Why always me?

The letter got miss-delivered by the postman. It clearly says on the envelope Number 1245 and we definitely are not Number 1245. I decide to walk up the street and deliver the letter to its rightful owner.

The old lady saw me approaching her house and opened the door.

“Oh, thank you” she said, “come in for a cup of tea!”

“I was just delivering …” I mumbled.

“Oh do come in …” she interrupted, “I often see you walking the dog to the park and back again. I’ve just put the kettle on …”

I looked at my watch and thought, she’s probably lonely, and just a few minutes won’t hurt!

I entered the living room and immediately noticed a large parrot standing on a perch in the corner, and two budgerigars on top of their open cage near the window. An old dog at least one hundred years old sat by the fire and a cat slept on the settee.

The old lady beckoned me to an armchair and went out to make some tea. 

As soon as she left, the large blue parrot moved his head left and right, as they do; looked at me and screeched “STUPID!”

 

I jumped out of the seat, not expecting him to talk.

He repeated again “STUPID … STUPID …” over and over every minute or so.

The old lady came in with a tray of tea and biscuits and cakes.

“Ah … Polly is being friendly” she said, “he often hears me talking to the dog and repeats what I say.”

At that point the parrot screeched “STUPID HAT … STUPID HAT …”

Let me tell you there is nothing stupid about my cowboy hat with a feather. It’s sartorial elegance in the extreme as I’ve been told by the man in the pub who sold it to me!

“I wonder what he means?” said the old lady trying to cover her faux pas. No doubt she’d seen me wearing the hat on my way to the park and had voiced her un-called for opinions to her pets.

She offered me a piece of cake. As soon as I held the small plate in one hand, and a tea cup in another, the geriatric dog got up ever so slowly from his mat, came towards me and started sniffing my groin.

What is it with dogs and sniffing people inappropriately? I’ll add, in case you’re wondering, that I just showered that morning and had splashed Old Spice after-shave all over, even though I have a beard and don’t shave. So there was no need to sniff there or anywhere else.

“Oh … he’s being friendly” repeated the old lady, making no attempt whatsoever to take the dog away, “It’s his way of greeting you!”

Well … I’d rather not be greeted that way, thank you very much.

I mean … just imagine … what if we humans greeted each other that way? We meet someone for the first time, and instead of shaking hands, we drop on our knees and sniff to our heart’s delight.

Obviously, there should be a protocol as to who goes down first. Otherwise both people would kneel down together and end up bumping their heads.

One person should stay standing, and the other greets him … or her … and then …

OK … better change the subject.

I pushed the dog away … gently … yes … gently; although I must admit that was not what was on my mind when he started sniffing his welcome.

As soon as the dog went back on his mat the cat woke up from the settee and jumped on the arm of my armchair; and then started licking my hand.

I moved away slowly whilst the old lady, totally unaware of my discomfort, continued prattling on about her family and her children all grown up and living abroad. No doubt to escape from her lunatic menagerie.

The cat, still sitting next to me, having been denied the taste of my hand proceeded to lick himself in the most private of places.

Yet again … this is another annoying habit of the feline as well as canine species which, fortunately, we humans do not copy. The mind boggles at the contortions we’d have to make if we were to reach … OK … you get the point; let’s move on.

I moved surreptitiously towards the cat and nudged him gently. He dropped to the floor and walked out the room.

I listened to the old lady going on about her lonely life with no one to visit her; and how she often just goes out on the bus so that she can meet people, or stands at the window looking at people pass by and imagine what kind of life they lead. 

 

She said she plays a mind-game when she sees people. She looks carefully at what they wear and then guesses the sort of work they do. She also likes to name people in her head according to how they dress, the way they walk, and their general demeanour.

She said she’d been watching me take the dog for a walk for a very long time. “Do you realise” she said, “that whenever you stop by that tree to allow the dog to sniff at its roots, you always scratch the back of your head? Why do you do that?”

I’ll admit I never noticed that habit. And now I'm told, I’m sure I’ll resist that particular temptation in future. I’ll do all my scratching that’s needed before I leave home from now on.

She was about to tell me what nickname she had invented for me when suddenly there was a flutter of wings.

The parrot left its perch and made himself comfortable on my shoulder. I did not dare move an inch. Those creatures can be dangerous you know. Once they get hold of your nose in their beaks they will not let go.

