Light of Christ

A friend and I were talking the other day about only the good dying young.  Seeing he is 75 and I am 68, we decided we weren’t good enough to die young, by human standards.

But then what is good enough?  Both of us, on the surface, keep the ten commandments.  We don’t kill or rob people.  We go to church.  While our parents were alive, we honoured them.  And for some time before Mum went into a nursing home, I was her carer.  We’re honest, and we don’t try to “keep up with the Joneses”.

But go under the surface, as Jesus said, keeping the spirit of the law, we don’t fare so well.  We think things about people that are not kind.  We SAY things about people (amongst ourselves) that are not kind.  I dare say he thinks lustful thoughts, I certainly do at times, but we don’t talk about that, it would embarrass him!

And when it comes to Jesus’ law of love!  Well!  We really fail that one!  All those sins of omission as well as the sins of commission!  We don’t love our neighbours as ourselves, and we don’t love the Father at all times!  We hear of someone in need and don’t help them.  We don’t always love our enemies, let alone our neighbour!

So…we’re not good enough to fit in with the human standards to die young!

But what does God say?  Are we good enough?  Romans 3:  23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Even though our sin is not obvious on the surface, we have fallen short.  So how do we get “up to scratch”?  How do we get right with God?  We can’t do it, we have fallen short.  We are definitely not good enough!

But!

1 John 2:1…… we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Jesus alone is righteous.  He alone is worthy.  The only way we can be counted righteous is because of Jesus.  This is a miracle of grace.

He loved us SO much that He saved us.  He redeemed us.  He became sin for us so that we might receive what HE deserves.  He shed His blood to cleanse us.

Seems to me, we need to depend on Jesus for everything!

Alleluia!

Yesterday I went to the Optometrist. I was due to go just after I broke my ankle so obviously I had to cancel that appointment!

 

So after I got a whole lot of other appointments, christmas, new year and birthday out of the road, I thought I had better front up to the optometrist. The old one had moved, so I found another, and thought oh here we go having to explain SCA again….but I DO need new glasses. So yesterday was the day. My lovely neighbour came and picked me up and helped me into the car, he loaded the trusty walker into the back and away we went. We had a lovely conversation on the way and solved the troubles of the world. All of them.

 

By this time we had got to Mudgee, and he found a parking space not too distant from the optometrist, unloaded the walker, unloaded me, and I made it over the sloping footpaths. Anyone noticed how many different ways a footpath can slope? And how before ataxia it didn’t matter?

 

The optometrist was lovely. Her consulting room was, in the manner of all good consulting rooms, small and not necessarily convenient for an ataxian with a walker, but she helped me into her chair, and she used every machine known to man to work out exactly what glasses would suit me best, to discover I have the beginnings of cataracts, but that with the glasses, even WITH the cataracts I will have 20/20 vision. So out to pick the new frames. Sort out which sorts of lenses would be appropriate for me. Pay the deposit. Come back in 10 days please!

 

On to the supermarket by way of the automatic teller, and the disabled toilet. Well! If I didn’t feel disabled when I went in, I certainly did by the time I came out! The door kept opening, till I discovered I had to press a big red button to lock the door! Duh!

The actual shopping part with my friend was really funny. We both needed coffee, and we both needed chocolate. He couldn’t find the particular type he wanted in the size he wanted. So to stop him feeling guilty about buying the bigger size, I promised to help him eat it. A lot of giggling went on, and I’m sure some younger shoppers were wondering what this pair of oldies were up to in the chocolate aisle. Then onto the cat food section, because we can’t forget Megga.

 

By this time I had just about had enough. I had had enough of shiny floors, and ramps and noises and people. Apart from some bananas, the rest of the shopping didn’t get done. My brain had just about given up by the time we got to the check out and found we had come to the express lane. I mean I had more than that just in cat food!

 

Eventually we escaped, more shiny and sloping floors and back to the car, another lovely conversation, this time about his misspent youth (!!) and back home to find the cleaning lady had already been. She was supposed to be here at 2, I was home at 1. She couldn’t get into the house, and rang my daughter. Wendy gave her the code to the keysafe and away she went. I mean I was really pleased she had cleaned the house, and I suspect she actually found it quicker and easier to do without me being there. But I HAD told her employer what times I would be away…..

