151. GOD’S CREATIVE WORKMANSHIP Psalm 139

Could plants, animal, bird and human life as we know it – have spontaneously happened by some great explosion, by accident, chance or anything else ? Could our amazing solar system also be the result of the same sort of catastrophe? The more advanced science becomes, the more evidence there is for a master designer. Researchers continue to uncover the divine order in each tiny human cell. The American Biochemist Bruce Alberts, former President of the National Academy of Sciences writes, “We have always underestimated cells; undoubtedly we still do… cells are the basic units of life...Indeed the entire cell can be viewed as a factory that contains an elaborate network of interlocking assembly lines each of which is composed of a set of different protein machines in defined positions.” David was a great king, a psalmist and even known as a friend of God, but he wasn’t a scientist, yet he recognised that each of us was a complex product of God’s amazing hands! Read (Psalm 139:13-18“You made all the delicate inner parts of my body, and knit me together in my mother’s womb...You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion...woven together in the dark of the womb...How precious are your thoughts about me...They cannot be numbered!.. And when I wake up you are still with me.” Yes hundreds of years before science discovered the intricacies of the human body, God reviled to David His Almighty ability, power and gracious love for mankind. The average human heart beats 115,000 times a day. Our blood travels just over 119,000 km everyday, (that is about twelve times the length of New Zealand) Adults take an average of 18,000 to 30,000 breaths a day and, for the most part, all these functions take place without us being aware of them. Amazing isn’t it! What a God. So perhaps we all need to stop right now to acknowledge and thank our Creator for the amazing things He did with that first clump of dirt... which He made anyway. Speaking of our amazing bodies... what about our DNA. Each human cell (up to 100 trillion) contains a database larger than the Encyclopedia Britannica. Could all that, have originated by chance? An English physicist Paul Davies, makes this comparison: “It’s rather like exploding a stick of dynamite under a pile of bricks and expecting it to build a house. You may liberate enough energy to raise the bricks, but without coupling the energy in a controlled way, there is little hope of producing anything other than a chaotic mess,” It takes more than a pile of bricks to build a house. The intelligence and skill of the Architect and qualified builder are key components. It’s the same with all the complexities of the human being. The odds are zero that all the required elements to initiate human life just happened to assemble themselves in the same spot on earth at the same time. And even if we did accept that notion, blind chance couldn’t put those 100 trillion cells together in the order required to produce life. Prominent Scientist Francis Crick, wasn’t noted for his faith in God, or even in Jesus Christ, but even he said, “The origin of life seems almost to be a miracle, so many are the conditions which would have had to have been satisfied to get it going.” And what is the miracle? David the Psalmist told us, ( psalm 139:13-14) “You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” And that is the miracle!! Any normal thinking person, Christian or non-Christian knows, deep down in his heart, that there must be a great master designer and Creator of this universe and all that is in it; Including it’s inhabitants . Whether they be plants, animals, birds, fish etc. each with it’s own level of intelligence to feed, defend and protect themselves. But when it came to man, it was a whole different story. (Genesis 1:26.) “Then God said’ let us make man in our own image… “ man was made in God’s image. He did not say that about anything else in creation, so man, from the very beginning was different. How did God do that? And for what purpose? In (Genesis 2:7) we read, “Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils and the man became a living human being.” that takes care of the how question. Now God’s purpose or reason for creating man, one could say because He wanted to. But, the truth is, God’s only requirement is to be loved, praised, glorified, honoured, worshipped and adored. Which, being our creator has every right to demand, but doesn’t,Why? because, He wants us to come to Him voluntarily with a pure heart and humble spirit. Always remembering that He is The Creator and we are the created. With that in mind, we will always keep God in His rightful place on His throne. Thank you for reading these thoughts on God’s Creative Workmanship. And remember the tremendous debt we owed and the tremendous price He paid for us to enjoy eternity with Him. Food for thought. God Bless us all. Phaline. -----------------------s

