Greed. [ Hebrews 13 v 5 ]

I was watching an old movie called ,/ The million pound note /, and one of themes of this old movie is greed, it may be an old movie but the theme is very up to date. I am convinced that present economic situation is caused by greed , those financiers involved in what took place must have realized what was happening,but they were making a lot of money. It appears to me a great deal of life involves greed, and it is coming back to bite many nations and many indiviuals. Now dont get me wrong ,I am not down ,or a judge of anyone, but as a minister of the word, I, and everyone else need to face up to the challenge of the word of God , on the subject of greed. It is something a lot of us dont face up to, the land of Greece is now having to come to terms with it, and so is every other nation in Europe. Many of our members of parliament showed an attitude of greed, but through the world especially in the poor countries , there is a great deal of greed in politics. Having said all this we need to be on our guard, for it is so easy like everyone else to become greedy, Proverbs was written by a very wise man ,and of course a very wealthy man, asked of God the following. Give me neither poverty nor riches [Proverbs 30 v 8 ], for he knew the dangerous of both states, and a greater than Solomon said, A mans life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth [ Luke 12 v15 ]
A prayer..../ Dear God help us all to have the right emphasis in our lives , grant us grace to live lives that glorify our Saviour. Amen ]

Save our young people . [ Acts 4 v 12 ] ]

Yesterday we mentioned that all mankind, even young people are made in the image of God,which makes them very precious in Gods side. So the question why do they act so badly, that they are called animals?,well it is to Gods word we turn, and it tells us we fell from that initial state of sinlessness, to a sinful condition. This can appear to contradict the fact that we are created in the image of God, but the fact is ,our fallen nature is blind spiritually , [1 Corinthians 1v 14 ]we have hearts that are deceitful and desperately wicked [Jeremiah 17 v 9 ]. We can read Romans 3 and 5,to get a more full picture, so that is why some young people act like animals. This is also why Christ came ,to save and to change even our young people, and then hopefully they will start reflect the image of God to a greater degree, this process will come to its fullness and completeness, in Heaven.[ 1 John 3 v 1-2 ]
A prayer..../ Dear God have mercy upon our young people, save them we pray in Jesus name Amen /

Not just animals. [ Genesis 1 v 16 - 17 ]

There is great concern about the young people in our country,most of the people who took part in the riots ,were young people, many of them are taking drugs , and alcohol. Recently people were asked what they thought about the young, their reply was,/ they were like animals/,which is a sad thing to say.But then is this not what evolution teaches,that we are just a higher species of animal, this what is taught to our children in schools, this is what we told continually from the media. So them why complain if these young people do act like animals,why should we expect any different behaviour, if that is what they are. If you believe in evolution then you must not expect people to have any moral boundries, anything goes. But now let me declare unto a better way, we are not evolutionary accidents,the Bible tells us that we were made in the image of God[ Genesis 1 v 17 ], that is what makes us different in Gods eyes , and gives unto us eternal value. [We will consider this further tomorrow]
A prayer..../Dear God open the eyes of people to see their true worth, in Jesus name Amen/

Call on Him.[ Ephesians 3 v 20 ]

In Jeremiah 33 v 3, we read,/ Call upon Me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things,which thou knowest not./ These words were written when Jeremiah was in prison, sometime we let our circumstances , blind us to what God can do, and say, Jeremiah did not. The people are told to call on God, now the nations round about Israel had their own gods, and unfortunately Israel adopted these Gods ,so the opening words of this verse are mportant., Call upon Me, take your eyes and ears of any other source, or apparent source,let us fix our eyes upon God . Next we are to call on God , He delights to hear His children call upon Him, He will not turn a deaf ear to their call. The result of this will be trully wonderful,God will show us , great and mighty things,I was talking to one of my sons this morning, and we talked of the difficulties people are facing ,to get a place to live,there are so many difficulties in life, complicated situations,well whats the answer? God. Yes God , who can do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask , or think[Ephesians 3 v 20 ],so today call upon Him, and He will answer you.
A prayer..../ Dear God there is nothing to hard for Thee, so right now we call on You to undertake for us, in Jesus name Amen /

I asked for help.[ Isaiah 41 v 10 ]

I asked for help today from two people, and both said no,it was a bit sad, but it happens, I like the words of the Lord in Hebrews 13v6 ,/So that we may boldly say,The Lord is my helper/.These words have an expression of confidence ,we may boldly say, I am afraid I cannot say this as regards those two people today.If we need help we may think of a friend, or even ones family,and consider going to them for help, and we hope that may help us, but then again they may not, they may be just unwilling, or they may not have the resources to help. But when we go to our Lord we can be confident that He will help,no uncertainy. Let us stop and consider those words , and all that they mean, The Lord is my helper, the Lord, He the Lord has all the neccessary resources to help ,financial help, physical help, whatever help we need, He is able to help. There is no reluctance on His part to help us , consider the wonderful words in Romans 8 v 32, /He that spared not His own Son, but delivered him up for us all ,how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things/.
A prayer..../ Dear Lord we have so many ongoing needs,some small,some large,some complicated, so we look to You , with confidence to meet our needs, in Jesus name Amen./

Go to all. [ Matthew 28 v 19 - 26 ]

I did something today, that I have not done for years , I travelled on our local transport , and suddenly I was mixing with mothers with their children, elderly people, school children, and others. It made me realise how little contact I have with the general public,I spend a lot of time in my car, although I am often visit supermarkets , yet my ride on the bus mybe is a reminder of how it is so easy to become isolated from people. As we read the gospels we see one who left Heaven, and came to this earth, not into a palace, where He would have been secluded from the ordinary people, and would have been dressed in the best, and eat the best. No, Jesus was born into humble circumstances ,and He would mix with the poorest of people, and indeed the worst of people, and would enrich them, and make them the best of people.Jesus said follow me,as He left heaven and mixed with people,so the challenge comes to His followers to follow His example.
A prayer..../ Dear Lord Jesus help us to follow Your example to go to all with Your love, and Your Gospel. Amen /

Its impossible. [ Titus 1 v2 ]

My mother would often say ,you cannot trust a liar,it is amazing how some people can tell a bare faced lie, and never bat an eyelid. Hitler fooled the British Prime minister Neville Chamberlain, into believing that he wanted peace ,when all the time he was planning for war. In Romans 1 v 25 we read of those who changed the truth of God into a lie,so many people have been guilty of this ,the cults, false religions,in Romans it is said of those who worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator. The devil is seen both as a murderer and the father of lies , in other words he is the one were lies originate from, all men are not liars, but none tell the truth all the time. Someone told me something recently ,and after I had left him, I thought ,did he tell me the truth?. Now let us turn our thoughts away from sinful weak humanity, to God,and ask the question, do you know what it is impossible for God to do?. This is what we read in Titus 1 v 2, God cannot lie, what that means is ,He is completly trustworthy,what He says He will do. I rest my soul in the truth that God cannot lie,when His word tells me that if I believe in Jesus I shall be saved[ Acts 16v31],when I read that Jesus said He will return again [John 14 v s ], I believe Him,and when He says He will never leave me nor forsake me, I believe Him,why? because it is impossible for God to lie.
A prayer..../ Dear God we thank You for the truth that You cannot lie ,that You always keep Your word, help us to be like You, in Jesus name. Amen ]