Dreams. [Proverbs 13v12 ]

Here is a thought for today, [Dont live in your dreams live within your means], so many of us make the mistake of letting our dreams take over us, and this can get us into all sorts of trouble.This is a lesson I have had to learn, I am not saying one should not have dreams, in fact we should have, the whole of history has been changed by people who have had dreams.Dont let anyone rob you of your dream, pray about it, work towards it, have faith in God to fulfill it. If it is of God it will happen, it may take time , but Gods timing is perfect. I suppose the dream in my thought for the day, is in relation to acting in a way that is not helpful, we dream of material things we get into debt, we need to be wise in all aspects of our lives.[ Father in your mercy help us to follow are dreams, and help us, to be responsible in our desire for our dreams to be fulfilled, in Jesus name we ask this. Amen.]

Giants [1 Samuel 17]

David and Goliath, what a story, you can read about it in 1 Samuel 17, it is such an inspiration, a great big giant, a young lad, two extremes. Consider a number of things, the giant was covered in armour, he even had a guy in front of him carrying a shield, he was taken no chances, he must have thought he had covered all his bets. Then we have dear David, a young lad no armour , just a sling and five stones, ah ,he had more than that, he had the Lord with him, this was his security, strength, and confidence.The nature of life will always present difficulties, some of those difficulties, are like giants, everything appears to be in their favour, they appear indestructible, and they will let you know it, listen the Lord is with you, just as sure as He was with David, have confidence in your God , He will not fail you. [ God of David your servant, we lift up the eyes of our faith to you, believing that in the name of Jesus, we can be more than a conqueror, Amen. ]

There is a purpose. [Romans 8 v28]

Think of Job, a man who suddenly experienced one blow after the other, he was a godly man, the things that happened to him , were real, and severe. To be a follower of Christ does not mean you will not suffer, in various ways, it is the nature of life. God permits suffering to come into His childrens lives,that is a fact,but that suffering is under His control, and has a purpose, read 1Peter1v 6-7, here Peter tells us a number of things about suffering, [1] Trials will show that our faith is genuine. [2] Trials purify, there is a lot of dross in our lives. [3 ]The preciousness of our faith. [4] God will honour our faithfullness. [Father I dont always understand the trials that you permit to come into our lives, but I believe that You love us , help us to hold on to this truth, in Jesus name. Amen]

A short break

Just to say I will be on a short break to York , I will recommence my blog on Monday

Bitterness. [John 3 v16 ]

Another thought on Joseph , his brothers treated him abominable, he may have been unwise in telling his dream to them, but you never get the impression he,meant them any harm . He also was a tell tail tit, , and lastly he was his fathers favourite son, this I feel more all the other things, caused , bitterness, it still causes bitterness in families today. So you have all these things, but did it warrant such hatred , of course not, were they justified in wanting to kill him?, no.Hatred and bitterness helps no one, and is very destructive, consider these words , God loves the world, He really does, even though the world , deneys Him ,hates Him, and rejects Him, the world continually spits in Gods face, and of course, their ultimate hatred was manifested in the murder of Jesus, His Son. [Father God help us to be like You, to love the unlovely, to forgive the unforgivable, help us in the name and for the sake of Jesus, Amen.]

No never alone.[ Romans 8 v35-39 ]

I like to continue to think on Joseph, that favoured son of Jacob, a lot of very difficult things happened to him, what would you think if a lot of difficult things were happening to you?. It is an important question, you may feel resentment, hard done by, and ask the question, why?, you may think I did not sign up for this, mybe those who lead you to Christ did not show you the small print.I read this in 1 Samuel 6 v2. that Israel felt that the Lord had abandoned them. because of certain difficulties they were having,let us return to Joseph. He had just been sold as a slave by his brothers, taken away from his loving father,to Egypt, were he would be sold to a man called Potipher,none of this was fair, he did not deserve this, but we read these very important words, in Genesis 39v2, The Lord was with Joseph, in other words He had not abandoned him, remember this day, no matter what you are going through , the Lord has not abandoned you, for He has said He will never leave you nor forsake you, you can bet on it. [Thank you Jesus that you are with us, irrespective of circumstances, or feelings, Amen.]

