Faith. [Hebrews 11 v 6 ]

In Hebrews 11 v8 we read the words ,/not knowing/,this refers to Abraham, responding to the call of God,and how he stepped out not knowing whither he went.He acted on faith. I believe as Christians we need to be reminded continually of the truth that the Christian life, is a life of faith, as it was for Abraham ,so it is for all Gods Christian, faith in God and His word. This involves doctrine,practice,and acceptance,as the word of God,Habakkuk 2 v4 declares the just shall live by faith,if we shift from this,we move from Gods will.The way of faith means we cannot always understand fully many of the things we believe.Recently a friend told me of a certain minister who spoke of a second chance,for those who die without Christ,when my friend pointed out the scriptural truth that after death the judgement the minster refused to accept this.The solemn truth is we are called to believe what Gods word says not what we think,that means accepting the doctrine of hell,it means accepting that we sinners,and the consequences of rejecting the only Saviour of sinners ,Jesus.
A prayer..../ Dear God help us to understand that we You demand of us all faith, in what You say,and not in what we think,in Jesus name Amen /

I made a mistake, but God spoke.[ Psalm 46 v10 ]

It is a true saying we all make mistakes,well recently I made a mistake,and I was really annoyed,I let a shout out of me, which fortunately no one heard.Along with anger with myself at my making such a mistake ,there was a deep concern as to the consequences of my mistake. So I set out to do something about it, but I was  so angry with myself ,then at a particular moment a verse came into my mind,/Be still and know that I am God [Palm 46 v10]/.The good news is God undertook and resolved the problem and turned things around,it bore in upon me again the importance of applying the word of God into every situation,into every every problem.The scripture that I received was not just an empty platitude ,no it was the word of God, it is God telling us something that is vital for us to hear,and it is vital for us to hold unto it by faith. Through all the anger I felt with myself ,God spoke, and in spite of my anger ,I heard and sang the words to myself, repeated them to myself,and found God to be faithful.
A  prayer..../ Dear God ,in Your mercy help us in our difficulties ,to listen for  Your still small voice in Jesus name Amen /

Are you burdened?[ Matthew 11 v28 ]

As I was carrying someones  shopping yesterday which was heavy,the words of our Saviour came to mind,/Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest [Matthew 11 v28 ] Jesus in saying this spoke to men's heart, and to their condition,He saw the grinding poverty,the oppressive religion, the weary hearts who struggled with so much..There is still a great deal of poverty in this world,and oppressive religion,in the west we may not experience grinding poverty or oppressive religion,but people are still carrying heavy burdens,the burden of broken relationships,of broken dreams,and broken hearts.Hear the word of Jesus ,come unto Me,cast your burdens upon me,I will help you,oppressed by sin ,and Satan,Jesus says come unto Me,I will forgive you and set you free.As you read this you may be asking is this true can Jesus really help me?. The answer is yes, untold millions have found Jesus to be a Saviour,who forgives ,and heals the broken hearted.The hymn writer,wrote, I came to Jesus as I was weary,and worn and sad,I found in Him a resting place, and He has made me glad[H Bonar]
A prayer....../ Dear God we praise and thank You that in Jesus,burdens can be lifted,and broken hearts can be mended. Amen /

Fridge magnet [ John 4 v 4ff ]

We have a fridge magnet with the words, /give give give give me/ on it,our prayer life can be like this,although it is legitimate to ask God for what we need,some people thing it is wrong to ask God for whatever,it is not, Cp  Philippians 4 v6./Matthew7 v7.Those words on the fridge magnet appear to have a selfish ring to them,and selfishness is never an acceptable attitude in Gods eyes.Selfishness blinds us to the needs of others ,we loose sight of the fact that we are not the centre of the universe.It has with it, I am all right Jack attitude . It was William Booth the founder of the Salvation Army who sent a telegram to a gathering of Salvationist,with one word on it,/others/.Let me stress again that it is not wrong to ask God for whatever,but it becomes wrong when we are asking with the wrong motives and reasons.When I think of the words on the fridge magnet it reminds me of the words of our Saviour to the woman at the well,[John 4] when He said,whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again [v13 ].In saying this He was reminding the lady and us,that no matter how many pairs of shoes we buy,and no matter how many of anything we buy , we will not be satisfied, only He can  meet the deepest need of our hearts.
A  prayer...../ Dear God so many of us forget so easily that only Christ can meet our deepest need, grant us grace to embrace our Saviour and all His fullness. Amen /

