You will not always win.

I support a very special football team, my expectations are that they win every match, win the league every year, but let us be realistic, and it hurts me to write this, it wont happen. The fact of the matter is they will not always win, and the fact of the matter, irrespective of what certain Christian teachers tell us , we will not always have perfect health, life will have its downside, we will yield at times to temptation, we will not always win, but with Christs help we will get through, and even in the downsides, God will be overseeing us, and making us better people. [ Father I acknowledge that I fail you, I recognise that life has its downside, help me press on in our relationship, rejoicing in the truth that you will always love me , come what may.I offer this prayer in Jesus name. Amen]

Hold your tongue

I saw a program on TV called the lion man, were a man walked about with a tiger on a lead,and it reminded me of what James tells us in his letter chap 3V7-8. ever kind of beasts......has being tamed of mankind. but the tongue can no man tame. This little member can cause so much trouble for all of us, think of the hurt ,pain, trouble, the tongue causes, so be warned, take care as to your words today. [Father forgive me for those words that I have spoken , that have dishonoured You, help me today to control my tongue, in Jesus name, Amen.]

Jigsaws.

I had a friend who loved doing jigsaws, I personally dont, but I thought on this idea of jigsaws, and how this applies to us as Christians. First of all , the parts of the jigsaw are all different, but they are all important to the whole, we as Christians are all different, different gifts, and abilities.Likewise we are all important to the whole of the body of Christ . How do you see yourself as a Christian ?. I believe we are all important, ask God to show you how this applies to you.[ Father help me to see that you have blessed me with gifts and abilities, also that I am part of the whole, and the importance of playing my part within your church, I ask this in Jesus name. Amen]

How ?

Do you ever ask the question , how, as I sit here I do, how have I come through the Christian life, over forty years I have been following Jesus. It was Spurgen who said every day you are a Christian, it is a miracle, I believe this is so true, a miracle of Gods grace, it can be the only answer to the question of how we come through , grace and grace alone. Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come, tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me safe home, wrote John Newton, so true. [ Father I give you thanks for your grace, that has kept me, and helped me in my walk with you, in Jesus name. Amen.]

Thank goodness its all over.

Shopping for presents ,buying enough food to feed an army, decorations, writing out Christmas cards, preparing the Christmas dinner, etc, I am sure there are many who do say thank goodness it is all over. I dont want to load you with guilt on top of everything else, for thinking ,for saying thank goodness it is all over, we carry many things around with us, often one of those things is guilt, when we shouldnt, so get rid of any guilt you may be carrying, bring everything to Him who bore all your guilt on the cross, and leave it there.[ Father so often I feel crushed by many things , even guilt, so right now I ask you to take every burden , as I cast it upon you, in Jesus name. Amen.]

Memories.

This is a time when we will begin to look back, for some that will be a painful experience, for most of us nothing dramatic may have happened. Memory is there for a reason to help us in our everyday affairs, I wish I could remember all my families birthday, or were I parked the car when visiting the supermarket, still I can always put it down to getting older.God has a memory, He can remember everything if he chooses to, but here is a wonderful truth to all who know the Saviour, I hope this will bless you. In Jeremiah 31 v34 God says to His children, I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins. [ Father I give you thanks that through your Son I have been totally forgiven, my sins will never be cast up to me. Amen]

Intervention

Christmas is about God intervening in peoples lives, Mary , Joseph, shepherds, wise men ,and Herod, all these were touched by Gods intervention. Consider how God has intervened in your life, and what this has meant, remembering God always acts with a purpose, from the moment God intervened you became His child, you came under his special care. Give thanks today that God did not leave you in your unsaved state , but in His great mercy, He saved you and has cared for you ever since. [ Father thank you for coming into this world in the person of your Son, and thank you for coming into my life , changing me, and caring for me. in Jesus name. Amen]

The thought and the deed.

The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 7 v15, I want to do what is right, but I dont do it, if we are honest, and I do believe being honest is the best policy, especially in our relationship with God. Now lets face it, we all feel what Paul felt, we need not despair, God understands, the old hymn says ,Jesus knows all about are struggles ,think how He put up with the disciples, yet all the time He was teaching and moulding them, and preparing them for service in His kingdom. [ Father I rest on the solid fact that you are merciful ,loving and patient, while I dont make that an excuse for my failures, help me to not despair, I believe you are pleased with my weakest efforts, in Jesus name. Amen]

A true estimate

In romans 12 v3 we read ,Be honest in your evaluation of yourself, my study Bible, commenting on these words, writes,[some of us think to little of ourselves, on the other hand , some of us overestimate ourselves.] When I was a young man I played football, I was no George Best, but I had a certain degree of skill, I have a reasonable singing voice, but I know there are those who are more gifted. There is a saying which goes ,you are good for nothing, that is not true, we all good for something, and good at something.[ Father I know I am only a sinner saved by grace, but I also know you have blessed me with gifts and abilities, help me to use them, trusting you to bless them, in Jesus name. Amen]

The kingdom of God.

One of the most unthought out statements in the N.T. I believe are the words of our Saviour in John 18v36, they read ,My kingdom, is not of this world. There appears often to be such a tension, in these words ,it raises questions in regard to so many areas of life.So much of life appears to be at odds with the kingdom of God, I dont have all the answers to what those words mean, but I do believe them , there is a tremendous challenge to be faced in them. [Father help me to see and obey what it means to be a citizen of your kingdom, in the name of Jesus my King. Amen]

Victory.

How do we get victory in those areas of our lives,in which we struggle? a good question, first let us remember that life is ungoing, every new day brings the challenge to be holy, loving and kind.This means a continual reliance on God, an awareness of our weakness, we are never really out of the wood, so each day ask the Saviour to help you,and to fill you with His Spirit. Remember our very weaknesses are important whatever they may be, and we all have different weaknesses, you may want to be rid of your weakness, but God who knows best says no, [read 2 Cor 12][ Father I often wonder why I have to put up with those things, that cause me so much pain, wonder why you dont remove them, and then I hear you saying , My grace is all you need, through My grace you will have the victory. Amen]

The morning star.

Twinkle ,Twinkle little star, how I wonder what thou are, so goes the little poem, I have just recently observed a star , a very bright star, I believe it is called ,the morning star,[Venus] it really stands out, in the darkness. In 2 Peter1v19, we read, a light shining in a dark place, you and I are called to be light , let your light shine today,were ever God has placed you. that means many things, what does that mean for you?. [Father fill me with your Spirit, that I may shine in this dark world of sin, in Jesus name. Amen]

Christmas.

Every year I hear people say it does not feel like Christmas, I wonder what Christmas is supposed to feel like?. A friend said to me, she felt Easter had a deeper meaning for her, I understand what she meant, I suppose there is much in the Christmas season, that gives one concern, as Christians we try to make people awere what Christmas is really about.Let us remember that it is not the season that blesses, it is the Saviour, it is not Christmas that blesses ,it is Christ. [Father help me to see that it is in my Saviour your Son , that I am blessed, not in a season, not in the shadows of his world. Amen]

Presents.

Our Saviour said it is more blessed to give than to recieve, and yet there is a blessing in recieveing, I have recieved presents that have blessed me, in fact every day I recieve from God. , blessing after blessing, presents from the giving God. Think for a moment of what God has blessed you with today, they are new every morning, great is His faithfulness[Lamentations4v22-23] , and give thanks. [ Father I want to give you thanks , for the many blessings, you shower upon me,I recieve so much, so I offer my humble thanks, in Jesus name. Amen]

Moods.

I use to laugh when Joyce Meyer said there were some days she felt like slapping someone, our moods are real, we may be smiling on the out side but in the inside, we want to , ah well you know what I mean. This is were grace kicks in ,how do I live above my moods ?, the Grace of God, dont let our moods shut us out from seeking the God of all grace,Hebrews 4v16, reads, Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,that we may obtain mercy, and find help in time of need. [Father you know me better than I know myself ,you know me inside out, grant me your grace today ,that I may glorify you in this life of mine, in Jesus name. Amen.]

