Be a finisher [2 Timothy 11 v 21- 33]

My young daughter in law has just finished university, a tremendous achievement. I remember when I was at Bible college, the principal said he would understand if I had to give up,my wife and I were living by faith, my wife was not to well, things were difficult, what he said was well intentioned, but we didnt give up , I completed my course, and then my wife went on to complete a course in another Bible college, I look back with gratitude that we both finished our training.Finishing is so important in life, especially the Christian life, in 2 Timothy 4 v 6-8, the apostle Paul wrote,/I have fought a good fight,I have finished the race,and I have remained faithful/. When you read the difficulties Paul had to face[ cp- 2 Corinthians 11v 21 -33 ], you could not have blamed him for giving up, but he didnt. There will always be reasons to give up or to give into sin, but there are greater more compelling reasons why we should not.Here are some, the love we have experienced in Jesus, His friendship, others,and lastly the prize, there are more,today, think on them , and seek by the grace of God to be a finisher.[ Father help us to be a finisher, help us not to give up ,or to give in, to anything or anyone thats stands between us and the finishing posts, we ask this in Jesus name, Amen ]

Put into practice. [ Matthew 7 v 24 - 27]

Proverbs 3 v5-6 have played a big part in my life, the av version is my favourite,here is how these verses read,/ Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not upon thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will direct thy paths/. These are words we need to memorize, and continually put into practice. Oswald Chambers, wrote/Dont calculate without God/, today let us take these words to heart, I cannot stress enough the importance of obeying these words from Proverbs. There is security and safety in these words, we will never go wrong ,if we put them into action day by day.Let us remember it is not just enough to hear the word of God, we must, I stress, vital that we put it into action. [Dear Lord Jesus help us to put into practice what You tell us, help us to see how vital this is to our well being, Amen ]

Stay connected [ John 15 ]

In Matthew 26v58 we read that Peter followed Jesus at a distance, the next thing we read is Peter denying Jesus, he did it three times. Following Jesus at a distance, I know a number of people who are doing this, some are angry,some are disobedient, there are many reasons.When one is following Jesus at a distance, one becomes disconnected to Jesus ,instead of walking in sweet fellowship with Christ, they are neither hot or cold, not one thing or the other.Being disconnected led to Peter ,nearly severing relationships with Jesus entirely, thankfully the Lord who is gracious and forgiving, restored him to that place of fellowship again.It was William Cowper who wrote, / Where is the blessedness I knew when I first saw the Lord?. Where is that soul refreshing view of Jesus and His word?/, this is what happens when one becomes disconnected with Your Lord. [ Dear Lord Jesus Help us to stay connected to You, help us not to follow You at a distance, Amen ]

Amazing Grace.[ Ephesians 2 v 1-10 ]

If I was cast away on a desert island , and had the choice of ten records, my first choice would be Amazing Grace,I love this song. It is continually being recorded and just wont go away. It seems to me that God is continually reminding people of His grace, to save , to keep, and to complete His purpose in lives that are broken, and messed up. Recently I have been confronted with broken people , and of couse I work among broken people, the mentally ill, I just pray that they would experience the Grace of God in their lives,I know from experience that the Grace of God can change and transform them, when they open their lives and trust Jesus as Saviour. [Dear God we thank You for Your amazing grace that we can know through Your dear son Jesus, we thank You that lives can be wonderfully changed, and transformed through this grace Amen ]

Needs [Philippians 4 v19 ]

The world is full of needy people, in fact if one thinks about it, everyone is needy, there are those who dont feel they have a need,but have, then there are those who know they have a need , but will not admit it, then there are those who will admit their need. I remember many years ago attending a church service, I was away from the Lord at the time,and as the preacher spoke , one thing bore in upon me was my need. I dont remember what the preacher said, all I remember was , my need, and that night God met my need, as I afresh surrendered to Jesus.that was 45 years ago. In those 45 years I have had many needs supplied , I have found my Lord faithful , whatever your need , look to Jesus. [ Dear Lord Jesus thank You for meeting the deepest need of our hearts , in Yourself, today we lift our eyes to You ,with confidence, in You ,to meet our needs Amen ]

Changing me [ 1 Peter 1 v 6- 7 ]

Yesterday I spoke to a young lady, she shared with me the difficulties she was experiencing in her marriage, they were not immoral difficulties, but she was desperately looking for advice and help. What I did was listen and assure her of my prayers, my heart went out to her, from long experience I did not try to give any quick -fix answers. In my life I have met many well meaning Christians, who have done more harm than good in the area of helping others, I have listened to the all knowing Christian T V celebrities,read their books, and in the end , the problems has not been resolved. I am not saying problems cannot be resolved, but often they remain with us, and in them, God does a work in our lives, He creates Christian character, and that is more important than the healing we desire, or the resolving of that on going problem. It is Marilyn Baker, she is blind, who wrote,/ Jesus You are changing me,by Your Spirit You,re making me like You. Jesus You,re transforming me, that Your loveliness may be seen in all I do. You are the potter, I am the clay,help me to be willing to let You have You way/.[ Dear God grant unto us the grace of perseverance, the grace to hold on, and the grace to accept Your will for our lives in Jesus name Amen ]

Daily refreshing [Isaiah 40 v 28 - 31 ]

We have a garden, which means we have to water each day the plants we have put in, except when it rains. We are a bit like those plants each day we need to be refeshed spiritually, yesterdays blessings will not suffice for today, we cannot run on an empty tank. When the Israelites were in the wilderness , God sent manna each day to feed them, they could not store it ,except on the friday. Today we need to seek that daily refreshment from God ,by waiting in His presence, in prayer, and reading His word, in doing this we are acknowledging our dependance on Him. As our days so shall our strength be, one day at a time, we may not realise it ,but when we seek the Lord daily, we receive from God grace for each day, so today let us wait upon the Lord, pour out our hearts to Him, the result will be ,that refreshing we stand in need of. [ Dear God we ask that You would help us each day to spend time with You, and as we do , we ask that you would refresh us , we ask this in Jesus name Amen ]