150 KEEP LEARNING ABOUT GOD. Mark 12:30.

The above Scripture Commands us ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ What exactly does that mean? And how can it be achieved?… Well, Armed with the Word of God, and the help of Albert Einstein and a couple of his mates, I am going to try and answer those two questions. We have to realise, understand and accept, that God has created each of us with the capacity to learn and keep learning until the day we die, which is something we should always be grateful to Him for and never take for granted. The average brain weighs approximately 1.4 kilograms, yet neurologists approximate that we have the ability to learn something new every second of every minute of every hour of everyday for the next three hundred million years. That’s awesome isn’t it? But it’s more than that, it’s an awesome obligation, Learning isn’t an indulgence: It’s a stewardship matter. Jesus said in (Mark12:30) “You shall love The Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.” It’s impossible to determine the percentage of how much of our minds we use, but all of us have untapped potential. Your imagination is capable of much more than you can dream, yet somewhere along the way, most of us stop living out of imagination and start living out of memory. We stop designing the future and start copying the past. And that is the day we cease living and begin dying. Why? Because we have stopped educating ourselves or teaching ourselves to learn more and take advantage of educational systems that are presented to us. A number of us just say “That’s enough” instead of pushing on Loving God with all your mind require maximising your mind by learning as much as possible about as much as possible. The true litmus test of spiritual maturity isn’t the quantity you know,: it is knowing the quantity you don’t know. It’s reconciling yourself with the reality that God is not an object of comprehension as much as He is a source of wonder. And that sacred sense of wonder ignites a holy curiosity to keep learning more and more about the Creator and His Creation Loving God with all your mind means managing your mind and making the most of it. It means loving God logically and creatively, intuitively and thoughtfully. Albert Einstein, one of history”s greatest minds said: “The important thing is not to stop questioning”. You see, Curiosity has its’ own reason for existence. None of us can help but be in awe when we contemplate the mysteries of eternity, or of life, or of the marvellous structures of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. No, Never loose a holy curiosity . Downplaying his genius, Einstein said “I have no special gift, I am only passionately curious. In Psalm (24:1) we read:-The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world, and those who dwell therein. So, therefore your curiosity should be boundless and that means without limits. The Laten word for ‘education’, means “to draw out”, rather than “to cram in.” I believe that most academic programmes focus on force-feeding knowledge rather than releasing curiosity. The result of this sort of teaching is..We get to know some things, but. We get to lose what is most vital: The love and an appreciation of learning. I found a good example of this;-- Here it is... In one study of a top university, the highest scoring graduates were given their same final exam a month later, and they all failed. Now why would that be? When you attempt to cram the truth into your mind, it seldom gets past the short term memory. And it doesn’t get into the Soul. Sadly, that is what happens sometimes in church on Sundays. So what’s the answer? Put God’s word into practise prayerfully, physically, emotionally, every chance you get. Gerd every thought, deed, step and breath with God’s Word. Then you will retain what He wants you to retain and loose the rest. As you can probably understand, there’s been a bit of research gone into this and I apologise if it’s too wordy or clinical, but, I do believe God is interested in every part of us, seen and unseen, verbal and silent, brains and imagination. I also believe, the more we look, the more we will discover about our Wonderful God. After all that’s why we are here “To know, love and serve Him. No one can serve wholeheartedly anyone they don’t love, and no one can love unconditionally anyone they don’t know. So to really know God we must take up His Word daily, read, learn, believe and practise it, that’s the only way to get to know Him and His Will for our lives. Thank you for reading these few words on how to really get to know your God; may He abundantly bless and draw you ever closer to Himself. Phaline.

