God moves in a mysterious way. [Romans 8 v28 av ]

Much as I love many of the modern songs, I still love the old hymns,have I a favourite? well I am not sure, there is one that means a lot to me, written by that great poet William Cowper ,and it is this one, /God moves in a mysterious way/. The theme of this hymn is the sovereignty of God, and the verse I would put over this hymn is Romans 8 v28,again I love this in the AV,/And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God,to them who are the called according to His purpose/. Here is this hymn in full , William suffered from mental illness ,he attempted suicide , was put into an insane institute , and yet inspite of all this he wrote these wonderful words.
God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform,
He plants His footsteps in the sea ,
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines,
Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs,
And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints ,fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread,,
Are big with mercy , and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace,
Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour,
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan His works in vain,
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.
A prayer. / Dear God help us to trust in Your sovereign providence ,and purposes in our lives
in Jesus name. Amen /

And I am glad.[ Romans 12 v 1-2]

Since I purchased my laptop I have printed my thought for today, the evening before ,and then I publish it the next day,it may appear to be a day behind but it is not. I take seriously what I do .I have wanted to publish a thought for the day, since early on in my Christian life and since I got a PC I have been able to this, mybe this is an example of Psalm 37v4 ,/ Delight thyself also in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart/.I wanted also to be a missionary but that as yet ,has not happened,mybe it will, but then mybe it will not, it must always be ,Gods will not ours, and if He withholds something from us ,it is for the best. David had a desire to build a temple but he was not given that task, it was instead given to his son Solomon, I have a son who is serving God full time,it appears to me like David my desire is being fulfilled in him.
God holds the key to all unknown,
And I am glad,
If other hands should hold the key ,
Or if He trusted it to me ,
I might be sad.
Enough ,this covers all my wants
And so I rest,
For what I cannot, He can see,
And in His care I saved shall be,
For ever blest.
[Joseph Parker ]
A prayer / Dear God I commit all my ways into Your hands and submit my will
to Your perfect will ,in Jesus name Amen ./

All is well.[ Hebrews 13 v 5 - 8 ]

As I do my blog I am listening to some nice music, I am in my living room sitting in a comfortable chair ,I am blest in so many ways ,but of course in my life there are also difficulties. One of the most important things in my life is not to let the difficulties take over ,which they can so easily.I am reminded of David in a time of great diffilculties ,how he encouraged himself in the Lord [ 1 Samuel 30 v 6 ] . George Swinnock wrote, /A Christian in his/her saddest condition can enjoy God as their portion/,consider those words,especially if you are going through a trial. No one can rob us of Him, it is the apostle who wrote, / For I am persuaded , that neither death, nor life, nor principalities,, nor powers,nor things present, nor thing to come, Nor height, nor depth,nor any other creature, shall be able to seperate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. [ Romans 8 v 38-39 ]/Let us listen to that still small voice of Jesus ,let His voice penetrate to the very core of our being,let His heart speak to our hearts,let not your heart be troubled, I am with you,fear not, fret not, all will be well, you are the apple of my eye, and I love you.
Never a weakness that He doth not feel,
Never a sickness that He cannot heal,
Monment by moment,in woe or in weal,
Jesus ,my Saviour,abides with me still.
A prayer. /Dear God help us not to give into despair or fear, help us today to rest in Your
presence and love, in Jesus name. Amen.

Whorship only God. [ Exodus 20 v 1 - 6 ]

One final thought on the bronze serpent in Numbers 21, and it is to the reign of that godly king Hezekiah we turn,in 2 Kings 18. Now Hezekiah sought to turn the people back to God,he had those things which the people worshipped that where contrary to Gods word destroyed. Among those things was the bronze serpent and it had become an object of worship, Hezekiah had it destroyed, and rightly so. This object was never meant to become an object of worship, we can point at one group of the Christian church,were its members are inclined to worship so called sacred objects, and so called saints, and dear Mary. But we all must be careful of making any person, place or thing an object of worship,we must cast down anything, yes anything that is contrary to Gods word, and worship only God.
The dearest idol I have known,
what,er that idol be,
help me to tear it fromThy throne,
and worship only Thee.
[William Cowper]
A prayer / Dear God help us to worship only You,reveal to us those things that have become
idols,help us to destroy them, in Jesus name. Amen/

