Nelson. [ Psalm 23]

Just back from Norfolk ,it is Nelsons county, he was born there in 1758, and his father was a minister, the story is told , that when he was a child he wandered away from his grandmothers home, were he had been staying, there was a search made for him, eventually he was found , sitting calmly by a stream, when he was asked by his grandmother if he had not been afraid, he relied, Fear never came near me, grandma. This appears to have been the pattern of his life, which ended tragicaly at the battle of Trafalgar.Let me say I admire Nelson, but I am no Nelson, very few of us are, it doesnt take much to cause us to fear. We all have things we are afraid of, but here is something very important, as a Christian we need not be ruled by our fears, I believe Christ can really help us to know victory , over our fears. [ Father help us not to be ruled by our fears, help us in Jesus name , Amen.]

The prisoner of Christ Jesus.[ Ephesians 3 v1 ]

When we become a Christian , things change, our outlook changes, we should look at things differently, thats what Paul was doing. Paul was a prisoner ,he had been arrested and held a prisoner of Rome,but here is the difference ,from the the saved and unsaved person, he looks beyond earthly powers, to his sovereign Lord Jesus, he is His prisoner. Today look beyond your circumstances,stop feeling you are a victim , have confidence in your Saviour to help you, He has placed you were you are for a purpose, His purpose. [Dear Lord Jesus I bow to your will today, for I believe it is best for me, so grant me the grace I need, to glorify You, Amen. ] [I will be away till Sat, so no blog till then ]

Hearing from God.[ 1Samuel 3 v1-10]

In 1 Kings 22, we have an account of two kings , they were going to war,there names were, Ahab, king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat , king of Judah. Jehoshaphat did an unwise thing ,he became involved with Ahab, be careful who you become involved with, but to Jehoshaphats credit he did a very important thing, he wanted to hear from God. The word of God tells us to acknowledge God in all our ways, and He will direct our paths, [Proverbs 3v6. A/V.], it is so important to do this, so today try and put this into practice. [ Father help us to bring you into all our decisions, help us to take this very serious, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen.]

Discipline.[2 Timothy 2v3 ]

How disiplined are you? all of us need to be disiplined, it is easy to put of things, to ignore the realities, but eventually things catch up with us. I have to watch what I eat, that takes discipline, for I do like so many things. but there are areas in my life that I am not disciplined. We cant always give in to what we want, sometimes we have to say no. I dont want anybody to fall into condemnation , most of all my self, but I am sure we need discipline in our lives, not just in the so called spiritual things. We should see that all of life is spiritual, Colossians 3v17, tells us, Let every detail in your lives, words, actions, whatever, be done in the name of the master, Jesus.[The Message]. [ Father help us to be more disciplined in our lives , give us the grace we need , help us not to be judgmental of others, who appear to be less disciplined than us, help us to do everything to the glory of our Saviour, in whose name we ask this, Amen.]

Enjoy today [ Matthew 6 v25 -34 ]

It was a lovely day the sun was shining, and I commented to someone , how lovely a day it was, only to hear him reply, it is going to rain tomorrow. Why is it we cant enjoy the here and now?, why do we let tomorrow rob us ?, for some people it is always tomorrow. Our Saviour tells us, Dont worry about tomorrow, [Matthew 6 v34], is worry ever helpful?. So enjoy today, dont be ruled by fearful thoughts of tomorrow, remember the God who is with you today, will be with you tomorrow, His resources will not dry up, His caring for you will not cease, so feel secure in His love, and care today, enjoy today. [Father thank you for today , help us to rejoice and be glad in it, in Jesus name, we ask this, Amen ]

Worry.[ Matthew 6v25 -34. ]

In Acts 27 v33, we read of the apostle Paul ,speaking to his fellow travellers, You have been so worried that you havent touched food for two days. They were in a severe storm, their lives appeared threatened , worry affects , and afflicts all of us, it is only natuaral, of course it is , but a spiritual man, made a difference, in that situation. Do read Acts 27, it is a wonderful story,in it we have the storm, two groups of people, the Believers and the unbelievers, which are you?, Paul hears from God , and then he speaks the word in faith. There are so many people out there who are worried about so many things,from debts to death, they need to hear what God has to say, from those who are believers, [ Father help me not to worry , but to trust, and help me to be available for You to speak through me to others, in Jesus name I ask this, Amen.]

