thoughts by Rod Marshall Archives - Daily Thoughts about God

Published July 17, 2024

Presumptions

“Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” 1 Timothy 4:16 (ESV)

I have been a witness to some extraordinary moves of God in my lifetime but, as said, they were extraordinary.

Like many I live, bound up in life’s issues day-to-day, coping with the curve balls that speed my way.

I have not been saved from life’s shortcomings, as I might be tempted to believe I deserve, so I just keep moving on.

With the arrogance and curiosity of being willful I stopped looking to Jesus and looked over the edge of the Narrow path where safety lies. Out of nowhere arose inner-conflict, a disparity between what I know to be true and what were my expectations for God’s will. As I teetered on the edge I looked, and it seemed to be a long way down. Like a party balloon that has hung too long, neglected on a wall, the life in me became limp. I had been distracted by life, from seeing my Savior’s love.

For me this has physical consequences, the signs of a stress shutdown in progress! Before my mind went into total hibernation I knew I could do only one thing to redirect my steps back to higher ground.

By prayer and a very little faith, I reached out once more to Jesus, my Rock leaving the presumptions for His will for me behind. Gradually, the preoccupation about life’s un-satisfactoriness diminished because I knew in my heart that His steadfast Love had brooded over me all the time. Inside I imagined He smiled reproachfully, as I stepped back from the edge of the abyss and once more focused in faith on His love.

It took a further day for my body to function normally and to live in that faith.

So let our eyes be centered on Jesus, and keep watch, because life is difficult enough!

PRAYER:
LORD enable us to see Your priorities for our lives more clearly looking forward and direct us in the way we should go. May we be vessels of faith, light and hope, not broken pots, because we go in the Name of Jesus.

LORD, we lift up to You those who are not able to make this necessary step of faith yesterday, or today. Enable them to break through their situations and find that You have loved them all along. May You soften their hearts so that they might receive the warmth of Your Love, and find that they are no longer alone, in the Name of Jesus, amen.

by Rod Marshall
used by permission

Further Reading.

How Do You Cope with Change? – by Fab Batsakis

He Can Heal the Hurt – Devotional by Max Lucado

Living with Shadows – Devotional by Allan Mitchell

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Thoughts by Men thoughts by Rod Marshall

The Conveyor Belt to Heaven

Published July 14, 2024

The Conveyor Belt to Heaven

“And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.” Revelation 8:3-4 (ESV)

I have been very ill recently and there is no doubt that God has been, and is, with me through this experience, traumatic as it has been.

I had become jaundiced and infected, very ill, and was admitted to hospital. The upshot was, as I got sicker, so my mental faculties left me; until eventually all was stripped away except God. There was no room for anything else because I was so ill. For a big baby like me who avoids hospitals, needles, and endless blood-sampling, it was great. I had no space for fear or apprehension. There was just God and me together.

Now you could put all this down to kind of euphoria from the state I was in. However, I had a picture given to me whilst in this state to explain what was happening. This is the picture:

As I looked into darkness I could see something like an assembly line of a tinned product. This was a single line of tins encased by four open sides of bright metal. Rather than going horizontally, this assembly line came up from the darkness and then turned at an angle into a horizontal fixed point on a transparent wall where light was shining. As the many tins rolled up and entered into the light of the expanse, they immediately burst forth into a shimmering gold dust that spread out and drifted gently downwards into the darkness towards me.

I understood these were the many prayers of the saints being sent up from earth into the heavenly realms. As they reached into heaven they were blessed by God, and returned to earth to accomplish their mission. It was these very prayers, as an act of God’s grace shown towards me, which I believe took away all my fears and anxieties.

PRAYER: LORD, thank you so much for Your peace which passes all understanding and the fellowship of prayer. Your desire for us to be intimately involved in Your purposes for us here on earth, through prayer and action. We thank you for the faithfulness of the saints and your desire to answer prayers. Please forgive us when we doubt You hear our prayers, and enable us to trust in Your love for us, even when we cannot see it, to know that it is there. For which we rejoice and give You thanks and praise in Jesus’ name, amen.

by Rod Marshall
used by permission

Living

“He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.” Matthew 17:5 (ESV)

A few years back life gave me a little squeeze, to find out what is really inside, where and what my priorities are, when push comes to shove.

I have been busy both at home and at work. At home, with the addition of two kids, whilst being a great joy and pleasure for a maturing father, they are nevertheless all-consuming for Caroline and I, so we find it hard to find the time for us. At work, with the closure of one of the university’s campuses, and the arrival of a large proportion of students to my site, I find myself under a new review, the third in twelve months!

With all this continued uncertainty hanging over me, I have been getting depressed. Apparently, it became obvious, because once, Caroline even suggested that I go to the doctor for help. However, I praise God that when I called on Him as I found myself on the threshold of being sucked down the plughole of despair again, He answered my prayers and plugged the drain. I am aware, too, that others must have been praying, for which I am thankful, because intercession really does matter.

There were no shining lights or angels, no instant change. He simply reminded me of what He has done for me in the past in seemingly impossible situations that were outside of my control. I remembered a time when I was unemployed with a small child and I was down to my last ten pounds in the bank, with a mortgage, and then I “found” the right job for me. It was exactly what was needed for what happened next. I am clear that it was this insight and grace given to me over the course of a day, and not my will, which delivered me back into my right heart and mind, putting my faith in my God above how others plan. All praise be to God who inhabits our praises and our beings: at least the parts we are willing to give into His care!

So as God reminded me that He has a plan for each of us, it encouraged me that I do not have to be in control all the time, because we cannot plan for the unforeseen. As Christians, we must do what we can and then submit it to God. As I returned my trust to His will for me, He drew me back from the precipice, and I found His inner peace waiting for me.

Romans 8:38-39 (ESV):– “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Prayer: Lord, forgive us because we have erred again. Whenever You come to us, You clear away the fog and bring inner peace. Please direct our paths and instill in us today Your God-with-us by the Holy Spirit, so that no matter how things appear, we may know that when the living gets tough, You are with us always, willing to make a difference. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

by Rod Marshall
Used by Permission

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Thoughts by Men thoughts by Rod Marshall

The Fragrance

Published March 22, 2024

The Fragrance

“For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.” 2 Corinthians 2:15-16 (ESV)

The other day I walked into a room in our new home and was struck by the delicate scent of my wife’s perfume that lingered in the atmosphere. It made a pleasant change from the smell of electric motor and the carpet that I had just been vacuuming.

Usually you have to get up quite close to a loved one before you become aware of their fragrance because your senses have been accustomed to their aroma, so much so, it has to be quite strong before you perceive it. This is because our sensory system can be desensitized by a cognitive filter process known as Deletion.

Another example might be a sensory input, such as sitting on a chair long enough to be aware that the nerve sensation feedback of the act of sitting has itself disappeared, and there is no longer any sensation from that region – until we move!

For someone like me, who has been in the Kingdom of God for a long time, I too fall victim to a similar phenomenon of taking the presence of Jesus in my life so much for granted that occasionally I no longer recognize its distinctiveness. It is not that Jesus is not there with me; it is that His presence has become a familiar part of my life just long enough for me to think it might be a part of me, even after He has gone!

In my case this does not last very long because I am easily sidetracked by the world. Then, as I make a move, I am aware that there is someone missing!

Oh the joy of the refreshing presence of Jesus, clear and distinct to us once more as we come into His presence and ask forgiveness by His Grace.

LORD, do not treat us as our sins deserve but forgive us when we move on without You, taking it for granted that You might be bent according to our will. We rejoice to know the sweetness of Immanuel. May we once more come into a new day with You and Your presence pervade us. Amen.

by Rod Marshall
Used by Permission

Catching

“And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.” Matthew 14:28-29 (ESV)

My wife Caroline says sometimes I am too soft with Zoe, our 18 month old, which in truth – I am. However, it has been demonstrated, when Caroline has gently said: ‘no‘, Zoe stops straight away – almost, once she has realized there is not going to be a change in the final outcome! Zoe is growing in trusting our judgment. OK, so there may be the occasional episode of a head-bang on the floor to show frustration “and Zoe does the same sometimes too!”

She can now shuffle down the stairs, with the aid of a helping parent to keep her safe. However, I am not averse to offering a “carry” every now and then, despite her weight, just for the joy of having a bundle of love and friendship up close for a moment before she runs away again.

I beckoned to her the other day that I would carry her, so she ran out of the bathroom, straight across the landing, and out into the fresh air above the second step of the stairs, and straight into my arms. She was so fast that I had to use all my strength; I guess she dropped three or four inches, trusting in my embrace, as I reached out for the fulcrum of her out-stretched arms. I was a little taken aback, but she knew nothing of my alarm! She only knew with certainty: dad would catch her, and he did.

