Our rainbow end. [Hebrews 9 v27 ]

While on holiday,walking along the seafront I noticed a bench with a little plaque , with the following words on it,/ Dorothy and Victor Rainbow, they have reached their rainbow end/. It caused me to thing what was that end?, so many people never think about their end, do you?. What does the Bible tell us, about our end? not what we think, or what the entertainment industry tell us,but what does Gods word tell us. Firstly the Bible tells us that there is an exsistence after death, Hebrews 9 v27,in that verse it tells us that it is appointed unto men, once to die, so right away we rule out reincarnation, we will only die once,next we are told, but after this,so there is an afterlife, and then it tells us, after this the judgement.That means what it says, judgement, and that is to be taken as a serious warning ,to all, do read Revelation 20 v11-15, dont be confused when it says ,that all will be judged according to their works, the main thing to bear in mind that no one is saved by good works we are saved by Christs work on the cross. But if we have not trusted in Christs finished work, then we will be lost,for all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and deserve only the judgement of God. It ends with these words,/ And whosoever was not found written in the book of life ,was cast into the lake of fire. So I end with this question what will be your rainbow end?. [ Dear God help us to consider our end, and to seek You while there is time, by accepting Christ as Saviour. Amen ]

Toast .[ 1Corinthians 10 v 31 ]

I like toast, I liked it even more when I could have marmalade jam on it, not so now as I am diabetic, when it comes to toast I am continually trying to produce the perfect toasted bread. So often it appears only slighted toasted,or it comes out as a burnt offering, but I will keep trying. Most of our lives are made up of little things like toast, a cup of tea or coffee, a daily newspaper, shaving ,washing,cooking meals, going to the shops, hanging out the washing,and so on.These things may not appear important but they are, they add a normality to our lives, today let us give thanks for these things, and let us add a sacredness to them, to see that they are important. We read in 1 Corinthians 10v 31 ,that we are do all things ,to the glory of God, may this be the rule of our lives. [Dear God help us to embrace all of life as sacred, to do all things for your glory, in Jesus name . Amen ]

God does say yes, but.[ 1 Kings 22 v 1-40 ]

We have been thinking on God saying no, on holiday I mentioned this to a dear brother, and immediiately I found myself being drawn into a conflict, he felt I was undermining faith, and what God would do in response to faith. Nothing could be further from the truth, I know ,and am continually proving God, in response to my prayers, I know, God says yes , and grants my requests , but I know from long experience, and from my study from Gods word, God at times says no. I can think of so many times God has said no, in my life, if you believe God never says no to you ,then think again, I have pointed out scriptures that clearly show God saying no. Let me say this I am glad God does not always say yes,I am sure we are all glad ,that we had parents that said no to us, in order to protect us, to guide us aright. Let us get balance into our Christian life,in life there are what we call yes men, but the fact of the matter is God is not like that ,He will thankfully say no. [ Dear God thank You for those times You did say no to us,in order to protect and guide us aright, we thank You ,that in all things You have at heart whats best for us, in Jesus name Amen ]

Gods no to healing. [ 2 Corinthians 12 v 1- 10 ]

In 2 Corinthians 12, we read of Paul the apostle writing about a thorn in the flesh, we take it to mean an ongoing physical problem, the apostle puts it down to an attack from satan, as was the case of Job. What does one do when one is faced with a problem? one prays about it,Paul did this, but the problem remained. Now this man was used by God ,in Acts 28 v8, we read that he prayed for someone and they were healed, in that same chapter we read how he suffered no ill affects,when he was bitten by poisonous serpent. The whole area as regards healing is difficult, we believe God heals, God can heal, that goes without saying, but ,yes there is that but again, as with Paul, and many other people, God does not heal. The apostle Paul is told why he was not going to be healed,God had lessons to teach him, he the great apostle would have to submit to Gods will. I fear for the great people even in the church, that pride will destroy them, Paul realizes this, and submits to Gods will. With that submission God empowered him by his grace, God may have said no to healing, but He was not being cruel or indifferent to Pauls suffering. painful though it may be , God has often a greater purpose for us, than healing ,or deliverance from suffering, and with that purpose ,He promises to give us His grace to sustain us. [ Dear God help us to see and accept Your will, even if it means suffering, helps to appreciate that You have a loving purpose for us, and help us to rely on Your all sufficient grace, in Jesus name we ask this Amen ] [ I will be on holiday for the next week, so I will not be blogging ]

No double dealings. [ Psalm 66 v18 ]

As I am doing this blog I am wondering about the subject, unanswered prayer,I wonder what one means by this,in 1 Samuel 28 ,we read how when king Saul enquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not [v6]. Now this a clear statement and the reason was Sauls disobedience, in fact he is told that the Lord had departed from him, and had become his enemy [16] How far we can apply this to the Christian in that if we are trully the Lords, he will always be with us, but even Christians can act in ways that can affect their relationship with the Lord. In Psalm 66 v18 we read,/ If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me/. A writer called Slade ,declares,/ There must be no double dealing with Jehovah/, and points us to John 9 v31,/ Now we know that God heareth not sinners/. cp also Matthew 6 v 14-15. We are to make sure when we pray, to examine ourselves, and if we have sinned,confess and repent, then the Lord will hear our prayer. There was a way for Saul to be heard, but unfortunately he did not take it.[ Dear God we confess our sins to you, forgive us and remove that which is a barrier to us being heard by you, in Jesus name we ask this. Amen ]

Unanswered prayer

I am having difficulties with signing in, I hope I have solved it we will see. Just to say that I made an mistake in dealing with my last blog , David did not pray about building the yemple ,he but mentioned his desire to the prophet. The things I mentioned are applicable to prayer . The subject of unanswered prayer I feel interests people, I would commend Philip Yanceys book on /Disappointment with God / as helpful.We will consider the subject of unanswered prayer DV tomorrow

Gods no.[2 Samuel 7 ]

In 2 Samuel 7 we have another case of a prayer request that was turned down, it happened to King David, he wanted to do something very noble, but God said no. I wanted to be a missionary, to go to Brazil, but God said no, in Davids case ,he was told clearly by Nathan the prophet, I was told by God shutting the door. It is only in looking back do I realize that God was saying no, because shut doors are just as much an answer from God as an open door, although we may not appreciate this at the time. Now what David requested was a noble prayer, to build a temple for God, as was my desire to be a missionary, but God said no.We may ask God for what we feel is noble, and right, God may say no, in Davids case, another would be given the task of building the temple, his son Solomon, David graciously accepted Gods answer. In 1 Kings 8v18, when the temple was finished, Solomon spoke these words about Davids desire to build the temple, /And God said....... thou didst well that it was in thine heart/. God honoured the desire, although he did not grant him his request, David at no time grew bitter about this, in fact he provided all Solomon needed for the task ,and he prayed for him. [ Dear God help us to accept Your no,help us not to grow bitter,and to accept Your choice as best, and let us rejoice that you honour our noble desires, in Jesus name Amen ]