Coming to terms with death. [ Psalm 23 ]

Are we ever going to come to terms with death? I read of an elderly man in Zambia who was told he had only a few weeks to live,he replied,/ God has been good to me/.I wonder what we would say if we were told we had just a few weeks to live?, considering that we are all going to die,many of us have never thought about it.The old puritans thought much about life, which in their days could be very short, but we are lulled into feeling we will never die. I  am not trying to be morbid but as a Christian the fact of death has been faced.How does one face death? ,well just like we face life, by faith,this is not a trivial statement, no it is because I found Jesus, I believe David who wrote the Psalms found Jesus and knew Him,if one reads the 23rd Psalm, one sees Jesus in it all,for the shepherd in the 23rd Psalm is none other than the good shepherd of the New Testament [ John 10] Knowing the shepherd affected David in so ways and especially when it came to death, and he declares,/Yea, though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me/
A  prayer...../ Dear God we thank You that Your dear son came and faced death, and conquered it, so that when we know Him, we need fear no evil, Amen/

Freely give. [ 2 Corinthians 8 v1-5 ]

I realise that in these days many are finding it difficult financially, for many unemployment looms up, and many are unemployed. I also receive news of the needs of many who have very, very little,in places like Africa, and other countries.The needs of this world are ongoing and never ending,what can we do?well we can pray,and if God has blessed us materially we can do our bit.Let us not be driven by guilt ,but let us never loose sight of our responsibility, to help others. We are not saved by our good works ,but is an evidence that we are saved, as James challenges us,when he says ,show me your faith by your works [ 2 v18 ]. Works are  a vital evidence that we are saved,we are saved by what Christ did not what we do. Paul in his letter to the church at Ephesus stresses the fact that we are saved by Gods grace 2 v8 ,not of works,but then he goes on to say that we have been saved unto good works, which God prepared in advanced for us to do [v 10].So being saved by grace is not a get out clause, not to help others,not to do good works, rather it is a challenge ,to help others, to bless as we have been blessed.
A  prayer...../ Dear God and Father we thank You for the free gift of salvation ,freely we have received, so help us to freely give , in Jesus name Amen /

The simplisity of the gospel [ 1 Corinthians 1 v 18 -31 ]

One of the people I admire is Billy Graham,in his time he has walked with presidents,and kings and queens,he was one of the most famous people on earth. There are people who have criticised him for different things,yes he was not perfect,tell me who is?,but here is the thing I really admire about him,he never departed from the simplicity of the gospel. The result is many ,many people came to Christ for salvation,maybe millions,my old pastor was a faithful preacher,he was not an academic, but there are those who came to know Christ, I and my first wife was restored under his ministry.Being an academic has its place ,we need such people, but we most of all need ,to hear that simple gospel. It was Paul who wrote these profound words , in Romans 1 v16/ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation, to everyone that believed.
A  prayer...../Dear God we thank You for your profound gospel ,and its simplicity , help us to never be ashamed of it,to always tell others be it  in pulpit,or wherever we come into contact with sinners ,we ask this in the name of Him who loved us and died for us , even Jesus Amen/

Remember Him. [ Isaiah 53 ]

This is remembrance Sunday , when our country remembers those who give their lives in battle,my grandfather Holmes fought and was wounded in the battle of the Somme. This country has been involved in so many conflicts,and are involved even to this day in Afghanistan.Our Saviour said there would be wars and rumours of wars[ Matthew 24 v6 ], and so it has been, and so it will be,of course there are a number of reasons why this is so. As a Christian I remember a battle that took place over 2000 years ago, when a solitary man went into battle against the powers of hell,against sin,and that last great enemy ,death. That man of course was Jesus,and only He could defeat the powers of darkness,if He failed then those evil powers would have destroyed Gods creation,every human being on earth would have ended up in hell. But praise God He didn't fail,but he had to pay a terrible price ,He had to suffer untold pain and agonies,both physical, and spiritual,for in his death ,He bore the awful punishment for sin,which involved a depth of suffering we cannot never imagine.Who of us can understand the words of Isaiah 53 v 10,/Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush Him, He has put Him to grief /. In that crushing God poured His wrath upon Him, that it may not be poured out upon us,so today remember that warrior Jesus, who won the victory ,for all who trust in Him.
A  prayer.../ Dear God  we with grateful hearts remember Jesus our Saviour ,and would simply say, love so amazing so divine demands our souls our lives , our all Amen /