I believe Jesus delights in us today, especially those who come to Him with the same childlike faith rushing forward with determination. Whatever our situation, He will always receive us as we run towards Him.

If He commands it today, are we confident enough in our relationship with Jesus to step out – in body, mind, and spirit – to take that all important first step?

PRAYER: LORD, Your love for us is more than we comprehend: despite worldly appearances and lies from the Devil, because bad things happen to us here on earth. Your Love for us is eternal. Forgive us when we doubt Your love for us, or the capacity that You have to catch us when we fall, hold us close when we are down, or lift us up when no one else will, in Jesus’ name, amen.

by Roderick Marshall
Used by Permission

Children and Parents

“And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” Malachi 4:6(ESV).

A friend of mine was preaching yesterday. His text was on John the Baptist. He made the connection between the verse in Luke 1:17 and the corresponding verse reference in Malachi given above. What struck me was something quite simple within this verse in Malachi.

I had never noticed before this aspect of Fatherhood. Something within said that there is a danger, where parents are too busy for their children, that it can have effects on the family and on the society both present and future. The sins of the parents will be visited on the children, a self-fulfilling prophecy for the people, with a curse as consequence for the land.

I talked to my wife about this thought and in reply, she mentioned an article in her magazine entitled something akin to: “How to be a mother in 60 minutes a day“. It raised the question in my heart “Why are we so keen to have families and yet not give them the priorities given in scripture?” Yes, we need money to live but at what a cost?

Jesus was keen to receive the small children, wants us to come to Him with the uncluttered and wholehearted faith of children. They are important to Him because they are just the same in spirit as those of us who are older, in a more capacious container. Why then is the bus-I-ness (ie. being too busy for too long) of work creating an acceptability of absenteeism that is in danger of consuming the society we hoped to grow and be a part of, where there is no space for more.

I think about my own parenthood. How has this been influenced by my history? How, in turn, am I influencing, have influenced, my children? How will this influence my children’s children?

Matthew 18:3 (ESV):- and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

PRAYER: LORD, I thank You that You do not treat us as our sins deserve because we come to You in the name of Jesus the Christ. Hallelujah!
LORD today, deliver us from this evil: being too busy for our loved ones. Thank You that You are never too busy for us. Grant that we may live a good example of what may be a right balance between worship, work and play in our lives.
LORD, You love the childlike simplicity of the Young. Heal those of us who have hurts and burdens that we carry with us which make us too busy to be able to care. Amen.

by Rod Marshall
Used by Permission

A New Heart

“And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God”. Ezekiel 11:19-20 (ESV)

With a new baby, and a wreck of a house I have a tendency to be focused on the job to be done: it is easy to do. Consequently, I am task orientated, with a noticeable sense of satisfaction when a task is done. However, as I get older, slow down a little bit, and gain more in life experience, I have with some limited success, tried to see the bigger picture. To realize that my family’s well-being comes first; yes, even before the tasks.

I have an old electric hover mower. A bit like me, it was a little weary. So tired in fact, the motor no longer had enough power to lift and cut properly. When online recently I noticed an old broken mower (20+yrs), but newer than mine, was up for free collection.

So I eagerly collected this old reject and, once home, I removed the motor. It unscrewed and came out of the housing without a hitch. Then, as I returned to my old thing I found the screws were so rusted and worn out by damp that the heads had gone and could not be removed.

What could I do? I would have to perform major surgery on the plastic around the screws to cut around their mountings. It was a once-only chance. Eventually by God’s Grace, I successfully managed it, and the replacement one slotted in perfectly.

Now I have a mower that cuts the grass, not feebly but with gusto! I rejoiced; only to find like Jonah and the shading plant, God was using this to get my attention. Maybe I needed a new heart – one that is not primarily focused on Martha type things and doing, but on God and people? God is willing to give me, and you, an opportunity to have that new start today!

PRAYER: LORD, create in us a new heart: to be a Kingdom people and gain a sense of Kingdom purpose for us today. Let us not become indifferent like stone, or get tired in the world, but rather grant in us a new heart, to sing Your praises: to rise up on wings like eagles once more, because in Jesus we are Your people and You are our God, amen.

by Rod Marshall
Used by Permission

Listening

“For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness.” Psalm 95:7-8 (ESV)

I hope to reach the terminus of my Bible journey as I read from the book of Genesis towards Revelation. It has been a familiar task in the past, though, if I am honest, perhaps not so familiar to me now as it once was. Sporadically, I have shed some of the enthusiasm I once had when I first discovered that the prayerful reading of the pages of scripture revealed glimpses of God’s nature.

