The call of God [Hebrews 11 v8-10]

The call of God , what does that mean?, we have the call of the wild, or the call of the sea, but what does the call of God mean?.I have stood up in a meeting and responded to what I felt was the call of God, that ,hear am I , wholly available, and from that point on I sought to fulfill this. My blog is called Bill the preacher, because from early on in my Christian life, I felt called to preach, this did not come in a meeting, but rather it was something impressed upon me, gradually. This calling has never left me, and so I continually seek to fulfill this calling upon my life, in some ways this has saved me from disappointment, because doors have shut in my face, the places I have sought to go to never materialized, but the call remainded, so I have sought to remain faithful to it. I do believe God led me to England, to Grays, I often wonder, why Grays?,I dont know, I just obeyed. I dont know where God will lead me next, but wherever that may be , I will remain faithful to my calling ,that of preaching the word of God.[ Dear God give us grace to follow where You may lead us in the fulfilling of Your calling on our lives, in Jesus name Amen]

Mirror gazing [Philippians 3v12-14]

In one of the Harry Potter movies, Harry discovers a mirror, as he looks into it, he sees his dead parents, they are standing smiling at him. He becomes engrossed with this mirror until the professor comes and tells him,that the mirror shows the desperate, and deepest desires of the heart. He then goes on to say,that men have wasted away in front of it,and even been driven mad by it, so the professor was going to have it removed.This all reminds me, how many of us have our mirrors , oh yes I have mine, and just like Harry and others, I gaze into it occasionally,many gaze continually into the mirror of past failures, past losses,past hurts, and it all has an negative affect upon their lives, crippling them emotionally, preventing them moving on, even driving them mad.It is the apostle Paul who wrote,/I focus on this one thing, forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,[Philippians 3v13], with Gods help we all need to put our mirrors away,and keep our minds on going forward, too many of us have wasted to many years mirror gazing, [ Dear Lord Jesus it is easy to make excuses for our mirror gazing, help us to stop wasting our lives looking at our past failures, hurts, and help us to put our mirrors away and move forward in victory, Amen ]

Is God sovereign?[ Revelation 19v 6 ]

Is God sovereign? many of us believe He is, or so we say, does our actions and thinking correspond, with our belief?, so often there is a gap between the two. When God tells me to leave something to Him, am I prepared to do that, or will I meddle, if God shuts a door am I willing to accept it, or do I become resentful. If God causes me to wait, do I?,if God takes a loved one, do I spend the rest of my life,in bitterness,and depression. Is God sovereign? do we really believe this, in our given situations?, do you resent me raising this matter?, whatever you or I feel , the fact of the matter is, God is sovereign. If God was not sovereign He would not be God, we all need to read again and again the life of Joseph, or the book of Esther, to see the sovereignty of God in action, and as Christians to hold fast to Romans 8 v 28, which tells us that God causes all things to work together for our good. [ Sovereign God help us to trust You in all situations, to not make rash judgements, about Your ways, help us to trully believe in Your sovereignty, in every situation, in Jesus name . Amen ]

The communion of saints.[ Hebrews 10v 25 ]

The communion of saints is a phrase from the apostles creed, to me it signifies that bond between Christians, while we are all individuals , and we all need to experience personal salvation, Christ died for the church.As part of that body we are to love one another, pray for one another, help one another, to not isolate ourselves from the body, not to become disconnected.The apostle Paul was a strong individual, but he never shut himself off from others believers, he prayed for them, fellowshiped with them ,wrote to them, loved them. Often he faced difficulties from Christians, but he kept on associating with them,and expressing his love for them. The words of the hymn says ,/blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love/, today let us pray for our fellow Christians, let us not cut ourselves of from them, if we do we will be the losers. [Dear Lord Jesus help us to love our fellow Christians, with Your love, help us to stay connected to our Christian family .Amen ]

Pressure [2 Corinthians 4v 8-10]

