Faith and Works

Sue’s Views
One of the hardest things to understand about Christianity is that we are saved by faith ….. not by works. We are so used to earning our way through life that the idea of receiving something free doesn’t sit right with us. On the other hand ….. there are some who accept the gift of salvation ….. but think they can live as they please. The balance is explained in this illustration. If the rower uses only one oar ….. he goes round in circles! If he uses both oars ….. he will get across the lake to his destination! ‘Faith without works is dead’. The works ….. or good things we do prove our faith. We don’t do them to earn our salvation ….. we do them out of gratitude for it.
Sent from my iPad

Don’t be anxious!

Sue’s Views
Let’s face it! The world is in serious trouble! There is much to be concerned about. The media keeps us up to date on the latest disasters ….. crimes ….. and injustices ….. and the outlook is bleak to say the least. But nothing is new under the sun! In Jesus day ….. people were facing a tyrannical government ….. poverty ….. sickness and social injustice. That’s why He so often told them ‘Do not be anxious about your life. Look at the lillies of the field! They don’t have to worry. Their Heavenly Father takes care of them.’ And He will take care of you too! This is a time to trust Him.

Sent from my iPad

How’s Your Heart?

Sue’s Views
How is your heart? Is it soft and pliable ….. or has it been hardened by the circumstances of life? No matter what state your heart is in ….. offer it to God. He is the Potter ….. we are the clay. If you are willing ….. He will take that hard heart in His wonderful hands and soften it. He will remove all the hard lumps ….. all the hurt and doubts ….. all the resentment and bitterness ….. and mould it into something beautiful and useful. When He has your heart ….. He has all of you!
Sent from my iPad

Living Stones

Sue’s Views
There are 7.8 billion people on the planet ….. and yet no two are identical! Even ‘identical twins’ have some unique characteristics. And then ….. when you consider all those who have passed on since time began ….. the numbers are countless. Some would say there is no designer ….. we are all a product of an explosion. But everything in nature tells us otherwise! No two leaves are the same ….. no two blades of grass ….. no two flowers. What a Creator! The Bible calls us ‘living stones that God is building into His spiritual temple’. He wants to live in us! How amazing is that!

Sent from my iPad

Unlearning some Independence

“Westerners are just so… independent!” I laughed in agreement with my Japanese friend and said, “Yes, it’s so true!” We were talking about friendships, parenting, and relating to life. She couldn’t understand how western mum’s were expected to be super-mums and figure out how to do everything on their own! “Saying you need help or you’re not coping seems to be a sign of weakness in your culture, but to us you would never be expected to “do-it-all”!” She was so right.
My husband used to tell me that same thing all the time: “You’re just so independent!”. I used to get defensive and tell him all the reasons why that was a good thing. I didn’t understand why, when he was looking for our babies clothes, he would always ask me “which drawer are his sweaters in again?” I would tell him “why don’t you just look? You know where all his clothes are kept!” One day I asked him about this. “Why is it that you always ask me questions that you could actually just solve yourself? If you want to know if we have any milk, why don’t you just look in the fridge yourself?” He said something very interesting that changed my perspective… “In Asian culture, we like helping each other, interacting with each other, and depending on each other, not always on ourselves. Does it frustrate you so much to have to interact with me just a little bit over these things? Isn’t the relationship more important to you than just having the problem solved efficiently?”
Wow. That got me thinking. Being an over-analyzer, I started analyzing myself, my ways of thinking and of doing things, and what my culture had taught me. Then I started thinking about what the bible had taught me about God. I thought of Jesus teaching us to pray even though God already knows our needs. I thought of Paul telling us to pray about all things… it seemed that communicating wasn’t something God saw as irritating or inefficient, or a sign of weakness! I thought of verses like Psalm 91:15 “When they call on me, I will answer. I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them”. It didn’t say “When they call on me, I will tell them to first do the research themselves, and then think of a way to sort it out, and then do their best to solve the problem alone.” I thought of the amount of times I came across verses like “Depend on Me, trust in Me, ask and you will receive, learn from Me, rest in Me, do not lean on your own understanding, cry out to Me, call on Me, walk with Me”. It seemed to be all about… relationship! I started to think about the way I was parenting… was I asking my kids to be too independent, when maybe they were created to need me more than I thought?
In our Western culture, we love independence and efficiency… we sleep train our babies so they can go to sleep without us, teach kids to self-soothe, tell them to just get back up if they hurt themselves, teach them not to expect sympathy, not to ask, not to bother us when we’re busy, we love Do-It-Yourself, Do-It-By-Yourself, Self-Help, and now we’re inventing ways of doing everything ourselves online so we don’t have to rely on a “person” because machines and automated services are just so much more… efficient! Of course, there are many things we must learn to do ourselves and take responsibility for… I sure don’t want to be spoon-feeding my kids when they’re 15!
But how about our emotional side? How about our children’s emotional side? Our spiritual needs? Our social needs? Jesus and the disciples lived in constant community. As far as I can tell, they shared almost everything together! Jesus also depended completely on His Heavenly Father. He said Himself that He does nothing and says nothing that the Father hasn’t given Him to say and do. What dependence! And what a great model for us! We need our Heavenly Father, and we need each other! In fact, I came across some of the “one another” scriptures in a book recently for living in community with each other as the body of Christ:
“Accept one another” (Rom 15:7), “agree with one another” (1Cor. 1:10; Phil. 4:2), “bear with one another” (Col. 3:13), “consider one another as better” (Phil. 2:3), “carry one another’s burdens” (Gal. 6:2), “offer hospitality to one another without grumbling” (1 Peter 4:9), “fellowship with one another” (1 John 1:7), “serve one another with your gifts” (1 Cor. 12:7; 1 Peter 4:10), “look after one another’s interests” (Phil. 2:4), “serve one another” (Gal. 5:13), and many, many more! He’s given us this wonderful body of Christ, and we need one another!
One of my favourite verses has come to be this one: 
 
