Get Dressed

Often during my Bible reading, or listening to a sermon, a thought, a phrase, or a verse will jump out at me and start the wheels turning in my mind and make me dig deeper in the Word of God, searching for more light on the subject.

This weekend was one of those times. I heard the phrase “get dressed spiritually”, and I began to muse over this phrase and it's full meaning.

Every morning, as we wake up and begin our day, we give some thought as to what we are going to wear for the day. We think about what we'll be doing that day and it determines what clothes we'll wear. Is it a work day? Is it a church day? Is it a cold day? A hot day? Will we be getting dirty? Will we be sitting in an office? Will we be meeting with a friend for coffee? Our mind runs those scenarios over in our heads, and we plan accordingly.

But now to crunch time, and the point of my writing.

How often do we get up and “get dressed spiritually”? Do we rise every morning and plan what to wear spiritually? We read in Ephesians 6:10-17 about the clothes that God wants us to wear.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

The whole armour of God! God tells us what we are to wear spiritually. He gives us clear instructions.

We would never, even on our most brain dead days, get up to start our day, without stopping to get dressed. No! We put at least a little bit of effort into clothing ourselves.

Why then, do we neglect to clothe ourselves spiritually? Why do we think we can make it through the day spiritually naked!

Some people think they can get by with a spiritual clothing once a week. On Sunday, they soak up the Word, read and pray, then for the rest of the week, they get about without their armour (spiritual clothes) on. And yet, they take care to get dressed physically each and every day.

The Bible clearly tells us why it's important to be clothed with His armour. We will be able to “stand against the wiles of the devil”. We will “be able to withstand in the evil day”.

I don't know about you, but I feel like we're living in the 'evil day'. Unless you live under a rock (like my 12^th grade geography teacher thought of me because we didn't have a television), or you are in denial about the wickedness in the world today, you too know that we live in evil days. All the more reason to put on God's armour.

The Bible also tells us in verse 16 that we'll be able to “quench all the fiery darts of the wicked”. I know I don't want to take on a fiery dart without some protection.

So often we're guilty of taking care of the physical and neglecting the spiritual. We need to be in God's Word, daily, continually, wholeheartedly, to be able to find the armour we need.

One of my sister's used to tell me in my teenage years, that it looked liked I'd rolled around in my drawer and got out (due to my wrinkled state). Well, it's not enough to 'roll around in the drawer' of God's Word, metaphorically speaking, and expect to come out with your armour on. You can't expect to be clothed right if all you do is read your Bible on Sunday, and maybe a little verse along with a nice story every other day.

As you dig deeper, God's Word comes alive. As you memorize scripture, God's Word, God's truth, is hidden in your heart and is there ready for the enemy's attack.

We need protection against the devil's tricks and manipulative methods. And only by mediating on God's Word and obeying God's Word, and living God's truth, are we going to be able to stand against the devil, prepared for the battle.

The Bible is full of promises that we can claim. We can trust in God's protection, but He expects us to clothes ourselves, with His help, and be ready.

So get serious and get dressed!

Psalms 28:7

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

Psalms 84:11

For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

A Lion from a Thicket

Dad wrote this article in the church

bulletin this week and it was so

good I wanted to post it here.

Sometimes, as I read my Bible, a verse

leaps out at me that I never noticed

before, but often to me, it's like

a brick in the face!

I really like Dad's 'Lion from a Thicket'

analogy so much better.

If you haven't already read it,

please take the time to read it now.

Here it is:

19^th century pastor Charles Spurgeon once wrote of preaching in the dark at Metropolitan Tabernacle when the gaslights failed. Interestingly, he told that during the last hymn before he preached he was looking over his sermon notes, and 'from across the page a text leaped upon me like a lion from a thicket.' He said it seized him in its teeth and pierced him deeply. So obvious were its truths, so pointed its message and so clear were the headings of its outline that he felt led to lay aside the sermon he had prepared and to change his sermon. So he preached from the LIONLIKE TEXT.

No sooner had he begun to speak than the lights in the auditorium went out. People and preacher were plunged into darkness, but he had no need of sermon notes. He knew the new text from memory. The outline was fresh in his mind, so he calmed the people and preached with great power. In the dark. He recounted that he was sure that God had directed him to the new text.

It is that saying of his that keeps coming back to me, 'a text leaped upon me like a lion from a thicket!'