Many of us live under pressure, money pressures, marital pressures,employment pressures, emotional pressures, and so the list goes on. I am a great admirer of the apostle Paul, he knew what pressure was,we read the following in 1Corinthians 1V1-9-11/ We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it.In fact, we expected to die/, now thats pressure.Then he goes on to say,as a result of this,/ we stopped relying on ourselves, and learned to rely only on God,/ and the result of this was deliverance by God. The comfort zone is not a place were we rely on God, in fact it is a place of relying on others and even ourselves,the result is we do not grow in our relationship with God, and growing is so vital as a Christian. Whatever pressure we may be under at this time, it is an opportunity to grow spiritually, may God grant us the grace to grow, in our pressure times. [Dear Lord ,our times are in Your hands, all our times,the hard times, the difficult times, we ask that You would help us to trust You to deliver and sustain us, Amen ]

The Potter[ Matthew 26v 36-44]

In a number of places in the Bible, God is depicted as being a potter[ Isaiah 29v18/45v9-10/Jeremiah18v1-9/ Romans9v20-24],He is the Potter we are the clay, in other words He is Sovereign over our lives, the one who brings us into being, the one who caused us to be born into the family ,nation, that we found ourselves in.The one who shaped us in the womb, and preserved us, brought us into being, and has brought us to were we are now,the one who is shaping our lives, allowing us to experience joys and pain,preparing us for given roles and purposes.The thing to remember in this, is, the loving character of God,He is not a tyrant, nor is He cruel, whatever difficulty we may be facing at this time,He is working it for our good[ Romans 8v28.av ] and His glory.[ Sovereign God we come to You in all our weakness, we acknowledge that we do question Your ways,we struggle so often to accept Your ways and purposes for our lives, have mercy upon us, we pray that You would help us to trust You, and bow to Your Lordship in our lives , in Jesus name . Amen ]

Ice cream [ Matthew 6 v25-34]

At the club I help to run, they had ice cream , as I am diabetic I couldnt have any ,I would have liked some. When I came home my wife came in from the shopping and in the shopping was diabetic ice cream, so I had some, I am grateful to my wife for getting me the ice cream , but I am grateful to God for prompting her, to buy it. All this reminds me how God cares for us , His love is constant,and ever so thoughtful, in fact the word of God tells us that the very hairs of our head are counted,[Matthew 10v30]. I didnt even pray about the ice cream ,and yet God answered my desire. In Matthew 6v25-34 our Saviour, challenges us not to worry, about what we eat,drink or wear, and to not worry about tomorrow,we all are prone to worry,about something, Jesus tells us not to, the God who give me ice cream, will care for us all.Here is what we need to do, seek the kingdom of God above all else,and live righteously, and He will give us everything we need.[ Matthew 6 31-33].[ Dear Father in Heaven we thank You for your love and care, so often You surprise us with Your thoughtfulness, we bless You and praise You in Jesus name . Amen ]

Graduation [ Philippians 3 v12-14]

I was at the graduation of my daughter-in-law yesterday, at Southampton university,it was lovely to see all those young people, graduating. I thought about the cost of it all, the hard work, the financial cost, the discipline involved, but the joy that comes with having accomplished, that given task. If we are to be the Christians we should be ,it will mean hard work, it will cost ,it will mean discipline. Being a Christian presents to us all the greatest challenge in life,we will have to continually study Gods word, and,pray, we will have to live not with rules and regulation , but under the law of love, and to keep our eyes on the goal, not looking back, always seeking to go forward and upward, for the heavenly prize, heaven and home. We are not saying we are saved by our efforts, but rather simply that the Christian life involves effort, and a focus on our goal.[ Dear Lord help us to stay focused on the challenge of being a Christian, help us give ourselves fully to You, each day, help us to graduate with honours, for Your glory, Amen ]

Our Guide [ Psalm 48v14]

In Psalm 32 v8, we read,/ The Lord says, I will guide you along the best pathway for your life/, God does not save us and then let us get on with it, no He remains with us. We are being told three things,[1] the person who is speaking ,the Lord, consider what those words means, His character, Holy, loving,one who cannot lie. [2] His interest in you personally, God says , I will guide you. [3] The best pathway, I often say to myself as to my present employment, God choose what was best for me, and I rejoice in that daily. [ Dear God we praise You for your constant care for us, and that You are leading us,and that You make no mistakes,help us today to rest in You today, in Jesus name Amen ]

