Survival .[ Lamentations 3 v 22 ]

How do the birds survive when it snows?, with great difficulty I am sure ,but on the whole they do, there will still be a bird population, come summer.One looks at humanity and wonders how have we survived, wars ,disease, crime, how ?, as I look at my own life, and the difficulties one has had to face from childhood, how have I survived?. How indeed, the answer as far as I can see is God,there can be no other explanation, God. Even though man has turned their backs on Him, chosen other gods, God who is merciful and continues to pour out His love, on us all, that is a statement of faith. Without faith it is so easy to be skeptical, faith in God is not a head in the sand experience, it is rather, looking beyond the natural, with all its difficulties, as P Yancey writes,/Evil reigns in the visible world,presenting itself brazenly and in your face/. But by faith we see a God who is at work inspite of evil,and in the person of His Son, triumphed, in the strangest of ways, on a cross. [ Dear God help us to enter the way of faith, and to walk in it daily, in Jesus name. Amen ]

Death of a Christian. [John 10 v 27 -30 ]

I have just heard that a dear Christian I know has died, he had cancer,I knew that he was near the end, but was affected when I was told of his death. It is right that we sorrow when a person dies,I feel in this country, we do not take this into consideration enough. As a Christian we realize that death is not the end, for that dear Christian ,we know that he is with the Lord which is far better [ Philippians 1 v23 ], for those who are not saved ,it is far worse. How vital it is to know Christ, in life and in death, to have the wonderful assurance that when death comes ,we need not fear [Psalm 23v 4 ]. At this time of the year we rejoice in the coming of our dear Saviour, consider if He had not come, we would have no hope,in this life or the next, so let us rejoice at the birth of our wonderful Saviour, who has brought hope, to humanity. [ Dear God thank You for Jesus, who came from heaven, to bring us to heaven. Amen ]

Fear. [Matthew 10 v28 -31 ]

I read on the internet of a lady who has no fear,the part of her brain which relates to fear ,does not function, the result of this she puts herself in danger. We think would it not be great to be free from fear, not so ,fear can be a healthy thing,but it can also be an unhealthy thing. It is the unhealthy aspect of fear that we need to deal with, if we are children of God, we are not meant to be controlled by fear, fear of poverty, even fear of death, fear of the devil, fear of people, because God has promised to care for us, to protect us.Even as Christians we need to have a healthy fear of the Lord ,we are told that it is the beginning of wisdom [Psalm 111v10] ,it is an unhealthy aspect of the unsaved that they have no fear of the Lord [Romans 3 v18 ], one day that fear will kick in, [ Matthew 25 v41 ] [ Dear God help me to fear You, to walk in that fear, if I fear You ,I need fear nothing else in Jesus name Amen ]

Heaven here I come [John 14 v1-6 ]

I was watching a TVprogram, and in it,a long lost sister returns home, and as she comes up to the family home, there is a sign over the door ,which reads, /Welcome home Beth/. This made me think of heaven, my homeland,and I found myself thinking,will there be a sign up that says welcome home Billy?,I hope so. While this life is important,and we all should see it as important, yet there is a greater reality, heaven,of which every child of God is a citizen [Philippians 3 v20 ]. I dont appreciate those words by John Lennon, /Imagine theres no heaven/,because there is a heaven ,a land that is fairer than day, and by faith I can see it afar, and one day soon I am going there,and in the words of an old hymn, Oh that will be Glory for me ,Glory for me Glory for me ,when by His grace I shall look on His face that will be Glory, be Glory for me/, Heaven here I come.[ Dear heavenly Father, I thank you that I am Your child , and that one day I am going to Heaven, to be with You ,and Your dear Son Jesus Amen ]

Who cleared up?.[ John 13 v 3-17 ]

I was looking at my daughter-in laws blog ,and on it she asked a question, who did all the clearing up after after Jesus fed the 5.000? well the answer is the disciples. [John 6v 12] The fact of the matter is ,being a servant is part of being a Christian, we do need ,to some extent be like Martha,without the complaining.[ Luke 10v 38-42 ]. My serving is mainly connected with my work, I work with people with mental illness,but I also serve in my home ,have I a servants heart?. We are all called to serve in different ways, we must not judge others, but just get on with what we have to do [ Romans 14 v10-12 ] Our dear Saviour said that true greatness is to be found in serving[ Luke 22v26],the poet said something interesting ,that those whose stand and wait can be also be considered servants. Our Saviour did not only talk about serving ,He practiced what He preached [ John 13 v 3-17 ], let us follow in His footsteps. [ Dear God help me to be servant, be it at the sink,or in the pulpit, in Jesus name Amen ]

Dross. [1 Corinthians 3v 11-15 ]

As I was praying this morning ,I found myself saying ,Lord hear my prayer inspite of the dross, for when I pray often my mind wanders to inappropriate things. Dross ,there is so much of it in our lives ,in our conversations ,in so many things, of course there is coming a time when ,all the dross will be burnt up [1 Corinthians 3 v 11-15 ]. On that day ,perfect judgement will take place, I wonder what will survive the fire, well ,we will see, but in the meanwhile let us ask God to help us to aim for excellence. Now of course I am not talking about being saved, nothing we can do will save us [Ephesians 2 v 8-9 ], no I am pointing us to that day when ,our Lord will reward us, when all our service will be seen for what it is. Let us not despair at our shortcomings, let us by the grace of God, press on towards our eternal goal, unward ever upward. [ Dear Lord purify me from the dross in my life,help me not to grow complacent, but ever strive for heavenly excellence, in Your name we ask this Lord Jesus Amen ]

Disruptions [ Romans 8 v28 av ]

I found myself asking the question why the disruptions in life ?, a sudden accident, a change in circumstances,an earthquake.I have a picture in front of me of a group of elderly believers who have been forcibly ejected from their church premises, and then the building was demolished. The question arises as to why these disruptions, why cant things just go on quietly,yes often they do, but there is an uncertainty in life.For the Christian disruptions are often difficult to handle, just like anybody else, a person I know was out in her husbands car and she had an accident, I am told she cried for two days, the accident was not her fault. Yes we dont like disruptions,but they happen, so what are we to do?, the answer is trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not unto our own understanding. [Proverbs 3 v5] [ Dear God as I look at life, my own included ,I ask the question why the disruptions,and yet I know that Your way is perfect, help me to trust in Your perfect will for my life,in Jesus name Amen ]