Fighting, finishing,and keeping the faith. [ 2 Timothy 4 v 7-8 ]

My oldest boy completed a bike ride of over 50 miles yesterday,along with about 2ooo others, my wife and I were at the finish ride, it was a charity event.He and a few friends had been training ,if you are going to take on some challenge, usually it is advisable to prepare. At the end of this month the olympics will be taking place in this country mainly in London,I will not be attending any of the events, but I will watch some of it on TV.Of course it was the Greeks who started it all.The apostle Paul  refers to sport in his writings, and in writing to young Timothy, knowing that his end was near,and this is what he wrote. /I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith[2 Timothy 4 v 7 ]. In these words we see the challenge of being a Christian,he fought a good fight,one just has to read his letters to appreciate what he had to contend with,like him we are in a war zone,let us fight a good fight.Next he writes on finishing his course,my greatest desire is to finish,not to be a drop out, I want my heavenly father to be at the finish line,and to greet me with a big welcome home hug.Next he declares I have kept the faith,in other words he was faithful to Jesus,yes faithful to Jesus,God grant us the grace we need to be faithful to Jesus, and not be drawn away from Him.
A  prayer..../Dear God grant us the grace we need ,to fight, to finish, and to keep the faith,in Jesus name Amen /

Prayer, we need to go deeper. [ Matthew 6 v 5 -15 ]

Our daugther in law failed her driving test yesterday,this is the second time,now I am not writing this to make her feel bad,so why  mention it?.The reason I am writing about it,is to highlight the fact that my wife and I both prayed that she would pass her test,but she didnt. Why is a question we will all ask I am sure,in relation to  prayer,we are told ,ask and it shall be given unto you,we are told God answers our prayers.Do we just brush this question under the mat?why was this prayer not answered?,now of course my daughter in law must have prayed,my son must have prayed, so why did she fail? Now as I write this blog I am listening to Christian radio, I hear the words being sung,/Open the eyes of my heart Lord//and it seems to me that we need to go deeper ,than our natural understanding, especially when it comes to prayer.We need to not lean upon our own understanding[Proverbs 3v5], we need to go deeper,in all things, especially as I have stressed in relation to prayer. Prayer is not just a yes or no exercise, it is not just putting a coin in a machine and getting a coffee,for sometimes we dont get coffee. Prayer is part of our relationship with a loving heavenly Father, through Jesus,it is not just a one way street relationship.When my children come to me and ask, for advice or whatever, I listen and I consider what is the best answer,the best way to help.So it is with God when we come to Him, with a request,He may not grant our request because it is lacking in faith,we may have sin in our lives,we may need patience, we may be asking with wrong motives,we may not be praying according to His will, our faith needs refining.
A prayer..../ Loving heavenly Father we ask that You would open the eyes of our heart in relation to prayer, in Jesus name Amen /

Pray. [ Luke 18v1 ]

Sometimes I see the humorous side of things,take our weather,earlier in the year we were told, that many parts of our land was affected by a lack of rain,a hose pipe ban was put into force,the word drought was mentioned.So I prayed ,now I am not saying I am an Elijah,but all I know is we have had one of the wettest summers in living memory.We have experienced floods in certain places, there is no more talk about a lack of rain. Now while on holiday as I was driving through heavy rain fall, I suddenly thought is all this rain my fault?, after all I did pray.I smiled at my words ,I better be careful what I pray about,who knows what devastation I may cause.As I said my sense of humour, sometimes gets the better of me,but being serious, I believe God did answer my prayers for rain, and I am grateful  [I am sure others prayed as well],when we pray God does hear, and I believe He does answer,prayer is a powerful ministry,so pray,dont give up,pray ,pray,pray.
A prayer..../ Dear God  thank You for answers to our prayers,help us to not give up ,help us to pray, and  to trust ,that our prayers are answered ,according to Your perfect will, in Jesus name Amen /

Gods no. [ 1 Kings 19]

I  wonder do you ever feel like giving up on your marriage ,children,church,job, yes even following the Lord?, because, what is your because?.You have prayed about things faithfully and nothing appears to change,well join the club. Elijah was a member of that club, surely not, after all he was a prophet, a man of God, one who stood,it seemed alone against a sea of evil.So what did he do ?well he talked to God honestly he had a good moan about the situation ,and he had a prayer request, he asked that he might die. I wonder do you have a death wish? Elijahs request was never answered, in fact he is one of those rare individuals who never died. It is a good job we dont recieve all we ask for , from God,that job, that girl,or boy we thought we loved,God said no, is not God wise and loving enough ,to knows whats best for us?. At this time you may feel like giving up,because of the circumstances you are facing, your requests are not answered,remember Elijah, and Gods no to Him,at that moment in time it may have seemed cruel, but it was,nt,God had some better thing for Elijah.
A  prayer...../ Dear God we thank You that You say no at times to us,not a lot, but nevertheless You do,help us to see, yes through our despair and tears that You know whats best for us, grant us grace to not give up, in Jesus name Amen /
[  I am going on a short break, and will return to my blog[dv] Saturday 14th,  every blesing]

The god particle.[ Colossians 1 V12-17]

 I am not a scientist ,I hardly know how to spell the word,and I am not a physicists, and I am not sure what the term god particle means,although the scientific world is excited about it.Most scientists dont like the phrase,and a man called Leaderman,mentions about a connection,to the book of Genesis. If scentists where seeking to discover how God made the earth,which unfortunately they are not, one could appreciate their efforts, but most of their efforts appear to be ignoring,or refuting a belief in a creator God. It appears to me that no matter how much they appear to discover, I say appear for science is an incomplete exercise,they will never explain the cause of the universe and this world, and how it all came into being.I am not anti science,but I am so saddened at their atitude,at their arrogance,for it appears to me the more they know the less they know.Unfortunately  here in the west,mulitudes are blindly following them,why?thats for them to answer,as a Christian I am encouraged to use my mind, to not accept willy nilly, what any group of people teach.I remember as a young man asking questions as to the meaning of life,for it did not appear to have any,until I came back to faith in Christ,by whom all things were made,and in that moment, I had found the answer,to my searching.
A prayer..../Dear God we thank You for the many scientific discoveries,that have helped mankind,but we pray for the many who are rejoicing in the god particle, may discover the one by whom all things were made and are now held together even Jesus Thou Son . Amen/

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/