“Oh … Polly likes you too!” said the old lady joyfully, “it must be your gentle and kind personality. Animals know when someone loves them. Do you like birds?” she asked.

I hesitated to tell her that the only birds I like are Kentucky Fried Chickens; although right now I would not mind tasting Kentucky Fried Parrot as well.

She didn’t wait for an answer and continued talking ignoring her feathered friend on my shoulder.

The wretched bird, still sitting by my left ear, eyed the big feather in my hat for a few moments, and then, to my horror, jumped at it and attempted to mate with it. 

 

I held the hat tightly on my head with my right hand for fear that it might be dislodged and end up matrimonially united with a myopic parrot.

I mean … how short-sighted can he get? It’s only a feather for crying out loud. Who’s STUPID now? Can’t tell the difference between a beautiful lady parrot and a feather in a cowboy hat!

The old lady laughed, not understanding the situation, and said that he was welcoming me into his domain. Whatever that means!

I had absolutely no wish to be welcomed anywhere belonging to that stupid creature, and my hat and feather certainly shared this opinion.

The parrot struggled vainly with his amorous advances at my hat and started to flutter his wings wildly and squawking loudly, no doubt upset at being snubbed by his new-found lady friend.  

Eventually the old lady realised that I was somewhat uneasy, to put it mildly. She got up slowly from her chair and removed the parrot from its clutches on my hat and replaced him back on his perch.

She then turned to me and asked whether I’d like to meet the budgerigars still sitting on their cage preening themselves.

I made an excuse about having a meeting somewhere or other and left hurriedly.

And that’s another cowboy hat with a feather totally ruined!

Les Parrots

An eccentric friend of mine went to a high class pet shop and bought two parrots which he displayed proudly in the grounds of his house out in the country. He was told that one of the parrots was a fluent talker, whilst the other was rather shy and had never said a word; albeit he showed promise and needed a little care and attention.

Once he had the pair home he approached their enclosure and started repeating inane words like "Pretty Polly ... who's a pretty boy ..." and so on, in the hope that the parrots would repeat what he said; which is what parrots are supposed to do.

To his surprise, the talkative parrot replied in French "Vous êtes un imbécile, monsieur!"

My friend was totally surprised, not so much at the insult, but at the fact that the parrot addressed him in French. Parrots are supposed to speak in English aren't they?

Before my friend could utter another word, and plenty came readily to mind, believe me, the French parrot started reciting Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables".

On and on he continued reciting from Victor Hugo, Molliere, Racine, Camus and others, so well read in French literature that parrot was. My friend was totally mesmerised at this even though he could not understand a word the parrot was saying.

He tried to get the other parrot to speak, but to no avail. The silent one remained ever so.

The problem was that my friend could not tell apart which parrot was which, they were so identical. So he could not proudly tell his friends he has a French talking parrot if, as sometimes happened, neither would oblige. So he rang the pet shop for advice.

The pet shop owner said that the French speaking parrot was the male, and he was very amourous. All that my friend had to do is creep on the pair late at night and when he spied the French parrot saying to the other one "Je t'aime mon amour!", all he had to do is to put a collar on him to distinguish him as the talking male.

This my friend did quite successfully and he collared the male parrot as advised.

A few days later my friend had a few visitors to come and see the parrots, and amongst them was the local Parish priest. As the group approached the birds' cage the male parrot said to the priest in a French accent "Alors, mon ami. I see zey caught you at it too!"

To which the other parrot said in a Spanish accent "Hola señor!" 

Heads I win, Tails you lose.

 

It's amazing how many people claim that they are not "spiritual" and they don't believe in God or Christianity in general, yet they hope to go to Heaven. Without even having a concept of what Heaven is and what they would do if they get there. 

Most people think it is a nice place like somewhere they have experienced here on earth only better; with Angels and Saints and whatever else they imagine or may have been taught or read about at some time or other.

For avoidance of doubt, going to Heaven is not a question of luck. It is not a lottery. It is not the result of tossing a coin to see whether it lands heads or tails. 

God does not play games with us.

Whether we go to Heaven or not starts right here on earth in this lifetime. We lay down the foundation, the ground work, and the path to our eventual eternal destiny. 

No one goes to hell by mistake or through bad luck; and no one goes to Heaven against their will.

