Are You Ready

 

“Are you ready”? is a question that we get asked constantly from childhood: “Are you ready to get up?” “are you ready for your shower”? “are you ready for Breakfast”? “Are you ready for school”? and so it continues through our life; we always have to be ready for something. But what a dreadful feeling it is if someone reminds us, at the last minute, about something important we forget to get ready for. At such a time we understand the meaning of the word “Panic”, but unfortunately panicking does not always solve the problem, does it?

When I was a little boy back in the 1930s we had no electricity on our farm so at night

mum always kept a “Hurricane Lantern” lit (like the one in the photo), so we had a light “always ready” in case we had to go and close the chook yard gate after dark, or tie the dog or even go from the kitchen to the bedroom, it helped us find our way easily and as I was scared of the dark, it was also very comforting to see that there was nothing to be frightened of lurking in the shadows. Well there could have been a snake. Our neighbour, Jack, at “Wilgareena” got bitten by a snake near the dog kennel. My sister found one in the bedroom, aimed the 12-gauge Shotgun at it, pulled the trigger and drove the snakes head through the floor, and received a bruised shoulder, all at once.

 For anyone who may not be familiar with this type of light, you filled the bottom section with Kerosene or as some call it “Paraffin” which is a fuel oil made from a mixture of liquid hydrocarbons. A wick of absorbent material, controlled by a winder, sucked up the Kerosene by capillary action and you lit the wick with a match.  The light which was inside that glass was protected from the wind and lasted for hours before you had to add more Kerosene, providing that you turned the wick down low with the winder. Therefore, it was always “ready”. The other lamps used in the house worked on a similar principle.  In Biblical times they had a lamp that looked like a teapot except that the spout was shorter and turned upwards and a wick went down inside the spout and into the oil that was in the body of the lamp, it worked well but it had a “naked” flame with no winder to adjust the wick so it used a considerable amount of “oil” and needed frequent refilling.

Jesus told a story about “ten bridesmaids” in Matthew 25, (New Living Translation), who had to attend an evening wedding so they each took a lamp with them (probably like the last one I just described). Now I don’t understand the customs of their day, but apparently they had to wait outside the place where the wedding was to take place until the Groom arrived and then they could go in with him. In this particular case the Groom was delayed for some reason and didn’t arrive until midnight. Meanwhile the girls had dosed off and woke with a start when it was announced that he had arrived. Five of them had neglected to bring spare oil with them so were not ready and had to run and get some because their lamps had gone out, but unfortunately for them when they returned they found that the other five who had brought extra oil and were ready, had gone in with the Bridegroom and the doors were now shut.

The Groom in this story represents Jesus himself, and the Bridesmaids represent people like us and the hall where the wedding was to be held represents the Kingdom of Heaven. You see Jesus was talking about the time when he will “come again” to receive those of us who are prepared and ready. Of course if we die before he comes again, then the same thing still applies: those who are prepared and ready will be accepted into Heaven but sadly, those who are not prepared and ready will be “cast out into outer darkness: where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” for eternity. (Matthew 22:13 & 25:30). (What a dreadful and unnecessary alternative that would be).

Exactly then what do we have to do in order to be prepared and ready? Well, briefly it amounts to this: We prepare by “repenting”, which means asking God’s forgiveness for sin, and deciding to follow Jesus directions in future (as outlined in the New Testament). The 10 Bridesmaids would have fulfilled the equivalent of that preparation, but 5 of them were like some of us who fail to “update that commitment” which is something we need to do on a daily basis. 

Take my case for example: On the 10^th of January in 1950, I made that commitment and if I had died on the 11^th (the next day) I would have gone to Heaven because I was ready. However, I didn’t die so I must continue to live the way Jesus directed, asking God’s forgiveness for sinful thoughts and concentrate on “Loving my neighbour as I love myself” and so on, because these things keep me ready as they confirm my original commitment and are the equivalent of “topping up” my lamp with oil so I have light for my path and am ready.  Best wishes as you think about that, if you haven’t already done so.   Tom.

