A good name.[ Philippians 2 v 5-11 ]

Proverbs 22 v1..../ A good name is rather to be chosen rather than great riches/ Here we are thinking of having a good reputation, the bankers have a bad reputation, the salvation army has a good reputation.I am having some work done in my home,and the man who is doing the work ,has come with a good reputation, and he has lived up to it.As regards buissness a good reputation is very precious, destroy that reputation and your buisness will suffer. One wonders will the Roman Catholic ever recover their  reputation, in the light of the sex scandles?. We all like to think of our reputation,as important and rightly so,we are told we should value a good  name rather than great riches. And yet we read about our Saviour that He made Himself of no reputation,and this can only be fully appreciated when we understand who He was and what He became, equal with God, for He was God, and yet He became a servant,becoming a man, and then to die,the most humiliating death on a cross. In the light of this profound happening there is a challenge which we all have to face ,in our work places,in our schools ,or wherever God has placed us.
A prayer..../ Dear God help us to hold fast to what is important in Your eyes, even if that means putting our reputation on line, in Jesus name Amen/

Not acceptable [ Isaiah 1 v10ff]

Proverbs21 v3..../ To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice/ Now of course Solomon was dismissing sacrifices  cp  1 Kings 9 v 25,but it is the folly of religious people who thought that God would accept them while they committed injustice,and oppression.cp Isaiah 1v 10ff.Religion if it is to be meaningful and acceptable must be acceptable to God, which means, just, and merciful.Yet it is sad, that history reveals so much injustice,many slave owners were Christians,apartheid was given sanction and credibility by the religion of white South Africans,and those who owned those dark satanic mills in England,professed  to be Christian.So let us appreciate that if we are oppressing our wives,our children or those we employ, and we hide all this behind a religious front, remember God sees and is not pleased,it is not acceptable.
A  prayer.../Dear God help us not to be a hypocrite in Jesus name Amen /

An affair of the heart[John 21 v 15-17]

Proverbs 23 v26..../My son, give me thine heart,and let thine eyes observe my ways/ I remember hearing a preacher telling how those words,/My son give me thine heart/,spoke into his heart, and he surrendered his life to Christ. It is Charles Bridges who writes./ Many are the claimants for the heart. Heaven and hell contend fot it. The world with its riches, honours,and pleasures, and science with its more plausible charmes,cries , give me thine heart./The question is who or what has our heart? our Saviour was asked, what is the greatest commandment?and He replied,/Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul,and with all thy mind[ Matthew 22v37] The non Christian knows nothing about this,for this goes further than,doing our best,it goes further than legalism,it is surrendering our heart to Jesus,and in that ,we forsake all lesser things.Jesus asked Peter, the failure,three times ,/Do you love Me? /[John 21 v15-17 ] ,the question is how many more times does He need to ask you this question ,before you respond?
 A   prayer...../Dear Lord Jesus today I  give You my heart,I forsake all other lesser things, I confess that I love You Amen/

Run to Him. [ Psalm 121 ]

Proverbs 18 v10./The  name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe/Names  have meanings, Gods name has a meaning,in the NT we are told to ask in Jesus name,whats in a name?often a name reveals the character of that person, be it good or bad.So what does Gods name conjure up?,a protector ,Psalm 50v15 reads,/And call upom me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. Whats in a name Gods name?a place of saftey c p.....  Psalm 4 v8 I will lay me down in peace, and sleep, for thou Lord, only makest me dwell in saftey./. Whats in a name Gods name?a place of security , Psalm 27 v1 The Lord is my light and my salvation,whom shall I fear?the Lord is the strength of my life, whom shall I be afraid, the answer to that question is no one.The righteous run into it and is safe,we note two things in these words , what we are being told is very simple  these word are spoken to those who have put their faith in Jesus , He is the only way to God [John 14 v6 ].Next we see that they must run to to God, run ,not dilly ,dally all the way,if we are to be safe then we must be urgent,how often Israel sought false gods, to their destruction.But when we run to the Lord, we are guaranteed a place of saftey, a place of deliverance. W.O. Cushing wrote../How oft in the conflict,when pressed by the foe,I have fled to my refuge, and breathed out my woe. How often when trials like sea billows roll. Have I hidden in Thee ,O Thou Rock of my soul/
A   prayer...../ Dear God in our difficulties help us to run to You ,not from You,help us to make You our first port of call in Jesus name Amen/

Right is not always right . [Isaiah 5 v 20 ]

Proverbs 14 v12/There is a way that semeth right unto a man,but the end thereof are the ways of death/ There is an old saying,/ convince a man against his will and he remaineth of that opinion still/,I listened to a famous pop star talking about his homosexual relationship,and of his adopted child. He appeared so comfortable and self assured,I suppose no amount of speaking to him would convince him that he was wrong,but he is,not because I say so, but because the word of God says so [ cp  Romans1 v24-28] Now I mention this to illustrate how people not just homosexuals,can be blinded by satan, into believing that what they are doing is right, even though it is clearly spelled out that what they are doing is wrong.The adulterer can convinced himself that God understands his adultery,because he and his wife are having difficulties,and that she does not understand him.I listened to the radio where professional pickpockets from Albania who will be visiting London during the Olympics ,to rob people.One pickpocket spoke as if what he was doing was alright,after all the people they  will be stealing from are rich.But Gods commandment tells us, /You shall not steal/ [Exodus 20 v15]. We appear to be  like the people at the time of the Judges,who simply did that which was right in their own eyes [21 v25], the result was they forsook Gods way and suffered the consquences.Let none of us be deluded ,let us judge are choices,beliefs,and practices,according to the word of God.
A    prayer.../ Dear God forgive us for our wrong sinful choices , open the eyes of our understanding,to make the right choices, to choose Christ, to forsake our sin, and to live our lives according to Your will as revealed in Your word,in Jesus name we ask this Amen /

Being rich,being poor. [ Mark 10 v 28-30]

Proverbs 13 v7 /There is he that maketh himself rich,and yet hath nothing,there is that maketh himself poor,yet hath great riches/I suppose it is nice to have a bit of money,but let us be very clear,being rich guarantees nothing,and often in the pursuit of riches people impoverish themselves.Riches dont make you a better person or a more happy person, or a more holy person,as I write this blog, the national lottery is on the TV ,millions are hoping that they will win millions, and then everything will be great, or will it?Some of the riches people are far from happy read the book of Ecclesiastes, written by the man who had everything ,tried everything,only to discover that everything was meaningless, a chasing after wind[2 v11]Our Saviour often spoke to the rich and warned then of the danger in those riches they possessed,even that of loosing ones own soul, rich in possessions but  poor in relation to God[ Luke 12 v 16 -21 ]
 Next we read of those who make themselves poor , yet hath great  riches,how is this possible?  would any of us make ourselves poor? would you? would I?,what if God challenged us to give up all we possess how would we feel?nobody wants to be poor, there is a stigma attached to being poor.If we are a Christian then we are following one who was rich ,even our Jesus, and we  are told for our sakes He became poor[ 2 Corinthians8 v9 ]and in so doing he enriched us,,He enriched Heaven,and He enriched Himself.We could mention many people who have have followed in the footsteps of Jesus and in so doing been a blessing and been blessed,and their memory is blest.
A  prayer...../Dear Lord help us to keep heavens values first in our lives in Your name we ask this Amen/

Holding back. [ Matthew 28 v19-20 ]

Proverbs 11 v24 reads,/There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth,and there is that witholdeth more than is meet[ withholds what he should give] but it tendeth to poverty[and only suffers want]I heard someone say there are two things Christians become uncomfortable with, evangelism and thithing.[giving]God understands us fully, so I am not going to put myself or you on a guilt trip.Lets think about a biblical principal here,first evangilisim,we are not meant to be miserly with the gospel,it is meant to be shared,it is the good seed,what do you do with seed?, you sow it.It may bear fruit there and then ,but often it does not,but it will[ cp Isaiah55v8-11],for too long the church has held back,in plain evagelisim,and is the poorer for it,when we give the gospel away we will be blessed.
A  prayer..../ Dear God we thank You for the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, forgive us for hoarding it,for not sharing it,help us to be generous with this gospel, and let us  leave the results with You,in Jesus name Amen/