Pastor Caroline - April 20. 2020

My heart is heavy today, the sadness of the shooting events of Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19 tear at my emotions. The mass shootings in Portapique, Nova Scotia is such devastating news, it takes my breath away. 

How could anyone decide to carry out such a horrendous act? My condolences to each and every family member who is dealing with the reality their loved one is no longer here. No words can adequately express the pain I feel for your pain, suffering and the loss, that you are experiencing right now. My heart goes out to you. May God give you strength every moment.

For those of you who are family and friends of those who lost their lives, I pray you will remember how each one lived their lives, served their families and community (in their individual professions), the joys of life they enjoyed, the times they said “I love you”, not only in words but in the little things they did for you on a daily basis “that showed they loved you”. Their love for you can never be taken away (in life it was tangible) and now you will feel their love in so many ways. Perhaps it’s the last text on your phone, the last voicemail that you will never erase, the twinkling of a star in an evening sky which reminds you of the twinkling in their eye, the smell of their favourite food or coffee, or the beauty of a rainbow that reminds you of their beautiful colourful personality. Perhaps you’ll see someone in a distance that looks like him or her and you stop immediately in your tracks, hold your breath, because for a fleeting moment he or she is there, or maybe someone says something funny and you recall their sense of humor. Every time you see a butterfly just imagine it carrying their love to you - -  in that very moment.

When Jesus was on the cross, between two thieves, one said to Jesus in Luke chapter 23 verse 42, ”Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom!“  And Jesus said to him in verse 43, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise”.  Today my prayer is that “each precious life” taken on Saturday and Sunday are today in Paradise with Jesus. Their lives taken too soon from earth, so I pray, each one will be well rewarded for being a good and faithful servant to their family, friends and community. May they live in the “fulness of joy “ in heaven, with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

God shares our pain (His son was murdered on an old wooden cross) and He walks us through our pain, and brings comfort to us,  as we are told in Psalm 23 verse 4.  The Lord truly is, Our Shepherd.

In a time such as this it is hard to think about love in your pain and sorrow, and yet only love can heal your broken hearts. I can only imagine your loved one saying to you, “Life must go on, do not be robbed of life in my death, please, honour my life in moving forward helping each other and making “our memories“ precious and know I am loving you still - - from a distance”.

When my brother was murdered 31 years ago it was knowing he wanted me to remember his life, his love and to be with his family,  that allowed me to walk through my grief and begin my healing process. Working through grief is personal for everyone who must walk through that valley and each one will do that in their own time. You may want to share your grief with someone, or you may want to do that privately, it is entirely up to you. On your own terms and in your own time.

I remember using a scripture verse that helped me  back then and now may it help each one of you.
 From the Good News Bible,
 1 Corinthians Chapter 13 verses 6, 7 and 8 and then verse 13
(6) love is not happy with evil,  but is happy with truth
(7) love never gives up; and it’s faith, hope, and patience never fail
(8)Love is eternal.
And verse 13 says:
Meanwhile these three remain; faith, hope, and love and the greatest of these is love.

In your sorrow and grief, love each other, hold one another, cry with each other, wipe away the tears of the one you’re holding in your arms and remember the one who is gone wants you “to go on and live life to the fullest in memory of them”. Tell each other “I love you”, as we can never say this enough and we can never hear it enough.

Again, my deepest condolences to each and everyone. My prayers are raised to our Heavenly Father today to bring you peace and comfort as only He can, in a time such as this in your life.

Let your love,  be the tie that binds you together as family, friends and community as this is widespread. Let compassion,  be your strength as you help one another through and let your faith, be the promise that (25) Jesus is the resurrection and the life.(26) All who believe in Him, though they die, will live to the glory of God. 
 John chapter 11 versus 25 and 26 reminds us of this promise.

Please be comforted by His Holy Presence, setting your focus on heaven where your loved one now resides for eternity, in their “Mansion Over The Hilltop” and have been introduced to “The Lord, Who is their Shepherd”.

I ask everyone who reads this today to please hold in prayer everyone whose life has been changed by this tragedy in these past two days. Let’s wrap our arms of love around them, even if we do not know them personally, but God knows each and everyone, by name.  He will hear our prayers and send His love and peace to comfort them.

Thank you for raising up your voice in prayer. God will be faithful to the fulfillment of your prayer.
Bless you all in this day.

Pastor Caroline - April 19, 2020

Pastor Caroline - April 19, 2020

I hope you are reading the daily devotional and enjoying it before you read my written messages. Otherwise, for my messages to make sense you would have to go back and read the devotional reading. I am thankful to David Jeremiah and the writings in “Daily in His Presence”, the devotional we are using.   The title today is Trust and Wait.

Trust and Wait.  This sounds like a double prescription. When we first meet someone new, should we “trust first”and “wait” to see if they measure up or should we “wait” and “trust” they will measure up. Well either way we are trusting and waiting or waiting and trusting.