Joseph. [ Romans 8v 28. a.v.]

My wife and I , went to see the show, Joseph and his amazing technicolor dreamcoat, it was very entertaining, most of the audience appeared to really enjoy it .The person playing Joseph , was the young man who won a TV contest, and of course the young girls, really liked him. As I watched the show, I was reminded that Joseph was a real person , we can read about in the book of Genesis, it is trully one of the most wonderful stories in the Bible. A young man who was hated and rejected by his brothers,to such a point were they wanted to kill him, do read the story for yourself, it will bless you. The one point I would leave with you about the life of Joseph, is this,in all he went through, the hatred of his brothers, his slavery ,being accused and imprisioned unjustly, God was with him, and caused all things to work together for his good.[Father help me to trust you, when things are difficult, when people are unkind, when I experience even injustice, to hold unto the truth that all things are working together for my good, in Jesus name I ask this , Amen.]

Accident [Daniel 4 v24-26.]

One of the meanings for the word accident is chance, in other words it just happened, I do not believe in fate, a fixed state , something that we cannot do anything about, and while we do have what one can describe as accidents, as a Christian, I believe in a sovereign God, one who is in control of events, in this world and in my life. I cannot fully explain this, but I believe it to be true, for the Scripture teaches that God is ordering, and directing events, in this world, and this includes my life and yours, read the story of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4, he thought he ruled, that he was sovereign, not so, many have yet to learn the truth that God rules, and is ordering events. [ Great Sovereign God we bow in your presence, and acknowledge you as our sovereign Lord, we rejoice that you are in control , even if it appears that things are getting out of control, Amen.]

A BIT SEVERE.[Matthew 18 v7-9 ]

Go on pamper yourself, have that cream cake , buy that item of clothing,you deserve it, im sure there are times, we do deserve it. The only thing about this mentality it can take over , it becomes a mind set, I remember my dear mum, speaking about smoking, that it was the only pleasure she had, she died of cancer. There are pleasures we need to forego, the bible speaks about the pleasures of sin, [Hebrews 11v2] ,my translation reads ,the fleeting pleasures of sin, sin never completly satisfies, and of course it can have devastating affects on our lives. Alright pamper yourself occasionally, but be careful .[ Father gives us Grace to live lives that will glorify You, to keep our desires under control, and were we need to be severe , and deney ourselves, help us , in Jesus name. Amen.]

Control [ Psalm 121 ]

I believe in human responsibilty, in other words, not being silly, I work pay my bills, try to be responsible with my money, etc, yet the thought has come to me , and its this, there is so much I cant control, the list is endless, this may be a bit scarey at times, a bit worrying. What can you and I do ?,well we can pray, to Him who is in control, our Sovereign God, and commit all to Him. Prayer is the one effective means we have at our disposal,let us have confidence in God to order , control, and over rule in all things, and to cause all things to work together , for our good[ Romans 8 v28] [ Father God help us , to commit all things into Your hands, to act responsible, , help us to believe that You are in control, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen.]

Welcome [ Romans 8 v14 -16 ]

There is an old Irish song , which goes ,If your Irish , come into the parlour, theres a welcome there for you, it is nice to feel welcome, there is nothing so awful as being in company and feeling unwelcome. In Belfast there is a place were Christians meet, and it is called ,The Welcome Hall, I preached there many years ago. I used to watch a program called Cheers about a bar in Boston, it was a place were people felt welcome, were everyone knew your name. It is nice to feel that you are welcome, today I want you to feel welcome in relation to God, picture Heaven, and picture in your imagination, the biggest mat you have ever seen spread out , and it has one word on it , Welcome.[ Father thank you , that we are always welcome to come into Your presence, I thank you that your son Jesus has made this possible, Amen.]