149. GOD AND YOUR WORK. Ecclesiastes 9:10.

Do the people at your work know you are a Christian? If not, why not? Here are some of the answers you may think of giving the above question - (1) That’s private, It’s none of their business, (2) They don’t know anything about religion so wouldn’t be interested, (3) I may be called names or classed as a “Weirdo” or “A religious Nut” or even “a Jesus Freak” or “I really need this job, so why would I jeopardize it.” First of all let me tell you, most employers respect openness and honesty, and if you are open about your loyalty to God, you will be open about your loyalty to the firm you work for. Isn’t this one of the necessary attributes he/she is looking for in an employee? Secondly, You don’t really know if anyone is interested in religion or not, or what people’s true thoughts are in this regard, or will what they may be going through, But when crises enter their lives, such as Divorce, suicide, accidents terminal illness, etc. who are they going to turn to? Certainly not to someone who can’t give them answers or lead them to a loving God; NO! They need more than a shoulder to cry on, and if people in your work environment know that you know a God who cares and possibly may help them, you will be their first port of call. Thirdly, Yes, for a little while people will be a bit wary of you, but that’s just because they don’t understand, don’t judge or label them, just give them time, and when they see your Christianity demonstrated at the workplace in your daily behaviour, believe me, they do come around, not because of what you are doing but because of what God is doing in them through you. You see, He is doing something in them at the same time that attracts them to you, your light is shining just by being a Christian; You don’t have off days, you put in an extra half hour here and there, without pay just to get a particular job done, you give someone a ride home if they missed the bus; share your fish and chips; There are thousands of ways of letting your little light shine, and the bulb gets a little brighter each time. Never be ashamed of your God, because He said, “If you stand up for me in this world before men, then, I will stand up for you before all of Heaven’s court on the day of judgement. Who could ask for a better advocate? What more do you need​? In the Bible, you will have noticed that the majority of people worked, and most of the heroes had secular vocations. Isaac developed land, Jacob was a Farmer, Joseph served God best by staying in his well-paid government job rather than starting a non-prophet faith-based organisation to do charity work. Daniel was an Immigrant who attended Babylon’s version of Oxford or Cambridge and grew to be Prime Minister of all Egypt, Lydia was a profitable businesswomen in textiles. Conceivably the ultimate expression of how much God values work is Jesus the “Carpenter” For most of His life, He occupied Himself in the Building profession, creating benches and tables, and probably was also engaged in construction work as well. The word we translate as “Carpenter” comes from the Greek word “Takton”, from which we get the word technology, and would contain the capability to do stone and masonry work. So those men who originally wrote the Bible were all workers, Fishermen, Doctors, tax Collectors and people from all areas of life., it was Penned by workers, about workers and for workers. Yes, Work was and is God’s idea as it says in (Genesis 2:15) “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” And thus the first man Adam was a landscaper. By identifying what you have been called to do in life and giving yourself fully to it, you are ‘ordained’ as any Pastor who stands in a pulpit. It’s a pity we use the word ‘secular’ when it comes to any kind of work other than the church work, because God doesn’t see it that way, He sees all honest work worthy of His smile of approval. When it comes to work, the thing He requires from you and me is wrapped up in the words of (Ecclesiastes 10:14} “Whatever you do, do it well.” Most adults spend about half their waking lives at work. Your work is a huge part of God’s plan for your life, He designed a specific vocation just for you in which you should find personal fulfilment to meet the needs of your family and help to perpetuate His purposes here on earth. The fourth commandment covers all seven days of the week not just the Sabbath {Exodus 20;9-11) tells us “Six days you shall labour and do all your work… for in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth.” Sometimes we hear sermons designed to make us feel guilty about not keeping the Sabbath, But have you ever heard a sermon designed to make you feel guilty about not honouring the six day wok-week? The point is that just as God made and loves the Sabbath, He made and loves the work-week as well, which he arranged for our benefit, it keeps us spiritually, physically and mentally healthy, fulfilling His purposes in our lives. In (Luke 17:21) we read “The Kingdom of God is in your midst” So whether you are a Butcher, Baker or Candlestick maker, you and I need to demonstrate integrity in our place of work. It’s embarrassing when non-believers say I’ll never do business with Christians again.’ In (Psalm 8;1) we read “O Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth” It’s His name we are exposing with our attitude, behaviour, and attendance at work. Here are a few things you may like to check up with and or change;- continual lateness, clock watching, messing around, water cooler gossip, flirting, speaking badly about your boss or other members of staff, pilfering or steeling and off-coloured jokes and stories, these things have no place in your work environment or anywhere in the life of the believer, don’t take part in the conversation, just remove yourself from the area, walk away, Scripture speaks to us in (1Corinthians 4-2.) “It is required that those who have been given a trust must prove Faithful.” It’s a good thought to pray on your way to work something like this “Lord, today I want to do a good job and bring credit to your name Please send your Holy Spirit to guard my mouth, direct my steps and check my behaviour. In Jesus’ name I pray. The first person in the Bible who was said to be “Filled with the Spirit of God” was Bezalel and if his name doesn’t ring a bell, it’s because he wasn’t a Prophet, Priest, king or an Apostle. You see, God chooses whoever He wants ‘Big shot’ or not. Yet this unknown man (at least in spiritual terms) had one of the most important jobs in the old Testament. Bezalel was selected by God to oversee and manage the building of the Tabernacle. He is never mentioned again in Scripture, but God had gifted him, and he used his gifts to glorify God. And this is what God said about him, (Exodus 31:2-5) “I have chosen \Bezalel\...and\ ...filled him with the Spirit of God, and wisdom and understanding, with knowledge and all kinds of skills – to make all kinds of designs in silver, gold and bronze, to cut and set wood and stones and to engage in all kinds of crafts”. Imagine being Bezalel, From your youth you loved to work with your hands .You don’t know if God is involved in this, but He actually is – He actually placed these desires within your heart and mind. When you are working, the joy you feel is the presence of God. You have certain strengths you were born with, they will always be your strengths and you delight in them. Wonderful things happen when you discover those strengths, put them to use and focus improving on them. Trying to develop in an area where God hasn’t gifted you is futile, like instructing a rabbit to swim or a snail to run. But when you’re in your God-given slot, working with your God-given strengths, you’re at you’re best. When that happens, you are blessed, and so are those around you. In God’s plan, Bezalel is as important as Moses. And what you and I do matters very much to God. You see, God is not only interested in our prayer time, No! He is vitally interested in what we think, say and do every moment of our lives. Now, that’s a thought worth keeping in mind. Thank you for reading these thoughts on God in the workplace. If our lives truly belong to God, and we expect His continual presence, strength and protection, then we are obliged to provide a suitable place of abode for Him. OH Lord God, bless us all with Your continual presence. Phaline.

148.EXAMINE YOUR CHARACTER Proverbs 11:30

Everyone is born with talents, physical, men some cases even spiritual, these are giftings from God and should always be regarded as such. However they are vastly different from one’s Character. Character is a sustaining power of decision which each one of us develops while growing through the various stages of life. We accept or reject what we observe or take in from our five senses add it to our experiences and what we know factually. Then decide whether or not to make it part of our character. This is a very important part of our psyche You are responsible for developing your own character. And what you allow people to put in to your head. You don’t Have to accept everything people say, but you do need to know well, the people from whom you do accept wisdom. They need to have an honest reputation, not be a gossip, but one who is kind and peaceful, not given to anger or who holds on to grudges, trustworthy and prepared to stand up for what is right no matter the pressure to the contrary. Such a person is hard to come by, but when you do find one, you have struck gold, so treasure them. you have a true and precious friend for life that will enhance your principles, ethics, values and character. Abraham Lincoln said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s Character, give him power” It’s easier to focus on our talent than our character because, generally speaking, our talents produce results that are rewarded and celebrated by others. In other words, there is an element of ego connected to our gifts. Character is built in private. Your reputation is built on what people think you are, but character is built on what only God (and You) know you are. If you want to go the distance, focus more on character than on talent. In The Bible the writer of (Proverbs 11:30/) says, “Live right and you will eat the fruit of the life-giving tree. And if you act wisely, others will follow you,” So if you are praying for greater results, Being