10, Jesus tells the story of the Lost Coin to the audience, once again a huge crowd, which included some of the Pharisees who really hated Jesus and were out to get him.

These particular Pharisees were letting forth about the people there and, of course, Jesus himself. The Pharisees were grumbling about the low moral quality of the people and all of his disciples.

Jesus was all aware of how these Pharisee guys were not only out to get him, but they actually hated the fact that Jesus was mingling with what, in their view, were low-quality people!

Jesus said to them, and you can read it yourself in the Bible in Luke 15, and verse 10 it says, "I tell you there is rejoicing in heaven in the presence of the angels over even one sinner who repents." 

One sinner! WOW, that would have to be me, and it will be you if you repent of your sin and turn to Christ and ask him into your life.

Jesus then told the parable about a lady who loses a coin and then finds it. God is like that woman; he searches and keeps on giving us prods to come to him. He really wants us to follow him and become his loved one.

The story Jesus told is as follows. This is from the Good News Translation: Suppose a woman who has ten silver coins loses one of them - what does she do? She lights a lamp, sweeps her house, and looks carefully everywhere until she finds it. When she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says to them, 'I am so happy I found the coin I lost. Let us celebrate!' In the same way, I tell you, the angels of God rejoice over one sinner who repents." 

This is awesome to think that God and the angels rejoice when even one sinner repents. Is that you? I remember so well when I came to Christ a fair while ago now, and I was gobsmacked to think that the eternal God - the Creator of heaven and earth, rejoiced over me, a total sinner and a no-good, became one of his.

This certainly doesn't mean that we will live lives completely sinless and free from all of our worldly sins, but the wonderful thing is that when we do slip up, we can come to Jesus and ask him to lead us into his open arms of forgiveness, and all of our sins are obliterated for eternity.

That's truly awesome! God has immense love for all of us, which is incredible and truly incomprehensible to ordinary people like me, so prone to doing the wrong thing. Still, the amazing thing is that when we do come to Christ and when we do slip up and sin, God reminds us totally of where we are with him, and we so often have to come and ask his total and honest forgiveness.

God is so ready to forgive us if we truly come and ask him to. Of course, when we do come to Him and ask him into our lives, then we put Him first over everything and everyone. That certainly doesn't mean that we cease to love others - certainly not!

SueAnn and I have been married for years, and our love, as engraved on our wedding rings, tells us that 'love is eternal,' and it is, and we continue to love each other and also our family. But when we come to Christ, he then takes first place in everything and everyone. It certainly doesn't stop the love for our family or others.

God's love is actually ETERNAL, and even though our love for each other is the same, God's love will never cease, not ever. I know we all make mistakes, and I know deep in my heart that when we do, God is so ready to forgive.

All the hosts of heaven truly understand what a gigantic miracle it is that sinners, just like you and me, come to a realisation that we need to ask God for forgiveness and come to him, and then when we do, all of heaven then understands what a miracle it is that we are forgiven and accepted into the very arms of God eternal.

In the Good News translation of the Bible in Psalm 100 and verse 5, it says "The Lord is good, His love is eternal, and his faithfulness lasts forever," and praise the God of heaven, it is not what we do and it never will be, even if we think we are being good and trying hard to do every good thing we can think that alone will never get us into heaven.

It is only the amazing life of Jesus Christ and what he did for us on Calvary all those years ago. He paid for our sins with his life here on earth. And then, of course, he rose again and is eternally in heaven waiting for you and me if we decide to come to him and ask him to lead our lives.

Where are you in all of this? Do you want to give your life to Christ? Ask him to come into your life to lead you, to be first in your life at all times.

God bless you this week, and I hope to see you soon.

Kim and Carl - feeding the homeless

As Jesus spoke to the crowd, which included all the poor people and all those in those days who were hated, including the tax collectors, the Pharisees, and others, some of the other Pharisees began grumbling about the low moral quality of all the people gathered.

