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Wednesday 13 March 2024

Take God with you

 I set out from my home at 8.50 in the morning with the intention of collecting a few items from the chemists before catching the 9.20 number X bus to Porthcawl, a seaside town a few miles from where I was living.  I was looking forward to a very enjoyable day at the Christian writers seminar held at the Rest home for the elderly there.  I had attended the previous year's seminar and anticipated meeting up once again with some very interesting people, with 'What have you been doing these last twelve months? ' being the topic of conversation around the dining table during lunch.  I hurried from the chemist with the 'two for the price of one' Dove deodorants and the 'Awakening' perfume tucked into my already bulging handbag, and headed for the bus station.

'Five minutes to spare'.  I thought as I looked at the two clocks displaying different times above the job centre, which was in front of the bus station. I had opted for the one on the right which had previously proved to be correct.  Once again I pondered on how anybody could come up with the idea of placing two clocks side by side facing away from the bus station, and not one facing towards it.  Several people were in the bus shelter at stop one and two, the latter of which would be where the X7 would pull in.  I sat down next to a young man with a shaved head for a few minutes and then, thinking it unwise to have my back turned to the stop, got up again.  No sooner was I on my feet than a bus sped past the shelter.  'My bus!' I gasped, as I caught a glimpse of 'X7' above the windscreen. 'Oh no' I moaned inwardly, as I ran as fast as my boots and long Winter coat would allow me.  Another would be passenger was a few yards ahead of me, banging on the side of the bus.  The driver sped on with the obvious intention of not stopping. I eventually stopped running right outside the bus company's office.  Both annoyance and curiosity climbed with me up the stars to where three drivers were relaxing in a cloud of cigarette smoke.  'Doesn't the X7 stop at stop two? I enquired, ready with 'Well it didn't after the anticipated 'Yes'. 'Not the one to Cardiff' said one driver, disappearing behind a cloud of exhaled smoke, who obviously had a much clearer picture of the situation than I did.  If you want the one to Porthcawl you had better urn, it will be in just about now' he said, glancing at his watch.  I hurried down the stairs with new companions, humility and gratitude, and we ran back to the bus station.

That was my hundred yard sprint for the day'.  I said to the man who had banged on the bus. 'Where are you going?' 'To Cardiff' he said.  I felt sorry that he had been at the wrong stop, and pointed out which stop he should be standing at.  At least he would not miss the next one.  Then the young man with the shaved head started chatting, and asked if I was going to Porthcawl.  'Yes', I said, 'Fancy that driver not stopping when that man was banging on the bus, I would have , wouldn't you?'  'Yes' he replied.  I told him I was going to a writers' seminar and we chatted until the bus came in.  We both got on the bus and he sat a few seats behind me.

As the bus journeyed on I was reminded of the fact that I had some evangelical poetry in my bag which I give out in the street.  My first thought was to give the young man a leaflet, and then reasoning set in.  Was it my familiar enemy, complacency, pointing out the bulging handbag, and the need to fill the seat beside me with it's contents in order to reach the poetry?  What should I do?  I must 'go out into the highways and the byways', but also I must not give that which is holy to 'dogs', the spiritual term for 'outsiders'.  Which instruction was for this man?  I suddenly noticed a flock of crows over a ploughed field, and the song 'We plough the fields and scatter' came into my mind with 'the good seed on the ground' following.  Whether they were the actual words of the song I do not know. 'Ah! I scatter the seed' I thought.  Then chasing after the wrong bus came into my mind.  'Help me Lord,' I said in my heart. 'I feel You are telling me something but I don't quite know what'.  There was a sudden shout from behind me.  'Who-oh', cried the young man with the shaved head. The driver stopped the bus and I realized that an elderly man had been running to catch it.  The driver hadn't stopped at the bus stop because nobody had been on it.

The Lord's message was now very clear.  I was to give the young man the leaflet.  In believing that the bus which had sped past me in the bus station was my bus, I had experienced all the anxiety of missing it, the disappointment of not being at the seminar and the meeting old friends, just because a driver had not cared enough to stop and pick me up.  How much greater grief would be suffered if somebody could be hindered from coming to Christ because I had failed to share the gospel of salvation.  This young man had cared enough about the elderly man to make sure that he caught his bus.  My criticism of the first driver not stopping was now my judge.  What joy to hand my leaflet to the smiling young man as he got off the bus bidding me 'Cheerio' and to say to him 'I don't want you to miss the bus, you will understand when you read it.'  'Thank you' he said, still helping others as he said to me 'You need to get off at the next stop'.

What had I learned from this incident? I had learned not to worry if things did not run smoothly all the time, and that everything that happened in my life, including running for the wrong bus, was all happening for a purpose, and that empathy and experience were of great importance.  They were the forerunners of sympathy and understanding, without which I probably would not be moved to want to see others saved.  I had also learned how important it is to constantly be alert to how God speaks through everyday occurrences.  I believe that even my buying the 'Dove' deodorant and the 'Awakening' perfume on that day was signalling a spiritual awakening, and it was to be this young man's.  Keeping in touch constantly with the Lord in order to hear what He might be saying is very important.  This was emphasized to me a couple of days later when I was in work, cleaning a nightclub during the daytime with my friend.  On this particular day the young barman's mobile phone was on the bar and it was ringing.  The barman was in the cellar and I thought 'What is the point of having a mobile phone if he doesn't carry it with him?'

