It is finished. [ John 19 v30 ]

One of the many things that amazes me about my Saviour is, how He never give up ,or allowed anything ,or anyone to distract Him from His ministry ,or mission. He even ministered on the cross to the dying thief, and inspite of all He had to suffer, He also fulfilled His mission ,the work of salvation,for you and for me. His final cry from that cross was a victory cry,it is finished[John 19 v30] Yes the work of salvation is finished, it is not what we do, but what He has done that saves. Have you trusted in Jesus and His finished work on the cross ?, or are you trying to save yourself?. The Gaithers wrote a song called it is finished, it depicts the battle that took place on Calvary, indeed the greatest battle of all time, everything depended on Jesus winning that battle,if He lost that battle then we would be lost, but praise God ,/It is finished the battle is over. It is finished there will be no more war. It is finished, its the end of the conflict.It is finished, and Jesus is Lord/.[ Dear Father we give You praise for Your dear son Jesus, the victorious Jesus, who finished the work of salvation Amen ]

Lost .[ John 10 ]

In Luke 15 we have a chapter dealing with being lost, to illustrate this ,our Saviour speaks of a sheep , a coin, and a son. The three had this in common they where all lost, in Isaiah 53 we read ,all we like sheep have gone astray, or as the Message puts it, /We,er all like sheep who,ve wandered off and gotten lost/.I was speaking to a person , and she said she did not see any point to life. What she was in fact saying, was, I am lost,sadly she does not see that ,and it is a fact that so many people do not see this , blinded by pride and stubbornness. The son who was lost ,had to experience ,loneliness,and humiliation before he came to his senses before he was willing to admit that he was lost, and before he could be found. When he did he was welcomed home by a loving father,who embraced him, clothed him, and restored him into his family, he even threw a party for him. Jesus said that He was not come to destroy lives, but to save them [Luke 9 v56 ], the hymn writer wrote, I once was lost but now am found, if you realize that you are lost, ask Jesus to save you, and He will. Here is a prayer that you could pray,[ Dear Lord Jesus, I admit that I am lost, come and save me now, be my Saviour. Amen ]

Mercy [ Habakkuk 3 v 2 ]

I was struck by something I read recently by D. A. Carson in his book ,Scandalous, he said that one of the hardest truths to get across to this generation ,is what the Bible says about sin. This could be because so many people do not take into account what the Bible says,the spiritual needs of our younger generation ,have been ignored, and neglected by the older generation. As I consider the street I live in, and indeed the area I live in, so very few are Christians, so few go to church,so few consider that they have a never dying soul. Again on the subject of sin,D.A.Carson ,writes about the culture we live in,defining its own sin, this is so true, the result of this, is becoming more and more serious. What can possible change this ?,I believe the answer is prayer, a prayer for revival, a prayer that will cause God to pour out His Spirit upon our land,a prayer that God will show mercy, to this nation that has forsaken God,and turn them to Christ. [Dear God ,You who are holy,and righteous,have mercy upon the many who are blind to their spiritual needs, have mercy upon the many who have chosen their way,and forsaken Your way ,in Jesus name Amen ]

How long. [2 Peter 3 ]

When I was young ,and at school ,there where times when the teacher left the room,and we didnt know when he was coming back,and then we would hear a cry ,he is coming,and suddenly we looked like angels, and butter would not melt in our mouths.This morning I have been thinking of one who has left the room, He has been away a long time, and you know , I wish that He would return, I am talking about Jesus. In the book of Revelation,we have the suffering saints calling out, /How long?,/ [6 v10 ],is this is the cry of your heart ,how long?,when will be that midnight hour ,when we will be going home, how long?. We do not know ,how long ,but may we never loose sight that He is coming. This could be dawning of that great and glorious day, when the face of Jesus we behold,the Bible calls it that blessed hope,that glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. [Titus 2 v13 ][ Dear Father sometimes we become impatient ,and we cry out how long, before Jesus returns,help us to never loose sight that He is coming back again, help us to live in the light of that great and glorious day . Amen ]

Shine [ Matthew 5 v 13-16 ]

In our garden we have a lot of solar lights, but some of the solar lights are not shining, because they need new rechargeable batteries.These lights were made to shine ,but they are failing to do this,and just like those lights we as Christians are meant to shine.Consider what Jesus said in Matthew 5 v16,/ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven/. Are we shining in our homes,jobs, communities ,and wherever God has placed us?, for that is what we are to do. Our Saviour says let your light,yes we have a choice, we can choose to, not let our lights shine, we always have a choice. The shining is linked to good works, there is an awful lot of need in this world,a need of financial help, practical help, help of all kinds, shine. And in shining our motive must always be to bring glory to our heavenly Father.[ Dear God help us in the name of Jesus to shine, Amen ]

Tears. [ John 11 v35 ]

As I grow older I appear to be more emotional,us British are known for our stiff upper lip, a sort of stoicism,so I am not being typically British. As I prayed this morning ,I felt a certain emotion in relation to,two families in Vietnan, who are suffering for being Christians, I mention their names ,and mybe you could pray for them,Pastor Y Yu, and Pastor Y Co, and their families. Both these men are in prison, they have experienced violence, their families lack food, and medicines, and one family is living in a dilapidated house. Consider the words of Hebrews 13 v 3, Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies. And as you remember them dont be ashamed of shedding a tear, God is pleased when we shed tears, for those who are suffering, let us remember our Saviour was a man of sorrows.I will close with a prayer written by Graham Kendrick. [ Soften my heart Lord, soften my heart, from all indifference set me apart, to feel your compassion, to weep with Your tears, come soften my heart , O Lord , soften my heart. Amen ]

Grace will always win . [Romans 5 v 20 -21 ]

As we near Easter my thoughts have been on the cross, and the people surrounding it, Judas the dark deceitful traitor,Peter the weak coward,the other disciples, who all forsook Him. These were our Lords friends, with friends like them ,who needs enemies,and of course you have the others ,the religious leaders baying for Jesus blood,and the mob, and the soldiers,and the awful cruelity ,inflicted on our dear Saviour. No wonder the sun refused to shine,on such a dark sinful scene, sin in all its fullness was trully abounding.But as Paul wrote in Romans 5 v20, where sin, abounded, grace did much more abound,and of course that amazing grace triumphed over all the darkness, and won the day,I like what the Message says,/ When its sin versus grace,grace wins hands down/.In that darkest situation of Calvary, grace triumphed, grace will always triumph,so let us not despair, as we witness,the darkness of sin in peoples lives ,the grace of God is greater.[ Dear God help us not to despair of situations that appear so dark, help us to lift our heads up to view the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, where the grace of God triumphed to its fullest degree. Amen]