The future [Matthew 6 v 25-34]

Crystal balls,horoscopes, remind us of mankinds desire to know the future,the future can fill us with anxiety, there are many,anxious people at this time. We are in a recession, will I loose my job?,will I be able to manage if I do?, so many things to worry about, people facing a divorce, the list is endless.I read these words in Psalm 31v 15,/ My future is in your hands/, as I was writing this blog I was playing some gospel songs, and I heard these words,/ Many things about tomorrow I dont seem to understand. But I know who holds tomorrow, and I know who holds my hand/. If we are a child of God ,all will be well, because our future is in Gods hands,nothing can harm us, other than what God permits, He will guide, provide,and overrule in all things, goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives. [ Father in heaven, help us not to worry about the future, because our future is in Your hands,help us to rest in Your love, and in the knowledge that You will care for us, in Jesus name. Amen ]

A great challenge. [ 1 Corinthians 13 ]

Lets srike a blow, even a medal, for marriage, so read the headlines in an article in a national newspaper,the writer went on to say that ,/marriage is gruellingly hard , astonishing, a feat of true endurance/. It sounds pretty grim, but it was not meant to to be , it was just being realistic, reminding us of the challenge that marriage presents.Bob Gass in Word for the day,writes about the myth of a perfect marriage, marriage is a mixture of so many things, and lets be honest it is one of lifes great challenges. A work colleague said to me that marriage is full of compromises,true, you do have to give up the TV control, you do have to go shopping when you would rather play golf or watch the football.There should be romance in marriage,give and take,I heard someone say, to us men,when you are wrong admit it, and when you are right, say nothing.For all its challenges, marriage can be tremendously rewarding, and fullfilling, we may not recieve a medal, but we will find so much, that will bless us. [Dear God we thank You, for marriage, we acknowledge that it is a challenge,grant us the grace we need to be faithful, and loving,in our marriages in Jesus name Amen .]

Listening [ Psalm 95 ]

Sometimes I am told , by she who must be obeyed, that I am not listening, if truth was told, she may be right, oh yes I hear her , but it does not register, my mind is on more important things , like the football. I suppose I have another reason, I am a senior citizen,and my hair is going,my teeth is going, and I can make the excuse that my hearing is going also, or mybe it is I dont want to hear what she is saying. I read these words in Psalm 27v8,/ My heart has heard you say, Come and talk with me. And my heart responds , Lord , I am coming/.Here is a person who is really listening, really focused on what God is saying, he listened with his heart, and He reponds from the heart. God often is speaking, but we are not really listening,because our minds are on other things,or we really dont take time to listen,or we may not want to face up to what God is saying, so we dont listen. Today let us listen from our hearts, to what God is saying, and respond from our hearts. [ Dear God,help us to listen to Your voice , from our hearts, and to respond from our hearts , in Jesus name Amen ]

Keep your eyes fixed [Hebrews 12 v1-3]

In Luke 4v4 we read how our Saviour was praised by everyone, and then we read shortly after this how a crowd sought to kill Him[v28-30]. People can be so fickle, so changeable, one day they may cheer you, the next day blame you, one day they may love you , the next day hate you. So let us take to heart the words of Hebrews 12v2, which exhorts us ,/to look unto Jesus/,if we dont we will stumble, we will become discouraged,and give up. This day and everyday lets keep our eyes on Jesus, it is the only way we will get through the Christian life, this may seem an obvious thing to say, but it is important for all that., more important than we realize, it is absolutely vital that we keep our eyes on Jesus.For in Him we recieve grace,mercy, and continual encouragement, in Him we have a friend that sticks closer than a brother, in Him we will be safe, though a storm around is raging, in Him and in Him alone we will experience the peace of God that passeth all understanding , so today fix your eyes on Jesus. [ Dear Lord Jesus help us to keep our eyes fixed on You. Amen ]

Your hearts desires. [ Psalm 37 ]