 

So I left the groceries unpacked, apart from anything that needed to be in the fridge, settled down with my lunch, and then had a very short snooze. I need a much longer one, but beggars can’t be choosers. I was just exhausted. 4 hours away and it felt like I had been on a week’s trekking through jungle. I slept longer and better last night than I have for weeks.

 

But all this drama. It never used to be like this. I am used to having drama in my life, but I was the one who would fix it, not be the cause of it. It reinforced what I have thought for quite a while. I am now physically high maintenance. And I am not at all happy about it.

 

I would love to get married again, or at least have a companion…someone who would spend time with me, and go home (and do their own washing). It is lovely that I have family and friends who will come and make it possible for me to go to appointments and functions, but could I expect someone to do this full time for me? That’s a really big ask. I can’t promise that in x weeks or months I will be better and I will no longer need the walker or at least a cane. I HOPE in x weeks or months I will no longer need the walker or cane…..BUT……gotta be realistic here.

 

I heard about a lady with early onset dementia who found a lovely understanding gentleman who was prepared to take her on with all the difficulties she was having then, and was likely to have. He must have really loved her. And she must have really loved him. I really hope there is someone similar out there for me….but again….gotta be realistic here.

 

Just as well I like living alone perhaps.

Just as well too, that I am a Christian, and I believe the promises of the Lord. That I will go to be with Him when I die, or when He come back, whichever happens sooner.  1 Thess 4:17.  I will get a new glorified body.  1 Cor 15: 42So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”;^e the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall^f also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Mystery and Victory

50I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.54When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

I mean to say.  My goodness.  If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, and He is with you always, and He has given you promises like this….whatever you are going through…WHATEVER!  No matter how painful or disabling, no matter what you are suffering in any way right now, physically, emotionally, spiritually, isn’t it great to have these promises?  Isn’t it great to know that He loved us so much that He sacrificed Himself, and shed His blood, so we could have these promises?  So that we could share eternity with Him?

What can I say?

Today I received my new mobile phone.  I had wanted one with a bigger display for a long time (the old eyes aren’t working as well) and the present phone is giving up the ghost.  Fortunately slowly.  With the new you beaut National Broadband Network, I need a reliable mobile phone as a back up.  The Government, in its wisdom, has decided that everyone will have to use the new network, and the old one will be switched off.  If you haven’t changed over, too bad.

So I changed over a little while ago, and soon discovered there were a few shortcomings.  I knew that the internet side of things would only be fair to middling, with the odd flash of fast speeds for downloading (depending on how close to the telephone exchange you live, how many people are using it at the time, etc etc.) and that all phones would also be going through the router. Even corded phones that previously just needed a telephone cable, would have to go through the router.   And if the power went off, you had no phone.  And we had a rather ferocious thunderstorm a few weeks after it was installed, involving a direct lighting strike to the bank on the corner, which fried the router.

So, I had to get a new router, and a new surge protector power board, and no phone till I got the new one up and running again.

So I have learned the importance of having a CHARGED mobile phone in the house, at all times.  The hard way.

So the new one arrived today.  Of course the instruction book was no earthly good, so I visited youtube to find out how to transfer the sim from the old phone to the new phone.  That wasn’t too bad really once I knew what I was doing.  I managed the transfer of the contact details, because they were on the sim.  Then I went to get the wifi going.  Followed the instructions, and put in what I thought was the password.  Nothing happened.  Strange I thought.  Tried again, and still nothing.  Then I discovered, I was using the password to something else!  I had two pieces of paper, and had picked up the wrong one!  Put in the correct one, and put the incorrect spelling in.  By this time the cat was keeping clear of me, because I had steam coming out of my ears!  So I checked the spelling, and discovered I had put an extra letter in.  Deleted the letter…..and Bob’s your uncle!

Now we were cooking with gas!  In short order I had downloaded the necessary apps.  I dare say I’ll need more later, but I have enough to keep me out of trouble initially at least.

We all have problems with passwords at times.  Most people I know find them a necessary evil.  But the one we need for access to God, is an easy one. JESUS!  He has done all the work for us.  We don’t need to go through all this rigmarole to behold God.  He has paid the price for us, He has clothed us in His righteousness, He has washed us clean in His precious blood.  And because of this we are righteous in God’s sight.

Don’t forget the password!

When I was a young woman, I had thick dark hair.  I decided I would like to have purple hair but I wasn’t brave enough, or financial enough to have it done professionally, so I bought one of those very temporary colours you shampoo in.  It wasn’t really purple, it was called burgundy I think, and really once my hair was dry you couldn’t notice any difference, till I stood under a light.  Then people noticed that my dark hair had burgundy highlights.

Well that was it for years.  I got married and had four kids under 7.  I had no time, inclination or money to even think about having anything except getting my hair cut periodically.  Like my mother and two sisters, I went grey early.  I don’t remember Mum as anything but grey;  white actually, and my sisters were a good bit older than me, and had always coloured their hair.  So when I started to go grey, I tried a few colours.  I couldn’t afford to have it done at the hair dressers, so I tried the stuff you could buy from the supermarket.  The first few I didn’t like the result;  then I found one that was pretty well the colour I used to be….until I washed it the first time.  Then all the white hair went bright orange!  Argh!  So off I went to the hairdresser, and got a really short hair cut, and kept it short till all the orange hair was gone!

So….back to grey hair.  Actually, I quite liked the effect of grey hair.  I went pepper and salt, then charcoal, then silver.  My hair stayed reasonably thick up until recently when I ended up in hospital as a result of a fall, breaking my ankle and requiring surgery to put everything back together.  I wasn’t able to use crutches because I had an inherited neurological condition, spinocerebellar ataxia, type 6, which interferes with my balance and co-ordination, as well as many other issues.

The ataxia had cause the fall, and up till that time had been slowly whittling away at my independence.  And now I had fallen, and I was in hospital.  The nurse in charge (matron, they used to be called) took one look at my history, and said, you can’t use crutches, you’re a high fall risk, you’re a high fracture risk, you are staying here till you’re recovered!

So there I was for three months.  Mind you they took wonderful care of me, and if you have to be hospitalised for a long time, a small country hospital is the place to do it!  The staff was wonderful, and the kitchen was wonderful!  Home cooking!  I was forced to relax and recover, and I started thinking about my plans from my youth to have purple hair.  I had talked about it on and off over the years, but I decided that once I was well enough, I was having purple hair.  Not necessarily all my hair, but I wanted bits of purple.

Eventually I came home, and it took a long time before I was fit enough to cope with actually going to the hairdressers.  But the time came, and I talked it over with the hair dresser, and I left there with purple streaks in the front of my hair.  It caused quite a bit of reaction, mostly favourable, from my friends.  Some of my family just ignored it, one daughter thought I had gone mad, and one grandchild suggested next time I should have red, orange and yellow like the fire.  If I ever grow my hair long, that is definitely worth considering!

Online, most people when they see my photo compliment me on my hair, or say nothing, if they don’t like it.  I’ve had a couple of comments that I’m setting a bad example to the younger folk, but seeing I’ve also had a couple of people say to me that I look twenty years younger….I think I’ll ignore the comments about setting a bad example.

So why have I done it?  Several reasons.  First of course, it’s something I’ve wanted to do for many years.  Breaking my ankle made me think about things.  I’ve realised I’m getting older, and as my father in law always used to say, if you’re going to do something, do it now.  You mightn’t get another chance.

Second, I’m thumbing my nose at ataxia.  Ataxia has robbed me of quite a few things.  I have lost a lot of my independence, I can no longer drive, in fact it would be dangerous to do so, because I can’t see well enough.  It has been a life changer.  By having purple hair it shows to me, and hopefully to others, that I choose not to be a victim, not to let ataxia rule my life (though it has changed it) and that I can still enjoy life.  I can laugh, I can eat chocolate, I can have purple hair!

And lastly, it is the colour of royalty.  It is a king’s colour.  I am very much a peasant, but my God is the King, and I am His adopted daughter.  Jesus came to earth and He suffered in my place.  He took what I deserve so I could have what He deserves.  He spilled His precious Blood to give me eternity in glory.  He made me a new creation, gave me a new heart and now I live for Him.

And just as I needed to stand under the light to show the burgundy in my hair, now that purple is indicative of the Light within me; the Sonlight.  The Light of the world, the marvellous Light, the Light shining in the darkness. He has given me love, and rest, and peace, and joy.

He has done so much for me.  He lifted me up when I was destitute.  He has called me His own.  I am his pearl of great price.  Everything I do now, I do for Him.  Even my purple hair.  My purple hair indicates my joy in Him!

Whatever the colour of your hair, whether you have hair or not, He wants you to be his pearl of great price too.  Listen to His voice.