Things of beauty [ Genesis 3 ]

We have a water feature in our garden, to my wife it is a thing of beauty,yesterday we did some work in our garden and we found to our horror, four dead birds , they must have gone for a drink fell into the barrel, and drowned. This thing of beauty had become a thing of death for those little birds We can learn something from this, that there are things of beauty, that can destroy, a mountain is a thing of beauty, but many people have died on mountains. Consider David , [ 2 Samuel 11], he saw a thing of beauty, desired it ,took it, and sinned greatly.Consider Achan, [Joshua 7 ], he saw things of beauty ,desired them , took them , and sinned, both of these men sinned,both of them caused others to suffer, and both paid a price for their foolishness, beware of those things of beauty, which we look upon and desire. [ Holy Father help us to not be decieved by things of beauty,help us to see that all that glitters is not gold, help us to have godly values of holiness, in Jesus name we pray this, Amen. ]

Giving up. [ John 21]

There will always be reasons to give , let me repeat these words, there will always be reasons to give up, we read of those who did, one such person was a man called Demas , we read about him in 2 Timothy4v 10, Paul says of him, Demas has deserted me because he loved the things of this life. Just as I said , there will always be reasons to give up , we can always rationalize our decisions, I am sure Demas did. The life of faith is one of trust, and commitment ,it does not lean on its own understanding, it sees beyond the here and now, to an eternal weight of glory, and above all else it is held by a love for Jesus.and the love of Jesus. A love that will not let us go, the hymn wrote ,O Cross that lifest up my head, I dare not ask to fly from Thee , dont give up on Jesus for He will never give up on you. [Father help us not to give up, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen]

Whats it to be ?.[ Hebrews 12 v1-3]

I watched a football match last night, and it bore in upon me how often the difference between victory, and defeat is very small . How many battles have been lost because of one wrong command, one wrong action, how many accidents have been caused by, taking the eye of the road. Lots wife looked back , a simple act but it brought disaster upon her, for which she will always be remembered, it could have been so different for her. It is in 1Peter 5v 8. We read , stay alert,Watch out for your great enemy, the devil, He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. [ Father I look to you this day, help me to be on my guard , help me not to be careless in my Christian walk, for Jesus sake, Amen.]

People I dislike. [Romans 5 v 6- 11.]

I have a confession to make, there is one character in the bible, I dont like, and I am not talking about Judas, no I am talking about, someone who was a king. Well it is not really important, I am sure God will help me, to look at him in a more balanced way as time goes on . Let us broaden this thought out to real living people we come into contact with, let us include, our friends, neighbours, work mates, family, and even fellow Christians. There are people in those group I must confess I dont like , I acknowledge this, but I do try to love them,for I know Christian love must rise above feelings, above the natural to the Spiritual, from being a son of man, to being a son of God. [Father I read in your word , that you love this world,that is the whole world, without exception, help me , for I acknowledge, I do need your help, to love those whom I naturally dislike, I ask this in Jesus name, Amen. ]

Empathy [ Hebrews 4 v14- 16 ]

The dictionary tells me that empathy means, intellectual or emotional identification with another, this is a very important aspect of life, and is vital to us as Christians. There are many ways to illustrate this, take our Saviour , in Hebrews 4 v15,we read , This High Priest [ Jesus] of ours understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same testings we do,yet He did not sin. In other words when we go to Jesus in prayer in our weaknesses, He can identify with us because He himself has been through, what we have been through, He understands and sympathizes with us. So it is with you and I , why do we have trials? in order that we can identify with others who are facing similar trials, God is not wasteful, He allows us to experience trials so we can more fully help others, so we can have empathy with them. [ Father I often wonder why I am allowed to experience trials , I would rather not, help me to understand there is a loving purpose, in all you do, that my trials help me to understand what others are going through, in Jesus name , Amen.]

That special place.[Luke 23v 32-46. A.V.]

