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We are bombarded at every turn with news that shocks us or fills us with sadness, leaving us feeling helpless and hopeless. Shocking things are happening at every turn and we are unable to rid ourselves of that overwhelm. We learn to live with it, but rising up each day is an effort and our days are marked with weariness that will not go away.

What happened? I don’t recall it ever being like this before! Since the world stood still in 2020 things have never been the same! And no matter how much effort is made, things are never going to be the same again.  However, contrary to natural thinking, this can be a blessing in disguise!

There is nothing like a trial in life to cause us to lose our hold on those things that we were grasping onto before. God has something so much better for those who are trusting in Him than the best this sad old world has to give.

When we prosper, when we are in good health, and when all seems to be well, we have little regard for that which is of real value. We are ticking along on our own and enjoying our so called independence. But just let a bit of suffering come our way and suddenly we view life and its trinkets from a very different perspective. Suddenly that which we leaned upon and even took for granted is no longer sufficient for our needs.

How is it possible to live at such a time as this without being consumed?

The answer is found as always in the precious Word of God:

“… Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself,
lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”
Hebrews 12: 3

Take time out from the busyness of this insane world in which we are living, and consider the One who knew first hand what it was like to live among people who were attempting to make His life as difficult as possible. At every turn there was somebody waiting to catch Him and condemn Him in His words or deeds.

Consider Him, because in doing so we will learn how to navigate our way through each day as they come. Without such consideration we can and often get ‘weary and faint in our minds’.

But where do we begin? How can merely considering, remembering, and thinking on Him lift us up and enable us to get on with living?

The Lord Jesus pinpointed the answer for us by drawing our attention to the importance of learning and growing, which in turn would enable us to better ‘consider Him’. This is His timeless invitation to one and all:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me;
for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11: 29-31

His definition of weary and fainthearted is ‘weary and heavy laden’. And He invites us to ‘Come unto Him’; for He not only has the answer to our weariness, but He IS the answer!

His rest is the antithesis to being weary and faint in our minds!

The answer to this all lies in drawing near to Him, slipping under His yoke, (the one He tailor made for us), and ‘learning of Him’! He wants us to discover how precious His character is. He wants us to get to know Him intimately, not just follow Him ‘afar off’. He came to be so much more to us than the Saviour from our sins only, but He came to be the Lover of our souls! He wants us to treasure everything about Him we will learn.

He introduces Himself to us as the One who is ‘meek and lowly in heart’. This is the One who is in essence all powerful, but He exercises complete control with that power. And along with this power under His control, He is humble! Imagine that! Almighty God is a humble God! And He in a human body displayed His humble character through His precious only begotten Son. Truly we cannot but profit greatly by learning of such a One as He!

And the promise to those who do come, and learn of Him is: ‘ye shall find rest unto your souls’. What a promise this is! He didn’t tell us that ‘you may find’ but ‘ye shall find rest…’ And I might add in passing: finding something is usually the result of searching for it in the first place! What a precious reward for responding to His invitation to ‘come…’!

Once we have come to know precious and personal things about the One who loves us so, another verse of Scripture is brought before us that comes in the form of a precious promise, which answers our frailty and likelihood of being overcome as the world system attempts to envelop us:

“… They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles;
they shall run, and not be weary;
and they shall walk, and not faint.”
Isaiah 40: 31

Having considered such a One as He who lived in this hostile environment every day of His life, and having learned something of His precious character, we begin to grow in assurance of the One in whom we are trusting. ‘Waiting upon Him’ will then become our spiritual goal. And in doing so, our strength will be changed so that we can become people of courage and integrity.

There is nothing to match a deep, personal and intimate knowledge of God.

Such treasure from high places abiding in the heart will anchor us firmly upon Him, enabling us to live powerful lives in the very place where He has carefully situated us. Perhaps as students, homemakers, employees. Perhaps as parents, grandparents. Perhaps as carers or those being cared for. The list goes on and on. This means anyone from any walk of life, from any generation. Nobody excluded!

Waiting upon such a One as He, means handing all that we are and have over to His dominion. Waiting upon Him, serving Him, waiting for Him, and learning of Him empowers us with strength we never had before to do things we would never have been able to do naturally.

