Faith beyond reasoning. [ Daniel 4 v 34-35 ]

A friend of  mine who comes from Ireland usually watches the RTE news on the internet, but he said he was going to stop watching it,because what he heard was upsetting,people being murdered.I can appreciate how the things we hear on the news can upset us,I am upset when I heard about the child in Wales being abducted. I am upset when I hear of suicide bombers,of Christians being persecuted,of a father who killed himself and his two children. I know the reason ,this world is a fallen world,and often it is a very cruel world,a sad world,an uncertain world.If I stopped there I would never watch the news,or read a paper ,but I know someone who is greater than all my fears,a sovereign God, a sovereign Saviour. It was A.W. Tozer  who wrote a book called/ faith beyond reason/,today as you look at the news you may despair,that is understandable,you may be upset,but as a Christian I have by Gods grace been granted faith,faith that sees a rainbow through the rain. By faith I know God is on the throne ,that He is working all things after His will, faith declares God is in control.Yes we will be upset at much we see on the news,but let us not despair, that all is lost,that all is pointless, and useless,no it is not so,let faith arise, faith that goes beyond our faulty reasoning. Consider the words of Isaiah 40 v22, /It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth,and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers/,I finish with the words of the apostle John ,/The Lord God omnipotent reigneth/[Revelations 19v6 /
A  prayer...../Dear Lord Jesus You said there would be wars and rumors of wars,but You also told us to be not troubled,for all power is Yours in heaven and upon earth,thank You that You are in control Amen /

We cannot bargain with God. [ Luke 18 v 9 -14]

Mankind appears to me to manifest different extremes,last night 4 thieves tried to steal my neighbours camper van,a little child in Wales was abducted this week,a famous personality who is dead,whom everybody liked, it appears was a child abuser. Yet that same personality raised millions for charity,and worked as a volunteer porter in a hospital,many cruel people are loving fathers,the Germans who worked in those concentration camps, were good family men.Hitler loved his dogs. To some extent we are all capable of doing good,a lot of people do,but we are also capable of doing wrong,there are no perfect people.The famous personality was a religous person,mybe he thought the good he did would outweigh the bad that he did,mybe that was his motivation in doing good. Many feel that the good they do, will somehow cause God to overlook,the bad they have done. The question is this ,are they right?, and the answer is,wait for it,no, the wrong things we do are what God calls sin,and no amount of effort on my part can remove my sin. Am I saying that no matter what good I do it does not count for anything in Gods eyes,yes ,because no one is saved by their own merits,no one ,not the pope,or the queen,or mother Teresa,or Gandhi,or you and I. We cannot bargain with God,or have a trade of,I was speaking to someone today,who got into debt,which  he could not hope to repay, so he declared himself a bankrupt.God declares us all bankrupt spiritually.We are but beggers we are all without exception like the lost son, who simply declared, /Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son[Luke 15 v21]/but there is more,we must  simply trust in Jesus, the Saviour,of the spiritual bankrupt,and when we do ,we are forgiven ,every sin we have and will ever commit.
 A  prayer...../Holy God we bow before You and acknowledge our sinfulness, and praise You for Jesus the saviour of sinners Amen /

Dont stop at the word work. [ Isaiah 41 v10]

Again let us consider the book of Haggai,and  words spoken to those wo had returned from  exile in the land of Babylon,as you read the books of Ezra and Nehemiah you see the difficulties they had to face.Their were so many things against them, better for them just to keep their head down, and not upset their enemies, why invite trouble?, and yet, here is this prophet,telling them to build a temple.Now God gives a word to the leader Zerubbabel and it is also a word to all the people,/ work for I am with you,saith the Lord of hosts[2 v4]/.It is also a word to us, we are told not to grow weary[Galations6v9],but we do grow weary,we are told so often in Gods word, to fear not,but we do fear,we are told to walk by faith,but we dont and like Peter we begin to be overwhelmed with so many things[Matthew 14v30].  So often we just stop at the word work,we see just the challenge,and we despair,many people are going to their work today feeling burdened, because thats all they see,but the word of the Lord does not stop at the word work, no it goes on to say,/for I am with you/ Consider what that means,in your particular situation,He , almighty God is with you, yes you, yes me, I am not on my own, He is with me, He will help me,I will find the words of Philippians 4 v13 true,I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,true because He is with me.
A  prayer...../Dear God help us to see that You are with us,and all that this means,inspire us with a confidence in You as we face any task that You want us to do,in Jesus name Amen/
.

