Hold unto that dream.[Philippians 3 v 1-16 ]

Bruce Springsteen said, I spent most of my life as a musican measuring the distance between the American dream and the American reality. As a Christian I often think of the distance between what I preach , and what I am, between what I profess and what I am.The dream and reality seem distances apart, and yet as a Christian we cannot afford to loose that dream of what we should be, and what we could be, more loving , more trusting, more obedient, more like Christ, we all need to hold unto this dream. [Father we know that we are accepted unconditionally in Jesus, and yet we also know that we can never be satisfied with the distance between the dream and reality, which is You, grant us the grace, fill us with Your Spirit that both dream and reality may merge as one, for Jesus sake we ask this Amen ]

Stubbornness. [Hebrews 3 v 7 - 19 ]

I think Pharaoh must have been the most stubborn person who ever lived, we read about him in Exodus, he was so stubborn that he was prepared to see his land devastated,and suffer the loss of his son. The reason being, he did not want to obey what God was saying , all the suffering could have been avoided, but no ,he dug his heels in and suffered as a consequences. We all have a degree of stubbornness when it comes to doing what we are told,you see it everyday in the supermarkets,the screaming stubborn child, and when it comes God and us, my, we really can be so stubborn just like Pharaoh. Consider how many people resist the gospel, refuse to seek forgiveness, refuse to trust Christ, even though the consequences for doing so is a bondage to sinful ways, and a lost eternity,all could be so different if only they would yield. The scriptures tell us , if today we hear the voice of God harden not our hearts,[Hebrews 3 v 7-8 ].[Dear God thank You for your patience with us, we acknowledge that we are stubborn at times , when You speak to us, help us to yield to Your will, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen ]

A new heart. [ Jeremiah 31 v 31 - 34 ]

God wants us to have healthy thoughts and motives, not just healthy bodies,so reads my study Bible, we live in a world that is obsessed with the outward appearance. The outward appearance includes so much that is of very little importance, designer clothes cater to this, this atitude is called the pride of life , pride in our achievements and possessions,these are not from the Father, but are from this world. [ 1 John 2 v 16 ]. The religous people of our Lords day led a great stress on the outward observance of certain traditions, that had nothing to do with what God desired. Jesus continually challenged the trivia in life , the religious people didnt like it ,for it challenged their control and power, people dont like you doing this, in fact they hated Him for doing it. He faced them with what was most important the inward, the heart,He pointed out that this is were the trouble lay, the heart[ Matthew 15 v 19 ] . In Jeremiah 17 v 9 we read, /The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked/, this is what needs dealt with, and only Christ can do that, we need to surrender our hearts to Him. [ Father help us to see that our greatest need is for a new heart, which comes when we accept Jesus as our Saviour, Amen ]

I belong to Jesus [John 3 v16 ]

I belong to Jesus ,so reads the words on Kakas shirt, Kaka in case you didnt know is a Brazilian who plays football for AC Milan. Well I dont wear a shirt with the words ,I belong to Jesus on it, but I do belong to Jesus.In 1 Corinthians 6 v 19- 20, we read, You do not belong to yourself,for God bought you with a high price. If we are Christians we have been redeemed,this term is used, both in the NT, and the OT, what does it mean ?, well when I was young it was a common thing for people to take an article to the pawn shop, they would pawn it, which simple means they would recieve a certain amount of money for that article, in order to get that article back even though it was theirs, they would have to pay to get it back, if they didnt, they lost it. This illustrates what redemption means, we belonged to God, but we were in sins pawn shop as it were,in order for God to once again own us ,He had to pay a price for us, 1 Peter 1 v18-19 tells us the price God paid to redeem us back to Himself, consider these words,/ Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold.........But with the precious blood of Christ, and because God did this, you belong to Jesus. [ Dear God from hearts that have been redeemed we worship and praise You,we ask that You would help us to continually remember ,that we belong to Jesus. Amen ]

Reality[Job chapter one ]

President Obama has now to face reality, the economy, unemployment , and so the list goes on, one asks the question how can one man cope with it all?. I had to laugh at a cartoon in one of our national newspapers it had the President crying , Help, and in the same newspaper one of the headlines read,/ Now the miracle worker must deliver/, expectations are very high. When I was a wee boy , I loved going to the cinema, it was an escape from reality,but the film would soon end, and then I would be faced with life as it was. Many people would ,if they could,would escape from reality, but the fact is there is no escape, reality must be faced, by the grace of God. Whatever our reality is, bring it to God, and ask Him to help us ,the only way we are going to get through, is on our knees, humbly depending on our Saviour, I write from experience. [Dear Father we commit all our realities to You, ask You in the name of Your Son, to help us face lifes realities , help us to persevere by Your all sufficent grace, Amen ]

Wringing good out of evil. [ Acts 2 v 22 -41 ]

Today ,a momentous thing is going to happen, a black president is taking office in America , many today will remember former days, those days when things where so different, many will shed tears. Yesterday was Martin Luther King day, in America, he was a wonderful man who said so many memorable things , and paid with his life for what he believed. One of the things he said, at the funeral of four children who had been killed by racist when they bombed a church ,/God still has a way of wringing good out of evil/, today, I believe bears witness to that truth. The greatest example of this truth is the death of our Saviour, men took the Prince of Glory,the sweetest gentliest person who ever lived, abused Him and nailed Him to a cross, yet God took that evil deed and wrung good out of it. The good that God brought out of the death of His son , was salvation for you and me, Charles Wesley wrote, / And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Saviours blood? Died He for me, who caused His pain?/, you see we all caused the death of Christ, and yet through that death we can be saved eternally. [ Almighty God we are overwhelmed by Your Great love , a love that allowed Jesus your Son to die on a cross, in order that we could be saved eternally Amen ]

Monday[ Psalm 100]

Many will be getting up this morning with the Monday morning blues, I suppose there are reasons, lets face it,there are some jobs that would give anyone the blues, I have been there, I know. I have been very fortunate that I love my job, I have been in the same job for about 19 years, I believe God got me this job, and has kept me in it, I feel like a square peg in a square hole. I dont usually get the Monday morning blues, but there are some things that get me down, life is never perfect . I believe God can open doors, can give us jobs that are satisfying, but, oh that but again, there will always be something we will have to cope with,and it is then, we will have to rely on the grace of God, whither it is an uninteresting job or a difficult relationship, so today rejoice in the Lord, and trust Him for the grace you need even on a Monday morning. [ Father grant us the grace to face each day, with joy , we ask this in Jesus name . Amen ]