Imagine being like the eagle soaring high above the earth, seeing life from a very different perspective. The very storm that troubles people under it drives the eagle upwards. With effortless majestic beauty he spreads his wings and up he goes. Just remember the Bible says of those of us who have trusted in the Lord Jesus that: “Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world,” (1 John 4: 4), so we have the potential to be ‘as eagles’ entertaining elevated thoughts from heavenly places while manoeuvring our way through daily living here and now!

This surely gives meaning to what it is to ‘run, and not be weary; and to walk, and not faint’!

God has given to us a race to run, and a path to walk, and with our eyes fixed on our beloved Lord we will arrive at our destination without falling by the way. 

“… Let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith”
Hebrews 12: 1-2
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
Ephesians 2: 10

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Related Link - Wait On Him (Poem)

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Here's how to know for sure you can be among those who are certain and ready for heaven 
It's as simple as 'ABC'

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“… The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not,
lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
2 Corinthians 4: 4

Why is it that people shy away from the Christian Gospel message? After all, it is a message of hope and cheer, and who doesn’t want or need hope and cheer in these turbulent days in which we are living? It is as if they are afraid of something. And in so doing they deprive themselves of the most blessed life one could possibly have.

I see people everyday existing from one day to another. Some exist in humble fashion and others are more illustrious in their existence, but existing is all it is!

This is the only sort of life a person without hope can know without the living God in their lives.

Perhaps they are afraid that He will take something away from them, or perhaps they are afraid of having to do something they are not comfortable with, or maybe they are too comfortable where they are, so they hide away!

Well, it Is true that He will take something away from them if they come to Him and trust in Him fully! It is the guilt, the shame, the power, and the consequences of their sin He will remove. Sin is a great burden to bear!

We were with friends a little while ago and a thought came to the surface in conversation on this subject that is worthy of sharing. My husband said: “it is as if people are hiding in the back of a dark cave pretending to live, but they are stubbornly defending their darkness with pride as if they know better!

Somebody comes in from outside to tell them to come on out and see what it is like out there, but they won’t! They do not understand that outside the sun is shining, the sky is blue, the grass is green, and the birds are singing. There are blessings without number if only they would leave the confines of their hiding place in the dark and come and see what God has for them.”

It is going to take a radical change of mind and a step of faith to come out of the darkness into God’s glorious light. But this is exactly what it is like for somebody in their sins. They insist on remaining in the dark because that’s where they feel ‘safe’!

“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world,
and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
John 3: 19. 

But the sad thing is that while souls remain in the dark many of them are loud in their resistance, maybe even aggressive against those with the Gospel message that offers to them ‘joy and peace in believing’.

How good and gracious God is to wait in patience allowing life’s circumstances to bring people to a point where they cannot continue as they are. Sometimes a person spends a lifetime walking away from the living God of mercy only to find that He is just a step of faith away from them.

Perhaps you may be that person that has spent far too long in the dark deprived of light and life in its fulness.

Oh, for a change of heart that will place you on the path of blessing … 

Then you will come into the good of what God has in store just for you. Who in their right mind would choose an existence in the dark outside of the favour of God, when there is life in abundance to be found in the light of His presence? Could you be truly comfortable separated from Him in a place where sin abounds?

There at the cross of Jesus is the place where mercy is found, where grace is displayed, and where forgiveness and cleansing can be freely received. All it takes is true humility, acknowledging that the Lord Jesus was on the cross dying as the Substitute for you personally, and cry out: “Oh, Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

There is nothing that you can do other than trust in the One who has already done everything needed. Take a good look at the goodness of God towards you and let His unmerited goodness and grace humble your heart. Turn from your old dark living to the One who can give you an brand new start.

All the dirt and stain of sin that will not go away on its own is ready to be removed. Cleansing awaits because the precious blood of the Saviour was shed when He died in the sinner’s place … in your place!

There is a place of darkness, even darker than the place you know. It was prepared for the Devil and for his angels, it was never meant for people, but sadly many people end up there when they die because they refuse the Saviour’s pleas to come out from the dark and trust in Him.

Do not allow yourself to be another one of those foolish people because once the line is crossed -
there is no coming back! 

There is no light there! There is no love there! There is no company there! Everyone that is there, is there alone… forever! In that place where there is no hope, no mercy, no comfort, and no relief, because that is the place where there is no God!

Here and now is the place and time to get right with the living God who has provided the way to escape the torments of hell forever.

The Lord Jesus said: “The Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins…” Matthew 9: 6. ‘Power on earth’, and not anywhere else. On earth is where sins are forgiven, while people are alive. After they are dead, it is too late!

