The challenge.

I read this today in a daily reading,[ one sanctimonious hypocrite makes a hundred unbelievers]J. Davidson]. The challenge is this ,to be like Jesus,and yet he was hated, to the natural man, there was no beauty in him, nevertheless the challenge is to be like Jesus. Can we rise to this challenge? we must , irrespective of how people react, we are not out to impress people, but we desire to see people coming to know and love Jesus, Jesus said you shall be my witnesses when you recieve the Holy Spirit, may the Lord so fill us with His Holy Spirit, and who knows what may happen.

Anticipate.

One of the important things you learn , when driving, is not to anticipate what another driver is going to do. When it comes to the future we are not to anticipate what is going to happen , if we are honest , we nearly always anticipate the worst. and so we worry. Consider what Jesus said, dont worry about tomorrow,[Matthew 6v34], pray about tomarrow, but live today trusting Him ,who holds all our tomorrows, I love those words in Jeremiah 29 v 11, I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope, so let us stop anticipating the worse.

Great advice.

In James 1v19. we read the following ,You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak,.What great wisdom there are in these word, quick to listen,Chad Varah the founder of the Samaritans, would select volunteers who were not prudish or preachy, he said, the prudish want to sit in judgment and the preachy want to talk and not to listen. One of the great things about our relationship with the Lord is ,He listens, so let not jump in with our pearls of wisdom, let us listen.

Frustrations.

I am sure I am not on my own, when I admit there are times when I feel frustrated,one prays about certain things, sometimes for years, and those things remain unchanged. Here are a few examples, church situations, illness, people, restrictions,and so we could go on, you take one step forward, and then four steps backward.How are we to look at frustrations?.Well ,one lesson I have learned from frustration is patience, if we are going to be like Jesus, and thats Gods purpose for all of us without exception, just consider how patience, God is with all of us, so as we face frustration today remember have patience.

Keep on going.

The most dramatic words in the Bible were uttered by Jesus on the cross,It is finished,[John 19v30], this was a victory cry, He had fully accomplished the work of salvation, He did not give up .The great lesson we can learn from this is not to give up, when things are hard,when your own reasoning says , whats the point, dont give up, I can think of so many who give up for one reason or another. Consider the following, Looking unto Jesus......who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God [Hebrews 12v2] ,the words of a little song comes to mind, it goes,When the road is rough and steep, turn your eyes upon Jesus He alone has power to keep , turn your eyes upon Him.

Nice people.

I know we are all sinners, yet I know a lot of nice non Christians, I work with a lot of nice people, I suppose it is hard for us to believe they are going to hell.I have a nice neighbour a Mr Page, his wife who died was a Christian, he use to repair my boys bike, he is a nice person.I was speaking to him the other day, I mentioned something spiritual, and he just ignored it . Lets never loose sight of this truth ,everyone without exception needs Jesus, even nice people, emotionally we may find this hard to accept, but a loving God tells us it is so, because even nice people are sinners, and need Christ.

Restrictive practices.

On the news we have the sad report of a dear Jehovah witness girl dying because she would not accept a blood transfusion. I thought on this and how our Saviour was faced with regulations and restrictions,and on the other side peoples needs, what did He do? he cut across those rules and regulations, and met the need . The religion of this world has the smell of death about it ,Christ came that we may be free from human bondage, free from man made rules, Jesus said, The thief comes to steal, to kill,to destroy, but He came so that people might have life and have it more abundantly [John 10v10]