Today my daughter finished her school work early, and I had promised her that if she finished early, we would start on her longstitch. We bought this longstitch for her about three years ago, and it has taken me all of that time to pluck up the courage to be able to start it.

If you have been told all of your life that you can’t do anything, you’ll never amount to anything and that you’re no good, then you’re set up for failure your whole life, and your confidence takes a very real battering. It takes a lot of determination and trust, both in God and in self to break out of that whole cycle of self-doubt, but that is exactly what I have done (through God) today.

By doubting self, I was doubting God and His ability to change me, and also doubting the promise in His Word that says, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me”. I have taken hold of that promise, and today my daughter and I started on that longstitch – it wasn’t easy, as I have never been taught how to do anything in the way of stitch work, but we managed to make a start on it, and I feel good. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

How can I tell our children that they can do all things through Christ which strengthens them if I dare to doubt what He says in His Word? I can now look them straight in the eye and tell them that they can do all things through Christ which strengthens them, knowing that I have walked the path of trust first.

We thoroughly enjoyed tackling the starting of this project, and it has given me a degree of self God confidence, knowing that I can do things that I haven’t tried before.  I  have taught my daughter how to do it, and she has now taken over, with me supervising. My daughter did all of the brown area, and I’m so happy, and so is she. We just need to have the confidence to take that first baby step…

Did I just hear you utter up a sigh or perhaps a groan? Well, ironing is one of those things that, in our home, needs to be done and done to the glory of God. After all, God loves you, and He considers you worthy of the very best. If we didn’t iron, that would signify that we think ourselves not worthy of the time spent ironing our clothes. I love putting on fresh, clean, wrinkle-free clothes every morning.

The task of ironing our clothes is extremely easy in our home, as we hang all hanging up clothing on clothes racks, which dry in our sunroom during the summer and in the loungeroom, in front of the fire, during winter. We live very close to a dirt road, and our clothing was forever being covered in dust, and besides, it is more practical – the coloureds don’t fade nearly as much, either.

My daughter does the majority of the ironing in our home, as my son HATES ironing, and would rather pay his sister to iron his clothes. I think that he figures he can earn more by designing web pages, and his sister doesn’t mind, as she gets paid to iron his clothes, but he has been taught to iron, too. Just recently we have had discussions on why we iron our clothes and why they need to be wrinkle-free, and these Bible verses sprang immediately to mind. We need to instill a good work ethic into our children so that they can teach it their children and their children’s children.

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Proverbs 31:27

She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. Proverbs 31:13

She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant. Proverbs 31:24

That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Titus 2: 4-5

Perhaps you could pray for the person whose clothing you are ironing, or even pray for missionaries while you are standing there. This would be making good use of the time with which God entrusts us – redeeming the time, so to speak. In Bible times, linen was worn, and if you have ever worn linen, you would know that it is extremely prone to creasing. To iron linen would have taken a very long time, and is very hard work. The advantages of linen are that it is moth-resistant, repels dirt well and keeps perspiration away from the skin.

See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5: 15- 16

It is important to teach our children how to care for their own clothes, so that they will always look their best. If they were applying for a job, they would be judged on their appearance firstly and foremostly.

Who does the ironing in your place? Perhaps you buy clothes that are crease-resistant – do you iron at all? Do you consider yourself worthy of the time spent ironing?

The psalmist in Psalm 29 uses the electrical storm to describe God’s awesome power, glory and majesty, but last night we saw and heard God’s awesome power, glory and majesty first hand! We had a power blackout – it went off at 12:10 a.m., and it didn’t come back on until 2:40p.m – that’s fourteen and a half hours without power, but I praise God and count it all joy.

The electrical storm last night was extremely LOUD – there was the long rolling rumble of thunder, the shaking of the windows and the crrraaack as it thundered overhead.We managed to find the candles, but the matches were absolutely elusive, although we did manage to find a box in the kitchen cupboard, so I lit a candle and went to bed – somehow, everything is right in my world if there is light!. If  it wasn’t so late, I should have probably watched the lightning as well, but I was content to bury my head under the covers, and then the rain started – it absolutely pelted down for about half an hour.

