But I only spoke to him. [ 1 Corinthians 13 v 4 ]

I was walking through a local supermarkets car park, and I spotted a man sitting in an old Morris Minor, my first car was a Morris Minor. I suppose you always remember your first car, ours was special , a dear widow gave us it ,as a gift, it was an answer to prayer, and was a real blessing to us. Well I could not resist but to stop and speak to the man in the car, he had owned the car, nearly 40 yrs, and so we chatted, it turned out he was a believer, I then went to go on my way , and as I did he said , thank you for your kindness, my kindness I thought, but I only spoke to him. We live in a world that is on always rushing, if you drive you soon realise this, we are always trying to beat the traffic lights, always trying to get to our destinations before we have arrived, we never it seems have time as the poet says to stop and stare. So mybe it is a kindness to stop and talk to someone, mybe it may just brigthen someones day, that someone has taken the trouble to stop and talk to them.

Imagine [John 13 v1-17 ]

Imagine the Queen leaving her palace going into the poorest and dirtist place imaginable , rolling up her sleeves and cleaning it, and ministering to the sick, washing them,helping them go to the toilet, cleaning their bottoms, can you imagine her doing those things? The bible tells us of one who was God, one who was rich, the one who was the very creator of the universe,that He came into this cesspool of a world, to lay down His life in serving and saving others , one cannot imagine such a thing , but its true. This was Jesus , the one who thought it not robbery to be equal with God, what did He do? He gave up His divine privileges, He took the humble position of a slave, and was born as a human being ,and here is the most amazing thing of all, He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminals death on a cross. [Dear Jesus, thank you, Amen. ]

The money markets [ Psalm 46 ]

The money markets are struggling, money giants are falling, goverments are doing there best to support the markets,it is a real cause of concern. Psalm 46 is wonderful , it is full of reassurance, for I am sure that many people need to be reassured at this time, the psalm starts with God ,this is where we all need to start , for it is in Him and him alone, we find our security, not in the money markets, or whatever, God is our security. Consider the following words, God is our refuge and strength always ready to help in times of trouble. Read those words, memorize these words, believe them, for they will grant you that perfect peace, which the world cannot give,be still and know that He is God[v 10 ]. [Father so much in life is uncertain, we can feel so vunerable, help us to day to be still and know that you are God, we ask this in the name of Jesus, Amen ]

Forced labour [John 21 v15- 17 ]

It appears to me that Jonah was forced to yield to God, I wonder are we all a bit like Jonah? often prayer is the last thing we do, some of us only pray when we have to, and as for reading Gods word, well, we leave that to the preacher. If God spoke to us as he did to Jonah, would we react any different ?, we live under Grace, we are free, we are loved unconditional, those things are true, but surely the words of Jesus/, all who love me will do what I say [John 14v23 ]/ , tells us ,that love is a two way thing, and requires a loving response. One of my earliest memories of school was being forced to go,and the last thing a parent wants is for their child to only obey when forced to, you are not going to leave the table until , every parent remembers that. It does appears to me that so much of our relationship, with our Saviour could come under the term forced labour. [ Loving Heavenly Father, we thank you for that love which we have experienced in your son Jesus, we are sorry that so often we act like we are under forced labour, it is to our shame we admit this, soften these hearts of ours, for the sake of Jesus our loving Saviour, Amen ]

Idols. [Exodus 20 v 1-17 ]

One of the great problems in Israels history was idolatry, time after time they created idols, and time after time, God sent His prophets to speak to them, it appears at times they had forsaken their idols, but so often it was a false dawn. Israel appeared to break free from this cycle after the exile in Babylon, then religion took over, we may not realize it but even religion can become an idol. It appears to me that mankind is very prone to idolatry, even modern man , sometimes this appears obvious sometimes it is less obvious, but it is there all the same, the dictionary defines idolatry,/ as an object of excessive devotion or admiration, as a pop star, etc./. The words of a hymn come to mind, /The dearest idol I have known ,whatever that may be, help me to pull it from thy throne and worship only Thee. [ Dear God , so many things can become idols,legitimate things, we are so prone to idolatry, it is a sinful tendancy that can seriously affect our relationship with You , help us to worship only You, we ask this in Jesus name , Amen ]

Smallness [Matthew 25 v 14-28 ]

I am an elder of a small fellowship, last evening I ministered at a similar fellowship,one of the leaders said how they had put on a holiday club but the response was poor. In some ways I am used to the small , ministering to the few, but one never fully accepts it, there is always the desire to see growth. The challenge of the Christian life is to be faithful to the will of God, if that includes ministering to the few , so be it, this is all we will held accountable for,wherever God has placed you, be faithful, that faithfulness takes in all of life, our giving, our relationships, whatever, be faithful.[ Father help us to be faithful to our Saviour in all things, in His name we ask this, Amen .]

The underdog [1 Corinthians 1 v18 -31 ]

I watched the movie Rocky Balboa, and enjoyed it, to me the Rocky movies are not so much about boxing, [lets face it if he took that much punishment he would not have survived ] it is about the underdog, the nobody, the uneducated, the downtrodden. Hollywood is good at this kind of movie, they are experts at what will be a success, they know that many people see themselves as the underdog, so they play into that emotion. I came from a broken family, my educational attainmets where low, the only employment for me were jobs with poor money and poor prospects, in so many ways I was the underdog. The Bible is a wonderful book , for it continually tells us that with Christ in our lives we are transformed, from being nobodies to being somebodies, [ C P. 1 John 3 v 1. av ] it tells us that God can even use us in the most wonderful ways , it tells us God can promote us, and make us a blessing to others. [ Father we praise You for your indiscriminate love, a love that embraces all, even the nobodies, a love that comes to us through your Son Jesus , Amen]