One day.[ 2 Timothy 4 v8 ]

Many dear Christians have come through difficulties in the year that is about to go,I read about them continually,in the lands  where Islam holds sway,they are in prison cells ,being tortured,abused and humiliated.It could
be said of them of whom the world is not worthy,all they receive is hate,from the Christ haters,but one day,yes one day,they will be honoured
and receive that crown of Glory,from their Lords hand. One day all will be changed,by Him who will make all things new,a new heaven and a new earth,populated by new creations.One day every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.One day there will be no sickness,no loneliness,no inner uncleanness,or outward rebelliousness.One day all will
be revealed and explained,then shall we know,One day we will reign and rule with Jesus,it will be a perfect rule,no more injustice,no more torturing,no more jailers,no more prisons. One day Christ will return ,and all will be changed,especially us,no more striving for perfection,Christ will present us faultless[Judev24 ]
                                    A  prayer.
Dear God how we long for that one day,when our Saviour we shall see,until that day, grant us grace, to finish this race,with joy in Jesus name Amen
                                        

Let Him. [Psalm 121]

Well Christmas is over,did it live up to your expectation?,for me I suppose I could say I had a nice Christmas,met with family,and it all went very well.
Yet I am conscious that many in this world did not have a merry Christmas,
is it a question of the have's and the have not's?.Should a season make any difference to our lives?after all Christ is the reason for the season. Yet we may know this ,and yet we may find it very hard,to look beyond our poverty
pain,loneliness. Consider the words of Psalm 121 v1-2,/I will lift up my eyes unto the hills,from whence cometh my help.My help cometh from the Lord who made heaven and earth./ The hills where the places where many shrines where ,forbidden by God,let us not make a shrine of Christmas,or of anything.Let us lift up our eyes to the Lord,we are exhorted to look unto Jesus [Hebrews 12 v2 ],.Let Him be our joy,let Him be our reason for living
not the season,not our family,friends or whatever,these things may be important ,but they should not have the burden placed upon them of being all important.I know it can be hard when certain things are absent from our lives,but the very nature of life,is filled with uncertainty,so many things can be swept away in a moment.So today lift up your eyes to  the Lord,for comfort and love,his love is unending,in fact nothing can separate us from that love,Romans 8 v 35-39].
                                  A prayer
Dear Lord come and fill the emptiness of our hearts,with Your dear presence,
Amen.

Not a million miles away. [Acts 17,v 22- 34 ]

I heard a person singing a song about God being a million miles away,it is what he felt but it is not true.In Acts 17,the apostle Paul was speaking in Athens,to very religious people.They were worshipped many gods,and even had an altar,dedicated to the unknown god.They were not taking any chances ,so just to be on the safe side they  erected this altar.They were religious,there are those who would say it does not matter who or what one whorships,as long as one is sincere,but  the apostle did not think this,he was grieved,their religion was nothing more than idolatry.Consider, that no matter how religious, one is,if it is not a  relationship that is not based on faith in Christ,it is but idolatry.
    So the apostle starts to challenge their false beliefs,preaching unto them,
about Jesus and the resurrection,why?,surely they are sincere,well ,sincere they may have been,but they needed to know that there is only way to God,
and that there is only way to God,that being Jesus[John14v6]. He exhorts them to seek the Lord,whom he says is not far from any of us.[Acts 17v27]
  Yes God even though He be in heaven, he is not far from any of us,and can be reached ,by a simple prayer.We can make it hard to come to Christ, is not hard,if we believe ,if we repent from our sins,God will be found,what is stopping you?
                                          A prayer.
Dear God we thank You that You are not hard to be found,you are not a million miles away,and can be found through Jesus Your son. Amen.
,

The beast within. [ Jude v24- 25 ]

It is David Prior who writes about the violence that is in mankind,he writes a number of interesting things,here are a few./Violence in the home has become widespread,by husbands to wives,by parents to children...women being battered by their partners,of children being abused by adults.At any one time,we are told,there are between twenty five and thirty wars being fought around the world.We see pictures of a few.In the words of Salman Rushdie,Violence today is hot. It is what people want.Violence against
unborn babies,violence against women, and children,violence against the weak,by the many against the few/
    While God in His mercy restrains the violence in mankind there is
enough evidence to bear out the truth of the violent nature of man.If one reads the Bible we read of terrible violence,it is not pretty reading,especially when we come to the most extreme violence of all,the crucifixion of the son of God ,Jesus.
      I do not believe it will end ,not until Christ returns,then He will subdue all things,then and then only will there be true peace. Until then suicide bombers will continue to kill themselves and others,there will be wars and rumours of wars. And as to ourselves,and the beast within all of us,and I speak as a Christian,may the grace of almighty God transform us into the likeness,of Jesus,who manifested a gentleness and meekness,that has never been equalled.
                                    A  prayer.
Dear God have mercy upon us grant that the beast within all of us may be subdued and restrained by the power of Your Spirit,in Jesus name Amen

No fairy god mother.[John 1 v12]

The earliest film I remember seeing was that animated classic Cinderella ,I was very young,and I was with a group of others,they could have been my brothers,or other youngsters from the street I lived in,this was long time ago.The movie kept being repeated and because we enjoyed it so much,we watched it, again and again,until some came looking for.Recently I bought the DVD of this old film,this corresponds with this Sunday,when I will be ministering in the church I attend.Now I had prayed that God would give me a message for the children,and as I watched the movie, I prayed that I could use something from it,to illustrate a spiritual truth for the children.
    What came to me is this,in the story Cinderella lives with her evil stepmother,and two daughters,they treat her very badly.The king of the land wanted his son to get married,and so an invitation was sent out all the young girls to attend a ball. Cinderella was not allowed to go ,and so was very sad,that she could not go to the ball,but then suddenly her fairy god mother appeared all was changed.
   Now when I was young things were difficult and I wish I did have a fairy god mother,but not so, I soon discovered fairy god mothers are only in fairy
tails.But the greatest discovery I did find ,that by trusting Jesus,I could have a loving heavenly Father,and that has been the most precious thing in my whole life.
                                          A  prayer.
Dear loving heavenly Father,we praise that you love little children, and desire that all men may know You as their loving heavenly Father,by
 trusting Jesus as Saviour. Amen.

No room ..[Revelation 3 v20 ]

I must confess I have enjoyed this advent ,partially due to my Pastor,who makes a big effort to bring us all,into the meaning of the season.  To me it
has been a nice Christmas,of course it is not over yet,and who knows maybe the best is yet to come.If I had a wish for Christmas it would be that there
would be even one person ,who would come to know Jesus.Is this not what happened that first Christmas,shepherds,wise men.they came to know Jesus.
The religious leaders,and Herod had their opportunity,but missed it,sad to say for multitudes they will miss the opportunity to know Jesus,food,gifts,
shopping,family,in themselves not wrong,but surely there is more to Christmas,and to life, than those things.Christmas is about God breaking into time, from his eternal throne,in the person of His son Jesus. He wants to  remind us all,that His plans and purpose for us are bigger than the things of time. There will come for us all,that time, will cease to be,and we will find ourselves looking into the eternal realms,and as  to where we spend eternity,will depend on this  solitary fact, Christ. We are told that the that there was no room,for a special couple,and the child that was soon to be  born ,for the majority of people,there is still no room,Jesus is still knocking on the hearts of the many,to no avail.Yet it need not be so today,I invite you,to pray in the words of a hymn.
                                         A  prayer.
O come to my heart Lord Jesus,there is room in my heart for Thee, Amen

Relationship. [ 22 v 37-40 ]

Today I was listening to my car radio,and I heard a well know entertainer singing, a well known old hymn,/Thou didst Leave Thy throne/as I listened
to the opening verse ,I felt emotional,I'm glad that I did,for it assures me, that I am still touched by what I hold dear,it still has the power to touch my heart. It is so easy to let those precious truths, which we embraced with tears years ago ,not touch or move our hearts now. It reminds me of the Lords accusation of the church of Laodicea,that had become lukewarm,[Revealation 3 v16],or to the church at Ephesus,that they had left there first love[Revelation 2v4].I wonder what had caused these churches to become like this?, The church of Laodicea,appeared to have let prosperity effect them,leading them to be complacent,and being blind as to their true spiritual  condition.Ephesus had much to be admired,they stood for truth,for orthodoxy,but their theology , left them untouched,they neither loved their Lord or His people,as they once did.There are many reasons why the fire goes out in our relationship with our Lord.The main one is in that word relationship,consider a marriage,if the relationship is neglected,or placed into second place,the marriage relation will fall apart.So lets  consider afresh the words of that old hymn.
                          Thou didst leave Thy throne,and Thy kingly crown,
                           when Thou camest to earth for me,
                          but in Bethlehem's home,was there found no room ,
                           for Thy holy nativity.
                           O come to my heart,Lord Jesus,
                           there is room in my heart for Thee.
                                    [E.E. Steele Elliott].

