Tag: Christianity

Believe in Jesus

It has been an interesting day in my house, with nothing quite going according to plan!It has been an interesting day in my house, with nothing quite going according to plan! As a result, I’ve not been able to sit down and write anything today.

However I have just seen this post from another blogger and wanted to share it with you.

I do hope you enjoy it! And God willing, normal service will resume on my blog soon!

There are no other gods other than God Himself. He is the beginning, He is the end, and He sustains all things through His Son Jesus. For with …

Believe in Jesus

Sing To The Lord!

I really do encourage you to check out Allens blog-Devotional Treasures. you certainly won’t regret it!

Formonthills Nature Reserve, Glenrothes, Fife. Photo by Alan Kearns Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and …

Sing To The Lord!

Keep Them Safe

If you are tuning in, expecting the next in the series on Joseph, then don’t worry! I’ve not forgotten! I will return to the series on Joseph later this week (God willing, and Andy co-operating!) For today, I want to circle back to the subject of prayer.

I was praying for someone a little while ago and asked god to “Keep them safe!” It got me thinking about what I actually meant by the phrase. Clearly, I was thinking about their physical safety, but extends to their emotional and spiritual condition as well.

I am obviously asking God to keep this individual from harm, but what do I actually expect God to do in response to my prayer? Perhaps I am asking Him to restrict them from going outside? Surely, being inside closed doors is far safer than going outside? No… I do not think that is what I am asking at all.

So therefore, I must be asking God to keep them in relative safety while they are out and about, and living their daily lives. Living life is not “safe” though, is it? We take risks every single day, even if they are tiny. We take a chance every time we cross the street. If we do not look both ways, then there is a risk of being hit by a car. Taking it to extremes, staying at home may be little safer – people fall down the stairs, slip in the shower, or injure themselves in other ways.

As above, life is simply not safe. And neither, at times, is God’s will.

When we look at how Christians are often treated in this world, and how many of our fellow brothers and sisters are martyred in Christ, we realise that God’s will is not always safe for us. While it may not be the safest place to be, it is always the best place to be.

Given this, perhaps there are times when praying that God will keep someone safe is to pray against His will. Instead of safety, we ought to pray for that person to have strength and wisdom to fulfil God’s call on their lives, or to face the good and the bad that life has to offer.

I want to examine my prayer life closely. I really want to think about the words that I use. When praying for people, I frequently say “Lord, bless them…” but as above, what do I actually mean by this? So often my view of a blessing may be quite different to God’s view. To some, winning the lottery might be a “blessing” but if it leads the person down a path of selfishness, greed and ultimately destruction, then it is no blessing at all.

We can learn much from the prayer that Jesus taught us.

He said to them, “When you pray, say,

‘Our Father in heaven,

    may your name be kept holy.

May your Kingdom come.

    May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

3 Give us day by day our daily bread.

4 Forgive us our sins,

    for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

Bring us not into temptation,

    but deliver us from the evil one.’”

Luke 11:2-4 (WEB)

No mention of safety here!

This prayer focusses primarily on God the Father. It seeks first His glory, will and kingdom, not our relative safety or blessing. Of course, it does go on to ask for our daily bread and that is not unimportant. Neither is the request to avoid temptation or to be delivered from evil.

We must allow the Bible to shape our prayer lives. It is not wrong to ask God to keep someone safe, but how much greater a prayer is it to ask God to bring about His will and kingdom in their lives? To ask the Father to deliver them out of temptation’s grasp, or to seek forgiveness for and from them. How much richer and more effective our prayers would be!

When we pray, we do not always see immediate results. In fact, there are times when it seems like our prayers are making no difference whatsoever. I do not suppose we will see the full effect of our prayers on this side of heaven, but one day (in eternity) will look back on the times a person we were praying for avoided temptation or stepped deeper in God’s plan for their lives.

How do you pray? What words do you use? Do share below for my benefit and for others. As iron sharpens iron, we can all learn from one another.

And may I close by saying, “Lord, may Your will be done in the lives of everyone reading this today! Deliver them from evil, and keep them far from temptation. In Jesus’ mighty Name! Amen!”

A Stirring to Pray

During the height of the lockdown in the UK, where we were only allowed out for short periods of exercise, I began to fairly regularly record prayer videos which I put out here on the blog and on my Facebook page. You can see an example here, if you’re interested.

