Repent .[ Luke 13 v1- 5 ]

I was listening to a discussion on the radio,the subject was the energy suppliers in the U K, and how they were being unfair to the consumers. The person leading the discussion wanted to bring the discussion to a close , so he asked one person to sum up briefly, what the energy companies should do, the man replied,/ Repent/. I am sure he may have a point, many of these big companies have not always acted in a very ethical way, especially in developing countries. I personally try to avoid buying petrol from a particular brand because of that companies bad practices. Repent, it is a biblical term , and means expressing sorrow, but also involves a change of mind,it is important in relation to being saved[ Acts 20 v21 ], I would say that it is ongoing in the Christian life.[2 Corinthians 7 v9 ]. In Luke 13 the subject arose as to why certain people had died violent deaths ,the general belief was, that these people had suffered because of their sinfulness, but our Saviour told them to stop judging others ,and to realise their own need for repentance,and if they didnt they would perish, and He was not just talking about them dying , for after death the judgment [ Hebrews 9 v27 ].
A prayer..../ /Dear God have mercy upon those dear people who are being exploited by others, grant that a true spirit of repentance may come upon their exploiters, but also grant that we may all may see the need of repentance,in Jesus name .Amen ]

Halloween. [ 2 Corinthians 10 v 3 - 5 ]

One translation of the Bible tells us to not let the world squeeze us into its mould, if we are Christians, ambassadors for Christ ,then we must reflect the kingdom of God, at all times. Now I write this, because we are at that time of the year called Halloween, personally I dont have strong veiws on this occasion , it appears to me it has no real significance, but let me tell you something that has me think. My oldest son was staying with us last night,and we got talking about Halloween, he at this time is living with his daughter, they have two dogs, they sleep in the kitchen.Well like many people my granddaugther bought a pumpkin did the usual thing with it, then placed the pumpkin on the window leadge. During the night the household was wakened by the dogs howling like wolves, something they have never did before. When they took the pumpkin out of the room ,the dogs stopped howling, this really happened, now I am not telling you this to scare you, nor for any of us to overreact ,it has made me think. Wizards and witches to most people, are funny make believe creatures, but in Africa the witch doctor is a sinister force, and those involed in witchcraft in this country seek to connect with a world that is opposed to Gods kingdom.
A prayer..../Dear God help us to not just to accept all that our culture presents to us, gave us grace and wisdom in all things, in Jesus name Amen./

Families.[ Hebrews 13 v 4 ]

We decided to go that famous store Ikea ,it sells mainly furniture, it is Swedish, it is very popular especially the resturant,if you go between 9.30 and 11.30 during the week,you can have a breakfast for 99 pence,which includes a drink. I have a confession to make I treated myself to a croissant and a coffee which I really enjoyed, as I sat eating my breakfast, I thought ,if I wanted to have a quite breakfast I wouldnt go to Ikea , the store has a emphasis on families. It is nice to see people together as a family, anything that promotes family life can only be good,there is so much that works ill for families,throughout the world,in many countries it is poverty, violence,unfaithfulness,the list goes on, today let us pray for families.
A prayer..../ Dear God have mercy upon the families of our world,our country,our town, our street, in Jesus name. Amen /

Yes we can . [ Philippians 4 v 13 ]

Let me pick out a verse from my daily Bible reading , 2 Timothy 2 v 1,this letter was written by Paul to this young man who overseeing the church at Ephesus, so Paul wrote to him, to instruct, encourage, and to challenge him. Verse one declares,/Thou therefore my son, be strong, / I remember a person replied when she was told to pull her self together, I am not a pair of curtains. It is easy to say to someone stop that habit,stop those recurring angry outbursts, stop those lustful thoughts, etc. What they may reply ,I cannnot do it, I have tried, and tried, and have failed, have we not all been there,that sin that so easily besets us,and beats us time and time again. Well of course Paul did not just say ,/Thou therefore my son, be strong,/ he goes on to say,/ in the grace that is in Christ Jesus/, now that puts a whole different emphasis on what Paul was saying. We cannot pull ourselves together in our own strength,but we can, by the grace that is in Christ Jesus,through that grace we can beat , the devil , the flesh, and the world.
A prayer.../ Father grant us the grace we need, in our service for You,in the temptations we meet, and the tasks we have to perform, in Jesus name Amen ./

Grace for the needy.[Luke18 v 9 -14 ]

I have just stared to read a book called,/The Ragamuffin Gospel it emphasies the grace of God ,remember read every book ,and listen to every sermon with discernment based on Gods word,ask God the Holy Spirit to help you,He will [John 16v13 ] Well what can one say about the Grace of God, firstly it is an act of God by a gracious God, it is granted to the undeserving, or to those who acknowledge they are undeserving, a quotation from this book, /Grace has to be drunk straight, no water, no ice,and certainly no ginger ale, neither goodness, nor badness, nor the flowers that bloom in the spring of super spirituality could be allowed to enter into the case./I was speaking to a person pointing that the Bible says we are all without exception sinners, he replied, I am not a sinner. It is very hard for the not so bad people to accept that they are in fact sinners, and it is even harder to accept the consequences of that truth. The result, they place themselves outside the grace of God,they reject the need of Biblical grace, for it is only for the needy. It was the needy that responded to Jesus, not the selfrighteous,those selfrighteous people despised the needy, Jesus welcomed them with open arms,with His last breath, He welcomed a thief ,and granted him eternal life. [ Luke 23 v39- 43 ]I am sure when we get to heaven we will be surprised as to those our Saviour has saved, and if we are trully honest the greatest surprise will be the fact that we are in heaven, a sinner saved by grace.
A prayer..../ Dear God , we are all without exception needy ,and our deepest need is for Your grace,help us to see this,and to seek Your Son Jesus Amen ./

He loves us all. [Acts 15 v36 -41 ]

I have just finished reading a message by George Whitefield ,he ministered at the time of the Wesleys and was used by God in the revival that swept this country , America , even my own country. As I have travelled through this country,I have passed many Methodist chapels,many are empty,just buildings, np longer places of worship,yet there are still many in use. While the Wesleys created a network of churches, Whitefield didnt,and did not want to, be that as it may,we honour the memory of these men of God.It is interesting that the Wesleys, had their differences ,George was a Calvinist, the Wesleys were Arminians,yet God used them both. From early on in my Christian life I have seen the importance of honouring all true Christians, and loving them, and to realize that God can use all of us, as He sees fit, and He loves us all.
A prayer / Dear God bless all Thy people, help us to love all Thy people, in Jesus name Amen /

Never forget Jesus. [ Deuteronomy 4v 23 ]

I read in the obituaries column of a newspaper, about a Leif Hovelse an Norwegian, a resistance fighter at the time of the Nazi occupation,on the night he was arrested,and as he was taken , his dear mother cried out,/ Leif, never forget Jesus. /, and He never did.It appears that many people forget all about Jesus, they appear to forget what He taught them, and what He has done for them, in the case of Leif Heif, he acted out the part , by forgiving those who tortured him. He said, /When I answered the Nazis with the same treatment meted out to me, their spirit had conquered me/.I must confess I sometimes forget Jesus, and I put self first, when I think thoughts I shouldnt, when I say things I shouldnt. In Psalm 16 v8 we read,/ I have set the Lord always before me/, here is the secret of not forgetting Jesus. I am sure we have all had the experienced ,of watching T V, and someone stands in front of the screen, what do you do? you say, would you move please. Well why dont we do that when worries blot out Jesus,or temptation comes as so often they do,tell then to get out of the way. In Hebrews 12 we read,/ And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus./
A prayer.../Dear Lord Jesus, strange though it be, I do not always keep my eyes on You, I am inclined to forget how much I need You, grant that this day may be different. Amen /

Getting our wires crossed. [Reveltation 2 v 1- 7 ]

The football team I support got beaten 6/1 many would see this as a tradgedy, a disaster, the worst day in their lives, but then on the news we hear that an earthquake has struck in Turkey, with the loss of many, many lives.Now that is a tragedy , a disaster, and for those involved in it, it trully is the worst day of their lives. If only we could see what is important, not the trivia, the preacher yesterday ,has a young son who has cancer, my dear wife died of cancer, now these things are tragic and affect us more deeply than a football team loosing 6/1. Let me tell you a terrible tragedy ,in fact a disaster, people are so taken up with things, and are blind to their souls need, now that is a tragedy.people treasure so much that is of no importance, and forget what is important, their souls well being , their spiritual needs, which can only be fulfilled in Christ.
A prayer /Dear God forgive us for getting our wires crossed ,for loosing sight of what is really imporant, in Jesus name Amen.