Things I dont understand.

I have been a Christian a long time, and there so many things I dont yet understand, I am reading the book of revelation at this time,so much in there I dont understand, and yet there is a good percentage of it I do understand. The apostle Paul wrote, now I know in part[1 Cor13 v12] , it will always be that way, the important thing is dont let it trouble you, as to knowledge it is ungoing, God asks us to trust Him, it is a vital part of walking by faith, and is important in our relationship with Christ. [Lord there is so much in life I dont understand, help me not to let this become a stumbling block in my relationship with you, in Jesus name. Amen ]

Let it go.

There are so many things we cannot do anything about, the aging process, the past, so many things, we need to come to terms with.In 1Peter 5v7 we are instructed to cast our burdens upon the Lord , for He cares for us,do it, right now, whatever your burden is, cast it upon Him who cares. In other words let it go, stop struggling, when a person is drowning, they must stop struggling, in order for their rescuer to save them, so it is, the longer we keep struggling,the more difficult it is for the Lord to help us, so let it go.[ Lord help me to let go of those things I struggle with, to cast all my burdens upon You, in Jesus name. Amen]

Everyone is in a hurry.

We are all awere of road rage, often the result of frustration, driving is becoming more and more of a nightmare, people feel more and more pressure , is there a better way? surely there has to be . The good news is, that God has provided a better way, in His Son, who invites us all to come unto Him, and find rest Matthew 11v28, He invites us all to expearence peace in the midst of a mad ,bad , world, so let us each respond to Christs graciuos invitation.[ Lord there is so much pressure on people, grant that I may expearience in your Son that peace that is beyond my understanding, Amen]

The challenge.

I cannot say I ever liked to fight, yet when I was a wee lad, I remember fighting, when I was in primary school, there was a big fellow called Billiy Harris, I fought Billy , I must confess I fought dirty, for I remember I bit him. Shame you say , I know.Listen in 1Timothy 6v12[AV] we are exhorted to , fight the good fight of faith, we all without excepion, must be involved in this fight,[ and for goodness sake dont bite]. [ Father, help me to be involved in this good fight of faith, and not just to be a spectator. in Jesus name, Amen.

Dream on.

It was Martin luther king, who declared I have a dream, when I was a child , money was scarce, I used to dream , if I had a pound[ it was a long time ago]I could buy stacks of sweets. Dreams ,have you got a dream? I hope so. The question is, what do you do with your dreams,go for them, wait for them to be fufilled, mybe some dreams are best just remaining dreams, but there are those dreams that can be and should be fulfilled in our lives. Dreams can become a reality, pray about them, who knows you may even get your dream. [ Lord I bring to You all my dreams, please sort out, whats best for me , help me to fulfill my destiny, in Jesus name, Amen.]

Look for it.

The other day, I was going to see someone, I was worried about it, I prayed about it, and it worked out alright. Often at the end of a dayI look back and see how God has undertaken with those things I had been concerned about, in fact as I take a look back at all of my life, I am so encouraged, to see how the Lord has over-ruled in so many situations, its very humbling.I would encourage you to look and see this in your life,and give thanks to your loving heavenly Father.[ Father I want to thank you for undertaking for me in every situation in life, help me to see ,that this care for me will never cease, in Jesus name, Amen.]

Rewards.

There is a saying goodness has its own reward, often we do things for others, and we dont get a word of thanks, we need to feel appreciated, often we dont feel we are, and it can eat a way at us, we dont say much but we think about things. In the book of Revelation 22v12, we read these words , it is Jesus speaking, He says , behold ,I come quickly,and my reward is with Me,let us remember that even a cup of cold water will recieve its reward,[Mt 10v42].So look beyond those you are serving, to Jesus , who fully appreciates all we do. [ Lord help me to do all things as unto you, knowing of you I will recieve my reward. Amen.]

You better believe it.

The heart is deceitful above all else, and despertly wicked, so reads Jerimiah 17v9, I am so very glad you cant see into my heart, I really mean that. The old puritans spoke of common grace, that grace thats granted to those who are not saved, thats stops and prevents the whole human situation deteriorating into absolute choas. So lets not be fooled , by any teaching that weakens the truth that we are sinners, that our need is great, and that all of us without exception need to be saved, to know the saving grace of God. [Dear father I thank you for your grace, that has saved me, and kept me, I know that without it ,I would be lost, thank you in the name of Jesus. Amen.]

Dont apologize.

In one of John Waynes movies, he says dont apologize its a sign of weakness, much as I loved old John as an actor, to apologize can in fact be a sign of strength. Lets consider the following , our Saviour, told us that we were to be His witnesses,to make disciples, to go into all the world and preach the gospel,for all of my Christian life I have sought to be obedient to this command. I must confess I have not always , been as faithful as I should have, but in my heart I still long to tell others about about my wonderful Saviour, and I will never apologize for that, never.[ A prayer- Father let me never lose sight that everyone without exception needs Christ , let me never weaken in this belief, and somehow use me to bring others to your dear Son, Amen.]

Noise

We live in a noisy world, you go into a supermarket your ears are assulted by noise, I once heard a Christian saying God loves noise., I know He loves our praise, but does He love noise ?.Noise has its place, but there is a lot to be said for quietness, I love the story of Elijah. In 1 Kings 19, we have the prophet depressed, even suicidal , how did God communicate with him?, a still small voice, a gentle whisper. A prayer [ Father I come to you because I need your stillness, I need to hear that gentle whisper,dear Father in the midst of this manic , noisy world, minister to me, and bring Thy peace into my heart, in Jesus name, Amen]

More jails.

Our goverment is going to build more jails, in spite of all the progress we have we have made, materially , people are better of than ever, in this country. I speak from experience, I remember the pawn shop, going there in my childhood,I remember the hardtimes, yet we live in a prosperity, that to our grandparents would have been inconcievable. Yet we have this statement from the goverment, more jails. Why?, we have a nature that materal prosperity can not change, I love those words in Isaiah 61v1-3 , where Jesus declares, He has come to set free those who are bound, He knows us, He loves us , and saves all who call on Him. A prayer[ Lord from experience I know you are the answer, the only answer, to mankinds condition,use me this day to be your messenger, Amen.]

Repeating oneself.

They say it is a sign of old age, repeating oneself, it may be, but if you think about it, parents do it , teachers do, and surprise , surprise, God does it. I am a Christian of many years, and my experience is this ,God repeats Himself , time after time, to me , it is a fact, that it is necessary . There are a number of reasons for this, life is on going, we are forgetful, we are wayward, we are careless and inclined to wander a way from the right path, we also are inclined to panic , God then speaks again to us ,as our situation requires.A prayer,[ Father you know me through, and through, how forgetful , and careless I am, speak into my life , remind me again of those things I need to hear, in Jesus name, Amen]

Is any body out there?.

I enjoy star trek , many people believe that there other planets out there like ours , the question they are seeking to answer is , are we alone in all this vast universe ?. The answer is we are not alone ,there is a spiritual reality, God. Isaiah 40 reminds us of the greatness of our God, one who rules over the whole of the universe, whose knowledge if infinite, whose greatness and power,dwarfs all things. We are not alone , for the God of all creation, is in love watching over His children,yes He is great in his being, but He is also great in His love and care, and He assures us, that in His Son He is Emmanuel , God with us. Let us finish with a prayer,[ Father I sometimes feel alone ,even feel unloved, help me today to find comfort in this wonderful truth, that you are with me,that you love me unconditionally, and will never leave me, in Jesus name.]

Leaves falling of the trees.

