Boldness [ Matthew 28 v 18 - 20 ]

We have all heard of the saying ,/ a bull in a china shop/,meaning to act in a way that does more damage than good, sometimes in our zeal to be a witness for our Saviour, we act unwisely, and hinder the cause of Christ. Now having said that, there is place for boldly witnessing for Jesus,and indeed it is necessary, we read in Acts 4 that when Peter and John ,were arrested for witnessing, and when they were brought before the Jewish leaders, that they were amazed at their boldness. In Matthew 10v16, our Saviour said we are to be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves, ask God for that wisdom, and He will grant it[James 1 v 5 ], and let us not intimidate any one.and also let us ask, the Holy Spirit to empower us. So being filled by the Spirit, endued with the wisdom of God,and having a humble spirit , let us boldly witness for Jesus. [ Dear Lord grant us wisdom , power, and humility ,that will enable us to be Your bold witnesses Amen ]

Glorifying God. [ 1 Corinthians 10 v 31-33 ]

It is said that mans chief end is to glorify God, and this is true , in the healing of the man born blind from birth[John 9 ], and in the death and raising of Lazarus [John 11 ], and indeed in the death of our Saviour, the glory of God is manifest. All these three people were involved in suffering, and it was in their suffering that God was glorified, so this brings a challenge to all who are suffering, will God be glorified in this suffering?.Suffering involves many things,poverty, unemployment, sickness, and many other things. In 1 Corinthians 10v 31ff, we have the challening words ,/whatever we do , do all for the glory of God/, my study Bible says, / Our actions must be motivated by Gods love, so that all we do, will be for His glory. Keep this as a guiding principle by asking, is this action glorifying God ?,or how can I honour God through this action/. [ Dear God if my chief end is glorify You, grant me the grace to do this in the name of Jesus , Amen ]

The Gospel. [ John 1 v10 -13/ Romans 6 v23 ]

The term Gospel means good news, I have been pointing out our condition and its consequences, I have not been pointing out this to depress you, no more than a doctor means to depress their patient, when he tells them they have a serious illness.Their is much spiritual ignorance about, so many confusing voices, it is the task of the minister, to proclaim Gods truth, clearly, and lovingly.Yes we are sinners, but the good news is that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, our sins can be forgiven, we can be set free, we can know peace with God, we can recieve the gift of God which is eternal life. No matter how messed up our lives, no matter how far we have fallen, the good news is ,Christ is able to save to the uttermost, all that is required from any of us is to see our need. If today God is speaking to you, I would like you to pray the following prayer. [ Dear Lord Jesus I am trully lost, I come to you in all my need, please forgive my sins , and be my Saviour. Amen ]

Man know thyself . [ Isaiah 6 v 5 ]

Yesterday we considered the consequence of sin, there is much more could be said about that, one just has to read the newspaper ,or watch a movie, or your neighbours, or even, whats most important to look at oneself. The consequence of sin is all to apparent , so many lives destroyed by sinful habits,I was talking to a friend on the phone, this week and he told me about a person who had committed murder,but let us remember again what Jesus taught , to hate someone is the same as actually murdering them, to look and to lust is equivalent to actually committing adultery , the consequences of sin is very evident in this world, and none of us have escaped its effects, mybe as you read this , you are only to aware of sin, and its consequence, well there is hope , for you and indeed for everyone, tomorrow[ dv ] we will consider Gods answer. [Dear God we are only to aware of the effects and consequences of sin in this world and in our own lives, we ask that you would help us to be open and honest about our condition, in Jesus name we ask this Amen ]

Consequences [Hebrews 9 v 27 ]

Yesterday we considered sin, following on in this theme, I want to us to think on sins consequences, for the world and us as individuals.Consider every war, every conflict, every adultery,every criminal act,every sexual abuse, every wrong thought, and so on, all these are the consequences of sin, we who are sinners sin.The further consequences of sin is ,seperation from a Holy God, if sin remains unforgiven, this seperation continues after we die.[Luke 16 v 19-31 ], Hell is not something we have made up, it is not something I like speaking on, but as a preacher I must be faithful to my calling, Hell is not something just to scare us, it is a reality, it is a possiblity for all those who continue on in their sin, sin unforgiven will be judged, I am only the messenger, only a sinner saved by Gods grace, I did not invent Hell, I believe it to be a reality.[ Dear God help us to see sin for what it is, and help us to see that You will judge our sin, for You are Holy, in Jesus name we ask this Amen ]

Sin [ Romans 3 v23 ]