We cannot comprehend. [Job 37 v5]

As we come to the end of the book of Job ,both Elihu and God challenge Job as to his limited knowledge as regards creation and God Himself,and in chap40v4 ,we have Job's response,which reads/,Behold I am vile ,what shall I answer Thee?I lay my hand upon my mouth/. In his response he acknowledges two things,his sinfulness,/I am vile/,surely not,did God not praise this man?, yes He did,but Job was a sinner, we have a very limited knowledge of our sinfulness,the Bible mentions godly men and women,but the best of them where sinners,we need the Spirit to reveal our true fallen nature, and believe what Gods word declares,  cp Romans 3 .and what Jeremiah says in  17v9,that the heart is deceitful above all things,and  desperately wicked,and then he adds for good measure,,/who can know it?.Job was not exaggerating in what he said,in fact it seems to me he did not go far enough.The next thing he acknowledges is his saying to much and saying the wrong things,we need to put into practise a control on our words.A lady I know told me of the former pastor of her church,who would not answer right away,but would wait for a short time,and then speak.We speak so often of things we do not know  ,instead of letting our words be few,we speak a multitude of words,and these words are not always edifying to those who hear.,we need to watch those words.
A prayer...../ Dear God forgive us our pride which results in foolish thoughts,and foolish words,foolish attitudes,in Jesus name Amen/

God will work as He see's fit. [ Isaiah 55 v 8-9 ]

In Acts 12v1-2 we read that Herod had James put to death with the sword,but in the same chapter we read how Peter was arrested ,and placed under an armed guard. Instead of being put to death he is miraculously delivered ,by an angel,there are a number of lessons we can learn from this. God is sovereign,we cannot tie Him down,recently I listened to a dear brother telling of a young lad who was healed,but he also told of a young girl who died.We should not expect God to work the same in all His children's lives,but we should realise that He is working in all His children's lives.God has an individual purpose for your life and mine.Some Christians will experience persecution others wont,some will experience ill health,some wont,some will experience great success in their preaching,in that souls will be saved like Jonah, and Peter,others like Isaiah,Jeremiah,and Ezekiel will not.In all these things God will be working out His perfect will in each of His children's lives.I believe we will not die until God see's fit,He has a plan not a funeral plan but a life plan for all His children.James did suffer ,yes we cannot often prevent suffering,but we can rest in the fact that in James case and in every dear child of Gods case,it is absent from the body and present with the Lord,the cross of suffering will be followed by the the crown of glory.
A  prayer...Dear God we acknowledge that Your ways are past finding out,and so God grant us grace to simply trust in Your perfect will in Jesus name Amen.

But now [ John 13 v7]

Job was the man who had everything, and lost everything ,in chapter 29 he goes over the life he had,the good he did,and the respect he was shown.Then we move into chapter 30,which opens with these words,but now,and he goes on to say how things had changed, he is now  held with disdain.I wonder are you in a but now moment?,the nature of life is one of change,and it is not always for the better.The first thought that came to me was that of change,diamonds may be forever,but most things are prone to change, I am not the man physically I once was,people can loose everything in a moment,just like Job. First of all what he experienced was not a punishment for something he did,because he was a godly man,who cared for his family,cared for those who where suffering,and one who genuinely feared God.As he considered his prosperity, he said to himself,surely I will die surrounded by my family after a long good life[29v18]. That is what of us most would like,but like Job we discover a but now experience,it may not be as severe as what Job experienced,but it can be for us a severe trial. What is the answer?well if we are in a but now experience, remember Job did not give up in his faith walk, and God did not give up on Job.And in this very dark but now experience,he declares by faith,that God knew all he was going through,and He would use this trial to perfect him[23 v10],in other words he would come out of this experience a better person.
A  prayer...../ Dear God in this changeable world help us to not give up ,when we experience a but now moment, help us to trust in You,even though we are suffering,and don't understand,in Jesus name Amen/