DECEMBER 30

^"16 Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Today I am going to share a short testimony. I recently had a scary slide on black ice in my car. If you have ever had that happen to you, then you know it is a very frightening experience. Why? Here are a few reasons.

1. All the power you had in the engine, has been transferred to an out of control sliding ton of metal.

2. All of your limited options, whether steering away or into the skid, seem futile.

3. What is actually seconds seem like minutes, of absolute terror.

4. Your prayer life increases at least by ten fold, which is a good thing!

5. If you are carrying a passenger your worries increase exponentially, or very rapidly. I was.

I wasn’t speeding and there was nothing I could have done to avoid the situation but God brought me out of it safely. The road was clear with no other cars in sight until we came out of the spin.

That was God.

The car was undamaged and could have hit a gate post, another vehicle or even turned over.

That was God.

Did I panic? Actually everything in the situation warranted that I should have but I didn’t. Why? Because I always pray before I begin a journey and trust God has the wheel. No Damascus road experience or dramatic rescue, just a gentle reminder to pray before all journeys thus giving the wheel over to God. It was not down to my skilful handling of the car and I wasn't lucky.

God does not deal in the currency of luck.

Oh and the testimony doesn’t quite end there. I was supposed to be going home to go out on another journey, but I didn’t. I listened to the nudge He had given to me.

How does God speak to you? Let us know.

The song today is 'I heard my saviour calling me' by Rhonda Vincent, chosen by Bryn.

       

     Housekeeping details for you

     The point of this short blog will become clear if you decide to use this reading in the way we intend it. Netherfield Seventh-day Adventist Church believes in healthy churches. You can see what that means if you head to the relevant Healthy Churches page of the website. We also want other churches to be healthy. That means you can join in our campaign to create healthy churches, with healthy people serving the people in those churches.

     A healthy church is one where Jesus comes first. A healthy church is one where the people work together to put Jesus first. One thing we are doing is to join people together to spread that news. I would like you to look at our prayer partners page. This will explain how we want you to use this short devotional. Very basically we want you to find a like-minded Christian friend who you will join with to : choose to pray together every day, decide together on a way to serve other people together, to help them grow as Christians - and to invite the Holy Spirit into your life every day. This blog that you will receive every day simply gives a common spiritual purpose. If you are a newcomer and want to join the blog with this object in mind click here