Our Calling.[ Mark 9 v35]

Servant to all, this my calling, that means I dont judge people, and I dont discriminate, irrespective of what they have done or who they are. Is this not what Jesus did, and this is what we , who are His followers are called to do. To be a servant is challenging, and costly,but whatever price we have to pay,it is only a feint reflection of the price our Saviours paid in His servanthood. Consider Jesus the servant, He humbled Himself ,humility is a very precious quality,but it is not always rewarded, or appreciated, but if it is real it will speak more than a thousand sermons. We all ,have much to learn about servanthood, [Luke 17v10],only one person served perfectly, Jesus, and today He calls us to follow Him, and if we do , then one fine day we will hear from Him ,well done My good and faithful servant. [Matthew 25 v21].[ Dear Lord Jesus help us to be more like You, to follow in Your footsteps, and to serve others, Amen ]

Remember [Psalm 121]

Let us remember that God has the final say in all things, it is not over until God says so. The children of Israel had there backs against the wall, [Exodus 14]thier enemies where about to destroy them , but it did not happen, God had the final say. So often we see this in the word of God, time after time, God has the final say. Look at the cross it looked like evil had triumphed, but God had the final say, God will always have the final say.Hitler boasted of setting up a thousand year reign, but God had the final say, He will always have the final say.Whatever situation we may be in let us remember God will have the final say, if you are not saved , God will have the final say[ Hebrews 10v27]. If you are saved, God will have the final say in all the affairs of your life, so do not despair,do not despair as regards the world situation, or your own personal situation. [ Dear God it often appears that the powers of darkness seem to be triumphant,in this world, help us to look to You, and to believe that You will have the final say in all things, in Jesus name, Amen ]

An abiding presence[ Hebrews 13v5-6]

In Matthew 28v20 we have these wonderful words spoken by our Saviour,/Lo I am with you always/,how important these words are for all who know Him. There are times we feel isolated, not many friends,in situations that are threatening,there are times we struggle in our commitment, the Christian is not immune from difficulties. Today let us all take those words spoken by our Saviour to heart, I am with you, we are not on our own, no, Jesus is with us, so take heart child of God. Whatever we have to face today we will not face it on our own, He will be with us, He is not just looking on, no He is there to help and comfort, to protect and to guide, to provide and encourage.In the book of Daniel we have the story of three young men[chap 3] ,who took a stand for God , the result was they where thrown into a firey furnace, and as the king looked on, he declared,/ I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God[v25. nkjv] The one who was with those young men in the fire ,is the one who will be with us ,in whatever situation we find ourselves in, even Jesus.[ Dear Lord Jesus thank You for being with us always. Amen ]

The Church. [ John 17v11 ]

I am a member of a small church, in the winter we move into a smaller room at the back of our building, a friend said, oh we are not meeting in the church. Many peoples concept of the church is the building, but of course that is not so ,the church is the people of God, they are the called out ones.When our Saviour said I will build my church [Matthew 16v18 ], it is obvious that He was not talking about a building, but a body of people. If we our Christians then we become part of that church, and we are called to meet with other believers[Hebrews 10v25],now of course the church is a body of imperfect people,and all that this means, but they are the ones we are commanded to love [John 15v12]. We may think we can do without the church ,but we cant, we need each other, and we need to stay connected. There will always be reasons to stay away from the church, always,I write from experience, but the fact of the matter is, I need them , and they need me, because I not connected to a building, but to a body of people, people whom Christ died for,and this same Christ told us to love them, and as my study Bible says,/Love should be the unifying force, and the identifying mark of the Christian community/.[Dear God thank You for your church , help us to love those who are part of that church, to even lay down our lives for them, in sacrificial love , in Jesus name Amen ]

Tell them.[ 1 John 4 v7-8 ]

I read this today,/Never waste an opportunity to tell someone you love them/, sometimes we dont think that those we love, need to hear this.As I look back on my childhood with my mum,gran, brothers and sisters, I can never remember hearing the words I love you spoken, oh that does,nt mean they didnt, but no one spoke those words. God is love, He shows it continually,if we have eyes to see,we just have to look to the cross to see love in all its fullness.But it is His word spoken that brings meaning to it, John 3v16,I wonder when was the last time you said to God you love Him?, tell Him today, and this will please Him, and tell someone you love them, mybe those simple words will encourage them.[ Our God and Father we love You in Jesus name Amen ]

