Trust. [ Proverbs 3v 5-6 ]

I am going on holiday this morning will return in a weeks time, just a little thought, yesterday a friend showed me an American dollar, and I read these words on it ,/ in God we trust/. Think upon those words they are important ,remember the Lord is totally trustworthy , he will not fail those who trust in HIM. [ Father help us to trust in You, for salvation, for guidance, for provision, to trust in you with all our hearts, we ask this in Jesus name ,Amen. ]

With the Lord [ John 11 v 25 ]

I recieved a phone call from a friend informing me that a dear Christian we both know has gone to be with the Lord, he did not say he had died, he used that term , he is with the Lord. How do you view death? a good question, a friend of mine, told me how his uncle would say to people, can you tell me how to get to heaven?, he knew how to get to heaven, he just wanted to challenge that person to think about the most important question in life. Have you thought about how do you get to heaven? well in case you dont know, let me tell you. The first thing to consider is Jesus, the second is to trust Him, let me repeat this , trust Him, to save you, that rules out everything else, even self. [Father we thank you that you so loved us that you gave Jesus,to save us, and take us to heaven. Amen ]

Stay focused [Matthew 14 v 22- 32 ]

I love football, yet I can appreciate other sports, I have played different sports, but I have never played cricket, I would like to have played it, but it never happened. As I have observed cricket I admire the batsman, for his bravery,and from what I have read , Donald Bradman was the greatest batsman ever, he scored a tremendous lot of runs, for Australia .He had tremendous ability, and most important he had wonderful powers of concentration, in other words he stayed focoused, he kept his eye on the ball. As a Christian of many years I believe it is so very important to stay focused, why did Peter begin to sink ?, [Matthew 14 v 22-32 ] because he did not stay focused on Christ, today stay focused on Jesus. [Father help us to stay focused on Jesus today, grant us this grace, in His name we ask this, Amen . ]

The Christians vital breath. [ Matthew 6 v 5 - 14 ]

On the 1st May1873 David Livingstone , who was ill, was found kneeling as if in prayer,dead, he was aged 60.The hymn writer wrote, Prayer is the Christians vital breath, the Christians native air , his watchword at the gates of death, he enters heaven with prayer. The challenge of prayer is so important , most Christians know this, I know it, and yet we can so easily neglect it, it takes time to pray , it often takes effort. Whatever it takes , it is important, that we pray, it is important that we pray about everything, that we seek to acknowledge God in all our ways. Our Saviour taught that we should always pray and never give up [Luke 18 v1 ]my study Bible says,/ As we persist in prayer, we grow in character, faith , and hope./ [ Dear Lord Jesus, help us to pray , fill our hearts with a burning desire, to pray, Amen. ]

A weakness offering. [ 2 Corinthians 12v 9 ]

This year is the 400th anniversary of the birth of the poet John Milton [1608-1674 ], John was the penman for the commonwealth,that was led by Oliver Cronwell. John became blind,but still served the Lord, he was a Christian, he wrote many things, and in a poem related to his blindness, he penned these words ,/ They also serve who only stand and wait/.Of all the things he wrote , those words are remembered the most. Many people can find themselves with a handicap ,age and infirmities catch up with us all,and with this ,there also can come feelings of frustration, of uselessness,so take encouragement from the words of the blind poet, remember God loves us in our weaknesses .[ Loving Heavenly Father, we come to You in our weakness , and offer it up to you as an offering,please accept it, for the sake of Jesus, Amen ]

Because they care. [James 5 v 16 - 18 ]

I am sure I am not the only person who struggles at times, many of us struggle, there are moral struggles, financial struggles, health struggles, struggles within marriage, one could on, what are you struggling with?. I recieved a letter recently and in it the person wrote, I pray for you each day, that is an encouragement to me, it reminds me that I am not on my own in my struggles. I am sure whatever struggle you are involved in ,there are those faithful people who are praying for you. It is so easy to feel isolated and alone in life,and this can drive us to despair, do take encouragement from the fact that you are supported by the prayers of those who care for you. [Father we thank you for those dear people who pray for us, because they care, thank you in the name of Jesus. Amen. ]

The Weather. [ 1 John 5 v14. A.V ]

The weather is always a point of conversation in this country, one day we may have sunshine, the next rain. I wonder does the weather affect you? I try to not let it affect me, lets face it there is not much we can do about it. We do read in the bible about a man who did affect the weather, his name was Elijah, we can read about him in 1 Kings 17, James in his epistle [5 v17-18 ],tells how this man prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, and none fell ,for three and a half years, and then , when he prayed again , the sky sent down rain. What power, yet it was a God given power, Elijah acted in accordance with the will of God, not a whim or a fancy,when we move in the will of God great things can trully happen . [ Father help our lives to be in tune with your will at all times, help us see that this is the most important thing in our lives, we ask this in Jesus name, Amen .]

Perseverance.[2 Timothy 4 v 6-8 ]

I read this today ,/Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God/ , by William Carey, I would commend to you, to read his life story, he served the Lord in India. One of his greatest achievements was translating the word of God , I imagine translating work takes perserverance,I remember reading how he had nearly completed one translation, and it was destroyed by fire, he did not give up, but took up the task again, and finished it, in other words he persevered.One of the most important things in the Christian life is perseverance, of not giving up on the task that God has given us to do, of not giving up on people, of not giving up in following Jesus. [Father in heaven ,you know how many things can cause us to give up, help us today by your grace to persevere in all things that are according to your will, for Jesus sake we ask this , Amen. ]

Our enemy .[ Matthew 4 v1-11 ]

The other night I had a dream, I seem to be dreaming more,and in this dream I saw a lion, I did not feel fear ,but I felt it important to escape from it, as one would. This dream reminded me of the words of First Peter 5 v8, which reads, /Stay alert , Watch out for your enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. We do have an enemy who is out to destroy us, for the unsaved it is very , very, serious, their eternal destiny is at stack, for the believer it is also very serious, just recently I heard of a Christian leader,who fell morally. I am conscious of my vunerability, as I hope you are, so stay alert ,pray without ceasing, read the word of God, be filled with the Spirit, rely on God not yourself, resist the devil and he will flee from you , [James 4 v 7 ] [Dear Lord help us in our weakness, we are conscious of our weakness, so help us,by your grace to stand against the enemy of our souls, in your name we ask this. Amen. ]

Amazing love.[ Romans 5 v6-11 ]

I found myself singing the words of a hymn , which goes, / loved with everlasting love/ , these words come from the book of Jeremiah,they are so meaningful, spoken by God through the prophet, to Israel at a time of spiritual backsliding.The nation had forsaken God,and yet God tells them that He loves them ,with an everlasting love.They were still loved inspite of their failures, inspite of there backsliding, the fact is ,no one merits the love of God, if we could, there would have been no need of Calvary. Today let us remember that God loves His children ,[ are you His child? read John 1v12], with an everlasting love, a love that is , unmerited, undeserved, and unconditional. [Father God your love is amazing ,it trully is,we praise You , and thank You for such love, we thank You in name of Jesus ,Amen ]

Burdens . [ Psalm 34 v 4- 6 ]

It is inevitable that we will all have to carry some sort of burden in life, we cant escape this, we would like to , but it is not possible. Of course there are burdens that do leave us, we resolve them, and they are but a memory,but there are those burdens that appear to be permanent, every day we have to carry that burden , it just will not go away. Whatever your burden is ,the important thing to bear in mind is that God is sovereign, in other words He is in control, with prayer He can lift that burden. Just recently one of my boys was faced with a large debt, we prayed and prayed, God answered, and removed that debt. Prayer is the key , whatever burden we may be carrying, pray, dont despair, prayer can change situations, and circumstances.[ Father help us not to despair because of the burden we are carrying, help us to pray in faith, for you to remove that burden,whatever it may be, we ask this in the name of Jesus, Amen ]

Yearning [Matthew 11 v 28-30 ]

