The God of Joshua. [ Ephesians 3 v 20 ]

In the book of Joshua chapter four we have , Israel experienced a miracle, God caused the river Jordon to dry up, this was at a time when Jordon flooded its banks. There were a number of reasons why God did this, firstly to let the nation cross over, which they did, also to strenthen their faith, they were going to face many difficulties , God was showing them that He was with them, and all his resources were at their disposal. If we are Christians it is important to remind ourselves that whatever we have to face ,God is with us, yes the God of Joshua is our God. [Father help us to trust you in every situation, help us to trust and not be afraid, for you are with us, in Jesus name I ask this, Amen.]

Feeling condemned [1 John 1v1-10 ]

It is J Meyer who points out that there is a difference in being condemned and feeling conviction, if we have trusted Jesus as our Saviour, the Bible tells us we are no longer condemned [Romans 8 v1], this means that I am accepted by God, and because my relationship is based on Grace, my acceptance is permanent, and cannot be changed. Conviction arises when we commit some sin, or when we begin to stray in anyway from the path of righteousness, it is the work of the Spirit to convict, it is our responsiblity to respond to that conviction, to refuse to act is a serious matter, and brings consequences to our fellowship with the Lord. [Father we praise You for saving us freely, by your wonderful grace, through faith in Jesus your Son, help us in our walk with you to keep the slate clean, Amen.]

Falling over. [Joshua 7v19 ]

When you are an adult and you fall over,the thing you feel is mainly embarrassment, I remember while on holiday, a friend fell over, I went up to ask her how she was, and she shouted at me , I quietly walked away, she was embarrassed. Now if truth were told we fall over more than we would admit, oh I dont mean literally, falling over, I mean in our walk with Jesus, lets be honest, we put on a good front, but we know we have fallen, and how embarrassed if others had seen us. When Adam and Eve fell they started to blame others, instead of being honest and admitting their sin to God, we are all like our first parents, God would say to all of us stop hiding behind our excuses, and be honest with Him. [ Father help us to see how vital it is to be honest in our relationship with you , grant us the grace to not hide behind excuses, in Jesus name I ask this, Amen. ]

Detour. [I Samuel 15 v1-23]

If one drives a car ,one knows about detours, suddenly instead of getting to your destination, quickly, you have to go a longer way, often it is not convenient, and above all else it goes against our natural desire to get to our chosen destination as soon as possible. In the Bible we read of one of the longest detours ever recorded, Israel had come out of Egypt ,heading for the promised land, a journey that should have taken eleven days, but instead it took forty years, now thats a long detour. Reasons for this was, disobedence, one of the most important lessons, they had to learn was ,obedience, as with them so with us, no matter who you are ,the main thing God wants from you and I ,is very simply, obedience. [Father forgive us for our disobedience, not loving as we should , not doing what you command, please help us to be your obedient children, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen .]

A bargain [Roman 6 v23 ]

Most of us like a bargain, one of my boys likes shopping at charity shops, because of the bargains he is able to pick up, just this week I bought another jacket in my favourite store. I liked it , and it was at a bargain price, I have not yet told my wee wife, she does not understand me, I will keep it my little secret. Anyway it is nice to get a bargain, and of course the greatest bargain is the Gospel, it is freely offered, although it cost God everything, anyone can recieve it, and I mean anyone, yes even you. The Gospel means good news, of a Saviour, who died for sinners, like you and me, through receiving Him we can know forgiveness,and recieve eternal life, now that trully is a bargain. [ Father thank You for the greatest bargain there is, in Jesus your Son, thank You that He is freely offered to everyone, Amen ]

Im not God. [Philippians 2v 5- 11]

It was Cromwell who said , consider young man you may be wrong,and it was W. Churchill, who said of an M.P. there goes God but for the grace of God, man know your place. I was listening to some scientists on the radio,speaking as if they were God, they spoke as if they have arrived at the fullness of knowledge, instead of realizing they are on a journey. We are all on a journey, it is were we arrive at, thats what, is important.The Christian is one who is not alone on that journey,for God in his Son Jesus is with them, and on that journey they are to do right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with their God [Micah 6v 8 ] [ Father forgive us for our lack of humility, forgive us for usurping your place ,and help us to be more like Jesus, even though He was God,He manifested supreme humility, Amen.]