One cannot claim not to believe in God yet hope to spend eternity with Him in Heaven. To those who do not believe in Him, God provides plenty of opportunities in their lifetimes to think about and reconsider their options. No one will get a surprise when it is their turn to meet their Creator God.

Yet there is a belief in today's secular world that all that is required of us is to be generally good to enter Heaven.

True, God's invitation is to everyone. But we have to respond to His invitation. It is not an automatic entry pass to Paradise.

To get to Heaven we must believe in God, honour and love Him, and obey Him.

A life without a strong foundation and belief in God cannot expect to spend eternity with Him in Heaven.

Meanwhile, many are sleep-walking their way into hell.

AMAZON LINK HERE

PSA

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Meanwhile, anyone wishing to write to me please leave a message in the comments box below and I'll contact you with a new address.

Thanx. God bless. 

Reputation

 

When I worked for a large international organisation my secretary used to arrange appointments for me to travel up and down the country and meet various regional managers to discuss various issues.

Most of the people I used to visit I had not met before. I remember going to an office once and as I introduced myself the man I was meeting said, "Hi ... I heard a lot about you; your reputation precedes you!"

He never explained whether it was a good or a bad reputation. What did people think of me, I wonder?

How about you? What is your reputation amongst family and friends? 

Are you always the life and soul of the party? Do people gather around you to hear your witty stories and jokes?

Or are you the grumpy one that people avoid or tolerate politely?

If we're honest, we all have a reputation; even though we might not know what others think of us.

How much should we be aware of our reputation? And if in any way negative, how much should we try to change to become more likeable? Should we change despite our principles on a particular subject or topic? What is the right balance between compromise to be liked and standing up for our principles and beliefs?

Life has become a popularity contest these days. Everyone wants to be popular it seems. You can see it on TV where everyone is a celebrity despite their lack of talents or personality. Just because they've appeared on a reality show; they are suddenly a celebrity, a personality, someone to look up to.

It's the same on social media, where everyone is posting photos and articles about themselves to impress perfect strangers who, for some reason, "follow" them and "like" what they say.

I've heard it said that some people post photos of luxury houses, and cars etc ... and pretend that it is theirs just to impress and encourage perfect strangers to "follow" their posts.

Now here's a thought: What is your reputation in the eyes of God?

What does He think of you? Is it a good reputation that would want Him to "like" you? Or is it such that would embarrass Jesus and make Him ashamed of you?

But whoever denies and disowns Me before men, I also will deny and disown him before My Father Who is in Heaven. Matthew 10:33

Angry Vengeful God

Imagine you've died and gone to Heaven.

Joy of joys !!! At last, you've made it. God has seen it fit for you to deserve Heaven. An eternity with Him. You are so glad, more than you've ever been your entire life.

You look around and meet old friends and relatives who have made it here too. You greet them with a tear in your eye - a tear of joy as well as a little sadness when you remember how you missed them and cried when they were gone!

You renew old acquaintances as well as make new ones as you meet the Saints you've read so much about but had never met.

Then you realise someone is missing. 

A relative, or friend, whom you'd expected to see here is missing. You ask St Peter and he confirms your suspicion. That person is not here.

Is he in transit? In the Purification Center we call Purgatory, perhaps?

No ... he is ... in the other place.

Your joy turns to sadness, confusion, despair even. How can it be? You so expected to be with that person in Heaven for eternity.

What do you do?

Seek an explanation from God? Perhaps there's been a mistake! Ask Him to re-consider. Plead with Him even? Beg that this person is brought up to Heaven?

Has that person's absence tarnished your joy of being in Heaven? Changed your view of God's justice and mercy?

How can you possibly be here in Heaven for ever, knowing full well that a dear loved one is in the other place and will never join you?
 

On the Cross Jesus forgave those who dared to inflict so much suffering and death to the Son of God. What more heinous sin could your relative or friend have committed to deserve an eternity in hell? If God forgave those who killed His Son; and they probably didn't ask for forgiveness, why can't He forgive your relative or friend missing right now?

Your human sense of justice; and your understanding and perspective of forgiveness and mercy would like things to be different and, no matter what that person has done in life, you wish him here with you in Heaven.

But God does not work like that. His perspective is not a human perspective. He decided otherwise.

