To Obey is better than Sacrifice. It’s a beautiful gem in the Old Testament which can sometimes be missed! And, when we read something in the bible about sacrificing animals, it’s all too easy to disregard it as out of date because of what Jesus did on the cross.

Jesus’ death and resurrection means we don’t need to sacrifice animals in the Temple. But it doesn’t lessen the importance of obedience for us Christians.

But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices  or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice… 1 Samuel 15:22 (New Living Translation)

Put really simply, animal sacrifice made God pleased in the Old Testament times. But, despite that, obedience was what mattered above and beyond that. Actually that theme reappears elsewhere in the Old Testament – when God gets fed up with people doing what their duty is, rather than simply obeying God.

Obedience almost sounds like a dirty word these days, outside of the Armed Forces where soldiers are taught to obey the commands of those senior to them. And that obedience is even more important for us as Christians.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that giving to the poor, fighting for social injustices is what God wants from you. It is good to care for the people we meet. In the book of James, the author – of the same name – tells us that pure religion is exactly that of caring for orphans and widows.

More important that any of that, though, is being obedient to God. He desires our hearts over our hands.

Just a thought…

Andy B

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David, of the David's Daily Dose blog, and I were chatting around two pieces of scripture we had commented on.

One was Romans 5 and the other Hebrews 12 and how they link together and he challenged me to write something on these two, so here it is!

Hebrews 12:1-2 (New Living Translation)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honour beside God’s throne.

and

Romans 5:3-5 (New Living Translation)
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

So run the race, and keep your eye on the prize!
Just a thought…

Andy B

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There’s a line in the film Kung Fu Panda. The Master is speaking with his trainee. The trainee feels fierce and tough and hard. He’s talking about how he can make all sorts of things happen, like where a tree can grow.

The Master simply replies that while he can have power to  choose where a tree may grow, he can’t control what will grow – if a peach seed is planted, then a peach tree can grow.

All the power and skill in the world can not change make those sorts of choices.

Life throws things at us all the time. And when things do not go as planned there are a couple of choices we can make. And, make no mistake, they are choices - no matter how we feel about them.

We can choose to stamp our feet and get angry about what has unfolded before us. Or we can choose to accept what we can not do, and deal with what we can.

Hence the phrase When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade.

There is one more thing that we can do, however, that will seek to mitigate these insurmountable and unexpected issues.

In our home we call it “front loading”. Simply put it means getting done what you can, when you can, with what you have. Another way would be to say ‘don’t leave everything until the last minute’.

We can’t control a whole range of things, but we can work diligently when that is possible.

So, if life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Don’t wait for them to become oranges. And, if you prefer orange aid to lemonade go buy some oranges ‘cos all the squeezing in the world of those lemons will not change their flavour.

Just a thought…

Andy B

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Have you ever heard a strange noise coming from a piece of machinery? We have had exactly that experience fro the past few weeks. Our lawnmower has been working harder and harder, and achieving less and less. Grass has been hacked rather than mown, and more is left behind that collected in the grass box.

And that noise kept getting worse. It was kind of a screaming, whining, terrified sound.

And then it went quiet. And that lawnmower had reached the end of it’s life.

We’d got is super cheap – just £5 at a charity shop. That was a bargain as it has lasted AGES. But, all good things must come to an end and, despite a fresh blade to help it cut more efficiently, it ceased to function anymore.
Mind you, the terrified noise stopped too, so that was good!

At some point we’ll buy a new one to replace it. But, until then, we have a permanent reminder of that fateful day because half our garden is short. The other half, well, let’s just say it is awaiting attention!

It’s been a super busy season for the BerryBunch, so the idea of sourcing and selecting and a replacement had been left untouched for nearly a month. That has just allowed the grass to grow even longer.

Our garden now looks quite a mess – it’d be easy for someone to look at it and make a judgement on how lazy we were, or whatever might go through their minds.

Have you ever done that? Seen something and immediately made judgement? Let’s be quicker to ask a question and offer help, than to make a half-cocked assessment on something we know little about.

The up-side of our situation? We haven’t had to mow the grass for a while.
Just a thought…

Andy B

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Much like the Trinity, a decent mug of tea requires 3 elements – tea, boiling water and milk. You can disagree about the milk and whether it comes first or not (it always comes first by the way) but those three parts make a decent ‘brew’.

We had a fancy kettle that had stopped working, only it hadn’t totally stopped working. It still took water and made it hot, only not hot enough - despite the little icon on the screen telling you your water was at 100 degrees Celsius/212 degrees Fahrenheit.

