Aptiva

In God's book, an unknown disciple of the carpenter wrote a letter known as "Hebrews", in part of it is recorded,  "Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it."(Heb 13:2) The Author continues the chapter with practical advice for living in a manner which will bring glory to the name of Jesus. Through its pages, those who follow the carpenter are instructed with behaving as a blessing to all in this world, regardless of whether these strangers believe in Jesus as Lord and Messiah. I believe in real angels, and take the verse to mean how it reads, that at times we could entertain mystical beings which are God's messengers, but I don't think that it's most important message. That is conveyed in the understanding that all are made in the image of God, and when you reach into this world of the unknown person, you will find some who need to be reminded of who God c...

Joshua chapter 6 tells the account of the fall of the walls of Jericho. A new nation was planning to enter the promised land from the one which had left Egypt. Bar Joshua and Caleb, all males over twenty years old who had left Egypt were now dead. A new group of adults had to fight for the God they had come to know. For many, the crossing of the red sea was a history lesson. A fierce enemy, the Egyptian army had been wiped out via an act of God. How was God going to fight for his chosen people at this point in their lives? They had witnessed the miracle of crossing into the promised land, when the Jordan river had stopped flowing (Joshua 4), and this must have inspired hope. God keeps his promises, as they walked around the walls of Jericho their voices silent, only the horns proclaiming God were heard. Finally, at the last moment, the people joined in a massive shout, their faith joining with God's promise to see the walls of the enemy nation come tumbling down. The hope...

Rafting Exodus 14:10-14 (NLT) As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the Lord, 11 and they said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? 12 Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’” 13 But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. 14 The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” I watched a video of a person on a roller coaster, they realised soon after starting that it was a mistake to be on the ride. Their reaction were as you would expect faced with the inescapable terror that was to come....

To be open and honest about how you are travelling in life is a great encouragement to others who look towards you for hope and example. In a "facebook" world, we can see often, only the positive sides of living revealed. It's a world we don't actually exist in, we exist in a world of fights, depression, failures and disappointments. It's not that positive things don't happen, of course, they do, but to show only one side is sort of falling into the "airbrush mentality" of the magazines. How we cope with the negative things of life, reveals, who we are, and what or who we look towards for walking through these moments. To the outsider, we can seem perfect, when in fact we have just relied upon a heavenly word or revelation, to get us past the latest tragedy that life has thrown our way. To the believer in Jesus the carpenter, we can often reveal the gospel by speaking of our failures more than our success, because in this it points towards th...

At points in my life, I have been a member of a Gym. With that membership, I had the right of access to all the equipment at the place. The right of access and ability to use are two different things. I had authority to go on any machine, but for many, I had no knowledge of how to use the machine, and while often ignorance can be bliss, in some cases it could be downright dangerous with the danger of putting an unfit body into situations which cause excess strain and stress to muscles unused to such activity. If I was to increase my ability to use the machines so my activity upon them would help my body I needed help. It wasn't far away, like all Gym's, resident trainers are available for quick consultations, or longer-term planning and help with getting the body into shape. In younger days I availed myself of this and was surprised to find most of the technical equipment ignored in favour of basic actions repeated under controlled conditions. It was the challenge...

The appointment of King Saul is perplexing. God uses divine intervention to anoint Saul, telling the prophet Samuel who to choose, but demonstrating to the people by using random lots! (1 Sam 10:20) Saul demonstrates his quality by saving the people of God, yet, Samuel then shows how the people sinned in asking for a king, and demonstrates the truth of his words via divine intervention. (1 Sam 12:16ff) I understand that God is responding to the people's request. I can't always understand why he does! It's not just their story that worries me, what about our own! Does the end justify the means? Is the outcome proof God was happy with the process? We live in a success-driven society, it's easy to fall into "worldly metrics", we often judge not according to God's economy. The Pharisee's lived a privileged life, and felt they were in God's will, Jesus challenged that assumption and pointed the way to make the truth real. We need to allow ou...

When I write, I am forever being told by my grammer program that I write in the "passive voice". I assume it wants me to be more assertive! It may be right!, Tozer writes  "By moral action, we mean a voluntary response to the Christian message: not merely the acceptance of Christ as our personal Savior but a submission to the obligation implicit in the doctrine of the Lordship of Jesus. We must free ourselves from the inadequate concept of the gospel as being only 'good news,' and accept the total meaning of the Christian message centering in the cross of Christ. We must restore again to the church the idea that the offer of salvation by faith in Christ carries with it the condition that there must be also a surrender of the life to God in complete obedience. Anything less than this puts the whole thing in the passive voice. A lifetime of passive listening to the truth without responding to it paralyzes the will and causes a fatty degeneration of the heart....