What is man?[Psalm 8 ]

In Psalm 8 the writer declares, /When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers- the moon and the stars you set in place- what are people that you should think about them, mere mortals that You should care for them/. It is reckoned that there are over one billion galaxies, mind blowing when one thinks of it, our planet is so small, and us humans, we are minuet, in the scope of things we appear so insignificant, do we really matter to God?. The answer is yes, every single human being matters to God, in fact He loves us all, we are the focus of His attention, and care. How do I know this? because the scripture tell us He loves the world[ John 3 v 16 ], that means He loves you and me, and of course the greatest manifestation of that love is the cross on which His dear Son died, everytime you see a cross let it be a reminder that God loves you. [Dear God sometimes we feel so insignificant, in the vast scheme of things, but then we look at the cross on which Your Son died , and are reminded that You love us, thank You in Jesus name Amen ]

What if [ Ezra 8 v 21 - 23 ]

What if ?, is a question we ask ourselves in relation to many things, like, what if I loose my job?, or what if I get cancer ?,we can apply the what if ,to so many things. The fact of the matter is ,if we know Christ, the what if ,can be committed to Him, after all He told us not to worry about the what ifs, [ Matthew 6 v25 - 34 ]. Today let us consider, that the one we follow is Sovereign , what does that mean? it means He is in control ,nothing can take Him unawares, we are under His special care. We can choose to live with uncertaines, or we can rest in the Lord , and be at peace,we can live with worry, or we can live in an attitude of trust, trust is the only way to face the, what ifs. [ Loving Heavenly Father, we commit everything into Your hands, and trust You to care for us, and to cause everything to work together for our good, in Jesus name we pray this Amen ]

Special. [ Genesis 1 v 26 -27 ]

The first daffodils are coming through, reminding us that the winter is slowly receding, and that summer is coming. Gods creation is wonderful, and the gem in the crown is humanity, because we are special, we have been made in the image of God. A leading politician has just experienced the death of his six year old son, a child that was profoundly disabled, a thought stuck me, we see very few disabled people on the T.V, the image is so important, or is it?. Years ago I used to have a boy in my Sunday school class who was disabled, Paul was his name, and I had a nephew, called Glen who was severely disabled.The point I am trying to make is this, they are all precious, becaues they have the image of God on them, and God loves them, they are part of Gods special creation. [Father in heaven thank You for all Your creation, and although sin has affected all things,help us Lord to see your image on every man ,woman, and child, and to love them as You do . Amen]

Be in time.[ John 3 v16 ]

Mybe it is my age but the days and weeks are passing so quickly,it will soon be Christmas again, and I will soon be 65. The Word of God writes of the brevity of life, and the uncertainty of life, [Psalm 90 v 10 ], and the importance of seeking the Lord now, [ Isaiah 55 v 6].The story is told of a wise man who spoke to a young person, and asked him, what were his plans,the young man replied, I am going to school and get a good education, the man asked ,what then?, the boy replied, I will then get a good job, what then ,asked the man?, I hope to marry and have a family, what then ,asked the man?, I suppose I will retire, what then ,asked the man?, I suppose I will die said the young man , what then ,asked the man?. In Hebrews 9 v27, we read that it is appointed unto men once to die, and after that the judgment,the point I am seeking to make is this, be in time. An old Gospel hymn goes,/ Be in time.... Be in time. While the voice of Jesus calls you be in time. If in sin you longer wait,you may find no open gate,. And your cry be just to late , be in time/.[ Dear God thank You for your patience with us, help us to appreciate the importance of seeking Jesus as our Saviour now, we ask this in Jesus name Amen ]

Moses doubted.[ Exodus 14 v 5 - 31 ]

Even great people have doubts, people like Moses, we read about it in Numbers 11, God said He would feed Israel with meat for a whole month, and Moses doubts, but God did it. In Jeremiah 32 v 17, we have the prophet praying,God had said that He would restore Israel back to their land, this was said at the nations lowest point, when they would be practically destroyed as a nation. So the prophet prays,/ Nothing is too hard for You,v 17 /. Yes great people can doubt, but great people can also believe, what group do we fall into ,today?. Whatever God says ,He will do, irrespective of the difficulties, for in the words of Jeremiah ,nothing is to hard for Him, He can do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think,[ Ephesians 3 v 20 ] [ Almighty God we come to you in our smallness, in our weakness, and ask that you would increase our faith in Your ability to make a way were there is no way, to provide for us ,were there is no hope of provision, to protect us when there is no one to defend us, we ask this in the name of Jesus Amen ]

