True love [1 Corthians 13 ]

I am listening to a song as I sit here and hear the words,/ look at what love has done,it has made a slave of me/,words about a love for a woman.There is so much written ,and sung about love,I wonder what  you think about love?,in general,I pray for many people,but why to I pray for them?.Why do I give gifts to people?,or to the church I attend,why do I do the work I do, working among the mentally ill?,why do I ,and so we could go on the list is endless.Why did God send His son into this world ?and of course the answer is LOVE, for God is love, imagine a world in which He withdrew that love. Love suffereth long, I was going to use a different word, but I feel that word suffereth,is so appropriate to describe what it means to love,if you have a difficult child, or are in a difficult marriage,or been hurt by a friend,you are suffering. Consider our fellow Christians who are enduring so much pain,they know what it means to suffer, day after day, and for some it will end in death,and in the midst of all suffering,the challenge is to love,to serve those who least deserve our service,to bless those who curse us.
A prayer...../ Dear God of love, grant to us the grace by Your Spirit to love we ask this in the name of Jesus, the son of Thy love Amen /

God is patient. [ Revelation 13 v10 ]

I was waiting in a queue at the bank,and I asked myself why is it some people appear to take forever when I am waiting?, while I was debating it with myself, I heard a little voice say ,be patient. Then I asked the Lord why are You always telling me to be patient?,well you can imagine,what the answer may have been.. Take a moment to consider how patient God is, with this world ,and with you and I, oh yes He is.When one becomes a Chriatian ,it should cause us to look at life differently,and hopefully to act and think differently. Let me assure you that waiting in a queue is a minor thing in life, compared to what God has to put up with,we cannot fully appreciate,or comprehend Gods patience.From the moment mankind went astray in the garden of Eden, God has been patiently seeking and speaking, and the majority of people ignor Him. Even with those who know Him,consider how patient he was  with Israel the chosen people, continually they  grieved Him ,with their backsliding, the writer of the epistle of the Hebrews declares,/your fathers tempted Me,, proved Me, and saw My works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation/[ Hebrews 3 v10 -11 ]We need to to be very, very grateful that God is patient,on a personal  level, God has been very patient with me, when I look back  I observe so many  aspects of my life, that must have grieved God, yet He remained faithful, and still does.So if  we want to be like Jesus, well one very important aspect  is being patient, so let us stop our complaining , and be grateful that we dont have to put up, with what God has to put up with.
A prayer..../ Dear God remind us, that You desire us to be patient ,we thank and praise You forYour  amazing patience, towards the world in general,to Your church,and especially to me,in Jesus name Amen /

The darkness within. [Acts 3 v14 ]

I am in the process of reading a book called ,The end: Hitlers Germany, by Ian Kershaw, and I also watched the film,The Pianist.The  book seeks to analysis why Germany never surrendered, when it was obvious that the war was lost, and the film is about a pianist who was a Jew, who survived ,the awful fate ,of his fellow Jews,in Warsaw ,under the Nazies.As one reads about the awful fact that a party like the Nazies got into power, and survived in power,one asks many questions. And when one considers the evils perpetrated by that nation,one asks the question why?,after all Germany is were the reformation started, Germany was, a so called civilised country.Not only does one ask questions but one begins to judge them, and condemn them,am I right?,and the answer is, I am not right.Consider the words of Jeremiah 17 v9,/The heart is decieitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it?/ Let the truth of those words take hold of us,the fact of matter is,we do not know our hearts,our sinful natures and the depths it can sink to. As I consider my sinful heart,and consider the wickedness of nations or individuals like Anders Behring Breivik of Norway who coldly murdered many young people, I can only trully say, there but by the grace of God go I. The word of God declares ,that Christ came to save sinners, that includes everyone,for we are all sinners, oh yes justice must be done,if not now, it most certainty will be done in eternity.Yes let us pray that justice will be done, but above all else, let us pray that God will preserve all of us from falling into some heinous sin.
A  prayer...../ Dear God deliver us from all evil, you alone know the darkness of our hearts,and the depths of evil lurking there, have mercy upon us in Jesus name Amen./

Jesus. [ John 21 ]

