Month: June 2023

Imagine if Jesus came to our little town

June 29, 2023

This morning when I was doing my devotions the words, “Imagine if Jesus came to our town” popped into my mind.

Imagine if Jesus came to our small town. Wow that would be awesome! But then I started to think about the things He would do?

As my mind wandered I imagined Jesus starting His day on the Peak. It is a solitary place overlooking town where He could pray to His Father.

When He came down where would He go? I suspect to where the people were. My first thought was the main street where all of the shops are. I could see Him interacting with people. Preaching, teaching and healing like He did in the Bible.

Then I could see Him crossing over the railway line and going to Hospital and the Nursing Home. Praying for and encouraging people who were sick. Some would be miraculously healed and many would be set free.

After that I could see Him going to the western end of main Street where the bakery is found. I could see Him encouraging the people in the street and then sitting across from the bakery waiting for the lunchtime crowd.

As people came and went I could imagine Him talking about the Bread of Life and having spiritual food that never runs out. People would forget their physical hunger and crave the spiritual food He would give.

From there I could see Jesus going to the primary school and shooting hoops and kicking the footy with the kids. When He was tired I could see Him sitting with all of the pre-school kids on His lap and even more gathered around. He would be sharing the Parables.

As day turned to night I could see Him looking for a place to sleep. I could imagine that rather than staying in the best hotel in town, I could see Him curled up in a doorway with one of the homeless people who sleep rough every night.

The next day He would wake and do it all again in… or move on to some other town that His Father in heaven showed Him.

If Jesus came to town… I suspect it would be about people. It would be about blessing, encouraging, healing, loving and saving people – all people. It would be about showing God’s love and God’s Kingdom to everyone.

God Bless,
Dave

Befriend your enemies

June 27, 2023

I really like today’s Our Daily Bread…

Dan endured daily beatings from the same prison guard. He felt compelled by Jesus to love this man, so one morning, before the beating was about to begin, Dan said, “Sir, if I’m going to see you every day for the rest of my life, let’s become friends.” The guard said, “No sir. We can never be friends.” Dan insisted and reached out his hand.

The guard froze. He began to shake, then grabbed Dan’s hand and wouldn’t let go. Tears streamed down his face. He said, “Dan, my name is Rosoc. I would love to be your friend.” The guard didn’t beat Dan that day, or ever again.

Scripture tells us, “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you” (Proverbs 25:21–22). The “coals” imagery may reflect an Egyptian ritual in which a guilty person showed his repentance by carrying a bowl of hot coals on his head. Similarly, our kindness may cause our enemies to become red in the face from embarrassment, which may lead them to repentance.

Who is your enemy? Whom do you dislike? Dan discovered that the kindness of Christ was strong enough to change any heart—his enemy’s and his own. We can too.

Dear Jesus, I praise You that Your kindness leads me to repentance and inspires me to be kind to my enemies. Amen.

Books that impacted me part 3

June 24, 2023

Today I want to share another book that really impacted me. It is “The power of positive thinking” by Norman Vincent Peale.

I read this book when I was looking for positive thinking books in a bookstore. I was not a Christian yet, but I realised my thought life was very negative. I did not expect or even hope good things would happen. It was a very sad place to be.

When I picked it up I did not realise the author was a Christian minister. Being where I was mentally, I am not sure if I would have picked it up if I did. Looking back I am very glad I did!

Right from the first few pages I realised it was full of positive thoughts, hope and faith. It had lots of positive stories from the author and people he had helped. Even though I was in a dark place mentally, I could feel it slowly penetrating the dark thoughts of my interior world.

The further I got into the book I could feel hope building and I could feel faith in God starting to blossom. The way he spoke about God being for us, being created in God’s image and being gifted by God to do good things really started to change my outlook.

As I look back I can see how this book was key in changing my negative attitudes, especially the way I thought about myself and how I spoke to myself mentally. I have often said to people, if I spoke to you how I speak to myself mentally, you would not want to be my friend.

The Power of Positive Thinking really changed my thinking about myself and my outlook on life. It also provided a very strong link in the chain of me finding faith in Christ.

Here is the blurb from the publisher…

The phenomenal and inspiring bestseller by the father of positive thinking. THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING is a practical, direct-action application of spiritual techniques to overcome defeat and win confidence, success and joy. Norman Vincent Peale, the father of positive thinking and one of the most widely read inspirational writers of all time, shares his famous formula of faith and optimism which millions of people have taken as their own simple and effective philosophy of living. His gentle guidance helps to eliminate defeatist attitudes, to know the power you posess and to make the best of your life.

Favourite thing about myself

June 21, 2023

What’s your favorite thing about yourself?

Today’s WordPress question is an interesting one. The favourite thing about yourself.

To be honest this is not something I usually think about. But if I am pressed I would have to say my discipline in exercise.

I have trained six days a week for all of my adult life. That is is 38 years and counting. I started a gym program when I turned 18 and have stuck to it ever since.

My base program has revolves around three days of full body weights in my gym. The other three days are riding an exercise bike or going for a ride.

On top of this I play all types of sport with the kids at schools where I am Chaplain and on my days off I might go for a walk up our rock that overlooks our town.

Last Sunday I finished a 42 day fitness challenge for my work where we recorded all of our exercises. I did 4000 minutes in the 42 days. That is a bit over 95 minutes a day.

So what do I like most about myself. I would have to say my discipline in exercise.

Books that impacted me part 2

June 17, 2023

The second book that had a real impact on me was John Stott’s “The Radical Disciple”. I read this about 10 years ago.

Rev Dr. John Stott is known worldwide as a Bible teacher, writer, pastor and mission-leader. He was awarded the CBE in the Queens 2006 New Year Honours. Stott was honored by Time magazine in 2005 as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World.”

I read the book at the recommendation of my wife who read it and really loved it. Often she would read a paragraph at a time and pause to reflect on the depth of his teaching. This got me really interested!

In his book Rev Stott touches on a number of areas including Non-conformity, Christlikeness, Maturity, Creation-care, Simplicity, Balance, Dependence and finally Death. Each chapter has powerful lessons.

Here is the blurb from the publisher…

“What is a life of radical discipleship? At root, it means we let Jesus set the agenda of our lives. We aren’t selective. We don’t pick and choose what is cosy and stay away from what is costly. He is Lord of all of life. In the last book by a Christian leader who was himself a radical disciple, John Stott opens up what it means at root to be a follower of Jesus. He explores eight aspects of Christian discipleship that we need to pay much closer attention to. The message is simple, classic and personal: Jesus is Lord. He calls. We follow.”