So when someone comes into your darkness from the light with the message of hope for you, be prepared to leave that comfortable place of yours behind. Come out of the darkness and trust fully in the One who can, and will shed His glorious light upon you, give you life in abundance here and now, and all the joys of eternity to look forward to.

Perhaps you then may be able to identify with the words of the hymn writer of yesteryear who wrote:

“Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature's night
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light
My chains fell off, my heart was free
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.”
- Charles Wesley

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Here's how to know for sure you can be ready for heaven and not left in the dark
It's as simple as 'ABC'

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“Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him,
We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write,
Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?
Philip saith unto him, Come and see.”
John 1: 45-46

Nazareth … A little nondescript town where nothing happened most of the time! It may have been a place of ill repute; because this appeared to be the place where people like ‘that’ came from! It had that type of a reputation that people generally felt that nothing good could come out of a place like that! We have places like this where I live … areas or estates of houses that have a sad reputation. It must be extremely difficult for anybody living there to do anything with themselves. First, they have to overcome the reputation of their place of origin before they can move on!

It was probably like that for the folks living in Nazareth. However, in spite of all that, they were probably a close nit society who took care of one another. I am sure not everyone living there was ‘one of those type of people’, but it is sad how outsiders can label someone just because of where they come from, never giving them a chance.

There in that lowly city there was a family keeping themselves to themselves. A husband and his wife with several children, the oldest of which was an exceptional young Man! Growing up He was an incredible little boy, then an unusually good teenager, and now a pure and morally clean young Man. He had the manners of a gentleman and the kindness and tenderness every mother would be proud of. His work was exceptional as He followed in the footsteps of His ‘father’ who was a carpenter by trade.

I would imagine that everything He fashioned was perfect and flawless. There would never have been a time when He would have to take back something He made and rectify a mistake. And I am sure all the bookkeeping for the family business was in good order.

However, there came a time when
He would have to leave His hometown for a higher calling! 

For thirty years the Son of God grew up in total obscurity; therefore in complete safety and protection in this lowly city of Nazareth under the care and keeping of Joseph His supposed father, husband of His Mother Mary. There would have to come a time when His ministry would begin and He would publicly display who He really was before all the people and places He visited within the next few years. And now was that time!

All that He did from now on was in full view of all who would see. He taught the people with authority, He healed the sick folks, He delivered people demonically possessed, He provided food for the masses, He could control the weather and even raise the dead! What a Man this was! Who was it that suggested that no good thing could come out of Nazareth?

This was not merely a good Man, but the best Man that ever lived. He had come to display the character of God wherever He went, but ultimately was crucified on a cruel Roman cross. The people having been stirred by the religious powers that were at that time called for his blood and wanted Him dead! It looked like they had done away with the only One who had the answer to every human need … but God was in complete control! This perfect Man voluntarily went all the way to the cross to die in the sinner’s place because we, like they back then could not do anything to redeem our souls and make ourselves fit for heaven when we die, but Jesus could do all this and more!

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners… ”
1 Timothy 1: 15.
“God commendeth his love toward us, in that,
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5: 8
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
John 3: 16
“… What must I do to be saved? …
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”
Acts 16: 31-32.

Down through the ages poor lost and sinful souls
have come into the benefit of the merciful Saviour’s sacrificial love

Why did God choose to place His precious Son into the hands of the poorest and lowliest of people? Why did He choose despised Nazareth to be the place where His precious Son would be raised? Could it be so that we all might be encouraged to give to Him our all in spite of where we came from, who we are, or what our present status is? Remember, God only puts lights in dark places, and more often than not, it is from the dark places where His most faithful and productive people come from.

If you have trusted in His precious Saviour He will have made you His own and now has something for you to do that is of great value to Him. There is not a single person who is not of great value to Him. There is not a single person who is not beloved of God. He will raise you up, (even you), and enable you to represent Him perhaps right where you are among those in your own neighbourhood or workplace, or maybe even further afield.

If anyone sees or hears you and knows where you came from, they might be tempted to question among themselves: “Doesn’t he come from ‘there’?” “Isn’t she one of ‘them’?” “Didn’t they go to ‘that school’ or ‘that place’?” But there will be no denying who you are right now. Because you are now a faithful follower of the Lord Jesus everything has changed! You now have a higher calling, and now you serve the highest and most worthy of all masters to serve. Now you are working for and living for the One “who is seated at the right hand of God.” Colossians 1: 3.