During the daytime I managed to do all of my filing, and the filing cabinet looks much tidier, now. My daughter and I also paid the bills and bought some food when we went to town. Crazy, isn’t it? We have a freezer and a fridge/freezer full of food, and yet we couldn’t open them, as we are never sure how long the power is going to be off for. Most times it is off for over 12 hours and under 18 hours, but nothing defrosts in the deep freeze as long as we don’t open it.

It appears that we are now expecting another severe thunderstorm, as the BOM has issued this warning:

Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology
South Australia Regional Office

TOP PRIORITY FOR IMMEDIATE BROADCAST
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
for DAMAGING WIND, LARGE HAILSTONES and FLASH FLOODING
For people in the Flinders, Riverland, Murraylands, Upper South East and parts
of the Mid North and Northeast Pastoral districts.

Issued at 2:07 pm Tuesday, 6 April 2010.

Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce damaging winds, large hailstones,
very heavy rainfall and flash flooding in the warning area during this
afternoon. Locations which may be affected include Renmark, Loxton, Lameroo,
Keith, Leigh Creek and Jamestown. Large hailstones are not expected north of the
Barrier Highway.

My son and husband were going to cut firewood this afternoon, but it appears that God has other ideas! With large hail expected, our car is safely ensconced in the car shed, and I can relax knowing that we are all safe and warm at home.

In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
And go quickly, and tell his disciples that
He is risen from the dead;
and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.
And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.
And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.
Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.
Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done.
And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,
Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.
And if this come to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him, and secure you.
So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.
Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Matthew 28

• That you sent your only Son to die in my place, a substitutionary sacrifice – the Passover Lamb, so that I could live. Crucifixion was one of the most barbaric and cruellest of deaths, and yet, Jesus endured it that we might live. On the third day, He was risen from the dead and Jesus lives right here – in my ♥! This was the fulfilment of the Old Covenant and the starting of the New Covenant. His death gives us eternal life!

• For excellent medical practitioners, who seek to keep us fit and healthy. On Friday we all had a doctor’s appointment, so that we could have the ‘flu and Swine ‘flu vaccinations, but the doctor said that the rest of the family could have them, but not me, as I had a severe allergic reaction to the last Fluvax that I had, and was in hospital for three weeks. However, the doctor did say that my family could show their love by having the vaccination, which would prevent them from bringing home the ‘flu virus. Yay – I feel loved!

• For my husband and his ice-cream making ability – he made a batch of home-made Goats’ Milk Ice-Cream this afternoon, and it is absolutely delicious. For now, his pain management is under control, and I praise God for answered prayer, for helping my husband to be able to walk easily.

• For warm, autumn weather – enabling us to keep our store of wood for the colder winter months. For the moment, we are using a bar heater if it gets too cold in the evenings, and of course, there’s always the option of an early night if it’s colder than that.

• For friends, such as Janice, who is coming up to spend some time with us and helping us to cut firewood. Talk about friendship – I love this lady to pieces, and such love she has for us, that she is willing to take time out of her busy schedule to help us cut and load firewood. Of course I praise God for all our friends – internet, blogging and IRL friends, too.

• That we have helpful children, who without being asked will: -

1. Water the strawberries and parsley.
2. Milk and feed the goats.
3. Vacuum and mop our home, and that is such a BIG job.
4. Do dishes without arguing.
5. Keep their rooms tidy.
6. Do their schoolwork without having to be told.
7. Clean the shower and bath.
8. Clean their bedrooms and help with the rest of the housework.
9. Help with the cooking – making delicious cakes and stews.

• Physiotherapists, who work closely alongside doctors – I now have patches for my back pain, which sure makes everyday living a whole lot more bearable.

I pray that you have a wonderful and blessed Easter, as we commemorate the work completed on the Cross for us.

This is a card that I made for my friend, Gwenda, and it has symbolism within the design of the card. The red symbolises the blood of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ; the black symbolises our sin prior to His death on the Cross and the white represents the righteousness of the Saints, which is only received through God’s grace and Jesus shed blood on the Cross of Calvary.

