Telling others about Jesus. [2 Timothy 4 v1-6]

Life has its seasons, young ,middle and old age, the years have their seasons, spring ,summer,autumn, and winter, and even sport has it seasons. In 2Timothy 4v2 ,we read,/Preach the word, be instant in season,out of season/, these words were written to a minister of the Gospel, but they are words for all of us who love Jesus. William Barclay, writes on this,/ The Christian must count every time an opportunity to speak for Christ,[A quote by a Theodore of Mospeuestia]he goes on to say,/This does not mean that we will not choose our time to speak, for there is a courtesy in evangelism as there is in every human contact, but it does mean that it may well be that we are far to shy in speaking to others about Jesus Christ./[ Dear God help me to tell others about Jesus, help me to overcome my shyness, or whatever is holding me back, for Christ sake we ask this Amen]

Help me.[Philippians 4 v13 ]

Help me are the two words I use when I pray , help me to be holy, help me with a given task, help me not to worry, help me to trust, help me to forgive, help me physical. These two words indicate a dependance on God to help , and rightly so,because I know that I am weak, and I need His help. People want to be independant, especially young people,they resent their parents authority,the story of the prodigal son [ Luke 15], shows the worse example, of a young man, who wanted to be independant, free to do what he wanted, what a mess he made of it. As Christians we need to be dependant on God, we need His help, if we are foolish enough to throw of our dependance on God, and reject His help, we need not be surprised, if things eventually go pear shaped. Let the words of Annie Sherwood be our prayer today.[ I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord,no tender voice like thine can peace afford. I need thee , O I need Thee, every hour I need Thee. O bless me now my Saviour, I come to Thee. Amen ]

Investing. [ Matthew 6 v 24-34]

There is a term called the south sea bubble, it originated in the 18th century, a company called ,the South Sea Company was formed, and people invested in it heavily, expectations grew. Kenneth Morgan writes in his illustrated history of Britain./The bubble grew steadily ,encouaging still more fraudulent bubbles in even more implausible projects as it grew.When confidence eventually failed and the bubble burst the consequences were catastrophic/. All to firmilar story,mankind never appears to learn from their past mistakes, Jesus spoke of investing, in the bank heaven, this is what He taught,/Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth,.......... But lay up treasures in heaven [Matthew 6 v19 - 20 ]. Let us remember our security is in God,who on a coming day will reward us for all we have invested in His kingdom, Martin Luther said we are saved by faith alone , but the faith that saves us is never alone.So today let us all invest in our Saviours Kingdom, with our time, talents and money.[ Dear God help me to invest in Your Kingdom ,for the sake of Jesus my Saviour Amen ]

My forever Friend.[ Hebrews 13 v 5 ]

I went to the cinema last night to see Toy Story 3 I must confess I was tired and felt like leaving half way through, but I didnt, I stayed and watched the whole movie. I will share with you what I got from this movie , not a lot, but there was a point in the movie when, Andy the owner of the Toys is leaving to go to College, and so he decides to give his toys to a young girl. Well he is handing over his toys, and when he comes to hand over his favourite toy Woody, he says to the young girl, /The thing about Woody is he never gives up on you, and he is with you no matter what./ Now he was speaking of his favourite toy, but you know there is someone I know who of course is not a toy, but a real person, I have known Him a long time, and He has never given up on me, and He has stayed with me, no matter what, His name is Jesus, He is as the Gospel hymn says my forever friend, I wonder do you know Him ?. [ Dear God we thank for Jesus who can become my forever friend Amen ]

Grow up.[1 Corinthians 13 v11]

When I was a child I loved going to the cinema, it was a place of escape for me, I remember , Flash Gordon, Hopalong Cassidy,and many others ,I still like going to the cinema occasionally. Also from an early age I loved to read, I remember reading ,Huck finn, and the adventures of Tom Sawyer, all these things entertained, like going to the circus, or the fun fair,they played a big part in my growing up. When we become Christians we are babes in Christ but of course we are meant to grow up, to move on , to become more mature, in our thoughts and manner. In writing to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul challenges the Christians to grow up, they where still acting like children in their behaviour, he speaks of them , being riddled with envy,strife and divisions, as being carnal.[ 1 Corinthians 3 v2-3]. In 2 Peter 3 v18 we are exhorted to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. [ Dear God help me to grow up spiritually,to keep growing until You take me home to glory, in Jesus name Amen ]

Guidance. [ Psalm 48v 14 ]

I wonder what you think about guidance?, as I look at my life history, being guided by God has been to the forefront of my life. Even now I am faced with a situation and I am praying for God to guide me,now of course God has promised to guide His children. How does God guide?, His word,His Spirit, seems simple, but often it isnt,one thing we can say about guidance is, we must ask God to guide. On reflection,one way God guided me was by shutting doors,so many times I have sought to move forward, and the way was closed to me, I want to stress that shut doors ,are just as much Gods guidance as open doors.[Acts 16v7]. The shut door may cause one pain, but best to accept it, and move on, I have no pat answers as to guidance, one think for sure God will not lead us to do anything that contravenes ,His word, but He does expect us to obey His word, and do His will.[ Dear God please guide me in all things, in Jesus name Amen ]

Total harmony. [ Romans 12 v1-2]

Jesus never stepped outside the Fathers will, never once did He speak outside what God wanted Him to speak,never once did He not do, what God wanted Him to do. His life was in total harmony with the Fathers,and so everything He spoke and did ,pleased His Father.[Matthew 3v 17] Jesus says to those who are His, follow Me, and that is the challenge of the Christian life, to live a life of perfect harmony with God, always speaking what He wants us to speak, always doing what He wants us to do.In a hymn by Clara Scott, each verse reads,/Open my eyes,Open my ears,Open my mouth, Open my mind,she wants every aspect of her being to be in harmony with God. In this world ,that is in rebellion to God ,to live in total harmony with our God and Saviour is to open ourselves up to being misunderstood, they put Jesus on a cross. In the last verse of the Hymn Clara realizing what it may mean, responds by saying,/what shall I fear while yet Thou dost lead/.Lets be honest we all have fears especially if something is going to cost us ,when we take up our cross daily and follow Jesus, there will be a cost, yet if He is leading, we have nothing to fear.[ Silently now I wait for Thee, ready my God, Thy will to see, open my eyes , illumine me, Spirit divine. Amen ]