An enemy. ( Revelation 2 v 4 - 5 )

'The Lord has become like an enemy,he has destroyed Israel', ( Lamentations 2 v 5 ),That's an amazing statement,after all, God was His people's protector,defender,from the moment they left Egypt many centuries ago,time after time again He delivered them ,now says the writer,he has become like an enemy. Often nations have gone to war,declaring that God was for them, and never never really thought, if they were for God.Hitler used the term providence . Israel could rightly speak of having a special  relationship with God, even today they pray,'All Israel have a portion in the world to come,as it is said.Your people are all righteous, they shall inherit the land, they are the shoot that I planted, My own handiwork, in which I glory' ( Jewish prayer book) So anything goes,no anything does not go, they may think that ,but ,instead of God being their friend, he had acted as their enemy.  The depth of their rebellious attitude,became so bad that instead of delivering them  of old from their enemies, He delivered them to their enemies.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Boast not of a special relationship ,                                                                                                           with God, it will not stop God                                                                                                                   dealing with us as our enemy, if                                                                                                                 we are in rebellion against Him.

Judgement is coming. ( John 3 v 16 )

The suffering of  Judah  with its capital  588- 587 was appalling , it is reckoned that 80 percent of the towns and villages were destroyed or abandoned.Before Jerusalem fell it endured an eighteen months  siege, the suffering during that siege was horrific,with women eating their babies,the survivors of which the prophet Jeremiah was one,he was allowed to remain, but most of them had to march a thousand miles to Babylon. Why did God cause this to happen ?,well Jeremiah writes ,'the Lord was right for they had rebelled against His word. ( 1 v 18 ). There are many people who judge God for the wrongs in this world, for the suffering in this world,but the words of Abraham come echoing down to us through the ages,when he said,as he pleaded for those who might have been righteous in Sodom,''Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is right '', ( Genesis 18 v 25 ). Yes ,whither we like it not, God is a Judge,and one day ,He will judge all the earth (Revelation 20 v 11 - 15 ) ( 2 Timothy 4 v 1 ) ,that judgement will be a righteous judgement. God sent His Son to bear the punishment  for sin on the cross,of all those who trust Him to be their Saviour.no judgement, will fall on them . Make no mistake, judgement is coming on all who reject Christ ,flee from the wrath of God, and trust Him as your Saviour , before it is to late.

False security ( Matthew 6 v 22 - 23 )

So continuing on in the book of Lamentations ,lets consider 1 v 7,'Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction and wanderings, and all the precious things that were hers in days  of old''They had lost everything, all they escaped with, was their lives,nothing else,all the comforts they once enjoyed, gone, all the friends they knew, many of them were gone,the thing they considered most important like the temple was gone.As regards the temple it had become a symbol of security, in Jeremiah 7 v 4, they were reminded that their security was not in bricks and motor, but in God and a godly relationship. In Ezekiel 8 - 10 we have the prophet ,who lived in Babylon at the same time as Jeremiah,being taken to the temple in a vision, and there he witnessed that it had become a place of idolatry,  it had become so bad that the presence of the Lord left the temple,so it became an empty shell,that fostered in the people a false security. Israel had to learn a hard but necessary lesson in their suffering,that putting their faith in that which was false, had dire consequences, and what applies to Israel of old, applies to us now.                                                                                                                                                                     The Lord is my light and my salvation;                                                                                                      Whom shall I fear?                                                                                                                                    The Lord is the stronghold of my life;                                                                                                      of whom shall I be afraid?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    ( Psalm 27 v  1 ) 

We have a choice . ( 1 Samuel 15 v 22 )

I like us to consider for a few days, thoughts from the book of Lamentations,a book written by Jeremiah,after the fall and destruction of Jerusalem,by the Babylonian army.One can only imagine the awful suffering that the population  experienced, and it is important to understand why it happened ,the answer is the people for centuries turned from God. The severity of the judgement was in response to their awful  sinful state.the sad thing is this, it need not have happened.Two sad words sum it up, ''if only'', before they had entered the promised land they were told a vital truth, the importance of obedience,obedience would bring  blessing,disobedience would bring severe consequences. CP Deuteronomy 28.so often Israel choose to disobey.What applies to Israel applies to us, to obey is not only better than sacrifice, it is safer,and will bring a blessing and not a curse.                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Are  we living in obedience or disobedience?

