Sunday

Why We Worship 14




I am taking time each week to ask myself "Why we worship"


We have already looked at the 
omnipresence of God and the omniscience of God 
so today I wanted to consider the 

Omnipotence of God


   This simply means that God is 

All-powerful




 God has all power.  

             No one or no thing has more power than God.

                          He is so powerful He created everything out of nothing.

                                       God has power over everything, all of the people and all of creation.








Not only does verse 5 of Psalm 147 speak of how powerful God is but the whole Psalm is centred around this telling us of His power to 

water the earth v. 8,  send the wind v. 18,  bring peace v. 14,  etc.

Praise the Lord!
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
    for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.
The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
    he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted
    and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of the stars;
    he gives to all of them their names.
Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
    his understanding is beyond measure.
The Lord lifts up the humble;
    he casts the wicked to the ground.
Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
    make melody to our God on the lyre!
He covers the heavens with clouds;
    he prepares rain for the earth;
    he makes grass grow on the hills.
He gives to the beasts their food,
    and to the young ravens that cry.
10 His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
    nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
11 but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
    in those who hope in his steadfast love.
12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
    Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
    he blesses your children within you.
14 He makes peace in your borders;
    he fills you with the finest of the wheat.
15 He sends out his command to the earth;
    his word runs swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool;
    he scatters frost like ashes.
17 He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs;
    who can stand before his cold?
18 He sends out his word, and melts them;
    he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.
19 He declares his word to Jacob,
    his statutes and rules to Israel.
20 He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
    they do not know his rules.
Praise the Lord!





So if God is for us who can possibly stand against us



I am thankful that God has all power on Earth and in Heaven, everywhere.






Wednesday

4 Accidents and a ..... (pt1) - A Dose of Encouragement

Fred and I started going together 


            ..... when we were 16.






We went to different schools;  his an all boys Grammar School and mine an all girls Grammar School.  The two schools were located quite close together but not a lot of contact was made between the two (professionally).

However that year both schools offered their A level Mathematics students the opportunity to do a computer course at the City's Technical College each Tuesday afternoon and both of us took up the offer.

That meant we were able to see each other at the course and also to spend some time together after it.

Now Fred got a motorbike as soon as he was old enough and he started using it to go back and forward to school each day so he took me home on it after school.

My school uniform included a blue pleated skirt in which I could do a beautiful twirl and have the skirt fan out but as cute as that might have been (not true really) it was not the most suitable attire for riding on the back of a motorbike.






 Okay the obvious thing was to change into a pair of trousers on leaving school so that I could ride on the bike.


                                           No way was that allowed.  


Our school had a strict rule that when seen anywhere out of school we must be wearing the FULL school uniform and not just part and of course to go to the Tech we had to be in uniform as it was still part of the school day.


           Yes and full school uniform also meant a grey beret!!!


So for a few days I had been on the bike in my skirt trying to keep it tucked in around me and not bellowing up in the air, but having got fed up with that I decided that I would put on a pair of trousers over my skirt to travel to the Tech and home afterwards on the Tuesday.

During the computer course each week we had a mid afternoon break and this Tuesday Fred wanted to go back up to his school to get something so we hopped on the bike and started off towards the school going along one of the main streets of the city.  There were cars parked on each side of the road and suddenly I could see a car pulling out from a street on the right.  There was no time to stop and the car was into us just at the right of the front wheel of the bike.


I was thrown off the bike and landed hitting my head on the ground, thankfully Fred had been able to slow down so it was not a very forceful knock but I was still thankful for the helmet I had been wearing.

The driver of the car had just simply not noticed us coming (as still is so common with motorbikes) but as he was an older man and we were just students he did try to put the blame on us and then came out with the comment


                     "Just as well you were wearing that helmet girl"


No it was not


        Just as well I was wearing that helmet 


it was really


I was obeying the rules of the road (wearing a helmet) and he wasn't (when he pulled out when it was not safe to do so).