I wonder why the trees loose their leaves in the winter, it sort of reminds me of a person taken their clothes of , when it is cold . Funny the things we think of , there will always be things we dont know , always questions to ask, about the mystery of life, somethings we may never understand, tragedies, personal lost, what can we do ?,the answer is to be found in the following words, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart , and lean not upon thine own understanding[ Prov v5,A.V.],let us end with a prayer.[ Father there are things that I dont understand, things that cause me pain, things I struggle with, help me to trust you ,in Jesus name. Amen.]

The sky is going to fall on us.

Imagination , I know people whose imagination controls them, in a wrong way, it causes them to think the sky is going to fall on them. A problem comes up they imagine the worst, and this controls them, and makes their lives a misery.Let us be honest, we all get on like this at times to some degree, being a Christian we need to be honest with ourselves, and with God, we are not perfect, we imagine all sorts of things, and usually the worst of things. Whats the answer? , faith in God , remember what He has promised to you His child, that the sky is not going to fall on you, He will not let it. Let us end with a prayer, [ Father , help me not to be ruled by my imagination, but by You ,and help me to realize more and more , that you will always undertake, for me your child, in Jesus name.Amen.]

Humour.

There are all types of humour, I love humour, after reading the sport in the paper I often turn to the cartoons, I used to buy the readers digest, especially for the humour. I know life is a very serious business, tell me about it, so it is, good humour helps us, it plays a very inportant part in in the human experience, and is helpful in many ways, I know there is the downside to humour, , I love ,Stan and Ollie, they had an innocence , a childish innocence, alright let us finish with a prayer. [ Lord , you who made us, forgive of us for being to serious, and develop in us a sense of humour, that will bless others , and even bless us, in Jesus name. Amen.]

Control.

I dont particularly like the term control freak, it is an ungracious term, yet lets face it , being in control is important to all of us,yet there are many things we are not in control of.The list of things that can overtake us of which we have no control , can cause us to live in fear, and can cause us disappointment, and frustration. In Revelation 19v6, we are told that the Lord reigns, this means He is in control. Let me end , with a prayer,[ Lord I so often feel fear rising within me , it seems so often things are out of control in my life, help me to leave all my fears, frustrations, and worries with you, help me to trust you, my loving heavenly Father, knowing that you are in control, in Jesus name. Amen]

Born again.

You must be born again, this is what Jesus taught,[John 3v7] , it was said to a very religious person, he did not understand what Jesus was saying.In 1 Corinthians 2v14. we are told that the natural person does not understand spiritual truths. The old hymn puts it like this I once was blind but now I see, the new birth is a miracle brought about by the Spirit of God, it takes place when the Spirit of God , moves upon us , we become aware of our need, and see as never before that only Jesus can meet our need, John puts it like this, as many as recieve Christ ,He gaves the right to become a child of God.[ Jn 1v12]

Gentle.

God is many things, a God of justice, wrath, holy,and so on, He is also gentle, so many scriptures show a God of gentleness, one who deals with people in a gentle manner.It is an aspect of God that is so attractive, and appealing, and is a great challenge to me , for so often I am to say the least a bit heavy handed, a bit harsh towards others. the world needs more gentleness.So let us this day be like Him , who was gentle , meek and kind, Jesus.

Srength.

In the book of Neh 8 v10 we are told , that the joy of the Lord is our stength, in that little letter of Philippians the apostle stresses joy, of rejoicing continually, when he wrote those words he was a prisoner. Surely there is a joy in the Christian life that we can experience day by day, it cannot be woe is me all the time. This joy is not based on trivia it is the joy of the Lord, it is something only the child of God has, for only they have the the Lord. There may be many things in your life that are difficult, but just ask the Lord to fill you with His joy.

Preaching.

Although I feel called to preach, I still find it the most challenging of activities, it is not something that comes easy. First of all you have to discover what your going to preach on, most times that is not so difficult, yet it can be, then the preparation, that can be hard work, then the preaching of it, all very challenging.Why do it if it is so hard?, the answer Gods calling.Mybe God has called you , or is calling you , obey it, simply because obedience is what it is all about, that applies to everything, not just that special calling on our lives , everything.

Faith alone.

One of the things the N.T. writers seek to do, is bring a balanced view into their teaching, we are saved by faith alone, through grace, alone. One of my favourite books is by P. Yancey. called, Whats so amazing about grace, a wonderful book. Grace alone ,faith alone,but what about balance in our Christian life?. Well heres how I see it, if you read James and John letters, it appears to me they are simply teaching, the life that has experienced the grace of God , must manifest the reality of that experience, you cant have one without the other.This does not weaken the doctrine of , grace or faith alone, it strengthens it, as our Saviour taught we are known by our fruits.

The path I must go.

Consider our Saviour , consider the path He had to go, and how few really understood where he going , or what He had to do, continually He was misunderstood . There is a lesson in this for all of us, you see God has placed a calling on all our lives, the question is are we following that calling?. In obeying Gods calling on our lives remember , you are leaving yourself open to be misunderstood, and you must take up your cross and follow Jesus, irrespective of what people think or say.

He has a plan and a purpose.

Consider these words from Romans 8 v29 , For God knew His people in advance,and He chose them to become like His Son. You becoming a Christian was not by chance , consider Ephesians 1v4 .Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us, it is a mystery. But there is more, His purpose ,He chose us to become like His Son ,all the events and circumstances of our lives are for this purpose,that we may be like Jesus.

Keeping life in proportion.

It is so easy to loose sight of what we have, the many blessings we have, often we look at life in an unbalanced way.We may be suffering from an illness , but we have medicine, let me encourage you to look for the mercies, life will always have its downside, thats the nature of life, but let us trace the rainbow through the rain. Look up today and give thanks unto God , do it in faith, honour your Lord, give thanks with a grateful heart, in Jesus name.

Keep right on to the end of the road.

The apostle Paul wrote ,I have finished my course,that means he had kept the faith, he had not given up in his following Jesus. If you read his life you would see just how much he had to cope with,2Corinthians. 11v23-27, imprisonments, floggings, being stoned, etc, but he kept his eyes on the prize, on the finish line. A song goes ,are you getting weary in the struggle of it all, well are you? be honest to yourself, and be honest with your Lord,there is a favourite song I often sing, it goes like this,I traveled down a lonely road, and no one seemed to care, The burden on my back drove me to dispair,I oft complained to Jesus how folk were treating me. And then I heard Him say so tenderly. My feet were also weary upon the Calvry road. The cross became so heavy I fell beneath the load. Be faithful weary pilgrim, the morning I can see,Just lift your cross and follow close to Me.

Precious.

There are many things that are precious, you have that little person in lord of the rings, who speaks of the ring as , my precious, and of course this obsessed and destroyed him. It is sad to say that many are obsessed with that which they consider precious,the result ,destruction, our Saviour said what does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and loose his own soul. The most important and precious thing we possess is our souls, we must value that more than anything else, God does, we just have to look to the cross, where Jesus shed his precious blood. in order to save us.

Strength.

Many of us know the story of Samson, the weak strong man, he paid a price for his weakness, we come to the point in the story , were he had his hair cut by the Philistines, He is unaware of what has happened, so we have him saying, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him. the result of this he lost his strength. What can we learn from this? there are many lessons in this story for us to benifite from, here is one,rely on the Lord for the strength, you need for this day, whatever natural abilities we have ,let us never loose sight where are true strength lies. Philippians 4v 13 reads, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

DISCERNMENT.

I watched the God channel ,a young man was standing before a vast audience, ministering, as the T.V. camera swept through that vast audience, I ask the question,how discerning were they?. An old pastor said to me once never loose discernment, very wise advice, be emotional, but also be discerning,ask God to give you discernment, there are so many voices speaking to us, more than ever we need discernment, our Saviour was very discerning, He needed to be, so do we, Crudens in his concordance describes discernment in the following way,understanding, ask and you shall recieve

Angry.

I was in a cafe recently, an elderly person was being served before me, as he give his order it was obivious to me he was hard of hearing, the person serving him did not take this into account, I felt she was rude to him. When it came to my turn to be served, I was served by another assistant, I spoke in a quite manner,expressing my concern as to how the assistant had dealt with that elderly person,I believe the point got home. Ephesians 4v26. tells us to be angry and sin not, there is a lot of things in this world , that are wrong, the danger is we can feel whats the point we cant do anything. or mybe we dont want to, God is never neutral as regards wrong in whatever guise it shows itself. In making our protest we should not be unkind or rude, or condemning,let us remember, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he falls.

Overwhelmed.

I dont know about you , but sometimes one feels a bit overwhelmed, by life , the inward struggle ,the challenge of the Christian life ,you get the picture, someone said to me recently, I appear not to change, not so, outward appearances can be deceptive. The fact of the matter is I struggle I just try to not let people see it, I find the apostle Paul an honest person, he often admits to his struggles, and is humble enough to ask for prayer[Eph 6v 19]. Listen, the Lord uderstands more than anyone , He is fully aware how we feel , He is not judging you, and he would whisper into your heart, THAT HE LOVES YOU, Isaiah 431-3 ,Do not be afraid , for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name ,you are Mine. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown, When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up, the flames will not consume you.For I am the Lord your God.

The Gulf.

Things sometimes happen that brings home to us, the gulf between, what we aspire to be and what we are, our temper surfaces again, just when we thought we were making progress in that area of our lives.What can we learn from this, well, we need to keep relying on the Lord, we are being reminded that saved though we be ,we are still in this body of flesh .Galatians 5v17ff is helpful, for it reminds us that we still have a sinful nature, so we will be prone to sin, but most important we have the Holy Spirit, He is in our lives to help us,v16[Gal 5v16], instructs us , let the Holy Spirit guide your lives,v 25, let us follow the Spirits leading, and in Ephesians 5 v18 ,to be filled with the Holy Spirit. so today let us in the words of a modern song pray , Holy Spirit we welcome you.

Misrepresent

In James 5v11 we read , the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy,as I look back on my life I wonder just how many times, I have misrepresented the Lord in my preaching, conversation ,actions, etc, in Hebrews 1v3 ,we read, The Son radiates Gods own glory and expresses the very character of God,what a person, what a life, He never once misrepresented His Father.God has given us a new day forget the pass, ask God to enable you to rightly represent Him, with all those you come into contact with today.

Turning the other cheek.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and rightly so , he was such a brave person, paid the ultimate price for his cause, death.There is always a price to pay if we are going to take a stand for what we believe in, Jesus said follow me, there must be a price to pay as we respond to His call. Take the challenge to turn the other cheek , the challenge is to not to retallate, but it goes much deeper than this, you remember the words of Jesus on the cross, forgive them, He was not only showing us not to retallate, but also to have a loving and forgiving attitude towards those would seek to hurt us, with words or phyisical force.

The challenge.

I read this today in a daily reading,[ one sanctimonious hypocrite makes a hundred unbelievers]J. Davidson]. The challenge is this ,to be like Jesus,and yet he was hated, to the natural man, there was no beauty in him, nevertheless the challenge is to be like Jesus. Can we rise to this challenge? we must , irrespective of how people react, we are not out to impress people, but we desire to see people coming to know and love Jesus, Jesus said you shall be my witnesses when you recieve the Holy Spirit, may the Lord so fill us with His Holy Spirit, and who knows what may happen.

Anticipate.

One of the important things you learn , when driving, is not to anticipate what another driver is going to do. When it comes to the future we are not to anticipate what is going to happen , if we are honest , we nearly always anticipate the worst. and so we worry. Consider what Jesus said, dont worry about tomorrow,[Matthew 6v34], pray about tomarrow, but live today trusting Him ,who holds all our tomorrows, I love those words in Jeremiah 29 v 11, I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope, so let us stop anticipating the worse.

Great advice.

In James 1v19. we read the following ,You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak,.What great wisdom there are in these word, quick to listen,Chad Varah the founder of the Samaritans, would select volunteers who were not prudish or preachy, he said, the prudish want to sit in judgment and the preachy want to talk and not to listen. One of the great things about our relationship with the Lord is ,He listens, so let not jump in with our pearls of wisdom, let us listen.

Frustrations.

I am sure I am not on my own, when I admit there are times when I feel frustrated,one prays about certain things, sometimes for years, and those things remain unchanged. Here are a few examples, church situations, illness, people, restrictions,and so we could go on, you take one step forward, and then four steps backward.How are we to look at frustrations?.Well ,one lesson I have learned from frustration is patience, if we are going to be like Jesus, and thats Gods purpose for all of us without exception, just consider how patience, God is with all of us, so as we face frustration today remember have patience.

Keep on going.

The most dramatic words in the Bible were uttered by Jesus on the cross,It is finished,[John 19v30], this was a victory cry, He had fully accomplished the work of salvation, He did not give up .The great lesson we can learn from this is not to give up, when things are hard,when your own reasoning says , whats the point, dont give up, I can think of so many who give up for one reason or another. Consider the following, Looking unto Jesus......who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God [Hebrews 12v2] ,the words of a little song comes to mind, it goes,When the road is rough and steep, turn your eyes upon Jesus He alone has power to keep , turn your eyes upon Him.

Nice people.

I know we are all sinners, yet I know a lot of nice non Christians, I work with a lot of nice people, I suppose it is hard for us to believe they are going to hell.I have a nice neighbour a Mr Page, his wife who died was a Christian, he use to repair my boys bike, he is a nice person.I was speaking to him the other day, I mentioned something spiritual, and he just ignored it . Lets never loose sight of this truth ,everyone without exception needs Jesus, even nice people, emotionally we may find this hard to accept, but a loving God tells us it is so, because even nice people are sinners, and need Christ.

Restrictive practices.

On the news we have the sad report of a dear Jehovah witness girl dying because she would not accept a blood transfusion. I thought on this and how our Saviour was faced with regulations and restrictions,and on the other side peoples needs, what did He do? he cut across those rules and regulations, and met the need . The religion of this world has the smell of death about it ,Christ came that we may be free from human bondage, free from man made rules, Jesus said, The thief comes to steal, to kill,to destroy, but He came so that people might have life and have it more abundantly [John 10v10]

Not alone.

A number of years ago Nicky Cruze ,[I hope I have spelt his name correctly] wrote a book called ,Alone yet not Alone, let us take encouragement from this great truth , we have one who is is with us today, and every day, Jesus. Think what that means in your life today , he is with you, dont let the enemy of your soul discourage you, remind him that you are not on your own. tell him that the lord is with you, a little song comes to mind, No never alone, no never alone, He promised never to leave me , never to leave me alone.

What ever.

Often it is hard to have a balanced view ,healing, suffering, those things we could call the opposites, preachers declare Gods power ,and ability to heal , to provide. Now many years ago I went to Bible college,I was married , had three children, and no money, so for the next four years, we had to trust God to meet our needs, and He did, it was hard ,a time of testing, but we got through, we learned valuable lessons.Now there was another couple there, who had to leave college , because of lack of funds, why? I am not even going to attempt to answer that, I dont know, but this I know , what ever the Lord permits us to go through, Romans 8 v28 is true, ALL THINGS ARE WORKING TOGETHER FOR GOOD, TO THOSE WHO LOVE GOD.

Out of sight out of mind.

Often on the news great disastors barely get a mention,in the 19th century in Ireland, one million people died in a potato famine, a terrible thing, much was and is made of this, and rightly so,but about that time ,about eight million people died in India from famine and disease, we only hear of the famine in Ireland. It is it seems sometimes easy to ignor those things that dont affect us,things that should affect us, like abortion, unemployment,the vunerable, the inequalities, the lost, those who have never heard the Gospel, as you hear of tragidies in some far away place,or some place near, involve yourself in prayer,and if possible in helping.

