Something my friend wrote...good to take some time and think about:

Why is it that we are trying so hard to grow up, when God asked us to be like children?
For it is when we look at life through the eyes of children that we realize that we can actually do all the things God asks us to do.
A child doesn’t look at something and think about what bad things can come from that experience.
The child just jumps in and does it.
Why do we have to focus on the negatives?
Ok story for you.


There were two kids at a park; one was a shy boy that preferred to watch the others play because he didn’t want to get hurt. The other kid saw a huge slide, the biggest he had ever seen. Immediately he ran up and climbed up the ladder. By the time he was at the top of the slide he was scared out of his mind, yet at the same time he was also really really excited! He was faced with a choice, back out because it was scary or go down the slide and try something new that could be the best time of his life.

Which would you choose in your journey if you made it to this point?
Would you trust God and let him show you something new?
Or would you turn away from him and not trust him because you were scared?

Turns out the boy went down the slide, not because he had an easy choice but because his dad was at the bottom cheering him on. Our dad is doing the same for us, he is cheering us on wanting us to do our best and try new things.
He wants us to trust him so that he can take us down the scary slides, not because he wants us to be scared but because it is when we leave our comfort zone that we have new experiences.

So will your fear take control of you or will you step up and let God show you something new?! Will you be the child on the slide or will you be the child watching the other have the experiences from the sandbox?
Will you live from others experiences, or will you let God give you your own stories?

Hm, now it is my turn to try and do this. Let me see...

IT was a beautiful Saturday evening.
The sky was lovely, and Caleb was in high spirits. He had a wonderful family, a good job, and was simply enjoying the evenings ride, as he rode his motorcycle through the dusk.
What happened next we are not sure, but Caleb didn't come home that night. His parents searched for him, but they could not find him. Where was he?
They found him in the Interstate medium early Sunday morning. No one knows how long he had been there, but it had been a long time. He was still alive, but hardly so.
Caleb died today. Even his strong body could not withstand his injures he had received.
I don't know if Caleb was a Christian or not, but I am pretty sure he was not thinking of death that night. He thought he had a lifetime before him, like I do. But he only had a few fleeting minutes.
Caleb lived near us. He was 21.

I am telling you this to make you think. We are told our life is but a fleeting vapor.
We expect to live to a good old age, but we have no promise of that at all. We may die as we are reading these lines.
Do you know for sure you are ready to die?
You have all heard the word. You believe it. Have you repented and confessed Jesus is Lord? Have you obeyed the command of baptism?
Friends, I am not trying to frighten you, but I want you to think. We should always live thinking of this, but we don't . We have short attention spans. We think of tomorrow as if it is a fact.

Finally, pretend today IS your last day. Because it may be.

" Be still, and know that I am GOD"

Over the next few days, I'm planning on posting a "series" of devotionals on the book of Obadiah...

A bit of background...
Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament. So short in fact, that it doesn't even have chapters! It's simply 21 verses! It's an oracle, spoken by Yahweh through the prophet Obadiah. An oracle is basically a prophetic proclamation, and Obadiah's oracle was spoken against the people of Edom (the descendants of Esau, Jacob's brother).
Obadiah prophesies the destruction of Edom, and the restoration of Israel. Theologically, the book summarises many of the themes found in other prophetic literature, including Yahweh’s sovereignty, His justice, and the Abrahamic covenant.


God's sovereignty
One of the key theological themes found in Obadiah’s oracle is the "universal rule of Yahweh" . Yahweh was not just God of the Israelites, but God over all nations. He was sovereign and able to act against the evil He saw occurring in Edom. Yahweh had the power to "make [Edom] small among the nations" (v2), and to judge all the nations on “the day of the LORD" (v15). Yahweh's sovereignty is highlighted even in the opening sentence, where He is introduced as "the Sovereign LORD" (v1).

So what does this mean for us? How is a prophecy against an ancient nation relevant today?
Well, I'm glad you asked! See, Yahweh’s sovereignty did not end when Edom was destroyed – He is still sovereign today! This means He is in control of all things and has the power to act, even in circumstances that seem beyond His control. When we suffer at the hands of non-Christians, we must not think they are more powerful than our God; rather, we are to remember and trust in His sovereignty.
At the same time, we are not to assume that whenever we suffer, Yahweh is the cause. Yes, He disciplines us (Proverbs 3:11-12), but He also loves us, cares for us, and has good plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11)

So as you go about your day today, reflect on what it means for you that God is sovereign and in control, even when bad things happen.
Bless you heaps!

(Sorry about the delay in part 2)

Here's what I should have posted the first time, the actual text of Obadiah!

