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My Life Story in Pictures
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Another podcast!
Check out my podcast, Branch FM: Radio For Life, on Spotify for Podcasters: https://anchor.fm/branch-fm
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Old World/New World Podcast
Myself and Thomas Crerar have started a podcast entitled Old World/New World.
I am from the ‘Old World’ of the UK; Thomas is from the ‘New World’ of Canada.
Both Thomas and I are pilgrims from this old world to the new world that God will create for His people. Join us for the journey!
Follow this link for our Spotify Podcast 🙂 -
Another pause
This blog is to be indefinitely paused as I need to prioritise home life.
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Mercy
But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.
1 Timothy 1:16 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/1ti.1.16.ESVSaul of Tarsus was the most notorious sinner of his day. He persecuted the church of the Lord at least as zealously as the Taliban today. He helped to enforce the death penalty for Christians on trumped up charges of blasphemy, and treason against Rome.
Yet God showed mercy upon Saul, who became the Apostle Paul. Why did God show mercy upon such a horrible man? To showcase the Lord Jesus’s infinite patience.
If there’s hope for Paul, there’s hope for you and I. No one’s too far gone for God to have mercy upon them. All we need to do is to believe in the Lord for eternal life.
Thankfully, salvation isn’t dependant upon our performance, because if it was, we’d be hopeless. Instead, our salvation is all because of Jesus. He lived the perfect life we can’t, and died in our place.
‘Sovereign God, we ask that You would enable us to believe in Christ for salvation, and not to think we’re too far gone for Your mercy. In His name, amen’
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Writing Prompt: Pre-Internet
Do you remember life before the internet?
I’m old enough to remember pre-internet days, but I was of an age where I spent a lot of time playing with lego!
We had dial up Internet at first which was pretty slow, but now it seems fairly all consuming. I want to enjoy life in the ‘real world’ more and not be glued to my phone… on that note, ciao for now!
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Rock
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalm 18:2 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/psa.18.2.ESVWho is God to you? The Lord was David’s rock, He is solid and dependable. The Lord was David’s fortress, his safe place.
David wasn’t some weak person who needed a crutch. He was a warrior king. Even so, he knew his need of refuge in God.
Life is a battle and God is a shield. If we want to survive and thrive, we need God to protect us. The Lord is our salvation.
God was David’s stronghold. When enemies are swarming, it’s folly, not bravery, to be out in the open. We need to know God as our spiritual stronghold against spiritual, demonic enemies.
‘Lord our rock, may we prove Your dependability in our lives. May David’s testimony be our own. For Your honour we pray, amen’
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Writing Prompt: Good
What are you good at?
I’m good at playing the piano. I’d like to think I was good at husbandry, fatherhood, educating and writing too.
There’s always room for improvement though.
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Wisdom
Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.
Proverbs 28:26 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/pro.28.26.ESVSome people are, admittedly, relatively intelligent. Academic knowledge and spiritual wisdom however are two different things. It’s possible to be an intellectual genius and yet to be a fool as far as spirituality is concerned.
Wisdom doesn’t come naturally. We might have intrinsic intelligence. Yet we need God to impart His wisdom to us.
Thankfully, the Bible teaches that if we lack wisdom, which we all do by default, we can ask God who gives generously without finding fault. We have to believe and not doubt though. If we doubt, we won’t receive wisdom.
We can’t deliver ourselves by our own minds or ingenuity. We need God to look after us. Thankfully, He imparts the wisdom and deliverance we need.
‘God, forbid that we should trust in our minds. May we entrust ourselves to Your perfect wisdom, and so to be delivered from the condemnation we deserve. In Jesus’ name, amen’
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Writing Prompt: Having it all
What does “having it all” mean to you? Is it attainable?
Does having a private jet mean you have it all? As Jesus said (and I paraphrase): what’s the profit in having it all and losing our souls?
There’s no point being greedy because we’ll never have it all anyway in this life.
Someone asked the richest man in the world of his day how much money was enough. He replied ‘just a little bit more’.
In the words of a Bond film, the world is not enough. We were created for more than this world can offer. We were created for a relationship with God, and until that relationship is fixed, we won’t be fulfilled.
Thankfully, if we’re in Christ, we might not have it all, but we have the One who has it all. In eternity we will have it all in the new creation. Considering that we deserve condemnation, that’s fantastically good news!
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Tomorrow
Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
Proverbs 27:1 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/pro.27.1.ESVChildren tend to boast more obviously than grown ups. They might boast of becoming footballers or popular musicians. Obviously the vast majority of children don’t grow up to become celebrities.
This proverb doesn’t just tell us not to do something, it also tells us why. No one knows for sure what tomorrow may bring. So tomorrow leaves no room for boasting.
There’s no point boasting you’re going to be a space tourist tomorrow for example if the rocket’s going to blow up on the way to space! The new testament gives us an alternative to boasting. It tells us to say ‘God willing’.
If God wills it, we might become celebrity space tourists. If God doesn’t will it, we won’t. Nothing happens outside of God’s say so.
‘Father in heaven, forgive us we pray for times we may shortsightedly boast. May we instead say that if You are willing, we will achieve our plans. In Jesus’ name, amen’
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Atheism
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.
Psalm 14:1 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/psa.14.1.ESVNote that the fool says ‘in his heart’ that there is no God. Publicly, he might be a professing Christian, yet deep down, he doesn’t believe in God’s existence. Even demons acknowledge God’s existence!
Maybe religious people start to read this verse feeling ‘holier than thou’. When we see that atheists are corrupt, maybe we assume that we aren’t corrupt. That would be a shortsighted assessment.
Maybe when read about abominable deeds, we think of people with seemingly no moral compass. The danger with atheism is that people don’t believe in Someone to whom we’re accountable to, we think we can get away with whatever we feel like. Maybe we think there’s no consequences for our actions.
In case we got on our high horse reading about the folly of atheism, we come crashing down to earth when we read that there’s no one who does good. It doesn’t matter whether we believe in God or not: ultimately, we’re all naturally bad and need to trust in Jesus to be made supernaturally good.
‘Heavenly Lord, please forgive us for judging unbelievers, when we’re not really any better ultimately. May we consider ourselves with sober judgment. In Jesus’ name, amen’
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Writing Prompt: Talk
Who would you like to talk to soon?
My immediate thought would be to talk to Jesus, to thank Him for giving His life for me and to spend eternity with Him.
I did have other thoughts though of family members I’ll be seeing today: my auntie, my brother, sister in law and niece. Looking forward to some family time 🙂
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Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates 