Remember my chains.

These are the words of a great man of God, [Colossians 4v18] ,suffering takes many forms, today there are many who for the sake of Christ are suffering, remember them . There are those are suffering sickness , remember them, difficult marriages, remember them, mental illness,remember them ,as you listen to the news , of people suffering, remember them,your prayers can make a difference.

Pressure

It seems to me so many of us experience pressures, how are we to cope ? consider the apostle Paul ,2Cor4v8 ff, pressed on every side by troubles, but he says we are not crushed,we are perplexed but not in despair, he was not into denial,he did not put on a show,but he sees troubles like this, v17 For our present troubles are small and wont last very long.Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever. The challenge for us today is to think aright, and we do this by focusing on Gods word and looking to Jesus.

How are you?

Often we ask people , how they are? , out of courtesy, with no real interest in the person , when our Saviour met people, He was always interested in them. in 1 Peter 5v7 we read , Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares for you.People may act in a trival uncaring manner, God does not, we have a loving Heavenly Father , who really cares for us in total,two lines of a poem read, With every pang that rends the heart, the man of sorrows has a part., He would say to you , I know how you are , tell me , and rest assured that I care.

You cant measure it.

Theres a wonderful hymn, about the love of God, here are some of the words of this hymn, [The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can tell, It goes beyond the high-est star ,And reaches to the lowest Hell. Could we with ink the ocean fill,and were the skies of parchment made, Were every stalk on earth a quill, And every man a scribe by trade, To write the love of God above. Would drain the ocean dry, Nor could the the scroll contain the whole,Tho stretched from sky to sky].[ Part of those words were written by a person who was considered insane, the wonder of it all is that , we are loved ,just turn your thoughts to Jesus and think on Calvary, thats how much God loves you.

Favourite Books

One of my favourite books in the Bible is Philippians, I especially like chapter 4, it deals with worry, right thinking, knowing the peace of God, being content, strength to do, partnership , giving, and one of my favourite verses is v19 [av] But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus . I would encourage you read this lovely book and I am sure you will be blessed, as I have been.

The lost

Convince a man against his will and he remains of that opionion still, so one once said. Our Saviour found this to be true , no matter what He said ,or did, people remained unchanged.Many are lost because they refuse to listen, refuse to see, and unless they are prepared to listen, and see , there is no hope. Some of the sad/dest words in the bible are in Matthew 23v37, were Jesus describes Gods pleading to Jerusalem, all to no avail, [ but you wouldnt let Me]. Acts 16v31 exhorts us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ ,and we will be saved, the question is are you listening?,so much depends on this, and are you willing to obey?.

One door closes

I went to my usual barbers recently, it was closed, so I went to another,the person who cut my hair was a young Muslim lad, as he cut my hair I thought it would be hard to have a conversation with him, but to my surprise he started a talk ,that lead me to witness to him about Christ. God does shut doors but He also opens other ones. Remember shut doors are just as much Gods leading, as open doors are.