Last night was one of those occasions. My problem was that I was not truly focused on the task: reading the Bible. My lack of prayerful preparation had prevented me from going deeper into the Word.

I can imagine the order ringing out from below: “Christian without prayer or preparation reading the Bible – send out the befuddlers!” They were to build on my folly by speaking a disparaging word or two to tell me that it was all a waste of my time.

In a reaction, a word from God rose up to the surface of my being. Found in Revelation 3:15, it was originally spoken to the Church of Laodicea, stored in my mind from an earlier reading. I was like them in danger, too cool in my attitude towards my God. Like them possibly no longer worthy of his Loving embrace. They had tolerated compromise and indifference in their relationship with God. Quickly, I went back into God’s presence to offer a more focused heart and mind. There I found Him waiting.

I would like to think that He smiled approvingly, as a father, who sees in the action of his child, evidence they have heard and understood His call to Wisdom.

Psalm 95:7-8 (ESV) – Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts..

If unwittingly, like me, you find yourself with some apathy, hear the call to wisdom.

PRAYER: Lord, we rejoice that You are not the distant and indifferent God some would tempt us to believe in. Guide us, as we travel through today, encourage us to be whole-hearted for Your Kingdom trusting in Your Love. May Your Fragrance fill our being. Please promote in us a pleasing desire for Your Word today. Amen.

By Roderick Marshall
Used by Permission

Forever the Same

“While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” Genesis 8:22 (ESV)

As I walked around the block recently it occurred to me, as someone who is closer to the end than the beginning of life, how I have changed my horizons.

I prepare, plan ahead, and I look to the future, but, I find that now I appreciate the constant and the good in the present far more than I did in the earlier years of my life. Then I seemed “indestructible” and now I find that I am more prone to breaking. Now I know that the future can be changed by what happens today, then I was always looking to tomorrow. What I feel is impossible today, I have found that by rest and prayer tomorrow, or soon after, God will show me how to overcome, or provide a change of heart within to go through it.

My understanding of Jesus has changed since I was sixteen but I know He is still the Creator Spirit of God that moved across the water in the beginning. I believe He will still be there to roll up the heavens and earth at the end of time itself. A constant, like gravity, a rule that I take for granted by which I live out my daily existence. Without the influence of God in me, I would no longer be the Me that I am used to being!

So in all things I attempt, because sometimes I fail for a time, to see Jesus with me in what life brings me day by day. However, more importantly I look to see His influence within me because even when I cannot see it I know He is with me.

Hebrews 13:8:- “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Matthew 10:28 (ESV):- “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body.”

All things are relative!

LORD, we rejoice that You have always been the same. You are always there as we come to You in the Name of Jesus. Have mercy on us and forgive us the past so that we can know Your presence with us today and on into our future. Amen.

By Rod Marshall
Used by Permission

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Boxes

Published January 11, 2021

Boxes

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world– the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions–is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” 1 John 2:15-17 (ESV)

In light of recent events, I have wanted to think about where I am before God and what He expects of me.

So I went down the imaginary stairs of my consciousness, to the inner store-cupboard of my being.

I made my way past the previously opened boxes, piled in a heap on one side. For now I was keen to find the box I hoped would still be there, so I pressed on and opened the cupboard.

Yes, there it was, the box labelled, “In the need for faith, open“. Its container was somewhat battered and torn by past frequent use and abuse but lately it had become dusty. I struggled with the box as I carried it from the cupboard to a waiting table. There, in the light of the room, I rummaged inside the box and pulled out a cassette entitled “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego“. Its tale can also be found in Daniel chapter 3.

I placed it in the player on the table. It told of three God-fearing people who, by an attitude of faith, were blessed. They built a bridge of trust with God between a time of imminent painful death in a fiery furnace by order of the king, and a time where they were to find themselves coming out of the furnace untouched. With either outcome in mind they had been prepared to face the fear of death because they loved God more than this life.

It is a reminder I re-play to myself time and again. It tells of faithfulness expected and rewarded. I believe it speaks of daring courage, self-sacrifice, in the face of a painful torture. How could they do it? They believed their life would be kept safe in God’s hands, even through death itself.

