He knows the way. [ Psalm 107 v7 ]

I was away the weekend preaching at a friends church,and as I was driving home ,I found myself singing an old chorus ,which goes,/ My Lord knows the way through the wilderness, all I have to do is follow/.It sounds simple,but let us be honest we do not find it so, even though Israel had a great leader Moses,even though they had a pillar of fire and a pillar of cloud led the way. [Exodus 13v21], continually the nation failed to follow Gods leading.Now we do not have a pillar of fire or cloud leading us,bur for all that, God is leading us. That little chorus reminded me that God is leading us His children,by His word and by His Spirit,and here is a challenge for us,His way is perfect[ 2 Samuel 22 v21], He knows what He is doing,he makes no mistakes no mistakes.John Piper has  written a grand  book,called ,/ A sweet and bitter Providence/,Life is not a straight line,leading  from one blessing to the next, he goes on to write,/ The life of the Godly is not a straight line to glory, but God see's that they get there./ In Psalm 107v30, we read ,/so He bringeth them unto their desired haven/.
A  prayer...../Dear God and Father,as we travel to glory,help us to not loose faith,or to think that You have forgotten us,in Jesus name we ask this Amen/

It can happen to you.[ 1 Corinthians 10 v12 ]

The apostle Paul points out to his readers that the things that ancient Israel did ,the wrong things,and the consequences of their actions,were examples for them[[1 Corinthians 10].They were not examples that we are meant to follow,no their behaviour are examples of what we should avoid.If they followed their example they would suffer.Then he adds,/Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fallv12/,the Corinthian Christians may have thought that they would never fall into the same sins as the Israelites did,so he gives that warning.So let us consider a number of things,we are examples,be it for good or for bad, no one is an Island,we are all connected,before you get involved in something dubious,before you act unwisely,consider you are being watched,by your children,neighbours,and so on. Next it can happen to you ,and me,the very thing we see others do, that we thought we would never do in a million years,we can easily fall into. So do not be complacent,let us always bear in mind ,that we can fall morally,and tragically,it was Bunyan who wrote ,/he that is down need fear no fall/,in other words,walk in humility,and with an utter dependence upon God.
 A  prayer...../Dear God help us to be a Christlike example to others,and grant us grace to walk with a humble dependence on Your Spirit in Jesus name Amen ./
/I will return to my blog next Tuesday every blessing/

Poision chalace. [ Genesis 3 v6 ]

The thought came to me that certain things can be likened unto a poison chalice,they may be legitimate things,but there influence on our lives ,can effectively destroy our Christian walk.We may not even see the harmful effects on our lives,it may be our employment,politics,the imbalance on certain aspects,for example justice,now of course we live in an unjust world,and we must always be concerned with justice,but our concerns for justice must not be allowed to so control us that grace and mercy is pushed out of the way. Remember Christ died for the unjust,that means you and me,if we were to get our true deserts ,none of us would be saved,none of us would be blessed by a just but merciful God.In this hour of grace Gods purpose and plan is to forgive and forget,there will always be a need for justice,but there is also a need for mercy and forgiveness,remember if the Lord should mark iniquity who would stand [Psalm 130 v3].Now I emphasised justice and our possible imbalance,and that it can become a poison chalice,but it can be many things,are we open to the Spirits prompting,are we listening to Gods still small voice?,if not we will suffer in our relationship with others and with God.In the movie the Last crusade,there is that moment when the characters make a choice of what cup to drink from,they are all obsessed with this,to choose the wrong cup and to drink from it meant death,to choose the right cup and drink from it meant life,the ancient knight comments on the choice Indiana Jones makes ,you have chosen well,choose well the cup you are going to drink from, choose well.
A  prayer...../Dear God help us to  choose well the cup we drink from ,in Jesus name Amen /

Blew it again. [Hebrews 4 v 15-16 ]

