Be prepared [ 1 Timothy 6 v11-14 ]

Be prepared is a good motto, yesterday our speaker did not turn up ,he was unwell, fortunately I had started a message the night before, I was sort of half prepared.I had an hour to finish it of ,which I did, and so I was able to preach. I have had a life time of experience in preparing sermons, hours and hours of studying, been to Bible college, many years ago, but one still needs to be prepared when one comes to preaching, I love preaching,but one has to work at it,so it is with the Christian life, one has to work at it,praying ,reading the word of God, reading godly literature, and in all things have a deep reliance on the Holy Spirit. [ Dear God help us to do all we can to equip ourselves as Christians, for service in Your Kingdom in Jesus name Amen ]

Feelings. [ Matthew 16v24 ]

I must confess I felt it hard to pray this morning,usually I dont struggle, but for whatever reason I did this morning. Here is the important thing ,I did not give into my feelings, I still prayed, it would be so easy to go down the road called feelings, to feel hatred and go with that, to feel that life is not fair,and of course often it is not. Our Saviour was not ruled by His feelings,nor should we be,the challenge of being a Christian, is so often the opposite of how we are feeling. Consider the words of our Saviour in Matthew 16v24/If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow Me /. We may not feel like doing what Jesus said, we may feel so far from what He said, we have a choice, we always have a choice, feelings or obedience, whats it going to be?.[ Dear God help us to not be ruled by our feelings, help us to press on in our walk with You, to realize afresh that it is the way of the cross that leads home, in Jesus name Amen ]

Breaking and making.[ Jeremiah 18 v1-4 ]

I want to tell you something ,I am not perfect, well those who know me, are aware of this already, but then none of us are perfect. There is still much land to be conquered,so much dead wood to be cut off, as I think of my imperfections, I could so easily despair, sometimes I do, yet God is in the business of making us what we should be. When He saved us we were imperfect, we are still imperfect, but we are a work in progress, He is the potter we are the clay, [Jeremiah 18 v1-4/ Romans 9 v21].I read a poem by John Donne ,here is a verse from it,/ O Saviour, as Thou hangst upon the tree. I turn my back to recieve, Correction, till Thy mercies bid thee leave. O think me worth thine anger,punish me, Burn off my rusts, and my deformity, Restore Thine Image so much, by Thy grace./ One day that process will be complete, one day we will be like Him [1 John 3v2], no more rust or deformities.[ Father we bow before You, we acknowledge our many imperfections,grant us grace to accept , Your breaking and making,in these lives of ours, in Jesus name Amen ]

This changing scene. [ Psalm 121 ]

We live in a world of change ,this especially applies to the political scene,yesterday was an election day , who will be in goverment?. Whatever the changes in goverment, or in life, the important thing to remember that there is one who does not change, our sovereign God. When I think of change,change of job, change of circumstances,or whatever ,I can become unsettled, and anxious ,God is in control of our world , and our lives. Frances Havergal wrote a wonderful hymn, the chorus goes like this,/ Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest, finding as He promised, perfect peace and rest/.So today in a world of change, remember,in the words of that same hymn,/We may trust Him fully, all for us to do. They who trust Him wholly, find Him wholly true/. [ Dear God it does not take much to unsettle us, so help us to fully trust You to undertake for us, whatever the changes in life, in Jesus name Amen ]

Who cares? [ 1 Peter 5v7 ]

I noticed a bag of my wifes with the words ,/ Who cares/, on it, it is a good question, and is challenging, many people do care about others,I dont think there is a black and white answer to this question. It is a question we must answer for ourselves, and it is an ongoing challenge, to care, I work in what is known as the caring profession, but am I caring?. I believe God cares, He cares for everyone, the whole world, He cares for you , and He cares for me.Are we burdened today ?well here is what we can do, / Give all our worries and cares to God, for He cares about us[ 1 Peter 5v7 ], in Psalm 55v22, we read ,/Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He will sustain thee. [ Dear God we thank You that You care for us, we cast all our burdens upon You, and ask that You will sustain us in Jesus name Amen ]

There is an alternative to worry. [ Philippians 4v6-7 ]

Philippians 4 v6 ,reads /Dont worry about anything,are you worrying about anything right now? about your family,your health, your future, your financial needs. There is always something to worry about ,we all worry, if you dont ,I do, so here, you and I ,are being told not to worry about anything, let me stress the word anything. Next we are told to,/pray about everything/ so we have a choice, we can keep worrying ,bottling up all our fears ,loose sleep, be moody,or we can pray about those things that we are worrying about. Next we are told to, /Tell God what you need/now prayer is to be directed at God, after all , He alone is one who can help us [Psalm 120v1, reads/I took my troubles to the Lord. I cried unto Him, and He answered my prayers.] The result will be,/we will experience Gods peace, which exceeds anything we can understand/,and of course let us not forget to thank Him for answering our prayers.[ Dear Heavenly Father, you know us through and through, you know that we worry about so much,we ask that you will help us not worry ,help us to bring everything to You in prayer, in Jesus name Amen ]

No Glib answers. [ Psalms 119 v 105]

I have just found an old book in my library called,/ A mute Christian under the rod,/ by Thomas Brooks a puritan writer. The thing I like about the Puritans is how they dealt with lifes problems, they did not, give trite answers,or write glibly about suffering. We dont need trite answers when we are suffering, we need answers that will help us,that will instruct us. The puritans had Biblical answers, they were people who thought much of what Gods word taught, they meditated much on the word. They lived in different times, but there is nothing new under the sun, suffering, trials, difficulties, and death still happen, how are we to facing them?how can we cope?, are we murmuring, complaining?. Read godly mens writing, read and meditate on Gods word,and pray much. [Dear God we thank You for godly peoples ministries, help us hold fast to the truths that are taught to us by them, in Jesus name Amen ]