Make it count [ 1Corinthians 3 v 11 - 15 ]

According to 1 Corinthians 3 all we have done for Christ will be weighed , and judged, it will be tested by God, now it is important to stress ,that this is nothing to do with being saved by works. The fact of the matter is we cannot be saved by anything we do, we are saved totally by what Christ has done, He saves. 1 C0r 3, is stressing rewards for what we do as Christians,I wonder what those rewards will be? in a sense I dont think of rewards, but rather of trying to please my Saviour,there is a compulsion inside me that wants more than ever to hear my Saviours well done. As I start this day my prayer is that whatever I do, that it will count for Gods glory, if love is my aim it will count, if I am led by the Spirit it will count,if I am motivated by Heavens values, it will count, if I do all things to the Glory of God, it will count. [ Dear Lord , grant that this day, that all I do may count , and be of worth to You Amen ]

The way ahead [ Matthew 16 v 24 ]

The way ahead is very simply this, follow Jesus, no matter what disappointments we have, or face, no matter what successes or failures,no matter how we feel, Jesus says to all of us follow me. There is to be no turning back, no deviating, no compromising, no excuses, it may mean offending our nearest and dearest, of being misunderstood, of being thought a idiot, a fool, a fanatic. It means continually following Jesus , no days off, it may mean the loss of our very lives, or the lives of our nearest and dearest, whatever , it will mean choosing that which we cannot, prove or see, that means walking by faith. It means not caring about our reputation, in other words not caring what people think of us, not winning the popularity contest, of being despised, and rejected, wharever it may cost, the challenge is this , to follow Jesus. [ Dear Lord Jesus help us this day and everyday to follow You, Amen ]

Gods people [ Matthew 11 v 17 ]

In Luke 22 our Saviour and His disciples were having the passover meal, and during it our Saviour tells His disciples, that sitting among them as a friend, was one who would betray Him. The disciples ask each other which one of them would do such a thing,and thats as far as they took it, surely one would have thought that would have killed off all conversation for the rest of the night, but no they quickly move on, and start arguing among themselves, as to who would be the greatest among them.How fickle people are at times, changeable, shallow, and yet here is the amazing thing, our Lord choose these disciples, we may ask why?, but are we any different?. So often when one preaches the word of God,afterwards it appears that people want to talk about everything and anything ,but what they have heard, yet the Lord choose us, but when will we begin to really take in ,what God is saying to us ?. [Dear Lord we confess that we are fickle, changeable,and shallow at times, we thank You for Your patience towards us, help us today to really listen, to Your voice, we ask this in Your name Amen ]

Overwhelmed [Psalm 121 ]

I wonder do you ever feel overwhelmed, I must confess I do at times, I imagine that there are people who look at me and feel that I am on top of everything, after all I have accomplished a lot of things. I have brought up five children , no mean feat, I have a very responsible job, I am a preacher, and so I could go on, yet there are times one feels overwhelmed, with feelings of unworthiness, and ineffectiveness. This is not an unique experence, for many people in the Bible , have felt this way, the apostle Paul, [Romans 7 ], the prophets Elijah, [1 Kings 19], and Isaiah,[ Isa 6 ]. The Psalmist David prayed ,/ I cry to You for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety for you are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me [Psalm 61 v 2-3 ]/. Today if you are feeling overwhelmed , or when you do feel overwhelmed, walk in the footsteps of David and look up , to the one who hears and understands, and who whispers to your heart, I understand, I care, I love you. [ Dear Saviour we come toYou, in all our need, and ask that You would, sustain us by Your grace,strengthen us in our weakness,comfort us in our times of sorrow,and uphold us in the ongoing course of life Amen ]

We are not as strong as we may think.[ MK14v29-31/ 66- 72 ]

We are not as strong as we think, I read these words in my study Bible, I thought so true, it reminded me of the time a number of my friends where having a talk, we were all single, and one of my friends said how he had got his sexual feelings under control. He was a fine young Christian, I wish I could have said the same thing, but it is an area in which I struggle even to this day, well later on I heard that my young friend had to get married because his girl friend became pregnant. In 1 Corinthians 10 v 12 we read,/ If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall/,very wise words for all of us to take in, consider King Solomon the wisest king who ever lived , he acted so shamefully, and fell so dramatically. Now none of us are meant to live in fear, but we are meant to live with a continual dependance on our Lord, simply bcause we are not as strong as we think.[ Dear God we come to You in our weakness, help us this day not to fall into sin, help us in those areas of our lives in which we think we are strong, to realise that we are not as strong as we think,grant us the grace of depending on You,we ask this in Jesus name Amen ]

Saul and David.[ Psalm 51 ]

Saul and David were the first two kings of Israel,both chosen by God,both accomplished much, one is seen as a failure the other as a success. Saul the failure, David the successful one, and yet they both failed,Saul failed in his disobedience,[ cp 1 Samuel 13 and 15, he then went on to do other things, that were wrong. But David was far from being lily white, oh no ,he committed a terrible sin, adultery and murder, cp 2 Samuel 11. So here we have two men both chosen by God, both were the Lords annointed, both inperfect, yet it is David who is seen as Israels greatest king,why?. I think it was ,that David when he did wrong , repented of his sin, sincerely, read Psalm 51, Saul never did, he appeared to be more concerned with keeping his position as king, than dealing with those issues in his life , that needed dealing with,he trully failed to change, and so in the end he paid the price. Like Saul and David, we will fail, we will sin, the question is, are we willing to repent, that means acknowledging our sin to God, and turning away from it.[ Dear God help us to acknowledge our failures and our sins, grant us the grace, that we may trully repent, help us to see that all unrepented sin , will bring a terrble cost with it, in Jesus name we pray this Amen ]

We are meant to be different [Matthew 5v 13 -16 ]

We are meant to be different, if we are Christians, but in what way?, when I came back to the Lord, the difference included not smoking, not going to the cinema, avoiding things that were considered worldly. There was also the emphasis on attending church , and becoming involved in church activities, such as prayer meetings, Bible studies, outreach, ,much of this is positive, I dont long for those days, but in many ways I do thank God for them ,and I just wonder if we have lost something along the way?, it does seem these days we are less connected to the body, that is the church. Much has changed in church life, during my life time, a lot of churches are smaller,and appear very ineffective. I hold unto the truth of what Jesus said, He would build His church, and this He will do, so we need not fear as regards His church,, let us seek to be light, and salt, wherever our Lord has placed us,let us pray that our difference , will trully be a Christlike difference.