“DAD…….. NO MATTER HOW TALL I GROW……… I WILL ALWAYS LOOK UP TO YOU!”

That was written on a simple piece of wood, but beautifully done. A good Christmas present; fixed to the wall, it would send a message to the readers all year round.

You probably say, “Mate, you don’t know what you are talking about. Looking up to my ‘old man’? I cannot do that! You don’t know what my father is like.”

My answer is, “Do it anyway. Or at least try to look up to your father!

And what a message it is. The Bible says also in Exodus 20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”

“I will always look up to you!”

I have never been able to say that to my father, because I never knew him.

But when I was eighteen years of age God became my Heavenly Father through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Since then I am looking up to my Heavenly Father. Just now I am holding the book “Unto the Hills”, (a devotional treasury) written by Billy Graham, in my hands. Also bought second hand. On the back page is written,”I lift up my eyes to the hills. From whence does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, Who made Heaven and Earth,” Psalm 121:1,2

It is a joy for me to to thank my Father in Heaven. It is a joy for me to praise my Father in Heaven.

MY FATHER MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH!

It is often easier to get forgiveness than permission. I heard that for the first time when a conversation was related to me.

I come across the word forgiveness quite a bit lately.

I picked up a publication not long ago and there it was even written,”It is often easier to get forgiveness than permission.” Is it really? A couple of days ago somebody talked to me about forgiveness. Apparently it is difficult for anybody to forgive.

I was once really thirsty and so I can talk about thirst. (I have heard it said that if you have never been thirsty, you cannot really talk about thirst.) I have never been seriously wronged like some people have, so I cannot really talk about forgiveness.

But I know somebody who does not seem to have any trouble forgiving. It is really good to have fellowship with people like that. You can learn from them and eventually you become like them.

The Bible says in Colossians 3:13 “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

Let us forgive one another as the Lord forgave us. LET US BECOME LIKE THE LORD!

P.S.: Matthew 6:14,15

“the perfect gift.”

So goes the advertising and then it talks about the “giftcard”. The “giftcard” is also called “the perfect gift every time.”

Forget about the giftcard!

My Christmas is……. the perfect gift, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the perfect gift for my heart and for every heart.

I think I saw this written on a Christmas card, “JESUS IS THE GIFT THAT PERFECTLY FITS THE SIZE OF EVERY HEART.”

I was challenged again today, when I saw the above in big letters in the newspaper. Is my heart set on earthly things or on heavenly things? That’s what I am asking myself today!

“Intellectuals solve problems – Geniuses prevent them.”

In seinem Andachtsbuch “Lass Dein Heil und Schauen” schreibt der verstorbene Pastor W. Busch im Vorwort zur 3. Auflage:

“Und dort nimmt in einem kleinen Witwenstuebchen eine reife Christin das Buch zur Hand. Sie kann “Steine” und “Lebensbrot” wohl unterscheiden.”

For more information and Entry Forms contact:

Val Bird – thebirds@xtra.co.nz

Winsome Mitchell – jimwinmitchell@clear.net.nz

There it was again. My wife was talking and she was saying that she was covered for something. It had to do with insurance. She was reading the letter from the insurance agency we received this morning.

I was going to forget it, but the phrase ‘are you covered?’ continued to spin around in my head. There is a chorus I remember from Church, but I cannot quite quote the words. It goes something like this, “I am covered over…” (Somebody from the Church will email the chorus to me.)

See separate post!

Some days ago I went into the Westpac Bank and there I read the question ‘ARE YOU COVERED?’ on little posters. But when I went again, they were all gone.

But now I am really interested in the question ‘are you covered?’

A big poster on the back wall of the local ASB advertises Lifestyle Insurance. Customers are told, “COVER YOUR LIFESTYLE FOR THE UNEXPECTED.” A little booklet from the ASB says, “Cover yourself for the possibility that you may need help to get on with life with a serious debilitating condition.” A little pamphlet I picked up at the Westpac Bank says, “Because you never know what’s going to happen, we’ve got you covered.”

Bible verses came to my mind also and I looked up the word ‘covered’ in the concordance. Here they are: Psalm 32:1, Psalm 85:2 and Romans 4:7.

Psalm 32:1 “Blessed is he…..whose sins are covered.”

Psalm 85:2 “You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins.”

Romas 4:7 “Blessed are they… whose sins are covered.”

WE CAN BE COVERED FOR EVERYTHING, BUT WHEN OUR SINS ARE NOT COVERED – WHAT THEN?

OUR SINS MUST BE COVERED BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!