“New Zealanders have an unenviable reputation as being amongst the worst abusers of children, … ” – Mike Sabin MP ( The Northland Age, Thursday, October 18, 2012 )

The government is taking action. Last week the government released the White Paper on vulnerable children.

The White paper aims to protect children. The White Paper is for children.

When I read about the White Paper for children, a whole book came to my mind. That book is not only for the children, but also for parents and every citizen of New Zealand, and every person in this world.

THAT BOOK IS THE BIBLE, THE WORD OF THE LIVING GOD.

This is what I would do if I had the money:

I would have the TEN COMMANDMENTS on the TV maybe twentyfour times a day until everyone could say them without reading them.

Here they are:

1.  “You shall have no other gods before me.”

2.  “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of  anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.”

3. “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, …”

4. “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.”

5.  “Honor your father and your mother, … ”

6.  “You shall not murder.”  

7.  “You shall not commit adultery.”

8. “You shall not steal.”

9.  “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.”

10.  “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Of course, a campaign like that must be powered by prayer!

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life …” – Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement Speech.

I am reading that quote by Steve Jobs in the book STEVE JOBS The man who thought different by Karen Blumenthal (A Biography).

I have been thinking a lot about ” … LIVING SOMEONE ELSE’S LIFE …” ever since I read those words for the first time and I have also looked those words up on the internet.

I have come to the conclusion – and put me right, if I am wrong – that it is a different way of saying: Don’t follow someone else.

BUT I WANT TO TELL YOU THAT I FOLLOW THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!

Listen to what the apostle Paul says in First Corinthians 11:1 “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”

Read also Matthew 4:19; Matthew 8:22; John 21:19; Philippians 3:17 and Second Thessalonians 3:9.

“THE DAILY BRIEFING,” I am reading in THE NEW ZEALAND HERALD on page two. (October 11, 2012) Listed are the “Key things to know before you start the day,” under the headings “News”, “World” and “Entertainment”.

When I read “key things to know before you start the day”, I asked myself “What are the key things  to know before I start the day?”

Here they are. I find them in the Bible, the word of the Living God. In Psalm 139 in the Old Testament I am reading at the beginning

THAT THE LORD KNOWS ME.

1. He knows when I sit.

2. He knows when I rise.

3. He knows my thoughts from afar.

4. He knows when I leave the house.

5. He knows when I am lying down on my bed in my home.

6. The fact is that he is familiar with all my ways.

7. And before a word comes out of my mouth he knows the word completely.

And yes, I can only say with David, who wrote Psalm 139 “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, to lofty for me to attain.”

The “Key things to know before you start the day” in THE NEW ZEALAND HERALD are changing every day, but the “Key things to know before I start the day” in the Bible never change. They are always the same.

This afternoon in our local library here in Kaitaia, I saw the book:

“STEVE JOBS

THE MAN WHO THOUGHT DIFFERENT 

A BIOGRAPHY  BY KAREN BLUMENTHAL,”

on the book shelf and I was immediately interested and spent most of the afternoon reading the book in the library.

Our local library (Te Ahu Centre)

HOW  IS YOUR START IN THE MORNING?

“If you don’t start too well in the morning, get someone to choke you. It works with cars,” I am reading in the Grapevine magazine ISSUE 3 2012.

I have a question for all those who do not start too well in the morning: Are you doing your morning Quiet Time?

Here is an order for the Quiet Time:

A brief prayer

Bible Reading

Prayer

The BIBLE is food for the soul.

I noticed how important food is not many days ago. Our peace lily did not look good at all to say the least. But someone had already noticed that before me and done something about it.

The next day it looked so good that I had to take this picture:

Feed your soul in the morning! First Peter 2:2,3 says:

“Like  newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”