I really love to pray for people, and in fact, I just really love to pray. In recent days, I’ve felt a stirring to pray more frequently and a reminder from the Lord about the real power of prayer. The more I study and consider prayer, the more I want to do it, and the more I wonder why the global church does not pray more than it does.

My prayer life has perhaps faltered somewhat in recent times. I have no real excuse for this. I can cite moving home, family matters and work, but none of that is really an excuse to allow my prayer life to suffer. We are all busy, most of the time, and yet is half of what we do more important than prayer? Prayer allows us to worship the God who has saved us. Prayer allows us to give thanks for all the good things in our lives. Prayer lets us develop our relationship with God. And of course, prayer also allows us to make requests of our giving God.

What is your prayer life like? Most Christians I ask that of say they could do better. Most of us feel like this, and of course it is always a good idea to take stock of our spiritual lives. I do not think, though, that God wants us to feel like poor performers when it comes to prayer. Rather, I think He wants us to be excited by prayer. We must be careful about falling into a legalistic and works mentality where we just pray to tick our Christian box and feel like we “put in our time” with Jesus.

So, how can I pray for you? I’d love to start recording prayer videos again, and love to be able to include requests from my readers. Always happy to keep requests anonymous too. Even if you do not want to be included in any videos, it would be an enormous privilege to pray for you either way.

You can comment below if you wish, reach out on social media or else use the Contact page to send me a private message.

I also want to reflect that I’ve been extremely blessed by the Christian WordPress community of late. There are some truly gifted writers here, offering their talents to encourage and challenge the Body of Christ. I will be praying for those blogs and authors which I follow here, but if you would like me to specifically mention you, please do let me know.

And finally… please do pray for me also! I truly value your them! I write mostly about the Bible, but perhaps I should pen a few words about my life more generally too. Not that it is particularly exciting, you understand, but rather because behind every blog is a blogger… I have my fair share of trials and successes, and cannot expect you to pray for me without a window into my world.

I have actually been toying with the idea of a series on testimonies. Perhaps I should start with my own, and then invite others to share theirs. Something to pray about!

Thanks for reading; praise the Lord and may He bless you richly today!

The View from the Pit (Joseph #5)

Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, “Let’s not take his life.” 22 Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father.

Genesis 37:21-22 (WEB)

To remind you where we are, Joseph was not popular among his brothers. In fact, the Bible makes clear that they hated him to point of not be able to speak to him kindly. Having shared with them some controversial dreams, their resolve against him has only been strengthened. Searching for them in the wilderness, an opportunity has presented itself to them to finally be rid of him for good. Putting it bluntly, they plan to kill him.

Reuben to the Rescue?

Reuben, hearing the plan to murder Joseph, delivers him out of their hand. It may sound as though Reuben has had a bout of conscience but in fact, his motives are purely self-serving.

Instead of shedding Joseph’s blood, an obvious crime, he convinces them to simply throw him into the pit and let him die “naturally!” To the brothers, this apparently seems less unsavoury than actually doing the deed itself. However, would God see them as guiltless for this? I hardly think so.

James, in his letter, says:

So any person who knows what is right to do but does not do it, to him it is sin.

James 4:17 (Amp)

If we know what is right, and yet refuse to do it, that is sin – plain and simple. For the brothers here, it is not as though they have stumbled across a Joseph who has accidentally fallen into a pit, and refused to rescue him… that would be sin enough! Instead, they plan to throw him in there themselves. Whichever way you shake it, to fulfil such a plan is no different from shedding his blood themselves.

Selfish Motives

We see from the final words of verse 22 that Reuben was not actually concerned about Joseph at all. His motives for rescuing him were purely selfish. He wanted to sneak back later on and pull Joseph out, claiming to be the one who had rescued him and gaining favour with his father.

I wonder if Jacob must take a slice of the blame here. Imagine being in a family where you felt you had to go to such lengths to obtain a father’s favour. Clearly Reuben’s actions are very wrong, but so was the favouritism which drove him to it.

In the pit

When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him; 24 and they took him, and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty. There was no water in it.

Genesis 37:23-24 (WEB)

I wonder, as Joseph approached his brothers that day, if he had any idea what was coming. Even a naïve dreamer (if that’s what he was) must have known their feelings towards him. Perhaps he simply thought the best of them, and never expected them to act in this shocking way.

They strip him of his coat of many colours, and this, in their minds, would have been like ripping off Jacob’s favouritism from him. The coat would have been a sign of leadership too, and likewise they are saying, “You are not above us!” Throwing him into the pit is to throw him beneath them once and for all.

