Benefits.[Romans 5 v1-5]

The Christian life is two sided, in Romans 5v 1-5, we are told two things, firstly the blessings we have been brought into through faith , we have been justified, which means we are no longer guilty before a holy God, we have peace with God , we are no longer His enemy, the battle is over, God is now our loving Heavenly Father, this has all come about through the Lord Jesus, when He died on the cross. We can look forward to eternal glory, so today let us rejoice, and praise God, He has done great things for us.But now the other side of the coin, the Christian life also involves sufferiing,our Saviour said in the world we shall have tribulation[ John 16v33], Ann Bronte, said,/ Believe not those who say, the upward path is smooth/. In Romans 5, we are told that those troubles we encounter , are Gods instruments in developing Christian character, strength of character,so today let us rejoice for what God is doing in our lives through, our troubles. [ Dear God we praise You for Jesus Your Son who has saved us, and brought us into eternal blessings, we also would ask that You would help us to keep rejoicing in all our sufferings, because You are causing all things to work together for our good. Amen ]

A person of strength[ Psalm 46 ]

I was given a poem about a woman of strength, I dont know who wrote it, I want to quote it, but I want to broaden it out to include , men and women./ A strong person works out everyday to keep their bodies in shape. But a person of strength kneels in prayer to keep their souls in shape. A strong person isn,t afraid of anything. But a person of strength shows their courage in the midst of fear. A strong person won,t let anyone get the better of them. But a person of strength gives the best of themselves to everyone. A strong person walks sure-footedly. But a person of strength knows God will catch them when they fall. A strong person wears a look of confidence on their face. But a person of strength wears grace. A strong person has faith that they will be strong for the journey. But a person of strength has faith that in the journey they will become strong./[ Dear God help us to not live in our own strength, but daily, moment by moment to rely on You in Jesus name. Amen ]

The call of God [Hebrews 11 v8-10]

The call of God , what does that mean?, we have the call of the wild, or the call of the sea, but what does the call of God mean?.I have stood up in a meeting and responded to what I felt was the call of God, that ,hear am I , wholly available, and from that point on I sought to fulfill this. My blog is called Bill the preacher, because from early on in my Christian life, I felt called to preach, this did not come in a meeting, but rather it was something impressed upon me, gradually. This calling has never left me, and so I continually seek to fulfill this calling upon my life, in some ways this has saved me from disappointment, because doors have shut in my face, the places I have sought to go to never materialized, but the call remainded, so I have sought to remain faithful to it. I do believe God led me to England, to Grays, I often wonder, why Grays?,I dont know, I just obeyed. I dont know where God will lead me next, but wherever that may be , I will remain faithful to my calling ,that of preaching the word of God.[ Dear God give us grace to follow where You may lead us in the fulfilling of Your calling on our lives, in Jesus name Amen]

Mirror gazing [Philippians 3v12-14]

In one of the Harry Potter movies, Harry discovers a mirror, as he looks into it, he sees his dead parents, they are standing smiling at him. He becomes engrossed with this mirror until the professor comes and tells him,that the mirror shows the desperate, and deepest desires of the heart. He then goes on to say,that men have wasted away in front of it,and even been driven mad by it, so the professor was going to have it removed.This all reminds me, how many of us have our mirrors , oh yes I have mine, and just like Harry and others, I gaze into it occasionally,many gaze continually into the mirror of past failures, past losses,past hurts, and it all has an negative affect upon their lives, crippling them emotionally, preventing them moving on, even driving them mad.It is the apostle Paul who wrote,/I focus on this one thing, forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,[Philippians 3v13], with Gods help we all need to put our mirrors away,and keep our minds on going forward, too many of us have wasted to many years mirror gazing, [ Dear Lord Jesus it is easy to make excuses for our mirror gazing, help us to stop wasting our lives looking at our past failures, hurts, and help us to put our mirrors away and move forward in victory, Amen ]

Is God sovereign?[ Revelation 19v 6 ]

Is God sovereign? many of us believe He is, or so we say, does our actions and thinking correspond, with our belief?, so often there is a gap between the two. When God tells me to leave something to Him, am I prepared to do that, or will I meddle, if God shuts a door am I willing to accept it, or do I become resentful. If God causes me to wait, do I?,if God takes a loved one, do I spend the rest of my life,in bitterness,and depression. Is God sovereign? do we really believe this, in our given situations?, do you resent me raising this matter?, whatever you or I feel , the fact of the matter is, God is sovereign. If God was not sovereign He would not be God, we all need to read again and again the life of Joseph, or the book of Esther, to see the sovereignty of God in action, and as Christians to hold fast to Romans 8 v 28, which tells us that God causes all things to work together for our good. [ Sovereign God help us to trust You in all situations, to not make rash judgements, about Your ways, help us to trully believe in Your sovereignty, in every situation, in Jesus name . Amen ]

The communion of saints.[ Hebrews 10v 25 ]

The communion of saints is a phrase from the apostles creed, to me it signifies that bond between Christians, while we are all individuals , and we all need to experience personal salvation, Christ died for the church.As part of that body we are to love one another, pray for one another, help one another, to not isolate ourselves from the body, not to become disconnected.The apostle Paul was a strong individual, but he never shut himself off from others believers, he prayed for them, fellowshiped with them ,wrote to them, loved them. Often he faced difficulties from Christians, but he kept on associating with them,and expressing his love for them. The words of the hymn says ,/blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love/, today let us pray for our fellow Christians, let us not cut ourselves of from them, if we do we will be the losers. [Dear Lord Jesus help us to love our fellow Christians, with Your love, help us to stay connected to our Christian family .Amen ]

Pressure [2 Corinthians 4v 8-10]

Many of us live under pressure, money pressures, marital pressures,employment pressures, emotional pressures, and so the list goes on. I am a great admirer of the apostle Paul, he knew what pressure was,we read the following in 1Corinthians 1V1-9-11/ We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it.In fact, we expected to die/, now thats pressure.Then he goes on to say,as a result of this,/ we stopped relying on ourselves, and learned to rely only on God,/ and the result of this was deliverance by God. The comfort zone is not a place were we rely on God, in fact it is a place of relying on others and even ourselves,the result is we do not grow in our relationship with God, and growing is so vital as a Christian. Whatever pressure we may be under at this time, it is an opportunity to grow spiritually, may God grant us the grace to grow, in our pressure times. [Dear Lord ,our times are in Your hands, all our times,the hard times, the difficult times, we ask that You would help us to trust You to deliver and sustain us, Amen ]