Time. [ Psalm 90]

Michael Faraday wrote,/What is the longest, and the shortest thing in the world,the swiftest, and the most slow,the most divisible and most extended,the least valued and the most regretted,without which  nothing can be done,which all that is small, and gives life and spirits to everything that is great?/The answer he said was time,as I grow older I am conscious how fleeting life is, and how quickly the years pass.In Ephesians 5 v16 and in Colossians 4v5, we are told to redeem the time.This is a challenge ,for it is something we can waste,instead of using it wisely.As I was doing this message I looked at the clock, and I heard myself saying I have not got much time,as I have to get ready and go to work.I have not got much time,it is true, life at best is very brief,the words of Psalm 90v12, come to mind,/So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom/. Now a word of caution,we are not meant to be slaves of time,and to run  around with a clock in our hands,but we are called upon to use time wisely. One translation of Eph5v16 goes like this, Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days, now that is the challenge we are faced with, may God grant us grace to obey it.
A  prayer....../Dear God  unlike You we are creatures of time,who fail to make most of time allotted to us,do help us Father to make the most of every opportunity to serve you,we ask this in Jesus name Amen /

Gifts. [ Matthew 25 v 14ff ]

Michael Faraday was a brilliant scientist,also a wonderful communicator,but he was not very good at maths,he often bemoaned this fact.Some people used to say when I ministered in song ,I wish I could sing like you,the fact of the matter is,there will always be things that we cannot do,and maybe should not do.Some of us have a few gifts, others have many,then there our degrees of gifting, every pianist will not be a concert pianist,every artist will not be a Turner,every poet will not be a Robert Burns.But we all have some gifts,I remember a teacher telling about a young lad who was asked what he was good at,he said he could spit further than anybody else,now of course I am not encouraging spitting,it is not a very nice habit,but I am making a point that we all have some gifts, they may not be perfect gifts,but use then , do your best to improve them,pray Gods blessing on them.Do not hide your gifts,God has given them to you, and do not be intimidated ,by those with greater gifts. I remember many years ago when I visited a minister friend in Wales,who invited me to accompany him to a meeting he was preaching at,he asked me to sing.Now the dear people of Wales are noted for their singing,and as I waited to minister,we sang a hymn,and I could hear this lovely Welsh person singing,a lot better singer than I was,what should I have done run out the door?, no I got up and sang.
A  prayer....../Dear God help us to use whatever gifts You have given us in Jesus name Amen /

Jeshurun. [Matthew 14v 25ff]

Speaking to Israel about God [Deuteronomy 33v26-27] ,Moses declares, /There is none like the God of Jeshurun,the term Jeshurun is a term of endearment, which would remind them of the  affection and love He had for them.This in spite of their  many faults and failings, yes God did punish them,did rebuke them,but He loved them,I am sure we all need to hear this term of endearment..Then he says ./who rides through the heavens to help you/God dwells in heaven,but this is not an escape from this world,no,He is not a God a way up there who does not care,no,  His eyes are upon the righteous, His ears are open unto their cry[Psalm 34 v15],and in their difficulties, He will come and help them. Next He tells them/The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms/The things of time are temporal,my car will eventually end up on the scrap heap,the so called gods of the ancients are are gone,but we have one who is eternal,a refuge that cannot fail us,yea will not fail us.Underneath us are the everlasting arms of the everlasting God,remember dear Peter,and his walking on the water[Matthew 14 v25ff],no we more likely remember him sinking in the water.But I wonder as Peter looked back on that experience, what he remembered, I like to think he remembered His Lord holding him up,saving him. As a sinner I was sinking to hell Jesus came and lifted me up,and ever since then, He has upheld  me and cared for me,and will continue to do.
A prayer.../Dear God we thank You that You love us,are near to us,and uphold us in Jesus Name Amen /

Confidence [Philippians 4 v13 ]

Are you a confident person?, are you brimming over with self confidence?,as I read the Bible I take encouragement that many of the people God choose and used were not very confident people.Take Moses when he was called by God,he made so many excuses,that he might be excused,but God persisted, and brought him through.[CP Exodus3-4]. Gideon needed a sign[Judges 6] Jeremiah told God that he could not speak,saying he was a child[Jeremiah 1v6]. As one reads the epistles the apostles are continually seeking to encourage people,who must have felt anything but confident,faced with so many challenges. The good news is ,God never give up on any of these people,because He knew, that what they needed was a God confidence. I have to remind myself as I am faced with difficulties, and tasks that I have to do,that God will help me.We do not graduate from the school of  God reliance,to the school of self reliance,no ,we will be taught continually that we need to always put our confidence in our Saviour,our natural self confidence, must be replaced ,by a spiritual dimension,that is expressed ,so fully by the great apostle Paul,/I can do all things,through Christ which strengthenth me[Philippians 4 v13 ]
A  prayer.../Dear heavenly Father help us to rely upon Your dear son Jesus in everthing we do this day. Amen.

