Back in the days when this song was a smash hit sung by Joe Brown, which was the theme tune of the film of the same name
Despite the words about the crazy world, compared to this modern-day. Life in the 60s was SANE
The year 2020 will go down in history or at least it should, not because it unfolded into the most amazing and stunning year full of wonderful opportunities to become great or famous or wealthy
Rather it was the year COVID-19 went worldwide along with many lockdowns restrictions including self-isolate and stay-at-home recommendations
Then came the big advice push for everyone to get vaccinated as well as the constant updates of increasing deaths, causing widespread panic
Later on, causing unwelcomed division between those vaccinated and those unvaccinated
As if the continuation of the virus and all it entailed through the following years was enough to contend with, as a Christian I have noticed that Christianity and all those who believed were attacked from many directions.
Note: I realize this process has been a long and slow process, but attacks on the Christian faith seemed to have increased with every passing year
Atheists spread intentional lies with the use of video, causing doubts including divided opinions about faith doctrines and many churches became empty as many believers left.
The increasing pressure on Christianity from the rest of the world to embrace the LGBTIQ+ “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender diverse, intersex and queer” communities
While all members of the LGBTIQ+ now enjoy a whole month of “Pride “which includes continuing freedom of speech for all their members, Christians are labelled bigots and homophobic for expressing their faith (exercising their freedom of speech)
As part of the LGBTIQ+ movement, same-sex marriages have not only been made legal but enforced churches to comply even though this goes against the Christian belief
As a former slave to sin freed and saved by Grace I make no apologies for sharing the teaching of the Bible and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I do so out of concern and love
Some countries have banned Christians from going to their country or enforced laws preventing Christian’s freedom of speech and banning the Bible from being taken into their country
I have never been aboard a boat in the midst of a tempest as the decuples were
Even though they were seasoned fishermen, when the storm hit the boat with full force they were struck with great fear for their lives
In a great panic, they went over to the sleeping Jesus and woke Him saying “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
“You of little faith,” Jesus replied, “why are you so afraid?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it was perfectly calm.
There are many storms in life not just raging waters, are we any braver or any more faithful than the decuples?
I know from an unexpected experience just how much the storm of trouble shook my faith, causing me to panic as if I was about to drown
I admit that it was easy for me to tell someone else to have faith and trust God and let go of worrying once they had prayed
How much harder it was to take my own advice in the midst of my storm, even though it was insignificant in comparison to the trial and hardships of St Paul
Even though my storm was puny compared to Paul, I panicked I doubt I worry, but through this storm, God was teaching me and revealing truths that I had not wanted to even acknowledge when I was an unrepented sinner
The storm waters I find myself in seem to be getting deeper that I am unable to shake off the fear of drowning, but even so, the situation is making me trust in God more than ever before
Even though God has answered many prayers and bestowed many blessings on my family and me, then why do I find myself full of uncertainty?
Please Pray for me, as I pray you to have stronger faith in the storms of life
Because they always seem ready to fill and stop you from doing what you need to do
Although even day to day chores can be used to distract you by the enemy
Who takes delight in providing you with anything he can to stop you from praying or reading your bible
The enemy wants to keep you so busy that you forget to worship God first and study His word
These attacks happen more often when you are a newly born again Christian, but even those who have allowed the Holy Spirit to strengthen and grow the new you
If the enemy fails to distract you enough he will remind you of sins you committed before you repented, in an effort to make you feel guilty which may make you long for those sins
But stay strong and resist all temptation, admit to whatever sins come to your mind ask God for forgiveness and to continue to teach you and guide you in His ways
A phrase you may have heard or read many times, but just how are we meant to put it into practice?
Like many others, my mind is hardly ever still and nether am I, there is always something to do or think about, thoughts are buzzing around in my mind even at bedtime!
It requires much focused effort on my breathing in order to fall asleep
But “Be still and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10 it seems is more about the silence and stillness that ought to overtake us and take us into the presence of our Holy, Awesome, and Glorious God.