Mankind appears to me to be driven , there is something in them, we reach for the stars, we do the lottery, no matter how much we know, we want to know more. Mankind appears to have a want in them, a want that never appears to be satisfied, what is that want?. It is in the book of Ecclesiastes 3 v11, we read these telling words, He [ God ] has planted eternity in the human heart, my study Bible points out, that this means, we can never be completely satisfied with earthly pleasures and pursuits. Because we are created in Gods image,we have a spiritual thirst, [2] we have eternal value,and [3] nothing but the eternal God can trully satisfy us. So mankind keeps searching , unfortunately in the wrong place , and for the wrong things. In John 7 v37 our Saviour says, Anyone who is thirsty may come unto me, there is an old hymn which reads, / I sighed for rest and happiness, I yearned for them, not Thee [Jesus ],But while I passed my Saviour by, His love laid hold on me, Now none but Christ can satisfy, None other name for me, Theres love , and life, and lasting joys , Lord Jesus , found in Thee. [Father we thank You that in your son Jesus we have the answer to the want in us, Amen ]

Why.[ Romans 8 v28 ]

Sometimes I think I need my eyes tested, and then I clean my glasses, and everything is different, I can see clearly. It is in I Corinthians 13 v12, we read, Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. The question that hunts mankind is , why?, we all have asked this question , as we have observed ,famines, earthquakes, wars, and so on, also our own personal tragedies. The why is never far from mankinds thoughts, a death of a loved one, an illness that wont heal, a loss , yes there are so many things, that can cause us to ask the question why?. The fact of the matter is, we may not during our lifetime recieve an answer , to our , why?, sometimes we do . Consider the life of Joseph in Genesis , chapters 37/ 39 -50,he could see the reason why, but often we dont. The Christian life is one of trust, as you read the scriptures in a balanced way , you see many dear children of God suffering , and there is no human explanation, there are answers , we could give or attempt to give, Paul the apostles answer was wait and see, he writes , then shall we know, the answers to our why.[ Loving heavenly Father, we do struggle to come to terms with so much in life, help us today to keep on trusting You, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen ]

Faith / Prayer [ Matthew 17 v 20 ]

There are two men whom I admire , they are both in the glory, I never met them but I have read their lives, they are called, Hudson Taylor, and George Mullier. God used one in China, the other was used in establishing orphanage work, in Bristol, they both were men of faith , and prayer. They saw God answer prayer in the most remarkable ways, particulary in relation to finance, they never made appeals for money, by faith they prayed, and God answered. I would not say it is wrong to make an appeal for funds, or to ask someone to help you financially, but I believe we must be careful not to exploit the vunerable, better to go without than to do that. From a personal point of view I believe the examples of these two men, and the faith they had, and the answers to prayer they had ,can be a challenge to all of us to pray believing that God will answer our prayers. [Father we ask that you would help us to pray believing, to have faith in You, we ask this in Jesus name , Amen .]

Want a challenge [ Ephesians 5 v2 ]

There are many challenges , life can be one big challenge ,there are many who have to cope with illness, with financial difficulties, difficult jobs, difficult people. I read in my Bible reading these challenging words, / Live a life filled with love[ Ephesians 5 v 2 ], now that is a big challenge, consider what that means for you, in your situation. We have all read the saying , / Love is /, and then you tag something on to it, let us tag on what the scripture says love is. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.[ 1 Corinthians 13 v 4- 7 ] [Oh God who is love, we ask that you will help us, to live a life full of love ,enable us by your Spirit, to do this ,we ask this in Jesus name, Amen ]

Home-sick [ Philippians 1 v20 -24 ]