Warm water makes weak twa. Tea left brewing too long becomes unsightly and unpleasant.

There is an optimum temperature – boiling water, and an optimum time (there really are instructions for how long to leave a tea bag in for the best flavour).

Sometimes when something breaks it is easy to spot. If your kettle didn’t switch on at all, we’d know it was broken. But, since it was only not working quite right, it took us ages to spot there was an issue.

Life is the same way isn’t it. When we have a broken leg we can spot that and get medical help. If you’re suffering mental or emotional damage it may not be so apparent, to anyone – including ourselves. Even a broken bone can be hard to spot as being broken if it is a hairline break, and your leg isn’t bending in too many places!

Where do you need to take another look at something in your life, where that ‘something’ just isn’t working quite right.

It can be hard to discern. Thankfully, we have the designer of the entire universe on permanent speed dial should we desire to seek His wisdom. And His wisdom is always good!

Just a thought…

Andy B

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While sitting in church one day I couldn’t stop looking at the perfect illustration of how we should be with our Father God, when I saw the small baby in front of me perfectly secure and resting in the arms of their dad fast asleep!

It so powerfully spoke of how important dads are!

In our society we live in a time when we know how important fathers are, and yet society seeks to degrade that role by saying that we are all the same. And yet there is a security that only our fathers can bring.

As a father I totally know this to be true – I can’t comfort my children like my wife can do and she can’t make them feel secure like I can. We have different roles to fulfil; different functions.

God designed us to be made and raised with one father and one mother. If one part of that is removed, for whatever reason, it creates an instability that is not easy to remedy without a relationship with Jesus Christ and His Father – God. That doesn't make single parents somehow lesser - don't allow that thought to grow.

But, God designed things for a reason and once we operate outside of that design, whether by choice or not, it will become more complicated and difficult to navigate. However, by God's grace, there is always hope because God will always equip us as we seek to build His kingdom, whether that is as a single parent family, or with both a mother and father.

As a product of a broken, blended, dysfunctional family I know only too well what happens when one parent disappears, for whatever reason. My father didn’t simply disappear, but got married and chose to focus on the children of his new wife. I know the pain that comes from that, and the security I only ever, eventually, found by trusting my Heavenly Father.

God is our loving heavenly Father, and what an example He truly is!

Just a thought…

Andy B

This video will always be best enjoyed on our website: https://www.berrybunch.org/Articles/665256/S05E084_In_The.aspx

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While away at a festival I tried to buy an ice cream. Someone had given us a gift of some money for our family, so we thought that would be a good thing to do! However, when we got to the ice cream seller they told us they couldn’t serve us unless we could pay cash, as their card machine was no longer working.

I took a quick look and decided it probably lust needed a charge. Right enough I plugged it in and it started working again. 15 minutes later I took it back to her and she was able to carry on trading once more.

It didn’t take a huge amount of effort on my part and, so very often, it costs us little or nothing to encourage someone.

It could be in the form of a smile, or letting them in traffic, or picking up something they dropped, or opening a door and holding it for the person behind us.

What are you waiting for? Encourage someone!

Just a thought…

Andy B

This video will always be best enjoyed on our website: https://www.berrybunch.org/Articles/665255/S05E083_Encourage_Someone.aspx

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In the film, Inside Out, we see an image of how emotions develop in the brain of a new born, through to old age. We see the importance of emotions, and why Joy – a main character in the film – is not the most important emotion.

We love the film as a family because it reminds us of the importance of caring for our emotions; of listening to them and valuing them.

The problem with emotions, however, is that – at best – they should only be seen as a temperature gauge. And, just like any temperature gauge, they need to be kept in check because they can give us a distorted view of reality, especially if we allow them to control our actions.

In a race the driver of a car knows how many laps they need to complete the race. Finishing first is great. However, sometimes, just finishing the race can be an accomplishment. And it is the same in life. Some days just seem to stretch away from you as you move through them as 5pm never seems to get any closer.

As Christians our journey of faith consists, largely, of putting one foot in front of the other as we move towards Jesus. And, if we make becoming more like Jesus Christ our goal, rather than ‘finishing’ we’ll enjoy life a whole lot more.

So, don’t let your emotions get the better of you, and keep moving towards Jesus trusting that He has all you need for you to do all that He has for you to do.

Just a thought…

Andy B

This video will always be best enjoyed on our website: https://www.berrybunch.org/Articles/665107/S05E082_Keep_On.aspx

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