In Psalm 20, we read /May He grant your hearts desires[v4 ]/ and in the following Psalm 21, we read,/For You have given him his hearts deires [v2]. God does give us our hearts desires,and again in the Psalms we have this expanded in Psalm 37 v1-5, which reads/ Dont worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong, for like grass, they soon fade away, like spring flowers, they soon wither. Trust in the Lord and do good. then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you, your hearts desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord,trust Him, and He will help you/. I will not comment on these wonderful words , I would just leave them with you, and pray that they will bless you. [ Dear God we commit all our hearts desires to Your Sovereign will, and trust You to undertake for us in everything, in Jesus name Amen ]

Perfect.[ Psalm 18 v 30 ]

As I look back on my life, I have continually asked God to lead me, the result is He has,we only really appreciate this as we look back. God has shut doors, opened doors, supplied needs, overruled, undertaken, I have known laughter, I have known tears. I was led to leave my country, to take on a small church, to leave that church, to know unemployment, to realize that, I needed to change my direction. I have made friends , and lost friends,I lost a wife , and got another,and in all these things I have sought Gods will and way.I have sought to make it a principal in my life to acknowledge God in all my ways, and to trust in His leading, and I believe with all my heart , that Gods way is perfect, and in the words of the hymn, I can say, / All the way my Saviour leads me, What have I to ask beside? Can I doubt His tender mercy , who through life has been my guide? Heavenly peace , divinest comfort, Here by faith in Him to dwell, for I know, whate,er befal me, Jesus doeth all things well. [Dear Lord Jesus we praise You for saving us, and for the fact that You are leading all of us, help us to always follow in Your perfect way Amen ]

Consequences [ Joshua 7 ]

There is a saying that no man is an island, we are all connected one way or another,so what we do always has consequences. When we hear of a death of one person we often fail to appreciate ,that death may affect many people. One good act be it ever so simple can affect many people, in Johns gospel we read of a young boy who gave his tiny lunch, to Jesus, the result 5,ooo plus were fed. The same applies to a wrong deed, which can have a devastating affect on so many, destroying whole families, even nations.We are in a recession caused by people acting wrongly, not thinking or caring about the consequences, what we do always has an affect on others,so when we are tempted to do wrong, think of the consequences. [Dear God grant us the grace to always do the right thing, help us to resist temptation, remind us of the consequences of any wrong deed , in Jesus name Amen ]

The truth sets us free. [ John 8 v 34 -36 ]

Why do we need to lock our doors at night?, why do we have to watch our pin number?, why do we have security systems?, why do we have a police force?, why do we have prisons?why do we have child abuse?, why do we have drunkenness?.Think of many other whys in life, and whats the answer?, sin, we live in a world affected by sin, this may not be politicly correct, but it is the truth. Many people are looking at the world believing it should be perfect, but the reality is, it is not perfect, and will never be perfect ,because of sin, and of course no one is perfect, because we are all sinners.It is the truth that sets us free,and the truth is that sin is a reality , which we need to face up to,the only answer for sin as regards the world and as regards us ,is a Saviour.[ Dear God help us to face the truth of sin, and help us to accept Your answer, Jesus the Saviour of the world Amen ]

The way of the cross[ Matthew 16 v24 -25 ]

Jesus says , Follow Me,but remember it is the way of the cross, a way of sacrifice, a way of pain, a way of being misunderstood. We cannot carry anothers cross, nor should we try, there is a path laid out for all of us, which only we are meant to walk. In many ways the path is a lonely one, think of the path our Saviour trod, all forsook Him,He even felt He had been forsaken by His Father. There is an old hymn which reads,/ Its the way of the cross that leads home/,it is the cross now ,but later it will be the crown and glory. In the garden of Gethsemane , the discples slept,when they should have been awake, and Jesus said, the spirit was willing but the flesh was weak.We need each day to crucify the flesh, to say no to self pity, to walk the walk of a disciple, and that is the way of the cross.[ Dear Lord Jesus, grant us the grace, each day to take up our cross and follow You, Amen ]

Being a martyr. [ Acts 1 v 8 ]