Do we celebrate Easter? Well, I know that Easter has long been associated with Ishtar, the goddess of fertility, but we don’t worship her in our home. We worship the one true God, the one who died on the Cross so that we could have everlasting forgiveness of our sins. There was to be no more sacrifice, as the Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world.

Easter has been associated with many things – Easter eggs and hot cross buns, but we need to remember the true reason for Easter, and that is the love that God had for us in sending His Son to be the substitutionary sacrifice for us all. It’s not about furry bunnies, Easter eggs or hot cross buns.

Easter is defined by Merriam Webster’s Online Dictionary as:

• A feast that commemorates Christ’s resurrection and is observed with variations of date due to different calendars on the first Sunday after the paschal full moon.

While the Collins Concise Dictionary that we have at home defines Easter as:

• A festival of the Christian church commemorating the Resurrection of Christ: falls on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox.

And World Book Encyclopaedia defines Easter as being:

• The most important Christian festival of the year. Easter celebrates the return to life of Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity, after His Crucifixion.

Jesus came to give us life and that we might have it more abundantly (John10:10), and it is only through our faith in Jesus Christ that we receive this free gift of eternal life. Christ’s death and resurrection is the message that we should be sending to our friends and loved ones, and it should be His death and resurrection that we celebrate, knowing the love that our heavenly Father has for us.

There are lots of differences between the Christian and economic security vs. the unsaved and economic security. The unsaved person will have a totally different view of money vs. the Christian, who trusts on God and asks for God’s guiding on any major economic decision; sometimes maybe even in the minor decisions, too. A Christian will have an eternal view, where as the unsaved person will be solely focusing on providing for his time on earth. Colossians 3:2 says “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” and that is the major difference in the views of Christians and the unsaved on the subject of economics. Christians will not lay “up for [themselves] treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But [they will] lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:” *

Christians will view economic security with a godly perspective. They will prayerfully lay up money for the future, but with an eternal perspective. They won’t just hoard money for the sake of it. They will seek God’s face in all matters of economic security. Christians will trust God for the means to survive in their later years, whether it is by them saving money or whether it is by the grace of God that they are living. Christians will not be devastated if some catastrophe happened and they were no longer economically secure. They will view it as God’s way of bringing them closer to Him. After all, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

The unsaved will view economic security from a worldly viewpoint that is influenced by Satan so as to keep as much money from doing good in this world. Satan will influence the unsaved to hoard their money. He loves to see people who are rolling in cash, and yet not giving it worthy causes. He hates to see good being done in this world, whether it is a Christian organization or not. Satan is the “father of lies”, so he likes to give people a false sense of economic security but encouraging them to lay up for themselves “treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt.” Economic security in the earthly sense really isn’t economic security. All that has to happen is for the stock market to crash, the bank to go bankrupt, or some other catastrophe and you are no longer economically secure.

As you can see, Christians will view economical security differently to unsaved people. They will view in light of the temporary, whereas Christians will view it in light of an eternity spent with God, where they will be “judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” (Revelation 20:12). True economic security is found only in trusting totally upon God.

*Slight changes made, but they don’t affect the meaning of the verse.

Today we didn’t go to church, as it is a hundred and sixty kilometre round trip to church, and as my husband has to travel the same distance to go to the orthopaedic specialist on Tuesday, he didn’t feel that he could cope with two journeys a couple of days apart.

What to do – I love going to church and hearing the Word of God preached well, instilling it into my heart and helping me to grow into the sort of woman that God wants me to be, and to be fit to be for the Master’s use. We decided that we would watch the DVD, DARWIN, The Voyage that Shook the World,  from CREATION.com. We bought this DVD a while ago, and haven’t really found the right time to watch it, so today was it, and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed watching the movie, as well as the extras!

This movie would have to be the most unbiased DVD that I have ever had the privilege of watching. It talks about Darwin as a young boy, and how he had a very enquiring mind, and he always wanted to know things – why this, why that, but that he also liked to fabricate tall tales from a very early age.