must precede Doing, To achieve greater goals, you must become a more effective leader. To attract better people, you must become a person of great character. When you consistently display character, competence and purpose, you make a powerful statement to those around you and draw them closer to you. However, great things are seldom accomplished alone, so if you want to attract good people, you have to become a better person yourself. This is particularly true if you are a person of great ability. Your talent may lift you up before others, but your lack of character will show, and bring you down very quickly. Scripture is telling us “Godly men are growing a tree that bears life-giving-fruit and all who win souls are wise” A wise leader is willing to admit, “I’m not perfect but I know someone who is and everyday, I’m doing all I can to become more and more like Him in my professional, personal and social life. To this end, The Bible says in (James 1:12)) “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial.” Yes, it’s hard work, but hard work always produces good results that are worth it. Joseph attracted the unwanted attention of his boss’ wife. Day after day, she tried to seduce him. Now fast forward to later in his life. If Joseph encountered that level of temptation when he was just a household slave, can you imagine the level he was exposed to when he became Egypt’s Prime Minister? (Pride, bribery, extortion, theft, arrogance, playing favourites towards his own family etc.) Acting with integrity in small things, equips you to handle bigger things the same way, especially in the hour of temptation. Many times in life we are called upon to choose one of two paths; Character or compromise. And every time we choose Character we become stronger, even when that time comes at a cost, whereas when we choose to compromise we become a little weaker each time. Here are four observations worth being aware of; (1) Character is more than just talk. Do you remember the old Show-and-tell way of teaching? If you are all tell and no show, you lose credibility. (2) Talent is a gift from God, and something you are born with & have little say in the matter, but Character is a choice you get to make each day, and usually it’s made when only you & God know about it. (3) Character brings lasting success. It is said that early Stradivarius violins were made of wood taken from the sides of trees that had faced the brunt of a storm. Why was this? Because, weather-beaten wood produced the sweetest music. Are you getting the idea of what God is saying to us about fostering a good, healthy Character? (4) Temporarily you may be able to rise above your character limitations, but you wont be able to sustain it. Eventually you will be seen for what you are. So don’t work to build your life, work to build your Character. Thank you for reading these few words on “Examining your Character”. Can I suggest if you are serious about improving your Character, sit alone with God, and talk truthfully with Him about this matter. Ask Him to send His Holy Spirit to help you to uncover those areas of your life that need to be exposed to you, to show you clearly just how you can deal with them. Be honest, truthful and explicit with God. Remember, nothing is too small or too big for God to handle, in fact, sometimes when we overcome some of the small issues, the bigger ones are a “no brainer”. Your greatest ally will be God’s Holy Spirit, who is Biblically known as “The Spirit of Truth” So call on Him to help you. May God Bless you as He builds your Character. Phaline.

147. CONTROL YOUR ANGER. James 1:19.

Anger, is an emotion, and like all our emotion can and should be kept under control. However there are times when we “lose it”, and if we don’t act quickly enough to regain our composure our anger can turn to hatred, temper tantrums or worse. It is for this reason we train our children by controlling and teaching them at a young age to take control of their minds, speech and behaviour, especially in the area of self-indulgence with a “So far and no further” correction. If people have been brought up with little or no self-control then their whole emotional structure will be at risk, and in my experience, they will turn out to be very self- centred, selfish, dominating and intimidating adults, prone to anger and lashing out when things don’t turn out the way they want, or they don’t get what they think they are entitled to. I am not a Psychologist but along with my husband of sixty years have brought up seven reasonably well adjusted children who are now an asset to society and this country. We raised our family guided by Scriptural principles, daily prayer and our combined experiences of life which were always laced with the Word of God . In the Bible, the book of James gives us three keys on how to handle anger the right way, let’s look at them and see what we can learn from the Apostle James: (1:19) . 1. Be quick to listen- ie. Don’t react, and don’t rush to judgemental conclusions, slow down and try to get the correct facts in your head. Don’t put any reliance on “He said or she said” rely only on the facts of the matter that you personally know to be true. Then pray, asking the Holy Spirit to show you how to respond. This takes a little time, and that’s exactly what you need before going off on a tangent and making an idiot of yourself. 