Bitterness. [John 3 v16 ]

Another thought on Joseph , his brothers treated him abominable, he may have been unwise in telling his dream to them, but you never get the impression he,meant them any harm . He also was a tell tail tit, , and lastly he was his fathers favourite son, this I feel more all the other things, caused , bitterness, it still causes bitterness in families today. So you have all these things, but did it warrant such hatred , of course not, were they justified in wanting to kill him?, no.Hatred and bitterness helps no one, and is very destructive, consider these words , God loves the world, He really does, even though the world , deneys Him ,hates Him, and rejects Him, the world continually spits in Gods face, and of course, their ultimate hatred was manifested in the murder of Jesus, His Son. [Father God help us to be like You, to love the unlovely, to forgive the unforgivable, help us in the name and for the sake of Jesus, Amen.]

No never alone.[ Romans 8 v35-39 ]

I like to continue to think on Joseph, that favoured son of Jacob, a lot of very difficult things happened to him, what would you think if a lot of difficult things were happening to you?. It is an important question, you may feel resentment, hard done by, and ask the question, why?, you may think I did not sign up for this, mybe those who lead you to Christ did not show you the small print.I read this in 1 Samuel 6 v2. that Israel felt that the Lord had abandoned them. because of certain difficulties they were having,let us return to Joseph. He had just been sold as a slave by his brothers, taken away from his loving father,to Egypt, were he would be sold to a man called Potipher,none of this was fair, he did not deserve this, but we read these very important words, in Genesis 39v2, The Lord was with Joseph, in other words He had not abandoned him, remember this day, no matter what you are going through , the Lord has not abandoned you, for He has said He will never leave you nor forsake you, you can bet on it. [Thank you Jesus that you are with us, irrespective of circumstances, or feelings, Amen.]

Joseph. [ Romans 8v 28. a.v.]

My wife and I , went to see the show, Joseph and his amazing technicolor dreamcoat, it was very entertaining, most of the audience appeared to really enjoy it .The person playing Joseph , was the young man who won a TV contest, and of course the young girls, really liked him. As I watched the show, I was reminded that Joseph was a real person , we can read about in the book of Genesis, it is trully one of the most wonderful stories in the Bible. A young man who was hated and rejected by his brothers,to such a point were they wanted to kill him, do read the story for yourself, it will bless you. The one point I would leave with you about the life of Joseph, is this,in all he went through, the hatred of his brothers, his slavery ,being accused and imprisioned unjustly, God was with him, and caused all things to work together for his good.[Father help me to trust you, when things are difficult, when people are unkind, when I experience even injustice, to hold unto the truth that all things are working together for my good, in Jesus name I ask this , Amen.]

Accident [Daniel 4 v24-26.]

One of the meanings for the word accident is chance, in other words it just happened, I do not believe in fate, a fixed state , something that we cannot do anything about, and while we do have what one can describe as accidents, as a Christian, I believe in a sovereign God, one who is in control of events, in this world and in my life. I cannot fully explain this, but I believe it to be true, for the Scripture teaches that God is ordering, and directing events, in this world, and this includes my life and yours, read the story of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4, he thought he ruled, that he was sovereign, not so, many have yet to learn the truth that God rules, and is ordering events. [ Great Sovereign God we bow in your presence, and acknowledge you as our sovereign Lord, we rejoice that you are in control , even if it appears that things are getting out of control, Amen.]

A BIT SEVERE.[Matthew 18 v7-9 ]

Go on pamper yourself, have that cream cake , buy that item of clothing,you deserve it, im sure there are times, we do deserve it. The only thing about this mentality it can take over , it becomes a mind set, I remember my dear mum, speaking about smoking, that it was the only pleasure she had, she died of cancer. There are pleasures we need to forego, the bible speaks about the pleasures of sin, [Hebrews 11v2] ,my translation reads ,the fleeting pleasures of sin, sin never completly satisfies, and of course it can have devastating affects on our lives. Alright pamper yourself occasionally, but be careful .[ Father gives us Grace to live lives that will glorify You, to keep our desires under control, and were we need to be severe , and deney ourselves, help us , in Jesus name. Amen.]

Control [ Psalm 121 ]

I believe in human responsibilty, in other words, not being silly, I work pay my bills, try to be responsible with my money, etc, yet the thought has come to me , and its this, there is so much I cant control, the list is endless, this may be a bit scarey at times, a bit worrying. What can you and I do ?,well we can pray, to Him who is in control, our Sovereign God, and commit all to Him. Prayer is the one effective means we have at our disposal,let us have confidence in God to order , control, and over rule in all things, and to cause all things to work together , for our good[ Romans 8 v28] [ Father God help us , to commit all things into Your hands, to act responsible, , help us to believe that You are in control, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen.]

Welcome [ Romans 8 v14 -16 ]

There is an old Irish song , which goes ,If your Irish , come into the parlour, theres a welcome there for you, it is nice to feel welcome, there is nothing so awful as being in company and feeling unwelcome. In Belfast there is a place were Christians meet, and it is called ,The Welcome Hall, I preached there many years ago. I used to watch a program called Cheers about a bar in Boston, it was a place were people felt welcome, were everyone knew your name. It is nice to feel that you are welcome, today I want you to feel welcome in relation to God, picture Heaven, and picture in your imagination, the biggest mat you have ever seen spread out , and it has one word on it , Welcome.[ Father thank you , that we are always welcome to come into Your presence, I thank you that your son Jesus has made this possible, Amen.]