Stop me. [Psalm 23 ]

I found myself praying ,stop me becoming anxious, about a certain think, it was said of the great Charles H Spurgeon that he became anxious as regards the traffic. Imagine that great preacher , who stood before thousands and preached the word of God, becoming anixous. Let us be honest with ourselves he was not so different to you and I ,anxiety can hit any of us.Whoever we are,we can become anxious about our family,our future ,our finance,our friends, the list can go on forever. There is a good thing about anxiety, it can cause us to seek the Lord, just like I did, and that can only be good. I remember many years ago as a young boy being frightened ,what did I do ?,I literally ran to my mum as fast as I could, today if we are anxious let us run as fast as we can to our loving Heavenly Father.An old chorus comes to mind,[ I hope I get the words right],/ All your anxieties, all your cares ,bring to the mercy seat , leave them there, never a worry, never a care, never a friend like Jesus/.[ Dear God and Father ,You know all about us, how easily we can become anxious, help us in our weakness, to cast all our cares upon You , in Jesus name. Amen]

He is my Hero. [ Philippians 2 v5-11]

I am sure we all have our heroes,great statesmen, sports people,explorers, and of course there are the unsung heroes,firemen, doctors, nurses mybe your dad is ,or was your hero.But what about the term hero worship, now thats when we lose sight of reality, when we are carried away with our emotions.For many, Stalin and Hitler,became figures of hero worship, I have just finished a book on Napoleon [ By P Dwyer]and of course to many people , he is and was their hero,but in summing up Napoleon, the auther writes ,/ When it was a question of sacrificing lives, in order to promote his own ambition, Bonaparte never hesitated/.He deserted his army in Egypt, and in Russia, self preservation, and self glorification, appears always to have been his motivation. I do have a hero , His name is Jesus, and yes I worship Him, for unlike all those heroes that we have mentioned,He was not flawed, He was the bravest, most loving , selfsacrificing person who ever lived,in order to rescue sinners such as you and I ,He died upon a cross,yes He is my hero, but He is also my Saviour.[ Dear God thank You for Jesus the greatest hero who ever lived,the one who died to save us, Amen ]

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 ]