Reflection on John 16:1-15

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Scripture

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.”

Observation

Jesus warns that His disciples will be expelled from the synagogues, and that those who kill them will think they are doing a holy service for God.

When Jesus is taken away from them, He will send them an Advocate , a helper. He will convict the world about sin, about God’s righteousness and about the coming judgement.

When the Spirit comes, He will guide them into all truth. He will speak what He has heard from the Father, and He will glorify Jesus.

Application

Some people read this verse, and others like it, and they assume that it means that they don’t need anyone else to teach them how to follow Jesus.

The problem is that, without other people to help us and direct us, we soon lose sight of where the Spirit might be leading us. It becomes easy to assume that every thought that sounds “spiritual” must be from the Holy Spirit.

Our revelations need to be checked against Scripture to see whether or not they conform to what God has already said. Any revelation that contradicts the Bible is not from the Holy Spirit.

Jesus here is talking to a group of people- His disciples. It is possible for a group to be led astray by a charismatic leader, but it is less likely than a single believer being deceived. In a group, we can hear the Word of God being applied and we can check “truth” against Truth.

We need each other in order to stay on the right track.

Prayer

Thank you, Holy Spirit, that you lead me in your ways of righteousness. May I never mistake wishful thinking for your holy ways. Amen.

Jo Nova: Hottest ever day in Australia — especially if you ignore history

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From Joanne Nova:

Tuesday was Australia’s hottest day on record sayth the Bureau of Meteorology.

And perhaps it was. But look at the temperatures reported in newspapers across the country during the month of January in 1896 when people were going mad with axes, dropping dead in coaches and railway stations and birds were falling lifeless from the trees? Emergency trains were ferrying people from the country to the mountains. Panic stricken people fled the outback on special trains and the death toll was  hundreds die.

Fifty years later scientists would publish papers talking about how Australian summers had cooled since then.

How does the BOM know for sure that it was not hotter on any one of these days?  Perhaps they don’t. Wouldn’t it be more honest of the BOM to mention that? It’s not like billions of dollars depends upon it…

Seems the only time the ABC or BOM suddenly discover our historic weather records is when we get unseasonal snow or freezing cold.

The heatwave started in the West on Jan 1st and travelled eastwards, as most heatwaves do. The hottest day was possibly Jan 23 or 24 in 1896 which is when most of the Eastern States maximum temperatures shown above were recorded. And there are hints that this was both widespread and long — some of these towns recorded three long weeks of ultra high temperatures close to and over 110F (43.3C) like Nannine in WA (near Meekatharra) and Cunnamulla in Qld. Both reported peaks as high as 120F (48.8C). In Bourke temperatures were above 102F (38.9C) for 24 days in a row.

The BOM will say things were not entirely standardized or approved back then. But why would they care? Many of the BOM’s current sites fail their own standards:  thermometers may sit for 30 years over bitumen, or right next to incinerators. They plough around sites, move them, build walls next to them and forget, even next to their own offices. The BOM accept one-second records from new electronic gizmo’s in small screens, and adjust old temperatures down by as much as two whole degrees. Sometimes modern BOM sites need mysterious calendar monthly corrections, or get corrected by thermometers across the Bass Strait, and sometimes they are incredibly detailed but repeat robotically year after year. Remember those temperature maps of our deserts in WWI? There are sites where there are no thermometers which record exactly the same temperatures as they did the year before (and the year after). Just “made up”? The hottest day ever recorded was probably calculated with maps like that.

Read the full story here

Coldest Summer Day Ever

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From Michael Smith and weatherzone.com. I noticed the ABC were all over this one (NOT).

Australia’s record lowest Summer daily-max temperature has just been broken, as reported by www.weatherzone.com.au.

A brutal Antarctica air-mass blasted southeastern Australia during the opening days of summer, pumping deep snow into parts of Tasmania, Victoria and NSW, as well as limiting temperatures to as much as 15C below the seasonal average.

On Tuesday, December 03, Thredbo Top Station‘s highest recording was a mere -1.0C (30.2F) — this was Australia’s lowest summer daily maximum temperature of all time, busting the -0.8C (30.6F) measured at Mount Buller on Dec 25, 2006 (approaching the historically deep solar minimum of cycle 23).

Furthermore, an overnight low of -4.0C (24.8F) was observed at Tasmania’s Mount Wellington early Wednesday morning, Australia’s lowest summer temperature in four years.

Read more at https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/12/australia-just-suffered-its-coldest-summer-day-on-record-.html

Reflection on John 15:18-27

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Scripture

“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.”

Observation

The world system hates Jesus, so it will hate His followers. We have been called out of the world by Jesus, therefore the world hates us.

The world rejected Jesus and therefore the Father. They would not be guilty, but He came and taught the Good News and did many miraculous signs to testify to who He is. They saw these hings and rejected Him anyway.

Jesus will send an Advocate, the spirit of truth, to testify to the disciples about Jesus.

Application

The world system hates christians because we are not of this world.

Every day christians are persecuted in various ways– torture, beatings, prison, even death. The media will highlight Muslims or Hindus being persecuted, but they wilfully ignore the many more christians who are persecuted.

Why is this?

Governments are of the world system. The media are of the world system. Academics and other commentators are of the world system.

The world protects its own, but refuses to acknowledge christians who are, by definition, not of the world.

At the point where we decide to follow Jesus we are lifted from the tribe called “people of the world” and placed into the tribe called “people of the Lord.”

The world is offended by christians who offend its empty morality. We offend their empty philosophies and world views. We offend their desire to be self-sufficient and controlling of all things.

We should not be surprised that the world hates us. But we must also learn to love those who oppose us and call us enemies.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, please help me to love those who the me for your sake. Help me to testify to your great grace, that they may see you in me. Amen.

Reflection on John 15:1-17

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Scripture

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener.”

Observation

Jesus is the true vine. The Father is the gardener who prunes the vine, cutting off the fruitless and pruning the fruitful branches so they produce even more fruit.

To do anything, we must remain in the vine. Without Jesus we can do nothing. If we do not remain in Him, we will be thrown away. But if we remain in Him, we can ask for anything, and it will be granted to us.

We must remain in Jesus’ love. Then our joy will overflow.

Application

Jesus is the true vine, and we are the branches. Our ability to bear fruit for Him depends on our commitment to Christ. We must remain in Him.

What does it mean to remain in Him? I think this is about an abiding relationship. We pursue Him in order to be with Him, not for what He can do for us. We seek to go deeper in Him because we love Him. We bring Him into every facet of our lives, because He is the source of our life.

When we abide in Christ, we do not have to strive to bear fruit for Him. A grape vine does not worry about how to make grapes. This is in its nature.

Our Father is the gardener. When He sees that something is awry in our lives, He proceeds to fix it. We are not responsible for it all.

When I surrender my heart to the Lord, I give Him permission to take out of my life everything that hinders the relationship. This is called pruning, and sometimes it hurts. We trust that He knows what He is doing, and that He will make us fruitful.

Prayer

Lord Jesus please help me stay deeply connected to you. Help me to remain in you and to trust you fr every step in my life. Amen.