They were shocked to even think that someone would include all the poor people and all those whom the people hated. What is this Jesus even thinking about?

They were completely confused - why the poor and needy when we are the best? So the Pharisees thought.

Our friends, Kim and Carl, are really and truly such giving people. They go every single week to feed the poor and homeless in our city, to give them a real handout of food, clothing, bedding, and anything else they can take with them.

Every week! Can you imagine what that would be like? They leave their own comfortable home, which they have obviously worked hard for, climb into their one and only car, and trundle off to the city, a good half an hour's drive from where they live. 

Summer may not be too bad, but it must be really telling on their nerves; wintertime? It's freezing at night, and they leave home around 7 pm in the dark and don't get home till well after midnight. So much for Saturday night being what it used to be years ago.

They aren't the only ones doing this. We are so blessed here in Newcastle that several people, just like Kim and Carl, really do help the needy, which is amazing and wonderful.

They don't preach at the people or lecture them about anything at all, but the beautiful thing that has happened is when someone asks them why they are doing this, and they tell them about the very love of Jesus and what he did for them personally, and also what he can do for them.

In the Bible, in Luke 15, Jesus tells the story of the lost sheep, and why he told this parable was because, and I quote, "Tax collectors and sinners were all crowding around to listen to Jesus. So the Pharisees and the teachers of the law on Moses started grumbling. This man is friends with sinners. He even eats with them." 

Oh my goodness! Fancy that? Eating with sinners! Where would Kim and Carl be? These Pharisees were definitely feeling they were way above the poor and needy. They really couldn't believe that this man Jesus was mixing with them. 

Then Jesus told them this story: "If any of you has 100 sheep and one of them gets lost, what will you do? Won't you leave the 99 in the field and go look for the lost sheep until you find it? And when you find it, you will be so glad that you will put it on your shoulder and carry it home. Then you will call in your friends and neighbours and say, "Let's celebrate! I've found my lost sheep."

Jesus then said, "In the same way, there is more happiness in heaven because of one sinner who turns to God than over 99 good people who don't need to."

Quite the parable! Where was Jesus going with this one? 

Very similar to what Kim and Carl do on a Saturday night is what Jesus was getting at. Here we have lots of people hungry, tired, and cold, and he hears what the Pharisees were saying, so he told them this parable/story.

There are so many people out there needing to find God, and Jesus began telling them about God's great passions and desire for all the lost to come to him. Not just what the Pharisees saw as their goal, and that was the rich and never-needy people.

Jesus certainly had other plans than that! The lost sheep in the story was how the shepherd (God) really searches the hearts of those who don't know him, and when they do come to a realisation of their need for Him, and they open their hearts and lives to him, there is great rejoicing in heaven.

The Pharisees did not like this at all, and they were certainly out to get this Jesus; he was teaching so detrimentally to what they were teaching that they really felt it was dangerous, and this Jesus really needed to go. What if all these poor and needy people felt they were coming to God? 

The Pharisees couldn't believe it - the poor and needy of all people. Sad wasn't it!

Jesus ended up giving his life for all of us, and all we have to do is accept his great love and how he died to pay for all of our sins, regardless of what those sins were and are. Jesus rose again after three days and is now in heaven preparing a place for all who have accepted him as Lord.

No matter who you are or what you are going through, or even if you are so happy and contented with your life, you may reckon you certainly don't need Jesus. Whoever you are, you really need to rethink exactly WHERE you are at the moment, WHO you are, and WHAT is in store for you at the end.

Jesus is actually THE truth, and we are so privileged to hear what he has to say and what he is planning for us. 

We all have our destiny ahead of us. Some people are so caught up in life that they don't even want to think about the future at all. BUT the future will happen for all of us at some point, and it can be very scary if we ignore it entirely.

We can have an option through life, as we travel its path; we can accept what God is saying, believe in his name, and ask him to lead our lives. Just like in the parable that Jesus told about the lost sheep.