Remember and be encouraged that the One who loves your soul chose to live and grow up among people who lived in a town most outsiders thought was a ‘no good’ town where ‘no good’ people came from. Look how wrong they were!

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Here's how to know for sure you can be ready for heaven and for the promise of His coming
It's as simple as 'ABC'

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Has there ever been a time in your life when you have needed the help of somebody influential? Someone to verify that you are who you say you are in order to apply for a job, get a passport, or start a bank account etc?

Sometimes we may have gone through situations when knowing somebody in high places would help us to make progress in a particular venture we are pursuing.

Maybe our Association with a particular person of standing might make us feel a little bit special! What ever our thoughts are of people in high places, we all have the need of someone wiser than we are, stronger than we are, with more knowledge than we have, who can help us along life's journey.

The problem is with looking up to people of influence and standing is that they are not always accessible whenever we are in need of them. We may lift the phone and call the number and have to speak to an answer phone or voice message service! We may have to go through different procedures in order to reach the person that we are trying to get access to. We may have to wait our turn for an appointment.

Being connected with someone in high places with whom we can have direct access is a rarity!

How wonderful it would be to speak with someone who knows exactly what our need is without us having to explain! Imagine how wonderful it would be to have direct access at any given moment of time, an instant one to one conversation without the necessity to make an appointment.

What if we knew of somebody like this? Wouldn’t it stand to reason that everyone would be flocking to meet him or her and know him or her personally!

But there is such a one with whom we can have instant access, and there are no limitations to His abilities to understand, to help, and to provide. Isn't it an amazing thing that for the most part He is the very last person that people think to go to!

Job has some good advice we would do well to take to heart: “Acquaint now thyself with [God], and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee. Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.” (Ch. 22: 21.) James tells us: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." (Ch. 1: 5.) And the Lord himself tells us: "I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” Luke 11: 9-10.

We simply could not have somebody in a higher place than He to represent us, to verify us, to provide for us, to guide us, and to protect us. It would not be a presumptuous thing on our part to draw near to Him and seek to know Him intimately but this is indeed the desire of the Lord Himself!

Surely then it should be our greatest honour to speak of our association with Him

There is no other greater than He, or higher than He in standing; for the Bible tells us that He is “God manifest in the flesh,” 1 Timothy 3: 16, and “in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” Colossians 2: 9. Every thing that God is in His essence and character is represented in His beloved Son the Lord Jesus Christ. Now you can’t get higher than that!

Whatever our need is, whatever dilemmas we face, Christ is the answer! He is God’s perfect remedy for every trouble, trial and obstruction to our path.

People rather like the idea of associating themselves with influential people, who probably are not the right kind of characters to pursue. However, the precious Son of God though He may not be popular with the world, He is the very highest One, most worthy One in whom we can safely trust, and with whom we can be confidently acquainted.

Let us not be ashamed of Him, or feel inferior in anyway for being associated with the Man that the world has rejected, because although for the most part the world still wants nothing to do with Christ, “God has highly exalted Him, and given him a name which is above every name.” Philippians 2: 9.  There is no one in higher places than He!

And He who has been exalted by God is the very safest One in whom to put our trust.

He is not at all perturbed by the crazy world in which we are living and the circumstances all around us that appear to be in total disarray. He is in complete control, and in spite of being rejected by most, He is of all masters the most worthy to serve, to follow, and to be joyfully associated with. He has a special place in his heart for those who are not ashamed of Him. May we be counted among those people whose unashamed devotion He treasures.

“Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust …”
Psalm 40: 4
“For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord.”
Proverbs 8: 35

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Here's how to know for sure you can be ready for heaven and for the promise of His coming
It's as simple as 'ABC'

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I have been watching with interest and concern the unfolding events in Israel of late. Over the past few weeks there has been rioting as the “Government of Change” had to give way to the majority who voted their man back in. Evidentially there are a number of people who don't agree with the re-establishment of the former Government, and are conjuring up every excuse they can possibly find to topple it and regain their own course of action!

A lot of effort has gone into prepping the media to propagate and fuel hatred for the present Prime Minister of Israel and his ideals for moving forward, for the good of the nation and all it’s inhabitants.

At the time of writing, while the enemies of Israel encircle about waiting for the opportunity against this precious land of God’s ownership, Israel has become a divided nation and on the brink of civil war!