Faith or Stress

“You are not a candidate for a Heart Attack, you are not over weight, as a farmer you spend your time in the open air, and get plenty of exercise: For you to have had a heart attack you must have had a lot of stress”. This was the Cardiologist at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney talking to me. How ashamed he made me feel, a professing Christian, having a heart attack through stress, of all things: how faithless

and ridiculous.

 Said the robin to the sparrow, I should really like to know, why these anxious human beings rush about and worry so. Said the sparrow to the robin, friend, I think it must be, that they have no Heavenly Father, such as cares for you and me.

But we do have a Heavenly Father who cares about us, only, we have our priorities wrong: In Matthew 6: 24 to 34, Jesus said: “You cannot serve both God and Money…. That is why I tell you not to worry about every-day life…. Look at the birds…your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life.... Look at the lilies of the field

how they grow…. Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are…. Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. (New Living Translation).

Does this mean then, that we don’t have to work but just trust God and all our needs will be supplied? No! it certainly doesn’t, if he did that for us it wouldn’t be long before we would be bored out of our minds. If he had meant that, he wouldn’t have designed the world with all the wonderful supply of commodities for us to use to build things and so on. Nor would he have given us the natural abilities like carpentry, mechanics, engineering etc. Certainly he gave us a world supplied with fruit and vegetables and foods of many types and in the Garden of Eden we had all these without the weeds and thistles. If people had not sinned it could have been Heaven on earth. However, in a sense we pawned our birthright of fellowship with God by yielding to the temptations of Satan, who is “the god of this world”, (2 Corinthians 4:4), and we are under his influence. If you visit a Pawn Broker and pawn some jewellery or the like, that item is his until you return with the money, plus interest, and “Redeem” it, at which time it is legally yours again. This is exactly what God did for us: he sent Jesus to pay the price of our “Redemption”: We were “Redeemed by the blood of the lamb” of God, or as Ephesians 1:7 and Colossians 1:14 put it: “in whom we have Redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace”. 1 Peter chapter five verses six and seven says: “Humble yourselves therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon him; for He careth for you.” If God has offered to take all my care upon Him, why was I foolish enough to carry it myself?  To do that was very stupid of me, (of course you wouldn’t do that, would you?)

 The fact of the matter is that when we accept God’s forgiveness through that “Redemptive” act we are automatically reinstated as “children of God” and citizens of His Kingdom with “Passport and Visa” ready so that when we finish our time here we can return home to God where our names are in “the Book of Life” (Revelation 20:12). Meanwhile, like any citizen of another Kingdom, we can work here and enjoy ourselves and if we put God’s directions first in everything we plan, think, and do we can then expect that “He will give His Angels charge over us to keep us in all our way” (Psalm 91).  We can then go forward in quiet confidence that no matter what happens “All things work together for good for those that love God, the called

according to His purpose”. We need to take a lesson from the eagles: they hardly ever flap their wings, instead they make use of the thermal up-drafts of air provided by God’s design, whilst some other birds flap constantly and wear themselves out. So we must not ‘flap’ too much, instead we must do as Proverbs 3:5 says and “Trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not to our own understanding; in all our ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct our paths”.(Proverbs 3:5). Best wishes with that, Tom.

The alternative: “He rushed through life, people said ‘he’s a wizzard’ but he died at 40 with a burned out gizzard”. (Now that’s not really a good way to live or die, is it?)

The Real Thing

I am always fascinated by trees. There are thousands of hectares of trees like these of various varieties in the Great Dividing Range along the East coast of Australia and also 
in Tasmania and Western Australia. They are part of the resources given to us as a gift for us to use, and of course, if managed properly would keep replacing themselves as they are a renewable resource. This particular type was designed to be used for telephone and electricity poles and bridges, or any construction that requires long straight planks. To save them wasting their time whilst they are growing or waiting to be used, the one who invented them, allotted them the task of purifying the air we breathe by absorbing carbon and respiring oxygen through their leaves. (He
didn’t overlook anything). I wrote about this once before mentioning the great variety of trees. Such as hard woods, soft woods, fodder trees for animals to eat, like Mulga, Rosewood and Kurrajong, and there are lots of decorative trees too, like the acacias, but as well as looking pretty they also filter the air for us. Terrific planning went into all this, and they were all made so that the bees can pollinate their flowers, and as a payment for that they were designed to supply the bees with the ingredients to make honey with varying flavours. The honey shop: “M.S. Honey”, in West Dubbo near I.G.A. have a colossal variety like those in the photo.

