Freedom [Mark 5 v 1-20]

The wonderful message is that Christ died to set us free, before we come to Christ we slaves to sin,in Isaiah 61v1, we read how our Saviour has come to set the captives free. In John 8 v34, our Saviour declared,/ everyone who sins is a slave to sin/, not all prisoners are behind bars,sin has affected all of us, we dont have to look very much into our hearts to realize that we are bound ,in some way. We try to deny the truth of our bondage in many ways, by judging others, by rationalizing that what we do is acceptable, everyone is doing it, or by thinking, it is just the way I am, or by escaping into atheism. The Bible states that our sins will find us out[ Numbers 32v23], our sins will catch up with us, all will be revealed, if not in time ,in eternity. Today Christ offers freedom to all, if we but surrender to Him, acknowledge our need, and trust Him as our Saviour, we will then discover true freedom[John 8 v36]. [Dear God have mercy upon us, open our eyes and let us see ,help us acknowledge our bondage to sin, help us to trust in Your Son Jesus,for true freedom. Amen ] [ I will be on holiday for a week, I will return to my blog next Sunday]

Looking [2 Corinthians 4 v 16-18]

In 2 Corinthians 4 the apostle Paul stresses the importance of looking at life in a spiritual way, and not a natural way, it was Selwym Hughes who wrote,/The difference between natural thinking and spiritual thinking is the difference between heaven and earth/. The apostle Paul suffered many things, but he did not look at them in a natural way, he could see his sufferings as opportunities, to glorify God,[Acts16v25],an opportunity to prove the grace of God,[2 Corinthians 12 v7-10],his suffering caused him to think spiritually, and as he did, he came to the conclusion that his present troubles were small in the light of eternal glories[2 Corinthians 4 v17]. The challenge for all of us is to look at life in a spiritual way, if we dont we will become discouraged, if we do ,then as S Hughes wrote, the less perplexed we will be, so today think spiritual . [Dear God forgive us for looking at life in a natural way, help us look at things in a spiritual way, in Jesus name. Amen ]

Struggling [Psalm 20]

There are many things that are hard to cope with, the list is endless, sickness, death,loneliness,poverty,watching a love one suffer,injustice,the suicide of a friend or loved one,betrayal,rejection, failure,and so we could go on. Today we may be in the pit of despair,wishing that things could be different, not knowing how we are going to cope, mybe wanting to run away from everything. If you are a Christian, and yes ,Christians will experience all those things, I would encourage you, to be honest with God,tell Him how you feel, pour out your heart to Him, and simply ask Him to help you, there may appear to be only a silence, but God is listening, and will answer your prayer. Psalm 120v1 reads,/I took my troubles to the Lord, I cried out to Him, and He answered my prayer/, I would encourage you to read the Psalms,for in them You will recieve much encouragement.[Dear God there are times we are overcome by the things that come into our lives, there are times in which we are driven to despair, so today help us, in Jesus name. Amen ]

The end of the world. [ 2Thessalonians 1v7-12 ]

This is the 9/9/09, spooky is,nt it?not really,it is just another day,as is Friday the 13th, it seems that 9/9/09, will usser in the end of the world, so some people say.I thought about this, it is only 9/9/09 in this part of the world , but because of the time zone, it is either the, 8th or the 10th in other parts of the world, so mybe only half the world will end, it is all so stupid.Take the JWs their history is littered with failed dates, of when the world is going to end, as Jesus said to a religious group,/Your mistake is that you dont know the scriptures [Matthew 22v29]/. The world will come to an end, cp =2 Peter 3, but we dont know when, nor are we meant to know ,[ Acts 1v7], what is most important is to be ready.Being ready involves knowing Jesus as ones Saviour, and living a holy godly life, if we know Christ as our Saviour, then whatever the future holds for us, all will be well [Dear Lord Jesus help us not to be taken up with vain speculation as to when the world is going to end, help us all to realize that the most important thing is to know You as our Saviour. Amen]

Going through the motions [ Psalm 85v6]

I suppose we are all guilty of going through the motions, driving can be like that,and so many other things, and also our walk with God. A lady asked me why we did not pray the Lords prayer at our services, I suppose there is no real reason why we dont, mybe we will, like many things praying the Lords prayer can become a meaningless ritual, were we mouth the words, and dont think about the meaning, hymn singing is like this . Going through the motions can invade all our life relationships, with our wives, or husbands, and when this happens, relationships suffer, Let us think about our lives, about our relationships with those we love,and with our Lord, and ask ourselves are we just going through the motions. [Dear Lord we are creatures of habit, and we confess that often we just go through the motions, with the result that so much that we do has very little meaning; we ask that today You would breathe afresh into our lives, revive us, and awake us out of our meaningless. Amen ]

Change [ Romans 8v 28 av ]

God has given us all gifts, one of my gifts is singing, yet as time goes on my singing voice is not what it used to be, my vocal chords are showing wear and tear. The question I ask myself should I lay this fading gift down?, we will see. It causes me to think on different people, gifted people who are no longer able to exercise their gifts, footballers,drivers,, in a sense it affects most of us in some way, as we become older.Life for all of us will bring change,let us remember our worth is not in our gifts,but who we are in Christ. All some people have ,are their gifts, or their jobs, they see those things as giving them value, but it is not so, we have one who loves us, just as we are, gifts or no gifts. No matter what stage we are in life, He sees us as being of worth, and would encourage us to face the challenges of life, would encourage us to trust Him, in all the changes we are faced with.[ Dear Lord we confess that we do not like the changes that come into our life, uninvited,and we are forced to give up in many things we hold dear, help us to see that we are of worth, inspite of our loses, grant us the needed grace to face each new challenge in life. Amen]

Save them. [ Ephesians 2 v1-4 ]

Being a parent is such an awesome reponsiblity, as a father of five lads, I cannot say I was the greatest of fathers, if only one could go back, I do have regrets, and yet I loved everyone of them. I believe that a parents love should reflect Gods love,and in many cases it does, but then we hear of cases of abuse, of neglect, and it fills us with great sadness. Recently we have heard on the news, how two young lads,nearly murdered two other young lads, and the question many ask, is why?. Well we dont have to dig very much for reason ,their mother was on drugs, her partner abused them continually, they were often hungry, and most of all unloved. It is so easy to point the finger, but what we need to do is pray for them , and their abusers,[ not forgetting the other children who suffered at the hands of these two boys], the words that Jesus give me,/ This is why I came/, continue to challenge me, may they continue to challenge us, to pray,and to befriend those whose lives are a mess.[ Dear Father in heaven we bring to you these two lads that acted so cruelly, and ask that You would in your mercy, may save them through your dear son Jesus. Amen ]