Decipleship. [ Matthew 28v19-20]

The Christian life is very challenging, our Saviour spoke of making disciples [Matthew 28v19-20], what does that mean?, it means first of all a decision to accept Christ as our Saviour,this is followed by baptisim,and followed by learning to obey Jesus in all things. There where those who said they wanted to follow Jesus ,but when they were faced with what that meant they drew back [ Matthew 8 v18-22], there where those who started to follow Jesus, then give up[ John 6 v66] Before we become a Christian , we do it our way, or somebodies way,but becoming a Christian means we are deciding to go Christs way, we are deciding to become a disciple.[Dear Lord Jesus we ask that You would help us to see what it means to be a Christian, we pray that You would grant us the grace to become Your disciples. Amen ]

Practicing what I preach.[ James 1 v22- 25]

I was thinking that it does not much to unnerve me, often people look at me they see a calm person , and of course most of the time I am, but then, something small happens, and I start to become anxious. Anxiety is something we all have to cope with,what can one do to cope with it?, well one of the the things I do is try to practice what I preach. I remember what I preached to others, and start to apply it into my life ,if it is to do with finance then I remember that I preached on the 23 Psalm, the Lord is my Shepherd,and I shall not want.If my thoughts are becoming negative, and unhelpful then I remember the words of Philippians 4 v8-9, that I am to let my thoughts dwell on what is true and honourable,right, pure, lovely and admirable. Whither one is a preacher or not, it is important to put into practice the word of God, to remind ourselves of what we have heard or read in every situation in life.[ Dear God help us to not just be hearers of Your word but doers ,in Jesus name Amen ]

Rejecting God. [ Revelation 3v7-13 ]

Today marks the end of British summer time, and the clocks go back one hour, it wll become darker earlier. It is a marker, a saying the summer is gone,in Jeremiah 8v20 we read,/The harvest is past ,the summer is ended, and we are not saved/.My study Bible says,/ These words vividly portray Jeremiahs emotion as he watched his people reject God/,what a tragedy, those who should have known better, blindly reject their God, with terrible consequences. Whoever rejects God suffers, thats a fact , be it believer or unbeliever, the safest and securist place in the world is in our relationship, and fellowship ,with our God and Saviour .There are many reasons people reject God, but none are legitimate, let us make no mistake about that. Let us remember it is always better to have Gods presence with us, in our trials, He will stand with us, strengthen us, comfort us, and in a coming day will reward us.[ Dear God help us not to reject Thee in our blindness,help us to persevere,to cling to thee,as You cling to us, in Jesus name Amen ]

Sorry[Matthew 6v14]

I am sorry I could not blog in earlier, I did try ,but I could not get unto my blog, sorry is a word many find hard to say, just think how many relationships would be mended, if people said sorry and meant it. We expect people to say sorry if they have been in the wrong, the challenge for the Christian is to forgive others even when they dont say sorry, and not only forgive them, but to love them. There is no place for pride or unforgiveness in our walk with Christ, for love keeps no record of being wronged[1 Corinthians 13v5]. God loves us ,and will always love us,even when we do Him wrong,yet if we are to know Him as Saviour then the wrongs must be confessed, He cannot and will not ignor our wrong doings. Why? because He is Holy, all He asks is for You to say from the bottom of your heart that you are sorry,To know Christ as our Saviour depends totally on us saying sorry, and the moment we do ,we are forgiven and accepted.[ Dear God help us to forgive others when we are hurt and unjustly treated, we thank You that you forgive ,and forgive ,and forgive, in Jesus name Amen ]

That niggling fear .[ Isaiah 26 v3-4]

Do you like me at times ,have a niggling fear, something that refuses to go away?mybe it is a health problem, a employment problem, that what you fear the most will happen. Well I am sure if we are truthful we are all members of the niggling fear club,so lets think about it. First it may never happen,secondly if it does happen we have one who is with us, who will overrule and help us, Jesus. In Colossians 3v 15-16, we have two very important things stressed,[1] Let the peace of God rule in your hearts. [2]Let the word of God dwell in you richly. These two things stress our responsibility, we have a choice today, whats it going to be?,to let the fear rule ,or to let Gods peace rule, to rest in Gods word or our own imagining?, the choice is ours.[ Dear God, help us to make the right choices today, to let Your peace rule in our hearts, and to let Your word be our stay, in Jesus name . Amen ]