His eye is on you.[ Matthew 6v25 -34]

Consider the most insignificant creature, here are words by the poet, Sir Edward Dyer,[The lowest trees have tops , the ant her gall, The fly her spleen, the little sprark his heat, The slender hairs cast shadows, though small, All bees have stings, although they be not great.], These words may help us to grasp the idea that in this vast universe , we dwell in, God cares for everything, thats how great He is. In Matthew 10 v29-31, our Saviour tells how God, cares for his creatures, little insignificant sparrows, but He reminds us , that we are of more value than many sparrows, He is reminding us all , those who are His children, that God will care for us. [ Father we confess that we worry when we should trust, help us to trust you with all our needs,our emotional, phyisical, and spiritual, for you promised , to meet all our needs out of Your riches in glory by Christ Jesus, Amen.]

Moody [2 Corinthians 4 ]

We are creatures of our moods, some days we get up , and we are like a bear with a sore head, it was Joyce Meyer, who said sometimes she felt like slapping someone. Now we are all different , God made us that way, there are those who appear always to be in a good mood, but most of us have our bad mood moments. So what do we do? , talk to God about it in an honest way, and ask Him to help you. Ask Him to keep control of you, by His Spirit, hang in there, it will pass, your mood will change for the better, remember always ,Jesus loves you, yes He does, even when you are in a bad mood. [ Father we wish that we were always in a good mood, but the reality is not so, forgive us and help us in all our weaknesses, in Jesus name we ask this , Amen.]

I have blown it.[1 Samuel 15 ]

When you preach you are not just speaking to others, you are also speaking to yourself, and the fact of the matter is, I dont always obey what I preach, this happened recently, I blew it, and I dont feel good about it. When we hear the word of God , we are meant to obey it, to often we are critics of the poor preachers, and there are a few about, or we dont like his personality, or whatever. There was a prophet called Balaam, we read about him in Numbers22-24, and God spoke to him through a donkey, some preacher, listen, what I am writing here is vital to your walk with God, whatsoever He says unto you , do it. [Father help us to be obedient children, to do what You tell us to do, help us to see how vital obedience is, in Jesus name we pray this, Amen]

Ask God for grace.[2 Corinthians 12 v1-10]

Have you got that Monday morning feeling?well you are not on your own , many people are like you, so what is the answer? To ask God for grace , this is always the answer, because whither it is Monday morning, or whatever, the grace of God is the answer. So just were you are, bow your head ,and ask God for grace, the word grace means favour, when we ask, we are admitting we need help from God, that is a very healthy attitude. We are dependant children, and we always will be, depending on our loving heavenly Father, so let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we find grace to help us when we need it most.[ Hebrews 4 v16 ] [Father be pleased to grant us , the grace we need , in Jesus name we ask this, Amen.]

I dont understand.[Psalms. 42-43. ]

There are many things we dont understand, I was reading Psalm 45, it is a prayer ,offered up to God, by a man who didnt understand why Israel was suffering. You see he believed they were doing what was right, so why were they suffering?. Why did Job a good man suffer? he was a godly person, prayed ,and sacrificed, yet he suffered greatly. there are many reasons for suffering, many. Let us go back to the two previous Psalms, 42-43, the writer is going through a trial, he is discouraged, and in the midst of his trial he prays, I will put my hope in God,like him, we may not understand why we are suffering, but we can and should hope in God, by faith.[ Father have mercy upon us, help us to trust You , to hope in you, in the midst of our trials, in Jesus name.Amen.]

Honour.[Romans 12 v1 ]

There is a lovely story in John 12 of a lady called Mary, who honoured Jesus, by pouring very expensive perfume over Jesus feet. This word honour has a number of meanings, in the Hebrew, it can mean beauty, in English, it can mean worship. Often the things people do in the name of honour are far from beautiful, but what Mary did was beautiful, let us ask this question, are we prepared to honour Jesus in a manner that could be considered beautiful, even if we are criticised, like Mary was?. Next in honouring Jesus make it an act of worship, an act that pleases Jesus. [ Father , help us to copy Mary, to honour You , in ways that are beautiful, in Jesus name , Amen .]

