Burdened[ Psalm 55v22]

There are many people and they are carrying burdens, behind many a smile there is a heavy heart, our Saviour always went to the heart of the matter. saw the need. One of the most lovely verses in the bible is to be found in Matthew 11v28,/Jesus said,come unto me, all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest/. Whatever are burden ,we can come to Jesus, and experience rest, be it the burden of sin, illness, sadness, let us bring our burdens to Jesus. The words of an old hymn go like this,/When your enemies assail and your heart begins to fail, Dont forget that God in Heaven answers prayer.He will make a way for you,and will lead you safely thro. Take your burden to the Lord, and leave it there/.[ Dear Lord you know what burdens we are carrying, we bring them to You right now , in thy mercy undertake for us. Amen]

Follow that which is good.[Matthew 5 v13-16]

There is an awful lot of people follow that which is not good, they have a wrong emphasis on ,money,material things, power, idols,immorality, unfaithfulness,crime, sexual perversness, and many other things. In 1 Thessalonians 5 v15[av], we read ,/ever follow that which is good/, ever , in other words dont give up in following that which is good,be in it for the long haul.In Galations 6v9[av] we read,/Let us not be weary in well doing/,we are exhorted to keep at it,evil does not take a holiday, nor must we in relation to following that which is good. Good what?, good works, good doctrine,good words, good thoughts. There is a saying we used to use for those who became Christians, they have become good living, well let us all who profess to be Christians, be good living today, by following that which is good.[ Dear God we thank You for saving us from so much that was bad in our lives, help us to today to follow that which is good , in Jesus name, Amen ]

They blew it. [2 Samuel 11-12]

Moses, David, and Peter, what did have in common?, they all blew it,Moses lost his temper,David lost his holiness,and Peter well mister infalliblity lost it doctrinally. Yet these were great men of God ,men, ah ,thats it , they were men, inperfect men, the greatest of men are but men, capable of sinning, capable of blowing it ,big time.Elijah the great prophet was a man subject to like passions as we are[ James 5v17], again that important point, he was a man. The best of men are but men, they are the same as you and I , they had their faults, and failings. So today let us pray for those great men and women of God, and let us learn the important lesson that we are all vunerable, no matter how long we have been a Christian,no matter how gifted we may be, no matter how God may be using us, we all can blow it. [ Dear God in your great mercy keep us from blowing it in Jesus name Amen ]

Our Calling.[ Mark 9 v35]

Servant to all, this my calling, that means I dont judge people, and I dont discriminate, irrespective of what they have done or who they are. Is this not what Jesus did, and this is what we , who are His followers are called to do. To be a servant is challenging, and costly,but whatever price we have to pay,it is only a feint reflection of the price our Saviours paid in His servanthood. Consider Jesus the servant, He humbled Himself ,humility is a very precious quality,but it is not always rewarded, or appreciated, but if it is real it will speak more than a thousand sermons. We all ,have much to learn about servanthood, [Luke 17v10],only one person served perfectly, Jesus, and today He calls us to follow Him, and if we do , then one fine day we will hear from Him ,well done My good and faithful servant. [Matthew 25 v21].[ Dear Lord Jesus help us to be more like You, to follow in Your footsteps, and to serve others, Amen ]

Remember [Psalm 121]

Let us remember that God has the final say in all things, it is not over until God says so. The children of Israel had there backs against the wall, [Exodus 14]thier enemies where about to destroy them , but it did not happen, God had the final say. So often we see this in the word of God, time after time, God has the final say. Look at the cross it looked like evil had triumphed, but God had the final say, God will always have the final say.Hitler boasted of setting up a thousand year reign, but God had the final say, He will always have the final say.Whatever situation we may be in let us remember God will have the final say, if you are not saved , God will have the final say[ Hebrews 10v27]. If you are saved, God will have the final say in all the affairs of your life, so do not despair,do not despair as regards the world situation, or your own personal situation. [ Dear God it often appears that the powers of darkness seem to be triumphant,in this world, help us to look to You, and to believe that You will have the final say in all things, in Jesus name, Amen ]

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 ]