God weeps. ( 53 v 3 )

The Bible  teaches clearly that Christ was truly God and truly man,  John the beloved disciple sought to teach this in His gospel. ( 1 v 1 - 3/ v 14 ) ,likewise the epistles stress this, Philippians 2 v 5-11/ Colossians  1 v 16 - 19./ Hebrews 1 v 3 / v 8 - 9. These are just some of the scriptures that tell the truth that was God was manifest in the flesh ( 1 Timothy 3 v 16 ) The coming of Jesus was the fulfilling of  many OT scriptures ,(  Isaiah 9 v 6) so that babe in the manger was none other than God .In all He did and say ,we witness God in action, He forgive sins ,He raised the dead,He healed the sick.and many other wonderful things.In all those things God  showed compassion,patience,love,and we see something that is mentioned in the NT twice, that shows the heart of God in a most wonderful way,in Luke 19 v 41/ John 11 v 35. we read, 'Jesus wept.' The 20th century was a slaughter house, one of the most evil leaders was  J Stalin ,who said,'' A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic''. The King of Kings wept over a city,and wept over an individual and a city, people were never seen as a statistic,He was showing that God loved the whole world, and to prove that love,Jesus died on a cross that our sins would be forgiven.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     There's a wideness in God's mercy                                                                                                             Like the wideness  of the sea                                                                                                                     There's a kindness in His justice,                                                                                                               Which is more than liberty.                                                                                               

The only solution ( Titus 2 v 11 - 14 )

We have all heard how older people talked about when they were young, and how they lived in a society,in which they did not lock their doors. Now I am 74 and I do not remember a time like that,the question is this does apply now?is it looking back  through rose tinted spectacles , yet it  may  appear there are places in which people feel their society is a safe place,now of course it may be relatively safe. Go back to mans beginning a man called Adam, a lady called Eve,living in an earthly paradise. It was an earthly paradise until they disobeyed God,then everything changed,sin entered in,they lost paradise,their nature had changed ,a nature  that would be passed unto their children. One of their sons became a murderer,and from that time on  there would be no totally safe places.Consider the 20th century ,and we ask the question, why did so called civilised  countries act the way they did, committing  unspeakable evils?.The fact is they did, why?, and who knows what  may take place in this century,fuelled by religious fanaticism or whatever. The why can only  be found in the Bible,we without exception are sinners,and the only solution, is the one who died for sinners, Jesus.

Be saved. ( Philippians 2 v 5 - 11 )

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Isaiah 45 v 21...22                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            There is no God apart from Me  a righteous                                                                                              God and a Saviour. .... Turn to me and be                                                                                                  saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am                                                                                                   God,and there is no other.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Romans 10 v 9                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             That if you confess with your mouth, ''Jesus                                                                                             is Lord, ''and believe in your heart that God                                                                                             has raised Him from the dead, you will be                                                                                                 saved .                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Acts 16 v 30 - 31.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      ''Sir  , what must I do to be saved?''They replied,                                                                                       ''Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved''                                                                                                                                                                         

I want to be loved. ( Matthew 22 v 34 - 40 )

Ernest Hemingway's son Gregory speaking about his relationship with his father said,' I wanted him to love me', which implies that he failed in this.Most of us want to be loved,especially by those nearest and dearest to them,and it is sad when they don't.Wives may not love their husbands,and vice versa,children may not love their parents,and parents their children. Sin has effected so many people that they treat others in an unloving way.it can be very extreme,like the young girl,blinded by a hate filled religious belief,watched fourteen people being beheaded,and was not as she said fazed by it.Yet it is shown in many other ways,a coldness towards others, a treating a person just as a servant, or just as a worker . We may have had friends who just used us,unlove is shown in a multitude of ways,in actions,words,attitudes,some as we have mentioned extreme some less extreme,but it all comes down to the same thing,love is missing. Yes we want to be loved but are we loving?the challenge to me as a Christian is two fold, to love God,and to love others,you cannot have one without the other. People who say they love God and don't love others are deceived,and those who say they love others and don't love God are likewise deceived.