I was not really thinking and I did something which in hindsight I felt guilty about,I wish I could always do the right thing, and never feel guilty,never feel I have let the Lord down.Am I the only one who feels like that?,of course not,consider what the great apostle Paul wrote,/I don't really understand myself,for I want to do what is right,but I don't do it.........I have discovered this principle of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong[Romans 7v 14ff] It does not make it any easier but it helps to know that I am not on my own,from saying these things Paul goes unto to say, /There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ[ Romans 8 v1], now that is a relief,that I do not stand in the place I once stood ,before I met Christ.It is John who reminds us that there is a place of forgiveness on our ongoing walk to glory,he tells us very simply,/If we confess our sins,He is faithful and just to forgive our sins,and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.[1 John 1 v9]. so tell God your sorry,now,and all will be well.
A  prayer..../ Dear God we thank You that You don not disown your children when they fail,and that there is forgiveness ,through Your son Jesus Amen /

It makes no sense.[ Isaiah 41 v10]

At the fellowship I attended recently, we sang a hymn that was translated from Urdu ,the brother who was leading the meeting said that Urdu and Hindi are both spoken the same,but the written word is different, strange  but true. I cannot make sense of this,but there is a lot of things I cannot make sense of, I cannot make sense,why people do dangerous things,why people smoke,why people self harm. I cannot make sense of why  God loves the depraved ,and would be merciful to such,but the fact is he does .I cannot make any sense why Islam attracts so many people,and why they are filled with so much hate.I cannot make any sense how a massive plane gets into the air,or why football clubs are willing to pay a kings ramson for a player. Life is like looking through clouded glasses,it truly does not make any sense,mybe that is what you are thinking,but listen don't let this cause you to despair.It is only faith that can penetrate the apparent senselessness of life,faith in God who is in control,who is working His purposes out,and whispers into our ears ,trust Me.Take a moment to think on the cross,to many it did not make any sense,but as one who was lost and now is found it makes perfect sense.
A   prayer ..../ Dear God we look to You in faith, help us to trust in Your sovereign purposes, in Jesus name Amen /

Onward ever onward. [Philippians 3 v 13]

I was speaking  to a friend recently,he was saved over 60 years ago,and when that happened he wanted to keep it quite,but one evening,he told his family.They thought he was joking, but when he persisted that it was so,they believed him,and his mother said well I hope that I will not hear any of those awful swear words again,and she never did.When Christ comes into a persons life ,there should be a change, and it will always be a change for the better. My friend went on to say years later he  had the joy of seeing his mother saved ,when she was in hospital. Not only are we changed when Christ saves us, we want others to know Christ as there saviour. This is on going,that is the change, till the die,and when we die the change will be complete,and as long as we live we will always want people to know Jesus. The question I have to ask myself, is, how am I doing?
A  prayer..../ Dear God and Father save us from living in the past,help us to walk step by step in the footprints of our Saviour Amen /

Imperfection [ Psalm 103]

We live in the age of self assembly,I purchased a new chair recently,when it arrived,I found to my dismay I had to  assemble it,which I found was no easy task,but with much prayer and perseverance I did it.Last weekend we purchased a unit on which our TV would stand. So once again I started on the task of assembling it,when it was assembled it look nice ,although the drawers are a bit out of line,in other words it was not perfect,but I think my wife was pleased.It reminded me that we live in an imperfect world,I am conscious that a lot of my service for God,which includes all of my life  is imperfect,that includes my preaching.Our Saviour said be ye perfect,this is an exhortation,which we must always aim at,but ,there is that, but again,imperfection reigns.Now our acceptance with God depends on Christ 's perfect work on Calvary,but as a child of God we want to do our best,but alas so often we fail,but take heart,God loves us in spite of our imperfect service.I thought of that hymn, which speaks of ,gold of obedience,and incense of lowliness,truth in its beauty,and love in its tenderness,these are the offerings to lay at His shrine. These,though we bring them in trembling and fearfulness.He will accept ,for the name that is dear.[Words by J.S.B. Monsell]
A prayer...../Dear God accept our imperfect service from these humble imperfect lives, in Jesus name Amen/