The fall out. [ Hebrews 12 v15 ]

I remember many years ago,as a member of the territorial army going on a civil defence course,it was the time of the cold war,and we were being taught how to deal with the fall out of an neutral attack. In talking to one of
my sons about broken marriages,and the fall out of such .Now of course falling out just does not only apply to marriage, 
Also when friends fall out,and dare I say when churches fall out,contrary to what our Saviour commanded.When all this happens there is a fall out,just as there is when there is  from a neutral bomb.When Jeremiah was called to be a prophet and was told that he was to uproot,and tear down,destroy and overthrow,others you must build up and plant[Jeremiah 1 v10]. Sad to say
 many of us are good at pulling down but not very good at building up.
     To many people are in the demolition department ,yes there are things that need demolished,but not destroyed, In situations where there is fall we must consider the hurt that it  causes.In marriages,in churches,in friendships.There are things we cannot undo,but we can try to not make it worse for all concerned.
   We must learn to forgive ,for living with bitterness is a fall out that can be damaging to all concerned,bitterness,does not make things better,only forgiveness can do that. I know of a number of ex-wives who have held
 bitterness,in their hearts,for years,to listen to them is very sad.
                               A  prayer.
Dear God in this world that You have created ,sin has entered,and the fall out has been great and devastating,Yet through Your Son, forgiveness is offered,knowing that through Him, we can be free from the fall out. Amen.

   

The most important prayer.[ Psalm 51]

Prayer is in some ways is a mystery,but at the heart of every prayer there must be faith.When ever anyone prays they are acknowledging to some degree ,that  life on planet earth,is not all there is,that there is a possibility of something greater than ourselves. It may surprise us if we knew the people who pray. Now of course ,many who pray are not necessary seeking God ,they may seek  for healing,for financial help there are many reasons why people pray.Now ask yourself what is the most important
prayer, one could pray? I believe it is,the prayer for salvation, of asking for forgiveness ,it is asking Jesus to become your Saviour. You may not have done this,yet you may pray occasionally,for whatever, but that does not deal with your greatest need ,that is a relationship with God.That relationship comes through Jesus ,Christmas, is about God sending His son into this world.His purpose was to die and take the punishment for the sin of all who put their trust in Him. I would not discourage anyone from praying,but I would encourage them to pray that most important prayer of all,
                                             A  prayer.
Dear God we thank You that You hear our prayers, especially the prayer for
salvation through Jesus Your Son. Amen.

Face the fact. [ Matthew 9 v 37-38]

I hope I am not despairing when I ask the question,where are the prophets
today?,those men who spoke with the voice of God. I remember a man call W.P.Nicholson whom God raised up and was used by God in a mighty way,in Ulster. My dear gran was converted under his ministry,he was to all accounts a rough diamond,but he was Gods rough diamond.The prophets of old had a limited success,on the whole the nation of Israel did not listen,it is still not listening,their Jewishness appears more important to them,than Gods word,and embracing their Messiah.There are many reasons why they
are still Christ rejecters,but the main reasons why, they should accept Jesus
 He is the promised Messiah. Now coming back to the thought on prophets,
would this nation,would even the church accept them or their message?.
I of course do not know,but I wonder would they?,my hope and prayer would be,that they would,after all this is the day of grace. Praise God that He is still in the work of saving sinners,oh I have used that word again,
sinners,I hope you are not offended,but you are a sinner ,as I am,and unless one is prepared to accept that fact,the preacher or the prophets message will
be in vain.
                                  A prayer.
Dear God look upon our nations in mercy,send forth anointed servants to speak with Your voice,and grant that there will be a turning to Jesus Amen

Understanding Gods Word. [Ephesians 4 v 10- 12 ]

I was reading a chapter in Micah and when I had read it I had to confess I had not a clue what most of it was about,but recently I have been using helps in my daily devotions,and so I  now have a better understanding of what I have read.Although I have been to Bible college many years ago,and have been a pastor,and faithfully read my Bible every day,there are still many area's of Gods word that I do not understand.The challenge and it is a wonderful challenge is to understand the Bible,its context,its message.
Consider the words spoken by Philip to the Ethiopian in Acts 8 v27,as he was reading the scriptures,/Understandest thou what thou readest?/,now Philip had been instructed by an angel to minister to this man. So it is God
has given unto his church,godly people who will minister His word,don't go along with those who say you just need the Bible.Of course we need the Bible, but all of us need help in understanding the Bible,as Christian of 50 years I have found it to be so. We are not taking away from our need of the Holy Ghosts help,those who minister Gods word need His help,likewise ourselves.I am studying the Minor Prophets at this time and I have been using a series of commentaries called,/The Bible speaks today/,I find then readable and helpful.
                                         A prayer.
Dear God help us not just read Your word,but understand Your word,we thank You, that you have raised up many godly teachers who can help us to understand what we read, we ask this in Jesus name Amen .

Nothing has changed. [ John 1 v 11]

At the time when Jesus was born there was an expectation that the Messiah would come.  This is shown in the account of the wise men's search for Jesus,they arrive in Jerusalem,and ask ,where is He that is born king of the Jews?[Matthew 2v2] Immediately king Herod is troubled,for after all he was king of the Jews,he felt threatened,again you would have thought he would have realised the true significance of this,but no.So this scheming,person calls for the religious leaders,and asks where Christ should be born,and they knew, and they told him,now these Jewish religious leaders,just  told him,and that was all,surely they should have beat the wise men to Bethlehem. The  point is they didn't, and we hear nothing else about them,now think how awful that was,they had a clear pointer that the Messiah had come. Not only the news about this possible king disturbed the people living n Jerusalem, it appears to me that fear ruled all three parties,it is obvious that Herod feared for his throne,and the others what was their fear?,the religious leaders possibly feared Herod,the people possible feared as to what this cruel tyrant would  do .All this because a child was born a child called Jesus,fear ruled in the hearts of all these Jews who were waiting for their Messiah,all  except those  Gentile wise men,there appears to be an irony in this,nothing sad to say nothing has changed.
                                    A  prayer.
Dear God open the eyes of Israel to see Jesus as their long awaited Messiah
                                           Amen.

The truth. [ John 14 v6 ]

As I observe the times I live in,and the rise of aggressive Islam,on the one hand,and on the other secularism,and in the middle we have another kingdom,the kingdom of God.The kingdom of God is under a lot of pressure ,which involves severe persecution,and a challenge to not be sucked into materialism,and pressure to compromise in the uniqueness of Christ,and the Gospel. We do need to pray for our Christian family,who
are being persecuted, that they will be faithful,yes even unto death, but we
need to pray that we who live in this secular world,may also be faithful to
Christ,even though it may cost us. We must not compromise as to the truth,
 as J Calvin wrote,that/ no religion is genuine unless it be joined to the truth/.We must not hide the truth ,or be ashamed of the truth,or be sentimental as regards the truth,remember we are responsible ,when it comes  to truth to tell others.Why? because we have been entrusted with the truth,the only way people will hear the truth is when we tell them.It is the truth that sets us  free,it is the truth that will save us from Hell, and take us to heaven. Now what is that truth,Jesus who said that He was the way, the truth, and the life,and that no one can come unto the Father but by Him[John 14 v6 ]
                                  A  prayer.
Dear God and Father,help us to hold fast to truth,in Jesus name Amen.

Saved [Matthew 1 v21]

Christmas will soon be on us,the shops are filled with people buying,much of  it for others, Christmas presents,the season appears to have good impression on many people,in that they think of others.One of the people I visit wants to give some groceries to the local food bank, different groups
are providing meals on Christmas day.People send cards that express good will towards people,so we do not want to be  negative.Yet there is a sadness,caused by my concern, for the mulitudes who celebrate Christmas,
and yet do not know Christ,who is the reason for the season.Millions and
millions of people celebrate what?,time of work,eating,drinking,all good in themselves,but in essence nothing to do with Christmas,we could do away with much that goes on,and still celebrate Christmas. For Christmas is simply about one thing,the coming of Jesus into this world,why should we celebrate this?, because of whom Christ was and why He had come.He was none other than the son of God,but also the son of man,he became the son of man that we could become son's of God.How was He going to do that? ,
He  would  grow up to die on a cross,on that cross He became a sacrifice, for our sins. He had a destiny in coming to this world,it is summed up by what the the angel said ,He shall save his people from there sins.[Matthew 1v21],has He saved you yet?
                                         A  prayer.
Dear God hep us to see beyond the tinsel and Santa Clause, to Jesus who
alone laid down his life for our salvation, in Jesus name Amen .

Final words.[ 2Timothy.4 v6 -8]

The words of the apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 4 v6-8,are very instructive,he wrote just before he died,at the hands of the Romans.When he became a Christian he was not promised an easy life,but a life in which he would suffer[Acts 9 v16],and so it came to pass [CP 2 Corinthians 11-12].Of course Paul was the expounder of the grace of God,for salvation,and for living the Christian life. Let us learn from this great mans experience, we are saved by the grace of God,and enabled to live our Christian lives,how?
by the grace of God. As he comes to the end of his life,he sums it up in words of thankfulness,and wonder,he first of all writes,/I am ready/,let me ask you ,are you ready?have you trusted Jesus as your Saviour?.Then he writes ,/I have fought a good fight/,yes when we become a Christian we must be prepared,to fight the world the flesh and the devil,that means taking up our cross and following Jesus.Next he writes,/I have finished the course/,it is not about being first,second or third, but simply finishing what we have started. Next he writes,/ I have kept the faith/,in other words he had
not surrendered his commitment to what he believed in.As he faced the end he wrote of what lay ahead,not the darkness of death, but the wonderful radiance of eternal glories with His Lord.
                                    A prayer.
Dear God keep us faithful to You as we face trials and difficulties,help us to finish the course,in Jesus name Amen .

A no god.[ Romans 1 ]

Someone said to me that the religion that is most in decline is atheism,now I cannot say if this is true,but if it is,it is interesting.I am not sure of the reasons why people are atheists,observing the unanswerable in life,like tragedy's,leaning on ones own understanding,belief in the lie of evolution.
 Religion gets a bad press,and rightly so,especially Islam,with it's cruel practises.Of course you could say politics have also caused a tremendous amount of suffering.People with  a big idea fire the peoples imagination,that blinds them ,and causes them to commit awful things.But for the atheist everything is blamed on people having a belief in God.
   One the problems as I see it in advocating atheism ,they cannot give any meaning to life,how did life begin,a big bang,creates more problems than answers. What causes the life force in all of us?did we really start as sludge?,it all appears a bit absurd.Could this world with all its diversity
just have happened?have the atheist not just replaced God for another god
 called  evolution?.
     Now there is no end of questions,it boils down this,are we going to place
our faith in a no god,or in the God of the Bible,whom we are told made all things,but not only made all things, He so loved this world,messed up by sinful man,that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on
Him should no perish but have everlasting life[John 3 v16]
                                       A  prayer.
Dear God we worship You as Creator of all things,as sovereign over all things,and as saviour of all men.through Jesus Your Son. Amen.
  

Duty. [ John 14 v15 ]

I have attended a certain prayer meeting for years,held once a month in which we pray for Gods persecuted people. Now I must confess that many times I did not feel like going,maybe I was tired,and often I wondered why I did go,but I still go.But recently I read these words by Alec Motyer,/Many times if we were to wait for emotion to prompt action,we should wait in vain and long lists of Christian duties would rot in the pipe line, because we
did not feel any stimulus to perform them./He rightly points out  emotions are a fickle and false guide ,and they are,of course we don't rule out emotions in our relationship with God ,which is based on loving Him,but for His sake and our love for Him,we will perform our duty,even though we may not feel like it.There are things we should do,pray,read Gods word ,fellowship with other believers,perform good works,tell others about Jesus,and so on.
Remember the message that Lord Nelson sent to the fleet on the eve of the battle of Trafalgar,England expects that every man will do his duty,now Nelson was loved greatly ,and it is thought that the love they had for him
inspired everyman to do their duty.So may our love for our blessed Saviour
inspire us all to do our duty.
                                            A  prayer.
Dear Lord forgive us for neglecting our Christian duty,help out of love for you to do our duty. Amen .

What might have been.[ Matthew 23 v37 ]

When one reads the history of Israel ,a nation blessed above many,a nation chosen by God,and yet a nation that choose so often to rebel,to turn from
God, a nation that so often forgot God for other so called gods,who were not gods.A nation that had so much potential to be used by God to be light to the world,and in all this they failed. And yet as one writer writes,/what might have been/,yes what might have been if only they had listened to the
prophets,if only they had obeyed Gods word,what might have been.They would not have experienced the suffering of defeat,and dare I say it the genocide of the Holocaust.Yes what might have been,and yet it has lesson for all of us,there is blessing in obeying God ,in following Him, loving trusting Jesus, and following and obeying Him.Let us hope and pray that we who know Christ will not have this as our epithet, what might have been
                                        A  prayer.
Dear God grant that it will not be said of us what might have been, in Jesus name we ask this.Amen.

Stay focused [ Hebrews 12 v 1-3 ]

Its Christmas time the season to be jolly,but for many it is anything but jolly,for many dear people life is very hard,very lonely and a reminder of how empty their life is.Now of course if we are Christians we should make a point to be focused,on Christ. If we loose our focus then we can be overwhelmed by so many things,things that in essence have very little to do with Christmas.I believe the Puritans sought to ban the keeping of Christmas it is obvious they did not succeed. I am sure those godly people had their reasons,but their reasoning never won the majority of people over.
   The book of Hebrews was written to Christians who were finding following Jesus hard because they were suffering,they were even in danger of giving up,but were warned of the consequences ,it is the true Christian that perseveres,endures to the end. So what does the writer of Hebrews tell them to do ?,well in chap12 he exhorts them,to get rid of everything that was holding them back. To go forward patiently ,yes we need patience, the more we follow Jesus we realise the importance of patience.But more than that , to focus on Jesus at all times,because He suffered ,He understands our suffering. Jesus in the midst of suffering fixed His eye of the eternal glories that shine afar.
  So today what have we been focusing on?a good question,what are we focusing on?.and what should we be focusing on? ,the answer is very simple, Jesus. let us look unto Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith,
He will never lead us into sin ,but if we take our eyes of Him then we could so easily fall headlong into sin
                                                A prayer.
Dear Lord help us to stay focused on you, in Jesus name Amen ..

Throwing stones. [John 8 v1-11]

I know a man ,we will call him Brian and he often comments on that
people never smile,and yet he himself is a very unhappy person,who rarely smiles,and is very negative in his out look in life. My observation in relation to driving is that there are no perfect drivers,and yet so many people act as if they never make mistakes.The fact of the matter is,none of us are perfect,let me repeat this none of us are perfect,we all have something that is broken.There are time when we are very angry to the point of doing someone bodily harm,we think thoughts we shouldn't,and as to what we say
enough said.We live in a world obsessed by sex,with very little restraint,our thoughts if others could see then,we  would bow our heads in shame.The entertainment and the inter-net help to feed our sexual appetite,without considering the consequence of what they are doing,though if truth were told it does not take much to lead us into the darker side of our nature
    In John chapter 8 we read of a woman who was caught in the act of
adultery,and she was brought to Jesus,trying to trip him up,they said she should be stoned to death,nothing has changed it seems,Jesus eventually spoke,with words that we all need to take on board,/He that is without sin,
let him first cast a stone at her/
                                     A  prayer
Dear Lord help us to refrain from throwing stones at others, Amen

There is hope.[ Ephesians 2 v1-8]

Do you remember what Jeremy cricket said,always let your conscience be your guide. It is A. Motyer who writes,/Conscience is a God given faculty, part of the image of God. Like every other aspect of this image,it was tampered with,diluted and depraved as soon as human nature
gave house-room to rebellion against God,and the process of sin hardening,now countless generations old,has not improved the sensitivity
of conscience as an instrument of moral judgement./
   A. Motyer points out that our human nature can be seen according to scripture as being totally depraved,in other words no part or aspect is untainted by corruption.
      The natural man needs a restraint  ,by the gracious gift of common grace,this gracious gift holds us back ,although  at times ,man can still  act it seems without a conscience . Paul writes about people like this
whose conscience has been seared with a hot iron.W. Hendriksen writes,/By constantly arguing with conscience,stifling its warnings,and muffling its bell,they at last have reached the point where conscience no longer bothers, them. Grieving the holy Spirit has let to resist,and resisting Him, to quenching Him/
                                         A  prayer.
Dear God we thank You that although we are sinners,You are a God of all grace,we thank for Your common grace,and for Your saving Grace,that can
break into these darkened minds,and bring us to the place of faith ,and
forgiveness through Jesus Your dear son.Amen


