THE FEAR OF THE LORD

We sometimes hear people say that they wish they could have been a part of the Early Church where miracles were common, souls were being saved daily, and the church expanding at an accelerated pace. But there was something else going on then that I've never heard anyone long for.

Acts 5:11 ¶ And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things..

The Early Church was unusually subject to the fear of the Lord. This powerful sense of the Lord's presence brought a deep sense of His holiness. Where sin was trivialised, it was no longer so. What people had been identifying as mistakes, slips of judgment, problems, they began to identify it for what it truly was: sin. Where people had previously thought that sin was merely breaking God's Laws, they suddenly realised that it was an offensive insult to God which broke His heart. People changed the way they viewed their lives before God. Instead of thinking that God was upset when His children misrepresented Him, they began to realise that He was angry about it instead -  but not the kind fleshly anger we experience in our sinfulness -  a holy, righteous, loving anger. This hit a preliminary climax when Ananias and Saphira lied to God and died immediately.

Acts 5:5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it.

The Early Church experienced God's intent gaze. They responded with their only option: the fear of the Lord. Do you invite God's intent gaze of your life? Have you ever felt the fear of the Lord?

God is not Someone to be ignored, trivialised, or triffled with. His Word is not a Book of Suggestions. His power is not a force for our amusement. We may long for what the Early Church had, which is commendable, but consider that they may have had more than what most of us are prepared to welcome today.

Acts 9:31 ¶ So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

Ps. Andrew

Marriage Equality?

"MARRIAGE EQUALITY"?

Currently in Australia we have several Parliamentary initiatives to introduce "Same-Sex" Marriage under the guise of "Marriage Equality". Here is an examination of the salient points of this proposed Bills.

DISCRIMINATION

Unfair discrimination is a blight on any society. It becomes an evil blight when it promotes hatred and acts of hostility toward others. I commend any Legislative measures which prevent this. 

However, the proponents of this Marriage Equality Amendment Bill have failed to make an adequate case that the existing Marriage Act is unfairly discriminatory. The proposed Bill also commits a serious error of assuming that complementing genders is the only qualification for a couple to marry. I have cited the summary statement of her Private Senator’s Bill above. To remove all discriminatory references within the Marriage Act would require the removal of the following five qualifications-

1. Gender - a couple must be a man and a woman. This discriminates against two people of the same gender from marrying each other.
2. Age - a couple must have obtained the age of 18 years (16 years for a woman with parental consent). This discriminates against people under the age of 18 or 16 from marrying.
3. Status - a man or a woman seeking to marry each other must not already be married. This discriminates against a married person marrying again.
4. Eligibility - a man and woman seeking to marry each other can not be immediately related. (Siblings can not marry each other. A parent cannot their child.) This discriminates against “blood-related” family members from marrying.
5. Exclusion - marriage is between one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others. This discriminates against those seeking to enter into either a polygamous or polyandrous marriage.

To remove “all” forms of discrimination within the established Marriage Act would then mean removing each of these discriminations as well. The question is, are these unfair discriminations? 

PREMISE

Another very reasonable question is whether the premise of this Bill is accurate? It assumes that removing all discrimination will lead to the opportunity for all people regardless of “gender identity” being able to marry. The premise commits two glaring errors. Firstly, it assumes that Marriage Act addresses couples. It does not. It addresses (two) individuals. Because the Marriage Act provides the regulations for individuals entering into marriage, the proposed Bill is mistaken in thinking that it regulates or provides rights for certain couples and not others. This then makes the proposed Bill’s second error immediately obvious: any individual regardless of their gender identity is treated equally under the existing Marriage Act. That is, any person, regardless of sex (gender), sexuality or gender identity, already has as much opportunity to marry as anybody else provided that the five criteria for marrying are met. 

DEFINITIONS

The Marriage Act 1961 does not define Marriage as much as it describes marriage. Marriage is the oldest institution known to man. It is a myth that marriage is a recent social-construct invention (although the same cannot be said of the State’s regulation of it). The proposed Bill seeks to redefine what Marriage is. 

