Building [Matthew 7 v21- 27 ]

On holiday we went to Plymouth, if you ever visit Plymouth go to what is called Plymouth Hoe,it is very beautiful, and overlooking it is a reduntant lighthouse.It is called Smeatons Tower, and for two pounds you can climb it, this I did, half way up I came to a landing, and I noticed these words written on the wall,/ Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it/,[ Psalm 127 v 1].Those words blessed , and challenged me, for it reminds me that so many people are building, with out the Lord, building their marriages, friendships and a multitude of other things without the Lord. Millions upon millions of people are trying to be saved without the Lord Jesus ,and in the end it will all be in vain,today bring the Lord into your life , and into every situation, every endevour, and what ever happens all will be well.[ Dear Lord Jesus help us to realize the futility of building are lives without You, Amen ]

The giving God[ Philippians 4 v19 ]

None of us can outgive the Lord, today millions and millions of people will recieve from the Lord, all they need and more. The Lord is so generous and kind, sometimes, His goodness is overwhelming.I remember being on holiday in Italy and I was able to buy a chess set, I wept tears of gratitude.As I look back on my life I remember God helping me in so many ways,there were times I had nothing , no money , no food , and I had children to feed and clothe, and care for, and God heard the cry of the needy and supplied our needs. God is not a miser He is generous and kind, we can come to Him, not once but continually and we will find Him faithful,and kind. God will not humiliate us in our coming , He will not say, not again, no He will listen with love and understanding, He will not say to us you have made your bed ,lie in it,as with salvation, all His giving is out of a heart of grace, so come to Him today, in all your need, come to the giving God, and ask in Jesus name, and you will recieve. [Dear God we thank You for Your tremendous generosity and kindness , we ask in the name of Jesus that You will supply all our needs, Amen ] [ I am going on holiday today , so I will return to blog on Sunday 12th]

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 ]