His father was a wealthy society doctor from Shrewsbury, and his mother was from the famous Wedgewood Pottery family. Charles Darwin was surrounded by a massive religious influence, but he was impacted most of all by the beliefs of his grandfather, who was a free thinking rationalist and humanist, who believed that there were going to be “chariots in the air”, that we now know as aeroplanes. Erasmus Darwin wrote the book, Zoonomia, which first theorised evolution, so the theory of evolution is not a new idea, but was simply popularised by Darwin. He also added passages from Zoonomia to his own book.

He loved enjoying himself and spent hours with his friends hunting and collecting specimens, and enjoyed discussing the wonders of nature. Darwin went to Cambridge with the understanding that he would train to become a preacher, and that he would become a country vicar with a comfortable life. However Charles started questioning some of the teachings of the established church.

In 1831, he received an invitation to join the Beagle for a five-year voyage of discovery around the world, and this was to change his way of thinking forever. It was on this voyage that the captain gave him the book, The Principles of Geology, that was written by Charles Lyell, a geologist and lawyer, and which was to have a profound impact upon Charles Darwin’s thinking, and to influence his thinking about the origins of the species. Lyell couldn’t accept the Genesis account of Creation.

Darwin studied such questions as:

• Where did the world come from?
• How was it made?

Darwin’s ideas were of uniformitarianism, influenced by Lyell’s books. Scientists have their own preconceived ideas, and this can influence the outcome. During Darwin’s day, he believed that he was seeing the results of slow, uniform change – uniformitarianism. He believed that at the mouth of the Rio Santa Cruz was an ancient sea channel, and that the ocean raising and lowering over great eons of time caused the change in landforms that he was seeing, and that the ocean had changed the coast. He attempted to travel up the river to prove his cause, but a lack of food and the fast flowing water meant that they had to turn back. Had he continued, he would have found the Perito Moreno Glacier, a large glacier that used to be a kilometre high. When the glacier broke off, there was enough water to cut all the valleys in the area, in days, not aeons of time.

Darwin encountered the people of Tierra Del Fuego, who had been trained in Britain in the manners of civilised people, but by the standards of that time, the people returned to savagery. Darwin found it difficult to believe that they were his fellow men, and didn’t believe that they could be elevated into being proper human beings, but such ideas are now considered extremely racist. The Biblical view is that all people have descended from Adam and Eve, but in 1834 his  experience, and his grandfather’s evolutionary ideas gave him another way of looking at his ideals.

Darwin also read the other two volumes of Lyell’s books and these books expounded long ages of time. He was in the third year of the voyage when he found some fossilised trees, but he believed that the trees grew there and were slowly buried over millions of years. In Argentina, you see two trees – one that has grown there, with soil and roots in place, but there was a tree stump that had no soil, nor roots, so it had to have been broken from a distant forest and buried rapidly -  then fossilised – more evidence of a great, global flood. Rapid catastrophic change is accepted today, but it may be unfair to judge Darwin by today’s standards, as science, philosophy and religion were still closely intertwined in his day.

He visited the Galapagos Islands and studied nature, but he missed vital pieces of information because he failed to document where he took certain specimens from, and it wasn’t until he returned home to England that he was asked where he collected the species. Anyone who believes in a global, catastrophic Flood would also believe that species can disperse and adapt. In Darwin’s mind, MADE BY GOD meant unchanging fixity of species, although his ideas changed later on. The Marine and Land Iguanas have hybridised, and it was an amazing occurrence. This is evidence of a species explosion, and shows that species can merge rapidly.

The beaks of birds on the Galapagos Islands rapidly change from large to small, from one generation to the next, and were affected by the food supply. Darwin couldn’t see this, as he was only on the islands for about five weeks in later 1835.

Charles journals were a sensation, and his friend published them while he was away. His writings undermined all that people believed. Charles belief that we descended from apes was very disturbing to his friends, and he became very ill. His beliefs were influenced by good and evil.

Charles couldn’t accept death and suffering as a result of the Fall. He had three out of ten of his children, who died, and this only served to make him retreat from a loving, creator God to the theory of evolution. He believed that the unfit were going to die, and that they weren’t going to go on to produce the next generation. The death of his children contributed to his theory of the natural selection of the species.
Darwin presented this theory as acceptable to people. He asked people to look at things his way, and explained some of the difficulties. By drawing on the information of his grandfather’s book and Lyell’s books, he was able to create The Origin of the Species, but he still couldn’t explain the origin of life itself. Perhaps he didn’t want to make the commitment of faith! Darwin’s theory (and that’s all that it is) of evolution is not about science – it’s all about God!