Stop throwing stones ( Matthew 7 v 1 - 6 )

There was a time not so long ago, when having a child out of wedlock was frowned on, I remember many years ago in a Salvation fellowship,a young couple were disciplined for have a child before they were married.Such a thing was considered a sin,and I  believe premarital sex is wrong,but humanity being what it is ,it happens,unfortunately it appears now to be normal.As a Christian we are called to be Holy,that means we are called to refrain from anything that is morally wrong as revealed in Gods word.The account in  Johns  Gospel chapter 8, of a woman caught in the act of adultery who was arrested and brought by the moral judges to Jesus.They told Him what had happened, and the penalty for such a sin,stoning to death.,but of course Jesus turned it on them,saying let him who is without sin cast the first stone,convicted, they all left, leaving only Jesus and the guilty woman.Now of course Jesus knew that this woman had sinned, He told her so,but He said, neither do I condemn you go and sin no more.So there are two important lessons in this story, we have to stop throwing stones,in moral judgement at others, moral failures. Next we must never forget that there are, moral values, and when we break them we sin,and that's very serious                                                                                                                    Words that challenged me,spoken by a father                                                                                            to his pregnant unwed daughter ,'' We don't                                                                                             judge one another,we love one another.''

Only two places. ( Luke 23 v 32 - 43 )

A rough Yorkshire miner became a minister of the Gospel,now Yorkshire people are straight  talking ,as they say were I come from, they call a spade a spade. Well the minister was asked to take the funeral of a notorious  bad person, and of course everyone knew it.Well I have taken a number funerals in my day,and you usually try to say something  nice about the deceased for the sake of the loved ones.Well not this Yorkshire man,as he passed the coffin, he thumped it,,and said to those present,we know where he is gone,and then he said to them ,where are you going?.Well shocking isn't it?,but let us call a spade a spade,where are you going when you die?,remember there  is only two destinations,Heaven or Hell.Again let me ask the question , where are you going?,is it Heaven or is it Hell?.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             'Believe in the Lord Jesus and                                                                                                                     you will be saved'                                                                                                                                            (Acts 16 v 31 ).                                                                                                                                                                                                             

I don't like . ( 1 Corinthians 6 v 12 )

I often wondered what Augustine meant when he said ,'love God and do what you like'.and so recently a person told me something,that threw light on it. A coal miner from Yorkshire  who was  a hard drinker,and  a tough person, got saved,he trusted  Jesus as his Saviour,the result was he stopped drinking,and he was changed,stopped going with his  friends for drinking sessions . Then one day he met an old friend,who  asked him why he stopped seeing him,and stopped going  to the their drinking hunts.So he told him he had become a Christian,so the man, said to him,so now you can't do this, and you can't do that.No its not like that,replied his friend I can do whatever I like. Well said the man, why have you stopped drinking , and his friend said, because I do not like it anymore.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,                                                                                                               he is a new creation, the old  has                                                                                                               gone, the new has come.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      ( 2 Corinthians 5 v 17 )

God is merciful . ( Lamentations 3 v 22 - 23 )

One of the most common words I use when I pray is, 'mercy',it is so important when we approach God, to remember  we are approaching a God who is holy.When we come into His presence  we can only come  by His mercy,and because of Calvary,we can come to a Holy God.We cannot demand anything from God,we can plead ,that in His mercy we may receive  that which we ask.God may choose not to answer, because we have a wrong attitude,We read how God humbles us by His mercy, to teach us valuable lessons (  Deuteronomy 8 v  2 - 4 ). Who stands in need of Gods mercy?, everyone without exception, because we are all sinners, and all sinners are enemies of a holy God.No matter how kind we are on a human level, our relationship with God is flawed. The only way we can have a relationship with God  is by His awesome mercy, and this mercy comes to us through Jesus. Now of course God has not forsaken this world, He is a faithful creator ( 1 Peter 4 v 19 ),and our dear Saviour reminds us that God the Father causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous. ( Matthew 5 v  45 ).That is the general mercy of  God to all mankind,of course the many do not acknowledge Gods mercy in anything,instead of His goodness turning them to Him,they deny His existence, and refuse His offer of salvation in His son Jesus,and so will eventually suffer the consequences of their wilful  sinful attitude towards a holy and merciful God.