Quote:

1 The vision of Obadiah. This is what the Sovereign LORD says about Edom— We have heard a message from the LORD : An envoy was sent to the nations to say, "Rise, and let us go against her for battle"- 2 "See, I will make you small among the nations; you will be utterly despised. 3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, 'Who can bring me down to the ground?' 4 Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down," declares the LORD. 5 "If thieves came to you, if robbers in the night— Oh, what a disaster awaits you— would they not steal only as much as they wanted? If grape pickers came to you, would they not leave a few grapes? 6 But how Esau will be ransacked, his hidden treasures pillaged! 7 All your allies will force you to the border; your friends will deceive and overpower you; those who eat your bread will set a trap for you, but you will not detect it. 8 "In that day," declares the LORD, "will I not destroy the wise men of Edom, men of understanding in the mountains of Esau? 9 Your warriors, O Teman, will be terrified, and everyone in Esau's mountains will be cut down in the slaughter. 10 Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever. 11 On the day you stood aloof while strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them. 12 You should not look down on your brother in the day of his misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast so much in the day of their trouble. 13 You should not march through the gates of my people in the day of their disaster, nor look down on them in their calamity in the day of their disaster, nor seize their wealth in the day of their disaster. 14 You should not wait at the crossroads to cut down their fugitives, nor hand over their survivors in the day of their trouble. 15 "The day of the LORD is near for all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head. 16 Just as you drank on my holy hill, so all the nations will drink continually; they will drink and drink and be as if they had never been. 17 But on Mount Zion will be deliverance; it will be holy, and the house of Jacob will possess its inheritance. 18 The house of Jacob will be a fire and the house of Joseph a flame; the house of Esau will be stubble, and they will set it on fire and consume it. There will be no survivors from the house of Esau." The LORD has spoken. 19 People from the Negev will occupy the mountains of Esau, and people from the foothills will possess the land of the Philistines. They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria, and Benjamin will possess Gilead. 20 This company of Israelite exiles who are in Canaan will possess the land as far as Zarephath; the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will possess the towns of the Negev. 21 Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will be the LORD's.

The Abrahamic covenant and how it works out in Israel's life is a big feature in Obadiah. Edom’s sin, the one that was the reason for their impending judgement, was directly linked to the covenant.

Genesis 12 tells us that God promised Abraham He would bless those who blessed him, and curse whoever cursed him.

Edom had not supported the Israelites, yet alone blessed them. When Israel was being attacked, Edom had “stood aloof” (v11) and refused to help. Although the nations were descended from two brothers, Esau and Jacob, Edom had acted like the strangers and foreigners who invaded Jerusalem, (v11) and gloated when Israel, their relatives, were taken into exile. By their actions, the Edomites had cursed Israel; thus their punishment was a just outworking of the Abrahamic covenant.

Yahweh’s promise could be trusted.


What does this mean for us today?
Many people, if not all, have experienced broken promises. This can result in anything from disappointment to permanent distrust of the person who made the promise.

Yahweh’s response to Edom’s sin showed that He keeps His promises. It did not matter that the promise had been made hundreds of years earlier, or that the Israelites had often turned away from Him, His words could be trusted. They can still be trusted today; we can rely on Yahweh to fulfil His promises.

_________________
*Larissa*

It may not be your day, but it may be your moment

John 15:12-13 – “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

We have long taken this verse to be talking about laying down our lives in the sense of dying for someone, like Jesus did for us on the Cross. And yes, it is talking about that. But Ben said something this morning that made me think more about it. Laying down our lives for others also means laying down our life for them while still alive! But it is easier to literally die for someone, than it is to wake up each and every morning and live for them. To wake up and decide that no matter who they are, not matter what they’ve done to not deserve our love, that we’re going to love them anyway. Isn’t that what Jesus did? He came to earth as a man, to save us and point us in the right direction even though we totally didn’t/don’t deserve it. A part of that, a major part, was His death, yet He lived His life as one of love for us.

Whilst pondering it all, a song came on called Mighty Is The Power Of The Cross (Chris Tomlin). Clearly, it’s talking about the power of the Cross, and what Jesus’ death/what it represents does for us.

Quote:

What can take a dying man and raise him up to life again? What can heal a wounded soul? What can make us white as snow? What can fill the emptiness? What can mend our brokenness? Brokenness Mighty, awesome, wonderful Is the holy cross Where the Lamb laid down His life To lift us from the fall Mighty is the power of the cross What restores our faith in God? What reveals the Father's love? What can lead the wayward home? What can melt a heart of stone? What can free the guilty ones What can save and overcome? Overcome

The second verse struck me in particular. When we love others as Jesus loved us, and when we lay down our lives for others as He laid down His life for us, we are able to play a part in doing what the second verse talks about. When we love others, we are reflecting Jesus’ love to them; we are Jesus’ representatives.

So go live. Go lay down your life each day for your friends, for your family, for your husbands, for the strangers you meet, the poor and needy. Go.

_________________
Happy mummy!

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.