Have you ever had that happen to you in your devotions, in your Bible reading? I gather that it is almost unknown among the Lord's people. Very seldom do we see (or even hear of) a brother being broken, torn, rent in pieces by a LION OF A TEXT OF SCRIPTURE. Rather, neo-evangelicalism has conditioned us to study only the 'safe texts' and avoid all thickets of Holy Scripture where LION TEXTS lurk. We've absorbed the soft lies of the neo-theologians who smilingly whisper to us that all LION TEXTS have been retranslated so that they are now tame tabbycats, purring on our laps. Modern culture teaches us that being mauled be a Bible verse is an alien experience for modern day pastors. Brokenness is out of date and baptistically incorrect.

Ah, but if our hearts are tender, if we lay aside our worldly wise armour we may fall under the onslaught of a mighty text, torn limb from limb, rent in pieces by the ferocity of truth, helpless in its jaws. How long is it since that has been our experience? Not for a long time. In fact, I sometimes despair of experiencing again that blessed crushing of my stubborn will, that breaking of my hardened heart, that wounding of my arrogant pride.

It is not that God has lost His power or that His Word has no teeth. Rather it is that Christians keep their distance from LIONLIKE TEXTS. They ride in air conditioned comfort through lion parks where they can observe at a distance the great Bible truths that used to devour men.

I have decided that I need to hark back to Spurgeon's description of 'the text leaping upon him like a lion from a thicket.' I am convicted of being overcautious in my reading of God's Word. The Lord is challenging me to risk my soul, to hazard my all, and to prowl all the thickets of God's Word. I need to probe every bush, and to follow every game trail I find in hope of springing a LIONLIKE TEXT.

As time passes I find I am becoming more adventurous, and even beginning to leave my cardboard armour at home. In fact, I noticed the other day that it is gathering a lot of dust. I cannot yet boast of great numbers of LIONLIKE TEXTS found, but I can give thanks for some small progress. I am occasionally being torn by the Lion of Truth. Is it fearful? Yes and no. It was terribly frightening at first to be seized and dragged off to the lair of the Lion of the tribe of Judah. But I am discovering that His deepest wounds are for my good. Like Jacob, I am finding that all God's valiant men limp from the wounds of LIONTEXTS. Jacob was only a supplanter, a trickster, until God crippled him, and then he became Israel the prince of God. I am coming to believe that LIONLIKE TEXTS are the best kind. In fact, one of my friends suggested to me that most texts of Scripture will be found to be ravenous, if I read them in faith.

I suspect that the Christian who lays aside his armour of self will and intellectual pride and then prowls among the thickets of Scripture will find many hungry LIONTEXTS there. There is surely nothing better for God's people than for their pastor to limp to the pulpit with many a scar from having wrestled with a LIONLIKE of Scripture until it did its work in him. And nothing brings joy to a pastor's heart like looking out over his congregation on a Sunday morning and seeing many whose hearts have been chewed by texts that leaped upon them like lions from a thicket!

May they leap upon us as they did upon Spurgeon!

Pastor Buddy

Baby Shower 🚼👶🍼

As promised, here are some pictures from

the baby shower held for Abbi recently.

We were blessed with many of the

ladies from the church

coming, bearing gifts and all sorts of yummy treats.

We drank coffee and tea and munched on and on.....

played some baby related charades,

and each took turns giving Abbi some

baby and mothering advice.

Even her sisters and cousin pitched in

their two bits worth.

(and good advice it was too!)

With not long to go now, the days

are swiftly flying by and soon it'll be

Grandma and Grandpa Holmes around here!

Yeah!

And I am sooo getting this shirt for Dave!

Little Brother Visits

and so does Mum and Dad

and a cousin!

A couple of weeks back, I was very

excited to get a visit from my 'little' brother!

All the way from Brisbane!

He had never visited us here in the Territory

and he was only here for 2 nights, so we tried

to make the most of the time we had.

We did some sight seeing out at Katherine Gorge,

a selfie on the Katherine River Railway Bridge,

Youth group on Friday night,

Markets and coffee on Saturday,

Teen youth group on Saturday avo

and lots of fun family time playing pool,

telling jokes and reminiscing.

And that's Jer up there doing the YMCA chant

Pretty trippy light play??

I cherish any time I get to spend with my siblings

and mum and dad, as we're so far from anywhere.

It was great to have that special time.

Then, right after Jer's visit,

we were again blessed to have

my parents and niece

visit for a week.

We tried, to no avail, to let mum and dad rest

and not do too much, but alas. They won't sit still!

Grandpa won many rounds

of pool and I think Grandma even

did too! We did ALL the op shops (without Grandpa)

and enjoyed family time. Grandpa worked with Dave

some and they got some projects

around the house done too.

We were even able to have a baby

shower for Abbi

while they were here.

(photos coming up in the next post)

The girls really enjoyed having

their cousin to stay up late

and chat with, sitting out on the

tray of the ute staring up at

the stars ✩ and listening to the

neighbourhood sounds. Hmm.