God call us to stop being afraid, and trust Him for God is our refuge
Why then do we worry and often become fearful, in situations beyond our control?
Perhaps it’s because we rely on our own albites and inner strength, as individuals we all like our own way Therefore we become incapable of fully trusting God, as He exposes albites and strength as weaknesses
Forgive me Lord, in my arrogance I too often underestimate your power, and view you to be weak as myself, help me to remember who you truly are, and contently remind me that I need not have any fear
All of us are prone to put off everything until tomorrow, we use excuses as tools to procrastinate
Fuelled by our own laziness and dislike of any changes, can frequently spur us onto procrastination
I confess I dislike unexpected changes; it’s unsettling to find something you are comfortable with using, is suddenly changed often without warning
There have been some changes, I have been grateful for, the main one having my sins forgiven and being freed from my addiction
I count myself fortunate to have a Saviour who is patient faithful enough to wait for me to acknowledge I was a slave to my addiction (sin) and in desperate need of His saving grace
As if I had procrastinated another tomorrow could have been too late, for me to admit my sin and that I needed His saving grace
Dear reader, if you have any sin you are still clinging onto, don’t put off confessing and asking for forgiveness, for tomorrow may be too late
Take it from me, wretched sinner that I am, nothing you enjoy and indulge in secret, will ever satisfy
Whatever sin you take pleasure in, will drag deeper into darker places
Enslaving you, make you blind to your sinfulness, it will rob you of peace and joy
Any love you once had, will become corroded, and corrupted beyond your understanding
Confess your sins, pray to Jesus to forgive you, ask Him to cleans you and made you a new creation
As to myself, I have freely given up my free will, rather than continue to missuse it, I would rather continue to be a sevent to Christ than a slave to sin
From personal experience I found that self-control is not a possibility
At lest with the old self, as expecting the old self to discipline itself, is unlikely to happen
For the old self is Self-cantered, Selfish and wants only its own way, Self-indulgence
The only way to gain self-control, was by dying to my old self, and asking God to transform me into a new creation
Once I was born again, and I was free of my old self, and all my sins I had committed due to my self-indulgence
As a new born child of God, I found His comfort and peace, was amazing and far better than the false freedom my old self offered
Which turned out to be no freedom at all, rather it quickly turned into slavery through addiction
At my darkest point I had no rest from images that flooded my mind, even when I could sleep, they danced around in my dreams, taunting my relentless
Whereas becoming a new creation child of God, and all that has taken place since, has been beautiful and amazing
That Jesus willing suffered and died such a cruel death, so my sins could be forgiven, is beyond my wildest imagination, that He loved me even though I had strayed so far from Him
I would rather become a servant for Christ, than have remained a Slave of lust
Every day He gives me breath, I will sing His praises
The title is the begging part a famous poetic saying, “Oh what a wicked web we weave, when we first practice to deceive “
Which implies that when we lie on purpose, we continue to need to lie more and more, in order that others don’t find out the first lie
I have often heard that lying is a Sin, because it’s one of the Ten Commandments, but I looked it up and that is Not what the Commandment says, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour” this what is written
Therefore, the act of lying itself is not the sin, it’s lying against you neighbour
But lying is not just saying something that’s untrue it can also be living a lie, which might be where this idea of a wicked web comes into play
Where someone may tell a lie in order to gain or impress others, and then continue that lie by pretending they are what they lied about or what they said they had
So, what is a lie?
There are many who would say they only Fib, others who say they only tell White lies
As an Elder of a church once said a “Lie is a Lie, whatever you label it with”
Also lies Don’t come in shades of colour, or lesser untruthfulness
Property preacher living a Lie, at the same time twist the truth to suit what their audience wants to hear, as they have itchy ears
Although the leaders of the property movement call themselves “Preachers” what they supposed preach, is designed to fleece their flock of as much money as possible in all meetings
Not to Feed the flock, the flock being the thousands that all too willingly get sucked into believing all the lies