Old Friends.[John 15v12-17 ]

During my life time God has blessed me with dear friends, many I have lost contact with, I heard recently that two old friends have become Christians, mybe you need to pray for your old friends, God just may answer your prayer. Friendship is so important to me, I trully value my friends, and hope to make new ones, God always seems to bring someone into my life, even just for a season, or longer. My dearest and closest friend is Jesus, I really mean this, I talk to Him every day, and He talks to me, but often we dont say much to each other, I just know He is there, sometime those quite times are the best times, as the old Gospel song says ,He is my forever friend, I do hope you Know Him, as your friend, and Saviour. [ Father thank you for the gift of friends, thank you also for your friendship in Jesus. Amen ]

Successful. [Judges 7v1-8]

When I was born, Im told a neighbour cried when she saw me, I was so small, but I survived. The Bible has much to say about smallness , why? simply this ,God gets the glory . Yet if you are a preacher, you want success, you want to see the church full to overflowing, but it seems that it does not happen, this is the day of small things, when was the last time you heard of people being saved? it rarely seems to happen, we remain small, working in our weakness. So what can we learn from this?, for in all of the experiences of life, there are lessons to be learnt. God is working his purpose out, and it so often through the small, the weak, that He is doing this. [ Father often we struggle with our weaknesses, we feel, if only we were free from them , we would be more successful, even more fufilled, help us to see that all things are in your Sovereign hands, even our weaknesses, in Jesus name I ask this ,Amen.]

A special day [Luke 15v11-32 ]

For me Easter Sunday is a special day , as a youngster I had trusted the Saviour, in a childrens meeting, the speaker was known as the Hallelujah milkman, I remember the story he told about sin and I believed on Jesus to save me, and He did. My Christian life began, but as I grew up , my Christian life stopped and started, when I had reached my late teens, it had stopped,until that Easter Sunday, standing at the corner of a street, I asked two neighbours who were on their way to church, could I go with them, they agreed, and that evening God spoke to me, once again ,I felt my need of Christ, and I surrendered my life afresh to Him, that was Forty Three Years ago, I have never forgotten that special day. [ Dear Lord Jesus thank You for salvation that free gift, thank you for loving us even when are love for you is weak, even when we stray from you, Amen. ]

Are you feeling the squeeze?. [Mark 4 v1-20.]

More and more those reminders to all of us ,of Spiritual realities are being squeezed out of life, Christmas has become a consumer binge, Easter is for many just a reason to escape, and gradually consumerism is taking over. Now I like shopping ,we all are consumers, nor am I trying to dictate to anyone , but I am saying this , dont let whatever, squeeze out those Spiritual realities in our lives. Enjoy the things of life , but dont let them consume you, be they sport, habits, buying, selling, whatever, as a J.P.Phillips translation of Romans 12v2, reads ,[ Dont let the world squeeze you into its mould ] [Father I thank you for the many blessings of life I enjoy, for every good and perfect gift, please help me to see beyond the gifts ,to you the Giver, may nothing take Your place in my life. in Jesus name I ask this, Amen.]

Good Friday.[ Luke 23 v39-43 ]

For every one looking on , at Christ on the cross it,it appeared the end for Jesus, after all death has that meaning to it, the disciples felt it was the end for them also , no more Jesus to teach them , no more witnessing His miracles, no more listening to his words, no more anything just memories, they had hoped for so much more. Then there were those who must have felt relief at his death , glad even, that this trouble maker was at last out of the way, things could settle down, He would no longer be a pain in their side. But there was one exception, just one, we read of, a thief, a thief who in his darkest hour, had a sudden revelation, a saving revelation, for he saw not just another victim, but one who was dying for him, dying for his sins, he called on Jesus and was granted eternal life, amazing but true. [Father on this good friday I simple want to thank you, for Jesus, for His dying for me, on that cross, for my sins ,Amen.]

Bread. [ Mark 14 v26-38 ]

I like bread, my favourite is soda farls, a Northern Ireland speciality, best fried, I suppose thats one of the reasons why they have a very high rate of heart problems. Bread has been seen as the staff of life, a vital part of mans diet, somthing we feel we cannot live without, to me it is symbolic, of many things. Consider the many things you feel , that you cannot live with out?, now consider if those things were withdrawn from you. This is what happened to Israel they went hungry, God permitted this to happen, Why? here is the answer, that they would understand , that they should not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God [Matthew 4 v4 ] , so dont be surprised if God withdraws certain things from your life, in order to teach you valuable lessons. [ Father I know you love me so much, and I know you have a loving purpose for my life,as You teach me lessons, help me not to rebel,but to trust you in all things, I ask this in the name of Jesus, Amen ]

Sensitive. [Ephesians 6 v10-18 ]

I wonder am I sensitive?, I suppose I am a mixture , sensitive and insensitive, often I get the balance wrong, as indeed we all do. The word of God tells me that I have within me the Holy Spirit , we are told that our bodies are temples. We are told we can grieve Him, that we can even resist Him, yet He continues with us, convicting, guiding,and comforting us. Today let us yield ourselves afresh to Him , let us be sensitive to His presence in our lives, we need to be filled afresh ,daily, for it is only in His strength , will we be able, to live as we should, in obedience to the word of God, and so glorify our Saviour. [Father fill me afesh with your Spirit,and so accomplish in me today, some new work of loving grace, unreservedly have your way, I ask this in Jesus name, Amen.]

