Category: Stories with a Lesson

The Bible is a place where we all discover things that intrigue and Bless us on our Christian way. You will know that the New Testament was translated from the Greek, but even that can bring us Christian Help.

Take the Greek alphabet for example, The second letter is BETH.
(Aleph (A) Beth (B) Gimel C) ABC. The letter Beth is shaped rather like a house, and that is what it means – House. There are a number of places in the Holy Land starting with the name Beth. Here are three :- Bethel, Bethlehem, Bethsaida. The Beth part is House.
Bethel = Beth means “The House of. EL is the name used for God, Bethel means “The House of God “. Remember the story of Jacob, cheating his brother of the birthright, running away from the angry brother who may be after him ? He rested his head on a stone, slept and dreamed of a ladder set up from where he was to God in heaven, with angels going up and down it. Do you recall what he thought when he woke up ?
“Surely The Lord is in this place, and I didn’t know it, This is The House of God”. and He worshipped God there, .and he became a changed man starting to walk with God, and giving a tenth of all God would give him. always The House of God is a place of worshiping God and today where we can be with like minded people and learn Christian living Bethel got it’s name from Jacob. Attending your place of worship should be where you can meet with God and you communicate with Him. Jacob-
.A sinner on the run, meeting with God, repenting and giving his life to God.
But the house of God is not always used as it should be, and today anyone can walk into God’s house without the experience of knowing God as Jacob did that day. And it is God who will judge others, not us. Later Bethel was to be the place where we believe a golden calf was set up for worship, and Jehu continued to worship the calf later there too.

Bethlehem means The House of Bread..(Bethlehem Ephrata= House of bread that is fruitful). David was born there, Ruth and Boaz resided there. And God went to great lengths to see that Jesus was born there. Did not Jesus say “I am the bread of life” (John 6v35) He is the gift from The Father to feed His people. Being in Christ means we will never go hungry.
Someone once said to me that if we could only see what was in the cupboard under the stairs or in the loft we would find countless things that once were the delight of the people living there and now no longer of interested to them. From childhood upward we want things but when we get what we thought so wonderful we soon loose interest and want something else. Always hungering for something, never satisfied.
In Jesus the bread of life we never need be hungry again. He can fill us with satisfaction.
Bethsaida means “The House of Fish” North of Jordan and near where Jesus fed over five thousand followers. and a blind man came seeing. Home to the fishermen who were called to catch men rather than fish.
After Jesus returned from the dead He met with His disciples for a cooked breakfast on the sea shore. He asked “Do you love me?” Only when you truly love Jesus and other people can He use you to “catch men” . Eating bread and fish is one thing, influencing others, needs the power of the risen Christ The Son of God. The House of God, The House of bread, The House of fish all have their message to you. Without Him you can do nothing.

God’s Blessing on you
Gerald Gossage.

I remember my Grandfather when he was an old man, But the world he was born into was very different to the world of today. Street transport was all by horse. I remember the horse troughs in every road so that the horses could stop and drink, and there were carts and carriages pulled by all kinds of horses , plus people riding everywhere on horseback. Little wonder that from an early age my Grand dad wanted to be a ‘Vet and work with horses.

Money was tight and to attend a college to train as a vet was expensive, but he worked hard to save every penny he could make all through his childhood, and when he left school at 11 or 12 years of age. he could put even more in the box for vet college.

He also accumulated many friends who shared his consuming interest in horses. One day when they were talking about racehorses and what made for winners my Gran dad became quite sure he knew which horse would win one of the races,that his friends told him that seeing he was so sure he should put all the money he had saved on this horse to win, he could then go to college at once.

It seemed a wonderful idea and he placed all his savings on this horse to win.

It lost ! And he was never able to achieve his life’s ambition to be a vet. He went to work handling the horses for the London Buses. After the first world war, in the 1920’s the London horse buses were replaced with motor buses and he never worked with horses again.

When I was a very young man I became a Civil Servant for a little while, working in a large office. One of the men came to me saying that everyone in the office was joining in to a “Fun Sweep-stake” for the horse race, The Derby. The tickets were only a shilling each, and as I had just four shillings in my pocket I had four, then forgot all about it.

Each ticket had the persons name written on it and put into one hat, the names of the horses were put into the other hat, and as there were more people than horses many people did not get a horse at all on the draw out.

On the day of the race some of the staff listened to the race on the radio, and soon it was all over. A small crowd came to me to know how I had done it, I had got four horses and they had come in first, second, third, and forth. I went home with a bit of extra cash in my pocket that day !

I was told that there was another race called The Oakes and people wanted me to tell them which horse would win as they thought I knew something that could help them win lots of money. That day I wanted to believe that I could make money by gambling, that I had some sort of luck with me.

But I told myself I would never in all my life use money in this way again. Whatever money we have is a gift from God and it was given as a stewardship. We are all responsible for what we do with what we have. And in the days ahead there may be many people who are in great need, for some are losing their work, and are in great need of what we could give them. It is good to remember that “The love of money is the root of all evil”. And what we have is a gift from God. Don’t gamble with any thing ! It is selfish and makes you a loser

I have never had a need since I made that decision. Try it – Gerald Gossage.

In the prewar days of my childhood it was the custom for many ladies to have a ‘Daily Help’ and my mother had one for years. Although the woman was an excellent worker, she had some very funny sayings.

Although our house was identical to others in the row she would not accept that they were all the same, and would constantly comment on another in the row as “earns bigger than yawn”. (hers is bigger than yours). If a funeral came into the conversation she would say “There’ll be another two, you mark my words, funerals always come in threes, funerals do”.

If something bad came into the conversation she would say “there’s more bad things to come, You mark my words, bad luck always comes in threes”.

I found myself thinking of her when three times I was brought to see a problems about “Prayer”. For the third time someone said to me “My prayers are always so repetitious “Well I have had this problem too, have you? Did it start at our mother’s bed time goodnight ? Like Christopher Robin-“God Bless mummy and daddy, God Bless…” and we never got out of the habit, we just changed the names? Did it come from some prayer book where we read or learnt what to say ? Was it The Lord’s Prayer that taught us to repeat without thinking what we were saying ? Surely God does not want to hear how well we can recite. Or a list of names, He wants us to share the things of the day, our concerns and apprehensions, our hopes and our happiness.

Another problem we have in our prayer-time. Have you every thought “I talk too much”. Sometimes Our Lord never gets a chance to get a word in edge-ways. Prayer should be a two way communication. (Study the prayers of Jesus, and saints in the Bible if you doubt it.) It is conversation, We share with Him our realities and wait upon The Lord, giving Him an opportunity of some come back. If you do not know the voice of God, you need to practice this. Which means giving prayer TIME, rather than forcing prayer into the time space you have available.

I have learned much over the years of about worship. both private and public, why are we afraid to be completely silence and to wait upon God? Why in church do we sometimes fail to give the congregation a space in prayer to make their own requests, confessions, or thanks for things that are part of our life at that moment. Why do we not teach our people silence and the still small voice? Worship can be like love, there are times when it needs no words between us.

Like the Daily Woman in my childhood, she was too set in her wrong ideas for us to bother, we made fun of her behind her back, and as a family we called her “Mrs ‘earnsbigger”.

But that attitude will not do for the fellowship of Christ’s believers. If people do not know how to pray it is not their fault, Can You remember being taught how to pray ? We just presume that everyone knows how, but I know that the prayer-life of one Christian will differ from another.

The Disciples were surprised that the prayers of Jesus were answered so wonderfully, whether it was cursing the fig tree, or bring the dead back to life. The Master’s answer was that the result of our communication with The Father should be in such faith that mountains would be moved.. Sadly, I know that many pray in doubt and so receive nothing.

Prayer is a believer sharing his/her spirit with God, who is Spirit. We wait upon Him and share His wisdom and knowledge on what we have brought before Him We then Know , by Faith, the outcome, at one in His will.

I have heard prayer considered as like a Mobile Phone to heaven, It is far, far more than that. As a Minister, I cannot remember ever visiting anyone without asking if I might pray with them, and only once in all those years was that request refused. Time after time The Holy Spirit would take over and I would find myself praying in words that were not mine, sometimes about things I had no knowledge about, but were very meaningful to those listening..