An old friend. [ Mark 4 v 36- 41 ]

I have just come into contact with an old friend, a song by Bill Gaither, /Joy comes in the morning/, all through my Christian life , songs have blessed me, touched me, encouraged me. Songs to me are like old friends, they speak to us, remain with us, all our lives,they bring back memories of past joys, and struggles, such is that song, /Joy in the morning/, it is based on the words of Psalm 30 v 5[ A V]. The words are this,/ Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning/, these are words of hope, to any who are experiencing trials, that the trials will pass. Some trials bring us to tears,some experiences can be heart breaking, we feel crushed,it is then when in our deep trials, the words come, /Joy comes in the morning/,lets us by faith take hold of these precious words, and hope.[ Dear God we thank You for those songs in the night that You give us, some times the night is very dark, never ending, we ask for the grace to hold on , until joy comes in the morning, the morning of Your deliverance, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen ] [ Listen to that song on my playlist ]

Feelings [ 2 Corinthians 4 v 7 - 18 ]

It would be nice to say that one always has nice feelings, but the fact of the matter is we dont, one day we may be up the next we may be down. There are different reasons why our feelings alter, circumstanses,tiredness, what I think is important in relation to our feelings , is that we dont let our feelings rule us, for if they do they can so easily ruin us. How is it possible for us to know victory over negative feelings? is it possible?, to some extent it is, we may not always succeed, but I believe there can be victory for us. The Psalmist in Psalm 42, and 43, feels depressed, /Why am I discouraged?Why is my heart so sad?, Now I am deeply discouraged/, this is how he feels, what can he do?,well he does two things,[ 1] he hopes in God, [ 2 ]he praises God, this what we must do if we are going to know victory. [ Father we thank You that our relationship is not depending on our feelings, and we thank You that we can know victory over our feelings, through hope in You and praising You, help us to do this, we ask this in Jesus name Amen ]

Its a wonderful world.[ Pslm 100 ]

Inspite of all the pollution in this world, caused by us, it still is a wonderful world,a world full of so much that blesses mankind.The world at creation must have been trully beautiful,no pollution, nothing that marred its beauty, everything would have lived in harmony,even the dinosaurs, the word of God tells us when God had finished creation , He saw that it was very good, [ Genesis 1 v31 ] Of course sin has come in and affected everything. People wonder why wrong things happen, and the answer is simple, sin, the whole point of calvary, is to deal with sin and its consequences, Gods priority is man, to redeem him, and eventually recreate this world,so that once again all will be harmonious. In the meanwhile we can still appreciate even this fallen world, and rejoice in our Creators handwork. [ Dear God thank you for our world and all its beauty,all its abundance , in Jesus name we praise You Amen ]

Bring it to Him.[ Ephesians 2 ]

That old hymn came to mind this morning, / What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear, what a privllege to carry everything to God in prayer/.There was a time when we had no one to turn to, when we were without God and without hope, not now, we are His children. God is our loving Heavenly Father, He loves us so much,desires that we come to Him at all times, to avail ourselves of this wonderful privllege . So today, whatever we have to face, whatever we have to do ,whatever problems come our way, be they big or small, bring it to Him, let us carry everything to God in prayer, and trust Him to undertake. [Father in Heaven we thank You that You have made us Your children, help us to realize more and more what this means, and help us to face this day with confidence, in the knowledge , that You are with us, we ask this in Jesus name Amen ]

The poor. [ 2 Corinthians 8 v 9 ]

I heard a man saying, the poor give more than the rich, it appears a strange thing to say, in 2 Corinthians 8 v2, we read of those who were very poor,who overflowed in rich generosity. If we were trusted with riches how generous would we be?and if God trusted us with little how generous would we be,I believe being rich brings its challenges as does being poor . Most of us would not consider ourselves rich , but whatever our state the challenge is to be generous,to help others. We live in a world of needy people,material poverty is just one type of poverty, do you know you can be rich and still poor, and you can be poor and rich, the Bible speaks of those who are poor and are rich in faith [James 2 v 5 ]. In Mark 13 v41-44, we read of a poor widow who give her all and was commended for it by our Saviour, my study Bible says this, / Here Jesus was admiring generous and sacrificial giving. As believers, we should consider increasing our giving- whether of money, time,or talents- to a point beyond conveinience or calculation/. [Father we thank You for loving generosity to us, materially and spiritually, help us to be generous, we ask this in Jesus name .Amen ]

I am sorry. [ Matthew 5 v 23-24 ]

Sometimes the hardest word to say is, sorry,why I wonder is this? could it be pride, there is a certain amount of humbling of oneself in this, also if we say we are sorry the person we are apologiesing to may not accept it.It was John Wayne in one of his movies who said,dont apologies it is a sign of weakness,but in fact it is I believe the very opposite ,it is a sign of strength. True humility is a precious quality ,which we are called to show in our lives, James reminds us in his letter that ,/ God opposes the proud but favours the humble [4 v 6 ]. Sometimes it is easier to say sorry to God than to people, because He will accept our sorry, if we are sincere, but people are different,they may not accept our sorry ,no matter how sincere we are, even though this is true, I believe God will be pleased when we say sorry, and in the end this is what is most important. [ Father in heaven grant us the grace to be humble enough to say sorry to those we have hurt or wronged, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen ]

Simply trusting. [Matthew 6 v25-34 ]

I was sitting at my desk at work yesterday, and I was thinking about a problem,related to work, so I offered up a prayer about it,as soon as I had prayed the answer came.I am becoming more conscious of God looking after me, the words ,dont worry,come into my head more and more.I am not saying I have conquered the worry thing completly, but hopefully I am making progress, in trusting God.Is worry a sin? I am not sure, but one thing for sure, worry is something we all do. I am sure we dont need to be ruled by worry, the challenge is for us to believe what our Saviour tells us in Matthew 6 v 25 -34, there the emphasises is on trusting our heavenly Father to look after us. An old Gospel hymn goes, /Whenever I am tempted, Whenever clouds arise, When song gives place to sighing, When hope within me dies, I draw the closer to Him, From care He sets me free. His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He cares for me/, let us all do that today. [ Loving Heavenly Father we ask for your forgivness for worrying, help us today to simply trust You in every situation, in Jesus name we ask this Amen ]

Turn our eyes upon Jesus. [ Psalm 121]

There was a childrens Chorus we used to sing it went like this,/ When the road is rough and steep, turn your eyes upon Jesus , He alone has power to keep ,turn your eyes upon Him /. Consider those simple words, what they mean for us today, we are under attack from the enemy of our souls, our fleshy nature is continually raising its head, and the world with all its false promises is beckoning us. What on earth can we do? well ,let us turn eyes upon Jesus, for He alone, let me stress this again, He alone has power to keep, all those things that we have to cope with, are to much for us , and that is why we must look to Jesus , every day, and every hour of every day. We all are dependent children, our strength, security, enabling ,rests totally on Jesus, not in ourselves, so today let us turn our eyes upon Jesus.[ Dear Lord Jesus we look to You today to help us in every situation, Amen ]

Why [ Hebrews 10 v25 ]

Why attend church?, one reason is because we are told to, Hebrews 10 v25, / And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, there are reasons not to attend, the service and speaker is boring. Christians are not always nice, some who profess to be Christian can be so unkind, some are bitter, unforgiving, I remember reading these words once, / To live with saints above that will be grace and glory, but to live with them below now thats a different story/. As a Christian of many years, I was a full time minister at one time, I know there will always be reasons not to meet with our fellow Christians,but think about this ,Jesus meets with them,[Matthew 18 v20 ]surely if He is prepared to meet with His followers, with all their faults should we not.[ Dear Lord Jesus you command us to love one another, help us to do this by meeting with our fellow believers, and encourage them, as Your word commands, Amen ]

Love is more than red roses.[ 1 Corinthians 13 ]

On this St. Valentines day many of us express our love by sending red roses, or a card or whatever, I believe it is important to express our love, in these ways. I myself am a bit of a romantic, I love romantic songs, as I write this I am playing a Rod Stewart song. Having said that ,love is more than red roses, love is commitment, of holding in there when you may want to run away, love is remembering your wedding vows, and being faithful to them.Love is forgiving and forgetting , love is being there for the one you love ,love is sacrificial, love is, you get the picture, God will honour such love, for He Himself is love. [God we thank You that You love us to bits, more than we will ever realise, help us to love like You, we ask this in the name of Him who loved us and gave Himself for us , Amen ]

Im not the man I used to be[ Romans 12 v 1-2 ]

Im not the man I used to be, but am I better man? , one likes to think so, in Romans 12 v2 we read,/Dont copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think/.I find the words, /let God/, interesting, as one who believes in the sovereignty of God, that here ,as Selwyn Hughes writes,/ because of the great respect God has for every human will, He will not force Himself upon us/. Let God, it seems an absurd thing to say, let us face up to what that means, and do it, let us yield to God, by changing the way we think, if we do we will be better people. As we read of the history of Israel in the wilderness, how continually they manifested stubbornness, if only, if only,they had changed the way they thought they would have got where they were going sooner. If only we would let God change the way we think, things would be so different in our churches , families,and in our individual lives, if only.[ Father in Heaven, we confess our stubbornness, our reluctance to change the way we think, help us to see that if we let You change the way we think , we would be better people, help us to submit to You, we ask this in our Saviours name , Amen ]

Hang in there, and hold on. [ 2 Corinthians 12 v 1 - 10 ]

Some things go on ,and on , and on, we pray nothing appears to be happening, is there an answer? is there some formula ,that this problem may be solved?. Lets be honest there are no easy answers ,sometimes it seems all we can do is hang in there, if we turn to the scriptures we find an honest record. The Bible tells ,it as it is, that the great people had their unresolved problems to cope with, Adam had Cain, Isaac had his daughter-in- laws, Jacob had his injury to his hip, Moses had Israel, now this is just the beginning of the Bible. So we learn that even though people love the lord, and He them, these people had problems that remained unresolved. I remember a promise I recieved many years ago, in 1 Corinthians 10 v13,it reads ,/There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man, but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it/. We must do more than hang in there , we need to hold on to this promise, and trust God to fulfill it. [Dear God we acknowledge that sometimes we get weary with some problems that will not go away,help us to hang in there, and help us to hold unto You , and what You have said unto us, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen ]

Promises [Joshua 24 v45 ]

On the British currency we have the words, /I promise to pay the bearer the sum of...... signed Andrew Baily chief cashier/. Making a promise and keeping that promise should be one and the same thing, but it is not always the same thing. It would be nice to say that I have always kept my promises, but the fact of the matter is, I have not,there are different reasons why we dont keep our promises. When it comes to God we are told, He cannot lie ,[ Titus 1v 2 ] and He always will fulfill His promises, in 2 Peter 1 v4 we are told that we have been given exceeding great and precious promises. I am reminded of an old hymn, which goes,/ Standing on the promises of Christ my King. Standing on the promises that cannot fail/,in an uncertain world we can totally rely on the promises of God, be it for salvation, provision , protection,and guidance, what God has promised He will do. [Father we thank You for those promises in your word, promises which You will always keep,help us to stand on them, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen ]

True religion. [ Matthew 23 v 23- 24 ]

In Proverbs 21 v 23, we read,/ The Lord is more pleased when we do what is right and just than when we offer sacrifices/, now the writer is not saying sacrifices are not important, but he is saying we must not let our religious requirements take priority over love. One of the best examples of this is the story of the good Samaritan, [Luke 10 v 25 -37 ] two religious people, who failed to do what is right, they attended the temple, prayed,sought to fulfill their legal requirements but in Gods eyes they failed miserable, because they failed to do good. Praying ,going to church,reading the word of God are vital in our Christian life, but they are not the sum total of being a Christian. Our Saviour prayed,a lot, but He went about doing good, so must we, we must have balance in our lives, are we religious,well we are told that,/Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for the orphans and widows/. [ Dear God help us to be balanced in our Christian life, help us to value what You value, in Jesus name we ask this Amen ]

Be careful. [Matthew 7 v1-5 ]

Just recently something happened, and I was pouring judgement on something that had happened to me, and then I recieved a phone call from the person involved, explaining that they had made a mistake.Well I felt a bit guilty , but I also learned a valuable lesson, that is, to be cautious in how we view things, and to not jump to conclusions. Many people are condemmed wrongly today, because of prejudice,envy,and an unwillingness to wait until the full story is revealed, in other words they are pre-judged. So let us not run with the lynch mob, let us wait until we hear the whole story, and let us remember , as we judge so we will be judged[ Matthew 7 v 1-6 ]

Goals. [ Ephesians 1 v 4 ]

Have you a goal in life? I have ,I suppose I have a number of goals, Heaven ,that is the ultimate goal, but here is one that is very challenging, Holiness. There used to be, holiiness teaching, I dont hear much about it these days, what is holiness? a good question, what do think holiness is?. The dictionary defines holiness as spiritual purity,it seems to me it is ungoing, it is not something that we suddenly arrive at, it is our goal every day, to be holy. It appears for many people holiness means lack of love ,Jesus encountered this continually, and this grieved Him [ Mark 3v 5 ]. True holiness starts in the heart,and then is manifested in the life, if the fulfillment of the law is love for God and people, [ Matthew 22v37 ], then holiness must be a manifestation of love.We are to hold the truth in love, and speak it in love, [ Ephesians 4 v15 ] consider what Jesus said to a woman caught in adultery, /Neither do I condemn thee, go, and sin no more[John 8 v11 ]/.[Holy Father we confess that only You are holy, we thank you that we are accepted in Jesus, help us everyday, to make holiness our goal, Amen ]

The word of God. [ 2 Timothy 3 v 16- 17 ]

There are some books in the Bible that are not so easy to read, they do not appear to have much relevance to us today, such is Leviticus, so what do we do ignor it , neglect it?. An important aspect of the Christian life is discipline, and this applies to our reading of the word of God, that means reading it, even when we find it hard going, which we will at times. There are a number of things that can help us in this discipline, a study Bible, I use the,/ Life application study Bible/, and I find this tremendously helpful, I would commend it to you. The next aid we have is prayer,Psalm 119 v 27, reads,/Help me understand the meaning of your commandments/, so pray as you read the word of God. The next aid is meditation, again the Psalmist prayed,/ Oh how I love your instructions, I think [ meditate] about them all day long.[ Ps 119v 97 ]. Let us also remember we have the Holy Spirit who will help us in our reading of all of the scripture, even those parts that are difficult and uninviting.[John 16 v 13] [Father help us not to worship your word,but help us to read it , to understand it, and most of all to live it . Amen ]

Eyes to see [ 2 Kings 6 v 8 ff ]

The story of Elisha and his servant in 2 Kings 6 v 8-17 is very instructed , a great army had come and surrounded the city were they dwelt. The servant was overwhelmed , not so the prophet, they both faced with the same difficulties, but only the prophet had eyes to see beyond the difficulties, one despaired , one was confident. Life is full of situations, difficulties, they are real and can cause us to despair, we can be like Elisha or his servant, it depends how we look at our situations, or were we look, or to whom we look. Elisha spoke and prayed for his servant, /Dont be afraid, said Elisha, for there are more on our side than theirs. Then Elisha prayed, O Lord , open his eyes and let him see./ the Lord answered that prayer, for we read that,/ The Lord opened the young mans eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chaiots of fire/. The bible tells us if God is for us who can be against us, [ Romans 8 v 31 ],may the Lord grant us the eyes of faith, to see this today. [Father whatever difficulties we may be facing today, help us to see beyond them, to You, the One who is greater than the difficulties we are facing, in Jesus name we ask yhis Amen ]

Closed doors/ Open doors.[ Hebrews 11 v 8 ]

As we acknowledge God in all our ways, He will direct our ways,[Proverbs 3 v 6. a v ]that will mean He will close doors,[ Acts 16 v 6-7 ] but it will also mean He will open doors, [ Revelation 3 v8 ]. Let us remember a closed door is just as much Gods leading as an open one, so do not worry over the closed doors, trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not upon your own understanding.[Proverbs 3 v5 av ] If God opens a door go forth in faith ,without fear, trusting in your Lord to undertake, He will be with you, to provide and guide. Sometimes the open door will raise question,can we cope,the answer is very simple, yes, for where God guides , He will provide, and whatever may come at you, He will over-rule,your business will be His business. Consider that wonderful promise in Isaiah 41v 10,/Dont be afraid, for I am with you. Dont be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. [Dear God and Father we thank You that You are leading us in life, help us to follow where You lead, trusting You to undertake in everything, in Jesus name we ask this , Amen ]

Difficulties [ Philippians 4 v6 -7 ]

How do we view difficulties?, it is an important question, yesterday I found myself in a traffic jam, it was so unexpected, and I laughed, I dont always laugh at difficulties. Recently I find myself just dropping any difficulties into the lap of God, and try not to worry, and it does work. In Philippians 4v 6 we are instructed to ,/ not worry about anything,instead , pray about everything/, let us take these words with us today,let us not just be hearers of the word, remember God is faithful. Let us tell God, let Him be our first port of call,let us tell Him what our needs our, and let us thank Him for all He has done. Then we will experience Gods peace, which exceeds anything we can understand,, His peace will gaurd our hearts and mind as we live in Christ Jesus. [ Dear Lord Jesus help us to face every difficulty with trust in You, help us to not despair or to panic, grant us Your peace, Amen ]

God is speaking, are we listening?. [Matthew 6 v 25 - 34 ]

I still enjoy fairy tales, well on the big screen ,think of the Beauty and the Beast, were a repulsive creature is transformed by love, apply this to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,and how we can be transformed by the love of God. Or think of Snow White lying in that glass coffin dead, suddenly brought to life by a kiss from her prince,consider how we who were dead in trespasses and sin, have recieved the kiss of life, from Jesus. So many things in life we see can be used ,to apply spiritual truths, so many situations, if we have eyes to see , can prompt us to think of deeper truths, articles in the paper, news events , ask yourself what is God saying, be it in a tradgedy, or a triumph, ask God to open your eyes, and ears, to what He is saying.[ Dear God forgive us for our spiritual dullness, help to be alert to what you are saying,in what we observe all around us, we know You are speaking, help us to listen , in Jesus name we ask this Amen ]

He changeth not.[ Hebrews 13 v 8 ]

The weather has changed, it is a winter wonder land, snow and more snow, but hopefully the rain will come and wash it all away. The weather reminds us of the changeableness of life ,whither we like change or not, it will happen, but the good thing is , God does not change. Consider what that means , His care for us will not change, His love for us will not change, you see ,God does not change. Whatever change that may come into our lives, let us hold unto this truth, He changeth not, in a world where much is uncertain , He is the one we can rely on, to overrule, and undertake for us, so never mind the weather, or whatever, hear the word of the Lord,/ I am the Lord , I change not[ Malachi 3 v6]. [Father we confess that change can unsettle us, cause us to feel fearful, help us to rest in the truth that You do not change, You will always be there for us, come what may, we thank You in Jesus name. Amen ]

Success [Matthew 5 v 1- 12 ]

Perfect health, money in the bank,a perfect marriage, with perfect children, and a perfect job, holidays every year, that is success, and of course it all comes about because you give a tenth of your earnings. Now let me say this, God does bless His children, I am very blessed, I do have a good job , I do enjoy holidays every year, I have been blessed with 5 sons , and many grandchildren, I have a nice home, we have two cars,but I dont have perfect health, nor do I have a perfect marriage.It would appear that for most of us ,life is a mixture ,and for many dear Christians, they have a lot to cope with, unemployment, poverty, persecution, mental illness. Life is not about everything being perfect, I am struck with the words in Hebrews 11v36-37, regarding those saints who suffered greatly, it says,/ Of whom the world was not worthy/. Gods ways are not the worlds ways, Gods values are not the worlds values, consider, the most successful person who ever lived died on a cross. [Dear God thank You for everything that You bring into our lives, the painless things, and the painful things, in Jesus name we pray this Amen ]