In Luke 16:19-31 we read that the rich man in "the other place" pleaded that his brothers may not join him there. But his pleadings were met with the response that each person makes his or her own decisions in life, and by their actions they choose whether to go to Heaven or not.

No one goes to hell by mistake. We choose to go there. And many, by their actions, are sleep-walking their way to hell.

The time for action and prayers is now.

And yet ... what if we're one day in Heaven and our loved one is not there? What then?

Illogical Logic

 Logic it seems isn’t always what it is perceived to be and no matter how much you try to understand the other person’s logic you might end up failing. This could be either because of your inability to understand, or because the other person’s logic is faulty – as Father Ignatius can testify.

He was walking round town the other day and happened to enter a bookshop advertising “Reduced Prices throughout the Store !!!”.

He made his way to the “Religion” shelf to see what was on offer and eventually found a book about Jesus which he wished to purchase. It had a big red label on it saying: Reduced price - £9.99.

He thought of buying two copies, one for him and another for a parishioner who would benefit from reading it. He looked around on the shelf and found another identical book; but without the red label.

When he reached the cashier to pay for both items purchased she said: “£29.99 please.”

“Why?” said the priest, rather puzzled.

“This book is priced £20.00 and this one is £9.99” replied the robotic assistant.

“But they’re identical, and they’re reduced in price aren’t they?” enquired Father Ignatius.

“Only the one with the red label is on offer for £9.99; the other book is charged at the full price of £20.00” replied the cashier monotonously.

At this moment the manager happened to be passing by and overheard the conversation.

“May I help you Sir … Reverend … Father …” he mumbled when he noticed the priest’s white collar.

“Let me explain,” continued the manager, “every morning we go to check our stock of books and stick red labels on some of them. Those with the labels are reduced in price; whilst others are not.”

“I understand,” reasoned Father Ignatius, “but both these books are identical. Surely they should be priced the same?”

“Not so,” insisted the manager who obviously knew best. He was, after all, in charge of the shop, “not so at all … this book with the label we’ll sell at £9.99 whereas the other one we’ll sell at the full price of £20.00; regardless whether they are identical or not.”

Father Ignatius is a tenacious character when he feels it needs it; and he certainly likes a challenge of wits. So he tried one more time to make the man see sense:

“Tell me … it is possible, is it not, that when you stick these labels in the morning, that you stick the red labels on two identical books?”

“Oh yes … it happens frequently …”

“And when it happens, then you’d sell two copies of the same book at the reduced price?” said the priest sensing a minor but very important victory.

“Oh yes … in that case we would sell two or more copies of the same book at the reduced price, provided they had the red labels on them.”

Father Ignatius smiled broadly. “Game, set and match!” he thought to himself.

“But on this occasion unfortunately we stuck a label on only one book. So you’ll have to buy this one for £9.99 and this one for the full price of £20.00.”

The priest’s smile soon faded when the manager continued:

“May I suggest you buy the book with the label today, and come back tomorrow? It is possible that there will be another identical book with a label on it then. Although I can’t guarantee it … but if you come back every other day or so then perhaps you’ll find another copy of the book reduced in price then !!!”

Father Ignatius gave up. There’s no point in engaging in a battle of wits with an unarmed person.

He now had to make a quick decision and had three choices:

To leave the shop and not buy the books.

To buy both books for the asking price of £29.99 and effectively, tacitly, agree with the manager’s faulty logic.

To buy the cheaper of the two books and leave it at that. Which is what he did.

“It’s a shame” he thought to himself,” as he left the shop. I would have liked to give a copy of this book to Mark. He’s always a helpful parishioner when we need him … perhaps he can borrow my copy when I’ve read it …”

It seems that the angels may well have overheard his thoughts because a little further down the road he came across another bookshop.

“I wonder …” said Father Ignatius.

And sure enough, he found there an identical book selling even cheaper at £8.99. A saving of £1; which he put in the collection box at St Vincent Church. 

MORE FATHER IGNATIUS BOOKS

HERE

Time to share some smiles

 

An elderly gentleman, in his mid-90s, very well dressed, hair well groomed, great looking suit, flower in his lapel, smelling of a good after shave, presenting a well-looked-after image, walks into an upscale cocktail lounge.

Seated at the bar is an elderly looking lady.