God has a plan for every one of us and can speak to us as individuals in many ways.... if we keep our 'mobile' on.

'Accept all things that come your way, they're meant for you alone. God may be working things for good, and that's not just your own. For there are others on the path, our Lord alone knows who, that through our tribulation may gain salvation too'

Sunday 25 February 2024

My Testimony

 I just feel to re post my testimony to glorify my Saviour Jesus Christ.  


Many years ago I had recorded onto a cassette some poems and songs that I had written.  They related part of my testimony.  While I was living down in West Wales an elder of a church I was attending put them on an mp3 disc for me.  As I know very little about this kind of technology I have just been to the library to ask if anyone can link this disc to my blog.  A young lady there has done her best regarding this, and so I am going to see if this link has worked - the young lady was not sure if it would.  Most of these songs and poems I may have already put up, and I am definitely no  'singer', and only learned a few chords on my guitar to be able to play the tunes that came into my head at the time of writing the songs.
However - one thing I learned at that time of learning from the Lord was  that as we are taught by God through His precious Word, and go through our trials trusting in Him, we are able to get stronger spiritually.  My journey is still on-going, I am forever learning, and I will not know whether this link will work until I publish this post.  If it doesn't work, then I will have lost nothing through trying.:-)
To listen to my testimony  press the link below.

Testimony by Brenda Rees - Soundcloud

Monday 19 February 2024

O light of Heaven - Holy King

 

O light of Heaven - Holy King
of Whom the hosts of angels sing
rekindle flame in darkened Earth
by stirring those of second birth
to speak with boldness of the love 
sent by the Father from above

When on a night so dark and cold
was prophesy fulfilled of old
a child, to maid of no renown
was born to wear man's thorny crown
to bear the shame and take the place
of mankind fallen from God's grace

Who now with sin beneath His feet
stands at the side of God's own seat
declaring peace forever more
to those who enter through the door
of righteousness gained by God's Son
..... the Father's gift to everyone


For to us a child is born, to us a child is given, and the government will be on His shoulders, and He will be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of peace.

Isaiah ch. 9 v.6.



Monday 12 February 2024

You don't have to be a driver to know the road

  • One day I was on a bus going into the town centre.  The driver had stopped to give directions to an oncoming truck driver, and they were talking through their open windows.  I heard the truck drier ask where a certain trading estate was, and felt sure that the bus driver would know where it was, simply because he was a bus driver.  However, the bus driver did not know where the trading estate was, and proceeded to give the truck driver instructions to get to a completely different trading estate.
  • I was familiar with the trading estate that the truck driver needed to find and so was able to give him instructions on how to get there, and thought I should get up, go to the front of the bus and tell him. However, I hesitated too long, reasoning with whether or not I should do it, and missed the opportunity, and the truck driver went off in the wrong direction.  I was taught a valuable lesson that day.
  • When we have been to a place we are able to instruct others on how to get there.  Knowledge of how to get to a place does not depend on whether you are a driver or not, but on whether you have been to that place, and we do not all travel down the same road in life.  The same rule applies with scripture. If in a particular situation we have been helped or comforted by the Word then we are able to pass that information on to others.
  • Paul says in 2nd Corinthians ch 1 v.4 that God is the God of all comfort Who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we ma be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  Herein we see the importance of each part of the body of Christ functioning in order to be built up by one another's faith  when we gather together, as instructed by Paul the apostle in his first letter to the Corinthian church.


Sunday 4 February 2024

Your precious world

Only You can satisfy
when lands are parched and streams run dry
Lord only You can satisfy .... in this our hungry world

Only You can comfort me
with words in answer to my plea
of 'Father change my destiny'
Lord only You can comfort me ..... in this our troubled world

Only You can bring me hope
while I in constant darkness grope
when sin does bind like tightening rope
Lord only You can bring me hope .... in this our sinful world

Only You can be my light
when wrong has overshadowed right
and daytime's fading into night
Lord only You can be my light .... in this our darkened world

Only You can give true love
brought forth as showers from above
descending gentle as a dove
Lord only You can give true love .... in this Your precious world.

Sunday 21 January 2024

Mirror Image

Lord may we learn from creation
may we look to the vast blue sea
to the mountains, the fields and the valleys
to know how we ought to be

May we look to the gentle dolphin
as he tries to befriend mankind
and follow this creature's example,
leaving killing and hatred behind

May we look to the towering mountains
holding fast against tempest and rain
as we struggle with sorrow and tragedy,
finding strength amidst suffering and pain

As we look to the fields and the harvest,
all golden and bursting with grain,
may we learn how to share with each other,
may our 'giving' replace all our 'gain'

Then, as in the river's reflection
of the blue of the heavens above
so too we will mirror the image
of God's totally unselfish love

 


Sunday 7 January 2024

Where to find rest in this troubled world

 

          

                                                

                                    Come unto Me

                      all ye that labour 

                   and are heavy laden, 

                 and I will give you rest.

                                    Matthew ch. 11 v.28