My son who is a street pastor, was asked by someone, does God forgive sins?somehow it did not occur to them that, God forgives sins. To us, of the older generation we take it for granted that God forgives sins, but we live in different times, the whole idea of sin, has taken on a different concept, so let us try and clarify what sin is.God has 10 commandments we read of them in Exodus 20, when we break them, we sin, in fact Jesus brought a deeper meaning to the law, when He taught,that if we think wrongly in our hearts this is also sinful, [ Matthew 5 v21ff ]. In 1John 3 v 4 we read, everyone who sins is breaking Gods law,and the fact of the matter , everyone of us has broken Gods law, [Romans 3 v23 ]. [Dear God help us today to realize what sin is, and with that realization, begin to seek after You, that our sins may be forgiven in Jesus name we ask this Amen ]

God the helper [ Psalm 121 ]

I preached twice yesterday in two local churches and God helped, I have been preaching for over forty years, but it still is a challenge, but here is the simple truth , God helps. Psalm 46 v 1, tell us that,/God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble,/whatever you may have to face today, divorce, unemployment, illness, remember God is a helper.As I look back I remember so many times in which God helped me, financially,and in many other ways, His help has not dried up,whither it is preaching a sermon, or coping with some problem,He is still there help. So today dont despair call upon Him in your need, and He will help you,ask Him to help you ,in the simple things, and the big things. [ O God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, be our defence while life shall last, and our eternal home ,in Jesus name we ask this Amen ] [ The words of the prayer are by Issac Watts ]

Adverse circumstances.[Job 1 ]

Oswald Chambers wrote,/ I am sorry for the Christian who has not something in his circumstances, he wishes was not there,/what is the something in our lives we wish was not there?. The question we may ask, is this not a strange thing to say? the answer is no,why do I say this?, because first of all our God is sovereign, not just of the world in general, but of our individual lives.Every joy or trial falleth from above, traced upon our dial, by the sun of love, so wrote the hymn writer.So is God sovereign or not in our lives?, of course He is, then let us accept His sovereign choice for our lives, let us yield to His sovereign will, for in the words of the hymn writer, /we may trust Him fully, He is to be trusted yes even in those circumstances we wish, where not in our lives.[ Father in heaven grant us the grace to trust You in those circumstances , that we wish where not in our lives in Jesus name we ask this Amen ]

Give me a word [ Philippians 4 v 6- 9 ]

So often what I need is a word from God, when I come to prepare a sermon, or write my blog, and continually I need a word for myself, so I pray and God gives me a word. As I wrote yesterday , so many things can unnerve us,the result is we loose our peace. The fact of the matter is, we are bombarded with so much in life, people putting pressure on us,our faith continually being challenged, it is then we need a word from God, a word from God,that will settle us and restore our peace. So today if you are under pressure ,ask God for a word, ask and you shall recieve, [ John 16 v23 ].When you recieve that word, then rest on it by faith, the result will be peace, so simple but it works.[ God of peace help us to rest on Your word,and as we do , grant us Your peace, in Jesus name we ask this Amen ]

Check it out. [ 2 Timothy 3 v 10 - 17 ]

I was taken aback yesterday when I phoned my elderly aunt, to be told that my oldest brother had died, according to her his funeral had already taken place, this added to my sadness, and confusion as to why no one had told me. I told my aunt I would phone home and find out what happened, this I did, and to my relief, I discovered no one had died, I phoned my aunt and told her the good news. This is an important reminder, for all of us to not just accept what we hear, say on evolution,it grieves me that the evolutionist have hijacked the media. We need to have a degree of discernment, when we hear certain things, we really need to check things out. Let Gods word be true and everyman a liar,rest on His word, believe His word, hold fast to His word, and not on the dubious claims of so called scientist, or whoever.[ Father in heaven we hear so much that can unnerve us, help us to realise that not what all we are hearing is true, keep us by Your grace, in Jesus name we ask this Amen .]

Be sensitive [ Galations 6 v 22- 23 ]

Our blest Redeemer , ere He breathed ,His tender, last farewell, A guide , a comforter, bequeathed, with us to dwell, so reads the words of a hymn by Harriet Auber. When we become Christians the Holy Spirit dwells in us, [Romans 8 v9 ] every Christian has the Holy Spirit, we become temples of the Holy Spirit,[ 1Corinthians 4 v16 ]. With that comes the challenge to be Holy, if we sin it will have an affect upon us, we will grieve, or quench ,the Spirit. Today let us walk in the Spirit, and be controlled by Him, that means being sensitive, to His prompting, let us listen to /His gentle voice , soft as the air we breath ,that checks each fault, and calms each fear, and speaks of heaven,/[words from the above hymn ].[ Dear God we thank You for Your Spirit who dwells within us, fill us afresh with that Spirit, that we may glorify our Saviour in these lives of ours, Amen ]