The text makes a point of saying that the pit (or water cistern) is empty. Why is this important – apart from the obvious consequences for Joseph? I want to address that at a later date – so stay tuned! Suffice it to say that I do not believe any detail is in the Bible for no reason.

Water cisterns were no small holes in the ground. The picture above shows the size and scale of some of these pits. We do not know how long Joseph was in there, but from the bottom he would have seen little but sky.

The Bible does not seem to reference Joseph prying all that much, but I can only imagine that as he sat or lay at the bottom of this pit, that he was praying earnestly for rescue. “Get me out of this pit, please God!” he might have said, and would we have prayed any differently? Yet God does answer his prayer (as we will see next time) but not into freedom, rather instead into slavery.

Similarly, if God had rescued Joseph completely in this situation, he would never have found himself in Egypt and in that place God had called him to. Joseph, if he was praying to escape the pit, was praying against God’s will and against his own dreams. That is something to pause on. When we pray, we pray from our human viewpoint and not from God’s stance. Could it be that some of our prayers of rescue are not answered because they would contradict God’s plans and our dreams? I’ll leave that with you…

Let our prayers be led by the Holy Spirit today and every day!

How To Read the Bible

A couple of weeks ago, I was interviewed by the host of “Understand the Bible” Phill Sacre on the subject of prayer. This was part of UTB’s course on How to live as a Christian. You can check out that post – Talking to Jesus here.

This week, I returned to discuss how to read the Bible. The video is below if you wish to see it.

You can find out more about Understand the Bible at their web site – Understand the Bible, or else find them on YouTube here.

Hope you enjoy it!

If you have any questions about reading the Bible, then do feel free to get in touch and I’d be glad to help.

Reaching the Jesus Friendly

Everybody needs Christ, especially those who think they already have Him. I got my first taste of high school and college ministry under an …

Reaching the Jesus Friendly

Evil (Joseph #4)

The man said, “They have left here, for I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’”

Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan. 18 They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Behold, this dreamer comes. 20 Come now therefore, and let’s kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, ‘An evil animal has devoured him.’ We will see what will become of his dreams.”

Genesis 37:17-20

After a time of searching, Joseph is directed to the town of Dothan where he finally catches up with his brothers. Suffice it to say they were not exactly thrilled to see him coming…

Coat of Many Colours

We have pointed out before that Joseph was wearing his coat of colours and this is no doubt a large part of how they saw him coming from afar. I do not want to draw an overly spiritual point out of this, but do people see you coming a mile off? Do they recognise your clothes, behaviour or attitude? Do they look forward to your approach, or does it fill them with dread as it does Jacob’s sons?

We ought to be properly dressed. Ephesians 6 instructs us to put on the armour of God, and Romans 13 tells us to clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to write a fuller post on that subject another day, so won’t say a great deal more here.

However, just as Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, recognising him immediately, I want us – the church – to be immediately recognisable by those who look upon us. Let them see how we conduct ourselves, and spot our holiness, and by so doing draw them into relationship with our wonderful Lord.

The Plot and the Lie

The brothers decide they have had enough of this dreamer, and make a plan to kill him, toss him into a pit and then lie about it to cover it up. We have spoken of their hatred several times in this series so far, and now it bubbles up to a point where they intend to act on it. Surely the Lord Jesus was right when He said that to hate someone in your heart is to murder them.

It sounds absurd to say, but clearly the brothers knew this was not the right thing to do. No one who believes themselves in the right, then lies about it to cover it up. If it was all above board, then they would have had no need to lie. There is a lesson for us there too. If you find yourself “decorating” the truth, or just outright lying about something, then you likewise must know that it is wrong. When I walk into the office and find members of my staff quickly turning off their screens or hiding what they were doing, chances are they were not working!

Beyond that though, the brothers don’t just lie in the heat of the moment, but they plan to lie. Someone caught red-handed may try a bold story to get out of trouble, but it is a whole new level of deceit to plan to lie and cover up ahead of time.

They intend to pass the blame on to some “evil animal.” This is rich, as I know of no animals which are truly evil. Perhaps mistreated ones become mean or untrustworthy, but we would unlikely describe such an animal as evil. Humanity though, we were born with a sinful – evil – nature which corrupts us in every way. The only thing that can rescue us from this evil nature is the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He not only cleanses us from our sin, but puts a new nature inside of us, one free of corruption. Praise His Holy Name!