“ for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way“. Daniel 3:29b (ESV)

LORD, in your mercy hear our prayers for our world today. LORD, for those in positions of oversight faced with the impossible, unbearable, overwhelming or ceaseless, bring to their hearts and minds your Wisdom, Peace, Hope and your deliverance from dissipation.

LORD, in our time stem the tide of fear. Show us the way You wish us to go in Your Kingdom and grant us the courage to remain faithful wherever that may lead us. Give us eyes that see the need, ears that hear the call and a spirit that is willing to serve, to the praise of Your Name. Amen.

By Rod Marshall
Used by Permission

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Blurred Vision

Published October 5, 2020

Blurred Vision

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8 (ESV)

Zoë walks to her nearby school, and in this gloomy month of December, she went off in too much hurriedness, and in the process forgot her watch. A few minutes after she left, I noticed it on the bathroom radiator. So, being a dad, I rushed out to the car and drove up the road to catch her, pulled over and handed her the wrist-watch to put on. She took it and off I went back home.

Simple little story but further to this I was not one-hundred-percent myself either. Being under the weather I went out to the car and in my haste I had forgotten to put on my glasses. As a result everything in the distance was a blur. I was not going far, and my eyesight is not that bad, I thought I would keep going to catch her up before Zoë arrived at a busy junction further up the road.

Having succeeded in my mission I did a U-turn in a nearby cul-de-sac and was about to pull out when out of the gloom a car came near. All I could see were the headlight beams and, without my glasses, my vision was blurred. I could not easily judge the speed of the car so I did the sensible thing and waited until the car had passed and then went back home. Phew! On my return I headed straight for my glasses and put them on. Then I set about getting Sophia, off to her primary school driving to where we used to live. Rush, rush, rush.

On the way back home, as I sat in the lines of rush hour traffic, I had a moment to reflect upon how all too often I forget to find time in the morning to receive God’s focus for life’s little journeys before I rush out into the day. Not putting time aside for the influence of Jesus and the Holy Spirit’s perspective on my life my decision-making has become a bit blurred. Danger lurks, all because my focus is a bit blurred by the world and my natural selfishness. I have not re-aligned my thoughts in tune with God and His Word. Yes, reading the Bible at the start of the day is a good place to invite the presence of Jesus in to quiet our rushing about. However, I have found it requires a submissive heart and willing attitude to allow the Holy Spirit’s influence on, and into, our thoughts and beings.

Today, even in the rushing about, take a moment, in a queue, in a waiting room, having a lunch break, and take advantage of the focus that comes from the Love of God for you. Our God knows us and wants to bring His influence to bear in us, with us when we call on Him in prayer. Rushing into day without a thought for God is to me like leading with the chin, sooner or later it will end in tears, so why do it?

LORD, here we are again rushing in before the throne, like a child that knows they have not complied with a call as fast as they could have done. You are worthy of more praise and thanks than we have been troubled to give.
We have no excuse; but Your nature is to have mercy and, as Our Father, You are always passionate to receive us through Jesus’ invitation with open arms. May we find acceptance, rest for our souls and peace in our hearts

By Roderick Marshall
Used by Permission

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Refusing

Published September 3, 2020

Refusing

Matthew 7:13 (ESV) “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.”

As I sat in the car, waiting for the parents to clear the car park I noticed a grandmother with a small boy, no more than six years old. She was encouraging the lad to get into school. He wanted the grandmother to walk along his side of the fence.

He stood resolute and defiant. Clearly this boy was not going to move. I was impressed that such a small child could be so fervent. The issue for the grandmother was that “his” side of the metal picket fence was the dangerous side, not the safe side that keeps the school path and the walkers protected from the cars! The grandmother refused to come to the car park side of the railings, and the small boy resolutely refused to do as he was being asked and so they reached an impasse. He stepped up his demands from request into a lot of screaming.

Eventually the grandmother walked the long way around to the other end of the fence so to escort the child towards the gate and school entrance a few feet away. At this point the boy became apoplectic. As grandma reached out he suddenly ran off across the car park away from her screaming and crying.

It was at this point my thoughts changed from being one who was a sympathetic but mildly amused spectator, into one being ready to jump out the car and chase after the child to head him off from potential danger. I hesitated and did not mindlessly rush at this because I did not want to add fuel to the fire of the boy’s meltdown, or to speed him up headlong into commercial traffic, because there is a major by-pass that goes around the car park and school. Other parents too had perceived the danger and helped out.

