The law of love.[ James 2 v 14ff]

I read an article in a national news paper,the head lines read,/Horrific case shows how lucky we are in Britain/. It dealt with a case of an English man who was attacked, the result was he ended up in a coma, I dont want to name the country,but the fact is, if in that country if you dont pay up front ,you will not recieve treatment ,if there is no money then no treatment . A friend of mine recently visited a country in Africa there she witnessed poverty, one lady said she and her children  had not eaten for days.Why was I born in this country?, a country in which I  am so blessed ,I dont know why,but I praise God for all His goodness, the Bible says unto whom much is given ,much will be required of that person[ Luke 12v48 ]. In Mark 6 v37 our Saviour said unto His disciples, / Give ye them to eat/, the Christian is not there to judge the people, but to help them,and care for them. Our Saviour said that the poor we will have with us all the time,He did not say this in order that we would ignor their need , no, He desires that we do good to them, as He did continually,even manifested  miracles,in order to feed the hungry and the poor.So today consider the poor ,and consider how you can help, and so fulfill the law of Christ, the law of love.
A  prayer..../ Dear God help us who have been blessed ,spiritually,physically,and materially ,to bless others, in Jesus name Amen /

Who owns What?. [Psalm 24]

Japan and China are in disbute over some  island or islands,Argentina are in dispute with Britian over the Falklands,and Spain is in dispute with Britajn over the Rock of Gibraltar,and so we could go on.What if the real owner God suddenly shouted, it is not yours, it is all mine, so be quite and stop your arguing and fighting, over that which is not yours.For the Bible tell us , that the earth is the Lords and the fullness thereof.[ Psalm 24 v1 ] All that we have, is only loaned to us ,all that we have as a nation,or as individuals is a gift from God. Herbert Lockyer writes that the words, the earth is the Lord,s,and the fullness thereof is engraven upon the Royal Exchange,London, and will one day, be written in letters of light across the sky./, .An old Gospel hymn goes ,/The things that I own and hold dear to my heart, are just borrowed, they not mine at all, Jesus only let me use them to brighten my life , so remind me, remind me dear Lord/. It would do us all good to have a reality check,as to our attitude regarding. our possessions., it may surprise us, and it may not be an nice surprise.It is one thing singing Id rather have Jesus than silver or God and putting that into practice,let us remember the lesson that Nebuchadnezzar was taught[Daniel 4 ], how the Lord humbled him,that  he may realize that all things are given by God, and if He chooses He can remove them from us.
A  prayer ..../ Dear God we ask that we may loose sight ,of our dependance on You, help us not to get carried away with the blessings You bestow upon us,and always to give You the Glory in Jesus name Amen /

Preach Christ. [ Acts 17 v3 ]

I was preaching at my local church and after I had preached I was speaking to an ex member of the church,he and his wife had moved away, and   were just visiting., I asked him had he found a new fellowship ,were he now lives, he said he felt he had. In his search for a new church he had visited  a number of local fellowships, one he said was well attended,he  attended it for about 4 weeks, and in all that time he said ,they never mentioned Jesus ,they continually  mentioned the Holy Spirit, and ,then they said something that caused this brother and his wife to not attend there any more,they said if you did not speak in tounges you were not a Christian. As a trinitarian ,I believe in Father ,Son,and Holy Ghost,and I believe that we need the Holy Spirit,who dwells in every believer, and witnesses to fact that we are the children of God[[ cp Romans 8 v 9/16] In John 16 v13 we read that the Holy Spirit shall not speak of Himself, next says Jesus, He shall glorify me[ John 16v14],so beware of those who leave Christ out of their preaching, the great apostle declared ,/we preach Christ crucififed[1 Corinthians 1 v23 ].
A  prayer..../ Dear God help us by Your Holy Spirit ,to live for Christ, to follow Christ, and to proclaim Christ in Christs name we ask this Amen/

Remember even the devil can quote scripture [ Matthew 4 v6 ]

I believe it was Gods will/ There is a higher ordering,and we all are nothing else than its agents/ I felt that now the call of providence has come to me/In three days the Lord has smitten them/and to me the grace was given/bow in humility before the Almighty who in a few weeks has wrought a miracle upon us/ Now the question is who spoke these words?.Was it John Calvin or M. L. King,or I wonder was it Billy Graham? Well it was none other than Adolf  Hitler,dear old godly Adolf who put to death ,9 million Jews, and who had the disabled put to death,whose armies slaughtered countless millions of poor defenceless people,who would and for all we know worked for the devil to get what he wanted,a man who told countless lies ,need I go on. There are many voices in the world, let us be on our guard and not be taken in by mere religious words, there are many examples of this ,the Prophets often exposed the hypocrisy of so called religious people, likewise our Saviour [Matthew 23 ] To the religious  rulers,and a religious people, he had this to say/,thou that  killest the prophets,and stonest them which are sent unto thee/[v 37] The cults can sound very convincing, but they do not stand for truth, in the end they are but bringing people into bondage and everlasting destruction.
A  prayer..../ Dear God help us not to decieved by persuasive words,or persuasive personalites,in Jesus name Amen /

A place of great need.[ James 5 v1-8 ]

I was sitting in my garden this morning,we are gradually improving in our gardening skills, and the garden is a nice place to sit and have my quite time,and I found myself going over that old gospel song, /I come to the garden alone while the dew is still on the roses. And the voice I hear,falling on my ear,the Son of God discloses/I am very privileaged that I have a garden,but of course it is a place of intercession, and as I prayed, I read the prayer requests, and one really saddened me, on the 14th of April an orphanage was attacked in Vietnam, it was a Christian orphanage,the police did not help, but took part in the attack. An orphanage it hardly bears thinking of ,but it happened,the most vunerable in that society, are made to suffer, it should sadden any right thinking person, it brings shame to the nation of Vietnam to let such things take place. So today pray for those dear children and those who care for then, and for the country of  Vietnam, it is a sad and needy place,a place of great need,a place that needs the transforming power of Christ.
 A prayer...../ Dear God have mercy upon those who suffer injustice ,be it in Vietnam,or where I live,by Your Spirit move in the hearts of those who perpetuate injustice, in Jesus Name Amen /

God will act. [ Genesis 6 v 3 ]

In Isaiah 59v 16 we read ,/ And He saw that there was no man, and wondered, that there was no intercessor, therefore his arm brought salvation unto him, and his righteousness,it sustained him/As God looked at the situation in Judah, He sees injustice,and oppression abounding everywhere. Surely this ought not to have been, after all,it was his people ,a people called to be holy, just, and merciful ,they were meant to manifest righteousness, to be a light unto the gentiles.The situation is amazing to God,surely from among His people,there would have been those who would have rose up and established righteousness,but no , there was no one. We have a similar statement in Ezekiel 22v30 this was about 150 years later,showing how little the people had changed,and that Judgement had to fall, which it did. God is patient but eventually He will say enough is enough, and then He will act in judgement, God continually spoke to Judah, but no avail, what applies to Judah ,applies to this world, one day God will say enough is enough, and then He will act.Also what applies to the world applies to us as individuals, if we continue on our own sinful way,ignoring His voice,refusing to forsake our sin,God will declare enough is enough, and He will act.
A   prayer..../ Dear God  we ask for mercy ,for the this world for our nation,and for so many people we know who go on blindly in their sins,in Jesus name Amen
 /

What God values. [ 1 Peter 1 v18-19]

In our country  a couple have just won £148 million on the lottery,the lady said it was a bit frightening, but challenging,I not surprised, it being a bit frightening. We live in times when ordinary people are becoming very rich, ordinary lads who can kick a leather football are becoming millionaires,people appear on the x-factor talent show,are suddenly propelled into fame and riches. I am still waiting for my ship to come in, although I must confess I dont dream of becomming rich, although recently something happened that made me realize that possessions may have a wrong  grip on my life.I have a comfortable life style,and I found myself thinking that I may loose my home comforts. Mybe we all need to look hard at our attitude as regards things,suicides have rocket in this country,in the wake of the economic downturn. I and my wife still work, I am 68 so, as I said we have a comfortable lifestyle, should one feel guilty, and start beating oneself up?.What is imporant is to not let your possession possess you, and to realize that our possessions can suddenly disappear.Let us remember that we should not be defined by our possessions. My worth comes not from my possessions, but who I am, a child of God,when He looks at us He does not take any notice,of what we are wearing, even though it may be a designer lable,or the lovely home we live in ,or the car,or cars we own,no , none of those things matter with our God, He values  us for ourselves. How much does He value us His children? here is the answer,/Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver or gold.......but with the precious blood of Christ.  [1 Peter 1 v 18-19 ],yes thats how much God values us His children.
A  prayer..../ Dear God so often we replace Your values with the worlds values, to often we loose sight of Calvary, forgive us in Jesus name . Amen /