He has made a difference. [ Hebrews 13 v5-6]

An old man who was a Christian was ill and  coming near to the point of death,was visited by a friend,who was an unbeliever.The friend asked him how did he know there was God?,the old man looked at him,and shared with him the following.When I was a young man I felt so lost,but one day Jesus came to me and found me.As I went on I got married and had children,there where times when I did not know where our next meal would come from,but some how our needs were met. There where time when I had no money to pay the rent,and then I heard Jesus speak to me from His word,saying I will supply your need,and He did. There where times when I did not know what to do,and I heard Jesus say to me, fear not I will guide you,and He did.When I lost my dear wife,Jesus came to me and comforted me,assuring me she was in heaven,and that all would be well. Now as I face death Jesus told me,that I need not fear going through the valley of the shadow of death,because He will be with me.
A prayer..../Dear Lord Jesus thank You for coming into our lives ,blessing us in so many ways. Amen/

Are you clean? [1 Corinthians 6 v 9-11]

Sin no matter how it is dressed up is something that makes us unclean,so it was with David when he sinned,he had committed adultery,he prayed,/Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow[Psalm 51 v7]. There is an advert on the telly of a young child walking through a field and as she is walking she is being hit by paint and then the words come up,dirt is good. But of course dirty hands when one is serving food,or contaminated hands when a surgeon is about to perform an operation is not good. So it is that when it comes to Gods estimation of sin it  is classed as unclean, one of the articles in the tabernacle was a laver  a large container of water,it was for the priests to wash themselves, before they went into the tabernacle before the Lord,the penalty for not doing this was death[Exodus 30 v17-21]. There are a number of lessons in this,God requires us to recognise the importance of His holiness,that if we are to be accepted by Him,sin must be cleansed,must be removed.Consider how many people gave little thought as regards their sin in relation to God, they think that it is all about the good they do. I cannot stress this enough, we cannot enter Gods presence,unless we have been cleansed form our sin,not only can we not enter Gods presence,we will be excluded from His presence eternally.Now the washing in the tabernacle was only a type pointing us to a greater reality,and it is John in his epistle who tells us, that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin[1 v7],the penalty for neglecting this cleansing is spiritual death.
A prayer...../ Holy  God we praise You for Jesus Your son who shed His precious blood to cleanse us from our sin,help us to see that it is not optional. Amen/

A little act of kindness.[ Matthew 10 v42]

I was in a large supermarket when a senior citizen came up to and asked me to help her ,she had a bottle in her hand,it is one of those bottles,in which to open ,one has to press the cap.This lady asked me would I open it as she would no be able to do it when she got home,and this I did.Later while on a visit to one of my clients, I read these word from a framed plaque,/No little act of kindness is ever wasted/, and I thought on the words of Jesus, about giving a cup of cold water in His name[Matthew 10 v42] We admire those people who have done  great deeds,but heavens values,are not earths,the woman a poor widow,who give but two small coins of little monetary value, was commended greatly by our Saviour,because in giving in giving her little offering,she was giving her all.[Mark 12 v42-44]. So today show a little kindness,speak a little word,smile a little smile,show a little tenderness,remember Jesus is watching,and it is approval,and well done that is most important..
A  prayer..../Dear Heavenly Father,You who feed and care for the tiny sparrow,grant us grace to follow Your example in Jesus name Amen/

A trip to Mars. [John 14 v1-6 ]

Applications for a one way trip to Mars top 100,000 mark,so this article read on the inter-net,my goodness why would anybody want to go to Mars,has anybody told  them they can buy Mars bars here,seemingly not.Anyone over 18 can apply,for a fee of 38 dollars, and for those who live in Madagascar or Afghanistan it cost 5 dollars. Maybe it is a plot to get rid of all the people in Afghanistan, for obvious reasons,I better stop going down this road.The person who gave me the print out said if we go to Mars we will be nearer God,he may have been joking.I have nothing against space travel ,but this all appears a pointless exercise.I suppose for some it would be a great adventure.When I look back on my Christian life ,it has been a great adventure,living by faith is not for the faint hearted,but my it is rewarding and it ends with the greatest adventure of all dying.When we pass through that door what wonders we will see,what joys we will experience,it will surely beat a one way trip to Mars. Why don't you come along and join the multitudes who will be there,oh yes whats the price?,oh don't worry about that it has all been paid for by Jesus.
A  prayer..../Dear Father God, we thank you that Jesus paid the price for us to go to heaven,we are guaranteed a place when we simply trust Him to be our Saviour Amen/

