Ordinary people. [ 1 Corinrhians 1 v 26 - 31 ]

He was considered only a farmer , as were many of his fellow soldiers, ordinary people of no good social standing, yes he and others were despised for being ordinary, coming out of the common people. He was Oliver Cromwell, and they were the new model army, those who despised them were the royalist,led by Charles the first. At the battle of Naseby 1645 this so called ordinary person led the calvary, that played a decisive role in the the defeat of those royalists, and this ordinary person rose to become Lord Protector of England. Let none of us feel down and let none of us be put down because we are ordinary, consider the following, /Not many wise according to the flesh, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish things....the weak things...the base things.....the things which are despised. [NKJV ] Being a nobody in Gods eyes makes no difference, He does it for a number of reasons, one, that He will get all the glory, next as the Message puts it,/ to expose the hollow pretensions of the somebodies/. And lastly, God can use us nobodies,we see this throughout scripture and history,[as long as we dont get swelled heads]. [ Dear God we praise You for choosing ordinary people like us, for making us Your children, and even using us , may we always be grateful and humble for such love and mercy bestowed upon us in Your dear Son Jesus our Saviour. Amen ]

Stigma removed. [ ` Chronicles 4 v 9- 10 ]

Whats in a name? I have a friend and his wifes name is Happy, I read today of two people, one called, Gladness, the other called Merry, my name is William, although I get Bill usually.There was a man in the Bible called Nabal ,[1 Samuel 25 ], one wonders what his parents were thinking about, for his name means fool. It is a mystery to me why anyone would call their child fool, but here is the point, he actually acted the fool, and nearly brought disaster upon his household.Consider how many people, who are not called fool, yet act as fools,and bring disaster upon their households.There was another man in 1 Chronicles 4v 9-10, called Jabez, his name meant sorrowful,it related to his mothers having a very painful birth.So Jabez was lumbered with a name that reminded him and everybody else, of the pain he had caused his mother , what a stigma to live under. But Jabez was determined to rise above that stigma, and so he prayed a wonderful prayer,mybe you are living under a stigma, a family history,mybe your own actions have brought a stigma upon yourself, what can you do?. Well you can do what Jabez did,pray and yes you can pray his prayer,or pray a prayer of your own, God answered his prayer, be assured, God will answer your prayer. [Dear God inspite of my name, my history, my background I ask that You would bless me, and prosper my life and my endevours in Jesus name Amen ]

Doris Day. [Psalm 92 ]

I just read on the internet that Doris Day is releasing a new album,well you may ask ,so what and who is Doris Day?.She was a very popular singer actress, many years ago, one of her best movies in my opinion was Calamity Jane,Howard Keel was her co-star,the songs they sung were wonderful. Now Doris is 87 , this album is made up of old recordings, which are being remastered whatever that may mean, but I am sure they will sound lovely.This got me thinking about old age and what we read in Psalm 92 v14/ They shall still bring forth fruit in old age/.Herbert Lockyer,writes the following, /Journeying on to the end, the godly well stricken in years,daily prove that Gods dispensations have no flaw in them, and can no more be moved than a rock can be dislodged from its age-long foundation./ and he ends by writing,/ The venerable godly, far from declining, climb higher as they travel on to lifes last milestone/. [ Dear God we rejoice that even in old age You can cause us to useful and fruitful ,may it be so in Jesus name we ask this Amen ]

The only antidote. [ 1 Peter 1 v 5 - 9 ]

One of my favourite devotionals is word for today,and today I read something which blessed me,/ Tribulation has its own agender and pace, and patience is the only antidote /. These words are so very true ,and we need to take them to heart,we really do, they are not easy words to accept, but it is like when we used to take medicine, and were told by our parents it would us good for us ,even though it tasted unpleasant.Consider how long Abraham and Sarah had to wait for the fullfillment of that promise from God, yes patience is so often the only antidote for times of trials. In the movie Braveheart,we have the English army charging on horses towards the Scots, and there was William Wallace,restraining his army, with the words, wait for it, wait for it. Yes life is often about waiting, having to exercise patience.In Psalm 105 we read how Joseph was sold into slavery, then put into prison, and was made to wear fetters on his feet, and an iron collar around his neck,until the time came to fulfill his dreams, and these are the important words , /the Lord tested his character/. We glibly sing,/Every joy or trial falleth from above. Traced upon our dial, by the Son of love/,yet fail to appreciate His purpose ,to develop Character.So He sends trials, and in those trials we are called to exercise patience ,it is the only antidote for tribulation. [Dear Lord we are impatient in so many things; help us by Your grace to exercise patience, in every aspect of life. Amen ]

John Stott. [ Revelation 14 v 13 ]

I have just read that John Stott had died this year, you may not of heard of him, but he was a very gifted minister of Gods word. His ministry will live on , in the lives of many. He wrote a book called, Gods new society,it was a study on the book of Ephesians, he called it the gospel of the church. Here are a few of the things he wrote, / Truth becomes hard if it is not softened by love, love becomes soft if is not strengthened by truth/ Gods new society is to display, charity, unity,diversity, and growing maturity/ Let no one say that doctrine does not matter. Good conduct arises out of good doctrine/Many of our spiritual troubles arise from our failure to remember that we are citizens of two kingdoms/.Let us give thanks to God for John Stott , his faithfulness to the word of God, his love for the church of God, and his desire that all may come to love and trust the Son of God, Jesus.[ Dear God we thank you for Your servant John Stott, we ask that like him we may treasure Your word, to study it, to practice it,in Jesus name Amen ]

Past,present,future. [Hebrew 13 v8 ]

The theme of this blog ,is the three tenses, past,present, and future, and I want to apply Hebrews 13v8, to these three tenses. When Christ came into my life ,my life changed, everything changed, I with gratitude remember how He helped me, in so many , many ways. One occassion comes to mind, many years ago ,got a puncture, no wheel brace,we where in the country, it was night,and my wife and four children were in the car, and from nowhere a man drove up and loaned me a wheel brace, problem solved, that is the past. What about the present tense?well as I sit here , I consider how blest I am, I am 67, yet God in His mercy, has helped me to continue working in a job I love,I have a nice home, I lack for nothing. Now what about that future tense?, now of course I dont know what the future holds, but then I recall to mind Hebrews 13v8, which reads,/ Jesus Christ the same yesterday,[ past tense] and to day, [ present tense ]and forever[ future tense ] .Yes of course I dont know the future ,but I am confident,that Jesus who helped me in the past, has blessed me in the present , will look after me in the future, whatever that future holds,and whatever applies to me, applies to every child of God.[ Dear Saviour in a world of change, we thank You, that we can rest secure on the truth, that You do not change, Amen ]

Realism and the word of God.[Romans 8 v28 -39 ]

I heard a man on the radio, advocating a pessimistic outlook in life ,it was an interesting point of veiw, modern man have built their hopes on science,materialism, and technology.The result is they think every problem can be solved,but it is not so ,some groups of Christians ,fall into the same trap. What I believe we should be, is a realist,based upon Gods word , our Saviour said the poor will be with us always [ Mark 14 v7 ], continually we are being warned of the pitfalls of life,that death is enevitable. Yet inspite of these things ,we are encouraged that no matter what happens to us God can make it work out for His childrens good [Romans 8 v28 ],that even death will not defeat them, and that we have with us, at all times a Saviour, called Jesus. [Dear God we believe that all is well, inspite of the obvious difficuties that life throws at us, because You assure us from Your word that we are in Thy care, we thank You for this in our Saviours name. Amen ]