Jesus the refugee

“When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” Matthew 2:13-18

Within weeks of his birth Jesus Christ was an asylum seeker. His father and mother ‘on the run’ from corrupt authorities who eventually would send in soldiers to kill every baby boy born in the region of Bethlehem in the past two years. Imagine the pain and sorrow.. the mourning of thousands of mothers who lost their little boys because of the Godless, heartless leaders of the day. We fantasise the Christmas story but those days were desperate and violent.

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Nothing is sound.

Hebrews 13:8 ” Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever”.

Life is an unpredictable journey of faith in a world that has lost its way. There are no guarantees and nothing is sound. It can all be gone tomorrow. There are times when the rains fall from the sky bringing blessing or destruction…..and other seasons when we have to dig deep below the dry land to bring water to the surface. It has been that way ever since the fall. Sin brought a curse upon the land and the people’s of the earth. Yet Christ’s death and resurrection once again made a way of redemption for all. Through faith in Christ and living by His word we can have peace with God. Then we see the world for what it really is. We live in times when our governments are corrupt and where religions, politician’s and the media try to manipulate the masses…. there are wars and global conflict. Yet through it all there is still a simple profound story that sets us free from sin and from our fear of the uncertain times. It is the story of Jesus. His love for us will never change. That’s the best news of all!!!!

“‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.”  “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” Revelation 4: 8 & 11

Godspeed,

Pictured: Windmills waiting for the storm. Nullarbor Plains, South Australia.

The end of a Season

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

This past week has been one of many mixed emotions. A final farewell to the Heritage Tour team… the inevitable unloading of vehicles and clean up….a trip to the doctor to get diagnosed with asthma and pneumonia and the heartbreaking news of crop destroying rains across many parts of NSW and Victoria. A bumper crop season suddenly wiped out in a few days. As we arrived home there was a great sense of accomplishment and the end of a great season of evangelism. But we know many farming friends who were only weeks away from harvesting their crops and now face yet another tough season ahead. When everything falls apart in life…. keep your faith in the Lord. Keep your eyes fixed on His providence rather than on the circumstances that surround. At the end of every day all we really have is that blessed assurance of God’s great love for us through Christ.

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