Weakness [ Matthew 16v24-25]

Why does God often do the opposite to what we think?, we pray to be stronger, and we are made weaker,[ Judges 7]we pray for health and we recieve sickness,we pray for greater areas of service and we find ourselves given less. Well there are different reasons, for God acting in ways that are contrary to what we think.[1]God gets the glory through our weakness.[2]We learn valuable lessons, like humility,and a healthy dependance on God.[3] Christlike character is formed in us.[ Dear God we struggle with weakness, we want success, we want the perfect marriage, perfect health,perfect job, perfect children, we want prosperity, and then You point us to the cross, and we hear our Saviour say follow Me. Amen ]

Stubbornness.[ Matthew 23v37]

Are you a stubborn person?children can be very stubborn, you see this often in a supermarket,the mother tries to put the child into the shopping trolley,and its like the child has suddenly developed superhuman strength, and lungs. I am glad I dont have to deal with that anymore, it is called the battle of the wills, who is going to win the parent or the child?. For us to become a Christian ,the will is involved, and without exception we are all stubborn,it is part of our fallen nature, we are not so different to the child and the shopping trolley.If you have been resisting the gospel, I would encourage you , to think about the mother and the child, the child may not realize it, but the mother loves that child. In the trolley the child is out of harms way,a loving parent will always seek whats best for their children, even though they may not realize it. God without exception loves everybody, He is always seeking whats best for us, and whats best, is to be found in trusting His Son Jesus. So today stop struggling, and yield to Christ.[ Dear God of love help us to see that You always want whats best for us, help us to stop being stubborn, and to yield to Your loving will, in Jesus name Amen]

Clean the lenses.[ Romans 8 v28 ]

We wear glasses to help us to see ,but sometimes they appear not to be helping, until we realize that we need to clean the lenses, and then what a difference. There is an old saying about not seeing the forest for the trees, , often in life all I can see is the problem,the difficulty, and I become frustrated, and angry, and it is then I need to clean the lenses, by applying Gods word into that situation, and to look at things spiritually. When I do this, I am reminded that I am not a victim of circumstances,I am a child of God, and my Heavenly Father is watching over me,and yes ,I will say it again for we all need continually to be reminded of this truth ,that God is causing all things to work together for my good and yours, dear child of God,so clean your lenses today, and look at things spiritually.[ Dear God every day can bring new challenges and we confess to You that often we struggle, so today help us not to struggle, but help us to rest in You, in Jesus name. Amen ]

Neglect not such a good idea. [ Luke 18v1 ]

Yesterday I wrote of helping ,when we pray for others, I believe when we pray we are helping ourselves, we recieve benefits, we are strengthened[ Isaiah 40v31], we are heard by God our loving Heavenly Father, [1 Peter 3v12], we recieve grace to help in our times of need,[Hebrews 4v16]. The list can go on and on,as regards the benefits we experience when we pray, and they are vital to us, as vital as eating and drinking. To neglect prayer is to deprive ourselves of so much that God has for us, so much that is good and beneficial to our well being. In James 4 v2 we read,/ you dont have what you want , because you dont ask God for it/, let us take these words to heart, and let us not neglect prayer, let us make all our needs known to God, for our Saviour said ask and you shall recieve[ Matthew 7v 7][ Dear Lord we thank You for prayer, help us today to avail ourselves of the privllege of meeting with You, with the assurance that You hear and will answer . Amen ]

Helping.[ James 5 v 17-18]

A friend of mine used to say, if you cant help ,then dont hinder,in 2 Corinthians1v11, the apostle Paul writes,/ you are helping by praying for us/. I saw a brother during the week, he has been through a lot of difficulties ,divorce,lost his church, possible mental breakdown.In the brief moment I saw him ,all I could say was, I am praying for you,he said he was grateful for that. I take encouragement from what the apostle wrote to those early Christians,you are helping by praying for us,prayer is not just an added extra, it is the vital ingredient in every situation. We are helping others by praying for them, so dont give up praying for others, God is listening, and He will respond .[ Dear God thank You that we can help others by simply praying for them, that our prayers can make a difference, in Jesus name. Amen ]

Naughty but nice. [James 1v 13-15]

