Pastor Caroline - Wednesday November 10, 2021 - Peace

 

Peace

 

Today I want to give thanks to God for all the men and women who died in battle for our freedom. May they be remembered and honoured and may our hearts be grateful to the families who let their loved one / ones go to battle; believing one day our world would be a better place to live. My gratitude is also sent out to all who served, and survived the battle but still suffer the effects of what they experienced. God give them peace of mind I pray. On Remembrance Day let us all take time to remember, honour and appreciate the great the great country we live in thanks to those who gave in such an unselfish manner. Without those who served and those who continue to serve we could not and would not have the freedom and peace we enjoy every day in our free nation.

Let us remember—

                             Lest we forget.

 

                        Peace

Peace in the world — peace within ourselves. When we offer someone the piece of Christ do we realize the gift about which we speak? Peace is a gift, one of the most important gifts in our life. True peace comes from God.

 

When our world seems to be crumbling around us, we pray and a peace comes to us. A peace that goes beyond what we understand as we are told in Philippians chapter 4 verse 7.

This verse actually reads this way in my Good News Bible:

(7) And God‘s peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus.

 

When something takes place in our life that causes us hurt or pain, we go to God bringing Him our emotions and we ask Him to direct us. We ask that He keep us from causing more hurt or pain because of our reaction. God does not want us to react but rather act in the likeness of Christ. Forgive, and ask for forgiveness.

 

When we give forgiveness or receive forgiveness we feel peace over us and we cannot humanly explain it fully. We just know that we know – we have peace! Thank you, Jesus.

 

When we turn our heart and mind to Christ it is amazing the strength we receive. The heaviness is lifted, giving us a feeling of being refreshed. We feel His peace which allows us to just let go and let God – lift us higher. Imagine truly understanding the union we have in Christ when we stay focused on Him.

 

Peace is something we all can have. When we accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour we accept the gift of salvation, the gift of knowing our sins are forgiven because of the completed work He did on the cross. Jesus purchased our salvation with His blood and giving His life on the old rugged cross; so that we may all be forgiven.

 

Let us always remember what Jesus did and be ever so grateful. Let us never forget how much He loves us. Let us accept His gift of peace. And let us forgive as He forgives us. Then we will understand peace in a new way.

 

May we all keep our hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus.

Let there be peace shared among us; and may the peace of Christ be with you every day.

Dr. Barclay's Bible Study - The Book of Judges Part 9

Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - LEST WE FORGET

LEST WE FORGET

The above phrase is one we hear a lot, particularly during this time of year. We often remember those who sacrificed their lives or health for the benefit of this country especially if they were relatives, friends, or neighbours. But we often do not remember or think about the real circumstances that determined and accompanied those sacrifices. We tend to put such remembrances aside since we were not actually involved in the conflicts.  It’s really not a surprise considering that it has been about 80 years since the end of WW2 and most of us have never experienced the horrors, agonies, or restrictions of war.

War, to most of us, is what we read about in books or see in movies,  It is often marked by pageantry, parades, and military events which tend, in many ways, to glorify and enlarge the military life. While this may be somewhat acceptable during peacetime, it can diminish the truth regarding the events that took place during a conflict. We are inclined to forget what genuine confrontation entails when we have never had to take part in any actual conflict.

The reality is that we do forget and this is not a new phenomena. In many ways we forget what history has already taught us and because of that we are probably doomed to repeat it. This was expressed over 3000 years ago after Joshua entered the Promised Land. In Deuteronomy, the Hebrews were told to:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

And these words I command you today shall be in your heart.

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)

But apparently this was not done as God  had instructed. Joshua did bring the Hebrew people into the land God had reserved for them but eventually he, and those of that generation, died.  Then “…another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel. Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord…” (Judges 2:10-11) so that He (God) “…sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so they could no longer stand before their enemies” (Judges 2:14).

This apparently happened over and over again. God would rise up someone to bring the children of Israel back to Him and give victory over their enemies for them only to forget and slip back into their old ways whenever that leader was no more. The cycle would repeat itself time and time again. Forgetfulness seemed to be a habit they could not shake. 

It seems the same today. We say we’re not going to forget, but if one hasn’t been there it is unlikely that those very important details, the ones that are really required to truly appreciate the enormity of war, are lost. We don’t learn from history any more than the Israelites did and, therefore, at some stage we’re likely to repeat it.

So it’s nice to say we won’t forget but the reality is that we do forget the important details; details that we should always remember. That is why we were told to love the Lord, keep His words, and to teach them diligently to our children, so that we would not forget Him. 

He who, about 2000 years ago, sacrificed His life for us so that we might be blessed with complete freedom and an enteral life. A life, gifted to us only because He took our punishment when He took our place. 

But we do forget what He did and thus fall back into the same scenarios that have always been our problems. The same way we never really remember all the sacrifice made by the men and women who fought and died on our behalf.

We were told to always love God and to keep this thought close to our heart. If we all did this then the world, as whole, would be a better place and we would not keep repeating the problems that we continually face.  If we truly kept in our hearts the memories of those who died on our behalf during wartime, and why they died, then hopefully we would not be as apt to  repeat history. 

Remembering those individuals and our history is something we should always be thinking about; in the same way we should always have in our heart the memory of Christ’s sacrifice.

We need to keep thinking about it: Lest We Forget. 