So many burdens. [Isaiah 41 v 10 ]

Burdens , so many people are carrying them, behind many a smile there is often a burdened person, mybe as you read this you are carrying a burden, a financial burden, the burden in your marriage, with your children, a burden of ill health. The world is a burdened place , what can one do , despair? turn to drink, or comfort eating, or shop till we drop,when Iwas a child, I loved going to the cinema , it was a little world I could loose myself in, but I am no longer a child , So what does one do ? Well I have found one who first of all took my burden of sin , He removed that awful burden , no one else could, His name is Jesus, then I found in Jesus one who undertakes in every situation, one who says cast your burden upon Me and I will sustain , and support you. [Father thank You that You see all our burdens, burdens that could so easily destroy us, burdens that can crush us , thank you , that you are not just a spectator but one who involves Himself in our situations, one who tells us not to despair, so in the name of Jesus, we cast all our burdens upon You, Amen.]

A Maze.[Psalm 23.]

Life is sometimes like a maze in which we dont know the way out, sometimes we dont know which way to go for the best, so we need to fix our minds on Gods word, which continually reminds us that , there is one who goes before us leading the way. There are times in which I look back and I am amazed how God has lead me, the hymn writer wrote ,[All the way my Saviour leads me, what have I to ask beside? Can I doubt His tender mercy who through life has been my guide. Life in its very nature is uncertain ,but for us who are children of God, we have this wonderful assurance that we are being lead, I read these two verses , the first in Psalm31v15 it reads [ My future is in Your hands.]the next is in Psalm 32v8. [The Lord says, I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.] , so in all your ways ackowledge Him and He will direct your paths. [Lord sometimes I am fearful about the future, thank you that you do not leave us to flounder in uncertainity, but gentle remind us, that you will lead and guide us all the days of our lives, thank you Lord Jesus, Amen.]

Change. [ 2 Corinthians 5 v17 ]

Life is full of change , the weather, our bodies,circumstances, etc, it means so often we have to adopt to those changes . This is Palm Sunday the day our Savior rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, the crowds cheered Him but there was also those who feared Him, why should they fear Jesus , because He was seen as a threat, one who threatened the status quo, they did not want what He offered, change . Let us ask the question, are we prepared to accept the challenge of change in our lives, to accept Christ as our Saviour ?, this is a decision that will trully change our lives, and will be a change for the better. [ Father thank you for Jesus, who will always change our lives for the better, Amen. ]

Blindness [ Hebrews 11v6 ]

Many years ago I had a workmate who was blind ,he sought to live an independant life, but he still needed someone at times to help him, the simple fact is he could not see , so at times ,he had to trust himself to others. Many people want to see what lies ahead, but the fact of the matter is ,they cant, the Bible says we walk by faith, that simply means we trust God to lead and guide us, there is no crystal ball, there is simply trust,consider these words from Hebrews 11,[ By an act of faith,Abraham said yes to Gods call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. T M.] To the natural man this can appear madness, but it is Gods way for His children, and is the best way.[ Father I come to you in faith, you are invisible to the natural eye, help me to trust , your leading, help me to see were my true security lies, help me to trust in You at all times, in Jesus name I pray this, Amen.]

God hates me. [ Romans 5v 1-11 ]

There are people who think God hates them, and I am sure there are many who feel God does not like them. One of my favourite authors is Philip Yancey, my favourite book of Philips is, Whats so amazing about Grace, and of course the God of all Grace , does not hate ,or dislike anyone, His very nature is love, if you doubt this, I want you to simply look to the cross, P.Yancey, quotes a line from Mozarts Requiem, [Remember, merciful Jesus, that I am the cause of your journey,] He remembers, Let us all remember that God is love, and that means He loves all of us. [Father in heaven ,thank You for loving me, thank you for Calvary love, that while I was a sinner, Christ died for me, Amen.]

Atheism. [ Acts 1v1-8]

I spoke to a person yesterday who was a atheist, someone who dismissed a belief in God, blaming all the worlds wars on religion, I also listened to an atheist on the radio this week. I believe there are two types of atheist, those who intellectually say there is no God, and those who live as if there is no God. There are reasons why people are atheist, it is a stronghold, I was so conscious of my weakness in speaking to that athiest, all one can do is to leave it with God. God is Sovereign, let us remember this in our witnessing, all we are asked to do is be faithful, and leave the results in Gods hands. [ Father I am not able to save anyone, salvation is your business, yet I am responsible to be a witness, help me to be faithful, for Jesus sake , Amen. ]

Despair.[2 Kings 6v13-17]

There was a young man who despaired, we read about him in 2Kings6 v15, but there was a man of God,who brought hope into the situation . There are many people today who are filled with despair, even some Christians, God will bring you into contact with them , that you may bring hope to them, that you may speak a word that will lift their gloom,that you may tell them, how God has helped you in the past, you may even be able to pray with them, that their eyes may be opened,as to what God can do in their lives, and how he can undertake for them, you can make a difference to someone today. [ Father use me this day to encourage someone , fill me with Your Spirit, speak through me, work through me,in Jesus name I ask this, Amen.]

Thank You. [ 1 Corinthians 13. ]

Rudeness is something we can do without, years ago there was a T.V, personality called Gilbert Harding, I remember him as being rude, Im sure he had good qualities, but it was his rudeness that I remember.Now if I am honest, there are times I have been rude, I hope ,not to many times, I try not to be rude, but I do slip up. To me the most challenging chapter in the Bible is ,1Corinthians 13. particulary in a modern translation, it is a chapter every Christian should read regularly,and meditate on, v4, reads like this,Love is patient and kind, love is not jealous or boastful or proud or Rude. [Father forgive those times I have been rude,help me this day to always act in a loving way, in Jesus name I pray this, Amen.]

We can Stand. [Matthew 7 v 24-27]

It is very stormy today , I hear the wind and rain as I print this, our Saviour illustrated a wonderful truth, by referring to storms that come into our lives. There are different things that we class as storms, lonlineliness, bereavement, the list is endless, but the storms are real, the question is this how do we cope with the storms that may even threaten to destroy us, here is what Jesus said, Anyone who listens to my teaching, and follows it, will survive the storms of life. I personally have survived bereavement , financial difficulties,unemployment, and numerous other things, and have proved the truth of what Jesus taught. [ Father thank you for sending Jesus, He trully is an anchor in the storms of life, help me today ,in whatever storm I am facing, to trust and not be afraid, Amen.]

A Prisoner. [Psalm 27.]

I was reading Psalm 27, what a wonderful word we have from God, it opens with these words, The Lord is my light and my salvation-so why should I be afraid?.Speak those words over to yourself continually, let them take root in your heart, when fear comes in,, chase it out with those words, I know from experience how easily fear can take root, how you wake up in the middle of the night,and dwell on a problem , and fear overcomes us.I pass on these words which I read in my study Bible, [Fear is a dark shadow that envelops us and ultimately imprisons us within ourselves ] let us remind ourselves ,that because the Lord is our light and salvation we need not to be a prisoner of fear.[ Father I am so often attacked by situations and circumstances that can cause me to become a prisoner of fear, forgive me and grant me the grace of faith that will enable me to live free from fear, I ask this in Jesus name, Amen]

Home. [John 14 v1-6.]

What do you think of when you think of home?your childhood home, your present home,like me my homeland, all these conjure up different feelings. The important thing is nome of these,homes, are permanent, two of the homes I lived in , in Belfast, have been demolised, no going back, let us remember if we are Christians , our permanent home is heaven, there we will know true security, harmony, love, and the abiding presence of Him who said to his followers ,I go to prepare a place for you. [John 14v2] . [ Father I thank you for providing me with a home, have mercy upon the homeless, I thank you that I have a home in glory land that outshines the sun, an eternal home, were I will live eternally with You, thank you in Jesus name, Amen.]

Hurdles [2 Timothy 4 v 7-8 ]

Often when writing about the Christian life the apostle Paul likens it unto an athletic event,like me, you may never have participated in athletics. The hurdles always appears to be difficult to me , running and stretching, and if you get it wrong you knock over the hurdle, and in the process fall , and you are out of the race. There are Christians , who stumble and fall at particular hurdles, and it appears they are out of the race, no longer going on with Christ, when I was young,this happened to me, mybe it has happened to you also, the good news is, we can as I did come back into the race, and even finish it, Peter the apostle fell flat on his face, when he denied his Lord, but the Lord forgive him and restored him by His outrageous grace. [Father help us all, to not despair, when we fall at particular hurdles in life, in thy mercy forgive , and restore us , in Jesus name.]