Marriage is something - in the same way that a circle is round. Notice that I defined a circle by describing it. There are instances when something can only be defined by description. Such is the case with “red”. It is almost impossible to define it without describing it. Marriage is such a thing. If a circle, seeking to be known as a "square", objected to being discriminated against by those who continued to identify it as a circle, an accommodating law could be passed to redefine circles as squares. But it would still be a circle! 

Similarly, the union of two people of the same gender is not marriage because the description (and thus, the definition) of marriage involves two people of complementary genders so that there can be a biological “wedding” of these two people. 

Dr. J. Budziszewski, Ph.D. Yale, Professor of Government and Philosophy at the University of Texas in Austin has written-

A striking feature of marriage is that it is always bilateral: one man, one woman...This is not hard to understand either. In the first place, a man and a man (or woman and woman) are not complements, but sames; when their relationship is sexualized, rather than balancing each other they drive each other to extremes. In the second place, both sexes are needed for procreation--and not just because a man cannot make another man pregnant. Both sexes are needed to raise the child, because the female is better designed for nurture and the male for protection and discipline; both are needed to teach the child, because every young one needs a model of his own sex as well as the other.

ARGUMENT

It seems that the best argument for Sameness-Marriage is that it claims to address unfair discrimination. I have presented a brief yet reasonable examination of this assertion and found it to be without foundation. Because Marriage is something, it can best be defined by describing it. But describing it necessitates that certain inaccurate terms be discriminated against by not employing them (otherwise the description will not be accurate). Discrimination is not by necessity unfair. When we dine in a restaurant, we discriminate with the menu options. When the State issues Driver’s Licences it discriminates at least on the basis of age. Discrimination is not only not necessarily unfair, it is often necessary for the well-being of others (especially so in the case of being licensed to drive a car).

Considering that the Marriage Act 1961 treats all people equally, it is impossible to argue that it unfairly discriminates against anyone. To claim that it denies a person to marry another of the same gender and that this then unfairly discriminates against certain couples is to commit the indefensible error that the descriptive criteria within Marriage Act is about couples when, in fact, it is about regulating individuals seeking to enter into a marriage. And all individuals are treated equally by this Marriage Act!

There are lesser arguments offered in favour of redefining what Marriage means. These includes social arguments - same-gendered couples are not afforded the same social respect as married couples. But this is hardly justification for amending the Marriage Act. There is also the argument of inclusivism - that allowing people of the same gender to marry each other will not impinge upon anyone else’s marriage. But this confuses the issue. The Marriage Act is not about “marriages” it is about Marriage. To do violence to the definition of Marriage and then claim that no harm has been done to Marriage is incredulous. But these lesser arguments are hardly justification for amending the existing Marriage Act.

Therefore, the existing Marriage Act should not be amended.

Dr. Andrew Corbett  

Entering The Autumn of Your Life

AUTUMN

Life has seasons. If Summer is the season of glory, Winter the season of setbacks, Spring the season of growth, Autumn is the season adapting after the Summer. No what season you're in now, you will almost certainly experience an Autumn. The seasoned world traveller, Paul of Tarsus did-

2Tim. 4:6 ¶ For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.

In continuing to prepare the script for the F.W. Boreham Documentary, I was confronted with his biographer, T. Howard Crago, describing his interaction with the great writer-preacher as taking place in the "Autumn" of Dr Boreham's life. It's a charming expression. As I move about our community now, I see the signs of Autumn. Leaves are changing dropping from the trees. Days are shorter. Temperatures are cooler. Apples are being harvested. The trees are transformed into rich earthy colours. There are delightful fogs in the morning. Some previously unseen flowers mysteriously blossom in Autumn. Life has its Autumn too. Most of us are not in Autumn...yet.

Grow in Spring. Tough out Winter. Enjoy Summer. Transition through Autumn from this temporary life into either an Eternal Summer of glory or an Eternal Winter.

