Give thanks.[ Ephesians 5 v20]

Sometimes we forget to say thank you, especially to God, it is legitimate to ask, but it is important to say thank you, to Him. Stop for a moment this day and say ,thank You God, for Jesus , think of all we have been blessed through Him, Chosen,forgiven, a relationship with God,justified, a reciever of the grace of God, the mercy of God, a home in Heaven, saved from Hell. Then there are the blessings in life, food ,fresh drinking water,no shortage, clothes ,shoes,a bit of money, holidays, the ability to do so many things. Then there is Gods protection , and so it goes on, and on ,and on, I know there are the difficulties in life, but I also know that all things, let me repeat this, all things , are working together for the child of Gods good, so today let us lift our voices, and hearts and say ,thank You God . [Dear God we raise our hearts and voices to You in thanksgiving,for loving us, and blessing us in Jesus. Amen ]

Uncertain riches. [Luke 16 v16-21 ]

I just saw on the news that a pensioner lost 80 thousand pound, he had put it on the roof of his car,it was his lifes saving, I do feel for him. Yet this story illustrates the truth being taught in 1Timothy 6v17 , of not trusting in uncertain riches, money is like many things , here today gone tomorrow. A few years ago I was talking to my cousin who lives in Dublin, the Irish economy was thriving, and He mentioned how people were just focused on that, they were living just at the level of financial gain. What the vast majority of people where doing was trusting in uncertain riches,now what have they got ?,a country on the brink of financial meltdown. No matter who we are let us learn the important lesson of not trusting in uncertain riches. Our Saviour told the story of a rich farmer who trusted in uncertain riches, and in a moment he lost all, and God called that man a fool,Christians need to remind themselves continually ,that God is their security, and if we are not Christians, to realize the folly of living just on a material level, Jesus said what does it profit a man if they gain the whole world and loose their souls[ Matthew 16 v25 ff] [Dear God help me never to loose sight ,that my security is in you, and You alone, and in knowing Jesus as my Saviour Amen ]

Precious blood of Christ. [ 1 Peter 1 v 18-19]

In 1Peter ,it mentions the word precious, in chapter one, we read that we have been redeemed [1v18-19], why redeemed ?well it reminds us that in our unsaved state we were as slaves, W Barclay, says this involved three things,[1] A life of ignorance. [2]A life dominated by desire. [3]A life characterized by futility. We were in the slave market,Peters readers would have fully understood what that meant,living in a time when slavery was common, Peter reminds us that we who were once slaves have been purchased and set free. In the normal course of events a slave would be set free if someone paid a price, silver or gold, but Peter is writing of us being set free spiritually. That redemption involved a greater price to be paid, silver or gold has no value in Gods sight,no, it needed something of more value, if we were going to be rescued from the slave market of sin,the precious blood of Christ. Through His death on the cross He was paying the price of our redemption,we are not redeemed with siver or gold, but with His precious blood. [ Dear God thank You for Jesus who shed His precious blood to redeem me . Amen ]

Be ye holy[ Psalm 139 v 23-24 ]

I wonder do you like a challenge?, well here is one that no Christian can op out of, /Be ye holy/[Leviticus 20v7],what does it mean to be holy?. Well I believe it means two things,to refrain from anything that is evil,and to seek to aspire after God, to love Him with our whole being. We live in a world of changing standards, and sometimes as Christians we loose sight of the important fact that ,we must march to the beat of a different drum. The ten commandments are not reduntant, [Exodus 20], nor is the teaching of the sermon on the mount[ Matthew 5-7]. While we must be careful not to judge others, we must judge ourselves.[ 1 Corinthians 11v31],we must be senstive to the Holy Spirit, that we do not grieve Him.Within everyone of us , God has placed a conscience,,we need to take heed to it more often than we do.When we do sin as we will[1 John 1 v8] then we must confess our sins to God,and seek His forgiveness, which He has promised to grant us[1 John 1v9][ Dear God help me by Your grace to be holy as You are holy, in Jesus name. Amen ]

The waiting game. [ Psalm 40 ]

I am sure we all have had the experience of tired of waiting, to the point that we give up, this is understandable in many cases,but not in the case of the Lord. Psalm 40v1 reads ,I waited patiently for the Lord,one of the most important aspects of our relationship with God , is trust, and along with that ,patience. If God has given us a promise we must trust God to fulfill it, and often it involves been patient, the promise is all we have to go on, but God who cannot lie will fulfill it.[ Titus 1 v2 ]God promised Abram that he would have a child by Sarah,and instead of waiting, for God to work ,they became impatient,and they leaned upon their own understanding, and acted in a way that was not in accordance with Gods purpose. Inspite of this God was faithful and fulfilled His word, but this account is a reminder for us all ,to be patient, and to trust God to fulfill His word to us.[ Dear God help me to be patient, help me to trust you to fulfill Your word to me , in Jesus name Amen ]

What can we do?. [Psalm 34]

Winter is closing in fast, I have heard the word snow mentioned on the weather forecast, it is enough to make make one shiver, still I have warm clothes, a warm home, and a warm car.We cannot do much about the weather, I suppose we can complain, but what good will that do?, none. Lets face it there are things we cannot do anything about, things we cannot change,the weather is one of those things. So the question is this ,what can we do, with the things we cannot change, our age,our health,our circumstances?.We can become descouraged, and even bitter,or we can look up,that is a simple thing to do ,or so it seems, but sometimes we forget ,or find it hard to do,but it is the most positive thing we can do, we can look up,and remind ourselves that ,our help comes from the Lord [Psalm121 v1-2 ].We can also look at Gods word,for in that wonderful book the bible, there are words of instruction, and words of encouragement, especially in the book of the Psalms, if we are letting things get us down read Psalm 34,pray over it meditate upon it. [Dear God help me to look to You today,and help me to see that You are with me, inspite of those things I cannot change, in Jesus name Amen ]

The travelling people. [ Hebrews 11v 8-16 ]

The only way for the Christian is forward, if we are Christians there can be no going back or even looking back [ Luke 9 v62 ],onward ever onward must be our motto, we are strangers and pilgrims ,[Hebrews 11v 13 ]. We have Jesus saying these words Follow Me, if we are following we are on the move, though none go with us ,still we must follow. We are travellers on a journey, and our destination is heaven,people on the move, the book by John Bunyan , Pilgrims progress, illustrates the nature of the journey we are on, do read it.The first thing we must do on our Journey is to keep our eyes on Jesus,[ Hebrews 12 v 2], next we must persevere, this is set out in a hymn by J. Bunyan, which reads,/ He who would valiant be , gainst all disaster, let him in constancy follow the Master. There,s no discouragement shall make him once relent , his first avowed intent to be a pilgrim./[ Dear God grant me the grace I need this day , and every day to follow Thy Son Jesus . Amen ]