He Knows [ Psalm 23 ]

I will be preaching in a friends church this weekend, it will mean a three hour journey to get there, I am looking forward to it, but, there is that but again, I do get fearful about travelling, of finding my way there. I should not, after all ,in all my travels God has been faithful and guided me ,I have always managed to get to my destination. It was Joyce Meyer who encourages us to, do it afraid,in other words let faith be the the deciding factor, not fear. God is well aware of our fears, that is why we have so many ,fear nots in the Bible.let me encourage you if you are afraid today, to fear not,grab hold of a promise from Gods word , and let faith arise,and do it afraid.Let me leave you with one of my favourite promises from Isaiah 41 v10,/ Fear thou not , for I am with thee,be not dismayed, for I am thy God, I will strengthen thee,yea I will help thee,yea I will uphold thee, with the right hand of my righteousness/.[ Dear God and Father you know how often we are fearful, help us to trust You , and not be afraid, whatever we are facing today ,in Jesus name. Amen ] [As I will be away tomorrow I will not be blogging]

Weakness in prayer. [Romans 8v26-30 ]

In Romans 8 which is one of my favourite chapters in the Bible in v26, we read,/And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we dont know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us,/this is such an interesting verse, it speaks of our weakness, a weakness that effects our prayer life, we dont know what to pray for in given situations. Lets face it ,this is often our experience, we dont know what to pray for the best, as to our future, as to certain circumstances. [ cp Philippians 1v20-23] Today let us acknowledge our weakness to God,and leave the choice to Him,and take comfort in the fact that the Holy Spirit is making intercession on our behalf ,in a perfect way , in keeping with the will of God.[ Dear God in our great weakness we come to You, have mercy upon us,life is full of many things that drive us to You, things we do not understand, and are at a loss to know whats best, we offer all these things up to You through the Divine Spirit,and simply say Thy will be done, in Jesus name . Amen ]

There is victory in Jesus. [ Philippians 3 v 4-20]

The weather is changing,the leaves are changing their colour, and so we move into a new season,in Ecclesiastes 3v1 ,/ for everything there is a season/.There is this an inevitability in this, we cant change the seasons,someone I know mentioned how the cloudy days affect him, we can let so much affect us,we can be ruled by the seasons, or we can be ruled by a faith that looks beyond the changeableness of life, a faith that enables us to rejoice in the Lord. a faith that knows great contentment. Is it possible? I believe it is possible, as the old hymn says there is victory in Jesus, victory over our moods,conditions, heartaches. Whatever season we may be in, let us remember that we have one who is with us,to comfort, to provide ,to overrule, to bless, His name is Jesus. [ Dear Lord , grant us the grace we need, to know victory over ,whatever the changes may be, that You may bring us into ,Amen ]

God is so patient [ Revelation 3 v20 ]

I am a reasonable patient person, but sometimes I get tired of waiting for certain things to change, and hear myself saying Ive had enough,I am fed up with the waiting game. In Matthew 23v 37 our Saviour speaks about Jerusalem, it was a lament,/O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets, and stones Gods messengers, How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath its wings, but you wouldnt let me/. Israels history is such a tortured history, it depicts a great lover, God, showering ,blessing upon blessing ,upon the one He loves ,Israel, only to experience time after time rejection,and unfaithfulness. We can broaden this out to include the world,[John 3v16], and we can narrow it down to ourselves as individuals, the Great lover God,seeks us whom He loves, and what patience He shows, as long as this world will last He will continue to exercise patience, because He loves us, and is not willing that we should not perish.[2 Peter3v9][ Dear God it amazes me how patient You are,help me to to be more like You, we ask this in the name of Jesus .Amen ]

A man of God. [Revelation 14 v 13]

I would encourgage you read the life of William Carey who lived in the 18th- 19th century , he was a wonderful man of God, he came from a very humble background, and was by trade a shoemaker. He was a man of great learning could speak a number of languages, he had to contend with so many difficulties,but he had this tremendous quality, perseverance, he just didnt give up.and when he died in India, the word of God had been translated and printed into forty languages, and six hundred native Indians had trusted Jesus.One of the things he said was,/ Expect great things from God,and attempt great things for God/, and he did just that. [Dear God help us to be like Your servant William Carey, to persevere, help us to see that the God of William Carey is our God, and help us to accomplish something of value for our dear Saviour, in whose name we ask this . Amen ]

Our enemy. [ Genesis 3 ]

Dont let the enemy spoil the blessing, yes we have an enemy, he goes by a number of names,the word of God says that he even disguises himself as an angel of light ,and those who serve him are also disguised as servants of righteousness .[2 Corinthians 11v15-16] It is in 1Peter5v8 ,we read,/Stay alert . Watch out for your enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. This enemy will not only try to spoil what we have, but he will seek even to devour us, he is a powerful foe ,one just has to look at the world to see what havoc he is causing.So today stay alert, resistance is not futile, it is vital,and can be successful,/ [James 4v7 ], our enemy is strong but our Saviour is stronger, and through Him we can know the victory.[ Dear God in the name of Your Son Jesus grant us the victory over our enemy the devil, today. Amen ]

Secure [ Matthew 6 v 19-34 ]

Many people are feeling very insecure, their jobs are on the line, their health is not great,the list goes on, feeling insecure is part of the human condition. I am continually being challenged to keep God always as the center of my life, and to remind myself that He is my security, not my job, my family, not my health, not my friends, not my bank account. It is one thing writing this , preaching this, than actually living the truth that God is my security,we hold on to our supposed securities, not lightly but tightly, and if they are threatened, we break out in a cold sweat. Today I am reminding myself and you, that the securist place in life is in God, the more we have of this worlds goods the harder it becomes to really see God as our security, we hold on to things like grim death. If I put God first, then I will be secure, I am not saying we should act thoughtlessly or foolishly but that we be careful that we see were our true security lies, in our loving Heavenly Father. [Father in Heaven thank You for blessing us with so much,help us to not to be fooled, into thinking that our security lies in the blessings,rather than the one who has blessed us , even You, in Jesus name . Amen ]