He is not finished yet. [ Philippians 1 v6 ]

No ones perfect, and that is true, but God has a vision for every one of His children, perfection, when He saves us, he sees us as we are, filled with hang ups, bad attitudes . When the prophet Isaiah had a vision of God [chap 6 ] he declared, /I am a sinful man , I have filthy lips, and I live among a people of filthy lips/. He saw his and others inperfections ,but God was not finished with him or Israel, He was the potter they were the clay, He would perfect that which concerneth them [Isaiah 64 v8 ]. So it is with all His children ,God is in the business of making us all like Jesus, for all of us this is a difficult process, but God will not listen to our complaints, He knows what needs to be done, He will perfect that which concerneth us, so dont give up on yourself or others remember He is not finished yet , with any of us.[ Father often we despair at our failures and faults, help us to trust You, to perfect that which concerneth us, in Jesus name we ask this . Amen ]

A hero [ Hebrews 11 ]

I watched a dvd last night about George Muller one of my heroes , he lived in the 19 th century, he is remembered for the work he did for orphans. During his lifetime 120,000 orphans where cared for, he never made any appeals for funds, instead he prayed, and God answered , in todays money he recieved a staggering one hundred million pounds. When he died thousands of people lined the streets of Bristol, one news paper said of him ,he robbed the cruel streets, of those dear children who where destitute. George Mullers example influenced me and I am sure many others to trust God to answer prayer, he was an educated man , could speak seven languages, but his strength was his faith, a faith that leaned hard upon his God. [Father help us to lean hard upon You, to pray believing, we realise that this will bring testing, but we also realise You will be glorified, we ask this in Jesus name , Amen ]

Always the same. [ Hebrews 13v 8 ]

I find it interesting to think that I have to use the word Yahoo to get into my e-mails, for the word Yahoo means , /a vicous coarse person, it was used in Gullivers Travels. Words and people change, the word gay, has a different meaning to what it used to have, I know many Christians find it hard to accept a new translation of the Bible, but I think it is important, simply because words of the 16th centuary, have changed there meaning. Yet there are words that will not change and in a sense must not change, words like ,sin, salvation, hell, and heaven. People even try to change the meaning of Jesus, which means Saviour, to mean other things.The Bible teaches us clearly, that He is a Saviour, He saves from sin, and Hell, and grants unto all who believe on Him eternal life. [ Dear God and Father in a world that is forever changing, we thank for Jesus who is the same yesterday ,today ,and forever, Amen ]

Be on your guard [ Matthew 6 v 13 ]

One of the saddest stories in the Bible is to be found 2 Samuel 11, there we read of a great man of God, a man after Gods own heart, a man who wrote many of the psalms, we think of the 23 Psalm, what wonderful ,comforting words. David had a wonderful relationship with God, and yet we read how he sinned in the most dastardly manner, he committed adultery, then murder. When I read this I am reminded of how vulnerable we all are, if David the man of God could sin in such a manner then any one of us could. In 1 Corinthians 10 v 12, [ a v ] we read these very instructive words,/ let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall/, so let us be continually on our guard, lest we commit some sin that could damage our relationship, with God, and those we love. [Father help us to be on our guard today , help us not be overcome with lust, jealousy, hate, in the name of your Son Jesus we ask this, Amen. ]

Missed it [ Acts 26 ]

I noticed yesterday that the leaves on the trees are changing, we are about to enter a new season, the summer is almost gone, autumn is about to begin. This reminded me of a verse in Jeremiah 8v20, which reads /The harvest is finished, and the summer is gone, the people cry we are not saved/, it was a cry of despair from a people that had failed to respond to Gods mercy. The result of their actions would be judgement , a judgement from God, when the nation would be conquered and destroyed, thousands would die, the few that where left would go into exile. How important it is for us to respond to God when He speaks, if we are not saved, and have never trusted Christ as our Saviour, like the Jews of old, we are in danger of judgement, [ Romans 2 v16 ]. Dont miss the opportunity,now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation, so trust Jesus today. [ Merciful God help us to respond to your offer of mercy in Jesus, help us to see the importance of trusting Him now, before it is to late, Amen ]

