Relying on the Lord. [Psalm 127]

Let us consider another Psalm, 127,the opening verse reads/ Except the Lord build the house they labour in vain that build it, except the Lord keep the city ,the watchman waketh in vain./The church that I used to be an elder in was taken over by a person who made all sorts of claims that in three months time we would see such a difference.He told my fellow elder and me all about his success in other places ,well we had it appeared seen little success, so we stepped down,and left the church, we left it to him, thats what he wanted.It is over a year since we left, and the man who boasted about what he would do has moved ,another person is in charged and the last report I have had there was only one person attending, and was looking for those who have left to come back. I am not bitter I feel it was time for us to move on, and my desire is that the work there may even yet grow,but on reflection ,in relation to the man who took over,it appears, that his confidence was in his record or apparent record ,and not the Lord. There is that line we cross in which we can leave the Lord out of our endeavours,it is so easy,to become unbalanced,I often see churches making claims for their ministries that is not based on faith but on presumption.So today in all our activities let us make sure that we are trully relying on the Lord,and not on our past records, or accomplishments.
A  prayer...../ Dear God help us to face each new task with humble reliance on You,for without You helping us continually we labour in vain, in Jesus name we ask this Amen /

He can alter my disposition. [Isaiah 61 v 1-3]

Oswald  Chambers wrote.../ There is no circumstances so dark and complicated, no life so twisted, that He cannot put right. The Bible was not written for babes and fools, it was written for men and women who have to face hell,s facts as well as heavens facts in this life. If Jesus cannot touch those lives which present a smooth face, but have a hideous tragedy behind, what is the good of His salvation?But, bless God, He can. He can alter my disposition alter the dreams of my dreams, until lust no longer dwells there./When Jesus was on earth ,He was faced with people whose lives were held fast by satan and sin,self destructive lives,no one could help them. We read of people who where plagued by so much, people who tried everything,had no where to go,they were trapped ,and lost.To these Jesus came, and performed miracles, healed them , forgive them, and set them free,this is what the Bible tells us,and the same Bible tells us that Jesus never changes. I believe the Bible ,I believe that Jesus saves, and that His power can set the prisoners free, He can gave the weary rest,He will hear and answer prayer,this is not a Pentecostal writing this, or a charismatic[ mybe they have something we all need to claim ],but a Christian who simply believes in a Saviour who is mighty to save ,mighty to deliver,mighty to work on behalf of the oppressed, and distressed.
A  prayer..../Dear Saviour have mercy on those who are bound by sin and satan,manifest Thy power and set them free. Amen/

If God be for us. [ Romans 8 v 31-39 ]

Let us consider words from Psalm 124v1-2/If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say. If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us/ consider these words in relation to your experience, as I relate it to mine.How have we come this far?, how have we overcome all the difficulties in life?,how have we got through when everything was against us?. Saved from drowning when I was a boy,passed my driving test after only 10 lessons,who made a way for me when every door was shut?,who stood by me when my dear wife died?,who has helped me in my ministry,who enabled me to get my present job,which I have worked in for 20years?, and so I could go on,as indeed every child of God could.If it had not  been the Lord none of these things would have happened,William Plumer wrote,/We cannot too often  remember that none but God can save us from sin, or foes, or perils, and that He can certainly do for us all that our case requires. He that has  God for His friend and portion lacks nothing whatever.........If the safety of the righteous depended on appearances,or on their inherent energies , or the weakness or fewness of their adversaries, they would all perish/ What shall we then say to these things? if  God be for us, who can be against us [ Romans 8 v 31 ]
A  prayer..../ Thank You dear Lord for all You have done for us, when no one stood with us You did, when all human resources where exhausted then You  met the our deep need, great has been Your faithfulness, in Jesus name we thank You Amen /

Look to God [ Psalm 121 ]

One of my and others favourite Psalm is 121,verse one reads/I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help/. Ask yourself this question,where will my help come from?,not the hills,no not the hills, the Lord is not a God of the hills or the valleys.The writer makes a positive decision,often we run with our fears, and feelings,no, dont do that,make a definite decision to look up,not at creation but to your creator. Today many people are taken up with secondary things,they are looking at their possessions,gods of mans imaginations,the list is endless, they are all, will of the wisps. Yes God will use means to help us,but they are only ,Gods instruments in His hands to accomplish His purpose,for His dear children.Verse 2 is a needful reminder to us all where are help will come from,/My help cometh from the Lord,/and what a Lord/which made heaven and earth/.Think of the power,wisdom, and planning that went into creating the heavens and the earth, is such a one not able to help us?, of course He is , He can do, exceeding, abundantly above all that we ask or think[ Ephesians 3 v20].
A  prayer..../ Dear Lord help us not to be earth bound in our difficulties,help us to look up to You in Your name Lord Jesus we ask this Amen /

God is passionate. [Jeremiah 31 v 3 ]

In the fellowship I attend the pastor was leading an open discussion,on being passionate, and he asked what did we think God was passionate about?.Well several answers were forthcoming, and
 one of the answers that came to me was, God is passionate about me,yes even little old me, and what applies to me ,applies to you.His passion for us is manifested by the love manifested on Calvary. This  love will never lessen, it is a love with an eternal aspect to it,for his passion will not end with this life,but will continue eternally. Everything He directs into our lives and everthing He allows us to experience is motivated by a passionate love for our well being. He desires us to rise from our failures,He  desires us to succeed,,to never waver.but even if we do, to not give up,He desires with a passion for us,to be the people we should and can be, inspite of what others think, and what we may think. Its not just about positive thinking,it is about a God who is passionate about us,passionate about you and me.
A  prayer.../ Dear God of passion ,we rejoice that You have a passion for us,a love that will not let us go,but will follow us, in time and for all eternity, in Jesus name Amen/

Death [ John 11 v 25-26 ]

I  was ministering in a certain church ,and was told that one of the ladies who attended that fellowship had died,she had over the years suffered a lot of illness, her last illness was cancer, which brought about her death. As I was leaving one of the members asked the question,  why?, yes people still ask this question, in that ladies case it appears a mercy that the Lord took her home. It seems to me that she had experienced enough suffering,and now she is at  rest,free from all sickness, all pain, I know death is a painful thing for those who are left, but I also know that as for God His way is perfect. There is a gospel hymn which goes,,/ everybody wants to go to heaven , but nobody wants to die./, this is so true, it seems to our human reasoning that to go to heaven ,like Enoch, or Elijah, is preferable to dying.Death will not go away no matter how painful it is,and no matter how much we wish for it not to happen. It is the apostle Paul ,writing on the subject of death to Christians,reminds us of  a number of things,that death is not the end, when a believer dies they immediately enter heaven [ 2 Corinthians 5 v8 ],also there will come a day when death will cease to be [Revelation 20 v14 / 1Corinthians 15 v54-55] . Death is for the believer a temporary experince,Chist assures us, that through faith in Him ,even though we die we shall live[ John 11 v25 ]. So for most of us death will take place,only those alive at Christs second coming, whenever that will be,will not experience death.[1 Thessalonians 4v 17].So if  we are believers we should not sorrow as those who have no hope[1 Thessalonians 4v 13].
A prayer..../ Dear Lord Jesus we thank You, that through Your death,You have overcome death, and have brought life and immortality to all who put their faith in You Amen ]

Integrity [Nehemiah 5 v 14 ff]

One of  the men I admire in the Bible is Nehemiah, one of his godly characteristics was his integrity ,cp chapter 5 v14ff,the more we hear of the modern day bankers we see how this qaulity is missing. Recently I purchased a second hand car ,and with it I was given a 3 month warrenty.I soon discovered there was a fault with the ,the car dealer told me to get in touch with the warranty people,now the point is this ,because the fault was in the car when I bought it, the warrinty was invalid.The garage that was going to fix it where charging me over 600 pounds to put the fault right,they phoned the warranty people who gave the ok to go ahead,but where not informed by them that the fault was in the car when I bought it. So I was faced with a decision to let the warranty people pay the bill or, well I went back to the people I bought it, got no joy,in essence they are responsible  to put the problem right. So although I could have let the warranty pay, I decided I should pay it. Integrity is important for all of us especially if we are Christians, it is easy to give in to the spirit of the age,but we must trust in God and do the right thing.
A prayer..../ Help us to be people of integrity in Jesus name Amen/