Drawing back.[John 21]

In Galatians 5 v7,we read,/Ye did run well,who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth./,these are very telling words. So many people start well,then they are gone, no longer do they meet with Gods people,no longer identify with their Lord.The Galatians where drawing back into their past religion,Judaism,drawing back to their old ways,there were people who seeking to unsettle them,bringing them under the law.Many things can cause us to give up and go back,wordly enticements like material success,wrong relationships,discouragements,feelings of injustice.Now you may have suffered whatever,and feel that Christians have let you down,and the sad thing is they do at times. So what can we say about these things?, well we must keep to the fore,this one solitary fact,Jesus said follow me. If we loose sight of this,if we fill our hearts with the shortcomings of life and people,we have started on the slippery slope of going back. The scriptures continually stress the importance of keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus,not people, the apostle Paul points these Galations back to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ[6 v14]. There is a gospel song by Ira F.Stanphill ,which reads/I  traveled down a lonely road ,and no one seemed to care,the burden on my weary back,had bowed me to despair. I oft complained to Jesus how folk were treating me,and then I heard Him say so tenderly. My feet were also weary upon the Calvary road,the cross became so heavy I fell beneath the load. Be faithful weary pilgrim,the morning I can see, just lift your cross and follow close to me.
A  prayer......./Dear Lord Jesus help us to take our eyes of others,and even of self,and to keep our  eyes fixed firmly on You /Amen./

Onward ever onward. [ 2 Timothy 1 v7 ]

It some times surprises me as I look back on how many sermons I  have preached, and how many thoughts for the day I have written,when I was a full time minister I sometimes had to preach three times on a Sunday,how did I do it?. The first thing I would say , I believed God had called me ,and it appears that if He  calls He equips, and enables,this applies to any calling. The next important thing to remember is we have one who will help us in our calling,the Holy Spirit,whom our Lord said would help us[Matthew 10v20-21].I was speaking recently and I pointed out that Elijah the prophet was a man ,of like passions as you and I, in other words he had his faults and failings,but God used him.Recently I read about Francis Schaeffer  author and Christian apologist,that he was dyslexic,but God called him and used him.I personally never did very well at school,I am conscious of this,but it has not stopped me, and as I get up to preach, I have to remember I am not ministering from a perfect educational background. That does not mean I don't try to improve,I did attend Bible  college,and I diligently prepare for every sermon I preach, over time I have bought commentaries,and have a reasonable library.And so I am surprised ,yet confident in my God to continue, help me and use me,so onward ever onward.
A  prayer...../Dear God we thank You for all we have been able to do,inspite of our many limatations,in Jesus Name Amen /

Gentlness and meekness [ 2 Corinthians 10 v1]

One of the great lessons the disciples had to learn was the importance of a meek and gentle spirit,when a certain Samaritan village,would not receive Jesus,the disciples wanted to call down fire and destroy it.Jesus rebuked them, and reminded them of the purpose of His coming,that He did not come to destroy lives but to save them[Luke 10v 55-56]. I wonder how the Crusaders,and even dear Oliver Cromwell, reconciled their violence ,to what Jesus taught?. It is an amazing yet mind blowing truth that the meek would inherit the earth,[Matthew 5 v5]. no, said Hitler, it is the strong and powerful,those meek people,have no chance,and does not the god ,evolution teach us the it is the fittest that survive.Now of course being meek does not mean weak,the one who said, I am meek and lowly of heart was not a weak person.Our Saviour challenged those who were offending God,as was manifested when He went to the temple,and overthrew the tables of the money changers [Matthew21v12 ]. It is in 2 Corinthians 10v1 ,that we we read of the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I am slowly but surely learning the importance of these words,although I still manifest the old Bill,at times, I do pray for the necessary grace to be more like Him who was both meek, and gentle..
A  prayer....Dear Lord Jesus grant unto us a meek and gentle spirit Amen/