Bread alone,no thanks. [ Philippians 3 v 8-14 ]

We all have our  want list,we want our children to do well, our marriage to be happy ever after,consider what you want,and of course there is nothing essentially wrong with many of the things we want,there might be,but there may not be. It is in Philippians 4 v19 the apostle writes about God supplying our needs,now ask yourself ,what do you think you need,I mean really need.Consider what our Saviour said to satan when he was hungry,and the devil had challenged Him to turn stones into bread./Man shall not live by bread alone,but by every word of God[ Luke 4v4].What a ridculous thing to say or so it would appear,Jesus had not eaten for 40 days and nights,surely here was a way to get something to eat,but no, Jesus did not take that route,for he wanted us to know that our want list or our need list,must never be allowed to affect our most important need, our relationship with Him.Our need of God and an ongoing relationship with Him is the most vital  think in our lives,and when we loose sight of that,then we are living by bread alone,and that would be disastrous.
A   prayer...../Dear God let nothing distort our vision,as to what we really need in Jesus name Amen/

There are exceptions.[ Hebrews 11 v 36-38 ]

We have so much in scripture to encourage us,as regareds provision and protection,but it is  William Plummer who wrote these are general principals,which are not universally true,in other words there will be exceptions. The three men in the book of Daniel realised this cp Daniel  3v17-18. they were faced with death,they were going to be burned alive.As they stood before the heathen king,they  declared their confidence in Gods ability to save them,this is were most of us stop,but they did not  stop there,they went on to say,but even if He does not.In the Acts 12 we read how Peter was wonderfully delivered from death,but James was put to death. The important thing is that Gods will is equally in the exception as it is in the universal,remember when our Saviour prayed  to His Father not my will be done but Thine , He was facing death. In 2 kings 13 we read of Elisha the prophet dying of an illness,why did he not cry unto God to heal him?,after all God had granted him a miraculous ministry, even after he died,a dead man came to life,when his body touched the bones of Elisha.Yes there are exceptions ,but the general rule is God will provide,protect, and undertake, I have found it to be so in my own life.
A  prayer....../ Dear God grant us the grace to trust You at all times in Jesus name Amen/

God is faithful [ Psalm 37]

Psalm 37 was written  by David when he was old,in it David seeks to encourage the saints of God to trust in Lord,to delight themselves in the Lord, and to rest in the Lord,and to commit their way unto the Lord.He stresses that the wicked ,even though they appear to be prospering, will soon be cut off.  David  declares that the meek will triumph,inspite of the strength of the wicked,God will remove them.David assures Gods children that God will bless the little they have,and that God will uphold His children.He contrasts the atittude of the righteous with the wicked in that they are merciful,and generous.He reminds the child of God that God so orders His childrens ways that even when they stumble ,He will restore and uphold then . David from His experience declares Gods faithfulness,as an old man he looks back,and he declares that he has not seen the righteous forsaken, and that He shall preserve them.He stresses the characteristics of Gods childen that of holiness and obedience, and the importance of being faithful, and to have assurance that God will undertake and prosper.He ends this Psalm with these words, because they trust in Him,
A prayer... /Dear God help us to simply trust You,when faced with people who would do us harm, help us to trust in Your faithfulness, in Jesus name Amen/

Welcome .[ HEBREWS 4 V14-16]

There is an old Irish song which has the following words, /Your as welcome as the flowers in May in dear old Donegal/, but of course, that is if you are Irish. There are places I would not go to, because I know that I would not be welcome,and there are people I dont bother with because they would not want my friendship or presence. If I went to see a football match,I would not  stand with my teams opposing fans ,I would be risking life and limb.It is nice to be made feel welcome,to know that I am accepted and even loved,to sit with a cup of tea and have a chat,about the weather,sport ,family about life in general, and of course talk about the things of God.  One of the wonderful things about being a Christian is that one is always welcome by God,because of Jesus, and only because of Jesus. As a Christiam,although I serve God, I am not a servant I am a child of God [ Ephesians 4 v7 ] ,I am family[Ephesians 2v 19],God is my Father. As a Father He is always glad to hear from us,and for us to spend time with Him,there is always a big welcome sign on heavens door,.
                       Im accepted, Im forgiven, Iam fathered by the true and living God.
                       Im accepted, no condemnation,I am loved by the true and living God.
                        Theres no guilt or fear as I draw near,to the Saviour and Creator of the world.
                       There is joy and peace as I release my worship to You, O Lord.[words by R Heyard]
A prayer....../Dear Father we thank You that because of  Jesus  we are always welcome by You,we will never be turned away Amen /

Rewared.[ 1 Corinthians 3 v 11-15]

One of the things emphasized in the sermon on the mount is doing things secretly,to not be a show of,in  our giving,praying,and doing of good works.The religious people in our Lords day had always an eye for the crowd,they were people pleasers,they wanted people to think how holy they were,how much better they were than others. the fact of the matter is we are all sinners.Our Saviour taught that we should have  only an eye for God, and no one else in all our doing.In is a hard thing to do , for we so want to look good in peoples eyes. But Jesus cuts across the hypocrisy, He challenged continually the falseness of peoples actions when it was wrongly motivated,when people left God out of their doing. He then put two aspects of being rewarded ,that of being rewarded by people,or being rewarded by God.Now what would you choose?unfortunately many choose the former,and our Saviour speaks of that reward like its a damp squib, which it is,because that reward only relates to time ,whereas the reward God gives ,has an eternal aspect to it.I have to  remind you,that the reward given is not salvation,for salvation is not,and cannot be earned,it is a free gift,freely given by God ,to all who believe in Jesus as Saviour.[ Romans 3 v24 ]The reward that the Saviour speaks of, is simply God graciously blessing His people, as He sees fit. Our Saviour said/Thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly[ 6v6]now there are many dear Christian who have served God quitely,and have died ,they were never put on the queens honours list,but they are on Gods honours list.In Revelation 14 v13 ,we read,/Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord...........and their works do follow them/.yes they will be rewarded openly and abundantly.
A  prayer..../ Dear God help us to do all things for Your Glory in Jesus name Amen /

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/