Gods medicine. [ Psalm 23 ]

As I am sitting here I am listening to Psalms being sung,I really do love the Psalms, especially in the AV[ Although I am not just an AV person, but it is favourite version ]. Last week we got a phone call from our son,he has been stressed out for a while, but when he phoned us he was having trouble breathing. This upset me greatly, yes we prayed for him,later we phoned and he was feeling better, to our relief,but what could I do to help him?.Well I thought about it, and so I spoke to him later, and asked him to read the 23rd Psalm twice a day. Why did I do this?because I believe the words of Psalm 23 [ and all the words in the Bible ]are the words of God, they are the living words of God. When we focus on Gods word it can effectively change our lives, I believe that this wonderful Psalm can really help my son. Mybe you are struggling, afraid,frustrated ,a feeling of powerlessness, I advise you to read Psalm 23 twice a day ,till you know it by heart, and its truth becomes part of you, I believe it will be the medicine that can bring healing .
A prayer...../ Dear God we thank You for Your Word, that is all powerful and can bring peace to troubled hearts, and minds in Jesus name Amen /

The soul. [ Hebrews 10v39 ]

Yesterday we thought on the soul, John Bunyan wrote the following,/ The soul is immortal, and it will have sensibility forever. No one can kill the soul or annihilate it,if it may be said, God cannot do what He will not do, then He cannot annihilate one soul.When the rich man died as to his body,his soul was found alive in hell[Luke 16v23 ]./ So that is why I wrote that so many dear people are putting their souls in jeopardy,it has eternal consequences,now I am not saying the here and now is not important, but it is not the all important thing. Life is a gift of God, and He gives us all things richly to enjoy[1Timothy 6v17],I love life,music, reading watching the TV, holidays, work, and so on,but God has placed eternity within us,a consciousness that there is a spiritual context to our being, and our being here.Sin has blinded us to that reality, and so we live just for the here and now,fooled by sin and satan,the result is we suffer here and in the hereafter. In the person of Jesus ,God has broken into this world in order to save our souls, but in order for Him to do this ,His dear Son would have to die on the cross. On that cross Christ paid fully the penalty for our salvation, He made it possible that our souls could be saved eternally.
A prayer...../Dear God help us all to not neglect our great spiritual need,and the desperate need of our soul,and to look to Jesus the only one who can meet that need Amen./

A reminder. [ Luke 17 v 20 ff. ]

C S Lewis wrote ,/Horrible countries have horrible religions/, take the belief of incarnation, there is a temple in India infested by rats.Now I have nothing againsts rats,[ or India ] one of my favourite characters in the Wind and the Willows is ratty, but of course that is just fiction.Now back to the rats in the temple, people actually believe they are reincarnation of their ancesters, so they feed them , and treat them with what seems reverance, after all one of those rats may be their deceased mother. It all goes to show how far people have wondered from the truth,rats,and it is the truth that will only set people free, of course we in the west would not reverance a rat, or a cat like the ancient Egyptians did, or a wooden idol. The dollar has the words printed on it/,In God we trust/, but I think many Americans ,have forgotten that. Could it be that these times of recession are reminders of our need to focus on our souls needs ,we have gorged our physical beings on so much that is empty, and starved our souls. Not only have we starved our souls, but we have put them in great jeopardy, as we are reminded by the words of our Saviour in Mark 8 v36,/For what shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfiet his soul/.
A prayer...../Dear God of all the earth, of India ,America,Ireland, England ,have mercy and turn the nations to Jesus Thy Son,who died that all ,may be saved. Amen /

Lonliness. [ 2 Timothy 4 v 16 - 17 ]

It is said that one can be lonely in a crowd, mybe you feel lonely today,mybe you are single, mybe you are not near any other Christians,or you have lost your wife or husband. I have never lived alone ,and yet I have felt lonliness, the Bible says it is not good that we should be alone [Genesis 2 v18 ]. I am sure lonliness is more common than we realise,what can we do to help others? ,well we could visit them, befriend them,and indeed pray for them,and mybe in our trying to help others, we will be helped. When people come into our church situations make them welcome, not just initially, when someone is bereaved ,they need long term support, let us show people we care, and that we are there for them, long term. I know that it is not a nice feeling lonliness,but I believe we can experience a deeper relationship with our Lord in those times of lonliness.I want to leave these words with you and pray that the reality of them may encourage you in your lonliness./ For He [Jesus ]hath said,I will never leave you , nor forsake you. [Hebrews 13 v5 ]Andrae Crouch wrote a lovely hymn called /Through it all/, here are a few lines of it./ Ive been to lots of places, and Ive seen a lot faces, There ,ve been times I felt so all alone. But in my lonely hours,yes, those precious lonely hours, Jesus let me know what faith in God could do. Through it all ,Ive learned to trust in Jesus, Ive learned to trust in God, Through it all, Ive learned to depend on His Word/
A prayer.../Dear God help us in our lonely moments, for we do have them, in Jesus name Amen/

Strength enough to give. [2 Timothy 2 v1 ]

We have a slow cooker ,it does a grand job,it cooks meat slowly,and so the meat is usually nice and tender,years ago we used to have a pressure cooker that was quick in its cooking.Now I cant help but think that for most of us life is like a pressure cooker,when we really need to be more like the slow cooker.So many of us are being pushed,and pushed, with the demands of life,trying to keep deadlines,and if we continue like this then as the saying goes,somethings got to give.I observe people stressed out, and my heart goes out to them,and my prayers. An old Puritan William Gurnall wrote,/When you are oppressed with the weight of any duty and service in your calling, improve your trust in Gods power....encourage yourself with that which God said to Gideon. Go in this might, has not God called you? Continue in the work God sets you to do, and His strength will be engaged for you.....Set your needs all before the Almighty. God has strength enough to give./
A prayer..../ Dear God sometimes the pressure of life is overwhelming and we struggle, grant us the grace to cope in Jesus name. Amen /

Do not give up.[Philippians 3 v 13 - 14 ]

The challenge of the Christian faith is ,as C S Lewis puts it,to become a little Christ, and that trully is a great challenge,we may despair of such a challenge,and say it is to much for any person. John the Baptist said that Christ may increase, and that he may decrease[ John 3 v30 ],now of course it is hard for us to judge, how great a transformation is taking place, but it is not hard to know what is hindering it taking place. It is the hindrances in our lives that we must seek to overcome, and they can be,but it is ongoing, there is no place for complacency, we must be vigilant, we must not fall asleep on the job,for then the enemy of our souls will attack us.[ 1 Peter 5 v8 ] If we fail or fall we must hold short accounts with God, run to Him,not from Him, confess and forsake ,and by Gods grace move on. My dear manager just passed her driving test, she had failed a good number of times, but she didnt give up,we must not give up[ cp Proverbs 24 v16] Remember His divine power has been given unto us to become Christlike ,and this includes the grace we need to rise from our failures, and the grace to go on, and to change.
A prayer......Dear God grant us the grace we to be overcomers, grace to persevere,and grace to change , in Jesus name Amen.

God is faithful. [ Romans 7 v 24-25 ]

Brennan Manning wrote the following,/ The communist who accepts Karl Marx but not his doctrine is scarcly different from the Christian who accepts Christ but refuses to shape his life according to Christs teaching. / Consider for a moment as I will ,what do we struggle with? as I look back on my life even as a youngster I had a temper,that got me into scraps and fights, this followed me into my Christian life, and to my shame into my marriage. So often I grieved the Spirit by uncontrolled rage,and hurt those nearest to me. I also had thought patterns in the sexual area that was not healthy,also at times I would act rashly. I am being honest ,Have I conqured these yes but it is ongoing, I still fail in these areas , I am a work in progress, as we all are. It is not enough to say we cant help it, ,remember what Peter wrote ,/By His divine power,God has given us everything we need for living a godly life/.Whatever our weakness God can help us,if we are honest,and are prepared to surrender to His will in all things, and a humble dependance on God.This is a spiritual battle and we will only know victory on our knees, I leave a precious promise with you , /The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful, He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted,He will show you way out so that you can endure.[ 1 Corinthians 10 v13 ]
A prayer..../ Dear God help us to change, help us overcome those things that blight our lives in Jesus name Amen /