Category: Christian Thoughts

The River Of Life

During our time with the Lord each evening, Sarah and I read two chapters from The Bible.
One from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament. Earlier this week we read from Ezekiel 47…

The River From The Temple

In Ezekiel 47, Ezekiel shares a vision of how water will flow to the east into the wasteland from underneath the new temple in Jerusalem.
From a trickle, the stream becomes larger and larger until it is a mighty river that no one can cross.
The river flows into the Dead Sea and makes it “alive” again with fish and vegetation.
Fruit trees of all kinds grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves do not wither, their fruit does not fail.
Every month they bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit serves for food and their leaves for healing.

The River Of Life

I believe that this magnificent river flowing from God’s Presence at the new temple brings us life and healing.
Ezekiel’s vision reveals God’s heart for us in our broken world, it testifies to the life giving power of God’s Word, reminding us that those who meditate on it are replenished.

I also believe that God wants us to know His heart, a heart to give us a river of life that flows out to heal our broken hearts in this turbulent world.

Hold On To Instruction, Do Not Let It Go!

Listen, my son, accept what I say,
and the years of your life will be many.
I instruct you in the way of wisdom
and lead you along straight paths.
When you walk, your steps will not be hampered;
when you run, you will not stumble.
Hold on to instruction, do not let it go;
guard it well, for it is your life.
Do not set foot on the path of the wicked
or walk in the way of evildoers.
Avoid it, do not travel on it;
turn from it and go on your way.
For they cannot rest until they do evil;
they are robbed of sleep till they make someone stumble.
They eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.

Proverbs 4

Freedom In Christ

Galatians 5

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

Lead Me In The Way Everlasting

Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139

I hope you gain from my short testimony about The Lord working in my life. I closed my business at the start of this year, it was very tough decision to make and it is a difficult time to experience.

Although our company started trading over 12 years ago in 2011 we were struggling to make sales and my accountants and I haven’t sorted out the tax issues to get the needed clearance certificate for 2024

I could have “winged it” and lived in the flesh and tried to “make a plan” on my own but thankfully…

On Saturday 6th January while following my daily reading plan, My wife and I read from Romans 13 (Submission to Governing Authorities) and The Lord spoke to me through the following verses:

“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgement on themselves.”

Romans 13

Further to this, still during my time with the Lord that evening, while continuing with my daily reading plan (my wife and I read one chapter from the Old and New Testament every day), I also read from Ezekiel 33 (Renewal of Ezekiel’s Call as Watchman)

“Son of man, say to the Israelites, ‘This is what you are saying: “Our offences and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?”’ Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’

Ezekiel 33

Praise God our Loving Father! That night and the following day (Sunday) while at church, I felt in my spirit that I was being chastened by The Lord and thankfully I submitted to Him. I decided not to open for business (the following day) on Monday 8th January.

Please understand that I didn’t and do not want to be a hypocrite by praising the Lord but not obeying Him. Nor do I want to tarnish the name of The Lord or the church by not following His instruction. It was clear to me that I had little option but to close the business and sort out the issues with Caesar.

So I had made my decision and my wife and I had prayed for wisdom and His leadership but I have to admit that I still lacked full conviction, I was going to upset a number of people and this upset me. I had a very busy mind that night and I found sleep (the night of the 7th) hard to come by. All I could think about was that the following morning, I had to let the others who were coming back to work from their Christmas holidays that I had decided to close the business… This news was going to shock them to say the very least!

In an effort to get some sleep that night and to distract myself, I started listening to podcasts; mostly the news… but it didn’t work and I kept feeling in my spirit that I should open a sermon which I had downloaded. Thankfully I took notice and played it… Tim Keller was preaching about gaining wisdom and he was preaching from Proverbs 4. The Lord spoke to me so clearly through this scripture:

Listen, my son, accept what I say,
and the years of your life will be many.
I instruct you in the way of wisdom
and lead you along straight paths.
When you walk, your steps will not be hampered;
when you run, you will not stumble.
Hold on to instruction, do not let it go;
guard it well, for it is your life.
Do not set foot on the path of the wicked
or walk in the way of evildoers.
Avoid it, do not travel on it;
turn from it and go on your way.

Proverbs 4

Wow!! These verses from Proverbs gave me all the wisdom I needed! Our Father is so amazing – I thank You Lord for Your continued love, grace and mercy on my life. This word from The Lord gave me all the conviction I needed to close the business and sort out the tax affairs… which I am now in the process of doing 🙂

I praise God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. The Author of our eternal salvation. Thank you, thank you, thank you Lord Jesus!