Of course this did not happen overnight, but this is the result of heavy funding to make this happen. Time will tell to see how this all pans out, and one day in the not too distant future when it looks like Israel is about to be annihilated, a miraculous deliverance for them will occur, according to the prophecies written in Ezekiel 38-39.

If the nation is destroying itself from within, and the enemy from without is waiting for an opportunity when Israel is that its weakest to finally move in and finish them off, then God will come in and rescue them like only He can do. There will be no mistaking who it was that acted on their behalf! It's only just a matter of time!

And we wait holding our breath to see what will happen.

It is amazing how easy it is to influence the majority and to get the people all stirred up, moving in masses as desired by the perpetrators behind it all. We have seen it in past years and recently when for the first time in human history the whole world went into lockdown!

We see it happening again with other subjects of primary interest at present, and right before our eyes we are watching it happen in Israel!

……

2000 years ago the crowd was all stirred up against Israel's promised Messiah. They didn't realise it back then, but this lowly Man that was living out His perfect life before them all was the One that the Scriptures had promised. But they were not looking for a suffering Saviour, but a conquering King! The religious authority had conveniently overlooked the Scriptures that told them clearly that the Messiah Who would one day be the One who would come to reign must first come to suffer and die as the Substitute for lost sinners.

Consequently having been all stirred up by the powers that be they rejected Him outright and cried when asked what was to be done with Him: “Away with Him we will not have ‘this’ to reign over us.” He was then delivered into the hands of those who cruelly mocked and beat Him, had Him nailed to across and left to die!

While He was with them, they had their opportunity to welcome their Messiah with open hearts and open arms, but they thrust Him out! After so many whispering untruths about Jesus had been spread by the powers that were in that day, it didn’t take much for the passion of the people to be stoked up to act in their collective rejection of Him.

After demonstrating His perfectly pure and spotless life, after witnessing His miraculous acts of healing, weather control, and provision for the masses, and after hearing His gracious life changing words, they rejected Him for a thief and murderer scheduled to be crucified that day for his crimes. 

Although the ugly nature of mankind was displayed in its true colours in the way the precious Saviour was treated, we must never forget that this is the very reason why Jesus came to this earth. He came to offer Himself in the place of sinners, and with His own precious blood He came to satisfy the righteous claims of God against our sin, once for all! 

He gave Himself willingly. Nobody took His life from Him!

These were the words of Peter who was the first man to preach the Gospel message after Jesus rose from the dead and after some time was taken back to heaven:

“Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth,
a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs,
which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God,
ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death:
because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.”
Acts 2: 22-24.

Those of us who have trusted in Him know that we are not trusting in a Saviour that died in our place only. He is not dead anymore! He is alive, because as the above Scripture says: 'It was not possible that he should be holden of it (death).' Death could not have it’s claim on our beloved Lord and Saviour because of God’s total delight and satisfaction in Him and all He accomplished there on the cross all those years ago. If there had been one minute thing that was displeasing to God the Father, then the sufferings of the Saviour would have been a waste of time and energy! If there had even been the slightest questionable thought in the heart of God’s precious Son, He would not have raised Him up from among the dead three days later. If God was not totally satisfied with His beloved Son, then we would have no hope!

We can be so thankful that our Saviour who is perfect,
pure and totally delightful to His Father is alive in heaven today!

And because this is true we have so very much to look forward to because of His promise to come and take us to be with Himself one day very soon.

We live at a time when the world is fast growing hostile towards Christians and the crowd is getting all stirred up again over Jesus, His people, and against anything that God approves. Perhaps we might feel overwhelmed at the thought and our future might feel daunting, but be comforted by the fact that although we as God’s people may be unpopular, we really have nothing to fear because the Bible tells us: “greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” 1 John 4: 4.

This is the season in which we remember when our beloved Lord was crucified, buried, AND rose again from among the dead! Therefore we can find comfort for our hearts, and we can know true joy in spite of the circumstances in which we are living because our Saviour is alive, and abides in the lives of all His people! With so great a One on our side and so much to look forward to, maybe it is time for us to get all stirred up and make His grace and mercy known unto a needy world of people … before it is too late!

“My heart is inditing a good matter:
I speak of the things which I have made touching the king:
my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.”
Psalm 45: 1.

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Here's how to know for sure you can be ready for heaven and for the promise of His coming
It's as simple as 'ABC'

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