2. Slow to speak- ie If you are unsure or you don’t know then say so. There is an old Chinese Proverb that says, “It is better to say nothing and appear to be a fool than to open your mouth and confirm the fact.”!! You need to be in control of your facilities at all times. If you are not, it will show! You will look and act as though you have all the answers but in reality you wont have them: you will start tripping yourself up with your own words and those very words will come back to bite you. Remember this, What you don’t say, you wont have to explain or apologise for later. So learn to Zip it. 3. Be Slow to get angry- ie. Note, The Bible doesn’t say that you should never get angry. It says you should get angry about the right things, in the right way, at the right time. Jesus displayed His temper with the money lenders in the temple courts, also with the Pharisees, even to the point of calling them names. “snakes and vipers and sons of Satan” (the right way, at the right place, at the right time) Solomon says in (Ecclesiastes 7:9) “Control your temper, for anger labels you a fool.” That’s why it’s so important to deal with our hurts. An unhealed wound causes pain, which often manifests itself in anger. The trouble is, we carry that pain around with us and vent it on others. As a result, they distance themselves from us, or distrust us. or deny us the intimacy and closeness that we desire with them. In Proverbs (19:11) Scripture says, “The wise man restrains his anger and overlooks insults. This is to his credit.” If you want to grow a Christ-like character, you have to exercise and develop these three spiritual muscles: Patience, Love and Restraint. When someone says or does something offensive to you, I believe it’s easier, less stressful or difficult to deal with when it first happens, and not wait until you’ve had time to brood and build on it and make it into a major crime.(That’s the time when Satan enters the situation) so deal with it on the spot. How? You ask: by gently putting your hand on their shoulder or arm and stopping the conversation straight away, while saying “ excuse me, Did you hear what you just said? Did you mean to say that I was Stupid, Ignorant or Dumb or whatever.... Can we talk about this? You don’t have to be aggressive, nor do you have to let them get away with it. Keep your integrity, peace and love intact. It will stop the aggression and very likely improve your relationship . Your anger may or may not hurt the person towards whom it’s directed; but it can definitely hurt you. Prolonged anger releases toxic chemicals in to your body that elevates your blood pressure, create cholesterol and increase your risk of stroke and heart attack. Every minute given to anger, is a minute taken away from your joy. And it can also hurt you personally and professionally, it doesn’t take long for people to learn that you are an angry person, with a ‘short fuse.’ Everybody gets upset from time to time. But when you walk around with your anger barely concealed, People avoid you. Plus, you are giving whoever angers you power over your attitude, your behaviour and your responses. That’s too much power to give anybody! God wants you to live in peace. Here is how to let go of your anger (1) Recognise the main hurt and emotion at the root of your anger. (2) Become mindful of how your anger is exhibiting itself such as (surliness or profanity) (3) Restrain anger’s effect on your body and your body language by inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly and at the same time adding an affirmation to God such as “Thank you Father” or “Lord, I receive your peace right now.” Watch your tone of voice in all your communications, not just with the person who has angered you. Request rather than order. You’ll feel more in control and people will be more likely to listen and cooperate with you. (4) Decide to forgive. You will know when you are forgiven when you no longer desire to see your offender penalised. In reality, You may still hurt a bit. But remember this, feelings follow behaviour, so get your behaviour under control, God will see you’re trying and He will change your feelings and attitude to follow. your behaviour. However if you continue to reopen the wound by continually talking about it, it will never heal; That’s like taking the scab off a sore, it just starts bleeding again. So don’t entertain the thought, say a short prayer each time it comes up in your mind and just keep walking in love and your emotions will fall in to line with your decision. Thank you for reading these words on “Controlling Anger” We all need to keep our emotions in check, they are a gift from God, a release mechanism or a relief valve for our emotions, not a tool to threaten or bring hurt tos others if we don’t, Satan will use them as a springboard to get us to do whatever he wants and our pride will then drop us right into his trap. So don’t be too proud to try a few suggestions. God bless and may His Spirit go ahead of you. Phaline. ---------------------------