Come.

We have all have recieved invitations,to different events, the Gospel of course is an invitation, to come to Christ ,and know our sins forgiven, and to recieve eternal life. It seems to good to be true, unbelievable, but the wonder of this is, it is true. Now you would think people would be falling over themselves to accept this invitation, but not so ,the vast majority of people ignor ,neglect,and even resent it, strange but true. Let us not despair , God by his wonderful grace saved us, inspite of ourselves, remember ,what He has done for us ,he can do for others ,so keep witnessing and keep on praying,keep on giving out the invitation for people to come, who knows what God will do.

Change.

I am over sixty ,things are changing ,my health is changing for one thing, as I look back on life I can recall many changes, many,technology , social, personal. Change is ever going on , climate change, and so we could go on.There is a verse in Hebrews 13v8, which reminds us of a very wonderful truth , it goes like this, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever. in this changing world ,He remains the same, His love for you and me remains the same, He is not a fair weather friend, here today and gone tomorrow, no, He will love us irrespective of change.

Safe.

In the book of Jeremiah 38v26 we read ,but the Lord hid them, the wicked king Jehoiakim sought to arrest Gods servants, and shut them up, but God kept them safe. I read once of a dear Christian who was being hunted , a spider came and spun its web over the entrance, of were he was hiding, his pursurer saw the web, and moved on. Feel safe today, Psalm 121 v8, tells us ,The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this day forth, and for evermore.

Taller than trees.

There is an old Gospel hymn which goes ,on your knees you are taller than trees, there are more things accomplished by prayer than we could ever realize, have confidence today as you pray. Consider the tremendous potential in your prayers, dont look at your weakness being a problem, its your strength. Unlike people who despise weakness ,not so God , He tells us our weaknesses are our strength , so look up to God and in the name of Jesus ask.

Snuggle dont struggle.

Nice memories are precious, like when your children are babies ,and you hold them in your arms,as they sleep so trusting,to them it is a place comfort and saftey,there they feel secure. There is a lovely verse in Deuteronomy 33v27. which reads ,The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms, why dont we just snuggle into those everlasting arms today, and we will find that we are safe and secure from all alarms.

Our greatest need.

So many people are carrying burdens, financial, physical, the list goes on, there is a story in Mark 2 of a man who was paraliyzed, its a remarkable story[ do read it], two things in the story, faith, Jesus saw faith in Him, to meet the needs , were are we looking , is it to Jesus?. The next thing we see, Jesus , forgiving the mans sins, oh yes He did heal the man, you see what we need first of all is our sins to be forgiving, first things first, thats our greatest need, and that need can only be met through faith in Jesus.

Lost all.

Recently on the news I have heard people saying that they had lost all,and they had ,that is, lost all their material possessions .I do understand what they mean , and my prayers are with them,yet in another sense they had not lost all, they still had their lives, like most people they live purely on a material level. Jesus said, what shall it profit a man if they gained the whole world and lose his own soul [MT 16V26] , to lose ones soul , thats really losing all.

Cutting corners.

I am not the perfect driver, sometimes I cut corners,sometimes it is dangerous, there is a king in the O.T. called Saul ,he cut corners,the result he lost his way,and he lost his throne. Do things Gods way, be truthful, be faithful, and leave God to vindicate you.

The runaway.

There is a man in the Bible called Onesimus[Philemon] , he runaway from his master,his name means useful, but it appears he was anything but useful.You and I will meet people like Onesimus, [mybe we are like him ,or were like him], we might think they are useless, lazy, not trustworthy, well this useless runaway,came into contact with a Christian, called Paul, he heard the good news,that Jesus died for runaways and nogooders,he became a new person, changed. Dont give up on the useless runaways, God doesnt, pray for them , pray for them.

What God can do.

I know God is the God of the impossible, after all one just has to consider creation, we are encouraged to have faith in the God of the impossible.The apostle Paul experienced many dificulties C.P. 2Corinthians 11V22 ff, yet he still believed in the God of the impossible, consider this wonderful verse Ephesians 3v20. Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, what will God do ?,the impossible , have faith in God.

What God cannot do.

Titus 1v2 tells us that God cannot lie,He is a God of truth, all He says He will do,He will fulfill ,He can be trusted completley.Let me ask you, are you filled with doubt? about your salvation, well dont ,remember what God has promised, John the apostle wrote with the purpose of giving assurance to the believers,1 John 4v13 , reads,These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God,that ye may know that ye have eternal life. So cast aside your doubts , and trust the God who cannot lie.

I love.

I love the way the Bible, tells us the good and the bad in humanity, especially the main players, like , David, Jacob,and others.There are a number of reasons for this, to discourage hero worship , to remind us that even the best of people are in the end, sinners, like everyone else. We need not become cynical or despise them , God loved them , just as He loves you and I, the wonder of that love is this ,He knows the best about us, and the worse about us, His love really is unconditional and amazing, let us all look to proof of that unconditial love, the Cross of Christ.

Holiday time again

Just to say I will be on holiday so no new blogs till I come back in a weeks time.

A life of faith.

The Christian life is a life of faith,it means exactly that, so it is ongoing, every day brings new challenges, the book of Hebrews, deals with a people , who were in grave danger of going back on the life of faith , just like the Israelites in the wilderness ,there were reasons ,persecutions ,taking their eyes of Jesus. Let us remember in this life of faith , the enemy of our souls ,and our weaknesses , will be actively seeking to draw us away from God, and the life of faith , so today , ask God to grant you the Grace to carry on in this life of faith, ask and you shall recieve, in the name of Jesus.

He went about doing good.

Often people say im tired, In 2 Thessalonians3v13 [nlt] we read, never get tired of doing good,there are reasons why we may get tired of doing good, those we help may never seem to appreciate what we do for them , they take us for granted, they never say thanks. As a preacher I often wonder why people seem so unresponsive ,let us remember that what ever we do, it should be as unto the Lord , and that one day He wil reward us[Revelation 22 v12], remember its His well done that counts.

I am going to do.

We make our plans, and we plan to do different things, favourite verses of mine , Proverbs 3v5-6[a.v],Trust in the Lord with all thine heart , and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. There are four simple truths in these verses, [1] trust in the Lord completlely. [2] Submit all to God.[3]Ask God to shew you the way in all things. [4]Rest assured , He will guide, and undertake.

I dont need this.

While on holiday recently ,my daughter in law, wanted to go to have a go at making a clay pot, she never got her wish. This reminded me of how God is depicted as a potter, and his people are seen as the clay [Jeremiah 18] .Consider what that may mean , we may cry out , I dont need this, listen God is the potter we are the clay. We may not think we need certain things, but if God permits us to experience whatever, then we do need it, remember God is love ,and He lovingly is making us to be more like Jesus.A.A. Pollard wrote the following. Have thine own way, Lord, have Thine own way , Thou art the potter ,I am the clay, mould me and make me after Thy will, while I am waiting yielded and still.

Charging our batteries.

One of my earlest memories of childhood, is taking a glass battery ,which was used to power the radio, to be charged up. Those of us who run a car ,know what it is ,to have a flat battery, and having , to charge it up, I have a tooth brush that continually needs recharging. The spiritual application to all this is simple, like batteries we become run down, bodily and spiritually, whats the answer ? rest , have a break , take a holiday ,and most important ,wait upon the Lord,for we are told, they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength,[Isaiah 40v31. a.v]

Spoilt for choice.

Unlike former generations, we are spoilt for choice, I remember asking a missionary from Brazil, he worked in the interior ,what was his diet, his reply was beans and rice. Many in this world have few options in life to choose from, but in the west we have , we are spoilt for choice, so lets be grateful for the abundance of Gods provision, and let us remember those who have so little to choose from, by praying, and by our giving, now thats a good choice.