When we are tempted it is always with something that appears good and promises to satisfy,when the devil tempted Eve, she looked at the tree and its fruit looked delicious [Genesis3v6]. Sin often comes dressed in clothes of finery, king David looked and saw a women of unusual beauty,[2Samuel 11v2]but she was a married woman, he looked then he took. How appropriate are the words in the Lords prayer,/ Lead us not into temptation[ Matthew 6v13] or dont let us yield to temptation, Temptation can be very strong, we are weak,consider Samson[ Judges 16],he yielded to temptation, and he lost his strength, his eyes,and his freedom, we will always loose out, when we yield to temptation. So today if we are tempted let us ask the Saviour to help us, he is willing to aid us, He will carry us through.[ Dear Lord help us in the hour of temptation,not to yield. Amen ]

Mountains. [ Matthew 17 v20]

Jesus said that is possible to move mountains,simply by faith [Matthew 17v20],so often there are mountains in our lives, what is your mountain today?. Got any river you think are uncrossable, got any mountains , you cant tunnel through. God specializes in things thought impossible, so wrote Oscar Eliason. Well said Jesus there is an answer, faith,sounds simple, well it is,but we find it hard to take Jesus at His word.[Let me say the most important mountain that needs to be removed is sin, people will try all sorts of things to move that mountain, and go to all sorts of strange people and places to remove that mountain, instead of having faith in Jesus.] Dear fellow Christian if you are facing a mountain look afresh to your Saviour,exercise faith in Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think.[Ephesians 3v20] [ Dear Lord Jesus grant us the grace of faith in You to remove those mountains that we are faced with, Amen ]

Be on time. [2 Corinthians 6 v2 ]

I heard a Lou Armstrong song, the last one he recorded, and the words that struck me were,/ we have all the time in the world/. The question is, have we?, when it comes to salvation we are exhorted to grasp the opportunity, to seek the Lord while He can be found to call on Him while He is near, [Isaiah 55v 6]. The old gospel hymn went ,/ be on time ....if in sin you longer wait ,you may find no open gate, and your cries be just to late ,be in time/. We all know what it is to arrive at the train station, only to find the train is gone, if one worked in Belfast shipyard years ago, they were very strict in relation to time keeping, if you arrived late you would be locked out, and you would loose a days pay. When we hear the gospel message, we are not meant to dilly dally along the way, we are meant to respond there and then, if we dont ,we are in danger of being locked out , and it wont be a days pay we will loose, it will be our soul. [ Dear God help us to see the importance of instant obedience in all things ,but especially in relation to the gospel, in Jesus name. Amen]

Anticipation[ Matthew 6 v25-34 ]

I wonder are you like me? in that you sometimes anticipate certain situations, I am sure many in Israel anticipated David being defeated by Goliath [1 Samuel17], and when Daniel was thrown into the den of lions, there were those who anticipated , he would be eaten up[Daniel 6]. Consider also the death of our Saviour, many ,even the disciples,thought that was the end, they anticipated the worse .The fact of the matter is, all these people were wrong, what they anticipated did not happen, why? , God, He had other plans, and what ever He plans and purposes will happen.Today whatever our situation and circumstances are ,let us not anticipate the worse, let us trust our God to overrule for our good as He has promised[ Romans 8v 28 ]. William Cowper wrote,/ Ye fear saints , fresh courage take, the clouds you so much dread, are big with mercy , and shall break in blessings on your head/. [Dear God we commit all our circumstances , and situations into Your hands, help us to not anticipate the worse, but to simply trust in Your overruling providence, in Jesus name. Amen]

Why did I worry?

All went well on my travels , I did not have to use my sat-nav , it happened just as I had requested,it was a travel free journey. After all I had prayed, and God answers prayer,this is what we are supposed to do about those things that give us concerns,pray and trust even though we may still be anxious, and God will answer. Philippians 4v6-7, tells us ,/Do not be anxious about anything, instead , pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience Gods peace, which exceeds anything you can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus/. So why not do this right now,and begin to practice it continually, till it becomes second nature to us, dont let our anxieties drive us from God let them drive us to Him.[ Father we acknowledge that we are weak, often fearful and anxious about different things, so today we bring all our anxieties to You, right now, and trust in Your loving care , a care that will always do whats best for us, in Jesus name .Amen ]

He Knows [ Psalm 23 ]

I will be preaching in a friends church this weekend, it will mean a three hour journey to get there, I am looking forward to it, but, there is that but again, I do get fearful about travelling, of finding my way there. I should not, after all ,in all my travels God has been faithful and guided me ,I have always managed to get to my destination. It was Joyce Meyer who encourages us to, do it afraid,in other words let faith be the the deciding factor, not fear. God is well aware of our fears, that is why we have so many ,fear nots in the Bible.let me encourage you if you are afraid today, to fear not,grab hold of a promise from Gods word , and let faith arise,and do it afraid.Let me leave you with one of my favourite promises from Isaiah 41 v10,/ Fear thou not , for I am with thee,be not dismayed, for I am thy God, I will strengthen thee,yea I will help thee,yea I will uphold thee, with the right hand of my righteousness/.[ Dear God and Father you know how often we are fearful, help us to trust You , and not be afraid, whatever we are facing today ,in Jesus name. Amen ] [As I will be away tomorrow I will not be blogging]

Weakness in prayer. [Romans 8v26-30 ]

In Romans 8 which is one of my favourite chapters in the Bible in v26, we read,/And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we dont know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us,/this is such an interesting verse, it speaks of our weakness, a weakness that effects our prayer life, we dont know what to pray for in given situations. Lets face it ,this is often our experience, we dont know what to pray for the best, as to our future, as to certain circumstances. [ cp Philippians 1v20-23] Today let us acknowledge our weakness to God,and leave the choice to Him,and take comfort in the fact that the Holy Spirit is making intercession on our behalf ,in a perfect way , in keeping with the will of God.[ Dear God in our great weakness we come to You, have mercy upon us,life is full of many things that drive us to You, things we do not understand, and are at a loss to know whats best, we offer all these things up to You through the Divine Spirit,and simply say Thy will be done, in Jesus name . Amen ]

There is victory in Jesus. [ Philippians 3 v 4-20]

The weather is changing,the leaves are changing their colour, and so we move into a new season,in Ecclesiastes 3v1 ,/ for everything there is a season/.There is this an inevitability in this, we cant change the seasons,someone I know mentioned how the cloudy days affect him, we can let so much affect us,we can be ruled by the seasons, or we can be ruled by a faith that looks beyond the changeableness of life, a faith that enables us to rejoice in the Lord. a faith that knows great contentment. Is it possible? I believe it is possible, as the old hymn says there is victory in Jesus, victory over our moods,conditions, heartaches. Whatever season we may be in, let us remember that we have one who is with us,to comfort, to provide ,to overrule, to bless, His name is Jesus. [ Dear Lord , grant us the grace we need, to know victory over ,whatever the changes may be, that You may bring us into ,Amen ]

God is so patient [ Revelation 3 v20 ]

I am a reasonable patient person, but sometimes I get tired of waiting for certain things to change, and hear myself saying Ive had enough,I am fed up with the waiting game. In Matthew 23v 37 our Saviour speaks about Jerusalem, it was a lament,/O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets, and stones Gods messengers, How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath its wings, but you wouldnt let me/. Israels history is such a tortured history, it depicts a great lover, God, showering ,blessing upon blessing ,upon the one He loves ,Israel, only to experience time after time rejection,and unfaithfulness. We can broaden this out to include the world,[John 3v16], and we can narrow it down to ourselves as individuals, the Great lover God,seeks us whom He loves, and what patience He shows, as long as this world will last He will continue to exercise patience, because He loves us, and is not willing that we should not perish.[2 Peter3v9][ Dear God it amazes me how patient You are,help me to to be more like You, we ask this in the name of Jesus .Amen ]

A man of God. [Revelation 14 v 13]

I would encourgage you read the life of William Carey who lived in the 18th- 19th century , he was a wonderful man of God, he came from a very humble background, and was by trade a shoemaker. He was a man of great learning could speak a number of languages, he had to contend with so many difficulties,but he had this tremendous quality, perseverance, he just didnt give up.and when he died in India, the word of God had been translated and printed into forty languages, and six hundred native Indians had trusted Jesus.One of the things he said was,/ Expect great things from God,and attempt great things for God/, and he did just that. [Dear God help us to be like Your servant William Carey, to persevere, help us to see that the God of William Carey is our God, and help us to accomplish something of value for our dear Saviour, in whose name we ask this . Amen ]

Our enemy. [ Genesis 3 ]