All about Him. [ Hebrews 12 v2 ]

I was speaking to someone recently about the new Pope,and he said that he heard that he was family man,I pointed out that a priest takes a vow of celibacy.I shared this  with another person and it really made him laugh,now whither he is a family man in neither here or there to me.Ulster protestants have never looked kindly on the Papacy, indeed a well known saying in Ulster is,/no pope here/.Of course I come from the land of Ian Paisley,I used to go and hear him preach,he often pointed out the errors of the Papacy.Error, where ever it is found must be challenged,be it the Papacy, liberalism,or in some so called evangelicalism.I read this of Michael Faradays parents,/When questions of temptation, sin,or example arose in the family, they turned to the Bible for an answer/. We must not be swayed by pure emotion,but by thus saith the Lord,I heard this Pope saying the Lords prayer, and I felt emotion arise, and then he entered into a hail Mary, poor Mary they burden her with so much, expect so much from her,which is contrary to the Bible.Mary was blessed as the Mother of our Lord,but she is not an eternal,omnipresent being,she is Mary, who like every one us, looked to Christ as her Saviour,she is not a co -redeemer,it is only Christ who saves, it is only Christ who mediates for mankind.The words of a modern chorus sums it up,Its all about You Jesus,that's it,it is all about Him, not the Pope,Mary, or whoever, He must take the highest station, and no one must be allowed to rob Him of His glory.
A prayer.../Dear God in this imperfect world guide us by Your Spirit and Your perfect word, in Jesus name Amen /

Are you a sheep or a goat? [John 10 v1-18 ]

My son John was wearing a T shirt and it had writing on it,the letters were Greek,he asked me did I know what it said, I said I didn't,so he told me,/The Lord is my shepherd/.He  wore this to work and a few people asked him what the words meant,one person said to him, so you are sheep to which he replied yes, another person said that he saw himself as a goat,to which my son replied you would not want to be a goat. Now these terms of course are likening people to goats and sheep,when Jesus said He was the good shepherd, He was likening Himself to a shepherd,the people He was speaking to would understand fully what Jesus meant,it was a rural community,sheep,shepherds,goats,they were familiar with. In Matthew 25 v31ff Jesus speaks about when He will come again, and how on that day ,people will be divided into two camps,at His right hand will be the sheep, at His left hand will be the goats.The sheep will be saved, and enter that inheritance, prepared for them,but the goats, will go away into everlasting punishment.Now let me ask you a question, can you say that the Lord is your shepherd?if He is then all is well, if you are not,well as my son said, you wouldn't want to be a goat.
A  prayer...../Dear Lord we thank You for being the good Shepherd,for giving Your life for Your sheep,thank that we can say ,the Lord is my shepherd Amen/

Remember Joseph. [ Genesis 41 v 37ff ]

I am just starting to read the life of Michael Faraday the 19th century scientist,like Abraham Lincoln he received  very little education,but like Abraham Lincoln he read a lot,and rose to be a person of great distinction.Our beginnings can hold us back,but they can also challenge us to rise to become greater than our beginnings,granted that those two great men were very gifted, and intelligent ,but the fact remains we can rise above our difficult beginnings. Broken homes,poverty,illness,race,gender,all these things can be overcome,how?.Well there is that natural determination,but I want to show a better way,first of all it is knowing Christ,then we have a great advantage,we are not on our own.We have a friend with us who will help us.Oh yes there must be the struggles,but they are the proving times, the most profitable times,when we learn the lessons that God would teach us,of depending on Him,of the importance of prayer,of the word of God.These things are vital, so many people lessen their grip on these as they progress,we must tighten our grip,stay close to God,He can grant us favour,and success.The important thing on our onward journey, is our relationship with our God,relying upon Him ,trusting Him, and obeying Him,we may not rise to be a great scientist,or politician,we may,but we can rise from the ashes of a difficult beginning,remember Joseph.
A  prayer....../Dear God we praise and thank You, that  You can raise us out of the dust heap of our past,and grant us favour and success through our Lord Jesus Christ Amen /