Although I am an Northern Irish person , and living in my adopted country, England, I dont often feel home-sick, I believe I am were I am in Gods purpose. Having that sense of being were God has placed me ,gives me a real sense of peace and contentment, but sometimes I do feel home-sick , for Heaven, you see for the Christian we are citizens of Heaven, this is not escapism, it is borne out a relationship with Jesus, because of this relationship, I am a foreigner and a nomad , and am looking for my heavenly home[ Hebrews 11v 13-16 ] Here is the words of a poem, [Think of stepping on shore and finding it Heaven/ Of taking hold of a hand, and finding it Gods hand,/ Of breathing new air and finding it celestial air, of feeling invgorated, and finding it immortality/ Of passing from storm and tempest, to an unknown calm/ Of waking up and finding it Home. [ Father help us to live for You each day, keep us safe in your love , and help us never to loose sight of our Heavenly home , we ask this in Jesus name, Amen ]

Justice/ Mercy. [ Ephesians 2 v1-8 ]

In the Genesis 18 v25 Abraham asks God the question, Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right ?, you see God was about to Judge , Sodom and Gomorrah, Abrahams nephew Lot a righteous man, lived there. So Abraham prayed to God who is just but is also merciful, Abraham wanted mercy to be shown to Lot. God did spare Lot and his daughters, God so often grants unto us more than we ask, the account in Genesis emphasizes two very important truths , Gods justice, and His mercy. Irrespective of what people think , there is a day of judgement day coming, in which He will judge the world, we take something to our graves , our sin, and for that sin we will be judged. As sure as God is just, so He is also merciful , He has provided a way in which His justice is satisfied, and at the same time He can show mercy , the Cross were His son died is that way,on that cross, the wrath of God that was my due upon the Lamb was laid, but we must seek that mercy, by repenting of our sin and trusting Jesus as our Saviour. [ Merciful God we thank You that in your love, you have provided a way of salvation, in your Son Jesus, Amen ]

Its hopeless [ Romans 4 v18-22 ]

Abraham had been told that he was going to be a father of a special child by God, but it had not happened ,so his wife suggested a solution, it was not Gods solution. Time went on , and they both were old, I mean really old, they were both on their way to recieveing a message from the queen[ if they had lived now ], and God spoke again, telling them they were going to have a child, the following year, and Sarah , Abrahams wife laughed, to her it was hopeless, but it happened. There are many situations in life that appear hopeless, but if God gives a promise, telling you that He will work things out ,it will happen. [Father there are so many hopeless situations in life,there are people whose lives are hopeless, in faith we look to You the God of the impossible , to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or even think, we ask this in Jesus name, Amen. ]

Light / Darkness. [ John 8 v12 ]

The genius of Charles Darwin , was the title of the TV programme, it was presented by Richard Dawkins, and as I thought of this programme, a verse of scripture came into my mind, Matthew 6 v 23. It reads ,If the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is. A denial of God to many appears light, but is in fact darkness , to live for things of time alone , to many is light, but is in fact darkness, to untold multitudes ,Christless religion is light, but is in fact darkness,to say when we die that is it ,to many is light , but in fact is darkness. It is the Lord Jesus who said , if we follow Him, we will not walk in darkness, but will have the light that leads to life, [John 8 v12 ] . [ Dear God we thank for the true light that lightens everyone , Jesus, the light of the world,We thank You that when we embrace Him by faith, as our Saviour, we are no longer in the darkness , Amen. ]

Will it never end ? [John 14 v 1-6 ]

Conflict in Georgia , another war, during my lifetime there have been so many wars, and one asks the question, will it never end?. Of course one could widen the question to so many things, murder , rape, road rage, so the list goes on, you ask yourself will it never end?, is there a solution?. Because of humanities fallen condition , it appears we will never see an end to wars and rumours of wars, until Christ returns, oh yes He is coming back again, read 1 Thessalonians 4 v15-18. Acts 1v 11. We are told that Christ will descend from heaven with a shout, and that shout will usser in a new heaven and a new earth, were there will be no more wars, no more pain, read Revelation 21 v1-7, the answer to the question, will it never end?, is yes. [ Father so often we feel overwhelmed with the plight of this world we live in, help us to see that you are on the throne working your purposes out, and bringing everything to a conclusion through your dear son Jesus. Amen. ]

Accountable.[John 21]

