The Three Drovers - Australian Christmas Carol

Vegemite!!!

What on earth is Vegemite you might ask?
It is so Australian....people from other countries have a hard time coming to terms with eating it....
Vegemite is 90 years old this month.

Although it is now made by an overseas country I hear the recipe is still the same....

I don't know....you see I don't like it.... but then....
I was not born in Australia!

But my children are and they love it!
I used to put it on their pacifier when they needed it for a while....(as well as honey)

You put it on toast...crackers with cheese and tomato.....sandwiches as a base for other goodies, keeping in mind that it is very savoury.....not sweet....


When I went overseas with my children many years ago, I brought a small jar with me,,,,just in case.....
I stayed with relatives and they had something that looked similar but was nothingt like it...


It was known as Apple Stroop....just as dark in colour but totally different in taste....I liked it!

They tried the vegemite and the looks on their faces was something else again!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY VEGEMITE.....
the children of Australia wish you many more years to come!

blessings...
Yaddy

Let There Be Light

HAPPINESS.......

There are countless people in our world today who are chasing and looking for happiness in all the wrong places.

In Matthew 5, Jesus describes the way to meaningful and lasting happiness is having the right relationship with God our Creator.

When traveling other pathways in your pursuit of happiness, they will only take you on a long journey to nowhere.

The beginning point of happiness is...................

accepting Jesus Christ as Saviour of your life and is outlined for you in God’s Eternal Word.
His path to happiness is found in Psalm 34 and when followed............ leads to all the advantages we need in this world.
Advantages that can be ours no matter whether we are rich or poor, healthy or sick, famous or unknown. Genuine happiness, a mood of contentment, joy, and hope, doesn’t even depend on where you live;
however,............... it does depend on a right relationship with God.

I’m mindful of the chorus we sing in our church, which speaks of a personal relationship with God’s Son:

Happiness is to know the Saviour,
Living a life within His favour,
Having a change in my behaviour,
Happiness is the Lord.

Happiness is a new creation,
Jesus and me in close relation,
Having a part in His salvation,
Happiness is the Lord.

Real joy is mine, no matter if teardrops start;
I've found the secret, it's Jesus in my heart!

Happiness is to be forgiven,
Living a life that's worth the living,
Taking a trip that leads to Heaven,
Happiness is the Lord,
Happiness is the Lord,
Happiness is the Lord!

Hymn writer Floyd Hawkins wrote, “I’ve discovered the way of Happiness. I’ve discovered the way of joy. I’ve discovered relief from sadness …When I found Jesus my Lord.” Only He can give happiness and joy that is full (John 15:11)
__________

Lasting happiness doesn’t come from earthly things but only from Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Mikey

Bless you and thank you Mikey.

away......

I have been away.....first up north...my grand daughter's wedding, then a week later down south, a nephew's wedding.
The fact that they were getting married pleased me no end....

On the way back, well I rushed back....as our "bushfire season" has started early this year.


It is only mid October and its another month and half, at least, until summer arrives.
The trouble is, we have not had a very cold nor wet winter, so many parts of our state are timber dry and it doesn't take much for a fire to start, just a bad storm and electrical wires sparking will start a fire. Or the sun shining on a broken glass bottle.


Bush fires in Australia are unforgiving and heartless, they can be unpredictable and destroy everything in their path. They can burn for days, out of control, whilst our fire-fighters do all they can to save lives and property, lives always come first.


Right now some of the fires are only about 30km's away from where we live, and the state has been declared "a state of emergerncy" for 30 days,....that is not good!

I grew up in the bush, so I know first hand the dangers of bush fires and the cost of living in a rural environment surrounded by trees. I live in a rural area right now and have to be ready to leave should the fires get closer.


In the last few days, many families have lost their homes and everything they owned with hundreds of houses destroyed or damaged. The life they had a week ago has changed by this tragedy.

I had to travel back through some of the areas that were going through the fires and I did not even know whether they would let me go through or not!

There were burnt out trees and shrubs for miles before I actually got to where the fires had been, and the smoke and the smell was terrible...probably some wild life was burnt that did not make it out of there.

But I know and you know that whilst this change of wind can bring such tragedy, the Lord has given us all we need to cope at that moment.

He will never leave us, nor forsake us, and I did so very much "know" that He was there with me all the time, even when I had to make a detour..... He guided me to the right road again, as many times there were no signs, and those that were there were so badly damaged by the fire no one could read what was on them, the only time I got lost was when I suddenly decided maybe I should take a particular road, on the spur of the moment type thing, and it was wrong...so the Lord guided me back on the right road....

