“Happy NEW YEAR to all”

“See the world,” it says on the Kiwibank brochure, I picked up today at the local Post Office.

When I read about seeing the world, a hymn in German comes to my mind.

Inside the Kiwibank brochure it says:

“Every month, well over 150,000 Kiwis head off for an overseas jaunt – but are they as prepared as they could be?”

For those who don’t know Kiwis are New Zealanders.

In the German hymn the author says in the first two verses that she has travelled the world and she thinks that the world is beautiful and big, but that she is homesick for her heavenly home.

The World is beautiful and big

In the second and third verse she says about the people of the world that they are looking for something and cannot find it.

The fourth verse and the last verse tells us about the rest we can find in the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us on the cross.

I am from Germany, live now in New Zealand, have visited a number of countries and lived in Thailand for a good number of years, and I would also say what Eleonore von Reuss says about the world and the people, who wrote the hymn in German that comes to my mind when I hear and read about the world. Eleonore von Reuss wrote the hymn about in 1850.

AT THE BEACH

Today I read the word “independence” on a big poster at our local Post Office.

I have no idea what comes to your mind when you read the word “independence,” but I will tell you what comes to my mind.

“INDEPENDENCE”

“It’s the biggest thing we can help you achieve.”

“Ask us how we can help,”

says the Kiwibank poster and I don’t think I am wrong in saying that it is all about financial independence.

Now, what comes to my mind, when I hear or read the word “independence?”

I know that I will never achieve “real independence,” because I am a dependent being. I am dependent on God. God is the only person in the universe who is self existent. I am dependent on God. I am not even sure about my next breath. Think about all the accidents you read and hear about in the news.

I found the Lord in my teens or rather the Lord found me and since that time the BIBLE is alive for me. I enjoy reading the Scriptures. In Romans 8:13 we read:

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the debt to love one another, …”

I have followed what it says in Romans 8:13 and praise the Lord that I have been all my life financially independent.

The Message of the Cross

People who ignored water safety messages attracted strong criticism from Maritime New Zealand deputy director. (The Northland Age,Tuesday, December 30, 2014)

There are not only water safety messages, there are also other messages and the most important message we find in the Bible.

In the Bible we find the message of the cross, the message of reconciliation.

We are given the message of reconciliation (Second Corinthians 5:18).

In Ephesians 2:16 we are reading about reconciled to God through the cross.

In Colossians 1:20 the Bible says, “and through him to reconcile to himself all things, …”

The word of God is a consuming fire (Jeremiah 5:14).

God’s word is like a hammer that breaks rocks (Jeremiah 23:29).

The gospel is a saving power (Romans 1:16).

The word of God is a defensive weapon (Ephesians 6:17).

The bulk of the population ignores the message of the cross, the message of reconciliation.

Let us remember that the Maritime New Zealand deputy director had strong criticism for people who ignored the water safety messages.

Another beautiful flower

“Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.” – Isaiah 50:10