Prayer is not burning a candle, writing out a prayer to God, nor just attending a prayer meeting. It is bringing the deep concern that is on our spirit, before The Almighty, All Loving God and waiting and watching for His thoughts to become our thoughts, and seeing God working His purpose out. How The Father loves us, His children

Love from Gerald Gossage.

I In our young days before we were married, my wife and I used to attend all the concerts given by The London Emmanuel Choir, we enjoyed their singing so much.

During our first visit Audrey turned to me and said “I do like watching one of these girls in particular”. I said “Would it be that girl in the third row back, about three from the centre right ?” “Yes that’s the one, you noticed her too ? “ “Yes, she just radiates her joyous Christianity and love for what she is singing doesn’t she ! “. One out of a hundred and fifty stood out more than the rest, although they all had a smile and looked happy.

It is true that God made everyone of us different, and we all have different talents. But perhaps we don’t all make the most of what we have got.

I remember a large hospital ward for men. One man was well enough to be given permission to walk about the ward although he was a rather sombre man and said very little to anyone, he was watching a young nurse who was dealing with a man who was dying. Everyone loved this young nurse because she was such an outstanding person, efficient, gentle, and considerate with a radiant personality.

After watching her for a little while the walking man said in a voice that everyone could hear “ Nurse ! Do you know, if I was so ill that the doctor told me that I was going to die, and you were the one looking after me, well… I just wouldn’t obey the doctor, I wouldn’t die”.

Other people see us, as perhaps we do not see ourselves. In one of my churches I had someone who was just about the biggest misery I had known, she repeated her troubles over and over again to everyone she met, and me in particular.

One day I saw her coming down the street towards me, and naughty though it was, I ran into the nearby shop and hid behind the fixtures until she had gone by.

Do You repel or attract others ? What do people see when they look at you ? Do you use what talents God has given you and develop them, or have you buried them and nobody knows you have them, because you never show them.

The Bible says that one day we shall stand before God and be judged by what we did with what we were given. Are You the very best that you can be for Him and His Kingdom ? What you do for others you do for Jesus.

Happy Greetings from Gerald Gossage.

If I needed to learn a lesson my Mother very often told me a story, and made me draw the conclusion. Just what I had done to make her tell me this story I have no idea, but this is what she said.

In Holland they have dykes to hold back the water which would otherwise flood the land and villages, and one day a little boy noticed that there was a small hole in the dyke and water was dripping through.

The boy at first put his finger tip onto the leak and stopped it.  Very soon the water started to run out around his finger, so he pushed his whole finger in, and it stopped, but only for a little while, and it started pouring out all around his finger.

He tried placing his hand over the leak but this only made the water pour out more so he trusted his clenched fist into the hole. This seemed to work, but not for long. Suddenly his fist was forced out, and he was hit by a great torrent of water which knocked him over and swept him away. I suppose I was expected to learn that little sins will grow into big ones and finally overcome us.

I am told that I said that the little boy could not have done anything by himself, and should have shouted and run for the help of some grown-ups.(that’s my story and I’m sticking to it) (But I did find a friend in Jesus to run to).

I have loaned quite a few books in my time but many people have not returned them to me.  Have you ever received a letter where the stamp has missed the franking. and steamed the stamp off to use it on another letter ? (I hear the shouts of “NO” from here)

Have you ever told a white lie ?  (lies do not have colour)  Have you ever been late for work or early leaving, stealing time?  Taken some small item from work… saying “only a pencil !  only rubber bands !

You would not steal money from a purse or pocket, but what about too much change given for something we bought ?   And what about blackening another’s character.  (well we never liked him anyway, his eyes are too close together)

The number of folk who take the name of the Lord our God in vain, as seen on tv.(Oh God they say) (and worse?) And while we hate swearing, and would never swear ourselves, do we use other words to express our anger, or surprise ?  (Gosh, lord No)  We are all a people who have to listen to these things especially on t/v. perhaps we should watch what we say and write, and what we do.

I remember once saying how wonderful a Video Camera was, as a friend used one,. he turned and said, “You better watch yourself, there is probably an Angel pointing one at you all the time. Recording all you say and do.”   One day we shall have to face God who has the record of everything we have done and said here in this world. Saying sorry is not enough, we must put our life in order now, Or and as my Mother would say to me “Don’t do it again !”

Greetings from Gerald Gossage