Be faithful, and trust God.[ Proverbs 20 v 6 ]

Earlier in the day I took a funeral service, my neighbours mother had requested ,that I take her funeral. I felt anxious but the Lord helped, and the mourners expressed appreciation. In preperation for the service they had requested no hymns, this sort of threw me hence the anxiety,did they want a secular funeral service?. Well I am not into secular funerals so I just went ahead and prepared , I read some scriptures and spoke on the 23rd Psalm, and finished reading that lovely old hymn, Abide with me. Tomorrow I will highlight my 3 points from Psalm 23,the lesson I learnt from this experience,we must be faithful, and trust God,for inspite of my forebodings, it appeared to go well.
A prayer...../Dear God it is so easy to feel intimidated ,help us by Your grace,to trust You, and be faithful in Jesus name Amen /

The secret of success [ 1 Corinthians 2 v 1 -5 ]

After engaging with someone in a conversation about Christianty, I came away feeling I had make it sound to complicated, I found myself saying why cant I make it more simple , why indeed.It was the great apostle Paul who wrote of his ministry to the people at Corinth wrote that his message and preaching were plain, he did not use lofty, clever or persuasive speech. [ 1 Corinthians 2v 1/4]. In fact he writes to feelings of weakness, fear, and even trembling, so we could ask the question, how was his ministry so successful?.As a preacher I can really identify with Paul, sometimes one feels so inadequate as one comes to minister. Now here is the secret of his success, the power of the Holy Spirit [ 2v 4 ], not Pauls personality,not fancy speech, as the Message puts it, none of these things, it was the power of God. I remember someone pointing to a preacher of note and his success, I pointed out it is God who saves, and to God should go the Glory. Once Dr Chalmers was congratulated on a great speech to a crowded assembly. Yes, he said, but what did it do?.
A prayer...../ Dear God help us to continually realize that the secret of our Christian life and
ministry is the person and power of Your Spirit, in Jesus name. Amen ]

A shrug of the shoulder. [ Romans 1 v 18 - 32 ]

It was the prophet Ezekiel who spoke to the exiles in Babylon, he was moved by the Spirit of God to challenge Judah as to their sinful behaviour. The exile which lasted 70 years was a judgement for sin, the exiles in Babylon and those left in Judah had sinned greatly ,and it is in chapter 16 ,Ezekiel is declaring unto them their sin ,comparing them to a harlot. It is v47 he says ,/as if that were a very little thing/,instead of seeing what they were doing for what it was, awful and terrible ,they as it were shrugged their shoulders as if it didnt matter, they go on to commit even worse sins.Is this not a picture of this generation,adulterary, homosexuality,cheating in sport, many dont appear to be concerned with what they do, just as long as they get away with it. Their evil behaviour did not stop at what they had done, no, they went on to commit even worse things.So it is if the sinner is not challenged as to their bad behaviour ,they will go on to commit even greater sins.How does a person become an alcoholic?, by taking one drink, every sin starts somewhere , and we may shrug of any thing that may challenge us,and act as if what we are doing is not important,but sin of any kind should never be seen as a little thing,for as the Jews found out to their cost ,that their is a big price to pay.
A prayer...../ Dear God help us not to take sin lightly,to confess and forsake it,in Jesus name
Amen. /

That first step. [Romans 4 v 17 - 21 ]

Basil D Olivera died , he was a cricketer, he origionally came from South Africa, but left because of the apartheid laws,he was then 28. He came to England and became an England cricketer ,when he was chosen to play for England,to play against South Africa, he was refused entry , the result was, England pulled out of any future test matches.until the release of Nelson Mandela, it was said of him he succeeded against the odds.Many people have succeeded against the odds, to some extent I feel that it could apply to myself ,mybe today you are facing difficulties, no job, no qualifications, apparently no chance. Mybe you have an idea to develop something you feel strongly about, and there are those who say you have no chance of succeeding, they may be right but then they may be wrong,everything may be against you, but if God is in it, it can and will succeed, God will not wave a magic wand,it may require hard long years to succed, let us remember the road to success starts with that first step, so prayerfully take that first step.
A prayer..../Dear God save us from despair ,help us to see with Your help, there is always hope
and that we can succeed against the odds, in Jesus name we ask this. Amen /

Eternally grateful.[ Ephesians 2 v 1 - 9 ]

One of my sons, his wife and children are staying with us over this weekend, for most of us family is important,and rightly so.Now I want to quote a statistic, 70 percent of all young offenders come from single fatherless families, and a high percentage of young people involved in the recent riots were from single fatherless families. That is now, I find it interesting that I was brought up in a fatherless families, there were six of us ,and none of us got into trouble with the police . I suppose there may be many reasons why,our family escaped the law,we did have a larger family of uncles and aunts, also the times were different,there was also a degree of Christian influence, Sunday schools, childrens meetings,we all managed to find work. We also had Christian neighbours, hopefully they may have prayed for us, in the end I dont know, other than the mercy of God. I am grateful for the mercy of God towards my family,and towards me especially,for not only did God preserve my family, He saved me, and has kept me, for that mercy I will be eternally grateful.
A prayer..../Dear God we thank You for Your mercy in Jesus Your Son, a mercy that saves us
poor sinners Amen.

Just trust Me. [ Proverbs 3 v 5 ]

I must confess I am disappointed,the only supermarket were I buy my favourite bread, is no longer selling it. So what am I to do ?, I realize it is a very minor disappointment ,I am not complaining, after all I have a choice of a whole range of bread. But still I am disappointed, so what can I do?, well I had a brain wave ,I got on the net ,typed in what I wanted, and wallah, their was the recipe, so I am going to have a go at baking my favourite bread, watch this space. Disappointments can be trivial , more serious, and very serious, my disappointment I classed as trivia, but I appeciate that for many life is not easy, death,illness, divorce, unemployment,homelessness and so the list goes on. Well what does one do?, I read this recently in one my daily readings, it is one of the most meaningful things I have read. /Divine logic is beyond the grasp of my mind. I ask, Why this anguish?. The Father answers, Hush child, you wouldnt understand if I explained it to you. Just trust me.
A prayer....../Father we hear those words from You, just trust Me, they at times appear to mock
us, we hear the voice of doubt,and the enemy of our soul, so today grant us the
grace to simply trust You, in Jesus name. Amen/

An unsinning heart. [ 1 Corinthians 15 v 51 - 53 ]

Continuing on the theme of our sinfulness,now as a Christian of many years,and likewise a preacher, I suppose many people look at me, and think that butter would not mealt in my mouth. Yet it is not so, for I am still in this body of flesh, and I am often having to contend with temptation,from my fallen nature, and from satan, and I dont always win that fight.As long as I live I know it will be a battle to the grave, there is no escape ,it is onward Christian soldiers , marching as to war.Yet one day the battle will be over, when we will stand on heavens shore , and that will mean many things, and it is one of those many things that struck me recently , when I was singing an old hymn. It was written by Robert Murray Mcheyne , called , I am a debtor, and one of the verses reads,/ When I stand before the throne. Dressed in beauty not my own. When I see Thee as Thou art. Love Thee with unsinning heart, Then , Lord, shall I fully know. Not till then- how much I owe./ It is those words ,Love Thee with unsinning heart, that struck a cord with me. Can any of us trully take in the wonder of those words, that hearts that are now described as deceitful and desperately wicked [Jeremiah 17 v 9 ], will on that day be fully and wholly changed,we will have unsinning hearts.
A prayer..../Dear God grant us the grace to overcome sin,help us to fight the good fight of faith
,until the day we stand before You with an unsinning heart, in Jesus name .Amen.