Sorry, India, that we couldn't go camping.

Maybe next time. ⛺

Mother's Day

2017

Okay, so I'm a little behind,

Mother's Day being yesterday,

but hey!

Here is a sweet picture of my mum

and me. Awwwww.

And here, is a picture of us now.

Okay, so not so big an 'awww' this time?

Life these last 2 weeks has been crazy

so be prepared for a run of posts on various subjects.

But the most important was Mother's Day!

How I thank the Lord for my mother.

She really has become the Proverbs 31

woman and a great example to me.

Well, every year since Dave and I were married,

I have taken a family photo on Mother's Day.

It is always fun to look back on these pictures and

see how the girls have grown (taller) and

Dave and I (wider).

And now, as the years fly so swiftly by,

we see the numbers in our family photo

dwindling. With 2 daughters married, we're

now down to only 5 of us. Sigh.

But we have gained 2 great son-in-laws

and Lord willing, lots of adorable grandchildren!

So, now to the mug shot for this year.

But before that, I want to take you on a short trip

down memory lane to some past Mother's Day

photos, just for nostalgia's sake.

My very first Mother's Day

1996

The year 2000

2002

2007

And the last photo with all of our girls at home

in 2014

And now for this year

Oh, how our numbers have dwindled....

And, in case you want to see how tall the

girls are compared to us.

And now, I'll leave you with this very

wise piece of advice ............

Singing in the Fire

"Mrs C.H.Spurgeon, wife of the

famous Victorian preacher,

was for many years afflicted with illness

which at times was acutely distressing.

One wintry evening, as the deeper darkness drew on,

she lay on her couch, much discouraged,

and wondered again why such lingering affliction

should be allowed to frustrate the service

she would fain have been rendering

to the Lord's servants.

Suddenly, she heard a clear, musical

sound like the trill of a robin;

but no, surely no robin could be singing

out there in such wintry darkness.

Again the plaintive, melodious notes

stole into the room;

and then she found to her surprise

that they came from the fireplace.

The fire was letting loose the imprisoned music

from the heart of an old oak log which

was burning there.

The old oak had garnered up that song in the days

when all went well with him,

when birds twittered merrily

on his branches, and the soft sunlight

flecked his leaves with gold.

But since then he had grown old and hardened;

ring after ring of knotted growth had

sealed up the long-forgotten melody,

until at last the fierce tongues

of the flames consumed

his callousness and enabled him to sing his

sweetest song even amid self-sacrifice.

"Singing in the fire"! Says Mrs. Spurgeon,

"If that is the only way to get a song of praise

from these apathetic hearts,

then let the furnace be heated

seven times hotter than before!"

I read this story recently and began to think about the trials in my life, and whether I ever

'sing in the fire'.

It seems, of late, that the burdens are heavy and trials and testing abound, and some days the waves crash overhead so often and so fierce, that I almost give up hope of my little boat staying afloat.

But, I was encouraged by the verse Paul wrote in

2 Corinthians 4:17

For our light affliction,

which is but for a moment,

worketh for us a far more

exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

Now, if you've ever studied the life of Paul, you'll know that he had his trials.

2 Corinthians 11:24-27 

Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

So, for Paul to say his affliction was 'light' and that it was 'but for a moment' is

amazing to my understanding!

Paul realized that our trials 'work for us'

an eternal glory.

The trials we face work for us and in us. To develop and strengthen our faith. To mature us. To purify us. To make us more like Christ.

Over the past few months our Pastor has been teaching through the Psalms. We have been gleaning an insight into the life of David and the huge trials he faced. But despite his overwhelming troubles, he stayed faithful to God. And it is evident in so many of the Psalms, that he had learned to 'sing in the fire'!

We see him on his face before God. Crying out for mercy from his enemies. And then, we see him on his feet, praising the God of his salvation, often even before the trials has ended.

Psalms 3:3-5 

But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah. I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.

I love verse 5. David is confident in God's protection. He has armies chasing after his blood,

yet he lays down and sleeps.

In Psalm 4:8 it tells us that he lay down

in peace and slept.

"I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.

There is a sweet peace that only God can bring

during our trying times. And there is a song

that only God can bring forth out of our aching

hearts. He and only He, can teach us to

'Sing in the fire'.

And all those around us, can be encouraged

and challenged and blessed by our song of praise.

God will be glorified by our right response

and His name lifted up.

Sometimes, God has to send the flames

to teach us to sing.

Lest We Forget

Katherine, NT

2017

Short Attention Span

For those of you with a very short

attention span, this video is for you!

 17 seconds and you can drift away..........

I don't know about you, but it makes

me want to go out and lie under the stars ★☆

and listen to the birds. 🐦🐦

Ahhh

P.S. You have to view it small.