Rom. 2:7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, He will give eternal life;

"A man of sixty has entered into the autumn of life. Of all the seasons, autumn is the most idyllic. The leaves of the lime are tinged with amber; spots of lemon-colour appear upon the silver birch; and a soft suspicion of gold sweeps across the fern. As though beneath a wizard's wand, the hedgerows become bronze and purple and saffron; and the furze on the moorland sparkles in the early morning with dew-drenched webs of innumerable spiders...Yet of all the seasons, autumn has most often been misunderstood and misinterpreted." - Dr. F.W. Boreham, A WITCH'S BREWING, "On Being Sixty", page 17

Autumn is season of great dignity. Maturity is celebrated. The triumphs of Summer are remembered, celebrated. The challenges of Winter are put in perspective. Autumn is a time of great beauty.
If you are in a Winter, hold on Spring is coming. Winter is the time when fruit trees are pruned. Spring is when they flower and bud. Summer is when the fruit either grows or withers. Some people enter Summer and misplace their blessings and opportunities. Other people enter Summer having been pruned in Winter and prepared for the heat of Summer by ensuring that they have sufficient water flowing onto them. If you are in your Autumn, finish well. Just as the apple trees are emptied of their fruit, don't take the best of your potential to the grave unrealised. Don't leave your wisdom unharvested. Don't withhold your fruit from those who could benefit from it. But most importantly, prepare your soul for an Eternal Summer by making Jesus Christ the Ultimate Treasure of your life.

Ps. Andrew

Can We Forgive Ourselves?

FORGIVEN

There's something wrong with us. We can pretend there's not. We can invent therapies or rituals to deal with it that almost seem to work. And yet, all these approaches assume that we are the solution to our own problem. What we all want is to have our guilt and shame cleansed away through being truly forgiven. But how?

1John 2:12 ¶ I am writing to you, little children,
because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake.

There are many painful stories in our church Sunday by Sunday. People who have stolen and never told a soul. People who have cheated on their spouse and hope he never finds out. People who have a private problem with alcohol and other addictions. People who have an anger problem that violently and verbally hurts those around them. People with a gambling problem that has put their personal and family finances in jeopardy. People who have an uncontrollable obsession with pornography. People who have murdered. People who have told a big lie. All of these people ache. Some do so more than others. Some are OK most of the time but then there are sights, songs, smells, anniversaries, or places that remind them of their deep ache and cause them to feel unforgiven.

How do we find forgiveness? The only way anyone can find forgiveness for our sins is to have them atoned for.

Heb. 9:22 ¶ Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

When Christ died, He atoned for our sins and made possible the only means to be forgiven of our sins. Yet all too often we do not feel forgiven. We reason this unwelcome sensation away with statements like, "I know God has forgiven me, but I just can't forgive myself." I wonder, since I hear this so often, that this is an unfair view of God's forgiveness versus self-forgiveness?

1John 1:9 ¶ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness..

Sin not only brings guilt, it brings pain. Pain from sinful activity is an unavoidable consequence. Rather than learning to forgive ourselves, perhaps we might benefit from understanding the important distinction between guilt and remorse (emotional pain). Forgiveness through the Atonement of our sins is transacted when we confess our sins to our Crucified Saviour and He takes our sins upon Himself and bears our guilt and shame. But how is the pain of the past removed?

I wonder if those of us who battle with the pain of mistakes, failures, sins, emotional hurts, have a sufficient appreciation for the value of God's forgiveness? That is, the fact that God says He has forgiven us...does this outweigh any other's feelings about the matter...including our own?

Luke 7:47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little."

Being forgiven by God drove one woman to tears of gratitude. This same woman, whose: sins were many, poured very expensive perfume over the feet of Christ in sheer relief and elation at having her sins forgiven. Like anyone who has sinned wantonly, she almost certainly would have discovered that her forgiven sins still left the scar of consequences. All those who have committed the sin of cliff jumping will understand what I am about to say: If you jump off a dangerously high cliff-top with suicidal intent and then half way down realise that was wrong - and repent before God - your sins will be forgiven - but the fall will still have consequences! It seems that some people have assumed that God's forgiveness actually undoes the sin from ever being done. Not so. God may heal the affect of some consequences, He may even allow others to bear the full weight of their sin's consequences, but He always redeems the consequences of those whose sins are forgiven. Even though we hurt because of what we've done, God can use what we've done for His glory and our best good!