     

Jesus paid it all. [Acts 16 v 30-31]

I used to visit a lovely lady,who always wanted to make me something to eat,she was a Muslim,she not just a Muslim but a practising  Muslim, she would be having her prayer time sometimes when I called.She would pray the required number of times a day,and she even had a time table,that would inform her as to the precise moment to pray.All Moslem's are not violent suicide bombers,they take their religion seriously,a religion of do's and dont's.Circumcision,praying,eating,and other rules and regulations,now they are not alone in this.Jesus was faced with people who believed that their relationship with God depended on rules and regulations, Jesus was the only person who has ever lived kept the law perfectly,He never had to offer a sacrifice for His sin,or to confess to a priest any wrongs , He was the perfect human being,oh yes He was tempted,but He never yielded to temptation.When He was crucified He was dying for sin,not his own,for He had no sin,but for you and me who sin,and no matter how much we try,we will still sin,that's the reality.So God had a plan, as to how we could be forgiven,Jesus His son would bear our sins on His body on that cross[1 Peter 2 v24/Isaiah 53 v12].The old hymn puts it like this.
                           He took my sins and my sin and my sorrows,
                           He made them his very own,
                           He bore the burden to Calvary,
                           And suffered and died alone.[C.H.Gabriel]
                                      A  prayer
Dear God  we praise You that Your son Jesus paid the price for our salvation  ,and that by believing in Him we will be saved Amen 

Mercy Lord. [Malahi 3 v6 ]

I am sure I don't need to remind you that life is full of change,recently I saw a friend with her grandson,the last time I saw him ,he was about 3 feet tall,now he is about 6 feet tall.We really do live in a changing world,some things are not so good others things are good,it is not all bad.But it is a fact change is ever happening,what changes does the future hold for any of us?,God alone knows, how do face the challenges that are  ahead?the answer is challenging but simple,faith in our unchanging God,He changes not.  Malachi 3 v6 declares, /For I am the Lord, I change not,therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed/ , we are given a two fold assurance in those words, as to Gods being He changes not,and His mercy changes not. Are you not encouraged by the fact that we worship a God who continually shows mercy to His children.Mercy is not a one of event,when we get saved,no ,it is ongoing,we grieve God in so many ways,yet wonder of wonders , God continues to show us Mercy ,through His Son Jesus,the fact is the most holy of men like David can commit such unholy acts,yet they experienced mercy.I leave you with these encouraging words from our unchanging God. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of Grace, that we may obtain mercy,and find grace to help in times of need[Hebrews 4 v16]
                                           A  prayer.
Dear God we praise You that You change not,and that You are still merciful
, one who is forgiving and kind,we praise You in Jesus name Amen .

Compensation [Joel 2 v25]

In that little book of Joel we have a wonderful promise,/And I will restore to you the years that the locust have eaten.[2v25].The land had been devastated by an invasion of locust,we do not know much about this ,
but in those countries that experience such an event,it truly is devastating,
a swarm of locust can contain up to 10 billion insects,they can literally
strip a land bear.This is what happened to Israel,and it is the prophet who speaks into that situation,the word of God. We must not close our ears when devastation happens,rather we should be listening to what God has to say,if today we hear His voice let us not harden our hears.Well the word of God came instructing the people ,that they should get real with God,cast of all pretence, seek Him and He will be found,and He will restore to then the years that the locust had eaten. One commentator says the word for restore can be taken to mean God will compensate ,now of course this compensation is not because we have been treated unfairly, no it is the response by the God of grace. Let us avoid judging God even though He slay us,and let us rejoice in His undeserved faithfulness,to all who seek Him.
                                     A  prayer
Dear God we acknowledge Your great faithfulness at all times,we ask that
You would restore unto us the years that the locust have eaten,in Jesus name Amen

Whats it to be ? [ Hebrews 11 ]

Matthew Henry said,/we can depend on God to fulfil His promise,even when all the roads to it are closed/. In 2 Peter1 v4 we read,/Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious  promises/The paper currency in our country comes with a promise to pay the bearer the sum of...,it would be serious  if the bank of England failed to keep that promise.Thankfully it has never happened,but it could, but when it comes to Gods promises ,He will always keep His promised word.God unlike many modern bankers is trustworthy,He cannot tell a lie. Often we fail as it where to receive what God has promised,because of a lack of faith,and like Israel of old we miss what He has promised.Instead of grasping by faith the promises,we give into to despair,and  ,and so they miss the promised blessing.We are warned in Hebrews 11v 12,/Take heed brethren, lest there be an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God/ Make no mistake unbelief is a deplorable sin,we need to appreciate that there are consequences.The sinner goes to hell the child of God looses out on what God has promised there is never any lack in Gods promises it is our lack of faith that is the problem.
                                                    A  prayer.
 Dear God search our hearts,and clear out any unbelief in out hearts,and grant us by Your grace faith in You and Your word, in Jesus name Amen

Brute beasts [ Genesis 2 v27 ]

Like brute beasts they live,like brute beasts they die,you and I are more than brute beasts,it is important to stress this.The teaching of evolution,and the emphasise on mankinds material and physical needs,to the exclusion of a spiritual reality,leaves mankind as just mere extensions of the animal kingdom. We are not saying that the animal kingdom is not important ,of course they are important,but they are  what they are brute beasts,they will never rule the world,contrary to planet of the apes. Humanities needs are all consuming ,but it is Jesus who said that man shall not live by bread alone,but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God [Matthew 4v4].Mankinds reply is as D. Kidner writes,/,Never mind Thy kingdom come, where's our daily bread? /. Mankind is totally focused on bread alone,everything to do with their physical well being. And yet it is blatantly obvious that living just at a material level,leaves much to be desired.Consider the rich and the famous,who give the impression that they have it all,while there lives,tell us otherwise.The Bible continually stresses the folly of living without God,warning us ,that even  if we gained the whole world,we could end up loosers.That the well we draw our water from,will only satisfy our thirst temporary,and in the midst of it all Jesus
declares, that whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give ,shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him ,shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting water.[John 4 v14]
                                            A  prayer
Dear God,we thank You that we are not brute beasts,and we pray that we may not live and die like brute beasts, in Jesus name Amen.

Use us.[ Proverbs 11 v30]

Often it seems we hear of very few people being saved,and then we hear of a church in my homeland,where they have witnessed over 2000 being saved.God is always in the business of saving souls,I have just read of a lady in Uzebek a radical Muslin  trusting the Saviour,as a result of the witness of a Christian who had died.Yes God is still in the business of saving precious souls. Some Church's have lost this reality,and have gone out of the business of seeing men and women's need of salvation. In Proverbs 11 v30, we read ,he that winneth souls is wise/, when Jesus called the disciples He said I will make you fishers of men [Matthew 4 v19].What a challenge  to be a fisher of men,women and children,I praise God for the memory of those who witnessed to me,and led me to the Lord. My first wife is in heaven because a dear lady, witnessed to her ,about Jesus.I have witnessed to many people and some have trusted the Lord.How that will rejoice my heart when I see then in heaven,those precious jewels.Yes people in there most vilest state are still precious to God,for we are told Christ died for the ungodly.As I start this day my prayer would be, oh Lord  make me a fisher of men,help us never to loose sight of mans greatest need ,Jesus.
                                        A  prayer.
Dear Lord help us to see the true value of a soul, use us to be fishers of men,in your name, and for Your glory we ask this Amen.

The ultimate rejection [Isaiah 53 ]

I am reading the book of Hosea ,with the help of a commentary, in it  the prophet is told to do something that would bring him pain,he was to marry a
prostitute. A marriage that would bring him much pain,yet his marriage would be part of his message,for his wife Gomer would be unfaithful,and would have children by other men.This strange relationship would mirror Israels relation with God,they are declared as whores in their unfaithful godless behaviour.For like Gomer they would as it were lust after other lovers,Assyria,Egypt,paying them for their favours,indulging in their idolatress religions,which involved cult prostitution,and child sacrifice,of worshipping many gods,instead of the one true God, Jehovah.The book of Hosea is a love story,as is seen in a marriage relationship, but it is a one sided love story. A story of God pleading continually,yet it seems to no avail,and so it would continue, when the ultimate rejection by Israel the nation of Gods love would take place ,when they would sacrifice Gods dear son Jesus.
                                     A prayer
Dear God have mercy upon Israel ,and this world,in wrath remember mercy,in Jesus name Amen .
                                               

God holds the key of all unknown. [Psalm 75 v6 ]

Recently I was asked by a person in the church I attend if I would put my name forward to be a deacon. I said that I would think and pray about it,I spoke to him later,saying I did not feel I was a deacon ,I was a pastor,a minister of Gods word,he replied that he felt the leadership needed that
pastoral gifting. So I agreed but not totally convinced that this was for me
I prayed about it,asking God to choose what was right for me.When the church met to vote ,I did not get elected,I must confess that I felt a  bit embarrassed,and yet I know there are no second causes ,God is sovereign,He opens doors ,He closes doors,I did not have any conviction about being a deacon,so I praise God for making the decision for me.As I look back on life I can appreciate this more and more,the fact that ,God holds the key of all unknown,and I am glad.
                                               A  prayer
Dear God we praise You that Your way, and your will is always best,help us to see that are disappointment are so often for our good, in Jesus name Amen .

Slavery [ 1 Corinthians 6 v9-11]

Recently on the news we were informed that there are thousands of people who are slaves, in this country. It is of course illegal to have slaves in this country,these people are trapped and hidden,and seriously abused.They include foreign workers,and others all exploited one way or another.The government is trying to discover those who are in fact slave owners,and  stop this practise.Slavery is a practise of abuse,those who are slaves have
no rights,they have to obey their masters. When our Saviour was on earth slavery was a common practise,the Romans had a vast slave population,
slaves had no rights,they were owned by those who could kill them abuse them,misuse them at will.Recently there was picture in our local news paper of a baby faced boy,aged 19 who lured a young lad to his flat and killed him in a sexual activity.What possessed that young man to do such a thing? what possesses millions of people committing sexual perversion,what possessed a gifted doctor taking thousands of photo's of people going to the toilet.Here is the answer,spoken by Jesus ,/everyone who sins is a slave to sin/[John 8v34] Those involved in perverted sexual activity are in fact slaves to their lusts,but I cannot leave it there, for Jesus also said,if the Son sets you free you are free indeed[John 8v36]
                                             A  prayer.
Dear God we praise you, that through Your son Jesus slaves of sinful practises can be forgiven and set free. Amen

Carry me through. [Isaiah 43 v3 ]

I'm sure the apostle Paul did not like the fact that he had to live with a thorn in the flesh,day in , day out,but that is the way it  was. None of us like hearing from our doctors, you will have to learn to live with it, Jacob had to live with a permanent limp[Genesis 32v25].Job had to live with the loss of  his ten children, [Job 1 v19],Ezekiel had to bear with the loss of his wife,it appears that some things have to be borne,that there is no quick fix .Of course God will grant us His all sufficient grace,but it is grace to bear the thing in our lives,not the removal of it. Of course God may grant us healing ,may lift the heavy burden from our lives,and yet He may not.A few
years ago I used to pray a prayer by Joyce Meyer,which I found helpful,so let us finish with this prayer.
                                      A  prayer.
God, I don't like this, but some reason I need this experience to fulfil Your destiny in my life. I believe it will work out for my good,even though it doesn't feel good right now. I cast my cares upon You,and ask You to carry me through this situation. in Jesus name. Amen.

The offense of the cross [ 1 Corinthians 1 v18-23 ]

I like football and like most people consider Real Madrid one of the great sides in the world,just recently it seems that they have had the cross removed from their crest,to appease  the Abu Dubai bank.Because they
are involved with this Islamic bank they do not want to give offence.I am not going to judge them I leave that with God.It reminds me of the growing power of Islam and how much they hate the cross of our lord Jesus Christ,I
wonder if the cross of our Lord Jesus offends you?.In 1 Corinthians 1v18 we read,for the preaching of the cross ,is them that perish foolishness,but to us which are saved it is the power of God.It is Leon Morris who writes,/
The cross was not merely a miscarriage of justice, not only a martyrdom,it was an act of God/.Through Christs death on the cross sin was being dealt with,if we are to be saved we need our sins to be forgiven,Gods answer  is the cross.Through weakness Christ was crucified,but in that very weakness,the power of God was demonstrated,in that sin,satan and death
were dealt with..Again Morris writes,/Christ can deliver men. But men ,of their own endeavours,can never break free ,from various tyrants that hold them in,and confine them to miserable slavery/
                                                     A  pray
To God only wise,be glory through Jesus Christ for ever Amen.

Give Me Thine heart.[Proverbs 23 v26 ]

When David Livingstone died,his heart was removed and buried under a
mpunda tree in Africa, his body is buried in Westminster Abbey.It is said that home is where the heart is,and surely that was true David,he poured out his life in that Continent,and bringing the message of Christ to the lost.  That is one way of looking at it,but as a Christian I am sure there was a moment when he responded to the words in Proverbs 23 v26, /My son , give me thine heart/.I knew a man who was brought to faith in Christ with those words.When we come to Christ we give Him our hearts,no longer do we
give our hearts to the world,or even to self.Our hearts become His throne,
and this is where He reigns and rules. That rule is absolute,it should be total
and totally surrendered to Him,He will not tolerate any rivals,when He says,
my son give Me thine heart,He desires all of it.Judas even though he was
among the 12 ,let money rule his heart,and he paid a terrible price.Davids lust ruled his heart with the result he committed terrible things.To have a relationship with Christ means total surrender to Him every day,and every moment of every day.The story of Scrooge is about a man who lost the girl he loved ,and became a miser,a mean low minded person.
                               A  prayer
                    True hearted Saviour,You know all our story,
                    weak are the hearts  that we lay at Your feet.
                     Sinful and treacherous,yet for Your GLORY,
                     heal them and cleanse them from sin and deceit,
                                   Amen
                  [  Words by Frances Ridley Havergal]

Cold formalism. [John 11 v 35 ]

In the fellowship I attend a number of  people are given the task of reading  the scripture,well there is a person called Roy who is one  of the scripture readers.Roy was to read Matthew 25v 31ff,a  scripture which deals with judgement and rewards,as Roy read it,he became emotional especially as he read the verses relating to Judgement. He just about finished the reading,I must confess his emotional reading of those scriptures touched me and I am sure it touched others.It reminded me and I hope others of the dangers of  cold calling,cold praying,cold reading,cold preaching,cold formalism. Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet,maybe that is the reason that I love Jeremiah. Consider that our Lord was a man of sorrows,He wept at a friends death, He wept over a city,and I am sure He must have wept much in private.I wonder how more effective our preaching,witnessing,praying would be if they were accompanied with tears?.
                                        A prayer.
               Spirit of the living God fall afresh on me.
                Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
               Break me,melt me,mould me,fill me.
               Spirit of the living God fall afresh on me.
                                  Amen.
            [Words by D. Iverson]

Slippery places [Psalm 73 ]

I have just watched a movie when it all ended happily ever after,the goodies won over the baddies,just like real life. Now I always bear in mind that the movies are their to entertain,so that means writing the script in a way that is pleasing to people.Today there are many baddies out there who are crushing the poor,exploiting the vulnerable,and it appears that there is no happy ending.Walt Disney did not write the script of life,for many no prince charming comes, only prince's of darkness. For many life holds no hope,no escape, no justice,only the dark side of life,no one to take their side,no one to speak up for them.Some people are critical of some of the Psalms,and the fierce language that is used. It appears to me they forget how angry Jesus was at those who had turned Gods house into a den of thieves and robbers.Who said to those who devoured widows houses,, ye shall receive the greater damnation.[ Matthew 23 v14]  The prophets were the voice of God continually crying out against injustice [Isaiah 1 v23/Habakkuk 1v4]
In Psalm 73 ,the writer is struggling with what he see's ,the wicked are prospering,corruption is rife,it did not make sense to him, so much so that
he was having a crisis of faith.That is until God opened his eyes,and he see's how God has set them in slippery places, that in a\ moment they are cast  down,into destruction.He asks why,the better question is ,is how long?,  they are cast down,in a moment,and in that moment judgement falls.
                                       A  prayer.
Dear God we do not need to remind You of the evil in this world,You know,and what is more important you will act ,we thank You that Your
justice will prevail,in Jesus name Amen .

