Easter cards. [ Luke 12 v49 -53 ]

I was annoyed yesterday, I was in an Asda,s store , and was looking for an Easter card, but all I could find was cards with the Easter bunny on them,and other rubbishy things. I supposed they are trying to be politically correct, I wonder what is political correctness?, is it trying to mould us into a society that accepts what everyone does,and seeks to play down our differences,yes and to put down, any who appear to create waves. Where did this political correctness come from? not from God, thats for sure, but then the times we live in ,is a secular age. As a Christian I am called to be tolerant, but not tolerant of sin , or error,not tolerant of those who would try to stop me sharing my faith. Jesus is Lord, not political correctness, and it is Him we must obey, even it makes those around us uncomfortable. [ Dear God help us not to be squeezed into the mould of the society we live in,help us to live for You, to be light in this dark world, to be salt in this corrupt world, in Jesus name. Amen

Sacrifice. [ Revelation 5 ]

His dad cleaned loos to fund his dream,so read the words in a national newspaper,referring to the sacrifices Rory Mcllroys parents made for their son, in order for him to play goal. Rory who is only 21 nearly won the Masters,nearly, but in time I am sure he will. To succeed in life it takes sacrifice, success does not just happen, it involves sacrifice, if you want to be concert pianist, or a ballet dancer, or even an artist, there are no short cuts, practice, practice ,practice, work ,work,work. Rorys parent made sacrifices for their son , why ?because they loved him. We are Christians because someone made the ultimate sacrifice for us, His name is Jesus, why?, because He loved us, as Rory things of his success, he looks at his parents, and thinks I owe it all to them. As Christians we are blessed with so much,we have been forgiven,welcomed into the family of God,and one day we will stand in glory,transformed , exalted, and for ever blest, and we owe it all to one person, Jesus.[ Dear God we thank You for Jesus who sacrificed His all for us. Amen ]

An antidote to fear. [Psalm 91 ]

Recently I have had a few near misses when driving,only yesterday a car could have crashed into me, yes driving is a hazardous activity.But of course many aspects of life are dangerous, there are many accidents in homes, in work places, one wonders are there ,is there, any totally safe places?. If we dwell to much on the dangers ,we would not get up out of bed,and yet consider how many people die in bed. Let us not be driven by such fears,or controlled by fear, of anything ,save the fear of the Lord. Is there an antidote to fear?, yes trust in the Lord,we read these words in Psalm 91[ Do read this Psalm it will quell your fears], in verse 2 , /I will say of the Lord ,He is my refuge and my fortress ,my God, in Him will I trust/. Here we have a statement that declares his confidence in the Lord,let us follow his example, let us declare this,and let us trust and not be afraid. [ Dear God let us not be controlled by fear, grant us grace to put our confidence , and trust in You , in Jesus name, Amen ]

Do it. [ Matthew 7 v21-29 ]

The word of God continually stresses the importance of ,not just hearing ,but doing,and acting on what we hear. As a preacher who has preached many sermons,it is nice when one recieves a compliment, a word of encouragement,but if the person who gives you the compliment, or word of encouragement does not act on what they have heard, whats the point.James in his often misunderstood epistle puts it like this,/but dont just listen to Gods word. You must do what it says. Otherwise you are only fooling yourselves.For if you listen to the word and dont obey, it is like glancing at your face in the mirror. You see yourself, walk away and forget what you look like. [ 1 v22-24 ] Our Saviour said,/ blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it/. Forget about whither the preacher gave a nice sermon, or he used the right translation,concentrate on obedience,not just being a good listener, but one who acts on what they have heard. [ Dear God help us to be a doer of Your word in Jesus name .Amen ]

Brain food.[ Philippians 4 v 8 ]

Food for the brain ,oily fish,fruit, vegetables, cocoa, nuts,seeds,and green tea,all these are supposed to be ,food for our brains,so read the article on the inter-net.Now I am not an expert on the things that may be good for our brains, but I do believe that the word of God is good for our brains. I believe that there are a lot of things that are not good for our brains.It would be a good exercise for us all to write down a list of things that we think on,that are in fact damaging to our brains.Let us be severe with ourselves,let consider what our minds take in ,the wrong thoughts that we dwell on,there are millions of people who are feeding their minds on sexual perversion, hate for others, covetousness ,self-centredness, etc. In Psalm119v78 we read, I will meditate on your precepts, the question is ,will we make that choice?,he says, Iwill, it is an act of the will, we are responsible ,for what we think and dwell on,it is our choice,what will you choose, what will I choose today?.We will end with the words of a hymn by Benjamin Beddome./ O grant us grace,Almighty Lord,to read and mark Thy holy word. Its truths with meekness to recieve,and by its holy precepts live, Amen/

Thank You Lord. [ Acts 16 v31 ]

In 1709 the home of the Rev Samuel Wesley,the father of Charles and John was set on fire, he was not liked. This was the second time this had happened, but this time young John was in the house, and it looked like he was going to perish in the fire,but fortunately he was rescued. Later his mother had a painting done of him with the words from Zechariah 3 v2,on it, which reads /Is this not a brand plucked from the burning/. These words can be written over the lives of every Christian, they are solemn reminders ,that God in His great mercy has saved us from everlasting burning. Today let us lift our voices in praise to God ,for saving us from a lost eternity,Oh to grace how great a debtor, daily I am constrained to be. Let the words by ,Seth and Betty Sikes be our daily prayer./ Thank You Lord for saving my soul, thank You Lord for making me whole,thank You Lord , for giving to me ,Thou great salvation so rich and free. Amen/

I wish. [Genesis 50v20/ Romans 8 v28 ]

I wonder have you ever heard yourself saying ,I wish, in relation to to some action or decision that you made,and you think ,I wish I had not taken that decision ,or action. Take Joseph there must have been a moment when He may have said,I wish I had not found my brothers,that fateful day,when my father sent me to see if they were well [Genesis 37v14]. Or on that other occasion when he went into his masters house,and was propositioned by his masters wife.[Gen 39v11],he did the right thing, and yet ended up in jail. I am certain that there are many of us and as we look at our lives, we see occasions when we think ,I wish . The fact of the matter is we cannot change the past,those actions ,decisions we have taken, but what can we do?. Well if we are a child of God, let us not despair,let us not act in a way that may cause us more pain, and take heart, from the words of Joseph, when speaking to his brothers, God meant it unto good[Gen 50 v20 ].[ God and Father,help us not to keep wishing our lives away, because of the past,help us to trust You to overrule in all things for our good, in Jesus name Amen ]