After sorting out about the accident and knowing that we were both ok we got back on the bike and went on with our afternoon.

We thanked God that He had protected us that day and even though we had had an accident no one was hurt and very little damage had been done.

It is so good to know that wherever we are and whatever we are doing God is with us and knows what lies ahead.  

However one thing was going round in my mind


Can you just imagine what I would have looked like if I had been wearing that school skirt?






So not only did I thank God for his protection in the accident
        but also for the fact that it had not happened on one of the previous days when I would have been wearing that skirt.


I believe that God cares about little details and he cared about what I would be wearing that day.

Do you believe he cares about the details of your life each day?




Click Here for part 2 in "4 Accidents and a ....."




Monday

The Secret Adversary - Book Review

Note:
I did not receive a free book or any payment for this book review.



I am reading through the novels of Agatha Christie in the order in which they were written and writing a review on each one.







If you want further info on this book please click on the Title or picture of the book.



The Secret Adversary 

by

Agatha Christie


Shelfari Description

Tommy and Tuppence, two young people short of money and restless for excitement, embark on a daring business scheme, Young Adventurers Ltd. Their advertisement says they are 'willing to do anything, go anywhere'. But their first assignment, for the sinister Mr Whittington, plunges them into more danger than they ever imagined.













My Thoughts

This is the second book Agatha Christie had published and is so remarkably different from her first which featured Poirot.  Just as you fall in love with the precise Belgian detective who has experience in this field, we also fall in love with the two inexperienced "detectives" here.

It is the way Christie writes the characters of these two sleuths that make this such an enjoyable read.  You are with them all the way as they have clever thoughts and make stupid mistakes but then isn't that what would happen if we ordinary people decided on a whim to go into this type of business?  Of course they do have help from a few other sources and then there are the notable "baddies" as befitting the time setting of this story.  

I had read this many years ago but got caught out on who was the elusive Mr Brown and I think that this is also an indication of her good writing that I was not going on what I may have remembered from the previous reading but was going by what I was reading this time.

I am looking forward to reading the next Tommy and Tuppence Adventure and I do think that the title Young  Adventurers was the correct one for the author to chose for this couple as they should never be compared to the detective she had already created; just enjoyed for the characters they are.












Below is a link to a list of her novels on Shelfari
Books by Agatha Christie

Below is a link to her books on Amazon
Amazon's Agatha Christie Books

Below is a link to her page on Amazon
Amazon's Agatha Christie Page




Note:
If buying through Amazon via the links above I do not get any commission - I am NOT an Amazon affiliate.



Sunday

Why We Worship 13




I am taking time each week to ask myself "Why we worship"



We have already looked at the omnipresence of God so today I wanted to consider the 

Omniscience of God


                This simply means that God is 


All-knowing


 This includes the past, the present, and the future, and everything within these times.

 It includes what has actually happened and will actually happen but it also includes what could have happened and what could happen in the future depending on how we exercise our free will.

                       So he knows what will happen and he knows what "could" happen.

There was never a time when God did not know everything and there never will be a time when God does not know everything.

Does this not give us a great security because we have a God who knows all things about us, about everyone else and about the universe.




Read through 1 John chapter 3 yourself to get the right context for this verse.

1 John chapter 3 is written by John to people he refers to as:

  • Children of God  v. 1 & 2
  • Little children  v. 7
  • My brethren  v. 13
  • My little children  v. 18
  • Beloved  v. 21

He is writing to people who are saved but perhaps have not had enough time or opportunity to have learnt many things about their heavenly Father.
Throughout the chapter he is assuring them that they are in God's family and are loved by himself and God.
Nowhere is he trying to scare them with the thought that God knows all things and will hold anything against them.
He is in fact stating that God knows all things so even when they do not think they are good enough God knows their salvation and the truth they are standing on.





How could He not be the rock for us to hold on to.


Do you agree?