I am listening to an old Gospel song as I write this, the words go like this,Thanks to Calvary I dont come here anymore. Calvary , that special place for every believer. Calvary is only special, if by faith we have come to know what it means in our own lives, when as a sinner in all our need we trust in Christ as our Saviour, then and then only does Calvary, become special. Them we are enabled to move on into a new life, a transformed life, a life with tremendous potential ,we become people who are lead not driven, people who are free, not bound, for who Jesus sets free is free indeed.[ Father thank you for Calvary ,were Jesus your Son died, for sinners such as us, thank you for that special place, and that special person, Amen ]

How great is our God. [ Ephesians 3v 20 ]

It is hard for us to take in ,how God deals with all the mulitude of needs that are in this world. Consider how many prayers are ascending to God right now, millions, when I consider the many things I bring to God in prayer, how does God cope?. Well He does, we have to move out of our limited way of thinking, God is not a man, He is Spirit. It is in the 40th chapter of Isaiah, which I would encourage you to read, that we have a picture of the greatness of God,in this chapter we have, and I quote my study bible, Isaiah describing Gods power to create ,His provision to sustain, and His presence to help. God is almighty and all powerful, but even so , He cares for each of us personally,it finishes by saying this, dont limit His work in your life by underestimating Him. [ Great God and Father, we worship you ,we rejoice in your greatness, you are the One who is greater than our greatest thoughts, and yet You are so lovingly personal in your care for each of your children, we thank and praise You in Jesus name, Amen.]

Words [ Proverbs 12v25 ]

In Proverbs 16v24, we read, Kind words are like honey-sweet to the soul and healthy for the body, it is James who writes about the negative side of words, and the importance of controlling what we say.Lets be honest we have all said things we shouldnt have, and we have all without exception been hurt by words spoken to us. So today let us speak kind words , people are struggling with many things, they are no different to you and I, behind a smile there is often hidden hurts, worries. So today let us speak kind words,consider what Solomon wrote, and how positive kind words are , to those who hear them.[ Father I thank you for the kind words you continually speak to me, help me to to be like You with those I come in contact with, in Jesus name we ask this Amen.]

A bargain.[ 2 Samuel 24v24]

I wonder are you like me? you like a bargain, you watch with anticipation for a sale at your favourite store, and then you hurry there, hopefully to get something you really like ,cheaply. In 2 Samuel 24 , we read how King David was offered a bargain for free, and he would not take it, why?, here is his answer. The bargain was a peace of land that David wanted to erect an altar on, so he could sacrifice an offering on to God, the owner of the land wanted to give the land to David, for nothing. Consider Davids reply, I insist on buying it, for I will not present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that have cost me nothing. Joyce Meyer, says this ,Jesus does not offer us a Cross-less Christianty. The Gospel is the greatest bargain of all, we are saved freely by His grace, but being a Christian involves a cost, there are Christians to day who are in prison, there are Christians today who will die, for Christ. [Father sometimes we forget that there is a cost in being a Christian, forgive us, and give us grace this day ,to take up our cross , and follow our Saviour, Amen ]

Oh no not another giant.[ Ephesians 6 v 10-20 ]

Facing one giant is bad enough, but we read in 2 Samuel 21v 15-22, of four more giants that Israel had fight, let us be realistic , there are many giants, we have to face. Consider some of the giants we have to face, fear of failure, discouragement, etc, giants, but here is the good news, those four giants were defeated. Let us remind ourselves that God will not leave us on our own , no matter how many giants we have to face, and we can know the victory, so be encouraged. [ Father life is on going, each new day brings new challenges, we ask that You would give us the grace we need, to overcome the giants we have to face, we ask this in the name of Jesus, Amen.]

Our dont know times. [John 13v 7]

I woke early this morning, and sought to do my usual readings, but struggled as my eyes were still in the sleep mode, the words were a blur. This brought to mind what the apostle wrote in 1 Corinthians 13 v 12, Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror. What he was saying was,that there are many things we dont understand in life, the apostle had great spiritual gifts, great understanding, but he was not all knowing, only God knows all. The apostle goes unto write,but then we will see everything with perfect clarity, in other words ,in eternity we will understand, we will know. [Lord there are things we dont understand, which cause us pain, we ask why and there is a silence, help us to trust You, in our dont know times, Amen.]

Eternal Glories [ 2 Corinthians 4]

The old spiritual says, nobody knows the trouble I have seen, nobody but Jesus, as I read the lives of the saints in the Bible , people like David, Daniel,and Paul, not forgetting Job, they all have one thing in common , they all experienced a fair amount of troubles. Life is like this for many people, mybe even you , well what do you do ?. Let us consider what the apostle Paul wrote in relation to the troubles he was experiencing. In 2 Corinthians 4, he writes of being hunted,knocked down, living in constant fear of death, all this was happening because he was serving Jesus, inspite of all these things he did not give up or despair, because he weighed everything up in the light of eternity .he looked at the eternal glories , and so must we. [Father help us to look beyond our difficulties, to weigh everything up in the light of eternity, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen.]