What Will Become of His Dreams?

The final line of our passage today may seem a bit throwaway. “We will see what becomes of his dreams.” It is a sneer almost; the brothers believe they will never see the dreams come to pass because they will end his life right here and now.

God’s plans are not so easily thwarted though.

Next time, we will see how Joseph escapes this murderous plot. For now though, Joseph’s dreams were a sign from God that He had a great plan for this young man’s life. God has a plan for you also. There may be those who try to end your dreams in the here and now, although I pray it is not in such a gruesome way! Nothing can stop God’s plan for your life, so rejoice in that truth today. His plan may not always be comfortable, but continue to trust Him with all of your heart and He will bring you safely to your heavenly home.

Confront (PoW)

Pearls of Wisdom

Refusing to confront someone’s sin, is refusing to love them.

When we see a Christian brother or sister dabbling with sin, or worse, tangled up in it, it is the loving thing to do to gently point this out to them. Ignoring the issue will not solve the problem. By not confronting them, we are not valuing them enough to say something. It is like someone crossing a road and not seeing the truck heading their way… if we do not cry out to warn them, then how can we possibly claim to love them?

Sin is not just dangerous, it is deadly. One of the main reasons we do not confront sin is because often we do not take it seriously enough. In my truck illustration above, the danger is very real. The danger of sin is no less real, but somehow we don’t recognise it as such.

One reason for not confronting others about sin is because we are afraid of how they might react. This is understandable of course, but if done in the right way, and by someone who truly cares, we must hope and pray they are mature enough to receive.

We also do not confront sin because we feel unworthy to do so. We look at our own lives and recognise the sins we struggle with, and therefore conclude we have no right to speak into another’s life. This is likewise understandable. You do not have to be perfect to help someone with sin, but you do have to be humble.

Before I close, I do want to add that this does not give you the right to walk about your church, pointing out all the sins, mistakes and issues you see. Going around looking for things to confront people about is certainly not loving. As someone once said, “You are not Holy Ghost Junior!” Let God do His perfect work in others, and yourself too.

If you live life with others for long enough, sooner or later you will encounter sin in their life. This is not negative, but a fact of our fallen reality. Be ready to carefully and respectfully direct them away from sin and its consequences. Be prepared for others to love you in that same way.

Every blessing to you!

Joseph Searching (Joseph #3)

Soon after this, Joseph’s brothers went to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem. 13 When they had been gone for some time, Jacob said to Joseph, “Your brothers are pasturing the sheep at Shechem. Get ready, and I will send you to them.”

“I’m ready to go,” Joseph replied.

14 “Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are getting along,” Jacob said. “Then come back and bring me a report.” So Jacob sent him on his way, and Joseph travelled to Shechem from their home in the valley of Hebron.

15 When he arrived there, a man from the area noticed him wandering around the countryside. “What are you looking for?” he asked.

16 “I’m looking for my brothers,” Joseph replied. “Do you know where they are pasturing their sheep?”

17 “Yes,” the man told him. “They have moved on from here, but I heard them say, ‘Let’s go on to Dothan.’” So Joseph followed his brothers to Dothan and found them there.

Genesis 37:12-17 (NLT)

We return to the story of Joseph today, and pick up a section of text which is, well, not apparently all that interesting! You can sum it up in a few lines. Joseph’s brothers go to pasture the flocks, and after a while Jacob sends Joseph to go check on them. Joseph can’t find them, and an unnamed man directs him to them. No great theological revelation there right?

Is this section just padding though? Is it just a build up to the real action scenes that follow? It is my firm belief that nothing is in the Bible by accident, and every single word is in there for a purpose. If so, what is the purpose here? Let’s walk through the text and see what we can find. And I do not claim to have all of the answers.

Ready To Go

The first thing I want to note is how ready Joseph is to serve his father and family. Jacob wants to check on his sons and the flocks, but doesn’t immediately give reasons. Is he potentially concerned about what they might be getting up to? Verse 14 is an instruction to go and see, and then return with a report. This may suggest concern on Jacob’s part, but it may also just be a fairly normal practice. Remember, they had no mobile/cellular phones in those days!

A few questions start to emerge here. Why was Joseph not with them? It could be that they simply did not want him around, so left him behind. It could have been that Joseph was favoured such that he did not have to go along, and could stay home and please himself.