146. WHEN WINDS ARE CONTRARY Acts 27:4.

When you set out to do anything for God, The enemy will try to hamper your progress with ‘Contrary Winds” The above Scripture reminds us that if you feel you’re sailing against the wind, you probably are, but, you are also very likely heading in the right direction! In (Matthew 4:1) we read “Jesus was tempted by the devil. Satan never lets up, he intends to achieve his goal which is to get you off track with God. And sometimes he does, so be vigilant, he missed out with Jesus in the desert, but he went back with another tactic and entered Judas at the Last Supper on the night before Jesus died. But of course he missed out again .No, he never gives up, one of his names is the Tempter. That’s his job and mission, so pray and always be aware that he is lurking around and will use anyone, or anything, at anytime to achieve his ambition and take you away from God’s plan for your life. Don’t let that happen, pray through it, engage with the Holy Spirit, And you know what!!, Satan can never remove the Holy Spirit from you. You yourself is the only one who can do that. Why? Because you invited Him into your life and you are the only one who can tell Him to leave. That is something you must always be remember and be aware of. When the Holy Spirit comes into your life, He brings with Him the Spiritual gifts of Wisdom, knowledge and understanding which are not just important in themselves, but so essential in the life of the believer. So when temptation comes, use them, How?You ask. Just take five, Stop and think. Think what?... Who is talking to me? Where is this information coming from? Will it take me closer to Jesus or further away from Him? The answer will soon make itself clear and then you will know how to proceed. Reimar Schultz puts it this way, “Wherever you go today ...Satan will try to get you... If you leave home without your Spiritual armour ON, he will make you fall. If you leave your belt of truth on the hook, your breastplate of righteousness by the door, your gospel shoes under your bed, or if your shield of faith, the sward of the Spirit or the helmet of Salvation are left behind and you say "today I will pray when I get a chance”, you have just given away your victory. Before long the wrong words will come out of your mouth, You will look at forbidden fruits and display an improper attitude. The most foolish thing you can do is to leave home unarmed and spiritually naked. Only a fool says ‘I have no time to pray’ But later he finds all the time in the world to repair the damage his lack of prayer has produced. Just as Truth is the currency of Heaven, so Prayer is the Oxygen of Heaven, and we need to learn to breath it all the time if we intend to make Heaven our home for Eternity. Following Jesus is not a walk in the park...Every good thing in the Kingdom...from Adam onwards has come through men and women who have stuck it out, through the tough times through hot and cold , highs and lows, wars and peace, wealth and poverty. It’s not what we have, so much as what we do with what we’ve been given and the armour of God is one of the greatest gifts made available to us by the Holy Spirit because that armour will protect and defend us at the same time. So make full use of The Armour of God. Make a list of God’s Armour, and stick it on the inside of your bedroom door, Don’t leave your room without reading it each morning.. (E Ephesians 6:10-12) In (Acts 27:10) Paul told everyone on board the ship bound for Rome, “This voy2age will end with disaster and wreckage. Paul wasn’t talking about a little skirmish or a bit of cargo loss, No, this voyage was beset with disaster and much loss. He didn’t speak about a bit of a sea storm, Not at all! The words he used were “Disaster and Much Loss” they were all afraid for their lives… Now, God had told Paul he would not die and that he would witness to Him in Rome, so Paul knew he would end up in Rome one way or another. But, Satan had other ideas. This goes to show us if we truly believe God, our faith will carry us through the greatest storms that will come our way. Paul was destined to strike a fatal blow at the heart of the Roman Empire. So when he walked into Rome with the gospel, Hell shook and all Heaven rejoiced, And we are all Beneficiaries of that little Battle-scared man with chains around his ankles who started to convert many in Rome, and gave us the books of Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians and Philemon. While he was the prisoner of Jesus Christ. These phrases from Acts 27, bring to life more vividly this last journey of Paul’s life. “The winds were contrary… We had sailed slowly… arrived with difficulty...Sailing was now dangerous...A tempestuous headwind now arose… We secured the skiff with difficulty...used cables to undergird the ship… exceedingly tempest tossed...We threw the ship’s tackle overboard… Neither sun nor stars appeared for many days...All hope that we would be finally saved was given up...The stern was broken to bits...The destination is within reach...But not without “much loss.” (Acts 27:43-44) The Centurion wanting to save Paul, commanded that those who could swim should jump overboard first and get to land. The rest, (some on parts of the ship’s wreckage, escaped safely to land. When you keep your eyes on Jesus, you WILL make it in spite of the storm which is raging about you. That’s Guaranteed by God Himself. The Biblical History of the church ends with these victorious words in (Acts 28:14: “And so we came to Rome.” God said it, God did it. Thank you for reading these thoughts on coping with “Contrary Winds”. You will be sure to get them, don’t panic, 2just go to Jesus and pray, listen for the Holy Spirit’s voice and do what He says. Trust your God. – God Bless, Phaline.

