SUNFLOWER

“I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani, along with Hananiah the commander of the citadel, because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most men do.” – Nehemiah 7:2

“Who can afford a thief?” is the article in our local paper called. (The Northland Age, Tuesday, May 17, 2016)

Businesses are losing hundreds of thousands of Dollars through theft. Theft is one if the top contributors of business failure. Several elements lead to this kind of business fraud.

I am especially interested to read that the pressure of

bankruptcy,

gambling,

divorce,

separation,

death or

grief

leads to this kind of crime.

“Who can afford a thief?” The answer is that nobody can afford a thief. That’s why the BIBLE says in Ecclesiastes 12:13, “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” One of the commandments is, “YOU SHALL NOT STEAL.” – Exodus 20:15

THE CROSS

In the booklet called “WHANAU PACK Tools for Families and Parents with teenagers,” Mum and Dad are not only told to send clear messages to their kids, but also encouraging messages.

I am reminded of our Heavenly Father and the messages He is sending to His children.

The Bible tells us about the message of the cross and the message of reconciliation.

In First Corinthians 1:18 it says, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

In Second Corinthians 5:19 we are told about the message of reconciliation. Please read Second Corinthians 5:18-20.

THE CROSS

Mum and Dad are not always sending clear and encouraging messages to their children, but there is no doubt  that our Heavenly Father has always clear and encouraging messages for us.

The Rock

“Be the rock of your kids,” I am reading in the “WHANAU PACK Tools for Families and parents with Teenagers.”

In order to do that I must know myself where I stand.

David knew where he was standing. In Psalm 40:2 he says, “He [the LORD] set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.”

Do you know the “firm place to stand?”

“Any good news?” asked someone who knows me, when he saw me reading the newspaper in one of the coffee shops here in town today. “For Good News we must read the Bible,” was my reply.

That’s from memory how the conversation went.

In the paper I was reading about drink driving and theft. I remember a business man telling that a worker took money, but it was given back to him.

The Northland Age, Tuesday, May 17, 2016

I am reading also about the role of judges and the police in curbing criminal behaviour and their effectiveness.

What is now the most effectiveness in curbing criminal behaviour?”

The answer is actually on the last page of the newspaper, where we read “God’s Word open for all.” The verse in the paper today is from First Samuel 12:24:

“You also must obey the Lord – you must worship Him with all your heart and remember the Great things He has done for you.”

The divine hand is mighty. Deuteronomy 5:15

A. THE DIVINE HAND IS UPON MEN FOR BLESSING.

In my reading of the BIBLE from cover to cover I noticed today that “the hand of the LORD” is mentioned several times in the book of EZRA.

The divine hand is mighty.”In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” – Genesis 1:1

a.  In Ezra 7:6 it says that “the king had granted him everything he asked, for the hand of the LORD his God was on him.”

b.  In Ezra 7:9 we read “the gracious hand of his God was on him” on his journey from Babylon to Jerusalem.

c.  In Ezra 7:28 Ezra says, “Because the hand of the LORD my God was on me, I took courage and gathered the leading men from Israel to go up with me.”

d.  Ezra 8:18 tells us that “because the gracious hand of our God was on us, they brought us Sherebiah, a capable man, from the descendants of Mahli …”

e.  In Ezra 8:22 Ezra says, “I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, ‘The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.'”

B. THE DIVINE HAND IS UPON MEN FOR CHASTISEMENT AND PUNISHMENT

The divine hand was on Ezra for blessing and on Nehemiah as well.

THE CROSS

“For Ezra

Ezra 7:10

Intr.:

had devoted himself to

a.  the study and

b.  observance of the Law of the LORD, and

c.  to teaching its decrees and laws

End:

in Israel .”