Our lives .

Speaking to a fellow Christian recently , forced into retirement by ill health, he expressed a degree of frustration,which I understand. Frustration is experienced by many of Gods children , it was the Psalmist David , who himself experienced so many frustrations,who wrote in Psalm 31v15, My times are in thy hands[a.v] , my study Bible states, David was expressing his belief ,that all of lifes circumstances are under Gods control, these are very important words, for all of us to hold on to, our times are in Gods hands.

Be like.

Words of a little song comes to mind, it goes like this, Be like Jesus this my song, in the home and in the throng, be like Jesus all day long, I would be like Jesus. Think about what that means for you , what does it mean to be like Jesus ? ,a little child asked a missionary, are you Jesus?, we can be today,how?, by being forgiving, kind,helpful, by our words, and so the list goes on, and yet its not just a list of does and donts. just offer a simple prayer to God today, and ask Him to help you to be like Jesus.

Faithfulness

One of the qualities God desires in our lives is faithfulness, faithful in our giving, praying,faithful in our relationship with Him ,I have put God first, He must always be first, as we read the bible we see time after time people putting others , and things before G0d,so let us rise to the challenge of putting God first. This does not mean that others do not matter, they do., but God must matter most of all. be faithful to Him today.

Remember my chains.

These are the words of a great man of God, [Colossians 4v18] ,suffering takes many forms, today there are many who for the sake of Christ are suffering, remember them . There are those are suffering sickness , remember them, difficult marriages, remember them, mental illness,remember them ,as you listen to the news , of people suffering, remember them,your prayers can make a difference.

Pressure

It seems to me so many of us experience pressures, how are we to cope ? consider the apostle Paul ,2Cor4v8 ff, pressed on every side by troubles, but he says we are not crushed,we are perplexed but not in despair, he was not into denial,he did not put on a show,but he sees troubles like this, v17 For our present troubles are small and wont last very long.Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever. The challenge for us today is to think aright, and we do this by focusing on Gods word and looking to Jesus.

How are you?

Often we ask people , how they are? , out of courtesy, with no real interest in the person , when our Saviour met people, He was always interested in them. in 1 Peter 5v7 we read , Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares for you.People may act in a trival uncaring manner, God does not, we have a loving Heavenly Father , who really cares for us in total,two lines of a poem read, With every pang that rends the heart, the man of sorrows has a part., He would say to you , I know how you are , tell me , and rest assured that I care.

You cant measure it.

Theres a wonderful hymn, about the love of God, here are some of the words of this hymn, [The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can tell, It goes beyond the high-est star ,And reaches to the lowest Hell. Could we with ink the ocean fill,and were the skies of parchment made, Were every stalk on earth a quill, And every man a scribe by trade, To write the love of God above. Would drain the ocean dry, Nor could the the scroll contain the whole,Tho stretched from sky to sky].[ Part of those words were written by a person who was considered insane, the wonder of it all is that , we are loved ,just turn your thoughts to Jesus and think on Calvary, thats how much God loves you.

Favourite Books

One of my favourite books in the Bible is Philippians, I especially like chapter 4, it deals with worry, right thinking, knowing the peace of God, being content, strength to do, partnership , giving, and one of my favourite verses is v19 [av] But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus . I would encourage you read this lovely book and I am sure you will be blessed, as I have been.

The lost

Convince a man against his will and he remains of that opionion still, so one once said. Our Saviour found this to be true , no matter what He said ,or did, people remained unchanged.Many are lost because they refuse to listen, refuse to see, and unless they are prepared to listen, and see , there is no hope. Some of the sad/dest words in the bible are in Matthew 23v37, were Jesus describes Gods pleading to Jerusalem, all to no avail, [ but you wouldnt let Me]. Acts 16v31 exhorts us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ ,and we will be saved, the question is are you listening?,so much depends on this, and are you willing to obey?.

One door closes

I went to my usual barbers recently, it was closed, so I went to another,the person who cut my hair was a young Muslim lad, as he cut my hair I thought it would be hard to have a conversation with him, but to my surprise he started a talk ,that lead me to witness to him about Christ. God does shut doors but He also opens other ones. Remember shut doors are just as much Gods leading, as open doors are.

Pray.Pray. Pray.

In praying we are saying to God that we are depending on Him,the hymn writer wrote, I need you every hour, most gracious Lord. and the fact of the matter is we do. so , pray ,pray , pray. Dont heed your decietful heart , dont listen to the enemy of your soul , your God hears and answers prayer, so again I say ,pray, pray, pray.

Forgetting

Being forgetful is seen as a weakness , but it is the apostle Paul, who exhorts us to ,forget those things which are behind,[Philippians 3v13,[a.v], it is so easy to dwell on the past,so much so that we become prisoners of the past, there are so many of us who are trapped in the past, past failures, successes,hurts,, the way for the christian ,is always forward,our Saviour said we are not to look back,[Luke 9v62] its an unworthy occupation looking back.

Image

What is so special about mankind ?are we just another type of animal?, here is what Gods word says, and God said , Let us make man,in our image,[Gen 1v26], every human being has the stamp of God upon them. Sin has left its mark, but it has not destroyed the image of God, on our being.In Christ that image is being restored, to what it should be. As you look at others , remember no matter how bad, or unlovely, that person may appear,they have been made in the image of God. Love them , pray for them, that they know Christ as there Saviour, for its only in Christ, will that image be fully restored.

Exhortations

When writing his epistles, Paul deals with the theology, and then challenges with exhortations, you see theology is of no use to us, if it does not affect our lives. If we our not more holy, loving,if we are better people for what we believe, then whats the point of our theology, God is not looking for spiritual eggheads. Here are but two of the many exhortations we are challenged with from Ephesians, 5v2 ,Live a life filled with love . v8, Live as people of light.

Concerns

Us, of the older generation remember that old hymn , What a friend we have in Jesus ...what a priveleage to carry everything to God in prayer, this may be an old hymn , but the truth of those words are so important, I visited two old friends last night, they are Christians ,their sons marriage is heading for divorce, I really felt for the whole situation, concerned. What can one do ? the answer, show a loving concern, and take it to the one who fully understands and cares, for it is true in the words of the hymn, no one understands like Jesus.

Dont give up

[ just want to say having problems with my blogg ,it has missed out a day, and is a day behind] There are times when we struggle, of course this is often ,in our hearts, in our minds , we grow weary in the struggle of it all, whatever that all may be, dont give up, whither its in the work of God, with your children, your marriage,Theres an old hymn which says ,God has not promised skies always blue, but He has promised Grace for today, so dont give up,look unto Jesus, your helper, your friend, your Saviour.

Outsider

Ephesians 2 is a chapter written with outsiders in mind, it is dealing with our position before we came to Jesus, our position is summed up in verse12 , without God and without hope, we were trully outsiders.The chapter starts , once you were,in other words a change has taken place in their position ,verse 13, tells us something wonderful has happened,once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him[God] through the blood of Christ, we are no longer outsiders verse 19,no longer strangers and foreigners,we are members of Gods family.

Cost

The cost of so many things affect us, many will be worrying about interests rates ,it continues to concern me the price of houses, how are young people going to afford the price of a home?.Then we hear continually of the cost to the environment caused by many things,I read this today in Ephesians 1v8 He[God] purchased our freedom with the blood of His son, what a cost God had to pay,to save and to deliver us , why ? simple because He loved us.

Listening

Jesus would say he that has ears to hear , let him hear what the Spirit is saying, you see there is a difference between hearing, and listening. God desires us to hear, I think those words in 1Kings 19v12 .[ a still small voice] are so important for you and I. So often people listen to the preacher instead of hearing what God is saying through the preacher.