Knowing nothing of the situation but being familiar with children, I think there must be more to this child’s behavior than just being a power-play between two family members.

There was something much darker, much deeper hiding behind the boy’s calamitous display and meltdown. This was a display of anger from a distraught child. So what had started out as a simple request to walk into the playground with the grandmother evoked a deeper problem.

As I am no longer a governor for the school, I decided it was not my place to pursue the situation any further; except to report it to a teacher.

This small boy brought to mind some of the people I have known over the years who sadly ran away from God, despite God calling out to them, and in the process of their denial perished. They did not care about the danger they were in because they were hurting inside.

Hebrews 3:15:- As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” (ESV)

Lord, I lift this little boy into Your tender care, and others like him who are just starting out in life. Please hear their cry and bring healing, peace and protection, at the right time may they hear Your voice, Lord, we praise You for Your patience with us and we lift to You all those things in our lives that may still be in rebellion to the will of God in us. Please enable us to overcome our reticence to allow You into these situations. Lord, we lift up to You all the prodigals we know who are in denial of their reality and pray for Your Holy Spirit to meet them at their point of need, whether they recognize it or not. Please help us to be God’s shepherds in the situations we find ourselves to encourage them safely through the gates into salvation, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

By Roderick Marshall
Used by Permission

Finding the Time

“Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:6-9 (ESV)

Sometimes it is difficult to make the time. Sometimes I cannot be bothered to make the time. Sometimes I cannot face making the time. So, I will do anything to allow time to consume me – in doing anything other than making the time, for the task I know I should be doing. I call it displacement theory: I displace the essential task with the secondary or ordinary.

Until this October, I have been able to attend our mid-week communion service that is presently held here at the university campus where I work. However, with the latest tabled changes in personnel I am not available to attend. I have to endure instead, the imposition of being placed on an inquiry desk until past the communion finish time.

Today, because of temporary staffing arrangements I have managed, for once, to get my lunch earlier, in time for the communion service. It was great to be able to attend and enjoy being in the presence of God and those few from my fellow believers who have made the effort and are based here.

It made me rather rueful for the times in the past when I occasionally did not go because something had come up and I had not made the time to attend. It has made me more appreciative of the opportunity I have had today to attend the service that I previously have taken for granted!

As we sit down today in safety, read our Bibles, and take the time to pray I ask the question: What have I taken for granted as a given today, such as my health, breath, faith and sanity that may not be so obvious a given tomorrow!

PRAYER: LORD, I thank you that you came into the world to spend time with us, to set us free from sin and from dissipation into the world. We rejoice that no matter what our circumstances are, You are always with us, even when we apparently cannot find the time, You do. Thanks LORD. Amen.

by Rod Marshall
Used by Permission

We’d love to hear from you. If you don’t see our response form, please go to https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/rm_finding-time/

Learn more about knowing Jesus at: http://thoughts-about-god.com/four-laws/

Thoughts by All Thoughts by Men thoughts by Rod Marshall

Faithfulness

Luke 16:10 “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.”

Published October 1, 2017

Faithfulness

“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.” Luke 16:10 (ESV)

Recently I was faced with an obstruction, a short queue of cars, and a set of traffic lights. The lights were changing to red, so I slowed down to wait for them to go green again. Apparently, this was all too much for the driver behind to bear, and he raced through the traffic lights, now red.

As I sat there waiting for the lights to turn green a chorus of car horns was heard coming from the queue behind. Then another car zoomed out from further down and then pulled in front of me, narrowly missing the startled cars coming around the corner, which was currently their entitlement!

There have been a number of people breaking the law around me on the roads in the last few days, which is not the norm. I guess this was just God’s spur to encourage me to put into words that which has been in the back of my mind.

I have been pondering these words above from Jesus. How faithful am I in being His disciple: in all things? Faithfulness appears to be systemic. We cannot pick and choose what parts to obey!

As we work out our faith, day by day, obedience influences who we are in Christ, and also our calling. Being in the world but not of it, encouraging godly perspectives and being distinctive, increases our capacity to serve and follow. Whose footsteps are we following in?

How good is our faith?

Through being faithful, in words and actions we become closer to the will of God for our lives. Well that is the theory and I long for it. Sadly my efforts are not often good enough. Instead I find myself on my knees time and again in need of His Grace to stand me up, wash me down and speak words of encouragement to be faithful, to persevere, every day!