Around 19 years ago, I went on a train trip to visit my mother, and went to sleep on the train, a quite normal occurrence for around 6 hours on the train, and woke up with a stiff neck.  I thought nothing of it, stiff necks normally get better.  But this one didn’t.  It got worse.  So off to the doc I went.  This started a long run of visits to the doc, and then to various specialists, none of whom could tell me what the problem was, and none of whom could offer me any sort of helpful treatment.  This went on for years.  Around 5 years I think.  The pain just kept increasing and I was just about at the end of my tether.  The only thing that helped at all on a physical level, was dark chocolate, and that was only temporary.  I also give profound thanks to God for keeping me sane, and keeping me trusting Him, and my family and friends for their patience and love.

One of my sons suggested acupuncture and I thought why not, nothing else is working.  So I found an acupuncturist and started treatment with her.  It didn’t cure anything, but it brought the pain level down to something I could cope with.

Not long after I was searching on the internet for information about something else.  I came across an entry for spasmodic torticollis.  I read through the list of symptoms and I thought, ye gods, that’s me!  I read up a bit more on it, then sent the list to my daughter who agreed with me.  On further investigation I discovered a support group, and a contact phone number, which I rang.  I told the lady my story, and she gave me the phone number of her specialist.  I made an appointment, which was months ahead, but I thought, now we are getting somewhere!  I eventually saw him, and didn’t tell him I had self diagnosed from the internet….I thought that would be a bit cheeky, but he was sympathetic, and listened to my list of symptoms, asking questions from time to time.  He told me what it was, spasmodic torticollis, and added a newer name, cervical dystonia.  And the really important news, that there was a treatment!

So started my three monthly visits to my specialist, and also interviews with his students (he is a professor at Sydney Uni Medical School) who were doing papers for their PhD.  I’ve always liked the fact that my medical problems might help a doctor learn, and thus assist other patients with similar problems to mine.  Everything went along pretty well medically for quite a few years, with the pain level zero at times, and just niggly at others…provided I had regular treatment.

At the same time, I underwent the breakdown of my marriage, which necessitated moving house.  Both stressful in their own right.  Then I turned 60, and contracted shingles.  Sigh.  Then I noticed some other problems which seemed to be vaguely connected to the dystonia, but not quite, so I mentioned them to the specialist.

He had a fair idea what the problem was, but it was very rare, so he arranged for me to be a “subject” at the nearby hospital, where he was head of the neurology department. He wanted input from other specialists, and again I would be a “teaching tool” for his students. To cut a very long story short, I was referred to a geneticist, underwent DNA testing and was found to have Spinocerebellar Ataxia, type 6.  A further finding was that a small number of people with this condition also have dystonia.  A further finding was that there was no cure, at this stage, and no treatment.  However research was being done.  This is an hereditary condition, we eventually worked out it come from my father, and several relatives on his side of the family also have/had it.  My children have a 50% chance of inheriting it.  Or the one I prefer, 50% chance of NOT inheriting it.  If they don’t have it, their children, my grandchildren, won’t get it.  I would love the condition to finish with me.

This was a fair bit to take in, and after I did, I started researching ways to help myself.  I couldn’t pretend it would go away, it was a progressive condition that would get worse as time went on.  It was up to me to face the fact, and get on with living life with as much quality as I could, given the parameters of the condition.  It would, and has, made changes to the way I live life, but these changes didn’t have to be bad….it depended on my attitude.  Would I be a victim or a victor?

Are we spiritual victims or victors?  Do we trust the Lord implicitly?  Do we accept the fact that our righteousness is as filthy rags?  That we are depraved sinners in need of salvation?  Or are we trying to “do our bit”, to help Jesus along as it were, to claim “brownie points” for those works we do.

At first glance, it seems as though the way I’m coping with my physical and sometimes emotional problems I’ve been depending on myself.  But really I haven’t.  I have only coped because He has strengthened me.  I had to learn to trust Him, and to “let go and let God”.  I did.  I really did. There has been and is no way I could cope with all this myself, and you are probably aware some of it has been terribly hard. Terribly!  It is still pretty frustrating at times, but at those times I have to “let go and let God” again.  It’s constant.  I hate to think how I’d cope without Him beside me, enfolding me, and at times carrying me.