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart

    and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.

 
What a load off my back! I don’t have to rely on my own strength, my own smarts, or my own guesses about what’s going to happen! He is never too busy for me, and whenever I need to just feel Him near, or need wisdom, or need…. anything!… He wants to hear from me, and He is always there. 

Fruitfulness

Sue’s Views

This is a picture of abundant life. The trees might look dead and lifeless ….. but there’s so much going on on the inside. In another few months they’ll be vibrant with leaves and laden with fruit. We all go through times of dryness and feeling unproductive but know this ….. your ‘season’ is coming too! 

Sent from my iPad

Winter Wonders

It’s mid winter here in New Zealand ….. and yesterday was our coldest day so far this year. Jack Frost definitely visited! Harsh circumstances sometimes seem to come out of nowhere to bite us. But ….. as we all know ….. ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’! If you are going through a ‘winter season’ ….. hang in there! God may be using this time to destroy some of the ugly bugs that are attacking you. A new season is coming!

Holy Spirit

We can’t see the wind ….. but we know it exists by the movement of grass and trees. So it is with God’s Spirit. He is constantly moving ….. clearing obstacles from your path ….. changing the spiritual atmosphere around you ….. dealing with your enemies. Not everything has to be seen to be believed! You can trust Him!

Jehovah Jireh

Did you know that God thought of you before the world was created? In fact He created the world ….. and everything in it ….. so you and I would have a place to live and enjoy! That means He provided everything we would ever need to live a productive and healthy life. He provided food to eat ….. medicine when our bodies get out of balance ….. work so we could reproduce crops. He also gave us wisdom and creativity to make new things out of what He created. He is ….. and always will be our Jehoveh Jireh ….. our provider. We don’t need to fear the future. He is already there!

Intro

Hi! My name is Sue Wilson and I am a mother of three and grandmother of 10! My husband, Frank, and I have been Christians for 43 years. We pastored a church in Fiji and are now Pastor/Elders in our local church. One of my passions is Prayer/Counselling to help people deal with the lies of the devil so they can be who God created them to be.

 

A few years ago I felt God inspired me to write some short but encouraging messages on Facebook. Most of my inspiration comes while walking in nature ….. but also everyday life experiences! I hope you, too, will be encouraged. We live in uncertain but interesting times ….. and our faith will be tested. My aim is to help you see things through God’s eyes ….. and to be led by His Spirit in our everyday lives. I always welcome feedback and questions.

 

May God bless you on your journey