Leaders. [Ephesians 4 v 8-13 ]

I was thinking about the church that I attend and one of the things I  like about it,it is a friendly church,we always have refreshments after the meetings,and once a month we have a fellowship meal. The pastor is a nice young man ,who is married and has 3 children,he is a sincere person,and we love him,and pray for him,for I know from experience how difficult being a pastor is.My time as a pastor and elder was not easy,some churches make it very difficult, for their leaders,yes sometimes the leaders bring trouble upon themselves. It is a big responsibility being a leader of a church, that is why James cautions those who want to become leaders [3 v1].  Today pray for your church leaders, for your pastor and for yourself,that you may not be a hindrance, but a help in the church God has placed you.
A  prayer...../Dear Lord Jesus we thank You for those godly yet imperfect people who lead your people,grant unto them wisdom,and cause them to be faithful in proclaiming Your word Amen /

It never ceases [ Psalm 103v17]

Looking back on the week that has gone,I must confess,I am disappointed,for I let things get on top of me,the enemy of my soul,must have been clapping his hands, at my failures. The good thing is ,I kept the lines of communications open, I have brought it all to the mercy seat,now that is a encouraging term, mercy seat ,it is from the OT, it  was a covering over the ark of the covenant, wherein was the tablet of stone with the 10 commandment on it[Exodus 25].The commandments,teach us that we are sinners [Galations3v24,],that we come short of Gods glory[Romans 3 v23 ],but the mercy seat ,gives hope to all of us failures.Our salvation is an act of mercy, salvation has three tenses to it, past, present, and future,and it is all overshadowed by Gods mercy ,through Jesus the Son of God.Thankfully mercy did not cease when Christ saved us,oh no,it continues  on, and on , and on.So today even though I have had a bad week, I can say,/Thy mercy, my God,is the theme of my song,the joy of my heart,and the boast of my tongue[John Stocker]/
A  prayer ...../Dear God we praise You for Your mercy that endures for ever in Jesus name Amen /

I will be satisfied.[ 1 John 3 v1-2 ]

I was reading Psalm 17 ,when the words of v15,came with a deeper meaning,they read,/As for me,I will behold Thy face in righteousness.I shall be satisfied when I awake with Thy likeness/.He has been telling us about people who have their portion in this life,they are prosperous,seem to have it all.Let us not envy such people,as sometime we do ,their brief prosperity will soon vanish,God has placed them in slippery places [Psalm 73 v18],they fail to consider their end,with dire results [Luke 6 v24]Having mentioned these people,he declares ,as for me,here is David the man of God,reminding himself and us,that inspite of all his power and riches,his hope and desire goes beyond the things of this life.Then he declares,/I will behold Thy face in righteousness/,like Job he has an assurance of seeing his redeemer,in righteousness,David was a righteous man,but it was a flawed righteousness,but like us David will be clothed with the righteousness of Jesus [Jeremiah 23v6/ 1 Corinthians 1 v30]He finishes by declaring ,/I shall be satisfied when I awake with Thy likeness/.I must confess that inspite of all my best efforts, I remain dissatisfied with myself,but one day I will by Gods grace I will be changed into His likeness, yes then I will truly be satisfied
A  prayer ...../Dear God we thank You that one day we shall like Jesus, and on that day we will be satisfied. Amen/

I have a friend .[ jOHN 15 V15 ]