Jesus is looking for us, and all we have to do is accept his great love for us and what he did for us in giving his life to pay for our sins. Confess our sins to him and ask him to come and lead our lives. He will definitely change your life. I know he changed mine dramatically.

Or the other option you have is to ignore what is blatantly in front of us, get on with your life, and just pretend that God doesn't exist and have nothing to do with God at all. We can just trundle through life and pretend eternity doesn't exist.

Death is a reality; it can come unexpectedly and suddenly or slowly and without surprise, so we really should be prepared for it and take it seriously. Jesus told us that death is certainly not the end; it wasn't for him, and for those who believe in his name, trust him, and make him No 1 in their lives, then death is not the end for them either.

In Hebrews 9:27, the Bible warns us when it says 'People are destined to die once, and after that to face judgement." That's pretty straightforward.

Jesus provided a way for us after he died to pay the penalty for our sin, and all we have to do is accept his eternal gift, trust him, and make him first in our lives.

Find peace with God today, and huge blessings to you and yours.

But the cat came back!

Jason did not like cats - all his family did, but Jason did not!

They had their own cat, Mr. Freddo, but there was another one living under their house - he was a big tomcat, and he loved meowing and making himself known throughout the night. He was crashing and bashing under there as if he were making his own cubby.

Jason was determined to take Old Tom away somewhere and give him to someone, and that is exactly what he did - BUT THE CAT CAME BACK 

Jason used to always sing that song; it went like this: "But the cat came back - the very next day the cat came back, they thought he was a goner, but the cat came back, it couldn't stay away!"

Jason's six kids thought it was great - here was their cat, Mr. Freddo, and then there was this big black Tom living under their house,

Jason wouldn't give up; he tried again. He set a trap under the house, and he caught Old Tom again, and this time he took him far away to a stable yard that kept horses, and the owner said he could stay there, BUT THE CAT CAME BACK - it may not have been the next day, but in a couple of weeks THE CAT CAME BACK!

They were all astounded as to why Old Tom kept coming back to their place - they all just had to accept that Old Tom was now living there, unfed and virtually unloved, but there he was - sleeping all day and out and about at night, making lots of noise and carousing around. What memories they must have had

Poor Jason, a shift-working man, was trying to sleep while Old Tom made himself at home. He had to come to terms with the fact that no matter what happened, Old Tom was a law to himself and was determined to be in charge of their home. Jason gave in to Old Tom and let him "rule the roost," and he became king of 'under the house.

In the Bible, in Luke 14:28-33, in the Christian Standard Bible,  Jesus was in front of a huge crowd, and he told this parable: "For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn't first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?  Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and can't finish it, all the onlookers will begin to ridicule him, saying, 'This man started to build and wasn't able to finish.'

Or what king, going to war against another king, will not first sit down and decide if he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If not, while the other is still far off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple."

Jesus was absolutely and determinedly positive that whoever claims and hangs on to their possessions and holds them close and so, so dear to their hearts cannot be his followers, or as he said in the Bible, his disciples. What did he mean? Our possessions are what we have and hold dear to us.

What Jesus was saying here is that we have to make God the leader of our lives and make him THE top priority in not just some things but in everything we do and everything we say and everywhere we go and actually everything we own.

That's exactly what Jesus meant when he said we must renounce all our possessions. We must make Him the first and last in everything we do. He is our leader and our captain, and we follow him completely and let Him rule us come what may.

Old Tom was still there as all the kids grew older, and Jason ended up selling the house. Not because of Old Tom, but because it was time for the family to grow and move on.  Sometimes it is easier to let things ride and work out for themselves rather than take the whole situation on ourselves.

Like in the story that Jesus told about the Tower and how the guy involved got down and worked out the cost, and if he had enough to complete it. A wise thing to do, and way before you actually commence the building. Otherwise, like in the parable, the other guy started to build and then couldn't finish it at all, and then was open to ridicule. 