Hold your tongue [ Matthew 6 v 43 - 48 ]

We read about our Saviour, that when He was being treated harsly, He never said a word[ Isa 53v7/ Mt 27 v12], there is a time to be silent. Silence can often speak louder than words. Again let us consider our Saviour, in 1 Peter 2v 23, we read , / He did not retaliate when He was insulted, nor threaten revenge when He suffered. He left His case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly/. The challenge today is to be like Jesus, that means being silent, when we are being maligned,and ridiculed, and to leave the rightness of our cause in Gods hands, this is not easy, but who said being a Christian would be easy?. Words are so easily spoken,especially when we are under attack, when this is happening let us hold our tongue, and silently trust in our God. [ Father we thank You for looking after us, even when we are being treated wrongly, grant us the wisdom to know when to be silent, and in those times grant us the grace we need to hold our tongue, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen ]

Intimidated [ 2 Timothy 2 v 1 ]

I have a deep sense of the call of God upon my life, in relation to preaching, as the title of my blog declares, I am Bill the preacher, yet sometimes I feel intimidated. And it is then I have to take courage and rest on the belief that I am called by God, of course I am in good company,Moses, and Jeremiah, felt their weakness [ Ex 4 v 10 / Jer 1v6],when they where called to speak. We can feel intimidated for many reasons, but we must not yield to this, it is not God who intimidates, it is the enemy of our souls, it can also be our feelings of inferiority. Whatever we have to face today, let us not give way to, feelings of fear,feelings of inadequacy, or feelings of low self worth. Hear Gods voice saying to you,/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 [Isaiah 41 v 10 ]./[ Dear Saviour we acknowledge our weakness before You,but we take comfort in Your word, which reminds us that we can do all things through You. Amen ]

Confused. [ Hebrews 11 ]

Are we feeling confused?, life can be like being stuck in a maze, and not knowing which way to go,it is at such times, we need to remind ourselves that , the Christian life is not about certainies that we can see, it is about believing the unseen. Abraham went out not knowing where he was going [Hebrews 11 v 8], we are called to walk in his footsteps,in our prayer life, and in our daily walk. We are all called to exercise faith, not just our leaders, and those we are praying for, and those in so called Christian service,[ We all our in Christian service ]. Today let us all step forth in faith, in that place were God has placed us,and let us not look so much on our journey, but on our Saviour, and our destination.[ Dear Lord Jesus we thank You , that you are leading us day by day,and step by step, help us not to give into despair, help us keep our eyes on You at all times Amen ]

Woe is me [ Isaiah 6 ]

Sometimes one feels like Isaiah the prophet [ Isa 6 v5 ] , utterly unworthy, he felt this way just before God called him to be a messenger to his people. The more one goes on in the Christian life, the more conscious one is of ones shortcomings, yet God would use Isaiah, and grant unto him wonderful revelations, and he would speak into the lives of kings [ Isa 19 ]. God can and will use us inspite of our shortcomings, yes He can use you, and He can use me, but of course He will challenge us as regards our faults, not to condemn us but to change us. One of the most important things in our relationship with God, is a dependance on Him, an awareness that without Him we can do nothing,our shortcomings are helpful reminders. So today let us go forth with a continual dependance on our Saviuor ,for the strength we need,and the blessing we desire. [ Father in Heaven , we ask that You will have mercy upon us, and that You would bless us, and use us , for Your glory, we ask this in Jesus name Amen ]

Revival. [ John 16 v 8 -15 ]

I was in a store yesterday looking at shoes ,when a man pointed out that someone had left their old shoes on the shoe rack and put on new ones, and walked out without paying for them. I was reading in 2 Kings 22v7 of those who were honest and trustworthy, it seems so many people are far from that especially many of our M Ps . The challenge is for all of us to be honest, in our relationships,possessions, and whatever is intrusted to us, as I hear of the revelations as regards our M Ps, it bears down upon me the great spiritual need of our country. Many years ago, in Ulster there was a revival under the ministry of W P Nicolson , many were wonderfully saved. In Belfast there was a large shipbuilders, many who worked there got saved,and as a result , much that had been stolen ,was returned. What does our country need ?,a mighty Holy Ghost revival, we all need to pray , for revival in these days. Inspite of our prosperity the heart of man is sinful, and will never change,only Christ can save and change us, He is our only hope.[ O Holy Ghost, reival comes from Thee, send a revival - start the work in me. Thy word declares , Thou wilt supply our need, For blessing now ,O Lord, I humbly plead, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen ] [The prayer was fron a hymn by J Edwin Orr ]