Given the brothers’ hatred of Joseph, which they made little attempt to hide, neither Joseph nor Jacob showed any apparent concerns for sending the dreamer off into the wilderness to look for them. Clearly, neither had any idea of what the brothers would soon do, or were even worried about giving them such an opportunity.

Sending Joseph to bring back a report reminds us of the early verses in this chapter where Joseph had brought an evil/bad report back about some of the brothers. Perhaps he and/or Jacob made a habit of checking up on them. Why? Were they known for their not so exemplary behaviour?

Shechem and Dothan

Shechem is an interesting place to go and pasture the flocks. The last time we encountered Shechem, was in Genesis 34. This is a rather grizzly affair where one of Jacob’s daughters in defiled, and the brothers hatch a plan to take vengeance on the man and town of the same name. We do not know how much time has passed since those events, but it is probably advisable to steer clear of the place for a long while. That may explain Jacob’s concern for how they are getting on.

I cannot help but wonder if there is some prophetic or symbolic inference here. Joseph travels to Shechem – the place of recent violence – but does not find either the brothers or trouble there. The fact that they have moved on, and he too heads away from Shechem may allude to Joseph avoiding the same kind of violence the people of that place felt at the hands of the brothers.

I certainly do not want to read more into the text than is there, but as I mentioned above, every word and every place mentioned in the Scripture is there for a purpose.

Verse 15 sees Joseph arrive in Shechem, find nothing and encounters a man of the area. On the surface, he asks what Joseph is looking for, and then directs him to where his brothers have travelled on to. Again, the text could simply be reporting what happened, and there always danger of seeing things that are not there.

Likewise, however, some questions arise in my mind. Does Joseph bump into this man by accident? There is no such thing as coincidence in the Bible! Also, Joseph does not appear to introduce or identify himself to the man, so how does he know who “my brothers” are? The family of Israel were likely quite well known in that area of course, and we know from later events that Joseph was once again adorned with the coat of many colours. No ID required in that case!

Whenever I see an unnamed individual or servant in the Bible, I immediately ask if this is a representation of the Holy Spirit. That statement takes some explaining, but often in the Old Testament we see the Spirit of God prophetically depicted as a servant with no name – because He never testifies about Himself. In Genesis 24, an unnamed servant (named elsewhere) is dispatched by the “father” to obtain a bride for the “son.” This is prophetically similar to the Father sending forth the Holy Spirit to prepare the Bride of Christ.

Back to Genesis 37, this unnamed man directs Joseph away from Shechem (the place of former violence) and towards a place called Dothan. As far as I can tell, the only other time that this place was mentioned in the Bible was in 2 Kings 6.

In 2 Kings 6, we read of the Aramean king who was attacking Israel. Every time he formed a plan against them though, God would reveal this to Elisha – the man of God – and the plan would be thwarted. The King of Aram became so frustrated, he believed there was a spy in his ranks. It was told to him that Elisha was the one who somehow knew ahead of time, so the king sent to capture him. Where? At Dothan.

When the Arameans arrived however, they were met with a heavenly army that not even Elisha’s assistant could see. Elisha prayed, and the invading army became blind and he was able to lead them out and into captivity.

What does any of this have to do with Joseph? Well… truth be told, potentially nothing whatsoever! I do think it is interesting though that Joseph was heading into a place known for violence, was directed away by an unnamed man, and ends up going to Dothan. Dothan would later be the place of a great rescue. It could have been a slaughter, and yet God rescued Elisha and the rest in a miraculous way. Joseph is likewise rescued… although it may not seem like it.

If you know what happens next, then you know Joseph is sold into slavery. This is not a pleasant fate of course, but it is rather better than the brothers first idea, which is to kill him. As I say, without reading too much into the text, Joseph avoids violence (Shechem) and is instead led away into slavery (Dothan).

Let me restate that not every passage of the Bible has a hidden meaning, or some code you have to crack. I do not advise missing the obvious meaning of the text in favour of some other mysterious interpretation.

On the face of it, this text simply tells us that Joseph went to look for his brothers, and ultimately finds them. If we see other possibilities, then it is not wrong to explore them, but we must be very careful not to wander into heresy or falsity looking for things that simply are not there. I share what I have shared today to help us examine the text on different levels.

We will explore what happens to Joseph at Dothan next time. Thanks for reading.

Sudden Disaster

You need not be afraid of sudden disaster

    or the destruction that comes upon the wicked,

26 for the Lord is your security.

    He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap.

