“The key to change…

“THE KEY TO CHANGE…IS TO LET GO OF FEAR.” – Rosanne Cash

“Sunseeker Lodge” is the place called. What a name for a lodge. The place is not far from where we live and one of these days I must go there to have a look.

Who is not seeking the sun, “the star that is the source of heat and light for the planets in the solar system”(The Collins Concise Dictionary)? Sometimes you have to walk along a road, one side has sunshine, the other has not. I know on which side I want to walk.

THE BIBLE: “For the LORD God is a sun and a shield.” – Psalm 84:11

Recently I found the hymn with the title “Sunshine, Blessed Sunshine” in a hymn book. The hymn is by  Eliza E. Hewitt and it begins like this, “There is a sunshine in my soul today, More glorious and bright, Then glows in any earthly sky, For Jesus is my light.” The words are by Eliza E. Hewitt (1851-1920) and the music is by John R. Sweney (1837-1899). There is also a hymn written by John Keble in 1820. The hymn is called “Sun of My Soul”, and it begins like this, “Sun of my soul, Thou Savior dear, it is not night if thou be near.”

Both, Eliza E. Hewitt and John Keble must have been great readers of the Bible. They must have read Psalm 84:11 and Malachi 4:2.

In Psalm 84:11 we read, “For the LORD God is a sun and a shield, the LORD bestows favor and honor. And in Malachi 4:2 it says, “But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.

We understand that the Lord Jesus Christ is the “sun of righteousness”.

Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are justified. Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are sanctified. That’s how they are brought to see the light.

I don’t need to encourage you to seek the sunshine which comes from the earthly sky. But I would like to encourage you to seek the Lord Jesus Christ, the light of the world.

In Jeremiah 29:13 it says:

“YOU WILL SEEK ME AND FIND ME WHEN YOU SEEK ME WITH ALL YOUR HEART.”

THE BIBLE: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” – Jeremiah 29:13

“I’ve decided to live 120 years,” is the title of the book.

I saw the book at The Earth Citizens  Wellness Centre in Kerikeri not long ago. I’ve not read the book (I did not want to buy the book and the two copies at the Kerikeri Library were on loan), but I am a reader of the Bible and I love the Bible.

The Bible, “The Book of Books”.

At the present time I am reading the book of Proverbs in the Bible. And please listen to what it says there. So far I’ve only read until chapter ten, but I found already a good number of verses that tell me how to live a long life:

1. In Proverbs 3:2 it says that keeping the commands of the LORD will not only bring us prosperity but will also prolong our life.
2. Proverbs 3:8 tells us that  fearing the LORD and shunning evil will bring health to our body and nourishment to our bones.
3. Proverbs 3:16 says that long life is in the right hand of wisdom and that riches and honor are in her left hand.
4. Wisdom says in Proverbs 4:10, “Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many.
5. And in Proverb 9:11 we read that through wisdom not only our days will be many, but that years will be added to our life.
6. Proverbs 10:27  teaches “the fear of the LORD adds length to life, and that the years of the wicked are cut short.”

But that is not all. There is more.

In the New Testament, in John 3:14,15, the Lord says to Nicodemus, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and I know that I have eternal life.

And I have not decided to live forever. (I am a dependent being. I am dependent on God.) It was decided for me before the foundation of the world.

In Ephesians 1:4 it says, “For he [God] chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” (And let us remember again that the letters in the New Testament are only written to true followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.)

There is a time when the days are getting shorter. But there is also a time when the days are getting longer.

WHAT IS THE TIME? The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6:2 “…, now is the day of salvation.”

THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 2018

That was the shortest day in our southern hemisphere. On that day at 10.07pm was winter solstice. Winter solstice marks the shortest day and the longest night.

It is now the time when the days are becoming longer. By August it will be noticeable.