Spilt milk.[ 2 Samuel 12 v13-25]

There is not a thing we can do , if we spill milk only wipe it up. the saying is true , it is no good crying over spilt milk. I know for many of us we brood , and our mood is affected, when we make a mistake, or we do something wrong. This is not saying we should trivlalize those things we do wrong, or when we even sin, but if we have tried to right the wrong as best we can, and when we have sought forgiveness, then we must move on,and stop punishing ourselves. The story of Davids sin with Bathsheba is pretty awful, there was a child born, and it became sick, David prayed and fasted for that child, but it died, David immediately got up , had a wash ,put on clean clothes, and had something to eat. His advisers were amazed at this, but David told them he had done all he could, can I bring him back from the dead he says?, of course he couldnt, so he moved on. [ Father we confess our many failings to you, how we have made mistakes, even sinned, we have tried to right the wrongs, we have done our best to put things right, so help us to stop punishing ourselves, and to move on, in Jesus name we pray this, Amen.]

Everywhere. [ Matthew 6 v9-13]

Temptation everywhere, I read these words in the paper, so true , there is no place were we cant be tempted. The three areas were we can be tempted are, the world, the flesh, and the devil, so what are we to do?, be on our guard, Jesus said temptations will come, He tells us , to pray that we will not give into temptation, [Luke 22v40]. Remember that we are responsible for our actions, in other words avoid those things ,places, and people that could bring us down. Pray continually the words of Matthew 6v13, And dont let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. [Father we acknowledge that we are weak, and so we pray that you will keep us in the hour of temptation, so that we will not yield, in Jesus name we ask this ,Amen.]

Blessings. [ Matthew 5v 1- 12]

In Proverbs 10v22, we are told , The blessing of the Lord makes a person rich, and He adds no sorrow with it,there are many people and they are blessed, with success , wealth , good health, etc, but they have things in their lives , that brings them sorrow.Dont just seek to be blest, but seek the blessing of God , thats were true riches come from. I would encourage you to read Matthew 5 v1-12,there we see who God blesses,and what that blessing means, let us seek those blessings,as Proverbs 10v22, tells us,there will be no sorrow in those blessings.[ Father we would request of that You would bless us today,with the blessing that each of us need, in Jesus name we ask this. Amen]

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.]