TWENTY SEVENTEEN -
PART 32
Hello Folks,
The Bothas have not increased the
rent so it looks as though we will still continue to live in this shoe box .
Monday 31st July - Andy pays his
contribution into the bank.
Tuesday first of August - today is Japie's 72nd birthday. Jeff (my grandson) phones with more bad
news - He is in the hospital having
tests done. Today he has to swallow scope etc.
He has an inflamed pancreas. Apparently he has been ill for about
a month now.
2nd August - more tests for Jeff.
Guy comes to re-gas our fridge, it has not been in working order for more
than seven months now - after
this is done he discovers that the compressor is not working. He will come with a new compressor
tomorrow.
4th August - more tests for Jeff.
New compressor installed - total
cost R1450 - very little of our
R15000 left. The guy who worked
on the fridge tells us to wait for
10 minutes before the fridge will
start working (It needs time to
settle) and leaves, with our money
is his pocket. Within the next ten minutes the power trips -
We try everything to get it to work -
we switch the chest freezer and our other fridge off but power still trips,
we switch off all appliances but the power still trips.
Nothing we try works.
Botha's have run out of pre-paid
power units again today. Ruth
phones the guy about the fridge and
he gives some "cock and bull" story about us allowing the power trip too many times and so now he will have
to release the gas and drain
something or other before he can
re-gas - this will cost us another
R450. We decide, because of all our other problems we will leave the
fridge for now.
5th August more tests for Jeff. He is
still in the hospital and is due for more tests on the 8th - he might have to have an operation. Glen, Jeff's uncle is
having a knee replacement operation today. My eyes are also bad again,
and we are without Escom power for
an hour.
6th - My eyes are still bad.
We are also having
more than usual difficulty with the power here. It keeps tripping and we
can't even use two
power points at the same time. To add
to this we have had two and a half hours without
power from Escom today.
I managed to complete two blog
posts today. I am getting worried,
my blog posts are being depleted
and I am not able to keep up with replenishing them, if my eyes are
not too sore then there is no
power.
7th - More tests for Jeff - he is on two drips one for feeding purposes and another for something else - probably medication.
next post 26th November
MY FAVORITE PSALMS
PART 87
Look upon my affliction and rescue me
For I do not forget Thy law
Plead my cause and redeem me
Revive me according to Thy Word
Salvation is far from the wicked
For they do not seek Thy statutes
Great are Thy mercies, O Lord,
Revive me according to Thine
ordinances
Many are my persecutors and my
adversaries.
Yet, I do not turn aside from Thy
testimonies.
I behold the treacherous and loathe
them,
Because they do not keep Thy Word.
Consider how I love Thy precepts
Revive me, O Lord, according to Thy
loving kindness ;
The sum of Thy Word is truth
and everyone of Thy righteous
ordinances is everlasting.
Princes persecute me without cause
But my heart stands in awe of Thy
Words
I rejoice in Thy Word
as one who finds great spoil.
I hate and despise falsehood
But I love Thy law.
Seven times a day I praise Thee.
Because of Thy righteous
ordinances.
Those who love Thy law have
great peace.
And nothing causes them to
stumble.
I hope for Thy salvation,
O Lord,
and do Thy commandments
My soul keeps Thy testimonies
and I love them exceedingly
I keep Thy precepts and Thy
testimonies
for all my ways are before Thee
Let my cry come before
Thee, O Lord.
give me understanding according to Thy Word
Let my supplication come before Thee
Deliver me according
to Thy Word
Let my lips utter praise
For Thou dost teach me Thy statutes
Let my tongue sing of Thy Word
For all Thy commandments are
righteousness.
Let Thy hand be ready to help me
For I have chosen Thy precepts.
I long for Thy salvation, O Lord,
and Thy law is my delight
Let my soul live that it may praise
Thee.
And let Thine ordinances help me
I have gone astray like a lost sheep;
seek Thy servant for I do not forget
Thy commandments.
next post 24th November
ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY
- PART 57
(Mark Cahill's Book)
Fifth Commandment
Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord, thy God, giveth thee.
Exodus 20:12
This is a completely unconditional statement. We are supposed to honour our parents just because they are our parents. We don't get to choose who our parents are. We are to obey them just because God put them over us. We are to acknowledge the significance and great value of our parents.
In return we get great blessing: long life.
This is emphasized in the New Testament:
CHILDREN obey your parents in the
Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and thy mother, which is the first commandment with promise; that it may be well with thee, and thou
mayest live long on the earth.
(Ephesians 6:1-3)
We dishonor our parents when we
treat them lightly or with disrespect.
Our attitude toward our parents will precondition our attitude toward the authority figures that we encounter in life.
This commandment
has nothing to do with
our opinion of our
parent's worthiness, but deals with the obedience and respect children
should show toward their parents, no
matter how worthy or unworthy the parents may seem.
"Foolishness," says the Bible, (Proverbs : 22:15) "is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of
correction shall drive it far from
him."