Like Old Tom, the very fact that Jason spent so much time, effort, and money on the cat was certainly not wise, and he knew that no matter what, he would come back anyway. Jason made a wise decision.

It was a great lesson to me after I read that chapter in the bible about Jesus in the story that he told; as mentioned above, it was certainly about counting the cost of being a disciple or follower of Jesus, not spectators of Jesus, OR what we are having to undertake in this crazy world of ours.

If we follow him, he certainly needs to take precedence over everything else, over all commitments in our lives, even our family commitments. If we follow Jesus, we need to move forward with God and stay focused on him.

It certainly does not mean that we cease loving our family and giving up on life in general, but what it does mean is getting our priorities in correct order with God at the helm and asking him every day to guide our thoughts and actions, and where and what he would want us to do.

Working on our priorities and putting God first, even though so many things keep vying for our attention, we definitely need to focus on God first, and then our lives and how we cope with life in general.

Making God our very foundation is truly amazing and fills us with a true perspective of life as we go through each day. Every decision we make should revolve around God and his values, and absolutely his guidance as we start each day.

Life is absolutely full of challenges of all sorts, from family traumas to car breakdowns to horrible fatalities, everything that life throws at us. We need to rely on God for his strength to see us through. I know personally how God has changed me and how I need to put him first in my life. Everything else surprisingly just seems to fall into place. Of course, traumas happen often daily, but with God on our side, we can get through.

God knows every area of my life and yours, and so let's make it our goal in life to have a deep and very meaningful relationship with him. If we serve God with everything we have, then our lives will change regardless of what it throws at us. We will have peace even though life can be so cruel so many times.

This certainly doesn't mean that we live our lives never messing up or making mistakes, maybe upsetting someone, but please never be discouraged. Confess your mistakes to God and then pick up and keep going with God at the helm.

God as our Captain over everything gives us a real sense of peace and love, Patience with everything, and tolerance that we never thought we'd have.

Hope you are truly blessed this week, and hope to see you next time.

 

Mrs. Hopley and Capstan Navy Cut Cigarettes!

I was brought up at No 22 Steel Street in Hamilton, NSW - it was the house that my grandfather, Joshua Fellows, had built when he came back from way up north. You can read all about that and my grandparents in the blog that I wrote, entitled "Hannah and Joshua". 

It was a great house and was bought off my grandparents by my ever hard-working dad, Charles, and of course my Mum Hilda May, who was Hannah and Joshua's fifth and youngest child.

Right next door to us lived a couple of elderly ladies, one Mrs Smith and Mrs Hopley. Both ladies lived there on their own and spent a lot of time inside. Not sure what they were doing, but I know Mrs Smith used to give my poor old mum a hard time if we kids were making a lot of noise, which, you can imagine, is exactly what we used to do.

Mrs Hopley was an avid smoker and used to light up on a very regular basis. She used to keep an eye out for one of us kids if we ran down the lane between the two houses, and she would grab us and ask us to go down to the shop on the corner and buy her cigarettes. I remember they were Capstan Cork-Tipped cigarettes. Oh dear, the memories that you have.

My mum was aghast when she used to get us kids to do that. I reckon she thought that was the very last thing you should ask children to do. Of course, these days, there is no possible way that young children can buy cigarettes, but in those days, anything was possible.

I am so delighted, really, that cigarettes are outrageously priced, and they are or were slowly losing their appeal, but in those days, Mrs Hopley really enjoyed them so much - She was obviously addicted to them.

She really enjoyed us kids trooping down to the shops, which would save her walking down there. Of course, as soon as we got that message from Mrs Hopley, straight inside we'd bolt and get some cash from Hilda May to buy an ice block or some sort of lolly or something.

We kids, felt like we were onto a banquet thanks to Mrs Hopley. 