145. FINDING COMMON GROUND. 1 Corinthians, 9:22.

To influence someone, you must first of all connect with them. And to do that, you must look for common ground. In the above scripture, Paul says to the Corinthians:- “I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some.” Another Bible version expounds on Paul’s words this way. “I am not anyone’s slave, But I have become a slave to everyone, so I can win as many people as possible. When I am with the Jews, I live like a Jew to win Jews. They are ruled by the law of Moses, and I am not. But I live by the law to win them. And when I am with people who are not ruled by the law, I forget about the law to win them. Of course I never really forget about the law of God. In fact, I am ruled by the law of Christ. When I am with people whose faith is weak, I live as they do to win them. I do everything I can to win everyone I possibly can to win them. I do all this for the Good News, because I want to share in its blessing.” When it came to preaching or teaching the truth however, Paul wouldn’t give an inch. But when it came to reaching and influencing people for Christ, he had to remove every roadblock between them and Jesus. And we must be willing to do the same. People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care. Before someone can receive the truth, you have to share “yourself” in such a way as to convince them that you truly love and care about them and this can only be done by finding ‘common ground.’ Whether you are applying for a job, or trying to win someone to Jesus, counselling, advising or correcting someone’s behaviour, to be effective, you must look for ‘common ground.’ Let’s look at some of the qualities that are required. Availability:- Paul writes in (1 Corinthians 9:19) “I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.” Establishing areas of common interest takes time. It also takes effort. It has been reported that to-day a typical business executive has an on-the-job attention span of six minutes. In six minutes a person can hardly get his or her feet on the ground, much less find common ground. Identifying areas you can agree on calls for empathy and a willingness to listen to what the other person has to say. In her book “How to Talk so People Will Listen” , Sonya Hamlyn conveys that most people find this challenging because of the ‘me first’ factor. She writes “Listening requires giving up our favourite human pastime” ie involvement in ourselves and our own self interests. It’s our primary and entirely human focus and it’s where our motivation to do anything comes from. With this as a base, can you see what a problem is created when we are asked to listen to someone else? So what’s the solution? First of all it’s essential to acknowledge and answer the listener’s two instinctive and unspoken questions, which are “Why should I listen to you?” and “What’s in it for me if I do?” Any time you are willing to listen to people, and they really understand how, what you are offering meets their requirements, you are halfway towards your goal of finding Common Ground. To establish “Common Ground” you must be adaptable, Thomas Aquinas said: “To convert somebody, go and take them by the hand and guide them.” You must be willing to move from where you are to where they are, to adapt and try to see things from their point of view. Anytime you are aware of distance between you and the person you are trying to reach, it’s good to search for something in your own background and experience that relates to theirs. Don’t start the process by telling them about yourself, begin by moving to where they are and trying to see things from their perspective adapt to them – don’t think that they should adapt to you. Instead of telling people how you feel, find out how they are feeling. Instead of telling them how you see things, discover how they see things, Instead of trying to tell them what you want, find out what their needs are. Abraham Lincoln said, “When I am getting ready to reason with a man, I spend one third of my time thinking about Moses, and I am not. But I live by the law to win them. And when I am with people who are not ruled by the law, I f what I will say to him and two thirds of my time thinking about what he will say to me. The truth is, you can’t take someone on a journey, unless you are willing to start where they are at. Only then can you truly connect and lead them to where you want to take them. You can know a lot about a person, but still not understand them. More information is not always the answer, in Psalm (42:7) The Bible tells us:”Deep calls to deep” that means, to really know people you must move beyond head knowledge and learn to speak the language of the heart. And that requires great and in most cases self sacrificial love. No, it’s not always easy or pretty, but when it works, I’m sure it will gain you a few more brownie points or should I say stars beside your name in the book of life. I don’t know, but I do know that God has a special place for those who bring one sinner to repentance. They have to see themselves as a sinner before they can repent; You telling them they are, wont help one bit. All you can do at this stage is have a box of tissues handy, Pray the Holy Spirit’s presence and be ready to embrace a new member into God’s Kingdom as they spill it all out. Thank you for reading these thoughts on “Finding Common Ground” I pray The Lord’s assistance and encouragement in all your endeavours in this direction. Remember Prayer and Holy Spirit in-put is of vital importance when taking on the spiritual guidance of another person. So I pray The Lord go with you. God Bless. Phaline. -----------------------------