 When Audrey and I got married we had a
small house built for us to live in: it didn’t just accidentally evolve whilst we were on our Honeymoon either. On the contrary, we designed it before the builder commenced construction, consequently it was “purpose built” having the necessary rooms in the right places with such things as a stove, a stainless steel sink and the necessary cupboards in which to store things, and friends said it was “a nice little house and well thought out”.  

If we use our brains as we look about us, it becomes very obvious that this world is a “nice place, purpose built, and well thought out” too. We should then understand what the Bible means when it states that we have no excuse for not believing in God, as his handiwork is all around us and the closer we look the more amazed we become: It is not an inhospitable place like the Moon or Mars or Jupiter. Certainly not: it is obviously “purpose built” for us to inhabit, as it has everything we could possibly need, whether it be Iron Ore to manufacture steel, or Lavender flowers to make perfume. Walk into any Supermarket and the variety of fruit and vegetables is incredible, there are dozens of different types, each having a unique flavour and a recognisable shape and colour which we take for granted, but without those different shapes and colours selecting them would be a nightmare. They were all designed by our loving Heavenly Father so that our sojourn on Earth would be very pleasant and interesting, and if you have observed these fruits developing on the tree or vine you will have also noticed that until they are ripe they are the same colour as the leaves on the tree or vine that produces them which is very clever camouflage, (He thought of everything). We must not overlook the herbs He put there for our enjoyment either, and the berries, Strawberries, Blue berries, Raspberries etc. It is incredible to me that some people cannot see that God’s intelligent mind was necessary in order
for a brainless tree to be programmed to produce this luscious piece of fruit; to deny that God was involved, as some do, is ridiculous and implies that the brainless house we built could have invented its own stove. After all, if a tree without brains, could make fruit that is so very complex, without God’s intervention, then (using that logic) a similarly brainless house should be able to make a stove? However, it can’t. The fact is that the entire earth and everything in it was deliberately designed for our use and enjoyment by our God as recorded in the book of Genesis, and his intelligence staggers the imagination. Can you think of anything we need that He hasn’t catered for? If we had the common sense to just abide by Jesus second commandment to “Love our neighbour as we love ourselves” we would all enjoy this planet because it is only selfishness and lack of love that causes all the upset in the world. In so many countries people are too busy fighting to attend to their crops and gardens and wonder why they are hungry. This sort of stupidity can start in our family relationships too, and just spreads like an infection so we need to “nip it in the bud” and show forgiveness and love because if we don’t forgive those who trespass against us, God will not forgive us our trespasses.     Best wishes, Tom.

He Cares

When we look at babies we see the most beautiful little things, innocent, with brand

new brains that as yet contain very little knowledge. Aveline, this little Great Grand Daughter of mine (Ava, for short), lives in our English speaking Australia, and English is not a very easy language to learn, but by the time Ava is about six years old she will have a very good grasp of the language. However, Australia is a fairly isolated country and we hardly ever hear other languages spoken so if she hears another language she will not understand it, unless she studies it at school, of course.

Likewise, she was born into a devout Christian family so will visit a church to worship God every Sunday, will say grace at meal times, and pray for family and loved ones as well as lots of other people before going to bed at night or to school each day. Therefore, by the time she is about six years old she will not only understand English, but will also look on Christianity as a normal part of her life and if she hears someone say that Jesus was the “Son of God”, she will have no problem accepting that.

