Perfection.[ Matthew 5 v 48 ]

What do I mean perfection, or what does the Bible mean?,well consider the only one who was and is perfect Jesus. He fufilled the  will of God in His life  and death,never once did He step outside the will of God.So right away we see the importance of doing Gods will,in Romans 12 v 2, it is called the perfect will of God,and that is our goal. The Christian life is I believe, a battle of the wills, ours and Gods, and it is ongoing,each new day brings with it the challenge of the will.Of course in doing the will of God our Saviour had to contend with Satan.In the wilderness our Saviour was tempted by Satan,he held out the offer of popularity,personal glory,and power.Tony Campolo writes in his book,/ Choose love not power/,that Christ chose the way of the cross ,the harder way,He would save the world not through power, but through sacrificial love/.Our Saviour manifested a servants heart and challenged us to be a servant to others,so  we could consider being a servant as part of the path of perfection, that we are called to walk each new day. So today let us be seek to be perfect,we may not succeed, but we are called to try, called to follow the one who never failed.
A  prayer.../. Dear God help us to choose Your perfect will today in Jesus name Amen /

Perfectionism.[ Matthew 5 48 ]

I wish I could say I was the perfect son,both my parents are dead, I never got to my know father, as my mum and dad seperated when I was very young. So my mum brought us up at that time there were four of us,so again I ask the question was I the perfect son,did I always do that  which pleased my mother?, and the answer is, wait for it,no. I have regrets , I wish I could say ,no regrets,but I cant.We can all look at our lives and wish we could go back to that place which the poet calls the land of new beginning. Our Saviour lays before us the challenge of being perfect [ Matthew 5 v48 ],it is an exhortation,that must be taken very seriously. We are not to let our imperfectness be an excuse for not trying to reach for the goal of perfection, no, our aim in life is to aim for perfectness,even though we fail,even though we feel it is hopeless.When we fail we are not to fall into a spirit of condemnation , we are told that we are not condemned. [Romans 8 v1 ],what we must do is simple never give up ,never give up,never,why? because I want to be like Jesus who always did those things that pleased His Father.
A  prayer... Dear God help us to rise from our failures and to press on, to the goal of perfection,in Jesus name Amen /

24/7. [1 Thessalonians 5 v17 ]

I am sure you have heard the term 24/7, there is a prayer movement called 24/7 in the book ,Red moon rising,by Pete Greig/ Dave Roberts, they write of the longest prayer meeting in history started by a group of Christians called the Moravians, it lasted for 125years , 24/7. It goes without saying that prayer is important ,but how important?, a good question,consider three words from 1 Thessalonians 5 v17, Pray without ceasing,how do they strike you?,well to say the least, very challenging,mybe they discourage you, for you cannot even begin to imagine praying without ceasing.  It appears to me that the Christian life,is a life that goes beyound any boundries,the law says ,give a tenth, our Saviour taught about a widow woman who give her all [ Mark 12 v41ff], to go the extra mile,to forgive in an unlimited way,for our righteousness to exceed the righteousness, of the religious people of His day[ Matthew 5 v20 ] So again I ask the question to myself and to you, how do you see , those words ,pray without ceasing?we will have to pray about it, and be guided by Gods Spirit.
A  prayer..../ Dear God like the disciples of old we would ask that You would teach us how to pray in Jesus name Amen

Nehemiah [ Nehemiah 1 ]

One of my favourite people in the Bible is Nehemiah ,a person of  integrity,prayer,steadfastness,purpose
,also a great encourager of Gods people, he was a great leader. We dont read of any of his faults,not that we should be looking for any,but he had those who sought to hinder him,in the important work of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.We can learn so much from this mans life and ministry, he could have given into fear[6 v12-13]but he didnt ,he prays to God, naming those who were seeking to unsettle him.
The list is interesting and instructive,Tobiah ,Sanballat non Jews,but he also mentions,a prophetess and prophets.Often it is those in religious garb who are the greatest enemies of the truth and the work of God,religiosity can cover a mulitude of sins, those who had our dear Lord crucified were religious. Religiosity is not the rule by which are we guided by,we must be guided by Gods word,judge all things by its teaching, and stand fast in the truth God has revealed to us,like the disciples of old, who told the religious leaders of their day,we ought to obey God,rather than men[Acts 5 v29 ]
A prayer..../ Dear God thank you for your servant Nehemiah,help us not just admire him, but to follow his godly example, in Jesus name Amen /

Jesus.[ John 14 v6 ]

Often in a dispute particularly between a man and wife it is best not to get involved, there are exceptions of course,but  usually it is best to let them sort things out themselves.If you do interfere you may be told in no uncertain terms, that it has nothing to do with us,it is between ,him and her, or her and him.I was at a meeting last night, and the preacher, a Alan Greenbank a retired missionary, who told of an incident about a eight year old boy,who went home after hearing Alan preach.When he arrived home he spoke to his father ,and told his father that he wanted to do what Alan had said about accepting Jesus as his Saviour.Well the father who was a Christian was delighted, so he spoke to him about what it meant to accept Jesus as Saviour,and then he offered to pray with his son, but his son said no, and asked his dad to leave the room,for he said, / this is between Jesus and me/. It is nice to have godly parents,Sunday school teacher, who tell us about Jesus, whom we all need,but when it comes to being saved,it comes down to this one solitary fact, we all need to be like that eight year old boy,and realize if we are going to be save, we personally need to meet with Jesus.to have our sins forgiven, and accept him as our Saviour
A  prayer...../ Dear God help us to see our need of Jesus Your Son, and our need of meeting with Him and trusting Him personally,for salvation and in our everyday daily experience in His name we ask this Amen /

Sorry [ Isaiah 57 v15 ]

I should have known better, I was suddenly drawn into a conflict situation, the more I tried to calm the situation the more difficult it became, in the end I found myself becoming angry. Well eventually silence reigned, and unexpectantly I found myself saying , I am sorry I got annoyed with you, and surprisingly , the other person, said he was sorry,so peace returned. Often it is the hardest thing to do,that is to say sorry,especially if its not your fault, and yet that may be the only way to resolve a conflict.Many years ago when I was at Bible college,  I felt I had offended a visiting lecturer, he lived quite a few miles away,I had only a bike,so I cycled over to where he lived,and apologised, and then peace came into my heart.The word of God stresses the importance of humility,because we are without exception proud by nature, pride is a sin,it is the stronghold of the unconverted,alas it does not die when we are converted, so for your Lords  sake, say you are sorry
A  prayer....../ Dear God forgive us for our unforgiven attitude, help us to see the importance of destroying the fortress of pride,which manifests itself in so many ways in our lives,in Jesus name Amen /

Abuse. [ Isaiah 59 v1 ]

Last night on the Tv there was a programme about paedophilia in the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland,and how those in power did not stop it happening, I am not going to run down that group ,although one could easily do that. When it comes to goverments , religious groups,or any situation,having power, it is vital,[ I stress the word vital,] that it is not seen as absolute power. The only one that can safely have absolute power is God, when men feel they have absolute power,they inevitable feel they can do as they please, they feel they are not accountable. Democracy is not a perfect system but to some extent it challenges those abuses in our society,be on your gaurd against, any who feel they can do as they please. In the church,politics,or in the home,if you are in a sitution where this is going on ,challenge it,and if you are been abused,have courage to leave,and report the abuse, no one has the right to abuse anyone.
A prayer ...../ Dear God we ask that You would help and come to the aid of those who are suffering from a abuse of power in Jesus name Amen /