Rom. 4:7 ¶ "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;

We've all sinned. Therefore, we all hurt. For those of us who have confessed our sins and asked God for His forgiveness we have the confidence that we have been cleansed of our guilt and shame because of what Christ has done for us on the Cross. While we still feel the pain or remorse for what we have done we can rest assured that the God of all hope will use even our sins to ultimately bring glory to Him. And a closing thought about being in a community of forgiven sinners-turned-saints ... we can sometimes take an older brother attitude toward others and their sins by feeling that we're actually not that bad compared to them. Rather than providing a safe place for confession, transparency, and honesty, such an attitude may promote denial, secrecy, and even dishonesty. If there is one place in society where someone should be able to find forgiveness, surely it should be the church - even if the one needing forgiveness is the pastor.

Ps. Andrew

An Introduction To The Book of Jeremiah

The Centre

THE CENTRE

When I was saved it was an utter life-changing experience. The weeks leading up to my conversion had been a miserable time. Almost on a dare, I had been reading the Book of Romans and had become deeply aware of my sin and my eventual eternal fate. The time I came to the saving news in the Book of Romans resulted in me praying a profoundly heart-moving prayer pleading with God to save my soul and forgive me of my sins. Over the days that followed I felt my life being transformed. I experienced an almost insatiable hunger to know God's Word. I felt a debt of gratitude to Christ for what He had done. I wanted to tell everyone that without Jesus as Saviour and Lord they would face God's judgment without the Only qualified Advocate to defend them. I made one encompassing vow that has guided my life.

That vow was to make Christ the centre of my life. I vowed to live for Him. I saw others who had become Christians and had claimed to have made Christ the Lord of their life. But there was little evidence of it when times got comfortable. It seemed to me that Jesus was a segment of their lives, not the hub.

My vow meant that I made a commitment to what my Christ was committed to. I wanted to walk in the footsteps of my Saviour. I have since discovered that these footsteps are bloodstained and that following a Risen Saviour also means that I follow a Crucified Saviour. As I devoured around 20 chapters of the Bible everyday, I could not escape the most obvious commitment that Christ had made, and therefore as a Christ-centred, Saviour-footstep-following-follower, I had to make as well: Christ was committed to the Church.

Eph. 5:25 ¶ Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her

The Enemy has assaulted Christ's Church. He has railed against it with insult, ridicule, lies, and mockery. He has infiltrated some churches. If his external attacks make no dent, then his internal ones sometimes do (2Cor. 2:11). But the Church's faltering, Jesus still deeply loves His Church. During His earthly ministry He made it His "custom" to be in the pre-cursor to His Church, the Synagogue, every Sabbath. The Sabbath before Christ was crucified in Jerusalem, He was in a Synagogue worshipping His Father in the company of those had just lauded Him with cries of Hosanna but within just 5 days would be screaming for His crucifixion! Churches are not immune from betrayal, disappointment, and failures.

Luke 4:16 ¶ And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.

As we move away from the moment of His Cross toward the moment of Christ's Culmination of His Father's Plan (1Cor. 15:28), His Church is still His central plan (Eph. 1:22). At times she looks awkward. At times she gaffs. At times she loses focus. At times she fears the opinions of men more than the approval of Her Master. But Christ's central plan is to redeem people into His Church where He has ordained that it assemble weekly, give itself to be a Witness as it Worships while it receives The Word (WWW). He has ordained that it be directed, disciplined and developed (DDD). He calls competent charismatic ("gifted") people to lead it (CCC). And it is when the local church assembles that Christ has ordained His presence to be manifested (Matt. 18:20) and for His people to receive a greater revelation of Him.

In addressing the idea that a person can live as a Christian without the Church, Chuck Colson calls this "a dangerous idea."

"Christ cannot be known apart from His Body, the Church."
Chuck Colson

"He who would find Christ must first find the Church."
Martin Luther

While the Enemy is at work sowing life-sucking thorn bushes and wheat-like tares (Matt. 13:25), I am still committed to the Cause of Christ: to redeem the world through the Church.

Heb. 10:25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near.

Making Christ the Centre of your life puts everything in perspective. With Christ as Centre, the world is at peace. With Christ as the Centre my needs are met. With Christ as Centre I have hope in the midst of life's storms. In fact, I have found that it is far easier to keep Christ the Centre of my life when life is stormy - because when life is comfortable Christ is too often neglected. Is Jesus the Centre of your life? See you in the Centre this Sunday.

Ps. Andrew

Moral Naturalism?

by Dr. Andrew Corbett 23rd March 2012

The Global Environmental Movement has undoubtedly done some great good. Visit cities such as Los Angeles, New Delhi, Shanghai, and you'll soon realise that water and air pollution is a very serious matter. Anyone who has seen the devastation of massive unregenerated deforestation will readily acknowledge that managing trees in the ground is more critical than many must have realised. Yet, undergirding the Environmental Movement, and its ensuing social policies, is that: natural is best. Many people justly concerned about our ecology have started to notice a large wooden horse on wheels has been pushed into the town square by Environmentalists. And just like the fabled Trojan Horse, this neo-Trojan horse has smuggled something more powerful than an army into our culture: If It's Natural - It's Morally Right.

The recent "Stop Kony" campaign YouTube video opens with the profound notion that the most powerful thing in the world is not actually a "thing" it is an idea. This was also the premise for the blockbuster movie: INCEPTION.

IDEAS SHAPE SOCIETY

Ideas shape people, societies, and civilisations. Jesus Christ used an astounding term to describe the place where human thinking takes place: the heart (such as Matthew 9:4). To the ancient Hebrew, the heart was the core of a person. Jesus said that this was where ideas were processed- in the very core of a person. The heart is the place where we most naturally think of as being the engine room of our feelings. The is link between what we think and what we feel. Jesus said that some ideas in human hearts might be evil and that the result would be spiritual defiling (which is why God offers to cleanse the defiled but repentant sinner because of Jesus' death and resurrection)... [read full article]

The Extinction Of Sacrifice

I live in the One-Third World. Growing up, I heard constant references to the plight of the poor folk in the Third World. I've since discovered that these poor folk in the Third World actually make up two-thirds of the world's population and that poor here doesn't mean what poor means there. But not only do I live in the One-Third World, I also live at a time of unprecedented peace and prosperity. As one commentator on contemporary Western Culture described where and when we live by saying- Every day we wake up in Disney Land! With such affluenza all around us, the idea of sacrifice sounds...well...extinct.

Yet, it is because of someone's sacrifice, that I and others in Western Society enjoy (read: take for granted) what we have today. These sacrificing, enterprising, often pioneering individuals have frequently been labelled the 'Builder' Generation. They worked hard. They sacrificed. They endured hardship. They fought wars that had to be fought. They built what had to be built. They started what needed to be started. 

For many of these sacrificial souls, their sacrifice was barely regarded by them as a sacrifice. Rather, they saw it as their responsibility. Sacrifice and responsibility. Somber words. Hardly fitting in today's Western cultural landscape where fun, fashion, and facebook-friends are the key words. But this generation of sacrificers where motivated by a Grand Vision. They saw a Responsible Sacrificing Saviour who carried the weight of the world and sacrificed for the sake of the world so that Someone else would benefit. We now live in a world, the One-Third World, where this Grand Vision is not visible to most. And where the Grand Vision is invisible there is an Impostor Vision that takes its place.

Rom. 12:1 ¶ I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

The early Christians were noted for their many sacrifices of love toward each other, the poor, and the outcasts - especially lepers. Down through the centuries, many believers have been gripped by the Grand Vision of the Saviour-Sacrifice and given up houses, positions, wealth, and reputation, to serve others. Sacrifice for the sake of others is a particularly Christian trait.

Eph. 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Believing on Christ today requires no less sacrifice. But believing on Christ in Disneyland takes some effort. Living in the One-Third World dupes you into thinking that you are entitled to more than you've already got. It kids you into thinking that if you do the least, give the minimum, turn up occasionally, then you already "sacrificing". I know. I battle with all of this. Yet my battle is being won by my devotion to the Sacrificed Saviour. He is increasingly becoming my Grand Vision. I see Him giving His all. I hear Him say that no man has left job, house, lands, families, that he should be repaid many times over in the life to come. This puts my meagre volunteer efforts into a totally different perspective.

