Guiding light

Just outside where I live is the suburb of Walton. Walton was at one time The main town in the area. Just at Walton high Street was the road now called Maidstone Road and turns into grange road at the railway bridge That continues to Pewitt hill. At the bottom of Pewitt hill was the shore. 

The Walton was built at a point or equal distance from the two local rivers and seafront. The road to Pewitt HillWould have been the main road for fisherman to bring up the catch for sell. 

As Walton grew so did the need for other Goods from around England and other countries. The shore at the bottom of peewit Hill would have been busy with goods coming in and out.

The dockland now at felixstowe Are the biggest in the country but that's not the Point of this blog.

At the bottom of Pewitt Hill now is a roundabout that lead through the customs checks into the Port along with a Mcdonalds, offices, a supermarket and other buildings

Pewitt Hill Is still busy with people walking or cycling to and from work at the docs. It's an unmade road very uneven and un suitable for vehicles put i can still imagine horse and carts going up and down heading to and from walton. 

At the top are houses that would gave been there in those days. One noticeably an old brothel intising the sailors to take rest for the night. Another of these houses had an important roll to play. 

The nearest light house was 10 or more miles away and there had to be something to guide the boats in to walton and this house that is still there today was effectively the light house. 

Each night the keeper of this house would light a candle and using a pulley system would lift the candle up into a glass box at the too if a false chimney. 

It was said to have been seen for 3 to 4 miles out to see and although the jetty was well lit it was some times to low to be seen in rough waters and fog. 

Yhis light became a life line to many as they focused on light in the sky to guide them close enough to safely see the boats in close enough to see the jetty where they could rest once the cargo had been taken of. 

Life can be tough. It can throw us some had blows at times. At times we cant see the end of our bad situations and, well some Give up and decide turning back is the better way. 

The bible is full of stories of people want to give in.They dont feel worthy or feel strong enough to get to that Jetty. 

Focus on that light, focus in Jesus and his promise to you, so he can lead you safely to shore and all he has promised.

Maybe someone near you id struggling trying to find their way in the darkness. Well why not be a light for them too. 

Bear Grylls

Testing The Paths

So people keep telling me to start blogging again. and after a couple of messages from strangers that read the blogs Ive decoded to try and start blogging again.

trouble with blogging is finding the inspiration to turn it into a blog, even then when i try and start I cant find the words to start the blog (like now).

But in the past I have found if I start typeing then some hom the blog starts to take shape and many times leads to a whole different place to what you thought when I set out.

when I started blogging I was trying to battle with depetion, it was a way to clear my mind and fill it with other things rather than dark thoughts. some of the blogs where well recieved some not so much, all filled with spelling mistakes and bad grammer (like this one)

As I look back on those blogs I find reading them now a reminder and good self advice, it was never meant to be read by others but a personal journey. but it soon came apparent people liked reading and sometimes started discussions I didn't expect.

At the end of 2017 I said i wanted to follow Gods paths, or at least do what I could do to continue exploring his purpose for me. Sadly since then Ive not really done much about it, so this maybe the start of walking forward and building on something that both gives me something to work on and also hopefully gets people thinking and talking.

we all sometime struggle to find a purpose, never really understand why so many around us seem to play an important role while we wouldn't be missed if we was around. but the bible tells us we all have a role to play in the church family. the bile explains it by calling it the body of Christ, explaining how it has many parts tat all work independently yet in unison to achieve the same Goals.

Into the begining

A couple of stories I saw this week got methinking. The first was of a lady that was brought up in America to white parents, only to discover her mothers parents where African American and mix race. This meant her mum who looked white was in fact coloured (which she found it stated on her birth certificate).

She looked back and said about the little clues her mum had given them. Like always powering her face which a light powder, never going out in the sun, and never wanting to talk about her past. 

The second story was of two ladies.adopted at 5 months old now in their 40s both discover they where twins.

The record showed how one was adopted a taken away two days before the other. Which not only highlighted the question why where they adopted but also how different it would have been if the other one was taken first. 

In both stories the people where left with a lot of what ifs. And maybe realising they are not the people they had thought. And suddenly realised they had a different past, different history to what they knew. 

I used to have a card on my mirror in the bathroom that read 

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43:18-19‬ ‭NIV‬‬

This was God talking to the people about how they can trust him. And that the past has been and he had lead them to a new life. He was giving the people new freedom. A new start. He was doing new things and they need not worrie about the life they lived before or the things they had done. 

Later we understand that what God told those people many years before, Jesus had taught to his followers and as they spread out across the world the message of hope and joy and forgiveness was what they preached 

“So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Ok I’m not saying forget our past. Some of our past we should find some pride in. But we all have stuff we wish wasn’t remember. Or shameful things we may have done! We might even wish we could change the past or miss someone in our live was still here. God can’t change your past but what he can do is put it right. He can even use it for good. By you accepting him as a light to your wold. You become a new creation entering a new stage of your life. The past is pasted, it is no longer. 

‭‭

. 

Seek him first!

We go around life wondering when, how, why,  if. And sometime wonder when’s this God people talk about is going make an appearance, when is he going to bring us that life he promises us. Wondering when all the trouble and pain and stress is going to end. We pray to God and ask for all the things we want and want him to do. But what we fail to do is do the things he wants from us. .

You ever heard the phrase seek ye first? It’s in Matthew 6 verse 33 of the Bible. It’s also a well know song sang in churches and schools throughout the world. Written by a lady in America called Karen Lafferty, its a simple song with word direct from the bible it’s self. 

So what does it mean? Well I guess we have to go back to the begining of the chapter. It says don’t let one hand see what the other hand is doing or give to the needy in secret rather than telling others and looking for praise. It says don’t stand on the corner of streets or in crowded church’s, praying as if you’ve swallowed a dictonary, looking to impress. But go and sit alone in your room and pray personally to God and know he is listening. It also says about fasting (going without something we like). It clearly says don’t go around telling others you fasting but keep it between yourself and God. 

In today’s world we all look for others approval. We sometimes try and look for praise and tell others how great life is or how great we are because we did something good. We idolise the famous and let money rule our lives. This is not what God tells us to do.  

We don’t need other people’s approval or money to make us great. We don’t need to pretend we are as good as the next person or go along with others just to stay popular. All we need to do is seek Gods praise and  approval. Because it’s when we “seek him first” all those other things won’t matter as much, and our worries and our fears will not be taken away but fade into less significance. We will learn to know and trust God. And then all  things shall be added. 

So don’t worrie about how much better or how rich you are in the eyes of the world. Don’t worry if someone knows more than you or can preach better or can pray better. Gods already given us a perfect prayer to pray in the shape of the Lord’s Prayer. So as the bible says, worrie for nothing for when you seek God he will add all his goodness to you.