I recently viewed a painting, titled,/ Diana or Christ/, I dont know who the artist was,it pictured a young woman surrounded by officials who were giving her a choice, between Christ and the godess Diana. All she had to do ,to be set free was to burn incense to Diana,if she refused she would go into the arena, and face death, by being devoured by the lions. Jesus said to His disciples, and indeed to us,/ you will be my witnesses, telling people about Me everywhere/. [ Acts 1 v 8 ]Let us give thanks to God for the many faithful witnesses, who paid with their lives , who made a choice, to stand for Christ, are we prepared to follow in there footsteps?.Being a follower of Jesus involves us making the right choice in all things. [ Father in heaven we thank You for the many who were faithful in their witness, who declared I have decided to follow Jesus and meant it , Amen ]

Building [Matthew 7 v21- 27 ]

On holiday we went to Plymouth, if you ever visit Plymouth go to what is called Plymouth Hoe,it is very beautiful, and overlooking it is a reduntant lighthouse.It is called Smeatons Tower, and for two pounds you can climb it, this I did, half way up I came to a landing, and I noticed these words written on the wall,/ Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it/,[ Psalm 127 v 1].Those words blessed , and challenged me, for it reminds me that so many people are building, with out the Lord, building their marriages, friendships and a multitude of other things without the Lord. Millions upon millions of people are trying to be saved without the Lord Jesus ,and in the end it will all be in vain,today bring the Lord into your life , and into every situation, every endevour, and what ever happens all will be well.[ Dear Lord Jesus help us to realize the futility of building are lives without You, Amen ]

The giving God[ Philippians 4 v19 ]

None of us can outgive the Lord, today millions and millions of people will recieve from the Lord, all they need and more. The Lord is so generous and kind, sometimes, His goodness is overwhelming.I remember being on holiday in Italy and I was able to buy a chess set, I wept tears of gratitude.As I look back on my life I remember God helping me in so many ways,there were times I had nothing , no money , no food , and I had children to feed and clothe, and care for, and God heard the cry of the needy and supplied our needs. God is not a miser He is generous and kind, we can come to Him, not once but continually and we will find Him faithful,and kind. God will not humiliate us in our coming , He will not say, not again, no He will listen with love and understanding, He will not say to us you have made your bed ,lie in it,as with salvation, all His giving is out of a heart of grace, so come to Him today, in all your need, come to the giving God, and ask in Jesus name, and you will recieve. [Dear God we thank You for Your tremendous generosity and kindness , we ask in the name of Jesus that You will supply all our needs, Amen ] [ I am going on holiday today , so I will return to blog on Sunday 12th]

The best translation. [ Matthew 7v 24-29 ]

We live at a time of many bible traslations, have I a favourite? I am not sure, I was brought up with the AV or the authorized version, it is called that because it was authorized by king James. Many people love this translation because of the language, or because like me they were brought up with it, so they have an emotional attachment to it. The AV is a great translation for memorizing , when I am preaching I often quote the AV, because in my early Christian life I memorized many scriptures from it. I rarely use the AV now in my daily readings, I have read many translation, and am using the, New Living Translation at this time, so what do I think is the best translation?. The best translation is the one we translate into our lives,be it the AV, or whatever,the word of God is not something to be worshipped, or admired for its language, it is meant to be obeyed, we all are meant to be living epistles, that all can read, and if we are not we are fooling ourselves, and building our lives on nothing of worth. [Father in Heaven we thank You for Your Word , we ask that you would help us to not just treasure it and read it but above all else to obey it, in Jesus name we ask this Amen ]

Jesus wept [ John 11 v 35 ]

Those words, Jesus wept, remind us of the wonderful character of our Lord, we read of Him being moved with compassion[ Mark 5v 19], there is a little verse which reads,/With every pang that rends the heart , the Son of God has a part/.I am also reminded of many Gospel songs that speaks of a caring and loving Saviour, like,/ no one undestands like Jesus, or,/ Oh yes He cares, His heart is touched,with our grief/.Life can be filled with pain, I am reading the book of Job at this time, there was a man who suffered tremendously.If today you are suffering look to Jesus, He loves you more than you could ever realise. In Hebrews 4 we are told that Jesus who is our great high priest, understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same testings we do, yet He did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will find grace to help us when we need it most.[ Dear Lord Jesus we come to You in all our need ,with the pain that others dont see ,and the hurts that no one can heal, and ask that You would undertake for us, Amen ]