Now let me bring this to a bit of clarity if I can.  When we are first introduced to God do we trust Him right away? Or do we wait and see what He is going to do to prove to us that we can trust Him? Well over the years I have learned that at times in my life, I struggled with trusting Him.  I would take my concern to Him, present it and immediately come away from prayer and try to remedy the situation on my own. I don’t know about you, but I always lost when I tried to win the battle on my own. I soon realized that God is bigger than me and smarter than me and brings the answer before I even know where to go looking. This began to build my faith (my trusting Him) and I learned to be patient (wait)with Him. 
 When I spoke of the goodness of the Lord to others I became stronger in my faith and I learned to let time take it’s course. God always came through. He taught me that “in the waiting” I could “trust Him” for the outcome. He would draw me to scripture that spoke about trust and/or waiting and the scripture would enlighten me, give me strength, and teach me wisdom.When I would share the Lord with someone, over time I could see it building their faith (their trusting in Him) and it made both of us stronger. A win - win prescription, and a double portion at that!!

The key is to get to know God, by reading the Bible, spending time with people who have a faith walk, listen to worship music, attend church, take a Bible study, read Christian books and devotionals, and just sit and listen for His small still voice. These are the tools you need “to build your faith and trust in God” and then you will see that in getting to know Him,  you can always trust in Him (Proverbs 3: 5-6).  When you get to know the Lord you will not want to be without Him even for one minute of your day. To build a strong relationship takes time and every moment you spend building it is more than worth your effort. I don’t know about tomorrow but I know Who holds tomorrow. That is a line from an old gospel song called, I Know Who Holds Tomorrow. (Goggle it and enjoy the message contained within the words.)

God has you and me in His daily planner and we are important to Him.  How do I know that? Well the Bible tells me so. Jeremiah Chapter 29 verse 11 in my Amplified Study Bible reads as follows:
(11)”For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,” says the Lord “plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster to give you a future and a hope”.  
This simply means, He will see us through if we trust Him and wait on His instruction. He has a plan and we need to follow Him because we know we can trust Him, He has proven Himself over and over to us throughout our life time .
See we really are important to Him. Just you “wait” and see and “trust Him” every day for every need. You will be glad you did.

Our God is an awesome God.
Can I have an Amen?

Thank you for sharing your time with me and our Heavenly Father.

Dr. Barclay - Something to Think About

40 DAYS

              So after His resurrection, Jesus remained on earth for 40 days before His ascension to Heaven.  Why? What took place during that period of time? Why not an immediate return to the Father?

               It’s difficult to answer those questions completely, but it’s interesting to note that the 40 days parallel the 40 days Christ spent in the wilderness being tempted by Satan after His baptism.  At that time He was tempted 3 times, at least as recorded, before Satan departed. [Matthew: 4: 1-12]

               After His resurrection, Jesus also carried on His work in at least 3 different ways. First He showed Himself alive by many infallible proofs [Acts: 1 verse 3]. By revealing Himself to many hundreds of people, He left no doubt about the resurrection. Secondly, He instructed the Disciples in many ways opening up the Scriptures to them and teaching them what they needed to understand [Luke 24:45]. And thirdly He gave them the instructions that would be required to lead them into the future [Luke 45: 47,48] as well as the need to wait until the proper time was at hand [Acts 1:4].

                 According to the Apocryphal literature, many other acts were carried out by Christ during  those 40 days, but even the 3 mentioned were sufficient to start the transformation of a number of uncertain men into the ones who would later transform the world. And the reality of it is, that if we accepted the same facts; having no doubt about the Resurrection, opening up and having the Scriptures opened to us, and following His instructions with proper reflection, then we could do the same.

                  Just something to think about.   

Pastor Caroline - April 18, 2020

I like the title of this reading, Going With the Flow, it draws us in. As we read our devotional today David Jeremiah brings us good news. In the last paragraph He sums it up nicely, so I will print here what it says:

“When life gets challenging, check to see if you are following God or not. Even if He leads us into a storm, as long as He is there we can be at rest (Mark 4: 37-41). New King James
Well folks, so true, let me share this testimony with you.

Last night while doing my evening calls to keep in touch with my congregants, one lady told me “although I am alone I am not lonely. I have not had a visitor in four weeks, nor have I been out to town or anywhere. My son drops my groceries on my doorstep and I wave to him through the living room window”. (Just to note, this lady has a relationship with the Lord). She continued by saying, “ This is the very reason I am not lonely for I am truly never really alone. Jesus is here with me during these challenging and quiet times so I am more aware of God’s presence than ever before. And Caroline, thank you for your calls to me, I look forward to our conversations and our laughs, and how over the years of attending service you often spoke about resting in the presence of the Lord. See, I have been listening, so thank you again. I do miss seeing everyone so I will be glad when we all can get together again.” I assured her we will have lots of hugs and lots of praise and a “real love in time”, that first gathering  together. We prayed  together and said goodnight. It was so nice to hear her heart about the Lord.

