“The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man t be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him…”
(Genesis 2: 18)
One of my darling granddaughters was married this weekend and as I looked at this beautiful woman, dressed in flowing white gown with such a sweet smile, her face covered with happiness, I started to remember this young woman as a little girl and memories flooded my mind. She had a child like faith in God and one of the stories her mother had relayed to us was about quite a serious snowstorm the family were trapped in, on their way to visit us at our cabin.
They were stuck on the side of the road and the driver, her father, was not sure they could get through a pile of snow they had to get over to get back on the road. The mother turned to the children in the back seat and said, “We have to pray.” Then she heard quite loudly her little daughter saying “Please Dod” I don’t think God minded being called Dod, he knew that this little one was confident he could get them through the snow, and he did. The car climbed the pile of snow and they were back safe on the road.
As she grew older her faith deepened and she had to remind me of the Father’s power. The family were again visiting us in our cabin and this time my daughter became ill. I was worried as we were in an isolated place and a long way from any help. My little granddaughter noticed how worried I was and said quite simply, “Nana just ask God to make her better” Simple child like faith and I prayed with her and the other children and once again God responded.
God blessed marriage from the start and meant it seriously as being joined together;
“For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and will be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” (Genesis 2: 24)
The New Testament also emphasises the importance of a loving marriage and in his letter to the Ephesians, Paul reminds husbands to love and respect their wives in chapter 5: 25. He tells them to love their wives like Christ loved the church
During the ceremony the pastor used these well-known words still so important today as they were when the apostle Paul wrote them;
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” (1 Corinthians 13: 4 – 7)
Wonderful words not for the just newly married, but for all of us. I cried during the service, but they were tears of thanksgiving for God’s incredible love for us.
When my youngest daughter was about 6 years old, I was giving her a big hug before she left for school and said jokingly, “Have I ever told you I love you?” She came back with a quick retort, “About a thousand times!” This story has become a favourite one in our family and told over and over with much laughter. Some of my granddaughters are now young ladies, and if they are visiting me, before they leave my home I always say, “Have I ever told you I love you?” And they always reply with much laughter. “About a thousand times!”
us. Praising him is one way to do that, while we are going through experiences where we have been so aware of feeling his love, such as
Just recently I was fitted with hearing aids as my family had insisted, I needed them, I agreed with them, but thought of them as another reminder of how old I was becoming and reluctantly, went ahead with the procedure. My daughter told her young son that I would now be able to hear all the stories he wanted to tell me about school and all the exciting things a six-year-old boy did every day. When he saw me for the first time, he ran towards me and said, “Where are they?” I think he was very disappointed that I was not wearing heavy black earphones like a helicopter pilot. I had to explain they were inside my ears so then he decided to put them to the test. His first test was a faint whisper which I had to bend down close to him to hear, next he shouted a question which made my head spin. Normal voice, his mother explained.
God decides to speak to him, himself and the story takes an unusual twist, suddenly there is a mighty wind. God does not speak. Next an earthquake. God does not speak, then a roaring fire. God does not speak. Then amazingly God speaks to Elijah in a whisper. (Wonderful story to read to get the whole picture)
I read a beautiful saying in a study I was reading
We sing a song in our church, that always lifts me up and makes me realise that I can make it through another week, with the help of the Holy Spirit holding me up. The refrain of each verse says;
Watching the television news lately can be very depressing with every story bringing ugly descriptions of “man’s inhumanity to man” (Alan Paton) from wars and abuse, to human trafficking to senseless shooting of school children. The internet is not much better with the hidden challenge of now for all of us, having to decide if this is fake news or real. It can be very disturbing to read of people who have ben fooled by what they think is real and only to find out they have been hoodwinked by evil people extracting money from them. We, the followers of Jesus must be constantly aware of the false news that begins to cause doubt about the truth of scripture and so easily fall onto the trap Eve fell into when Satan whispered these words, cleverly bringing doubt on the veracity of God’s words
The news about Jesus Christ is described over and over in scripture as, good news. The angels told those shepherds long ago and they believed and worshipped that new, born king;
Peace, the word itself, carries deep depth for every human being, but when it is joined with God’s name it transcends all human understanding. It outweighs every human concept of humans who struggle to find peace in their own lives, relying on their own capabilities. The world battles against all odds to bring about peace between nations, cultures, religions, mostly failing as history proves, only resulting in an on-going saga of wars.
Jesus himself knew the troubled world was going to be hard for those who chose to follow him and left this blessing behind him not only for the disciples, but for us as well.
grand-daughter, who spurns any help we offer her, but replies, I can do it! By acknowledging God’s beautiful gift, we can rest assured that rusting him will alleviate our fears and allow that incredible peace to encircle us as we walk the paths of life.
We often read in the media of random acts of kindness, but rarely know of what affect that has on the person who receives them.
immeasurably brighter.
We have been doing a fascinating study in our church on the book of Samuel and with the focus on the life of David. David began as a humble shepherd boy until his famous feat of killing the giant Goliath and eventually becoming the King of Israel. Last Sunday we observed David drifting away from the God he worshipped and committing the sin of adultery and ordering the murder of Uriah. Our pastor pointed out how power can corrupt. David had wealth and power, everything he needed, but still allowed envy for another man’s wife to lead him into sin. Our pastor had this quote about power, power is like drinking saltwater, the more you have the thirstier you become for more, your thirst is never satisfied.
When my brother and I were young, we were convinced that my mother was exactly like the old saying, she had eyes in the back of her head. She seemed to know what we were up to and even if she wasn’t in the same room as us, we would hear her say, “that game is going to end in tears!” and of course she was right. How did she know what we were playing with each other or how did she know one of us was teasing the other and tears probably were going to result?
The Lord knows completely what we have experienced and knows all our social fears and all our insecurity, so what a blessing it is when we seek his company in prayer there is no pretending, we can just be our selves and knowing this gives us more confidence in mixing with others we can even remind ourselves who we are by repeating the line in one of my favourite songs, before venturing out in the world.
that when we were young and were working or had small children or sometimes both! Morning rituals then were chaotic. I was thinking back on my own life and remembering all the changes I lived through. When I was a new young teacher, I had a kindergarten class and one of the little songs they loved to sing (or perhaps shout might be a better description) had these words as the first verse;
As a young mother and also working, my request was probably a plea to get through the day, but as I grew in the knowledge of who Jesus was, my morning prayer time became the most important part of my morning ritual and I became more and more dependent on that precious time.
Others have told me they write a favourite verse out on paper and leave it on the bedside table, so they read it as soon as they wake up.