Sixty years ago today was the happiest of my life. Last Sat 27th I happened to go for a walk, down to the creek where I often go. As I looked across to the park around the creek, I saw a big familiar marquee. I knew immediately it was the annual beach mission set up for anther 10 days.
So of course I went across to see if anyone was there. I do this each year, find someone over there to see if I could encourage them with the story of the happiest day of my life. I did find a lad called Matthew from Sydney. "I'll be praying for your ministry," I said, "and its because of this ministry I know Jesus, it will be 60 years ago on January 4th! God has kept me true to Him."
I didn't tell Matthew the full story of how I encouraged my sister to learn the memory passage in January 1966 at the beach mission (an interdenominational group mainly from Sydney) so as we would earn the book prize. In those days books were valuable. On collecting the book prizes my sister's teacher asked where my sister was, "Back at the tent", I replied. As we walked up from the park to the tent Miss Gummerson began to ask me if I knew what the verses I learned meant. As a child I hadn't thought much about those beautiful words.
"If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one
with another, and the blood of Jesus
Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is
not in us.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
1
John 1: 7-9
This Illuminated text I did years ago of my salvation verses, and it hangs in our loungeroom, testimony of God's saving work.
l learnt these verses simply to
win a book prize, but I gained oh, so much
more. Until this day in 1966 I'd never realised it was my sin that put Jesus on the cross, as He took my punishment. So under those trees I prayed for for forgiveness from sin, accepting Jesus as my Saviour. I passed from death to life, instead of eternal condemnation I now had eternal life, covered by the blood of Jesus. That dear teacher told me the verse that the angels are rejoicing in heaven..
Luke 15:10 "Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." This filled my heart with wondrous joy! When we went back to our tent and I told my mother I'd just asked Jesus to be my Saviour. She burst into tears, something she rarely did. A long time later when I asked her why, her reply surprised me, "Because you looked so happy". And I was, I had a home in heaven, I'd made the angels rejoice, and I went down to the beach and sang with all my heart the beach mission songs I love even today.
Things that are eternal, like what I gained that day, eternal life with our Saviour - they make life worth living.
To close I'd like to share this short video by Joni Eareckson Tada, or link here.
The verse which Joni refers to is:
1 Cor 2:2 For I determined (or resolved) not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. This is best daily resolution for 2026!
Thank you for popping over and thanks too if you are able to comment.
Prayer hugs in Him, 🙏🤗 Shaz in Oz.x
If you are not sure if you are a Christian, a Christ follower, please read this post here - Who or What is a Christian?
PS.
If you haven’t I'd love it you to join as a wonderful encourager of
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It really encourages me to keep on. 😁 If you'd like these posts in
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Matthew 1:20-25 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear notto take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
[21] And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.
[22] Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
[23] Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
[24] Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:
[25] And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.
Do you think we ever grasp the length, depth and breadth of our Saviour's name, given Him hundreds of years before.
.. they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is "God with us." Matt. 1:25
Or in Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."
Isaiah wrote his prophecy over 700 years before the birth of Christ. As Matthew said: " Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet," Yes, the prophet Isaiah in 7:14. So many prophecies of Jesus made by Isaiah, the most well known perhaps apart from this prophecy of virgin birth, was Isaiah 53 and the Suffering Servant.
The “Why” Christ came is the emphasis of Isaiah 53.
Christ, born to die that we might live. "By Whose stripes we are healed".
1 Peter 2:24 "Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by Whose stripes ye were healed."
Christmas is dear to my heart, but just after Christmas on 4th January is my spiritual birthday. This Coming year 2026, it's my 60th spiritual birthday, how blessed am I to have known Jesus as my Saviour 60 years, and what a miracle it
is that I am still here. Truly God's ways are past finding out.
I think this is my favourite card this year. It's simple and God's word is the highlight.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the LORD. Luke 2:11 We worship a God of miracles, the virgin birth was a mighty miracle. It must have been extremely disconcerting to Joseph to have had such a dream: "the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost."
Yes, this truly was the Immanuel "God with us", that we worship at Christmas time.
I pray God's blessing upon you and your loved ones this Christmas time.
May we all take time to remember the real reason for Christmas the LORD Jesus Who came to die for our sins that we might have a heavenly home by faith in Him. Love you, and THANK YOU, Lord Jesus!
I'd like to close with one of my favourite Christmas carols which the second verse ends with most aptly:
"..pleased with us in flesh to dwell, Jesus, our Immanuel."
Thank you for popping over and thanks too if you are able to comment.
Prayer hugs in Him, 🙏🤗 Shaz in Oz.x
If you are not sure if you are a Christian, a Christ follower, please read this post here - Who or What is a Christian?
PS. If you haven’t I'd love it you to join as a wonderful encourager of this blog ... link HERE. Thank YOU to those who have done so already. It really encourages me to keep on. 😁 If you'd like these posts in your inbox, you can add your email to email link option on side bar. If you're on a mobile device on which there is no sidebar, then scroll down and select "View Web Version" at very bottom of post. This will bring up sidebar and "follow by email" link, which is on the top of sidebar 😊 thank you!
Hullo there everyone! sorry for the very long silence, health is the usual reason. Since today is one of the most important days of the year, I had to pop in with this post.
This is an April Illuminated calendar for 2014, from the Hong
Kong Christian Book Room. They sadly don't make them any more, but I learnt from their book how to do my texts (see - here it is) is written by the founder of this Book Room.
Isn't it a beautiful verse?
It is the true reflection
of what occurred on Good Friday all those years ago. On a rocky
hillside, in sorrow and pain, a young Man shed His blood on a cross - a
shameful, sinful death.
WHY?
Years ago (over 50) I well remember my sister's teacher asking me on a hillside (here near the beach) if I knew why Jesus had died?
I said, " No."
.. and so she told me He had died for my sin, and the sins of everyone.
Now I was a child.. and you may wonder - how a child can have sinned?
.. but believe you me, there was not argument at all from me on that point.
I knew I had done wrong.. and that was sin.. but that Jesus had died to take away my sin totally blew me away.
That memorable day, when I saw Jesus on the cross for my sin, has lived evermore for me in these words of this hymn. (or see link here)
There
Is A Green Hill Far Away
There is a green hill
far away, without a city wall,
Where the dear LORD was
crucified, Who died to save us all.
We may not know, we
cannot tell what pains He had to bear,
But we believe it was for us He
hung & suffered there.
He died that we might
be forgiven , He died to make us good,
That we might go at
last to Heaven, saved by His precious blood.
There was no other good enough
to pay the price of sin,
He only could unlock
the gate of Heaven, and let us in.
Oh, dearly, dearly has
He loved, & we must love Him too,
And trust in His redeeming blood & try
His works to do.
By C.F. Alexander
Jesus is our Living Redeemer, Saviour and Friend.
Or He is LORD Jesus once I have believed on the LORD Jesus Christ as my Saviour.
"God sent His Only Begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him." 1 John 4:9
This is why Good Friday is Good.
By faith in the LORD Jesus we have the certain hope of life for evermore with Him.
The Easter story = The gift of His transforming love.
Jesus' sacrifice brought us life.
There is sadness in the story.
There is pain in the story.
There is death. But there is more.
The whole story includes the beauty
of Easter. The triumph. The joy.
I would dearly love that all who read this might know or already KNOW that Beauty, Triumph, and Joy.. in Jesus.
I would like to close with a very early Illuminated text done in the early 1990's.
(sorry, it is very poor "best-can-do" enhanced image - bad flare from old camera, etc. not digital.)
The observant among you will realise it's the verse done on the header of my craft blog.
It is also on the very first post I did on my blog, back here.
(I have done it four times now, three different colours, and one was duplicate of one on the header.
This, the original is the one and
only one done in Aluminum leaf - very hard to work with but will not
tarnish like silver leaf.)
May we all take time to ponder the importance of these words of the Lord
Jesus.
"What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, but lose his own soul?" Mark 8:36
Zip, zero, zilch is the answer...
The whole world will profit us nothing.
YES, this is the whole key to Easter...
Eternity... and what counts for eternity. May we live this truth.
Truth will help to keep a
real perspective on life - is it ETERNAL?
May God richly bless you wherever you maybe and thank you SO much for poppng over and saying hi, I trust this blesses your heart!
Shaz in Oz.x
PS. If you haven’t I'd love it you to join as a wonderful encourager of this blog ... link HERE. Thank YOU to those who have done so already. It really encourages me to keep on. 😁
If you'd like these posts in your inbox, you can add your email
to email link option on side bar. If you're on a mobile device on which
there is no sidebar, then scroll down and select "View Web Version" at
very bottom of post. This will bring up sidebar and "follow by email"
link, which is on the top of sidebar. 😊 thank you!
The title of this post is part of a very well known verse.
One of God's promises given by Moses to Israel.
The ETERNAL God is thy refuge,
and UNDERNEATH are the everlasting arms:
Deut 33:27
It describes the nature of the LORD God, the El Shaddai, the Everlasting Father, our God = “ETERNAL” (from Collins Dictionary)
“1. without beginning or end; existing through all time; everlasting ·
2. of eternity
3. forever the same; always true or valid; unchanging. the eternal verities”
We are to keep our focus on the ETERNAL GOD.
He promised He would never leave us nor forsake us.
He is the same yesterday, today and forever.
He sees, knows, understands what we cannot in our finite, limited mind - worldly box.
Satan wants us to put our God in that worldly box... but that’s the path of discouragement.
For our INFINITE God is immeasurable in His grace mercy and love for us... The LORD God Almighty reaches where we can never ever imagine.
How many of us I wonder know the second part of that verse?
It struck me afresh today in its entirety.
IF we ever needed to have second part of this verse to be fulfilled… it’s today in the left wing, anti-God controls of today’s governments worldwide. May God indeed thrust out the enemies of Truth and Righteousness and Destroy them! Especially in our nation's governments.
Mercy please LORD, we plead Thee. Protect Thy servants everywhere! We flee to Thee for Refuge.
The ETERNAL God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms:
and He shall thrust out the enemy from before thee;
and shall say, Destroy them. Deut 33:7
This verse is a promise to Israel before they were to take possession of the promised land, and just one of many promises by God through Moses to each of the twelve tribes.
Another well known one is this illumination I’ve done ‘ As Thy days, etc.’, which is a preceding verse and promise is to tribe of Asher, but both are also it maybe noted to the tribes of Israel (see verses 28, 29).
Painted in 1990s in water colours, rather than gouache like my later works, the good water colours still faded too much hence changed to Gouache. Full post on this can be found on my craft blog here, done in 2014.
Deuteronomy 33:24-29
[24] And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil.
[25] Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.
[26] There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.
[27] The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.
[28] Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew.
[29] Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, …
Verses 24, 25 were to Asher and were the concluding promises to each of 12 tribes. From verses 26 to verse 29, the end of chapter it’s to Israel whose name is also Jeshurun.
Jeshurun (Hebrew: יְשֻׁרוּן Yəšurūn; also Jesurun or Yeshurun) is a poetic name for Israel used in the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible.
The importance and usefulness of these promises was necessary because of testing that lay before them. Does it apply to us today?
Most certainly, the LORD Jesus in His temptation with Satan used scripture promises in other parts of the scripture.. see here Matt 4:1 - 11
Or just looking at this example:
Matthew 4:7-10
[7] Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
[8] Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
[9] And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
[10] Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
And that is key.. the battle is being fought today, through the living word, as much as in Moses and Joshua’s day.
The enemy is the same father of lies and Accuser of the brethren and the LORD Jesus Himself. So we must gird ourselves in the Word of God.
As Jesus Who is called the WORD did!
Ephesians 6:16-17
[16] Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
[17] And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
*****
The ETERNAL God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms:
and He shall thrust out the enemy from before thee;
and shall say, Destroy them.
Deut 33:7
So God will not only now be our Refuge underneath us, but He will THRUST OUT our enemies, before us!
Art thou sunk in depths of sorrow Where no arm can reach so low? There is One whose arms almighty Reach beyond thy deepest woe. God th’ Eternal is thy refuge, Let it still thy wild alarms; Underneath thy deepest sorrow, Are the everlasting arms.
