Evidence[ 1 Thessalonians 1 ]

In a national newspaper I read these words,/ Yes , Scientists believe in God/, I found it interesting and helpful ,particularly what a professor Burgess said,/The most moving evidence for Christianity I have seen is when a person with a broken life puts their trust in the Lord Jesus and finds healing, peace and purpose/. During the week I was asked by someone why I appeared to be calm, what was my secret, I simply replied ,if there was any calm in my life it was because of the Lord/. When Christ saves us He brings a change into our lives,He does trully bring healing, peace and purpose,and by His grace He gradually by different means, His word, prayer, a yielding up of our will ,to His will, make us better people. [Father we confess that we are far from what we should be, but we also give You thanks that through Your Son Jesus we have changed for the better. Amen ]

December [ John 1 v1-14 ]

December is such a dark and dreary month in England ,in many ways depressing, yet there are things that lift the gloom, Christmas lights. I stood outside my home last evening, and noticed the many homes that have lights displayed, these light displays do a lot to lift the gloom, and I enjoy them. I noticed in my diary that on the 22nd of December the Jewish festival of lights is taking place. It is William Barclay, who writes about this festival at the time of Jesus, when in the temple four great candelabas were lit, lighting up the darkest recesses within the temple, and it was during that festival that Jesus cried out,/ I am the light of the world, if you follow me, you wont have to walk in darkness, because you have the light that leads to life [ John 8 v12 ]/,again it is W.B. who points out that the Rabbis declared that the name of the Messiah is Light. It is Graham Kendrick who writes,/Darkness like a shroud covers the earth, evil like a cloud covers the people/,December may be a dark and dreary month, but there is a greater darkness as G. K. rightly points out,to all who are in darkness the words of Jesus is, if you follow Me ,you wont walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.[ Dear God we ask that He who is the light of the world, Jesus Your son, may shine into the hearts of men and women , this Christmas, Amen ]

Hide and seek [ Luke 15 v1- 7 ]

When I was young I remember playing hide and seek,it is the first game that humanity ever played,we read about it in Genesis 3. There was three involved in this game of hide and seek, Adam and Eve, they were doing the hiding, God was doing the seeking, and surprise , surprise, God found them. In Romans 3 v 11, we read,/ no one is seeking after God/, these words remind us that humanity is still hiding from God, foolish though it be , for the fact is ,one cannot hide from God, read Psalm 139, there we are left in no doubt, that there is no hiding place , when it comes to God. In Luke 19 v 10, we read these words, / For the Son of man came to seek and save those who are lost/,people are still trying to hide from from God, but praise His name in His Son, Jesus, He is seeking them out, to save them. [ Dear God and Father thank You for Your Son Jesus the seeker of souls ,who are lost, help us ,to see our part,in this seeking process, we ask this in Jesus name , Amen. ]

All the answers [Habakkuk 3 v16-19 ]

The fact of the matter is I do not have all the answers, oh yes I am a Christian a long time, been to Bible college, been a minister full time, I preach regularly, read my Bible everyday, but I still dont have all the answers. Sometimes the hardest thing for a person to admit is , they dont have all the answers, I wish the scientific community would admit this, and also Christian writers, we all need a good dose of humility. The not having all the answers, for the Christian, demands trust, in 1 Corinthians 13 v 12, we read,/All that I know now is partial/,this side of Glory, many things will not make sense, a death of a child, an incurable illness, oh I know God heals, but often He does not. As I write this I have a hymn playing in the background, the words go like this,/I dont know about tomorrow, I just live from day today, I dont borrow from its sunshine,For its skies may turn to grey, I dont worry oer the future, for I know what Jesus said, And today ill walk beside Him, For He knows what lies ahead/,let that suffice us. [Father forgive us for our lack of trust,we freely acknowledge our limatations, we ask for grace to leave all those things,that we dont know, things that frustrate us,pain us, with You , we ask this in Jesus name, Amen. ]

My loving Heavenly Father.[ Matthew 6 v25 - 34 ]

It is so easy to fall into despair, as I listen to the news on the economy ,and crime,despair can so easily creep in, it does look like we are in for a rough ride.Well I know a little about the rough times, I have experienced unemployment, bereavement, living on very little,I can look back to my childhood, being brought up in a one parent family, my wee mum the only wage earner, that was a time when women where paid less than men, I remember as a boy going to the pawn shop, of going to the local shop for out of date bread. Why am I telling you this ? , just to let you know I survived, and I am not bitter, hopefully those things taught me valuable lessons. Now I have not mentioned that from a very early age, I saw God as my Father, and came to trust Jesus as my Saviour, and as I look back inspite of my background , weakness, and failure to live as I should, God looked after me, and brought me through. [ Father in Heaven we thank You that when we come into Your family by accepting Christ as our Saviour, we come under Your care, Amen ]

Safe. [ Romans 8 v 31 - 39 ]

Sometimes a wave of uncertainty sweeps over one, can we make it to our ultimate destination?, Heaven, I am sure many people think this. I was thinking like this recently when a verse of scripture came into my mind , written by a man who was in prison, and facing death , this is what he wrote,/ I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day/[2 Timothy 1 v12 . a v ]. What had he committed ?, his soul, the soul descibes the most important part of our being, to loose that is to loose everything.Next, to whom did he commit his soul to?, to Christ, and because of this he had confidence that all would be well. Barnes in his commentray writes,/ If the soul is safe, why need we be disturbed by the loss of health, or property , or other temporal comforts?, these are secondary comforts/.[ Father we thank You for your saving and keeping power that is in your Son Jesus , and the tremendous assurance that in Him nothing is able to seperate us from Your love, Amen ]

Nahum [Genesis 18 v 25 ]

Who was Nahum? well he was a prophet , one called by God , he proclaimed Gods word , to whoever God told him to. Nahum spoke Gods word to the Assyrian empire, addressing his words to their capital, Nineveh, the same people Jonah had prophsied to, with success, but they had gone back to their old ways, of being cruel and oppressive. God had showed them mercy, but now the time for Him to act had come, He proclaims Himself to be their enemy, the Lord who is slow to get angry, was angry, judgement was going to fall. I read these words in my study Bible,/Those who do evil and oppress others will one day meet a bitter end/. God is merciful and loving , but when people or individuals oppress others, they better watch out, for God will judge. [Dear God we thank You that You are just, and are not pleased with those who oppress others, please help those who are living under oppression, we ask this in Jesus name , Amen ]