I know all this is true because I was brought up in a similar manner. However, in recent times there have been a lot of people from foreign countries coming to live in Australian and these people, in many cases, don’t speak or understand the English language very well, and to complicate the matter still further they often don’t understand the Christian way of thinking, so if they hear me talk of Jesus as “the Son of God” or talk about Him being “Divine” they may well think I am being sacrilegious, and even deserve to die for making such a statement about a person, after all, (when you think about it), it was the very religious Jews who arranged for Jesus to be Crucified because he made such a claim, and people don’t change: for example, the war in Syria at the moment is between two religious groups who just have two different interpretations of the same religion. Considering all the above and its importance to the future of peace and understanding within our land, I will attempt to explain, very briefly, why Christians believe the way they do and what backing they have for their beliefs, (obviously I will have to leave a lot out or this will become a book). Of one thing you can be certain though: I love my God and would never be sacrilegious.

Firstly, then, Jesus was born to a virgin and I am pleased that the Muslims believe this too. Virgin birth does occasionally occur.  It happens under a process which is called parthenogenesis. However, on her own a woman cannot produce a male baby, only a female. That is why when the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary (as recorded in Luke 1 verse 26) He said in verse 35 “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the highest will overshadow you therefore also the Holy One who is to be born will be called The Son of God”. A deliberately arranged virgin berth would be miracle enough, but a male baby as well, requires God’s intervention.                                                                                                                           At 12 years of age Jesus showed that he knew who His Real Father was: on a visit to Jerusalem he became parted from his family and when they found him he was “in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, (religious leaders), both hearing them and asking them questions, and all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers”. When Mary said they had been looking for him everywhere, he replied, didn’t you realise “that I must be about my Father’s business”. (Luke 2: 49).

When he reached manhood he had many followers, but the closest ones were the 12 disciples who were with him constantly: they saw him feed five thousand men plus women and children with 5 loaves and 2 small fish and collect 12 baskets full of leftovers, and later feed four thousand in a similar manner. They saw him walk on water, heal mentally and physically sick people. Raise the dead, one of which had been dead for 4 days and whose body was putrid. But when he said “Lazarus come forth” he came out of his tomb perfect. They heard him tell a raging storm “peace be still” and it stopped immediately. They heard him preach wonderful sermons, and when he asked these disciples who they thought he was, Peter replied immediately: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” and his reply was: “Flesh and blood has not revealed this unto you but My Father in heaven”. Then speaking to Phillip he said: “he who has seen me has seen the Father, for I and the Father are one”. For this sort of statement, the Jews had him crucified and he went along with that because it was the reason he came to earth (to die for the sins of all of us so God could forgive us and accept us into heaven, if we repent and believe on Jesus (John 3:16)). Of course that wasn’t the end of him. After 3 days he rose from the dead and mingled with the disciples and others for many weeks; just appearing in locked rooms but nevertheless having a body that was solid to the touch (not like a ghost).

I have run out of room, so I will continue next week, or you can read the New Testament. It is all there.  Best wishes, Tom.

He Continues to Care

Last week, under the heading “He Cares” I was writing about Jesus and ran out of room so here is a “Post Script” to help complete the picture.

Having been in Jesus company for a number of years, his disciples, were devastated when he was suddenly crucified, but he anticipated that and because he cared for people he spoke to John from the cross, even though he was in great pain, and asked him to look after his mother, Mary. Which John did from then on. You will also recall that Peter, who said that he would never forsake Jesus, did actually deny knowing him three times, at Jesus’ trial, and was very upset when the full realisation of what he had done dawned on him. However, Jesus showed his compassion as recorded in Mark 16: 7, where the angel sitting in the empty tomb told the ladies, who had come to anoint Jesus body with spices, that Jesus had risen and to go and tell the disciples and Peter, that he would meet them in Galilee. Jesus subsequently went to a lot of effort to tell Peter to “feed his sheep and feed his lambs”. It is very reassuring that when we let Jesus down without meaning to, we can ask his forgiveness and receive it.

In the last article, I was remarking on the fact that after his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples, and many other people, over a period of 40 days, not as a Ghost, but in complete bodily form. John 20 verse 19 is a good example: the disciples were gathered in a locked room for fear of the Jews and Jesus just appeared and showed them his wounded hands, feet and pierced side, and in Chapter 21, seven of the disciples spent the night fishing and caught nothing. Jesus was standing on the shore as they returned, although they didn’t recognise him. He called out to them, asking if they had caught anything and when they replied “no” he told them to cast the net on the right side of the boat and immediately their net was full with 153 large fish.

