I was not able to blog this morning,owing to someone messing about, my son John has sorted it out, so I will continue in the morning. every blessing

Gods blessing. [ Genesis 50 v20 ]

Carrying on with the thought of Gods blessing, and the importance of it in our lives, and even an nations life. As I look at nations I desire that God would bless them, and as I look and pray for the church of Christ my prayer is that God would bless, for I believe that the blessing of God is so vital to the well being of this world, to the church and to my family, and to myself. Now having Gods blessing in ones life does not mean that ,you will have perfect health,a perfect family or a perfect marriage. Consider this little verse , /I,ll that God blesses is our good and unblest good is ill ,and all is right that seems most wrong if it be His sweet will./. I remember hearing this little verse spoken by a dear Christian friend, it has always remained with me,especially in relation to my friend who died of cancer, leaving a husband and young children.I suppose what we are seeking to convey to you, and to myself, is that the blessing of God means that what ever we may experience,all is for our good, and will work out for our good, even though it may mean ,pain and loss.[ Dear God grant us the grace of humility,grant us the grace of submissiveness, in all of life,and the grace to trust You to bless all things for our good, in Jesus name Amen ]

Blessings. [ Psalm 32 v 1-2 ]

When we sneeze we say bless me or someone else may say it, I wonder why ?,as a Christian I realize that the most important thing in my life is to know the blessing of God in my life. The Christian life begins with a blessing we read of it in Psalm 32 v1,/ Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered./ This blessing comes not through merit or effort on our part, but by the Grace of God, for by grace are we saved and that not of ourselves, it is a gift from God[ Ephesians 2 v8 ].We recieve this gift when we come to God ,acknowledging our sinfulness,and trust Jesus to save us. The only way we can experience this blessing is to seek it,we have it wonderfully illustrated in Luke 15, where we read of a young man who dug a deep pit for himself. This young man had slept with whores, wasted his money and his life,he had not given much thought to the consequences,the result he ended up in deep poverty,nearly naked,shoeless,and starving. At his lowest ebb we read,he came to himself,and said ,I will arise and go to my father,and the wonderful thing is this, his father recieved him. This is a picture of sinners who come to an end of themselves,and come to God the father in all their need,when they do this, they experience that wonderful blessing we read in Psalm 32 v1. Mybe you are like this young man at your lowest ebb, why not arise and come to Jesus, the Father will recieve you and forgive you ,all your sins. Here is a prayer you could pray. [Dear God I come to you in all my need, receive me, forgive me ,through Jesus Your son. Amen ]

Pressure. [ 1 Kings 19 v 1-12]

Years ago we purchased a pressure cooker, it had a little valve that released the steam, without that valve ,it more than likely would have blown up. It appears to me that for many ,myself included at times, we are under pressure, we may not always handle the pressure ,the release valve for many ,is to act in a way ,that may put us under greater preasure. I was in a car yesterday and the person driving it, appeared to loose control, he started to drive like a maniac, I spoke to him quitely and told him to stop driving in such a manner, which thankfully he did, and I said to him, you are under a lot of pressure, mybe I should have said more, but I didnt. Like that young man one does not always handle pressure, even though we may be Christians.and we can let things get out of control. If we are Christians then we need to be led,not driven ,we need to hear that still small voice, of our Lord, telling us to be still and know that He is in control.Let us finish with the words of a hymn by J G. Whittier,let us pray these words. [ Dear Lord and Father... Drop Thy still dews of quietness, till all our strivings cease, take from our souls the strain and stress, and let our ordered life confess the beauty of Thy peace. Breathe through the heats of our desire,Thy coolness and Thy balm, let sense be dumb, let flesh retire, speak through the earthquake,wind and fire,O still small voice of calm. Amen ]

sorry I was not able to blog yesterday my blog was not available I am now on holiday will be blogging when I come back from holiday Sun week

Life in the Spirit . [ Romans 8 ]

Romans 8 is a wonderful chapter,some put the title over it, Life in the Spirit, in v6, we read ,/For to be carnally minded is death,but to be spiritually minded is life and peace/. As Christians we have been brought into a new relationship, a spiritual relationship, before we became Christians ,our minds where on natural things we really did not consult God, oh yes we may have prayed, even gone to church, but we did not live for God. In fact we were hostile to God, not prepared to submit to Him ,in our natural condition, we had no power to please God, or to do His will[ v7-8]. As Christians we recieved God the Spirit, and everything changed, and that for the better, we have the Spirits power that enables us to live a life that is so much better than our old lives. Leon Morris in his commentary on Romans write,/ The non Christian may have good intentions, but their horizons are bounded by the the things of this life./ I wonder is that you ?,as Christians we realise that good intentions are not enough,our horizons stretch into the eternal realms, into life in the Spirit. The door to that life in the Spirit is through Christ, that life in Christ leads us into unbounded possibilities, a life of freedom, peace and joy.[ Dear God thanks for all You have brought us into through Your dear son Jesus, a life of freedom, power, love ,joy and peace. Amen ]

Trust . [Proverbs 3 v 5-6 ]

In Proverbs 20 v24 we read ,/ Mans going are of the Lord, how can a man then understand his own way?/.I would commend to your reading the commentary by Charles Bridges on Proverbs on this verse. His opening remarks are these,/Gods uncontrollable power and sovereignty, mans absolute dependance and helplessness- let these be foundation principiles/. We do know what any day will bring forth [Proverbs 27 v1 ], as Joseph set out to see his brothers he did not realise,what that would lead to [Genesis 37], slavery,prison,and them being promoted to a position of power. We are not to live in fear of events, many people are living in such fear,we are called to trust God . If we are a child of God, hear this, though you may have heard it before, that God will work out everything for your good, let me stress the everything, God tells us clearly this truth in the words of Romans 8 v28, and in the lives of His saints that we read of in the bible. I finish with the words of C Bridges,which is a prayer, we could all pray it/ Often do I look back amazed at the strangeness of my course, so different, so contrary to my way. But it is enough for me, that all is in thine hands,that my steps are ordered of Thee [Psalm 37v23/16v9 ]. I dare trust thy wisdom, Thy goodness, Thy tenderness, Thy faithful care.Lead me - uphold me- forsake me not. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterwards receive me to Glory/.Amen .