How to cope. [ Psalm 27 ]

I love the Psalms ,I love reading them ,studying them ,preaching them, I was looking at Psalm 27 this morning, and it fitted my mood, it is a Psalm by David the man after Gods own heart. David it appears had to face difficulties all his life, as a shepherd boy he faced wild beasts, he then had to face a giant, then he had to fight against the Philistines. Next he had to face the murderous intent of king Saul, then later on he had to contend with his own son who wanted to kill him. If we are a Christian, we will have to face the world the flesh and the devil, this is ongoing, the Christian life is a battle, and a challenge, none of us are going to be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease.So how are we going to make it, how are we going to cope? well how did David cope? here is the answer,/ The Lord is my light, and my salvation, whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid. [Psalm 27v1] How did he cope? the answer was the Lord ,how are we going to cope? the answer is the Lord. [ Dear Lord Jesus help me to cope with the ongoing problems of life, help me to see that no matter how big the problems are, they are not bigger than You. Amen ]

Honest to God.[Psalm 142 ]

It is one of those mornings when some things are getting me down, I feel a degree of frustration, feel like tearing up a tissue, what does one do? well I suppose we could pray nice platitudes, pretend that everything is wonderful, or I could just tell God the way I really feel. People often use the term ,honest to God, affirming their truthfulness, lets take those words into our relationship with God, lets tell Him how we really feel, let us be trully honest to God. Let us not hide just how we feel,lets us tell Him that certain things are getting us down,let us pour out our hearts to Him, He can take it, in fact He wants to take it, He wants us to stop pretending. God already knows how we feel, He knows everything, but He wants us to be open with Him, and in that open heartedness He will speak and responed, I am not talking about rebellious complaining, but about honesty in our relationship with Him. [ Dear God help me to be honest with You at all times,help me to tell You whats on my heart, the pain caused by frustrating circumstances, things that never appear to improve,in Jesus name Amen ]

Dwelling. [ Psalm 91]

In Psalm 91v1 we read,/ He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty/. In these words we see that there is a place of safety, and security for all who make God their refuge, all who put their trust in Him. I must confess it does not take much to make me feel insecure, to worry and fret, when we let those feelings take over and run with them ,we loose our peace. He that dwelleth, we have a choice to make , am I going to rest in the Lord?, am I going snuggle up to Him,and let Him be my protector, my provider, my peace, the choice is ours.Let us remember in the words of Joseph Parker, that God holds the key of all unknown, and if other hands should hold the key ,of if He trusted it to me, I might be sad.[ Father in heaven, help me to never forget that You are my security,help me to live in Your presence today and always, in Jesus name. Amen ]

Four things we must do. [ Psalm 37 ]

In Psalm 37 v 3-7 ,we are told 4 things that we should do[i] Trust in the Lord and do good, and if we do, we will be secure and supplied. [ 2] Delight thyself also in the Lord, is He your delight?, is He mine?if He is He will give us the desires of our heart. [3] Commit thy way unto the Lord,trust also in Him, run not before Him ,commit all to Him,and trust Him to undertake, He will. [4] Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently,dont panic, dont fret, rest,wait,He will come to your aid His timing is perfect. [ Dear God help me to hear what You are saying, and help me to obey , in Jesus name. Amen ]

Willing to change. [ Philippians 3 v13 ]

There is change happening in the church I attend ,I believe it is for the best, the church is not growing, and will eventually die of, and just be a memory.I remember visiting Turkey years ago, and going to the site of the ancient city of Ephesus, all there is there, is ruins, no people no church. Turkey is in fact a Muslin country, what went wrong? I dont know, could it happen here?, yes it could, whats the answer?to be willing to be led and guided by God. This applies to us as a church, and to us as individuals, the purpose of Christ coming into the world was to bring change,for sinners ,to become saints,and for those saints to be Gods instruments to bring change where He has placed them. As I said it is all about change, for us not to be yesterdays people, to not live in the past, the past is history, reminding us of what God did do,let us put away our history books, and let us move forward into what God will do now.[ Dear God help us to be willing to change ,to accept change, and to be your instruments ,that will bring change in Jesus name. Amen ]

The whys and hows. [Romans 8v28]

I wonder why, about many things,or even how, how does a magnet word ?or how does electricity work?, or how did Noah and family cope with living in the ark, it must have been a very smelly place with all those animals.[ As I clean birds mess of my car , I often thing ,thank goodness that elephants cannot fly]The whys and hows of life are unending ,and often we may never know the answers,but some cause us pain, particular the whys in life. As I write, some whys come to mind, why was I not allowed to be the missionary, I wanted to be, I did all the right things,went to Bible college.Why? ,yes there are the whys , but what about the hows?,so we could go on, but in the end we must simply leave all these things with God. Whatever the whys or hows, let us remember our loving heavenly Father is in control ,and that all things are working together for our good[ Romans 8v28 ], we may ask how?but the fact is He does and will. [ Dear God in faith we look up to You, we believe that You are in control of our lives, and so we let drop at Your feet our whys and hows ,in Jesus name. Amen ]

The wind of change. [ Acts 2 v 1- 4 ]

It was Harold Macmillon who spoke of the wind of change blowing over Africa,many in that continent resisted that wind of change, but to no avail, it happened. As I look at the church in England ,see it diminishing more and more, it is as if a wind of change is blowing over this country. The forces of secularism ,materialism,atheism and many other isims are in the ascendancy, people are being swept along in a blind mad rush ,oblivious to their to real need, and oblivious to their fate. What is the answer for us who are part of another kingdom?,well we need to be concerned, but more than that ,we need to seek God , and be guided ,by the Spirit of God. We need to pray that the Spirit of God may be out poured upon us,and begin to weep for ourselves, and for the lost. [ Dear God we feel so weak ,and yet we realize, that the need of the hour is great, millions upon millions of souls are lost,in Thy mercy send forth the wind of Thy Spirit to bring change, in Jesus name and for His sake we ask this. Amen ]