While out on a walk, my wife and I came across a plant with the unflattering name of Snot Rose or, more pleasantly called, the poppy-flowered sundew. When touched, long silvery strands attach to your finger and stretch out as you draw your hand away. Its clever technique is to stick to insects and draw… Continue reading Col 1v17 – Divine connections
Have you ever drawn up a personal budget? While it is a basic concept of income less expenses, expenses must also be divided into discretionary (optional) vs non-discretionary (necessary) spending. Identifying which costs fall into each category is interesting as it makes you consider what is essential. Are donations discretionary or non-discretionary? What about your… Continue reading Heb 10v24-25 – The budget
What is the most precious thing you have? There could be a variety of answers – my gran’s diamond ring, my family, my dog. But there is one other thing more precious that every person has – and that is time. Without time the things we consider precious have no meaning because we can’t be… Continue reading Eph 5v15-16 – Sacred time
“Come” was the invitation from the small church in a distant country. In faith, they packed their home, put it up for sale, and waited. A week before the removal truck was due, a storm washed away the access bridge leaving only a tricky gravel track. They delayed the truck. However, warnings of a bigger… Continue reading Matt 14v29 – Come
We were walking along our long gravel driveway when I noticed small plants popping up in the raised middle region between the two ruts created by the car’s tyres. On closer inspection, I saw that the plants were brambles. It was only in the middle that they were growing, not where the car’s tyres drove.… Continue reading Pro 15v19 – Thorns on the driveway
“Come to my house” – “Come to my home”. While these may appear to be the same thing, there is a vast difference between them. A house is a building. A home is a place where people live. House describes the thing. Home describes the activity. A house is described by facts like the number… Continue reading Psa 90v1 – Your home
My dad was a Saw Doctor. It’s what someone who sharpens saws and blades is called. He loved the title as it often had people calling him Doctor, which he was, but just not for the kind of “sores” they thought. Sharpening blades involves holding the blunt blade against a fast-moving grindstone. There are lots… Continue reading Pro 27v17 – Sharp!
What would you say you are devoted to? Sports? Work? Family? Most of us are devoted to something. If you are unsure, simply look at what you spend most of your time and energy on. We are told what the first-century believers devoted themselves to. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship,… Continue reading Act 2:42 – Devoted
“Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.” (Genesis 2:15). This is God’s first instruction to humans after placing them in his special garden, and it gives us an important insight into what God wants from our lives. We are given the garden… Continue reading Gen 2:15 – Tend and keep the garden
It’s a postcard scene. The heavens bursting with colour as the sun sets over the distant mountains beyond the rows of vines. Springtime means the vines are awakening from their winter nap as new leaves appear. However it’s not the sunset or the vines that grab our attention – but the soil. The soil is… Continue reading Joh 15:5 – Bad soil