Friendly Jesus. [Matthew 11v19]

People are busy, we hop into our cars, we loose contact with people, when was the last time you said hello to a neighbour.Words of a song come to mind , all the lonely people, and it is more true than we realise, we live such self sufficient lives , or so it seems. Mybe it is more complicated than we realise, the challenge is how do we remedy it, or do we want to?. The Christian is meant to be light, to be the salt, we are meant to reflect Christ, meant to love our neighbours , meant to make a difference, surely that means getting involved, to be a friend to the friendless. [ Father it seems easier to keep our distance from people, for different reasons, help us to be open to others, help us to overcome our natural reserve, help us to be like Jesus our friendly Saviour, in whose name we ask this, Amen.]

Looking forward.[ Psalm 46.]

Like looking back, looking forward, has its positive and negative sides,one of the negative side is worry, lets be honest we all worry to some degree. How are we to cope with worry? the very simple answer is trust, in our loving heavenly Father, to care for us,and dont live with the , what if ? question , always on our mind, what if I become unwell? what if , the list is endless. There are a number of meanings for the word trust , in the bible,[1] Refuge. [2] Commit To. [ 3] To roll on. Lets apply these terms in the following way, Refuge, let God be our refuge today and every day, Commit all our concerns to Him, lastly dont let us carry the burden of worry, roll it unto God. [Father help us not to be burdened down with worry, over our future, help us to trust , in You, in Jesus name we ask this. Amen.]

Looking back.[ John 8 v32.]

I continue on in the theme of looking back, I suppose as we grow older we are inclined to look back, we speak about the good old days, when you could leave your front door open, without fear of being robbed, the summers were warmer, the neighbours were friendly, the good old days. Now how much of that is reality I am not sure, even the Psalmist declared in Psalm 143 v5, I remember the days of old. How should we view the past ?, first of all let me say that there is nothing wrong with remembering the past, the danger is, we can become prisoners of the past, and that is not to be our experience, for Christ died to set us free, so by all means think of the past , but dont let it become your prison. [Father we thank you for those precious memories of the past, but help us to live in the present, help us not to become prisoners of our past , in Jesus name we pray this, Amen.]

Looking back [ Lamentations 3 v 22-26.]

Continuing on the thought of looking back , there is a positive side to looking back, we see this in Psalm 37v25 were David looks back in order to encourage fellow saints, and im sure himself. Here is what he says, Once I was young, and now old, yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging bread. This is a positive way of looking back, when we are reminded of Gods faithfulness , a faithfulness that will not change.Like David I can testify to Gods faithfulness, of needs met, and in many other ways, how God has undertaken for me and my family, for four years we lived without a wage coming in, no visible means of support, but the invisible God proved faithful. [ Father , great has been your faithfulness to your children in the past , You have provided for them, protected them, and guided them, today we rest on your continuing faithfulness, to undertake for us now, in Jesus name we pray this. Amen.]

Looking back. [ Philippians 3 v12-14 ]

There is a sense looking back can be unhelpful, and sometimes downright destructive, we are continually warned against looking back, the greastest example of this is Lots wife, [Luke 17v32]. Our Saviour warned that looking back , meant that you were not worthy for His kingdom[ Luke 9 v62], He reminded us that the challenge of the Christian life is total, you cannot have a foot in both camps, He made this point in very graphic ways, read Luke 14v 25-27. One of the problems with Israel when they came out of Egypt was they looked back, with a distorted view of the past,[Numbers 11 v 4-6 ], and at times they even wanted to return , to Egypt, [ Numbers 14v4 ] . So let us not look back at the old paths we once walked in, lest we become discouraged, and start to become discontented. [ Father take from us the foolishness of looking back, give us an undivided heart, a heart thats completly captivated by Jesus, in whose name we ask this. Amen ]

A Mystery. [Romans 8 v26-28 ]

Prayer in many ways is a mystery, we dont always know what we are accomplishing when we pray, I have been praying for people to be saved for years, they are still not saved.Let us be honest prayer is not just a black and white subject, but then there are many things we dont understand in life, and may never understand, I read a booklet on the quantum theory recently, I still have not a clue, what it means, but it wont stop me reading. So it is with prayer I may never fully understand this subject, but I am not going to let it stop me praying, let us all continue in prayer, knowing that God hears us, and will answer in a way that is best.[ Father help us to pray, even when it appears nothing is happening, help us to hang in there, and to trust You in Jesus , Amen.]

Timing .[ Psalm 40.]

As I read the scriptures I see an important truth, that Gods timing is perfect, He always comes at the right time, read the life of king David, of Esther,of Israel. There are many examples of this happening in the saints lives, 17 years ago, I was about to become unemployed, when I got my present job, the timing was perfect, God will always come in the nick of time, His ways are perfect, and that includes His timing, so dont panic, trust Him to act for you at the right time. [Father thank you that whatever involves us is your concern, you are guiding us , and will work on our behalf, in Jesus name, Amen.]