Search Results for: blog the natural response of a thankful heart

The Natural Response of a Thankful Heart

The natural response of a thankful heart is giving. Giving praise to God for what He has done, certainly. But also giving to God’s work so that the gospel can continue to spread throughout the world and giving to help those in need. The trouble is with so many worthy people, charities and causes how do you decide which ones to give your time, money and gifts to support? The whole issue of giving, raises questions about why a person should give, how much they should give, where should you and I direct our giving to and how can we … Continue reading →

What Pleases God

In my last blog I touched on living lives that are pleasing to the Lord. If we want to please the Lord, we first need to figure out and learn those things that are pleasing to Him, Ephesians 5:10. Fortunately God helps us through His Word and He tells us those attitudes and action that please Him. Here is a list of the attitudes and actions that please God. If we believe in Jesus, John 3:16, 18 If we love Jesus, John 16:27 If we keep His commandments, John 14:21, 1 John 2:3-5 If we abide in Him and walk … Continue reading →

This Is Why I Sing – part 2

Here is the second part of my list of praise points. I praise God for: Pansies and their happy faces coming out in our garden, also azaleas, primulas,and our first yellow daffodil is out. Human beings don’t ever seem to be able to produce that brilliant clear yellow God does in daffodils and wattle. Studying I John 3 with our Bible study home group I John 3 highlights the love of God and adoption into His family and the hope we have. It also teaches the importance of not continuing to practice sin but aiming to be increasingly holy in … Continue reading →

What is Worship?

When was the last time someone showed you they loved you? How did you respond? God has shown us that he loves us by sending His Son to take the punishment that was rightfully ours. Because of this marvelous gift of grace, we should want to respond and to serve Him with our lives as living sacrifices, verse 1 God never makes mistakes. He never puts us in the wrong place. You are where God wants you to be. You are there because God has a job for you. Will you respond? As you look at your church and community … Continue reading →

Something A Bit Different

Well, Christmas is over here in Australia and we are onto Boxing Day. I’ve never quite worked out how this time thing works and we end up a day ahead, so I hope everyone over the other side of the world has a happy Christmas. It’s been church Sunday, then Christmas Eve and then Christmas day. I thought you might be interested to hear about one of our services here in my church in Australia. Our church service on Sunday morning was a little different. We started with ‘Angels From the Realms of Glory,’ which has always been one of … Continue reading →

Are You Being a Mushroom?

We just picked our first home grown mushrooms. It fascinates me the way they grow in the dark. People aren’t meant to be like mushrooms and kept in the dark. Yet often that’s what some of us try and do with our Christian faith. Nicodemus tried to do this at first too, which is why this Pharisee came to Jesus by night. Although he recognized Jesus had come from God and that God was with Jesus, which was more than some of the other Pharisees did, Nicodemus still didn’t want anyone else to know he came to see Jesus, John … Continue reading →

How To Decide Who To Give To?

There are so many worthy causes, charities and areas of God’s work that need money. Obviously we can’t give to them all, and to give to none is not what God wants as He wants us to be generous and share what we have. So, how do we decide which ones to support? In the Old Testament the tithe was given to the priest and Levites to support them as they did God’s work. The other area where money was given was to the poor. In the New Testament, giving was targeted towards meeting the needs of those who share … Continue reading →