The record's clear today. ( 1 John 1 v 7 )

The world is in debt ,it is a bit frightening when you hear the sums nations owe, and of course many people our in debt.I am sure if there was such a thing as a debtors prison, as there was in Victorian times, they would be full to overflowing,Charles Dickens father ended up in such a place. There is a wonderful Christian ministry called ,'Christians against poverty', CAP as it is known..Serious as it is to get into debt, the Bible tells us that the whole world is accumulating another kind debt,and its a debt we cannot pay, I am reminding you of the consequences of our sin,every time we sin,our sins our recorded in heaven, in Revelation 20 we read of two books,one was a record of all the sins we have ever committed ,judgement will be passed,and all whose sins are not forgiven, will be cast into the lake of fire , where they will spend eternity.One could call it the book of  death,There is another book called the book of life,all who have trusted Jesus and  received forgiveness of sins,they are no longer as it were in debt , saved from judgement and the wrath of God.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Well, there was a time on earth,in the books of heaven,                                                                            That an old account was standing,for sins unforgiven,                                                                              My name was at the top, there were many things below,                                                                           But I went up to the keeper,and I settled it long ago,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Long  ago, yes long ago, ( I settled it all)                                                                                                  I said the old account was settled long ago,                                                                                              And my record's clear today,He washed my sins away                                                                            And the old account was settled long ago.                                                                                                        ( Words by Johnny Cash )

Living by faith ( Philippians 4 v 19

Living by faith as I said brought its challenges, to get enough  enough to feed us on ,often I prayed those words we all know,yet may not know what it was like to have no food, in ones home,' give us this day our daily bread'. God met our needs ,there were times we received gifts from an anonymous donor, one man in our church used to give me two pound most weeks,small but very important. A friend in the church had a caravan which she allowed us to have a holiday,we wondered why there was swelling on the ceiling ,we soon found out,when it rained.A friend came and picked us up to bring us home, her name was Helen ,and she left us some shopping,another need met. The fees for college were reasonable, I was not living in ,but we had no money, but God provided,and when we finished ,we did not owe anything.I sought not to ask people for money, but we prayed ,and as our Saviour said,'ask and you shall receive.During one college recess I did voluntary work in the south of Ireland, doing personal evangelism, it was a step of faith,I had to leave my wife and children at home,when I came home my wife Eileen told me, how one day there was no food in the house  ,by faith she took a shopping bag out, trusting God to fill it ,as she went out the door, a friend came with a gift..

Reckless faith. ( Hebrews 11 v 8 )

One of my boys has just received a call to the ministry,it means leaving a well paid job, for a lesser paid job. I was speaking to him on the phone ,and he mentioned the day before the church  was going to meet and pray and anoint him, he was becoming a bit anxious,but the next morning he felt a peace.He mentioned the words of a song that spoke to him,called 'Reckless love'. Then I spoke to him about reckless faith, what do I mean by that?,well I thought of my calling, how I left my job to go to Bible college.I had no grant ,I had no money ,I mean it, I had no saving.I had then three children,and so started a reckless faith. Humanly speaking it was reckless thing to do,but for 4 years we lived by faith,trusting God ,and of course our faith was tested. It was a reckless thing to do , based on a reckless faith in a God who calls us to trust Him.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   His call we obey like Abram of old,                                                                                                         Not knowing our way, but faith makes bold,                                                                                             For though we are strangers we have a good guide,                                                                                 And trust, in all dangers, the Lord will provide.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        (  John Newton )                                                     

I am blest ( Hebrews 13 v 5 - 6 )

I often wonder as regards the words of an old hymn ,which says,'now I'm happy all the time', I wonder can any Christian honestly sing those words.Are we not being deceptive?, but we want win people to Christ,so we sing ,'now I'm happy all the time'. But we are are not happy all the time, but what I can genuinely say,I am truly blest all the time. Why is that? because Christ is my Saviour ,and that makes all difference,in sad times,the hard times, the difficult times. We all have those times, I know this wonderful truth whatever times I am going through, He is with me,and I can assure you from the bottom of my heart,that He makes all the difference.His love never changes,He will never leave me ,I stress the word never . He is my anchor, my rock, my shelter in life's storms,my  comforter in sadness,my  guide, my protector,my provider,and He is my best friend, as I said I am blest.

