We are not just pawns.[John 3 v16 ]

One of the meanings for the word pawn is, a chessman of the lowest value, sometimes it seems we are like pawns of the lowest value,but the fact is we are not. In Gods eyes we are the most valuable thing in the whole wide world, how do I know this? the answer is simple yet very profound, Calvary. Consider the following words written by the apostle Peter, [1 Peter 1v18-20.] For you know God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom He paid was not mere gold and silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless , spotless Lamb of God. God chose him as your ranson long before the world began. ] Now thats how valuable you are to God , so dont let anyone tell you , that you are of no worth, you are of great worth and importance to God. [ Father we know that we are sinners , deserving only your wrath, yet you love and value us so much that you give Jesus to die for us,all we can do is bow at your feet and worship you, Amen ]

You cant teach an old dog new tricks.[Matthew 11v15 -19 ]

I have just got another car it is an automatic, I mainly have owned and driven manuels, so I am having to readjust my driving, my wife Daphne drives an automatic also . She was a passenger in my car and I was not getting it right with my new car, so she told me what I was doing wrong, and what I should be doing , I must confess I found it hard to take instructions from her, after all I helped her in her driving, and I have been driving many years more than her. Listen it is important for us all us to be teachable , no matter how long one is a Christian , and even if God uses your wife to be your teacher. [Father help us to be teachable, grant us this grace today, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen. ]

Dont expect the worse.[ Roman 8 v 28. A.V ]

It is going to rain tomorrow is an indication of us always expecting the worse, one of my favourite verses in that wonderful hymn by William Cowper, God moves in a mysterious way,is verse 3, which reads , Ye fearful saints , fresh courage take, The clouds ye so much dread , are big with mercy, and shall break in blessings on your head. This is not just about being optimistic, it is about having faith,that our Sovereign Lord is in control, and is working out all things for the good of His children. So dont expect the worse, trust your loving heavenly Father to work on your behalf. [ Loving Father forgive us for our lack of trust in your care, help us today to rise above our worries, and fears, we ask this in the name of Jesus, Amen. ]

A request [2 Timothy 4 v6-8 ]

In Proverbs 30 v8-9, we read, O God , I beg two favors from you, let me have them before I die. First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches, Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deney you and say , Who is the Lord?, And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult Gods holy name. Here is a man who wants three things, [ 1 ] Integrity. [2] Balance. [3] To honour God. The writer acknowledges his weakness and vulnerability, God wants honesty from us, the writer also acknowledges his dependance on God , this is the safest attitude to have . [Dear God and Father we lift our voices up to You, and ask that You will help us to be people of integrity, balance, and that we will not do anything , that will bring dishonour to your name ,for the sake of Jesus we ask this , Amen.]

A request [ 8 v 36 ]

In 1 Chronicles 4v10, we have a request made to God, by a man called Jabez, his name means pain, it was given unto him by his mother, because of his painful birth ,but Jabez wanted to be free from that , none of us want to live under a stigma. So he prayed to God, Bless me, O bless me,give me land, large tracts of land. And provide your personal protection, dont let evil hurt me. God gave him what he asked.[ T.M] What cloud are you living under? what curse are you living under? what bondage are you living under? There was a way out for Jabez, so there is a way out for you , make your request unto God , in Jesus name, ask and you will recieve. [Father in the name of Jesus free us from all that would enslave us, Amen.]

Despair [ John 11v 35 ]

I was reading an article about HIV/AIDS,in Africa, the writer describes looking over a childrens gravesite, he wrote,[They were like war graves, rough and quickly dug in unforgiving earth, 1,342 graves on this site alone. ], how heartbreaking. With this disease there is a stigma, it is seen as a disgrace, and so those suffering from it have to endure been stigmatised, and isolated, it is a story of despair, and sadness.Let us raise our eyes to heaven today and pray for those suffering from this disease , to the all-loving God, who so loved this sinful world that He gave His dear son Jesus , so that all who believe in Him can be saved. [Father we lift our voices to You today for those many dear people who are suffering from HIV and AIDS, have mercy on them, in Jesus name we ask this. Amen. ]