Pastor Caroline - Sunday November 7, 2021 - Remember and Serve

Pastor Caroline - Wednesday November 3, 2021 - He Lifted Me Up

 

He Lifted Me Up

 

From The Good News Bible 

Psalm 37 verses 23 - 24

(23) The Lord guides a man in the way he should go and protects those who please him.

(24) If they fall, they will not stay down, because the Lord will help them up.

I like to pray this scripture in this way:

The Lord will guide me in the way I should go and protect me as I please Him. When I fall, He will not let me stay down for He will lift me up and I am so thankful for the promises found in His word.

Amen.

 

When we pray we take time to be with God. Are you taking time every day to be with the Lord and seeking His direction for your day? It is not hard to do — open your Bible and go to the book of Psalms, or whatever book you prefer, and just glance at the open page. Let your eyes fall to the words that “jump out” at you and then ask God to show you what they mean. Every day is a new day — a fresh start to a prayer perhaps you’ve never prayed before. We can use the word of God to pray through our day. As we look at today’s message from Psalm 37 verse is 23 and 24 it tells us that God guides a man in the way he should go. This means God gives us direction as to how we should live every day. The scripture I choose today tells me God:

(1) guides me

(2) protects me

(3) and will lift me up

 

When I apply these three promises to my day and the events therein, I can rest assured that He will be with me in all I do. What a wonderful way to start my day and to work through my day having this scripture as my guide and prayer, found in His word.

 

When we stay in the presence of the Lord through prayer, thought and deed we give honour to Him, thus pleasing Him. When we study the word and apply it to our lives and lifestyle we soon realize how God keeps us true to ourselves and to Him. Our decisions will be made under His wisdom and our actions will be divinely put into effect. Have you ever noticed when someone seems to have so much affliction that you might think they should give up? But they don’t!! Through it all they grow stronger. Somehow they just carry on; assured God will work out all things to His glory. And sure enough you meet them and they testify to the faithfulness and goodness of God who has turned their life around and all is well. Their faith, trust and hope in God has been rewarded to them by the grace of God working out all things. Glory hallelujah!

 

See God did not let them fall, He guided them and lifted them above their affliction. Only God can do that!

 

When we stay in the word, it pleases God because He loves when we read His love letter to us; and we grow stronger and stronger. It doesn’t seem to matter where I open my Bible I get something new every day and yes, this very book, which is well worn and its pages marked up and dog-eared is a wealth of information and tremendous prayer book to be. What a guide it has been to me over the years. And still, like this morning, this verse which we opened with still stirs my heart “to a fresh understanding.”

 

Today I thank God for guiding me, protecting me and lifting me up. I thank Him for His hands, those nail scarred hands that purchased my salvation and yours.  One day when His hand touches mine I will be forever in His presence realizing He truly has;

lifted me up!!

He will lift you as well when you stay in His presence. Enjoy the word and promises of God everyday before you head out to face the world. And for a good sleep every night, end your day in prayer thanking God for all your blessings and His care.

I love the Lord and I know He loves me too, and He loves you. Enjoy your day with Him.

 

Dr. Barclay's Bible Study - The Book of Judges Part 8

Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - CLOSET SKELETONS

 CLOSET SKELETONS

Most people probably know that if they dig deep enough into their family tree, some unknown or unexpected skeletons could come falling from the branches. And if you look into the ancestors of Christ, some unexpected developments also occur.

In the Bible, there are warnings against interfaith marriages and in some cases they were essentially forbidden. In Deuteronomy, seven nations were considered completely off limits to the Hebrew people. “Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son” (Deuteronomy 7:3). The reason for this? “For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly” (Deuteronomy 7:4).

In spite of this, intermarriage did occur and this, in part, formed some of Christ’s own lineage.

In the story of Ruth, it is told that Ruth, a Moabite woman (perhaps even a Moabite princess) was taken in marriage by Boaz, a relative of Naomi. That relationship resulted in a son called Obed, who was the grandfather of David the King and the earthly ancestor of Christ.

Likewise, in the book of Genesis, in the middle of the story about Joseph, it starts to talk about Judah and his marriage to the daughter of a Canaanite woman Shua. This happened even though God had warned about marriage between Hebrews and people from other nations. Judah and his wife had three sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah. Er married a woman named Tamar, but because he was wicked in God’s sight, the Lord killed him. In accordance with the custom of the time, Onan was to marry Tamar but he refused to consummate the marriage and so he died also. So Tamar, now a widow, turned to Judah. His wife had also died, and as Shelah was still too young to marry, Tamar prostituted herself, deceived Judah, and conceived by him. Not a nice situation to have children to your own father-in-law under such circumstances but this is what happened and from that relationship came two sons: Perez and Zerah.

If you look at the first chapter of Matthew, it relates there how Perez was in the lineage of David and thus also of Christ. These skeletons in the genealogy of Christ illustrate the imperfections in His earthly family tree.

Are people sometimes concerned that since Christ was sinless, that no matter what, they will never be able to live up to what is supposedly expected of them? That they may have been too bad to ever be able to enter heaven? We all have done things that we wish we hadn’t and have family history that we might wish to have undone. In other words, we all have, somewhere in our past, closet skeletons that we wish were not there. Isn’t it comforting to know that even a man without sin himself can have a family tree that is less than perfect?

It’s enough to make you pause and think.