Failures.[ 1 Peter 5 v10 ]

The successor to the present Archbishop of Canterbury has been chosen, his name is Justin  Welby,he was speaking on TV,and I was listening intently.He did mention the Lord Jesus and I am sure he loves Him, but he is the leader of a Christian group,of such diverse ideas.It is so easy to be critical and as an evangelical, to dismiss the whole thing,as unbiblical, and making no difference. What I  would encourage every Christian to do is pray, for this brother,and for the Anglican family. Well this brother did say something that I found meaningful,/ The grace of God is greater than our biggest failures/. We all know something about failure,as parents, husbands/ wives,the list goes on, well take on board what Justin said, for it is true. It is no accident that the hymn Amazing Grace is so popular,and will continue to be, for it reminds us all of a God of grace who is ever reaching out to all men, for in a real sense we are all failures.
A prayer...../Dear God, us failures come to you and ask for grace through Your son Jesus Amen /

Liberating love. [ I John 3 v1 ]

A group called Manford and sons, sing a song with the following words in it,/Love will not betray,dismay or enslave,but will set you free/.The sellers of drugs,be it tobacco,or whatever are only interested in one thing money,those who push the sex trade are only interested in money. Those who are involved in child abuse are only interested in self gratification,and so we go on,love is none of those things. If we want to see love in its fullest ,and total manifestation, we see it Jesus,we see it in his humility,forgiveness,kindness,and his sacrificial  death. All this was borne out of a love that is incomparable,and indescribable,and we can experience that love when by simple faith,we trust Him as our Saviour.That Love will always want what is best for us,it will never hurt us, never cause us to feel betrayed, and will set us free from the chains of selfishness,when one experiences this love, one will never be the same, this love will always bring a change for the better,always. The cry of so many is ,I want to be free,and yet they enslave themselves in so much that is destructive.God in His son Jesus in love can truly set us free,we can, let me repeat this, we can experience freedom through the love of God in Jesus.
A  Prayer...../ A  prayer....../ Dear God open the eyes and hearts of people to Your great liberating love in Jesus Amen/  

Animal cruelty [ 1 Corinthians 2 v 9 ]

I read on the Internet about a orangutan in Borneo that had been shot a 100 times with an air gun, the poor old thing was rescued by conservation workers, and has survived her ordeal,although she is blind,she will be looked after for the rest of her life. It saddened me to read of such cruelty,by human beings inflicted on a animal,I do make a distinction between and animals.Animals our only there for time they don't have an eternal aspect to them,they are animals,purely and simple. Humans are made in the image of God, they are special,but unfortunately we do not always manifest that in our lives.There is a lot of good things in this world,but who knows when evil will erupt,in its most destructive force,and then we see that aspect of mankind's fallen nature that is so terrible.Even as Christians we can still be capable of evil deeds ,and so it will continue, until time will cease to be. The only hope for fallen man is the gospel of our Lord Jesus,through His atoning death He can transform us, and change us, for any person who  is in Christ  becomes a new creation. I am far from perfect, but one day I will be,one day I will no longer sin,no longer have the capacity for cruelty or evil. Until that day happens we can know victory over sin if we rely on Jesus and the grace of God.
A  prayer....Dear God we thank You for seeing as we really are,not through rose tinted glasses,but as sinners in desperate need of Your saving grace in Jesus Amen /