Wednesday

How far would you go for a Biscuit? - A Dose of Encouragement


How far would you go for a Biscuit?


Would you go to the kitchen cupboard?

   Would you go to the corner shop?

      Would you go to the supermarket at the other side of your town?

                                            Probably yes!






On Saturday we went 45 mins by car to the other side of Belfast just to get a certain type of biscuit.  We went to Ikea for their Pepparkaka Ginger Thins.

(I'm just wondering if they would be willing to pay me for this great advertisement for their biscuits hmmm?)

Saturday was Fred's birthday and our son and daughter-in-law had invited us to come for a birthday meal and Suzie had promised Fred cake.






So by Friday I was wondering what else we were going to do before going to see them in Belfast.


I decided that this was a good opportunity to go to Ikea and stock up on their biscuits.


The first reason being that I can have 3 of these biscuits with a cup of coffee in the afternoon and not use up too many calories as opposed to the chocolate biscuits that Fred likes.  The second reason is that I love to dunk these biscuits in my coffee and the third reason was that we had run out of them at home a few months ago.




So really we were not driving all that distance just for the biscuits but using the opportunity to go a little bit out of our way when we were already going to Belfast.

This got me thinking!

We went out of our way for something I wanted, but how much do we actually go out of our way to do something for others?


We did something for someone just the previous week which took a couple of hours of our Saturday because we had to drive a distance again and we were happy that what we did had helped to make this other person happy.  But many times we can look on making an effort for others as taking up our time and energy when we should be thinking of things that others need help with or that would add a little joy to their lives.

It is so easy to go on each day with our lives and have them centre around us and God but not around others.  Yet Jesus set us a clear example of  how his days on earth were centred around God and others before himself.  Look at how tired Jesus was at various times.


I often think of the example King David showed of kindness

2 Samuel 9:1
Now David said, “Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”

David went on to find Mephibosheth and when he was brought to David at the palace he was afraid not expecting David to show him kindness

but

2 Samuel 9:7 
So David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.”

Was David just returning kindness because Jonathan had been kind to him?
David and Jonathan had been good friends and Jonathan had been an honest, supportive friend who showed great loyalty to David and also respect to his father King Saul just as David had.

Whether it was only because of his friendship with Jonathan or because of his personal relationship with God we know he followed through on this statement of kindness.

What is the difference for us?

Well we have the instruction from Jesus himself when He was asked about the greatest commandment

Matthew 22:34-40
34 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”


What better reason to show love to someone than because it is what God wants of us.

What better way to show love to someone than to show kindness.

What better way to be able to share the love of Jesus and the message of salvation with others than to show kindness and be a friend who is proven to be trustworthy and dependable by their words and actions.






We drove home on Saturday night smiling and feeling very happy because we had spent a lovely evening with Daniel and Suzie,  but we also went home the previous week happy because we had put a smile on someone else's face and made her happy.

There should definitely be room in our lives for both of these types of days and for a lot more of them than there has been recently.






I am thankful that God wants us to help others.


Have you also noticed that in the helping of others our lives are enriched as well as theirs?








Sunday

Why We Worship 12




I am taking time each week to ask myself "Why we worship"


Oh I have such a problem this week!

There are just too many verses in the Bible that I want to share because today I'm thinking about how good God is.


I will pick this one especially as I featured another one of them a few months ago in an earlier post Thankfulness, Goodness, Love.






When we think about this we probably tend to compare the goodness we see in the acts of others toward us or toward other people, with the Goodness of God.

But we really cannot do this as the goodness of God is perfection because He knows what is best for everyone and our goodness toward each other can never be perfect. 

Thankfully, because we learn from God then we can reflect some of His Goodness in the acts we do too.

                Thank you God!






     We see almost the identical sentiment spoken in    
                        

Psalm 100:5

For the Lord is good;His mercy is everlasting,And His truth endures to all generations.
            
and we can all shout together