Underneath thee, underneath thee, Are the everlasting arms, Everlasting, everlasting, Are the everlasting arms.
2
Other arms grow faint and weary, These can never faint, nor fail; Others reach our mounts of blessing, These our lowest loneliest vale. O that all might know His friendship! O that all might see His charms! O that all might have beneath them Jesus’ everlasting arms.
3
Underneath us, O how easy; We have not to mount on high, But to sink into His fulness, And in trustful weakness lie. And we find our humbling failures Save us from the strength that harms! We may fail, but underneath us Are the everlasting arms.
4
Arms of Jesus! fold me closer, To Thy strong and loving breast, Till my spirit on Thy bosom Finds its everlasting rest; And when time’s last sands are sinking, Shield my heart from all alarms, Softly whispering, “Underneath thee, Are the everlasting arms.”
A beautiful promise - for the eternal God is Thy Refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms. I pray this has blessed you as it has me.
May God richly bless you and those you love, wherever you may be. Thank you SO much for popping over for a read, a meditate and especially if you’re able to chat.
Prayer hugs 🙏🤗 Shaz in Oz.x
Addendum to post on the sudden passing of our faithful Queen Elizabeth II, after more than a seventy year reign.
Our very dear and so beautiful inside and out, Queen Elizabeth II, was reigning before I and many of us were even born..
She had a sudden arrival to a job of huge responsibility so young, but took it willingly with both hands and all her heart... a servant of her God and her people.
Her faith was often shared in her Christmas messages, she was not ashamed of her Saviour, and the latter messages especially I remember.
It encouraged me as I watched it. (Some of these Queen's Christmas messages are shared verbatim in this post here, the link left by Rita R. below)
I truly believe she heard "well done thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of the LORD."
Amen, and may God save the King.. king Charles III ... for truly he is yet to acknowledge God as his King.
🙏👆🙏👆🙏 may God have mercy on us all in every day ahead.
PS. If you haven’t I'd love it you to join as a wonderful encourager of this blog ... link HERE. Thank YOU to those who have done so already. It really encourages me to keep on. 😁
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It's Easter time, and really it's not about the bunny, but THE Lamb ..
The Lamb of God... as John the Baptist said of Jesus:
"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world".
Two verses (along with others but two main ones) repeat in my mind at Easter time. The first verse is John 19:30
Jesus said, “It is finished.”
With that, He bowed his head and gave up His spirit.
Read this Scripture in John 19 so many times – the last words Jesus spoke on the day He was crucified. There’s such gravity in that moment. Imagining the Son of God, our Savior, with His battered and broken body nailed to a cross, stirs up a sense of both sadness and shame.
Sorrow because it is MY SIN that He bore on the cross of shame.
Shattered in body and Spirit by the greatest grief of all time, as His Father could not look on our sin, and turned His back on our perfect Sin-Bearer, the LORD Jesus Christ.
Often the focus is on what happened, the events themselves, and less so on those three simple words He spoke at the end:
“It is finished.”
Let us to really consider those words.
Christ was not simply stating the obvious - that His earthly life was over.
He was declaring that our sins were forgiven once and for all, their price paid by His sacrifice."
"It is finished" last of Jesus' seven sayings on the cross. ...
It meant that salvation was bought!
It is paid for in full!
Wherefore,
as by ONE man sin entered into the world,
and death by sin;
and so death passed upon all men,
for that all have sinned:
For as by one man's disobedience (Adam) many were made sinners,
so by the obedience of ONE (Jesus) shall many be made righteous.
Romans 5:12, 19
The battle against sin's punishment was won, once for all.
"The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin". I John 1:7b His blood bought our salvation..
We can never ever earn it ourselves. ... being a member of a church, a religion or any other thing we do, it all is as nothing - it will not buy your salvation. Only one way through the perfect Son of God.
(This is a very early text done in 1992, executed in water colours, ink and 23 carat Gold leaf. I chose this verse because it was the verse that lead to my salvation (see here) .. and it is pivotal in my heart. I now have another layout hanging on our loungeroom wall.)
