Commit your way to the Lord.

In reading Nehemiah over the last several days it occurs to me that Nehemiah had no idea how it was all going to turn out. The only thing he was aware of was that he needed to do something.

Psalm 37:5 tells us: “Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him and he will do it.”

Nehemiah put his trust in the Lord. And yet, was he not doing what he was created to do? What God had planned for him to do all along?

Ephesians 2:10 says: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
If God have given you something to do then there is very little you can do to work against it. Like Johah, we can resist what God tells us to do, we can back away from it, but we will always, but necessity return to it. We have to, it’s an imperative placed in us by God as we were knitted together in the womb.

But how glorious is that? To have a purpose, a part of the plan God has laid down for His Kingdom.

So the question “What difference do I make?” is kind of a no brainer really. God made you to make a difference, that’s why Nehemiah was where he was, and it’s why you are where you are.

Think about that.

Amen.

When life gives you lemons, think about the Cross

Have you ever had one of those times when you just want to stand there and scream, not out of anger but out of sheer frustration? Sometimes when you have doubts that layer one on top of the other things start looking a lot like a Sara Lee pastry. What then? That old quip, “If life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” springs quickly to mind, but that isn’t really helpful is it? How can I make lemonade out of doubts? I can sit in the sun and sip that lemonade and still feel troubled by the things around me, by the grumps I have with my circumstances. So what do you do about doubt? The opening line to the hymn looms out of the shadows: “When my love to Christ grows weak, When for deeper faith I seek, Then in thought I go to thee, Garden of Gethsemane.” To think on this, I am reminded how small I am. How much tension, anxiety, even terror Our Lord must have felt while He prayed in the Garden. O, Father, take this cup from me, but only if it is Your will. He walked ahead, firm in His re...

New Year, new Bible reading resolution

The start of a New Year is looming, and the usual tussle of New Year's resolutions is happening off stage. Over the last few days, I have been looking into Bible reading plans. I wanted to find one that I could stick to. I get sidetracked very easily wanting to study in more depth, word studies, topical studies, manners and customs and background. This is by no means a bad thing, but it doesn't get the job done in terms of beginning to end in one year. At the end of 2024 I am in the last couple of chapters of 1 Samuel, and I have just finished the Gospel of Luke. That gives you an idea how deeply impacted I am by this malaise of digression! There were a few options. A few too many really. It seems that almost anyone of any ilk offers a Bible reading plan. Variations on a theme. There are two main types. The first is the traditional start at Genesis end up at Revelation and read Psalms and Proverbs as you go. There are others that break the Bible down into genre, grouping...

I've got that AI feeling

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Eph 6:12 I spent some time last night scrolling through my Facebook feed. I paused to read a meme here, a snippet there. I stopped and read a comment by a long time and experienced author who was expressing fear caused by the push of AI into the world of writing and publishing. The advent of self publishing and the relative ease with which one can now published a book has muddied the waters, in that there is now a deluge of poor quality work being thrown up for a reader to pick through and either toss aside or give a go. I am thankful that most of the time I can use the feature "Read a Sample," so I can see how good, or sadly more often, how awful the writing is. Enter AI into this fray. Artificial Intelligence. Computers that are programmed to be intelligent, to think, to reason, ...

The Bible Bloke

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