The bumps,jumps,and lumps of life. [ Lamentations 3 v 22-23 ]

One thing I do not like about driving were I live,those speed bumps,no matter how one tries,they catch you out,and you feel the cars suspension is going to give way. Now I know that there is a good reason for these speed bumps,they are to make us slow down.I read this recently,/It is in and through,these bumps and jumps and lumps of history,that we are to prove faithful/ [D.R.  Davis ] In whatever period of history we find ourselves in, and in  whatever place we find ourselves in,be it a communist state,or an Islamic state,or a secular state,we are to prove faithful. Bringing it to a more personal level,a rocky marriage,a divorce,an ongoing unresolvable problem we are called to prove faithful. Whatever God has   intrusted to us,be it financial,a particular task,we are called  to be faithful,faithfulness will bring its reward [Revelation 2 v 10].In 1 Thessalonians5 v24 ,we read,  faithful is He that calleth you, yes God is faithful,I am sure most of us can say great is
His faithfulness [Lamentations 3 v23].Let not your presents difficulties cause you to be unfaithful,you may feel you cannot cope,yes that is true,
but you are not alone,He is with you,He has not forsaken you,nor will He,
He can grant the strength you need in all your trials,so be faithful, in all the
bumps,jumps,and lumps of life
                                     A  prayer
Dear God we thank for Your faithfulness in saving and keeping us,help us to be faithful for Jesus sake Amen .

The long term. [ John 16 v 33 ]

I am reading through the book of Daniel with the help of a commentary,by Dale Ralph Davis,in chapter 8 we have foretold the rise of different nations the Greeks, and the Persians,this would take place after Israels return from their 70 years captivity.R.P.Davies quotes John Walton,/The Israelites were to live out their faith in a Gentile world,under circumstances that would make it more and more difficult to do so.They had to count on the sovereignty of  God to sustain them generation by generation, crisis by crisis.  They also had to trust the power of God to control the flow of world
empires as they rose and fell. God's agenda is never in jeopardy, nevertheless,they were to be prepared for the long term./ As with Israel of old so with the new covenant Israel ,we who are called Christians,[Jews and Gentile],in a world that is full of uncertainty's,and persecution,must be prepared for the long term. The question is how?,well ,we have the answer in what J. Walton wrote,to count on God's sovereignty,to sustain us whoever is in power,and whatever crisis that arises,in the world and in our own personal circumstances, as he writes God's agenda for this world
, is never in jeopardy.
                                     A  prayer.
Sovereign God we look to You, and trust in You to sustain us for the long term,in Jesus name Amen.

A bubble. [ Matthew 7 v 24-27]

I was listening to someone on the radio in my car,she had lost someone in the  Lockabie disaster,when Pan Am Flight was blown up by terrorist,killing all on board,plus eleven people in in Lockabie .This lady has written a book,which I do not know the name of ,or even her name,but she said something very meaningful,which I managed to remember and write down./
We live in a bubble of invulnerability,until tragedy strikes and then we realise how fragile we are/ I remember many years ago in a factory,and a man called Sam,otherwise known as big Sam,he was a hard man, anyone who crossed him, had better watch out.Then I heard that his son had been killed in action in Aden,and when I got the chance I went to him to say how sorry I was for his loss,and at that moment he was no longer big Sam, but a father who had lost his only son,and he appeared very fragile.I asked a girl I know,how her parents were,as her mother had just lost her mother,she replied that both her parents were fragile.So many people live in what they we could call a bubble of invulnerability,money, fame,good health,nice home,nice job ,nice wife and children,and so on .The fact of the matter is,our bubble can so easily burst,and then we realise just how fragile we are,when that happens,this is an opportunity to find real security in Christ,for the fact is no one is very secure, no one.The old hymn goes,/  On Christ the solid rock I stand,all other ground is sinking sand/, my prayer for you is that you may find this to be true.
                                   A  prayer.
Dear Lord we are very fragile ,yet in Christ,we are safe and secure. Amen .

Fallen leaders [ Galations 6 v 1 ]

C.J.H. Wright , while emphasising God ruling,/ that He still has to work through fallen human agents/.that means people like you and me.While the scriptures stress certain qualifications for leadership, CP 1Timothy 3, the fact is Christian leaders will always be imperfect.They are fallen human agents,the leaders themselves must recognise this as well as the church.
We rightly object to attribute infallibility to any church leader,and I don't just mean the bishop of Rome. Church leaders must be humble enough to accept they could be wrong,yes they are to lead the church but not as mini dictators. The church must do all they can to support their leaders,leaders need encouragement just like everyone else.As I write this my thoughts
turned to king Davids moral lapse,why was he allowed to remain king?.If a leader falls morally how should this be treated?,does this rule him out of ministry for ever?,it did not rule out David. David manifested repentance and God forgive him,and he was allowed to continue. God dealt with David he would be chastised by his loving Heavenly Father,in Gods own way.Fallen leaders can be restored like of us,and in Gods will restored to the ministry,Peter was,God saw his tears.
                                       A  prayer
 Dear Father keep those who have the responsibility of leadership within Your church,and if they fall,grant repentance,and even restoration to their ministry,in Jesus name. Amen

Work a miracle. [ Romans 4 v 18-22 ]

Can these bones live?this was the question asked by God to Ezekiel [37v3] ,
Ezekiel was brought to a valley of dead dried bones,a place of despair,and of no hope. That was the present experience of Israel,people whose land had been devastated,thousands of their citizens slain,they find themselves in captivity, in a strange pagan land.In this vision God would work and replace death with life,despair for hope,captivity for freedom. Impossible,dead bones do not live, but with God all things are possible.Yes with God even dead bones can live,and in this vision they did.
   So it is in our lives,we find ourselves in a valley of dry bones,like Israel
a place of utter despair,and if asked the question can things change,can my valley of dry bones experience change?, like Ezekiel you answer I don't know,only God knows.God does know,but He does not only know,He can
bring change,for He can do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,according to the power that worketh in us[ Ephesians 3 v20] Ezekiel was told to say to the dry bones ,hear the word of the Lord[37v4] What is God saying to you in your situation,stand on it ,claim it,believe,and it will surely come to pass, in other words have faith in God.
                                         A  prayer
Dear God we bring our valley of dry dead bones to You, and ask that You
would work a miracle for us in Jesus name Amen.

First things first. [Ephesians 2 v 8-10]

There is a term I hear in social services ,it is holistic,it means seeing to a persons whole needs,phyisical,social,mental and even spitirual.It is Christopher J.H. Wright,who writes,/ of a truly holistic gospel/,Now I agree as a Christian,that I should look at the whole person,the homeless,the sick ,the oppressed,and so on.Of course many Christians have and do seek to minister,to peoples needs,and to a great degree meet their needs. This is nothing new,we have been created unto good works,which God has prepared for us to do.On a personal level, I in my job, minister to the mentally ill,and I support childrens ministeries, as many Christians do. Our Saviour went about doing good,I know the Christian life is not just about speaking and preaching.Yet in our attempt to be good Samartians,we must as our Saviour did ,speak the words of life,that must not be compromised, faith cometh by hearing,and hearing by the word of God. Our good works are not the gospel, but are a result of us embracing the gospel, we help people in their need ,even if they don't become Christians,our hearts should be open to all mankind,even though they may crucify us. The Gospel is good news for it starts at mans greatest need, our sin,and the need of forgiveness through faith in Jesus Gods Son,and then the good works must follow.
                                A  prayer
 Dear help us to speak the words of life to those who are dead in trespasses and sin,to tell them about Jesus the mighty to save, Amen.

The hidden things. [ 1 Corinthians 6 v 9- 11 ]

There is one subject that continues to be in the news,sex abuse,things that were hidden are now coming to light,old men are now having sleepless nights,hoping their evil deeds,will not be found out.Men of renown,
  will now be revealed as perverts ,they who had appeared to be honourable men will be seen as people of disgrace.They will exchange
freedom for imprisonment,a prison cell,and a life of living under a cloud. In
a world obsessed it seems with sex ,there is an awareness that there is a line that should not be crossed,The cries of the victims,have touched our society,
their cry for to long has not been listened to. I  appreciate that this subject is very messy,but sex is a reality in this world,Islamic countries try to cope with it,by  the way women dress,and often restrict their contact with men,yet there is incest in these countries,as there is in ours,most of it hidden from society,and the victims,because of the shame it will bring .
The Bible speaks of the hidden things being brought to light[1Corinthians 4v5],sexual sins could be described as the hidden things, many  who are involved in such things are finding the truth of these words,brought to
light.
                           A prayer
Dear God we confess our sinfulness before You,and pray that repentance and forgiveness be granted to those involved in sexual sins,in  Jesus name
 Amen.

Inspirational [ Mark 16 v 6]

I wonder did you see on the net a video of a young elephant ,being attacked by 14 lions,and how it managed to escape,very inspirational,I must confess
I do love inspirational stories,of people who battle against the odds,Susan Boyle,David who defeated the big giant,may be, I like happy endings,well I do. As I thought on this I considered how inspirational the life,death, and resurrection,of  Christ.Born into poverty,looked down upon because of His background ,by the establishment,is this not the carpenters son ?[Mark 6v3].The more good He did,the more He got criticised,the more He spoke the truth,the  more they began to hate Him.Yet none of these things fazed Him,he just kept going on,to His destiny,and when it came , everybody forsook  Him and fled,would I have been any different?,possible not. To many His death was just another death, a horrible death,and when he was laid in a tomb, a big stone was rolled over the entrance,and that appeared to be that. It seemed that He who had promised much had failed in such an awful way[ Luke24 v21].It is then rumours began to be spread about Jesus that He was alive, [ Luke 24v 22-23 ].Then Jesus showed Himself and the sunrise of the wonderful truth broke into the darkness.His death ,instead of being a failure was understood in its true light, Satan, death and sin was conquered. Now that's truly a inspirational story,because it is true.
                                     A   prayer.
Dear God in a world where the most inspirational story is soon eclipsed.
by the darkness of Satans activities,sins power,and deaths darkness.We praise You,for Your Son,and what He accomplished ,by His life,death and resurrection. Amen

it is true.

Keep me sweet. [ Ephesians 4 v 30-32 ]

God spoke to me about the dangers of bitterness,and its negative consequences on ones life.I don't like bitter things,sometimes one buys grapes and you looking forward to there lovely sweetness,only to discover that they are bitter. Instead of blessing me with their sweetness,all they are fit  for is to be thrown out. There is nothing more contradictory than a bitter Christian,what are  they are good for ?,there lives don't bless anyone,and never will.We can seek to justify our bitterness, frustrated plans,hurts we didn't deserve,being overlooked. You may be thinking and living with the bitter thoughts,life is not fair,but then who said it would be fair,visit a children's hospice,look at the news,how much suffering is going on.It was not fair what Jesus suffered,a cross,for what?,leaving heaven,doing good,no, life is not fair.Jesus says follow Me surrender your brokenness,and bitterness to Him,Deny yourself bitterness,and you will be the better for it.Continually we must come back to the cross,and let our hearts be cleansed by Calvary love.
                                     A  prayer.
Dear God heal my wounded broken spirit,cleanse me from bitterness,and fill me with Calvary love in Jesus name Amen.

They could have had it all.[ Deuteronomy 11 v26]

It appears to me that most of the OT,is taken up with God continually speaking to a people who failed to obey Him,continually forsaken Him.There is a modern song which say's we could have had it all,Israel could have had it all,but in the end they lost it all.They were placed in the midst of pagan nations to be a light,they had the holy scriptures,but somehow that never appeared to be enough.They had Gods promise to bless and prosper them,yet they choose the road of a curse,cpDeuteronomy 11 v26.Victory could been assured against the strongest of enemies,shown in so many ways
David a man after Gods own heart, has victory a giant of  a man,because he trusted in God. Hezekiah saw the mighty army of Assyria defeated,because he trusted in His God,but when he took his eyes of God and upon foreign powers,he brought disaster upon his people[2 Kings20v14ff.]They experienced continual defeat ,when they could have known victory.If only the church of Christ would learn from Israel's experience,instead of,
straying  from their Lord,Likewise we as individuals need to learn  the lesson that we need to stay close to our Lord.Remember Israel could have had it all,but instead they lost it all,don't hold unto pointless traditions,like I witnessed on TV, people in a certain church feel that they have the the cup that Christ drank from, all they are doing is holding on to the shadows not the reality. I do not want to live in the shadows, I want to walk in the light,
                                   A  prayer
 Dear  Lord  help us to always keep You first in our lives, and to hold unto the truth that as been revealed in Your son Jesus,Amen]

Man know thyself [ Romans 5 v 20]

An elderly Christian  said to their pastor,why are you always telling us about sin?,now I know  that pastor,he is a good faithful servant of Christ,but such is the foolishness of that person,to say that to him. As I look back in my life I can see so many things,that reveal my sinfulness,I know how easy it is to be drawn into sexual sin,of all sorts,I know how easily it would be to become addicted to perversion. I know how easily it would be in a fit of temper to murder someone,we can so easily move into the dark side of our
sinful nature,and yet I know it only in part,as scripture tells us,/the heart is deceitful above all things,and desperately wicked,who can know it ?/[Jeremiah 17 v9 ].None of us know the depths we can sink to, only God
.There is an African saying which goes,the Christian stands on two legs,the  grace of  God, and the mercy of God.Yes I am a sinner ,to think otherwise is foolish and dangerous, man know thyself,and know that we should never underestimate our sinful nature,and underestimate the mercy and grace of  God to forgive our sins,to deliver us from sin, and to keep us from sin,through His Son Jesus.
                                      A  prayer
Dear God we praise You for Your grace and mercy,that saves,delivers,and
 keeps us,in Jesus name Amen/

The unknown tomorrow. [Exodus 23 v30]

On the 11th of November I had special anniversary,36 years ago ,my then wife and our four lads came to live in England.As we started that day and set of on our long journey in our little car that someone bought us ,from Northern Ireland,God spoke to me from my daily light. I read the following words,/He led them on safely/[Psalm78v53] and,/Behold I send an angel before thee,to keep thee in the way,ans bring thee into the place I have prepared/[Exodus23 v30] I have never forgotten those words and praise God for His faithfulness,that was 36years ago,but God is still faithful,and will continue to watch over us and lead us in the way He wants us to go.
As we ,you and I,face the unknown tomorrow,we can rest in our God ,who knows the unknown tomorrows,nothing takes Him by surprise,He controls all things,and will not fail us.
                              I do not know what lies ahead
                               the way I cannot see,
                              yet one stands near to be my guide,
                              He'll show the way to me.
                               I know who holds the future,
                               and He'll guide me with His hand,
                               with God things don't just happen,
                               everything by Him is planned,
                               so as I face tomorrow,
                               with it's problem large and small ,
                               I'll trust the God of miracles,
                                 give to Him my all
                            [Words by A.B. Smith/ E .Clark]

Looking beyond sorrow. [1 Thessalonians 4 v 13-18]

A dear friend who lost her husband recently,and is at the stage of having his clothes cleared out,and she is finding it difficult.I spoke to her on the phone to reassure her of my prayers,what she is doing is important for there is a sense when someone dies,that one needs to move on,we need to let go.Oh I am very awhere that this is hard,and yet it is necessary,we will grieve ,and rightly so,but we must eventually move on. We always have the memories
of  the one we love,that is a great comfort,but we must not let our loss destroy us,for it can. It is the apostle Paul who seeks to comfort and assure
Christians as regards their loved ones.He reminds them that one day ,when
our Lord will returns,with our loved ones ,we will be reunited with them,and so shall we ever be with the Lord. We need not sorrow as those without hope,for we have Christ in us the hope of glory.
                                          A  prayer
 Dear God we praise that as Christians we have hope when faced with death,because of Jesus,help those who our sorrowing in Jesus name  Amen.

Identify[Hebrews 13 v3 ]

It is interesting as we read the Bible,how some of  Gods children are preserved from sufferings, not from testings ,all of Gods children will be tested.Yet not all of Gods children have to experience what we read of in Hebrews 11v36ff./ cruel mockings and scourgings,and imprisonments, and so the list goes on.The apostle Paul was destined to suffer [Acts 9 v16],for Christ's sake,consider the suffer of Joseph,also James the brother of John was put to death by the sword[Acts 12v2]. During my lifetime I have prayed for many Christians who were suffering under communisim, and at this present time many dear Christians are suffering at the hands of Moslem's,
and other Christ haters.First of all we who are not suffering such things 
are not to feel guilty,but they are,our family,and in Hebrews13v3, we are told,to remember those in prison,as if you were there yourself,remember those who are being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.
Next let us pray for those who are suffering for Christs sake,let us not underestimate the power of prayer,and as God leads ,support those agencies that are involved with those who are suffering.
                                      A  prayer.
 Dear Lord we bring to you all those who are suffering for Your sake,have mercy upon them,in Your name we ask this Amen.

Make me a channel. [ 1 Corinthians 13 ]

Where I live there are two families and one family has what I describe as a hatred for the other family ,that manifests itself in very unkind ways.I have for many years observed this,and at this time ,the hatred has just raised its ugly head again.As I wrote this message ,I heard that lovely hymn on the radio,/Make me a channel of Your peace/,words based on the prayer by ST.Francis. the words, /Where there is hatred, let me bring Your love/, came as a challenge to me,as I thought on my neighbours,how can I bring His love to these two families?,let us consider the words of that hymn.
                           Make me channel of Your peace,
                           Where is hatred, let me bring Your love.
                            Where is injury,Your pardon,Lord,
                            where there's doubt,true faith in You.
                                In Jesus name we ask this Amen.

Eternal glories shine afar [John 14 v1-6 ]

I met my old barber recently, when he would cut my hair ,we would talk ,he
would tell me how he suffered form constant headaches,and so when I met him,I asked him about his headaches,he replied nothing had changed.He also would tell me of the lovely holidays he went on,but not now,his wife was poorly,and needed cared for,he jokingly said that old age was taking its toll on them,and they were wearing out.Well  I said as a Christian, the best is yet to be,yes the best is yet to be.The non Christians, hopes,and desires,even as to this life, can soon leave them,money may be a bit of consolation,but it may not be,and as someone once said there are no pockets in a shroud.The great apostle Paul wrote , if in this life only we have hope in Christ,we are of all men most miserable[1 Corinthians 15 v 19] For the Christian the best is yet to be,for when we die glory awaits us,I can only imagine ,how wonderful it will be.
A  prayer.
 Dear God we thank You that as Christians, the best,the very best is yet to be,because of Jesus.Amen /

More than I need [Genesis 22 v2 ]

Yesterday I stressed how God meets our need,now of course I have more than I need  at this time.David the king had times of difficulty,so had the apostle Paul,and so have many Christians.God supplied their need, but David as time went on was blessed with more than his need.Likewise myself I have more than I need,God has given me more than I need,now I do not want to go down that imbalanced road called the prosperity Gospel. God often blesses His children with more than they need,there are reasons,God is testing us to see if we will bless others,I am able to bless others,by my giving,but will I ?that is  the question.Our desire should be, that we  bless others, as God has blessed us,are we doing this,there are so many people in need in this world,may we not be found wanting in our giving.Don't hold on to tightly to those blessings God has blessed us with,remember Abraham and his son whom he loved. God said give him up [Genesis 22 v2],and Abraham passed the test with flying colours,will we?
A  prayer..../ Dear God thank You for granting me more than I need, help us not to make these blessing that are only lent to us,our security,or our god, in Jesus name Amen /

Our need [ 1 Timothy 6 v 8 ]

.We live in a very discontented world,and we as Christians must be careful not to be sucked into worldly discontentment. We have been thinking on Philippians 4 v19, which assures us that God will meet our need through His son Jesus. Consider that word need ,as I look back on my life, especially when one was living by faith,God met our needs,my children never went hungry,sometimes we came near to it,but God always met our need.People would pass on second hand clothes,we did not have a car,but God met our need.Someone said to me that I was poor,poor in his eyes but God still met out need.So often I claimed that promise Philippians 4 v19,and proved it to be true, I am very grateful for all Gods provision,in meeting my need.This morning as I went to meet make my breakfast,,I usually have porridge ,and as I looked in the container where we keep the porridge oats, there was just enough for my breakfast  ,and I again remembered that story of the widow woman and Elijah [1 Kings 17 ], All she had was a little meal and some oil,but she had more ,she had a promise from God that her need would be met,and it was.
A  prayer.... /Dear God save us from being ungrateful,because You have just supplied our need,let us be content and grateful for Your faithfulness,
in Jesus name. Amen /

Our needs [ Psalm 23 v1 ]

Yesterday we considered the words of Philippians 4 v19,/My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus,/We sought to apply this to mans greatest need ,forgiveness,that God will delight
to grant mercy,for he is a God who delights in shewing mercy[ Micah 7 v18 ] Now while that is true He will also meet our need materially.C H Spurgeon wrote,I have a great need for Christ,and I have a great Christ for my need./ So let us apply it now to our present need.One day many years ago when my then wife and I were living by faith,then we had three children,A  man called at our home with a large box of groceries,he had been asked to deliver them, he would not say who they were from , but it was the Lords provision.I love the words that the prophet spoke to a poor widow in relation to her need being met,/Fot thus saith the Lord God of Israel,the barrel of meal shall not waste,neither shall the cruise of oil fail,until the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth/  [Read about this in 1 Kings 17] A wonderful example of God meeting the need of three people.
A prayer.
Dear God thank You for Your faithfulness at all times in supplying all our
needs by Christ Jesus our Lord.Amen.

Our greates need. [Psalm 40 v 1- 3 ]

In Philippians 4 v19 ,we read,/But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus./The first and greatest need we all have is spiritual,and that need can only be met by Christ.Jesus of course met peoples physical,and material needs before He met their spiritual needs.Yet the fact remains that our greatest need is spiritual,we need our sins forgiven,our sin separates us from a holy God,and if unforgiven will separate us from Him eternally,death does not mean that our beign ceases,no the fact is we will always exist,for all eternity.If our sin remains unforgiven we will be eternally separated from God,sin is the great divider from a holy God. Sin cannot be forgiven in eternity it must be forgiven while we live here on planet earth.All things including us,are polluted,we need to be cleansed from the pollution caused by sin,Gods answer,is Christ ,His son Jesus,who died on the cross,by His death we can be forgiven and cleansed from the pollution, and that which causes the pollution sin.Today God invites you to come to him by accepting Jesus as your Saviour,and in accepting Him your greatest need will be met.
A  prayer...../Dear God we praise You that You can meet our deepest need through Jesus Your Son. Amen/

Translations. [ Psalm 119 v89-96]

There is one issue that can cause Christians to be upset with each other,the subject of Bible translations,some churches forbid the use of any translation other than the AV.The late Mr Paisley was a strong AV man,I personally love the AV,but not being an expert on translation, I cannot say it is the most accurate,I just do not know.I don't believe in a conspiracy theory,that modern translators are in any way trying to under mind the word of God.Having used different  translations,I have not observed any  real problems.It is D. Kidner who writes, that God saw to the preservation and
completion of His word.As much as you and are concerned about God word,so is God,let us have confidence in our sovereign God to
preserve His word.Now of course there are false translations,the JWs translation is inaccurate,translated in such a way as to booster their false beliefs.So in all things be discerning as to the written word of God, all true Christians love Gods word,so try to be tolerant when they use a different translation than you use.
 A  prayer...../Dear God we thank for Your word, we ask for those who translate Your word may truly be controlled and guided by Your Spirit in Jesus name Amen /

Help is available. [ James 4 v1-3]

Sometimes we read the words,help is available,though that may be true,people don't always seek help,for different reasons.Old people want to maintain their independence,they also don't always claim the benefits they are entitled to.Others will be reluctant to accept help,because of pride,I remember thinking ,how hard it is to help some people.When it comes to prayer,some people do not feel they can ask God for help,and yet we can,we are told by Jesus to ask ,and it shall be given you,seek,and ye shall find, knock,and it shall be opened unto you.[Matthew 7 v7 ]The people whom the apostle James wrote to  ,when it came to asking God,fell into extremes,
wrote attitudes,wrong desires,as Mayor points out they prayed without the
spirit of prayer.Yes help is available,but will not be given if we hold
unforgiveness in our hearts[Matthew 6 v14-15/ Psalm 66 v18] Wrong desires ,as W. Barclay points out,/The craving for pleasure in the end shuts
the door of prayer......when are prayers are essentially ....it is not possible for God to answer our prayers./ Yes help is available ,only we can block that help.
A prayer....../Dear God we thank You for the many,many prayers You have answered,we thank You that help is available from You,help us not to block Your willingness to help us by wrong attitudes and wrong desires,in Jesus name Amen /

Cold efficiency [1 Corinthians 13 ]

Some one I know took a needy person to see the doctor,the person was examined by the doctor,and was told that they would need what would be
considered major surgery.The doctor acted in a somewhat inpatient manner
ushering his patient out quickly. The person who had accompanied the person,felt angry as to how this doctor had dealt with his patient.No
reassurance was given,he was coldly efficient, lacking in empathy.It reminds me of what we read in 1 Corinthians 13,that we can speak wonderfully,give sacrificially,and so on,but if love is missing,in Gods eyes,
it counts for nothing.God is not pleased with cold efficiency. Remember God always acts out of a heart of love,He is patient,and caring,not indulgent
but always acting out of a heart of love,for our highest good.
A  prayer....../Dear God forgive us for speaking or acting in an unloving manner,help us to be more like You our loving heavenly Father ,in Jesus
name Amen/