Let us not forget [Romans 8 v 28 av ]

On the ongoing course of life I continually need to remember that God is Sovereign, that means inspite of everything that is happening in this world, He rules. When we declare that God is Sovereign we are making a declaration of faith , for we are told that the just shall live by faith.[ Habakkuk 2 v 4. av ]. Habakkuk was full of complaints and questions, as to why things were happening, he saw into the future and he did not like what he saw, so he complains and questions God. Like Habakkuk we may be complaining and questioning God, we have all been down that road. Habakkuk ends His prophecy by declaring, /The Sovereign Lord is my strength. [3 v 19 ]/ Whatever is happening in our lives God is in control , He has not suddenly deserted us, no He is guiding, controlling, and over-ruling in all the circumstances of our lives, so today trust Him. [Sovereign God we bow before You in humility, we ask that You will help us in the midst of lifes difficulties, and frustrations, to trust in Your over-ruling providence, we ask this in Jesus name Amen ]

Jesus is Lord means Freedom. [John 8 v 33 v 36 ]

As I was driving home yesterday I saw these large words on the side of a building , /Jesus is Lord/, and I found myself saying , He is. As we look at history we see so many people who died and fought to be free, freedom is something we value, so how does those words ,Jesus is lord, rest with you today?. I remember before I came back to the Lord I was anything but free, I was ruled by so many harmful things, Jesus said ,/ everyone who sins is a slave to sin [John 8 v 34 ]/, we live in a so called free country but, lets be honest, so many are far from free. In v36 of John 8 , we read,/ if the Son sets you free, you are trully free, coming to Christ as Saviour , and Lord is the first step to freedom, as we yield our lives to His Lordship, we discover the meaning of true freedom, let me ask the question, answer it honestly are you free?, you can be if Jesus becomes your Lord.[Dear Lord Jesus, we thank You that You can set us free , free from sins power, help us all to yield to You as Saviour and Lord . Amen ]

Thirsty [ John 4 ]

Are we thirsty? it is in John 4 we have our Saviour dealing with the subject of thirst, He was speaking to a woman at a well, she was a thirsty lady,her thirst went deeper than just water. This lady had been married five times, and seemingly they had all failed, now she was living with someone,living with someone is not a new thing, it is becoming more and more prevalent these days. Her life was an evidence of a deep thirst within her heart. This world is full of thirsty people , people who are into all sorts of things, good things, bad things, but as Jesus said to that woman at the well, / anyone who drinks of this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh , bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life . [v 13 ] [ Dear Lord Jesus we come to You today and acknowledge that only You , and You alone can meet the deepest desires of our life. Amen ]

Saying no. [Philippians 4 v 13 ]

It is Eugene Peterson who says, / Only humans can say no. Animals cant say no. Animals do what instinct dictates or what training embeds in them. No is a freedom word/.No may be a freedom word but many choose not to use it,to drugs,sex,and many other things , the question is , is it a freedom word to you and me ?. Think how hard it is to say no to the many wrong things we eat, obese people are people who will not say no, those who commit adultery, are people who will not say no. So many of us make the excuse that we cant help what we do, but if we are Christians we are told in 2 Peter 1 v 3, that God has given us everything we need for living a godly life, that means God has given us the power to say no to all those things that are contrary to a godly life,let Gods word be true and every man a liar. We are a driven people, when we should be a led people, today let us say no to those things that are driving us in the wrong direction. [Dear God help us to follow You today in all we do, even if that means saying no to those things which are contrary to Your will ,we ask this in the name of Jesus .Amen ]

Contentment [ Psalm 139 v 13 - 17 ]

There is a modern song which goes, /You can only be you, and I can only be me/, when I used to minister in song , some people would say ,I wish I could sing like you, I found it strange coming from a woman. We all at sometimes want to be like someone else, or even to be someone else, there are people who hate themselves, there are people who starve themselves to death, because they loath the person they see in the mirror. There is nothing wrong with trying to improve our image, but we should accept whom we are, God has made us everyone , He didnt make a mistake. Of course we all need Christ as our Saviour, because we are sinners, and we do need to be changed, and be like Him, but we are all unique, and there needs to be a contentment, and acceptance of this, so let us stop wishing , we were someone else. [God we give You thanks for making us whom we are,may Your Holy Spirit , grant unto us contentment, and may He help us to see that we are precious in Your eyes,in Jesus name we ask this Amen ]

Letting go. [ Hebrews 12 v 1 - 2 ]

I have to let it go, although it has served me well for many years, but now it is causing me pain, I would like to let it stay, but I cant, I dont much like pain,I dont like that which hurts me, so even though I am attached to , I have made a decision.The decision I reached was to phone the dentist and make an appointment, to have my painful friend removed. There are so many things in life that we hold unto, things that cause us pain, the wrong kinds of friends, memories,habits, attitudes,our sins,and what we really need to do is to let go, to pray about it,committing it to God and then ,let it go, we have to stop making excuses, putting it off, we have to let go of those things that are damaging us.. If we are not saved then we have to let go of our unbelief, and simply trust the Saviour. If we are Christians we have to be obedient, and realize that God desires only the best for us, so today let go.[ Dear God help us to make a decision to let go of those things that we cling to even though they are causing us pain, we ask this in Jesus name Amen ]

Self obsessed. Mark 10 v 42 - 45 ]

One of the most popular songs years ago was ,/ The Streets of London/,Have you seen the old man in the closed down market, Kicking up the papers with his worn out shoes? In his eyes you see no pride, Hand held loosely by his side, Yesterdays papers telling yesterdays news./In these words we are challenged to take our eyes of ourselves and to look at the plight of others, who are worse of than ourselves. We all have the habit of being self obsessed, of just focusing on ourselves, we become the center of the universe. The gospel story is about God thinking of others, of loving them so much that He gave the most precious gift He possessed to die on a cross, so that others could be saved. Our Saviour said that greatness is seen in serving others [ Mark 10v 44], today let us take our eyes of ourselves, and look at others, with a heart of love, and out of that heart of love, be a servant. [Father forgive us for being self obsessed , help us to be more like our Saviour, the Servant King, Amen ]