Saved!?

I was standing at our stall at Agquip while Mum went to get something. Thousands of people streamed through, some of which stopped to talk. One such lady noticed the free Christian literature on the table.

"Ah, so you're a Christian?" she asked.

I smiled, "I sure am!"

"You know," she told me, "I used to be a drug addict. But then I got saved. It is so wonderful being saved."

I agreed. It really is wonderful to have that constant connection with God.

"But, I tell you," she continued, "I've done all sorts of things. If it weren't that I got saved back then, I would be lost now. I'm so thankful for eternal security with my salvation."

A look of shock crossed my face. "Eternal security? What ever do you mean by that?"

She seemed surprised by my ignorance. I really had never heard of it.

"Oh, well, we are covered with Christ's blood, and don't need to worry about how we live. I'm so glad I don't have to worry about that," she exclaimed.

"But, we have to surrender to God every day, not just once!" I countered, still surprised.

She shook her head. "No, I have eternal security."

"But what about a daily walk with God?" I asked confused.

She repeated it all. Mum came back to the stall.

"Oh, we were just discussing homeschooling," the lady told Mum.

Another surprise! When was that?

"I homeschool my two boys," she added.

The two started a warm discussion on the topic.

I was left to think. Think, I did. What ever did she mean by all that? Can one really do whatever they wish, and still be saved? Is it not possible to turn away and lose salvation?