Privllege

When you are a Christian you are very privlleged, because you have someone with you, that others dont have, you have Jesus. We have an advantage over those who are not Christians, in every situation, difficulty, you have Jesus,think what that means for you today, in all that this day may throw at you, you have Jesus.

Appearance

I must confess im very conscious how I look, I am always buying clothes, I thing about what I should wear, each day, yet I realize, this is not whats important, especially in Gods sight, Im sure we need to have balance in all things,to not judge others for their dress sense, or lack of it, its a matter of choice. we should accept everyone, not on the bases of superficialty,but as God accepts us , with the eyes of love.

Death

Peter Pan ,[To die would be an awful big adventure], not so long ago I passed the cemetery were my first wife is buried,I shook my fists at death, why? because death is an enemy, we were not made to die.Death has come in through sin , so death reings, but one day all will be changed, John 11v25-26 Jesus said I am the resurrection , and the life, he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live,and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die

Favourite

We all have our favourite things ,in music ,T.V, programes ,people, etc, but sometimes we can carry this into our relationship with God, surely He has his favourites, there was a lady in my church , who use to think this. Let me say what Gods word has to say about this , Galations 2v6. [God has no favourites] He loves you just as much as he loves me,for we are all his favourites

Unsettled

In Deuternomy 32v11ff , we read of the eagle stirring up its nest, the context is that of God leading , protecting and providing ,is He stirring you up? are you feeling unsettled? are you feeling challenged?, trust your Lord ,and go forward,the God of ancient Israel is still the same , He will protect and provide for you, and most important He will be with you.

Gratitude

I must confess I get annoyed when you do something for someone and they dont say thanks, mybe there is some person you should say thanks to, today. God likes us to say thanks,for all He has done for us [Philippians4v6] and especially for JESUS, 2 Corinthians 9v15 , reads [ Thank God for this gift too wonderful for words] so, give thanks.

Pretending

Lets start with a question, was Judas just pretending to be a disciple ? theres an old song which goes , oh yes im the great pretender, well listen, you can fool some of the people some of the time , but none of us can fool God.Consider Psalm 139, God knows everything about us , so lets stop pretending

Reputation

Proverbs 22v1 Choose a good reputation over great riches, being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold, it is important how we live,I remember my then manager asking me to deliver a file to a certain place, it was important, she said , she knew that I was dependable. Reputation it is important, honesty, faithfulness, caring, etc, so today , make a decision, choose to have a good reputation.

Responsible

Just returned from holiday, enjoyed it ,yet it did not just happen, it took planning, let me say I believe in the sovereignty of God , but I also believe in mans responsiblity. Theres an old song, with the following words , oh we will never get to heaven in a rocking chair , for the Lord wont let any lazy bones there .The great sovereign God asks the question ,Whom shall I send ? [Isaiah 6v8], the prophet answers , here am I, send me, consider the words of an old hymn, [Theres a work for Jesus ,ready at your hand, Tis a task the Master, just for you has planned ] , now let us be responsible.

Holidays

I will be on holiday for the next week,so no blogs till I come back,I enjoy writing my blogs, I hope they bless. The word holiday comes from the idea of an holy day, let us make everyday a holy day , holidays speaks of rest, but let also remember in Jesus we find rest ,just an other little thought some of us can feel guilty if we are not doing , dont , we are not machines, we need holidays, thank God for them and enjoy them.

Helpers

There are the hinders and the helpers,I wonder what I am? I hope I am a helper, Martin Luther King, Jr, said many memorable things,he said the following,[that when he died he would like someone to say,he tried to give his life serving others,he tried to love somebody,tried to feed the hungry,to clothe the naked,to visit someone in prison], and then he quoted and old hymn, which goes like this,[If I can help somebody as I pass along, if I can cheer somebody with a word or song, if I can show somebody he is traveling wrong, then my living will not be in vain, if I can do my duty as a Christian ought,if I can bring salvation to a world once wrought, if I can spread the message that the Master taught, then my living will not be in vain.] may God give us the grace to be a helper today.

LAW

What is the purpose of the law ? first it shows what is required of us,it is not a matter of debate, have you ever tried to argue with a traffic warden? its to no avail as far as the traffic warden is concerned, we have broke the law. Secondly we have to pay the penalty. Let us consider Gods law, it shows us what is required , it is not a matter of debate ,and the fact of the matter is we all have broke the law of God, and that means we have to pay the penalty, eternal punishment, but here is the good news , Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law.[Galatians 3v13]

Promises

WE all know the importance of keeping our word, and we all without exception have failed in this. We all have experinced the disapointment of being let down by some friend who faithfully promised a certain thing , promised to repay a loan, and did not. Psalm 146v6 tells us a wonderful reassurancing truth,[ He[God] keeps every promise forever] so trust Him completly to both fulfil His word , and to keep His word.

Fate / Luck

People believe in these things ,fate , luck,its like evolution, what do they mean to the ussers?,in a real sense ,these terms have become substitutes in place of faith in a Sovereign God, a rejection of a Sovereign God. As a Christian I declare simply , I believe in a Sovereign God, it is a declaration of faith, not feelings, not even facts, the bible declares the just shall live by faith , so by faith, I declare God reigns, and rules over all the affairs of mankind .

Names

There are many who do not like their name,so they change it by deed poll, or they keep it,secretly disliking it, or like inspector Morse never mentioning it.I personally like my name, William, though I have not figured out how William becomes Bill. There is one name I love above all others, Jesus, my Saviour and Lord.

Be still

My mum used to say to me ,can you not sit still for 5 min, when you are child its hard to be still, many of us adults still find it hard to be still,there are many reasons for this . here is a verse for all those who cant sit still for 5 min,Psalm 46v10, Be still, and know that I am God.

Love

So much could be written about love , I work among those who suffer from mental illness, I have for the last 17 yrs,I love my work ,I believe God put me in it ,they are my parish, what have I learned in this job?. patience ,.Consider how patient God is with us, why ?, because, He loves us.The challenge we are faced with is this, to show this aspect of love, this patience ,where God has placed us.

Some days

Some days things happen that can throw us, it is the nature of life , some days we struggle with life, dont despair, God is on the throne,He will remember His own, He has not left you, Job in his darkest hour said ,I know that my redeemer lives ,and He does, Hebrews 13v5 [I will never leave you, nor forsake you] ,hope on, trust on.

Condemnation

It must be awful to be in death row, waiting to be executed,condemnation is to say the least, is a heavy burden to carry,before we know Christ the bible says we are condemned,Romans3v23 declares ,all have sinned,but of course when we trust Jesus ,Romans8v1 tells us the wonderful news ,we are no longer condemned, we are forgiven ,and accepted by God.

Peace

So many are at war within themselves , there are of course many reasons for this, consider, the following ,Jesus is the prince of peace,and through him we can know peace with God, and the peace of God. Consider Romans 5v1 ,faith in Christ as Saviour gives us peace with God,next consider Philippians 4v6-7,daily communion in prayer results in the peace of God

Perfection

We often say no ones perfect, of course we agree with this , sort of, the Bible says we are all sinners, again we sort of agree with this, for it brings a new dimension into the picture, God and us, and thats more serious, very, Hebrews 10v14 ,tells us God has solved the problem through Jesus and his death

Mistakes

Yesterday I made a mistake ,in regards to my blog ,I pressed the entry button, when I should not have,I was not sure how to undo it. this had me consider the question of mistakes, the fact of the matter is, we all make mistakes, take driving , I have been asked, am I good driver,I replied , sometimes, the fact of the matter is we all make mistakes,let us remember to err is human, only God is perfect,and never makes a mistake .

Ask God

There are many wonderful people in the bible, we can learn so much from there lives,take Joshua, the successor to Moses, how would feel if you had been him






There are many wonderful people in the bible, we can learn so much from them,their lives ,and ministries, Have you got a favourite?.One of my favourites is Jeremiah,there is so much one could say about him, I just mention two things , his faithfullness, and his persevance, ask God to grant you these two very important qualities .

Cover your back

Under investigation, in so many areas of life, you have to watch your back,if you dont then you will be under investigation,or you will be criticized .This affects an awful lot of people,and an awful lot of people are affected by it, we need continually to pray against this,we are not to live under this oppression, the Psalmist declares[ I will fear no evil,for thou art with me. Ps23v4]

Bad News/ Good News

Psalm 112v7 , reads[ they do not fear bad news , they confidently trust the Lord to care for them] [NLT] ,If we are a child of God ,He is our loving heavenly Father,our Saviour taught ,your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, so dont worry about tomarrow, surely thats good news.

Hope

In the little room of my sons hangs a saying,[No God no peace, Know God peace] . Some of the saddest words I read in the Bible are to be found in Ephesians 2v12 [without God and without hope] . 1Corinthians 13v13 reads [three things will last forever -faith,hope,love] .In psalm 42v11 we read [Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God]. All this comes through Christ ,so today let hope arise.

Feelings or Faith?

Bob Gass wrote[ feelings have nothing to with living the Christian life] , the fact of the matter is we are full of feelings,the Christian life is a life of faith.Our circumstances can be difficult,like Jacob of old we may feel everything is against you, but take note ,if God is for you and He is,all will be well,have faith in God [Mark 11v22]

Keeping our eyes on the ball

The account in Matthew 14v22-32 is very instructive,Jesus walking on the water,and Peter ,dear Peter,we see in Peter , so much of ourselves,he stepped out , wonderful, but, then he takes his eyes of the Lord, and he begins to sink,in Hebrews 12 v2 we read [ keeping our eyes on J ESUS] ,LETS KEEP OUR EYES ON JESUS.

The HEART

I preached on the annointing of David, the challenging verse is [1 Samuel16v7]the point being,people judge by outward appearance,but the Lord looks at the heart. seems clear to me, yet to my amazement, a brother started to go on about body piercing and ,ties,etc,mybe i am looking at the scripture wrongly,but it does seem to me, whats most important, is the heart.

Waiting on God

I know a person , who collects timetables,most of us have our own timetable, its now ,so many of us are like a little child, who stamps its feet , and cries out, I want it now.There was a particular thing I wanted , I prayed for it for 25yrs,and then I got my request . James 1v4[a.v] tells us to let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire ,wanting nothing,this is just one aspect of waiting on God,but an important one.

The sovereignty of God

The Sovereignty of God is a great mystery, like many of the truths we hold to,one will never fully understand it , what we are called to do,is to believe it.Think about what that means in your situation, and declare by faith, God is sovereign.

Two sides of the coin

I have just been looking a Psalms 90-91 ,the Psalms of Moses,they are prayers , of contrast, one dwells on how transient life is,the mood of the psalm is dark ,consider v9[niv] we finish our years with a moan. The next dwells on encouragement , on God, who saves,comforts,protects.,the question is, what are we going to dwell on ?

JESUS

Do you ever look at a scenic view , and are filled with wonder at the beauty of it ,yet the greatest wonder of all ,Jesus loves us, yes us ,you and me ,now thats a wonder.

The word of God

The Psalms have so much to say to us, consider words like Psalm 119v11, [your word have i hidden in my heart that i may not sin against thee] some person said ,the word of God will keep us from sin, sin will keep us from the word of God,read the word of God ,memorize it, obey it

Burdens

Psalm 55 v22 reads [cast thy burden upon the Lord,and He shall sustain thee:He shall never suffer thy righteousness to be moved.[he will never let the righteous fall] its all so easy to do ,yet so often ,we dont , try it today.

Grace

Recieved a loan of a lovely C/D ,called [your still God] by Godfrey Birtill ,one track on it has these words , [ Oh outrageous grace, Oh outrageous grace] an old man asked me the meaning of grace, it is recieving what we dont deserve, from start to finish, through Christ ,it trully is ,outrageous grace.

Honour God

1 Samuel 2 v30. reads, them that honour me i will honour them,it lays two things before us, what we are to do, honour Him, what He will do,He will honour us, this is the challenge facing us today.

pray

One thing we can never do, to much of is to pray,we can spend to much ,eat to much, talk to much, but we can never pray to much.

God speaking

I preach on regular bases, it never ceases to amaze me how God helps in giving me words to preach,I wonder just how many times I have preached? many, many times . Preaching is many things, an adventure into the unknown, with hopefully God guiding, There are three stages , first , discovering what to preach, secondly, studying it, thirdly preaching it. I preached a word yesterday on Psalm 14, I had three points, [1] The unbeliever. [2]The unbelievable statement. [3]The ultimate security. There is benefit in having points , a local minister I know is being criticised , because he does not always use three points,to that I would say, the problem is not the minister . Moving on ,I was driving in my car recently, and I was feeling hard done by,I turned on the radio ,BBC, 4, and I heard someone singing an old hymn ,by John Bunyan, just the first verse, it goes like this,{ He who would valiant be, gainst all disaster, let him in constancy ,follow the Master,Theres no discouragement shall make him once relent, His first avowed intent, to be a pilgrim} God had spoken to me.

God leading

It does appear in the bible that God leads, and yet at times to actually know the way to go ,appears difficult, to say the least, even when we pray about it, yet for all that I believe God does lead us.I wonder would you agree, that for many of the O.T saints,leading was very clear, they knew what to do,and where to go, the problem was they often did not want to go and do what God told them to do. Jonah is the most obvious example. In Acts 16v6-8 ,Paul and Silas where twice prevented going in a certain way by God [two terms are used there the Holy Spirit ,and the Spirit of Jesus] could it be that God simply shut the door, let me say this shut doors,are just as important in GOD leading us , as open doors are, it is simply God leading us in another direction in order for us to get where He is taking us to.In Psalm 107v7 we read ,He[God] led them forth by the right way,I believe with all my heart that God leads us in the right way , He makes no mistakes, trust Him.

tempation

I have been thinking today about temptation,the thought came to me , everyone without exception is tempted, everyone you see and know, experiences temptation,so do not envy anyone. I found myself singing an old hymn today ,it goes like this,{Yield not to temptation for yielding is sin, Each victory will help you some other to win, fight manfully onward, dark passions subdue, look ever to Jesus, He will carry you through. Ask the Saviour to help you , comfort, strengthen and keep you, He is willing to aid you,He will carry you through .},simple advice, then do it.

Follow on

Back again, thoughts on preaching, did i ever want to give up?, I am not sure, would I ever decide I have had enough, again I am not sure , its not an easy calling, the one thing a preacher wants is a goodly number of people to preach to ,yet most of my ministry has been to small numbers. Does this really matter? well all I can say is I would rather preach to a few, than not preach at all, consider our Saviour He often spoke to individuals, one of his greatest messages was to Nicodemus, John.3. So small can be beautiful,and have eternal importance

preaching

Here goes . my blog is called Bill the preacher, simply because preaching is so much part of my life, it has an inner compulsion about it , that never seems to go away. There are many calls in life in general , acting, writing,etc ,they are all important , yet the call to preach is different, those other calls are valid but preaching is concerned with Gods word which gives to it a special uniqueness .It gives unto the preacher a very special responsiblility, faithfulness to that word, subjects , like,sin,hell,creation, miracles, may not go down well in these times, nevertheless, one must speak on them,it is an interesting translation of , Matthew . 22v37. where we are told about loving God it mentions the mind/ intellect , this is not saying we should not use are intellect , of course we should, the problem is our minds have been affected by sin , our minds need renewed .We often look through a distorted vision ,the unsaved person cannot understand , spiritual truths, they lean on there own understanding,we who are saved , must not fall into the same trap. This is all for now.