Category: Sue’s Views

Sue’s Views

Today is Labour Day in NZ. It commemorates the result of the fight for an eight hour working day and better working conditions in 1890. It was celebrated in each centre with street parades and a public holiday. It seems ironic somehow that here we are ….. 131 years later ….. and many are fighting for their very jobs!  Let’s all pray for justice to be done ….. so we have something to celebrate in future!

Sue’s Views 

Psalm 31 was written by King David at a time of distress in his life. He felt trapped (v4) ….. filled with grief (v9) ….. weak and afflicted (v10) ….. hated and abandoned by his loved ones (v11-13) ….. and worst of all ….. forgotten by God! (V22) 

‘In my alarm I said,

    “I am cut off from your sight!”

There are times in life when we feel like the heavens are made of brass and no one is listening. 

But He goes on to say:

‘Yet you heard my cry for mercy

    when I called to you for help.’

God is there even when you can’t feel His presence or hear His voice. 

In David’s final words:

‘Be strong and take heart,

    all you who hope in the Lord.’

Sue’s Views

One of the most challenging things to do is to be still. We are always on the go ….. we fill our minds with information ….. we go to Google before we go to the Bible. When we do pray and seek God ….. it’s often out of anxiety and agitation. Just as still water gives the best reflections ….. so a still heart and mind is needed to receive truth. Here’s what God says:

“Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth.”

It’s only when we are still that we can see through all the hype and confusion ….. and know who God really is!

Sue’s Views

Do you know that Almighty God ….. the Creator of the Universe ….. sees you? There is nowhere you can go to escape His gaze! Now that can be comforting ….. or alarming ….. depending on where you stand with Him. If you are one of His children ….. that is wonderful news. It means you never have to be afraid of danger ….. or worry about provision ….. or be anxious about your future. It means knowing who you are and whose you are. Above all ….. it means knowing you are forgiven from all your wrongdoing ….. and have God’s Spirit within you to guide you through life. However ….. if you don’t know God as your Father ….. you are missing out on the life He intended for you. There is only one way to change that and it’s through His Son, Jesus. In His words ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’

Sue’s Views

Don’t you just love it when someone says to you ‘I have good news and bad news! Which do you want first?’ We usually say ‘Give me the bad news first!’ Well ….. I have good news and bad news! The bad news is that we are all sinners because we have all disobeyed God’s moral law. Because God is a righteous and just God ….. He has to punish us. The punishment is to be eternally separated from God. Now before you say ‘How could a good God send anyone to Hell?’ ….. what kind of judge would He be if He didn’t uphold the law? Now comes the good news! God’s only Son, Jesus, stepped up and offered to pay the penalty for our sin. The penalty was a horrific death on a cross ….. but He was willing to do that so you and I could go free. In doing so ….. He gave us a choice. We pay our own penalty ….. or we put our trust in what Jesus did on our behalf. When we understand the bad news ….. the good news becomes very good. And we all need some Good News!

Sue’s Views

Just as we can’t see the wind but we see and feel the effects of it ….. so it is with God’s Spirit. He is very much at work ….. bringing things into alignment with God’s will and purpose. It has been said that ‘when things seem to be falling apart ….. they just might be falling into place!’ Wind can be a gentle breeze …..or a gale force hurricane. Either can remind us that God is in control.

Sue’s Views

I love hearing the many stories of people doing kind things for others during this time of uncertainty. As we’ve seen ….. times like this can bring out the best and worst in people. Pressure can crush us ….. or it can refine us! It can make us give up ….. or see opportunities to give more of ourselves. It can make us lose hope ….. or it can give us a new dream or vision. What seems to be plan B to you may be God’s plan A! 

‘And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.’ Philippians 1:6

Sue’s Views

Feeling bamboozled? You are not alone! Here’s some great advice from the book of James Chapter 1: 2-7

  “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

   Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

  If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 

  But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 

  That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.”

In other words ….. trials are to be expected ….. don’t give up ….. ask God for wisdom …..and trust Him!

Sue’s Views

Psalm 121 is a song for Pilgrims on a journey to Jerusalem. It was a difficult journey with rough roads and danger lurking along the way. And it was an uphill journey. We are all on a journey ….. and it is hard! But God ….. who is so much higher and greater than the mountains He created ….. protects us along the way. 

I look up to the mountains—

    does my help come from there?

My help comes from the Lord,

    who made heaven and earth!

He will not let you stumble;

    the one who watches over you will not slumber.

Indeed, he who watches over Israel

    never slumbers or sleeps.

The Lord himself watches over you!

    The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.

The sun will not harm you by day,

    nor the moon at night.

The Lord keeps you from all harm

    and watches over your life.

The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go,

    both now and forever.