So at one level I’m a victim.  And I’ve turned to Him.  Just like when I (and hopefully all of you) were converted.  I turned to Him.  I was reborn, and given a new heart, and made a new person.  Well physically I’m waiting for that new body, and I long for it, but emotionally and spiritually I’m a victor.  He has made me one.  And I have the victory over these physical problems too, because He has given me the attitude I need for it not to control me.  Yes it has affected me, but I still love life.  It has just changed.

I suppose you could say I have lived with change for many years.  I was changed when I was converted.  With every new physical problem I have changed.  When my marriage broke up, when I had to move (each time) I have changed.  But there have been good changes too.  My children, each new Christian friend I have made, each time I am aware, so aware, that God has been working in my life, and even though things SEEM worse, they are really better.  God knows my needs.  He always provides.  ALWAYS.

So, though I was a victim, and a sinner, now I’m a victor, through Christ, whose righteousness has made me acceptable to God.  Alleluia!  The Lord is my Saviour, He died to redeem me.  Through His Sacrifice, and His shed blood, I have been made clean.  His is the victory, and He has made me a victor!  Now through my weakness, I am able to show His strength.  His grace is sufficient for me.

Are you victim, or victor?

In Genesis 2:1-3 we read that God rested (ceased His work of creation) on the seventh day.  We do not find a record of Him resting (ceasing His work of creation) on subsequent seventh days.

There is no record that sabbath is even mentioned in Genesis.  So…I’m just wondering how it can be said to have started at creation.  It was linked to the sabbath FOR THE ISRAELITES, as a memorial of God’s rest.  Read verse 11 of Exodus 20:  For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

I don’t see any record of anyone else resting, do you?

The first record of the sabbath being given to anyone was Exodus 16, when it was given in conjunction with the manna.  We know the manna signified Christ, as the Bread of Life.  It is somewhat ominous that the day they were commanded to rest, they were not to gather any manna.  They could not collect the Bread of Life, only eat what they had gathered the day before.

NONE of the patriarchs kept sabbath.  There is no record of it in Genesis.  They were not given the ten commandments.  There is no record of it in Genesis.  There is record of Abraham and Noah and of course Adam being given commandments, but they were specific to them.  Unless of course someone thinks it is still necessary to build an ark.  However there were commandments given to Noah in conjunction with the covenant given to him and his descendants.  That’s everyone.  Do not kill, steal, commit adultery, do not worship idols being some of them.

 

These commandments were known by the patriarchs between Noah and Moses, and were repeated  and expanded by God when He gave Israel the ten commandments, with the addition of the sabbath, which had been given to no other tribe or nation.  It had already been given to the Israelites, in Exodus 16, and was repeated in Exodus 20.

You can see some commandments were given in perpetuity.    Some commandments were given for a special purpose, to a special person, for a special time.  Who then should keep which ones?  Why should we keep all of them?

This is only covering the commandments given in Genesis and Exodus.  What about the commandments given since then? What about the ones spoken by Jesus in the NT?  Should we be keeping them?

Does every commandment given mean it should be kept by everyone, everywhere?

Recently I had a conversation with someone about being “bound up”.  Of course on the face of it, it refers to a hopefully transient medical problem that is rectified by correct eating habits, adequate water, and possibly more fibre.  I have discovered that as I get older, I don’t eat as much food.  ANY sort of food.  Therefore things can get a bit sluggish at times.  I take a daily dose of psyllium husks to rectify things.  I also discovered that this had to be introduced to the system slowly, or you would suffer the reverse of being bound up and take up residence in the bathroom!

But the correct amount works wonders, and things work like clockwork.  Or at least regularly.  I’d hardly call anything in my wearing out system working like clockwork!

But this leads me to the spiritual aspects of being “bound up”.

We are all, till we turn to Christ, bound up in sin.  In fact, we are imprisoned, and the wages of sin is death.  Acts 8: 23 says:  For I see that you are in the gall^c of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.”

Isn’t it just as well that we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.  1 John 2:1.  Even though we are well and truly bound up in our sin, there is a way out.  We have not only hope, but a remedy.  Our chains are gone, we’ve been set free, once we turn to Christ.

But there are also people who believe they are serving God, who are “bound up”.  They are bound up in a false belief system, by rules and regulations that Christ never imposed on them.  By a system that keeps them prisoner, by keeping the truth from them, and imposing a false truth on them.  By insisting their deeds can stop God loving them, can keep them from heaven, by refusing the saving blood of Jesus as salvific, and insufficient to save them.