Dont let the enemy spoil the blessing, yes we have an enemy, he goes by a number of names,the word of God says that he even disguises himself as an angel of light ,and those who serve him are also disguised as servants of righteousness .[2 Corinthians 11v15-16] It is in 1Peter5v8 ,we read,/Stay alert . Watch out for your enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. This enemy will not only try to spoil what we have, but he will seek even to devour us, he is a powerful foe ,one just has to look at the world to see what havoc he is causing.So today stay alert, resistance is not futile, it is vital,and can be successful,/ [James 4v7 ], our enemy is strong but our Saviour is stronger, and through Him we can know the victory.[ Dear God in the name of Your Son Jesus grant us the victory over our enemy the devil, today. Amen ]

Secure [ Matthew 6 v 19-34 ]

Many people are feeling very insecure, their jobs are on the line, their health is not great,the list goes on, feeling insecure is part of the human condition. I am continually being challenged to keep God always as the center of my life, and to remind myself that He is my security, not my job, my family, not my health, not my friends, not my bank account. It is one thing writing this , preaching this, than actually living the truth that God is my security,we hold on to our supposed securities, not lightly but tightly, and if they are threatened, we break out in a cold sweat. Today I am reminding myself and you, that the securist place in life is in God, the more we have of this worlds goods the harder it becomes to really see God as our security, we hold on to things like grim death. If I put God first, then I will be secure, I am not saying we should act thoughtlessly or foolishly but that we be careful that we see were our true security lies, in our loving Heavenly Father. [Father in Heaven thank You for blessing us with so much,help us to not to be fooled, into thinking that our security lies in the blessings,rather than the one who has blessed us , even You, in Jesus name . Amen ]

There are the positives. [ Psalm 23 ]

Sometimes we are very negative about ourselves, one of my clients use to say there are no positives, but he was wrong . I know that we are all sinners and what that means, but I also believe that as a child of God there is much in life that I can praise God for, there are the positives. I dont think we should live under a cloud, yes I know life can be a struggle, but we can experience victory even in our struggles, personally, I can look at life and praise God that I brought up five lovley lads,and at sixty five, still working, the list goes on, the Grace of God has saved and kept me. If you are feeling down today, for whatever reason, if you are a child of God,try not to give in to the negative thoughts, consider the positives, and praise God. [ Dear Lord thank you for the positive things in our lives, help us not to give ourselves over to negative thoughts, help us to think about that which is ,true, right , honourable, pure , lovely,and admirable. Amen ]

Defeat [ Romans 8v37 ]

In the account of Scott of the Antartic , a story of great bravery, not because they reached the South Pole first but because of the courage they showed , even in missing their given goal. Defeat in many areas of life is just as important as success, Dunkirk was a terrible defeat for the British army, and yet it brought great inspiration to a nation at a time when hope was at a minimum. Look at the cross ,see Jesus hanging on it, to those who crucified Him it appeared that they had defeated Him, but of course they had not, for in that apparent defeat Christ was winning the greatest victory ever wrought. Sin could now be forgiven, Satans power was broken, hope to the hopeless was given, all this and more out of an apparant defeat. We will all experience a defeat of some kind in our lives, a marriage breakdown, a temptation we have yielded to, again,a business failure,let us look at the cross and take hope, the God who brought good out of an apparant failure, can turn ,even our failures into victories. [ Dear God grant us the grace to arise from our defeats, to forget those things that are past, and press on to victory, in Jesus name .Amen ]

Dont panic. [1 Kings 19 ]

If, wrote Rudyard Kipling, /You can keep your head when all about you, are losing theirs and blaming it on you/, and as you read this you say to yourself if only I could. Life is full of so much that can cause us to be driven, to panic, to react in unhelpful ways, we all do it. The great prophet Elijah panicked He ran away, became depressed, lay down and asked God that he might die, it all kicked in when he was threatened[ 1Kings 19], he had a panic attack. It was Jones in Dads Army[A tv program] who used to cry out ,dont panic, as he himself panicked. The question is what can we do if Panic sets in?,when we feel like running away?is it possible to keep our head when all around are losing theirs?. Well let us return to Elijah,how did he get through his time of panic?, well it all came to a head on a mountian when he was alone with God, and on that mountain he heard the still small voice of God, a gentle whisper, in the midst of our panic get alone with God, and listen.[ Oh God help us in our times of panic, to be still and know that You are in control, who has not forsaken us,help us to call upon You , and to listen to Your still small voice, in Jesus name . Amen ]