The gentleman walks over, sits alongside her, orders a drink, takes a sip, turns to her and says, “So tell me, do I come here often?”

==========================    

For his birthday, I got my son an alarm clock that swears at him instead of beeping. He’s in for a rude awakening.

==========================

A little girl was sitting on her grandfather’s lap as he read her a bedtime story.

From time to time she would take her eyes off the book and reach up to touch his wrinkled cheek. She was alternately stroking her own cheek, then his again. Finally, she spoke up, “Grandpa, did God make you?”

“Yes, sweetheart,” he answered, “God made me a long time ago.

“Grandpa, did God make me too?  

“Yes, indeed, honey,” he said, “God made you just a little while ago.”

Feeling their respective faces again, she observed, “God’s getting better at it, isn’t he?”

========================  

My husband got stung by a bee on the forehead.

He’s at the Emergency Room now, his face all swollen and bruised; he almost died.

Luckily I was close enough to hit the bee with my shovel.

========================

One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast to her brunette hair.

She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, “Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?”

Her mother replied, “Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white.”

The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, “Momma, how come ALL of grandma’s hairs are white?”

===========================    

I told my cat that I’m going to teach him to speak English.

He looked at me and said, “Me? How.”

===========================

Fred came home from University in tears.

“Mum, am I adopted?”

“No of course not,” replied his mother. “Why would you think such a thing?”

Fred showed her his genealogy DNA test results. No match for any of his relatives, and strong matches for a family who lived the other side of the city.

Perturbed, his mother called her husband. “Honey, Fred has done a DNA test, and… and… I don’t know how to say this… he may not be our son.”

“Well, obviously!” he replied.

“What do you mean?”

“It was your idea in the first place” her husband continued. “You remember, that first night in hospital when the baby did nothing but scream and cry and scream and cry. On and on. And you asked me to change him.”

“I picked a good one I reckon. Ever so proud of Fred.”

=========================== 

Elton John has bought his pet rabbit a treadmill…….. It’s a little fit bunny.

===========================  

Interviewer: How much milk do these cows give?

Farmer: Which one? The black one or the brown one?

Interviewer: The brown one.

Farmer: A couple of litres per day.

Interviewer: And the black one?

Farmer: A couple of litres per day.

Interviewer (naturally a bit flummoxed): I see. What do you give them to eat?

Farmer: Which one? Black or brown?

Interviewer: Black.

Farmer: It eats grass.

Interviewer: And the other one?

Farmer: Grass.

Interviewer (now annoyed): Why do you keep asking which one when the answers are the same?!

Farmer: Because the black one’s mine.

Interviewer: Oh, and the brown one?

Farmer: It’s also mine.

===========================  

My mum is a hoarder and refuses to throw out her old magazine collection.

She has a lot of issues.

===========================  

A Dachshund and a Labrador are walking together when the former suddenly unloads on his friend.

“My life is a mess,” he says. “My owner is mean; my girlfriend ran away with a Pomeranian and I’m as jittery as a cat.”

“Why don’t you go see a psychiatrist?” suggests the Labrador.

“I can’t. I’m not allowed on the couch.”

===========================  

What Jesus said about ... (series)

 

What Jesus said about ... giving thanks.

 He was going into a village when he was met by ten men suffering from a dreaded skin-disease. They stood at a distance and shouted, “Jesus! Master! Take pity on us!” Jesus saw them and said to them, “Go and let the priests examine you.” On the way they were made clean. When one of them saw that he was healed, he came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself to the ground at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. The man was a Samaritan. Jesus said’ “There were ten men who were healed; where are the other nine? Why is this foreigner the only one who came back to give thanks to God?” And Jesus said to him, “Get up and go; your faith has made you well.” Luke 17: 11-19

Keeping our distance from people we are suspicious of is nothing new. In them days when Jesus walked this earth people with leprosy had to keep their distance from other people.  People used to throw stones at them to keep them at bay. Did you know that Jesus had every right to throw stones at the leper to stop him coming near? In those days it was the done thing. You threw stones to warn the leper not to come too near you.

Can you imagine how lepers felt? Cast out of society. Thrown out by their families. No where to live. No job. No friends. No food. And eventually death by starvation or worse.

One day they were perhaps successful at their job, a family man, raising children and looking forwards to the future. The next day, they contract this terrible illness and they are cast out of this world. Through no fault of their own.