These people too, can be liberated.  They too can shed the chains of iniquity and false belief.  They too are welcomed by the Father, when they finally understand the sacrifice of the Son, and that their false beliefs are really just barriers to their freedom in the marvellous Light.

Pray with me that all people everywhere, trapped by sin, trapped by false belief will finally listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit as He woos them to freedom in Christ.  That they will rejoice in the freedom of Christ, that they will love the simplicity of the Gospel and then be able to joyfully pass the Good News to others.

That they will finally…be free indeed!

1 Cor 15 verses 3 and 4 make it pretty clear what the Gospel is.  3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance^a : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures.  He was buried.  He was raised again on the third day, according to the Scriptures.

 

Actually, read the whole chapter on the scope of the Resurrection.  What power in those words!

Getting back to the Gospel.  This is what Jesus commanded us to proclaim.  The Gospel, in its simplicity and beauty.  And power. Really think about what is said here.  He died for our sins.  Every one of us have sinned.  We are born into a flawed and sinful world, our natural urge is to sin.  We want what WE want, not what HE wants.  Right from the time we are babies our urges are for our own self.

But by the act of dying, of dying for our sins, we are forgiven.  We are redeemed.  We are saved.  He not only forgives our sins, but He removes them.  He has taken them AWAY.  They are forgotten!

He is then buried.  Yes He even kept the sabbath I hear you say.  How does a dead person keep anything?

But we do not worship a dead Saviour, or at least those of us who are born again Christians, regardless of which day we worship corporately, do not.  On the first day of the week, on the third day, according to the Scriptures He was raised! He defeated death!  He was raised with a new incorruptible body, and we will have one too, because of what He has done.

But but but…I hear you say….we have to obey!  Not for salvation we don’t.  Only believe.  Acts 16:31.  But but but…even the devils believe!  They do indeed!  And they shudder!  We don’t have to shudder, if we believe His promises!

This is where Christian conversion comes in.  You believe.  You repent, which means you turn from your previous life, whatever it entailed, and you turn to Him.  He makes you a new creation, and gives you a new heart, on which is written His law.  His law is love.  He is love.  It was love that saved us, and He has commanded us to love.

Now instead of living your life according to what YOU want, you live for Him, and doing HIS will.  You WANT to love the Father with your whole heart mind soul and strength and your neighbour as yourself.  You WANT to proclaim His Gospel, because you want everyone to know the liberation you have found.

But but but I hear again…We must obey!  Sounds rather like daleks to me, but yes, we DO obey.  But what do we obey? The 10 commandments, words, categories that made up the words of the old covenant, symbolised by the child of the slave woman?  Or do we obey His words of love?  SDAs often tell us (ad nauseum actually) John 14: 15“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.   Notice here:  MY commandments.  Not the 10.  MY.  The only time the ten commandments are mentioned in the New Testament is when they are referred to as the ministry of death.  Jesus gave over a thousand commandments in the New Testament.  Could these possibly be what He meant?  Do you think?

The ones referring to loving?  The NEW commandment He gave that referred to loving as He loved us?  I mean that’s pretty deep, does He mean we should die for people?  Because that’s what He did.

He also gave us a new covenant.  He ratified it with His blood, and it is symbolised by the offspring of the free woman, Sarah.  And the seal is the Holy Spirit.  As followers of Jesus, we are the freeborn children of the new covenant, not slaves of the old covenant.

So people…do we obey the words of Jesus?   And taste freedom in the marvellous Light?  Or do we obey the words of an obsolete covenant?

Do we heed the Voice of God, calling us to Him, or the voice of satan calling us to destruction?

Seems like a no brainer to me!

In a bit over twelve months, I will be 70.  I have been giving some thought to what I would like to do, to celebrate this milestone.  When I turned 60, my family and I enjoyed a day on a vintage steam train, then had lunch in a local historical hotel, which has a magnificent view of the Megalong Valley, in the Blue Mountains. I can’t repeat the performance, because the train has closed after being burned out in a bush fire, and the hotel has priced itself out of contention.  Plus the fact that physical problems would make it difficult for me to get on the train.

So far I have thought of flying over Antarctica (I’ll show those flat earthers!) but it’s rather expensive, and I certainly couldn’t afford to take the family…..and I doubt they could afford to pay for themselves.  So back to the drawing board.

In the meantime, I’ve realised it might be a moot exercise.  The way the world is going, and the way prophecy is pointing to the soon return of Jesus (I’m not setting dates here by the way….just that it will happen soon) I may not get the chance to celebrate my 70^th.  I have realised certain other things, although not all of these are dependent on Jesus’ return.  It’s unlikely I’ll be a wife again.  I really wanted to be the object of someone’s love, the desire of their heart.  And yes, I am vain enough to mean desire.  To be a sex object to them.  But the way I am physically (now high maintenance), I have to be realistic and settle for companionship at the most, and have someone to care for me.  I would really love that.  Most of the time.  Being an introvert, I love to have “me” time.  Alone.

I would love to travel again, but I haven’t got the money.  I would also need a carer, I couldn’t do it alone.  I would love to do more study, but I doubt my brain could stay awake long enough.  I would love to be able to look after my beloved wildlife….

But really does any of this matter?  Sure, I feel sad that this may not happen, but I’ll get over that.  The important thing is that I’m alive right now, and God has allowed me to go through a lot of “stuff” that has shaped me as a person, and I can now use that experience to be a more effective witness for Him.

He has commanded us to preach the Gospel, and to love each other and pray for each other.  In fact we are told that once the Gospel has been preached to the whole world, then then end will come.  We are also told that we should love our neighbour, and love each other.  In fact that is how the world will know that we are his disciples.  And the power of prayer?  I know that works!  Prayer has brought me through this last year!

So THAT is my real reason for being alive right now.  I don’t know how long I have, whether I will die tomorrow, or whether I will live till Christ returns.  I have experienced God’s love;  His love, surpassing all other, and I need to tell others about it.  I need to give them the chance I have had.  I don’t need to convert them, that’s the Holy Spirit’s job….but I DO need to sow the seed.  Or water the seed that others have sown.

My job is to preach the Gospel, to encourage fellow Christians, to pray for everyone, to help and care for others.  Not only with the people I meet on a day to day basis here in this small community, but in the wider opportunities that I have courtesy of the internet.  Because of that, I am no longer “shut in”.

It is not a duty, it is a privilege.

I have always been “blessed” with short broad feet.  Peasant feet I call them.  Hold me up well and are generally sturdy, but they have always been a bother when it came time to get a new pair of shoes.

I remember being taken shopping for shoes as a kid.  Mum always insisted I get leather shoes so they would stretch around my feet.  I have never agreed with Mum about everything, but I do with this one.  I was always taken to a store to be fitted properly, and the attendant always did the best they could to fit my not so standard sized feet.  I think the fact that Mum’s feet were always a trouble to her, caused at least partly by the fact that she was never able to try shoes on, meant that she insisted on good shoes for me. She lived way out in the country, and they did their shopping by mail order.  Shoe sizes were hit and miss.  Poor Mum had really weird feet, with toes that sat on top of each other…..the works.

As I grew older, I wanted to start wearing high heel shoes.  Mum wisely made me wait.  I remember being around 12, which was the going age in my neighbourhood, and wearing a pair of what must have been 1” heels to high school dances and to church.  Wow!  I remember comparing heels with the girls I grew up with and we were tremendously excited to be wearing these “grown up” shoes.  We were terribly jealous of the older girls in our street, who were wearing 2 ½” stiletto heels!  Although we did have a giggle at how they struggled to walk properly on our grass footpaths!
Eventually I went to work, and was now in charge of choosing (and paying for) my own shoes.  I soon discovered that stiletto heels were impractical for work, and opted for around a 2” heel that was a bit thicker, and just saved the higher thinner heels for social occasions.  I also discovered that they didn’t really make “pretty” shoes that fitted short broad feet, and I was too vain to wear “sensible heels” and “sensible” toes…what were termed “matrons’ shoes”.  Fortunately for me, square toes became fashionable, which gave the illusion of a broader shoe.  But not really.  They were invariably tight on my little toes.  I had stuck to Mum’s advice and usually bought leather shoes, even though they were more expensive.  They did eventually stretch, and the shoes  were sort of comfortable…eventually.

Now I am older, and have a neurological condition, which affects my balance.  I can no longer wear high heels, I feel as though I’m going to fall off.  I wear the flattest shoes I can find, but I still wear leather.  And, thank goodness, they now seem to be catering for ladies with a wider foot.  Or is it just that I have started wearing matrons’ shoes?

No more trying to fit my shoes into something that doesn’t really fit in the name of fashion.  But are we guilty of doing that to God?  Do we try to make Him something He isn’t to fit our ideas?  Do we do the same with the Bible, and only take certain verses, or take them out of context so that we feel better about how we think things should be done?

I find that legalistic religion and cults are very guilty when it comes to this.  They put him in an ill fitting box.  They say, look!  Even Jesus was subject to the sabbath! Look! God was flesh and blood!  Look!  God was this!  God was that!

Here is God…immortal invisible, God only wise.  In light inaccessible hid from our eyes. (As the hymn says).  We can’t even look on Him and live, and we try to make Him….well like a big grandfather figure…or something we feel in charge of.

We introduce prophets, like EG White, or Joseph Smith, who make things up and tell us this is the word of God.  Well hello, no it’s not.  Fiction yes, fantasy yes, truth no.  These same people tell us we must worship God on certain days, and worshipping on other days is the mark of the beast.  Or they tell us that the Bible is corrupted, and not to be trusted, while saying their own works are faithful and true.  Or they tell us we must eat certain food, or not eat certain food.  Health is the right arm of the gospel, and we must not eat meat.  Did Jesus miss the memo?  No alcohol, even though the Bible does not prohibit meat or alcohol.  They tell us we will have our own planet!  We might find good old Enoch on it!

And these prophets steal the words of other people and tell us they are the words of God.  Seems God showed them which words to steal so it’s ok.  People have such weird ideas in any case, and these prophets prey on that.

And the leaders of the churches carry on the delusion.  They know the truth about these prophets.  They know the lies, but they continue to deceive their flocks.  They are like the false shepherds that Jesus talks about that leave the flock to be scattered by the wolf.  In fact they ARE the wolf.  I think there will be a special part of hell reserved for these people.
Basically these people are trying to take our focus away from Jesus, away from the Gospel.  Sometimes it’s a case of you must do this to be saved, or yes, we are saved through the blood of Christ BUT…..

We are saved by grace.  Not by works.  Not by grace plus law, because that is still law.  The law was to point us to Christ.  It was a signpost.  The sabbath was a signpost.  They were shadows pointing us to the reality.  And here we have false prophets, false leaders, false shepherds pointing to the signposts, the shadows, themselves, anything but the Reality.  Satan must be laughing himself silly about this.

 

Why should we be satisfied with the counterfeit?  Why not point to the Real Deal?  We are told by these prophets that Jesus Christ is not the whole truth.  But wait there’s more they say!  Ignore the Bible, ignore the words of Christ, and just accept the truth of what WE say, while we make it up as we go along.

Jesus said the He was the Way, the Truth and the Life.  No one comes to the Father but through Him.  And here we have people who know better than the Saviour of the world, the Creator of the world, the Son of God, the Word of God, taken on flesh. You know I think that’s a pretty good resume.  I mean apart from writing a few books of fantasy what have these prophets done?  Apart from leading people away from God I mean….

Yes, I am worked up.  God is immortal, and infinite.  He is majestic and glorious.  He is clothed in splendour.  I could go on forever describing Him.  His ways are beyond our ways.  With our finite, mortal minds, we cannot understand His mysteries.  I’m fine with that.  He is all seeing, all knowing.  He knows what has happened, He knows what will happen, He knows what is happening now. Some days I’m going well to know my name!  I’ll leave Him in charge thanks!

I’m not going to put Him in a box.  I’m not going to try to pretend I’m cleverer than Him.  I’m going to continue being in awe of Him, and thank Him for creating this world, and for creating me, and all those who are near and dear to me, and for sending His Son to save me, and redeem me, and for giving me the promise of eternity with Him.

I look forward to the day that I get to see Him in His splendour and majesty.  I do not want to try and lessen any of His power.  I NEED Him to be in charge!

My feet need to put in comfortable, well fitting shoes;  they need to be protected and safe. God GIVES protection and safety. Neither my feet nor God need to be confined. God CANNOT be confined.

1	Immortal, invisible, God only wise, In light inaccessible hid from our eyes, Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days, Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.
2	Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light, Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might; Thy justice like mountains high soaring above Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.
3	To all life Thou givest, to both great and small; In all life Thou livest, the true life of all; We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree, And wither and perish, but nought changeth Thee.
4	Great Father of Glory, pure Father of Light Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight; All laud we would render, O help us to see: ’Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee.
5	Immortal, invisible, God only wise, In light inaccessible hid from our eyes, Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days, Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.