Kept alive. [Psalm 54 ]

In psalm 54, we read these very meaningful words, The Lord keeps me alive[v4], David feels under threat, his very life is in danger, so he declares, But God is my helper, The Lord keeps me alive.I am 64 yrs, how have I survived this far?, how have I not contacted some disease ?, how have I not been killed on the roads, apply this to your life.What is the answer ? God has kept us alive, He is the Sovereign One, until He sees fit we will live, and then in His appointed time, He will take us home. [Father thank you for looking after us, bringing us through so much, things that could have destroyed us, the dangers in life have been many, You have kept us alive, we praise you for this, in Jesus name, Amen.]

Confidence.[Hebrews 10v35]

We are all different, some of us are more confident than others, there are people who appear very confident, but in reality are quaking inside. When watching a person taking a penalty kick in a football match, I look at their faces to try and see if they are confident. We are all called to do certain tasks at times which we dont feel able to do, mybe in reality we can , but we lack confidence. Here is a word on confidence , from Proverbs 3v 26, The Lord shall be thy confidence. as you face problems, as you are called to do certain tasks, whatever , let the Lord be your confidence,today. [Lord so often we feel insecure, things appear to overwhelm us, and we feel anything but confident , so today we ask that you would help us in every situation, in Jesus name we pray this, Amen.]

Spilt milk.[ 2 Samuel 12 v13-25]

There is not a thing we can do , if we spill milk only wipe it up. the saying is true , it is no good crying over spilt milk. I know for many of us we brood , and our mood is affected, when we make a mistake, or we do something wrong. This is not saying we should trivlalize those things we do wrong, or when we even sin, but if we have tried to right the wrong as best we can, and when we have sought forgiveness, then we must move on,and stop punishing ourselves. The story of Davids sin with Bathsheba is pretty awful, there was a child born, and it became sick, David prayed and fasted for that child, but it died, David immediately got up , had a wash ,put on clean clothes, and had something to eat. His advisers were amazed at this, but David told them he had done all he could, can I bring him back from the dead he says?, of course he couldnt, so he moved on. [ Father we confess our many failings to you, how we have made mistakes, even sinned, we have tried to right the wrongs, we have done our best to put things right, so help us to stop punishing ourselves, and to move on, in Jesus name we pray this, Amen.]

Everywhere. [ Matthew 6 v9-13]

Temptation everywhere, I read these words in the paper, so true , there is no place were we cant be tempted. The three areas were we can be tempted are, the world, the flesh, and the devil, so what are we to do?, be on our guard, Jesus said temptations will come, He tells us , to pray that we will not give into temptation, [Luke 22v40]. Remember that we are responsible for our actions, in other words avoid those things ,places, and people that could bring us down. Pray continually the words of Matthew 6v13, And dont let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. [Father we acknowledge that we are weak, and so we pray that you will keep us in the hour of temptation, so that we will not yield, in Jesus name we ask this ,Amen.]

Blessings. [ Matthew 5v 1- 12]

In Proverbs 10v22, we are told , The blessing of the Lord makes a person rich, and He adds no sorrow with it,there are many people and they are blessed, with success , wealth , good health, etc, but they have things in their lives , that brings them sorrow.Dont just seek to be blest, but seek the blessing of God , thats were true riches come from. I would encourage you to read Matthew 5 v1-12,there we see who God blesses,and what that blessing means, let us seek those blessings,as Proverbs 10v22, tells us,there will be no sorrow in those blessings.[ Father we would request of that You would bless us today,with the blessing that each of us need, in Jesus name we ask this. Amen]

Friendly Jesus. [Matthew 11v19]

People are busy, we hop into our cars, we loose contact with people, when was the last time you said hello to a neighbour.Words of a song come to mind , all the lonely people, and it is more true than we realise, we live such self sufficient lives , or so it seems. Mybe it is more complicated than we realise, the challenge is how do we remedy it, or do we want to?. The Christian is meant to be light, to be the salt, we are meant to reflect Christ, meant to love our neighbours , meant to make a difference, surely that means getting involved, to be a friend to the friendless. [ Father it seems easier to keep our distance from people, for different reasons, help us to be open to others, help us to overcome our natural reserve, help us to be like Jesus our friendly Saviour, in whose name we ask this, Amen.]