In John 21, our Lord is speaking to Peter, He is challenging him ,as to his service ,and during that conversation Peters eyes wander to John, and he asks the question ,What about him Lord? the Lord tells him , whats that to you ? You follow me. As Jesus spoke to Peter , so He speaks to us, are we listening?, we can so easily be distracted, with so many things, we fail to hear Him. The Lord will speak to us individually, as regards salvation, service, or whatever, He expects us to respond individually,we are inclined to respond like Peter did, and the Lord would tell us as He told Peter , forget about others you do what I tell you to do , follow Me. [Dear Lord Jesus, help us obey You, help us to be focused on what You are telling us, and to obey, Amen]

Guidance [ Psalm 32 v 8 ]

An awful lot of my life has been taken up with guidance, in fact it is on going, and so it should be, for we are instructed to acknowledge God in all our ways, [Proverbs 3v6 ]. I hope as we go on in our Christian life we gain wisdom , and learn from our mistakes, yet no matter how long we are Christians, there is that continual need to rely on God to guide us. This is not place of fear but of security , for we are promised continually that we will be guided by God, the continual challenge is to walk by faith, that means trusting the invisible God. I believe there are two aspects in this guiding , the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God, as we prayerfully rely on God , have the confidence,to trust God to lead , and to guide. [ Dear God and Father help us in all of life, to be guided by You, keep us in that attitude of humility, and reliance on You, and obedience to your will, in Jesus name we ask this , Amen. ]

Time [Acts 16 v31 ]

There is a saying that relates to the eldery in relation to time, that the hours pass slowly but the years go quickly,there is an old hymn that has the words, life at best is very brief, like the falling of a leaf, like the binding of a sheaf, and then it adds , be in time. Be in time ,why do we need to be in time, well it is simply reminding us that we need to get saved, before it is to late. It is only in this life do we have the opportunity to trust in Jesus, after death the judgement, so it is vital that while we have life, while we have time, to not neglect the offer of salvation, and to trust Jesus as our own and personal Saviour, have you done this? if not do it today. [Dear God we thank you for Jesus the Saviour of the world, the Saviour of the whosoever, Amen. ]

God is angry [John 3 v16 ]

Last night we had thunder and lightning, some old people used to say about thunder that it is God being angry,I dont thing so. Does God become angry? , it appears He does, there are many scriptures that speaks of God being angry, Psalm 7v11, tells us that God is angry with the wicked every day.How do we reconcile this with the words in 1 John 4 v16, that tells us that God is love. The fact is that even loving people become angry, so it is with God He is a righteous God, a Holy God , He hates sin, in any shape or size, and will judge it. Gods anger I believe is just and right, do we not feel anger when we read of child abuse ?, of course we do ,how much more must a holy God feel such things,I use child abuse as an example, in Gods case He hates all sin feels it deeply, yes with anger, and will eventually judge it, but God is love. God who is love thought up and brought into being , a way that could save people, you and me, Calvary, the cross, when we embrace Christ as our Saviour , then Gods anger is turned away fron us, and we have then peace with God. [Holy God we acknowledge that we are sinners, deserving of your righteous anger, and judgement, we thank You , for Jesus who died for us, so we could be forgiven , Amen .]

Giving all.[1 Corinthians 9 ]

In luke 21 v1-4, we read of our Saviour watching rich people dropping gifts into the collection box, the Jews were expected to pay a temple tax, but there was also boxes left out for freewill offerings.Yet it is a poor widow woman who is commended for her giving ,not the rich people, why? ,because her giving was generous and sacrificial. We become touchy when money is mentioned in church, I recently spoke to a friend, who had left the fellowship he had been attending for years, and joined another one, his reason being, the church he was attending were continually asking for money, for a certain project. The challenge comes to all of us from that reading in Luke 21,is not only are we to give , but we are to give sacrificially , not just with money , but in our service to others, let us remember Jesus is watching. [Father we thank you for all your kindness to us every day, all that we have comes from you, you are so generous, help us, to be generous with others ,in our giving and in our serving, in Jesus name we ask this . Amen. ]

