Month: July 2022

Sue’s Views

When I ask my now adult children about their childhood memories ….. it’s usually the little things we did as a family! Birthday parties (and believe me ….. they were much simpler than what kids have these days!) ….. family times before bed ….. playing board games. It doesn’t have to be expensive but it does require some planning and effort. Remember ….. you are making memories that will be stored for years to come ….. and passed on to the next generations!

Sue’s Views

We don’t have to see something to believe it exists! In fact in these times of technology and AI ….. we can no longer believe what we see!  Things can be made to look real when they are not. People can be shown to do and say things they didn’t do or say. That’s why we need the gifts of the Holy Spirit.. He is the source of truth and wisdom. He knows the future and wants to help us with gifts like discernment ….. prophecy ….. understanding.

We can’t see the wind ….. but we see the effects of it. We also hear it and feel it. More than ever ….. we need to see with our spiritual eyes!

‘The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.’ John 3:8

Sue’s Views

I was sitting having a nice cup of coffee yesterday when I saw a wee mouse run across the kitchen and under the fridge. I let out a blood curdling scream and scared the living daylights out of my poor husband! He was in the middle of something important ….. but he graciously got up and tried to find the culprit. I ….. in the meantime was sitting with my feet underneath me on the chair ….. and I wasn’t going anywhere! I did at least tell him which direction the mouse ran in. Of course the mouse won! Hubby told me it must have gone outside ….. but I’ve heard that one before! I needed evidence! After a while I decided to be a big girl and got on with some housework ….. telling myself ‘the mouse is more scared of you than you are of him!’ Fear is irrational! It grips you and makes you powerless. When I rethought the situation ….. (in other words ….. when I repented) ….. my mind became clear. 

‘For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.’ 2 Tim 1:7

Sue’s Views

These fern leaves always remind me of a baby in the womb! I’ve seen lots of scans ….. and they all look pretty much the same to the untrained eye. But the sonographers can see details of organ development ….. any defects ….. and of course gender! Just like this plant ….. all the potential is in there ….. just waiting to unfurl. What it will become is already decided. Your potential is packed inside you! You, too, are a miracle that is still unfolding.

Sue’s Views

One of the enemy’s tactics is to get us to focus on ourselves. Our problems ….. our hurts ….. our weaknesses ….. our past failures. When we do that ….. we lose sight of who God is and how great He is. The issues become the focus ….. and whatever we focus on ….. grows! We start to say things like ‘Why me?’ ….. ‘It’s not fair’ ….. It’s too hard!’ And we go around feeling defeated and resentful. We need to constantly remind ourselves of God’s supreme power ….. knowledge and ability. By changing our focus from ‘me’ to Him ….. our minds will shift into a whole new way of thinking. And the way we view our circumstances will change as well!

 

‘Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You.’

 Jeremiah 32:17

Sue’s Views

As a grandparent ….. I was angered to hear about Family First being deregistered as a charity because of their Biblical stance on many issues that affect the family. However ….. I shouldn’t be surprised! The agenda to challenge and completely reverse Christian values is nothing new ….. but it is accelerating every day and we can’t be passive about that. The latest report is about a curriculum being introduced at school camps. I quote:

‘When you send your children on an outdoor adventure camp or programme, you’re probably expecting that the activities will be based around water safety, abseiling, mountain biking, caving, canoeing, camping, environmental wellbeing, outdoor learning experiences, outdoor education etc. But a new curriculum by Education Outdoors New Zealand labelled “Going with the flow” is a gender fluidity indoctrination course for young boys and girls.’

It’s vital that we instill in our kids that their identity, purpose and value is determined by God!

Sue’s Views

After hearing the weather forecast ….. we decided to go for a drive to the coast on Monday before the storm hit. The sea was perfectly calm ….. but the sky confirmed what was predicted. In the storms of life ….. we don’t always get a warning. They can come suddenly out of nowhere. How do we prepare for such events? By looking up! Sometimes ….. the Holy Spirit prompts us to do something we may not understand at the time. It may be a feeling or a word we hear in our innermost being. But even if the storm hits us unknowingly ….. we can be sure that the One who is in control can calm the storm or take us safely through it. Jesus said “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33. The sun is still shining above those storm clouds!

Sue’s Views

We had an attentive audience while having morning tea at a cafe yesterday! Several messages came to mind while watching this scenario. The first was that God cares even for the sparrows ….. so how much more will he care for me! (Thank you Lord that you provide all my needs!) But then I thought about how ….. even though He provides for our needs ….. we are often not satisfied. We want it the easy way! ( Shoo! Lazy birds! Go and find some worms!) Then my mind switched to the story of a poor man named Lazarus who longed for crumbs that fell from a rich man’s table. (Oh here birdies! You can have half of my scone!) All in all ….. a pleasant time out with hubby! But so many mixed emotions!

Sue’s Views

Why do we pray ‘in Jesus Name’? Is it just a label we tag on to our prayer? No! It’s because only Jesus has ‘credit’ with God! I could write out a check for $1 million and sign my name ….. but it would bounce! In the same way ….. I don’t personally have any credit in Heaven. In fact I am in debt to God. But if Jesus signed the cheque ….. it would be valid! As long as our prayer is according to His will and in His Name ….. we are assured of His answer!

‘And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.’

John 14:13-14

It reminds me of the old song: 

‘He paid the debt he did not owe, I owe the debt I could not pay

I needed someone to wash my sins away

And now I sing a brand new song, “Amazing grace”

Christ Jesus paid the debt I could never pay’

Sue’s Views

How’s your year going? The first half is over ….. and today ….. the second half begins. Rugby is known as ‘a game of two halves’. No matter how well the first half goes ….. the game is won or lost in the second half. The losing team has two choices! They can give up because they are so far behind ….. or they can see half time as a new start. They can regather their team and look at where they have gone wrong ….. and they can change tactics and determine to win the game. Wherever you are in the game of life ….. it’s not over till the final whistle blows!