Look and live [. John 3 v 14- 15 ]

The people had sinned ,God punished them,the result many of the people died,the people confess their sins , God shows mercy, by providing a means whereby those bitten by the serpents, would be healed.He told them to make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole, if the people who were bitten looked they would be healed.Why did God not just heal those people? ,He could have, but God wanted them to exercise faith, without faith we cannot please God, so they had to look if they were going to be healed. Now this all has a deeper and a more meaningful application,which our Saviour reveals in John 3 v 14- 15, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up. That whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have eternal life. We are all suffering from a great sickness , sin ,which has terrible consequences, Hell is very serious, unless sin is dealt with, that is were we would be going. Yet as Jesus said, God has provided a way for the sin to be dealt with, as we see in John 3 v 14- 15. all that is required is for sinners is to look to Jesus and live.
Look and live, my brother, live
Look to Jesus, now and live,
Tis recorded in his word,hallelujah,
It is only that you look and live.
[ W. A. Ogden ]
A prayer. [We thank You Father that we can be saved simply by that look of faith
in Jesus Thy dear Son. Amen ]

Mercy. [Psalm 23 v 6 ]

We continue to consider Numbers21 v4 ff ,the firey serpents,that event in which God had to chastise His people, in Hebrews 3,we read how the nation constantly, grieved God. God threatened to wipe them out,and to raise up a new nation through Moses [Exodus 32 v 10 ]'God never did destroy the nation ,why ?,because of His love for them, and because He is merciful. In my times of private prayer the one thing I am asking of God continually, is mercy for myself, and others . Over the ark in which dwelt the tablets with the law written on them, was the mercy seat, if it was just us, and Gods law, we would not stand a chance,we would be condenmed, to a lost eternity, but through Jesus we recieve mercy.[ Hebrews 4 v16 ] So it was, God had mercy on Israel , he did not allow them to be wiped out, and provided a means to heal and save them,tomorrow we will consider the significance of what He did,but for now let us praise God for His mercy which endures for ever.
That great hymn writer Isaac Watts wrote. Give to our God eternal praise,
Mercy and truth are all His ways
Wonders of grace to God belong
Repeat His mercies in your song.

He sent His Son with power to save
From guilt, and darkness, and the grave,
Wonders of grace to God belong,
Repeat His mercies in your song.

Through this vain world He guides our feet,
And leads us to His heavenly seat,
His mercies shall for ever endure,
When this vain world shall be no more.
A prayer
/Dear God we praise You for Your continual mercy in Jesus name Amen /

Moses prayed [1 Timothy 2 v 5 ]

And Moses prayed for the people [ Numbers 21 v 7 ] at this time Moses was the one who mediated for the people, it was a legitimate role at that time ,for him. The wonder of the new covenant is that every believer can freely come to God ,and be heard,there is no special priesthood,for every believer is a priest[ 1 Peter 2 v9 ] Does that mean we cannot pray for others? of course we can pray for others, and indeed we are exhorted to [1 Timothy 2 v1-3], consider what that means. Our interceding on behalf of others can touch the heart of our loving heavenly Father,who will answer,in wonderful ways. Eternity will reveal what our prayers have accomplished,someone was saved,someone was delivered, someone was healed,some need was met,some burden lifted,and all because we prayed. We may not be a Moses, so what, it is faith that God honours, God is no respecter of persons, but He loves those who honour Him, so pray for others dear child of God with faith and confidence in the name of Jesus.
John Newton wrote /Come my soul, thy suit prepare,
Jesus loves to answer prayer,
He Himself has bid thee pray,
Therefore will not say thee nay.
Thou art coming to a King,
Large petitions with thee bring.
For His grace and power are such
None can ever ask too much.
A prayer.
Dear God we thank You, that You hear and are pleased to answer our prayers
through Jesus Your dear Son . Amen.