Heb. 13:15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

 The first believers got it. They did voluntarily give their all. These apostolic volunteers served Christ without any of the trappings of the One-Third World. They not only faced uncertain futures they looked forward to a certain future. Their sacrifices for the Sacrificed One were counted as a nothing compared to what they had received.  They gave, did, went, and stood without so much as a time-card to show for it. They took seriously their responsibility to know Christ and to make Him known. And the world has been the beneficiary - not just the On-Third World!

I pray that we might recapture what godly sacrifice looks like in our corner of 'Disneyland.'

Father, help me to live fully for You. Help me to pastor well. Help me to give, serve and care, with the heart and attitude of Christ. May You use me to inspire a generation to serve You in sacrificial service. Please Lord, use everyone in our church to sacrifice in a way that will bring You the most glory. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Ps. Andrew Corbett
Legana, Tasmania, 23rd March 2012

LIFE VERSES

No. I don't merely mean a favourite Bible verse. Is there a particular verse of the Bible that has helped you more than any other? I have one - though I didn't think that I did. F.W. Boreham wrote a short series of books about other people's. His "Texts That Changed History" series sold millions of copies. It seems we're all fascinated with other people's Life Verses.

"The just shall live by faith" was Martin Luther's. It became the text that birthed the Reformation and eventually changed the world. "Go into all the world and teach them" was David Livingstone's. Others have held particular Bible verses that would have to be considered their favourite by virtue of its singularly dominant power to shape the soul of that person. That's why these particular verses might best be described as Life Verses. Do you have a "Life Verse"?

I don't think I've got a favourite verse of the Bible. But I do have to admit that there are probably two competing verses in my soul vying for the title of Andrew's Life Verse. In some respect these verses are very similar but upon closer and more considered examination they are starkly different. On the one hand one of these verses emphasizes God's beneficent Sovereignty, and on the other is a verse that instructs me how to relish in God's beneficent Sovereignty.

As I reflect on the condition of my soul, one word resounds: peace. I feel peace. I am at peace. While all around me is at times calamitous it doesn't ruffle my soul. It used to. But that was before these two verses gripped me. Even when I make a mistake, sin, fall, lapse, I am comforted immeasurably simply by these two pillars of granite that have irreversibly shaped me. I see other walking through the same storms and stumbling while these two lanterns give me the light to get back up and keep going -  and not with a reluctant attitude, but with a joy for the privilege of being able to do so. The first verse is Romans 8:28, the second is like it, yet different: First Peter 5:7.

How can I choose between them? If I must I will. I'm drawn to the Romans verse over and over again. It is easy and delightful for me to be so drawn because it lies like a jewell in the midst of a very glorious treasure chest of of wonderful verses. Romans 8 is undoubtedly the most wonderful chapter of the Bible. This gives Romans 8:28 an almost unfair advantage for the title of Andrew's Life Verse.

First Peter 5:7 sits differently. Almost like a very precious gold coin tossed aside among seemingly uninteresting debris, it catches the reader off-guard. It is the rare and very precious gold coin that sits among what is mistaken for the common gems of Peter's wisdom to a suffering church. I can not count the times I have pulled this coin from my pocket and drawn comfort and strength from it. It's golden promise is more valuable to me than all of the gold in all of the world. If it wasn't for Romans 8:28, First Peter 5:7 would stand grandly as my Life Verse.

As it is, if I had to choose just one of my two contending Life Verses, I'm inclined to go with Romans 8:28.  It gives me the assurance that even when things are horrible - God still has a good plan being perfectly worked out in my life for His glory. It helps me to bounce back after I fail. It counsels me when I fail. It takes me from comparing myself with others and feeling like a loser to realising that God's plan for me is God's only plan for me. While I wear Romans 8:28 like a necklace so that it is ever close to my heart, I keep First Peter 5:7 in my pocket. But enough about me. What is your "Life Verse" and why?

Father, help me to live with all of Your Word in my heart and help me to trust You even when it's difficult to do so. Amen.

Ps. Andrew Corbett
Legana, Tasmania
16th March 2012