Jesus the only way [ John 14 v6 ]

I listened to a radio program , it was a discussional program ,as I listened I wish I could have been part of the discussion, as I listened I must confessed I felt a degree of frustration. You see they were discussing if the apostle Paul taught, that the Jews needed Christ, those on the program felt uncomfortable with such an idea. The apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 10 v3-5, that we are in a war for the souls of men, Jew or Gentile, and one of the things we have to contend against is the stronghold of the mind, human reasoning. Let us never forget that a relationship with God is by faith in His word,not by human reasoning, are we prepared for that? if not, we will never ,and I stress, never have a relationship with God. [Dear God help us to trust in You with all our hearts, and not to lean upon our own understanding, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen]

A kindness [Galatians 5 v22-23 ]

I travelled to a preaching engagement and got stuck on the M. 25. it took over an hour to travel one mile, eventually arriving late, a rare happening for me. After the meeting a dear brother,offered to show us a different way home , so we followed him and got home without any holdups. I am very grateful for the kindness shown unto us, as I get older driving does not become any easier , so I really did appreciate what that brother did. There are many ways we can show kindness to others, let us be alert to how we can show a kindness to someone today. [ Father You continually bless us ,for that we are grateful, help us to be a blessing to others today, by showing a kindness to someone. in Jesus name we ask this, Amen.]

Our Helper. [John 14v 15-18 ]

The great apostle wrote in Romans 8 v 26 -28, And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness, for example, we dont know what God wants us to pray for, But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with Gods will. The results of this is God causes everything to work for the good of those who love Him. These are very meaningful words, for so often there are situations in which I dont know how to pray, yet here we are being assured that God who understands our weaknesses has promised that we have a blessed helper, who prays with us and helps , so let us all be encouraged in our prayer life. [Dear Lord so often we are like the disciples who asked you to teach them how to pray, none of us are experts in prayer , but we thank You that we have a helper the blessed Holy Spieit ,thank you Lord Jesus,, Amen.]

Finishing school.. [ Jude v24-25]

Many of us have the tendency to start and not to finish, I took up walking as an exercise recently, I believe I need to do this, I started oh so well, well you can guess the rest, I stopped doing it. Thanks be to God , what He starts He finishes, in Philippians 1 v6, we read, And I am certain that God, who began a good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. The fact of the matter is what God starts ,He finishes , He finished creation, He will finish His new creation, He will not give up on you and I, He will perfect that which concerneth us .when He is finished with us we will be perfect. [Dear God there are times when I am inclined to despair, because of my many imperfections, will I never get it right?, but I thank You that You are in the business of completing what You have started, and that includes the lives of all of Your children, Amen.]

Press in [1 Kings 18 v 41-46 ]

There is a story in the O.T. in 2 Kings 13, it is about Elisha the prophet, just before he died,he tells the king of Israel that he was going to have victory over his enemies. He then tells him to strike the the ground with a bunch of arrows , the king does it three times , the prophet rebukes him saying he should have struck the ground five or six times,if he had,he would have completly defeated his enemies. There is a tendency in us not to press in to the place of victory, we stop short, and we lose out, our Saviour tells us , in Matthew 7v7 , Keep on asking, and you will recieve what you ask for, Keep on seeking, and you will find, Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you, in other words press in to the point of victory. [Father so often we get tired of holding on , and we give up,and miss out on the blessing, help us to pray without ceasing, to press in to the place of victory, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen.]

