MY ETERNAL LEGACY

"Draw close to God and He will draw close to you."  James 4:8 This verse in James reminds us that our friendship with God is a choice we need  to make. We then cultivate this friendship through prayer and meditating on God's Word. We also need to be honest, obedient and passionate about this friendship, so others can see that it is something they need too. I have said it many times before that when it comes to prayer I am not the most articulate or disciplined of people. So I loved reading what Brother Lawrence had to say. Brother Lawrence was a humble cook in a French monastery. His key to friendship with God was sharing his everyday life with Him. We know that God is with us all the time, so why not pray all the time - `short, conversational prayers'.  1 "The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clutter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess Go...

"Smile on me, your servant, teach me the right way to live." PSALM 119:35 (MSG) ` The smile of God is the goal of your life'. Rick Warren In this BLOG I am not advocating salvation by works.  It is not my intention to judge others for their way of life. Simply, since surrendering my life to Christ and allowing the Holy Spirit to take over, this is what has worked for me. One of the first passages I look at when asking myself this question: `How can I please God', is Psalm 119. "Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord. Joyful are those who obey His laws and search for Him with all their heart." Psalm 119:1&2 (NLT) "How can a young person keep is way pure? By OBEYING your word." Psalm 119:9 (NLT) As a young person I wanted more than anything to obey the Lord, to live according to His Word. When the Holy Spirit entered my life, I decided through His help, I would endeavour to do what I felt would please ...

One of the difficult things I have each week is hearing about or seeing people doing things that I think I should be doing. A few weeks ago I read my son's mother in law was guest speaker at a Christian Education Conference. Cliff Richard - at age 70 - is still the best rock `n' roller ever. Just watching him makes me feel tired. My favourite Children's Ministry worker, known as `funky' Duggie Dug Dug, is about the same age as me. I seemed to have lost my funkiness a long time ago. Even Women's Conference this year left me feeling sorry for myself.  Wonderful speakers, full of energy and passion. All I could do was worry about where mine was gone. Some great men of God had this problem too. ISAIAH "I have laboured for no purpose. I have spent my strength in vain for nothing." Isaiah 49:4 JEREMIAH "What sorrow is mine, O mother. Oh that I had died at birth." Jeremiah 15:10 JOB "My life drags by day after hopeless day...... I give...

Many of us are driven by our past and these have become the driving forces for our future. I know three things that have driven me: GUILT - For many years I have been driven by guilt, spending a lot of time running from regrets and hiding my shame. Isn't it great though, that these products from our past don't have to keep us prisoners. "Oh what joy for those whose guilt is FORGIVEN, whose sin is put out of sight." Psalm 32:1 "Even if we feel guilty, GOD IS GREATER than our feelings. If we don't feel guilty we can come to God with confidence." 1 John 3:20&21 RESENTMENT AND ANGER - This, unfortunately, has been a real driving force for me over the last 2 years.  Just when I think I have let them go, the hurts still come back and haunt me.   I read about people who are doing what I want to be doing, but instead of feeling happy for them, I keep saying `it's not fair'. Still, I have learnt from pass experiences that bitterness only ...

"Don't copy the behaviour and customs of this world. Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you which is good and pleasing."  ROMANS 12:2 "You did not create you, GOD DID! Only He knows what purpose He created you for". "How do we discover the purpose God created us for. The only way is to see what God has revealed in His Word. IT ALL STARTS WITH GOD - He is the source of our life. Not self help, not the world's wisdom, but ETERNAL TRUTHS"   Rick Warren - `Purpose Driven Life'.  As a child and a teenager I lived a pretty sheltered life.  I always thought it was due to my parents, but realize now it was more my own doing. You see - I was terrified of the world. In an earlier blog I mentioned that temptation was never really a problem for me. Well actually, that probably isn't exactly true. I know that I had weaknesses and if not for the Lord, I could have ...