When you look at it full screen,

you can't see it clearly. Rats!

Cast Thy Burden Upon the LORD

 As I look around me, I see so many people who are hurting. So many people going through a time of trial and testing. Family members, friends and loved ones. Myself included. All dealing with some kind of hardship. And I'm talking about saved people. People that love the Lord and are

doing their best to serve Him.

I've written about trials and testings recently, but when you're going through difficult times, it's a time to fall to your knees and search the scriptures looking for wisdom and help. In these times, I find that certain verses tend to jump out at you and take on a whole new meaning.

Psalm 55 was brought to my attention through a sermon and I began to think about King David's life and the difficult circumstances he found himself in.

Here was a man who had people wanting to kill him. And we think we have it bad! I'm sure none of us have someone seeking our life. Our time, our energies, our advice, our resources, but NEVER our life. Yes, these things feel like they are sapping the life out of us, slowly and painfully.

David states in Psalms 55:5

Fearfulness and trembling

are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.

Of late, I have had times when I feel like this. I am fearful and trembling and the trial feels like a horror overwhelming me. It is then I want to cry out like David did in verses 6 and 7: “Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.”

How many times do we wish ourselves somewhere else? We wish we could just fly away to the wilderness and remain their forever. All our troubles gone. But, you know, I thought about that, and well, then we'd be all alone with a miserable sinner. Ourselves. Saved by grace, yes. But, miserable. I think pretty soon, the excitement would wear off and we'd find ourselves even more lonely and miserable than we were to start with. Besides getting hungry!

But, David doesn't stop there. When we get down to verses 16 and 17 he says, “As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.”

David realised where his salvation lay. In the Lord. And he decides to call upon God to save him. And not just once either. Evening, morning and noon.

How many times do we cry out to God and then despair that He didn't answer right away? God desires us to come to Him continually.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray without ceasing”

His ways are not our ways. His thoughts not our thoughts. So, just because we are going through a period of testing, doesn't mean that God will answer in the way you want, right away. He has a purpose for these seasons in our lives. And we can come boldly to Him and pray for deliverance, over and over until God brings the peace that we need.

In the sermon, it was said this way, “Keep on praying until you have the victory. Keep on praying until peace comes. When peace settles in , then you can stop praying”. We all know that peace that only God can bring. And we know the moment it is there. The burden is lifted and we feel like we've broken through the gates of heaven into God's heart and He is lifting that heavy burden off our backs and we don't have to carry it anymore.

As a child, I saw the film “Pilgrim's Progress”, and one scene that has never left my memory is of Christian, when he makes it to the bottom of the hill, and he looks up, and sees the cross. He climbs the hill to the cross and as he kneels there, his heavy burden falls off his back and rolls down the hill into an empty tomb. Oh, the blessedness of that very moment. I didn't understand the significance of that moment until I was much older, but Oh how many times I have lived through that very situation and God has brought peace to my troubled heart.

This brings me to one of my favourite verses of scripture found in this passage.

Psalms 55:22 Cast thy burden upon the LORD,

and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

I started looking at the Hebrew meanings for some of the words in this verse and I actually found the word “Cast” to be very interesting. It has the meaning of: to throw out, down or away (literally or figuratively):—adventure, cast (away, down, forth, off, out), hurl, pluck, throw. Did you see that? Hurl. Throw. This is not a passive act of letting the burden slide slowly off our backs, half-heartedly, because we really don't want to let go of our burden. “Just wait Lord, I have to undo the straps. Oh, and there's another buckle, oh, and a tie, and, well, you might as well go about your business Lord, this could take a while” .

No! Emphatically No! The meaning here is to HURL! PLUCK! THROW! Wow! How many of us hurl our burdens upon the Lord? Actually, literally, meaningfully, really truly cast

our burdens upon the LORD.

We like to hang onto our burdens don't we? Maybe we think that we might be able to get it sorted without God's help. Maybe we're worried how it might turn out if we really give them over to God.

We hand them over, only to take them back again. How foolish we are! Just like in the little poem at the start of this, we like to “cast our confidence away and carry all our cares.”

I know reading this Psalm was a challenge to me to see all David went through, yet he trusted the Lord to pull him through. His life was in danger, yet he cried out to God. Because he had grasped the fact that there was only One who

could save him and that was the LORD.

When we really get a hold of this truth, that God will never leave us or forsake us and that he WILL sustain us when we cast our burdens on Him, it says, “He shall NEVER suffer the righteous to be moved.”

What a great comfort that should be to our souls.

I'll leave you with a verse that has been a comfort to me through many difficult times.

2 Timothy 1:7

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear;

but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Written by John Bunyan