An abiding presence[ Hebrews 13v5-6]

In Matthew 28v20 we have these wonderful words spoken by our Saviour,/Lo I am with you always/,how important these words are for all who know Him. There are times we feel isolated, not many friends,in situations that are threatening,there are times we struggle in our commitment, the Christian is not immune from difficulties. Today let us all take those words spoken by our Saviour to heart, I am with you, we are not on our own, no, Jesus is with us, so take heart child of God. Whatever we have to face today we will not face it on our own, He will be with us, He is not just looking on, no He is there to help and comfort, to protect and to guide, to provide and encourage.In the book of Daniel we have the story of three young men[chap 3] ,who took a stand for God , the result was they where thrown into a firey furnace, and as the king looked on, he declared,/ I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God[v25. nkjv] The one who was with those young men in the fire ,is the one who will be with us ,in whatever situation we find ourselves in, even Jesus.[ Dear Lord Jesus thank You for being with us always. Amen ]

The Church. [ John 17v11 ]

I am a member of a small church, in the winter we move into a smaller room at the back of our building, a friend said, oh we are not meeting in the church. Many peoples concept of the church is the building, but of course that is not so ,the church is the people of God, they are the called out ones.When our Saviour said I will build my church [Matthew 16v18 ], it is obvious that He was not talking about a building, but a body of people. If we our Christians then we become part of that church, and we are called to meet with other believers[Hebrews 10v25],now of course the church is a body of imperfect people,and all that this means, but they are the ones we are commanded to love [John 15v12]. We may think we can do without the church ,but we cant, we need each other, and we need to stay connected. There will always be reasons to stay away from the church, always,I write from experience, but the fact of the matter is, I need them , and they need me, because I not connected to a building, but to a body of people, people whom Christ died for,and this same Christ told us to love them, and as my study Bible says,/Love should be the unifying force, and the identifying mark of the Christian community/.[Dear God thank You for your church , help us to love those who are part of that church, to even lay down our lives for them, in sacrificial love , in Jesus name Amen ]

Tell them.[ 1 John 4 v7-8 ]

I read this today,/Never waste an opportunity to tell someone you love them/, sometimes we dont think that those we love, need to hear this.As I look back on my childhood with my mum,gran, brothers and sisters, I can never remember hearing the words I love you spoken, oh that does,nt mean they didnt, but no one spoke those words. God is love, He shows it continually,if we have eyes to see,we just have to look to the cross to see love in all its fullness.But it is His word spoken that brings meaning to it, John 3v16,I wonder when was the last time you said to God you love Him?, tell Him today, and this will please Him, and tell someone you love them, mybe those simple words will encourage them.[ Our God and Father we love You in Jesus name Amen ]

Decipleship. [ Matthew 28v19-20]

The Christian life is very challenging, our Saviour spoke of making disciples [Matthew 28v19-20], what does that mean?, it means first of all a decision to accept Christ as our Saviour,this is followed by baptisim,and followed by learning to obey Jesus in all things. There where those who said they wanted to follow Jesus ,but when they were faced with what that meant they drew back [ Matthew 8 v18-22], there where those who started to follow Jesus, then give up[ John 6 v66] Before we become a Christian , we do it our way, or somebodies way,but becoming a Christian means we are deciding to go Christs way, we are deciding to become a disciple.[Dear Lord Jesus we ask that You would help us to see what it means to be a Christian, we pray that You would grant us the grace to become Your disciples. Amen ]

Practicing what I preach.[ James 1 v22- 25]

I was thinking that it does not much to unnerve me, often people look at me they see a calm person , and of course most of the time I am, but then, something small happens, and I start to become anxious. Anxiety is something we all have to cope with,what can one do to cope with it?, well one of the the things I do is try to practice what I preach. I remember what I preached to others, and start to apply it into my life ,if it is to do with finance then I remember that I preached on the 23 Psalm, the Lord is my Shepherd,and I shall not want.If my thoughts are becoming negative, and unhelpful then I remember the words of Philippians 4 v8-9, that I am to let my thoughts dwell on what is true and honourable,right, pure, lovely and admirable. Whither one is a preacher or not, it is important to put into practice the word of God, to remind ourselves of what we have heard or read in every situation in life.[ Dear God help us to not just be hearers of Your word but doers ,in Jesus name Amen ]

Rejecting God. [ Revelation 3v7-13 ]

Today marks the end of British summer time, and the clocks go back one hour, it wll become darker earlier. It is a marker, a saying the summer is gone,in Jeremiah 8v20 we read,/The harvest is past ,the summer is ended, and we are not saved/.My study Bible says,/ These words vividly portray Jeremiahs emotion as he watched his people reject God/,what a tragedy, those who should have known better, blindly reject their God, with terrible consequences. Whoever rejects God suffers, thats a fact , be it believer or unbeliever, the safest and securist place in the world is in our relationship, and fellowship ,with our God and Saviour .There are many reasons people reject God, but none are legitimate, let us make no mistake about that. Let us remember it is always better to have Gods presence with us, in our trials, He will stand with us, strengthen us, comfort us, and in a coming day will reward us.[ Dear God help us not to reject Thee in our blindness,help us to persevere,to cling to thee,as You cling to us, in Jesus name Amen ]

Sorry[Matthew 6v14]

I am sorry I could not blog in earlier, I did try ,but I could not get unto my blog, sorry is a word many find hard to say, just think how many relationships would be mended, if people said sorry and meant it. We expect people to say sorry if they have been in the wrong, the challenge for the Christian is to forgive others even when they dont say sorry, and not only forgive them, but to love them. There is no place for pride or unforgiveness in our walk with Christ, for love keeps no record of being wronged[1 Corinthians 13v5]. God loves us ,and will always love us,even when we do Him wrong,yet if we are to know Him as Saviour then the wrongs must be confessed, He cannot and will not ignor our wrong doings. Why? because He is Holy, all He asks is for You to say from the bottom of your heart that you are sorry,To know Christ as our Saviour depends totally on us saying sorry, and the moment we do ,we are forgiven and accepted.[ Dear God help us to forgive others when we are hurt and unjustly treated, we thank You that you forgive ,and forgive ,and forgive, in Jesus name Amen ]