We need to listen to His still small voice and He will guide us in the right direction....


He will always provide the strength we need, He will stand by us and comfort us when we need it, He will give us the peace we need in times of adversity.

Without God, there is nothing.

What a comfort to know that we are never, ever alone in our struggles. It doesn't mean we won't struggle but when we do, God is with us.

I will never leave you
nor forsake you.

Hebrew 13:5
Blessings...
Yaddy

I love the book of ACTS.....

Acts chapter 3, v 1-11:


1 Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. And a certain man…..
lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;

Who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked an alms, And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, “Look on us.”

And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.


Then Peter said,
“Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.”

And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up:
and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

And he……. leaping up…… stood….. and walked…..and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.

And all the people saw him walking….. and praising God: And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.

And as the lame man which was healed, held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch…. that is called Solomon's............greatly wondering.

Acts 4 v 1-14

1 And as they spake unto the people…………..the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees,

came upon them..........being grieved that they taught the people, and preached,through Jesus, the resurrection from the dead.

And they grabbed hold of them....... and put them in jail unto the next day: for it was now eventide.

Howbeit many of them which heard "the word" believed;

And the number of the men was about five thousand.

And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes,

And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.

And when they had set them....Peter and John.... in the midst, they asked, “By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?”

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, “Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole;
Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.

God is wonderful...
bless you...
Yaddy

Fishers of men......

I was reading in Luke ch 5 that Jesus was standing near the lake of Gennesaret,
which is also known as the sea of galilee.....

or lake Tiberias.....

in case you were wondering,...... I had,

I had not realised that all those names meant the same body of water, and apparently it is quite large and the deepest part is approx 141 feet so it is quite impressive, I think, and it is near the Golan Heights.


One of the oldest ways of using a net, is that in the use of the dragnet.
As Burge writes: “The dragnet was the most ancient form, dating from the third millennium B.C. in Egypt.”

The dragnet would start from the shore and be taken out by boat and than turned to go parallel with the shore for a bit and than back to the shore.

Nun describes the dragnet as being “made of netting shaped like a long wall, 250 to 300 meters long, 3 to 4 meters high at it’s “wings” and 8 meters high at the centre.

The foot-rope is weighted with sinkers, and the head-rope has cork floats.

The dragnet is spread a hundred meters or more from the shore and parallel to it, and hauled toward the shore with towing lines consisting of sections of ropes tied together.

These are attached to each end and hauled in by a team of 16 men for large nets, or a smaller team for smaller nets.”

This method of fishing required the use of a least one boat and many hands to help haul in the net.

These are the methods we find described in Biblical times Hab. 1:14-15, Eze. 26:5, 26:14, 47:10,etc

There were also the Cast nets; a larger mesh for larger fish. The Cast-Net for larger would have typically had larger weights in ensure that the fish would not be able to get out from underneath the net. Some Biblical occurrences of this method are found in: Eze. 32:3, and Mark 1:16-18.

Why may you ask this lesson in Biblical fishing and nets?

Back to the beginning.......

Jesus was standing near the lake of Gennesaret,
which is also known as the sea of galilee.....

And He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets.

And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon Peter’s and asked him to put out a little way from the land.

And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat.



When He had finished speaking,

He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch."

Simon answered and said, "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets."


From my understanding Simon Peter was not yet a follower...

he had heard of Jesus and had seen what he could do, but......

Now Jesus tells Simon....a fisherman of many years, to do the unthinkable.....

I mean, hello......they had been working all night, "(Peter said.....)
and caught nothing they were washing their nets....done for the day!


Now, a total novice as far as fishing is concerned, goes and tells him to “put out your nets and into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch."

But,to humour him Peter says, “O.K. I will do as you say and let down the nets....”

When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break;

so they signalled to their fishing partners in the other boat, for them to come and help them.

And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink.

How many times have we done the same?

We get a nudge or a message from God’s Word, and grumblingly, just to humour Him, “we may do it”

What happened to...”Do everything rejoicing as to the Lord?


I will admit I don’t always do everything as rejoicing to the Lord.


But look at the results when Peter did what the Lord asked him, and look at the realization that Peter got ....

But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus' feet, saying, "Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!"

Verse 11: When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

Blessings....

Yaddy