Strife or striving. [2 Corinthians 10 v1 ]

There are two words that come to my mind, Strife and striving, they appear very similar but they are not,but many Christians fail to see this. Strife has the meaning of ,anger, conflict,bitterness,discord and trouble. While striving has at its meaning ,making every effort,strain, struggle,trying hard,of bending over backward. Now let us apply these words into our Christian life,in Philippians 2 v3 ,we have this exhortation,let nothing be done through strife. Think of the word nothing ,today in your marriage ,in your family,in your driving,in your church, in your ,you get the picture.When we think of striving, consider the following, in 2 Timothy 2 v24, The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men. So today we are faced with a choice,to cause strife, or to strive to be gentle to all men. [Dear God help us to be controlled by Your Spirit, so that we bring harmony,and healing to those we come in contact with, in Jesus name Amen ]

Let go. [Philippians 3v 13-14 ]

I recently watched a movie about a man and a dog based upon a true story,the basis of the story is the loyalty of the dog to its owner. Everyday the dog would go to the train station with its master,he would go to his place of work ,the dog would then return home,then in the evening the dog would return to the station to wait for its master. Then one evening he never returned, he died,yet the dog from that moment on, still returned to the station, until the day it died, and outside that station there is a statue erected to that dog. I enjoyed the movie, but on reflection, I thought,would it not have been better ,for that dog to have moved on, to have accepted the death of its master. Often we are so like that dog, we refuse to move on, we hold on to so many things , instead of letting go of the past, the death of someone we loved dearly, let us ask the question to ourselves,what am I holding unto, that is affecting my life and my relationship with others, and my relationship with my Lord?.[ Dear God help us all, to let go , and to move on, in Jesus name. Amen ]

The end is coming [ 2 Peter 3 ]

I am sure most of us are firmilar with the cartoon, of the man carrying a placard with the words on it that read,/The end is nigh/.no one takes it very serious. Well there are those who do think that the end is nigh,or could be, scientist, I have just read a little article on the internet of five ways the world could end.Here they are ,solar storms ,pole shift,super volcano eruptions,global warming,and lastly ,meterorites and asteroids. So this a cherry thought to start the day, the end is nigh, I do agree that the end of the world as we know it ,will come to an end.The Bible tells us of a new heaven and a new earth,in the book of Isaiah 65v17, we read,/For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and in the book of Revelation 21v1, we read,/And I saw a new heaven and a new earth,for the first heaven and the first earth, were passed away/. There is much that one could write on this subject, the most important thing connected to this event,is the coming back of Jesus.Now we dont know when this will happen [Acts 1v7 ], the main thing ,is to be ready, by knowing Jesus as your Saviour, when we do ,all will be well. [ Dear God we thank You that we have nothing to fear, whatever the future holds, be it the end of the world as we know it,or the end of our lives ,if we know Jesus as our Saviour Amen ]

Fatherless [ John 1v 12-13 ]

I have only faint memories of my father,because early in life my mother and father seperated, so I grew up without the benifite of a fathers love,now this is very common. I had no contact with my father whatsoever, although I often saw him as he lived close to where I lived, near the end of his life I tried to make to make contact, but failed, I prayed for him each day mainly for his salvation. Today let us remember those children, who have no contact with their fathers,the pain that many may feel, the need they may feel, for on the whole, children do need fathers. So what does one do if one has an absentee father ,or a father has died?, well what did I do?,well early in my life, while lying in bed as a child an awareness came upon me that I had a heavenly Father, one I could not be seperated from, one who would care for me,have time for me. Today as you read this ,you can know my heavenly Father, he can become your Father,by accepting His son Jesus to be Your Saviour,Jesus the son of God, became the son of man, that we may become sons of God.[ Dear God I thank you that all can know You as Father through Jesus Thy son, Amen ]

Finish. [ Hebrews 12 v 2 ]

If I have an underlining desire, it is this ,to finish my Christian life as the apostle Paul did,he wrote the following words shortly before he died, [tradition has it that he was beheaded] I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith[ 2 Timothy 4 v7]. That is my desire, what a heartache to fail in this, I went to Bible colllege,things were difficult, money was so scarce, one day my principal spoke to me. He said he would understand if I had to give up ,he meant well,but I didnt give up ,I finished my course, yes with joy I finished it. There are always reasons to give up, yes legitimate reasons,there was legitimate reasons for our blessed Saviour, to not go to Calvary, the dreadful suffering involved, inflicted upon Him by those He loved. The great and good news is ,He didnt give up ,and on that old rugged cross He cried out ,it is finished[John 19 v30 ],yes He finished the work of redemption. [Dear Lord ,You who finished the work of salvation,help me not to give up in following You,help me to finish my course with joy. Amen ]

With God it is possible. [ Mark 10 v 27 ]

The disciples could not grasp what Jesus was saying, He had declared how hard it was for a rich person to be saved[ Mark 10 v17-27]. Why is it ,in poor countries people appear to respond to the gospel,and in the prosperous west especially Europe,it appears a spiritual wilderness?. As I look at my neighbours with their homes ,cars, and there desire to get on materially. I understand what Jesus said, more and more, and one wonders ,who can be saved, who will be saved?, but thankfully Jesus did not stop at the difficulties, He went on to say, with God all things are possible. He reminds us to not stop at the difficulties, so many of us stop there,and wring our hands in despair, I have prayed for years and years for people to be saved, it looks like they will never be saved, yet I continue to pray,to the God of the impossible,believeing as Jesus said that with Him all things are possible. So today as we see the difficulties, of materialism, or whatever, dont despair, God can save the rich and the poor.[ Dear God we bring to you our friends, neighbours,family and others ,who are blind to their true need,of Jesus, and ask that You would save , Amen]

Looking at life differently. [ Psalm 23 ]

A young man was talking to me yesterday,life for him it appears is so difficult, he appears to think that my generation had it so much easier. I dont think so, I can assure you that it is not true, life for every generation has its problems. As a Christian I can look back on my life ,when I was child, being brought up in a one parent family,life was hard,when I got married , wages were small, then I went to Bible college ,very little money to live on, often the cupboard was empty of food.Serving God as a minister, for a small wage in a small congregation,then my dear wife died , leaving me with four children. In all these things and more ,I want to testify to Gods faithfulness,I am not bitter,but grateful to a loving God.The thing that makes life better and not bitter is having Christ with me, knowing that He is with me in every situation. I can look back and see His hand in all my life, preserving me,providing for me, protecting me, in the words of the hymn, all the way my Saviour leads me,what have I to ask beside.[ Dear Lord thank You for Your faithfulness,thank You that when we come to know You as Saviour, we can look at life differently, and rightly. Amen]