Jesus loved talking in parables or stories, and this one that he told was very similar to the banquet story he had told before. It went like this. You can read it in Luke 14:16-24 

"A man was putting on a banquet and invited many guests. When he sent his servants to collect the people who promised to attend, they offered excuses for why they couldn't come. When the master heard that the guests had blown off his event, he sent his servant out to invite those at the bottom of society's ladder: the poor, lame, blind, etc. he then sent the servant out to invite travelers to come to the party."

Why did Jesus tell this story again? Well, there was apparently a guy at the gathering who yelled out about a previous parable that Jesus had told. It was a story about someone sitting in a place of honour (you can read that story in the previous blog). The guy yelled, "Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God." he got it wrong, so that is why Jesus told the parable above.

The whole meaning of the parable that Jesus told was to verify that Heaven, God's amazing paradise,  was awaiting them if they so desired. Still, they were all far too busy seeking and searching and also putting themselves ahead of everything and everyone else in the whole world. Hence, the parable about the guests who were invited but refused to come. All sorts of excuses were thrown at the guy putting on the banquet.

Jesus extended the story and said that the "servants went out and invited everyone, including the lame and the blind, and those poor and disabled, in fact, anyone at all that would like to come to the banquet, to please come and make it your comfortable home."

Just like Heaven is going to be for those of us who will accept God's amazing offer.

Jesus was actually dining in the home of a prominent Pharisee who had invited him because he intended to find out exactly what Jesus was all about and then probably work out ways to get rid of him. Sneaky little people they were back then, and I guess we still have the same today.

The Pharisees, back in the days when Jesus was actually physically here, were promoting themselves way, way above everyone else in the whole city. They were pompous in their attitudes to all and were so willing to take and hardly ever to give. Of course, there would have been others in the same capacity who weren't like this at all, but we know that their design was to get rid of Jesus at whatever cost it took to do so.

Jesus would have been fully aware of what was going on in the minds of the Pharisees and what they were planning behind his back. They were working hard to plan not only his evacuation from the whole of Israel, but as their plans got bigger and bigger, Jesus' crucifixion started to take first place in their minds and thoughts.

When I was reading this parable that Jesus told and then worked out exactly what those Pharisees were planning, my mind took a bit of a turn when I thought about where I was in my thinking. Was I like those Pharisees, looking at others and putting myself above them? Was I prepared to undergo whatever it took to promote myself rather than be supportive and caring of others?

It certainly brought me up with a huge jolt! Jesus was here on earth to tell us exactly what is prepared for us, even though we can be so involved in our own affairs and putting ourselves way above everyone else. Jesus brought out in the parable that we can be so caught up in our lives here that we give no thought about what is in store for us when we depart this life. 

Our lives can be so involved in all sorts of amazing things happening, our employment, our family, our neighbors, our homes, or whatever, that we really have no time at all to even think about what Jesus was saying here and how important it is to give our lives to Him and make him ruler of everything we do.

Looking back on our times when we were kids growing up and seeing our neighbours from an adult's point of view, it came back to me how important it is to get a real dose of reality about life, and putting things in order. So many times throughout our lives, we take each day so much for granted, and the same for each night.

God, in his great wisdom, created night and day, which is amazing when you really consider the whole universe. The way we revolve around the sun, and the moon revolving around us, and how Earth, in this amazing galaxy of ours, is just a tiny pinprick of what is out there. God created us as special and unique, and we take it so much for granted.

Knowing all of this, it puts life as we know it into a real perspective. We should be constantly in awe of God and his amazing creation, not worrying whether someone has cut into our driving lane and gotten ahead of us as we drive. It really has made me put life in real perspective. Putting God first automatically makes everything else just fall into its correct place.

Are you putting God first? Do you know God at all? Do you even want to? You know Jesus died to take away your sins, and he rose again and is now in heaven waiting for you to give your life to him and make him first place in everything you do.

Ask him to come into your life and to lead you in what you do.

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