Stay close. [Jude v24 ]

I find myself facing a problem, I can see possible trouble looming ahead , what can I do?, I am concerned I may be drawn into a conflict which I do not want.As a 68year old man I want a quite life,dont we all,as I look back to my youth,I remember so much conflict, coming from a one parent family ,it was seen as important to hold your own,to not be put down.Yet this attitude spilled over into my marriage,and I regret the way I acted ,with my wife and children at times.We carry many things into our Christian life,old ways,deep seeded ways,even this morning while praying,wrong thoughts invaded my mind, thoughts that are inappropriate,and I said to God why do I think these things?.Recently I have challenged myself,to stop having unnecessary arguments in my head,over one thing or another.So what does all this tell me?it tells me I must stay very close to the Lord,all these things remind me of my natural weakness .The words of the old hymn came to mind,/I am weak,/to my dying day this will be so,until the Lord takes me home,it all makes me realize, I dare not take one step without Thine aid,so true.I dont believe I am unique ,we are all weak,we all carry unnecessary lugguage,I am writing this not to discourage you, but to encourage us all to stay close to the Lord.As I have said before, I am a work in progress,as you are,God is changing us,He will perfect that which concerneth us.I love the words of Phillippians 1 v6,/Being confident of this very thing,that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
 A  prayer...../Dear Loving Heavenly Father keep us close to You ,help us to not despair at our imperfections but to trust You to perfect that which concerneth us, in Jesus name Amen /

Tired of waiting [James 1v 4 ]

I am reading the book of  Malachi , the last of the OT prophets,then there would be a gap of 400 years until God would send His messenger John the Baptist,who would prepare the way for the Lord.This is the messenger of the covenant[3 v5]even Jesus the Messiah,this was the hope of every God fearing Israelite ,in Luke 2v25-26 we have the godly Simeon,who had been assured by God that he would not die until he saw the Lords Christ,declaring, /Lord ,now lettest Thy servant depart in peace,according to Thy word, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation/. Consider how long Israel had to wait until the promised Messiah came,year after year, hoping praying,for Him who deliver mankind.It is said that wheels of God grind slowly,yes they do,apply that into your situation now.God has given you a promise it appears it will never happen ,no sign of change,dont despair,God will fulfill His promise to you,but in His time,we are told in Hebrews 12 v1 /to run with patience the race that is set before us/.We live in a very, very ,impatient society,think how many wrong decisions are made because of impatience,how many accidents are caused by impatient drivers.We all without exception need to be patient,in our daily lives and for Gods purposes to happen,and to follow the example of King David who declared,/I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry/.
A  prayer...../ Dear God help us to be patient in Jesus name Amen/

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/
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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 /