God is able to provide. [Philippians 4 v19 ]

In Haggai 2v8 we read,/The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts/,the people had returned from exile,the temple needed to be built.The people had a wrong emphasise in their lives,so what they did was not blessed by God cp 1v 5-6,they kept putting of what God wanted them to do[1 v2 ]. So many unsaved people are like this ,they have so many wrong emphasise in their lives,and they keep putting of trusting Jesus as their Saviour,and they wonder why they are not prospering. Our Saviour said,/Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness,and all these things shall be added unto you[Matthew 6 v33] If we put God first,if, then we will be blessed, and we will have true riches.
But these words by Haggai were spoken to Gods people,they again had taken their eye of their goal and of their God,but God is not pepared to leave it at that,no they are His people, and his will, is for them to obey Him,in this case to build the temple.The question they must have been asking was, were was the money going to come from?,so God speaks ,/The silver is mine, and the gold is mine/,what God is saying I will supply your needs,as one commentator writes,/Mine is the silver,all the silver,and all the gold there is in the world/. Whatever God calls us to, He will not only guide,but He will provide for us,remember these words that God spoke,/The silver is mine,and the gold is mine/.
A  prayer....../Dear God grant us that trust in You to provide for us,and as You call us to accomplish Your will, grant us faith to rest in You, to guide and provide, in Jesus name Amen/

God and the use of means. [ Philippians 4 v10-19 ]

One of the conflicting questions that a Christian is faced with ,myself included, does faith exclude using means?,when my dear first wife was diagnosed with cancer,I asked myself, should we just trust God and not use the medicine?.You see my wife and I had lived by faith for about four years,we found it hard ,but God was faithful,we sought not to make our needs known.Yet it appears to me that God, often used means, when Hezekiah became ill , figs were laid on the boil ,and he recovered.When Jesus healed a blind man he annointed his eyes with clay[John 9v6],of course he could have healed him without the clay annointing, but He didnt. Our Saviour said, they that our sick need a  physician[Matthew 9 v 12],we must be careful to have a balanced veiw on the scriptures,or we  will be allowed to suffer the consequence of our imbalanced veiws. Let us not restrict God to our mind sets, God if He chooses can work apart from means,and at times He raises people up,who manifest exceptional faith,but it appears they are the exception.The fact of the matter is when I am unwell I go to the doctors,if I need a haircut I go to the barbers,if I need money I get a job. Now nothing is set in stone God , He can if He chooses heal apart from medicine,He can do what He chooses,while on the whole I have not made my needs known there have been times I have.Make your needs known unto God, and ask for wisdom as to how He will meet your needs.
A prayer....../Dear God we long to honour and glorify Your name as we walk by faith,grant us wisdom by Your Spirit,to know at all times what that means, in Jesus name Amen /

Stratford -upon -Avon. [ Revelation 3 v8 ]

I have just returned from Stratford-upon -Avon, the birth place of William Shakespeare,although one guide said he may have been born away from there in a country residence, because Stratford was experencing plague. But he did return to Stratford when he was about 3 months,it was all very interesting, I did visit the church where he was buried, a curse is put upon anyone who moves his bones. Well we enjoyed our visit,we visited Warwick castle,and saw the death mask of another great English man Oliver  Cromwell But one of the things I remember most was a man called Henry, there he was giving out the War cry,a salvation army publication. I spoke to him,inquired how the army were getting on in Stratford, he told me his group had closed.He spoke of the great need in Stratford,a place where million pound homes are common,one got the distinct impression that God had withdrawn from that place.Well I  prayed for him and he prayed for me, but we both prayed for Stratford the birth place of the great  William Shakespeare, yes I will always remember my visit to Stratford,but most of all I will remember Henry a faithful brother in the Lord.
A  prayer......./ Dear God have mercy upon Stratford visit it with Thy salvation, and bless Henry and his witness for Your dear son Jesus Amen /

Gods love is the greatest thing.[ Jeremiah 31v3 ]

Im in love again, so read the words in a magazine,I am reminded of a song which says,/when I fall in love it must be forever ,and /so many moonlight kisses seem to cool in the with warmth of the sun/. Love is trully a many splendour thing, but us humans,appear to fall out of love so easily. Consider David,,,, why did he have so many wives?, likewise Solomon,the word of God does not comment on the right or wrongs of what they did.In Solomons case it caused him to forsake God ,yes this very wise man acted very foolishly. So many songs are written about love,and the Song of Solomon, is a book about love,love is very important .  Of course there are different types of love we love our parents,our children,our jobs,our girlfriends/boyfriends,our friends,our neighbours,so many things we love.The thing is we can love all those things and not love God,might even find it strange when we talk of God and love. Yet this is what is so vital if we are to have a relationship with God,and continue on that relationship ,if there is no love there will be no relationship. I was driving in my car recently and I spoke to God , I said I love You Lord,and even as I said that I had an uneasy conscience,of my imperfect love,in contrast to Gods perfect love my love is imperfect and indeed as long as I live,it will be imperfect,but the wonder of wonders is that a perfect God,loves me inspite of my shortcomings,and He always will, for He declares ,I have loved thee with an everlasting love [Jeremiah 31v3 ].
A  prayer..../Dear God we are lost in wonder of Your love for us, that even while we yet sinners Christ in love died for us,and that You will always love us,inperfect though we are,thank You in Jesus name Amen /
/I will return to my blogg Sunday 30th SEPT,  every blessing /