Check it out. [ 2 Timothy 3 v 10 - 17 ]

I was taken aback yesterday when I phoned my elderly aunt, to be told that my oldest brother had died, according to her his funeral had already taken place, this added to my sadness, and confusion as to why no one had told me. I told my aunt I would phone home and find out what happened, this I did, and to my relief, I discovered no one had died, I phoned my aunt and told her the good news. This is an important reminder, for all of us to not just accept what we hear, say on evolution,it grieves me that the evolutionist have hijacked the media. We need to have a degree of discernment, when we hear certain things, we really need to check things out. Let Gods word be true and everyman a liar,rest on His word, believe His word, hold fast to His word, and not on the dubious claims of so called scientist, or whoever.[ Father in heaven we hear so much that can unnerve us, help us to realise that not what all we are hearing is true, keep us by Your grace, in Jesus name we ask this Amen .]

Be sensitive [ Galations 6 v 22- 23 ]

Our blest Redeemer , ere He breathed ,His tender, last farewell, A guide , a comforter, bequeathed, with us to dwell, so reads the words of a hymn by Harriet Auber. When we become Christians the Holy Spirit dwells in us, [Romans 8 v9 ] every Christian has the Holy Spirit, we become temples of the Holy Spirit,[ 1Corinthians 4 v16 ]. With that comes the challenge to be Holy, if we sin it will have an affect upon us, we will grieve, or quench ,the Spirit. Today let us walk in the Spirit, and be controlled by Him, that means being sensitive, to His prompting, let us listen to /His gentle voice , soft as the air we breath ,that checks each fault, and calms each fear, and speaks of heaven,/[words from the above hymn ].[ Dear God we thank You for Your Spirit who dwells within us, fill us afresh with that Spirit, that we may glorify our Saviour in these lives of ours, Amen ]

Hold your tongue [ Matthew 6 v 43 - 48 ]

We read about our Saviour, that when He was being treated harsly, He never said a word[ Isa 53v7/ Mt 27 v12], there is a time to be silent. Silence can often speak louder than words. Again let us consider our Saviour, in 1 Peter 2v 23, we read , / He did not retaliate when He was insulted, nor threaten revenge when He suffered. He left His case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly/. The challenge today is to be like Jesus, that means being silent, when we are being maligned,and ridiculed, and to leave the rightness of our cause in Gods hands, this is not easy, but who said being a Christian would be easy?. Words are so easily spoken,especially when we are under attack, when this is happening let us hold our tongue, and silently trust in our God. [ Father we thank You for looking after us, even when we are being treated wrongly, grant us the wisdom to know when to be silent, and in those times grant us the grace we need to hold our tongue, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen ]

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 ]