At the end of the long day, Mum and I looked at it in the Bible together. My questions were answered. I forgot about it.

~~~

That was four years ago. Not long ago, as I was reading through my Bible I came across an explanation. It stared me in the face -- cleared all doubts.

Ezekial 18:24 "But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die."

That verse was the answer. Yes, God has given us freewill. What does it say in the NT, I wondered? I found more.

"They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away." Luke 8:13

"Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray..." 2 Peter 2:15

I'm convinced. My salvation is still under threat. I do need God's constant power to overcome and abide in Him. I can lose that. But how?

What can seperate us from God's love?

“35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, orfamine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, norany other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39

What do all these elements have in common?

They are all external forces.

So then, what is the one thing that can separate us from God?

“1 Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: 2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” Isaiah 59:1, 2

I see it more clearly now. If we take the beginning and throw out the end of our faith, we are not going to get there. It is not enough to just become a Christian, we must stay a Christian.

"Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, wherunto thou art also called, and has professed a good profession before many witnesses." 1 Timothy 6:12.

"...he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." Mark 13:13

If we resist the sanctification process by turning in the opposite direction, or letting Satan subtly turn our eyes off Jesus until we give away our faith, then we give away our right to Heaven.

Revelation 3:11 "Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown."

(Credits: Christella)

War

I'm sitting on a big rock in the creek bed. I've just finished reciting Acts chapter 1, 2, and 3. The birds chirps and trills, combined with the gurgling of the water, makes calming music.

But I'm alert. Tense. Thinking. Trying desperately to put the matter into words.

I caught a glimpse of a fierce war, the other day. Worse and far more serious than WWI or II. A fight to the death. It electrified my senses. Made me fear for my life, the lives of my family and freinds. Everyone's life.

Though I can't see it with my eyes, it is just as real as the Iraqi war, today. The battle is for my big brother's soul. My little sister's. My father's. The teenager walking down the street. Mine. Yours. Everybody's!

I already know which side will win. That was determined on the cross, when the champion of love died and rose again triumphant.

I know you've heard the story before. But wait! Listen! The defeated enemy continues to fight. Not in a frontal attack, but slyly. He's literally setting a trap for you, right now. Calculated to send you to hell right along with him. It's so well planned, nobody would ever guess. Satan sucks us in, with things we enjoy.

Dress. Food. TV. Movies. Music. Books. All of it.

Thing is, when he succeds in trapping us, he throws a blindfold over our eyes so that we cannot tell that we are lassoed; on the broad way; cruising to hell.

We cannot trust ourselves in this battle.

But there is hope. Jesus too, is fighting for each one. He doesnt use co-ercion or deceit. He wins with love. He offers a bright future.

How can we know a trap and avoid it? Jesus gave us a yardstick to measure things by.

"He that is not with me is against me..." Matthew 12:30

Does that book I want to read, exalt God and draw me nearer? If not -- it is the devil's trap. It's that simple.

There is no middle ground.

(Credits: Christella)

Vintage Photoshoot

^Elegant.^

^Our beautiful creek.^

^Don't they just look like they're from the 1960's?!^

^Musical roses. :) ^

^Falling rather gracefully, wouldn't you say?^

^"What ya sayin'??"^

^Standing - all by herself!!!^

^"I told ya to keep your distance!!"^

^Yep, that's aunty (me) with the pink socks in the background!^

^Rescue!^

^Homesick for Heaven.^

^Miss Pharaoh. ;) ^

^Yours truly.^

Now that you have enjoyed our photography, you must tell me which ones were your favourite/s!! :D

My adorable niece~ Pt 2

Isn't she just gorgeous!? :D <3

Forgotten History

This evening, I was watching some YouTube clips, when my elder sister, Danica, came into the room. She remembered a video we'd often watched as children. It's called "*Young Folk's History of the Sabbath" by Jim Arrabito. I looked it up, and found these two clips.

Young Folks History of the Sabbath (Part 1)

Young Folk's History of the Sabbath (Part 2)

It is the whole video in two halfs. It is made for children, but meant for teenagers and adults too. I enjoyed re-watching it with Danica's children. Caleb (3) sat spellbound the whole way through.

After watching "Young Folk's History of the Sabbath", I remembered another video we'd watched when little. It was "Israel of the Alps". By Jim Arrabito too. It is the forgotten history of the Waldenses. It is for people of all ages. I remember loving it as a child, and now also as a teenager.

Watch first part of Israel of the Alps here.

I'm not sure how much the clip above shows...as I didn't get to watch it all. But it wouldn't be the full thing, as it's only 27 mins. So I thought I would post a link for where you can buy it.

Israel of the Alps

Young Folk's History of the Sabbath

I fully recommend these two videos. They are amazing. One of a kind. Very well put together, very interesting and fun.

Also after Jim's death, his wife put together another, more detailed film on the Sabbath. It is "The Seventh Day: Revelations from the Lost Pages of History"

This set is more made for teenagers and adults, but children can watch it too.
You can get it on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Seventh-Day-Revelations-Pages-History/dp/B000M52KAQ

I also give my full recommendation for this set too.

Note: *It used to be called "Children's History of the Sabbath".

The Night We Made National News

Caleb and Seth (right)

"Jana, have you seen Seth?" Danica walked into the house.
"No." I replied. "I haven't."
"Well, I've gone over the whole house yard, and can't see him..." Her voice trailed off. Though we didn't know it at the time, it was going be a long hard evening ahead of us.

It had been a normal day for us. Other than going to town for a bit. After lunch, Seth went outside, as usual. He loves to be out-doors. At about 5:00 pm, Danica checked on Seth. Then after a bit, she decided it was time to take him for a walk. (He loves walking, so we take him for a walk every day before he goes to bed.) It was after going to get him for the walk, that we had the above conversation.

Before I go on, I am going to go into a bit of detail about the neighbours property.
It is a 25-30 acre block that has 3 gullies on it. It's basic bushland, with lots of blackberry bushes. They had given us permission to walk on it, since they don't live there. So we have a path on it, and we walk on it pretty much everyday. On this property are 4 dams. Also there are many similar sized farms around us, all with their own dams too.

Since it was getting later, we figured that I should stay at the house with the other two children, Caleb (3) and Hannah (1), while Danica searched for the missing Seth (7).

I'd put Caleb to bed, and was working on getting Hannah to sleep, when Danica came in again. Seth hadn't been found. She phoned Nathan, her husband, who advised that she keep looking. He had to be around.

In the meanwhile, I called my other sister, Cherith, and told her what was going on, and asked her to pray. She advised me to call the police. But I was hesitant to do so, as I wasn't sure what I would say. Or, what if Danica found Seth, and then the police came out to nothing?? I put Hannah in bed, and then called mum up. She also told me to call the police. I told her why I didn't want to. She promptly told me that she would call them then. "Goodbye."

A few minutes later, the phone rang. It was someone from the police station. I answered their questions, and they said that they'd send some police out straight away. The phone was hot in it's cradle when Danica walked in. I told her that the police were on their way out. She called them back. They needed to bring a dog. It should be sure to find Seth.

Bare moments passed, and the police had arrived. No dog. They started with questions. Then searched the house. And then the yard. It was quite dark by now, as Danica had been searching for 3 hours before they arrived. It was approximately 9:30 when they arrived. They had searched the yard when more police arrived. They called for a chopper and a dog.

An hour later, more police had come. SES (State Emergency Service) had also arrived... but no chopper or dog. I asked a policeman what was happening. I was informed that the chopper couldn't come, as where it was stationed at the moment, there was too heavy cloud cover to safely fly it to our place. The dog though, was on it's way.

The police wanted everyone to stay put while we waited for the dog as to not mix up the scents. In fact friends came to be with us, but they were kept at the gate. Waiting for this seemingly never-appearing dog... Though Danica convinced them to take her in their 4WD down the neighbors vacant block that is right behind us, to check the 4 dams for any signs of Seth. When she returned, she was much relieved. There had been no signs of him being near the dam, or in it.

While I waited, I had a steady stream of facebookers asking me for news. Any news. Lots of people were chatting to me, asking what was happening. Everyone was letting us know that they were praying.. and always asking for more updates. It amazed me how many people knew about it, so quickly too, and were praying aswell.

Someone commented in the morning and said,"Facebook has just redeemed itself." I actually had to agree. :) Thanks to it, in only moments people across the globe had heard about it and were praying. Close to (or over) a hundred in Australia, and others in America, Vanuatu, PNG, the Solomon Islands, and Europe. The phone was constantly ringing too. But that's not what I'm blogging about...

It was near midnight when they let our friends through. We talked to each other and the police... and prayed.
At 2:00 am, I was spent. Yawning, I walked to my room. Turned off the light and fell asleep when my head hit the pillow.

When I woke up, it was morning. The first thing I asked was "Has Seth been found?"
I got a very joyful reply: "YES!!!"

Danica filled me in on what I missed:

At 2:30 am, Seth was found. :D They had made a human chain a meter apart and had been doing a line up search. There was about 50 people, neighbours included, participating. They had been working their way across the paddocks, when they heard Seth call out.* I don't know what he said, but about half of the line-up group went and found him.

They took him in a police car and it was about half an hour later before Danica got him back. An ambulance came, to check him, and make sure he was alright. He was fine. He had only one scratch, and that was from eating blackberries. He was thrilled to see his Mama again. When she first saw him, he was humming "Great is the Lord". He happily had a warm bath, but before he had could even get dressed, the news reporters had arrived. So she took Seth outside to them, and they videoed away.

Seth had a good sleep for the rest of the night, and is very obviously happy to be home. All day, he's been giving us lots of hugs. I'm so happy we still have my dear nephew.

We want to thank-you all for your prayers. God heard and answered them. We appreciated your support too. It meant a lot to us.

*Seth was about 100 metres from our usual walking path. Danica had looked all over the rest of the paddock except for that part. Because of changing winds, though she heard him once, she couldn't make out where he was.

Oh, and the bit about making national news. Don't believe it? Well, you can watch it here.

Baby goat blessings

"Mum, where is Selah?" I looked around trying to spot the 6 days overdue doe.

"Over there sitting on the grass. She looks like she's going to kid doesn't she?" Mum eyed the doe. "Well, I hope she kids today," I commented also watching Selah. "The rain has paused, and just nice weather."
"Lets go look at her."

When I checked her, I could tell that she was going to kid - very soon.



Moments later, the first baby was out. A doe!!! In between the appearance of the next kid, I noticed the clouds. They were dark navy. How long would it be, til they let down the bounty? I turned my attention back to Selah. The second kid was on it's way out. Since she was standing up, I caught the kid to break the fall. Another doe!!


Blessings were meeting us on every corner. First, the rain had held off for Selah to kid. As this wasn't just any rain, it was the flooding rain. It rained non-stop for the next 3 days and nights.

Secondly, we were blessed with, not one, but two doe kids!! As I walk past the kids, sleeping or playing, I smile when I remember all God's goodness.

^ Sarepta ^

^Sarepta^

^ Sojourner ^