Sometimes[ Psalm 23 ]

Sometimes it seems that things are getting out of control, so what do we do, panic? we may ,we can. In Marks gospel 4 v35-41 we read of an incident were the disciples panicked, they were in a storm, and they felt they were going to drown, and yet Christ was in the boat with them.We used to sing , With Christ in the vessel , we can smile at the storm, the disciples were not smiling, to them ,things it seemed were getting out of control. Does it seem that way in your life? well it did for the disciples, so they go to Jesus, who was sleeping, woke Him up, and started to shout at Him, have you ever shouted at Jesus? and then they started to accuse Him, dont You care that we are going to drown?. The fact of the matter is Jesus cares more than we can ever realise, He stilled the storm, and challenged them as to their lack of faith, we need to take up that challenge.[ Dear Lord Jesus , so often we feel that things out of control, so often we panic, and in our panic we turn on You, forgive us, help us to trust You in every storm, Amen ]

Rest [Luke 15 v11-32 ]

One of the most beautiful verses in the Bible I feel is Matthew 11v28, it reads, Come to Me, all who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest, words spoken by Jesus. Everyday I see people carrying burdens, mybe you are, well consider those words of Jesus, but do more than that, respond to them, honestly , humbly, as a young man I did, and I found them to be true. A man called Horatius Bonar wrote a hymn based on what Jesus said, it goes like this, I heard the voice of Jesus say , Come unto Me and rest, lay down , thou weary one, lay down thy head upon my breast, I came to Jesus as I was , weary, and worn and sad, I found in Him a resting place and He has made me glad, untold millions have experienced this to be true. [ Dear Lord Jesus in this troubled world were so many are weary and burdened, we thank you that there is a rest to be found in You, Amen ]

Challenges [ Joshua 1 v9 ]

Why do people climb mountains?why do people do all sorts of dangerous things ?, is it the challenge, I am sure thats part of it. There are many people out there who love a challenge, sometimes we admire them, other times we see them as foolish, whatever we think, there will always be people who love a challenge.In my own life I have taken challenges,years ago I left my job and went to Bible college,I say I, but my then wife was with me in it also, we had three children, and we had no money. I can assure you it was a big challenge, and I am sure there were those who were critical, but we believed God was in it, and that helped us a lot. There are other challenges I can remember. As life is ongoing, I wonder what new challenges there will be?. [ Father today is a new day, help us to face with courage , those challenges that our presented to us, and those we have taken on, in Jesus name Amen. ]

It is important. [Proverbs 3v 5- 6]

There is a place of quite rest, Near to the heart of God, A place where sin cannot molest, Near to the heart of God, so reads the words of an old hymn. How important to find that place of quite rest, were we commune with God , I heard a Christian telling how , while driving to a place were he was going to preach ,he was finding it hard to locate this place, so they stopped and asked someone, but the person didnt know , so the Christian said, they prayed,and would you believe it , just over were they were parked was the very place they were seeking. In the midst of all the pressures we meet today , find that place of quite rest. [Father God help us to bring You into all of our lives in Jesus name we ask this, Amen.]

Fathers day [John 14 v1-11. ]

When I was young my mother and dad split up ,they never did divorce, so for most of my life I never knew a fathers care,or love. It goes without saying having a father is important to everyone , the absence of a father figure ,can effect a child. I remember as a youngster lying in bed, and my thoughts must have been on not having a father, and I remember acknowledging God as my Father, and so for most of my life God has been my father,for this I will always be grateful.[ Father God on this Fathers day we just want to say, we love you, in Jesus name, Amen. ]

Confidence [1 Kings18 v20 -39]

In James 5v17, we read that the great prophet Elijah, was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly no rain would fall for over three years, and then he prayed again, and it rained. James wrote this to encourage us to pray,inspite of our weaknesses ,to look up in our weaknesses, to the God of grace, who hears the cry of His weakest child. So dont be put of praying to God because of your natural weakness, God does not love you because you are strong, your not, He loves you, because you are His child, so have confidence when you pray. [Father we come to you the God of all grace, help us to have faith to know that you love us, and delight to hear us when we pray, Amen.]

A man with principles [Daniel 1 v8 -20]

A well known politican has resigned his seat because of a principle, many are judging him, doubting the wisdom of what he is doing. As I think of that politician I am reminded of Four men in the O.T. Daniel, Shadrach,Meshach, andAbednego, they were very brave, risked all because of their principles. We are not called to be difficult but we often as Christians are called to take a stand against injustice, and for what we believe to be right. I am conscious that times we may get it wrong , but I am also very conscious that we need more than ever to be people of principle. [Father give us wisdom in this life were so many people are controlled by others, and so many never question so many things, help us to be people of principle , for your glory, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen.]

