Perseverance [ 2 Corinthians 11 v 23 ff ]

If you do not succeed the first time, then try,try again,very few authors have books accepted the first time, by publishers, so they try and try,and often they succeed. There are so many people who keep trying,if you read the life of Abraham Lincoln ,you discover a man who had many setbacks ,even as president many thought him a failure. But everyone now remembers him as a great president ,honest Abe, a man who tried,and tried, and in the end he succeeded.Consider God ,does He not persevere with mankind, and even with those who are His children, and He will not stop until He succeeds. If you love someone then you will lovingly persevere with them, every parent does ,many will be coming to particapate in the Olympics, this year in London,who had a desire, for that very thing. What did it mean for them? perseverance ,getting up when others were in their bed sleeping, and going out for a run when the rain was pouring down. One of the precious qualities mentioned in 2 Peter 1v6 is perseverance[ niv ]this is one of the most vital qualities in the Christian life,if you ever read Pilgrims progress ,you see Christian facing so many difficulties,but he kept persevering,until the end,likewise our dear Saviour persevered to the very end until He fulfilled His Fathers will.
A prayer..../ Dear God grant to us all the grace of perseverance,in Jesus name Amen/

Marching to heavens drum beat [ Philippians 2 v 5-11 ]

I am ministering twice today the first place I am going to ,has about 5 people who attend, on my last visit there were only two present,so I would not preach, what preach to only two people, and I stormed out, and went home in a huff. No I did none of those things, I just ministered to two dear souls , and felt privileaged to do so, let us remember heavens values are not earthly values. This applies not only to ministering but to all of life ,in India they have people who are despised, they are given the name untouchables, these dear people endure so much, and many of thier children suffer, often abandoned, left to live alone seeking food from from garbage bins, many abused, living lives of destitution and rejection. Does not heaven cry out against such things, we in the west strive for riches,we trot up to the shop counter buy our lottery ticket, thats earths values, not heavens. We who are Christians follow One called Jesus, who was rich yet for oursakes became poor,the challenge daily is to follow in His footsteps.
A prayer....../Dear God in a world of distorted values help us to march to the beat of heavens drum beat, in Jesus name Amen /

Weakness. [ Ephesians 6 v 18 -20 ]

I was talking to my son in Ibiza today,and he said that women outnumber men 3 to 1 in the church in England, I wonder if this is true?,if it is ,I ask myself why?. I dont know that I have an answer ,or has any one an answer to this?. It was interesting at that funeral on Friday ,the men where in the majority, in our Lords day everyone was religious, men were the leaders. From my own experience I would find it easier to witness to women, although during the week I met an old neighbour and spoke a simple word of witness to him . Could it be that we are being challenged to pray for men, but in doing this, remember, God may challege you to witness to men, we are His lips, we are the channels He will use. So what about it?, are we ready to pray?, are we ready to speak,to men, in the coming week?. Dont overstretch yourself , start praying for one person,and ask God to give you an opportunity to witness to him, and ask Him to grant you a holy boldness to speak, I can assure you ,that I was a bit anixious in relation to that funeral service, but then, is weakness not always the best to be in, then we are relying on the Lords strength.
A prayer..../ Dear God we ask that You may fill us afresh with Your Holy Spirit ,that we may be witness ,especially to men, in Jesus name Amen /

Rest . [ Matthew 11 v28 ]

