God really does have a plan.[ Romans 8v 28. av ]

One of the most instructive stories in the Bible is in Genesis chapters 37-50, it is about a man called Joseph , a man loved by his father but hated by his brothers.These brothers treated him very badly, they wanted to murder Him, but instead they sold him into slavery , and he ended up in Egypt. In Egypt he was accused falsely of attempted rape, thrown into prison and forgotten about, there was a monent when it appeared that he would be released,but it didnt happen, then suddenly everything changed, he was released,and became second in command to the Egyptian Pharoah. The great lesson we see in all this is the sovereignty of God, many years before this God declared to Abraham that He had a plan for his decendants, [Genesis 15v13-14] in order to fulfill that plan Joseph had to go through his trials.Mybe you are experiencing a trial today,it appears unjust, and even cruel, consider the life of Joseph and learn from it, and hold unto this vital truth God is in control, and has a plan, and will cause everything to work out for your good. [ Romans 8 v28 ], and His glory.[ Dear God help us to trust you in every difficulty, to have faith in your Sovereignty, to believe that all things are working together for our good, in Jesus name. Amen ]

Doing good. [ 1 Corinthians 3 v 10 -15 ]

Do all the good you can, In all the ways you can,In all the places you can, At all the times you can,To all the people you can, As long as ever you can.So wrote John Wesley. We can do this in many ways, by praying for people, helping in practical ways, by showing them Jesus in our lives, and by telling them about Jesus. In Acts 10v 38 we read that Jesus went about doing good, so in doing good we are following in His footsteps. In Galations 6 v9 we read,so let,s not get tired of doing what is good,we may feel discouraged in doing good, we get no thanks, people can be so ungrateful, let us remember that God will not forget,and He will reward us in a coming day.[Hebrews 6v10] So today let us do good to everyone, especially to those in the family of faith. [Galations 6 v10 ] [Father in Heaven grant us the grace today, to follow in the footsteps of Your dear Son, by doing good. Amen ]

Burdened[ John 4 v34-38]

Today I feel a burden, for the lost, my family, brothers ,sister, and other relatives, neighbours, work mates, and many others, for our nation, for the area in which I live,so few people are saved. So many people are going to Hell, so few are going to Heaven, and this causes me pain,so few know our Saviour, is there anything we can do?, yes we can pray .Let us never underestimate the importance and power of prayer, we can tell others about our Saviour, how shall they hear without a preacher, the answer is they wont, faith comes by hearing the word of God, so today let us tell others about Jesus. Fanny Crosby wrote many hymns, here is a verse of one of them,/Rescue the perishing, Care for the dying. Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave. Weep o,er the erring one, Lift up the fallen. Tell them of Jesus , the mighty to save.[ Dear God, who would have all to be saved,we ask that You would use us, to be fishers of men,to rescue the perishing, in the name of Jesus. Amen ]

Rejoice [Nehemiah 8 v10 ]

Sometimes it seems life is all gloom and doom, for some it appears that way, as we read the life of the apostle Paul , we see a man who suffered so much c.p 2 Corinthians 11 v21ff . Yet he was not a doom and gloom person, in his letter to the Philippians, which was written from a Roman prison, he is so positive and encouraging in what he writes. In chapter 3 v1 ,he writes,/What ever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord/,these are challenging words, is it possible to rejoice what ever is happening to us?, not in ourselves, it is a fruit of the Spirit Galations 5 v22. Today let us ask the Holy Spirit to fill us with joy unspeakable and full of glory, so that whatever happens to us today we may rejoice.[ Dear Lord fill us with Your Spirit so that whatever happens to us today we may rejoice in You. Amen]

He understands. [ Hebrews 4 v14-16 ]

Sometimes I am tempted to sin, [lets remember it is not a sin to be tempted] but then I think of the consequences if I yielded to that temptation, the consequences , to my family, friends, neighbours, myself, and the consequences with my relationship with my Lord. It is easy to sin, to taste that forbidden fruit, to be carried away with the emotion, and to justify what we do, on the grounds that we are hard done by.We will all be tempted in one way or another, make no mistake about that, until the day we die, so take care today, let us be on our gaurd. There is a gospel song which I like, it goes,/ Sometimes I feel discouraged , and feel my works in vain , Im tempted ,oh to murmur, to grumble ,and complain , but then I think of Jesus and what He,s done for me , then I cry to the rock of ages , hide thou me.[ Dear Lord we come to You in all our need,we thank You that You understand about temptation, for You were tempted, so today help us not to yield to temptation. Amen ]

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 ]