A wake up call. [ Psalm 46 ]

Continually we are challenged as to where are security lies, things happened so quickly, they can make you feel very insecure. Just recently I have been taken by surprise by something, that has shaken me, but this also reminded me ,that my security lies in my God and Saviour. We Sing on Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand,but often in reality we have taken our eyes of Him. I could list a whole load of things that can cause us to lose sight of our Rock, but its only when those things whatever they are ,are threatened do we often get the message, and wake up to the reality that we have lost sight of where are security trully lies. Consider Job, Joseph, Jeremiah, men who lost everything, yet learned that only in God were they secure. We rejoice in the doctrine of eternal security, but many of us feel very insecure as to the here and now, today let us bring to our God all we feel threatened with, and trust in God to undertake,He will not fail us. [Father in Heaven in the midst of a changing world, we ask that You will help us, to trust only in You,to realize afresh that our security is in You and You alone, in Jesus name we ask this Amen]

The law of love.[ Matthew 22 v34-40 ]

I was struck with a reading from the Message in Romans 13v8ff/ Dont run up debts, except for the huge dept of love you owe each other. When you love others, you complete what the law has been after all along. The law code- dont sleep with another person,s spouse, dont take someone,s life,dont take what isnt yours,dont always be wanting what you dont have, and any other dont, you can think of- finally adds up to this. Love other people as well as you do yourself. You cant go wrong when you love others. When you add up everything in the law code, the sum total is love./ [Dear God help me to grasp more and more what it means to love, and help me to put it into practice in Jesus name Amen ]

Feel like flying away?. [Psalm 55 ]

I was born in Belfast, Belfast was bombed in the second world war, it was a time of fear, when the sirens sounded ,warning of an airraid ,people ran for cover. I remember being told how my family ran to what was known as the Castlereagh hills for safety, I was not born then, but one can appreciate the panic and fear that, gripped the people. David the Psalmist was not immune from fear sometimes it took over, and he prayed,/Oh that I had wings like a dove,for then I would fly away, and be at rest[ Psalm 55v6] . David expresses deep feelings in this Psalm ,we read words like, terror, fearfulness,trembling,and horror,and his desire was to flee, and if only I had wings I would fly away, he cries. Well who can blame him, or judge him , not me, for I know only to well how easy it is to feel what David felt at least in part . As we precede down the Psalm, we see David gradually changing his focus to God to undertake, he asks that God would deal with those who are threatening him. Then He declares words of comfort and assurance,/ Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee, He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.[v21] Whatever difficulties we may be facing,let us express our feelings honestly to God,look to Him,and leave it to Him to undertake with the difficulties, cast everything upon Him,and be assured He shall sustain us. [Dear God I must confess that so often I feel like running away, because of problems and difficulties,right now I cast everything on You, and ask that You would sustain me ,in Jesus name Amen ]

Our most precioue possession. [ Mark 8 v34-38]

I wonder what you consider your most precious possession? well I believe the most precious possession we have is our soul. Consider what Jesus said,/ For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul [Mark 8 v36].Imagine ,if it was possible for you or I, to possess all the gold,silver,diamonds, money,oil, food etc, to be wealthier than Bill Gates, to see winnning the lottery as chicken feed. to be sitting on this mountain of possession, you have it all,you have your dream house, your dream wife / husband, you can satisfy every whim, and fancy. Jesus said if you have all that, and you lose your soul,its of no value because your soul is the most precious thing you possess, to lose it, means an eternity in Hell, to be shut out fr0m the presence of God, to be in that place where there is no reprieve, no early release.What we need if our soul is going to be saved and not lost is first of all to recognise our great need of Jesus ,to embrace Him as Saviour , to value Him more than anything else .[ Dear Lord Jesus forgive my blindness in not valuing my soul, as you value it,I ask that You would save my never dying soul Amen ]

Withheld from sinning. [ Matthew 6 v13 ]

In Genesis 20v6, we read,I also withheld thee from sinning, words spoken to God to a king, these words remind us how God can preserve us from sinning, although spoken to an heathen king, they have meaning to us who are following Jesus.In 2 Thessaloians 3v3 the apostle writes,/But the Lord is faithful, who shall etablish you, and keep you from evil/,in these word we are again reminded how God is preserving the way of His saints.[ Proverbs 2v8]We are all very weak and vulnerable, only God and His power can keep us ,the devil is active,the flesh our fallen nature is so prone to folly, and the world appears so alluring, who is sufficent?. The great apostle wrote,/ Not that we are sufficent of ourselves,.... but our sufficieny is of God/, yes he was the great apostle, but he also was chief of sinners,who ever we are, it matters not,as to our standing, we are not sufficent of ourselves to overcome all the evil temptations,that besets us . Our responsibility is to put our trust in God, to cry unto Him continually,and if we do He shall preserve us from all evil. [ Father be Thou ever near me to , keep me from sinning, preserve my way this day in Jesus name Amen ]

Chastening. [ Hebrews 12 v 5 - 13 ]

In revelation 3v19 we read ,/As many as I love , I rebuke and chasten/,no child likes the rod, no Christian enjoys being disciplined, and yet right throughout the scripture, we have the truth, of a loving heavenly Father,that chastises His Children. Why does God chasten us His children? because we need it, in Christ we are accepted by God,but there so many things in our personality, in our nature ,that are not acceptable.We all without exception have those bad habits, and tendencies that ,we cannot see,or refuse to see, but God see,s, so God deals with them.Jacob had his cheating, Moses had His temper,David had his lack of control, Peter had his rashness. Like them we all have something, no matter who we are, so God our Father, in love will chasten us, simply because we need it. [Dear Father, I admit I dont like being chastened, so today help me to accept the truth that ,that I need You to chasten me, because You love me, I ask this in Jesus name Amen ]

Trying or trusting. [ Romans 6 v23 ]

I try to edit my blog, but I find I usually miss something, it annoys me for I want to do it perfectly, and I realize it can be off-putting to my readers.I assembled a chest of drawers yesterday and did it perfectly,I also papered a bedroom, not totally pleased with the result. I also study for every sermon I preach, and when I preach it I am very conscience, when I make mistakes, I try for excellence continually, but fall short of it ,so often, but I will keep on trying.The Bible reminds us that no one lives a perfect life, no matter how much they try, and there are many who do try,there are even some ,who feel they do live a perfect life, but they dont. The word of God tells us clearly, that all,[ yes all ,that means you ,and me] have sinned and come short of the glory of God .[Romans 3 v23 ]. This is why Jesus came, He did live a perfect life,and His sacrificial death is what saves us, we can only be accepted by God, when we trust Him, and stop our futile efforts in trying to save ourselves, its not trying its trusting.[ Dear Lord Jesus,I give up my vain efforts to save myself, and trust you completly to save me, Amen ]