In this story, Jesus heals ten lepers and only one comes back to say thank you.

Why? What about the other nine? Were they bad people, evil and selfish?

I'd like to think that they were so overcome with joy at being healed that they ran to their family to meet them and hug them and rejoin society once again. They were just absent-minded. So overcome with joy that they forgot to say thank you.

A bit like us really! How often do we forget to say thank you when someone does something nice to us? Does that mean we are evil? Selfish? Bad people? No... just absent-minded.

When is the last time you said thank you to God for all the things He has done for you and continues to do/ How about thanking Jesus too. Now there's a thought ...

"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 1 Thessalonians 5:18

NOTE: This post is the LAST of a series of articles entitled "What Jesus said about ..." If you click the label "What Jesus said" at the end of the article you'll be able to access all the articles.

All the articles in this series will feature in a book of devotionals I am currently writing. More news on publication date here soon.

Thank you for your support and encouragement. God bless you all.

What Jesus said about ... (series)

 

What Jesus said about ... riches.

Do not store riches for yourselves here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and robbers break in and steal. Instead store up riches for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal. For your heart will always be where your riches are. Matthew 6: 19-21

No one can be a slave of two masters; he will hate one and love the other; he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. (Matthew 6: 24)

Jesus said a lot about wealth and being rich. There's the story of the rich man and poor Lazarus at his gate. "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores." (Luke 16:19-31).

And the story of the rich man who asked Jesus how to gain eternal life. Jesus told him to sell everything he had, give it to the poor, and follow Jesus. The man just could not do this, and went away sad. (Mark 10:17-27).

 And also the story about the talents. "... a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away." (Matthew 25:14-30).

So, what do we learn from all this? Is Jesus against riches and people accumulating wealth? Certainly the parable about the talents does not imply so. In that parable He teaches that it is OK to make money, as much as you possibly can according to your capabilities. Don't just sit on what you have and not make your money work.

God is not against people being rich. There is nothing wrong with being rich as long as we achieve it honestly and without cheating or stealing. 

Could He perhaps be talking about something more than just material riches?

Is He maybe reminding us that there will always be someone worse off than us? Someone who is poor in material things, someone poor in spirit, poor in health, poor in education or even poor in Faith. This may be miss-interpreting Him perhaps but still worth considering.

We all have a responsibility towards those in poverty in one way or another. No matter how their poverty manifests itself.

We should always readily recognize our blessings and share them with those less well off than us.

If we are fortunate to be financially rich, we should give to those who have not.

If we are in good health, we should help those who are sick. Visit them at home or in hospital, and give a hand when needed.

If we are clever or intelligent we should be more tolerant towards those not as bright as us and help educate them where we can.

And if our Faith is strong, we should help and pray for those who falter and fail in their walk with the Lord.

We’ve all been given some talent or other and we should use them for the benefit of others.

Perhaps one way of doing so is by proclaiming our Faith in God. Be God's ambassadors and representatives on earth. We may not all be good at standing at street corners, or knocking at doors, or writing books or articles. But by just living the Christian life we are using our God given talents for His glory. 

Another way of using our talents is to be active in our church or community. The church always needs volunteers for many jobs. Playing music or singing in the choir perhaps. Doing some sort of administration or secretarial work. Editing and printing the newsletter. Cleaning the church. Ordering supplies. Visiting the sick and the elderly, or helping run a soup kitchen for the down and out. And so on.

We have a responsibility to use our talents to the best of our abilities. And with this responsibility comes a greater and more onerous one. That is to answer to Him when He asks us, “And what have you done with the riches I gave you?”

What Jesus said about ... (series)

 

What Jesus said about ... sin.

"If anyone should cause one of these little ones to lose faith in me, it would be better for that person to have a large millstone tied around the neck and be thrown into the sea. So if your hand makes you lose your faith, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life without a hand than to keep both hands and go off to hell, to the fire that never goes out. And if your foot makes you lose your faith, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life without a foot than to keep both feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye makes you lose your faith, take it out! It is better for you to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to keep both eyes and be thrown into hell. There ‘the worms that eat them never die, and the fire that burns them is never put out.’ " Mark 9:42-48

Rather graphic don't you think? Maybe Jesus was exaggerating a little to make His point. Throughout His teachings He tells us time and again about the perils of sin; yet now, so many years later, we still have not got the message. Have we?