But it is cold [Revelation 3v14-22]

I am often reminded that swimming is good for me, I can swim, just about , but the fact is I rarely swim , because no matter how much people lie to me , come on in ,it is lovely, I know from experience that the water is cold. I do not like the cold , either cold people, or cold weather, I suppose many people feel this way as to the weather,and that is why of course many go to live in sunny Spain. As I write this I am reminded of a Chritian I knew many years ago, in Belfast, he was on fire for God, but then something happened, he lost the fire, he became cold towards God, I did not judge him but it made me cry. [Father it is so easy to slip away from You , so easy to let slip the things that matter, our relationship with You, in Your mercy keep us, dont let us become spiritually cold, for the sake of Your dear son I ask this, Amen.]

Its the Others. [Matthew 7 v1-5]

It has become a popular way of replying to the the question, how are you, it is the others, a somewhat funny reply, or so it seems. These words, it is the others, puts the onus on others , , if we read the gospels , our Saviour so often reminded those who put the onus on others, that they needed to deal with the their failings to love,and to stop judging others. Take a modern day example , why am I the only perfect driver on the road ?, sounds a bit silly, of course it is ,the fact of the matter is, there are no perfect drivers, we are all part of the problem, so the challenge to all of us is, let love be the ruling principal in our lives, [ Father forgive me for not being honest, for not facing up to my own faults, and failings, help me as I come into contact with imperfect people , to remember that I am imperfect, I ask this in Jesus name,Amen. ]

Dont Give Up. [1 kings18v 41-46]

One of the great truths I dicovered early in my Christian life,is that truth called the ,Pereverance of the Saints, it brings a balance to the doctrine of the sovereignty of God. This great truth lays an empahasis on personal responsibilty, you really cant be saved and live any old way, also this truth encourages us to press on, it times of trouble, it encourages us to keep on keeping on. There are so many aspects of life that this truth applies to, take prayer , while we are to avoid vain repetition, prayer involves perseverance, not giving up, I believe in that perevering, God is creating Christlikeness in us, consider how He perseveres with us, so I would encourage us all to persevere. [Father thank that you never give up on us, you keep on loving us, help us to be like you, and not give up in the task you have given us, and with those you have intrusted to us, in Jesus name I pray this, Amen]

Hope [Mark 5v25-34]

Think of all the people who came to Jesus in the N.T. what one stands out to you? , a good question , I admire the lady who suffered from the issue of blood [Mark 5v25-34]. This lady had suffered from this complaint fot twelve years,she had spent all her money seeking for a cure, all to no affect . What despair she must have felt, humanely speaking there was no hope, she may have given up hope , she may have felt all was to no avail, she must have prayed every day, for twelve long years, and nothing happened, how would you feel if you were her? . Then something happened she heard of Jesus, she came to Him, secretly , but with faith, she speaks to herself, if I can only touch the hem of his garment, I will be healed, this she did, and she experienced a miracle. Surely this story is one of hope , it comes us down through the years,encourageing us to reach out to Jesus in faith and experience a miracle. [Father there are times if I am honest I despair, there are times I pray and I pray, and nothing appears to happen, Father help me not to loose hope, help me at this very moment to reach out and touch you , in faith, in Jesus name ,Amen.]

Thoughts on my mother.[ Exodus 20v12.]

This is mothers day, my mother played a big part in my life, she was a single parent, for she left my father, that meant she had to somehow look after four of us. Things were different then , the support from the goverment was minimum, things were hard, but My mum did her best to look after us, she made mistakes, but she took responsibility for those mistakes, and in the end she succeeded in bringing us up. I did not have a perfect mother , but then she did not have perfect children, on this mothers day, I thank God for my mum. [ Father thank you for our mothers, thank you for the love and care they have shown us, in Jesus name, Amen.]

Not just an number.[ John 3 v 16]

In the age that we live in. we continually hear on T.V. or read in the news papers numbers, particularly in relation, to natuaral disasters, of the number of people who have been injured or killed, here is a number I heard yesterday, on the radio, in South Africa there is reported to be at least ,53,000 people who are raped every year, a vast number are children, this is astounding, mind blowing. I cannot grasp such wide spread abuse, it is easy to just gloss over the numbers, but let us remember, that we live in a world were many people are suffering abuse, not just in South Africa, vast numbers of people, in every country of the world, are suffering some kind of abuse.Let me say this,they are not just numbers , they are precious souls , whom God loves, mybe you have suffered some kind of abuse, God loves you, so much He allowed His Son, to be abused , and to be nailed to a cross, in order to save you, to make you whole, we cannot change the past, but we can embrace the love of God through Jesus, and this love can transform us. [ Father I thank you that I not just a number, or statistic, I am a person whom you love, loved me so much, that Jesus died for me, Amen]