It was then that John recognised Jesus and told Peter “It is the Lord” and when they came ashore, Jesus already had fish cooking on coals, and some bread ready. A very welcome sight, I’m sure, you see He showed how he cares in that case by providing fish for them to sell as well as a very much appreciated breakfast and they were also astounded that even with such a large catch they were able to pull it ashore without the net tearing.

After his resurrection he spent a lot of time with them; reassuring them and helping them to come to terms with what had happened and explaining what it all meant. Finally, though, he had to go back to the Father, but he didn’t just leave them (and us who have been born since), without help to cope with life and all the difficulties and trials that are a normal part of living. His actual words were “It is expedient for you that I go: because if I don’t go, He cannot come”. The “He” mentioned here is the Holy Spirit, and Jesus told his followers to virtually “do nothing” until they received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in a few days’ time. (Luke 24:49 and Acts1:4&5). This confirms what Jesus said prior to his Crucifixion, as recorded in John 14:26, where he promised that the Father would send the Holy Spirit to be their Comforter and would remind them of the things he had said. We see then that God wants to help Jesus followers in a very special way.

Let me explain how this is to work out in practice: If you have ever been extremely cold and had a hot shower or a hot bath to “thaw out” you will recall that the warmth of the water finds its way into every portion of your body and you feel warm through and through and if you come out and place your hand on someone cold they will exclaim “Oh your hand is so lovely and warm” as you impart some of your warmth to them. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is somewhat similar to that, because the original meaning of “baptism” was to submerse something e.g. a sunken ship was said to be baptised in the sea. Likewise, a piece of cloth submersed in dye to change its colour was said to be baptised in the liquid. Similarly, then, God wants us to be saturated with the characteristics of the Holy Spirit, just as the person in the hot bath absorbed the waters warmth. And just as that absorbing of warmth was a quiet, comforting and exhilarating experience so is the Holy Spirits anointing. The difference being that He doesn’t just help us and then move on as Paul points out in 1 Corinthians 6:19 & 20, “What, know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you?” etc. Thus we can be assured of His continuing presence and guidance as we endeavour to live the Christian life. Therefore, the “fruit of the Spirit”: Love, Joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self- control, and faithfulness, should become evident in us., with the overall aim of blessing others with love and kindness so they too feel the “warmth” of His love.

Best wishes,  Tom.

Hot Cross Buns Already

Christmas is just over and people celebrated the birth of Jesus in some wonderful ways: houses were decorated inside and out, families and friends came together for dinner or a BBQ and presents were exchanged, the spirit of love and fellowship was everywhere; even total strangers greeted each other with “Merry Christmas” as they passed. Shop keepers did very well too, so are now gearing up for the Easter celebration with Hot Cross buns. And Easter eggs that represent “new birth” will soon be everywhere. Some manufacturers lost the plot last year though, as chocolate eggs called “Angry birds” appeared on the shelves replacing many Easter Eggs, and “anger” has no place at Easter as it is forgiveness time. Also, Easter bunnies will be everywhere too and they are just a commercial gimmick representing nothing but a bit of entertainment for children. One may well ask “How come that the celebrations of Christmas and Easter are so close together anyway”? Well it is just that if you are going to celebrate each of them annually, you don’t have much choice. Actually these two events, happened over 30 years apart, but we don’t want to wait that long to commemorate something so important do we? And I’m sure the shops don’t want to wait 30 years either, (but, of course, they have other reasons).

God never does anything by halves: whatever He does, He does it well.  Therefore, when He created the first man and woman, He created them as fully grown adults: He had to of course, as they had no parents to look after them. Whereas when He decided to send Jesus to be crucified, (so that he could be our “substitute” and bear all our sin), there was quite a list of conditions that had to be observed: it was

necessary that Christ Jesus had to grow from a baby to an adult, as we did, in order to be “tempted on all points like as we are, (and be) yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15) so he could “represent us.” Now to achieve that it was necessary that Jesus should grow up in a home situation with a Mum and Dad and brothers and sisters, be educated the same as other children, live in an ordinary “working class” family, learn a trade, mix with other families, relate to the many workers in the district like shepherds, get to know the fishermen, watch the grapes being picked in the vineyards, take an interest in the Roman Occupation Forces and observe their behaviour and a lot more, as well as observing the Jewish religious traditions such as learning the Scriptures (Old Testament) with its history of Creation (which interestingly, he had been involved in as the Word of God). He had to also observe the Sabbath, and worship regularly at the Synagogue.