Forgiveness [Matthew 6v9-15 ]

I was struck with something I read recently, by my favourite writer, Philip Yancey on forgiveness, he wrote, [forgiveness is achingly diffiicult, and long after you are forgiven, the wound lives on in the memory. Forgiveness is an unnatural act].Why should anyone forgive? in the Old Testament, the Lord commanded Israel, to provide cities of refuge, were those guilty of manslaughter could go and be safe from the avenger, if they stepped out side that refuge they could legally be put to death. I read someone recently saying about having vengeance on those who were guilty for the death of his son, vengeance is the natural reaction, getting even appears the right way, the natural way, but then we look on the cross, we see Gods Son , nailed to that cross, we hear Him speak the words , forgive them, this is not the natural thing to say , but it is Gods way, so today are we going to choose the natural way or Gods way?.[ Father we find it hard to forgive those who hurt us, or hurt those we love, help us forgive as we have been forgiven in Jesus name we ask this, Amen.]

Noise [Isaiah 40v 28-31 ]

I remember a person saying God likes noise, I somehow dont think so, oh yes He loves to hear our praise, but noise, I cant see that. As I grow older I do not appreciate noise, I prefer quite soothing music, when we get to heaven the volume will be perfect, and no one will complain about the noise, we will all have perfect neighbours. As you go through this day try to find a place of quietness, turn the music off and the T.V. and sit quietly and commune with God. [Dear God and Father, Drop Thy still dews of quietness, till all our strivings cease, take from our souls the strain and stress, and let our ordered lives confess the beauty of thy peace, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen.]

Looking at others.

In John 21v 21, Peter asks a question to Jesus, what shall this man do?, he was speaking of John, our Saviour answered, what is that to you? in the A.V. He also says, follow thou Me. It is so easy to look at others, for many reasons, they become the focus of our vision, this is a very negative road to go down, and even a potentialy dangers for us. Today and every day we must keep focused on Jesus, that is what He told Peter, an old testament saint said these very challenging, and instructive words, he is speaking to Israel, here is what he says,choose you this day whom you will serve, ...... but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. [Joshua 24v 15 ] [Father God we get so easy distracted at times, we are so busy looking at others, we loose our way, become critical, help us today to focus our vision on our Saviour, and follow Him.Amen.]

God keeps His word. [2 Corinthians 1v 20 ]

In Joshua 21v45, we read, Not a single one of all the good promises the Lord had given to the family of Israel was left unfufilled, everything He had spoken came true.There is something that God cannot do, He cannot lie,[ Titus 1v2 ] God is a person of His word, what He says He will do, He does. Everything depends on God keeping His word ,our salvation, our relationship,our hope in Christ, the saints in the bible took God at his word, they believed it, acted on it, and found it to be true, so will we, you can depend on it , my study Bible says ,There is no duplicity in God. [ Father God thank you for all your wonderful promises, which you have fulfilled in our lives, and for those promises you will fulfill, in Jesus name ,Amen.]

Clear out.[Hebrews 12 v1-2]

I recieved a new radio for my car, not to complicated to use, it can play c.d .s the old one played cassetts. Now what do I do with with all my old tapes? keep them?no,I have decided to get rid of them and take them to charity shop. So many of us our horders , old L.P.S books, the list is endless, why do we horde ?, there are many resons, mybe we all need a clear out, we all need to be reminded that life is not just about accumulating things,there is another aspect of accumulating, attitudes, habits, which is far from helpful, in Hebrews 12v1, we read ,Let us lay aside every weight , and the sin which doth so easily beset us, let us all consider prayerfully and honestly , these words and above all else to act on them. [Father there is so much junk in our lives, things that are hindering our walk with you, help us to have a clear out, in Jesus name we pray this , Amen.]

