Some of My Son’s Artwork for this Week

My son’s artwork for this week has been really interesting – for me as well as for him, although he has found the watercolours rather challenging.The tempera (opaque) paints were easier to apply and to work with. This artwork is included in Basic Advanced Art PACE 97, and he has nearly completed the first PACE in the series. He has his PACE test today.

In the past week we have found some pen nibs that belonged to my husband, and they have proved to be a real blessing in my son’s schooling, as there were about a dozen assorted nibs. Praise God that I have a frugal husband who doesn’t throw anything away!

Nothing Between

This is a 500 word composition that my 13 year old daughter wrote for her Christian Growth PACE. I think that she has done an excellent job of keeping to the subject, and I am really happy with her essay writing skills.The subject matter, Soul-Winning, is one of extreme importance in the life of a Christian.

Soul–Winning

Soul-winning is very important to the life of a Christian, and it is a climax in the victorious life. It is the matter dearest to the heart of God. We are told that Heaven rejoices at the salvation of one sinner. If you want to do what is right and be occupied with what pleases God most, win souls.

Soul-winning is such a worthy goal that it is one of the things that makes life worth living. A great goal can straighten everything out in a young Christian’s life. It is the greatest thing in the world, and has a reward for millions of years to come. The Bible says, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise” (Proverbs 11:30). He is wise, not only for this world, but also for the next world to come. The soul-winner has the best opportunity to live a victorious life.

God cares so much for His soul-winners that he places a wall of protection around them. He who does not win souls may be handicapped and give in to temptation. Every branch (Christian) that brings forth fruit is cleansed by the Husbandman (God) so that it can grow more fruit. “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit” (John 15:2). How dear to God are his soul-winners who bear the burden of Jesus for dying sinners.

When the Israelites entered Canaan, God told them that they were not to use fruit trees for timber, but they were allowed to use oak trees or trees which did not bear fruit. “Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thous shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued” (Deuteronomy 20:20) God meant this as a lesson to the Israelites. God will protect his fruit trees from the destroyer who is turned against unfruitful Christians.

By not winning souls, a Christian is living in disobedience, and is not occupied with the thing that concerns God the most. He is not obeying the Great Commission, and will doubtless fall into other sins. Soul-winning is a protected highway that is blessed for God’s saints. C. A. Tindley wrote a poem about the Christian life.

Nothing between my soul and the Saviour,

Naught of this world’s delusive dream;

I have renounced all sinful pleasure,

Jesus is mine; let nothing between.

Nothing between like worldly pleasure;

Habits of life though harmless they seem,

Must not my heart from Him ever sever,-

He is my all, let nothing between.

Nothing between, e’en many hard trials,

Though the whole world against me convene;

Watching with prayer and much self-denial,

I’ll triumph at last with nothing between.

Nothing between my soul and the Saviour,

So that his blessed face may be seen;

Nothing preventing the least of His favour,

Keep the way clear! Let nothing between.

C. A. Tindley

Prayer and Praise

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 1 John 1: 7

…our church, where we are loved, welcomed and valued for who we are and what we have to contribute. The person who shared his testimony today said, “Your attitude determines your altitude”, and this is so true. Our attitude affects more than just our family and friends – it affects everyone who comes into contact with us.

…my husband who is continuing to soldier on, doing what he can, when he can. I think that God is using this time to strengthen our love for one another and our faith in Him, and He carries us through the difficult times.

…our children, who have stepped up to take on extra chores while my husband’s knee is painful. I suspect that he needs a total knee replacement, and that will mean lots more work for everyone, especially in regard to milking the goats – could be very interesting.

…friends – IRL friends, blogging friends and internet friends who help us to grow to be more like Jesus, mirroring His love and friendship to all.

…His provision over us - we seem to have just enough money to pay the bills, put petrol into the car and put food onto the table; and I’m content with that, for with more, there comes temptation. God supplies all of our needs!

…cooler nights, so that we can sleep well. Today’s temperature is absolutely blissful; 27C and a cool southerly blowing. It appears that summer is almost over, and soon winter will be upon our doorstep. I am standing upon God’s promises, praying and believing that our Heavenly Father will provide the warmth needed for winter, for He says that He will never leave us nor forsake us.

…homeschooling and the freedoms that we have, here in Australia. In other parts of the world it is much more difficult to homeschool openly and legally. Please pray for the governing powers in Germany, that the laws will be softened, so that people can homeschool openly, legally and without fear of reprisals. In Sweden, young Dominic Johannson is still separated from the love of his parents – please pray for the swift reuniting of Dominic, Annie and Christer.

…resources from Our Daily Bread. Last night we watched the first story called A Marriage Reborn, on a DVD called Love’s Lasting Call – it is a DVD explaining how to have a good marriage. Good marriages don’t just happen – they are built upon God’s blueprint for marriage. Ecclesiastes 4:12 says that a cord of three strands is not easily broken, and the three strands are God, the husband and wife. I am really looking forward to the second part, which is A Promise Kept.

When the Going gets Tough…

When the going gets tough, the tough get going! How many times have you heard that saying, but what does it really mean?

In our home just recently, my husband’s knee has been really painful – you see, he needs a total knee replacement, or at the very least an arthroscopy to remove the floating bone from the kneecap, so he has been spending a great deal of his time laying down resting. After an hour or so resting, he can do more work, but it is REALLY painful. Now, this wouldn’t be so bad, except that my back has also been very sore since I fell down the cellar steps, so…

…I praise God that we are homeschooling, as the children have been terrific – helping with the housework, extra dishes, feeding the animals and giving our poor little orpan, Alexandria, her bottle, which she is still having twice a day.

God tells us to “Count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations, knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience“. This is one verse that I am really trying to hold onto at the moment, as I want my faith to be strengthened through the trials that we encounter, but we are facing a  l – o – n -  g  cold winter unless my husband’s knee makes a miraculous recovery, as there won’t be any firewood, and the temperature here gets down to -8C (yes, that’s minus eight!) so I would like to ask you to pray for the complete recovery of his knee. Each winter we use a full woodshed of wood, as we have three asthmatics in our home, and if the temperature drops at night, we all start coughing. At the moment, the woodshed is less than one-eighth full.

I’m sure that God knows what He is doing, and that our faith will be strengthened as a result of our faith in the one true God, but we do need prayer at the moment for:~

• healing for my husband’s knee so that he can fill the woodshed with wood before winter arrives, as the nights are already becoming colder
• either an arthroscopy to remove the floating bone from the knee or a total knee replacement, and soon
• healing for my back

Homeschooling has taken on a whole new meaning during the last couple of weeks, as there has been much more than book learning taking place. There is far more to be learned at the moment than what can be gleaned from books, such as honouring and obeying their parents; and knowing that they will have long life on the earth if they obey God’s commands. In Godly homes, the children have a responsibility to take care of their aged parents (1 Timothy 5: 4, 8; Mark 7: 9 -13).

God knows what He is doing, but sometimes I just wish that He would fill me in on the finer details, or perhaps not. He’s certainly striving to strengthen my our faith in Him.

Praise and Prayer…

Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the day. Psalm 71:8

God for…

• His eternal greatness and provison over us – for the food that He so generously puts onto the table, His provision of a comfortable home where we are sheltered from the elements and enough money to pay the bills.

• our church, where we can be filled with the knowledge of the things of God, and grow into the sort of people that He can use in His ministry.

• my husband, who is suffering with an extremely painful knee – prayer for his knee would be very much appreciated.

• our children, who have stepped to the fore, taking up the challenge of extra chores so that our home continues to function as God designed it to be.

• our goats, who continue to provide us with milk, ice-cream and meat.

• the newborn chickens and turkey poults, who continue to grow each day. We have started to turn their lights out at night, so that we can have a good night’s sleep, and while the weather is warm they sleep well, too.

• granted travelling mercies – our road is extremely rough, and there is a very real danger of puncturing a tyre each time that we go out, so praise God for keeping us safe while travelling.

• the fencing iron that we bought at a reasonable price on Friday – it will be put to good use making new chicken coops.

• the homeschooling freedoms that we take so much for granted, here in Australia. Please keep praying for the reuniting of Dominic Johannson and his parents, in Sweden. Please also pray for homeschooling laws in Germany to be relaxed, allowing Christians to homeschool openly. At present, homeschooling in Germany is illegal.

• warm weather – the warm summer days are wonderful for swimming and a laid back lifestyle;  and the balmy nights are conducive to sleeping well.

May we remember to count it all joy when we fall into diverse temptations, knowing that the trying of our faith works patience. It is so hard to remember that when we are going through difficult times, but it is one of God’s promises, and He never lets us down. His promises are new every morning, and great is His faithfulness!

Thank you to Jennifer for hosting “Praise” each week.