I had an interesting experience I attended a Hindoo funeral service,someone I knew for years had died, I was asked by his family to do a reading of my choice. I was not sure what to read but I did put something together, but it was as you will see Christian. Now only two people who were at the service were Hindoos, the priest and my friend who had died,so most of what took place was totally foreign to those present. So this is what I read,I did say that I was Christian and asked was that all right to the Priest, who said it was; now my short reading.
/ Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses,to breathe free.The wretched refuse of your teaming shore, send these, the homeless, temptest tossed to me.I lift my lamp beside the golden door.These words are to be found on a plaque at the base of the statue of liberty, they were written by Emma Lazarus, but nearly 2000 yrs ago a person called Jesus said, Come unto Me , all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. A Christian , Horatius Bonar ,wrote a hymn based on these words it reads.
I heard the voice of Jesus say,come unto Me and rest,
Lay down thy weary one, lay down thy head upon My breast.
I came to Jesus as I was, weary and worn and sad,
I found in Him a resting place, and He hath made me glad.
I heard the voice of Jesus say, behold I freely give.
The living water,thirsty one,stoop down, and drink and live.
I came to Jesus and I drank, of that life-giving stream.
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in Him
So ended the reading, please do pray that God will bless it to those who were present.

Look on the cross. [ Romans 8 v1 ]

Here comes that person again,he is always hurting me letting me down, and then saying he is sorry, until the next time,and not only that he is always asking Me to help him . I know Lord, I am sorry, I know son I love you,I will always love you, forgive you, and help you yes even financially.I see your imperfections ,but I also see and appreciate all your weak efforts, it will not always be so ,one day of my choosing , I will bring you home, and then for you, all will be perfect,and never again will you have to say sorry,or have a need.The past mistakes will be forgotten, the past failures will be seen in their true light,and I will reward you ,for all your service , yes there will be a reward for you, I will look upon you with eyes of love, and say well done son, enter into my joy and fulness. So in the meanwhile dont give up, for I will not give up on you,you may not think it but you are precious to me,and when you think otherwise look on the cross.

Be careful little eyes. [ Job 31 v 1 ]

There are three steps usually that we see in relation to sin, we look, we desire,and then we act, I think our hearing is part of it also[cp Genesis 3 v1-5].But it usually starts with what we see ,take the sin of Achan [Joshua 7 ],when he was found out,he confessed v21, I saw,and then it started on a downward spiral, likewise Davids sin with Bathsheba [2 Kings 11] in v2 we read ,he saw. Consider that there are two ways of seeing,first there is the seeing that only considers the immediate gratification, it does not take into consideration the consequences of our actions, the cost to all involved and especially in relation to God. We fail to appreciate the hurt and pain we are going to cause, no we just see with distorted single vision, and act in ways that are horrible. Was it Amy Charmichel who said when we are tempted we should think upon eternity,when Joseph was tempted [Genesis 39 ]he saw beyond the immediate,he saw beyond selfish desire,to its consequences, how it would affect his master, and most important his God. There is a little chorus which goes,/ Be careful little eyes what you see, theres a Saviour up above looking down with tender love. So be careful little eyes what you see.
A prayer..../Dear God help us to look at temptation with spiritual vision,and not be ruled by our sinful nature , in Jesus name Amen /

Leaven.[John 8 v1-11]

An important part of our diet is bread, there are many different types ,soda bread wheaten bread,plain bread,pan bread,it is all bread. Many people make their own bread, in bread making machines, part of the ingrediants to bread is yeast,it causes the bread to rise. In the Jewish religion at passover they are to clear out any leaven [ yeast] in their homes, why?,it is symbolic of sin. W Barclay points out ,the Jews identified fermentation with putrefaction, and so leaven stood for a corrupting influence. In 1 Corinthians 5 v 6-7 the apostle tells the Christians how a little piece of leaven effects the whole lump of dough, and thats the way it is with sin, if sin is not dealt with, it will effect ,the whole church ,and the individual Christians life.So he exhorts them to purge out,or to get rid of those sinful practices ,that if left, will have serious consequences. Paul is exhorting the church to exercise discipline,often churches shut their eyes to sin in their midst, but as we see in Revelation 2/3 the Lord of the church will not.We must treat sin with the same seriousness as God does , but a note of caution as W Barclay put it,/Discipline must never be vengeful, it must always be curative and prophylactic.
A prayer...../Holy God grant us grace to lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, in Jesus name we ask this Amen/