Looking forward.[ Psalm 46.]

Like looking back, looking forward, has its positive and negative sides,one of the negative side is worry, lets be honest we all worry to some degree. How are we to cope with worry? the very simple answer is trust, in our loving heavenly Father, to care for us,and dont live with the , what if ? question , always on our mind, what if I become unwell? what if , the list is endless. There are a number of meanings for the word trust , in the bible,[1] Refuge. [2] Commit To. [ 3] To roll on. Lets apply these terms in the following way, Refuge, let God be our refuge today and every day, Commit all our concerns to Him, lastly dont let us carry the burden of worry, roll it unto God. [Father help us not to be burdened down with worry, over our future, help us to trust , in You, in Jesus name we ask this. Amen.]

Looking back.[ John 8 v32.]

I continue on in the theme of looking back, I suppose as we grow older we are inclined to look back, we speak about the good old days, when you could leave your front door open, without fear of being robbed, the summers were warmer, the neighbours were friendly, the good old days. Now how much of that is reality I am not sure, even the Psalmist declared in Psalm 143 v5, I remember the days of old. How should we view the past ?, first of all let me say that there is nothing wrong with remembering the past, the danger is, we can become prisoners of the past, and that is not to be our experience, for Christ died to set us free, so by all means think of the past , but dont let it become your prison. [Father we thank you for those precious memories of the past, but help us to live in the present, help us not to become prisoners of our past , in Jesus name we pray this, Amen.]

Looking back [ Lamentations 3 v 22-26.]

Continuing on the thought of looking back , there is a positive side to looking back, we see this in Psalm 37v25 were David looks back in order to encourage fellow saints, and im sure himself. Here is what he says, Once I was young, and now old, yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging bread. This is a positive way of looking back, when we are reminded of Gods faithfulness , a faithfulness that will not change.Like David I can testify to Gods faithfulness, of needs met, and in many other ways, how God has undertaken for me and my family, for four years we lived without a wage coming in, no visible means of support, but the invisible God proved faithful. [ Father , great has been your faithfulness to your children in the past , You have provided for them, protected them, and guided them, today we rest on your continuing faithfulness, to undertake for us now, in Jesus name we pray this. Amen.]

Looking back. [ Philippians 3 v12-14 ]

There is a sense looking back can be unhelpful, and sometimes downright destructive, we are continually warned against looking back, the greastest example of this is Lots wife, [Luke 17v32]. Our Saviour warned that looking back , meant that you were not worthy for His kingdom[ Luke 9 v62], He reminded us that the challenge of the Christian life is total, you cannot have a foot in both camps, He made this point in very graphic ways, read Luke 14v 25-27. One of the problems with Israel when they came out of Egypt was they looked back, with a distorted view of the past,[Numbers 11 v 4-6 ], and at times they even wanted to return , to Egypt, [ Numbers 14v4 ] . So let us not look back at the old paths we once walked in, lest we become discouraged, and start to become discontented. [ Father take from us the foolishness of looking back, give us an undivided heart, a heart thats completly captivated by Jesus, in whose name we ask this. Amen ]

A Mystery. [Romans 8 v26-28 ]

Prayer in many ways is a mystery, we dont always know what we are accomplishing when we pray, I have been praying for people to be saved for years, they are still not saved.Let us be honest prayer is not just a black and white subject, but then there are many things we dont understand in life, and may never understand, I read a booklet on the quantum theory recently, I still have not a clue, what it means, but it wont stop me reading. So it is with prayer I may never fully understand this subject, but I am not going to let it stop me praying, let us all continue in prayer, knowing that God hears us, and will answer in a way that is best.[ Father help us to pray, even when it appears nothing is happening, help us to hang in there, and to trust You in Jesus , Amen.]

Timing .[ Psalm 40.]

As I read the scriptures I see an important truth, that Gods timing is perfect, He always comes at the right time, read the life of king David, of Esther,of Israel. There are many examples of this happening in the saints lives, 17 years ago, I was about to become unemployed, when I got my present job, the timing was perfect, God will always come in the nick of time, His ways are perfect, and that includes His timing, so dont panic, trust Him to act for you at the right time. [Father thank you that whatever involves us is your concern, you are guiding us , and will work on our behalf, in Jesus name, Amen.]