Finishing school.. [ Jude v24-25]

Many of us have the tendency to start and not to finish, I took up walking as an exercise recently, I believe I need to do this, I started oh so well, well you can guess the rest, I stopped doing it. Thanks be to God , what He starts He finishes, in Philippians 1 v6, we read, And I am certain that God, who began a good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. The fact of the matter is what God starts ,He finishes , He finished creation, He will finish His new creation, He will not give up on you and I, He will perfect that which concerneth us .when He is finished with us we will be perfect. [Dear God there are times when I am inclined to despair, because of my many imperfections, will I never get it right?, but I thank You that You are in the business of completing what You have started, and that includes the lives of all of Your children, Amen.]

Press in [1 Kings 18 v 41-46 ]

There is a story in the O.T. in 2 Kings 13, it is about Elisha the prophet, just before he died,he tells the king of Israel that he was going to have victory over his enemies. He then tells him to strike the the ground with a bunch of arrows , the king does it three times , the prophet rebukes him saying he should have struck the ground five or six times,if he had,he would have completly defeated his enemies. There is a tendency in us not to press in to the place of victory, we stop short, and we lose out, our Saviour tells us , in Matthew 7v7 , Keep on asking, and you will recieve what you ask for, Keep on seeking, and you will find, Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you, in other words press in to the point of victory. [Father so often we get tired of holding on , and we give up,and miss out on the blessing, help us to pray without ceasing, to press in to the place of victory, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen.]

Sometimes[ Psalm 23 ]

Sometimes it seems that things are getting out of control, so what do we do, panic? we may ,we can. In Marks gospel 4 v35-41 we read of an incident were the disciples panicked, they were in a storm, and they felt they were going to drown, and yet Christ was in the boat with them.We used to sing , With Christ in the vessel , we can smile at the storm, the disciples were not smiling, to them ,things it seemed were getting out of control. Does it seem that way in your life? well it did for the disciples, so they go to Jesus, who was sleeping, woke Him up, and started to shout at Him, have you ever shouted at Jesus? and then they started to accuse Him, dont You care that we are going to drown?. The fact of the matter is Jesus cares more than we can ever realise, He stilled the storm, and challenged them as to their lack of faith, we need to take up that challenge.[ Dear Lord Jesus , so often we feel that things out of control, so often we panic, and in our panic we turn on You, forgive us, help us to trust You in every storm, Amen ]

Rest [Luke 15 v11-32 ]

One of the most beautiful verses in the Bible I feel is Matthew 11v28, it reads, Come to Me, all who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest, words spoken by Jesus. Everyday I see people carrying burdens, mybe you are, well consider those words of Jesus, but do more than that, respond to them, honestly , humbly, as a young man I did, and I found them to be true. A man called Horatius Bonar wrote a hymn based on what Jesus said, it goes like this, I heard the voice of Jesus say , Come unto Me and rest, lay down , thou weary one, lay down thy head upon my breast, I came to Jesus as I was , weary, and worn and sad, I found in Him a resting place and He has made me glad, untold millions have experienced this to be true. [ Dear Lord Jesus in this troubled world were so many are weary and burdened, we thank you that there is a rest to be found in You, Amen ]

Challenges [ Joshua 1 v9 ]

Why do people climb mountains?why do people do all sorts of dangerous things ?, is it the challenge, I am sure thats part of it. There are many people out there who love a challenge, sometimes we admire them, other times we see them as foolish, whatever we think, there will always be people who love a challenge.In my own life I have taken challenges,years ago I left my job and went to Bible college,I say I, but my then wife was with me in it also, we had three children, and we had no money. I can assure you it was a big challenge, and I am sure there were those who were critical, but we believed God was in it, and that helped us a lot. There are other challenges I can remember. As life is ongoing, I wonder what new challenges there will be?. [ Father today is a new day, help us to face with courage , those challenges that our presented to us, and those we have taken on, in Jesus name Amen. ]

It is important. [Proverbs 3v 5- 6]

There is a place of quite rest, Near to the heart of God, A place where sin cannot molest, Near to the heart of God, so reads the words of an old hymn. How important to find that place of quite rest, were we commune with God , I heard a Christian telling how , while driving to a place were he was going to preach ,he was finding it hard to locate this place, so they stopped and asked someone, but the person didnt know , so the Christian said, they prayed,and would you believe it , just over were they were parked was the very place they were seeking. In the midst of all the pressures we meet today , find that place of quite rest. [Father God help us to bring You into all of our lives in Jesus name we ask this, Amen.]

Fathers day [John 14 v1-11. ]

When I was young my mother and dad split up ,they never did divorce, so for most of my life I never knew a fathers care,or love. It goes without saying having a father is important to everyone , the absence of a father figure ,can effect a child. I remember as a youngster lying in bed, and my thoughts must have been on not having a father, and I remember acknowledging God as my Father, and so for most of my life God has been my father,for this I will always be grateful.[ Father God on this Fathers day we just want to say, we love you, in Jesus name, Amen. ]