Foolishness [Matthew 6 v25 -34 ]

I know I shouldnt do it, but I do, I worry , not all the time,but I still fall into the trap of worrying, one may say its only human, it cant be helped. A memory of the past comes to mind, an old lady,called Mrs Porter,she liked to drink, and when she had a few, she used to sing a song that remains in my memory, Why worry, why worry,worry gets you no where at all, and you know it is true.Just during the week I was travelling to a certain place , on the M25, and I missed my turning, was I worried, you bet I was, I really cried out to God, and you know what happened I got to my destination, and as I was coming back home I noticed the road I should have travelled on was choker block, God had overruled, oh the foolishness, and folly of worry. [Dear Loving Heavenly Father ,we ask for your forgiveness, for our lack of trust in You , to care for us, in Jesus name we ask this. Amen .]

Doom and gloom. [ Psalm 46 ]

As we hear the headlines , energy prices rising , the housing market collapsing, knife crime, drugs, it looks like a case of doom and gloom. The Christian is not to ignor realities, we are part of this world,things are becoming difficult , so what should we do? well we must do what the saints in all ages have done, we are to trust in God. I am reminded of the words of an old chorus which goes, God is still on the throne and He will remember His own, the devil [ oh yes there is a devil ]would have us believe the lie that there is no hope, he is a liar, God is sovereign , He is in control, He is watching over His own , so let not your heart be troubled, so said our Saviour,believe it. [Dear God and Father, help us today not to be overwhelmed by news reports of doom and gloom, or by problems in our own lives, help us to have faith in You, to care for us, and undertake for us in every situation, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen .]

Endure [2 Timothy 2 v1 ]

Somethings dont go away, so often we expect healing or a miracle, and it does not happen, instead we are called to endure. If we read the scriptures we discover many of Gods people had to endure, read Hebrews 11v 35-38, read the life of the apostle Paul ,he had to endure many things. We need to have a balanced view of the Christian life sometimes there are no quick fixes, but there is Grace, the grace of God, I often listen to ,Desert Island discs, on radio four, if I was on the program , my first choice would be , Amazing Grace, because as I look back on a life time, following Christ, I am so thankful for the amzing grace of God, that has enabled me to endure .[God and Father who saved us by grace through faith in Jesus, continue to pour out your amazing grace into our lives, that we may endure , what ever path in life you have chosen for us, we ask this in Jesus wonderful name , Amen. ]

The weather.[ Lamentations 3 v 22-23 ]

One thing one can say about the weather in this country , you get variety,sunshine one day ,rain the next, whither you like it or not, thats the way it is. On holiday I met a chap called Harvey, an Australian, who likes our weather, well I suppose it is always something to talk about. It is thought that the weather affects us, especially those who suffer from mental illness, those dull and dreary days gets them down. Unlike the weather in its changeableness , God does not change , His love for you and me remains constant, his mercy does not change, His care for His children will not change, so never mind the weather rejoice in the Lord today. [ Dear God and Father we thank you , for your unchangeableness, we thank you in the name of Jesus, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, Amen.]

Bless me [ Proverbs 10 v22]

There is something in humanity that wants to be blest, when people sneeze they say bless me, people use the term bless me, are not usually thinking about God blessing them. As a Christian I want God to bless me , why ?, because with His blessing upon my life , I know all will be well, even when things go wrong, even when things are difficult.Many years ago a dear friend quoted a verse from a poem ,which goes like this, [ Ill that He blesses is our good , and unblest good is ill, and all is right that seems most wrong , if it be His sweet will. ]. My friend who quoted those words, died of cancer, leaving a husband, and two young children. By faith I believe that if I am blest of God then all is well, and all will be well. [Father in heaven, we thank you for your blessing upon our lives, that causes all things to work together for our good , even the difficult things, even the bad things,we thank you in Jesus name, Amen. ]

Trust and obey.[Romans 12 v1 - 2]

There is an old hymn with the following words, Trust and obey for there is no other way , to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. This relates to our daily walk with Jesus, so often we think it is to do with the major decisions in our lives, and of course that comes into it, but it is much more than this, it is to do with all our lives. As we face this day ,will we put that trusting and obeying into practice, in our relationships,in our activities, in the day by day things, not just the major things, but also the minor things ?.[Father help us to involve you in all our lives, to surrender this day into your hands ,to trust and obey you in everything, we ask this in Jesus name, Amen .]

Ordianariness. [1 Corinthians 10 v31 ]

There are many super heroes , exciting things, but on the whole life is made up of the ordinary, this was one of my observations while on holiday. I observed people with their families at the seaside, parents building sandcastles with their children, children riding donkeys, people eating candy floss and ice cream [not at the same time ], people playing football, others flying kites. Ordinary people doing ordinary things, lets be honest most of life is made up of ordinary people doing ordinary things. Abe Lincolm said God must have loved ordinary folk, for He made so many of them, let us never forget no matter how ordinary we may be we are special in Gods sight, and let us realise that we can bring God into the ordinary activities and so make them sacred activities. [ Father most of us are ordinary people,we thank you that you love us,and we ask that you will help us , to glorify our Savior even in the ordiananiness of life, Amen .]