Preserved ( Psalm 31 v 15 )

                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Plagues and death around me fly;                                                                                                             Till He bids, I cannot die;                                                                                                                           Not a single shaft can hit,                                                                                                                           Till the God of love sees fit.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            (  Words by John Ryland  )                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Because of the evil the Midianites had done C P. Numbers 25, we read  in chapter 31,that God commanded Moses to take vengeance upon then , he was told to  send into battle a thousand men from each of the tribes of Israel.This was done, and the Midianites were defeated, the officers over the army came to Moses,to offer a thanksgiving offering, because of the 12,000 Israelites who had  gone into battle, not one had perished. The  Lord in His sovereignty had preserved them,what a miracle,12 ,000 and not one had died, no wonder they offered a thanksgiving offering.When I was little boy,I remember so well,I was drowning, and was rescued, like those 12,000, God in His incredible mercy preserved my life.  I am now 74 years of age, how have I survived till now?,by eating certain foods going to bed early, no ,the answer is ,God.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    You will not fear, the terror of night,                                                                                                           nor the arrow that flies by  day,                                                                                                                 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,                                                                                           nor the plague that destroys at midday.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         A thousand may fall at your side,                                                                                                               Ten thousand  at your right hand,                                                                                                               But it will not come near you.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              ( Psalm 91 v 5 - 7 )

Vengeance ( Matthew 5 v 39 - 48 )

In Numbers 25 we read how the people of God became involved with the foreign people ,particularly the women and their immoral practise's they were possibly Baal-shrine prostitutes .It became very serious and God judged Israel by sending a plague,in which 24,000 had died.The Midianites were behind it ,it is thought that the king of Midian had taken  Balaam's advice (Numbers 31 v 16 ).The result was God was going to judge the Midianites. In Numbers 31 we read how God told Moses to raise an army,a thousand from each tribe and take vengeance on them for what they had done. Moses raised the army,and Israel fought against them and defeated them,Balaam for his crimes paid with his life.This was not Israel taken vengeance,  it was God taken vengeance. It is in  Romans 12 we read, 'Do not take revenge,my friends,but leave room for God's wrath,as it is written ; ''It is mine to avenge, I will repay,'' says the Lord. On the contrary. ''If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty , give him something to drink. In doing this ,you will heap burning coals on his head'' Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Pruning ( John 15 v 1 - 8 )

I was on my usual daily walk, and I had step over a lot of branches that had come down, owning to the strong winds we were having ,a lot of them look like dead wood, it appears the wind was pruning the trees . It got me thinking as to why the Lord sends storms into his children's lives, could it be to remove the dead wood in our lives. Our dear Saviour says as much in John 15 ,there are Saviour talks about about Him being the true vine, and His father the gardener.As the gardener he does two things he cuts off the dead wood, that's the branches that are bearing no fruit, He could have been referring to the Jews who bore no fruit CP  Mark 11 v 12 -14 /20 - 21 . But the branch that did bear fruit,the gardener prunes it that it will bear more fruit ,it goes without saying that as a Christian ,there are many things in our lives that hinder us from being as fruitful as we should . So there is only one remedy they need  to be removed,it can be painful,but accepted aright it will produce as Hebrews 12 v 11,says , a harvests of  righteousness and peace. T Wright  writes this,'' The vine - dresser is never closer to the vine ,taking more thought over its long -term health and productivity, than when he has the knife in his hand''.

The few. ( Philippians 4 v 13 / v 19 )

Winston Churchill who spoke of how much the many owed to the few,the few being those very brave young RAF pilots,who did battle with the German air force. In 1 Samuel 14  we read of Jonathan and his armour bearer  facing  a garrison of Philistines,made the decision to attack them. Before he did this he said to his armour bearer, 'Come let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised,it may be that the Lord will act for us; for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few'. There are many example of God giving victory to the few,to even one,over their  enemies,the question is, has he changed?,no He is unchanging unlike you and I. The key to this is, if it is His will,that is  absolute vital , for then nothing is impossible.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         I see the mountains, and I'm afraid,                                                                                                           I see the valley's,and I'm still afraid,                                                                                                         The problems mount up,I've had enough,                                                                                                  My health is bad ,I'm giving up.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Then God He whisper's in my ear,                                                                                                             Remember I'm ever near,                                                                                                                           My supply will not run out,                                                                                                                       So do not fear, do not fear.                                                                                                                          I take the weak,and make them strong,                                                                                                      So do not fear, so do not fear.