Let's make it simple: Sin is an offence to God. It is a disobedience of His Commandments. It shows lack of love for Him and even defiance. Adam and Eve's sin was not the simple sin of disobedience but it was defiance and envy - they wanted to be like God.

We all know the story when the Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman caught committing adultery.

According to Jewish law she had to be stoned to death for that sin. (Notice that the hypocrisy - they brought the woman. Where is the man, I ask?)

They were trying to trick Jesus into making the wrong decision. Would He follow the Jewish law or not? He said let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone, and when they all left one by one, Jesus turned to the woman and asked ‘Is there no one left to condemn you?’ She said ‘No one …’

And Jesus replied ‘I do not condemn you either. Go, but do not sin again.’

Now Jesus did not mean do not sin any sin whatsoever ever again for the rest of your life! He knew that that is impossible. The woman was human, and it is natural that she would sin again. Jesus knows our human nature and He knows that we are liable to sin again and again. John 8:1-11

What Jesus said to the woman is, do not commit that particular sin again … it is serious enough to get you into a lot of trouble with the Pharisees as well as with God Himself.

And that’s what Jesus is saying to us today. Sin is serious and can tarnish our eternity for eternity!

One more thing ... there is no relationship between sin and any illness or disabilities that we may have. Jesus makes that very plain when He met the blind man and His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus replied: Neither this man nor his parents sinned ... but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. He rejects the notion that the man’s blindness was the result of either his sin or his parents’ sin. Jesus emphasizes that the blindness was allowed for a different purpose: to reveal God’s work and glory. John 9:1-12

This is a key point—while sin can certainly lead to suffering, not all suffering is the direct result of personal sin or the sin of others. Sometimes, suffering serves a greater purpose, such as allowing God’s glory to be revealed, as it was with the healing of the blind man.

"Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us." Matthew 6:12

What Jesus said about ... (series)

 

What Jesus said about ... worry.

"Jesus said to His disciples, “And so I tell you not to worry about the food you need to stay alive or about the clothes you need for your body. Life is much more important than food, and the body much more important than clothes. Look at the crows: they don’t sow seeds or gather the harvest; they don’t have store rooms or barns; God feeds them. You are worth so much more than birds! Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it?” Luke 12: 22-25 

Anxiety and worries are the destroyers of our souls and our health. I guess more illnesses in modern society are due to worry and our way of life.

Worry … worry … worry … what if this happened to me … what if I couldn’t cope any longer … what if … what if … what if … worry … worry … worry.

You know the feeling. It happens to most of us and we deal with it differently. 

Worry is a human emotion. We can’t help feeling anxious, sometimes unnecessarily, and in so doing we give way to doubts and worry. It’s like meeting three evil witches intent on destroying you: Anxiety, Doubt and Worry.

Like many human emotions, they can get out of control.

We’re anxious about the results of some medical tests we’ve had done. We worry unnecessarily. We fear the worst and doubt whether God loves us.

We worry without cause about our loved ones. Will our children do well in life, especially in these difficult times? We worry when they are a few minutes late returning home.

Why doesn’t God provide us with a switch we can flick and these negative emotions just vanish away. After all, He knows we can’t help these emotions creeping on us unaware and play havoc with our minds. Why can’t He provide a switch to turn them off?

Or …. Maybe He has.

Whenever we look away from God for a moment that’s when we allow anxiety to enter our life and implant the seeds of doubt and worry. Perhaps it’s because at that very instant when we look away from God, the devil is ready to pounce and lead us astray.

He’s very clever the devil, you know. He leads you to believe he doesn’t really exist, but he’s there all right. By your side day by day. Waiting for the appropriate moment to put negative thoughts in your mind. Playing on your fears. Adding a sprinkle of worry. Making you anxious about something or other. And before long, if you are a little weak, you’ll begin to doubt that God even exists, never mind love you.

The remedy is to re-focus on God in the sure knowledge that He will not let us down.

That’s the switch which He has provided to comfort us in our times of difficulties. The certainty that He has conquered evil once and for all. And the knowledge that He will not allow us to perish because He cares for us.

“Look at the birds flying around … your Father in Heaven takes care of them! Aren’t you worth much more than birds?” Matthew 6:26