Be careful [Ephesians 4 v17-32 ]

Oswald Chambers said ,We must never allow anything to injure our relationship with God, the fact of the matter is we can and we do. Someone recently said to me,about a certain fellowship of believers, that all they do is gossip about each other, gossip surely has an affect on our relationship with God. In Ephesians 4 v 30, we read, Do not bring sorrow to Gods Holy Spirit by the way you live, v 31, reads, Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as as all types of evil behavior. I suppose there are many other ways we can cause sorrow to God, so let us be careful not to cause our Saviour any pain today. [Dear God and Father , we are trully sorry that we give you pain so often, please forgive us, and help us to cease from anything that is wrong, for Jesus sake we ask this, Amen. ]

The past [Psalm 37.]

We are not to let the past rule us ,nor are not meant to live as prisoners of the past, but there is a positive side to the past, as we look back we can take encouragement . The palmist David did this , in Psalm 37v25, He declares, Once I was young, and now I am old, yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging bread. These words are a testimony of Gods faithfulness,and a needy reminder that God is faithful ,He will look after His own. Like David I can declare the truth of these words, God has provided for me and my family,years ago when we were living by faith,with hardly anything in the house to eat, there was a knock on my door, it was a man with a box of croceries, he had been asked to deliver it, he never said who it was from, we never found out who sent this gift, but it was Gods provision. [ Loving Heavenly Father thank you for your faithfulness in the past, thank You that you will continue to care for us your chidren, in the present and in the future, in Jesus name we pray this. Amen .]

Spaghetti.[ Ephesians 3 v 20 ]

Life sometimes looks like a plate of spaghetti to me, all those tangled pieces of pasta, for often life appears a tangled mess,beyond our ability, to unravel. I am sure we all feel like this at times , we have situations in our lives, that are so tangled and difficult, we despair. Likewise as we look out on this world ,so many tangled situations ,energy problems , economic problems, conflicts that our unending, and seem unresolvable. Well what do we do ?, despair, no , here is what we do, we pray, consider the following statement, (More powerful than all the dark and mighty powers let loose in this world, more powerful than anything else, is the power of prayer set ablaze by the fire of God and cast upon the earth.) [Torrance ].[ Father we thank You for granting us the privllege of prayer, help us to not despair, when we are faced with problems,help us to pray about everything with faith in your power to deal effectively and wonderfully with every problem, in the name of Jesus ,we ask this. Amen.]

Foolishness [Matthew 6 v25 -34 ]

I know I shouldnt do it, but I do, I worry , not all the time,but I still fall into the trap of worrying, one may say its only human, it cant be helped. A memory of the past comes to mind, an old lady,called Mrs Porter,she liked to drink, and when she had a few, she used to sing a song that remains in my memory, Why worry, why worry,worry gets you no where at all, and you know it is true.Just during the week I was travelling to a certain place , on the M25, and I missed my turning, was I worried, you bet I was, I really cried out to God, and you know what happened I got to my destination, and as I was coming back home I noticed the road I should have travelled on was choker block, God had overruled, oh the foolishness, and folly of worry. [Dear Loving Heavenly Father ,we ask for your forgiveness, for our lack of trust in You , to care for us, in Jesus name we ask this. Amen .]

Doom and gloom. [ Psalm 46 ]

As we hear the headlines , energy prices rising , the housing market collapsing, knife crime, drugs, it looks like a case of doom and gloom. The Christian is not to ignor realities, we are part of this world,things are becoming difficult , so what should we do? well we must do what the saints in all ages have done, we are to trust in God. I am reminded of the words of an old chorus which goes, God is still on the throne and He will remember His own, the devil [ oh yes there is a devil ]would have us believe the lie that there is no hope, he is a liar, God is sovereign , He is in control, He is watching over His own , so let not your heart be troubled, so said our Saviour,believe it. [Dear God and Father, help us today not to be overwhelmed by news reports of doom and gloom, or by problems in our own lives, help us to have faith in You, to care for us, and undertake for us in every situation, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen .]