Lynda's Blog

  In this week’s Bible study, we were studying Manasseh, son of King Hezekiah. He was an evil man who worshipped idols, sacrificed his children to idols and indulged in witchcraft (2nd Chronicles 33:6). It demonstrates God’s love, that when Manasseh finally repented, God forgave him (2 Chronicles 33:10-20). Nothing is beyond the love and forgiveness of our mighty Creator God. The immensity of God’s love is also reflected in the story of the prodigal son. We have so much to be grateful for, knowing that Jesus died for our sin once and for all. That God loves us so much, that even though we sin repeatedly we are not beyond His forgiveness. This scripture stimulated a discussion on idols and one of our group named social media as an idol. This thought resonated with me, especially when I see children trying to get the attention of their parent who is too busy on their cell phone to take any notice. As children of God, are we also too busy to notice our Heavenly Father when he gently...

  I recently signed up for an online spiritual retreat. Being very organised and task oriented I was a little disturbed at the lack of structure, especially when it was taking a good part of my day which I had to re-arrange. I was in fact, a little anxious about what it would be like. I need not have worried; it was well worth it! We started via a TEAMS video meeting at 10 am. After introductions, the Spiritual Director gave us options on how we might use our day. We were then free to spend time with Jesus until checking in at 2.30 pm for the last hour to share. As it was a cold, miserable day I decided to stay at home with the heat pump blasting. My husband stayed in his workshop, and I turned off all devices, so there were no distractions. It was interesting once we got back together, to discover how others had used their day. One participant took off to the beach to watch the waves and God met her there. One lady read a book, but God met her there. Few used the booklet p...

  My eleven-year-old computer is not going to take Windows 15! It also will not load internet from our new router. Time to get a new one. The huge array of laptops is very confusing. We finally decided to get one that was an excellent brand, which had heaps of memory and a fast-processing time. Even better, it was in a sale so offered four hundred dollars off. Then, because it is all too frustrating for me, we paid for a wonderful tech guy to transfer all our files from the old computer to the new one. We had a long discussion on pros and cons of extra virus protection versus the protection that came with Windows 11, and I finally decided to pay for the recommended extra protection that would not only protect all our files, but would also let me know if I tried to access an unsafe internet site. As my thoughts wandered, I vaguely thought that it would be great to have a virus protector to protect us against sinning. It suddenly occurred to me that we do! The Holy Spirit fills us ...

  I have been pondering God’s love recently. I had read some blogs and listened to a podcast that resonated with me. How often do we think God couldn’t possibly forgive us for some sin we committed? How frequently do we let the enemy tell us we are not good enough, we don’t deserve forgiveness? Our small group was discussing forgiveness this week. How often do we not forgive ourselves, even though God has forgiven us? What terrible pride to believe we know better than God as to whether we deserve forgiveness. God’s words tell us He forgives us when we come with a repentant heart. Not only does he forgive us, he cleanses us of ALL unrighteousness, THEN, chooses to remember our sin no more. How deep is God’s love for us? I wonder if we can gain a profound understanding of how passionately God loves us. Is it possible to really know the power of His love?   Paul prays for us in Ephesians 3:17-19 that   ‘you, being rooted and established in love,  may have power, ...