I like to have a look around in the Two Dollar shops. Today I found a magnet to decorate the refrigerator with and on it was written:” Live every day as if it’s your last. Enjoy the moment. Forget the past. It even rhymes. I notice that. For most of us it is probably easy to live every day as if it’s our last. Or is it? May be it is also easy for most of us to enjoy the moment. Or may be it takes some skill to do that.

But what about forgetting the PAST? That is not easy for any of us!

For some of us it is really difficult to remember things, Bible verses for example and we are complaining to other people about it until somebody says, ” Remembering is no problem, but forgetting is the problem.” Mainly older people are saying that.

For some reason or another we cannot forget the past, especially all the things we have done wrong. There is a voice inside us called our conscience. And this voice is stronger than all the trumpets of this voice. That voice never has a rest, day and night it is calling guilty, guilty, guilty… even though there is no eartly judge around. We must repent. We must find a way to make good.

There is a way. The Bible says in First John 1:9 ” If we confess or sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins, and purify us from all unrighteousnes.” First John 1:7

Live every day as though it is your last. One day you’ll get it right.

I saw this written on a calendar and to me it sounds a little bit discouraging and aimless. For a born again believer it is not a matter of ” one day you’ll get it right.” We are looking forward to the coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ–First Thessalonians 4:16– and dying for us is gain–Philippians 1:21–.

But what a challenge to live every day as though it is our last. As a preacher of the Gospel do you preach every sermon as if it is the last sermon you will ever preach in this life? It could well be your last opportunity to preach the Gospel, the Good News!

I love summers. And when I talk to the Lord I say:” Lord one more summer!” But there is one summer coming and that summer will be the last summer………! We talk like that of course the older we get.

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When talking to other people who go to Church–Christians–fellow believers–brothers and sisters in Christ, I feel sometimes like the writer of HEBREWS feels about all of us: Hebrews 5:12,13

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Click on on picture to see writing!–WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THAT?

“Giving a Guardian Angel to a loved one is an idea that’s truly heaven sent. Share any cares with her and she’ll bring hope and peace to your heart.”

In the case is a touching poem. It says. ” The Angel in this box is the guardian of your heart. Give her your worries and your fears, so hope and peace can start. Keep this box near you and know how much she cares. For when you need love and joy your Angel will be there.”

Ki mai nei ki ahau. He aha te mea nui ki tenei ao? Maku e ki atu. He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. (Maori)

If you were to ask me:” What is the most important thing in the world?” I would reply that: “It is people, people, people.” (English)

John 3:16

Communication with partners (no longer husband and wife) families, workmates, friends….. is not as it should be. There is a great need.

That’s why AVP ( Alternatives to Violence Project) presents the workshop Creating Peaceful Pathways for anyone who wants to make changes in their communication.

When I saw this workshop advertised in Auckland in the New Lynn Library some time ago I thought to myself: Let us get our priorities right!

What about our communication with God?

We cannot have real peace with our fellow man if we don’t have peace with our Creator God. And even once we have peace with God as individuals it is difficult at times to keep the peace with our fellow believers.

We are born as enemies of God. In fact we are at war with our Creator. That’s why we are also at war with our neighbours!

In the workshop mentioned above it says that you will learn to:- Affirm yourself- increase your self esteem, Improve your listening, Practise communicating clearly, Trust others and be trustworthy, Co-operation rather than competing, Use conflict resolution skills, Build community- connect with others and HAVE FUN.

But first things first.– Matthew 6:33.

Of course we must improve our listening skills. We must listen to God and what he says to us in his word. The Lord is communicating his word to us clearly and we must learn to communicate clearly with him. We must trust God and and we must be trustworthy. We must co- operate with God.

And of course we must first of all connect with him in order to connect with others properly. But how can we connect with God.

I remember when I was a young Christian in Germany I went to a small Church and above the entrance was written: Matthew 11:28! The Lord himself has resolved the conflict– but we must come! And we must come his way. We must believe. Romans 3:22-24.

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Only yesterday I saw a camper van with FREEDOM written on it.

It seems to me that people are looking (longing) for Freedom?

That is one way to Freedom?

Some time ago I passed the Brethren Chapel here in town and there you can see written in crude writing: The Way to FREEDOM! First John 4:10.

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice ( offering) for our sins.

That is another way to Freedom!

But only one of those two ways works!

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The ‘mortgagelink’ office here in town advertises: Would you like to wipe clean your slate? We can help ‘refinance’ today.

May be there is something in it to borrow a big sum of money at a cost in order to pay all your small debts. But that is not for me. ( Romans 13:8) A bank here puts it a bit different. They have a picture of a hammock with one end of the hammock frayed. It says: Tie up your loose ends and relax. (You can relax with a processing fee of almost $ 200,00 and a special rate of almost 15% pa.)

But that does not mean of course that we have wiped our slates clean. YOU GET THE POINT!

It is very unfortunate to have a slate with financial debts. We do not need to have it. But there is another slate- and we all have that slate- where all the other things are written, things we have done wrong. How do we deal with that slate? The Bible talks about that slate in Colossians 2:13,14. (The written code is cancelled and nailed to the cross!)

Soon this year will come to an end and we will be making the socalled New Year’s resolutions. We want to do better next year. But it does not work.

Only God can wipe our slates clean. Only God can give us a new start. Only He can give us a new life. But we must confess our sins. First John 1:9

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