Finger pointing .[ Matthew 7 v 1 - 5 ]

I read this recently in the , Readers Digest, of a young woman who was speaking at a church, she gave a very strong word against materialism, when she finished, she came down from the pulpit, and knelt at the altar, as she did, one could see a label on the back of her jeans, with the words on it, I love shopping. In John 8 v 1-11, we read of a woman who was caught in the very act of adultery, the religious leaders brought this woman to Jesus, they were trying to trap Him, and use it against Him .The law of Moses said that an adulteress should be stoned to death, so they said to Jesus, what do you say?, eventually Jesus said, he that is with out sin let him cast the first stone,these words hit home, so they all left. Like those religious leaders, and the young women ,it is so easy, to look at others and point the finger of judgement, to take the high moral ground, and forget that we all sinners without exception. [ Holy God have mercy upon those who have fallen into sin, grant that they may know your forgiveness, and grace, and help us all to remember, that we all our sinners saved by grace Amen ]
[I will be on holiday this week I will blog again next Saturday , the Lord bless you all ]

Calm [ Isaiah 26 v 3 ]

In Psalm 112 v 6 -7, we read, Those who are righteous, will long be remembered. They do not fear bad news, they confidently trust the Lord to care for them. The righteous are those who have put their trust in Jesus, it is His Righteousness that counts. They do not fear bad news, they confidently trust the Lord to care for them. Bad news will come, make no mistake about it, but because God is our loving heavenly Father, He will care for us, let us have confidence in our God, that whatever happens, whatever bad news we may hear, all will be well, all will be well inspite of the economy, inspite of the threat of unemployment. Horatius Bonar wrote,/Calm me, my God, and keep me calm...... Calm in the hour of buoyant health, Calm in my hour of pain, Calm in my poverty or wealth, calm in my loss or gain. [ Dear God help us by Your Grace to trust in Your care, inspite of difficulties, inspite of bad news, grant that we may know in our hearts calmness, we ask this in Jesus name Amen ]

Pass the salt [ James 1 v 26 ]

I remember reading a book by a lady called Corrie Ten Boom, that she was invited to minister to a group of girls , at a retreat, now you know what girls are like, they talk, and sometimes they can be a bit spiteful,[ we men our perfect ] so Corrie introduced a rule, that everytime, someone started to say something about another ,at the meal table ,they would say, / pass the salt/. Words hurt, it is so easy to run people down , to phone up and talk about what someone has done, to undermine a persons character, or a persons ministry. Today let us seek to resist the temptation to run another down, if we cannot say something good about a person, then let us refrain from saying anything bad. [ Dear God forgive us for talking about others,of saying hurtful and damaging things, grant us the grace to watch our words, help us to resist the temptation to undermine another in Jesus name we ask this Amen ]

Telling the truth [ Exodus 20 v16 ]

We have been making inquiries about getting a new tv deal, we thought we had it all sorted out then we discovered that what we had been told was not right,this applied to three companies. We feel we were not told the truth, fortunately we found out in time, and will be cancelling our agreement, it makes one wonder about the importance of telling the truth. I realise that it is so easy to fail to tell the truth, there will be many today who will placing their hand on the bible, and swear to tell the truth , the whole truth, so help them God, and have no intentions of telling the truth. May God help us to be truthful people, with those nearest to us,and with all we come into contact, today. [God of truth forgive us for not always telling the truth, help us to be truthful, grant us this grace, in Jesus name Amen ]

We are all different. [ Jeremiah 1 v 5 ]

A penguin walked into a bar and asked the barman , have you seen my brother, the barman replies, what does he look like?. I hope you get the joke, the point is penguins all look the same, but they are not, so with us ,to penguins we may all look the same but we are not, we are all different. We all have different abilities , personalities, gifts, we are like snowflakes,not two of us are alike,so today dont wish you are someone else, rejoice in who you are,oh yes there are things in all of us that need to change, and of course we all sinners, and we all without exception need Jesus.Today you may hate yourself because you feel you are to thin or to fat,listen God made you and me, He made the elephant man, read his life, he was a beautiful person. God made all of us , and when He made you and me He didnt make a mistake, and here is a wonderful thought ,He loves us, and longs that we love Him, by accepting His Son as our Saviour.[ Dear God , thank You for making us, and bringing us, into being,thank You for loving us, and giving Your Son to die on the cross for us, thank You that we all are different, but this is not a bar to being accepted by You, in Jesus name we pray this Amen ]