The weather.[ Matthew 9v10-13 ]

It is snowing outside, as I write this, yet it is April, so it is an unusal event, is it a good thing that we cant control the weather?, if one thinks about it ,it is a good thing. Snow, there is a wonderful verse in Isaiah 1v18, it reads , Come now and let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow,, though they be red like crimson , they shall be as wool.You could put the words amazing grace over that verse,for it is reminding us that no one is out of range of Gods forgiveness, are there limits in our prayer life as to who we pray for? there should not be, for God has no limits to whom He will save. [ Father thank you for your amazing grace, and love , that reaches out to all mankind, no matter how vile they are, no matter how awful they have behaved, help us to realise that there is a wideness in your love thats wider than the sea, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen.]

True Grit [2 Timothy 2 v1-7 ]

No I am not writing about John Wayne, but I am writing on the subject of grit, what does it mean to have grit? in my Thesaurus, it says true grit involves, courage,bravery , pluck, backbone,strength of character, hardiness,resolve, determination, perseverance,and lastly, guts. As you read this list consider, many of these qualities are part of being a Christian. Oswald Chambers, says, Spiritual grit is what we need, and it is true, I am glad he wrote spiritual grit, in ourselves we may be a jelly baby, but in the power of the Spirit, we can manifest true grit, and surprise even ourselves. [ Father in ourselves we are timid, weak, and often we just want to be anonymous, take the path of least resistance, please, by your Spirit help us to show true grit in these lives of ours, in Jesus name , Amen.]

Shine [ Matthew 5v 14-16.]

I heard these words sung on an advert, This little light of mine im going to let it shine, this reminds me of what our Saviour said, that we are to be light [Matthew 5v14], we are meant to shine, He did not call us to live in isolation, but to affect others with our lives. As a leader in a local church my responsiblity is to minister into the lives of those Christians who attend, that they be equipped to shine effectively. This world is a dark place it needs more than ever ,for all of us to shine, so were ever God has placed you ,shine, pray that Christ may be seen in you, in all that you do, and say. [ Father help us to shine, may our lives so manifest your glory, that others will be drawn to Jesus, Amen.]

I remember [John 14v 1-6 ]

It is a very important day , my birthday, I am 64, I have know the Lord for most of my life, and I want to say , He is the greatest friend I have ,I love Him to bits, and He loves me to bits. When I look back on my life, I can trully testify to many things, I have been young, and now am old but I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor His seed begging bread, in other words He is faithful. Whatever the future holds for me and you, let me assure you , He will be your guide, protector, He will provide for you , and care for you, He will never leave you nor forsake you, lastly always remember, the best is yet to be, THANK YOU JESUS. Amen

Caught out.[ Proverbs 3 v5-6 . A.V]

In the book of Joshua, chapter 9, we read how Israel were caught out , they made a treaty with a people called the Gibeonites, the Gibeonites were afraid of Israel, so they devised a plan, which worked, and so they were spared from being annihilated, you cant blame the Gibeonites for that,but it was wrong for Israel to make the treaty.When Israel discovered they had been decieved they were angry, but they had made an oath ,so they could not go back on their word, in this they acted honourably, but[ yes there is always a but ] they acted wrongly in making a treaty with the Gibeonites, the reason why ,is very simple, God had instructed them not to make treaties with the different nations. Chap 9v14, tells us ,but they did not consult the Lord. In Proverbs 3 v6,[A.V] we are instructed to, acknowledge God in all our ways, and He will direct our path, whatever decisions you are faced with today, commit to God, He will direct your paths . [ Father help us to bring You into all the decisions in our lives, in Jesus name, Amen.]

Security blanket.[Matthew 7v25-34]

In the Charlie Brown cartoon script , one of the characters Linus, has a security blanket, were ever he goes the security blanket went with him. Here is the question, do you have a security blanket? I raise this idea, because I know how feelings of insecurity , can overtake us , not just for ourselves but for our famlies, what if , fills our thoughts,so today let us let go of our security blanket, and focus on our true security, Psalm 27v1, tells us,The Lord is my light and my salvation-so why shoud I be afraid, The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble. Whatever you are facing today, real or imaginary, let the Lord be your security, He is better than any old security blanket. [Father in the midst of life with all its uncertainties help us to remember ,we are your children, that you are our loving heavenly Father, and you will care for us, in Jesus name we pray this, Amen.]