That is, we learn to be wise by the correction of our parents, which
deters us from obeying foolish
childish impulses. We don't like being deterred from foolishness, but it
serves to help us grow in wisdom.
If we rebel against our parent's care
for us, we are being worse than
foolish.
For rebellion is as the sin of
witchcraft and stubborness is as iniquity and idolatry.
(1st Samuel 15:23)
God considers rebellion the same
as witchcraft. Why would that be?
Because witchcraft is turning to a source other than God to get results.
And rebellion is refusing guidance
and determining, instead, to impose your own will on a person or
situation.
Stubborness is as iniquity and
idolatry. If we do not submit to our parents, we do not, and cannot
submit to God either.
Basketball was my sport when I was
a young man. When I was in high school, we were playing Columbia
High School for the sub-region championship. The first time we
played them we beat them 69-66.
That night I scored 36 points. If you
ever score more than half your
team's , you've had a good game.
The next time we played them for
the championship, I scored 9 points
and we lost. I was terrible.Late in the game I felt that the referee had made
a bad call. I'd been knocked to the ground but he didn't call the foul.
I slapped the floor and said "Get in
the game Ref!" He gave me a
technical foul. I flipped him off and
actually cursed
at him. He gave me another technical foul. I definitely earned that one.
As this was happening, my parents
had a perfect view of their lovely, disobedient son, making a fool out of himself.
When I went home that night, after
the game, my parents didn't say a
word. They didn't have to . I knew I
had stepped over the line of bad behaviour. I actually did the Carl
Lewis long jump over the line of bad behaviour. I was not a believer in God
at that point in my life, but even then
I knew I should not have dishonored
my parents like that.
Once, during the night after I had spoken at an event, an 18 year old
man came up to talk to me. But he couldn't talk at first. He just sat
there and wept.
Eventually he told me that when I mentioned this commandment of
God to honor our parents, God
brought to mind all the things he
had done to dishonor his parents
since he was five years old.
Have you honored your parents
since the moment of birth until
now? Just like the rest of us you
have broken this commandment.
next post 20th November
ONE HEARTBEAT
AWAY
- PART 56
(Mark Cahill's Book)
Fourth Commandment
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God, in it thou shalt not do any work. Thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates.
For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day:
wherefore the Lord blessed the
sabbath day and hallowed it.
(Exodus 20:8-11)
God has set aside one day a week for
us to rest. It is a gift that God has given us. We are not supposed to do our jobs, or any other work on the Sabbath. God cares about our entire being.
During the time of Moses, those who worked on the Sabbath would be
stoned to death. People today say that the death penalty is not a deterrent to crime, but studies show that when it's enforced the crime rate is low. I believe that is why the Bible records only one account of stoning someone for breaking the Sabbath.
(Numbers 13:32-36)
Most Christians consider the first day
of the week (Sunday) to be the Sabbath. Do we set aside the day to spend extra time with God? Or is it the day that we catch up on our sleep from the week?
Why do we see so many soccer tournaments on Sunday mornings
now ? Is it a day that we catch up
on our exercise that we missed
during the week?
No matter how we define keeping
the Sabbath, none of us has kept the way God designed it to be kept.
next post 16th November
ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY
- PART 55
(Mark Cahill's Book)
Third Commandment
Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His Name in vain. (Exodus 20:7)
What does "in vain" mean ? It means
"Uselessly," or "to no avail," for instance we might say: "My efforts to achieve the goal were in vain. "
Taking the Name of God means to
speak it irrelevantly, uselessly,
because we are not really
addressing Him.
To do this shows that we have
contempt for Him. Perhaps without knowing it, we we are taking
something mighty and powerful
and trying to diminish it, cheapen
it by the way we use it.
In the Old Testament people were
given the death penalty for speaking God's Name irrelevantly. Some
Jews consider the Name of God so
Holy they speak or write it at all, lest they inadvertently break this commandment.
How can someone fear God and use
His Name in vain? Some people
speak evil of God and accuse Him of evil. Some make promises to God
that they do not keep. Some say: "I swear to God!" And havent a clue to what they just said.
If we complain against God, or
denigrate His Name, and Character,
we are taking His Name in vain.
Here is a sad example: On a flight to
Newark recently no one was sitting
next to me. That was kind of odd since
I had prayed for someone to sit next to me so that I could talk to them about
the Lord. But there was a guy next to
me across the aisle.
I usually don't talk across the aisle because there are people going back and forth, and that cuts the flow of conversation.
After a while though, and after
praying I decided to see if that guy wanted to engage in conversation.
He did.
His name was Michael. He told me
that his birthday was September
11th. He told me that on his birthday,
in 2001, his sister-in-law who worked
in the World Trade Centre wanted him to come there to get his gift.
So he went there. She came down at 8.45am three minutes later, the first plane hit that building. He told her to run. She worked on one of the floors where everyone was killed except
her. He told me that he was right
there when the 2nd plane hit.
He said it was terryfying. He told me
that he was standing there as a lady came hurtling down, hit a street sign and was split in two.
Because he is a professional masseur, he stayed there to work on the firemen. As we talked he told me that he was homosexual, and wanted to know if he was going to hell because of that.
Twice he motioned towards his bag
and said, "if I am going there, I have
my suntan lotion right here."
During our conversation
he would continually mock God. It made me want to never ever mock God, or take His Name wrongly again. It makes me thankful for God's life-changing presence with His people. I continue to pray for the salvation of Michael. He lives in a world that has contempt for God and has no fear of using His dear Name as a curse word.
How many times, watching a sporting event, have you read the lips of players
and coaches as they took the Holy Name of God in vain? Even using His Name in a flippant, or joking manner, is not right with God. JC or GD are not respectful ways to talk about the
Creator of the universe.
Phillipians 2 : 9-11 says:
Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted Him, and given Him a Name
that is above every name. That at the Name of Jesus, every knee should
bow, of things in heaven and things
in earth and things under the earth.
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father.
The most righteous, Holy Name in the universe has been brought down to common use as a vile curse word. Ask yourself :" Have I broken the Third Commandment by taking the Name of God in vain?"
next post 14th November
PRAISING GOD PART 8
In Thee O Lord I have taken refuge,
let me never be ashamed.
In Thy righteousness deliver me,
Incline Thine ear to me,
rescue me quickly.
Be Thou to me a rock of strength
a stronghold to save me
For Thou art my rock and my fortress
For Thy Name's sake, Thou wilt
lead me and guide me.
Thou wilt pull me out of the net
which they have secretly laid for me.
For Thou art my strength
Into Thy hands I commit my spirit.
Thou hast ransomed me, O Lord
God of truth.
I hate those who regard vain idols
But I trust in the Lord
I will rejoice and be glad in Thy
Loving kindness
Because Thou hast seen my affliction
Thou hast known the troubles of my soul
And Thou has not given me over into the
hands of the enemy
Thou hast set me feet in a large place
But as for me, I trust in Thee, O Lord,
Be gracious to me O Lord, for I am in
distress
My eye is wasted away from grief, my
soul and my body also
But as for me, I trust in Thee O Lord,
I say "Thou art my God. my times are
in Your hands."
Make Thy face to shine upon Thy servant
Save me in Thy loving kindness
Let me not be put to shame, O Lord,
for I call upon Thy Name.
How great is Thy goodness
which Thou hast stored up for those who fear Thee
Which Thou hast wrought for those who take refuge in Thee.
Thou dost hide them in the secret place
of Thy presence
from the conspiracies of man
Thou dost keep them secretly in a shelter
from the strife of tongues.
Blessed be the Lord.
for He has made marvelous His
loving kindness to me in a besieged city
As for me, I said in my alarm
"I am cut off from before Thine eyes."
Nevertheless Thou didst hear the voice
of my supplications
When I cried to Thee.
O love the Lord, all you His godly ones!
The Lord preserves the faithful,
and fully recompenses the proud doer,
Be strong and let your heart take courage
All you, who hope in the Lord.
next post 18th November
MY FAVORITE PSALMS
PART 86
Thy testimonies are wonderful
Therefore my soul observes them
The unfolding of Thy words gives light
It gives understanding to the simple
I opened my mouth wide and panted
For I longed for Thy commandment
Turn to me and be gracious to me
After Thy manner with those who
love Thy Name
Establish my footsteps in Thy Word
And do not let any iniquity have
dominion over me.
Redeem me from the oppression
of man.
That I may keep Thy precepts
Make Thy face shine upon Thy
servant
And teach me Thy statutes
My eyes shed streams of water
Because they do not keep Thy law.
Righteous art Thou, O Lord
And upright in Thy judgments
Thou hast commanded Thy
testimonies in righteousness
and exceeding faithfulness.
My zeal has consumed me
because my adversaries have
forgotten Thy words.
Thy Word is very pure
therefore Thy servant loves it.
I am small and despised
Yet I do not forget Thy precepts.
Thy righteousness is an
everlasting righteousness
and Thy law is truth
Trouble and anguish have come
upon me
Yet Thy commandments are my
delight
Thy testimonies are righteous
forever.
Give me understanding that I
may live.
I cried with all my heart
answer me O Lord! I will
observe Thy statutes
I cried to Thee, save me and I shall keep Thy testimonies.
I rise before dawn and
cry for help:
I wait for Thy words
My eyes anticipate the
night watches.
Hear my voice according to
Thy loving kindness.
Revive me, O Lord, according
to Thine ordinances.
Those who follow after wickedness
draw near;
they are far from Thy law.
Thou art near, O Lord,
and all Thy commandments are
truth.
Of old I have known from Thy
testimonies
That Thou hast founded them
forever.
next post 17th November
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