Empathy. [ 1 Peter 5 v7 ]

It was said of Abraham Lincoln that he possessed extraordinary empathy,Adam Smith said that,empathy is being able to place oneself in a persons situation, of feeling their misery,of changing places with those who suffer,to feel what they feel. As I hear of suffering ,the homeless,do I judge that person?or do I put myself in their place?,how do I feel for refugees?do I put myself in their place?.How do I feel towards people from poor countries,with no job,hungry children,no future,who try to get into the prosperous countries?,do I put myself in their place?.How do I feel every time I hear of a bomb going off,of the victims,who are often children,do I put myself in their place?. As a Christian I am called to follow in the footsteps of the Christ of the human road,in Christ we have a greater than Abraham Lincoln,the poet wrote this of Him,/ With every pang that rends the heart the man of sorrows has a part/.As the Christ of time and eternity views mankind's suffering,from rape,to cancer,he is overflowing with empathy,and a love that desires to help ,and comfort, Above all else he desires to draw them to himself, that His love may embrace them,and transform them,for this reason He came.
A prayer...../ Dear God soften our hearts,help us to be like our Saviour,who is touched with feelings of our infirmities ,Amen

Betrayed.[ Hebrews 4 v 15-16 ]

In the movie Brave heart ,William Wallace and some of his men are attacked,William does battle with one of his attackers,only to discover he was none other than his Prince,the revelation leaves him stunned. I suppose one of the most hurtful things that can happen to a person,is to be betrayed by a trusted friend,an enemy ,that's not so bad,but a friend,that is terrible.It happens frequently in marriage,we just read the statistics,but fail to appreciate the awful pain,that wife feels ,who suddenly finds out she has been betrayed,by her closest friend,the child who finds that the father she loved ,and adored,is no longer around. That son who robs his elderly parents,cheats on them,to support a habit or a life style,how distraught those parents must be,it happens more than we realise. There was a man I know personally, the kindest,gentlest person,who ever lived,he helped everybody,nothing was to much bother for him. He had a group of very close friends,he did everything he could to help them, but what do you think,one of them betrayed my friend,money was at the bottom of it all.Now my friend was arrested by cruel people, whose only motive was to kill him,but that's not the end of it,another of my friends,so called friends who had promised undying love,deneyed that he knew my friend,as my friend was being tormented,all my friend could do was turn and look at him. My friends name is Jesus,what His friends did really hurt Him,but my friend told me,that He is glad that He experienced it, for now He understands the pain that others feel who have been betrayed,He says if they come to Him, He can help them..
A  prayer ...../ Dear Lord Jesus,we can truly say no one understands like You,You know,the pain caused by betrayal, not only do You know,but You also long to help us, if we but come to You. Amen /

If we perish,we perish.[ Philippians 1 v 12-14 ]

Northern Nigeria has a 93 percent Muslim population,the Christian population have suffered a great deal, a group of extreme Muslims that go under the name of Boko Haram, have waged war against  Christians.Since 2009 it is thought that this group have caused the death of over 3000  Christians,
Christians also suffer discrimination, they even have to submit to aspects of Sharia law. We need to pray for those who are suffering for their faith, Hebrews 13 v3 ,exhorts us,/To remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body/.I was particularly struck with the words of a senior church leader,/We will keep the faith...if we perish , we perish/.May these words challenge all of us to pray for all Christians who are suffering for  Christ,but may they also encourage us to live and witness for Christ.
A  prayer../..Dear God it saddens our hearts when we read of the suffering of your people in so many lands,have mercy upon them,grant that we like them, will be found faithful in our witness for You, in Jesus name Amen /

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 /