The second verse that rings in my heart at Easter time - after Jesus cry of "It is finished!"
is the angel's saying at the empty tomb:
"He is not here, for He is risen as he said."
What a joy it is to serve a Risen Saviour! Our God is not dead ... He lives .. And how do I know He lives? ... as the hymn says "He lives within my heart!"
Thanks so much for taking the time to read this post. I pray it blesses you – for how richly I am blessed as a result of this gift of salvation at a young age.
I did not know until someone had told me, someone had asked me. So this is why I share it with you today.
PS. If you haven’t I'd love it you to join as a wonderful encourager of this blog ... link HERE. Thank YOU to those who have done so already. It really encourages me to keep on. 😁
If you'd like these posts in your inbox, you can add your email to email link option on side bar. If you're on a mobile device on which there is no sidebar, then scroll down and select "View Web Version" at very bottom of post. This will bring up sidebar and "follow by email" link, which is on the top of sidebar. 😊 thank you!
Greetings dear folks on this Good Friday.. we remember the ONE Who gave the greatest gift of all!
It amazes me the changeability of human nature, with the days leading up to trial and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. On the first day of that week (we now call it Palm Sunday) they are crying to Jesus a Kingly welcome:
..... and then all but a five days later, that same crowd are crying when Pilate, in an attempt to let Jesus go, asked : "What should we do with Jesus? and they cried "Crucify Him!"
Yet we too are changeable - often we may blow with the wind, or go with flow, as it is easer than swimming against the tide of public opinion. Instead - let us be Praising Him, the Lord of Glory, our Saviour Jesus.
However on that Friday all those years ago, God had a greater end in view though! God sees what we cannot, and He saw that man needed a way of salvation from their sin. When we are bowed down with care and trouble there is ONE Who cares and wants to bear it for us... that is why the Father sent His Son, the LORD Jesus!
It was LOVE - LOVE that sent Jesus to the cross LOVE that held Him there till redemption was finished, ..” He said, “It is finished!” John 19:30 And..
"And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, He said, Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit: and having said thus, He gave up the ghost." Luke 23:46
Notice that .. He gave up His life ... it was not taken from Him.
Jesus, God in the flesh, came down to earth to live among men.
As Hebrews say : " He was tested in all points as we are, yet without sin."
He was sinless perfect BUT He knows our struggles.. our cares, sorrows.
Surely he hath born our sorrows and our grief"
LOOK! This chapter in Isaiah 53 written so many, many centuries before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah drew the picture of the very death Jesus would suffer for our sin, on the tree .. read and be amazed at the detail, and be oh, so very grateful too - see here.
Satan thought He had won a victory on the cross. He thought wrongly though - for it was God's way of Salvation and Satan's defeat. It was on the cruel cross that the first prophecy about Satan's defeat was fulfilled, one of many. See Genesis 3:15
As this verse above says - GREATER is He that is in YOU - by faith if we have trusted in the LORD Jesus as Saviour we receive the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts and lives.. God's spirit is great than any power, with which Satan might to seek to deceive us.
This is the verse that led to my salvation many years ago. Read about it here and it summarises what Good Friday means, and really WHY GOOD FRIDAY IS GOOD - for it was when the LORD gave up His life for us, and so bought our salvation. Satan’s hold on death was defeated! His blood is the cleansing power for sin.. but salvation is gift. It is NEVER ours unless it is taken..
Praising Him, the Lord of Glory, Jesus! On this day when we remember the greatest gift of all, when the Lord Jesus laid down His life on the cross, shed His blood for our sin, that we might by faith in Him have life for an eternity in heaven.
Hallelujah! How rich are we in Him! if we know Him as out our own Saviour!
Every blessing of the LORD, dear friends upon you and your dear ones on such a special day.
Shaz in Oz.x
PS If you haven’t I'd love it you to join as a wonderful encourager of this blog ... link HERE. Thank YOU to those who have done so already. It really encourages me to keep on. 😊
If you'd like these posts in your inbox, you can add your email to email link option on side bar. If you're on a mobile device on which there is no sidebar, then scroll down and select "View Web Version" at very bottom of post. This will bring up sidebar and "follow by email" link.
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