Jungle and grace . [Ephesians 2 v1-8 ]

As Tarzan said to Jayne, its a jungle out there,sad to say for many people ,out there is a jungle,life can be dirty ,damaging, and dangerous. Some of us are sheltered from the excesses, but we live in a sinful world,were one only has to scratch the surface, to reveal its real nature. Come to think of it I am a bit like that, as one man wrote ,we have the same blood running through our veins as those in Hell. Am I being a bit extreme?, read the lives of David and his son Solomon, read what Paul said in Romans 7 v 18-25 ,I know that nothing good lives in me, that is , in my sinful nature, but then he goes unto say, O wretched man that I am, Who shall deliver me from this body of death. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. William Plummer writes,/How amazing is that grace, which shall take away his divided heart, and gives him one heart, one mind, one will,as He has now one God , one Redeemer, one comforter..... Christ is our Salvation./[ Dear God thank You for saving us through Your Son Jesus Amen ]

A good day. [ Numbers 6 v24-26 ]

There is a song by Don Williams which I like ,it goes, /Lord I hope this day is good,Im feeling empty and misunderstood.I should be thankful, Lord I know I should, but Lord I hope this day is good/. If we are honest I am sure we all can identify with those words,there are days when we do feel empty and misunderstood, the important thing is , the Lord understands. The Psalmist felt like this[cp Psalm 42/43], so we are in good company, so let us pray our prayer of honesty,and grant it that the Lord ,may lift up the light of His countenance upon us, and bless us with a good day.[ Dear Lord Jesus we love You, and we know You love us,we ask that You would bless us with a good day today, Amen ]

No turning back. [ John 21 v20 -22 ]

Run with your vision,that is one of the great lessons of the Christian life, I am sure I have been judged as being foolhardy, in my time as I stepped out ,into the vision God had placed on my heart. To go where others to not see ,or do not want to be, but thats what one has to do, follow what God has put on ones heart. Our Saviour was rebuked by Peter, because He had told his disciples, of his forthcoming suffering, and death [Mark 8v31ff], you see that was Christ vision,consider the consequences of Him not fullfilling it,for the whole world, for you for me. In following Gods vision we will need courage and faith ,we must follow that star,and in doing so,we will be will be wise in the sight of God. May our prayer be,[ I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back. Though none go with me,I still will follow, no turning back, no turning back.Amen ]

Forgetting. [ Mark 8 v1-21 ]

In Mark 8 we read how Jesus performed a miracle,fed 4,000 people with just a few loaves and fishes,and yet shortly after this Jesus is rebuking His disciples, with the words ,/Dont you remember anything at all?/Now before we go judging the disciples, lets be honest,we are very like them, we forget so much of what the Lord teaches us,we even forget Him. We so quickly forget those times in the past in which God has undertaken for us,and in our forgetfulness we fret and worry. Today let us make an effort to remember what the preacher preached,what we have read from Gods word,and how God undertook for us in the past. He can still provide for us, open up a way for us, He has not changed,nor will He, try to remember, and as the Holy Spirit brings to remembrance,stop fretting and worrying, and start trusting. [Dear Lord forgive us for our sinful forgetfulness,stir us up to godly remembrances of all You have done for us and taught us,and help us to be at rest,Amen ]

Gods amazing choice. [1 Corinthians 1 v26-29 ]

When I was younger, I helped to manage a football team, and I can assure you that it is not easy,even at a junior level. One of the most difficult aspects of it was choosing the team, for it meant ,some would be left out,but the choices have to be made,for if you want a winning team ,you have to pick the best. In 1 Corinthians 1 v 26-29, we read how God made a choice,and it appears He choose ,not the best but the worst. He choose people whom the world consider foolish,He choose those who are weak,He choose those who are despised by the world, strange choice one would say. Who is the apostle writing of?,you and me, Gods amazing choice, in the words of an old gospel song, who am I?a nobody,it should keep us humble, and stop us from having airs about ourselves,and cause us to be very, very grateful. [ Merciful God we praise for choosing us nobodies, in Jesus name Amen ]

Loving and fearing God.[ Acts 5 v1-11]

I called in to see a friend yesterday,and he mentioned about some well known evangelist who had fallen into sin,this evangelist , who has since repented of his sin ,said that when he was sinning ,he still loved the Lord but he did not fear Him. One cannot stress enough the importance of having a fear of God,in these days there is a lack of balance,people major on the love of God, and exclude the fear of the Lord. In Psalm 111v10, we are told that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, our Saviour stressed the importance of fearing God[ Matthew 10v28],in Nehemiah 5v9 we read of walking in the fear of the Lord.Crudence in his concordance ,writes the following on the fear of the Lord,/ The fear of God ,means that reverance for God which leads to obedience because of ones realization of His power, as well as of His love to man /.[ Dear God help us to see the importance of having a proper attitude towards You, in Jesus name Amen ]

Blaming God. [ 2 Timothy 2 v24-26 ]

I was in conversation with someone yesterday, who has had a rough time in recent days,she was sharing with me a present difficulty, the difficulty of being patient. I said to her that one of the greatest lessons I have had to learn was patience, then she asked me how I managed that, I said by the grace of God. She was annoyed at my answer, as she is not a Christian, one senses she is carrying a lot of hurts,and possible blames God for many things. There are many people out there who are hurting,and are blaming God,we need wisdom and patience in dealing with them, and to pray much for them, only God and His grace,can help these people.[ Father in heaven ,we ask that You would have mercy on those people who are blaming You for their hurts,people who are resentful and angry, we ask this in Jesus name Amen ]