In one of my German DEVOTIONAL TREASURIES the author  is thinking and writing in his preface about the readers of his book.

He is imagining that some of them will be mature followers of the Lord Jesus Christ and that they will be able to know the difference between “STONES” and the “BREAD OF LIFE.”

I don’t know if I can call myself a mature follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, but I think I know the difference between “STONES” and the “BREAD OF LIFE.”

I have many DEVOTIONAL TREASURIES (Daily Readings), but my favourite is RENEWED DAY BY DAY by A. W. Tozer.

This is what I read today and what really encouraged me:

“Too many people consider Jesus Christ a ‘convenience.’ We make him a lifeboat to get us to shore, a guide to find us when we are lost. We reduce him simply to a Big Friend to help us when we are are in trouble.

That is not biblical Christianity!”

READ THE BIBLE, but read also Devotional Books.

When I went into my ‘office’ not long ago it was actually my intention to get the BIBLE and read it.

But when I saw the magazine called “BRILLIANT” on the carpet I was not so sure all of a sudden.

I had to make a choice.  I had to choose between the magazine and the Bible.

We have the freedom to choose.

My message is: CHOOSE THE BIBLE!

“THE BOOK OF BOOKS”

Naturally we are difficult.

I read that truth today on a T-shirt, when I looked through a window into one of our big shops (FARMERS) here in Kaitaia. On the T-shirt it says:

“I am not trying to be difficult

(It comes naturally)”

The Bible tells us the truth about our nature.

“I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep doing.” – Romans 7:18,19

The Bible, the Word of the Living God, has a lot to say about our sinful nature.

We are not only naturally difficult. Please read the acts of the sinful nature in Galatians 5:19. The list starts with sexual immorality and has no end.

This morning I picked up my mobile phone and my Bible.

Picking up the mobile phone was disappointing. When calling Customer Service I heard three beeps and read “No network coverage”. With other words the message is that no connection is possible this morning.  Or at least for the time being.

But picking up my Bible is never disappointing. It is always a joy to pick up the Word of God and will always be a joy. Why? Because I will always be able to connect to the promises of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And here are some of the promises to connect to:

He promises HELP in Hebrews  13:6

He promises STRENGTH in Isaiah 41:10

He promises COUNSEL in Psalm 32:8

He promises PEACE in Isaiah 66:12

He promises POWER in  Acts 1:8

In his book THE GREATEST WORDS EVER SPOKEN on page 298 – 304 Steven K. Scott lists more than one hundred promises that the Lord Jesus Christ makes to his followers who are obedient.

Here is one of them:

“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” – John 6:37 

He writes also that most of the promises of the Lord are conditional and he says,”In my personal study of this subject I found it helpful to underline the conditions that Jesus asks me to fulfil and the benefit He promises to deliver.”  

THE LOST SHEEP

“THIS IS OUR PLACE”

“Baaadly Lost: In search of Bo Peep at the Kaitaia A&P showgrounds. Photo: Werner Dekarski. (Readers are invited to submit photos depicting the Far North’s special qualities. Send to editor@northlandage.co.nz or PO Box 45 Kaitaia.)”

The Northland Age, Tuesday, January, 29, 2013 

There is a coffee shop here in Kaitaia, where you can watch TV while you are drinking your coffee.

It seems to me that whenever I go there for a cup of coffee, I watch a food programme. Do you know which verse from the Bible comes to my mind? The answer is Philippians 3:19. It says there:

…, THEIR GOD IS THEIR STOMACH, …”

YOU WHO TELL OTHERS NOT TO DO WRONG, DO YOU DO WRONG?

(You find more questions like this in Paul’s letter to the Romans, in Romans 2:21-23) 

I am going to divide the above sentence into two parts:

YOU WHO TELL OTHERS NOT TO DO WRONG, …

I did that only yesterday.

… DO YOU DO WRONG?

And straight after that I had to prove that I do not do wrong.

First of all I was given two dollars too much change and secondly I found a beautiful mobile phone and sunglasses in a toilet. I cannot remember when I received too much change the last time and I cannot remember ever finding a mobile phone and sunglasses. 

I gave back the two dollars and handed in the sunglasses and the mobile phone.

“A CLEAN CONSCIENCE MAKES A SOFT PILLOW.”