Why not give up,why not give up with church,why not give up praying,why not give up on that difficult child,that difficult marriage,that dream, that God has placed in your heart. Surely God will understand , He will understand , how tired I am,how much I have tried, and tried, and it seems I have got nowhere.I know so many have given up,oh yes they had their reasons, and I am not going to judge them. But what I will do, is pray for them,for I have been tempted to give up, we are all fellow travellers on this road of life, but then what?,no to give up,is not the answer. Whatever road of live we are on,we will still have to face difficulties,it is the nature of life, the difference between the road I am on ,yes it is a narrow road,but there is one with me , His name is Jesus. He makes all the difference to me, His friendship is ever constant, and unlike so many fairweather friends ,He never leaves me,and He fully understands ,how I feel,He is always there for me 24/7.I cant imagine life without Him, can you?.

A prayer ..../ Dear God grant us the grace to not give up,and to never loose sight that the most important thing in my life is Jesus Your Son Amen /

He is trustworthy.[ Psalm 23 ]

It is very obivious that life is very uncertain,and as for guidance and of knowing what way to go,we are often at a loss to know just what to do.Looking back I did a number of things,kept praying,and seeking and in it all relying on God. Where we are uncertain the words of Psalm 32 v8 come blasting forth with a certainty,/I will instruct thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye/. The question is do we want His instruction, and His guidance?, we may not want the way God will guide us,only you can answer that. Next are we prepared to seek His guidance?, for it is the way of faith,and that always appears to bring with it,uncertainty. Here we have God declaring to us what He is prepared to do,these are words that should inspire us,to think that God Himself is assurancing us in words that are clear,that He will instruct us and guide us,the question is are we prepared to trust Him?. Let us always remember, that God is totally trustworthy,whatever way we are called to go,He will not fail us, remember the weakness is always on our part, not Gods .

A prayer.../Dear heavenly Father help us in a world of broken promises ,and broken dreams to rejoice in Your trust worthiness in Jesus name Amen /

Small is safe.[Philippians 4 v11 ]

I wonder why a man of God like David committed adultery ?,was it because he departmentalized his life?,it seems that he saw at that time,that he was king, and a very powerful king, and being king he could take certain liberties. In other words he felt that this department in his life was free from the restraints,that his subjects had to submit to.A number of USA presidents I believe thought this, and it would appear that Henry the 8th may have thought this also ,and indeed Charles the 1st. This is the danger for all of us if we are placed in position of authority, we can so easily feel that we can act in ways ,yes like David, that are contrary to our relationship with God. Could it be that God keeps us in a lowly place,because He knows us better than we know ourselves, knows the danger of being lifted up to a position of power and influence.My ministry has always been to small groups, I pastored a small church,was an elder in a small church , minister regulary at small groups, why?,because it was best, and safe for me.

A prayer ...../ Dear God we thank You for Your wisdom and understanding, for choosing what is best for us in Jesus name Amen /

When Elijah prayed [James 5 v 17-18 ]

Part of our country is experiencing a shortage of rain, I dont think it is a judgement, but of course it reminds me of a time in Israel when it was a judgement.We do not interpret events like that now,[ who knows it may happen ] but when a prophet arose and declared that there would be no rain, and it happened, one must take note. We read about this in 1 Kings 17 king Ahab ruled over the northern kingdom, he was weak and sold out to all the wrong things, and we read that he did more to provoke God to anger, than all the kings of Israel, that were before him[ 1Kings 16 v33 ]. He also made a real stinker of his choice of a wife Jezebel,who we marry matters, to us and to God. Well anyway, things were were very bad spiritually,Elijah suddenly appears out of nowhere,and makes this declaration,/As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word/, and so it came to pass. Elijah not only declared what was going to happen,we read in the book of James how he prayed for it to happen, and at a later date ,he would pray again and rain would come [James 5 v 17-18 ]. We need to pray Gods purposes through,only God can make things happen,our part is to act prayerfully, praying His purposes into being, we must not consider our weakness,but Gods greatness and power,when Elijah prayed things happened.

A prayer...../Dear God help us to see how vital is to pray your purposes through in Jesus Amen /