The will of God.[ Romans 12 v1- 2 ]

Oswald Chambers wrote,/ The aim of the missionary is to do Gods will, not to be useful, not to win the heathen, he is useful and he does win the heathen, but this is not his aim. His aim is to do the will of God./ Let me say, this does not only apply, to so called missionaries, this applies to every Christian. What should our priority be as Christans ? to do the will of God, what is the will of God for our lives? ,we are to be holy , that means we dont argue with this , or make excuses, the will of God for every Christian is to be holy.If God has placed us in a difficult place, that is the will of God, glorify Him in it, if He has called you to be a missionary, then obey that call, if, and so we could go on, today and every day the one thing we are to concern ourselves with, is to do the will of God. [ Dear God and Father help us to see that Your will is the most important thing in all our lives, give us a Christlike determination to fullfill it, in our Saviours name we ask this . Amen ]

A promise [ 2 Peter 1 v 4. av ]

I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of, so reads the words on a twenty pound note, all of us expect this promise to be kept, and hopefully it will be. We have all made promises to our children, and to others, a brother in the Lord whom I met on holiday, said he would phone me in two weeks time ,he didnt keep his promise. Now I know it is easy to promise something, and so easy to forget, the fact of the matter we cannot always keep our promises, although I think we should try. When God makes a promise He always keeps it, His honour would be affected if He didnt, let me say when God gives us a promise He will keep it , so have confidence on what God has promised to you personally. [ Dear God thank you for the promises you have given to us in your word, for salvation, guidance , provision, protection, and many others, grant us the faith to believe them, we ask this in Jesus name, Amen .]

Driven or led.[ Psalm 23 ]

We know the term, he was a driven man, many of us know this term, because often it seems that many of us are driven people. Recently I was rushing trying to keep an appointment,feeling a bit anixious,, and I thought,the Lord is not driving me, He leads.Are you a driven person or a led person? it is an important question, a driven person will become frustrated,a led person will experience peace. The led person will trust in the one who is leading, to navigate through the circumstances of this day, they will know the peace of God, that passeth all understanding, for the one who is leading them , makes no mistakes, and that one is Jesus. [Dear Lord Jesus help us this day to be followers, not driven, help us to trust Your leading , to know that You, will lead us the right way. Amen ]

I am glad [ Proverbs 3 v 5- 6 . a v ]

There is an old hymn that reads/God holds the key of all unknown and I am glad, If other hands should hold the key or if He trusted it to me I might be sad/.I am 64 nearly at the age of retirement , what about the future? what does it hold for me ?, what can I do ?, well I look back and learn from the past,first of all I pray, then I read Gods word, then I submit all to God. In the past I have tried many doors, and many have stayed shut, at the time , one felt disappointed, but with hindsight I see and understand, that God was doing what was best for me,and choosing what was best for me. It used to be when a person was 21 they recieved the key of the house, well let say this , as I have said I am 64, but I still want God to hold the key, for Him to open the right doors and to close the wrong ones, I have learned from experience , this is best, for if he trusted it to me I might be sad.

Why did He come ?[ 1 Timothy 1 v 15 ]

Why did Jesus come? , here is the answer ,/ Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, [1 Timothy 1v 15], another question one can ask , who are the sinners?, the answer is everyone, Romans 3 v23 tells us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The next question is what affect does this have on us, the answer is, we are lost,and in our sinful state we will remain lost. Here is a term that describe our lostness,we are perishing,and in that state we will eventually go to Hell, eternally lost, in John 3v 16, we read, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son ,that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. When we believe in Jesus we are no longer perishing, we are saved, our sins have been forgiven, we are no longer lost, we have been found. [Dear God we thank You that there is a way back to You from the dark paths of sin , there is a door that is open that we may go in, Calvarys cross is where we begin when we come as a sinner to Jesus. Amen ]














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But I only spoke to him. [ 1 Corinthians 13 v 4 ]

I was walking through a local supermarkets car park, and I spotted a man sitting in an old Morris Minor, my first car was a Morris Minor. I suppose you always remember your first car, ours was special , a dear widow gave us it ,as a gift, it was an answer to prayer, and was a real blessing to us. Well I could not resist but to stop and speak to the man in the car, he had owned the car, nearly 40 yrs, and so we chatted, it turned out he was a believer, I then went to go on my way , and as I did he said , thank you for your kindness, my kindness I thought, but I only spoke to him. We live in a world that is on always rushing, if you drive you soon realise this, we are always trying to beat the traffic lights, always trying to get to our destinations before we have arrived, we never it seems have time as the poet says to stop and stare. So mybe it is a kindness to stop and talk to someone, mybe it may just brigthen someones day, that someone has taken the trouble to stop and talk to them.

Imagine [John 13 v1-17 ]

Imagine the Queen leaving her palace going into the poorest and dirtist place imaginable , rolling up her sleeves and cleaning it, and ministering to the sick, washing them,helping them go to the toilet, cleaning their bottoms, can you imagine her doing those things? The bible tells us of one who was God, one who was rich, the one who was the very creator of the universe,that He came into this cesspool of a world, to lay down His life in serving and saving others , one cannot imagine such a thing , but its true. This was Jesus , the one who thought it not robbery to be equal with God, what did He do? He gave up His divine privileges, He took the humble position of a slave, and was born as a human being ,and here is the most amazing thing of all, He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminals death on a cross. [Dear Jesus, thank you, Amen. ]

The money markets [ Psalm 46 ]

The money markets are struggling, money giants are falling, goverments are doing there best to support the markets,it is a real cause of concern. Psalm 46 is wonderful , it is full of reassurance, for I am sure that many people need to be reassured at this time, the psalm starts with God ,this is where we all need to start , for it is in Him and him alone, we find our security, not in the money markets, or whatever, God is our security. Consider the following words, God is our refuge and strength always ready to help in times of trouble. Read those words, memorize these words, believe them, for they will grant you that perfect peace, which the world cannot give,be still and know that He is God[v 10 ]. [Father so much in life is uncertain, we can feel so vunerable, help us to day to be still and know that you are God, we ask this in the name of Jesus, Amen ]

Forced labour [John 21 v15- 17 ]

It appears to me that Jonah was forced to yield to God, I wonder are we all a bit like Jonah? often prayer is the last thing we do, some of us only pray when we have to, and as for reading Gods word, well, we leave that to the preacher. If God spoke to us as he did to Jonah, would we react any different ?, we live under Grace, we are free, we are loved unconditional, those things are true, but surely the words of Jesus/, all who love me will do what I say [John 14v23 ]/ , tells us ,that love is a two way thing, and requires a loving response. One of my earliest memories of school was being forced to go,and the last thing a parent wants is for their child to only obey when forced to, you are not going to leave the table until , every parent remembers that. It does appears to me that so much of our relationship, with our Saviour could come under the term forced labour. [ Loving Heavenly Father, we thank you for that love which we have experienced in your son Jesus, we are sorry that so often we act like we are under forced labour, it is to our shame we admit this, soften these hearts of ours, for the sake of Jesus our loving Saviour, Amen ]

Idols. [Exodus 20 v 1-17 ]

One of the great problems in Israels history was idolatry, time after time they created idols, and time after time, God sent His prophets to speak to them, it appears at times they had forsaken their idols, but so often it was a false dawn. Israel appeared to break free from this cycle after the exile in Babylon, then religion took over, we may not realize it but even religion can become an idol. It appears to me that mankind is very prone to idolatry, even modern man , sometimes this appears obvious sometimes it is less obvious, but it is there all the same, the dictionary defines idolatry,/ as an object of excessive devotion or admiration, as a pop star, etc./. The words of a hymn come to mind, /The dearest idol I have known ,whatever that may be, help me to pull it from thy throne and worship only Thee. [ Dear God , so many things can become idols,legitimate things, we are so prone to idolatry, it is a sinful tendancy that can seriously affect our relationship with You , help us to worship only You, we ask this in Jesus name , Amen ]

Smallness [Matthew 25 v 14-28 ]

I am an elder of a small fellowship, last evening I ministered at a similar fellowship,one of the leaders said how they had put on a holiday club but the response was poor. In some ways I am used to the small , ministering to the few, but one never fully accepts it, there is always the desire to see growth. The challenge of the Christian life is to be faithful to the will of God, if that includes ministering to the few , so be it, this is all we will held accountable for,wherever God has placed you, be faithful, that faithfulness takes in all of life, our giving, our relationships, whatever, be faithful.[ Father help us to be faithful to our Saviour in all things, in His name we ask this, Amen .]

The underdog [1 Corinthians 1 v18 -31 ]

I watched the movie Rocky Balboa, and enjoyed it, to me the Rocky movies are not so much about boxing, [lets face it if he took that much punishment he would not have survived ] it is about the underdog, the nobody, the uneducated, the downtrodden. Hollywood is good at this kind of movie, they are experts at what will be a success, they know that many people see themselves as the underdog, so they play into that emotion. I came from a broken family, my educational attainmets where low, the only employment for me were jobs with poor money and poor prospects, in so many ways I was the underdog. The Bible is a wonderful book , for it continually tells us that with Christ in our lives we are transformed, from being nobodies to being somebodies, [ C P. 1 John 3 v 1. av ] it tells us that God can even use us in the most wonderful ways , it tells us God can promote us, and make us a blessing to others. [ Father we praise You for your indiscriminate love, a love that embraces all, even the nobodies, a love that comes to us through your Son Jesus , Amen]

Be an example [1 Corinthians 13 ]

In 2 Thessalonians 3 v9, Paul writes ,/ but we wanted to give you an example to follow/,being an example is one of the most important things in life. I personally see being an example as vital to my family, my work colleagues, my neighbours, and all I come in contact with. The fact that what we do, has an affect on others, one of the most challenging things I read recently, was about about a famous Christian, it read, / He lived better than he preached/,I dont want to make you feel condemned ,but let us all remember the importance of being an example. [ Father we are so conscious of our short comings,of the gulf between what we are and what we should be, yet the challenge comes to us today to be an example , help us by your grace to show forth Christ in our lives , in whose name we ask this ,Amen ]

The enemy at the gate [Romans 4 v18 -21 ]

In Isaiah 36-37, we read how the Assyrian army invaded Judah, and where at the gates of Jerusalem, Assyria was a world power, Judah a small nation. Assyria had conqured many nations, as they stood outside the gates of Jerusalem, they boasted what they would do to the Jews. What do you do when the enemy is at the gate? , for Hezekiah and his subjects things could not have been worse. I wonder is that your situation? , the enemy is at the gate, certain defeat is staring you in the face, take hope today, for Judah survived, for God helped them. [God of ancient Isreal, you delivered your people from their enemies, you delivered them when there was no way out, we look to You, to make a way for us where there is no way, to provide where there is no means, to help where there is no help,we ask this in the name and for the sake of Jesus your Son and our Saviour, Amen. ]

How to cope.[Psalm 121 ]

Lets face it, sometimes it is hard to cope with life, circumstances , problems, that appear to difficult for us to cope with, press in upon us, so this raises the question, how can we cope?. There is a book called, Napoleons glance,[By W Duggan ] it highlights that sudden insight, that Napoleon had ,that enabled him to act in ways that brought victory in the many battles he fought. Life can be a battle and just like Napoleon, we as Christians, can recieve insight from God, wisdom from God that can enable us to know victory . Let us today ,have that upward glance, like the Psalmist in Psalm 121, who said, I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help, My help cometh from the Lord , and in doing this we will be enabled to cope, for God will respond, and help us. [ Father help us today to look up to You, and help us to believe, that whatever difficulty we may be facing, You will help us, and enable us to cope , we ask this in the name of Jesus, Amen ]

Clay. [ Romans 8 v29 ]

While on holiday we visited a place where you could try your hand in making a clay pot, I ended up with something that may pass for an egg cup. Making pots from clay has been around for a long time , you throw a piece of soft clay unto a moveable surface, as it moves round you apply water and work the clay with your hands, shaping it , making it to your desired shape. It is in Jeremiah 18, and Romans 9, that God is seen as a potter, His people are the clay, His purpose is to make them,and shape them, to become like His Son,[ Romans 8 v29 ]. This making and shaping can be a painful experience, but is necessary, for all of us, if we are going to be like Jesus.[ Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way , Thou art the potter , I am the clay,mould me and make me after thy will, while I am waiting , yielded and still, Amen ]

Peace [Romans 5 v1 ]

It was prime minister Chamberlain, who returned from negotiating with Hitler, who declared as he waved the piece of paper that he and Hitler had signed , that this insured peace in our time. It was not to be, soon after this, war was declared, and the promised peace was no more. There is an old hymn that has these words , peace perfect peace, in this dark world of sin, the blood of Jesus whispers peace within, I wonder do you know this peace, peace with God?, you can, by simple trusting in Jesus to be your saviour., if you have a Bible do read Romans 5 v1-11. [Father we live in a world that is at war with You , we thank You that Jesus came , in order that we can all know peace with You, by simply trusting Him to be our Saviour, Amen ]

What is in a name? [Romans 11 v 33 ]

Guardian,distinguished,good-natured, intelligent,hard working, organised,and reliable, that is the meaning of my name, which is William, I wonder do I live up to my name?. It is remarkable that there was a man called Jacob ,whose name means deciever,[ and he lived up to his name], that this person was chosen by God, and blessed by God,he became Israel, who had twelve sons, and from them the nation of Israel came, and from that nation our Saviour came. What ever your name or reputation,take encouragement from Jacob, Gods choice, a man changed and transformed by the grace of God, and one who became a blessing to this world,in Christ we all can be transformed and be a blessing to this world. [Father thank You for the wonder of Your grace , through your Son Jesus, that saves us, transforms us, and even makes us a blessing to others, Amen ]

Saints [ Romans 1v7 ]

I have returned from a holiday in Cornwall , which I enjoyed, we stayed at Saint Ives, a lovely little town, it lies in the bay of St Ives. There are a number of towns named after saints, St Austell, St Just, St Mawes, I dont know much about these saints,but it got me thinking about saints. I wonder what your idea of a saint is?. There are three ideas in relation to saints, someone who is very good,loving and kind. Next there is the idea of someone who people pray to,[ of course the Bible clearly teaches that this is wrong], and it is to the bible we turn to for the true meaning of saints, and this is a term used for all Christians, [ C.P= Ephesians 1v1,15, 18. ] in other words all those saved by the grace of God .[ Father we thank You that You have called us Saints, help us by your grace to show a saintliness in our lives , in Jesus name we ask this. Amen ]

Was it by chance? [Genesis 24 v 27 [A V]

Was it by chance I met an old friend while on holiday ? someone I had not seen for many years, no it was not by chance, I believe in the providence of God. What is the providence of God ? it is not fatalisim, it is a belief that God is sovereign, and as one writer puts it,/ that everything in the world and in our lives down to the minutest details is ordered by God/. I commend a book to you , it is , /The mystery of providence, by John Flavel, [ Banner of Truth ]. As I look back on my life I see the hand of God, clearly in my life, ruling and overruling, and causing all things to work together for my good [ Romans 8 v28 ] [Mighty Sovereign God we thank You for your providential workings in our lives, in Jesus name we pray this , Amen ]