Friendship is important for all of us,I have a number of friends,I received a letter from one yesterday,the word of God tells us a friend loveth at all times[Proverbs 17 v17 ] The story of the prodigal tells us about a young man who thought he had friends. It is remarkable that Jesus called Judus His friend [Matthew 26 vv50],how painful it is when a friend betrays us or lets us down, CP  Psalm55. What can one do? well in that Psalm David tells God all about it,and then he tells us what to do, cast our burden upon the Lord ,and He shall sustain us,and he ends the Psalm with these words,but I will trust in Thee. Thankfully our friends don't usually betray us ,but it does happen,be forgiving,leave it with God,remember they are weak sinners just like yourself,pray for them. In Isaiah 41 v8, God calls Abraham His friend,how privileged Abraham was,well the good news is,that when we come into the New Testament,sonship and friendship is granted unto every dear child of God,[John 15 v13-15/ 1 John 3 v1].Dear child of God you are not on your own,you have a friend called Jesus ,who will never leave you nor forsake you.Charles Bridges  wrote about Jesus,/He is the greatest,best,most loving,most disinterested and faithful of  friends,Truly He loveth at all times.
A  prayer...../Dear God we thank you for  our friends, we are amazed to think that our Lord and Saviour is our   friend ,thank You Amen/

Favourites.[ Galations 6 v10]

I believe that tea is our national drink,the Irish are great consumers of tea, I must confess I enjoy a mug of tea every morning with my toast,and in the evening I usually have a mug of tea , and two and a half digestive biscuits,the biscuits must be a certain brand.Life is made up mostly of ordinary things,our favourite paper,a favourite TV program,a favourite chair. There was a man called Jacob who had a favourite son, his name was Joseph,Jacob made a fuss of his favourite son, had a special coat made for him,but the problem was he had eleven other sons,and ten of those sons, felt a bit put out because of there fathers favouritism of Joseph.I say they felt a bit put out,but in fact they felt very angry,to the point of wanting to kill Joseph,and they nearly did.There is a favourite program of mine called ,everybody loves Raymond, he has a brother called Robert who feels unloved, because Raymond is the favourite. Today when it comes to our children,our church folk,our neighbours,let us seek to love everybody equally,for remember God loves all His children, equally.
A  prayer..../Dear God we thank You for Your all embracing love fill our hearts with such love in Jesus name Amen/

Shadow land. [Romans 8 v28 ]

There is an old song with the words ,walking on the sunny side of the street,but the fact of the matter is that even on the sunny side of the street we will at times  have a shadow to pass through.Lets call the shadows ,shadow land, as I was thinking about this I thought of the shadows in my life.The things that cause me to worry,and I could number about 5 things that I would class as shadows,they are not life threatening, but they are there,and are causing me concern.So I found myself praying remove those shadows Lord,naming them one by one,experience tells me that is what I should do,bring these shadows to the Lord.I believe that all things are in Gods hands even the shadows,and He has allowed these things to come into my life for a purpose, ultimately  for my good,writing a letter to a dear friend, who is house bound, I wrote Romans 8 v28 as I finished the letter,/And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God/,this includes ,yes even the shadows.
A prayer....../Dear God we live in the shadow land,we pray that in your mercy you will remove these shadows in Jesus name Amen /

Bravery. [Hebrews 11v36-39]

It is said of Lord Nelson that he lived for duty,and of course this is borne out by the message that he sent to the fleet at the battle of Trafalgar,/England expects everyman will do their duty/and his dying words.He was a very brave man and was religious, his father was a minister of religion,Nelson was born in the county of Norfolk. He was a heroic figure and became a national hero,and he was laid to rest in St Pauls cathedral in London.He wrote the following,/A brave man dies but once, a coward all his life long.We cannot escape death, and should it happen,recollect that it is the will of Him in whose hands are the issues of life and death. / Bravery can be manifested in many ways, not just on the battle field, I work with the mentally ill,and many of those who suffer from such an illness,manifest a degree of bravery. Think of the people you know ,or have known I am sure many of them have been brave people,I know a few people who were brave. Continually I read of many dear Christians who are living with danger continually,they are dear brave souls,of whom the world is not worthy.Today let us lift up a prayer for the many people who are facing persecution for the cause of Christ.
A  prayer...../Dear God we acknowledge that often we do not feel brave,so we ask for grace that will enable us to be brave as we face our fears in Jesus name Amen/