A bump on the head [Psalm 150 ]

I was feeling melanchollic recently , I dont think it was a Winston Churchills black dog day, but it was affecting me, and I got a bump on the head, and it was as if God was shocking me out of my melancholly, it did work. Sometimes we need shock treatment to help us realise things are not as bad as we think, we need to begin to focus on others, we need to start praising God, praise can drive the blues away, the hymn wrote , O for a heart to praise my God, let us try this today, I can assure you it will be less painful than a bump on the head. [Father we ask You to fill our hearts with praise for You today, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen.]

When God shuts one door [Romans8 v28. A.V]

I was watching a T.V. programe , and one of the actors said that old worn out phrase , when God shuts one door, and the response by another actor was, yes He breaks your heart. Does God break hearts? is that to severe a thing to say ?, it may seem so,especially if your heart is breaking at this time. It is to ancient Israel God declares ,I have loved you with an everlasting love, [Jeremiah 31v3], yet in that same book we have the prophet, going to the potters house, and he sees the potter breaking imperfect pots, and remaking them, the lesson being that ,Israel was like that imperfect pot and God was going to remake them. Let us remember whatever breaking experience we may go through , God loves us and He only desires whats best for us. [Loving Heavenly Father we place all our breaking experiences into your hands, we believe you have a loving purpose for our lives, remake us in your image, for the glory of Jesus, Amen. ]

All the answers [ Ecclesiastes 3 1-8 ]

The very nature of life throws up so many unexplainable things, no one has all the answers, there are so many things, we do not understand. The why will always hunt us, why this , why that, it is ungoing, and often unknowing, so what can we do?. Well we can let the why rule our lives, disturbing our peace,creating unrest,or we can just commit it all to God, let us leave it there, as the old gospel song says, take your burden to the Lord , and leave it there, take all your whys , give them to Him. [Father for all our knowledge ,there is still so much we dont understand, so much that puzzles us, we bring all our whys to you , take them and give us the grace to move on, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen ]

A cup of cold water [Luke 19 v 12-27 ]

What does God require of you and me?, well He only requires us to do what He has given us to do. I am leader of a small church, it has always been so, that is my responsibility, that is what He has intrusted to me, this is all I am accountable for. It may be nice and challenging at times to preach to larger gatherings ,but at this time I am only responsible for my small church. I had a burden to be a missionary, I tried my best to make that happen, but it did not happen, God had other plans for my life. Remember be faithful wherever your Lord has placed you, and be faithful with what ever He has placed in your hands, even if it is only a cup of cold water.[ Dear Lord help us to be faithful in the place were you have placed us,and to be faithful with what you have intrusted to us,
Amen.]

You feed them.[ Luke 9v 10-17 ]

We know that God fed Israel with manna, this was not the norm, the norm is, you and I,we are the hands of God,in this world. The needs of others are , our responsiblity,when I lived by faith God used others to meet my needs, thankfully there were those who listened to Gods prompting , and gave to us.It is James who challengs us to be practical in our outlook, [James 2v 14-17 ], the words of our Saviour are a challenge to all of us ,You feed them, will we rise to this challenge?. [ Father you are the giving God, you give us so much, your mercies are new every morning, we give you thanks, help us to be more like you in our giving, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen. ]

Friendship. [Romans 5 v 6-11]

Friendship is very important to all of us, I do value my friends,and hope to make new ones. There is much one could say about this subject, but I want us to consider the following words from Romans 5v11, So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. Today dear child of God,you have a friend in high places, God, so let none of us consider ourselves friendless, and let us rejoice in this friendship, it is not a friendship of equals ,but it is a friendship that cannot be equalled.[ Dear God you are so awesome, and yet you are ,our friend, thank you from the bottom of are hearts for your friendship, through Jesus your Son, Amen.]

Giving up [ Proverbs 24 v16 ]

I read this recently , Learn from your failures, the fact of the matter we will all fail, marriages fail, businesses fail, students fail. Just recently my grand daugther passed her driving test,at the third attempt, I am sure she learned something from her two failures. Here is another thing to consider, because we fail in some area of life ,it does not make us a failure. The greatest of people fail,we all without exception will fail, at something, let us all learn from our failures. If you are down in the dumps at this time because you haved failed at something, pray about it , ask God to reveal what lessons you need to learn, and above all else dont give up, you are not a failure .[Father help us to learn from our failures, grant unto us grace to rise above our failures, in Jesus name,Amen.]

Injustice [1 Peter 2 v21-25 ]

This may seem an obvious statement, God is just,we see this in His laws, there are many who feel God is unjust, that He allows evil things to happen . The fact of the matter we live in a fallen world, a world in rebellion against the God of love. The evil that happens in this world is caused by man, there is also evil forces at work ,the devil is real, I know this will not totally satisfy everyone,for there is a mystery in evil. Let us remember that God knows all about injustice, we just have to look to Jesus His son on the cross.I was listening to an old gospel song recently, the words went , The angels must have cried, I wonder did God cry as He saw His son on that cross,the point is simply this, God knows all about injustice. [Dear God and Father we rejoice that You are just, and are sensitive to all injustices, we commit all things into your hands, the wrong things that happen to us, the injust things, in Jesus name Amen ]

The hidden life [Matthew 6 v1-8 ]

When I was a young believer, I was in the Territorial Army, we went away to camp, we all slept in barrack rooms, I wondered what I would do about praying, should I get down on my knees and pray. I was not sure what to do, and then I read in Matthew 6 v6, But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut the door, pray to thy Father which is secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.[ I read from the A.V. in those days] So I did just that, I found a secret place and prayed. There is a time to take an open stand , to tell people about Christ, but in our daily walk with Christ ,be it our praying, giving,or whatever we do,it should be for the glory of God. [Father help us not to be show offs in our Christian lives, to seek only to glorify our Saviour in all we do, Amen. ]

Waiting [ Psalm 40]

Without exception when people turn on their P. C. they become impatient, they speak to it, raining down cursing on it,pleading with it ,the waiting game. The fact of the matter is we do not like waiting, When I was young I used to ask my mum, is the dinner ready yet , she would reply , its in the hottest place in the house, the waiting game. In our relationship with the Lord waiting is an important lesson we have to learn, we must take it very serious, the first king of Israel, failed to wait, he acted presumptuously[1 Samuel13], and paid a price for it, likewise Abraham [ Genesis 16 ]. God wants us to learn the lesson of trusting Him, believeing in Him and His word, and when we do this we glorify Him. [ Father forgive my impatience , forgive me when I run ahead of you, when I should be waiting for you to act, give me the grace of waiting on you to move , and for me to move when you say, in Jesus name I ask this, Amen]

Being robbed [1 Peter 5 v 8-9 ]

In John 10 our Saviour speaks about thieves and robbers, I have never been robbed of money, but the robbers Jesus is speaking about, are those who damage people spiritually. Who are they ?false religions, who are under the control and influence of Satan,who is behind all the evil in the world, He is unceasing in his activity. Even if we are Christians we are not beyond his power to hurt and influence us, he will use all means he can to damage us,such as false ideas ,it is vital that we stay within the confines of the word of God, it is the safest place. Be on your gaurd today, dont let satan rob you , make no mistake, he will if you let him. [Father keep us under your care, protect us from, the evil one, help us to remain faithful to You and your truth, in Jesus name we ask this ,Amen]

Vultures are beautiful.[2 Corinthians 5 v17 ]

Recently we visited a zoo. were they put on a bird display, among the birds taking place were the vultures, they walked among the audience, to my wifes consternation. They really dont look very pretty, they wouldnt win a beauty contest, but when they fly they are beautiful, they glide through the air with the greatest of ease, and they are a joy to behold,they are transformed, from ugly creatures, to creatures of beauty. There is a song that goes , O, Lord your loveliness, changing all my ugliness, O Lord I recieve Your love, we can be changed people , by the love of Christ. [Father thank you for Jesus ,who by His love, saves and transforms us, Amen.]