PRAYER: LORD, You alone are faithful when we are faithless. We ask for You to come and abide in us again, forgiving our sins in Jesus’ name and delivering us from evil. May Your light shine in us in all things, to increase our our faithfulness to You, in Jesus name, amen.

by Rod Marshall
Used by Permission

We’d love to hear from you. If you don’t see our response form, please go to https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/rm_faithfulness/

Learn more about knowing Jesus at: http://thoughts-about-god.com/four-laws/

Thoughts by All Thoughts by Men thoughts by Rod Marshall

The Plan

Rod Marshall - Jesus has a perfect plan for each, to lift us up and out from the waves!

Published August 25, 2017

The Plan

“Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “ O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Matthew 14:31 (ESV)

I regularly find myself distracted, detained or sidetracked by the World, often because I am materialistic. It is a hard thing to be like me – in the world but not of it. Who wants to be a millionaire? I do – until I remember I cannot take it with me and that I have been distracted from God’s purposes. He calls out to me not to take my eyes off Him and to recall His capacity for the outrageous and miraculous and not always the ordinary!

I have, through my life known the joy of being treated with acceptance and companionship, and I have also known times and situations to the contrary. When the World, and its menu of self-centeredness, squeezes my spirit, I cry out to Jesus to deliver me before I am swamped.

As I move in the will of the Kingdom, my spirit rejoices in my Sustainer and Deliverer. However, experience has shown me that I am still two persons in one body. Whilst I rejoice in one part of my being, yet with another, I am filled with dismay. I guess it is all a part of being human, spirit and flesh, having faith, yet still living with some doubt that must be given to God’s care. I gain encouragement from the accounts of Peter, Jacob and Joseph, because I see in their life struggles encouragement for my own.

Some people have great moments of clarity that change their life, whilst for others these are but a moment’s fancy that soon pass. Such are life’s choices: to see or not; to have faith or to doubt; to believe or not.

For those who are able to see and believe, Jesus has a perfect plan for each, to lift us up and out from the waves!

Isaiah 40:31 (ESV):- “but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

PRAYER: LORD, thank You that You miss nothing and are ready to greet us once more at the beginning of the day. Thank You that You watch over us and protect us whilst we are vulnerable or incapable. Thank You that no one slips through Your Omniscience. Thank You that You do not pass by on the other side. Grant us, once more, Your Grace to lift us up today and lead us on. Let us hear Your call to us once more and not be distracted by the waves of life today. Amen.

by Roderick Marshall
Used by Permission

We’d love to hear from you. If you don’t see our response form, please go to https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/rm_the-plan/

Learn more about knowing Jesus at: http://thoughts-about-god.com/four-laws/

Thoughts by All Thoughts by Men thoughts by Rod Marshall

Presumptions

Like many I live, bound up in life’s issues day-to-day, coping with the curve balls that speed my way.

So let our eyes be centered on Jesus, and keep watch, because life is difficult enough!

The Conveyor Belt to Heaven

I have been very ill recently and there is no doubt that God has been, and is, with me through this experience, traumatic as it has been.

FURTHER READING

Living

The Fragrance

“For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.” 2 Corinthians 2:15-16 (ESV)

FURTHER READING

Catching

Further Reading

Children and Parents

Further Reading

A New Heart

Further Reading

Listening

Further Reading

Forever the Same

“While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” Genesis 8:22 (ESV)

FURTHER READING

Follow Us On:

Boxes

In light of recent events, I have wanted to think about where I am before God and what He expects of me.

FURTHER READING

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Blurred Vision

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8 (ESV)

FURTHER READING

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Refusing

FURTHER READING

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Finding the Time

Faithfulness

The Plan

Category: <span>thoughts by Rod Marshall</span>

Like many I live, bound up in life’s issues day-to-day, coping with the curve balls that speed my way.

So let our eyes be centered on Jesus, and keep watch, because life is difficult enough!

I have been very ill recently and there is no doubt that God has been, and is, with me through this experience, traumatic as it has been.

FURTHER READING

“For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.” 2 Corinthians 2:15-16 (ESV)

FURTHER READING

Further Reading

Further Reading

Further Reading

Further Reading

“While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” Genesis 8:22 (ESV)

FURTHER READING

Follow Us On:

In light of recent events, I have wanted to think about where I am before God and what He expects of me.

FURTHER READING

Follow Us On:

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8 (ESV)

FURTHER READING

Follow Us On:

FURTHER READING

Follow Us On: