Practice what they preach.[ Matthew 23 v1-3]

The account in Numbers 22-24 of the prophet Balaam is interesting,he received the word of God and spoke it.It was the time when Israel was leaving the wilderness and about to enter the promise land,they would destroy nations,and take their land.The king of Moab was afraid,and so he sends for the prophet ,so that he may curse Israel,in doing this he would reward him.The prophet tells the king that he will only speak what God says and this he does,the king is very persistent,and tries to receive a word from the prophet that will spell Israels doom,but to no avail. Balaam continually tells the king he will only speak what God tells him,in fact he speaks  a blessing upon Israel. Until this point we can commend Balaam,he faithfully spoke the word of God,oh that all Gods ministers would do this.Balaam is referred to 3 times in the NT ,/2 Peter2 v15/Jude 11/Revelation2v14/. It appears that Balaam yielded to the lure of money,in Numbers 25 v1-3/ 31v15-16/,we read how on his advice,Israel became involved in idolatry,and immorality.He was obedient  in speaking,but his heart ,and desires were not,it is so easy to preach one thing publicly,but privately to act contrary to the very words we have proclaimed.
A prayer..../.Dear God grant that those who are called to preach Your word,will also practice what they preach in Jesus name Amen /

Ambition. [Philippians 2 v1-12 ]

A young man was driving to a job interview,as he was driving,as he came to certain intersection,and so he gave way ,and let a waiting motorist out,the driver acknowledged what he did,and the young man carried on. When he went into his interview,the man who did the interview,said he recognised him as the person who had given way, at the busy intersection,he went on to say that he was not going to give him the job.The reason being he believed the young man was not ambitious enough,the people he wanted,were those who were ruthless and would not give way to anybody.Our Saviour said blessed are the meek,for they shall inherit the earth[Matthew 5v5 ] Another little story,Tarzan was talking to Jane, and he said, you know Jane, its a jungle out there[my humour],for many people,those words sums up their outlook on life.A young man was being dismissed from his job,because he was told he had not performed as they thought he should have,and then the person said but you are a nice person.We need to be successful,but not to the point of being uncaring, and unloving,the fact is ,the world is crying out for nice people,the challenge for the followers of Christ,is to be nice,loving,yes meek,and gentle,we do not trample on anybody.
A prayer..../ Dear God help us to be ruled by Your Spirit, and not by the spirit of this world, in Jesus name Amen ]

Chosen. [ 1 Peter 2 v 9-10 ]

One of the great themes in the Bible is Gods choosing or electing certain people to salvation, it unfortunately is a subject of great controversy.In Ephesians 1 v4-5,we read,/According as He hath chosen us.......having predestined us/In the Gospels Jesus speaks often of Him choosing his disciples[John 15 v16],and of course we often use the term of Israel in the OT as Gods chosen people.John Stott wrote this,/The doctrine of election is a divine revelation, not a human speculation. It was not invented by Augustine of Hippo or Calvin of Geneva. On the contrary, it is a biblical doctrine, and no biblical Christian can ignore it./ Now this raises different issues,do we not have a Free will?,it is Luther who wrote of the bondage of the will. What we can say is ,we all have a will, and are accountable as to our choices. F.F. Bruce wrote ,/The predestination love of God is commended more by those who lead holy , and Christlike lives, than by those whose attempts to unravel the mystery,partake of the nature of logic- chopping/.In a sense we come back to where we started,the Bible clearly teaches that God chooses, why me, and not another?,maybe this is something we will never fully understand,like many doctrines,can any of us fully understand the trinity?, the answer is no,but the Bible teaches it, so I believe it.. The fact of the matter is the God of love chooses whom He wills, and in so doing receives glory and honour.
A  Prayer.......Dear God we rejoice that You are sovereign we cannot fully understand this doctrine,but we do know ,that You are a God of love,and will always make the right choice,thank You in Jesus name Amen/

A coincidence? [ James 4 v3-4/ 5 v17-18 ]

The longer I go on in my Christian life I see the importance of prayer and  how vital,the importance of taking everything to God in prayer.When we pray things happen, ask the question,what is happening?,our relationship with God deepens,and we do become stronger.We often say when we pray about something, or ask for something ,there are three ways God can answer,yes, no and wait. Why three answers because prayer is a two way activity,in which we the creature are praying to the creator. I was at a checkout at a supermarket recently and behind me was a mother and a child,the youngster wanted something and the mum said no,the child reacted in an overflow of emotions. Let us who are children[of God] remember we cannot have everything we want,as I look at the condition of my teeth,with there many fillings,and think of  all the treatment I had to endure,I wish I had been denied sweets. Many parents are literally killing their children with the amount of food they feed them,its a sort of dysfunctional love.Our heavenly parent God the Father, loves all His children with a perfect love,a love that will deny as He sees fit,and grant us what we desire, when He sees fit. Just recently my youngest boy lost his job suddenly ,but within a short time,he had a new job and is  now in line for promotion, a coincidence?, no we prayed, and God answered prayer.
A  prayer..../Our Father in heaven help us to pray, even when we dont feel like it,even when we cannot understand in Jesus name Amen /

What Jesus is offering. [John 4 v 1-26 ]

John Stott wrote,/Karl Marx wrote of,  the new man and the new society/,these two aspects Marx thought would emerge as a result of economic liberation.Now of course we all want to see a more fairer world,a world of economic equality, a world where the poor are fed,and clothed,and I believe we should pray for this,work towards this. But a Christian I know that this will never be enough,for be man, poor or rich,they have a deep spiritual need,to ignore this ,which the secular person does,is to court disaster. It is to ignore the the realities of a society that is out of touch with each other,and mans fallen nature,manifested in a multitude of ways. It is to ignore that man has a deep hunger ,which they try to satisfy by sex,food,entertainment,buying all sorts of things,it is thought that a quarter of our population is obese.Jesus , was continually calling people to come to Him who alone can satisfy their deepest need,society calls us to eat more,to buy more,to have more,Jesus stands and says to us I have come that you may have life,and have it more abundantly.Jesus said to a woman at a well,/ If you knew the generosity of God, and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink,and I would gave you fresh,living water...who drinks this water would never thirst again/.The woman did not understand what Jesus was offering to her and to all mankind,a life so different so fulfilling,that it would truly satisfy our deepest needs.
A  prayer..../Dear God help us to see that only through Your son Jesus,our deepest need can be met Amen /

Kiosk. [ Judges 21 v25 ]

I was listening to the radio,and someone said we desired freedom,but all we got was kiosk, we live in an age when so much is counted as acceptable,which in fact is unacceptable. Are we surprised that so many people are involved in wrong activities,there is a advert  on the TV,that shows a woman with her son,and as a guy passes by,she says to her young son ,I am going to ask Dave to move in,do you mind?. The advert is showing it as it is for so many people,we have a rootless society,were so many things are going wrong,what moral guidelines can we expect from a secular society?none,after all we are led to believe that we are only an extension of the animal kingdom. The secular politicians are pushing their secular ideas,they  are looking at things purely from a human point of view,they will not ask what does God think.We have an national church, but where is their voice in all this,they are unfortunately, as much in kiosk as the society they live in, no clear message, comes from them. I have just recently begun to pray each day for their leader,I know that there are many dear servants of God,in our country,but their voice is not heard, all we hear is the confused and distorted voices, of the spiritually blind. Oh where are the Elijahs, the John the baptists, the Wesleys, Whitefields, or even the Billy Grahams?, these men never compromised,they were men of their times,but most of all they were Gods men .
A  prayer..../ Dear God we cry unto You for our western society,a society that has no roots,a society that is blessed is so many ways,and yet is gradually heading to where all the nations that forget God,to hell,oh God in wrath remember  mercy. in Jesus name Amen /

And the Lord heard. [ Numbers 12]

And the Lord heard,Miriam and Aaron challenged Moses, it appears as my study Bible says they were filled with envy,and jealousy at Moses position and influence ,so they used as an excuse his marriage to an Ethiopian women to criticise him. I used to hear criticism from a lady in my church ,as to my accent,she said she could not understand me, but this was not the real issue,for she stirred up trouble,about the content in my sermons,it was all very hurtful and unpleasant.Like Miriam and Aaron she was challenging my leadership,and like Moses I felt overwhelmed,what could he do ,although a man whom God had used he was in fact a very humble and meek person. So what does one do when one is unfairly attacked? manifest a meek and humble spirit.Moses didn't say a word,and its then we read,/And the Lord heard/did not Miriam and Aaron not realise that  God was listening?,seemingly not,but He was, and He responded, by dealing in particular with Miriam,who appears to have been the ring leader,Aaron was a weak person,[CP Exodus 32]Today let us all take take to heart the words ,/And the Lord heard/,he hears not only our words but he knows the motives of our heart,He not only hears but He will act,and judge us,and chasten us.
A prayer ......./ Dear Lord forgive our foolish words,our spiteful,and hurtful words,and the sinful motives behind our words, Amen /