Love, compulsory. ( 1 John 4 v 19 -21 )

   Sometimes we find it easier to forgive  sinners than the saints,that is our fellow Christians,all  Christians are saints,but they don't always act very saintly. And yet the challenge is for Christian to love one another,and that is not optional,it is a command by our lovely Saviour,''My command is this; Love each other as I have loved you''.Recently I was angry at a certain person, a Christian,and the Lord said to me,'forgive them for my sake'.We may ask why should I love or forgive that person,especially if they are a Christian they should know better, yes they should,but then we all do things we shouldn't. Jesus spoke to a crowd of religious people who wanted Jesus to agree to a lady who was caught in adultery, to be stoned to death,what did he say? , ''If anyone of you is without sin, let him be first to throw a stone at her'.( Read John 8 v 1 - 11)  Any person who refuses to forgive,who refuses to love,excludes themselves from a forgiving and loving God. ( C P Matthew 6 v 12/  15/  1 John 4 v 8./ v 20 )

Dress code. ( 1 Peter 5 v 5 )

As a preacher I go to churches where they have a dress code,I can  understand that ,and I would try to go along with it. It is when they start to put a spiritual emphasise on it I take exception. When you ask them why one should wear a tie,or why you should not take ones coat off when preaching , you are  told that God expects us to dress in a certain way when we come to minister ,that means wearing a tie. Or they say if  you were going to visit the queen you would not go any old way,let me say this , I dress very nice when I go to preach, because I like to wear those nice clothes that I have bought. but I can assure you God unlike us is not in the least bit interested in how I am dressed when I stand and preach, think about it,when a person stands up to preach without a tie on ,God says how awful he hasn't got a tie on ,I will strike him with a thunderbolt,does He expects me to bless his ministry dressed like that, I will not do it.I wonder how the greatest of prophets would have said to that,dressed with clothes made of camel's hair. (  Matthew 3 v 4 )                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              1 Samuel 16 v 7                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 The Lord does not look at the things man looks at                                                                                   Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord                                                                                 looks at the heart.''

Pray on. ( Luke 18 v 1 )

While all Christians know the importance of prayer,there are times when for different reasons, some quit praying, of course there are reasons why that its so.Our dear Saviour was aware of this,so He spoke to His disciples and to all who follow Him,He said that ,'they should always pray and not give up'. (Luke 18 v 1 ) It was dear William Cowper who wrote,'When we don't pray, we quit the fight,prayer keeps the Christian armour bright, and Satan trembles , when he see's the weakest saint upon there knee's'. Dear Christian don't give up on prayer, pray when things are  hard ,pray when things don't happen,pray when your sad,pray when you have failed,pray when you succeed, pray when you don't feel like it,let not  negative feelings stop you praying,dear fellow Christian, pray.                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Oh how prayer helps the weary,                                                                                                                Prayer will change the night to day,                                                                                                          So when life gets dark and dreary ,                                                                                                            Don't forget to pray.                                                                                                                                            ( Words by M.A.Kidder )                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

A prayer ( Matthew 6 v 9 - 13 )

                                                             Proverbs   30 v 7 - 9 )                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             ''Two things I ask of you, O Lord; do not refuse me before                                                                       I die; Keep falsehood  and lies far from me;give me neither                                                                     poverty  nor riches,but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise                                                             I may have too much  and disown you and say,' Who is the                                                                     Lord?. Or I may become poor and steal  and so dishonour                                                                       the name of my God.'                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Let us consider this wonderful prayer,it is request that God would save him from the pitfall that we all have to face .He realises the  sinful tendencies of his sinful heart,let none of us underestimate how easy it is to fall into sin. We are beset by many evils in the world,and the worse evil is our wicked hearts,The words of the Lords prayer sum it up,'Deliver us from all evil  .' ( Matthew 6 v 13 )Next he prays that he may avoid the extremes of life,he does not want to win the lottery  ,but he also does not want poverty, who does?.Both riches and poverty have there pitfalls.,riches can easily cause us  to forsake God,poverty  can put pressure on us, to compromise . We need to take these warnings very serious ,or we may land up in serious trouble.                                                                                                         