Make it count [ 1Corinthians 3 v 11 - 15 ]

According to 1 Corinthians 3 all we have done for Christ will be weighed , and judged, it will be tested by God, now it is important to stress ,that this is nothing to do with being saved by works. The fact of the matter is we cannot be saved by anything we do, we are saved totally by what Christ has done, He saves. 1 C0r 3, is stressing rewards for what we do as Christians,I wonder what those rewards will be? in a sense I dont think of rewards, but rather of trying to please my Saviour,there is a compulsion inside me that wants more than ever to hear my Saviours well done. As I start this day my prayer is that whatever I do, that it will count for Gods glory, if love is my aim it will count, if I am led by the Spirit it will count,if I am motivated by Heavens values, it will count, if I do all things to the Glory of God, it will count. [ Dear Lord , grant that this day, that all I do may count , and be of worth to You Amen ]

The way ahead [ Matthew 16 v 24 ]

The way ahead is very simply this, follow Jesus, no matter what disappointments we have, or face, no matter what successes or failures,no matter how we feel, Jesus says to all of us follow me. There is to be no turning back, no deviating, no compromising, no excuses, it may mean offending our nearest and dearest, of being misunderstood, of being thought a idiot, a fool, a fanatic. It means continually following Jesus , no days off, it may mean the loss of our very lives, or the lives of our nearest and dearest, whatever , it will mean choosing that which we cannot, prove or see, that means walking by faith. It means not caring about our reputation, in other words not caring what people think of us, not winning the popularity contest, of being despised, and rejected, wharever it may cost, the challenge is this , to follow Jesus. [ Dear Lord Jesus help us this day and everyday to follow You, Amen ]

Gods people [ Matthew 11 v 17 ]

In Luke 22 our Saviour and His disciples were having the passover meal, and during it our Saviour tells His disciples, that sitting among them as a friend, was one who would betray Him. The disciples ask each other which one of them would do such a thing,and thats as far as they took it, surely one would have thought that would have killed off all conversation for the rest of the night, but no they quickly move on, and start arguing among themselves, as to who would be the greatest among them.How fickle people are at times, changeable, shallow, and yet here is the amazing thing, our Lord choose these disciples, we may ask why?, but are we any different?. So often when one preaches the word of God,afterwards it appears that people want to talk about everything and anything ,but what they have heard, yet the Lord choose us, but when will we begin to really take in ,what God is saying to us ?. [Dear Lord we confess that we are fickle, changeable,and shallow at times, we thank You for Your patience towards us, help us today to really listen, to Your voice, we ask this in Your name Amen ]

Overwhelmed [Psalm 121 ]

I wonder do you ever feel overwhelmed, I must confess I do at times, I imagine that there are people who look at me and feel that I am on top of everything, after all I have accomplished a lot of things. I have brought up five children , no mean feat, I have a very responsible job, I am a preacher, and so I could go on, yet there are times one feels overwhelmed, with feelings of unworthiness, and ineffectiveness. This is not an unique experence, for many people in the Bible , have felt this way, the apostle Paul, [Romans 7 ], the prophets Elijah, [1 Kings 19], and Isaiah,[ Isa 6 ]. The Psalmist David prayed ,/ I cry to You for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety for you are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me [Psalm 61 v 2-3 ]/. Today if you are feeling overwhelmed , or when you do feel overwhelmed, walk in the footsteps of David and look up , to the one who hears and understands, and who whispers to your heart, I understand, I care, I love you. [ Dear Saviour we come toYou, in all our need, and ask that You would, sustain us by Your grace,strengthen us in our weakness,comfort us in our times of sorrow,and uphold us in the ongoing course of life Amen ]

We are not as strong as we may think.[ MK14v29-31/ 66- 72 ]

We are not as strong as we think, I read these words in my study Bible, I thought so true, it reminded me of the time a number of my friends where having a talk, we were all single, and one of my friends said how he had got his sexual feelings under control. He was a fine young Christian, I wish I could have said the same thing, but it is an area in which I struggle even to this day, well later on I heard that my young friend had to get married because his girl friend became pregnant. In 1 Corinthians 10 v 12 we read,/ If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall/,very wise words for all of us to take in, consider King Solomon the wisest king who ever lived , he acted so shamefully, and fell so dramatically. Now none of us are meant to live in fear, but we are meant to live with a continual dependance on our Lord, simply bcause we are not as strong as we think.[ Dear God we come to You in our weakness, help us this day not to fall into sin, help us in those areas of our lives in which we think we are strong, to realise that we are not as strong as we think,grant us the grace of depending on You,we ask this in Jesus name Amen ]