It was my intention this week, to begin a series on Psalm 37 and to also write about the Prodigal son. however, I have had a change of plans…
Unfortunately my father had a pretty bad fall at the weekend, and has had a stay in hospital.
I thank God his injuries were not worse, and I’m pleased to report he is now home.
It has been a tough situation on all the family, so would very much welcome your prayers at this time.
As you can imagine, I have not had much time to write! in the next few days therefore, I will share some older posts of mine and posts from fellow bloggers who I am sure you will enjoy reading.
I hope that normal life, whatever that is, will resume again shortly and I can return to my keyboard.
In the meantime, I thank God that he is indeed in control. He has watched over us as a family, and I praise him for that.
If you are going through a difficult time at the moment, I can relate! I would love the opportunity to pray for you to, so do get in touch.
Have a fabulous day, whatever you are getting up to, and keep on keeping on! don’t allow a change of plans to derail your faith, and know that Christ is always with you.
Pearls of Wisdom As Christians, we are here to serve the Lord, not the other way around I am certainly not against all television ministries, but an unguarded look at Christian TV might make you think that Christianity is all about getting the best life you can. Some falsely lead you into thinking that having…
— Read on andy-brown.org/2020/07/06/were-here-to-serve-god-pow/
Are you putting something off that you know you ought to be doing?
For instance, have you been putting off your regular dental checks? you may not have toothache right now, and perhaps you just don’t have the time to visit the dentist or want to face the expense at the moment.
Perhaps your car has been making an unusual sound, the occasional whiff of smoke, or even the check engine light has come on. Yet, you have not found the time to visit the Mechanic.
Maybe you knew about a hole in your roof, yet the summer has stretched out before you without a drop of rain in sight.I will fix the roof later, you think, but later never comes. While later may not have come, if you live in the UK, the rain certainly will!
Turning to spiritual matters, perhaps there is a sin or bad habit in your life that you know you need to be rid of.
Maybe you have felt the Lord leading you to pick up your bible more often, or to kneel down in prayer more frequently. later, you think…
My advice to you today is to fix the roof while the Sun is shining! Because you never know when a raincloud may form.
Don’t put things off that you know you need to do now. Do not wait until it is too late!
When the toothache comes or the car breaks down in the middle of the road, you will wish you had taken the necessary steps in advance.
Likewise, when the storms of life hit you, and they will, you will regret not having a firm grasp on your Bible or not having spent more time with the Lord in prayer.
The ultimate example is to put off making a commitment to Jesus Christ as your saviour and Lord.do not put this off dear reader! Get on your knees today and commit your life to Jesus! Do it now, while you can, for later may not come.
Take my advice today, fix the roof while the Sun is shining! And have a great day
We take a little break from the book of Acts to consider this question today. Many individuals over the centuries have tried to answer this one, and the vast majority were cleverer than I am! I offer a few thoughts here which I hope you find helpful. The argument often goes something like this. If…
— Read on andy-brown.org/2020/06/29/why-does-god-allow-suffering/
Pearls of Wisdom When we step out in faith, perhaps for a new ministry venture or simply to share the Gospel with a friend, and it does not go according to plan… it can be all too easy to think that we completely missed God’s will. Maybe you have experienced this yourself at times. You…
— Read on andy-brown.org/2021/05/11/comfort-is-no-indicator-pow/
I wanted to share this great success from a fellow UK Christian blogger, and another Andy B!
The Berry bunch are doing great things for the Lord, and offer a huge variety of media to encourage and uplift you. If you do not currently follow them, I strongly encourage you to check them out!
Well done to Andy and family for this first 1000 posts!
This is your 1,000th post from the BerryBunch. And, well, we thought we should mark this in some way, so here we are!
Pearl of Wisdom #’17 We ought to spend our time here, preparing for there In our society, which is largely anti-God, anti-Christian and promotes evolution, humanism and secularism, it is hardly surprising that people think very little about eternity – life after death. If you take a Christian worldview, then you believe and understand that…
— Read on andy-brown.org/2018/09/24/live-for-eternity-pow17/
The other day my wife was talking to me, and like a dutiful husband, I was nodding and saying “Uh-huh…” in all the right places. My mind however, was somewhere else! I had to hold my hands up and admit that although I was hearing the words, I wasn’t really listening.
Verse 20 of Proverbs 4 is a rather eloquent way of saying “Listen up!” Attending to someone’s words is not simply to hear them, but rather to engage with them. Likewise, turning one’s head in the right direction (so that the ear is pointed at the speaker) is not nearly enough to ensure the instruction hits home.
Solomon is again entreating us to listen, to take on board and to respond to the wisdom of his teaching.
In a similar way, verse 21 encourages us to keep Wisdom’s teachings before our eyes and thus planted in our hearts. This idea of God’s Word and wisdom not departing from our eyes is an exhortation to be both regular and consistently reading and studying the Scripture.
A 30-minute sermon on a Sunday is not enough. A 5-minute devotional each morning may be encouraging, but it may be insufficient to receive the full counsel of God’s Word.
For me at least, little and often may be the key. I have followed “Bible in a year” plans before, and while useful in some cases, it can become a burden or even chore as we wade through six or more chapters each morning.
Better to read and meditate on a few Bible verses regularly, than read a dozen pages without taking it in.
Better to read and #meditate on a few #Bible verses regularly, than read a dozen pages without taking it in.
That is not to take Scripture out of context, I hasten to add. There is just as much danger in reading your favourite few verses all the time, and not engaging with the wider text or understand its place in the big picture.
Verse 22 says:
For they are life to those who find them,
and health to their whole body.
Proverbs 4:22 (WEB)
Verse 22 has always been a verse which fascinates me. It says that God’s word, or the instruction of wisdom, provides life to those who find them and even health to our physical bodies. We touched on this in previous posts on the book of Proverbs, and clearly living wisely will lengthen your life. Smoking, drinking or eating to excess, or not looking after oneself is not wise, and as a consequence will of course reduce one’s lifespan.
The word translated as “health” here is the Hebrew word marpe’ and is most often translated as “health” (as above) or “healing.” It can also be rendered as “cure” or “remedy” also.
Could it be that the very studying of God’s Word can bring health to us, and I mean in some supernatural way rather than as a natural consequence of living right? While some would give a definite yes to that question, others would dispute it. I would encourage you to study its meaning for yourself.
The WEB translation of verse 23 is a little confusing, to me at least! Here it is from the NLT:
Guard your heart above all else,
for it determines the course of your life.
Proverbs 4:23 (NLT)
Despite talking of the health of the body in the last verse, this one is not referring to our blood pump, but rather our inner self. Guarding our heart is very much in line with what this passage has been talking about. Too few of us take seriously what we allow into our hearts and minds. Instead of keeping the Word of God before us constantly, we fill ourselves with ungodly entertainment or gossip. We are foolish if we think our hearts can go unscathed by such continual battering.
Your heart, that is, your inner self, will determine how your life goes. It is like a child who is constantly criticised or put down, they will struggle in life to overcome such negativity. Our hearts, in a similar way, cannot be soaked in negativity and produce positive results.
Verse 24 deals not with what we put into ourselves, but rather what comes out of us. It strongly advises us to be careful about how we speak, and I cannot emphasise enough the power of our words.
Paul also instructs us to:
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Ephesians 4:29 (NIV)
What a challenging verse this is! I say a lot of things in a day, but can hardly confess to all of it being helpful for building others up. I try to add value with my words, always having in the back of my mind that one day I will give account for them to the Lord. Yet too frequently I find my words are not wholesome, but instead are negative, critical or just wasteful. How about you?
Verse 25 to 27 all echo the same sentiment. Keep your eyes fixed ahead, and your feet on level ground. This is clearly not to advise us against turning our heads nor to ascend inclined ground in our hometowns! Instead, the Proverbs are warning us to keep fixed on what is right, and not to turn aside to evil.
If we do not do this, if we just wander along aimlessly, then we will find ourselves in trouble. Our focus and our determined purpose must be to seek after what is right and good. Our sinful nature has been programmed into us since birth, and despite the new life Christ brings, we do tend towards selfishness and evil unless we are set against it.
What are your eyes fixed on? Are locked ahead, gazing upon God’s Word, or do they wander and lead you astray? How about those feet? Are they shod with the Gospel, and following after Jesus, or do they stumble or meander away?
Make a decision right here and now that you will seek after wisdom all day long. Fix those eyes and discipline those feet, and you will life in God’s Word.
Andy Brown 