When I read today that a father said to his daughter “STAND UP FOR YOURSELF,” I remembered the hymn:

STAND UP, STAND UP FOR JESUS!

The hymn has three verses and here is the beginning of verse one:

“Stand up, stand up, for Jesus! You soldiers of the cross, …”

The Cross

Verse two begins like this:

“Stand up, stand up, for Jesus! Stand in his strength alone; …”

And this is the beginning of verse three (last verse):

“Stand up, stand up, for Jesus! The strife will not be long; …” 

The words of the hymn are by George Duffield (1818-88) and the music is by George J. Webb.(1803-87)

I WANT TO STAND UP FOR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!

One thing is very much on my mind, and that is hearing (reading) words and putting them into practice, and hearing (reading) words and not putting them into practice. (Or is that even uttermost on my mind?)

What I am reading just now is a perfect illustration:

A lady tells about her first and her second marriage.

In her first marriage she did not do what her father told her to do. The relationship lasted only four years. In her second marriage she did what her father told her to do and this year they are celebrating seventeen years of marriage.

And what did her father say to her?

“‘NEVER GO TO BED ANGRY WITH YOU PARTNER.'”

What does the BIBLE say? The Bible says in Ephesians 4:26:

“‘IN YOUR ANGER DO  NOT SIN'”: “DO NOT LET THE SUN GO DOWN WHILE YOU ARE STILL ANGRY, …”

SUNSET IN KAITAIA

And in Matthew 7:24-29 the Lord Jesus Christ says that  everyone who hears his words and puts them into practice is like a wise man, and everyone who hears his words and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man.

To win a copy of YOUR SECRET WORLD, tell us when you feel closest to God.

I feel close to God when  read his Word.

I feel close to God when I pray.

But I feel closest to God when I tell others what He has done for me, and that He wants to do the same for them!

“FOR A SAFE PAIR OF HANDS.” 

I know that there are people who are looking “for a safe pair of hands”. Maybe you belong to those people! 

In the Gospel  of John the Lord Jesus Christ says a number of things about his sheep.

SHEEP

I like especially when he says that no one can snatch his sheep out of his hand. And he says more than that. He says also that no one can snatch his sheep out of the hand of his Father.

You can read that in John 10:27-30. In John 10:30 the Lord says, “I and the Father are one.”

How do I know that people are looking “for a pair of safe hands?”

HANDS

Soon we are having the Local Body Elections and one advertisement here in one magazine (Focus, September 2013), says:

“FOR A SAFE PAIR OF HANDS.”

“Your health can be taken and your money stolen, but your place at God’s table is permanent.” –

Max Lucado

He Still Moves Stones

Not long ago I became aware of the pulling power of goals in a special way.

I experienced the pulling power of one goal.

Our Beautiful Library in KAITAIA

The goal pulled me out of bed. The goal pulled me into the shower. The goal pulled me to the meeting in the Te Ahu Centre here in Kaitaia.

The meeting taught me how to become Scam Savvy. I learned about Known Scams, Internet Scams, Unsolicited phone scams, Credit card scams, Banking Scams, Card skimming … and more!

Make sure you have a goal!  I say that especially to “retired” people. Make sure you are pulled by many goals!

The advertisement tells us how “to keep colds, flu and sore throats at bay …”

We are told what we must do to keep healthy. And who does not want to be healthy physically?

“Don’t lose a day”

But we must not only be concerned about our physical health, we must also be concerned about our spiritual health.

And is our spiritual health not more important?

Have you heard about the QUIET TIME?

Who does not need strength for the day? There is sin. There is the world. There is the devil. That are three things the Christian is battling against. Please read Ephesians 6:12.

Satan does not want us to have a Quiet Time, and it can become a daily battle. A second problem can be concentration. Is it a battle of the mind?

How can we be victorious? 

First of all meditate on the cross.

Secondly meditate on the Blood.

Thirdly meditate on the power of the resurrection.

If we don’t continue to look after our physical health, we lose days, we lose days at work.

If we don’t persevere to look after our spiritual health, (Quiet Time), we lose also days, we lose days growing in the Lord.