Miracles can happen. ( Mark 11 v 22 )

I watched an old movie, and the title was,' Miracles can happen', I wonder do you believe this?,I wonder do I ?.so many are crying out for a miracle, the list is endless such is the human situation. I watched  a TV program of a lady telling about her parents.They had their differences,but they really loved each other, but they were both very elderly and infirmed,and death was near,we saw photos, of them lying holding hands ,the daughter prayed a simple prayer that the Lord would take them together, and so it came to pass, one died and then other died. Yes miracles can happen ,the miracles we read about in the scriptures,are not fiction,they really happened.Jesus  said to a woman ,'Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God '( John 11 v  40 )

Pray about everything. ( Philippians 4 v 4 - 7 )

A fellow minister found it hard to appreciate that people pray that God would get them somewhere to park their car,when he considered the really serious things  ,wars ,famine,etc, it appeared to him a mockery of  what prayer is supposed to be about, surely we not suppose to pray about such trivia.Common sense tells us that God has more important things,like holding the universe together,and all those other serious things.Then there are people who say you should not ask God for anything, I remember a minister who told  a lady who asked him, should she pray for God to help her make decisions about cooking something?,he as much as said no,use your common sense.Now of course God has endowed most of us with a degree of common sense,so does that mean we should not ask Him for help in even simple things?,does that mean we should not pray for a parking space?,does that mean we cannot ask God to supply a need?.I believe we can pray about all things,the simple things,the unimportant things ,I told my daughter-in -law that God would help my little grandson to use his potty,and she laughed.I need to realise that God is a friendly person,He is not frowning,or angry,no He is a loving heavenly Father,who loves to hear our prayers for simple things. He does not cry out,do they not think I have more important things to do?,no, that's not the God of the bible,He says to all of His children, 'I'm listening.''                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Don't worry 'bout nothing,                                                                                                                        Let it go,see what tomorrow brings,                                                                                                          Don't worry 'bout nothing,                                                                                                                        Pray about everything                                                                                                                                Pray about everything.                                                                                                                             ( Words by Luke Bryon )

I am. ( Hebrews 11 v 13 - 16 / 35 - 38 )

The believer is both pilgrim and soldier,the origin of the word pilgrim comes from the Latin and it meant foreign,when the apostle Paul wrote to the Christians at Philippi ,he reminded them that they were citizens of heaven ( 3 v 20 ).Now Philippi was a Roman colony ,which meant that the emphasis was on ,all things Roman, their dress ,laws,even religion was Roman,they did everything befitting a citizen of Rome.In reminding the Christians of their heavenly citizenship he was challenging them to live as citizens of heaven,in all things,to not be conformed to the pattern of this world.As to being a soldier (  CP 2 Timothy 2 v 3 ) ,we are reminded that  it involves discipline,how disciplined are we in our Christian lives,in prayer,bible reading?. It also means obedience,when I was boy soldier I was put on a charge for disobeying and order,I spent the night in the guard house,are we obedient Christian soldiers?.Then it involves a cost,for many in this life, as followers of Christ, the cost is imprisonment ,torture,even death. The old hymn says as regards Christs death on the cross,' love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all'.

A miracle ( John 11 v 40 )

My friend sitting opposite me spoke to me,'do you want to see a miracle?,now let me explain,my friend a number of years had an illness,that could not be cured, he was told.His lungs were only working at about a quarter of their capacity.So the future was not bright for him,but he began to improve to the point that he was discharged from hospital,his lungs are working fine,back to normal.Now returning to his statement, did I want to see a miracle?,he had two photos of two x-rays of his lungs.One showed the condition of when he was diagnosed,they look very bad, the other showed his lungs now,healthy,I saw a miracle.The age of miracles is not passed,if it is Gods will, miracles will happen.