In addition to the usual temptations that he would have encountered, which cause us to sin, things like pride, jealousy, resentment, selfishness and so on, Jesus also had to contend with temptations that were unique to him because of who he was, (Matthew 4:1) and were placed before him by Satan (“the ruler of this world”) (John 12:31), who wanted to side track him into becoming famous in a “worldly” sense and thus render him useless to achieve our salvation. This must have really been a severe temptation, as Jesus knew the scriptures that predicted his life and death on earth. Indeed, he read some of it to the people in the Synagogue, and he therefore knew that to achieve our Salvation he would have to be crucified, and that was a dreadful way to die. Indeed, in the Garden of Gethsemane he prayed to God and asked if it was possible for him to avoid being crucified, but nevertheless he said “Not my will but thine be done”. Oh how he loves us!

Because of his remarkable sacrifice, and because he was both a sinless human and Divine, he alone was able to act as a “substitute” for every one of us, and is now able to offer us forgiveness for any sin we have committed. Certainly if we have done something that broke the law of our land we will still have to accept what punishment our courts may impose, but as far as God is concerned, if we ask his forgiveness and repent, our “Passport” to Heaven is assured.

Do hope you have claimed your “Passport”.   Best wishes, Tom. 

Political Correctness or Stupidity

One of our Politicians recently commented that Australia is a Christian country and was immediately cried down by the Greens and some other very vocal groups because they considered that a statement like that could be offensive to some of the people who have recently migrated here and were of a different religion, as well as some other groups that already live here and do not embrace Christianity, or have no religion at all.

 Now, to object to his comment is just a load of garbage, because if a thing is true then it is true and, as they say “the proof of a pudding is in the eating”: The majority of Australians do claim Christianity as their religion and no matter what a person living here believes or doesn’t believe, they are nevertheless reaping the benefits of Christianity every minute they reside here.  Because when the British people settled in this country they brought Christianity with them and established a government with a constitution similar to the British Westminster model which was based on the New Testament values of love and concern for others. Such values are second to none, and that is why our treatment of people is so humane, with such good Social service assistance available to the elderly, to the unemployed or those unable to work, good medical services, free education to all, irrespective of sex, race or religion. And so on it goes; which simply means that our laws conform to Jesus second Commandment: “You shall love your neighbour as you love yourself”.

 The true Christian endeavours to achieve that way of living, and when you have millions of people endeavouring to live like that, then you have a good country to live in, and need not be ashamed to call it a “Christian Country”; indeed, we should be thrilled to do so. Other countries are not ashamed to call themselves “Buddhist”, “Muslim”, etc. or even Communist, so why should we bow to all this “Political Correctness” stupidity?

As I look around our country and observe all its freedoms I am so thankful to God for His guidance by showing us to love and be considerate to others instead of being hateful and selfish. “Not that I have already attained”, (perfection in the way God wants me to behave), “but I press on” (Philippians 3:12). This was the Apostle Paul’s statement to the Christians at Philippi, and I guess we all feel like that, but for all our imperfections in striving to do things the way Christ instructed us, we nevertheless have come a long way and have a country that is attractive to other people. Thus they want

to come and live here in amongst the trees and gardens with no fear of terrorism, because Christians are not terrorists. You see, Christ preached forgiveness and love, not terror or hate.

There is also an abundance of good schools, some are Church schools and some are Government controlled, but they all teach the same curriculum and accept children irrespective of what their creed or skin colour or who their parents

are.

So if you are a new comer to this country; enjoy it and make the most of the opportunities that Practical Christianity provides, and if you are a citizen then you can be justifiably proud of our Christian country.       Best wishes, Tom.