Reading the article  “New garage floor so much tougher” today in the paper (Northern News , May 18, 2011, page 11) made me really glad.

Why? Because I like a good foundation. I want to know where I stand and where I walk. I don’t like to stand on shaky ground and I don’t like to walk in the mud.  Do you?

There is also an image. On the image you can see part of the garage floor and underneath the picture is written: “STRONGER: Garage flooring never looked this good – durable polyurea resins brought to you by Flexico.” On the same page where the article is is also a Flexico advertisement. There it says:  “Ultra tough, UV resistant coatings for indoors and out in a range of colours and finishes.”

Do I need to tell you that we also need a spiritual foundation? I don’t think so. Spiritually we need to know where we stand and where we walk. We read about our spiritual foundation in the Bible, the Word of the Living God. Our foundation is the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other foundation. Listen to what it says in First Corinthians 3:11

“For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid which is Jesus Christ.”

There is the  song of  Moses recorded in the Bible and Moses does not only sing that the LORD is the Rock, but he says also that his works are perfect, that all his ways are just, that he is faithful, that he does no wrong, that he is upright and just.

Hannah, the Hannah in the Bible prays “…; there is no Rock like our God.” David in the Bible says in his Song of  Praise: “Exalted be God, the Rock, my Savior!”

Read also what David says in Psalm 18:21; Psalm 28:1; Psalm 62:2 and Psalm 94:22!

“For good or ill, your conversation is your adsvertisement. Every time you open your mouth you let people look into your mind.” – Bruce Barton

Colossians 4:6

“Let your conversation

1. be always full of grace,

2. seasoned with salt,

so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

Jane Hamilton says:

“It is books that are a key to the wide world; if you can’t do anything else , read all that you can.”

I spent my childhood in a little village called Karschau in the north of Germany only a stone throw away from the water (Schlei).  The nearest school was in Faulueck, about a mile away. The school had a small library and I must have read all the books of that library, at least all the books that told the stories about far away places. Why did I read all those books about foreign countries? I wanted to go there one of these days in the near or far future.

And that’s exactly what I did . I still remember leaving Marseille in France for Bangkok in Thailand by boat. That was towards the end of 1966 and I just slipped through the Suez Canal before the canal was closed. I arrived in Thailand before Christmas that year and worked in Thailand as a missionary for the next thirteen years.

Some time before I left Germany for Thailand I was given a book about Thailand by one of our neighbours.  Unfortunately I don’t have that book any longer, it got lost somewhere. But if I remember correctly the title was “The Land of the  Sun” or the “The People of the Sun.”

“‘I HATE DIVORCE,’ SAYS THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL,……”

Malachi 2:16

Community Support Organisations (Age Concern, Alcoholics Anonymous, Alzheimer Society Northland, to name some) are listed on the strip of thin cardboard. You can use the strip of thin cardboard as a bookmark, or you can fold it three times and it fits neatly in any of your pockets. With other words you can carry it around with you!

On the bookmark you find the names of the Community Support Organisations with phone numbers. Towards the end of the directory where it says “My next of kin” ______________________ “My Doctor”__________________ “My Electrician”________________ the phone number is missing. No need to tell you why!

At the very end of the list where it only says “My____________________________ four times I have written:

MY HELPER!

My Divine Helper! God is the helper of his people. I am reading about MY DIVINE HELPER in the Bible, the Word of the Living GOD. Please click on the following verses in the Scriptures and be encouraged by reading them:

Deuteronomy 33:29;  Second Chronicles 25:8;  Psalm 27:9;  Psalm 28:7;  Psalm 40:17;  Isaiah 41:10;

Isaiah 50:9 “It is the Sovereign LORD who helps me.”

Hebrews 13:6.

“….; there is nothing new under the sun.” – Ecclesiastes 1:9

“The children love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority, show disrespect for elders, and love to chatter in the place of exercise.” – Socrates in 5th century BC.

“Our youth have an insatiable desire for wealth; and atrocious  customs regarding dressing and their hair.” – Plato in the 4th century BC

Was I glad that I was at the right place at the right time.

Without any warning, all of a sudden, there was a heavy downpour. Have I ever experienced a cloudburst like that? I cannot remember!

It happened while walking on the main street in Kaitaia, where the ASB Bank is opposite the Post Office. With haste I squeezed myself  into a corner at the Bank just in time and then watched the water coming down and the terrible wind wash the footpath.

My refuge kept me dry!

I read the Bible, the Word of the Living God, and the Bible talks a lot about our refuge. Listen to what David says in the Psalms:

“Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”

“The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed.”

“…; my God is my rock in whom I take refuge.”

In Nahum 1:7 it says, “The LORD is good, a refuge in time of trouble.”

I rejoice, when I read that promise. What about you?

Sooner or later big trouble will come for all of us. Judgment is coming. “The day” will come when God through the Lord Jesus Christ will bring all men under judgement. The wicked will be condemned and the perfect kingdom of righteousness will be established for all true followers of the LORD Jesus Christ. In that kingdom all true believers will be for ever with the Lord.

Have you taken refuge in the Lord Jesus Christ? Now it is still time to do so. Please take refuge in the Lord now!

If you take refuge now, the Lord will be your Saviour on “that day” and not your judge.

ACTS CHURCHES NEW ZEALAND

Linking People Linking Churches Linking Nations

ACTS Church Kaitaia meets not very far from our street. I went there this morning and I received a blessing!

We were United Maori Mission workers in Kaikohe and our connection with Acts Churches NZ goes back to that time. The magazine of Acts Churches New Zealand is called “The Church Acts”.  Today I picked up  Issue 15 and was pleased to see in the Directory that my friend Mike Tohu is still the pastor of the congregation in Kaikohe. I MUST CONTACT HIM!