Go again. [ James 5 v 18 ]

Go again seven times, so reads the words of 1Kings 18v43, words spoken by Elijah to his servant, seven I am told speaks of perfection, in this case it also spoke of completness. As the servant obeyed and the prophet prayed, God answered prayer,there will be answers, when we obey, that means ,going again and again, to God in prayer. In this going again and again, we wil come to that point ,when God will grant an answer, remember there is a process that God is accomplishing in all this, will we be obedient? , will we persevere?, so today, go again.[ Dear God help us to obey You, to not give up, to not give into despair, to pray and persevere , in Jesus name Amen ]

Gods time table. [ 2 Peter 3 ]

I was thinking, [yes sometimes I do] about Gods timing, between the fall of man and Christs coming,was thousands of years, Israel was 400 yrs in Egypt ,before they were delivered. Abraham had to wait a long time before he had Isaac, if one thinks about it ,God keeps to His own timetable, and that often involves a waiting time, for His people. We see this continually in the scriptures, Gods timetable ,people waiting, for the waiting people, it involves patience [Psalm 40 v1],and most important faith. God gives a promise to us, before it is hatched, we will have to sit on it, to exercise both patience, and faith,until its fulfillment, it will happen . [ Dear God I ask that You will grant me the patience and faith I need in relation to those promises that You have given me in Jesus name Amen ]

Well done. [Matthew 25 v 14-30 ]

I spent the whole of yesterday decorating and laying a carpet, I thought I would complete the decorating quickly, but it was not to be, it took hours papering one wall, at one stage I felt like giving up. The problem being the wallpaper was so difficult to do, but in the end I completed the task, then I had to lay a carpet, thankfully we managed this. Before we begun all this we had clear the room, and then when we had finished ,bring all the stuff back again,we finished everything about 10pm. I then had a shower and went to bed exhausted, during the night, I woke up with cramps in my legs. This morning my dear wife said thank you ,for what you did, [she had helped, plus another], this reminds me of a coming day when as Chriatians,when all our service for the Lord is finished ,our Saviour will say ,well done, to hear that well done will make everything we have done for Him worth while. [ Dear God help us not to give up in following our Saviour, no matter how difficult things may be,help us to be faithful, until that day we hear from the lips of our Saviour ,well done, in His name we ask this Amen ]

The big challenge [ Romans 5 v 5]

Love one another, so said our Saviour, in fact He said this was an evidence that we are His disciples [John 13 v34-35 ],Im sure some fellow Christians find it hard to love me, and if I am honest there are some Christians whom I find it hard to love, yet the challenge is to love.It is John the apostle who writes most on love,Gods love for the world [John 3v 16 ], about loving not the world [1 John 2 v15][ Here the loving ,not the world ,is related to the wrong things in the world wrong attitudes, wrong emphases ,cp v16], loving God[1 John 2v5], loving God and keeping His word[John 14v23 ]. We started of on the importance of loving our fellow Christians,and it has led us to consider other aspects of love, the Christian life is founded in love, evidenced in love, manifested in love, this love does not compromise on truth or holiness. This love is beyond our natural selves, it can only be with the help and aid of Gods Holy Spirit, is it possible to love in the way we should.[ Dear God we acknowledge are total weakness to love as we should, we ask that You fill us with Your Holy Spirit right now , so that we can love, in Jesus name Amen ]

Overload. [ Galations 5 v16 -26 ]

Sometimes our minds gets filled with so much, we go into overload, so today let us stop being driven, and be led by the Spirit of God. Consider the pressures our dear Saviour was under, the sick who wanted healing, the religous Taliban who were out to get Him, and so many other pressures. Yet in spite of all the pressures He was under, He maintained His calm, and was not driven but led, His mind was focused on one thing, the will of God, and the glory of God[ John 17]. Today let us be like Jesus, let us be led not driven, let us be filled with the Spirit, not filled with anxiety, let us march to heavens beat, not the worlds, let us be still and know that He is God. [ Dear God as I face this day help me to be like Jesus, help me to experience Your peace and presence in all things in Jesus name Amen ]

Unclean language. [ Isaiah 6 v 5-7 ]

To speak or not to speak that is the question ,recently I attended a training course, the men who took the course were nice guys, and what they taught was great, but their language at times was inappropriate. Being a Christian one is conscious of bad words, but should one challenge this practice?, I am sure there is a place of pointing out the wrongness of certain language, but in doing so, one may come over as a holier than them person, I know that I am not perfect,even the prophet Isaiah acknowledged, that he was a man of unclean lips,[ filthy lips nlt]. I did not say anything to those men, I have prayed for them, and for my own speech, that nothing unclean may pass from my lips.[ Dear God help us to be holy in speech, in Jesus name Amen ]

The Jacob experience. [ 1 Timothy 4 v 8 nlt]

It was Jacob who said, all these things are against me [ Genesis 42v36], words of despair, as he considered his situation, he felt overwhelmed. We can be like Jacob, we are in situations that are very difficult, there appears no light at the end of the tunnel,no matter what we try nothing appears to change.Lets call it the Jacob experience,its not nice , but it happens, we cannot see a way out, we have prayed continually,but the situation continues. In this situation you feel like giving up,you say whats the use of going on, nothing is going to change. Ah ,but you are wrong you are changing, and hopefully for the better, it is Henrietta Mears who wrote,/Trials and suffering are not always for our punishment but sometimes for our education and training/. If we are going to be used by God, then He must train us, educate us, we are in Gods school, He is the headmaster, and He is preparing us for a life of service, so let us buckle down and learn. [Dear God help us to be teachable ,in Jesus name Amen ]