The Gulf.

Things sometimes happen that brings home to us, the gulf between, what we aspire to be and what we are, our temper surfaces again, just when we thought we were making progress in that area of our lives.What can we learn from this, well, we need to keep relying on the Lord, we are being reminded that saved though we be ,we are still in this body of flesh .Galatians 5v17ff is helpful, for it reminds us that we still have a sinful nature, so we will be prone to sin, but most important we have the Holy Spirit, He is in our lives to help us,v16[Gal 5v16], instructs us , let the Holy Spirit guide your lives,v 25, let us follow the Spirits leading, and in Ephesians 5 v18 ,to be filled with the Holy Spirit. so today let us in the words of a modern song pray , Holy Spirit we welcome you.

Misrepresent

In James 5v11 we read , the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy,as I look back on my life I wonder just how many times, I have misrepresented the Lord in my preaching, conversation ,actions, etc, in Hebrews 1v3 ,we read, The Son radiates Gods own glory and expresses the very character of God,what a person, what a life, He never once misrepresented His Father.God has given us a new day forget the pass, ask God to enable you to rightly represent Him, with all those you come into contact with today.

Turning the other cheek.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and rightly so , he was such a brave person, paid the ultimate price for his cause, death.There is always a price to pay if we are going to take a stand for what we believe in, Jesus said follow me, there must be a price to pay as we respond to His call. Take the challenge to turn the other cheek , the challenge is to not to retallate, but it goes much deeper than this, you remember the words of Jesus on the cross, forgive them, He was not only showing us not to retallate, but also to have a loving and forgiving attitude towards those would seek to hurt us, with words or phyisical force.

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.