As a pastor one of my responsibilities is to check on those to come to our services and to those who do not, I feel God wants me to reach out to people all the time, not just during COVID-19. Having a “people personality and loving people”, this certainly does not feel like a job, or duty or obligation in anyway. (I just love to connect with people, that is the Cape Bretoner in me and that is who God made me to be, I am blessed x 2). So, I follow my shepherd’s advice (the Lord’s advice) and try everyday “to be in His current,” being contented and full of peace. It is so much easier than “going against the current” trying to fulfill all the demands this world puts on us, off which we never can, nor never will, satisfy.

I sure miss seeing everyone as well, , I miss the hugs, the testimonies of how God touches lives, how He answers prayer, brings healing, restores relationships, and gives us the opportunity to have communion with one another, recalling what Jesus has done for us on the cross. 

Until then let’s all of us be:
Contented, peaceful sheep are those who follow God into places of rest and provision. David tells us this in the last line of paragraph two.

I like the picture David paints in our minds, a peaceful sheep, sound asleep, knowing we are being well cared for by The Shepherd, Jesus our Lord.   Today and every day,  let us all rest in the presence of the Lord.
Just go with the flow of His wonderful current.

Please enjoy this day, it is a present  from the Lord.

Pastor Caroline - April 17, 2020

It’s Not Complicated!!

 Wow what a title. Makes you want to read the reading today, from David Jeremiah’s devotional “Daily in His Presence.”
Joshua chapter 1 verse 7 from the Good News Bible reads like this:
(7) Just be determined, be confident, and make sure you obey the whole law that my servant Moses gave you. Do not neglect any part of it and you will succeed wherever you go.
        Now- right now,
(15) Decide today whom you will serve ... As for my family and me, we will serve the Lord.  Joshua chapter 24 verse 15 (in part.)

The 24 chapters contained in the book of Joshua is a very good read. There’s a lot of good teaching and you may want to sit and read it through. It is “most beneficial” to our daily walk with the Lord.
If we “Follow His word in all things “, Joshua chapter 1 verse 8, and this verse also says “we will be prosperous and successful,” however, we need to do something,— open your bible to the scripture and read all of verse 8 to find out what we need to do. Follow the commands written there to become prosperous and successful. Now read verse nine, glory hallelujah!!, this just gets better and better.
“Be determined and confident! Do not be afraid or discouraged. God is with us.” I have highlighted what I want to draw to your attention so please read the whole verse for yourself.

As David it says in the devotional reading,
Trust the Lord; obey His word; follow His directions in all things.  I feel confident we all can do this and every day will be a good day in Jesus.

Now my dear readers, please rest in the Lord, and just know
He was there all the time
He was there all the time
Waiting patiently in line
He was there all the time.
This is an old chorus that just came to mind so if you know it, sing it a few times as it soothes your soul and if you cannot sing, or do not know it, then just say it over and over. God truly is — there all the time.
(Perhaps you can google it and have a listen).

Blessings to each and everyone of you and thank you for joining me in these “times of quiet with the Lord.”

Remember:
It’s Not Complicated.

Pastor Caroline - April 16, 2020

Therefore I say to you do not worry about your life.
Matthew chapter 6 verse 25

David Jeremiah gives us this “one line of scripture“ in his devotional, Daily in His Presence and just “that one line“ gives us something to ponder.  So after you read David’s reading for today perhaps you might allow me to suggest you read Matthew chapter 6 verses 19 to 34 for a complete picture. Now come back and read this devotional again. David uses the New King James Bible and I use the Good News Bible  and / or the Amplified Study Bible.

God gives us clear instruction and good advice on how “not to worry”, and to “seek and trust Him” for our daily needs. God even says don’t worry about tomorrow in verse 36, as the troubles of today are enough for each one of us to handle.

When you give your needs to the Father,  He hears your request. So ask in thankful prayer, believe you will receive, and let the peace of God surround you.

As David says:
If you are tempted to worry about anything today, commit it to God with a thankful heart. And let His  peace guard your heart and mind.
- - - Guard your heart and mind, now let that sink in for a few minutes.

I could not have said this better,  so let’s take his advice and just know God is in control and He will never leave us or forsake us. This is found in Hebrews chapter 13 verse 5 and my Good News Bible reads this way for the whole verse;
(5)Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be satisfied with what you have.For God has said, “ I will never leave you;  I will never abandon you.”

Well this certainly is a comforting reading today so enjoy the sunshine, take a walk around your property and breathe in the fresh air while counting your many blessings to rest a worried mind. Counting blessings is so much better for your health than worry.  And a smile will light up your spirit and soon everyone around you will want what you have. A piece that goes beyond our understanding. 

Have a glorious day.