The best translation. [ Matthew 7v 24-29 ]

We live at a time of many bible traslations, have I a favourite? I am not sure, I was brought up with the AV or the authorized version, it is called that because it was authorized by king James. Many people love this translation because of the language, or because like me they were brought up with it, so they have an emotional attachment to it. The AV is a great translation for memorizing , when I am preaching I often quote the AV, because in my early Christian life I memorized many scriptures from it. I rarely use the AV now in my daily readings, I have read many translation, and am using the, New Living Translation at this time, so what do I think is the best translation?. The best translation is the one we translate into our lives,be it the AV, or whatever,the word of God is not something to be worshipped, or admired for its language, it is meant to be obeyed, we all are meant to be living epistles, that all can read, and if we are not we are fooling ourselves, and building our lives on nothing of worth. [Father in Heaven we thank You for Your Word , we ask that you would help us to not just treasure it and read it but above all else to obey it, in Jesus name we ask this Amen ]

Jesus wept [ John 11 v 35 ]

Those words, Jesus wept, remind us of the wonderful character of our Lord, we read of Him being moved with compassion[ Mark 5v 19], there is a little verse which reads,/With every pang that rends the heart , the Son of God has a part/.I am also reminded of many Gospel songs that speaks of a caring and loving Saviour, like,/ no one undestands like Jesus, or,/ Oh yes He cares, His heart is touched,with our grief/.Life can be filled with pain, I am reading the book of Job at this time, there was a man who suffered tremendously.If today you are suffering look to Jesus, He loves you more than you could ever realise. In Hebrews 4 we are told that Jesus who is our great high priest, understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same testings we do, yet He did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will find grace to help us when we need it most.[ Dear Lord Jesus we come to You in all our need ,with the pain that others dont see ,and the hurts that no one can heal, and ask that You would undertake for us, Amen ]

Serving this generation [ Matthew 28 v 18-20 ]

Many Christians get caught in a time warp, a favourite saying is,/ we always did it that way/, many of us are resistent to moving on. There are churches who have introduced laws that forbid there members to use certain translations,and fail to live up to the translation they use. Stop and consider, the great spiritual needs out there, and let us ask ourselves how best can we serve this generation?, what will it take to bring men and women to Christ?.The days of Billy Graham are gone.It was Billy who said,/ The world is changing, and with it the methods of evangelism will change also. But the message will not change, for it is timeless, meant for every generation/.Meant for every generation, so let us ask ourselves, and let us ask God how best we can serve this generation, for the times they are a changing, and we must move with the times. [Father help us to hold fast to Your truth, yet help us and guide us by Your Spirit, as to how best we can serve this genereation, in Jesus name ]

Faith in God.[ Hebrews 11 v 1-6 ]

The philosopher Bertrand Russell who was also an atheist,was asked, what if he tuned out to be wrong, and what if the pearly gates were neither a metaphor nor a fantasy,and he found himself faced by a deity he had always denied? Well , Russell used to reply, I would go up to Him, and I would say, You didnt give us enough evidence. I believe God has given us enough evidence,creation, the Jews ,and the historical Christ,and yet I know these will not necessary convince people of the exsistence of God,it comes down to faith, one must have a tremendous lot of faith to be an athiest. Of course many people do believe in a God, but let us remember that faith in a god is not enough, we must believe in the God of the Bible,that triune God , Father , Son, and Holy Spirit, and if we are going to be saved we need to believe on Jesus to be our Saviour.[ Dear God we thank You for faith, a faith in You as creator ,and the One who saves through Your Son , Jesus, Amen ]

Life [ Philippians 3 v1-11 ]

Our Lord Jesus said He had come to give life that was rich and satisfying, continually He spoke of giving and recieving life, eternal life.This life is different than the life that most of us think about, it is not based upon material things, or comfort,or perfect health, in fact it may mean the opposite of all those things. Oswald Chambers wrote,/Our personal property and possessions are a matter of indifference, we have to sit loosely to all those things, if we do not,there will be panic and heartbreak and distress/. Our Saviour describes the life that He gives as, a fresh, bubbling spring within us, [John 4 v14] within us, thats the important thing,there is no way to buy or purchase this life, it comes when Christ becomes our Saviour. If we have Christ we may loose everything, but have everything, because we have Him,and all that this means. It will mean taking up our cross and following Him, but in that experience, we will be surprised by a joy that is unspeakable and full of glory, and a peace that passeth all understanding.[ Dear Lord Jesus help us to look beyond our difficulties,to You, fill us with Your joy,and peace, Amen ]

Death [ John 11 v 25 ]

Death, now thats a bright thought to start the day with, mybe you feel like turning of this blog, as you dont fancy being reminded of death. Could be, you are grieving over the death of a loved one, or a friend, mybe you are facing death, because of an illness. The obvious fact is we will all be touched by death ,sooner or later we will loose someone close to us, and of course we will all die, science only helps us to delay the inevitable. We were never meant to die, but because of sin we all will, it can been seen as a natural act, but in other ways it is unnatural, thats why we try to avoid talking about it, and find it hard to come to terms with.In 1 Corinthians 15v 26, death is called an enemy, but in that chapter we are told of the resurrection, and how those who believe in Jesus, can know victory over death. I love those words in Psalm 23v4, which reads,Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, a shadow cannot hurt us , and if Christ is with us then we have nothing to fear.[Dear God calm our fears as regards death, we thank You that through Your Son Jesus, sin can be dealt with, and victory over death is assured, Amen ]

Be prepared. [Ephesians 6 v10 -18 ]

The scouts motto is / Be prepared/,yesterday something happened which I was not prepared for, I was taken by surprise.It is Peter who exhorts us to be on our guard [2 Peter 3 v17 ], it is so easy to become complacent, to fall asleep on the job.We all know the dangers of falling asleep as we drive, but many people do, we all have read of king Arthur who fell asleep and burnt the cakes,these are all lessons for all of us to be on our guard, against the ,world, the flesh, and the devil.We must live in such a way, as to do battle, to stand our ground, to be prepared to fight the good fight of faith, that is why we need each day, to spend time with God,and right throughout this day to pray without ceasing. Let us be prepared for any attack , let us clothe ourselves with the whole armour of God, read Ephesians 6 v10 -18, as part of your preparation.[Dear God strengthen us this day against that which would harm us ,help us to be on our guard,in Jesus name Amen ]