Bible Verses Used:

Isaiah 55:11

Trust in God for He will never leave you nor forsake you, and He promises that His Word will never return to Him void. When God is moving us to a different level, we’re supposed to move on. I know that God is with me 100%. When Jesus speaks to us, He expects us to learn from our mistakes and move on. God doesn’t consult our past when He prepares our future.

Once we’ve given our heart and life to Jesus, there’s so many things we can do in serving Him – we can serve, we can pray and we can share what God is doing in our lives. In our weakness, God can be our strength, but I hear you asking – What can I do? There’s plenty that I can do. If you’ve felt it’s not my calling, get up there anyway. We’re called to serve Him.

Perhaps your calling is to clean the toilets. Whatever you do, do it to the glory of God. When you step out, just say, “Here am I, God – use me.” As situations change in your life, offer to help someone. Perhaps you’ve been asked to read aloud in church, and you’re terrified of being humiliated – just remember that God blesses your efforts. God will give you what you need, and He sees your ♥. When you feel peace in your ♥, go with it.

When you’re in any situation you can call on the name of Jesus, knowing that if He be for me, who can be against me? God is there for me; He will never leave me nor forsake me. Jesus didn’t die on the cross and endure all the pain and suffering so that we could backslide. We need to work together in unity – a strong body!

The Holy Spirit gives us an inner peace if what we are doing is right for us. We need to have faith and trust in God. If you trust the Holy Spirit 100% to guide you, you will find inner peace. Sometimes we need to step out of our comfort zone, for we are answerable to Jesus. There are people who have been Christians all their lives, and yet, they don’t have a personal relationship with the Lord Jeus Christ, nor have they stepped out in faith.

If you want Christian input, you need to approach a good strong Christian, who is rooted and grounded in God’s Word. God is building us strong and firm. If our roots are not strong in the Word of God, we don’t have the Living Water. Pine trees have shallow roots;  they wave in the wind and if they don’t receive water, they die. That’s like us – we need to have our roots grounded deep in God’s Word, so that when the storms of life come, we will be strong, and we also need to receive the Water of Life (Jesus).

We all have pressures from family and friends, but it’s up to us how we deal with those pressures. It’s important what God wants! We are all a part of the same body, and we need to fulfil our part – God will bless you for it. If we are faithful in the small things, God will bless us in the bigger things, too.

There are many areas where God can use you. Don’t wait for ten burning bushes. God can and will use you if only you let Him. Make yourself available. God is calling us to be a Holy people, and He’s opening our Spiritual eyes and our Spiritual ears. God will call the people that He wants to use. There’s no better time to make a commitment to the Lord Jesus.

If you don’t know the Lord, Jesus Christ, I ask you to invite Him into your heart, and pray the following prayer:~

Lord Jesus, I admit that I am a sinner and constantly fall short of your glory. I believe that You are the Son of God, and I give my life over to you and acknowledge you as my Saviour.

Then shout it from the rooftops that you are saved!

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 1 John 2:15

If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. John 15:19

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1 Corinthians 6: 19, 20

For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. Ga 1:10

What do you wear? Is it important? Are the things that you wear the latest fashion, jeans maybe, or the latest miniskirt? What does God think of the things of this world?

We are told, as Christians, that we are set apart for His service, and that the world will hate us, regardless of what we do, so why do we seek to become more like the world with our dress – both male and female?

We should always aim to please God in all that we do, and to dress in a manner befitting the honour and glory that God deserves. We are called upon to be lords and ladies of the King of Kings – does our clothing reflect His glory, or are we more like prostitutes and pimps?

We are told in the Bible that we are the temple of God’s Holy Spirit, and as such we make up the church. What does God see when He looks at us? Does He see a people set apart for His service, seeking to please Him, or does He see a people seeking to live in the world, wearing what the world wears and living in the way that the world lives? What sets us apart from the world?