Sin [ Romans 3 v23 ]

My son who is a street pastor, was asked by someone, does God forgive sins?somehow it did not occur to them that, God forgives sins. To us, of the older generation we take it for granted that God forgives sins, but we live in different times, the whole idea of sin, has taken on a different concept, so let us try and clarify what sin is.God has 10 commandments we read of them in Exodus 20, when we break them, we sin, in fact Jesus brought a deeper meaning to the law, when He taught,that if we think wrongly in our hearts this is also sinful, [ Matthew 5 v21ff ]. In 1John 3 v 4 we read, everyone who sins is breaking Gods law,and the fact of the matter , everyone of us has broken Gods law, [Romans 3 v23 ]. [Dear God help us today to realize what sin is, and with that realization, begin to seek after You, that our sins may be forgiven in Jesus name we ask this Amen ]

God the helper [ Psalm 121 ]

I preached twice yesterday in two local churches and God helped, I have been preaching for over forty years, but it still is a challenge, but here is the simple truth , God helps. Psalm 46 v 1, tell us that,/God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble,/whatever you may have to face today, divorce, unemployment, illness, remember God is a helper.As I look back I remember so many times in which God helped me, financially,and in many other ways, His help has not dried up,whither it is preaching a sermon, or coping with some problem,He is still there help. So today dont despair call upon Him in your need, and He will help you,ask Him to help you ,in the simple things, and the big things. [ O God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, be our defence while life shall last, and our eternal home ,in Jesus name we ask this Amen ] [ The words of the prayer are by Issac Watts ]

Adverse circumstances.[Job 1 ]

Oswald Chambers wrote,/ I am sorry for the Christian who has not something in his circumstances, he wishes was not there,/what is the something in our lives we wish was not there?. The question we may ask, is this not a strange thing to say? the answer is no,why do I say this?, because first of all our God is sovereign, not just of the world in general, but of our individual lives.Every joy or trial falleth from above, traced upon our dial, by the sun of love, so wrote the hymn writer.So is God sovereign or not in our lives?, of course He is, then let us accept His sovereign choice for our lives, let us yield to His sovereign will, for in the words of the hymn writer, /we may trust Him fully, He is to be trusted yes even in those circumstances we wish, where not in our lives.[ Father in heaven grant us the grace to trust You in those circumstances , that we wish where not in our lives in Jesus name we ask this Amen ]

Give me a word [ Philippians 4 v 6- 9 ]

So often what I need is a word from God, when I come to prepare a sermon, or write my blog, and continually I need a word for myself, so I pray and God gives me a word. As I wrote yesterday , so many things can unnerve us,the result is we loose our peace. The fact of the matter is, we are bombarded with so much in life, people putting pressure on us,our faith continually being challenged, it is then we need a word from God, a word from God,that will settle us and restore our peace. So today if you are under pressure ,ask God for a word, ask and you shall recieve, [ John 16 v23 ].When you recieve that word, then rest on it by faith, the result will be peace, so simple but it works.[ God of peace help us to rest on Your word,and as we do , grant us Your peace, in Jesus name we ask this Amen ]

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 ]