Smile God Loves YOU! John 3:16 - Sunday Scripture

What is good for you?

Smiling!

So we are going to smile.

Why?

Because we know God loves us.

I have a favourite mug.
Oh, ok, if you have read my blog in other years you may well have noticed I love mugs and I do have some that are special to me but this one has always been my absolute favourite.

I blogged about it in

Another Coffee Mug  -  A Dose of Encouragement


This mug is going to be my theme pic for this series because

God thinks we are special.

Why?

Because He loves us.

When we think of God loving us there is one verse that will spring to most people's minds and that is

Sometimes we skim over it because we know it so well.  

You learnt it as a child if you went to Sunday School and even people who do not read the bible regularly can quote it  (and I hope correctly because often we are all getting too casual about the Word of God and thinking we know a verse but instead we are misquoting it).

There are so many things we could say about this verse, so many key words, so much truth and hope and promise and love all poured into it.


I always like to take verses in their context so let's read over the verses surrounding this in John chapter 3

The New Birth

3 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? 11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.   14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

In verses 14 to 18 we are focused on Jesus, the love God has for all of us and the proof of it.

Not just once do we get the message of John 3 v 16 but we have it repeated in this passage.  

In fact the message of salvation is in each of those 3 verses.  

Words are repeated and phrases repeated and if God repeats something then we need to take heed because it is very important.

Then there in the middle of it all is the reason why Jesus came to die

Then there in the middle of it all is the reason why Jesus came to die -

Because God loved us so much He wanted to make a way for us 

to be able to live and not perish, 

live with Him and be in His presence 

even though none of us could ever deserve such a privilege.

Is there Strength in the Promise? - 31 Days in Acts

I hope you read the previous blog post because this one is the continuation of Acts ch 2


The 120 waiting in the Upper Room received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

But that wasn't the end of it.

The Promise of God was not just for the 120 who had been waiting 

but for all that were there.

Yes the 120 received the blessing but because of them others were now being given the chance to have their lives changed as well.

The 120 spoke in other languages and received boldness to witness.

When they spoke in all those other languages, that the foreign visitors to the city could understand, they gained the attention of so many people from near and far.

Peter then was able to use that opportunity to speak out for God.

Verses 14 - 39  had covered his sermon

Verses 40 - 47 now show the result of Peter's boldness through the Holy Spirit.

He had preached the Word of God from the scriptures they knew well and 3,000 people responded.

This was 25 times the 120 that had waited in the Upper Room.

This was 250 times the number of the disciples.

All those people had their lives changed in that day.

A church was the result and it continued to grow.

Why?

Because they were still in one accord.

They must have been still in agreement because verse 42 tells us

steadfastly:

fixed in intensity or direction; steady; 

unwavering or determined in purpose or loyalty

If they were not in one accord they would not have continued to do what they had been doing before but they knew the instructions Jesus had given them and they were guided by the Holy Spirit and they were wise to obey.

We can see 10 reasons for the preservation and growth of the church here too.

1.  They were steadfast people.
2.  They knew the doctrine/scriptures were very important.
3.  They knew Godly fellowship was important.
4.  They kept the command of communion that Jesus had given them.
5.  They were faithful to pray.
6.  They were in awe of God.
7.  They were used in the miraculous.
8.  They stayed together.
9.  They shared with each other and were not selfish.
10.  They took care of each other.

These are not just things that affect the people of a church, these are the things that strengthen the people of the church to face the world and spread the gospel and that hasn't changed today.

Yes there is strength in the promise!

Do you need strength to face the world and spread the Gospel?

Do you need strength to face the world and spread the gospel?

Then follow the example set in verse 42 and be in one accord in worshipping the Lord.

You can find the other blog posts in this series at

The Book of Acts 

She Burnt Them Again! - A Dose of Encouragement

Do you ever ask your kids for the password?


Do your kids think you are mad?


We had a little password in our family which I would often ask for as any of our kids were coming into the house.   And they all knew what it was - Sausages.  


You may ask:  What does this have to do with Encouragement?

But as often happens here at Sandra's Ark - Let me tell you a little story about us.

So we had this little password in our family and everyone knew what it was - Sausages. 

They would humour me and say it as they were coming into the house

And I would then repeat it in a silly bass voice and kind of draw out the word

A silly little thing that as the kids got older they would frown at.

There was never anyone else around when I would ask for it so why would they be embarrassed by it?


They also frowned and muttered at the fact that whenever I would grill sausages I would burn them.
Well they and their dad would say I had burned them but I would just cut off the really hard bits and eat away quite happily.

But I have to tell the truth - I had burned them!

I burned them because I could never have enough patience to wait for them to cook nicely but always went off to work on the computer or to read a book or even do some housework (ok not too often for that last one) and then - well - the sausages just got burned because I would forget about them.


I tried baking them in the oven too but even then I would forget about them and burn them.

You see I'm always looking for shortcuts to things because I don't have enough patience, or because I get bored doing any one thing for too long.

I love to make nice meals if there is someone else around to help or talk to me while I do it but when I'm preparing & cooking on my own - no!

I want the quickest way to provide the meals.

I have been known to make easier, quicker versions of meals like the 10 Minute Chicken Korma
and sometimes I have even made the desserts so easy that they hardly even really qualify as desserts such as my Ginger & Pineapple Log (Super Short Version) which basically is not a log!

I promise you I really do know that microwaves are not just for reheating coffee  -  oh yes this is another one of my little quirks or one of the "Oh No Mum!" things that the kids would frown at but I see nothing wrong with reheating my mug of coffee two or three times during the day.

I Love Coffee!

I really Love Coffee!

and

I Love my Coffee Mug!

I Love my Other Coffee Mug!

I really Love my Coffee Mugs!



And then we come to the big, big, bad thing that I did to our middle child

Fred & I went to live in Belgium and left him behind in Northern Ireland 

because he had started university there.

I know this is something that people outside the family probably found more strange than the family did.  I felt I could sense people saying:  "What kind of a mother would leave her child on his own?"

So there you have it I am not perfect and never have been a perfect mother.

I would rather read a book than do the ironing.

I would rather do a word puzzle than clean the oven.

I would rather write my blog than hoover the house.

I would rather write a list than actually do the things on the list.

I would rather go sit watch a dvd 
than 
finish up the mess I made because I had started to try to organise the study 
& 
boy can I make a mess while trying to organise things.

I am not perfect and never have been a perfect mother!

But Mostly

I would rather have a coffee and sit & chat with my now grown up kids about how 

Jesus has worked in our lives.

He has redeemed us, healed us, kept us safe, 

answered our prayers, never left us alone, helped us in everything

 and 

we are all thankful that He is still doing so 

no matter what country we may have lived in 

or are in at the moment

because 

He is the Perfect One.

You see I can't be perfect because I am human but thankfully with Jesus I have the help to do all the things He has planned for me.

If you like you can visit my about me section and see the poor hubby and kids who had to put up with me not being a perfect mum - oh and the middle child is the tallest one with his arms around us all in the snow.

Pondering the Psalms - Psalm 136

Each Sunday I choose a Psalm and write down some brief thoughts on it.


Today I'm looking at Psalm 136 

This Psalm falls into 5 parts:



V. 1-3
God


V. 4-9
Creation


V. 10-22
Redemption


V. 23-25
Love


V. 26
Hope

This Psalm starts and ends with two almost identical verses - verse 1 and verse 26

However they are each placed specifically at those important points.

We Start with God's Goodness

God.
He is the God of gods and the Lord of lords.
 He is Good, He is Merciful and He is Love and His goodness, mercy and love will never end.
 How could we not be thankful?

Creation.
He is full of wonder and creative power.
All that is on, above and around the earth was made by Him.


Redemption.
He provided our Salvation right from the start.
Our lives should be a witness to that.


Love.
He is the one who always sees, cares, and acts on behalf of His people.


Hope.
Even though we have not seen Heaven or can properly understand Heaven we believe in God so we believe in Heaven because we know His love is not going to end.

The Psalm is a portrait of our lives with Him.

 How He is good to us and draws us 

through our knowledge of 

His Greatness, Salvation and Love 

to the culmination of a 
Home 
perfectly prepared for us by Him.

We end with Heaven.

This is a Psalm which some might say is simply repetitive.

But

this is really a Psalm of recognition on our part of how worthy God is to be praised 
over and over again.

This is a Psalm which uses the history of the world to highlight the Love of God
to His people

and

to lead us to 

the Eternal Hope we have in Heaven - our home with Him! 

Pondering The Psalms - Psalm 141

Each Sunday I am going to choose a Psalm and write down some brief thoughts on it.


Today I'm looking at Psalm 141 

This is a Psalm of David


This Psalm falls into 4 parts:


V. 1-2
A prayer up to God


V. 3-4
My influences on my heart


V. 5-7
Outward influences on my heart


V. 8-10
My refuge

A Prayer up to God.
A plea to be heard by the Lord but respectful and offered in a reverential, sacrificial, form of worship.

Our influence on our hearts.
David is asking for God's help so that he can control his fleshly attitudes and not be enticed into any evil ways.


Outward influences on our hearts.
David is well aware of the evil around him and knows that he can trust God for protection from others and that God's Word is more powerful than man's.

Our Refuge.
David knows exactly where his help and refuge is.  They are in the Lord.
He can seek God for all the protection and help he needs.

Where is our help?

Is our prayer to God offered respectfully?

Is our prayer a reverential,  sacrificial form of worship?

Is our prayer for the protection of our hearts from ourselves and from others?

Our we as sure as David that God is our true help and refuge?