Proverbs 3:25-26 (NLT)

Reading the third chapter of Proverbs this week, this particular couplet of verses jumped out at me. Have no fear of sudden disaster, the word directs us, and yet I find myself often drifting into fearing the worst, or worst-case scenarios. My anxious mind wanders into negative places, and I start playing the “what if” game. Minutes can go by, and in my head I’ve crafted unlikely situations and pushed them out to their extremities, no matter how implausible.

When I read this verse yesterday morning, I realise that I do fear sudden disaster more often than I care to admit.

I do not mind telling you that I am prone to anxiety, and indeed have suffered with it at times. Anxiety is more than just worry, although it may start that way. Anxiety can be crippling, and it can cause us to shut down almost completely. There have been times when I’ve felt a knot in my stomach; a nervousness that I couldn’t explain. Perhaps you have experienced something similar yourself, or know others who have.

Sadly, it is all too common these days. Stress, anxiety, and depression affect many people in a whole host of ways. I am no psychologist, and of course if you need help with any of these things, do go and see your doctor.

These verses help us though, and so I want to consider them today.

They firstly say we need not fear sudden disaster, nor the destruction which falls upon the wicked. Why not? Because of what is said in verse 26.

The Lord is your security. That’s the key right there. We desire security in many respects. We want our homes to be secure from break in. We want our jobs to be secure from loss or redundancy. We want our family to be secure from harm – in this life and the next. We want to feel and be secure in all aspects of life.

When we feel anxious, or fear sudden disaster, we do not feel secure. We feel there is a threat, known or unknown, which may befall us. What if I lose my job? What if I get injured? What if my spouse leaves me? What if… fill in the blank for you.

Yet God is our security. He is our fortress and high tower. In Him, we need not fear these things.

Don’t misunderstand, this is not a cast iron promise that nothing bad will ever happen. Life itself is proof of that fact. But the Bible is no liar, and we must understand what it means for the Lord to “be our security”.

Security in Christ means that no matter what happens in this life a) He will be right there with us, and b) We have eternal security that can never be stolen or damaged.

In this life, we will face trouble and danger. If you don’t believe me, just live. That’s not to be negative of course, but things just go wrong in this fallen world full of fallen people. If we stick with Christ however, we know that He will never leave us nor forsake us. We know that no matter what happens on this earth, He is working for the good of His people who are called according to His purpose. What happens to you may not be “good”, but we can trust God to bring good out of it.

I believe He wants us to have a good life here on the earth. Like any good Father, He wants us to have blessings and live a good and enjoyable life. Our enjoyment is not His primary concern though, and that’s the thing we forget sometimes. God deserves and will obtain maximum glory for Himself, and if that means us going through a time of trial, then so be it.

God also takes a longer perspective than us. While we go through trouble, it may feel like the end of the world to us. And even if it is, there is a new world to look forward to in eternity. Even if it was not true that God wants to bless us here on earth, we have a home in heaven to look forward to. That will compensate for any discomfort, trial or trouble we face while alive on the earth. A life of 80 or 90 years is a mere blip next to eternity.

So, returning to the passage at hand (I hadn’t forgotten!). We need not fear sudden disaster because the Lord is our security. We can trust Him to bring good into our lives, and know that the bad also has a purpose. Our security in Him is eternal, and not temporal.

This truth, if we accept and rejoice in it, is hugely comforting. I need not fear sudden disaster because firstly, it might never happen, and secondly because there is a heavenly eternity to focus on. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. Nothing. That being the case, we need not fear sudden disaster coming upon us.

What is a miracle?

Some say that a miracle is a suspension of the normal rules governing reality. Others may say that it is God intervening in our lives in a powerful way.

When we think of miracles, we might imagine mountains moving or sight being restored. These are, indeed, great miracles! But not all miracles look like this.

I say that having clothes on your back and food in your belly is a miracle to.

Having a roof over your head it’s a miracle as well. As are your eyes which allow you to read these words.

Having the ability to walk up and down the stairs would be a miracle to some.

Surely though, the greatest miracle of all is being restored to righteousness in and through Christ Jesus our Lord! Our sins forgiven, and being fully justified before our Heavenly Father.

Have you experienced this miracle for yourself? You can do so today…

All you need do is believe and trust in Him, confess the things that you have done wrong, and then ask and receive God’s forgiveness. Let the knowledge of that forgiveness miraculously change your life forever!

If you are seeking a miracle, first check you have not already received one! God bless you this Lord’s day.