Finger pointing .[ Matthew 7 v 1 - 5 ]

I read this recently in the , Readers Digest, of a young woman who was speaking at a church, she gave a very strong word against materialism, when she finished, she came down from the pulpit, and knelt at the altar, as she did, one could see a label on the back of her jeans, with the words on it, I love shopping. In John 8 v 1-11, we read of a woman who was caught in the very act of adultery, the religious leaders brought this woman to Jesus, they were trying to trap Him, and use it against Him .The law of Moses said that an adulteress should be stoned to death, so they said to Jesus, what do you say?, eventually Jesus said, he that is with out sin let him cast the first stone,these words hit home, so they all left. Like those religious leaders, and the young women ,it is so easy, to look at others and point the finger of judgement, to take the high moral ground, and forget that we all sinners without exception. [ Holy God have mercy upon those who have fallen into sin, grant that they may know your forgiveness, and grace, and help us all to remember, that we all our sinners saved by grace Amen ]
[I will be on holiday this week I will blog again next Saturday , the Lord bless you all ]

Calm [ Isaiah 26 v 3 ]

In Psalm 112 v 6 -7, we read, Those who are righteous, will long be remembered. They do not fear bad news, they confidently trust the Lord to care for them. The righteous are those who have put their trust in Jesus, it is His Righteousness that counts. They do not fear bad news, they confidently trust the Lord to care for them. Bad news will come, make no mistake about it, but because God is our loving heavenly Father, He will care for us, let us have confidence in our God, that whatever happens, whatever bad news we may hear, all will be well, all will be well inspite of the economy, inspite of the threat of unemployment. Horatius Bonar wrote,/Calm me, my God, and keep me calm...... Calm in the hour of buoyant health, Calm in my hour of pain, Calm in my poverty or wealth, calm in my loss or gain. [ Dear God help us by Your Grace to trust in Your care, inspite of difficulties, inspite of bad news, grant that we may know in our hearts calmness, we ask this in Jesus name Amen ]

Pass the salt [ James 1 v 26 ]

I remember reading a book by a lady called Corrie Ten Boom, that she was invited to minister to a group of girls , at a retreat, now you know what girls are like, they talk, and sometimes they can be a bit spiteful,[ we men our perfect ] so Corrie introduced a rule, that everytime, someone started to say something about another ,at the meal table ,they would say, / pass the salt/. Words hurt, it is so easy to run people down , to phone up and talk about what someone has done, to undermine a persons character, or a persons ministry. Today let us seek to resist the temptation to run another down, if we cannot say something good about a person, then let us refrain from saying anything bad. [ Dear God forgive us for talking about others,of saying hurtful and damaging things, grant us the grace to watch our words, help us to resist the temptation to undermine another in Jesus name we ask this Amen ]

Telling the truth [ Exodus 20 v16 ]

We have been making inquiries about getting a new tv deal, we thought we had it all sorted out then we discovered that what we had been told was not right,this applied to three companies. We feel we were not told the truth, fortunately we found out in time, and will be cancelling our agreement, it makes one wonder about the importance of telling the truth. I realise that it is so easy to fail to tell the truth, there will be many today who will placing their hand on the bible, and swear to tell the truth , the whole truth, so help them God, and have no intentions of telling the truth. May God help us to be truthful people, with those nearest to us,and with all we come into contact, today. [God of truth forgive us for not always telling the truth, help us to be truthful, grant us this grace, in Jesus name Amen ]

We are all different. [ Jeremiah 1 v 5 ]

A penguin walked into a bar and asked the barman , have you seen my brother, the barman replies, what does he look like?. I hope you get the joke, the point is penguins all look the same, but they are not, so with us ,to penguins we may all look the same but we are not, we are all different. We all have different abilities , personalities, gifts, we are like snowflakes,not two of us are alike,so today dont wish you are someone else, rejoice in who you are,oh yes there are things in all of us that need to change, and of course we all sinners, and we all without exception need Jesus.Today you may hate yourself because you feel you are to thin or to fat,listen God made you and me, He made the elephant man, read his life, he was a beautiful person. God made all of us , and when He made you and me He didnt make a mistake, and here is a wonderful thought ,He loves us, and longs that we love Him, by accepting His Son as our Saviour.[ Dear God , thank You for making us, and bringing us, into being,thank You for loving us, and giving Your Son to die on the cross for us, thank You that we all are different, but this is not a bar to being accepted by You, in Jesus name we pray this Amen ]

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 ]