Intimidated [ 2 Timothy 2 v 1 ]

I have a deep sense of the call of God upon my life, in relation to preaching, as the title of my blog declares, I am Bill the preacher, yet sometimes I feel intimidated. And it is then I have to take courage and rest on the belief that I am called by God, of course I am in good company,Moses, and Jeremiah, felt their weakness [ Ex 4 v 10 / Jer 1v6],when they where called to speak. We can feel intimidated for many reasons, but we must not yield to this, it is not God who intimidates, it is the enemy of our souls, it can also be our feelings of inferiority. Whatever we have to face today, let us not give way to, feelings of fear,feelings of inadequacy, or feelings of low self worth. Hear Gods voice saying to you,/Dont be afraid, for I am with you. Dont be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand [Isaiah 41 v 10 ]./[ Dear Saviour we acknowledge our weakness before You,but we take comfort in Your word, which reminds us that we can do all things through You. Amen ]

Confused. [ Hebrews 11 ]

Are we feeling confused?, life can be like being stuck in a maze, and not knowing which way to go,it is at such times, we need to remind ourselves that , the Christian life is not about certainies that we can see, it is about believing the unseen. Abraham went out not knowing where he was going [Hebrews 11 v 8], we are called to walk in his footsteps,in our prayer life, and in our daily walk. We are all called to exercise faith, not just our leaders, and those we are praying for, and those in so called Christian service,[ We all our in Christian service ]. Today let us all step forth in faith, in that place were God has placed us,and let us not look so much on our journey, but on our Saviour, and our destination.[ Dear Lord Jesus we thank You , that you are leading us day by day,and step by step, help us not to give into despair, help us keep our eyes on You at all times Amen ]

Woe is me [ Isaiah 6 ]

Sometimes one feels like Isaiah the prophet [ Isa 6 v5 ] , utterly unworthy, he felt this way just before God called him to be a messenger to his people. The more one goes on in the Christian life, the more conscious one is of ones shortcomings, yet God would use Isaiah, and grant unto him wonderful revelations, and he would speak into the lives of kings [ Isa 19 ]. God can and will use us inspite of our shortcomings, yes He can use you, and He can use me, but of course He will challenge us as regards our faults, not to condemn us but to change us. One of the most important things in our relationship with God, is a dependance on Him, an awareness that without Him we can do nothing,our shortcomings are helpful reminders. So today let us go forth with a continual dependance on our Saviuor ,for the strength we need,and the blessing we desire. [ Father in Heaven , we ask that You will have mercy upon us, and that You would bless us, and use us , for Your glory, we ask this in Jesus name Amen ]

Revival. [ John 16 v 8 -15 ]

I was in a store yesterday looking at shoes ,when a man pointed out that someone had left their old shoes on the shoe rack and put on new ones, and walked out without paying for them. I was reading in 2 Kings 22v7 of those who were honest and trustworthy, it seems so many people are far from that especially many of our M Ps . The challenge is for all of us to be honest, in our relationships,possessions, and whatever is intrusted to us, as I hear of the revelations as regards our M Ps, it bears down upon me the great spiritual need of our country. Many years ago, in Ulster there was a revival under the ministry of W P Nicolson , many were wonderfully saved. In Belfast there was a large shipbuilders, many who worked there got saved,and as a result , much that had been stolen ,was returned. What does our country need ?,a mighty Holy Ghost revival, we all need to pray , for revival in these days. Inspite of our prosperity the heart of man is sinful, and will never change,only Christ can save and change us, He is our only hope.[ O Holy Ghost, reival comes from Thee, send a revival - start the work in me. Thy word declares , Thou wilt supply our need, For blessing now ,O Lord, I humbly plead, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen ] [The prayer was fron a hymn by J Edwin Orr ]

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 ]