Surprise. [John 11 v 40. ]

As one reads the Bible, we see how God loves to surprise people,think of the people Jesus surprised , the man blind from birth [ John 9 ] , it was just another day, when suddenly all was changed, he recieved his sight. Or the family at Bethany [John 11 ]were all hope had gone , Lazarus had died, but then Jesus came, all was changed, in a moment, what a surprise. There are many more examples in the Bible of God surprising people, mybe He will surprise you today, in a way that will amaze you, for He is the God of surprises. [Father God help us to trust you in every situation, and help us to believe that You are the God of surprises , one who can transform any situation in a moment, we ask this in Jesus name , Amen. ]

Watch them words. [James 3 v 1 12 ]

There is wisdom in silence, and so many of us need that wisdom, in the book of Proverbs [18v 27-28 ]we read, A truly wise person uses few words....... Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent, with their mouths shut , they seem intelligent. My study Bible says regards this about being silent. [1 ] It allows you the opportunity to listen and learn. This is so important so often we do not take time to listen ,being a good listenering is very important.[2] Make sure you pause to think and to listen so that when you do speak you will have something important to say. Again that is very important advice, we should not be quick to jump in, having listened mybe we need to sleep on it, pray about it, and then give the advice thats needed.Words are so easily spoken, but the wise thing to do is think before you speak, so watch them words. [Father in the name of your Son , Jesus, grant unto us wisdom in all our ways, and especially with our words . Amen .]

Moods [ James 5 v17-18 ]

Sometimes it is a struggle to pray , and sometimes we struggle when we pray, I am sure this applies to everyone, even to the most godly of people. Let us always remember prayer is not performing ,our Saviour made this very clear , read Matthew 6 v5, no, prayer should be, the real you ,meeting with your loving heavenly Father. When we meet with God there is nothing hid from Him, He sees and knows everything about us, He knows what makes us tick, knows all about our moods. So whatever our mood, let us pray to our loving heavenly Father, in all our need, and in our moods, there is a blessing in perservering. Pray on and pray through .[ Loving heavenly Father , we lift up to you our weaknesses, are inperfections, and in the name of Jesus accept the prayers we offer, Amen .]

Relationships. [2 Corinthians 6 v14 -18.]

Let us consider the but in Jehoshaphats life, he made an alliance with king Ahab, he did this by having his son marry Ahabs daughter,Ahab was king of Israel a weak and wicked king, who was ruled by his pagan wife Jezebel. This same son eventually became king and acted very wickedly to such a degree that we read about his death , that no one was sorry when he died ,[2 Chronicles 21v20]. Jehoshaphats action had other consequences, it nearly caused his death, yet inspite of this he never learned his lesson, for he again made an alliance with another wicked king [2 Chronicles 20v35],and suffered for that, the sad fact is, he never seemed to learn from his mistakes. Let us learn an important lesson from all this, and it is this, there is a separateness in the Christian life that is healthy, and wise, and if we ignor it we will suffer.[ Father help us to be wise as regards our relationships, for wrong relationships can have an affect on us, we ask this in Jesus name. Amen. ]

Depending upon God. [ 2 Chronicles 20 ]

I have just finished reading about Jehoshaphat, a king of Judah, he was a good king, but, there is always a but it seems. The good things about him, he did seek to follow God, and encourage his subjects to do this also. I love his prayer in 2 Chronicles 20, he ends it with the following words,[ v20 ],[ his people are faced with a vast army, certain defeat looks on the cards ], We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help. What a wonderful prayer, one of utter dependance on God, it is the safest attitude to have, and I believe one, God will honour. [ Father we bring all our unsolvable problems to You, and ask that You will help us, in Jesus, Amen ]

Following Jesus.[ John 21v 15-22 ]

Jesus said follow me , are we doing this ?, it seems such a simple thing , and in many ways it is, but it is also a challenge. Becoming a Christian involves a relationship with Jesus, everything is linked with that. This relationship is one of love, and a loving obedience, Jesus appeal ,is to the heart, he asked Peter, do you love Me?, I wonder why He asked him three times, well often God speaks to us many times ,in the hope that we will response. Jesus is very persistent, and patient with us, He needs to be,for so often we are very slow in the uptake, Jesus will not give up on us till He gets a response, it is important it is the right response. [Dear Lord Jesus , we do love You,and inspite of our failings , and faults, we know you love us, keep us in your love today, Amen .]

Guilt [Romans 8 v 1 ]

I remember years ago a man reproaching me for having a record collection, the same person was good at loading others with guilt, yet he was a backslider,and in comparison to me he was very well of. We live in a needy world so many crying out for help, regularly I recieve literature from charities , the needs are endless, we can so easy be filled with guilt, let me say this, dont. It is important to see the importance of giving regularly, yes sacrificial at times , but dont , I emphasize , dont be driven by guilt, be led by the Spirit. I can assure you being lead by the Spirit will bring challenges, and yes sacrifice , so refuse to be driven by guilt today. [Father You are the giving God , all we have comes from you, we thank you, and we pray that you help us to be generous, to be lead in our giving not by guilt but by your Spirit, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen. ]