Truth [John 14 v 6]

Why did a mother and her boy friend systematically abuse her child?,to the point that the child died,it is hard to understand,and of course questions are being.asked,why did social workers,doctors,or even the police,let it happen?.As I listened to this on the news report,I found myself answering,they did not let it happen,the mother and her boy friend did it,they continually told lies,convincingly. It is very hard often to know when a person or persons are lying,and people do lie,murderers lie,they will plead not guilty,all sorts of people lie.That couple who killed that child lied,telling lies is not a trivial matter,no, there are no such things as white lies. The preacher who is living a double life is living a lie ,the person who cheats on his wife is living a lie.People who tell lies often do not care about the consequences it has on others,or on themselves.There was a time when the source of the Nile was sought for,the source of lying we are told, is Satan[ John 8 v44],he lied to Eve,and he continues to whisper lies to mankind,every false religion is a lie,so called holy books are filled with lies,yet so many believe them,his lies can be so convincing.The Bible tells us that Satan hates the truth,in fact it says there is no truth in him,the people who rejected  Christ ,and sought to murder him,showed their true parentage. .As John reminds us, This is the condemnation,that light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than  light ,because their deeds were evil.
A  prayer..... /Dear God,help us to tell the truth at all times,and help us to accept Christ who is the Truth].  Amen

Gods choice [ 1 Corinthians 1 v 25-31]

Carrying on from yesterday,as regards the two lads I spoke to,it turns out that they are part of the gypsy community,the boy who was a Christian told me how God was moving among the gypsy population. He told me that he had attended a conference and over two hundred young people had got saved,he said it was the greatest thing, that his people where becoming Christians.The history of the Gypsy population is one of being despised and marginalised,many of then died at the hands of the Nazi es.Of course they often are a law unto themselves and this brings them into conflict with the general public.Like all humanity they are sinners,but then Jesus came into the world to save sinners,and seemingly that is what He is doing among the Gypsies in this country. It reminds me what Paul wrote ,that God chooses and saves the most unlikely people,the foolish things,the weak and base things,and those who are despised[1 Corinthians 1 v26-28] .Most of the well to do people are missing in these days,I wonder why,it need not be like that,God loves everyone,he love you,and wonder of wonders He even loves me.
A prayer..../Dear merciful God in Jesus name continue to save many more people from the Gypsy population. Amen ]

Witnesses. [Acts 1 v8]

I was in McDonalds and before me in the queue where two young men,one looked at the little cross I wear and asked me was I a Christian?,he asked me how long I had been a Christian I told him.The young lad I was talking to told me he had been a Christian for about a year,he said his friend wasn't,his friend said he was trying to become a Christian.I  told him it was not trying it was trusting,and that Christ saves not us. A chance encounter no,I had prayed that God would grant me an opportunity to witness to someone and He did.It was brief witness,but God can use those simple words, to bring that young man to Christ.It should be every Christians desire to see people come to Christ,on looking back on my life, I see that I have been a sower,yes I have seem people come to Christ, not a lot,but the main thing I have never lost the desire to witness. Let us remember some of the last words that our Saviour spoke, /ye shall receive power,after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you,/rely on the Holy Spirit,/and then our Saviour said,ye shall be witnesses unto Me[Acts 1 v8 ]
A  prayer..../Dear Lord help us to be  faithful witnesses,by our lives and our words Amen/

Preaching [ 2 Timothy 4 v2 ]

I  ministered the word of God on Sunday,and I have come away with a feeling of uneasiness,and I wonder why?,maybe  I preached to long, whatever ,and yet I faithfully proclaimed the word God give. Preaching is very challenging,and  ,it is not easy,and yet it is very rewarding. First of all I preach because I believe God has called me to that task,and  all I am called to do is be faithful. When I stand up to preach I am not performing, I am ministering, in order to do that ,I sought to prepare myself ,by going to Bible college,by reading and studying the word of God.Being a minister of the word of God means a life time of study,one does not just get up and speak,no, we have to give ourselves to study,we must pray our way through our study and our preaching,no matter how gifted one may be,there must be real dependence on God. Our confidence must be in God, and His word,that word I preach will accomplish what God desires it to accomplish, I must by faith leave its effectiveness to God the Holy Spirit,it is God we are told grants the increase [1 Corinthians 3 v6-7 ] .As a preacher I believe Satan will seek to discourage ,in many ways,I had one lady in a church ,where I was leader who caused me so much pain,Satan I believe was using her,to seek to overthrow my ministry.My task is to be faithful,I am called to preach the word,in season out of  season,reprove,rebuke,exhort with all long suffering[2 Timothy 4 v2]
A  prayer..../Dear God help our pastors and all those called to minister the word of God,to be faithful,in Jesus name Amen /

He will not fail you.[ Nahum 1 v7 ]

I was travelling to see a dear Christian couple in my car ,when I got a puncture,I was able to pull over,I was not able to phone the emergency services.What to do?well where I had stopped was  a garden centre,so I got it of the busy road I was on to the garden centres car park.It is long time since I changed a wheel,but I started to do it,and as I did a couple came along and the man offered to help,which he did.It made me think of the  many people God has sent to help me through out my Christian life,so many,from people giving me gifts,3 cars,financial gifts,food parcels,practical help. my wife and children who help me so much,the list it appears to me is endless.I am so grateful to God for all these people He sent. All these things were not chance happenings,they were part of  Gods providential care, to God be the Glory.Be encouraged dear child of God ,God will take care of you, His care for you ,will never cease, He will move the most unlikely people to help you,he will use whatever means He chooses,but He will not fail you.
A prayer...../Dear loving Heavenly Father ,thank You for Your unceasing care for Your children, we praise You in the name of Jesus  Amen /

Gods providence in our lives.[Romans 8 v28 ]

As I said in my last blog,things have been stressful,but as I look back over the last two weeks,I see that we have past through a storm,and I see how God has undertaken,each problem was overcome,we where praying our way through. The Lord was working things out ,we had our unseen pilot on board,we did not flounder on the rocks,one of my reading touched on this,God guiding through dangerous waters,and it caused me to look back over my Christian pilgrimage ,and I am amazed and humbled at Gods unerring leading. Think much on the providence of God,of Gods over ruling,,it is truly amazing,that behind that frowning providence He hides a smiling face. Why do we have problems? well in His providence God sends them that we will keep dependent on Him, and that is the safest place to be,dependent on God.We have come through our time trial,but there will be others,you can depend on it, but the most important thing is, we can depend on our loving heavenly Father to bring us through.
A  prayer...../Dear God we thank You for Your providential care, we thank You tah we are under Your care in Jesus Name Amen /

Stress. [ Psalm 23 ]

I wish I could say that I was always calm,but it is not so,these last two weeks have been very stressful and it all started with us changing our car,and trying to sort  out the insurance,we spent ages on the phone,plus we thought that the car we had bought had a problem.We also had a new couch arrive ,we had arranged for the old one to be taken away by a local hospice, all appeared well until the person came to collect the old couch,and told us he couldn't take it, so there we were with two couches sitting in our living room,we thankfully have sorted it out it was all a bit stressful with one trying to stay calm. So maybe you are feeling stressed out like me,so let us pray this prayer.
                                   Dear God ..../Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
                                                         till all our strivings cease,
                                                          Take from our souls the strain and stress,
                                                         and let our ordered lives confess,
                                                           the beauty of Thy peace/ [ John Greenleaf Whittier ]