Inadquate. [ Jeremiah 1 v 6-7 ]

I have been preaching for many years so why was I feeling totally inadequate earlier this evening, as I was preparing to go out to preach. I felt I should not go , give up preaching. I had I thought, my sermon ready, but as I went over it, it did not seem to have a meaningful ending, I started wrecking my brains ,praying for a useful illustration, but nothing came. Preaching is not easy but can be very rewarding, I sometimes preach the same sermon twice. but usually I prepare a fresh sermon. So here was I feeling like giving up on preaching , but then I did my daily Bible reading from Jeremiah ,and we have the prophet saying to God, I cannot speak, for I am a child, he felt inadequate, so I was in good company, so God agreed with him, no He didnt, He told the prophet, say not, I am a child, for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. [Jeremiah 1 v6- 7 ] So with all my feelings of inadequacy I went and preached and God helped me, and for that I am grateful.
A prayer / Dear God help us to be faithful in those tasks You have entrusted to us, help us to trust You for the grace we need , in Jesus name . Amen ./

Our bodies. [ 1 Corintians 6 v 19 -20 ]

I noticed someone I know had lost weight,of course it was a woman, I dont think most men are into dieting,although my oldest boy has lost a lot of weight. I mentioned to the girl that her face looked thinner and she took it as a compliment,personally I think she looked a bit better when she was a bit heavier, but I would not dare tell her that.We live at time when the body beautiful is everything,of course we should look after our bodies,so I keep telling myself. Now for the Christian the body is seen as a temple of the Holy Spirit , and we ought not to be involved in anything unholy, and we should seek to glorify God in our bodies and in our spirits . [ 1 Corinthians 6 v 19- 20 ] This is in contrast to the worlds attitude , so often the body is seen as something to be used in an abusive way,and so much is done for the glory of man. Romans 12 v1 ff brings us a tremendous challenge , it reads,/Take your everyday ordinary life- your sleeping,eating, going to work, and walking around life- and place it before God as an offering/ [T M
A prayer..../ Dear God take my whole being,my hands, my feet, my eyes,my tongue, my ears,and my mind,and help me to glorify You, in Jesus name. Amen/

We can make a difference.[ John 15 v16 ]

Battered and bloody, the tyrant of Libya, moments later he was dead,and then there were the pictures, I must confess it was upsetting. As one who comes from N Ireland,a land of conflict I never got used to the bombings, shootings and sectarian division, yet many dear people have to live with so much that is evil. Inspite of this there are many people who are seeking to make a difference, for those dear people and organisations we thank God. Let us not despair of the darkness in this world ,one day ,yes one day,God will cause it to end,in the meanwhile, two things, dont be afraid ,because God is still on the throne, and He will remember His own. Next let us by the grace of God seek to make a difference, we can, remember it is trully better to light even a small candle, than to sit in the darkness and be filled with despair.
This little light of mine
Im going to let it shine
This little light of mine,
Im going to let it shine,
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
Dear God help me to shine, to be light in the darkness, to bring hope, to bring love, to bring
my Saviour to a needy world. Amen.

Amazing. [ Romans 5 v6- 11 ]

I heard on the radio two things that are shocking, in China a two year old child is run over by a car,a hit and run incident,thats very sad, but whats even worse 16 people were filmed walking by the child,and she was run over again. She survived and was taken to hospital seriousally injured,many Chinese are shocked and asking serious questions, about their society, and rightly so. The next thing that I heard was,Texas that wonderful state in America, is were the most abused children in the world die, I am sure many people of this state are shocked, one hopes so. When people ignor the vunerable who are injured , and being hurt, or when they are part of it ,then there is something seriousally wrong ,with such people. Yet here is the most amazing thing, God so loved this world He gave His son to die for it,amazing love, amazing grace, amazing God.
A prayer. Dear God we trully are amazed at the love that drew salvation plan, the grace that brought it down to man ,the mighty gulf that You did span at Calvary. Amen.

No mercy. [ Ephesians 2 v 1 - 10 ]

I was watching a movie and I heard the words,/ no mercy/,those words should make us tremble and shudder, for they remind us of the unthinkable, especially when it comes to God. Consider if God withdrew His mercy from this world, this world would cease to exsist, and all, I mean all its inhabitants, would end up in hell [,the exception would be those who have trusted Jesus].Every blessing would be removed food,water, all those things we enjoy would turn to dust,of course those who have accepted I spoke to a person about going on holiday, when I quizzed her, was she a believer? she indictated she was, then she said something ,and I said those were not the words of a believer, like so many, she had no time for God,empty profession, but no possession. It is only when grace touches us do we realize the truth of the universality of sin and what that means[ read Romans 3 ], and the truth of the words of Lamentations 3 v 10, Through the Lords mercies we are not consumed.
A prayer.. / Dear God we praise You for Your mercy, we thank You that the words no mercy,
does not apply to this world now,that You are still blessing in a multitude of ways,
thank You in Jesus name. Amen.

Change.. [ Hebrews 11v 8 ]

Sometimes I think of change ,when we visited our son and his wife recently , I thought if I moved to where my son lived, I would become homesick, I would miss the familiar,well I suppose it will not happen. I am too old , then I remember Abraham ,and Moses, both were old men yet God called them, and here is the important part, they obeyed. There is a verse of a hymn which goes, Gods call we obey, not knowing our way but faith makes us bold, when we move at Gods command then all will be well. If Iwas to move because of a whim or fancy then I would have a reason to be anxious, but with God in it, as I have said, all will be well. If I move in the will of God, then God will undertake, there may be difficulties, and obstacles, but the God who calls will undertake, no matter about ones age, limatations,or gender.
A prayer. /Grant me , O Lord, to feel Thy hand,
Of tenderness and power,
Is holding mine and leading me,
Each day, each hold.

All need grace. [ Romans 3 v 23 ]

I spoke to a lady in work, I felt she may be a Christian,but she is not, although she is nicer than some I know who are Christians,some Christians are living examples of what it trully means to be saved by grace, for they are not all that nice. Yet God loves them, and they are precious in His sight, and of course just in case I am feeling superior ,I am not perfect, as I look into my heart, all I can say is I am glad you cannot see the dark thoughts,and so many other things lurking there, you may not want to read my blog. The fact of the matter is , none of us are perfect, and all of us are inperfect, all our inperfections are seen by God/, as Whittier wrote , / Our thoughts lie open to Thy sight, And naked to Thy glance, Our secret sins are in Thy light,Of Thy pure countenance/. It is grace for all, or not at all, it is as simple as that,only by grace can we enter ,and only by Grace can we stand.Niceness dose not negate grace,and badness only emphasizes the need of it.
A prayer.. /Dear God help us to see that all our in need of Thy grace, in Jesus name. Amen.

Dont be careless. [ Galations 5 v 16 ]

We have just returned from visiting our youngest boy and his wife,the subject of church attendance came up, my son mentioned that one does not have go every week to be a Christian. That is right,but the more important thing is we need to go, we need to meet with our fellow Christians ,to encourage and to be encouraged . We attended the church he attends and what a blessing it was,if I lived nearer I would attend that church,it just enforced, what I had been saying. Meeting with other believers,reading the word of God, praying are all vital to our spiritual wellbeing.These things are not meant to be legalistic things, they should be actions of love, that will enable all of us to live for Jesus everyday. So let us not be careless,we do so at a cost to our spiritual walk, because they are spiritual activities, and the Christian life is meant to be a Spiritual life,it will, make no mistake about it, affect us, when they loose their importance in our lives.
A prayer. /Dear God grant that we will not grow careless in those things that are important,in Jesus name Amen ./

Pray for all men.. [1 Timothy 2 v1 ]

I was at my dentist this morning, just for a check up and the dreaded cleaning,the reception called my name, and said would you like to go up, I replied not really.I dont like going up to the dentist, because I know I will experience pain, and who likes pain, and whats more we have to pay them, I think they should be paying us. All joking aside I thank God for my dentist, she is a nice lady, and she does a good job, I wonder how many of us neglect to pray for dentist, doctors, nurses, firemen ,police ,teachers, social workers, and yes, even traffic wardens. They all do important service for all of us, and without them we would all be in difficulties, so let us offer up a prayer for them.
A prayer /Dear God we thank You for those people who serve us in specialist way, bless them we pray, in Jesus name. Amen./
[I will return to my blog on Monday every blessing]

What a great God. [Psalm 121 ]

Isaiah 40 is a wonderful chapter, it is written to comfort Gods people, that God had forgiven them,yes He had dealt with them severely,but now they must move on in their relationship with Him.God wants them to get their eyes on Him to see His glory, unlike what man says,and indeed man himself ,they are to consider that what He says, His word shall not pass away[ v8 ].They are reminded of the Spirit of Gods sovereign powers [ 13], also in comparison to God the nations are as nothing. Next, God is not to be compared to an idol, God is spirit [John 4 v24 ], who rules over all, there is no power or being equal to Him[ v22- 24 ]. Israel are to get their eyes of earth bound realities , to where power really is, not only to
look by faith on God but to wait upon Him, and as they do,the result will be, they shall mount up wings as eagles, they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk , and not faint[31 ].
Be still and know that I am God,
O,er all exalted high,
The subject nations of the earth,
My Name shall magnify,
The Lord of Hosts is on our side,
The God of Jacob is for us
A refuge strong and sure.
[The Psalter ]
A prayer /Lord we confess that our sight is so often earth bound, help us to be people of faith,
in our everyday life, in Jesus name. Amen ]

All things are possible. [ Exodus 6 v 1-8 ]

I remember a number of years ago a dear brother and his wife struggling to make a go of their business, and they worked so hard,poured in their savings,but things did not pick up.There appeared no hope, yes Christians do sometimes struggle , yes, there are unemployed Christians at this time.I am not being negative ,but being realistic,Christians will experience difficult times, while we are on planet earth, our gardens will not stop growing weeds.We dont have a fairy god mother who will suddenly turn up, and declare , you shall, go to the ball, no we dont have a fairy god mother, but,ah , here is the all important thing we do have a loving Heavenly Father, and that makes all the difference.Coming back to that couple ,I remember giving the brother a word, from Exodus 6 v1, which reads,/ Then the Lord said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do/.What did He do ?well He did deliver that couple out of that situation, it didnt seem possible at the time, but then we are told with God all things are possible.[ Matthew 19v26 ]
Ye fearful saints fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break,
With blessings on your head.
[William Cowper ],
A prayer / Dear God with You all things are possible, we look to You to undertake for us in all things, in Jesus name, Amen. ]

Dont despair. [ Romans 4 v 16 - 21 ]

Lets be honest and we need to be,we dont always rise in faith, when it comes to certain problems, that just will not go away, we pray, and pray, and we even have a promise from God. Well it is not something new , one just has to read the lives of Abraham and Sarah, instead of waiting on God , they ended up with the wrong child, Ishmael, born not to Sarah, but to Hagar. [ Genesis 16 ] Inspite of this the promise still stood, mankind cannot thwart the purposes of a sovereign God,the promise will and must be fulfilled.Later on God again tells both Abraham and Sarah that they are going to have that promised child ,wonderful ,but both Abraham, and Sarah laughed [Genesis 17v17/ 18v12 ]. Here is what God said,/ And the Lord said........Is any thing too hard for the Lord?/, and so it came to pass [Genesis 21 v1 ] Whatever the difficulties we may have, no matter how big the problem, if God has promised you whatever it will happen, God cannot lie, He will fulfill His word. Let us not be too hard on Sarah or Abraham, for in the end they won through by faith, and recieved the reward . [ Romans 4 v16-21 / Hebrews 11v11 ]
God can do anything, anything, anything,
God can do anything but fail.
[Ira F. Stanphill ]
A prayer / Dear God help us to discern Your will clearly, guide us by Your Spirit, and Your word , in Jesus name . Amen .

Addiction. [John 8 v 34-36 ]

I picked up an empty cigarette packet, which had a gruesome picture on it, and the words, smoking can cause a slow and painful death, inspite of this warning, many people still smoke, thankfully not as many as used to. When I was young lad I started smoking ,most people smoked,even my mother smoked,and she paid the price of that addiction. Of course people can be addicted to different things,like gambling, sex,food,money,power alcohol and many other things ,inspite of the consequences.Many things people are addicted to, are sinful, in fact our Saviour said, whosoever committeth sin is the servantof sin [ John 8 v34 ].Sin always comes with a cost ,no matter how it is dressed up, one just has to read the newspaper or listen to the news, or look at our own lives,we are all born with a weak nature, a nature that can so easily come under the control of something or other.I believe that Christ will not only forgive us our sins , but He can deliver and set us free, consider the following words that Jesus said,/ If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed [John 8 v36]
Augustus M. Toplady wrote the following.
What though I cannot break my chains,
Or e,er throw of my load,
The things impossible to men,
Are possible to God.
Bound down with twice ten thousand ties,
Yet let me hear Thy call,
My soul in confidence shall rise,
Shall rise and break through all.
A prayer. /Dear Saviour ,we thank You that not only can You forgive sin, but You can also break its power, there is nothing to hard for You to do. Amen.

The missing piece. [ Galations 6 v 14 ]

You have heard of the missing link,well I am not going to write on that as one who believes in creation I dont believe there is a missing link, but I did hear a wonderful sermon , it was all about Christ,and I really enjoyed it. But it had a missing piece, it covered His diety, birth, life, His death and resurrection,but it did not really touch on his death on the cross ,which was a sacrifice for sin. I found this strange , for without this sacrificial death , we are all lost, without sin being dealt with,only judgment awaits us in the end,that means not heaven but hell.The cross is not just some symbol ,not just an ornament, when we speak of the cross, it is the cross of Christ ,yes many people died on a cross,but the cross of Christ ,and the shedding of His precious blood,was an atoning death, on that cross ,Christ the sinless one became my substitute. Without the death of Christ ,there is no message of salvation, no forgiveness, no hope,without that missing piece, the jigsaw of salvation is incomplete.
By the cross of Jesus standing,
Love our straitened souls expanding,
Taste we now the peace and grace,
Health from yonder tree is flowing,
Heav,nly Light is on it glowing,
From the blessed Suff,rers face.

Here is pardon,s pledge and token
Guilt,s strong chain forever broken,
Righteous peace securely made,
Brightens now the brow once shaded,
Freshens now the face once faded,
Peace with God now makes us glad.
[ Horatious Bonar ]
A prayer /Dear God we thankYou for the cross of Christ, and all it means for a world of sinners
in Jesus name. Amen .

Ye would not. [ Acts 16 v31/ Isaiah 45 v 21-22 ]

Isaiah 30v 15 reads, /For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, in returning and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength/. What a wonderful word from God, often it has spoken to me, and blessed me,God was saying this to His people, the Message puts it like this,/ Your salvation requires you to turn back to Me, and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves. Your strength will come from settling down in compete dependance on Me/. Now it appears to me a straightforward statement, a wonderful statement and yet a challenging statement, and unfortunately Israel did not see it like that,or accept it, or obey it, for God says,/ and ye would not/.You see they felt threatened by Assyria, so instead of trusting in God they went to Egypt for help,the application of this is very simple. First if you are not saved, who are you trusting to save you? is it self ?,many think that by living what they think is a good moral life, or by being religious, or whatever, they will be saved. Its all nonsense we must do what Gods word says, cease from self, and trust totally in Jesus. Next application is to believers, let me ask you, will you do what that verse says?, mybe you are facing difficulties, financial, personal problems,and you are looking for your help in others, instead of relying on your God and Saviour, yes He uses others to help us,but let Him tell,and prompt them to do so.
A prayer / Dear God we so often have our eyes on others instead of You, help us to see that if we are to be saved we must trust only in Jesus, and we who are Your children help us to keep our eyes firmly on You, in Jesus name. Amen .

A great leveller. [James 2 v 1-9 ]

We rightly recoil at the Nazis who saw other groups as inferior, and treated them despicably, but the fact of the matter is, mankind has always practiced discrimination in so many ways. Many native Australians were treated badly,likewise the American Indians,it was said by one American politician, that the only good Indian was a dead one, and he meant it. We all know how the black population were treated in America, and how black people were treated in South Africa. Some one wrote about a certain time in history, that everyone was a racist.My own nation were considered inferior and treated as such, in India there is still a lot discrimination , with abuses on the Dalit people or untouchables as they are better known.Sad to say Christianty has not always been true to its teaching which clearly teaches that any sort of discrimination is totally wrong. It is said by someone that the Jews believed that for God so loved the Jews , not the world . All this is contrary to what Christ taught, and why He died, He died for all, of whatever social standing,regardless of race,or colour,the Christian message is a great leveller, we are all sinners [Roman 3 v23 ]and we all need to accept Christ as our Saviour.
For God so loved the world,
that He gave His only Son,
that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish,
but have everlasting life. [ John 3 v16 ]
A prayer /We thank You that You love everybody,help those people in this world who are discriminated against, and grant that we who are Your children, will have heart like Yours, in Jesus name .Amen.

Perfect peace,[ Israel 26 v 3-4 ]

Isaiah 26 has a title over it in my Bible, /A song of praise to the Lord/, and the opening words are very instructive, inspiring and comforting, and the chapter ends with the restoration of Israel. The nation of Israel would experience a tremendous lot of suffering throughout their whole history,and for the godly remnant these words would be treasured as they embraced them by faith. As members of the true Israel [Galations 6 v16 ]we will be called upon to suffer for righteousness sake, we should not expect to be carried to heaven on flowery beds of ease. The apostle Peter declares, /Beloved do not be surprised at the fiery trial, when it comes upon you. [1 Peter 5 v16 ],important words, the question is this,how can we cope?. It is in Isaiah 26 we find the answer,to knowing Gods peace, and Gods strength,/You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock/.
Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
till all our strivings cease,
take from our souls the strain and stress
and let our ordered lives confess
the beauty of Thy peace.
[John Greenleaf Whittier ]
A prayer / Dear God grant unto us strength and peace this day, in Jesus name, Amen.]

Weariness . [ Jeremiah 20 v 9 ]

It was George Whitfield who said that he was not tired of Gods work , but tired in it,we can appreciate these words,of course George was a great preacher, and much in demand. The word of God tells us, not to be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not .[ Galations 6 v9 ] The great prophet Jeremiah had his moments when he felt weary, we read him saying in 20 v9,/ Then I said , I will not make mention of Him, nor speak any more in his name, / things had become so difficult that he was determined to say nothing, he was called to be a prophet but he felt like never preaching another sermon. It is no easy thing to preach especially if we see no results, how many hundreds of sermons I have preached, with no visible results, one could be tempted like Jeremiah to give up. Then we read Jeremiah saying, / but his word was in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones,/ and then he declares,/ and I was weary with forebearing, and I could not stay/. When one is called to preach Gods word,then it is nigh impossible not to preach it,the great apostle Paul declared woe is me if I preach not the gospel. [ 1 Corinthians 9 v16] It will always be the case for those called to preach, to not preach brings with it a great weariness, that is hard to endure.
Lord , fill Thy servant,s soul today
With pure seraphic fire,
And set his tongue at liberty,
And grant his soul,s desire.
[Daniel Herbert ]
A prayer /Grant to Thy servants who minister Thy word, grace to proclaim it, in Jesus name
Amen /

The Daily Light . [ Psalm 119 v105 ]

We all have favourite things, I have a favourite author, favourite hymns,songs, movies, food and many other things.One of my most favourite books is a book called, Daily Light, first published in 1794,it is a daily reading, and it is made up ,of scripture, there is a morning and evening reading.A godly man , Samuel Bagster and his family put it together. This little book has been such a blessing to me and to countless others, I love it in the AV , I bought my son John a copy ,and he mentioned recently how it was a blessing to him. So often this little book has brought me a needful word, of guidance, or encouragement, I remember on the day I was coming to England to be a minister, travelling in a little Morris Minor car with my four children, and of course my dear wife, I read the following. /He lead them on safely[Psalm 78v53] , this was followed by,/Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared[ Exodus 23v20 ], and praise His name ,He did just that.
A prayer /Dear God thank you for those godly people who were guided by Your Spirit to
write godly literture, that comfort and bless Your people, in Jesus name. Amen ./

A fear I have.[ Galations 2 v 1- 21 ]

I attend a local church , so what, everyone should attend a local church , but I have a fear, and its this, causing trouble,causing division. I wear a little cross around my neck,but if I go to preach somewhere,and it may appear to be a problem, I will take it of. If I am asked to preach at a church, which holds a different veiw than what I hold, say on prophecy, I will try not to cross them. Now of course I hold clear veiws on Christian doctine, on hell,salvation, the Trinity, the Word of God. I am an evangelical ,all right I try not to be an obnoxious evangelical there are a few about. But coming back to causing trouble in a local fellowship, how can one avoid doing this? our Saviour said blessed are the peacemakers, yes we should seek to be a peacemaker, we should be prepared to yield on secondary things , but when it comes to vital truth, like Luther I declare, here I stand I can do no other.Let us never forget that the reformation was not about secondary things.
A prayer /Help us to see what is vital truth, to not yield on it,help us also to be willing to yeild
on those things that are secondary, in Jesus name. Amen /

.Blessed are the dead [Revelation 14 v13 ]

I have just heard of the death of two lovely Christians, one was a missionary,this lady served the Lord with her husband in Brazil,in what was known as the green hell. The other person was a dear brother who was ill for a good while,he used to work in the shipyard, before he retired. His name was Jackie, before he became a Christian he gambled. He said that the basic sin of gambling was its covetousness, I am sure there is something in that. Jackie served his local fellowship,he was a helpful brother.I am indebted to Jackie for a kindness he showed me , when I was a student at Bible college, he used to faithfully give me two pounds each Sunday. Only two pounds yet God used that to help my little family, always remember little is much if Gods blessing is upon it.What these two people did will be remembered by those they helped, both saved by grace, but both of them did perform those good works which God had prepared for them to do. [Ephesians 2 v8- 10] In Revelation 14 v13 we read,/ Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they are blessed indeed, for they will rest from their hard work, for their good deeds follow them./
A prayer. /Dear father we thank You for those dear Christians who have served You faithfully, we praise You that, their labour, was never in vain ,and they have now gone to their reward,and to live with Jesus for all eternity. Amen ./

The answer to sin. [ Romans 5 v 8 - 11]

Energy is one of the main things in life, energy to run the power stations,energy to run our cars, what a transformation came about with the use of steam, it kicked of the industrial revolution. Then electricity kicked in, and then atomic energy, and what a can of worms that opened up, an energy that could destroy this whole wide world,just in case you may be worried remember ,as the song goes,/ He,s got the whole wide world in His hands/,mankind may do a lot of damage to this planet , but this world will come to end , and it will, but in Gods time. There are so many things that could destroy us , the devil, but we cant put the blame entirely on him, we are ,our own worse enemies, we fail to recognise our condition,which is the cause of so much pain, and destructiveness. What is our condition?we are sinners,that thing called sin is to be taken serious, but thankfully God has come up with the solution,to forgive us, free us through His Son Jesus. A prayer / We thank You for Jesus Your Son the answer for us sinners . Amen /